Monthly Archives: January 2022

The Roomba j7+ poop-detecting robot vacuum is $250 off right now

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If you made the resolution to tidy up more regularly in 2022, a robot vacuum can help with that. And for those that hate cleaning, investing in a robot vacuum with self-emptying functionality can make it so you rarely have to interact with the machine. Two of iRobot’s higher-end models with clean bases are on sale at Wellbots right now when you use the code ENGADGET250 at checkout — both the Roomba s9+ and the Roomba j7+ will be $250 off, bringing them down to $850 and $600, respectively. Those are great deals, especially considering the prices are better than we saw during Cyber Monday at the end of last year.

Buy Roomba j7+ at Wellbots – $600Buy Roomba s9+ at Wellbots – $850

The Roomba j7+ is the latest robo-vac from iRobot and it has new AI-driven computer vision technology the helps it detect objects and move around them as it cleans. It’s thanks to this feature that the company calls the j7 a series of “poop-detecting” devices because they should be able to successfully avoid a robot vacuum’s arch nemesis — your pet’s accidents. iRobot’s Pet Owner Official Promise (or P.O.O.P. for short) ensures that you’ll get a new vacuum if the robot fails to avoid a run in with poop during your first year of ownership.

Otherwise, the j7 series sits right under the s9 series in iRobot’s lineup, meaning it has a number of advanced features like 10x the suction power of a standard Roomba, dual multi-surface rubber brushes and Imprint Smart Mapping, the latter of which lets you direct the vacuum to clean only certain rooms. The “plus” part of the j7+ refers to the clean base, or an extended part of the dock into which the vacuum will empty its debris after every job. So instead of emptying the dustbin yourself after every cleaning, you’ll only have to empty the base about once every two months. Combine that with the smart controls in the iRobot mobile app and you may only have to interact with the Roomba every so often — the app lets you do things like remote start the device, set cleaning schedules and more.

The s9+ is the most advanced device that iRobot makes and it has a few differences from the j7 series. It has 40x the suction power of iRobot’s standard series of vacuums and a design that helps it clean corners better. It also has a 3D sensor that helps it detect and clean around objects, although the technology is slightly different than that in the j7 series. Both are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, too, so you can control the robo-vacs with voice commands if you wish.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.



Source: Engadget – The Roomba j7+ poop-detecting robot vacuum is 0 off right now

Behold, Our Batgirl is Here

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Just last summer, Warner Bros. grabbed In the Heights star Leslie Grace to play Barbara Gordon for the Batgirl movie they’ve been trying to make for about five years. So far, the big news has been all about the cast, such as internet fave Brendan Fraser potentially as arsonist baddie Firefly and the second (well, third

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Source: Gizmodo – Behold, Our Batgirl is Here

Naraka: Bladepoint, As Told By Steam Reviews

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Naraka: Bladepoint, a multiplayer martial arts game by 24 Entertainment, sought to reimagine the artistry of battle through its parkour, beautifully designed characters, and competitive PVP battle royale. While the game flew under the radar of most mainstream gaming conversations in 2021, it recently landed a killer…

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Source: Kotaku – Naraka: Bladepoint, As Told By Steam Reviews

Apple will let dating apps in the Netherlands offer third-party payments

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Apple is once again honoring regulations requiring it to allow alternative payment options in the App Store, although this one is highly specific. As Reutersreports, Apple confirmed it would comply with orders from the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets forcing it to allow third-party payment systems in Tinder and other locally-offered dating apps. The regulator determined on December 24th that Apple had abused its market power by requiring its in-app purchasing platform, and gave Apple until January 15th to make the change if it wanted to avoid fines.

Like with past decisions, Apple wasn’t happy. It contended that allowing third-party options would “compromise the user experience” while posing new privacy and security threats, and reminded developers they (or their payment partners) would be responsible for handling refunds and similar issues. Apple is appealing the ACM’s decision.

The order doesn’t affect other apps available in the Netherlands. However, it reflects growing regulatory opposition to Apple’s App Store business model in multiple countries, including South Korea and the US. Officials are increasingly convinced Apple is using its in-app purchasing requirement to stifle competition, and it won’t be surprising if other countries follow suit before long.



Source: Engadget – Apple will let dating apps in the Netherlands offer third-party payments

Backdoor for Windows, macOS, and Linux went undetected until now

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Backdoor for Windows, macOS, and Linux went undetected until now

Enlarge (credit: Jeremy Brooks / Flickr)

Researchers have uncovered a never-before-seen backdoor written from scratch for systems running Windows, macOS, or Linux that remained undetected by virtually all malware scanning engines.

Researchers from security firm Intezer said they discovered SysJoker—the name they gave the backdoor—on the Linux-based Webserver of a “leading educational institution.” As the researchers dug in, they found SysJoker versions for both Windows and macOS as well. They suspect the cross-platform malware was unleashed in the second half of last year.

The discovery is significant for several reasons. First, fully cross-platform malware is something of a rarity, with most malicious software being written for a specific operating system. The backdoor was also written from scratch and made use of four separate command-and-control servers, an indication that the people who developed and used it were part of an advanced threat actor that invested significant resources. It’s also unusual for previously unseen Linux malware to be found in a real-world attack.

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Source: Ars Technica – Backdoor for Windows, macOS, and Linux went undetected until now

Recommended Reading: 2022 should be a big year for animated films

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The post-Spider-Verse revolution feels alive in 2022’s animation slate

Alicia Haddick, Polygon

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a game-changer for animated films. It blended 2D and CG masterfully, creating a new vision for what movies could be. As we venture into 2022, there’s a massive slate of films that will continue to push boundaries — including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One).

The subversive genius of extremely slow email

Ian Bogost, The Atlantic

An email app sends and receives email more like you would snail mail: once per day. Could subversive projects like this provide relief from the instant interaction Big Tech has transformed our lives into? And if they do, will we be content with the results?

Ailing Amazon workers struggle to find COVID tests themselves

Louise Matsakis, NBC News

Amazon was providing on-site COVID-19 testing at its facilities during the pandemic, but with cases surging to all-time highs, the company’s workforce is struggling to get what they need to clock in safely. 



Source: Engadget – Recommended Reading: 2022 should be a big year for animated films

How to Use a Snowblower Faster so You're Not Freezing Your Ass Off

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Homeowners with a driveway who live somewhere that gets a decent amount of snow each year have a call to make: Whether to shovel, use a snowblower, or hire someone for snow removal. Those who opt to purchase a snowblower typically do so because it’s quicker and easier than shoveling (it definitely is).

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Source: LifeHacker – How to Use a Snowblower Faster so You’re Not Freezing Your Ass Off

Fox News host Dan Bongino suspended on YouTube over COVID-19 misinformation

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Fox News host and right-wing commentator Dan Bongino won’t be able to upload anything to his YouTube channel for a week, according to Forbes and The Hill. The website has temporarily suspended his account over COVID-19 misinformation, specifically for saying masks are useless in preventing the coronavirus’ spread. YouTube updated its rules in 2020 to prohibit “content about COVID-19 that poses a serious risk of egregious harm.” It doesn’t permit videos with medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities, such as the World Health Organization. 

The organization considers wearing masks “a key measure to reduce transmission and save lives.” That’s why YouTube explicitly states that videos containing claims that wearing masks have negative side effects and that they don’t play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of COVID-19 go against its policy. The website has suspended several creators for COVID-19 disinformation in the past, including Sky News Australia, One American News Network and Senator Rand Paul.

Bongino is only getting a week-long suspension, because it’s his first strike under the policy. If he gets another strike within 90 days, he’ll get another two-week suspension. His channel will only be removed if he gets a third strike within three months. In addition to suspending his uploads, YouTube has also demonetized his channel for “repeatedly violating [its] Advertiser-Friendly Guidelines on harmful and dangerous acts.” He will, however, be able to re-apply for the Partner Program after 30 days. 

That said, it looks like Bongino has plans to keep on breaking YouTube’s COVID-19 rules. The Bongino Report website’s Twitter account posted a copy of his email to YouTube, which tells the customer service rep that he will “immediately post content on why masks have been totally ineffective in stopping this pandemic” after his suspension is over. He dared YouTube to do something about it. Bongino also called the website (and, by extension, Google) a “tyrannical, free speech-hating, bullshit, big tech shithole.”



Source: Engadget – Fox News host Dan Bongino suspended on YouTube over COVID-19 misinformation

How Sexual Violence Leads to Disrupted Educations

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female head from behind

Sexual violence can be debilitating both physically and emotionally, and it can be difficult for a person who has experienced sexual violence to return to life before the assault. Indeed, it may feel impossible to return to work in an ordinary capacity or to go about daily activities. When sexual violence affects students, it can be significantly disruptive to education. Many students who report sexual assault and formally file Title IX complaints ultimately end up leaving the institution where the sexual violence occurred, and often after their coursework suffers. Survivors of sexual violence at colleges and universities should know that they do have rights under Title IX and that they may be able to take legal action if an educational institution or Title IX coordinator does not take steps to provide protection or to effectively prohibit retaliation. A Title IX lawyer can provide you with more information. 

Title IX is Supposed to Afford Equal Access to Educational Opportunities

When Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was passed, it was intended to afford equal access to educational opportunities for students regardless of sex. Indeed, the language of Title IX states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Yet for many students who report sexual violence at colleges and universities, and who ultimately file Title IX complaints, the acts of sexual violence themselves and subsequent consequences of the Title IX investigation process result in disrupted educations due to mental and physical health impacts, being retraumatized by the Title IX investigation, and as a result of retaliation from respondents.

Research Suggests Students Who Face Sexual Violence Experience Educational Disruptions

According to a study conducted by the nonprofit organization Advocates for Youth, “39 percent of survivors who reported sexual violence to their schools experienced a substantial disruption in their educations.” Some of those students left the school temporarily, while others withdrew from the college or transferred to another institution. Beyond these interruptions in education, students also experience grade declines and other consequences of sexual violence and the subsequent reporting and investigation process under the school’s Title IX protocols. The Advocates for Youth student emphasizes that “educational interruptions occur not because of sexual violence alone, but because of sexual violence exacerbated by schools’ inadequate or otherwise harmful responses to reports of violence.” 

That report cites the following statistics concerning educational disruptions or interruptions among students who experienced and reported sexual violence:

  • Approximately 27 percent of those students took a leave of absence
  • About 20 percent of those students transferred to another school
  • Almost 10 percent dropped out and did not enroll in another institution

Students who experienced educational disruptions also reported that they had endured “name-calling by school officials,” according to the report and that the investigations were “drawn out for years,” thereby making it difficult or even impossible to move forward and to focus on getting an education.

Any student who is a survivor of sexual violence and has faced unfair treatment during a Title IX process should seek advice from a Title IX attorney who can help.

Written by Spencer Calvert



Source: TG Daily – How Sexual Violence Leads to Disrupted Educations

The underground network bringing Japan’s arcades to the US

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Source: Ars Technica – The underground network bringing Japan’s arcades to the US

Intel ISPC 1.17 Compiler Released With Xe HPG, PS5 & AMD Zen Support

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Intel ended out the week with a huge update to ISPC, the Intel Implicit SPMD Program Compiler. ISPC is Intel’s LLVM-based compiler focused on its C variant with extensions for single program, multiple data (SPMD) programming. Interestingly with this release is the introduction of AMD Zen 1/2/3 targeting and even the PlayStation 5 while also adding support for forthcoming Intel Arc “Alchemist” (Xe HPG) hardware…

Source: Phoronix – Intel ISPC 1.17 Compiler Released With Xe HPG, PS5 & AMD Zen Support

How to Install and Use Podman (Docker Alternative) on Ubuntu 20.04

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Podman is an open-source tool for managing containers, images, volumes, and pods (group of containers). It’s used the libpod library APIs for managing container lifecycles and supports multiple container image formats, including OCI (Open Container Initiative) and Docker images.

Source: LXer – How to Install and Use Podman (Docker Alternative) on Ubuntu 20.04

New Study of 1980s Mars Meteorite Debunks Proof of Ancient Life On Planet

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A four billion-year-old meteorite from Mars that caused a splash here on Earth decades ago contains no evidence of ancient, primitive Martian life after all, scientists have said. In 1996, a NASA-led team announced that organic compounds in the rock appeared to have been left by living creatures. Other scientists were skeptical and researchers chipped away at that premise over the decades, most recently by a team led by the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Andrew Steele. Tiny samples from the meteorite show the carbon-rich compounds are actually the result of water — most likely salty or briny water — flowing over the rock for a prolonged period, Steele said. The findings appear in the Science journal.

During Mars’ wet and early past, at least two impacts occurred near the rock, heating the planet’s surrounding surface, before a third impact bounced it off the red planet and into space millions of years ago. The 4lb (2kg) rock was found in Antarctica in 1984. Groundwater moving through the cracks in the rock, while it was still on Mars, formed the tiny globs of carbon that are present, according to the researchers. The same thing can happen on Earth and could help explain the presence of methane in Mars’ atmosphere, they said. But two scientists who took part in the original study took issue with these latest findings, calling them “disappointing.” In a shared email, they said they stand by their 1996 observations. “While the data presented incrementally adds to our knowledge of (the meteorite), the interpretation is hardly novel, nor is it supported by the research,” wrote Kathie Thomas-Keprta and Simon Clemett, astromaterial researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Unsupported speculation does nothing to resolve the conundrum surrounding the origin of organic matter” in the meteorite, they added.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – New Study of 1980s Mars Meteorite Debunks Proof of Ancient Life On Planet

North Korean hackers stole nearly $400 million in crypto last year

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North Korean hackers stole nearly $400 million in crypto last year

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The past year saw a breathtaking rise in the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, with Bitcoin gaining 60 percent in value in 2021 and Ethereum spiking 80 percent. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the relentless North Korean hackers who feed off that booming crypto economy had a very good year as well.

North Korean hackers stole a total of $395 million worth of crypto coins last year across seven intrusions into cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. The nine-figure sum represents a nearly $100 million increase over the previous year’s thefts by North Korean hacker groups, and it brings their total haul over the past five years to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency alone—not including the uncounted hundreds of millions more the country has stolen from the traditional financial system. That hoard of stolen cryptocurrency now contributes significantly to the coffers of Kim Jong-un’s totalitarian regime as it seeks to fund itself—and its weapons programs—despite the country’s heavily sanctioned, isolated, and ailing economy.

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Source: Ars Technica – North Korean hackers stole nearly 0 million in crypto last year

Link-sharing service Linktree suddenly blocks sex workers

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Yet another service has kicked sex workers off its platform. According to Motherboard, Linktree, a tool that allows you to share multiple links with one URL online, has given sex workers the boot overnight and without warning. Banned users have taken to social networks like Twitter to announce that their accounts were banned “for inappropriate use” and didn’t even get an email or any kind of notice about it. Some were reportedly billed for the service, which costs $9 per months for the Pro tier, but weren’t refunded when their account was canceled. 

Marlene Bonnelly, Head of Trust & Safety at Linktree, told the publication that the accounts that were banned shared a URL that violated its Community Standards. Bonnelly’s statement reads:

“Per our company’s policies, the Linktree accounts banned stemmed from sharing a URL which violated Community Standards by sharing advertisements for the sale of real-life sexual services.”

Sex workers make use of tools like Linktree, because some platforms don’t allow linking out to adult websites such as OnlyFans directly. Perhaps more importantly, they have to diversify make use of several websites, because they’ll never know when a service will suddenly decide to ban adult content. 

Financial services like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, have long been known to close the accounts of people in the business of sex. Patreon banned content of a sexual nature back in 2017, and the number of services that decided not to host sex workers and their content have only grown since the US government passed FOSTA-SESTA a few years ago. Even OnlyFans, which has become synonymous with adult content, tried to ban “sexually explicit conduct” in 2021 until it suspended its planned policy change.

Linktree’s Terms of Service states that a user must not “include any sexually explicit material (including pictures and language) on your Page itself or your account itself.” However, it’s vague and not entirely clear if linking to websites like OnlyFans has always been against its rules. It’s also unclear why Linktree suddenly started banning sex workers when they’d been using the service without issue for quite some time, but people in the business of sex may want to find another link-sharing tool they can use.



Source: Engadget – Link-sharing service Linktree suddenly blocks sex workers