Users using Google to search for and download the KeePass password manager and the Notepad++ text editor may have inadvertently gotten saddled with malware, says Jérôme Segura, Director of Threat Intelligence at Malwarebytes.
The post Google Ads for KeePass, Notepad++ Lead to Malware appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Google Ads for KeePass, Notepad++ Lead to Malware
Yesterday’s under wraps talk between SAG-AFTRA leadership and Hollywood’s elite actors has been revealed to be an offer to lend a hand to working class talent within the union from those in the limelight.
Source: Gizmodo – George Clooney Leads A-List Actors in Offering 0 Million Fund for SAG-AFTRA Dues
The FCC has unanimously approved plans by several tech companies to use the 6GHz band for wireless devices. From a report: FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposed the new rules, which would authorize very low power (VLP) operations — meaning their signals won’t be able to go very far — in about 850MHz of the spectrum, on September 27th. The rules will also allow devices to “use higher power levels” so long as they’re geofenced to keep from interfering with actual licensed 6GHz usage, and the FCC will be taking comments on other ways it can expand 6GHz spectrum usage by technology devices.
A September Bloomberg report pointed to some of the kinds of devices the FCC’s affirmative vote could open up, including in-car connections, mobile virtual or augmented reality devices, and more. The FCC originally opened up 1,200MHz of the 6GHz spectrum for unlicensed use by Wi-Fi routers and client devices (think smartphones or laptops), giving home networks far more wireless overhead than existing Wi-Fi standards already had. This new approval expands the spectrum for much more general use.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – FCC Greenlights Superfast Wi-Fi Tethering for AR and VR Headsets
While I prefer solo travel, I know that traveling with another person can be a beautiful thing. When you’re hiking to a waterfall, or getting lost in a new city, or gazing at the Taj Mahal, you might feel a pang of regret if you don’t have someone with you to share in the moment. A travel companion can not only make…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Travel With Someone Who Sucks
Nothing can travel faster than light, or 299,792,458 meters per second. But a certain group of particles acts as if it can, a team of physicists recently concluded, potentially paving the way for a powerful light source that could reveal new kinds of science.
Source: Gizmodo – Faster-Than-Light ‘Quasiparticles’ Touted as Futuristic Light Source
Millions of 23andMe users had their info leaked once again after being hacked earlier this month, according to a report by TechCrunch Thursday. The hacker, who goes by the name “Golem” on multiple dark web forums, published user information containing records of over four million people on Tuesday.
Source: Gizmodo – 23andMe Users’ Info Leaked Again, Millions of Records Found on Dark Web
Enlarge (credit: Google / Ron Amadeo)
Google used to be a company that rarely did layoffs, but this year job cuts are almost a monthly occurrence. The latest group to see cuts is Google’s news division, which CNBC’s Jennifer Elias reports is losing an estimated 40-45 jobs, according to an Alphabet Workers Union spokesperson.
Google News is one of the biggest drivers of traffic on the Internet, thanks to spots at the very top of Google Search results, on the Chrome mobile new tab page, in the Google search app, on some Android home screens, and on the news.google.com home page. Online misinformation is surging, and between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas, worldwide regulators are cracking down on news sites spreading false information. Usually Google’s content concern from regulators revolves around YouTube, but now Google seemingly has fewer people to deal with misinformation in one of its biggest content-promotion divisions.
A Google spokesperson told CNBC there’s nothing to worry about, saying, “These internal changes have no impact on our misinformation and information quality work in News.” A staff engineer at Google News had a different take on the layoffs, though, posting on LinkedIn, “Today Google laid off a bunch of workers who worked on Google News. These are some of the best and brightest people I’ve ever worked with, and frankly, I don’t expect the calculus behind this decision will ever make sense to me. We’re definitely worse off without them.”
Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – More Google layoffs: Google News cuts dozens of jobs
Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. formally started production of chips using its N3 (3nm-class) process technology back in late 2022, the company did not recognize any meaningful N3 revenue in Q1 and Q2. This week as part of the company’s Q3 earnings announcement, the foundry finally recognized its first N3-related revenue, with N3 accounting for 6% of TSMC’s Q3 revenue. Meanwhile, advanced nodes now account for 59% of TSMC’s earnings.
For their first quarter of significant 3nm revenue, TSMC booked roughly $1.03 billion in income for the new node. To put the number into generational context, TSMC recognized its first N5 revenue in Q3 2020, where back then the technology accounted for $0.97 billion in revenue making 5nm-class chips – or about 8% of TSMC’s revenue share.
The strong start to N3 revenue was not unexpected, if only due to the ever-rising prices that TSMC is thought to charge for their cutting-edge wafers. Still, even with a billion dollar quarter, TSMC is just getting started; the company previously warned that its 3nm ramp would take some time.
Going forward, TSMC’s long-term plans for the 3nm node call for the company to eventually offer several variations on the process. TSMC’s baseline N3 (aka N3B) node uses up to 25 EUV layers, some with expensive EUV double-patterning, allowing higher transistor density but at higher costs – and few customers. More clients have opted for the more cost-efficient N3E process technology with up to 19 EUV layers, no EUV double-patterning, offering lower logic density, but better yields and a wider process window. TSMC is set to begin to ramp up N3E in Q4 2024 and with this version its 3nm-class process technology is expected to shine.
“Our business in the third quarter was supported by the strong ramp of our industry-leading 3nm technology and higher demand for 5nm technologies, partially offset by customers’ ongoing inventory adjustment,” said C.C. Wei, chief executive of TSMC, at the conference call with analysts and investors. “N3 is already involving production with good yield, and we are seeing a strong ramp in the second half of this year, supported by both HPC and smartphone applications. […] N3E has passed qualification and achieved performance and yield targets and will start volume production in fourth quarter of this year. “
TSMC’s total revenue Q3 2023 hit $17.28 billion, a 14.6% decrease year-over-year, but a 10.2% increase from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the company’s net income increased 16.1% quarter-over-quarter to $6.521 billion, whereas gross margin for the quarter was 54.3%
Source: AnandTech – TSMC Q3 Earnings: 3nm Production Node Accounts for 6% of Revenue
First, there were phone calls. Then we switched to texting, and stopped talking to each other for a while. Still, there was something missing: Phone calls take too long, while texting isn’t convenient for lengthy thoughts. And thus, the voice message was born—a simple way to share your message off the cuff without…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Send Disappearing Voice Messages in WhatsApp
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing three cryptocurrency companies — Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group (DCG) — over claims they misled investors, leading to the loss of over $1 billion. From a report: In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, James says their alleged fraudulent schemes affected over 230,000 investors. The lawsuit targets Gemini, the crypto exchange owned by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and its Earn program. The firm marketed Gemini Earn as a high-yield program that involved customers investing with Genesis Global Capital, which is owned by DCG. However, James alleges that Gemini knew investing with Genesis was risky and misled customers as a result.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – New York Sues Crypto Firms For Losing Over Billion
India has announced plans to build its own space station by 2035, and carry out a human mission to the moon five years later. The country has ramped up its space program in recent years, becoming the first in the world to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole just this past August. Shortly after, in September, it launched a probe to study the sun. But, human spaceflight is new territory. Its upcoming Gaganyaan mission will be the first time India has sent astronauts to space using its own capabilities, and it’s now gearing up to start testing the vehicles that will support a human crew.
#ISRO TO SEND HUMANS TO THE MOON BY 2040!!! 🌖@PMOIndia held a meeting with DoS today where a series of Chandrayaan missions, a Venus orbiter mission and a Mars lander mission were officially announced!
He also directed ISRO to set up a space station (Bharatiya Space Station)… pic.twitter.com/3cxonsYvVW
— ISRO Spaceflight (@ISROSpaceflight) October 17, 2023
In a meeting led by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country’s space agency laid out a plan to achieve its first crewed launch in 2025 ahead of its eventual moon mission. It has a demonstration flight of its Crew Escape System Test Vehicle currently set for Oct 21, and will later send its launch vehicle on three test missions without humans on board. All in all, India is planning around 20 tests in the leadup to sending astronauts to space.
The country says it’s building a new launch pad and a next generation launch vehicle to make its admittedly “ambitious” other goals possible. In addition to establishing the Bharatiya Antariksha Station — or the Indian Space Station — by 2035 and launching a crewed mission to the moon by 2040, India also has its sights on interplanetary missions. Modi expressed interest in the development of a Venus orbiter and a Mars lander, too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/india-wants-to-build-its-own-space-station-and-send-astronauts-to-the-moon-by-2040-191533155.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – India wants to build its own space station and send astronauts to the moon by 2040
AMD today published a new CPU microcode revision for Family 19h processors, which include Zen 3 / Zen 3+ / Zen 4 processors. As is sadly standard, no change-log is provided…
Source: Phoronix – AMD Family 19h CPU Microcode Updated (2023-10-19 Rev)
2018’s Spider-Man was my first PlayStation platinum trophy. Insomniac’s open-world adventure game made finding collectibles and 100 percenting the game straightforward and, even more importantly, a lot of fun. Fortunately, it’s no different in the just-released sequel. Here’s how to earn every regular and hidden…
Source: Kotaku – Make Spider-Man 2 Your First PS5 Platinum Trophy
As more and more fitness trackers and smartwatches come out, I’ve noticed that manufacturers are leaning more into their own ecosystems. Apple, of course, has been doing this for years, but Google is starting to do it with its new devices, too, and the Fitbit Charge 6 is a perfect example of how choosing a fitness…
Source: LifeHacker – The Fitbit Charge 6 Integrates More of the Google Ecosystem
Rapper “Pras” Michel, one-third of the legendary hip-hop group The Fugees, accused his lawyer from a recent federal criminal case of using AI in his closing arguments. Ars Technica reports that the “Ghetto Supastar” artist claims his one-time attorney, David Kenner, used an AI program with which the lawyer potentially had a financial interest. Pras, whose legal name is Prakazrel Samuel Michel, was found guilty in April of 10 counts of conspiring and acting as an unregistered foreign government agent and faces up to 20 years in prison. The rapper is seeking a new trial.
Pras’ motion for a new trial says Kenner “used an experimental artificial intelligence (AI) program to draft the closing argument, ignoring the best arguments and conflating the charged schemes, and he then publicly boasted that the AI program ‘turned hours or days of legal work into seconds.’” That quote was pulled from a promotional article for EyeLevel.AI, “litigation assistance technology” that lists an entity called CaseFile Connect as a launch partner. The motion says CaseFile Connect’s principal address is the same as Kenner’s law firm.
“It is now apparent that Kenner and his co-counsel appear to have had an undisclosed financial stake in the AI program, and they experimented with it during Michel’s trial so they could issue a press release afterward promoting the program—a clear conflict of interest,” Pras’ motion alleges.
The Fugee claims Kenner’s use of the AI tool led him to make embarrassing musical misattributions in his closing arguments. It accuses the lawyer of attributing the lyrics “Every single day, every time I pray, I will be missing you” to Pras’ group, The Fugees. (That line was from Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’s 1997 Biggie Smalls tribute “I’ll Be Missing You.”) The motion also alleges Kenner credited Michel’s 1998 solo hit “Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)” to The Fugees.
In addition to the AI accusations, the motion alleges that Kenner was “ineffective” and that his actions “severely prejudiced the defense.” It says the attorney “failed to familiarize himself with the charged statutes, causing him to overlook critical weaknesses in the Government’s case.” In addition, it accuses Kenner of failing to understand the facts or allegations while outsourcing trial prep and strategy to contract attorneys at a friend’s e-discovery company (among other allegations).
Pras was found guilty in April of funneling money from Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Prosecutors insisted Pras donated the money for Low, while the rapper argued he was only trying to help the businessman take a photo with Obama. Pras then allegedly tried to quash a DOJ investigation and influence an extradition case.
If Pras’ complaint sounds familiar, it parallels the “ChatGPT lawyer” Steven Schwartz, who cited fictional cases as an erroneous precedent in a legal document. Schwartz, his associate Peter LoDuca and their law firm Levidow, Levidow and Oberman were fined $5,000 for having “abandoned their responsibilities” in the case. Schwartz claimed he used the chatbot to “supplement” his research while insisting he was “unaware of the possibility that [ChatGPT’s] content could be false.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fugees-rapper-pras-accuses-his-lawyer-of-using-ai-in-closing-arguments-185311864.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Fugees rapper Pras accuses his lawyer of using AI in closing arguments
With a purported userbase of over 500 million, WinRAR is one of the world’s most popular file compression tools thanks in part to its never-ending free trial. However, with such prevalence, WinRAR is also a juicy target for hackers to gain a foothold or escalation on a device. Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has discovered several government-backed
Source: Hot Hardware – Anyone Using WinRAR Needs To Update ASAP Due To A Serious Security Flaw
Spotted by sleuths at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair this past weekend, footage of what is likely the most interesting product showcased at the fair has come to light. Laptop OEM Emdoor is getting ready to launch its first gaming-focused product, and that’s an 8″ gaming handheld that you’ll see pictured throughout here.
If we’re being honest,
Source: Hot Hardware – Emdoor Unveils First Handheld Gaming PC With An Intel Meteor Lake CPU Inside
Gemini Trust Company, a cryptocurrency exchange helmed by the infamous Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, just got hit with a lawsuit alleging that it defrauded investors. The suit was brought forth by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the same AG currently prosecuting former president Donald Trump on sweeping charges of fraud.
This isn’t solely directed at Gemini, as cryptocurrency firms Digital Currency Group (DGC) and Genesis Global Capital are also named in the suit. All told, the civil lawsuit alleges that the three companies collectively defrauded 230,000 investors to the tune of more than $1 billion, as reported by Axios. The AG also charged former Genesis CEO Soichiro “Michael” Moro and DCG founder and chief Barry Silbert for trying to conceal the true financial condition of its lending unit.
As for the Winklevoss twins and Gemini, the suit alleges that the digital asset platform didn’t properly disclose the financials of Genesis before partnering with the crypto exchange to form an investment platform called Gemini Earn in 2021. The suit alleges that Gemini announced that Genesis was a “trusted company” despite internal risk analyses to the contrary.
It goes on to allege that in February 2022, Gemini revised its estimate of Genesis’ credit rating, lowering it from the investment-grade BBB to the junk-grade CCC, all without publicly revealing this change to investors and continuing to advertise correlated investments as “low-risk.” Additionally, it’s been alleged that many of the company’s risk assessors took their own money out of Gemini Earn without informing investors.
There are even allegations that more than 60 percent of Genesis’ financials were tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s disgraced hedge fund Alameda Research. To that end, the connection between Gemini and Genesis is eerily similar to the ties between FTX and Alameda Research, and we all know what happened there.
Gemini took to the preferred social media platform for crypto-enthusiasts, X/Twitter, to refute the allegations, writing that it was simply the victim of fraud on the part of Genesis and DCG. It’s notable the firm didn’t comment on what they knew about Genesis’s poor financial condition and when they knew it, placing the onus of blame on Genesis CEO Moro and DCG founder Silbert.
“Blaming a victim for being defrauded and lied to makes no sense and we look forward to defending ourselves against this inconsistent position,” Gemini wrote.
For his part, DCG founder Barry Silbert penned a statement that completely refuted his side of the allegations, writing that he is “shocked by the baseless allegations in the Attorney General’s complaint” going on to say that he intends to “fight these claims in court.” Cameron Winklevoss hasn’t issued his own statement, but did retweet Gemini’s post on the matter.
Genesis ceased all cryptocurrency trading last month, as reported by CoinDesk, after filing for bankruptcy protection back in January. Today’s lawsuit seeks to recoup the $1 billion in losses and hopes to ban all three companies from the financial industry in New York.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/winklevoss-owned-crypto-firm-hit-by-lawsuit-alleging-it-defrauded-investors-of-1-billion-183740973.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Winklevoss-owned crypto firm hit by lawsuit alleging it defrauded investors of billion
Don’t buy those tickets for Deadpool 3 just yet. With the actor’s strike still ongoing, it seems as if Merc with the Mouth may not make his original, May 3, 2024 release date.
Source: Gizmodo – Deadpool 3 Likely to Miss Its May 2024 Release Date
