Miscellaneous Tech News
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@black3dynamite said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Users alarmed by undisclosed microphone in Nest Security System
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret," Google says.
Google's Nest smart home brand is in hot water this week after news surfaced (via Daring Fireball) that its home security system, Nest Secure, shipped with an undisclosed microphone. Google activated the microphone earlier this month for Google Assistant functionality, but that meant the device sat in users' homes for up to a year as an unknown potential listening device.
Holy cow, that's a huge deal.
That’s scary.
Agree. Huge deal but not surprising in the least!
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@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Users alarmed by undisclosed microphone in Nest Security System
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret," Google says.
Google's Nest smart home brand is in hot water this week after news surfaced (via Daring Fireball) that its home security system, Nest Secure, shipped with an undisclosed microphone. Google activated the microphone earlier this month for Google Assistant functionality, but that meant the device sat in users' homes for up to a year as an unknown potential listening device.
While I agree this is an issue, anyone who has purchased these products should be plainly aware that this functionality & hardware is there, by the very nature of the brand.
Voice enabled everything.
"Okay Google" is the phrase. So anything from Google should be expected to have this functionality.
But it was NOT voice enabled.
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@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Users alarmed by undisclosed microphone in Nest Security System
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret," Google says.
Google's Nest smart home brand is in hot water this week after news surfaced (via Daring Fireball) that its home security system, Nest Secure, shipped with an undisclosed microphone. Google activated the microphone earlier this month for Google Assistant functionality, but that meant the device sat in users' homes for up to a year as an unknown potential listening device.
While I agree this is an issue, anyone who has purchased these products should be plainly aware that this functionality & hardware is there, by the very nature of the brand.
Voice enabled everything.
"Okay Google" is the phrase. So anything from Google should be expected to have this functionality.
But it was NOT voice enabled.
That part I get, as it wasn't a part of the marketing. But everything from Alphabet should be understood as Voice enabled.
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Especially since Nest is in squarely in the homesumer class with the other Google Home products.
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Facebook 'failed to protect’ health data in private groups
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47308655 -
Guidemaster: The least-awful Android phones
Over 400 Android devices were released last year. Here are the good ones.
It's often said that a strength of the Android ecosystem is the sheer number of manufacturers out there producing devices, but that also means there is an absolutely intimidating amount of devices to pick from. Over 400 Android devices were released just in 2018—and the idea of buying a single device and then living with it for years can be daunting. Throw in tons of different price points, carrier compatibility, and user preferences, and "What Android phone should I buy?" can be a very complicated question.
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Google Play apps with >10 million installs drain batteries, jack up data charges
DrainerBot can download gigabytes worth of hidden videos to infected devices.
The apps catered to a wide variety of interests, from makeup and beauty to mobile gaming. Under the hood, the apps download hidden video ads to the phones that consume as much as 10GB per month of bandwidth. While the videos are never viewed or visible by anyone, the downloads generate fraudulent advertising revenue each time a legitimate end user device appears to view a video while visiting a spoofed but legitimate publisher site.
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@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Facebook 'failed to protect’ health data in private groups
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47308655If anyone is surprised by this, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
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Does it fold in half?! If not I'm not interested! Plebeian technology is rigid, my phone MUST FOLD!
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@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Does it fold in half?! If not I'm not interested! Plebeian technology is rigid, my phone MUST FOLD!
Not this one.
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@NerdyDad Announced
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@NerdyDad said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Does it fold in half?! If not I'm not interested! Plebeian technology is rigid, my phone MUST FOLD!
Not this one.
It will... once.
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Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, and S10e hands-on: Samsung is slowly getting better
Our brief experience with three phones, two wearables, and a tablet.
Samsung presented not one, not two, not three, but four new phones at its Unpacked event in San Francisco yesterday. The devices included three variants of the conglomerate's S-series flagship phones—the Galaxy S10 as the default model, the S10 Plus as a larger variant, and the S10e as an iPhone XR-like lower-priced alternative, though in this case, the more affordable one is smaller than both of the other two. Samsung also introduced the radical (and extremely pricy) Galaxy Fold.
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Samsung officially debuts Galaxy S10 smartphone after weeks of rumors, leaks
The Galaxy S10e starts at $749, the S10 at $899, and the S10 Plus at $999.
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Facebook VPN that snoops on users is pulled from Android store
Facebook also stops recruiting new users for controversial "Research" program.
Facebook's Onavo website still exists, but links to the Android and iOS apps are both broken. Facebook pulled the app from the iPhone and iPad App Store in August 2018 after Apple determined that Onavo violated its data-collection rules. Facebook purchased Onavo, an Israeli company, in 2013.
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osTicket v1.11 Released
https://osticket.com/blog/2019/02/07/osticket-v1-11-released-2/ -
Dell XPS 13 2019 review: Small and mighty, now with a proper webcam
Key fixes in this year's model mean the $899 XPS 13 has few things holding it back.
Dell gave its XPS laptop an overhaul last year, but 2019 is all about refinement. Announced at CES, this year's XPS 13 laptop looks largely the same as the 2018 model, but it has a few new and improved features that attempt to right some of the wrongs of the previous generation.
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https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/02/payroll-provider-gives-extortionists-a-payday/
Payroll software provider Apex Human Capital Management suffered a ransomware attack this week that severed payroll management services for hundreds of the company’s customers for nearly three days. Faced with the threat of an extended outage, Apex chose to pay the ransom demand and begin the process of restoring service to customers.
A lesson in why backups aren't really backups if they are still on the network. (My own assumption in this case.)
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Sony’s latest flagship phone is the 21:9 Xperia 1, and it’s very tall
Plus two new mid-rangers. But no sign of a new compact phone, sadly.
Sales of the Japanese tech firm’s smartphones have been in free fall for the past few years, but the company is hoping to reverse its fortunes with a new top-end model (the Xperia 1) and two new mid-rangers (the Xperias 10 and 10 Plus). I was able to get some brief hands-on time with the three new devices at an event in Manhattan earlier this month.
