Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Citizen Science: Analyzing Satellite Imagery of the Palisade and Eaton Fires

2025-01-09

This project analyzes the Palisade and Eaton fires in Southern California in January 2025 using imagery from GOES-16 and GOES-18 satellites. Reprojected data is downloaded from UW SSEC's RealEarth program; each image is 128x128 pixels, centered at (34.1, -118.4), with 1.0 km pixels. The code combines data from both satellites for increased resolution and currently measures hotspot areas. This project showcases the accessibility of citizen science, demonstrating how publicly available data can be used for scientific research.

(github.com)

Tech satellite imagery analysis citizen science fire monitoring

Microsoft 365 Price Hike? Cancel Your Subscription to Get the Old Plan!

2025-01-09

Microsoft 365 quietly raised its prices, claiming integration with Copilot AI, but full access requires an additional subscription. Consumer NZ discovered that by pretending to cancel, users can magically access a cheaper 'Classic' plan retaining original features without Copilot costs. This is considered a 'dark pattern', misleading users through UI design, potentially breaching fair trading laws. The article suggests free alternatives and calls for legislation to regulate such practices.

(www.consumer.org.nz)

Tech dark patterns

FIX Parser: Decoding the Financial Information Exchange Protocol

2025-01-09

The FIX Protocol (Financial Information Exchange) is a standardized messaging system for real-time electronic communication of trade-related information in financial markets. It enables seamless exchange of order, execution, and market data between various financial entities. FIXParser decodes FIX messages into human-readable formats, including FIX JSON and a proprietary message representation. The article also highlights FIX Simple Binary Encoding (FIX SBE), a compact, high-performance format for improved data transfer efficiency and reduced latency.

(fixparser.dev)

Tech FIX Protocol

Apple's AI Backfires: Rewording Scam Messages to Look Legit

2025-01-09

Apple's new AI feature, "Apple Intelligence," aims to summarize and prioritize notifications. However, it's inadvertently rewording scam emails and texts to appear more legitimate, even flagging them as priority. This raises concerns that it could lead to more people falling victim to scams. Screenshots from users show the feature failing to distinguish between genuine and fraudulent messages, even prioritizing obvious scams. Experts warn this could make users more susceptible to scams due to the trust placed in Apple's AI summaries. Apple has yet to respond.

(www.crikey.com.au)

Tech Scam Messages

Salesforce Halts Software Engineer Hiring in 2025 Thanks to AI Productivity Boost

2025-01-08

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced that the company will not hire any more software engineers in 2025 due to significant productivity gains from its AI product, Agentforce, exceeding 30%. While Salesforce anticipates growth, the focus shifts to Agentforce, with plans to increase sales staff to promote the AI's value. This decision comes after recent years of layoffs, following earlier mass redundancies attributed to over-hiring during the pandemic.

(www.salesforceben.com)

Tech

LA Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations, NASA JPL Shuts Down

2025-01-08

Massive wildfires raging across Los Angeles County have forced tens of thousands to evacuate, leading to the closure of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Fueled by strong winds, the fires have consumed thousands of acres, resulting in casualties and widespread property damage. California's governor has declared a state of emergency. While JPL itself remains undamaged, many staff have evacuated their homes, with some reporting significant losses. The disaster highlights the severity of climate change and raises concerns about the safety of invaluable scientific data and equipment.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech wildfires California

AT&T Promises Bill Credits After Massive Outage

2025-01-08

Following a major network outage last year caused by a botched update, AT&T is now promising full-day bill credits for future outages. The credits apply to wireless outages lasting at least 60 minutes affecting 10 or more cell towers, and fiber outages lasting at least 20 minutes (using an AT&T-provided gateway). However, the promise has caveats, excluding events like natural disasters or third-party issues. AT&T retains sole discretion on credit eligibility, raising concerns about service reliability and transparency in handling such incidents.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech outage bill credits

White House Unveils Cyber Trust Mark for IoT Devices

2025-01-08

The White House launched a new labeling program, the "Cyber Trust Mark," to help consumers identify more secure internet of things (IoT) devices. Similar to the Energy Star label, the Cyber Trust Mark signifies that a device meets certain government-vetted cybersecurity standards set by NIST. UL Solutions is the primary administrator, with major retailers like Amazon and Best Buy assisting in consumer education. The government plans to mandate procurement of devices with this mark by 2027, driving the IoT market towards improved security.

(www.nextgov.com)

Tech White House

Samsung Expanding AI Subscription Service to Smartphones and Robots

2025-01-08

Samsung is set to roll out its AI subscription service next month, initially launched last December in South Korea for select home appliances. This service will now expand to Galaxy phones and the upcoming Ballie AI robot. Users can subscribe monthly for AI features and optional repair services at a lower upfront cost. It's unclear if the service will expand beyond South Korea, but more information may be revealed at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California on January 22nd. This expansion signals Samsung's aggressive exploration of AI subscription models in both smart home and mobile device sectors.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech AI Subscription Galaxy Phones

Microsoft Ends OneDrive's Unlicensed Free Ride

2025-01-08

Microsoft is closing a loophole that allowed users to store data for free in unlicensed OneDrive accounts. Starting January 27th, 2025, accounts unlicensed for over 93 days will have their data moved to the recycle bin or archived. Data remains in the recycle bin for 93 days before permanent deletion. Organizations needing to reactivate accounts face a $0.60/GB reactivation fee and a $0.05/GB monthly fee. This move addresses security and compliance concerns.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech Cloud Storage

Atlas of Space: An Interactive Guide to the Cosmos

2025-01-08

Atlas of Space isn't just a static star chart; it's an immersive, interactive online platform that lets you explore the known universe. It presents the vast data of planets, stars, and galaxies in an intuitive way, providing rich detail. Whether you want to understand the composition of the planets in our solar system or delve into the mysteries of distant galaxies, this platform caters to your curiosity. Zoom in on specific celestial bodies, learn about their size, distance, composition, and embark on a truly immersive journey through space. This is an invaluable resource for astronomy enthusiasts, students, and anyone with a thirst for cosmic knowledge.

(atlasof.space)

Tech interactive map astronomical data

Nvidia CEO: AI Chip Performance Outpaces Moore's Law

2025-01-08

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared at CES 2025 that the company's AI chips are improving faster than Moore's Law. He attributed this to Nvidia's ability to simultaneously innovate across the entire stack – architecture, chip, system, libraries, and algorithms. The new GB200 NVL72 data center superchip boasts a 30-40x performance increase in AI inference workloads compared to its predecessor. Huang believes this will lead to lower AI inference costs and further advancements in AI model capabilities.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech AI chips

Nvidia CEO Casts Doubt on Imminent Quantum Computing Breakthrough, Sending Stocks Plunging

2025-01-08

Shares of IonQ and other quantum computing companies plummeted on Wednesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that truly 'useful' quantum computers are likely still two decades away. This announcement dampened recent excitement surrounding the field, following a significant breakthrough by Alphabet last month. Stocks like Quantum Computing Inc., D-Wave, and Rigetti saw drops exceeding 30%, highlighting the market's sensitivity to the timeline of quantum computing's practical applications.

(uk.finance.yahoo.com)

Tech

Akamai Exits China's CDN Market

2025-01-08

Akamai announced it will cease offering CDN services in mainland China on June 30, 2026. This isn't due to operational difficulties in China, but rather a strategic shift towards cloud computing and security services, which now account for two-thirds of its revenue. Akamai is recommending its Chinese customers migrate to CDN services offered by Chinese companies like Tencent Cloud and Wangsu Science & Technology, offering support for the transition. This move reflects a shift in Akamai's approach to the Chinese market and highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by global tech companies operating within China.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech China Market

Surprisingly Usable Word Processors on the Commodore VIC-20

2025-01-08

This article explores several surprisingly capable word processors for the Commodore VIC-20, a machine with a notoriously small screen. VICWRITER, with its typewriter-like interface, offers comfortable editing. Quick Brown Fox stands out with 80-column display support and RS-232 communication capabilities. Speedscript impresses with its word wrap and efficient editing commands. Write Now is also briefly mentioned, showcasing the ingenuity of software developers in overcoming hardware limitations.

(techtinkering.com)

Tech Retro Computing Word Processors

Spooky Quantum Entanglement Found Inside Protons

2025-01-08

Scientists have used high-energy particle collisions to discover, for the first time, quantum entanglement within individual protons. This 'spooky action at a distance' occurs even at the incredibly small scale of a proton, challenging our understanding of its internal structure. The team employed a 2017-developed technique analyzing the 'messiness' of particle sprays after collisions to detect entanglement. Results showed quarks and gluons are maximally entangled, offering insights into the strong interactions within protons and the building blocks of atomic nuclei. This discovery could significantly impact future research in nuclear physics, such as investigating how the nuclear environment affects entanglement within protons.

(www.space.com)

Tech proton high-energy physics quarks and gluons Quantum Entanglement Particle Physics

Balcony Solar Power Takes Off in Germany

2025-01-08

Facing high energy costs, Germans are embracing balcony solar panels in droves. Over 800,000 kits were installed in 2024, a tenfold increase from 2022. These affordable, easy-to-install panels generate electricity even on cloudy days, powering household appliances. Government subsidies and simplified installation procedures have fueled this trend, raising awareness of renewable energy and potentially boosting broader solar adoption.

(www.france24.com)

Tech energy saving balcony solar

Mountain Biking Spinal Cord Injuries Surpass Hockey and Other High-Risk Sports

2025-01-08

New research from UBC's Faculty of Medicine reveals a shockingly high number of spinal cord injuries from mountain biking, exceeding those from hockey and other high-risk sports. Between 2008 and 2022, 58 people in British Columbia sustained spinal cord injuries while mountain biking, compared to only 3 from ice hockey. In recent years, mountain biking-related injuries have been seven times higher than those from skiing and snowboarding. The annual number in BC rivals or surpasses those from amateur football across the entire US. The study, published in *Neurotrauma Reports*, found most injured were healthy young men (93% male, average age 35.5). 77.5% were injured after going over their handlebars. While most wore helmets (86.3%), this didn't eliminate risk. The estimated lifetime cost of these injuries to BC is $195.4 million. The study calls for increased awareness and a discussion on safety improvements.

(www.med.ubc.ca)

Tech mountain biking spinal cord injury

Cracking a 512-bit DKIM Key for Under $8

2025-01-08

Researchers cracked a 512-bit DKIM key from redfin.com in under 86 hours using a cloud server costing less than $8. They used the CADO-NFS tool to factor the modulus. Surprisingly, Yahoo Mail, Mailfence, and Tuta still accepted signatures generated with this insecure key. This highlights the risks of using short DKIM keys; email providers should reject signatures from keys shorter than 1024 bits, and domain owners should update their DKIM records accordingly.

(dmarcchecker.app)

Tech key cracking

China's Xiangshan RISC-V Project Aims for 2025 Launch, Challenging Arm's Dominance

2025-01-08

The Xiangshan project, spearheaded by the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aims to develop high-performance chips using the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture. Its third-generation chip, Kunminghu, is slated for a 2025 release, targeting performance comparable to Arm's Neoverse 2. Using the Mulan PSL-2.0 license, the designs will be fully open-source, posing a significant challenge to established players like Arm and reducing China's reliance on foreign technology. While the project has faced delays, its open-source nature and ambitious performance goals make it a compelling development to watch.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech Xiangshan Project Chip

DEF CON Security Chief Faces Massive Medical Bills After Neck Injury

2025-01-08

Marc Rogers, DEF CON's head of security, is facing tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills after a neck injury left him temporarily quadriplegic. Initially experiencing minor symptoms, delayed MRI scans due to insurance issues worsened his condition. He underwent emergency surgery and is now recovering. Despite the substantial medical costs, he's partially regained function and continues his cybersecurity work. Friends have launched a fundraiser to help cover the expenses.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech medical emergency fundraiser

Bitwarden Service Status: Recent Outages and Latency Issues

2025-01-08

Bitwarden password manager has experienced several service outages and latency issues recently. On January 7th, US and EU cloud services, including Identity Service, RESTful API, and Web Vault, underwent maintenance and experienced intermittent access problems. On January 8th, US cloud services also experienced degraded service, with users encountering unexpected errors or access denied during login. The Bitwarden team is actively monitoring and resolving the issues. Users are advised to try different network connections to resolve access problems.

(status.bitwarden.com)

Tech outages

GPUs Are So Fast, Why Do We Still Need CPUs?

2025-01-08

A viral video uses a painting duel to illustrate the performance difference between CPUs and GPUs: a CPU painstakingly draws a smiley face, while a GPU instantly renders the Mona Lisa. But this overlooks a crucial point: program types. CPUs excel at sequential instructions, while GPUs thrive on parallel processing. Most applications blend sequential and parallel code; for example, a program might be 50% parallelizable. CPUs are like head chefs, adept at handling unexpected events; GPUs are like line cooks, mastering repetitive tasks. Chips like Apple's M3 integrate both, combining CPU flexibility with GPU computing power.

(codingstuff.substack.com)

Tech parallel processing

Sci-Hub Hosts 85% of Retracted Papers Without Indication

2025-01-08

Ars Technica reports that the research paper sharing site Sci-Hub continues to host a significant number of retracted papers, with 85% lacking any indication of retraction. Sci-Hub circumvents paywalls by illegally obtaining PDFs, providing access to researchers. However, its database lacks an effective update mechanism, meaning retracted papers remain available, potentially leading to miscitations and wasted resources. Researchers urge Sci-Hub to update its database to flag retracted papers and uphold academic integrity.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech retracted papers academic integrity

How a Browser Silently Blocks RWX Execution

2025-01-08

A security researcher discovered a browser's EDR-like mechanism that blocks RWX shellcode execution. By hooking the BaseThreadInitThunk() API, the browser intercepts thread creation and checks if the shellcode memory attributes are PAGE_EXECUTE_READ. If not, it redirects the thread's execution to a 'sinkhole', preventing malicious code from running. While simple, this unexpected feature highlights a browser's proactive security measures, significantly increasing the difficulty of exploiting RWX memory regions.

(rwxstoned.github.io)

Tech browser security thread injection

Hacker News: Inside the Operations of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew

2025-01-08

A KrebsOnSecurity article exposes the inner workings of a prolific voice phishing gang. The group abuses legitimate Apple and Google services, using spoofed phone numbers, phishing emails, and system messages to defraud victims. They even leverage an official Apple support line to send confirmation messages, building trust. The gang has a clear division of labor, including callers, operators, drainers, and owners. The article reveals how they use data breaches and automated tools to target victims, and details internal conflicts and betrayals. The incident highlights the importance of cybersecurity and exposes the complex operation of cybercrime groups.

(krebsonsecurity.com)

Tech voice phishing

Reverse-Engineering the Stone Age: An Experimental Archaeologist's Lab

2025-01-07

Metin Eren, an archaeologist at Kent State University, runs an experimental archaeology lab where he and his team recreate and test ancient technologies. Their work ranges from flint knapping and spear throwing to analyzing bullet ricochet marks and butchering bison with ancient tools. Eren emphasizes the rigorous scientific method behind his seemingly playful experiments, publishing numerous papers annually. His research highlights the limitations of traditional archaeology and the value of hands-on experimentation in understanding past cultures and technologies. The lab's focus is on using experimental archaeology to understand cultural evolution and the limitations of the archeological record.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech Experimental Archaeology Stone Age Technology Cultural Evolution

US Sues Six Major Landlords for Algorithmic Price Fixing

2025-01-07

The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against six of the nation's largest landlords, accusing them of using algorithms to manipulate rental prices and harm renters. Cortland Management settled, agreeing to cooperate and cease using competitors' sensitive data. The lawsuit alleges these landlords colluded to fix prices by sharing data through common algorithms and direct communication, exchanging sensitive information like rent and occupancy rates. Software company RealPage is also implicated, accused of facilitating the price manipulation. The case raises concerns about algorithmic pricing and data sharing in real estate, highlighting the need for tech regulation.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech algorithmic pricing real estate

Enron's 'The Egg': A Home Nuclear Reactor?

2025-01-07

Enron has unveiled 'The Egg,' a compact home nuclear reactor promising safe, efficient, and affordable energy. Using Uranium-Zirconium Hydride fuel rods, it generates heat via nuclear fission, converting it to electricity with a 3D-printed Inconel heat exchanger. Multiple safety features, including automatic shutdown in overheating and advanced radiation shielding, are highlighted. Enron claims 'The Egg' is significantly cheaper than traditional systems, offering reliable, constant power. However, the safety and viability of home nuclear reactors remain debated, requiring further scrutiny of Enron's claims.

(enron.com)

Tech nuclear reactor home energy

Real-Time Bidding: The Mass Surveillance System You've Never Heard Of

2025-01-07

Every targeted ad you see is powered by a system called "real-time bidding" (RTB). This system isn't just about delivering ads; it's a massive surveillance network. RTB broadcasts your personal information—location, IP address, interests, and more—to thousands of companies daily. This data fuels targeted advertising but also flows to government agencies and data brokers for surveillance and commercial purposes. The article exposes how RTB facilitates government surveillance, poses national security risks, and how banning online behavioral advertising is crucial for protecting individual privacy.

(www.eff.org)

Tech surveillance real-time bidding

Category: Tech