Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Outdated Tech Costs Bank a GDPR Lawsuit

2025-06-11

A Belgian bank lost a court case due to its outdated EBCDIC system's inability to handle accented characters, resulting in incorrect customer name records. This highlights the importance of system modernization in the digital age and the strict accuracy requirements for personal data under GDPR. The case raises concerns about the continued use of legacy technologies like EBCDIC, far inferior to Unicode, and their limitations in data processing.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech

The Art of Grouping Attribute Values in HTML: Making Code More Readable

2025-06-02

This article introduces an improved way to organize HTML class attributes. By adding spaces, newlines, or other characters within the class attribute value, different CSS classes can be grouped more clearly. For example, using `[card] [section box] [bg-base color-primary]` or `card | section box | bg-base color-primary` instead of `card-section-background1-colorRed`. While this approach isn't without limitations (optimizers might strip spaces, pre-processors might reorder values), it can improve code readability and maintainability, especially in large projects. The author also demonstrates more creative ways to enhance class attribute readability using emojis or comments, reminding readers to prioritize code understandability and teamwork.

(shkspr.mobi)

Development

The Mystery of the Missing $10 eReader: Why Haven't Prices Dropped?

2025-06-02

In 2012, a promising £8 e-reader, the txtr beagle, was reviewed but never widely released. Today, the cheapest e-readers remain around £100. This article explores why. The reasons include the niche market for e-reading, high costs due to e-ink screen patents, Google's restrictions on Android for e-ink devices, and the lack of a sustainable business model for low-cost manufacturers without content cross-subsidization. The author expresses a desire for a cheap e-reader but concludes that this is unlikely until patents expire or a new business model emerges.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech consumer electronics

New WhatsApp Scam: Robot Voice Leads to Friend Request

2025-05-31

A new WhatsApp scam involves robocalls leaving a number and immediately hanging up, prompting victims to add the number on WhatsApp. The scam leverages curiosity and a lack of caution towards unknown numbers. Despite the multiple steps involved, the sheer volume of calls might make it effective. The author questions the scam's efficiency and asks for comments from those who've found this approach successful.

(shkspr.mobi)

Misc

LCP eBook DRM: A Cautiously Optimistic Assessment

2025-05-09

Readium's LCP eBook DRM scheme allows offline reading after download, eliminating the need for constant online verification. It uses AES-256 encryption and is authorized via an .lcpl file containing decryption information. While the scheme relies on a proprietary decryption BLOB, its open ePub format and multi-reader support make it relatively secure and allow for offline backups. However, the bookseller can track reading devices and times, and forgotten passwords are unrecoverable. Furthermore, the long-term compatibility and security of the BLOB are questionable, and the risk of cracking remains. In short, LCP represents a relatively benign attempt at DRM, but its long-term security and level of user control require cautious assessment.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech

OpenBenches' Address Conundrum: Geolocating 40,000 Benches Elegantly

2025-04-27

OpenBenches, a crowdsourced database of nearly 40,000 memorial benches, faces a challenge: converting latitude/longitude coordinates into human-readable addresses. Many benches lack formal addresses, residing in parks, etc. Existing geocoding APIs provide overly detailed or irrelevant information. The author explores using multiple APIs and Points of Interest (POIs) for automated address generation, but encounters issues with language localization, address formatting inconsistencies, and POI accuracy. Balancing address precision with user-friendliness and internationalization remains a key challenge.

(shkspr.mobi)

Development geolocation address resolution

Streaming Services' Annoying Child Profile Prompts: A Rant

2025-04-13

Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime, among others, persistently prompt users to create child profiles, even those without children. The author expresses frustration, arguing this is not only annoying but potentially hurtful to those who have lost children or struggle with fertility. The plea is for a "never ask again" option, respecting the needs of childless users and acknowledging that the world doesn't revolve around children.

(shkspr.mobi)

Misc child profiles

Exploiting a Flaw in LCP DRM: A Simple Bypass in the Thorium Reader

2025-03-17

A blogger discovered a way to bypass LCP DRM, an ebook digital rights management scheme. The method leverages the Thorium reader's debugging functionality to easily extract unencrypted ebook content, including text, images, and metadata, without cracking encryption. This prompted a discussion with the Readium consortium (LCP DRM developers), who acknowledged a security vulnerability and stated they would improve security measures. The blogger argues this highlights deficiencies in LCP DRM, and both readers and publishers should be aware of the issue.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech

The Messy State of TOTP: A Test Suite is Born

2025-03-02

The current TOTP specification is riddled with inconsistencies. Major implementations by Google, Apple, and Yubico subtly disagree on its implementation, leading to idiosyncratic variants in various MFA apps. The official RFC is frustratingly vague. The author built a test suite to check if your favorite app correctly implements the TOTP standard, highlighting ambiguities in digit count, hash algorithm, time step, secret length, and labeling. The author calls for improved specifications to prevent future issues.

(shkspr.mobi)

Development

Capital Letters Make Smaller QR Codes: A URL Encoding Mystery

2025-02-25

Two QR codes pointing to the same URL, one larger than the other. Why? The answer isn't error correction, but encoding mode. A URL in all capital letters uses the more compact alphanumeric mode, while lowercase uses byte mode, leading to data redundancy and a larger QR code. This highlights the impact of character set choices in URL encoding on QR code size. For the smallest QR code, use uppercase letters.

(shkspr.mobi)

Tech QR code URL encoding

Meta's LLaMA and the Copyright Tsunami: A Pirate Bay for AI?

2025-02-11

Authors are suing various Large Language Model (LLM) vendors, claiming copyright infringement in the training data. The evidence points to Meta's LLaMA, which used Books3 from Bibliotik – a private tracker containing massive amounts of pirated books. Meta's own paper admits to using Books3, essentially confessing to training on unauthorized intellectual property. This sparks debate on AI fair use and copyright, but the core issue remains: should an AI openly admitting to using pirated data face legal consequences?

(shkspr.mobi)

AI

It's Time to Ban Email?

2025-01-28

This article argues that email is outdated and presents numerous examples of errors and security risks caused by improper email use, such as information leaks and accidental email misdirection. The author points out that the BCC function in email has existed since 1975 yet remains a source of confusion for many. Modern collaborative tools, like shared documents and instant messaging, are argued to be superior for communication needs. While email offers the advantage of permanent storage, it's clumsy and error-prone in the digital age. The author calls for the adoption of more efficient communication methods, ultimately advocating for the phasing out of email.

(shkspr.mobi)

Misc collaboration tools

Most People Don't Care About Quality: The Rise of 'Good Enough'

2025-01-01

This article explores the disparity in people's perception of quality. It argues that while professionals like designers and photographers prioritize detail and perfection, most people are largely insensitive to differences in quality, favoring convenience and ease of consumption. The article uses Netflix as a case study, analyzing the success of its low-cost, high-volume content strategy and predicting a future dominated by AI-generated content. This isn't because AI-generated content is inherently good, but because most people don't notice or care about imperfections, prioritizing basic needs and accessibility. The article concludes with the observation that this 'good enough' mentality permeates various fields, from clothing and food to entertainment, where value for money and convenience outweigh the pursuit of ultimate quality.

(shkspr.mobi)

Misc quality perception AI content generation