Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
China

Apple 'Suddenly Catches TikTok Secretly Spying On Millions Of iPhone Users', Claims Forbes (forbes.com) 61

Posted by FirehoseFavorites from the you-hear-that-mr-anderson dept.
In February, Reddit's CEO called TikTok "fundamentally parasitic," according to a report on TechCrunch, adding "it's always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone... I actively tell people, 'Don't install that spyware on your phone.'"

TikTok called his remarks "baseless accusations made without a shred of evidence."

But now Apple "has fixed a serious problem in iOS 14, due in the fall, where apps can secretly access the clipboard on users' devices..." reports Forbes cybersecurity contributor Zak Doffman, noting that one of the biggest offenders it revealed still turns out to be TikTok: Worryingly, one of the apps caught snooping [in March] by security researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk was China's TikTok. Given other security concerns raised about the app, as well as broader worries given its Chinese origins, this became a headline issue. At the time, TikTok owner Bytedance told me the problem related to the use of an outdated Google advertising SDK that was being replaced.

Well, maybe not. With the release of the new clipboard warning in the beta version of iOS 14, now with developers, TikTok seems to have been caught abusing the clipboard in a quite extraordinary way. So it seems that TikTok didn't stop this invasive practice back in April as promised after all. Worse, the excuse has now changed. According to TikTok, the issue is now "triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behavior," and has told me that it has "already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion." In other words: We've been caught doing something we shouldn't, we've rushed out a fix...

iOS users can relax, knowing that Apple's latest safeguard will force TikTok to make the change, which in itself shows how critical a fix this has been. For Android users, though, there is no word yet as to whether this is an issue for them as well.
Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 also shares an online rumor from an anonymous Redditor (with a 7-year-old account) who claims to be a software engineer who's reverse engineered TikTok's software and learned more scary things, concluding that TikTok is a "data collection service that is thinly-veiled as a social network."

So far the most reputable news outlets that have repeated his allegations are Bored Panda, Stuff, Hot Hardware, and Illinois radio station WBNQ.
Security

Hackers Breach LineageOS Servers Via Unpatched Vulnerability (zdnet.com) 9

Posted by msmash from the you're-really-not-going-to-like-it dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Hackers have gained access to the core infrastructure of LineageOS, a mobile operating system based on Android, used for smartphones, tablets, and set-top boxes. The intrusion took place on Saturday night at around 8 pm (US Pacific coast), and was detected before the attackers could do any harm, the LineageOS team said in a statement published less than three hours after the incident. The LineageOS team said the operating system's source code was unaffected, and so were any operating system builds, which had been already paused since April 30, because of an unrelated issue. Signing keys, used to authenticate official OS distributions, were also unaffected, as these hosts were stored separately from the LineageOS main infrastructure. LineageOS developers said the hack took place after the attacker used an unpatched vulnerability to breach its Salt installation.
Science

Not a Fermion, Not a Boson. Scientists Find New Evidence of Two-Dimensional 'Anyons' (sciencenews.org) 51

Posted by FirehoseFavorites from the Flatland dept.
Slashdot reader Nostalgia4Infinity shared this report from Science News: In the three-dimensional world we live in, there are two classes of elementary particles: bosons and fermions. But in two dimensions, theoretical physicists predict, there's another option: anyons. Now, scientists report new evidence that anyons exist and that they behave unlike any known particle. Using a tiny "collider," researchers flung presumed anyons at one another to help confirm their identities, physicists report in the April 10 Science...

Braiding some types of anyons may be a useful technique for building better quantum computers. Current versions of those computers are highly susceptible to mistakes slipping into calculations. Like a neat plait that keeps unruly hair in line, braided anyons could store information in a manner that is resistant to such errors.

Although the new study hasn't demonstrated braiding, it gets scientists a step closer to understanding anyons. "It's a beautiful experiment. It is definitely going beyond what was done in the past," Nayak says.
Sci-Fi

Syd Mead, Visionary 'Blade Runner' Artist and Futurist, Dies at 86 (variety.com) 28

Posted by msmash from the like-tears-in-the-rain dept.
sandbagger writes: Visual artist and futurist Syd Mead, who helped shape the look of influential sci-fi films including "Blade Runner," "Tron," "Aliens" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," died Monday of complications from lymphoma in Pasadena, Calif. He was 86. Mead was set to receive the Art Directors Guild's William Cameron Menzies Award during the Guild's 24th Annual awards in February for his contributions on "Aliens," "Blade Runner" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
Power

How Tech From Australia Could Prevent California Wildfires and PG&E Blackouts (ieee.org) 106

Posted by FirehoseFavorites from the stopping-before-they-start dept.
"Technology developed to combat Australia's deadly bushfires could slash California's fire risk and reduce the need for PG&E's 'public safety power shutoffs'," reports IEEE Spectrum.

"See the video to watch an advanced power diverter cut off 22,000 volts of power in less than 1/20th of a second, preventing ignition of dry brush," writes Slashdot reader carbonnation.

IEEE Spectrum reports: California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) delivered a bitter pill last month when it said that deliberate blackouts to keep its lines from sparking wildfires could be the new normal for millions of customers for the next decade -- a dangerous disruption to power-dependent communities that California governor Gavin Newsom says "no state in the 21st Century should experience."

Grid experts say Newsom is right, because technology available today can slash the risk of grid-induced fires, reducing or eliminating the need for PG&E's "public safety power shutoffs...."

Some of the most innovative fire-beating grid technologies are the products of an R&D program funded by the state of Victoria in Australia, prompted by deadly grid-sparked bushfires there 10 years ago. Early this year, utilities in Victoria began a massive rollout of one solution: power diverters that are expected to protect all of the substations serving the state's high fire risk areas by 2024. "It's not cheap to put one in but once you do it, you've got 1,000 kilometers of network that's suddenly a lot safer," says Monash University professor Tony Marxsen, former chair of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Australia's power grid regulator, and chairman of Melbourne-based grid equipment developer IND Technology.

The power diverters -- known as Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiters (REFCLs) -- react to the surge of current unleashed when a power line strikes the ground or is struck by a tree. When this happens on one of Victoria's 22-kilovolt distribution circuits, the REFCL instantly begins collapsing the faulted line's voltage toward 100 volts, and can get there in as few as 40 milliseconds (ms). "If it can do it within 85 ms, you won't get fires," he says... Marxsen says 20 to 30 percent of the distribution circuits in PG&E's territory have the appropriate three-phase design for REFCLs, as do a similar proportion of circuits in the territory of Southern California Edison (which is also grappling with grid-sparked wildfires). "It would certainly offer the option of not shutting down the networks when there's high fire risk," he says.

Comment Re:Who would have thunk? (Score 1) 715

This thread is really about society in 2014-2018, when being 'inclusive' or 'diverse' was more important than being 'good'.

Personally, I did not buy Battlefield V exactly because of this reason. I really don't need another bit of media trying to push their agenda down my throat. As people say, "If you don't like it, don't buy it." Or if you do buy it, and 10 years from now all games are like this, we'd be thinking, "Wow, we shouldn't have supported that."

Have 20 black characters. Put in 15 women. Have no white guys. You know what? I probably wouldn't even notice, and I probably wouldn't even care. As a white guy, I don't have a requirement that the characters look like me.

But you come out and say, "If you don't like this, then you are probably a racist/sexist jerk."

Ummm...no. That's not cool. What I am is a gamer, looking for fun games. I don't need politics, especially identity politics shoved in my face once again, as I am just trying to relax and escape that crap for a while.

Diversity or inclusiveness is great. Do it. But if that is a selling point? Then I'm guessing you don't have much else to sell.

If it is important to do you...do it. But again, don't shove it in my face.

** Source- gamer who plays almost exclusively as female characters (when available) because of my own deep seeded issues that make me want to dress like a woman or do freaky stuff with men. But, when someone tells me I should feel bad about not wanting forced diversity...then they can suck it. I have no interest in people telling me to feel bad because of who I am.
Science

Under Current Policies, Residential Batteries Increase Emissions In Most Cases (arstechnica.com) 182

Posted by msmash from the you're-really-not-going-to-like-it dept.
schwit1 shares a report: Another year, another reason to take the promises of residential home batteries with a grain of salt. This month, a group of researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology reporting that there are very few cases in which operating a residential home battery reduces overall emissions -- assuming that households are economically rational and trying to minimize costs.

Of course, if the battery is only discharged during periods of peak emissions and only charged when fossil fuel use is low, then a household might reduce emissions. But across 16 representative regions, operating a battery this way ended up being costly. "There may be good reasons to decentralize the grid through ubiquitous installation of small RES [Residential Energy Storage], but cost-effective emissions control is not one of them at the moment," the researchers write.
Google

Google Erases Kurdistan From Maps in Compliance With Turkish Government (kurdistan24.net) 203

Posted by msmash from the stranger-things dept.
schwit1 shares a report: Google has removed a map outlining the geographical extent of the Greater Kurdistan after the Turkish state asked it to do so, a simple inquiry on the Internet giant's search engine from Wednesday on can show. "Unavailable. This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies," a note on the page that the map was previously on read. Google did not provide further details on how the Kurdistan map violated its rules.

The map in question, available for years, used to be on Google's My Maps service, a feature of Google Maps that enables users to create custom maps for personal use or sharing through search. Maps drawn by ancient Greeks, Islamic historians, Ottomans, and Westerners showing Kurdistan with alternative names such as "Corduene" or "Karduchi" have existed since antiquity. The use of the name "Kurdistan" was banned by the administration of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the immediate aftermath of the crushed Sheikh Said uprising for Kurdish statehood in 1925. Further reading: Local media report. "Turkish officials outraged by Google map showing the unofficial border of Kurdistan. Turkey demands the removal of the map. There are around 40 million Kurds divided between 4 main countries," Jiyar Gol, a BBC correspondent tweeted.
Space

Recent Quasar Observations Support Lots of Mini-Bangs Instead of One Big Bang (wired.com) 263

Posted by EditorDavid from the little-bang-theory dept.
Chris Reeve writes: Wired Magazine is reporting that astronomers have since 2014 witnessed up to 100 possible instances of quasars transforming into galaxies over very short timespans, but the article leaves no hint of the trouble this spells for the Big Bang cosmology. The article begins, "Stephanie Lamassa did a double take. She was staring at two images on her computer screen, both of the same object — except they looked nothing alike... The quasar seemed to have vanished, leaving just another galaxy. That had to be impossible, she thought. Although quasars turn off, transitioning into mere galaxies, the process should take 10,000 years or more. This quasar appeared to have shut down in less than 10 years — a cosmic eyeblink."

What the Wired article fails to mention is that the short timespans vindicate the quasar ejection model proposed by Edwin Hubble's assistant, Halton Arp, who insisted that these objects must be considerably closer than the extreme distances inferred by their redshifts:

"The conclusion was very, very strong just from looking at this picture that these objects had been ejected from the central galaxy, and that they were initially at high redshift, and the redshift decayed as time went on. And therefore, we were looking at a physics that was operating in the universe in which matter was born with low mass and very high redshift, and it matured and evolved into our present form, that we were seeing the birth and evolution of galaxies in the universe."

Arp's attempts to publish his quasar ejection model famously led to his removal from the world's largest optical telescope at that time — the 200-inch Palomar. He decided to resign from his permanent position at the Carnegie Institute of Washington on the principle of "whether scientists could follow new lines of investigation, and follow up... on evidence which apparently contradicted the current theorems and the current paradigms." The fact that these quasar changes appear to occur over just months in some cases should raise questions about whether or not the objects are truly at the vast distances and scales implied by their redshift-inferred distances.
The original submission also included a comment with a carefully-documented "list of vindications for Halton Arp" -- and complains again that Wired failed to include any mention of Arp's theory, and it's "dire" implications for the Big Bang theory's assumptions about redshift.

Comment Re:Why would people that is not the case. (Score 1, Interesting) 344

by bigman2003 (#57720900) Attached to: Fed Says Millennials Are Just Like Their Parents. Only Poorer

I had a friend. (Okay, not a friend, I couldn't stand her, but she was an acquaintance)

She was going to build 'passiv haus' (we're American, but she liked the German spelling) communities to save energy, etc. etc.

She drove from California to New York at least a dozen times to support this plan. I'm pretty sure she used more fuel on her roadtrips than she would have saved had the plan actually worked. The plan didn't work, and she ended up finding out that Upstate New York is really cold, and she didn't want to live in an unheated house in that environment.

But she still talks about how dedicated she was...she does NOT like to hear about the wasted fuel.

Her marriage went really bad because she ignored her spouse while being a road-tripping ecowarrior. And absolutely none of this is her fault- the system is against her.

But damn...she can feel high and mighty knowing that she was THINKING about this stuff while you were watching TV.
Space

Rocket Lab's Modest Launch Is Giant Leap For Small Rocket Business (nytimes.com) 36

Posted by msmash from the you-hear-that-mr-anderson dept.
Reader Iwastheone shares a report: A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off Sunday from the east coast of New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites. That modest event -- the first commercial launch by a U.S.-New Zealand company known as Rocket Lab -- could mark the beginning of a new era in the space business, where countless small rockets pop off from spaceports around the world. This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy.

The rocket, called the Electron, is a mere sliver compared to the giant rockets that Elon Musk, of SpaceX, and Jeffrey P. Bezos, of Blue Origin, envisage using to send people into the solar system. It is just 56 feet tall and can carry only 500 pounds into space. But Rocket Lab is aiming for markets closer to home. "We're FedEx," said Peter Beck, the New Zealand-born founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab. "We're a little man that delivers a parcel to your door." Behind Rocket Lab, a host of start-up companies are also jockeying to provide transportation to space for a growing number of small satellites. The payloads include constellations of telecommunications satellites that would provide the world with ubiquitous internet access.

The payload of this mission, which Rocket Lab whimsically named "It's Business Time," offered a glimpse of this future: two ship-tracking satellites for Spire Global; a small climate- and environment-monitoring satellite for GeoOptics; a small probe built by high school students in Irvine, Calif., and a demonstration version of a drag sail that would pull defunct satellites out of orbit.

Comment Re:Microsoft Math (Score 1) 98

by bigman2003 (#57060466) Attached to: Surface Go Reviews Are All Over the Place

I was going to call you out for that ridiculous estimate on the price of the pen.

DAAAAMMMMNNNN...they really are $99.

That's ridiculous.

Okay, maybe they are super and special in some way. I don't know, and I don't care. But you were right...I almost apologize for my initial disbelief.

Comment Re:Sexual Harassment (Score 1) 540

by bigman2003 (#57033160) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Why Did You Quit Your Last Job?

Hey! #MeToo!

For me it was about 4.5 years ago, when the wave of sexual harassment complaints was just taking off.

I was the subject of a complaint. Kinda sucked because it was a lot of half-truths. Basically I was messing around with someone at work (at least 50% driven by her) and eventually I think her husband found out. So in order to save face, she made a sexual harassment claim against me.

Well, there was a big investigation, blah blah blah, and what they found was that I didn't harass anyone, but I was involved in an 'inappropriate relationship' that was mutual.

But guess what...the 'findings' of these things don't matter. The only thing that mattered was that there was some poor young lady who felt 'threatened' by me and that is how it was judged.

Bitch- stop inviting me to come to your house when your husband is gone if you're feeling threatened. Don't book us adjoining hotel rooms with a pass through door if you feel threatened. And goddammit, stop flashing me your panties if you want me to ignore you. (A pair of yellow panties was my favorite...)

Oh well- new job pays much better and there are only 10% of the headaches.

But fewer chicks with big boobs and sweet asses at my new job, so that's a bummer. But probably better for me in the long run.

Comment Re:X-Ad Machine (Score 1) 69

by bigman2003 (#56773070) Attached to: Microsoft's Next-Gen Xbox Will Arrive in 2020: Report

That's a pretty bad exaggeration.

All of the 'ads' I have seen are related to games, movies, etc. that are available in the Store. Of course the Store is one big ad essentially, so once you are there, it doesn't count. But telling me that I can get a game for 75% off on a small part of the screen is fine.

Possibly 25% of the screen is taken by 'ads' at most. The most recent ad/notification I remember seeing was for 'State of Decay' (I think that is it) which is a game that I can download for free as part of my current Game Pass subscription. I don't even think of it as an ad..more of a notification.

Also, they will tell you about the other free games you can get from Games with Gold. Again, I've already paid for them. Telling me they are available is a service- not an ad.

Once you are off the home screen, anything else is completely related to what you are looking at- again, notifications not ads.

I can't provide a screenshot of my dashboard, but just do an image search for 'Xbox One Dashboard'. See that really big part of the screen that refers to a game? That's typically the game you played most recently. For instance, my Xbox has 'Sunset Overdrive' all over it, because that is the game I am currently playing. I thank them for providing that info.

Beneath that, is a big old section showing me info about the friends I have played with most recently. Not ads...other people.

People talk about ads there...but they aren't being honest.

Comment Re: Ok (Score 4, Insightful) 689

I've owned businesses. Landscaping and printing.

I tried to hire homeless people. I've gone to the guys holding the signs and said"hey...I have work for you...help me mow lawns for the day $12/hr. And I'll buy you breakfast and lunch."

I did this a LOT. I did not care about appearance, criminal record, etc. They didn't need to plan ahead or meet me later. I offered immediate food, etc. Etc.

Over the course of a year I had ONE person take me up on it. He was a good guy, worked with me for like 2 weeks before he disappeared.

Whenever people talk about all of the hurdles for these people to get jobs, I know that when I took away every single hurdle...they said "no".

In my experience these people are on the street because they prefer it to the other options. Not because they don't have other options.

Slashdot Top Deals

And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions. -- David Jones

Close