An anonymous reader shares a report : Social-media users are sharing Google Street View images featuring friends and relatives who have since died. It was sparked by a post on the Twitter account Fesshole, which asks followers to submit anonymous confessions -- many of which are explicit. The original poster said they had searched the map platform for images taken before their father had died. Launched in the US in 2007, Google Street View has since rolled out worldwide. The BBC's Neil Henderson shared an image of his late father at his front door. "I have literally hundreds of pics of my dad but the Google Street View is quite affecting, like he's still around," he wrote. Another tweeter showed an image of a couple holding hands in the street - his parents, he said, who had died several years ago.

One captured a lady just outside her doorway. "My mum creeping outside for a cigarette," wrote Bernard Baker. Others said just seeing local images taken when their loved ones were still alive made them feel a connection. And some expressed regret images poignant to them had been replaced with more recent photos. There is, however, a way to look back at previous incarnations -- by tapping the clock icon on the top left-hand side of Google Maps (the feature does not appear on Google Earth), if it is there. Karim Palant used this tool to find a former image of his late grandfather Charles Palant, taken from the street in 2015 and showing him leaning out of his window from his apartment in Paris to talk to his carer below.

USA Today reports: Companies like Moderna and Pfizer's partner BioNTech, whose names are familiar from COVID-19 vaccines, are using mRNA to spur cancer patients' bodies to make vaccines that will — hopefully — prevent recurrences and treatments designed to fight off advanced tumors. If they prove effective, which won't be known for at least another year or two, they could be added to the arsenal of immune therapies designed to get the body to fight off its own tumors...

Over the last decade, pharmaceutical companies around the world have been developing new ways to train the body's immune system to fight off tumors, particularly melanoma. They had learned how to remove a brake installed by tumors, unleashing the warriors of the immune system. Ten years ago, only about 5% of people with advanced melanoma survived for five years. Now, nearly half make it that long. Trials of mRNA cancer vaccines aim to boost that number even higher by adding soldiers to the fight... Once a tumor has been largely removed through surgery, a vaccine can help generate new immune soldiers known as T cells... A computer algorithm analyzes the mutations distinct to the cancer cells, looking for ones that trigger the production of T cells, said Melissa J. Moore, Moderna's chief scientific officer, of platform research. So far, she said, Moderna, working with partner Merck, has tested these personalized vaccines in about 100 patients. They aim eventually to make a personalized mRNA vaccine within about 45 days after the patient's cancer surgery, during their recovery...

Mutated cancer cells have proteins on their surface that can be targeted by an mRNA vaccine. For a tumor that has, say, five common mutations, a patient could get a combination of five of these vaccines. On Friday, BioNTech announced it was launching a new trial for this approach, testing it in 120 melanoma patients Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and the U.S. The new treatment, given in connection with an antibody from Regeneron, is aimed at four tumor-associated antigens. More than 90% of melanoma tumors contain at least one of the four.
The U.S. federal government now lists 29 studies underway or that will be soon investigating mRNA cancer vaccines, according to the article.

And Dr. Stephen Hahn, who had a career as an oncologist before running the Food and Drug Administration from 2019 until early this year, "said he's more optimistic this time because of how much researchers have learned about the role the immune system plays in cancer. 'That gives us an edge to maybe finally get to the place where we need to be.'"

The Biden administration Thursday unveiled a new mapping tool that shows much greater gaps in use of high-speed internet service across the U.S. than the government's previous maps reported. From a report: The White House is pushing for big spending to provide more, better broadband service to underserved areas after the pandemic made Americans more dependent than ever on their internet connections. The new, zoomable map draws on a wider pool of data than existing maps by the Federal Communications Commission, which relied exclusively on industry-provided data that overstated broadband penetration.

The map raises questions about the gap between internet availability and actual usage, with usage reports indicating wide swaths of the country are not making a home broadband connection. The new "Indicators of Broadband Need" map, developed by the White House and the telecommunications branch of the Commerce Department, pulls together different data sets from Ookla, M-Lab, Microsoft, the Federal Communications Commission and the Census Bureau. The overlapping data points are meant to paint a picture of the areas that need more, better broadband. The map also includes data on places that reported a lack of connection by computer, smartphone or tablet and information on broadband usage in high-poverty communities.

The number of active phishing sites hit a record number earlier this year in January, according to an industry report published this week by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). The Record reports: A total of 245,771 phishing sites were detected in January. The number represents the unique base URLs of phishing sites found and reported by APWG members. The APWG is an industry coalition made up of more than 2,200 organizations from the cyber-security industry, government, law enforcement, and NGOs sector, which includes some big names such as Microsoft, Facebook, PayPal, ICANN, AT&T, Comcast, Digicert, Cloudflare, Cisco, Salesforce, RSA, Verisign, ESET, McAfee, Avast, Symantec, Trend Micro, PhishLabs, Agari, Cofense, and many others. APWG experts noted that while the number of phishing sites declined in February, the next month, in March, the number of phishing sites jumped above 200,000 again, amounting to the fourth-worst month in APWG's reporting history.

The industry vertical most targeted in phishing attacks in Q1 remained the financial sector, which saw almost a quarter of all phishing attempts. Second was social media, with cybercrime groups attempting to hijack social media accounts to resell online on specialized marketplaces, according to the APWG report (PDF). Furthermore, around 83% of all phishing sites seen in Q1 2020 were also hosted on an HTTP-based connection. This finding reinforces a piece of well-known cybersecurity advice that if a website is loaded via HTTPS, it doesn't mean it's secure, but merely that its traffic can't be easily intercepted.

Engineers at MIT have recently announced that they have successfully developed a programmable fiber. Interesting Engineering reports: Featured in Nature Communications, this new research could result in the development of wearable tech that could sense, store, analyze, and infer the activity(s) of its wearers in real-time. The senior author of the study, Yeol Fink, believes that digital fibers like those developed in this study could help expand the possibilities for fabrics to "uncover the context of hidden patterns in the human body that could be used for physical performance monitoring, medical inference, and early disease detection." Applications for the technology could even expand into other areas of our lives like, for example, storing wedding music within the bride's gown.

The fibers were created by chaining hundreds of microscale silicon digital chips into a preform to make a new "smart" polymer fiber. By using precision control, the authors of the study were able to create fibers with the continuous electrical connection between each chip of tens of meters. These fibers are thin and flexible and can even be passed through the eye of a needle. This would mean they could be seamlessly (pun intended) woven into existing fabrics, and can even withstand being washed at least ten times without degrading. This would mean this wearable tech could be retrofitted to existing clothing and you wouldn't even know it's there. Such innovation is interesting, but it could open up doors for applications only ever dreamed of.

The fiber also has a pretty decent storage capacity too -- all things considered. During the research, it was found to be possible to write, store, and recall 767-kilobit full-color short movie files and a 0.48-megabyte music file. The files can be stored for two months without power. The fibers also integrate a neural network with thousands of connections. This was used to monitor and analyze the surface body temperature of a test subject after being woven into the armpit of the shirt. By training the neural network with 270-minutes of data the team got it to predict the minute-by-minute activity of the shirt's wearer with 96% accuracy. The fibers are also controlled using a small external device that could have microcontrollers added to it in the future.

The three major carriers in the U.S. have now agreed to start providing vertical location data for 911 calls, which will help first responders quickly locate 911 callers in multi-story buildings. XDA Developers reports: The FCC wrote in its announcement, "FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced breakthrough agreements with America's three largest mobile phone providers to start delivering vertical location information in connection with 911 calls nationwide in the coming days. This information will help first responders quickly locate 911 callers in multi-story buildings, which will reduce response times and ultimately save lives."

The FCC first announced in 2015 that carriers would be required to start sharing vertical location data. The original deadline was June 2nd, 2021, but AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon wanted an 18-month extension (allegedly due to issues testing the functionality during the COVID-19 pandemic). With the deadline rapidly approaching, the FCC began an investigation in April to find out what was taking carriers so long. All three major carriers have now agreed to start providing vertical location data to 911 call centers within the next seven days, and each company will pay a $100,000 settlement. The agreement also increases the scope of the vertical location data; instead of the data only being provided in select areas, vertical location information will be provided by carriers across the entire United States. However, it will likely take longer than a week for the vertical data to be used in most 9-1-1 call centers, as the change will require updated software and (possibly) additional training for emergency dispatchers.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Apple is working on a new iPad Pro with wireless charging and the first iPad mini redesign in six years, seeking to continue momentum for a category that saw rejuvenated sales during the pandemic. The Cupertino, California-based company is planning to release the new iPad Pro in 2022 and the iPad mini later this year [...]. The main design change in testing for the iPad Pro is a switch to a glass back from the current aluminum enclosure. The updated iPad mini is planned to have narrower screen borders while the removal of its home button has also been tested.

For the new Pro model, the switch to a glass back is being tested, in part, to enable wireless charging for the first time. Making the change in material would bring iPads closer to iPhones, which Apple has transitioned from aluminum to glass backs in recent years. Apple's development work on the new iPad Pro is still early, and the company's plans could change or be canceled before next year's launch [...]. Wireless charging replaces the usual power cable with an inductive mat, which makes it easier for users to top up their device's battery. It has grown into a common feature in smartphones but is a rarity among tablets. Apple added wireless charging to iPhones in 2017 and last year updated it with a magnet-based MagSafe system that ensured more consistent charging speeds.

The company is testing a similar MagSafe system for the iPad Pro. Wireless charging will likely be slower than directly plugging in a charger to the iPad's Thunderbolt port, which will remain as part of the next models. As part of its development of the next iPad Pro, Apple is also trying out technology called reverse wireless charging. That would allow users to charge their iPhone or other gadgets by laying them on the back of the tablet. Apple had previously been working on making this possible for the iPhone to charge AirPods and Apple Watches. In addition to the next-generation iPad Pro and iPad mini, Apple is also working on a thinner version of its entry-level iPad geared toward students. That product is planned to be released as early as the end of this year, about the same time as the new iPad mini. Apple is still reportedly working on a technology similar to its failed AirPower, a charging mat designed to simultaneously charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. People familiar with the matter said it's also internally investigating alternative wireless charging methods that can work over greater distances than an inductive connection.

The Biden administration will make $1 billion in grants available to expand broadband access and adoption on tribal lands, Vice President Kamala Harris announced at the White House Thursday. From a report: The funds, from the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will be made to eligible Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entities for broadband deployment, to support digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth, and distance learning. "For generations, a lack of infrastructure investment in Indian Country has left Tribes further behind in the digital divide than most areas of the country," Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "We have a responsibility as a country to build infrastructure that will fuel economic development, keep communities safe, and ensure everyone has opportunities to succeed."

According to the Commerce Department, census figures show only half of households on tribal lands subscribe to home internet service, and some areas lack even the most basic cellphone reception. More than 20 percent of people living on tribal lands don't have broadband access at home. And during the pandemic as schools closed, some students at tribal-serving schools had to drive for miles to find a strong enough connection to participate in online classes.

If you use Alexa, Echo, or any other Amazon device, you have just over a week to opt out of an experiment that leaves your personal privacy and security hanging in the balance. From a report: On June 8, the merchant, Web host, and entertainment behemoth will automatically enroll the devices in Amazon Sidewalk. The new wireless mesh service will share a small slice of your Internet bandwidth with nearby neighbors who don't have connectivity and help you to their bandwidth when you don't have a connection.

By default, Amazon devices including Alexa, Echo, Ring, security cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers will enroll in the system. And since only a tiny fraction of people take the time to change default settings, that means millions of people will be co-opted into the program whether they know anything about it or not. The Amazon webpage linked above says Sidewalk "is currently only available in the US." [...] Amazon has published a white paper detailing the technical underpinnings and service terms that it says will protect the privacy and security of this bold undertaking. To be fair, the paper is fairly comprehensive, and so far no one has pointed out specific flaws that undermine the encryption or other safeguards being put in place. But there are enough theoretical risks to give users pause.

theodp writes: Video of Microsoft's Annual Shareholder Meeting in Dec. 2019, at which the company's Board of Directors dismissed the idea that employee Board representation was necessary to combat issues -- including sexual harassment -- takes on new significance in light of the company's response to a recent WSJ report that Bill Gates left the Microsoft Board in March 2020 amid a probe launched in late 2019 into a prior relationship with a staffer that was deemed inappropriate. "Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000," a Microsoft spokesman said in response to the WSJ story. "A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation."

At the 2019 Annual Meeting, Microsoft Board Chair John Thompson kicked things off by thanking shareholders for their trust before introducing the nominees for the board of directors who were in attendance, starting with "Bill Gates, our cofounder." Attention then turned to "a shareholder proposal requesting a report on Employee Representation on the Board of Directors," which shareholder advocate Mari Schwartzer argued was called for in light of "alleged gender discrimination and sexual harassment within our company." Unswayed by that argument, Microsoft Corporate Secretary Dev Stahlkopf responded that the Board had decided to nix the proposal as unnecessary, explaining that "the Board is already deeply engaged on providing oversight of workplace culture," which she noted included "receiving direct feedback from employees through anonymous polls."

Schwartzer made the same proposal -- which again fell on deaf Board ears -- the next year at Microsoft's Dec. 2020 Annual Meeting. Gates was no longer on the Board at that time -- he resigned in Mar. 2020 just three months after his re-election for what Microsoft billed to the SEC as a chance to devote himself more fully to philanthropy, repeating the same reasons Gates provided in a self-published LinkedIn post (no connection was made between his departure and the Board's investigation, and a recent statement from a Gates spokesperson insisted, "Bill's decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter"). However, the Microsoft Board of Directors made sure shareholders were aware of Bill's continuing influence at Microsoft in a letter included in Microsoft's 2020 SEC proxy filing. The Board wrote, "This year, Co-Founder and Technology Advisor Bill Gates stepped down from the Company's Board of Directors to dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities. He continues to serve as Technology Advisor to CEO Satya Nadella and other leaders in the Company. The Board has benefited from Bill's leadership and vision in innumerable ways over the years, and we are grateful for his contributions and insights."

In an interview on CNBC last Friday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was pressed to address the issue of Bill Gates' acknowledged 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee. "The power dynamic in the workplace is not something that can be abused in any form," Nadella replied, "and the most important thing is for us to make sure that everybody is comfortable in being able to raise any issues they see, and for us to be able to fully investigate it." So, with all of the revelations and bad press, will Microsoft's Board reject the idea of Employee Board Representation for a third year straight while keeping mum on Gates later this year at the 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting?

phalse phace shares a report from the BBC: A suspected Bitcoin "mining" operation illegally stealing electricity has been found by police who were searching for a cannabis farm. Officers had been tipped off about the site on the Great Bridge Industrial Estate, Sandwell, and raided it on May 18, West Midlands Police said. Instead of cannabis plants they found a bank of about 100 computer units. The force said the cryptocurrency "mine" had effectively stolen thousands of pounds of electricity. Inquiries with network operator Western Power Distribution found an illegal connection to the electricity supply.

Detectives said they were tipped off about lots of people visiting the unit throughout the day and a police drone picked up a lot of heat coming from the building. Sgt Jennifer Griffin said, given the signs, they had expected to find a cannabis farm. "It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis cultivation set-up and I believe it is only the second such crypto mine we have encountered in the West Midlands," she said. The computer equipment has been seized but no arrests have been made, the force said.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Video game and hardware studio Valve has been secretly building a Switch-like portable PC designed to run a large number of games on the Steam PC platform via Linux -- and it could launch, supply chain willing, by year's end. Multiple sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that the hardware has been in development for some time, and this week, Valve itself pointed to the device by slipping new hardware-related code into the latest version of Steam, the company's popular PC gaming storefront and ecosystem.

On Tuesday, SteamDB operator Pavel Djundik spotted the change in Steam's code, which pointed to a new device named "SteamPal." The name is a derivative of a previously discovered code term, "Neptune," which began appearing in September of last year and came with a "Neptune Optimized Games" string. At the time, curious code crawlers thought this discovery referred to some type of controller. Technically, that's true. The "SteamPal," whose name we're putting in scare quotes because we do not have confirmation of the device's final name, is an all-in-one PC with gamepad controls and a touchscreen. In other words, it looks and functions like a Nintendo Switch (albeit without removable "Joy-Con" controller functionality).

The SteamPal will [feature] a system on a chip likely coming from either Intel or AMD, not Nvidia. (The aforementioned Switch-like PC manufacturers have leaned on both AMD and Intel for their products.) It's unclear whether Valve will release multiple SKUs to offer customers a choice of power level, battery life, and other specs, as other Switch-like PCs have offered over the past year. At least one SteamPal prototype version is quite wide compared to the Nintendo Switch. This extra width accommodates a slew of control options. No, Valve is likely not slapping an entire QWERTY keyboard onto its system, but the company has packed in a standard array of gamepad buttons and triggers, along with a pair of joysticks and at least one thumb-sized touchpad (in addition to the device's touch-sensitive screen). The SteamPal's touchpad is likely smaller than the pair of touchpads that came standard on every Steam Controller. The SteamPal's Switch-like properties will include the option to "dock" to larger monitors via its USB Type-C port, but I don't have firm details on exactly how that connection will work or whether Valve has any plans for an eventual SteamPal dock.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from PC Gamer: According to a tweet from Executable Fix, a well-known leaker, AMD will finally move away from PGA to LGA with the shift to AM5, the new socket set to replace AM4. They say the new socket design will be LGA-1718 -- the number representing the number of pins required for the package. They also note that a coming generation of AMD chip will support DDR5 and PCIe 4.0 with a 600-series chipset.

When we talk about PGA, we're most often discussing processors with pins sticking out the underside of a chip that slot into a motherboard with a compatible socket. An LGA design will instead see a flat array of connection points on the processor, which will align with pins within the motherboard's socket. Either way you look at it, you're getting some very bendable, if not breakable, pins. But in my opinion it's much easier to bend those pins on the CPU. While a shift to LGA may seem somewhat trivial, the change will mark a major shakeup in AMD's desktop lineup.

Business Insider re-visits the story of why May 22nd is celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day." Exactly 11 years ago today, a software programmer from Florida, Laszlo Hanyecz, became well known in the crypto world after trading 10,000 bitcoins for two Papa John's pizzas. In honor of that purchase, the date is now celebrated in the crypto calendar as "Bitcoin Pizza Day."

"It wasn't like bitcoins had any value back then, so the idea of trading them for a pizza was incredibly cool," Hanyecz said in an interview with the New York Times in 2013... In 2018, he gave an interview to Cointelegraph. He said: "You know, I don't regret it. I think that it's great that I got to be part of the early history of bitcoin in that way, and people know about the pizza and it's an interesting story because everybody can kind of relate to that and be [like] - "Oh my God, you spent all of that money!"
So today Papa John's is giving away 10,000 slices of pizza to commemorate their place in history, another Business Insider article reports. Justin Falciola, SVP, chief insights & technology officer, tells them that "Celebrating National Bitcoin Pizza Day felt like a natural extension of Papa John's historical tie to the bitcoin story... It's great for consumer brands to show that they're aware of trends and emerging technologies. The benefit to this is meeting consumers where they are and continuing to build a meaningful connection."

The link between pizza and bitcoin was further observed earlier in the week when crypto investor Anthony Pompliano launched a bitcoin-themed pizza service in the US that won't accept the digital asset as payment. As Insider's Shalini Nagarajan reported, the service will partner with independent pizzerias in 10 cities across the US, but won't accept bitcoin payments. All proceeds will go towards supporting research and development of bitcoin, Pompliano said.
The article also points out that "Earlier this week, the crypto market lost 47% of its value in just seven days," and by Friday one bitcoin was worth $37,340.

But another article notes that the 10,000 bitcoins traded for two Papa Johns pizzas would, at one point this year, have been worth $648,950,000.

Chrome, at least in its experimental Canary version on Android (and only for users in the U.S.), is getting an interesting update in the coming weeks that brings back RSS, the once-popular format for getting updates from all the sites you love in Google Reader and similar services. From a report: In Chrome, users will soon see a 'Follow' feature for sites that support RSS and the browser's New Tab page will get what is essentially a (very) basic RSS reader -- I guess you could almost call it a "Google Reader." Now we're not talking about a full-blown RSS reader here. The New Tab page will show you updates from the sites you follow in chronological order, but it doesn't look like you can easily switch between feeds, for example. It's a start, though.

"Today, people have many ways to keep up with their favorite websites, including subscribing to mailing lists, notifications and RSS. It's a lot for any one person to manage, so we're exploring how to simplify the experience of getting the latest and greatest from your favorite sites directly in Chrome, building on the open RSS web standard," Janice Wong, Product Manager, Google Chrome, writes in today's update. "Our vision is to help people build a direct connection with their favorite publishers and creators on the web." A Google spokesperson told me that the way the company has implemented this is to have Google crawl RSS feeds "more frequently to ensure Chrome will be able to deliver the latest and greatest content to users in the Following section on the New Tab page."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: At a hearing this March on Capitol Hill, the Republican congresswoman [Cathy McMorris Rodgers] from Washington confronted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai with a list of statistics: From 2011 to 2018, rates of teen depression increased by more than 60%, and from 2009 to 2015, emergency room admissions for self-harm among 10- to 14-year-old girls tripled. "It's a battle for their development. It's a battle for their mental health -- and ultimately a battle for their safety," McMorris Rodgers told the tech leaders. But when she pointed a question specifically to Zuckerberg, about whether he acknowledged a connection between children's declining mental health and social media platforms, he demurred. "I don't think that the research is conclusive on that," replied Zuckerberg.

It's a position that he and his company, which is working on expanding its offerings to even younger children, have held for years. But mental health researchers whom NPR spoke with disagree. They describe an increasingly clear correlation between poor mental health outcomes and social media use, and they worry that Facebook (which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp) in particular may be muddying the waters on that connection to protect its public image. "The correlational evidence showing that there is a link between social media use and depression is pretty definitive at this point," said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. "The largest and most well-conducted studies that we have all show that teens who spend more time on social media are more likely to be depressed or unhappy."

Correlation is not causation, and one area of further study is whether greater social media usage leads to poor mental health outcomes or whether those who are depressed and unhappy are drawn to spend more time on social media. But researchers also worry that not enough government funding is going toward getting objective data to answer these sorts of questions. Facebook also almost certainly knows more than it has publicly revealed about how its products affect people. Zuckerberg told McMorris Rodgers that the company has specifically researched the mental health effects Facebook has on children, but when McMorris Rodgers' staff followed up the company declined to share any of its research.

"I believe that they have done the research. They're not being transparent," McMorris Rodgers told NPR in an interview. "They seem to be more concerned about their current business model, and they have become very wealthy under their current business model. But the fact of the matter is we're seeing more and more evidence ... that their current business model is harming our kids."

A tech columnist for Inc. noticed that on June 8th Amazon will finally power up its massive "Sidewalk" mesh network (which uses Bluetooth and 900MHz radio signals to communicate between devices). And millions and millions of Amazon customers are all already "opted in" by default: The idea behind it is actually really smart — make it possible for smart home devices to serve as a sort of bridge between your WiFi connection and one another. That way, if your Ring doorbell, for example, isn't located close to your WiFi router, but it happens to be near an Echo Dot, it can use Sidewalk to stay connected.

The same is true if your internet connection is down. Your smart devices can connect to other smart devices, even if they aren't in your home. The big news on this front is that Tile is joining the Sidewalk network on June 14. That means that if you lose a Tile tracker, it can connect to any of the millions of Echo or Ring devices in your neighborhood and send its location back to you.

That's definitely a nice benefit, but it's also where things get a little murky from a privacy standpoint. That's because other people's devices, like your neighbor's, can also connect to your network. Amazon is pretty clear that Sidewalk uses three layers of encryption so that no data is shared between say, someone's Tile tracker and your network. The signal from the Tile is encrypted all the way back to the Tile app on your iPhone or Android smartphone... [But] whether or not you want your device connecting to other devices, or want your neighbors connecting to your WiFi, Amazon went ahead and made Sidewalk opt-out.
Opt out (for all your devices) using Alexa app's More tab (at the bottom): Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk > Enabled.

"How would you feel about being able to pay to control multiple aspects of another person's life?" asks the BBC.

"A new app is offering you the chance to do just that." When writer Brandon Wong recently couldn't decide what takeaway to order one evening, he asked his followers on social media app NewNew to choose for him. Those that wanted to get involved in the 24-year-old's dinner dilemma paid $5 (£3.50) to vote in a poll, and the majority verdict was that he should go for Korean food, so that was what he bought...

NewNew is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Courtne Smith. The app, which is still in its "beta" or pre-full release stage, describes itself as "a human stock market where you buy shares in the lives of real people, in order to control their decisions and watch the outcome". For many of us that sounds a bit ominous, but the reality is actually far less alarming. It is aimed at what it calls "creators" — writers, painters, musicians, fashion designers, bloggers etc. It is designed as a way for them to connect far more closely with their fans or followers than on other social media services and, importantly, monetise that connection...

Whenever a vote is cast the creator gets the money minus NewNew's undisclosed commission... In addition to voting, followers can also pay extra — from $20 — to ask a NewNew creator to do something of their choosing, such as naming a character in a book after them. But the creator can reject all of these "bids", and if they do so then the follower doesn't have to part with the money...

Co-founder and chief executive Ms Smith, a 33-year-old Canadian, has big plans for NewNew, and has some heavyweight backers. Investors include Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, and the first outside person to put money into Facebook. Others with a stake in the business include leading US tech investment fund Andreessen Horowitz, and Hollywood actor Will Smith (no relation to Courtne). Snapchat has also given technical support.