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Submission + - Microsoft Surface firmware left embedded controller unprotected (theregister.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: For the past 90 days, Microsoft has been quietly patching a firmware flaw in Surface devices that allowed the hardware to be bricked with a single packet, though only for those who have disabled Secure Core and Secure Boot.

And the company's Copilot AI software inadvertently helped identify the faulty firmware. Asked by a security researcher to adjust the backlighting on a Surface laptop, the AI sprayed the embedded controller with data and bricked his device.

Submission + - Defense AI models 'a risk to life' alleges spurned tech firm (theregister.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Danny Coleman, CEO of AI firm Chatterbox Labs, says the US government accused him of blackmail for challenging the withdrawal of a responsible AI contract and the fitness of the Defense Department's Algorithmic Warfare models. "The lies, deceit, and contract cover-ups are endless at the US DoD even when the subject is AI safety," Coleman claims. "It's in the public interest to understand why AI safety is non-existent."

Submission + - Privacy advocate challenges YouTube's ad blocking detection scripts under EU law (theregister.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Privacy advocate Alexander Hanff has filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) challenging YouTube's use of JavaScript code to detect the presence of ad blocking extensions in the browsers of website visitors. He claims that under Europe's ePrivacy Directive, YouTube needs to ask permission to run its detection script because it's not technically necessary. If the DPC agrees, it would be a major win for user privacy.

Submission + - Google is working on Blink-based iOS browser, contrary to Apple's WebKit rule (theregister.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Google's Chromium developers have begun work on an experimental web browser for Apple's iOS using the search giant's Blink engine. That's unexpected because the current version of Chrome for iOS uses Apple's WebKit rendering engine under the hood. Apple requires every iOS browser to use WebKit, per its App Store Guidelines. Google insists this is an experiment and isn't intended for release. But the stripped-down, Blink-based browser could be preparation for European competition rules that look like they will require Apple to stop requiring that other browser makers use its WebKit engine.

Submission + - Drone maker Lily faked video, sued for false advertising (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Lily Robotics says its decision on Thursday to shut down and return pre-order payments for a never-delivered drone, which came on the same day that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón charged the company with false advertising and misleading business practices, was purely coincidental.

Submission + - Blowing up a pointless job interview

Submitted by Nemo the Magnificent
Nemo the Magnificent writes: Ever been asked a question in a job interview that's just so abysmally stupid, you're tempted to give in to the snark and blow the whole thing up? Here are suggested interview-ending answers to 16 of the stupidest questions candidates actually got asked in interviews at tech companies in 2013, according to employment site Glassdoor. Oil to pour on the burning bridges.

Submission + - DoJ Answers FOIA Request After Six Years With No Real Information (informationweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In response to a Freedom of Information Act request about Google's 2007 complaint against Windows Vista search interference, the Department of Justice has after six years released 114 partially redacted pages and 60 full pages of material. Yet these "responsive documents" consist of public news articles and email boilerplate. All the substantive information has been blacked out.

Comment It's not part of Project Glass... (Score 3, Interesting) 115

by Dotnaught (#43121381) Attached to: Google Glass Will Identify People By Clothing

...It's technology that Google has had a hand in funding. The Project Glass connection is because the researchers used Project Glass as an example in their paper. Google may be able to use the technology, but it has not been included in the Glass software.

Google Funds Fashion Recognition Research
http://www.informationweek.com/security/privacy/google-funds-fashion-recognition-researc/240150399
Apple

Submission + - Steve Jobs Weighs In On Section 3.3.1 (taoeffect.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Greg Slepak, founder of software company Tao Effect, wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs to complain about Apple's mandate that iPhone applications be originally written in C/C++/Objective-C. Job's response was to endorse a post by John Gruber on the Daring Fireball blog. Jobs called it "very insightful," suggesting Gruber's prediction that third-party iPhone development tools are out might be right. Jobs sent a second reply that also doesn't bode well for third-party iPhone development tools: "We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform."

Submission + - Memory Management Technique Makes Apps 20% Faster (informationweek.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: A paper to be presented later this month at the IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, describes a new approach to memory management that allows software applications to run up to 20% faster on multicore processors. Yan Solihin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NCSU and co-author of the paper, says that using the technique is just a matter of linking to a library in a program that makes heavy use of memory allocation.

Submission + - Photoshop 1.0 Recreated On iPhone (anscamobile.com) 2

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Photoshop co-creator Russell Brown asked Ansca Mobile to re-create Photoshop 1.0, originally introduced in 1990, for the iPhone. The resulting app, created in three days using the Corona SDK, was distributed to 50 attendees of an event celebrating Photoshop's 20th anniversary. Programmer Evan Kirchhoff in a blog post explains that Ansca took the project on to prove its claims about how Corona makes iPhone development faster.
Apple

Submission + - Apple's Change Of Heart (anscamobile.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: In a blog post, Walter Luh, co-founder of Ansca Mobile and a former employee of both Apple and Adobe, recounts how Apple once promoted Flash on the iPhone then changed its mind because Flash didn't provide the optimal user experience. "I think that Apple came to the same conclusion I’ve come to — namely that Flash has its strengths, but not when it comes to creating insanely great mobile experiences," he writes. Luh makes the case for mobile development using the Corona SDK, a Lua-based programming environment that strives to recapture the simplicity of early versions of Flash.
Censorship

Submission + - Scientology Charged with Slavery, Human Traffickin (courthousenews.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: A formal complaint was filed in California last week by John Lindstein naming David Miscavige and, most importantly, the Church of Scientology International as defendants. He claims that for sixteen years (age 8 on) he was forced to work as a slave at Gold Base, a secret CoS site run by Golden Era Productions with 'razor wire, security guard patrols, surveillance posts and three roll calls each day.' The pay was $50 a week. The allegations include 'Violations of wage and hour laws as well as unfair/illegal business practices actionable under California B&P 17200 Et. Seq.' and are laid out on Infinite Complacency's blog with members of the group Anonymous praising the summons.
The Internet

Submission + - CBS Interactive Sued For Distributing Green Dam (informationweek.com)

Submitted by Dotnaught
Dotnaught writes: Solid Oak Software, maker of Internet filter CYBERsitter, on Monday filed a $1.2 million copyright infringement lawsuit against CBS Interactive's ZDNet China for distributing the Green Dam Internet filtering software. Green Dam was going to be mandatory on all PCs in China starting in July, but widespread criticism, including reports of stolen code, forced the Chinese government to reconsider. The lawsuit, if it succeeds, could force companies to give more thought to the risks of complying with mandates from foreign governments that violate US laws.

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