Tech news

[JDR13]

Apparently networks are difficult for the giant:

Google’s self-designed office swallows Wi-Fi “like the Bermuda Triangle”

Bad radio propagation means Googlers are making do with Ethernet cables, phone hotspots.

arstechnica.com

"Having an office with barely working Wi-Fi sure is awkward for a company pushing a "return to office" plan that includes at least three days a week at Google's Wi-Fi desert. A Google spokesperson told Reuters the company has already made several improvements and hopes to have a fix in the coming weeks."

pibbuR whose network at the moment of writing is connected (only to the net)

I hope they get their issues sorted. I need Alphabet's stock to get back on track.

 

[pibbuR]

Google says Chrome can now protect you better while preserving your privacy

The feature is available now on desktop and iOS.

www.theverge.com

"Safe Browsing’s opt-in Enhanced protection mode deals with this by using Google’s Safe Browsing server-side database, which catches unsafe URLs much faster in real time. Yet users must provide Google with more security-related data for full protection, which is why it’s an opt-in mode."

One thing that surprised me: "most dangerous sites exist for less than 10 minutes nowadays"

 

[Redglyph]

That's weird, indeed.

I find it amusing that Google wants to protect our privacy, of all companies. Something doesn't compute, but I can't quite put my finger on what.

It rather seems like a way to grab more data (and we'll see if it really remains opt-in).

Talking of protection and privacy, it would be nice if the cookies weren't available when the user is not logged in, too. Just basic good common sense.

 

[txa1265]

I find it amusing that Google wants to protect our privacy, of all companies. Something doesn't compute, but I can't quite put my finger on what.

It rather seems like a way to grab more data (and we'll see if it really remains opt-in).

Exactly - there is no company that works so hard to ignore and circumvent your stated privacy settings than Google. They have always been the absolute worst about stealing private info even when they aren't the browser or search engine of choice. They are routinely fined, but don't care - they need to get a few execs sent to prison every time this happens.

 

[pibbuR]

Another chip, according to CodeProject "like the other NVidia chips - you can't buy":

Nvidia unveils Blackwell B200, the “world’s most powerful chip” designed for AI

208B transistor chip can reportedly reduce AI cost and energy consumption by up to 25x.

arstechnica.com

pibbuR who naively hopes this means that gamers now can keep the 4090s for themselves (at an affordabll price)

 

[pibbuR]

Microsoft announces deprecation of 1024-bit RSA keys in Windows

Microsoft has announced that RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits will soon be deprecated in Windows Transport Layer Security (TLS) to provide increased security.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

"Experts in the field consider 2048-bit keys safe until at least 2030."

pibbuR who now wants to upgrade his systems, maybe even twice, a looong time before 2030. Admittedly for other reasons, but added securitry should have a higher WAF than just-for-fun. He reaches level 70 this year.

 

[Redglyph]

Microsoft announces deprecation of 1024-bit RSA keys in Windows

Microsoft has announced that RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits will soon be deprecated in Windows Transport Layer Security (TLS) to provide increased security.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

"Experts in the field consider 2048-bit keys safe until at least 2030."

pibbuR who now wants to upgrade his systems, maybe even twice, a looong time before 2030. Admittedly for other reasons, but added securitry should have a higher WAF than just-for-fun. He reaches level 70 this year.

Who cares, Q-day is upon us anyway.

 

[pibbuR]

Carmakers’ shady data sharing takes spotlight in GM connected car scandal

There are better alternatives to clicking a EULA the first time you drive your car.

arstechnica.com

"The heart of the problem is one of GM's OnStar connected-car services, called Smart Driver. We've tested it out in the past—it monitors things like how fast you drive, how hard you accelerate and brake, how often you drive at night, and your fuel economy, then uses that data to generate a numerical score from 0 to 100, with a higher number indicating that you're a safer driver.

However, buried in OnStar's privacy notice is the revelation that GM can and will share user information with third parties, including "usage-based insurance providers."

The general problem:
But when it comes to having the normal human be able to determine whether or not they have agreed in any way to data collection or data sharing, as the New York Times article highlighted, about what Mozilla highlighted, fundamentally, it's very difficult to know if a disclosure is deep within 2,000 words of... heavy, dense text,

Law suits are coming. Possibly also legislation - I think we are better protected in Europe.

pibbuR who has decided not to connect his car to the net (except the road net of course - assuming "road net" means what he thinks it means)

 

[JDR13]

Law suits are coming. Possibly also legislation - I think we are better protected in Europe.

I think so to. You guys have things like the EU Digital Services Act which at least attempts to keep stuff like that in check. We don't have anything like that over here.

 

[Redglyph]

It's not the first time those things happen here. TomTom, a car navigation vendor, was selling the location and speed of vehicles to the Dutch authorities so they could set up radars more efficiently. They were also selling them speed cameras, so it made sense.

 

[notdart]

Microsoft announces deprecation of 1024-bit RSA keys in Windows

Microsoft has announced that RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits will soon be deprecated in Windows Transport Layer Security (TLS) to provide increased security.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

"Experts in the field consider 2048-bit keys safe until at least 2030."

pibbuR who now wants to upgrade his systems, maybe even twice, a looong time before 2030. Admittedly for other reasons, but added securitry should have a higher WAF than just-for-fun. He reaches level 70 this year.

This is silly late - 10 years ago my standard key size became 4096. It really doens't take that much longer and a bit of paranoia goes a long ways (we generate new ssh keys every 6 to 12 months).

 

[pibbuR]

New upcoming (in a month) Windows 11 features I really want

Windows 11 lock screen gets MSN Weather, Sports, Money integration

Microsoft will add MSN-powered widgets to Windows 11 lock screen. Similar to Windows 10, these widgets are for Weather, Sports, and Money.

www.windowslatest.com

to turn off.

Fortunately I can, and the article shows how.

OTOH I may not have to. In fact I never see features like commercials/suggestions (which I understand is present by default) without doing anything. Except using 3rd party software (Displayfusion, Start11 from Stardock etc.) for much of the Windows interface.

pibbuR who is only sponsored by himself.

 

[pibbuR]

Unpatchable vulnerability in Apple chip leaks secret encryption keys

Fixing newly discovered side channel will likely take a major toll on performance.

arstechnica.com

pibbuR who will no longer use his iPad mini for encryption tasks.

 

[pibbuR]

Apple, Google, and Meta are failing DMA compliance, EU suspects

Tech giants must defend against EU's "concrete evidence" of non-compliance.

arstechnica.com

"In total, the EC announced five investigations: two against Apple, two against Google, and one against Meta."

“We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,” antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said, ordering companies to "retain certain documents" viewed as critical to assessing evidence in the probe.

"In addition to probes into Apple, Google, and Meta, the EC will scrutinize Apple's fee structure for app store alternatives and send retention orders to Amazon and Microsoft."

"ByteDance the only gatekeeper so far to escape investigatory steps"

pibbuR who observes that Google, Apple and Meta don't agree.

PS. Meta's Subscription model for no ads is under scrutiny. I have no problems with subscriptions to avoid being showed ads. But Meta's model is subscription to avoid sharing of data for tracking. Eu definitely doesn't like that, since "consent must be "freely" given under the DMA." DS

PPS pibbuR who is glad that he's not on Facebook. DS.

PPPS. ByteDance? DS.

 

[pibbuR]

Microsoft will let you manage Linux distros on Windows 11 through GUI

Microsoft explored the idea of using the Dev Home to manage all the installed Linux distributions in one single window.

www.windowslatest.com

But we still can't open a Linux desktop, like Gnome?

pibbuR who in this case (and of course many others (a countable infinity)) is an amateur.

 

[pibbuR]

Moved.

 

[Redglyph]

PPPS. ByteDance? DS.

First time I see the name, too. Sounds barbaric.

But we still can't open a Linux desktop, like Gnome?

I've never played with that. I know it's possible to have GUI applications with WSL (here), and it's apparently possible to install a desktop environment (here).

I prefer using VirtualBox because it's less confusing, and I'm sure everything is well separated (rm -fr / is less frightening when it happens...). On the downside, you have to allocate CPUs and RAM.

 

[pibbuR]

This camera captures 156.3 trillion frames per second

Scientists have created a blazing-fast scientific camera that shoots images at an encoding rate of 156.3 terahertz (THz) to individual pixels — equivalent to 156.3 trillion frames per second.

www.engadget.com

pibbuR who wants one. But not for taking selfies (he never takes selfies).

 

[pibbuR]

How a single buck bought bragging rights in the battle to port Windows 95 to NT

The dollar bet that booted Windows into history

It reached the desktop and then ...

www.theregister.com

pibbuR who misses the DOS interface...or....

 

[txa1265]

How a single buck bought bragging rights in the battle to port Windows 95 to NT

The dollar bet that booted Windows into history

It reached the desktop and then ...

www.theregister.com

pibbuR who misses the DOS interface...or....

I really loved NT 3.51 with the POSIX shell.