Fallout from the Microsoft Exchange server attack continues, with reports now indicating the exploit is actively in use in over 115 countries. Microsoft is also now investigating the possibility that the vulnerability was leaked shortly before the patch was made available on March 2nd, resulting in the steep rise in the use of the attack vector in the days prior to the patch.

Apple has announced it will discontinue its original HomePod, launched in 2018, to focus on its newer, smaller HomePod mini, launched in November last year. If you already own one, Apple says support will continue for the product through software updates. The launch of the HomePod mini seems to have revealed a strong preference toward this new smaller model, leading Apple to focus its efforts on this design into the future.

Also at Apple, the notoriously secretive Californian company is suing its former advanced materials lead for leaking trade secrets to the media. Simon Lancaster, also a former product design architect at the company, had been with Apple for 11 years before leaving in late 2019. The suit alleges extensive conversations with an unnamed media contact over more than a year, as well as the downloading of confidential documents on his final day of employment that would also assist his next employer.

Adobe has unveiled a new feature for Adobe Camera Raw called Super Resolution, which can quadruple the pixel count of a photograph using AI technology. Adobe says that the feature, available in the latest Creative Cloud update, will help improve pictures taken by many digital cameras and smartphones over the past two decades that look great on screen but do not look good in a large print format. 'Zoom and enhance' indeed.

In other image technology news, scientists at the University of Buffalo believe they have found a new way to detect deepfake faces. The system is focused on wholly synthesised faces created by Generative Adversarial Network models, which have been used widely in the creation of fake social media profiles. The team built a system to analyse the corneal specular highlights in the eyes, finding that GAN generated faces do not maintain appropriate symmetry. As ever, the eye remains the window to the soul.

A team from University College London believes it has created a working 3D computer model of the Antikythera Mechanism. The Ancient Greek device believed to be the world's oldest computer and astronomical calculator, was found in a shipwreck in 1901. Previous studies had solved how the rear of the device worked and now the new study, published in Scientific Reports, reveals how the front of the device combines Babylonian and Ancient Greek astronomies as well as mathematics from Plato's Academy.

Netflix is reported to be testing a crackdown on password sharing, with a prompt to verify users that they should only be using an account if they live at the same premises as the account owner. A check is offered to verify via email or text. In the past, Netflix co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings has over the years commonly stated the company was OK with account sharing. Perhaps when you feel you're reaching a growth ceiling it might start to become something to worry about.

And finally, in art news, Auction house Christies has revealed that the winning bidder on the US$69.3M purchase of an NFT artwork by Mike Winklemann, best known as Beeple, was the founder and finance of the largest NFT fund in the world, Metapurse. The fund offers a shared ownership structure for NFT artworks via the B20 crypto token and will create a virtual museum to house this and other digital artworks. The hammer price made Beeple the third most valuable living artist after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

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