Tech Time - Technology News

Facebook Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Massive New Tech Hack https://yro.slashdot.org/story/18/09/28/233249/facebook-faces-class-action-lawsuit-over-massive-new-hack * hacker exploited a security flaw in a popular feature of Facebook to steal account credentials of as many as 50 million users. * a class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of one California resident, Carla Echavarria, and one Virginia resident, Derick Walker. “Both … Continue reading "Tech Time Podcast 8 – Facebook Faces Class Action Suit and Every New Android Phone"

Tech Time Podcast Episode 7:

Gut-Brain Connection Could Lead To a ‘New Sense’

In our podcast a new study has revealed a “fast-acting neural circuit allowing gut cells to communicate with the brain in just seconds,” reports New Atlas. Diego Bohorquez, senior author of the study, says “these findings are going to be the biological basis of a new sense. One that serves as the entry point for how the brain knows when the stomach is full of food and calories.” He says it “brings legitimacy to [the] idea of the ‘gut feeling’ as a sixth sense.”

Duke university

Remarkable new work from a team of researchers at Duke University has now revealed a previously unknown direct circuit between the gut and the brain that could allow for fast sensory communication that doesn’t relay on laborious hormonal signaling.

 

Mosquitoes Genetically Modified To Crash Species That Spreads Malaria

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a controversial new kind of genetic engineering can rapidly spread a self-destructive genetic modification through a complex species.

The scientists used the revolutionary gene-editing tool known as CRISPR to engineer mosquitoes with a “gene drive,” which rapidly transmitted a sterilizing mutation through other members of the mosquito’s species

After mosquitoes carrying the mutation were released into cages filled with unmodified mosquitoes in a high-security basement laboratory in London, virtually all of the insects were wiped out, according to a report in Nature Biotechnology. The mosquitoes were created in the hopes of using them as a potent new weapon in the long, frustrating fight against malaria. Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases, killing more than 400,000 people every year, mostly children younger than 5 years old.

What’s encouraging is that the mosquitos reportedly did not appear to further mutate in a way that would diminish the effectiveness of the engineered mutation. “But the researchers stressed that many years of additional research are needed to further test the safety and effectiveness of the approach before anyone attempts to release these mosquitos or any other organisms created this way into the wild,

Matt – What effect would this have on the local ecology?  I hate mosquitos but would birds, bats and other predators starve? Would other insects move in to replace mosquitos?

 

Uber Drivers and Other Gig Economy Workers Are Earning Half What They Did Five Years Ago

According to a new study by the JPMorgan Chase Instittue, drivers who transport people via apps (e.g. Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, Postmates) made 53 percent less in 2017 than they did in 2013.

drivers on average are working fewer hours; demand hasn’t increased to meet the increased number of drivers; trip prices have fallen; or platforms are paying drivers lower rates.

The average monthly payments to those who worked for a transportation app in a given month declined to $783 from $1,469. Meanwhile, people working for leasing apps — Airbnb, Turo, Parklee and other apps that let you rent assets like your home, car or parking space — saw their incomes from those platforms rise 69 percent to $1,

Tech Time Podcast Episode 7: Gut-Brain Connection Could Lead To a ‘New Sense’ In our podcast a new study has revealed a “fast-acting neural circuit allowing gut cells to communicate with the brain in just seconds,” reports New Atlas. Diego Bohorquez, senior author of the study, says “these findings are going to be the biological … Continue reading "Tech Time Podcast Episode 7 – Clouds of Bugs and Donairs"

iPhone Xs, Xs Max, Xr,

Price! Up to $1,500 USD ($2k CAD). This is crazy.

Tim Cook Defended the Price of the Xs Max by saying, “most people make a deal with their phone carrier and pay about $30 a month for the phone. That’s only $1 a day.”

What do you think? Is it really just $1 a day? If you keep the phone for two years, isn’t it $3.70 a day.

Apple Watch Series 4

$399 – ???

Larger screen, smaller bezels, new UI

Battery extended to 18 hrs – Is this enough?

Do you need 24 hrs? I often find myself traveling.

Easy to charge a phone but a watch….?

Trump Tariffs on China Exclude Apple & Components that go in Apple Products.

Tim Cook suggested that Apple may be too big to tax.

“I don’t want to speak for [the Trump administration], but I think they looked at this and said that it’s not really great for the United States to put a tariff on those types of products,”

After Trump’s Tax cuts Apple’s US back taxes dropped from $78B to $39B; almost on par to Ireland’s taxes where Apple currently is “Headquartered”.

Trump went after Apple about it’s Ireland Headquarters but he appears to happy as Apple announced earlier this year that they were moving their money back to the US (thanks to the Tax Cuts).

Google Remotely Changed Settings on Android Pie Phones.

Google accidentally changed the settings on Android Phones with Android Pie.

They switched on the feature “Battery Saver”.

Went to Reddit to apologize and explain.

“an internal experiment to test battery saving features that was mistakenly rolled out to more users than intended… We have now rolled battery saver settings back to default. Please configure to your liking”.

What do you think of major Corporations having the power to remotely change the settings on your phone?

Not new, Apple has done this with slowing down phones.

Security Experts are Warning Android Users of Fake Apps (Fortnite to blame).

Top10VPN commissioned a study of the most common Malware found on Android devices.

Google play is cracking down on apps to their store (tetris)

Found the malware is coming mostly from Digital Marketplaces outside of Google’s Play Store such as Amazon.

Majority of these Apps are tied to Fortnight which choose to sell it’s app outside of Google’s Play Store to avoid paying Google fees.

These Apps were found to have the ability to spy on the users by turning on their cameras & microphones, record and upload phone calls, reading their contacts & accessing their files, photos and emails.

Dan – As a developer of mobile games, do you feel Apple’s and Google’s store are worth the fees or is Fortnight correct by avoiding them?

Online divorce service says ‘Fortnite addiction’ cited in 200 divorces (lol)

Data mining of divorce hearings show that Fortnite is being increasingly referenced.

Digital addiction is now being added to the three most common causes of divorce (addiction to drugs, alcohol & gambling).

Google Accused of Political Censorship after Pulling Videos of Putin’s Biggest Critic.

Advertisements of Alexei Navalny were taken down at the request of the Russian Government.

Navalny was calling for demonstrations on Sunday to protest the raising of the Russian retirement age (Women to 60 and men to 65; life expectancy is 71).

In Russia it is illegal to campaign more than 24 hours before an election (election was Sunday).

Russian Government considered the Youtube Ads to be campaigning.

Navalny called it “getting the message out for a demonstration”.

Google sided with the Russian Government.

What do you think? Was Google right to side with the Government’s claim it was campaigning or was it political censorship?

Transcript:

[Music]

iPhone Xs, Xs Max, Xr, Price! Up to $1,500 USD ($2k CAD). This is crazy. Tim Cook Defended the Price of the Xs Max by saying, “most people make a deal with their phone carrier and pay about $30 a month for the phone. That’s only $1 a day.” What do you think? Is it … Continue reading "Tech Time Episode 6 – iPhone XS, XR, XMax and Lard Sandwiches"

iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR Reveal Tomorrow at 10:00 am PST

3 new iPhones to be revealed (all large like the iPhone X with notches

iPhone XS

iPhone XS Max

iPhone Xr – the budget phone with LCD screen, aluminum instead of Stainless Steel. 6.1” screen.  $700-$850 in price.

No more SE’s?  No more 4” screens?

No more home buttons?

Pixel 3 XL Notch – Leak Setup?

Google is contacting Video Bloggers to use their “negative reviews” in the upcoming Pixel 3 XL release event on October 4.

These reviews have all been anti notch.

One said, “I want to vomit every time I see the notch”.

Why would Google want to use these negative reviews?

Could have it been a setup?  Is it just another way to drum up hype?

“There is no such thing as bad publicity!” PT Barnum.

Could there be a notchless Pixel XL on it’s way to wow us all?

Didi halts carpooling across china after murder!

Didi Chuxing has suspended its Hitch carpooling service across all of China in the wake of a driver raping and killing a passenger on August 24th.

A customer had complained to Didi about the the driver’s sexually threatening behavior a day before, but the company didn’t follow through with an investigation that might have banned the driver in time to prevent the tragedy.

Apparently the drivers can rate the passengers (like nice legs etc…)

The article makes it sound like it’s a hitchhiking service more than an uber service.

A previous woman had complained to Didi on the 23rd that the same driver had exhibited extremely threatening behavior, including asking her to sit in the front, driving to an out-of-the-way area and following her for a while after she left the car. She’d complained to Didi, but the support agent attached to the case didn’t follow up within the company’s promised two-hour window. In other words, the absence of a swift ban against the driver may have cost a woman her life.

Musk’s Erratic Behavior Continues as he Smokes Pot on Joe Rogen Podcast

Investors are downgrading their forecast for Tesla Stock due to Elon Musk’s erratic behavior.

Take Private Drama

Tweet to take private.

Didn’t have a solid plan and backed away. (Saudi’s)

Pedofile Accusations

British Expat Tai Diver Accusation.

Appology in June.

Doubles down, “why hasn’t he sued me?”.  Apparently he did.

Thursday Smoked Pot on Joe Rogan’s Podcast.

Two Tesla Top Executives Quit the next day.

US Air Force is looking at removing Musk’s Space X security clearance for Marijuana use (prohibited for anyone with security clearance).

Tesla Share Price dropped 9% to lowest in almost a year.

Russian Assassins Caught on Cameras in London

Between 4 and 6 million CCTV cameras in the United Kingdom

London Police 10k, London Underground 11k, London Rail 4k (25k)

250 Police Officers reviewed 11k hours of footage.

Video Footage of Assassins

March 2nd

3 pm arrived at Gatwick Airport on Aeroflot flight.

Traveled to city centre by train.

Tube to hotel.

March 3

Traveled to Salisbury in afternoon for reconnaissance mission.

Returned to hotel 2 hours later.

March 4

Morning train to Salisbury

Walking along road near Sergei’s home just before noon.

Late afternoon back in London going to Heathrow Air...

iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR Reveal Tomorrow at 10:00 am PST 3 new iPhones to be revealed (all large like the iPhone X with notches iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone Xr – the budget phone with LCD screen, aluminum instead of Stainless Steel. 6.1” screen.  $700-$850 in price. No more SE’s?  No … Continue reading "Tech Time Podcast Episode 5 – iPhone XS, iphone XS Max, iPhone XR"

Will the iPhone XS be worth it?

Listen to find out if the iPhone XS will be worth your wait.

Samsung Foldable Smartphone to be revealed in November

Samsung CEO DJ Koh said they will reveal the foldable smartphone sometime this year.

Many speculate it will be during Samsung’s Developer Conference in November.

Koh stated that Samsung is working on differentiating the phone from a phone or a tablet.

“If the unfolded experience is the same as the tablet, why would [consumers] buy it?” Koh added: “So every device, every feature, every innovation should have a meaningful message to our end customer. So when the end customer uses it, [they will think] ‘Wow, this is the reason Samsung made it.’”

Do we need a foldable phone?

Will a foldable phone fit better in my pocket?

Why would I say, “I need this?”

What is the market for this?

 

Samsung Rumored to be Developing a Phone with 4 Cameras on One Side.

Not the S10 witch is rumored to have 3 cameras on one side and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

What is the purpose?

Double 3D?

Extra Zoom?  That would be nice!

 

OnePlus 6T Shows a “Teardrop” Notch and an In-Screen Fingerprint Sensor

Slashleaks user “King Star” (has a 91% accuracy rating) posted the image of the packaging.

There are authenticity questions – Oneplus never drew pictures of the phone in their packaging before.

I like the small “teardrop notch”.

In-screen fingerprint sensor will need to be fast.

I don’t like my back fingerprint sensor – difficult to unlock when mounted in the car.

 

Sony Dismisses Cross-Platform Gaming

Many multiplayer games have been asking Sony to open up and allow cross-platform gaming.

Fortnight is the latest to request this feature.

Sony’s CEO Knichiro Yoshida said, the “best experience” is offered by Playstation 4.

XBox Engineering Lead Mike Ybarra, “Sony still isn’t listening to gamers”.

Currently games like Fortnite and Minecraft are playable on XBox and Nintendo Switch.

Would you like to play cross-platform?

 

iPhone XS, iPad Pro, Apple Watch 4 – Release Date Wed, Sep 12 @ 10 am Pacific Time.

iPhone XS – What do we know of this device?

Will this be just another S year?  New processor same form?

Apple Watch Series 4

Leaked images show screen could wrap around watch.

Battery Life?

iPad Pro – New slimmer bezels.

 

Lyft Driver finds a Prototype Pixel 3 in his Car.

Leaked so much, the driver instantly knew he was looking at the Pixel 3 XL.

Big Notch, Big Chin..

He took it out of the case, snapped some pictures and sent them to “BusinessInsider” before returning it to the owner.

It looks like nobody cared.  Has it been over leaked?

 

European Car Makers Releasing all Electric Competitors to Tesla

Mercedes Benz – Yoga, an Electric SUV geared towards millenials.

How many millennials have the money for a Mercedes?

BMW & Audi will release their Tesla competition shortly.

Audi – e-Tron SUV to launch on Sep 17 in San Francisco.

BMW – Vision iNext Concept car will be flown to San Francisco for a tour during the same time.

European Car CEOs and VPs have been seen copying Silicon Valley style by appearing in jeans and sneakers to appeal to a younger crowd.  

The three German Car Makers are developing their own network of fast- charges along major highways in partnership with Ford.

Will the iPhone XS be worth it? Listen to find out if the iPhone XS will be worth your wait. Samsung Foldable Smartphone to be revealed in November Samsung CEO DJ Koh said they will reveal the foldable smartphone sometime this year. Many speculate it will be during Samsung’s Developer Conference in November. Koh stated that … Continue reading "Tech Time Podcast Episode 4 – Turtlenecks and Electric Cars IPhone XS and more"

Trump Accuses Google of Rigging Search Results To Favor ‘Bad’ News About Him.  Russia fake news

President Donald Trump says Google search results for “Trump News” show only negative coverage about him.

Tweet this morning on Tuesday 8/28/2018

Trump tweet, “96% of results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media”

He said it’s a “very serious situation” that “will be addressed!”

Google denies the claims and says it’s search engine, “is not used to set a political agenda and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology”.

Shares of Alphabet fell 0.8% to $1,245.86.

Does google/facebook/twitter alter the way we vote and think about issues

YouTube, Apple and Facebook removed content from Alex Jones’ site Inforwars.  Conspiracy theorist. Twitter also temporarily deactivated his account.

Fake News out of Russia?  Was mostly pro Trump.

Where do you draw the line?  How do you police that?

Xenophobia and automation:

As the Trump administration continues to advance its hardline stance towards immigration, legal or otherwise, businesses are increasingly turning to automation and robotics to fill jobs previously held by humans.

Japan has a notoriously difficult immigration system.  You have to do a 6 month course in Japanses culture/language before immigrating.

Their population is getting older.  Instead of opening up immigration they are turning to robotics.

 

Rights groups are demanding that google stops production on their censored search system for china:

More than a dozen tech NGOs and human rights groups have issued an open letter calling on Google to stop work on a censored search engine project in China.

Organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access Now and others released the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday,

The tech giant’s plans to release a censored version of its search engine app to users in China represent an “alarming capitulation by Google on human rights.”

 

LCD 2018 ‘A12’ iPhone expected to dominate sales, two dual-SIM models exclusive to China

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has slightly refined predictions for the 2018 iPhone lineup

reiterated his belief that the two new OLED iPhone models will be available in September. However, the widely anticipated 6.1-inch lower-cost LCD iPhone model will be made available to consumers a bit later.

Kuo continues to maintain that the new 6.1-inch LCD and 6.5-inch OLED iPhone models will have single-SIM and dual-SIM versions. At present, it does not appear that the dual-SIM models will be available in the United States.

The less expensive LCD model is not expected to have the A11 processor as found in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Kuo believes that the it will equipped with the “A12,” the same as the OLED model

Will the iphone SE 2 come out too? (I love my iphone SE)

The 6.1-inch LCD phone is expected to cost around $600-700, while the 5.8-inch model slots in at between $800 and 900, with the 6.5-inch model coming in at least $999.

 

* They might also remove 3D TOUCH: Barclays says it’s “widely understood” that 3D Touch will be removed from iPhones with OLED displays in 2019—aka the third-generation iPhone X and second-generation “iPhone X Plus.” However,