CNN labels 4Chan the, "Internet's Wild West."

CNN: Buffalo massacre puts spotlight on hate-filled website.

4chan is part of the internet’s Wild West. While Big Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter at least try to police their sites, almost anything goes on 4Chan.

"Facebook and Twitter at least try to police their sites."  🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Perps have livestreamed their own crimes, killings, smash and grabs and worse on FB. Antifa, blm, pro-baby killers all have organized violent protests on both FB an Twitter.

Yes, there are some crazy and ranting posts on 4Chan. But I'm unaware of any unlawful behavior organized and instigated that can be blamed on a 4Chan poster. 4Chan jannies are far more arduous and strict about deleting a post or file than FB, Twitter or the unhinged blue-red hair Redditors.

CNN is the 4Chan of the MSM. How unironic.

"This is CNN...and FB...and Twitter": 

Facebook employee leaps to death from roof of corporate headquarters.

Daily Mail: Facebook employee jumps to his death from roof of company's Silicon Valley headquarters in apparent suicide.

A Facebook employee has died at the company's headquarters campus in Silicon Valley in what police call an apparent suicide.

Horrified bystanders in Menlo Park, California called 911 at about 11.30am on Thursday after an adult male jumped from the top of a four-story building on the 100 block of Jefferson Drive.

Paramedics rushed to Facebook's sprawling campus and rendered first aid, but the victim was declared dead on the scene.

The deceased individual has not been publicly identified pending family notification, but Facebook confirmed in a statement to DailyMail.com that he was an employee.

Zuckerberg may have to install suicide nets like Apple did in China to prevent employees from leaping to their deaths.

"Our AI wasn't programmed to identify suicidal tendencies."

Bill Clinton's remarks on NAFTA signing in 1993 at The American Presidency Project page scrubbed? Link result is "404 page not found."

Over 26 years ago The Left ushered the U.S. into NAFTA by then-president DEM Bill Clinton. Now, it seems all the DEMS, especially the presidential candidates, backtrack their being for NAFTA and now appear against it. Or, they suggest that an updated NAFTA will fix the problems with old NAFTA.

Adding another layer to a failed DEM initiative is always the answer. Always.

The link to The American Presidency Project page for NAFTA, titled "Bill Clinton's Remarks on Signing the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act , December 8, 1993", leads to "404  Page Not Found."

Maybe it's a glitch? An overwhelmed slow server running Win7 or XP?

Thankfully, we have The Wayback Machine preserving this page. Hit the link, read the full story. I've intentionally oversized the screen cap:

The above entry now a "404 page not found".

Politifact: News site saying Donald Trump is wrong and that Bill Clinton didn't sign NAFTA is lying. Or maybe it's intentional disinformation.

NowThis, which spreads stories on social media, has accused Trump of getting it wrong — repeatedly.

On Aug. 10, 2016, NowThis posted a video on Facebook headlined "Fact Check: Everything Donald J. Trump says about NAFTA is wrong," and on YouTube titled "Donald Trump Can't Get The Facts Right About NAFTA.".
[.]
It turns out that Trump isn't wrong.

Clinton signed the deal on Dec. 8, 1993. His speech that day is available in print form and on YouTube.

How oddly coincidental that this link is a dead "404 Page not found" result.

The video of Bill Clinton's remarks on Signing the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, as of this time, up and running at You Tube. Screen caps from the video:

If you find the link is restored at The American Presidency Project, leave a comment.

Facebook Messenger Kids app flaw let thousands of children chat to strangers online. Facebook 2Q lobbying spends more than Amazon and Google.

Mirror: Messenger Kids app flaw let thousands of children chat to strangers online.

It’s promoted as a ‘safe kids’ chat app’, but new findings may put you off letting your children use the Facebook Messenger Kids app.

A design flaw has been discovered within the app, that allowed thousands of children to chat to strangers online.

A report by The Verge revealed that Facebook has quietly been closing down these group chats and alerting users, but did not make a public statement about the issue.
[.]
...the flaw meant that children could be added to group chats with strangers, as long as one of their trusted contacts had added them.

MarketWatch: Facebook tops Amazon and Google in 2Q lobbying spending.

Facebook Inc. shelled out $4.1 million on lobbying Washington in the second quarter, topping the outlays by other so-called FAANG companies and keeping the tech giant on pace for another record year of spending to influence lawmakers and regulators.
[.]
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.00%  wasn’t far behind with $4 million[.]
[.]
Google business spent $2.9 million from April through June[.]
[.]
Netflix Inc.,...spent a relatively modest $200,000.

-
Mirror story Archived
Market Watch story Archived

Patent Granted to Facebook's shadowbanning.

Reclaim The Net: Facebook’s shadowbanning process is now patented:

It's official and patented: Facebook is that company that engages in censorship utilizing a practice known as shadowbanning. [].. the US Patent and Trademark Office has now granted the request.
[.]
In the summary of the patent case Facebook describes how shadowbanning works: comments are analyzed for content and sentiments that are prohibited by the social network, such as profanities, or racist, derogatory, “or negative” remarks.

And while such comments will still be visible to the author – and in some cases, their friends – “the social networking system will not display the comment to other users.”

Facebook added that it may also “train a machine learning classifier to block comments based on moderator actions of manually deleting comments or unblocking comments in the online forum.”

Is this Social Media AI Comment Moderation or censorship? This should be a fun one to watch. AI learning what it identifies as "negative remarks". What could possibly go wrong?

Steve Wozniak: "Get off Facebook!"

Steve Wozniak, "Get off Facebook." Via TMZ:

LA Wire: Steve Wozniak Warns People to Get Off Facebook Over Privacy Concerns.

Steve Wozniak has a warning for anyone who uses social media … the platforms are eavesdropping on your private conversations, and sending that precious data to advertisers.
[.]
...he explains why anything you say in the presence of your electronics is readily made available to all sorts of entities.

The Urban Twist: Steve Wozniak warns to GET OFF Facebook and Instagram.

Wozniak, [accuses] platforms under the umbrella of Facebook [of] using audio surveillance tactics to gather information to sell to advertisers.

Mark Zuckerberg privacy joke gets no laughs.Howard Beale - "Network": as relevant today as in 1976.

Mashable: Zuckerberg joke a slap in the face to Facebook victims.

Most awkward Zuck moments revolve around the CEO's inability to exhibit human emotion. This one comes with a serving of insult, added to injury.

[Zuckerberg] opened Facebook's annual F8 developer conference on Tuesday with a manifesto-ish address about how the future of Facebook is focused on privacy.
[.]
    The moment Mark Zuckerberg tries to make a joke about privacy and nobody laughs: pic.twitter.com/izt7kIhjLz

    — alfred 🆖 (@alfredwkng) April 30, 2019
[.]
"I know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly," Mark Zuckerberg joked, amid some understated snorty laughs. Not even the audience — packed with Facebook employees and developers — could muster more than that.

Advisory - NSFW language:

Reference: Howard Beale.

Reference: "Network".

Tech News

Technocracy: GMO Food Will Stock Grocery Shelves Within 5 Years.

While ethicists [sic] debate the applications of blockbuster gene-editing tool Crispr in human healthcare, an inventor of the tool believes it has a more immediate application: improving our food.

I have one, essential question for those in the pro-GMO industry. If GMO food is as safe as Big GMO says, why then do they fight so diligently against their food being labeled as such? They'll reply with, "doing so presents a negative perception of our products, thus negatively affecting our sales." And? That's our problem?

Asbestos? Nah. Perfectly fine and safe, we were told for decades. Thalidomide? Perfectly safe, especially for pregnant mothers. Tobacco? Recommended by Doctors and dentists alike.

Now, here comes the GMO Train. We're just human guinea pigs for tech and science, aren't we?
- - -
TechNewsWorld: Samsung suspends launch of Galaxy Fold.

Samsung pumped the brakes on release of the US$1,980 phone after several reviewers reported problems with their units.
[.]
Reviewers for Bloomberg and YouTube reported their units began malfunctioning after they removed an integral part of the display, mistakenly thinking it was a plastic screen protector.

CNBC reviewer Todd Haselton wrote that he left the plastic film intact, but the display still started acting buggy. The left side of the flexible screen began to flicker consistently.

- - -
TechSpot: Screen time not recommended for infants, says World Health Organization.

Infants under the age of one shouldn’t be exposed to electronic screens of any type according to guidelines recently published by the World Health Organization.

The United Nations agency further notes that sedentary screen time (watching TV / videos or playing computer games) is not recommended for infants.

Was anyone aware of this? Who knew?
- - -
TechCrunch: Tesla reports $702 million loss in first quarter.

Tesla reported April 9 that it delivered 63,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of the year, nearly a one-third drop from the previous quarter.
[.]
“Everyone expected a first quarter loss for Tesla, but nobody expected it to be this big,” Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader said in an emailed statement.

- - -
Ars Technia: Windpower-Turbines come to Massachusetts.

Turbines? What turbines? They blend in so well! And appear to be well-protected from vandalism or other acts of sabotage
- - -
Beta News: Samsung Galaxy View2 Android 2 tablet: It's "Colossal."

What we don't know at the moment is just when the Galaxy View2 will be released, or how much it will cost.

But at least we know it's Colossal.
- - -
BGR: Spoiler-free review of "Avengers: Endgame."
- - -
C|Net: Facebook facing fine that could exceed $5 Billion Dollars.

The FTC is looking into Facebook's privacy practices and determining if the company violated a legal agreement to keep user data private.
[.]
Still, Facebook's scandals didn't scare away advertisers or users. The company posted a better-than-expected $15.08 billion in sales in the first quarter and reported the number of users who logged on every month increased by 8%, to 2.38 billion.

- - -
TechTalks: What is ethical AI?

Human oversight means that no AI system should be able to perform its functions without some level of control by humans. This means that humans should either be directly involved in the decision-making process or have the option to review and override decisions made by an AI model.

- - -
Computer World: Where are the April Windows patches?

Answer: Due sometime in June. Maybe July.
- - -
Extreme Tech: Sony's 98-inch, 8K OLED TV.

The cutting edge of television technology will cost you[.]
[.]
This will be the 2019 flagship of the Sony television line and it ships in June. The Z9G measures 86.75 inches wide by 55.0 inches tall by 4.38 inches deep. For a cleaner look, it can be bracket-mounted to any wall that can support 208 pounds.

The price? $69,999.99.

- - -

ZD Net: Is your body hacker-proof?

Increasing numbers of implantable medical devices are now gaining internet connectivity, giving doctors the ability to monitor patients health remotely, and even update the devices to tweak a treatment plan. Unfortunately, that flexibility offers a way for hackers to hijack that hardware, and even potentially make changes to the way the devices work. While so far no attacks have been successful, proof-of-concept attacks have been available for years.

And while it might be tempting to hope that cybercriminals might see corrupting life-sustaining devices as a step too far, they haven't historically shown much of a conscience, cheerfully extorting money away from hospitals, for example, and putting patients at risk.

Tech News

Extreme Tech: Don't Miss tonight's Super Blood Moon eclipse.

WIRED: What IS a "Super Blood Wolf Moon"?
- - -
Ars Technia: Facebook facing record-setting financial penalty by FTC.
- - -
Ars Technia: Dr. Richard Sackler family blamed for Oxy addiction?

Members of the Sackler family, particularly Richard Sackler, aggressively pushed for extreme sales figures—and profits—which they accomplished in part by bullying their sales representatives; targeting vulnerable patients, such as the elderly and veterans; suggesting that the addictive opioid was an alternative to safe medications like Tylenol; and encouraging doctors to write longer and higher dose prescriptions, according to the lawsuit.

- - -
UberGizmo: World's first 5G remote surgery conducted in China.

The test involved a doctor in the southeastern province of Fujian removing the liver of a laboratory test animal at a remote location. The doctor performed the surgery by controlling robotic surgical arms over a 5G connection.

- - -
Tech News World: Cops can't compel unlocking of phone with body or physical parts.

"The Government may not compel or otherwise utilize fingers, thumbs, facial recognition, optical/iris, or any other biometric feature to unlock electronic devices," Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore wrote in an opinion for the U.S. District Court for Northern California.
[.]
Passcodes used to unlock devices already are protected by the Fifth Amendment, which prevents the government from forcing people to testify against themselves, she explained.
[.]
"The judge rightly recognized that traditional constitutional principles must be adapted as technology changes in order to preserve privacy and other rights ensured by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments," [said Alan Butler, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center].

- - -
Tech Crunch: Building a Chevy Silverado out of Legos. Or watch below.

- - -
TechSpot: Ford's F-150 electric pickup truck.

Increased customer demand and rising competition have finally pushed Ford to announce the development of an electric version of the world and America’s best-selling truck: the F-150 pickup.

- - -
C|Net: Facebook adding "Petitions" to your news feed.

The social network will start rolling "Community Actions" out to its US users on Monday.

- - -
Beta News: Win 10 built-in screen recorder you might not know about.

You didn't know that Windows 10 could record videos of on-screen activity? You're not alone. The screen recorder is built into the Game bar and you may well not have seen it.

- - -
Security Week: Bulgaria extradites Russian hacker to U.S.

Alexander Zhukov had been extradited on January 18 and was being held in a jail in Brooklyn, New York.
[.]
Zhukov is one of eight people, most of them Russian, indicted in November for creating fake advertising schemes through remote data centres and malware-infected computer networks.

 Well-known Russian "bad actor." Hacker status unconfirmed.

Tech News

9 News: Two Huawei employees arrested in Poland; spying allegations.

Poland has arrested a Chinese employee of Huawei and a Polish [Huawei] cyber business specialist on allegations of spying.

- - -
Information Week: How to manage the Internet of Things (IOT).

Once data is collected in central storage, analytics on the entire body of data can be run to produce the most inclusive and holistic picture of the business.

- - -
MIT Review: When China decides to really hack the rest of the world.

Many thought the internet would bring democracy to China. Instead it empowered rampant government oppression, and now the censors are turning their attention to the rest of the world.

Or North Korea. Or Russia. Or those godless Tuvaluians.
- - -
TechDirt: Facebook not helping Vietnamese government censor critics quickly enough.

...the government is going to do other vague things ("necessary economic and technical measures") to hurt Facebook and "ensure a clean and healthy network environment." One "necessary economic measure" is somehow blocking Facebook from collecting money for "hatred advertising," whatever the hell that is.

WTH is "hatred advertising"? Anyone wanna take a shot at defining it?

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO/Censor.

- - -

TechCrunch: MS Bing suggests inappropriate/illegal image search results.

Following an anonymous tip, TechCrunch commissioned a report from online safety startup AntiToxin to investigate. The results were alarming.

Alarming is an understatement. Stop using Bing. Over on the far-right sidebar, scroll down and look for "Search Engine Alternatives To Google." Start using any of them and make Google and Bing history.

- - -

Tech Crunch: SpaceX to lay off hundreds. 

- - -

TechSpot: CBS Superbowl 8K resolution.

US cable providers still do not even support live 4K broadcasts, but CBS Sports is going to try out its 8K cameras at the Super Bowl anyways.

- - -

ZD Net: Government shutdown affecting websites; TLS certificates expiring. 

The blame falls on the current US federal government shutdown [...] Consequently, government websites are dropping like flies, with no one being on hand to renew TLS certificates.

- - -

Ars Technia: AT&T says it will stop selling phone location data. 

Earlier this week, AT&T said it "only permit[s] sharing of location when a customer gives permission for cases like fraud prevention or emergency roadside assistance or when required by law." But the Motherboard investigation showed that the data was being re-sold on the black market, allowing pretty much anyone to get the location of other people's phones.

- - -

It looks like "It's" here. Technocracy: IBM launches Quantum-Computer-In-A-Box.

The 20-qubit IBM Q System One represents the first major leap for quantum computers of 2019[.]

Quantum in a Box

Tech News

TechDirt - Students charged with terroristic threats for posting video of fictional school shooting.

Three students face felony charges of making a terroristic threat for posting online two brief videos where they act out a school shooting in someone’s house.
[...]
Content disturbing to others is present in a lot of content. Just because this dramatization happened to be produced by students and distributed by Instagram doesn't somehow entitle it to less First Amendment protection than a motion picture released by a major studio.
[...]
Sheriff Craig Apple's speech -- as moronic as it is -- is also protected by the same First Amendment he won't extend to these students.

    “There’s been enough shootings going on around the country. This is despicable artistic expression, if that’s what it was.”

Is the video protected under the First Amendment or is the sheriff's interpretation of the video consistent within the context of preventing a potential threat?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
- - -
Business Times: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it will fix years to FB's problems.

Who...knew?

Gadgets Now: India law misunderstood by FB moderators. 

[Facebook moderators are advised] that any post degrading an entire religion violates Indian law and should be flagged for removal.

[Another instructs moderators] to "look out for" the phrase "Free Kashmir" - though the slogan, common among activists, is completely legal.

- - -
Ars Technia: Residential home battery (power) not energy efficient in most cases.

"There may be good reasons to decentralize the grid through ubiquitous installation of small RES [Residential Energy Storage], but cost-effective emissions control is not one of them at the moment," the researchers write.

- - -
Caution - story contains AI created "scary" names (I'm looking out for the easily frightened Libs, here.); Ars Technia:

AI invents New Year fireworks names that sound more like the end of humanity.
[...]
Flaming Thundersplont Box
Red flashing cake
Machine Blinking Display
Black Moo
Original Cat Pix Budget 2 Boom

Yikes! Machine Blinking Display and Original Cat Pix Budget 2 Boom. Run Away ! Run Away !
- - -

Coffee? Tea? Lots of room?

Technology: What happens when almost no passengers show up for their flight?

- - -

Technology: Wind turbines hurting robins. 

...wind turbines are rather loud and robins have to adapt. In these areas where wind turbines are present, robins drop their lower pitch and go for the trademark puffed up red chest instead. Little birds cannot compete against the low hum of the wind turbine blades.

- - -
TechRadar: MS 2018 retrospective.

...the October 2018 Update has been the most problematic and buggy update ever released for Microsoft’s OS, outdoing even the infamous Anniversary Update.
[.]
Another major development for Microsoft in 2018 was that the firm finally admitted that it had got things wrong with the default web browser for Windows 10. The company has been pushing hard with Edge for a good while now, but to no avail[.]

WccfTech: Here comes Win 10 forced update v 1809.

We are still waiting for user reports to see if they have experienced any Windows 10 forced updates over the last few days. But, if you want to avoid Windows 10 version 1809, it would be wise to block it to avoid any surprises.

- - -
Gadgets Now: Elon Musk needs people to beta test Tesla's autonomous-driving cars.

Earlier this year [Tesla] reportedly sought hundreds of employees to test its full-driving system and offered free Autopilot upgrade with new purchases.

- - -

The Drive - Ford's 2019 preview and 2020(?) Bronco.

Ford "Super Duty"

World News

Op/Ed - NY Post: Trump withdraw from Syria too soon.

...such an abrupt withdrawal is precisely the kind of mistake President Barack Obama made in Iraq — leaving an enormous vacuum for Russia, Iran and extremist groups to fill and abdicating any US influence in the area.

- - -
Arizona's U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, (Pretend Republican/Apologist) co-sponsors a bill fighting climate change. KTAR:

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would place a $15 fee on each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted.

The fee would rise by $10 each year, and all of its net revenues would be given back to taxpayers as a monthly dividend.

The E-I-C-D-A (You know Flake is itching to use that) is the "We Didn't Listen" argument.
- - -
SMH: Global financial heart attack is months away.

Surging borrowing costs for companies in the US and Europe threaten a recession within months and resemble events leading up to the global credit "heart attack" in August 2007.

- - -
The Democrats will try this next: Both presidential candidates claim win. France24:

Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana -- who have each held the top job in the impoverished country before -- declared themselves winners in the run-off which analysts warned was likely to draw claims of fraud.

Only the Dems would assure us of no election fraud. As long as they win.

- - -

"Look, in that car! It's Jeff Goldblum!"  "Who?"

NBC LA: In Five years, 10 million more vehicles through LAX. 

There has been a 10 million vehicle increase from 2012 to 2017 at Los Angeles International Airport, much of that starting in 2015 when the city gave services like Uber and Lyft the green light[.]

- - -
The Inquirer: Was Facebook giving user data to other Big Tech?

A devastating report from the New York Times suggests that Facebook has been playing fast and loose with its users' privacy, giving special access to more than 150 high-profile companies, including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.

The BBC: Facebook's data sharing secrets exposed.

"Time and again Facebook has been unable to clearly and in plain language explain to people how the company is collecting, storing, sharing, and retaining people's data," a spokeswoman for Privacy International told the BBC.

- - -
Corbyn denies calling May "stupid woman." The Irish News:

Jeremy Corbyn was forced to deny calling Theresa May a "stupid woman" as the final prime minister's questions of the year sparked a heated row over misogyny.

Lincolnshire Live - Lipreader says maybe Corbyn did call her that, or didn't.

However, a lip reader from Lincoln Joanne Hunter has given her verdict on what she thinks he said.

She said: "I have looked at his lipreading and there are two words. I think he said...(Argh! The Suspense. You'll have to read the story).

The Irish Examiner: 99 Days Til Brexit.
- - -

The Korea Herald - China detains THIRD Canadian.

China has arrested a third Canadian national, Ottawa said Wednesday -- a move that comes amid an already tense diplomatic spat with Beijing over the arrest of a Chinese telecom executive.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau however emphasized that the arrest did not seem to be linked to a former diplomat and an entrepreneur held for allegedly endangering China's national security.

"We are looking into the details (but) this most recent one doesn't seem to fit the pattern set by the previous two," Trudeau told a press conference.

- - -
The Age - Award-winning journalist quits after discovery he committed fraud on a grand scale:

Claas Relotius, 33, a staff writer known for vivid investigative stories. The magazine said Relotius resigned on Monday after admitting some of his articles included made-up material from interviews that never happened.

Claas...Coming Soon on CNN!
- - -
9News: Man facing jail term for... doing things you don't do.

WTFIWWP ?
- - -
Flights suspended due to drones over runways. The Telegraph:

A police helicopter was called in after two unmanned drones were reportedly sighted near a runway, forcing the airport to halt all flights and warn of possible knock-on disruption on Thursday.

Fox News - Mom and daughter arrested; attempted to send contraband to prison using drone:

A mother and daughter who police said were "hoping to spread some holiday cheer" were arrested and accused of flying a drone packed with...tobacco and cellphones to [wait for it]...[the husband/father of the wife/daughter].

Give 'em a break. It's Christmas.

Facebook Knows What's Best for You!

From The Guardian:

...confidential emails, released Wednesday by the British Parliament, reveal the hardheaded business calculations that lurked beneath the feel-good image projected by Zuckerberg and Facebook.

“That may be good for the world, but it’s not good for us,” Zuckerberg wrote in a 2012 email about the possibility that developers would build applications that used data about Facebook users and their friends, but not provide any data back to Facebook.

Zuckerberg’s assessment – that “sharing” was only valuable if people were sharing data with his company – was endorsed by Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who responded, “I think the observation that we are trying to maximize sharing on facebook [sic], not just sharing in the world, is a critical one.” Facebook discussed cashing in on user data, emails suggest.

The emails provide an uncommon window into the thinking of Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives as they sought revenue streams amid an industry-shaking shift from desktop to mobile computing.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and Chairman

Facebook denies the allegations. TechSpot:

“Facebook have clearly entered into whitelisting agreements with certain companies, which meant that after the platform changes in 2014/15 they maintained full access to friends’ data [sic],” stated Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chairman Damian Collins[.]
[.]
Collins also points out emails that spelled out the collection of user call and text logs on Android devices. He claims Facebook went to great lengths to keep users from realizing such data was being collected from them.

“Facebook knew that the changes to its policies on the Android mobile phone system, which enabled the Facebook app to collect a record of calls and texts sent by the user would be controversial. To mitigate any bad PR, Facebook planned to make it as hard of possible for users to know that this was one of the underlying features of the upgrade of their app.”

The accusations. The Guardian:

In 2015, the company began “continuously uploading” call and text logs from Android phones, giving it a valuable window into the communications habits of its users.
[.]
Since 2013, the company has used a VPN app it acquired, named Onavo, to harvest information about app usage on iPhones. By funnelling all internet usage on those phones through Facebook’s servers, it could be forewarned about popular apps, and take pre-emptive action against possible competition.
[.]
Even though it clamped down on apps accessing user data in 2015, Facebook offered continued access to that data to a small number of large companies, including Netflix, Lyft and Airbnb.

Tech News

Data breach at Amazon - ITPro Portal:

Amazon may have suffered a data breach that saw customer names and email addresses leaked.
[.]
...users confirmed on Twitter that they had gotten an email from Amazon, which the retailer later confirmed to be genuine, notifying them that the data has been shared, accidentally.

We don't know how it happened, exactly when it happened, or who the information was shared with / to. 

Who knew? No one saw this coming.
- - -
No one saw this coming either: Is your CPAP machine spying on you? ArsTechnia:

Tony Schmidt discovered something unsettling about the machine that helps him breathe at night. Without his knowledge, it was spying on him.

- - -

TechCrunch - Facebook an accomplice in 16-year-old girl sold for marriage in South Sudan.

A multimillionaire businessman from South Sudan’s capital city reportedly won the auction after offering a record “price” — of 530 cows, three Land Cruiser V8 cars and $10,000 — to marry the child, Nyalong Ngong Deng Jalang.

Disgusting. FB needs to be held accountable.
- - -
C|Net: Leather clad, luxury laptop:

Instead of taking a slim laptop and sticking it in a leather sleeve, as one might do with any other similar system, the leather case here is built right in. No, it's not Corinthian leather, but it's still pretty nice.

- - -
ZD Net - Everything you need to know about the cannabis industry:

...marijuana is one of the most exciting growth industries in the US as it becomes legal in some states, attracts investment, and becomes a vertical that can utilize multiple technologies ranging from the internet of things to cloud to analytics.

- - -
When to hire a cyber security expert? Tech News World:

[Cyber security] itself is increasing in importance, it remains a truism that many smaller organizations (and in fact, some mid-sized ones) don't have specialized security expertise on staff.

Is is too late for Amazon?
- - -
Time-travel into the past. 13 years ago, Microsoft trashes Linux. BetaNews:

Linux bashing is nothing new for Microsoft, which has set up a dedicated Web site to detail why customers should choose Windows Server over the open source operating system. This week at the IT Forum, Microsoft announced the results of a new study that shows Windows as more reliable and easier to manage than Linux.

What a joke. Keep releasing "patches", MS, for your wonderful OS.
- - -

'Smart Watch' tracker of children easy to hack. TechDirt: 

A location-tracking smartwatch worn by thousands of children has proven... you guessed it... rather trivial to hack. The MiSafes Kid's Watcher Plus is a "smart watch for kids" that embeds a 2G cellular radio and GPS technology, purportedly to let concerned helicopter parents track their kids' location at all times. But security researchers at UK's Pen Test Partners have issued a report calling the devices comically unsecure.

- - - 
Technology.Org - 64 SpaceX satellites ready to launch:

...the U.S. kicked around the idea of putting large reflectors in orbit during the Vietnam war, effectively abolishing night over southeast Asia. There have also been ideas to put advertising in space… though for now, you won’t have to worry about Pepsi or McDonald’s logos drifting through your astrophotos.

- - -
Five songs that could make you a dangerous driver. The Drive:

British car loan financier Moneybarn recently released a study outlining how our choice in music can affect our driving. It found that songs with tempos that exceed 120 beats per minute (bpm) can make people subconsciously drive faster, which makes them more liable to draw negative attention from law enforcement.
[.]
...the 12th most common song on driving (or riding) playlists, AC/DC's "Back In Black" has the misfortune of being the cliche soundtrack for Baby Boomers on Harley Davidsons. Again, it doesn't tip the scales for high-energy lyrical content, but its tempo of 188 bpm is eclipsed by just one song on the chart.

Make it so loud that my ears bleed! 
- - -
Bleeping Computer - Firefox 65 improvements in Content Blocking settings:

Firefox 65, Mozilla is overhauling how users can configure the Content Blocking settings. With this version, the previously confusing configuration is replaced by three different modes that a user can select that offer varying degrees of blocking and customization.

 - - -
Technocracy - Are Smart-Meters spying on you?

“What limits have been placed on data collection and permissions for data collection beyond monthly billing cycle totals?” [asks Smithfield Township supervisors in a] letter dated Nov. 14, to FirstEnergy’s president, regional president, state president, the state Office of Consumer Advocates and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. “The notice sent to our residents makes no mention of this, yet is it is of prime concern to us in order to protect and secure data of our residential households.”

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Ubergizmo - Future Apple watches may monitor UV exposure.

Apple has filed for a patent that describes how future Apple Watches could come with a built-in UV sensors that are embedded around the frame of the Apple Watch. These sensors will alert the wearer when they’ve been exposed for too long.

Because...everything is dangerous and we need Apple to save us.