Hacking Jamboree
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| Hacking Jamboree | |
| Number | 3349 |
| Broadcast Date | AUGUST 17, 2018 |
| Episode Length | 31:39 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane |
| Guests | Shannon Morse |
Shannon gives us a wrap of this years DEF CON security event. We explored the psychologically trauma that selfies can have on people with body issues. And the American Telco industry says government should kick in money to help roll out broadband to unserved areas.
Guest
Quick Hits
- Google has updated its help pages to clarify what location info is still stored after users turn off location tracking. Previously the page said "With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored." Now, it says: "This setting does not affect other location services on your device, like Google Location Services and Find My Device. Some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps."
- The Chicago Tribune reports Google plans to open its first flagship retail store between 845 and 853 W. Randolph St in the Fulton Market area directly across from the new Nobu Hotel. The store will be two blocks away from Google's Chicago offices.
- Nvidia reported revenue from data center chips rose 83 percent last quarter and Net income rose 89 percent. Revenue rose 40 precent beating analysts expectations. However Nvidia fell short in its expected sales of cryptocurrency chips and called such sales immaterial for the second half of the year. As a result Nvidia projects Q3 revenue of $3.25 billion, below analysts expectations of $3.34 billion.
- Google announced it is working with Danish hearing aid maker GN Hearing on the Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids spec for Android. The power-efficient protocol promises high quality low latency connectivity for Bluetooth hearing aids on Android without needing an intermediary device. ReSound LiNX Quattro and Beltone Amaze will be the first hearing aids to receive direct streaming support in a future update.
Top Stories
- Nikkei has supply chain sources who tell it Google plans to launch a smart speaker with a display in competition with the Amazon Echo Show. The sources say Google wants to have them ready by the holidays. Google introduced its Smart Display platform in January with third parties like Lenovo making devices that use it.
- Edgar Alvarez at Engadget has a story up Friday about something called "Snapchat dysmorphia," described by doctors as a form of body dysmorphia disorder. Back in February the Independent ran a story about more people asking cosmetic doctors to make them look in real life like they do in filters. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), says 55 percent of surgeons reported seeing patients who wanted a procedure to make them look better in selfies. That's up 13% from 2016. Filtered photos have replaced celebrity photos in consultations. Doctors now need to decide if the request is reasonable, unreasonable but understandable or possibly a symptom of a disorder that needs treatment.
- DeepMind has been working with its fellow Alphabet company Google to use neural networks to directly control data centre cooling. A snapshot of a data centre's cooling is collected from sensors every 5 minutes and fed into a deep neural network which predicts the best actions to minimise energy consumption within safety constraints. It's then sent to a local control system that separately verifies the changes for safety. Operators can retake control at any time. The new system supposedly saves 30% energy on average in the Google data centres where it operates.
- Indonesia's Go-Jek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim told Reuters the company is close to profitability in all segments except transportation. The company started as a ride-hailing app but has added features like payments and food, grocery and massage-ordering among. other things and has its own venture capital investment arm. It plans to expand ride-hailing into Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines in order to compete with Grab which bought out Uber's southeast Asian business. Go-Jek is valued at a billion dollars.
- USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield wrote an opinion piece in the Topeka Capital-Journal stating that "Like electricity, broadband is essential to every American." US Telecom represents telcos, including AT&T. Last November in regards to FCC regulation AT&T wrote, "Utility regulation over broadband can only inhibit incentives for network investment." And telcos received a tax break in exchange for a promised increase in investment. Back to this week's op-ed Spalter and Bloomfield argue that all that promised private investment only works well in populous areas, adding "there are similarities between networks in communications, electric power, roads, natural gas distribution, water distribution, and sewer networks. By the very nature of network economics, each industry exhibits economies of density and each reaches a point at which un-subsidized provision of service in low-density areas is not viable." Telcos receive $1.5 billion in subsidies a year from the FCC. For instance AT&T gets $428 million a year to bring 10 Mbps service to rural areas.
Discussion
- Video Shows Hotel Security at DEF CON Joking About Posting Photos of Guests' Belongings to Snapchat
- Open letter to the Hacker Community.
- DEF CON 2018: Hacking Medical Protocols to Change Vital Signs
- DEF CON 2018: Apple 0-Day (Re)Opens Door to ‘Synthetic’ Mouse-Click Attack
Mailbag
- Vivek followed up on the pricey GLAS thermostat - I am not saying the price is justified, but let's consider that you don't have a smart speaker and you are planning to buy a smart speaker and thermostat. Nest thermostat + Echo dot/google home mini would cost you around $250. Also, it has a lot more sensors compared to other smart thermostats, to report total volatile organic compounds (tVOC) and equivalent carbon dioxide (eCO2) and humidity. It also has an auxiliary output to control humidifiers, dehumidifiers, ventilators, energy recovery ventilators, or heat recovery ventilators. Adding all this up could add another $30, given that all these features should actually matter to the consumer. So, the total now becomes $280 and the rest $40 for the amazing aesthetics it will add to the wall where it's installed.
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Amazon Preorders Theaters" |
Hacking Jamboree |
Followed by: "The Giphy That Keeps on Giving" |