Are You Outraged? Citation Needed
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| Are You Outraged? Citation Needed | |
| Number | 3669 |
| Broadcast Date | DECEMBER 3, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 32:43 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang |
| Guests | Justin Robert Young |
Adi Robertson has a thoughtful article on The Verge today called “How to fight lies, tricks, and chaos online.” We break down the recommendations and add our own suggestions.
Guest
Quick Hits
- Mozilla's Firefox Private Network (FPN), which encrypts Firefox connections, is now in an extended beta to US users after limited testing in the Firefox Test Pilot program. The free service is restricted to 12 hours of encrypted surfing on Firefox’s desktop version for now, and you'll need a Firefox account to use the extension.
- Qualcomm announced details of new chips including its Snapdragon 865 and 765 mobile chips. The 865 mobile platform includes the discrete X55 5G Modem-RF System and the 765 includes an integrated 5G modem. Qualcomm also announced the Sonic Max in-screen fingerprint reader which Qualcomm says has a larger surface area. Xiaomi and Oppo announced they will use the Snapdragon 865 in new handsets to launch in Q1.
- Xiaomi, India's top smartphone vendor, is launching Mi Credit, a curated lending marketplace that offers users credit between Rs 5,000 ($70) and Rs 100,000 ($1,400) at a “low” interest rate. Xiaomi partnered with Bangalore-based ZestMoney, CreditVidya, Money View, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, and EarlySalary. Users are required to let Mi Credit app access their texts and call logs for transactional information to determine if they're credit-worthy.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the legislation that bans selling smartphones, computers and Smart TVs unless Russian apps are pre-installed. Enforcement of the law begins on July 1st 2020, and Reuters reports the Russian government will create a list of apps before then that must be pre-installed on various devices.
- Bruce Schneier reports that a team of six researchers, 5 from France and one from the US, have factored RSA-240 from the RSA challenge list and the computation of a discrete logarithm of the same size, 795 bits. Both computations were performed with the Number Field Sieve algorithm, using the open-source CADO-NFS software. The RSA challenges formally ended in 2007, but research has continued to use them as reference.
Top Stories
- The New York Times reports Facebook has created a chatbot called "Liam Bot" to help its employees answer questions about the company they might get from friends and family during the holidays. For example, when asked about hate speech the bot says employees should mention that Facebook consults experts, is hiring more moderators and working on AI as well as mention that regulation is important to address the issue. Facebook's PR department collected the answers to common questions with links to relevant Facebook blog posts.
- German digital rights blog Netzpolitik says according to a source inside TikTok, the company limited the reach of postings from people with disabilities. The policy was supposedly meant to protect users from bullying. TikTok postings are discovered through promotion run by an algorithm with human moderation. A category called Auto R which stopped video from being put in the "For You" feed after it reached a certain amount of views, was applied to many users. The source says it was used for those with Downs syndrome, those deemed to be fat, LGBT users, those with apparent autism or those with facial disfigurement, among others. A TikTok spokesperson told Netzpolitik the rules were an early flawed attempt to combat conflict and were never intended to be a long-term solution. The spokesperson said TikTok now has a more nuanced anti-bullying policy along with in-app protections.
- Google has revamped its share option within Google Photos that includes a private messaging feature built into its iOS, Android, and website app. Instead of having to create an album to share a photo with someone else, users can send a message to a friend who's also using Google Photos, which creates a thread that can expand into a conversation, creating a more social experience.
- Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are relinquishing control of Alphabet. Google CEO Sundar Pichai will take over as CEO of Alphabet while maintaining his position as CEO of Google. “With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure,” wrote the duo of Brin and Page. “We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets. We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about.”
- CNET reports that for more than a year, police departments had access to a heat map of Amazon Ring customers showing where their video doorbells were installed, down to the street but not actual addresses. The feature was removed in July. Public documents from the Rolling Meadows Police Department in Illinois were obtained by privacy researcher Shreyas Gandlur, In a statement, Ring stressed that its heat map tool didn't offer exact locations of its users. It was meant to help police determine if there were enough Ring Cameras active in an area to request video recordings from users.
- Apple and Google announced their choices for the best apps and games of the year. AI-powered Spectre camera won best iPhone app of the year. Sky: The Children of the Light won best iPhone game. Google named teen-oriented messaging app Ablo as best Android app and Call of Duty: Mobile as best Android game which also won the people's choice. The people's choice for best android app was video editor, Glitch Video Effects. Best iPad app went to digital notebook, Flow by Moleskine. The best Mac app went to Affinity Publisher for designing printed materials like books and brochures. The iPad Game of the Year was Hyper Light Drifter and Mac Game of the Year was GRIS. The Apple TV app of the year was The Explorers which shows off natural photography and video. The Apple Arcade Game of the Year was Sayonara Wild Hearts.
Discussion
Mailbag
- I just wanted to take a quick moment and thank you guys for doing DTNS and making a fun, enjoyable and informative show that I can listen to every day. And also pass my thanks on to Amos, Patrick, Scott, Justin and Len and all the others that work to make this show a genuine joy to listen to.
Thank you all and keep up the good work. - Sent by David from cool and snowy Minnesota
- I just wanted to take a quick moment and thank you guys for doing DTNS and making a fun, enjoyable and informative show that I can listen to every day. And also pass my thanks on to Amos, Patrick, Scott, Justin and Len and all the others that work to make this show a genuine joy to listen to.
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Someone Please Build A Machine Lawyer!" |
Are You Outraged? Citation Needed |
Followed by: "Rearranging the Alphabet" |