The General Technology Thread

[ArcadiaGP]

FTC Gives Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo 30 Days to Get Rid of Illegal Warranty-Void-if-Removed Stickers

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Oh fer ****sake.

We recently found a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We fixed the bug and have no indication of a breach or misuse by anyone. As a precaution, consider changing your password on all services where you’ve used this password.

https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/keeping-your-account-secure.html

 

[jamil]

Oh fer ****sake.



https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/keeping-your-account-secure.html

Sigh.

This kind of thing happens, and it's harder than a lot of people think to know that it's happening. If they have a lot of systems involved, especially if they're 3rd party systems, or legacy systems which were written before security standards were widely in use, they can log sensitive things like PII and even passwords.

Passwords shouldn't be stored in the clear by user account systems anyway. A cryptographically strong one-way hash of the password should be created and that's what should be stored. I've worked on systems which the hash is created in PL/SQL, so it's not even hashed until it's stored. So if some system processes it before it gets stored, it may get logged. Some systems may not even know it's a password that it's logging. Maybe Twitter does that. I think it's good practice to hash passwords as early as possible, which is what I do. I can't always know what other systems might log it, so hash it early, then if it's logged, it's only the hash.

I'll bet you that twitter isn't the only company which knowingly or unknowingly logs passwords. I can imagine how that was found. Some SE troubleshooting a problem in a legacy system, looks through some obscure log, and HOLY ****! We're logging passwords! I worked for a college years ago and they logged student's passwords in the clear. But their whole password system was insecure from top to bottom.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

ISPs Win Landmark Case to Protect Privacy of Alleged Pirates

 

[ArcadiaGP]

The first new reel-to-reel tape deck in decades is going on sale

I like collecting vinyl... but this might be a bit much.

 

[jamil]

The first new reel-to-reel tape deck in decades is going on sale

I like collecting vinyl... but this might be a bit much.

As a recovering audiophile, no. Don’t waste your money on a tape deck. It’s not a better source than a good CD player.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Google worker rebellion against military project grows

An internal petition calling for Google to stay out of "the business of war" was gaining support Tuesday, with some workers reportedly quitting to protest a collaboration with the US military.

About 4,000 Google employees were said to have signed a petition that began circulating about three months ago urging the internet giant to refrain from using artificial intelligence to make US military drones better at recognizing what they are monitoring.

 

[T.Lex]

Actually, for a variety of reasons, Google should spin off that division.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

You wondered what those weird Captchas were?

 

[jkaetz]

Google worker rebellion against military project grows

An internal petition calling for Google to stay out of "the business of war" was gaining support Tuesday, with some workers reportedly quitting to protest a collaboration with the US military.

About 4,000 Google employees were said to have signed a petition that began circulating about three months ago urging the internet giant to refrain from using artificial intelligence to make US military drones better at recognizing what they are monitoring.

It's unfortunate that those employees don't realize the bad guys are already weaponizing AI.

 

[Cameramonkey]

This is an old article, but it is making its way elsewhere. Ive seen a Last Chance Recovery prius with these LPRs here twice in as many days. And not just in one area. One SW Indy and one NE Indy. I googled it after seeing the second car today.

The bad part? Many of these companies are selling the plate and location of EVERY plate they scan to 3rd parties for tracking purposes.

Hidden surveillance powered by repo industry - Eyewitness News investigation | abc7.com

EDIT: And I wouldnt put it past the likes of Google to sponsor it; "we'll buy your equipment. You get to recover the repos, and we'll take the data. Everybody wins."

 

[jamil]

Actually, for a variety of reasons, Google should spin off that division.

Nah. But they may need to modify their discriminatory hiring practices which heavily favors hiring women and soy bois.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

I haven't really experienced it because I use RES (Reddit Enhancement Suite)... but apparently Reddit has a new, godawful style for the site.

Very similar to the one that began the downfall of Digg.

Y'know what they say... Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.

They've been pushing to be more like Facebook with profiles and whatever they're doing with this filthy layout... Might be what's needed to finally make them bleed users.

 

[T.Lex]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/05/nasas-em-drive-is-a-magnetic-wtf-thruster/

Gotta love unicorn powered thrusters.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Court rules it is unconstitutional for Trump (public officials) to "block" people online.

 

[jamil]

Court rules it is unconstitutional for Trump (public officials) to "block" people online.

If it's the "@POTUS" account I'd agree. It's a bit grayer for the @TheRealDonaldTrump account. It would be less gray if Trump would stop tweeting about state business on his personal account.

 

[actaeon277]

But, even if someone is blocked, they can still read it. Don't log on. Go to yahoo, google, whatever. Type in Trump and Twitter, and you can read his posts. You just can't respond.
Or is that the point, "responding", and not the "reading" part?

 

[T.Lex]

I actually think that's wrong, j-dude.

I mean, elected officials can choose who to listen to, and who not to listen to. Might as well mandate that they read certain magazines or newspapers. (Are newspapers still a thing?)

The public's 1A right to speak enables the corollary right of the elected official to completely ignore them. Completely.

 

[jamil]

I actually think that's wrong, j-dude.

I mean, elected officials can choose who to listen to, and who not to listen to. Might as well mandate that they read certain magazines or newspapers. (Are newspapers still a thing?)

The public's 1A right to speak enables the corollary right of the elected official to completely ignore them. Completely.

Well, first, I would say elected officials don't have rights, per se, they have authorities granted by the law for their position. It sounds like what you're saying is the other end of it, that you have a right to speak, but you don't have a right to make people hear you. And I agree with that. But by blocking, you're actually preventing the person from speaking, too. At least on that venue.

Blocking a person on twitter not only prevents the person from seeing what you tweeted (unless they jump through some hoops to get around it, as Act suggested), it also prevents other people from tweeting to you, which other people can hear.

If you're an elected official walking down the sidewalk and I'm on the other side of the side walk, you may not like me yelling at you, "hey, your policy on self-pleasure SUCKS!" And maybe you get to yell back at me, "shut the !GLOCK! up!" But, you don't get to shut me up unless I've broken some law. You can stick your fingers in your ears if you don't like what I'm saying. But you don't get to prevent me from saying it, and you don't get to prevent other people from hearing me if they so choose.

If Trump is so sensitive that he can't handle mean people on Twitter, he doesn't have to block them. He can do the equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears. He can mute them. Muted tweeters can still see what he tweets. Can still tweet whatever they want, all day long. Everyone else can see what they tweet. And Trump gets to be happily oblivious to it.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Blocking a person on twitter not only prevents the person from seeing what you tweeted (unless they jump through some hoops to get around it, as Act suggested), it also prevents other people from tweeting to you, which other people can hear.

You can continue to tweet at people that have you blocked, unless something has changed. Others can also read those tweets without issue.

If Trump is so sensitive that he can't handle mean people on Twitter, he doesn't have to block them. He can do the equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears. He can mute them. Muted tweeters can still see what he tweets. Can still tweet whatever they want, all day long. Everyone else can see what they tweet. And Trump gets to be happily oblivious to it.

This is probably the best use of mute. People aren't aware in any way that they're muted... which solves the problem. This is only an issue because people can see when they're blocked.

I see this getting overturned pretty quick though. Going to cause some unintended consequences if not.