Posted in Commentary with tags Google on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
Today, Google announced a new update to Privacy Sandbox for the Web, reaching “general availability” on Chrome for the relevance and measurement APIs, a significant step on the path towards a fundamentally more private web.
Google first introduced the Privacy Sandbox initiative across the web and Android in 2019, collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders — including publishers, developers, adtech providers, consumers, and more
What’s new?
The general availability of the Privacy Sandbox APIs will enable advertisers and developers to scale usage of these new technologies within their products and services
Google has also rolled out new Ad privacy controls in Chrome that allow people to manage how the Privacy Sandbox technologies may be used to deliver the ads they see. These controls allow users to tailor their experience by customizing what ad topics they’re interested in, what relevance and measurement APIs they want enabled, and more.
General availability means the Privacy Sandbox technologies are in a stable state, and ready for scaled use by advertising solutions to support key business use cases. Having reached this stage after extensive industry feedback, Google does not plan to make any significant changes to the API interfaces ahead of third-party cookie deprecation. Companies integrating the Privacy Sandbox APIs into their solutions can now scale their deployment and testing to assess readiness for the planned deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024.
Posted in Commentary with tags Mujjo on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
Brace for the impact …
Mujjo’s new impact-resistant iPhone cases are the best out there, delivering top-notch protection in a slim, sleek design you’ve come to know and expect from Mujjo. Plus, a new leather that feels great and ages better than any we’ve used before. Available for the Pro and Pro Max.
Ultimate impact protection in a super-thin case.
Drop protection rated to 5 metres/15 feet. Certified to Military Grade MIL-STD-810.
ImpactCore internal bumper designed specifically by Mujjo
Enhanced durability: rear camera bump protects lenses.
Premium, long-lasting European leather tanned in the Netherlands, Gold Rated by the Leather Working Group for environmental standards.
Here’s some additional details:
Leather ages beautifully and acquires a unique patina over time.
More sustainable: DriTan water-free leather tanning.
Recycled plastic buttons, camera bump, microfibre lining and polycarbonate inner shell.
Super-responsive clicky buttons.
1mm raised bezel protects screen from abrasive surfaces.
Neatly covers the base, without obstructing speakers or charging port.
Pronounced side cut-outs ensure a nice grip in your hand.
Lined with luxurious Japanese microfibre with a satin-like finish.
MagSafe for quick and easy wireless charging, compatible with MagSafe accessories.
Posted in Commentary with tags OVH on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
OVHcloud, the European Cloud leader, today announces a refresh of its all-in-one fully managed web hosting portfolio, providing customers with improved performance and adding a new ‘STARTER’ tier for new users discovering OVHcloud’s webhosting offering. OVHcloud operates millions of websites running on its infrastructure, and with decades of known-how, it has updated its web hosting portfolio to add more resources to speed up the performance of customer websites.
With the same price tiering, customers, both new and existing, immediately benefit from superior CPU and RAM. New webhosting services purchases from now on will benefit from SSD storage resulting in faster access times to new sites data. Last but not least, most clients will also be able to take advantage of larger databases sizes to support rapid growth. These added resources at the same price point help OVHcloud continues in delivering a best-in-class performance-price ratio.
OVHcloud is also introducing a new ‘STARTER’ plan designed for non-tech savvy audiences, which comes with WordPress automatically installed and a host of additional resources including 1 GB of disk space, 2 email addresses, SSL certificate as well as a free domain name for the first year1. This allows users to accelerate their web projects without handling technical set-up. This plan starts from 0,99 EUR2per month and is aimed at creators that want to kick-start their web adventure.
On top of highly flexible offers and a full set of services, OVHcloud is also updating its domain bundles. When registering a domain with OVHcloud, customers will also get 100 MB of disk space (upgraded from 10 MB) as well as one free email address and DNSSEC security.
As the first step in a wider plan to bring even more performance to shared webhosting infrastructure, these updated web hosting offers benefit from OVHcloud’s established expertise in helping customers start their web projects quickly and easily with the ability to scale according to their needs.
OVHcloud’s web hosting portfolio offers a broad range of packages to support all web traffic needs and abilities, from beginners and enthusiasts to web specialists and more technical users.
Availability
The refreshed web hosting offers are available now and accessible to new customersworldwide3.
Existing customers will automatically benefit from the new CPU and RAM specifications in their web hosting package, all at the same price. This development maintains OVHcloud’s commitment to delivering value through continuous innovation and performance improvement.
Posted in Commentary with tags Privacy on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
Internet connected cars are all the rage at the moment. And I for one will not be buying one and I will be hanging on to my Internet disconnected car for as long as I can do so. The reason being is according to a study done by Mozilla, cars collect all sorts of data about you and sends it back to the manufacturer. And the kind of data that is collected is shocking:
We reviewed 25 car brands in our research and we handed out 25 “dings” for how those companies collect and use data and personal information. That’s right: every car brand we looked at collects more personal data than necessary and uses that information for a reason other than to operate your vehicle and manage their relationship with you. For context, 63% of the mental health apps (another product category that stinks at privacy) we reviewed this year received this “ding.”
And car companies have so many more data-collecting opportunities than other products and apps we use — more than even smart devices in our homes or the cell phones we take wherever we go. They can collect personal information from how you interact with your car, the connected services you use in your car, the car’s app (which provides a gateway to information on your phone), and can gather even more information about you from third party sources like Sirius XM or Google Maps. It’s a mess. The ways that car companies collect and share your data are so vast and complicated that we wrote an entire piece on how that works. The gist is: they can collect super intimate information about you — from your medical information, your genetic information, to your “sex life” (seriously), to how fast you drive, where you drive, and what songs you play in your car — in huge quantities. They then use it to invent more data about you through “inferences” about things like your intelligence, abilities, and interests.
The car companies then sell this data, as it’s a revenue source for them. And opting out of this data collection isn’t an option for the most part. Consent is an illusion as simply stepping into a car with this sort of tech qualifies as consent. And finally, all car companies do this.
This to me is not cool and I hope that consumers file complaints with the relevant government agencies (In Canada that’s the Privacy Commissioner) so that all of these car companies are forced to explain why they do this which may make them reconsider if they should be doing this at all.
Posted in Products with tags Hisense on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
Hisense has been making a big push into the Canadian TV market as of late by coming to the table with a mix of top shelf features at a price point that is less than their big name competition. And based on my experience with the 65″ U68KM Mini-LED 4K ULED Series Quantum Dot Google TV that was supplied to me by Hisense to review, they have hit that mark. Let’s have a look at the TV:
The TV that I got was a 65″ model which does 4K HDR. More on that later. Right out of the gate, I noted that reflections are well handled on this matte display.
Another thing that I noted was that the bezels are pretty thin. Even the bottom bezel isn’t that thick. I note that because I have seen TV’s where that bottom bezel is pretty thick which makes it less visually appealing to me.
There’s a ton of ports on this TV. Here’s the list of ports that are in this picture:
2 x USB-A
Three HDMI 2.0 ports including an eARC port
A mini composite video input jack
A headphone jack
An antenna/cable connection
Hisense didn’t stop there, they also added a Ethernet port, a fourth HDMI 2.0 port and a digital audio out port. In short, you’ve got a ton of connectivity options here. The only thing that someone might complain about is the fact that the HDMI ports are HDMI 2.0. Which means that hardcore gamers can’t get the fast frame rate fix (meaning above 60 Hz) at 4K resolution. My answer to that is that Hisense offers the U78KM Series and U88KM Series which do 4K at 144 Hz which means that if that is important to you, that’s the direction that you should go in. Besides Ethernet, this TV has 802.11ac WiFi along with Bluetooth for audio. I should note that even though this is a TV that uses the Google TV operating system, it supports AirPlay, HomeKit, and Amazon Alexa. Thus whatever smart home standard that you have, you’re covered.
I’m showing you the underside of the TV because I wanted to illustrate that Hisense thought through the mount points for the feet of the TV which are included in the box should you need them. You have two places to mount them so that you have the freedom of how it should be physically set up. That gets two thumbs up from me.
Now while setting up the TV to test it, I did note this:
The TV gave me the choice of setting it up as a TV using the Google TV operating system, or as a basic TV. I want to highlight this because If I am someone who doesn’t want to use Google TV for whatever reason, I have that choice. And choice is important in my world.
The setup process, which involved downloading the Google Home app to my iPhone, was pretty straightforward and a couple of reboots later due to software updates, I was up and running. I did have some issues getting it onto my WiFi network, but my WiFi network is set up for security first and to play nice with devices second, so that is likely what I was seeing. That’s when I noticed immediately the picture quality. Specifically how dark the blacks were. To my eye, they were approaching OLED levels of black even though this is a mini-LED TV. That made me want to really put this TV though its paces to see what it was capable of. Before I describe what I did in that regard, let me get techy nerdy about the TV.
This is a TV that does 4K HDR with 192 full array local dimming zones that generate up to 600 nits of brightness. In terms of HDR, it supports the following:
Dolby Vision
HDR10
HDR1O+
HLG
It means that any HDR content that you have is playable on this TV and will display as it was intended by whomever created said content. To illustrate this, I pulled out my BluRay copy of The Dark Knight and flipped to the the rooftop scene with Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent. Visually, this is a very dark scene that is best suited for TVs that do a great job or reproducing HDR content. The net result was that I was able to pick up details that I have never seen before on any other HDR TV that I have owned. I went a bit further by going to the Hong Kong kidnap scene which not only confirmed what I saw in the rooftop scene, but highlighted the fact that motion smoothness and clarity were truly next level in terms of quality as the Hong Kong kidnap scene has a lot of fast paced action in it and I didn’t notice any motion related issues. This was something that I further confirmed by watching a Formula 1 race where I saw no motion blur to speak of. Brightness always seemed to be at the right level for me relative to the content on the screen, and the colour contrast was mind blowing good. Viewing angles are another area where this TV excels at as I was able to see a quality picture from the extreme left or right side of the TV.
I really wanted to go down the rabbit hole on picture quality, thus I threw a couple of tests at this TV. I started with a blooming test to see if this TV had any blooming or halo effect issues, which is defined as follows:
Blooming, also known as the halo effect, is a display artifact that occurs when light from isolated bright objects on a screen bleeds into darker areas surrounding it. This creates a sort of a halo around the object, hence the name “halo effect.”
As far as I am concerned, this TV handles blooming extremely well as the blooming that I saw was very minimal. That surprised me as even my 16″ MacBook Pro which has a mini LED screen with full array local dimming zones has some issues with blooming that are easy to spot. Then I moved on to see if this panel had any issues like dark spots or dirty screen effect. These are both issues with the TV’s panel uniformity, which is the ability for the LED panel to display colours in a consistent manner. As in a consistent green, or a consistent red for example. Thus I ran this test to uncover any of those issues. I didn’t find any panel uniformity issues.
So why is doing this testing important? Besides the fact that you should run both of these tests the second you get a new TV to see if you have a unit that perhaps isn’t up to scratch which means you should exchange it for one that is up to scratch, I have seen many TVs that come from companies that play in the same spectrum that Hisense plays in that ship TVs with those sort issues as a matter of course. The net result being that the picture quality out of the box isn’t as good as it could be and it will never get any better. Hisense appears not to be one of those companies as this TV compares well to bigger more expensive TV brands when it comes to the quality of the panel based on my observations.
Next I did a gaming test using the online cycling platform Zwift and my gaming PC. More on both of those here. I found that riding in Zwift was super smooth and visually stunning. Now there’s a “Game Zone” mode that allows you to tweak a variety of settings including getting this TV to do 120Hz if you drop the resolution to 1080p, and it will support AMD FreeSync and variable refresh rates. It’s worth experimenting with all of that to see what sort of results that you get. And honestly, I would spend some time tweaking the setting in the “Game Zone” as well as the other parts of the TV as there is a lot to customize here so that it suits your needs.
A quick word about Google TV. It works well, and I personally have zero complaints about it as it is easy to learn and use, not to mention that it offers the content that you want to see. Be it Crave, Amazon, Netflix, etc. My wife had one complaint about Google TV which was that Google didn’t implement Apple Fitness+ on screen fitness metrics into Google TV. For me, that’s an edge case that Google can deal with in a software update. But to her it was a deal breaker as she was used to that whenever she works out using Apple Fitness+. We ended up agreeing to disagree on that point.
The last thing that I want to mention are the speakers. The TV comes with a pair of 10W bottom firing speakers that support Dolby Atmos. They are better than the ones that I have heard in quite a number of TVs that I have set up in the past few months. But my recommendation would be to get a sound bar like this one or this one if audio quality matters to you.
So, let’s get to the part that you really care about, the price. I found the U68KM Mini-LED 4K ULED Series Quantum Dot Google TV for just under $900 on Amazon.ca and Best Buy. Given how good this TV is, that price is more than fair. And if the 65″ doesn’t work for you, it also comes in 55″ and 75″ sizes. The bottom line is that this TV from Hisense has knocked it out of the park in terms of picture quality and features. I have no hesitation in saying that you need to put this on your shopping list if you’re in the market for a new TV.
Over 10 million people use the Google Looker family of products – but unfortunately they are increasingly being used for illicit purposes. New research from Check Point found that cyber criminals are using Google Looker Studio, Google Docs and Google Slide for advanced phishing attacks.
Here’s how it works
Cybercriminal creates a Google Looker Studio page
Cybercriminal uses Google to send a real notification to the targeted victim, asking them to review or comment. Since the notification comes from the legitimate Google account, it’s not caught by security filters
Victim clicks through to look at the page, which looks legitimate
Embedded within the Google Looker page is a link that redirects the victim to an external page designed to steal their login credentials and crypto-related information
According to Jeremy Fuchs, Cybersecurity Researcher at Check Point Software Technologies:
“Cyber criminals are taking advantage of Google’s business tools to help them steal login credentials and crypto accounts. Recently we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the use of Google Looker Studio for phishing attempts. This is concerning because it is difficult to detect for both security services and end users.”
You might remember that LastPass was pwned in a variety of ways last year, including having the password vaults of their customers swiped. At the time the company said that there was nothing to worry about because threat actors wouldn’t be able to get in. But that no longer appears to be the case according to Brian Krebs:
In November 2022, the password manager service LastPass disclosed a breach in which hackers stole password vaults containing both encrypted and plaintext data for more than 25 million users. Since then, a steady trickle of six-figure cryptocurrency heists targeting security-conscious people throughout the tech industry has led some security experts to conclude that crooks likely have succeeded at cracking open some of the stolen LastPass vaults.
Taylor Monahan is lead product manager of MetaMask, a popular software cryptocurrency wallet used to interact with the Ethereum blockchain. Since late December 2022, Monahan and other researchers have identified a highly reliable set of clues that they say connect recent thefts targeting more than 150 people, Collectively, these individuals have been robbed of more than $35 million worth of crypto.
Monahan said virtually all of the victims she has assisted were longtime cryptocurrency investors, and security-minded individuals. Importantly, none appeared to have suffered the sorts of attacks that typically preface a high-dollar crypto heist, such as the compromise of one’s email and/or mobile phone accounts.
“The victim profile remains the most striking thing,” Monahan wrote. “They truly all are reasonably secure. They are also deeply integrated into this ecosystem, [including] employees of reputable crypto orgs, VCs [venture capitalists], people who built DeFi protocols, deploy contracts, run full nodes.”
Monahan has been documenting the crypto thefts via Twitter/X since March 2023, frequently expressing frustration in the search for a common cause among the victims. Then on Aug. 28, Monahan said she’d concluded that the common thread among nearly every victim was that they’d previously used LastPass to store their “seed phrase,” the private key needed to unlock access to their cryptocurrency investments.
Well, that’s not good. Clearly LastPass isn’t nearly as secure as it’s made out to be. And what does the company have to say about this?:
LastPass declined to answer questions about the research highlighted in this story, citing an ongoing law enforcement investigation and pending litigation against the company in response to its 2022 data breach.
“Last year’s incident remains the subject of an ongoing investigation by law enforcement and is also the subject of pending litigation,” LastPass said in a written statement provided to KrebsOnSecurity. “Since last year’s attack on LastPass, we have remained in contact with law enforcement and continue to do so.”
Their statement continues:
“We have shared various technical information, Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), and threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) with our law enforcement contacts as well as our internal and external threat intelligence and forensic partners in an effort to try and help identify the parties responsible. In the meantime, we encourage any security researchers to share any useful information they believe they may have with our Threat Intelligence team by contacting securitydisclosure@lastpass.com.”
I think if it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now that LastPass should be the last choice in password managers. If for whatever reason you’re still using LastPass, dump it and change your passwords ASAP. Yes it’s a pain. But some pain over a weekend is better than getting pwned.
Posted in Commentary with tags Zoom on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
Zoom has announced an AI companion which bills itself as Zoom’s generative AI product. From the press release:
AI Companion reinforces Zoom’s vision to deliver limitless human connection on one platform, empowering people by increasing their productivity, enhancing their skills, and improving team effectiveness. Zoom also announced today that Zoom IQ for Sales, its conversational intelligence software, will be renamed Zoom Revenue Accelerator.
Since Zoom introduced generative AI in early June, thousands of companies have benefited from free trials of Team Chat compose and Meeting summary. Beginning this fall, Zoom will significantly expand its generative AI offering across its platform with the launch of AI Companion, at no additional cost with paid Zoom user accounts.
Zoom’s federated approach to AI delivers high-quality results and lowers costs by dynamically incorporating its own large language models, along with third-party models such as Meta Llama 2, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Rooted in this unique approach, Zoom AI Companion delivers powerful, real-time digital assistant capabilities to help users improve productivity and work together more effectively. Zoom customers can expect to see AI Companion throughout the entire platform, from Meetings, Team Chat, Phone, Email, and Whiteboard, with additional features on the roadmap.
Sounds great right? But Allen Drennan, Principal & Co-Founder, Cordoniq has a different view:
The advancements in AI capabilities, while truly revolutionary, are moving much more rapidly than the pace of regulation that is required. While there are clear benefits to generative AI assistance in collaborative communications, organizations need to understand that the process of building the generative AI is based upon customer provided content, and is quite often kept in the cloud outside of the control of the organization. For sensitive internal communications, companies may be inadvertently providing a blueprint to their own proprietary information and intellectual property to other companies, without realizing they have provided consent. They need to be cautious about how this information may be utilized and what information is provided to third-party products.
Any use of AI needs to be tightly managed, otherwise bad things will happen. Thus it’s no wonder why companies like Samsung have banned AI use. It also might explain why Zoom is giving this away to paying customers. You might want to consider that before you jump on board if you’re a Zoom customer.
BullWall, the global leader in ransomware protection for critical infrastructure, today introduced BullWall Server Intrusion Protection to protect servers from unauthorized access resulting from the use of compromised credentials during Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions. By placing BullWall’s multi-factor authentication (MFA) between the server and any unauthorized users, organizations are protected from bad actors who may have gained entry to the network, preventing the deployment of ransomware.
BullWall Server Intrusion Protection prevents RDP session hijacking and impedes breach progression to prevent the deployment of ransomware. When an illegitimate session is detected, BullWall blocks any compromised clients and servers, and immediately issues the necessary alerts. It’s an important new weapon in the ongoing battle against the use of stolen or compromised credentials, one of the most impactful areas of cybersecurity vulnerability for most organizations. With the surge in remote and hybrid work environments, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is the entry point in nearly 50% of all ransomware attacks.
BullWall Server Intrusion Protection works together with BullWall Ransomware Containment (formerly BullWall RansomCare) to prevent and contain ransomware, protecting the organization’s most important, targeted digital assets against cyberattacks – a singularly important safeguard that can substantially impact cybersecurity insurance eligibility and terms for many organizations.
Most security-minded organizations now have MFA in place as single logon – which proves futile against a threat actor logging into a server via RDP and then moving from there to other servers. BullWall Server Intrusion Protection blocks every step of such attacks, and demonstrates the highest levels of compliance and reporting.
Posted in Commentary with tags BHPN on September 7, 2023 by itnerd
The Black Healthcare Professionals Network (BHPN), an organization dedicated to advancing the careers of Black healthcare professionals, today launched its Black Healthcare Professional Directory, the first web-based database of Black healthcare professionals in Ontario. BHPN will also be hosting “Healthcare Connections” on September 16 at the University of Toronto Chestnut Residence, an event where experts from diverse health disciplines will discuss entrepreneurship and building businesses with purpose in the Canadian healthcare system.
Research has shown that racial concordance can improve communications, trust and adherence to medical advice. The Directory enables the general public and healthcare providers to locate and book Black healthcare professionals in the following fields in Ontario:
• Medical physicians • Pharmacists • Nurses • Dentists • Physiotherapists • Naturopaths • Dietitians • Mental health practitioners • Chiropractors • Occupational therapists • Massage therapists • Other health professionals
This Directory aims to address the underrepresentation of Black healthcare professionals by providing a platform to connect, support and promote their careers and businesses. To better serve Black Canadians, BHPN is calling for Black healthcare professionals to join the Directory: https://bhpn.ca/directory/join-bhpn/
Bridging the Gap in Canadian Healthcare The event on September 16 signifies a monumental step towards creating a more diverse and inclusive healthcare landscape in Canada. It aims to initiate critical discussions and inspire change within the industry. The panel will discuss entrepreneurship, building a business with purpose and the role of the directory in improving access. The panelists include the following:
Dr. Nik Whyte, MD is a Co-Founder of BHPN and a practicing family doctor specializing in aesthetic and bariatric medicine. Driven by his observations of a lack of Black doctors in Ontario and a need for healthcare professionals to understand business and entrepreneurship, he played a pivotal role in conceiving BHPN. As the Managing Director, Dr. Whyte oversees the organization’s operations and guides it towards achieving its goals of increasing the representation of Black healthcare providers and entrepreneurs.
Dr. Joan Samuels-Dennis, Ph.D is an award-winning trauma recovery expert, speaker, and author. Her revolutionary trauma recovery strategy, The Becoming Method™, has empowered countless individuals to heal and reclaim their lives. With a Ph.D. in trauma recovery, she is dedicated to promoting mental health and well-being in communities and is the founder of the Becoming Institute Inc. and Chair of the National Healing Journey.
Alice Wiafe, M.A.,RP., PSY(D), Can is a speaker, talk show host, author, and Associate Professor who focuses on emotional healing, particularly in the realm of anger management. Holding a Master’s degree in counseling psychology and pursuing her doctorate in Psychology, Alice’s expertise lies in helping individuals use difficult relationships as a catalyst for personal growth and well-being.
Dr. Sean Wharton, MD, PharmD is the Medical Director of the Wharton Medical Clinic, specializing in internal medicine, weight management, and diabetes. As an adjunct professor at McMaster University and York University, he contributes significantly to research in bariatric medicine and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Wharton’s involvement in activism for health equity includes founding the Black Medical Students Association at the University of Toronto.
Carl Carter R.M.T, PTS is a Registered Massage Therapist and Personal Training Specialist with a commitment to health and fitness. With experience in various massage techniques and specialties like pregnancy massage, Carl has been recognized with multiple Reader’s Choice Awards for his expertise in massage therapy and personal training.
Abena Addo is a Co-Founder of BHPN, an engineer and a passionate entrepreneur. Her experience as an entrepreneur for 10 years combined with her passion for business, community and health and wellness, makes her a driving force behind BHPN’s initiatives. (Moderator)
Google Says That Privacy Sandbox Has Reached General Availability On Web
Posted in Commentary with tags Google on September 7, 2023 by itnerdToday, Google announced a new update to Privacy Sandbox for the Web, reaching “general availability” on Chrome for the relevance and measurement APIs, a significant step on the path towards a fundamentally more private web.
Google first introduced the Privacy Sandbox initiative across the web and Android in 2019, collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders — including publishers, developers, adtech providers, consumers, and more
What’s new?
You can learn more about the announcement in the blog post here.
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