Compulang: Technology, Programming & Privacy: Recent Episodes

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Tech and international news and talk from all around the Internet

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Troy and Jacob discuss the recent developments with the University of Minnesota being banned from contributing to the open-source Linux kernel source code because of a group of researchers who submitted intentionally buggy/broken/malicious patches.

Sources:

https://www.neowin.net/news/linux-bans-university-of-minnesota-for-sending-buggy-patches-in-the-name-of-research/

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/QiushiWu/qiushiwu.github.io/main/papers/OpenSourceInsecurity.pdf

https://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~kjlu/papers/clarifications-hc.pdf

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nfs/YH+7ZydHv4+Y1hlx@kroah.com/

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nfs/3B9A54F7-6A61-4A34-9EAC-95332709BAE7@northeastern.edu/

https://twitter.com/kengiter/status/1337805965459156996

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Apple app store cuts transaction commission to 15% for small businesses (less than $1M/year): https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/11/18/apple-cuts-its-app-store-commission-from-30-to-15-if-your-apps-earn-less-than-1m/ https://developer.apple.com/app-store/small-business-program/ https://appfairness.org/ UK approves COVID vaccine, while Australian airline Qantas proposes immunization passports: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55187633 THAT COMPANY WHOSE NAME USED TO CONTAIN HTML SCRIPT TAGS LTD: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/06/companies-house-forces-business-name-change-to-prevent-security-risk Apple phones home about every application launch: https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

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HTTPS-only: too little, too late? How do you approach a programming problem when you don't even know where to start? Also, what's the deal with YouTube's latest TOS update? Jacob and Troy discuss. Errata: joining the YouTube Partner Program requires 4,000 hours of watch time, not minutes YouTube TOS update: https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/youtube-ads-channels-no-revenue-sharing-1234834816/ YouTube channel breakdown: https://www.tubics.com/blog/number-of-youtube-channels/ Google's advertising revenue: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/12/24/is-google-advertising-revenue-70-80-or-90-of-alphabets-total-revenue/ Mozilla Firefox introduces new https only mode in FF 83: https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2020/11/17/firefox-83-introduces-https-only-mode/ "Smart" doorbells vulnerable to hackers and caught sending unencrypted passwords to China: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55044568 Discussion topic: How do you go about solving a programming problem when you don't necessarily know where to start? (For example: learning a new technology, or trying to fix a bug in a project that you didn't build) Compulang: https://anchor.fm/compulang GeekLaunch YouTube: https://youtube.com/GeekLaunch Website: https://geeklaunch.net

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No more unlimited Google Photos storage: https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/11/21560810/google-photos-unlimited-cap-free-uploads-15gb-ending

NASA + SpaceX launch 4 astronauts to ISS: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-spacex/one-heck-of-a-ride-spacex-launches-astronauts-into-space-idUSKBN27V0I3

YouTube down for 2 hours on the 12th: https://downdetector.com/status/youtube/news/347662-problems-at-youtube-2/

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/11/21561764/youtube-down-outage-loading-videos

Also cancelling Rewind: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54931875

https://twitter.com/YouTube/status/1326947861305696263

Zoom encryption debacle with the FTC: https://apnews.com/article/technology-9717b01b541a0cbad441f87bef89d871

What to expect from a computer science degree?

Pros:

  • Work in a bunch of different programming paradigms
  • Learn from researchers
  • Have eyes on your code all the time, manual review, etc.
  • Guided learning
  • Certification!
  • Work in areas you may not have thought to be interesting

Cons:

  • Doesn't really prepare you for industry
  • Often uses old or outdated technologies
  • Expensive
  • Time-consuming
  • Doesn't necessarily give you the experience you need to land a good job

FreeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/

Send in voice messages at: https://anchor.fm/compulang

Or comment on the YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/GeekLaunch

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First manned Virgin Hyperloop test "flight": https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54838982

Unlimited Chase Ultimate Rewards Points hack finally disclosed: https://chadscira.com/post/5fa269d46142ac544e013d6e/DISCLOSURE-Unlimited-Chase-Ultimate-Rewards-Points

Trump to lose Twitter protections: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-socialmedia/trump-will-lose-special-twitter-protections-in-january-idUSKBN27O0MQ

GitHub Source Code Leak: https://resynth1943.net/articles/github-source-code-leak/

Let's Encrypt cross-signed certificate expiring September 2021; Android update problem: https://letsencrypt.org/2020/11/06/own-two-feet.html

Please Unsubscribe: https://please-unsubscribe.com/

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Troy and Jacob discuss how hackers get your information and some prevention measures. Also in this episode: Google sued, cryptocurrency + PayPal = 😍, and McDonald's ice cream bots in your area.

Quibi shutting down: https://www.cnet.com/news/quibis-shutdown-will-take-place-on-or-about-dec-1/ https://in.reuters.com/article/quibi-shutdown/streaming-service-quibi-to-wind-down-operations-six-months-after-launch-idINKBN27704C Open Letter: https://quibi-hq.medium.com/an-open-letter-from-quibi-8af6b415377f Buy crypto with PayPal: https://in.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency/paypal-to-allow-cryptocurrency-buying-selling-and-shopping-on-its-network-idINL1N2HB14U RobinHood hack: https://nypost.com/2020/10/16/hackers-broke-into-nearly-2000-robinhood-trading-accounts/ Have I Been Pwned: https://haveibeenpwned.com/ French COVID contact tracing app having issues: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54660499 McDonald's ice cream machine broken bot: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/is-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machine-working-near-you-theres-a-bot-for-that/ Google lawsuit for tracking even in incognito mode: https://mazech.com/2020/06/google-faces-5-billion-lawsuit-for-allegedly-tracking-users-even-in-incognito-mode/

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Today I'm joined once again by Troy to discuss censorship by big tech like Twitter and Facebook and the section 230 protections that everyone is talking about. Also, how does the new NVIDIA 3000-series graphics card line affect consumer security?

Twitter, Facebook censor NY Post: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/twitter-cites-hacked-materials-policy-to-justify-censorship-of-ny-post-hunter-biden-article/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54568785

Section 230: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/06/section-230-the-internet-law-politicians-love-to-hate-explained/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_230#Platform_neutrality

Nvidia password cracking graphics card

https://www.techradar.com/news/the-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3090-is-very-good-at-cracking-passwords-and-thats-bad-news

Apple iPhone 12 and 12 Pro released: https://www.apple.com/iphone-12-pro/

Notably no longer coming with EarPods or a power adapter (power cable still included)

Hum into Google to find a song: https://www.zdnet.com/article/you-can-now-hum-into-google-search-and-it-will-find-the-song/

Nim 1.40 released: https://nim-lang.org/blog/2020/10/16/version-140-released.html

Dropbox converts to 100% remote work: https://www.businessinsider.com/dropbox-letting-all-employees-work-from-home-permanently-2020-10

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I'm joined by my friend Troy for a discussion about operating systems, Tesla, privacy, and security.

Amazon Eero Mesh Wi-Fi 6 routers for ISP's: https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-brings-eero-mesh-wi-fi-to-isps/

Privacy concerns (managed network)

Eero Secure: https://eero.com/eero-secure

Customs & Border Protection buying location data: https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7wakg/cbp-dhs-location-data-venntel-apps

Huawei's HarmonyOS: https://www.scmp.com/tech/gear/article/3104176/harmony-os-everything-you-need-know-about-huaweis-android-alternative

Will be open-sourced: https://github.com/Awesome-HarmonyOS/HarmonyOS

Tesla QC issues (roof): https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-y-roof-fell-off-family-claims-quality-control-concern-2020-10

Plaintext onboarding emails: https://blog.palabra.io/great-onboarding-plain-text

French cafe owners arrested for not logging customer's internet traffic: https://www.zdnet.com/article/five-bar-and-cafe-owners-arrested-in-france-for-running-no-log-wifi-networks/

Webpack 5 released: https://webpack.js.org/blog/2020-10-10-webpack-5-release/

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Google shutting play store service fee loophole: https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-plans-to-shut-the-loophole-that-lets-netflix-spotify-and-tinder-avoid-paying-its-30-app-tax/articleshow/78383294.cms

Designer makes bank on iOS icons: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54387339

MKBHD Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH66LWWluVE

EARN IT act passes committee 22-0 https://www.newsweek.com/senate-earn-it-act-encryption-privacy-aclu-human-rights-watch-eff-internet-freedoms-1515326

Introduced to House: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/10/urgent-earn-it-act-introduced-house-representatives

Social cooling website from Tijmen Schep: https://www.socialcooling.com/

Despite it being "Deafness awareness week," YouTube eliminated crowdsourced video captioning: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/youtube-celebrates-deaf-awareness-week-by-killing-crowd-sourced-captions/

Jet suit paramedic testing in the UK: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-54331994

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Among Us sequel canceled

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-54277123

TikTok ban delayed, Oracle deal might be approved after all: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/09/18/can-you-still-use-tiktok-and-wechat-heres-what-we-know-about-the-us-ban/#1ad2c0d3358c

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-24/tiktok-judge-tells-u-s-to-postpone-ban-or-file-brief-by-friday

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3103141/donald-trump-administration-files-legal-objection-tiktoks-efforts-halt

Windows XP source code leaked:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/25/21455655/microsoft-windows-xp-source-code-leak

Coalition for app fairness (Spotify, Epic Games, Match Group, Protonmail)

https://appfairness.org/

Google Play store service fees are also 30%: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en

https://protonmail.com/blog/coalition-for-app-fairness/

China's cryptocurrency

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54261382

DCEP is centralized: https://boxmining.com/dcep/#DCEP_is_a_Centralized_Currency

Amazon Luna (new game streaming service, competitor to Google's Stadia)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/54295762?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology&link_location=live-reporting-story

Fire in Huawei compound in China:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3103154/fire-huawei-compound-southern-china-leaves-three-dead

Swift programming language toolchain now available on Windows:

https://swift.org/blog/swift-on-windows/

Tweet from Craig Loewen about Linux GUI apps on WSL:

https://twitter.com/craigaloewen/status/1308452901266751488?s=19

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ARM Sale Announcement: https://www.arm.com/company/news/2020/09/nvidia-to-acquire-arm

Opposition from co-founder: https://savearm.co.uk/

Opposition from China: https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3102030/china-has-more-reason-block-nvidias-arm-deal-approve-it-say-analysts

TikTok partnership with Oracle: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/tech/oracle-tiktok-us-china-intl-hnk/index.html

TikTok+WeChat ban: https://www.engadget.com/trump-ban-tiktok-wechat-explained-213510286.html

"Alex" finds Tony Abbott's passport number: https://mango.pdf.zone/finding-former-australian-prime-minister-tony-abbotts-passport-number-on-instagram

ECMAScript Pipeline Operator Proposal: https://github.com/tc39/proposal-pipeline-operator/wiki

Java 15 Released: https://jdk.java.net/15/release-notes

Moment.js now legacy: https://momentjs.com/docs/#/-project-status/

You probably don't need Moment.js: https://dockyard.com/blog/2020/02/14/you-probably-don-t-need-moment-js-anymore

GitHub CLI 1.0 now available: https://github.blog/2020-09-17-github-cli-1-0-is-now-available/

GitHub CLI: https://cli.github.com/

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Music credit:

"Magnolia" by Silent Partner. https://soundcloud.com/silentpartnermusic