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Computers/Internet (General/Chat)

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  • Your next smartphone might have a camera that’s always watching Chip maker Qualcomm argues that “always-on” cameras can make phones more secure.

    12/06/2021 5:28:08 PM PST · by BenLurkin · 34 replies
    Washington Post ^ | By Chris Velazco
    If you have a smartphone, you probably use its front-facing camera for selfies and the occasional video call. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, you’ll shoot the next viral TikTok masterpiece. You might use your next smartphone’s front camera for the same things, but there’s a chance that camera won’t completely turn off once you’re done with it. This week, chipmaker Qualcomm revealed its latest Snapdragon processor, which will power many of the high-end Android smartphones you’ll see in stores in 2022, including models from Motorola, Sony, OnePlus. And a new feature built into that chip could allow smartphone makers to keep...
  • 19 Absolute Simple Things About Linux Terminal Every Ubuntu User Should Know

    12/06/2021 12:15:03 PM PST · by ShadowAce · 29 replies
    Its FOSS ^ | 5 December 2021 | Abhishek Prakash
    Terminal often intimidates new users. However, once you get to know it, you gradually start liking it. Well, that happens with most Linux users.Even if you are using Ubuntu as a desktop system, you may have to enter the terminal at times. New users are often clueless about many things. Some knowledge of basic Linux commands always helps in such cases but this article is not about that.This article focuses on explaining small, basic and often ignored things about using the terminal. This should help new Ubuntu desktop users to know the terminal and use it with slightly more efficiency.The...
  • Bitcoin miners say they’re helping to fix the broken Texas electric grid — and Ted Cruz agrees

    12/06/2021 7:54:53 AM PST · by Pollard · 22 replies
    CNBC ^ | 12/4/21 | MacKenzie Sigalos
    AUSTIN, TEXAS – The Texas power grid is struggling with fluctuating energy prices and sporadic service, but the state’s growing bitcoin mining community believes it can help fix it. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz agrees. “A lot of the discussion around bitcoin views bitcoin as a consumer of energy,” said Cruz at an event in October. “The perspective I’m suggesting is very much the reverse, which is as a way to strengthen our energy infrastructure.” The grid is called ERCOT — short for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which is the organization tasked with operating it — and it’s fussy...
  • Investigators found texts in Josh Duggar's personal devices that placed him at the scene on the days child porn was downloaded on his work computer and reveal he protected sick trove with same password for his family's official Instagram account

    12/05/2021 6:33:07 PM PST · by Morgana · 38 replies
    Daily Mail UK ^ | December 3, 2021 | Ben Ashford In Fayetteville, Arkansas For Dailymail.Com
    A sick trove of child porn found on Josh Duggar's work computer was protected by the same password used for his family's Instagram account, a court heard today. Prosecutors say Duggar used his business HP to download videos of minors being humiliated and abused but hid his sordid activity behind a device called a Linux partition. The Linux system effectively created a second, secret operating system on the same computer that could only be accessed by rebooting the machine, hitting F9 and manually typing in the password intel1988. It's behind this partition that the government says Duggar used encrypted 'peer-to-peer'...
  • Big Tech braces for breakups as UK opens new era of enforcement

    12/05/2021 12:56:36 PM PST · by RandFan · 6 replies
    POlitico ^ | Dec 3 | BY SAMUEL STOLTON AND PIETRO LOMBARDI
    For all the outrage directed at Big Tech over the past decade, regulators have shied away from the nuclear option of actually breaking up a major platform. Until this week, that is. By ordering Facebook to part with Giphy, a GIF creation platform it acquired in 2020, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority broke a global taboo and ushered in a brave new world of tech enforcement.
  • Canadian police find a new use for AirTags that Apple will never promote

    12/05/2021 9:30:59 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 22 replies
    phonearena.com ^ | 12/04/2021 | By Alan Friedman
    "AirTags" are placed in out-of-sight locations on high-end automobiles that are parked in high-traffic areas like malls or parking lots. The vehicles are then tracked back to the owners' residences from where they are stolen right from the driveway. The thieves use a screwdriver to enter a targeted car via the driver or passenger door. Once they are inside the car, the thieves deploy an electronic diagnostic device like the kind your friendly mechanic uses. With this device, the car thieves adjust the settings to allow the car to accept a key that they have brought with them. Once this...
  • The Chairman of the House 2A Caucus (Rep. Thomas Massie) Wishes you a Happy Christmas

    12/05/2021 8:11:30 AM PST · by RandFan · 21 replies
    twitter ^ | Dec 4 | Rep Thomas Massie
  • Ameca Humanoid Robot AI Platform

    12/04/2021 5:49:34 PM PST · by Enlightened1 · 15 replies
    Youtube ^ | 12/04/21
    This is not CGI! First look at Ameca , most advanced humanoid robot from @Engineered ArtsDesigned as a platform for AI and human robot interaction (HRI) . Will be on show at #ces2022. For more information check https://www.engineeredarts.co.uk/robo... #robot #humanoidrobots #ai https://youtu.be/IPukuYb9xWw
  • U.N. Taking Down Private Websites - Domain Level Censorship

    12/04/2021 3:20:54 AM PST · by EBH · 52 replies
    Ice Age Farmer ^ | 12/2/2021
    The U.N. Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) is now responsible for taking entire privately hosted websites offline, as they seek to take total control of the flow of information and establish their "Great Narrative." CTED notifies domain registrars of "extremist" sites -- i.e., those that promote narratives they don't approve of -- and the sites can no longer be found. This reflects a new level of internet censorship, but it is not just publishers who are in the crosshairs...it is all of us. Christian breaks it down in this Ice Age Farmer broadcast 12:00 minute video
  • Microsoft makes tweaks to Windows 11 Start Menu for Insiders but stops short of mimicking Windows 10

    12/03/2021 9:06:20 PM PST · by dayglored · 44 replies
    The Register ^ | Dec 2, 2021 | Richard Speed
    If it's not broke, don't f- ... never mind Microsoft's long-suffering unpaid testers are to start seeing some improvements in the Windows 11 User Interface. Build 22509 arrived last night for Windows Insiders on the Dev Channel and, as well as making things a bit more accessible by improving the web browsing experience with Microsoft's Edge browser and the Narrator, there were some much-needed tweaks to the Start Menu and Taskbar. Starting with the most jarring change in the user experience for Windows 11, the Start Menu, some easy-to-access options were added. One can opt for more pinned applications or...
  • 'Alex Jones was right' twitter account SUSPENDED

    12/03/2021 7:26:44 PM PST · by RandFan · 20 replies
    twitter ^ | Dec 3 | Libs of Tik Tok
  • TikToker Reveals How Costco Puts Sauce on Pizza, and Viewers Have Thoughts: 'Bruh, That’s Too Much'

    12/03/2021 5:16:14 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 6 replies
    Yahoo News! ^ | Fri, December 3, 2021
    TikToker Brendan Jay Sullivan (@pizzas) revealed how Costco puts sauce on pizza and shared his thoughts on the technique in a hilarious video. Sullivan is a pizza chef who shares recipes and tours of his favorite pizzerias on TikTok. In one video, Sullivan went behind the scenes at Costco, where he revealed the machine Costco uses to add sauce to pizza. Filled with his hilarious commentary, the video has racked up 9 million views and counting. The video begins with Sullivan standing outside of the Costco pizza kitchen. He watches through the window as employees in red hats and aprons...
  • A New Humanoid Robot Has the Most Advanced and Realistic Facial Expressions Yet (plus video)

    12/03/2021 5:16:57 AM PST · by RoosterRedux · 28 replies
    A U.K.-based company Engineered Arts has developed a humanoid robot that can display human-like expressions with ease. In a short video released on YouTube, the company shows off its most advanced humanoid, dubbed Ameca, which is initially a platform for testing robotic technologies. A U.K.-based company Engineered Arts has developed a humanoid robot that can display human-like expressions with ease. In a short video released on YouTube, the company shows off its most advanced humanoid, dubbed Ameca, which is initially a platform for testing robotic technologies. As is seen in the video above, the humanoid appears to have woken up...
  • Computer advice needed

    12/02/2021 10:33:16 PM PST · by chuckles · 37 replies
    vanity | 12-03-2021 | chuckles
    I'm transferring to a newer computer and having difficulty with various things. I've got everything fixed now except my sound. The computer was working before but I upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10 and added a new video card to feed 3 monitors, About the time I put the 2nd video card in I noticed the noise in my speakers. I've tried headphones and the noise is there. I've tried USB speakers and the noise is there. I used a Bluetooth speaker and the noise is gone. I've changed the sound drivers 3 times with and older driver and...
  • My website is under attack

    12/02/2021 7:17:06 AM PST · by nancyvideo · 45 replies
    Rightbias.com ^ | Dec.2,2021 | Nancy Morgan
    The conservative news site I have operated for the last 15 years is undergoing persistent bot attacks which leave site unable to load and me unable to post news. Does anyone out there have experience with this?
  • Simplified quantum computer can be made with off-the-shelf components

    12/01/2021 9:53:19 AM PST · by ShadowAce · 22 replies
    New Atlas ^ | 29 November 2021 | Michael Irving
    Quantum computers could one day blow boring old classical computers out of the water, but so far their complexity limits their usefulness. Engineers at Stanford have now demonstrated a new relatively simple design for a quantum computer where a single atom is entangled with a series of photons to process and store information.Quantum computers tap into the weird world of quantum physics to perform calculations far faster than traditional computers can handle. Where existing machines store and process information in bits, as either ones and zeroes, quantum computers use qubits, which can exist as one, zero, or a superposition of...
  • Storage of 10 meg pdf on the net for reader access or downloading

    12/01/2021 8:49:27 AM PST · by dickmc · 14 replies
    Dick McClelland
    Does anyone know of a service or place where I can store a 2 meg pdf so it can be read or downloaded by other random readers such as freerepublic members or friends. I really don't care about security but don't want anyone other than me to delete or modify the pdf. Thanks in advance for your thoughts or suggestions.
  • FR glitching this AM?

    12/01/2021 4:40:50 AM PST · by Celtic Conservative · 14 replies
    My confused brain | 12/01/21 | Celtic Conservative
    Anybody having problems this AM? FR keeps making me log in every time I go to the page. CC
  • Rep. Nancy Mace v. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (cat fight!)

    11/30/2021 6:33:38 AM PST · by RandFan · 15 replies
    twitter ^ | Nov 30 | Rep. Nancy Mace & Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
    @mtgreenee@NancyMace is the trash in the GOP Conference. Never attacked by Democrats or RINO’s (same thing) because she is not conservative, she’s pro-abort. Mace you can back up off of @laurenboebert or just go hang with your real gal pals, the Jihad Squad. Your out of your league. @NancyMace*you’re And, while I’m correcting you, I’m a pro-life fiscal conservative who was attacked by the Left all weekend (as I often am) as I defied China while in Taiwan. What I’m not is a religious bigot (or racist). You might want to try that over there in your little “league.”
  • The No. 1 shopping scam this holiday season (vaccination 'costs'?)

    11/28/2021 5:52:52 AM PST · by Libloather · 2 replies
    Marketwatch ^ | 11/27/21 | Quentin Fottrell
    **SNIP** And the No. 1 way of contacting would-be victims? Believe it or not, it’s old-fashioned email. Those pesky phishing links were the point of contact resulting in 19,107 fraud reports over that same period. Emails were closely followed by fake websites (17,444), texts (16,742), phone calls (14,156) and social media (10,520). Shopping scams, most of which were online, accounted for losses of more than $47.3 million, the FTC said in a recent report. **SNIP** Don’t be persuaded into paying using bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.38% or Western Union WU, -1.26%. Stick to secure methods of paying like PayPal PYPL, -0.49% and...