Microsoft wrote last week that its “investigations have not detected any other use of this pattern by other actors and Microsoft has taken steps to block related abuse.” But if the stolen signing key could have been used to breach other services, even if it wasn’t used this way in the recent incident, the finding… Continue reading China’s Breach of Microsoft Cloud Email May Expose Deeper Problems
Author: Wired Magazine
‘Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.’ The Story of Oppenheimer’s Infamous Quote
Seeking his counsel, Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal his universal form. Krishna obliges, and in verse 12 of the Gita he manifests as a sublime, terrifying being of many mouths and eyes. It is this moment that entered Oppenheimer’s mind in July 1945. “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once… Continue reading ‘Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.’ The Story of Oppenheimer’s Infamous Quote
7 Best Trackers (2023): GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Cellular
“Systems!” My friends and Marie Kondo’s internet shout. “All you need is a system. As long as you always put your things down in the same place, you’ll never lose anything again,” they say, as I stagger in the door carrying children’s backpacks, a bag of dirty laundry, my waist pack, and a sack of… Continue reading 7 Best Trackers (2023): GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Cellular
Almost 50 Years Into the Crypto Wars, Encryption’s Opponents Are Still Wrong
When I contemplate the return of the crypto wars—attempts to block citizens’ use of encryption by officials who want unfettered spying powers—I look back with dread on the late Middle Ages. I wasn’t alive back then, but one feature of those times lingers in my consciousness. Starting around 1337 and all the way until 1453,… Continue reading Almost 50 Years Into the Crypto Wars, Encryption’s Opponents Are Still Wrong
Sony Xperia 1 V Review: This Phone Is Still Too Expensive
Sony smartphones have such a niche focus on photo and video features that they lose a lot of mainstream appeal. They cost a good deal more than even the top-end iPhone, too. The new Xperia 1 V doesn’t change any of this—it’s $1,399, which is $200 less than its absurdly expensive predecessor, but still pricey.… Continue reading Sony Xperia 1 V Review: This Phone Is Still Too Expensive
NYPD Body Cam Data Shows the Scale of Violence Against Protesters
Beaten, blinded by pepper spray, corralled like animals, and indiscriminately arrested for marching against police violence and racial injustice. Such was the fate hundreds of people suffered at the hands of New York Police Department (NYPD) officers in late May and early June of 2020, as thousands of people across the United States protested the… Continue reading NYPD Body Cam Data Shows the Scale of Violence Against Protesters
An Abandoned Arctic Military Base Just Spilled a Scientific Secret
Previously, scientists reckoned that Greenland iced over some 2.5 million years ago, and has been that way since. In 2021, Bierman and his colleagues determined that it was actually ice-free sometime in the past million years. Now, they’ve dated the tundra ecosystem captured in the Camp Century core to a mere 416,000 years ago—so northwestern… Continue reading An Abandoned Arctic Military Base Just Spilled a Scientific Secret
Don’t Ask Dumb Robots If AI Will Destroy Humanity
Hanson and I talked about the idea of adding real intelligence to these evocative machines. Ben Goertzel, a well-known AI researcher and the CEO of SingularityNET, leads an effort to apply advances in machine learning to the software inside Hanson’s robots that allows them to respond to human speech. The AI behind Sophia can sometimes… Continue reading Don’t Ask Dumb Robots If AI Will Destroy Humanity
Want to Win a Chip War? You’re Gonna Need a Lot of Water
The volume required can be huge. In the US, chip fabs use far less water than the agriculture and power generation industries, and semiconductors haven’t spurred political tensions over water resources at national scale, says Chris Miller, a history professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts and author of the recent book Chip War. Still, squeezes… Continue reading Want to Win a Chip War? You’re Gonna Need a Lot of Water
AeroPress XL Coffee Maker Review: Double the Size, Double the Brew
Several years ago, I stopped by the AeroPress booth at a trade show and asked if there was anything new in the pipeline. The reply, which I may now be overinterpreting, was a bemused but understanding “wait a few years.” The original AeroPress is like a giant snub-nosed syringe that makes delicious coffee. It is… Continue reading AeroPress XL Coffee Maker Review: Double the Size, Double the Brew