August 2022 - your car seat subscription, the speed of hackers, smart home updates, and the ultimate paper airplane!
August 2022 - your car seat subscription, the speed of hackers, smart home updates, and the ultimate paper airplane!
It's August already! Seems like only yesterday it was July. 🙂 We hope your summer is going well. To keep your reading list stocked, check out our carefully curated articles of the month.
In this issue, start with a read on how software is changing car options into subscription features. Then, continue with your security education. We've shared a scary study on how fast hackers act, plus a warning about government data collection from the ACLU.
Moving on, do you like the idea of a smart home but are intimidated by setting up and managing devices? Enter Matter and Thread, the new standards that should take most of the pain out of it. Read on to see the "threads" on what's really the "matter".
Lastly, a little fun. In tech history, check out a cool site showing the evolution of user interfaces. It's sure to jog a memory or nightmare. We've also included articles on how AI predicted the structure of every protein known to science, info on the JWST's hard drive, and the ultimate guide to building the optimal paper airplane. ✈️ Oh, and don't forget to ask RBG a question!
Before we leave you - speaking of the James Web Space Telescope, you've likely seen the image below. However, you probably haven't taken the time to zoom in on the full resolution. Click the image below to appreciate what this piece of engineering can really do! (we promise, no RIck-rolls this month🙂)
Feature image from the JWST. You HAVE to click and see/zoom into the full resolution version to fully appreciate this device!
Coming to your next car - a subscription
BMW introduces a new heated seat subscription in the UK — www.bbc.com
Ladies and gentlemen, meet your next car - which may just be an EV. As such, your "car" is basically a huge battery on wheels with a powerful computer to run it. That computer shares a huge amount of data with the manufacturer's cloud. It also allows for enabling/disabling features on the car (ala Tesla's full self-driving mode). Now extrapolate that to every feature on your car, including heated seats. 😮
Apple eyes fuel purchases from the dashboard as it revs up car software — www.reuters.com
After you've subscribed to heated seats, how about some in-car shopping? Apple Inc wants you to start buying gas directly from your car dashboard as early as this fall, when the newest version of its CarPlay software rolls out, accelerating the company's push to turn your vehicle into a store for goods and services.
So, you think you're secure?
Hackers scan for vulnerabilities within 15 minutes of disclosure — www.bleepingcomputer.com
So, you never take that update? Bad for you. A new report shows threat actors scanning for vulnerable endpoints within 15 minutes of a new exploit being publicly disclosed. You read that right, hackers target high-risk environments within 15 minutes of a bug's disclosure. Take your updates kids!
New Records Detail DHS Purchase and Use of Vast Quantities of Cell Phone Location Data — www.aclu.org
Thousands of previously unreleased records illustrate how government agencies sidestep our Fourth Amendment rights. If DHS is doing it, you can be sure this happens elsewhere. Remember, any app on your phone can be a potential source for harvesting location data!
Matter and Thread and your smart home
Amazon wants every smart device to work with Alexa, and says Matter will help it do that — www.theverge.com
Read what Amazon's director of Alexa smart home has to say about the new Matter protocol. Alexa and other devices will be supporting Matter soon, and this will make your smart home MUCH easier to configure and use.
What is Thread and how will it help your smart home? — www.theverge.com
New smart home products from Eve, Nanoleaf, Wemo, and Schlage work over Thread, a low-power protocol that is key to the Matter protocol. Here’s everything you need to know about Thread. In summary, Thread allows smart home devices to connect at long range using minimal power. It will be the standard in devices that only need to "call home" occasionally, rather than continually streaming.
Wow, that's interesting
Protein folding: DeepMind AI cracks biology's biggest problem — www.newscientist.com
Artificial intelligence firm DeepMind has transformed biology by predicting the structure of nearly all proteins known to science in just 18 months, a breakthrough that will speed drug development and revolutionize basic science. This is staggering. However, knowing the structures is just the first step.
The James Webb Space Telescope is capturing the universe on a 68GB SSD — www.engadget.com
With the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) now powered up and snapping some spectacular images, you may wonder exactly how it's storing them. Your phone may have more storage than this multi-billion dollar telescope! Read why here.
Fold 'N Fly » Paper Airplane Folding Instructions — www.foldnfly.com
Go fly a kite! Or, in this case, a paper airplane. I certainly had never thought about the number of ways to construct a paper airplane - until I saw this site. Here's your ultimate database of paper airplanes with easy to follow folding instructions, video tutorials, and printable folding plans. Find the best paper airplanes that fly the furthest and stay aloft the longest.
Tip of the month
Google Chrome OS Flex is now available for PCs and Macs — www.theverge.com
Google is bringing Chrome OS to older PCs and Macs. Chrome OS Flex is a new version designed for businesses and schools that want to move away from Windows. What does that mean for you? If you have an older Mac or PC sitting around that no longer updates, you can turn it into a Chromebook! Chrome OS is MUCH lighter and runs like a charm on less powerful or older machines.
In tech history
This month, take a look through the history of computer interfaces in this well put together website. You're sure to bring back some memories.
The History of User Interfaces
In closing - settle those late summer decisions
Have a pressing decision coming up? Ask RBG AI, trained on every decision the IRL RBG ever wrote. From the website:
"We trained a large language model called Jurassic-1 on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 27 years of Opinions (legal judgments) in the Supreme Court, media interviews, and public speeches. This corpus of text is the basis of the AI’s ability to try and predict what she would respond to your questions."