Sony surprises with an electric concept car called the Vision-S - The Verge
is meant to showcase the Japanese tech conglomerate’s many different strengths, from entertainment products to camera sensors and more.
US Coast Guard discloses Ryuk ransomware infection at maritime facility - ZDNet
The maritime facility — believed to be a port authority — was forced to shut down its entire operations for more than 30 hours, the Coast Guard said.
BMW and Hyundai hacked by Vietnamese hackers, report claims - ZDNet
https://www.zdnet.com/article/bmw-and-hyundai-hacked-by-vietnamese-hackers-report-claims/
Many experts have speculated that the Vietnamese government has taken a page out of China’s book and is using hacking groups to carry out economic espionage on foreign companies, stealing intellectual property, and then using it for its state-funded corporations.
China used this strategy to prop its airplane manufacturing sector, and now experts believe Vietnam is doing the same for its fledgling automotive startup VinFast, which started rolling out its first cars out factory lines this year.
Which emoji scissors close
https://wh0.github.io/2020/01/02/scissors.html
Unlike the real world tool it represents, the emoji’s job is to convey the idea, especially at small sizes. It doesn’t need to be able to swing or cut things. Nevertheless, let’s judge them on that irrelevant criterion.
Instagram will be the new front-line in the misinformation wars – The Economist
FACEBOOK WAS a breeding-ground for partisanship, crackpot articles and conspiracy theories long before America’s presidential election in 2016. The social network is optimised for “engagement”, and encourages people to keep scrolling, clicking and commenting by promoting content that triggers strong reactions. Yet it took the revelation of a massive Russian propaganda campaign before lawmakers, journalists and Facebook users began to take notice of the risks this entails. Something similar will happen with the election in 2020—but this time to Instagram (which is owned by Facebook).
What sci-fi can tell us about the future - The World in 2020 – The Economist
Will humans become extinct by the end of the century? - The Inquiry – BBC
https://castro.fm/episode/leoXku
What is the chance of the human race surviving the 21st century? There are many dangers – climate change for example, or nuclear war, or a pandemic, or planet Earth being hit by a giant asteroid. Around the world a number of research centres have sprung up to investigate and mitigate what’s called existential risk. How precarious is our civilisation and what can be done to stop a global catastrophe? David Edmonds talks to four expert witnesses to try and find the answer. 🎙
Why an internet that never forgets is especially bad for young people - MIT Technology Review
As past identities become stickier for those entering adulthood, it’s not just individuals who will suffer. Society will too.
The risk is that this will produce generations of increasingly cautious individuals—people too worried about what others might find or think to ever engage in productive risks or innovative thinking.
The second potential danger is more troubling: in a world where the past haunts the present, young people may calcify their identities, perspectives, and political positions at an increasingly young age.
Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines - The Washington Post
Short-range phone sensors and campuswide WiFi networks are empowering colleges across the United States to track hundreds of thousands of students more precisely than ever before. Dozens of schools now use such technology to monitor students’ academic performance, analyze their conduct or assess their mental health.
But some professors and education advocates argue that the systems represent a new low in intrusive technology, breaching students’ privacy on a massive scale. The tracking systems, they worry, will infantilize students in the very place where they’re expected to grow into adults, further training them to see surveillance as a normal part of living, whether they like it or not.