Home Assistants Security Issues

AMAZON ECHO AND Google Home—and other devices that have Alexa and Google Assistant built in—are some of the most promising new technologies to come along in years. And they’re genuinely useful to have around, whether it’s to settle a bet or help out with a recipe. But it can also feel a little creepy to have a speaker in your house that’s always listening. What exactly is it doing with that info? Where does it go? Here’s the good news. While their microphones are always on, Google Home and Alexa don’t actually do anything with your voice until you say their “wake word,” which is usually just ‘OK Google’ or ‘Alexa’. Despite the occasional viral story that suggests otherwise, Amazon and Google truly aren't keeping track of every single thing you say.

For Google Assistant, go to myactivity.google.com. That’s also where you can delete your voice requests, if you don’t want them lurking on corporate servers somewhere. Click on the three-dot line in the upper-right corner, then Delete activity by. From there, you can set a date range—today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, all time, or custom—and the service whose interactions you want to nuke. Click on All products, then Voice & Audio, then hit Delete. You'll get a pop-up that asks if you're absolutely positively sure you want to go through with it. Click OK, because you do. Then do the same for Assistant while you're in there, just to be thorough. (There are 19 additional categories, ranging from Ads all the way down to YouTube, if you want to linger and take stock of just how much time you've spent with Google lately.)



Credits:
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-and-google-home-voice-data-delete/

Net Neutrality About to Die

More than 200 businesses and trade organizations have signed a letter to the FCC asking that the agency reconsider its plan to end net neutrality. The letter is signed by an array of big and recognizable tech and web companies: that includes Airbnb, Automattic (which owns WordPress), Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, Pinterest, Reddit, Shutterstock, Sonos, Square, Squarespace, Tumblr (certainly to the displeasure of its owner, Verizon), Twitter, and Vimeo, among quite a few others. The letter is being released on Cyber Monday and speaks directly to the internet’s constantly growing role in the US economy. “The internet is increasingly where commerce happens,” the letter says. It cites figures saying that $3.5 billion in online sales happed last year on Cyber Monday and $3 billion on Black Friday. Throughout all of last year, online purchases accounted for $400 billion in sales.

The lack of rules, they say, could force businesses into internet slow lanes. Or they could be blocked altogether, or forced to pay a toll. “This would put small and medium-sized businesses at a disadvantage and prevent innovative new ones from even getting off the ground,” the letter says. The FCC intends to vote on its proposal to remove net neutrality rules on December 14th. While there’s been an outpouring of opposition, it’s not likely to make a difference — FCC commissioners are appointed to five year terms, so they don’t have to answer to voters next year like a lot of other representatives do. The three Republican commissioners outnumber the two Democratic commissioners, and so the proposal to end net neutrality is almost certain to pass.

Click here for the video

Credits:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/27/16705170/net-neutrality-cyber-monday-fcc-letter

AI vs Human Drone Racing

Drone racing is a high-speed sport demanding instinctive reflexes -- but humans won't be the only competitors for long. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, put their work to the test recently. Timing laps through a twisting obstacle course, they raced drones controlled by artificial intelligence (A.I.) against a professional human pilot. The race, held on Nov. 12, capped off two years of research into drone autonomy funded by Google. The company was interested in JPL's work with vision-based navigation for spacecraft -- technologies that can also be applied to drones. To demonstrate the team's progress, JPL set up a timed trial between their A.I. and world-class drone pilot Ken Loo.

The team built three custom drones (dubbed Batman, Joker and Nightwing) and developed the complex algorithms the drones needed to fly at high speeds while avoiding obstacles. These algorithms were integrated with Google's Tango technology, which JPL also worked on. The drones were built to racing specifications and could easily go as fast as 80 mph (129 kph) in a straight line. But on the obstacle course set up in a JPL warehouse, they could only fly at 30 or 40 mph (48 to 64 kph) before they needed to apply the brakes. Camera-based localization and mapping technologies have various potential applications, Reid added. These technologies might allow drones to check on inventory in warehouses or assist search and rescue operations at disaster sites. They might even be used eventually to help future robots navigate the corridors of a space station.




Credits:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/drone-race-human-versus-artificial-intelligence

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lego's updated, newly-released "Ultimate Collector's Series" Millennium Falcon is the largest playset the company has ever produced, with a whopping 7,541 pieces, a 494-page instruction booklet, and an $800 price tag. All those bricks may not look like much when you tip them out of the box, but she's got it where it counts — as you can see from this spectacular video on Gizmodo, which documents reporter Germain Lussier's intrepid quest to put the Star Wars set together over the course of 34 hours (spread across eight days). What follows is a journey of joy and pain, hope and despair, light and darkness — the build is beset by problems, from wrongly-placed pieces to attacks from ravenous beasts — and it seems at various points as if Lussier might give in to his anger and destroy the toy like so much rebel scum. But in the end, thank the maker, good prevails and balance is restored to the Force.

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The Tesla Truck

The Tesla Semi truck is a hulking and menacing hauler, with the presence of Darth Vader lurking from above when cast in the black hue, or more like an apparition in metallic silver-white. In other words: it’s exactly what we expect to see from Tesla, as it attempts to make a semi truck that lives up to the brand’s DNA of making the future seem cool. Apart from the glass area and the two screens on either side, it feels as badass as any big truck. The center-mounted seat, however, does feel weird. I noticed several elements from the Model 3, including a turn signal and gear lever, but it had a different steering wheel since it doesn’t require an airbag.

Whether Tesla can actually impact the freight truck market remains to be seen, but design is certainly part of that statement, as Tesla makes it clear that it wants to do things differently — staging a full-scale media event blitz to emphasize that point — it is perhaps the first reveal of an 18-wheeler to take the stage to the tune of trance music. Tesla is taking a page from its Model 3 playbook (a game plan that’s currently a roll of the dice), but it’s one that tends to generate tons of hype and whip the media and Musk fans into a frenzy.



Credits:
https://www.wired.com/video/tesla-unveils-new-electric-semi-truck-and-roadster/

Robot Does Back Flips. A Perfect 10

Earlier this week, Boston Dynamics unveiled a new version of its SpotMini robot dog. The brief teaser was impressive, but it was nothing compared to the video the robotics company released today. We have seen the Atlas bipedal robot before, and it has always been exciting, but now the bot has some slick new paneling and apparently some new hardware and/or software because we have never seen it move like this. After adroitly jumping over some obstacle boxes, the humanoid robot leaps up onto a box that looks to be about 3 feet tall. Then it does a 180 degree spin, plants the landing, and finally proceeds to do a backflip off the platform and land on a gymnastics mat.

There video description only reads, "What have you been up to lately, Atlas?" Given Boston Dynamics' teaser video earlier this week, combined with today's reveal, we expect the robot builder may soon announce what they have been up to since being sold by Google to Japanese technology firm SoftBank. Obviously the New England bot maker hasn't missed a stride. The timing of this video may have been a bit too on point, given that this week, the UN met to discuss how worried the world should be about killer robots. Unsurprisingly, many have greeted Atlas’ new powers with premature surrender to our robot overlords. “I could do without the grandstanding, future destroyer of worlds,” wrote Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch.



Credits:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a13789715/boston-dynamics-atlas-robot-does-a-backflip-in-absolutely-incredible-demo/?src=socialflowFB

10 Year Old Son Can Unlock Mother's iPhone

Face ID is undeniably more secure than Touch ID in a random sampling of population. Apple says the chance of a person unlocking your phone with Face ID is 1 in a million. However, that probability can be considerably lower for siblings, twins and children under the age of 13. A new video from a mother highlights exactly these limitations; she finds her 10-year old son can reliably unlock her phone using his face.

In the security white paper, Apple recommends disabling the Face ID feature if you are concerned about identical twins or siblings unlocking the device. However, it’s a tough sell because using the face unlock is so much more convenient than typing in a passcode. The two family members do share a similarity in how they look, but it’s not exactly what you would call a striking resemblance. The child is only ten years old, so the ‘undeveloped facial features’ may be playing a role here. The training process for Face ID only kicks in if the face data matches to a ‘certain threshold’. What Apple may do in a future software update is increase this threshold of likeness. This would reduce the number of false-positives for the training to consider, making it harder for face data from family members to contribute to the learning process.



Credits:
https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/14/face-id-training-iphone-x-limitations/

Do It Yourself Drone 'Copter

It took him over two years of development, but this daring Swede was recently propelled aloft for around eight minutes of flight in his homemade electric multirotor. And what a glorious eight minutes it was. The unnamed pilot, who has been posting updates on his quadcopter project under the handle “amazingDIYprojects” for over seven years now, can be seen buzzing through the trees in this sun-dappled Swedish forrest like something out of a Scandinavian fairy tale. At the end of the video, he demonstrates the quadcopter’s vertical prowess by bouncing gleefully up and down in the air while seated in the center of four circular rotor-mounts. “It’s like a rollercoaster feeling,” he says breathlessly at one point.

The inventor says he used 57 percent of his battery capacity for the eight-minute flight, which leads him to theorize a total flying time of 14 minutes. “Overall the test went really well,” he writes on YouTube. “There was a little more vibration than I had anticipated, and Yaw directional stability in forward flight was inadequate. In this first flight the I-gain limits were set to zero. Next flight, the Yaw I-limit will be set to a value above zero to obtain better directional stability.” Which is to say, the inventor is working on improving the stability and functionality for future flights.

Click for video



Credits:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/15/15808416/multirotor-drone-first-manned-flight-video-sweden

A Drone For Your Home

Aire is the world’s first indoor drone for the home, overcoming the limitations of today’s security systems, cameras, and IoT sensors. Aire can fly, so you can see what’s really going on anywhere in your home, keeping your loved ones and your property safe. Aire alerts you when it detects or hears anything out of the ordinary with its 360-degree sensors. Launch Aire from your iPhone or Android device to see if it's a false alarm or if you need to call the authorities. Other home monitoring devices just leave you wondering what’s really happening.

Something of a cross between a security camera and a drone, the Aevena Aire Flying Robotic Assistant is a new type of homebound gadget. Using a ducted fan assembly for quiet flight, it has an arsenal of sensors that let it fly around autonomously, avoid obstacles from any angle, and automatically takeoff and land. Using it to take a picture is as easy as asking your Amazon Echo to do so — the Aire will take off, find you, and snap a shot with its built-in camera. You can also take control remotely using the companion app, and over-the-air updates such as automated security patrols and virtual home mapping will expand its capabilities further. It was designed to look non-threatening, and while it's not trying to be cute, it also doesn't look like the kind of robot that could be programmed to do you harm, either — so you can put any Terminator-style worries to rest.


Credits:
https://www.macobserver.com/news/product-news/aevena-aire-kickstarter-cancelled/

Amazon Delivers ... Inside your House

Amazon has a play that lets itself into your home, and that has some people freaked out. Amazon, though, may have a way past that anxiety. People took to social media two weeks ago to deride the new in-home delivery service as an infringement of their privacy and a way for thieves or murderers to walk into their living rooms. A columnist for the Washington Post -- which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos -- called the service "Silicon Valley at its most out-of-touch." The criticism highlights the hurdles Amazon faces in starting the service, which officially launches Wednesday. Any bad experiences with Key could damage Amazon's reputation.

Amazon Key uses the company's new Cloud Cam security camera, a smart door lock and the new Key app to grant someone temporary access. A delivery person can unlock your front door using his phone, slide in a package, then lock the door again. The idea is to prevent packages from being stolen from the front stoop or have them get soaked in the rain. The service will launch in 37 US metro areas and is only available to Amazon Prime members. The new hardware starts at $250 and includes free installation. In the coming months, Amazon said it will let customers schedule in-home visits from tens of thousands of local businesses through Amazon Home Services, so you can schedule a cleaning service or plumber while you're out.



Credits:
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-key-launch-privacy-home-deliveries-cloud-cam/

Fake "What's App" Sneaks into Google Play Store

A fake version of the messaging app "What's App" appeared in the Google PlayStore. As much as Google has tried to prevent malware from being uploaded to its official Play mobile application store, the company has kept tripping up—with almost alarming regularity in recent months. The fake app was downloaded at least 1 million times over the past few days before Google removed it Sunday after learning of the issue from Reddit readers. The ad serving application was disguised to appear like a WhatsApp update and was one of several fake WhatsApp versions that users have reported finding on Google Play in recent days. On Nov. 5 a security researcher from Avast Antivirus posted a screen shot on Twitter of what appeared to be icons for as many as eight fake WhatsApp versions on Google Play.

In the latest incident, the developers simply used what are known as Unicode characters and blank spaces to fool Google Play's name check systems into believing the fake application was genuine. The developer was basically able to sneak the fake software into Play simply by making it appear that the app had the identical name and icon and was from the same developer as the real WhatsApp app. In this particular case, the rogue application was relatively benign since it just served up advertising, but the outcome could have been different if the payload had been more dangerous. In its statement, Google said all apps submitted to Google Play are automatically scanned for potentially malicious code. The company also has a new app review process to catch policy offenders earlier in the process, the company said. "But as we continue to make improvements to our review system, we still rely on the community of users and developers to flag apps for additional review."



Credits:
http://www.eweek.com/security/fake-whatapp-update-for-android-dodges-google-play-vetting-process

Moby Dick Translated ... Into Emoji

The efforts of Fred Benenson have finally come to fruition: Emoji Dick, a translation of the great American classic Moby Dick into Emojis, is complete and available for purchase. And believe us when we say it's an epic: Benenson raised more than $3,500 on Kickstarter for the project, and employed a host of strangers to translate every sentence of Herman Melville's 1851 novel. Each line of the long, long book was translated three times, using a different range of Emojis for each version. Finally, another group of strangers-for-hire voted on the best versions of each sentence, and the winning lines made it into the final version of Emoji Dick.

And now, Emoji Dick can be yours — for just $200 for a hard-backed cover, or $40 for a soft-backed version. Good Lord. "Seriously, why?" demanded the New Yorker's Book Bench at the outset of the project. Benenson utilized Amazon's Mechanical Turk service for the project, meaning Benenson himself got to sit back and act as editor and coordinator. The Mechanical Turk feature on Amazon is essentially a job board: employers post what they're looking for, and individuals sign up to do the work for a specified fee. EmojiDick.com informs us that "Each worker was paid five cents per translation and two cents per vote per translation." So, you know, the Emoji app didn't facilitate slave labor or anything.



Credits:
https://www.bustle.com/articles/9208-emoji-dick-moby-dick-translated-into-emoji-icons-this-exists

Something or Nothing #4 Pogocam

Camera glasses aren’t a new idea, but Spectacles — the camera-equipped sunglasses from the company that made Snapchat — are the kind of product that can open the floodgates. One of the first ideas through those gates is being announced today from a small company called PogoTec. But instead of making glasses with a camera inside, PogoTec has gone a different, modular route. The company wants to replace the round support wire in the arms (or “temples”) of glasses with a flat one, magnetize it, and then cut away part of the surrounding plastic to expose the metal. They call this design “PogoTrack,” and the company says it has partnered with “a number of glasses frame companies” to incorporate the idea into their products.

PogoTec won’t say who those partners are yet, but Richard Clompus, the company’s vice president of communications, showed off about 30 different styles during a short briefing last week. The whole point of this idea is that you’ll be able to attach any one of a suite of PogoTec products to a pair of glasses without being limited on design, or being left out in the cold if you wear prescription lenses. And the first product PogoTec plans to make for these glasses is, of course, a camera.



Credits:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/11/29/13774766/pogocam-camera-glasses-price-specs-vs-snapchat-spectacles