ReHacked vol. 297: Northvolt goes from Europe battery promise to crisis, The correct amount of ads, Deepfakes weaponised to target Pakistan's women leaders and more

Spies hack Wi-Fi networks in far-off land to launch attack on target next door - Ars Technica #security

One of 2024's coolest hacking tales occurred two years ago, but it wasn't revealed to the public until Friday at the Cyberwarcon conference in Arlington, Virginia. Hackers with ties to Fancy Bear—the spy agency operated by Russia’s GRU—broke into the network of a high-value target after first compromising a Wi-Fi-enabled device in a nearby building and using it to exploit compromised accounts on the target’s Wi-Fi network.

The attack, from a group security firm Volexity calls GruesomeLarch, shows the boundless lengths well-resourced hackers will go to hack high-value targets, presumably only after earlier hack attempts haven’t worked. When the GruesomeLarch cabal couldn’t get into the target network using easier methods, they hacked a Wi-Fi-enabled device in a nearby building and used it to breach the target’s network next door. After the first neighbor’s network was disinfected, the hackers successfully performed the same attack on a device of a second neighbor.

Make a donation - support Ukraine. My favourite: Support the Armed Forces of Ukraine | via National Bank of Ukraine. More options if you want alternatives. Also, very important Come Back Alive Foundation - Charity Organization.

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Deepfakes weaponised to target Pakistan's women leaders #ai #privacy #security

Pakistani politician Azma Bukhari is haunted by a counterfeit image of herself – a sexualised deepfake video published to discredit her role as one of the nation's few female leaders.

The correct amount of ads is zero – Manu #internet

The correct amount of ads for a publication that’s directly supported is zero. That’s the amount we should get.

Portland Airport Grows With Expansive Mass Timber Roof Canopy #architecture #design

As an alternative to concrete and other conventional composites, wood has re-emerged as a popular building material. Long thought of as too fragile and prone to damage, this natural resource has been re-engineered into a suite of fortified structural elements known as mass timber: glued, nailed doweled panels and beams able to shore-up everything from large residences to full-scale skyscrapers. The especially articulated roof of the recently expanded main terminal at Portland Airport (PDX) might be its most impressive application yet.

Tokyo government gives workers 4-day workweek to boost fertility, family time | CNN #career

The Japanese capital is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees, in its latest push to help working mothers and boost record-low fertility rates.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says the new arrangement, which begins in April, could give employees three days off every week. It separately announced another policy that will allow parents with children in grades one to three in elementary schools to trade off a bit of their salary for the option to clock out early.

“We will review work styles … with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike when she unveiled the plan in a policy speech on Wednesday.

Blizzard’s pulling of Warcraft I & II tests GOG’s new Preservation Program - Ars Technica #copyrights

Blizzard, a company that has recently released remastered versions of Warcraft and Warcraft II for $10 and $15, respectively (or in a bundle with III for $40) on its Battle.net storefront, has asked GOG to remove its non-remastered, DRM-free $15 bundle of those games from its store on December 13.

GOG (aka Good Old Games), which recently included Warcraft I and II in its Preservation Program, with a "Make Games Live Forever" tagline, suddenly finds itself with a new policy to figure out. So GOG is putting the Warcraft I & II Bundle on sale (discount code "MakeWarcraftLiveForever" for $2 off) and is letting folks know that if they buy it before December 13, they will keep access to it after the delisting, complete with offline installers.

That is also how it will work from now on, the team writes on its blog.

"Going forward, even if a game is no longer available for sale on GOG, as part of the GOG Preservation Program, it will continue to be maintained and updated by us, ensuring it remains compatible with modern and future systems," GOG's post states.

Modern cars are surveillance devices on wheels with major privacy risks #privacy

Modern cars are increasingly equipped with internet-enabled features. Your “connected car” might automatically detect an accident and call emergency services, or send a notification if a child is left in the back seat.

But connected cars are also sophisticated surveillance devices. The data they collect can create a highly revealing picture of each driver. If this data is misused, it can result in privacy and security threats.

Instagram actively helping spread of self-harm among teenagers, study finds | Meta | The Guardian #internet #socialnetworks #psychology

Meta is actively helping self-harm content to flourish on Instagram by failing to remove explicit images and encouraging those engaging with such content to befriend one another, according to a damning new study that found its moderation “extremely inadequate”.

Danish researchers created a private self-harm network on the social media platform, including fake profiles of people as young as 13 years old, in which they shared 85 pieces of self-harm-related content gradually increasing in severity, including blood, razor blades and encouragement of self-harm.

Specific Suggestions: Simple Sabotage for the 21st Century #society

The Paris Review - Waclaw Szpakowski Made Labyrinthine Drawings from Single, Continuous Lines (2017) #art

Working in isolation, Wacław Szpakowski made mazelike drawings from single, continuous lines.

A Washing Machine for Human Beings, from 1970 - Core77 #history #technology #futurism

The 1970 World Expo in Osaka, Japan had the theme of "Progress and Harmony for Mankind," and drew record numbers. Some 64 million people from 77 countries attended.

One of the more unusual objects on display was this Sanyo Ultrasonic Bath.

Don’t sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn | CNN #health

To avoid spending too much time on the porcelain throne, Dr. Lance Uradomo, an interventional gastroenterologist at City of Hope Orange County in Irvine, California, advised keeping phones, magazines and books out of the bathroom.

“You don’t want to go with the mindset that you will be there for a long time. Because then you’ll want to bring something to keep the mind occupied,” Monzur said. “Make sitting on the toilet bowl as uninteresting as possible.”

ZetaOffice - LibreOffice in your browser #software

Work from any device, maintain control over your data with self-hosting
or our CDN, and enjoy seamless integration with your existing systems.

A Short Introduction to Automotive Lidar Technolog #technology #longread

Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging and is a method where infrared laser light is used to measure the distance to a remote object. This technology is not new. For years, it has been used for imaging vegetation, urban terrain, hidden archeological sites, building construction and recently, in augmented reality. Its particular superpower is that it can generate high resolution images of its surroundings much better than radar can. While lidar and radar are fundamentally similar in operation, the use of shorter wavelengths (lasers) compared to radar (microwaves) gives it the ability to generate highly detailed images.

Northvolt goes from Europe battery promise to crisis | Reuters #economy

Sweden's Northvolt said on Thursday it will seek U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the cash-strapped battery start-up seeks to sort out its finances.
The company went in a matter of months this year from being Europe's best shot at a home-grown electric-vehicle battery champion to racing to stay afloat, hobbled by production problems and as funding ran out.
Northvolt, whose motto is "make oil history", has received more than $10 billion in equity, debt and public financing, and counts Volkswagen, with a 21% stake, and Goldman Sachs, with a 19% holding, as its biggest owners.

Moneyness: Setelinleikkaus: When Finns snipped their cash in half to curb inflation #economy #history

On the last day of 1945, with World War II finally behind it, Finland's government announced a new and very strange policy.

All Finns were required to take out a pair of scissors and snip their banknotes in half. This was known in Finland as setelinleikkaus, or banknote cutting. Anyone who owned any of the three largest denomination Finnish banknotes — the 5000 markka note, the 1000, or the 500 — was required to perform this operation immediately. The left side of the note could still be used to buy things, but at only half its value. So if a Finn had a 1000 markka note in their wallet, henceforth he or she could now only buy 500 markka worth of items at stores.

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