Andrew Orr's photo

Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

Get In Touch:

Articles by Andrew Orr

Link

Where are the Billions That Supposedly Back the Tether Stablecoin?

Andrew Orr ·

Tether is a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, but regulators and prosecutors are closing in on the company, questioning the amount of Tether’s reserves.

As far as the regulators are concerned, the size of Tether’s supposed dollar holdings is so big that it would be dangerous even assuming the dollars are real. If enough traders asked for their dollars back at once, the company could have to liquidate its assets at a loss, setting off a run on the not-bank. The losses could cascade into the regulated financial system by crashing credit markets. If the trolls are right, and Tether is a Ponzi scheme, it would be larger than Bernie Madoff’s.

Link

U.S. Justice Department Forms Crypto Enforcement Team

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. Justice Department is forming a crypto enforcement team to “root out abuse” such as money laundering.

“We want to strengthen our capacity to dismantle the financial ecosystem that enables these criminal actors to flourish and — quite frankly — to profit from what they’re doing,” said Monaco. “We’re going to do that by drawing on our cyber experts and cyber prosecutors and money laundering experts.”

Link

Anonymous Hacker Shares Twitch Source Code and Payout Data

Andrew Orr ·

An anonymous hacker shares data claimed to be Twitch source code. That’s right, not just Twitch data but Twitch itself, its source code and user payout data.

The user posted a 125GB torrent link to 4chan on Wednesday, stating that the leak was intended to “foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space” because “their community is a disgusting toxic cesspool”.

VGC can verify that the files mentioned on 4chan are publicly available to download as described by the anonymous hacker.

I have to chuckle about the part where they go on 4chan to complain about toxic websites. Update: Twitch has confirmed the incident.

Link

US Army Funds Wearable That Could Treat Sleep Disorders in Real Time

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. Army is funding a special skullcap that aims to analyze how the brain disposes of waste during sleep. Eventually, the goal is for the device to treat sleep disorders for soldiers in real time.

The $2.8 million award issued through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium is for the first year of what the research team anticipates will be a multiyear grant from the U.S. Army. The primary goal is to noninvasively measure and modulate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid as it circulates through the brain and clears waste.

I can’t resist linking to Galactic Cowboys.

Link

Instagram Abandons IGTV Branding, Says App is No Longer About Photo Sharing

Andrew Orr ·

In June, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the app was no longer a photo-sharing app. The Facebook-owned platform is dropping IGTV in favor of “Instagram Video.”

The IGTV app, however, isn’t going away. Instagram tells us it will now be rebranded as “Instagram Video” and will host the “Instagram Video” formatted content, along with Instagram Live videos. But it will not host Reels videos.

With today’s update, users will still be able to upload their non-Reels videos in the same way as before — by clicking on the plus sign (+) in the top-right corner of the Instagram home page and selecting “Post.” Videos can be up to 60 minutes in length.

Link

Tim Cook Writes Staff Memo as a Tribute to Steve Jobs

Andrew Orr ·

On the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs’ death, Tim Cook wrote an internal memo to Apple employees. The full email has been obtained by Bloomberg.

I wish Steve were here to see the way his spirit lives on in all of your amazing work. But most of all, I wish he could see what you do next. Steve once said that his proudest achievements were the ones that were yet to come. He spent every day imagining a future that no one else could see and working relentlessly to bring his vision to life.

 

Link

FCC Filing Reveal Dyson's Next Robotic Vacuum 'Dyson 360 Hyperdymium'

Andrew Orr ·

Dyson is working on its next robotic vacuum and an FCC filing reveals the details, such as new brushless motors.

Branding on the device suggests it will also use Dyson’s new Hyperdymium motors. This is simply Dyson’s name for its latest brushless electric motors, which have appeared in its most recent stick vacuums. It also looks like you can remove part of the internal tubing (picture 4 below) that connects the bin to the brushes. That would be a neat upgrade, as the 360 Heurist had a tendency to clog when vacuuming piles of large debris.

Link

Researcher Discloses Telegram Bug After Disappointing Response From Company

Andrew Orr ·

A security researcher has shared a bug with Telegram’s auto-delete feature. But the company has seemingly ignored him.

The researcher contacted Telegram in early March. And after a series of emails and text correspondence between the researcher and Telegram spanning months, the company reached out to Dmitrii in September, finally confirming the existence of the bug and collaborating with the researcher during beta testing.

Since then, the researcher claims he has been ghosted by Telegram, which has given no response and no reward.

Link

SMS Routing Company 'Syniverse' Admits it was Hacked in 2016

Andrew Orr ·

Syniverse provides backbone services to wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and several other carriers. It discovered the breach in May 2021 but it began in May of 2016.

Syniverse repeatedly declined to answer specific questions from Motherboard about the scale of the breach and what specific data was affected, but according to a person who works at a telephone carrier, whoever hacked Syniverse could have had access to metadata such as length and cost, caller and receiver’s numbers, the location of the parties in the call, as well as the content of SMS text messages.

This Case for Beats Studio Buds is Waterproof and Drop Proof
Cool Stuff Found

This Case for Beats Studio Buds is Waterproof and Drop Proof

Andrew Orr ·

Along with protective cases for AirTag, Catalyst has also launched a waterproof and drop proof case for Beats Studio Buds. They feature Catalyst’s iconic one-piece curved design that have become a signature for the brand since the first case for AirPods was designed and released in 2017. Now that design has been adapted to perfectly fit the new Beats Studio Buds™. Each case for Beats Studio Buds has sealing ribs to ensure it is waterproof up to 1M (3.3ft) and has MIL-STD-810G Drop Protection. This silicone case maintains a sophisticated look and the colorways of the cases perfectly compliment the new device. Each Waterproof and Drop Proof case for Beats Studio Buds comes with a free carabiner that easily hooks on to a belt, bag or purse for added security.

Link

Biden Admin Wants to Regulate Stablecoin Issuers as Banks

Andrew Orr ·

This article is from The Wall Street Journal and may be behind a paywall. The report says that the Biden administration is looking to impose regulations on cryptocurrency entities that issue stablecoins. Also called fiatcoins, the price of these coins are pegged to fiat currency, such as the US dollar.

While the report is likely to focus primarily on the risks posed by stablecoins and how to impose a bank-like framework around the firms that issue them, other key issues will likely remain unresolved, such as investor protections around the trading of stablecoins, distinct from the regulation of the companies that issue them.