Alphabet Boss Sundar Pichai Prefers 'Ted Lasso' to 'Squid Game'

It seems that Ted Lasso has won over everyone, including Apple’s fiercest rivals. In a recent interview, reported on by iMore Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai praised the Apple TV+ hit, saying he preferred it to Netflix offering Squid Game.

The CEO recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg. During the interview, Pichai was asked to choose between the Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” or the Netflix series “Squid Game. “While Picahi [sic] says he enjoys both shows, he said that “Ted Lasso” was the easy winner.

Qualcomm's New Snapdragon Chip Aims to Defeat Cops and Robbers

A report from PCMag today discusses Qualcomm’s latest chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It has anti-spoofing technology to protect against Stingrays.

Spoof cell sites can now be run on small, widely available boxes that pass bad data and phishing messages, Qualcomm said at its Snapdragon Summit today. Otherwise known as “Stingrays,” these faux cells can be run by criminals, law enforcement, or security agencies to collect your personal data without your permission.

'EWDoor' Malware Attacks Thousands of AT&T Internet Subscribers

Hackers are exploiting a bug from 2017 to attack the EdgeMarc Enterprise Session Border Controller. This device is used by businesses to manage phone calls and video calls.

The vulnerability being exploited to infect the devices is tracked as CVE-2017-6079, a command-injection flaw that penetration tester Spencer Davis reported in 2017 after using it to successfully hack a customer’s network. The vulnerability stemmed from an account in the device that, as Davis learned from this document, had the username and password of “root” and “default.”

AWS Launches No-Code ML Service Called Amazon SageMaker Canvas

Amazon SageMaker Canvas is a new machine learning service that doesn’t require any coding. It lets you build ML models and generate predictions.

SageMaker Canvas leverages the same technology as Amazon SageMaker to automatically clean and combine your data, create hundreds of models under the hood, select the best performing one, and generate new individual or batch predictions. It supports multiple problem types such as binary classification, multi-class classification, numerical regression, and time series forecasting. These problem types let you address business-critical use cases, such as fraud detection, churn reduction, and inventory optimization, without writing a single line of code.

Apple Set to Overtake Samsung, 5G iPhone SE on Way

Apple is set to overtake Samsung as the world’s top smartphone brand in the fourth quarter of this year. Furthermore, it could launch a 5G iPhone SE in the following three-month period. The finds from Trendforce, reported on by AppleInsider, could have very interesting consequences for the smartphone market going forward.

Trendforce…estimates that Apple will overtake Samsung and become the world’s top smartphone brand in the fourth quarter — the busy holiday shopping season — with 23.2% of the market. The analysis firm also forecasts that Apple is on-track to release with a third-generation iPhone SE in the first quarter of 2022. It believes that the device could be a “major instrument” in helping Apple achieve a more foothold in the midrange 5G market.

Did Jack Dorsey Quit Twitter, or Was he Fired?

It’s been one of the most interesting things to ponder since Jack Dorsey announced his shock departure from Twitter – was it his choice? Nick Bilton at Vanity Fair has had a go at working it all out. Personally, the smoothness of the transition, plus the fact Mr. Dorsey is being replaced by a close ally and will complete his board term, indicated to me that this was to a large extent his decision. However, that’s not quite what Mr. Bilton found.

I spoke to almost half a dozen people familiar with the company’s inner workings, and while they were not directly involved in Dorsey’s “resignation,” these are people who have a deep understanding of the place, and as such theorized that Dorsey is being ousted as CEO, rather than leaving of his own accord. (Twitter itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Sale: AdGuard's Family Plan is Now Just $29, Down From $129

Plans for AdGuard adblocker are now on sale through StackSocial, and as of this writing the deal ends in seven days. This is the adblocker I’ve been using for a few years and one that I personally recommend. Personal Plan – This is a lifetime license that is only available to new users. The maximum number of devices you can activate the service on is three, including desktop and mobile. US$19.99 US$59 Family Plan – This is a lifetime license that is only available to new users. The maximum number of devices you can activate the service on is nine, including desktop and mobile. US$29.99 US$129. System requirements: iOS 10.0 or later, OS X 10.10 Yosemite (64 bit) or later. Unredeemed licenses can be returned for store credit within 30 days of purchase. Once your license is redeemed, all sales are final.

Proposed Bill Would Ban Bots From Buying Online Goods

A report from PCMag: Democrats are reintroducing a bill that would ban automated bots from buying online goods. The legislation aims to stop scalpers.

The proposed legislation expands on an earlier law passed in 2016 that outlawed automated bots from circumventing control measures to buy up ticket sales for public events, such as music concerts and sporting events. In addition, the law made it illegal for scalpers to resell the tickets obtained through the bot.