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Amazon Data Breach Exposes 200,000 Fake Reviewers

Andrew Orr ·

Security researchers at SafetyDetectives found an insecure ElasticSearch database that potentially uncovers over 200,000 fake Amazon reviewers.

These Amazon vendors send to reviewers a list of items/products for which they would like a 5-star review. The people providing the ‘fake reviews’ will then buy the products, leaving a 5-star review on Amazon a few days after receiving their merchandise.

Upon completion, the provider of the fake review will send a message to the vendor containing a link to their Amazon profile, along with their PayPal details.

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Wondery Joining Apple Podcast Subscriptions

Charlotte Henry ·

Amazon-owned podcast studio Wondery is partnering with Apple, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Apple Podcast subscriptions is set to launch in the future too, according to the report.

Wondery, which produces podcasts like Dr. Death, Business Wars and The Shrink Next Door, will bring its Wondery+ subscription service to Apple Podcast Subscriptions, which is set to launch later this month. Wondery+ offers ad-free podcasts, with early access and exclusive episodes for subscribers. The deal is good news for Apple users, some of whom were left wondering whether Wondery would continue to invest in the Apple ecosystem after being acquired by fellow tech giant Amazon earlier this year.

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India COVID-19 Outbreak Slows Foxconn iPhone Output

Charlotte Henry ·

Reuters reported on the consequences the devastating COVID-19 outbreak in India has had on manufacturing in the country. Foxconn’s iPhone output is significantly down, with plants operating at hugely reduced capacity.

Tamil Nadu is one of the worst hit states in the second coronavirus wave engulfing India. Officials imposed a full lockdown in the state from Monday, closing public transport and shuttering shops, to try slow surging infections. More than 100 Foxconn employees in the state have tested positive for COVID-19 and the company has enforced a no-entry ban at its factory in the capital of Chennai until late May, one of the sources said.” Employees are only allowed to leave but not to enter the facility since yesterday,” the person said. “Only a small part of output is being kept.”

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Clubhouse is Finally on Android, a Year After it Arrived on iOS

Charlotte Henry ·

Clubhouse, the popular (at one point) live audio app, is finally available to Android users in beta. Prior to the announcement in a blog post on Sunday, it had been exclusive to iOS.

Today, we are thrilled to share that Clubhouse for Android will start rolling out in beta immediately. We will begin gradually, with the U.S. today, followed by other English-speaking countries and then the rest of the world. Our plan over the next few weeks is to collect feedback from the community, fix any issues we see and work to add a few final features like payments and club creation before rolling it out more broadly… As a part of the effort to keep the growth measured, we will be continuing the waitlist and invite system, ensuring that each new community member can bring along a few close friends. As we head into the summer and continue to scale out the backend, we plan to begin opening up even further, welcoming millions more people in from the iOS waitlist, expanding language support, and adding more accessibility features, so that people worldwide can experience Clubhouse in a way that feels native to them.

 

 

 

Primate Labs Introduces New ‘Geekbench ML’ Measurement App
Cool Stuff Found

Primate Labs Introduces New ‘Geekbench ML’ Measurement App

Andrew Orr ·

Geekbench ML uses computer vision and natural language processing machine learning tests to measure performance. These tests are based on tasks found in real-world machine learning applications. They use industry-standard models, ensuring Geekbench ML results are relevant and applicable to mobile ML application performance. Geekbench ML also integrates with the Geekbench Browser allowing users to upload and share their benchmark results with other users worldwide.

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Tor Exit Nodes Were Attacked in February 2021

Andrew Orr ·

A new report from Hacker News says that an unknown attacker managed to control over 27% of Tor exit nodes in February 2021.

“The entity attacking Tor users is actively exploiting tor users since over a year and expanded the scale of their attacks to a new record level,” an independent security researcher who goes by the name nusenu said in a write-up published on Sunday. “The average exit fraction this entity controlled was above 14% throughout the past 12 months.”

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GitHub Adds Support for Security Keys Over SSH

Andrew Orr ·

GitHub announced on Monday that it enabled support for two-factor authentication security keys when members use them over SSH.

When used for SSH operations, security keys move the sensitive part of your SSH key from your computer to a secure external security key. SSH keys that are bound to security keys protect you from accidental private key exposure and malware. You perform a gesture, such as a tap on the security key, to indicate when you intend to use the security key to authenticate. This action provides the notion of “user presence.”

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Report Links Apple Suppliers With Alleged Forced Labor Programs for Uyghur Muslims in China

Charlotte Henry ·

Seven Apple suppliers have been linked to forced labor programs that are suspected to be related to the alleged Chinese genocide of Uyghur Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang region. That’s according to a new human rights report shared with The Information, picked up on by AppleInsider.

The Apple supply chain partner produce components, coatings, and offer assembly services to the Cupertino tech giant. At least five received thousands of Uyghur and other oppressed minority workers at specific plants that did work for Apple, according to an investigation by human rights groups and The Information. According to the report, evidence suggests that Advanced-Connectek, Luxshare Precision Industry, Shenzhen Deren Electronic Co., Avary Holding, AcBel Polytech, CN Innovations, and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co. participated in the forced labor programs. To identify those manufacturers and supply partners, the investigation used previously unreported public statements, images, and videos by Chinese government offices and state-run media organizations. That evidence found that the companies participated in what the Chinese call a poverty alleviation program.

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iPhone 13 Models to Be Thicker With Larger Camera Bump

Charlotte Henry ·

Models of the forthcoming iPhone 13 will be thicker than their iPhone 12 equivalents. They will also have larger, thicker camera bumps and the lenses will stick out less. That’s according to ‌schematics seen by MacRumors.

In addition to a thicker camera bump, Apple is changing the overall size of the camera bump, a shift that will also be most noticeable on the ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro. The ‌iPhone 12‌ and 12 Pro have camera bumps that measures in at around 28mm by 30mm, while the ‌iPhone 13‌ will have a camera bump that’s closer to square at around 29mm by 29mm, with the bump also located about a millimeter closer to the top of the iPhone. The ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro is expected to gain a larger camera bump, measuring in at around 36mm by 37mm, so rather than having a camera bump size similar to the ‌iPhone 13‌, it will be more similar to the ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro Max.

TMO Deals

Zulu Exero Bone Conduction Headphones: $34.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on a pair of Zulu Exero Bone Conduction Headphones. Using a light vibration in the headset as they rest around your ears, music is generated just for you, without blocking out your surroundings. They’re lightweight and Bluetooth-enabled, at $34.99 through our deal.