"Hey Alexa, are you recording this?"

Yes, the answer is yes. Amazon is killing its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature on March 28 as the company aims to bolster Alexa+, its new subscription assistant."

@couts.bsky.social on why you should care.

Read more: www.wired.com/story/everyt...

For my typography techie friends: Drop a font file onto this web page and it will tell you all about its character set and the CSS rules needed to unlock the font's features.
wakamaifondue.com

Websites can uniquely identify you by querying your web browser. This website will tell you if your browser is uniquely identifiable among the millions of visitors to the website and shows you how it does it.
www.amiunique.org

Wow, researcher got 50% click-through rate on AI-generated phishing emails. Best defense: don't click links in email.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.00586
#security #phishing

If our bank had reported that transactions are delayed because of a failed router in a server farm in Dallas, I wouldn't be concerned. But they said it's due to a vague "technical issue with a service provider," and now my mind wonders what apocalyptic disasters they're not revealing.
#banking

Disturbing trend: Another study found that all genres of movies are becoming ever more violent with no end in sight.
scienceblog.com/552748/movie...

The new "US Cyber Trust Mark" is coming. But it can't be trusted on an item unless the consumer checks the official database. Who is going to take the time to do that?
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

Linux: you know what each software update is for; you can choose to accept each one; and you can choose when to reboot. Windows: yeah, not so much.

Huh. Gesturing can help you retrieve a word or name in a tip-of-the-tongue situation.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smal...

Our greatest desires are the shackles that bind us.

There's a fine line between infinity and oblivion.

Physicists using "magic" as a technical term isn't going to help science credibility.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Multiplying and adding a billion numbers on a fast calculator won't create a conscious entity. Bio-brains do it differently. Conscious AI is sci-fi for now and for the foreseeable future.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.00986

Surprising cobra effect: A study found that DEI (diversity) programs can paradoxically heighten racial suspicion and prejudicial attitudes.
networkcontagion.us/wp-content/u...

Excuse me while I attend to my mental health. "Open-world video games can significantly improve relaxation and mental health"
neurosciencenews.com/open-world-g...