April 13, 2018 - The WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

 

 

 

 

The whole Facebook thing

Source 1: Shorty88jr https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/916078-facebook-users-aren%E2%80%99t-changing-their-privacy-settings-despite-uproar/

Source 2: https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/13/facebook-users-aren-t-changing-privacy-settings/

 

• Facebook VP of global marketing solutions said: "We have not seen wild changes in behavior with people saying I'm not going to share any data with Facebook anymore,"

• Regulation:

  • Regulation that prevents facebook from sharing user data only solidifies their dominant market position

    • New entrants will have to start from scratch…

    • ...and may not have resources to devote to compliance (think HIPPA)

  • Can Facebook self regulate?

  • Is a dedicated third party the best solution?

  • Would a blockchain based solution be the best solution?

• Zuck finally admitted that cannot remain a neutral platform

• Zuck said “a version of Facebook will always be free”, hinting at the possibility of a more private, paid tier.

 

Rumour: AMD Navi GPU to Offer GTX 1080 Class Performance at ~$250

Source 1: Ryujin2013 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915974-updated-amd-navi-gpu-to-offer-gtx-1080-class-performance-at-~250-report-claims/

Source 2: https://wccftech.com/rumor-amd-navi-mainstream-gpu-to-have-gtx-1080-class-performance/

 

• Rumours are circulating that AMD next-generation 7nm Navi architecture will not harold in a new wave of high-end Enthusiast graphics cards.

• Instead, Navi will provide replacements for Mainstream cards like the RX580, providing performance comparable to the GTX1080 at lower power and for around $250.

  • Navi is expected in 2019

  • GTX 1080 launched May 27, 2016 for $600

• Navi is Radeon’s last Graphics Core Next based architecture

• AMD is working on two Navi GPUs: one for the desktop market and the other for the mobile market.

• From a manufacturing point of view, it’s not feasible to produce a large GPU on a brand new cutting edge process like 7nm early in the node’s life-cycle.

  • The yields and wafer costs make this prohibitively expensive.

• mainstream and mid-range GPUs far outsell high-end GPUs, by a factor of 4 to 1 in fact.

  • This is how AMD was able to double its market share in 2016, just with mainstream Polaris 10 & 11 GPUs.

 

Mysterious Google-branded 4k Android TV Dongle - YASS

Source 1: Icarus_BZ https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915136-google-branded-4k-android-tv-dongle/

Source 2: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/mysterious-google-branded-4k-android-tv-dongle-shows-up-at-the-fcc/

 

• has documentation of a Google-branded HDMI dongle that runs Android TV and comes with a remote!

• the documents, which were spotted by reddit user 513, show off pictures, specs, and even the manual.

• Specs:

  • quad-core Amlogic S905X SoC (four Cortex A53s at 1.5GHz or 2GHz),

  • 2GB of RAM,

  • GB of storage.

  • hardware-accelerated video decoding at 4K/60FPS from both H.265 and Google's own VP9 codec.

  • The manual doesn't mention HDR support, but the S905X SoC does support HDR10.

  • remote with a dedicated Google Assistant button.

• Another advantage:

  • Google devices are the only Android products that get fast, reliable updates,

  • they have unlockable bootloaders, making them excellent developer devices.

  • With the existing device lineup, there is no way to buy an Android TV device that will get Android P in a timely manner.

 

What’s Coming Out on Floatplane? Go Over Current Week.

Rapid Fire

 

New Gmail has Self-Destructing Emails

Source 1: https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/13/google-is-testing-self-destructing-emails-in-new-gmail/

Source 2:

 

• Google  is working on a brand new design for the web version of Gmail that will launch in the next couple of weeks

• Based on leaked screenshots, there’s a new confidential mode that:

  • Prevents the recipient from forwarding, downloading, or printing the email

  • Disables copy/paste

  • Lets you set an expiration date (1 week, 1 month, multiple years, etc)

  • Lets you require the recipient to confirm their identity via SMS 2-factor

    • Which also helps Google link email and phone numbers

• Upon receiving a confidential email, the recipient has to re-enter their credentials

• It’s unclear if this feature is going to be compatible with non-Gmail users

• How Exploding emails look:

  • In Gmail’s current implementation, Google generates an email with a link. The message behind the link disappears after a while, but not necessarily the intermediate email.

  • Conversely, when a ProtonMail user sends an expiring message to another ProtonMail user, it looks like a regular email in the inbox. After the message expires, it is automatically deleted from the receiver’s inbox and the sender’s outbox.

Beginning of the End for Passwords

Source 1: Matthew Valencia https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915937-standards-milestone-could-mark-beginning-of-end-for-passwords/

Source 2: https://www.technewsworld.com/story/Standards-Milestone-Could-Mark-Beginning-of-End-for-Passwords-85268.html

 

• A new security standard called WebAuthn has won near-final approval from the World Wide Web Consortium

• WebAuthn defines a standard API that can be incorporated into browsers and Web infrastructure.

• It allows users to register and authenticate with web applications using an authenticator such as a phone, hardware security keys, or TPM (Trusted Platform Module) devices.

  • a user can provide us biometric verification like fingerprint or faceID

  • can also confirm ‘user presence.’ with U2F tokens like Yubikey

• Browser and OS support will appear in the second have of this year

  • Google, Microsoft and Mozilla already have committed to supporting WebAuthn in their browsers.

  • Developers have begun to implement the standard for Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS and Android.

• "Look for a long tail of user name/password usage that will last for many years beyond the first rollout of FIDO-compliant sites," Thelander predicted,

• "unless there's such an improved user experience that online business can map an immediate ROI to the new authentication experience -- more time on site, quicker logins, more frequent visits, more consumer confidence."

 

FTC Says 'Warranty Void If Removed' Stickers Are Bullshit

Source 1: SteveGrabowski0 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915203-ftc-says-warranty-void-if-removed-stickers-are-bullshit-warns-manufacturers-theyre-breaking-the-law/

Source 2: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/04/ftc-staff-warns-companies-it-illegal-condition-warranty-coverage

 

• The Federal Trade Commission staff has sent warning letters to six major companies warning that statements that consumers must use specified parts or service providers to keep their warranties intact is illegal!

• Since the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, no manufacturer is allowed to put repair restrictions on a device it offers a warranty on

• “Provisions that tie warranty coverage to the use of particular products or services harm both consumers who pay more for them as well as the small businesses who offer competing products and services,” said Thomas B. Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

• While the FTC didn’t specify which companies received the letters, the agency did note that the companies sell “automobiles, cellular devices, and video gaming systems.”

 

Telegram banned in Russia

Source 1: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/privacy-is-not-for-sale-telegram-founder-says-after-being-banned-in-russia/

Source 2:

 

• A Russian court has paved the way for the government to block the use of messaging app Telegram use in Russian territories, over its creators' failure to provide authorities with access to users' encrypted messages.

• A communications watchdog argued that Russian authorities need the ability to decrypt messages sent by potential terrorists

• Telegram officials have long said their app is developed in a way that makes it impossible to provide authorities with a universal key that decrypts end-user messages.

• The ruling clears the way for Russian communications regulators to order the country's ISPs to block the Telegram protocol or Telegram servers on their networks.

  • You can probably get around this by using a public DNS like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8

• Telegram has announced its intention to launch a peer-to-peer technology, but it remains unclear if it would be enough to bypass a Russian ban.

• many inside the government, including those in President Vladimir Putin's press office, use Telegram.

  • Russia's Foreign Ministry has announced that it's moving to the Viber messaging app

 

Audio-Visual Speech Separation

Source 1: https://research.googleblog.com/2018/04/looking-to-listen-audio-visual-speech.html

Source 2:

 

• On Wednesday, the Google Research Blog announced that they have developed a deep learning audio-visual model for isolating one person’s speech out of a noisy environment.

• To work, the tool requires video of the person talking as in input, because it operates by matching the speaker’s mouth movements to the waveform of the audio signal.

• Possible applications include pre-processing for closed captioning, which struggles to generate captions when two people are talking at once.

 

Nobody wants Homepod

Source 1: WMGroomAK https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915875-apple-homepod-not-living-up-to-apples-expectation-new-smaller-one-to-possible-come/

Source 2: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-12/apple-s-stumbling-homepod-isn-t-the-hot-seller-company-wanted

 

• At first, it looked like the HomePod might be a hit. Pre-orders were strong, and in the last week of January it grabbed about a third of the U.S. smart speaker market in unit sales

• But by the time HomePods arrived in stores, sales were tanking

  • During the HomePod’s first 10 weeks of sales, secured 10% of the smart speaker market,

    • compared with 73% for Amazon’s Echo and 14% for the Google Home

  • Three weeks after the launch, sales slipped to about 4% of the smart speaker category on average

  • Missing Christmas didn’t help.

• Inventory is piling up, according to Apple store workers, who say some locations are selling fewer than 10 HomePods a day.

• Meanwhile, Apple is slashing the number of monthly HomePod orders to their supplier from 500,000 to 200,000 due to some disappointing sales.

• Apple could reportedly be working on a cheaper smart speaker

  • James skeptical

    • Improving existing would be more likely

    • A cheaper one would compromise on sound, the only thing it’s good at

 

Ransomware Asks You to Play PUBG

Source 1: https://www.pcmag.com/news/360345/ransomware-asks-you-to-play-pubg

Source 2:

 

• PUBG Ransomware is an infection that results in your files being encrypted and updated to use the .PUBG extension.

• The message that appears on-screen informs you of the encryption, but then offers two options to unlock your PC.

  • simply play the game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

  • enter a restore code, which happens to be present on-screen for you to copy.

• It’s a harmless reminder that your PC is unsecure.

[Techstorm970]

That last thing is a perfect example of what chaotic good is!  

[Brammm]

I wonder what the new location is and why they're there. I'm guessing they're in unit 101 (is that what it's called? the new storage area next to the main studio). Wonder why though...

[King_of_Oz]

Love the new set!

[EMPeter]

Luke rocking that FTL T-shirt warms my heart.

[Frikki00]

The secure gmail stuff seems like the perfect thing to mimic to fish for your gmail password

[inmytaxi]

The explanation on why the new Google device is better makes no sense. His complaint on the old one was that you can't use the tv remote in conjunction with the voice commands of Google Home. Has this changed?

[Ryujin2003]

15 hours ago, LinusTech said:

 

Rumour: AMD Navi GPU to Offer GTX 1080 Class Performance at ~$250

Source 1: Ryujin2013 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/915974-updated-amd-navi-gpu-to-offer-gtx-1080-class-performance-at-~250-report-claims/

Source 2: https://wccftech.com/rumor-amd-navi-mainstream-gpu-to-have-gtx-1080-class-performance/

 

Its 2003 not 2013... It's like getting called for your graduation certificate and they mispronounce your last name...

 

But I think LTT should take over Between Two Ferns.

 

I think Zach would be a great co-host for Linus.

 

[Ishaan Tiwari]

Totally agree with Frikki00, having a link in your email that you have to click and then enter your password. That will lead to phishing issues. 

[Egg-Roll]

Why do people keep saying people mined Bitcoin on modern GPUs? It's almost like no one at LMG watches their own videos 

 

The problem with current mining is everyone associates with BTC, BTC is like the USD in crypto. When people say others mine Bitcoin on GPUs it's like saying Canada is printing USD in the RCM. In both instances it is wrong, GPUs print other cryptos which then can be used to buy BTC, much like how the RCM prints Canadian Dollars which you can trade for USD.

 

BTW I think Max wants to come back onto the show  Why else wonder around it.

[alextulu]

On 4/14/2018 at 3:48 AM, LinusTech said:

Regulation that prevents facebook from sharing user data only solidifies their dominant market position

• New entrants will have to start from scratch…

• ...and may not have resources to devote to compliance

So you're saying, that a competing social media network shouldn't try to protect user's data even without regulation ? How will that help ?

[Silver47]

On 14.4.2018 at 3:48 AM, LinusTech said:

Rumour: AMD Navi GPU to Offer GTX 1080 Class Performance at ~$250

Exciting news about AMD graphics cards? Yeah right, curb your excitement. 

 

The last two times the hype died off pretty quickly, once everyone realized that the new generation of AMD cards weren't all that great value for money after all and they certainly didn't blow Nvidia out of the water in terms of raw performance either. No reason why this should have changed this time. At this point its only rumors, and theres no reason whatsoever to believe them. Also msrp isn't a thing anymore.