GeekPress: 02/01/2021

"Ransomware gangs made at least $350 million in 2020. The figure represents a 311% increase over ransomware payments recorded the previous your, in 2019."

Untrustworthy Watchers

"A Home Security Worker Hacked Into Surveillance Systems to Watch People Have Sex":

Telesforo Aviles, 35, pleaded guilty to a count of computer fraud in federal court this week, confessing that he inappropriately accessed the accounts of customers some 9,600 times over the course of several years. He is alleged to have done this to over 200 customers.
Authorities say that the IT technician “took note of which homes had attractive women, then repeatedly logged into these customers’ accounts in order to view their footage for sexual gratification.” He did this by adding his personal email address to customer accounts, which ultimately hooked him into “real-time access to the video feeds from their homes.”

Monday, February 15, 2021

Simpsons Intro Remix

"The Simpsons Intro Recreated Using Stock Footage".

Actually, quite well done!

Gaming Pigs

"Pigs can play video games with their snouts, scientists find".

Friday, February 12, 2021

Deception Detection

"Humans Are Pretty Lousy Lie Detectors"

3-D Printed Steak

"Israel's Aleph Farms unveils 3D-printed ribeye steak"

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Bitcoin Energy Consumption

Just wondering -- did this terrible thing happen in 2020?

Anti-Filming Hack

"Cops playing copyrighted music to stop video of them being posted online":

On several occasions, cops have started playing popular music when they realize they're being filmed. The odd behavior has a point: they hope that copyright-strike algorithms on YouTube, Instagram and other social media sites will prevent the video being posted and shared. The latest example...

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Don't Swallow Your Airpods

"Man swallows AirPod while sleeping; X-ray discovers it lodged in his esophagus"

French Government Allows Workers To Eat At Their Desks

COVID must be getting bad in France: "The Labor Ministry says it will allow French employees to eat lunch at their desks in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a practice previously forbidden under Article R.4428-19 of the 3,324-page French labor code..."

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Three For Mars

"Three countries are due to reach Mars in the next two weeks"

Phone Lens Update

"A new lens technology is primed to jumpstart phone cameras". (Via H.R.)

Monday, February 08, 2021

Princess Bride Home Movie

"Home Movie: The Princess Bride"

In June and July of 2020, Jason Reitman directed an at-home reenactment of the entirety of The Princess Bride featuring too many notable actors to list here. It ran in 10 installments on doomed streaming platform Quibi — which is why you probably haven’t heard of it — but it is fantastic. Mixed media, multiple actors playing all the roles, Fred Savage and Cary Elwes reprising their roles from the original, the star power & talent, the fact that they got permission to do it — it’s just so weird and good. You can watch the whole thing [at this link].

Ok, ok, here’s just a few of the actors who appear: Adam Sandler (as The Grandfather), Jon Hamm (Westley), Zoe Saldana (Buttercup), Penelope Cruz (Prince Humperdinck), Pedro Pascal (Inigo Montoya), Shaquille O’Neal (Fezzik), Charlize Theron (Fezzik), Andy Serkis (Count Rugen). And Carl Reiner as The Grandfather in his final onscreen role — he died just three days after recording his part.

Direct link to YouTube video.