It'll be interesting to see how this works - what is the definition of "fake" news. Will CNN drop from view? What about The Onion? (which is the definition of Fake news - although considered highbrow satire). Posts about SNL mocking Trump?
Will this stop the those who embrace alternate facts? Or fuel the conspiracy that liberal media is controlling the story? Look at FB who is now "blocking" access to the stories that people want to read - and the reason will be defined as attempting to hide the real story!!! Or hiding the stories that the media doesn't want you to read. The "Go do your own research!" movement will not die on the vine because their favorite stories are harder to find on FB. I predict that people will move to alternate sites to get their fix.
Yes - that's the same way I feel about my iWatch. Too expensive for what I use it for - so it will last a long time, and if not I'll go back to my $30 Timex which is still ticking on the same battery in the drawer 8 years after I bought it. Geez - buying a $200 watch used to be an extravagant dress watch - a wedding or PhD graduation present. Bullet proof - dive features - diamond plating - solar charging - never needs a battery. Now $200 gives you a plastic wrist band and 11 hours of battery.
BUT - the first digital watch I saw had an LED screen which you pressed a button to see the time - because it used so much power the battery would be dead soon. A friend of my Dad had one and I remember him preventing us from pressing the button all the time - it was very cool to see this thing. And it was expensive and it was "first." You pay for "first"
I disagree a bit. While I agree that streaming will replace disks - Bluray still offers higher quality picture. Apple Streaming is very good - but I have several "Ultraviolet" Blurays (buy the disk and get a coupon to stream same movie from Apple or Amazon) - and the picture quality is different. I'm sure the reason is compression and streaming quality choices vs network throughput. But I have several movies that I watch because of the picture quality. Plus streaming seems to have problems with Panning - I see lots of jitter. And Amazon seems fuzzy (I've tried comparing the same content through my AppleTV and Amazon FireTV).
But the "I want it now" of streaming is certainly the future. I feel like we're in a transition state similar to "is digital really good enough to replace film?" Someday it won't be a question.
When I buy it - I own it. I have a large CD music collection that has been ripped and has played over the life of 3 different cellphones, 1 music player, and now Sonos. Would I want a subscription to CBS music? maybe. Lots of cool old stuff that we don't have access to anymore. For budgetary reasons I had to cancel a few music streaming services recently....still have my CD collection though.
Here here!! "Coming in the summer of 2003 - " oh how I hate those ads.
I popped in the 75th anniversary edition of Wizard of Oz... and it just started playing the movie!! OMG! No ads, No menus, no "press play to watch." The lion roared and there was Dorothy and Toto skipping down the road. That is the way all Movies should start !!!! When the movie was over - only then did the Extras and what-not menus come up.
Gosh - it's like vinyl and CD music. They just play when you put them.
But do you need the device? One needs to get on a treadmill, run around the block, ride a bike, attend aerobics, or whatever your favorite exercise is on a regular basis. Does a Fitbit help you with that?
Sure - for those motivated by the Gaming of Exercise (level up each day) it's a fabulous device. Serious runners want pacing help..okay (level beyond my ability). Those few who need/want/understand-why they want it must already have them. Saturated market.
The rest of the population though is asking "why do I need this?" -- you either work out or you don't and the "scale" gives you the only feedback you really need. You go for a run. Done. Fitbit tells you that you ran? I already know that. If I'm suffering from pantstootightist then I run more often and skip the pizza & beer. Fitbit isn't helping with how much goes In. It's a pretty bracelet that blinks the time.
I gave one to my wife recently and she has yet to take it out of the packing. But she still works out. I have an iWatch and love email/text integration and iPay. Oh - yeah it monitors my workouts. Sure it's fun to have this thing say "Good job - you worked out every day this week!!" Not that I get notification every week - the watch doesn't help me achieve the goal - rather notifies me when I do. But I see it as just an extravagant watch.
All told though - the notification that I've been sitting on my butt all day makes it worth it. Reminds me that there are more important things in the world and I should go home and play with the kids.
I'm still confused. How does this new Voice update integrate for fit with they new Allo? Allo is their new Text app. Wait - I thought Hangout was the new messaging and communication platform. No no -- wait there's an update for Voice. This should tie it all together...right?!
Whatever. I've had voice for many many years and it hasn't changed. I figured it was dead and stopped using it. It is still my public phone# (I use the PBX feature) but I've gone 99% native with iMessaging and find myself using FB Messenger a bit more too. But Hangout yeah never.
Allo was DOA. What is it?! How does it fit? Have you tried it - if not I'll wait... back yet? Did you try chatting with your G+ friends? Can't find them b/c they're on Hangout?! How about SMS? Totally bogus -- looks like a spam message on the recipient end. yeah what is it?!
An easy fix might be to steal ideas from a secure pin pad that I used to use. Long before modern RF badges existed, entry to my office was guarded by a devilish PIN pad designed to prevent stealing of PINs in the manner described. There were several things making it secure:
First - a computer chose my PIN for me. I had to (keep printed PIN in wallet ^H^H^H^H) memorize, I mean memorize !! the.... 10 digit long PIN...that was a random series of numbers. One had to stand immediately in front of keypad to see the digits (and boy do I mean In Front).
And to make it extra user friendly !! (not) --- the digit location was dynamic, meaning the digits appeared in random locations each time it was turned on. 10 digits of hunting and pecking. The hack was they could just tailgate with everyone else and wait for the designated PIN "enterer" to open the door ("hi I'm the new guy"). Each morning it was a "race" to see who could walk the slowest across the parking lot and Not Be First!! Entering a PIN was slow so usually 5+ people would collect by the time the door was opened.
Now - if the Android Pattern shifted each time you turned it on - this video attack wouldn't work as well. It would also mean that your passcode couldn't be "the figure 8." Of course there might be an attack vector related to watching people pause to figure out how to connect their dots.
oh - and if you didn't punch your passcode fast enough it would timeout and shutoff. Forcing you to start over again. Yeah this system was despised by everyone. Later they put one on the data center door.
haa hahaa aahhh ha. [snort] You are not the first person to tell me about such a sign.
"Common" --right on! You think about it --- the shock of squat toilets...and what do the Locals think of "us" and the western toilet. When they travel to (say) the USA they must all laugh among themselves about our weird customs.
Right - the airports, offices, restaurants (in Tokyo & Yokohama), and apartments were all western style. Really never a problem.
Back in the more modern populated areas I found mostly western and several dual designs - squat & western in the same bathroom. Sometimes squat with a stall around it. Sometimes western in a stall and squat in the middle of the room ("them westerners sure like their privacy - weirdos!")
I found the "traditional" toilets north of Tokyo while touring the temples and gardens. I will always remember the giant single room with 6 metal collars rising from the floor - no privacy at all. Although the giant bathtub of a urinal in the Aloha stadium men's room in Honolulu was rather shocking. Hadn't seen that design since "that dive-bar" back in college.
Gee - almost seems like a topic for an architectural themed coffee table book?!!
Years ago, while on vacation in Japan, I stepped into a bathroom only to find a large room with a row of holes in the floor and trapeze like handles (such as on a subway car) suspended from above.
I really didn't need to go that bad.... and used the tree in the corner instead.
It has long been proposed that TV and "social" could merge. There have been experiments with Twitter and TV shows (tune into the Show & Twitter and the director and main actors will be responding to tweets). Attempts to bring the viewers together and make the show more engrossing. Could FB be trying to merge the two on a single platform?
For awhile now I've just been speed scrolling through my feed - lots and lots of posts and nothing to watch (sounds like cable TV right?!) I figured I just wasn't the social type and peeked to stay in the know.
But I noticed my wife doing the same thing last night and putting her iPad down to read a book.
Maybe FB "see's" this and is concerned. Gotta keep eyeballs on the stream to feed the ad engine. The more I think about it - FB offers very little. A fun way to keep in touch with friends and family...yes. However I'm either tinkering with something, playing with the children, watching Netflix, or reading a book. Or doing Work!! Work!! Sorry boss just walked by.
It isn't built into phones (that I know of)... Do you have the Facebook App installed? Any "Rewards" apps? This is the channel they are using. Any apps that causes the phone to prompt "allow access to microphone" has the potential to do this. I believe that iOS apps can only listen when running in the foreground.
When you are creating a Post on FB - FB is listening for songs and TV/Movies. Think Shazam. If they recognize something they suggest a tag "You are listening to XYZ song" I swear a few years ago that I tried out saying "I really like Ford cars" and my ad feed changed. They claim this can't happen. Maybe I said Ford because they had an ad blitz and was top of mind - and made it to my feed around the same time by coincidence. FB "app is only listening while you’re writing a status."
Still - I don't allow FB access to my microphone. Even Skype is disabled - I enable it only when I use Skype. But Siri & my watch are of concern - I have to trust Apple. And as Mark Zuckerberg has said before : what are you doing that others shouldn't know about?
Yes - Facebook App for instance listens to the ambient sounds and you'll see the ads in your feed change based upon the words said. I saw this reported on a few years ago and couldn't believe it - so I tried it out myself and was very surprised when it worked. Granted that was a few years ago and I don't know if they still do it (too lazy to try it right now).
Which is why I have disabled audio Input for FB. Actually - it is why I do not allow access to the microphone from any app. Or terminate those apps when I'm not using them. Siri is the only thing that I believe is listening (and I have a watch too). For Apple to be sending back audio beacons would be a huge finding. The currently promise to only be listening under specific scenarios - a key trigger "Hi Siri" and only when plugged into power source.
FB / Google/ Amazon beacons do follow me across devices already. There's a Firefox plugin that shows your beacon propagating across the ad networks and draws a pretty network graph. I know - I've seen Amazon ads show up on my iOS FB feed...for items that I purchased on my laptop. I won't go into the usefulness of ads for already purchased items -- but they are tracking me across devices.
But - the multi-device case seems too brittle to work consistently. I appreciate raising the alarm. Now need time to digest and think about what it "really" means.
and I forgot to mention Tor. Sure wanting to uncover people is interesting. But do advertisers believe there are enough people using Tor to invest and develop this technology - that the target audience is big enough?
Maybe a feedback loop on the same computer. A Tor ad playing and the computer listening to send it back through non-Tor channels. But that also assumes a computer has been compromised with an app that can listen. How many people have installed a Time Sync app? Fake/Hacked Java or Flash does not seem tactics of an advertiser --- maybe one selling fake drugs. But again - sounds more like the goal of a hacker and not an advertiser.
I read a similar article several days ago and came to the same conclusion that you did - this is very sophisticated. Maybe too sophisticated. Which made me wonder whether this is theoretical "in the lab" by researchers or actually out in the wild. As for dogs hearing it? sure - maybe. There are lots of noises. My furnace fan makes a blowing air sound. I don't howl because of it - it's just annoying white noise that I ignore.
Need a Raspberry Pi project to listen for this. Then becomes a keyfob that you carry with you that blinks when these secret US signals are detected.
At the time I wasn't able to find links to the actual work - just blog posts that circularly reported on this subject from each other. The quote "ultrasound cross-device tracking (uXDT), [..]. deployed in modern-day advertising platforms" -- really? like what and who?
The link to c3subtitle.de has vague statements in it too "newly-founded company faced the nemesis of the security community and the regulators (e.g., the Federal Trade Commission)" Really? Who?
The underlying premise that I have a phone near my computer that is listening to a beacon played by Ads seems incredulous. The idea that an ad agency would go to these lengths for such a brittle system is surprising. It would have to work "often" to pay off --- and for what gain that GeoIP doesn't provide today? What is that extra 1% that they are after? Plus in this day of auto-playing videos I have my audio muted (or headphones plugged in) - which I think many others do as well - or at least the volume is low. This again closes the door from an ad viability perspective. I get that advertisers want to link my laptop to phone to tablet together so that they can track Me! But there are other ways to do this already (FB beacons for example) that aren't as brittle.
While I appreciate Raising the Alarm - I doubt that (say) Google Ads is doing this. Sure -- maybe some govt spy agency is using this technique to spy on people (i.e. break through Tor). Yes I believe that. If I was a criminal I'd wrap my head and devices in tinfoil.
I'd like to see more evidence that advertising networks are actually doing this.
It just occurred to me that/. just got used in a pump & dump scheme. Penny market emails that go out all the time --- "this stock is a big mover"... blah blah.
"hey look BTC is down" Was that supposed to evoke sells or buys - I'll never know. But advertising on/. is now free !!!
Just because somebody patents something doesn't mean it is technically practical to create said device.
It may rely on technology that may not be practical (giant flying seeing-eye to monitor driver) or even exist. Unless they can show that it was possible/practical to implement, I don't see this suit going anywhere. Even then - this is a thin claim.
You have a valid point - I use Win10 at home and I'm not sure what "telemetry" really is (its extent, reach, etc). Win10 seems good to me, fast, it works - my PC was a Free upgrade from Win7. Sure there are a few hiccups here an there - but nothing to the level of say my iPhone which occasionally freezes for 15-30 seconds at a time. Plenty of things to like & dislike such as searching for "Event Viewer" and having Bing results including Plane Ticket to Event.
Which makes me wonder what the Corporate version is like.
Win10 hasn't been rolled out yet in the office (coming soon). But what do all of those "features" look like at a corporate level? I assume they are all turned off because we're paying money. We'll all adapt to the new UI - thankfully the Win8 UI has been improved (I have to use Win2012 servers once in awhile and want to shoot myself every time I press the Windows key - yes I know - you can just start typing).
And the live tiles. Ugh. I like the MS Phone demos of live tiles where they grouped everything by category "Conversations." It is not a feature I appreciate "on a PC."
Years ago I rented a Ford with the Microsoft system in it. I never figured out how to change the radio station. Gas & Brake were the only two familiar items.
Seriously - this thing had popup OKAY messages on the dashboard cluster. And it wasn't a touch screen. I got out of the car to wipe snow off and a message popped up on the dash "Engine Running [okay]" --- Yes - that's okay.
There were two OKAY buttons on the steering wheel and were distinct - it wasn't a convenience for left/right handed people. One button was for instrumentation cluster message and the other for the radio. I figured this out on the last day of my trip. It made me fearful of future technology in cars.
I'll agree with you. ep2 was as described -- and I was worried that ep2 was going to set precedence for what future episodes were like. ep4 seemed let Capt Slow go off and be his own (so far he's really been odd-man-out with Jeremy and Hammond leading the show). The show has gone from from Improvised "Curb your Enthusiasm" to Scripted "Stand here on this mark and read your lines." And TGT is somewhere in between- still waiting for them to be set free. But hey - they are writing this right?! Needs more off-script moments - between the lines - don't follow the actual lines. Get us from Point A to Z in any manner desired.
I seem to remember though that TG was illegally downloaded too. It's how I came across the show - on youtube. They even mentioned this "fact" several seasons back. Gosh that was a while ago back when youtube limited content to 15 minutes - so I watched Bolivia Special as Part 1, 2, 3, 4, (and possibly 5 & 6.)
Since nobody drives cars anymore - they should have an Uber edition where they review cars for those few who do drive them.
The Grand Tour / Top Gear Two = TGT ? Coincidence ?!
Maybe if they could get the cars to drive faster and faster around the Arc - they could generate a wind and push the smog out of the city!
All cars must be equipped with a Fin on the roof. Whether it be a human Fin flapping his arms or a shark-like Fin probably doesn't make much difference.
Slashdot Mirror
It'll be interesting to see how this works - what is the definition of "fake" news. Will CNN drop from view? What about The Onion? (which is the definition of Fake news - although considered highbrow satire). Posts about SNL mocking Trump?
Will this stop the those who embrace alternate facts? Or fuel the conspiracy that liberal media is controlling the story? Look at FB who is now "blocking" access to the stories that people want to read - and the reason will be defined as attempting to hide the real story!!! Or hiding the stories that the media doesn't want you to read. The "Go do your own research!" movement will not die on the vine because their favorite stories are harder to find on FB. I predict that people will move to alternate sites to get their fix.
Times - they are a changing.
Yes - that's the same way I feel about my iWatch. Too expensive for what I use it for - so it will last a long time, and if not I'll go back to my $30 Timex which is still ticking on the same battery in the drawer 8 years after I bought it. Geez - buying a $200 watch used to be an extravagant dress watch - a wedding or PhD graduation present. Bullet proof - dive features - diamond plating - solar charging - never needs a battery. Now $200 gives you a plastic wrist band and 11 hours of battery.
BUT - the first digital watch I saw had an LED screen which you pressed a button to see the time - because it used so much power the battery would be dead soon. A friend of my Dad had one and I remember him preventing us from pressing the button all the time - it was very cool to see this thing. And it was expensive and it was "first." You pay for "first"
I disagree a bit. While I agree that streaming will replace disks - Bluray still offers higher quality picture. Apple Streaming is very good - but I have several "Ultraviolet" Blurays (buy the disk and get a coupon to stream same movie from Apple or Amazon) - and the picture quality is different. I'm sure the reason is compression and streaming quality choices vs network throughput. But I have several movies that I watch because of the picture quality. Plus streaming seems to have problems with Panning - I see lots of jitter. And Amazon seems fuzzy (I've tried comparing the same content through my AppleTV and Amazon FireTV).
But the "I want it now" of streaming is certainly the future. I feel like we're in a transition state similar to "is digital really good enough to replace film?" Someday it won't be a question.
When I buy it - I own it. I have a large CD music collection that has been ripped and has played over the life of 3 different cellphones, 1 music player, and now Sonos. Would I want a subscription to CBS music? maybe. Lots of cool old stuff that we don't have access to anymore. For budgetary reasons I had to cancel a few music streaming services recently....still have my CD collection though.
Here here!! "Coming in the summer of 2003 - " oh how I hate those ads.
I popped in the 75th anniversary edition of Wizard of Oz ... and it just started playing the movie!! OMG! No ads, No menus, no "press play to watch." The lion roared and there was Dorothy and Toto skipping down the road. That is the way all Movies should start !!!! When the movie was over - only then did the Extras and what-not menus come up.
Gosh - it's like vinyl and CD music. They just play when you put them.
But do you need the device? One needs to get on a treadmill, run around the block, ride a bike, attend aerobics, or whatever your favorite exercise is on a regular basis. Does a Fitbit help you with that?
Sure - for those motivated by the Gaming of Exercise (level up each day) it's a fabulous device. Serious runners want pacing help..okay (level beyond my ability). Those few who need/want/understand-why they want it must already have them. Saturated market.
The rest of the population though is asking "why do I need this?" -- you either work out or you don't and the "scale" gives you the only feedback you really need. You go for a run. Done. Fitbit tells you that you ran? I already know that. If I'm suffering from pantstootightist then I run more often and skip the pizza & beer. Fitbit isn't helping with how much goes In. It's a pretty bracelet that blinks the time.
I gave one to my wife recently and she has yet to take it out of the packing. But she still works out. I have an iWatch and love email/text integration and iPay. Oh - yeah it monitors my workouts. Sure it's fun to have this thing say "Good job - you worked out every day this week!!" Not that I get notification every week - the watch doesn't help me achieve the goal - rather notifies me when I do. But I see it as just an extravagant watch.
All told though - the notification that I've been sitting on my butt all day makes it worth it. Reminds me that there are more important things in the world and I should go home and play with the kids.
I'm still confused. How does this new Voice update integrate for fit with they new Allo? Allo is their new Text app. Wait - I thought Hangout was the new messaging and communication platform. No no -- wait there's an update for Voice. This should tie it all together...right?!
Whatever. I've had voice for many many years and it hasn't changed. I figured it was dead and stopped using it. It is still my public phone# (I use the PBX feature) but I've gone 99% native with iMessaging and find myself using FB Messenger a bit more too. But Hangout yeah never.
Allo was DOA. What is it?! How does it fit? Have you tried it - if not I'll wait... back yet? Did you try chatting with your G+ friends? Can't find them b/c they're on Hangout?! How about SMS? Totally bogus -- looks like a spam message on the recipient end. yeah what is it?!
An easy fix might be to steal ideas from a secure pin pad that I used to use. Long before modern RF badges existed, entry to my office was guarded by a devilish PIN pad designed to prevent stealing of PINs in the manner described. There were several things making it secure:
First - a computer chose my PIN for me. I had to (keep printed PIN in wallet ^H^H^H^H) memorize, I mean memorize !! the ....
10 digit long PIN...that was a random series of numbers.
One had to stand immediately in front of keypad to see the digits (and boy do I mean In Front).
And to make it extra user friendly !! (not) --- the digit location was dynamic, meaning the digits appeared in random locations each time it was turned on. 10 digits of hunting and pecking. The hack was they could just tailgate with everyone else and wait for the designated PIN "enterer" to open the door ("hi I'm the new guy"). Each morning it was a "race" to see who could walk the slowest across the parking lot and Not Be First!! Entering a PIN was slow so usually 5+ people would collect by the time the door was opened.
Now - if the Android Pattern shifted each time you turned it on - this video attack wouldn't work as well. It would also mean that your passcode couldn't be "the figure 8." Of course there might be an attack vector related to watching people pause to figure out how to connect their dots.
oh - and if you didn't punch your passcode fast enough it would timeout and shutoff. Forcing you to start over again. Yeah this system was despised by everyone. Later they put one on the data center door.
haa hahaa aahhh ha. [snort] You are not the first person to tell me about such a sign.
"Common" --right on! You think about it --- the shock of squat toilets...and what do the Locals think of "us" and the western toilet. When they travel to (say) the USA they must all laugh among themselves about our weird customs.
Right - the airports, offices, restaurants (in Tokyo & Yokohama), and apartments were all western style. Really never a problem.
Back in the more modern populated areas I found mostly western and several dual designs - squat & western in the same bathroom. Sometimes squat with a stall around it. Sometimes western in a stall and squat in the middle of the room ("them westerners sure like their privacy - weirdos!")
I found the "traditional" toilets north of Tokyo while touring the temples and gardens. I will always remember the giant single room with 6 metal collars rising from the floor - no privacy at all. Although the giant bathtub of a urinal in the Aloha stadium men's room in Honolulu was rather shocking. Hadn't seen that design since "that dive-bar" back in college.
Gee - almost seems like a topic for an architectural themed coffee table book?!!
Years ago, while on vacation in Japan, I stepped into a bathroom only to find a large room with a row of holes in the floor and trapeze like handles (such as on a subway car) suspended from above.
I really didn't need to go that bad.... and used the tree in the corner instead.
It has long been proposed that TV and "social" could merge. There have been experiments with Twitter and TV shows (tune into the Show & Twitter and the director and main actors will be responding to tweets). Attempts to bring the viewers together and make the show more engrossing. Could FB be trying to merge the two on a single platform?
For awhile now I've just been speed scrolling through my feed - lots and lots of posts and nothing to watch (sounds like cable TV right?!) I figured I just wasn't the social type and peeked to stay in the know.
But I noticed my wife doing the same thing last night and putting her iPad down to read a book.
Maybe FB "see's" this and is concerned. Gotta keep eyeballs on the stream to feed the ad engine. The more I think about it - FB offers very little. A fun way to keep in touch with friends and family...yes. However I'm either tinkering with something, playing with the children, watching Netflix, or reading a book. Or doing Work!! Work!! Sorry boss just walked by.
It isn't built into phones (that I know of) ... Do you have the Facebook App installed? Any "Rewards" apps? This is the channel they are using. Any apps that causes the phone to prompt "allow access to microphone" has the potential to do this. I believe that iOS apps can only listen when running in the foreground.
When you are creating a Post on FB - FB is listening for songs and TV/Movies. Think Shazam. If they recognize something they suggest a tag "You are listening to XYZ song" I swear a few years ago that I tried out saying "I really like Ford cars" and my ad feed changed. They claim this can't happen. Maybe I said Ford because they had an ad blitz and was top of mind - and made it to my feed around the same time by coincidence. FB "app is only listening while you’re writing a status."
Still - I don't allow FB access to my microphone. Even Skype is disabled - I enable it only when I use Skype. But Siri & my watch are of concern - I have to trust Apple. And as Mark Zuckerberg has said before : what are you doing that others shouldn't know about?
Yes - Facebook App for instance listens to the ambient sounds and you'll see the ads in your feed change based upon the words said. I saw this reported on a few years ago and couldn't believe it - so I tried it out myself and was very surprised when it worked. Granted that was a few years ago and I don't know if they still do it (too lazy to try it right now).
Which is why I have disabled audio Input for FB. Actually - it is why I do not allow access to the microphone from any app. Or terminate those apps when I'm not using them. Siri is the only thing that I believe is listening (and I have a watch too). For Apple to be sending back audio beacons would be a huge finding. The currently promise to only be listening under specific scenarios - a key trigger "Hi Siri" and only when plugged into power source.
FB / Google/ Amazon beacons do follow me across devices already. There's a Firefox plugin that shows your beacon propagating across the ad networks and draws a pretty network graph. I know - I've seen Amazon ads show up on my iOS FB feed...for items that I purchased on my laptop. I won't go into the usefulness of ads for already purchased items -- but they are tracking me across devices.
But - the multi-device case seems too brittle to work consistently. I appreciate raising the alarm. Now need time to digest and think about what it "really" means.
and I forgot to mention Tor. Sure wanting to uncover people is interesting. But do advertisers believe there are enough people using Tor to invest and develop this technology - that the target audience is big enough?
Maybe a feedback loop on the same computer. A Tor ad playing and the computer listening to send it back through non-Tor channels. But that also assumes a computer has been compromised with an app that can listen. How many people have installed a Time Sync app? Fake/Hacked Java or Flash does not seem tactics of an advertiser --- maybe one selling fake drugs. But again - sounds more like the goal of a hacker and not an advertiser.
I read a similar article several days ago and came to the same conclusion that you did - this is very sophisticated. Maybe too sophisticated. Which made me wonder whether this is theoretical "in the lab" by researchers or actually out in the wild. As for dogs hearing it? sure - maybe. There are lots of noises. My furnace fan makes a blowing air sound. I don't howl because of it - it's just annoying white noise that I ignore.
Need a Raspberry Pi project to listen for this. Then becomes a keyfob that you carry with you that blinks when these secret US signals are detected.
At the time I wasn't able to find links to the actual work - just blog posts that circularly reported on this subject from each other. The quote "ultrasound cross-device tracking (uXDT), [..]. deployed in modern-day advertising platforms" -- really? like what and who?
The link to c3subtitle.de has vague statements in it too "newly-founded company faced the nemesis of the security community and the regulators (e.g., the Federal Trade Commission)" Really? Who?
The underlying premise that I have a phone near my computer that is listening to a beacon played by Ads seems incredulous. The idea that an ad agency would go to these lengths for such a brittle system is surprising. It would have to work "often" to pay off --- and for what gain that GeoIP doesn't provide today? What is that extra 1% that they are after? Plus in this day of auto-playing videos I have my audio muted (or headphones plugged in) - which I think many others do as well - or at least the volume is low. This again closes the door from an ad viability perspective. I get that advertisers want to link my laptop to phone to tablet together so that they can track Me! But there are other ways to do this already (FB beacons for example) that aren't as brittle.
While I appreciate Raising the Alarm - I doubt that (say) Google Ads is doing this. Sure -- maybe some govt spy agency is using this technique to spy on people (i.e. break through Tor). Yes I believe that. If I was a criminal I'd wrap my head and devices in tinfoil.
I'd like to see more evidence that advertising networks are actually doing this.
It just occurred to me that /. just got used in a pump & dump scheme. Penny market emails that go out all the time --- "this stock is a big mover"... blah blah.
"hey look BTC is down" Was that supposed to evoke sells or buys - I'll never know. But advertising on /. is now free !!!
yawn. ;-)
And --- Personal Responsibility !!! Text and Driving is known to be dangerous.
Just because somebody patents something doesn't mean it is technically practical to create said device.
It may rely on technology that may not be practical (giant flying seeing-eye to monitor driver) or even exist. Unless they can show that it was possible/practical to implement, I don't see this suit going anywhere. Even then - this is a thin claim.
IBM once said that it was fully committed to OS/2. What is OS/2 asks the young whipper-snapper? It is lost to the history books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
You have a valid point - I use Win10 at home and I'm not sure what "telemetry" really is (its extent, reach, etc). Win10 seems good to me, fast, it works - my PC was a Free upgrade from Win7. Sure there are a few hiccups here an there - but nothing to the level of say my iPhone which occasionally freezes for 15-30 seconds at a time. Plenty of things to like & dislike such as searching for "Event Viewer" and having Bing results including Plane Ticket to Event.
Which makes me wonder what the Corporate version is like.
Win10 hasn't been rolled out yet in the office (coming soon). But what do all of those "features" look like at a corporate level? I assume they are all turned off because we're paying money. We'll all adapt to the new UI - thankfully the Win8 UI has been improved (I have to use Win2012 servers once in awhile and want to shoot myself every time I press the Windows key - yes I know - you can just start typing).
And the live tiles. Ugh. I like the MS Phone demos of live tiles where they grouped everything by category "Conversations." It is not a feature I appreciate "on a PC."
Onward and upward.
Years ago I rented a Ford with the Microsoft system in it. I never figured out how to change the radio station. Gas & Brake were the only two familiar items.
Seriously - this thing had popup OKAY messages on the dashboard cluster. And it wasn't a touch screen. I got out of the car to wipe snow off and a message popped up on the dash "Engine Running [okay]" --- Yes - that's okay.
There were two OKAY buttons on the steering wheel and were distinct - it wasn't a convenience for left/right handed people. One button was for instrumentation cluster message and the other for the radio. I figured this out on the last day of my trip. It made me fearful of future technology in cars.
MS Maps in a car?!
"make sure you can contact family, first responders, and emergency medical professionals"
How nice , of course they do --- so that you may call your family and first responders after the phone catches fire and you're about to die !!!
I'll agree with you. ep2 was as described -- and I was worried that ep2 was going to set precedence for what future episodes were like. ep4 seemed let Capt Slow go off and be his own (so far he's really been odd-man-out with Jeremy and Hammond leading the show). The show has gone from from Improvised "Curb your Enthusiasm" to Scripted "Stand here on this mark and read your lines." And TGT is somewhere in between- still waiting for them to be set free. But hey - they are writing this right?! Needs more off-script moments - between the lines - don't follow the actual lines. Get us from Point A to Z in any manner desired.
I seem to remember though that TG was illegally downloaded too. It's how I came across the show - on youtube. They even mentioned this "fact" several seasons back. Gosh that was a while ago back when youtube limited content to 15 minutes - so I watched Bolivia Special as Part 1, 2, 3, 4, (and possibly 5 & 6.)
Since nobody drives cars anymore - they should have an Uber edition where they review cars for those few who do drive them.
The Grand Tour / Top Gear Two = TGT ? Coincidence ?!
Maybe if they could get the cars to drive faster and faster around the Arc - they could generate a wind and push the smog out of the city!
All cars must be equipped with a Fin on the roof. Whether it be a human Fin flapping his arms or a shark-like Fin probably doesn't make much difference.