The spurious cable not only fried his Chromebook Pixel laptop but also two USB PD (power delivery) analysers. Leung says that as soon as he plugged in the cable and turned it on, it completely fried the Vbus line on the Twinkie USB PD analyser. “This is permanent damage. I tried resetting the Twinkie analyzer and having the firmware reflashed, but it continues to exhibit this failure,” Leung wrote. Not only did the cable kill the analyser, though, but it also fried both USB Type-C ports on Leung’s Chromebook Pixel: “Neither would charge or act as a host when I plugged in a USB device such as an ethernet adapter....

In a way, it is Google’s way of saying that it plans on delivering wireless connectivity far better than other U.S. carriers. Furthermore, one primary advantage of using Project Fi will be that it will refund unused data, which is something that the company’s newly formed competitors do not even entertain. Google’s Project Fi intelligently figures out if you are moving around or are located in one place. Based on that, Project Fi will connect you to the nearest and fastest wireless network, which can range from an open Wi-Fi hotspot, or a partner’s LTE network....

According to an APK teardown of Google Messages by XDA Developers, the folks at the publication spotted new strings within the Messages app that points out to app code notice which reads, “On March 31, Messages will stop working on uncertified devices, including this one”. The strings was spotted in the app code of beta app version 7.2 of the Google Messages app. For those unaware, a certified Android phone is a device that comes pre-installed with Google’s G Suite of apps including Google Play Services....

However the important point behind the discovery of this vulnerability is that that researchers used a little known search engine called Censys. Censys is a brain child of researchers from University of Michigan and is aimed at helping security researchers find the Internet’s dirty little secrets by tracking all the devices hooked up to it. Censys is pretty new, it was launched in October, 2015, but it has already produced many unknown facts and vulnerabilities of the Internet connected devices....

Socratic was initially released for Android in 2017, which was later acquired by Google in 2018 as a part of its ‘For Education’ program. However, the search giant removed it from the Play Store after purchasing Socratic and introduced its revamped version for iOS devices with ‘Google AI’ in August last year. Finally, Google has launched the same application for Android devices. The fresh release of the Socratic app for Android devices was announced on the official Google for Education Twitter account on February 13, 2020....

For those unaware, Google’s Project Zero identifies bugs and exploits in all kinds of software of various companies to make them safer. According to Beer, the tool released takes advantage of an exploit called “tfp0”. Beer says the tool was tested on iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and iPod touch 6G. However, he believes that with some tweaks, the tool should work on all devices. “tfp0 should work for all devices, the PoC local kernel debugger only for those I have to test on (iPhone 7, 6s and iPod Touch 6G) but adding more support should be easy,” Beer wrote ....

“Today we’re launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they’re on,” Google SearchLiaison tweeted on Thursday. Basically, the change done by the search giant is to “help connect users and useful websites,” according to a series of tweets by Google’s Search Liaison....

The reason for penalisation may be the Google’s enabling of Google Safe Browsing which deletes any website which is thought to contain unwanted software. However if that would have been the case, the search for Kickass now shows many websites which are Kickass clones and known to contain malware and malicious ads. Right now searching for Kickass, Kickass Torrents, Kat.cr instead show unknown and unaffiliated Kickasstorrents.eu domain on top in many locations, as seen in the below given screenshot :...

Though a Taiwan origin Ando moved to Japan after World War II. At the age of 22 he established his own clothing company which produced socks however at the age of 38 he was bankrupt and even was convicted of tax evasion and served two years in jail. Later he started his own salt company- Nissin. Post World War II Ando saw that Japan was suffering from a shortage of food and people were forced to eat bread made of wheat flour....

For those unaware, Google had launched the Android Security Rewards (ASR) program in 2015. Until now, the highest payout on Google’s Bug Bounty Program was just over $200,000. Over the past years, Google has paid out over four million dollars to security researchers for more than 1,800 vulnerability reports since its launch to help keep the Android ecosystem safe. According to data from Gartner, the Titan M chip was first introduced with the Pixel 3, which was rated as having strong security more than any other device tested....

They may be bluffing but given their past history, Mr.Smith Group’s threat to leak Game of Thrones season 7 episode 7 finale tomorrow cannot be taken lightly. In fact, many of GoT fans urged HBO to release the season 7 episode 6, and episode 7 so as to pre-empt the hackers. If you remember, the GoT Season 7 Episode 6 was leaked through accident by HBO Spain last week, many fans pleaded with the network to just be done with it and release the final episode too....

How would like to hack a military facility with the help of your friends? You can now do so in a simulated gameplay on your Android smartphones/tablets and iOS devices like iPhone with the multiplayer cyberwarfare strategy game called Hackers. Hackers is a multiplayer cyberwarfare strategy game where users have to build a network and carry out various kinds of hacks around the world. The game has been developed by Indie game studio Trickster and has been released today....

The group is now demanding that the company pay $30,000 in order to keep ‘Hack for Trump’ from releasing the information. In a message to Fidelity, the Hack for Trump said that, “If Fidelity does pay us, we plan on using those funds to help Donald Trump get elected to the White House as he is the only candidate who can restore America to its former glory.” Fidelity on its part said that the hackers had managed to breach some of its websites....

China has been at the forefront of digital and economic transformation. The Red Dragon reaped the benefits of authoritarian political structure to build state-sponsored technological infrastructure. The same infrastructure that would put cold war prepped Russian tech finesse to test. USA and China have locked horns for long in the cyberspace over the latter’s notorious activities in Cyber-Warfare, termed “Network Warfare” in Beijing. Recently over growing concerns with China spying through its exported devices, the FCC declared Huawei and ZTE as “national security threats,” effectively barring companies from using subsidies to purchase them in the USA....

Bitfinex, which is one of the largest exchanges for Bitcoin, and known in the digital currency community said it had halted trading, deposits and withdrawals while it probed which users had been affected. Zane Tackett, Director of Community & Product Development for Bitfinex, told Reuters on Wednesday that 119,756 Bitcoins had been stolen from users’ accounts. “The bitcoin was stolen from users’ segregated wallets,” he said. The volume stolen amounts to about 0....

If you have missed on what was announced at Google’s annual event, here’s a quick recap. Daydream DaydreamAlloDuoAndroid NAndroid Instant appsGoogle HomeGoogle AssistantAndroid Wear 2.0 Daydream is Google’s newly introduced mobile VR platform. Google said that Daydream will be incorporated in Android N. Nobody dismisses VR as being the future technology in handheld space but Google is taking it pretty seriously with virtual reality natively incorporated in Android ecosystem. There are three main aspects to Daydream – correct smartphone specifications, correct headsets and the compatible apps....

Let’s see how Elon Musk’s proposed Hyperloop is going to change the way we travelHowever, Hyperloop could change all of this.So, how does it plan to execute this?1. Easily reachable and more effective.2. Say goodbye to ticket lines.3. Comfortable seats.4. Reasonable pricing However, Hyperloop could change all of this. The Hyperloop is a conceptual high-speed transportation system that carries passengers in capsules at speeds reaching more than 700 miles per hour....

HTTPS Everywhere campaign, which in the past has added HTTPS support for Google’s search engine, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and most recently, AdWords, will now be adding HTTPS support for the blogging platform, as a part of the campaign. This step has been taken by the company to mainly protect users living in countries with tight censorship laws. HTTPS would also allow bloggers to write content without being blocked by ISPs, and no tampering with their communication....

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. The hackers took control of the electronic key card system that stopped guests from being able to enter or leave their rooms. Additionally, they also had full access over the general computer system, which means that the reservation and cash desk systems were also out of commission. The hackers promised to restore the system at the luxurious hotel only if €1,500 (£1,275/$1,600) in Bitcoin was transferred to them....

The How-to Portion: Click here to access the official Star Wars Facebook page and view the lightsaber post Click ‘Try it’ Position your filter and profile picture Set an expiry date for the filter Click ‘use as profile picture’ That’s it you’re good to go. May the Force be with you. I tried it on my profile too, and here it is