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Silicon Valley has finally found the one line that can't be crossed — now it has a bigger problem
The violence in Charlottesville has caused many tech companies to rethink their roles.
The protests in Charlottesville last weekend and the violence that accompanied them have encouraged tech companies to rethink their responsibilities. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)
In the aftermath of last year's presidential election, tech execs were unanimous in denying that their various platforms had anything to do with the spread of falsehoods, fake news, and outright lies that allegedly contributed to President Trump's unexpected election.
"Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, it's a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said less than a week after the election.
How wrong he was.
Even after it was apparent that the spread of fake news did play a role in the outcome of the election, the tech world wasn't sure it could or should stop it. One tech executive told me last December that so much content is uploaded to various tech platforms every day that properly policing all of it would be impossible. Plus, there are all those free speech issues the tech companies would have to navigate. There was just no way to fix the problem, the tech industry said.
Keep in mind these statements were coming out of Silicon Valley, where, supposedly, the greatest technological and entrepreneurial minds of our time love to brag about their intelligence and how great they are at solving problems. Yet they failed to see the responsibility that comes with managing the various services that have become the dominant form of news consumption for many people.
Now, nine months later, you're hearing a strikingly different tone from the tech world. Apparently, they draw the line at Nazis.
Following the horrific events in Charlottesville last weekend, a slew of tech companies both large and small made moves to eliminate the spread of hate, anti-Semitism, white supremacy, Nazism, and all sorts of other nasty things from their various platforms.
Let's recap:
Apple and PayPal stopped supporting payments on sites that sell white supremacist merchandise.
GoDaddy and Google canceled the domain registration for the extremist site Daily Stormer. The moves followed Daily Stormer's decision to publish a horrible story about Heather Heyer, the woman killed during the Charlottesville protests.
Cloudflare dropped Daily Stormer as a customer, ending the protection it provided to the site against denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Facebook removed links to hateful articles about Heather Heyer in the News Feed.
The chat app Discord shut down some of the servers that white supremacists used to organize the protests in Charlottesville.
Airbnb reiterated it wouldn't allow white supremacists to use its app to organize lodging for protests.
Spotify removed "hate bands" from its music library.
On top of all that, there was a chorus of tech leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who denounced the events in Charlottesville and called out Trump for his misleading "many sides" response.
What a difference a few months of a heated culture war and the killing of an innocent woman can make in the tech world's perspective.
I think tech companies have finally realized a certain responsibility comes with owning the platforms and services that deliver news, information, and entertainment to billions every day. Just like editors of a newspaper have to carefully vet content for truth, platforms also have to discover ways to edit the information that's posted on their sites — but on a massive scale.
It's a welcome change of heart. Better late than never.
But it's not ideal, either. Some have rightfully raised concerns that the kind of policing we've seen over the last week could lead to a slippery slope where content and users are booted off certain platforms on a whim, without some kind of process. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published a great recap of those arguments this week, saying the moves tech companies used to silence white supremacists could "soon be used to silence others."
While tech companies have a right to control their platforms, doing so could lead us to a place where their responses are influenced by headlines or public outcry rather than being the result of a deliberate process. Even Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince admitted his decision to stop working with Daily Stormer was emotionally charged; he dropped the site as a customer, because he was in a "bad mood."
That's fine when you're leaving Nazis in the dust, but it could set a harmful precedent if it encourages other tech CEOs to drop customers whose political views they disagree with. Even if their hearts are in the right place, jumping on the bandwagon isn't always the right answer. (OkCupid learned that Thursday when it kicked a white supremacist off its dating service.)
Tech companies are going to have to strike a delicate balance, and I don't think they'll figure it out right away. Finding that balance is going to take months of experiments, screwups, and horror stories before the tech companies put the right plans in place. EFF's recommendation that tech firms "have a process, don't act on headlines" feels like a good start.
In the meantime, it's going to be messy. For the first time in human history, the entire world is connected in a way that lets people bypass the traditional — and typically carefully curated — sources of news and information. On top of that, there are now apps that make it easy for bad actors to organize.
And tech companies will likely be facing a constant game of cat-and-mouse. Boot the fake news purveyors and supremacists from one service, and they'll find another or even build their own.
But the good news is that bad actors like those are finally getting kicked off the services that matter.
Google finally enables Bluetooth audio streaming for Home speaker
Google has enabled Bluetooth audio streaming for Google Home, according to Android Police. The feature that was touted when the smart assistant was announced at Google I/O back in May. Google enabled the feature by accident back in June, but it seems this time everything is official.
The update means Google Home owners can stream local music, podcasts, and streaming services that may not be supported by Home to their speakers at will. However, it may not be that great for people wanting pristine audio quality, as there are users complaining about the notable lag over the connection.
The update is reportedly rolling out gradually, so everyone should have it within the next few days. To activate Bluetooth audio streaming head to settings in the Home app, tap Paired Bluetooth devices and pair your device to the Home speaker.
The Airtel 2017 unlimited data cheat
Here is an update to Airtel 2017 free browsing cheat which was blazing hot in early May this year but unfortunately, it got blocked and then stop working. But today I'm here and happy to bring it to your notice that airtel free cheat is back and better.
The Airtel 2017 unlimited data cheat is currently working as at the time of writing this post, would get up to 800GB of data by continue dialing a particular ussd command on your mobile phone to make it unlimited.
NOTE: Before you try this airtel free browsing cheat; make sure you are on “ Airtel SmartTrybe Jr ” and if you are on other tariff plan then try and migrate to smartTrybe Jr, once the migration is successful then check out the next step below;
Now that you are on Airtel SmartTrybe Jr, what next? To begin, start by dialing a code. Once you dialed this code, you would start getting some huge amount of free data bundles starting from 1GB, the more you dial the code more free data for you!. In case you know a short code for migration, simply dial *317# to migrate to Airtel SmartTrybe Jr.
How To Get Airtel 2017 Unlimited Data Cheat
√ Turn on the offline mode on your Android device
√ Change you phone's date to May 3, 2017
√ Turn off the offline mode
√ Keep dialling *688*1# for 1GB Unlimited Social Data would keep flowing into your account, the more you dial the more your data is being accumulated, 1GB x..... Up to 800GB worth of data valid for 30days, starting from the day you get yours.
How To Check Airtel Data Balance
▶ To Check your data balance dial *140# .
This cheat for airtel browsing is a social media data bundles, so it requires some Psi phon tweak for it to power all apps which will be posted here any moment from now. Keep it logged!
Forget Special Glasses—For the Best Views of the Eclipse You Just Need a DIY Pinhole
I was in middle school the last time a major solar eclipse passed over my hometown. Some teachers supplied us with glasses and others helped us build viewers from cereal boxes, and we went outside for the big moment. It was okay, I guess. But when I got home, my mother told me how she saw the eclipse.
She told me that she stepped outside with her co-workers, and ended up sitting by a tree. And she noticed the shadow of its leaves on the ground. Everywhere there was a little gap between the leaves, each spot of light was in the same crescent shape as the eclipsed sun.
And if you’re caught outside without any equipment at all, just cross your fingers—literally, with a tiny bit of daylight in between them—and take a look at your shadow. Like the guy in the image, you’ll be holding an eclipse in the palm of your hand.
Copied from Lifehacker
How to Earn money as a Bug Bounty hunter
Are you a coder or white-hat hacker looking to make some money on the side? Bug bounty hunting might be the perfect gig for you.
What Is Bug Bounty Hunting?
Bug bounty hunting is being paid to find vulnerabilities in software, websites, and web applications. The security teams at major companies don’t have enough time or manpower to squash all the bugs they have, so they reach out to private contractors for help. Basically, you use your tools to break things (or break into things), write up a vulnerability report to the company who’s issued the bounty, then get paid. Some hackers make tens of thousands of dollars a year on the side just hunting bugs.
To do it, however, you’ll need to at least know some basic coding and computer skills. Fortunately, Lifehacker has tons of great resources to help get you started, and coding is pretty easy to teach yourself. That said, if you have no idea what any of this stuff means as you read on, bug bounty hunting probably isn’t for you.
Do Some Research and Get Your Tools
Once you’ve got a grip on basic coding, you need to take a deep dive into web applications and how they work. Lucky for you, there’s tons of great resources out there that can point you in the right direction. Start by reading:
The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook ($30)
OWASP Testing Guide v4
Then get the right tools. You’ll need:
Kali Linux (free)
Burp Suite ($349 a year, but very popular)
OWASP Zap (free alternative to Burp Suite)
Then check out the OWASP WebGoat lab, where you can practice finding bugs and vulnerabilities in web applications, and take a look at the Google Bughunter University as well. They have lots of great information bug hunting and how to write solid vulnerability reports that will get you paid. Sites like Bugcrowd and HackerOne can help with that aspect as well.
Find Bug Bounty Listings and Go Hunting
Once you’re armed with knowledge and the right tools, you’re ready to look for some bugs to squash. Companies will often have a link somewhere on their website offering bug bounties, but they can be hard to find. You’re better off checking a bounty board where hackers are reading publicly disclosed vulnerability reports and updating an active list on the daily. Like these:
HackerOne
Bugcrowd
Vulnerability Lab
Fire Bounty
HackerOne also offers Disclosure Assistance, which is a place where a hacker can report any vulnerability to any organization. Even if the organization doesn’t have a vulnerability program, they can contact them and deliver the report. It also helps to join a bug bounty hunter community forum—like those sites listed above—so you can stay up to date on new bounties and tools of the trade. To hunt bugs you also have to be willing to continually learn as you go. Web applications and bug hunting tools are constantly updating, so you need to be on the ball if you want to do things right.
Update: A representative of HackerOne reached out to note their “disclosure assistance” program. The text above has been updated with this information
Teen bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman is launching Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ into space
Erik Finman made headlines earlier this summer for becoming a bitcoin millionaire at the tender age of 18. He now tells TechCrunch he’s working on a project with NASA to launch a mini satellite into space with the recordings of regular folks, tech leaders and top artists — including pop idol Taylor Swift.
The launch is in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Carl Sagan’s Golden Record sent onboard Voyager in 1977. Sagan is a personal hero of Finman’s and he says he wanted to do something akin to the Golden Record to remind us about this time in world history.
“Since almost everyone has a camera and an internet connection, we can now represent the world in a whole new way and showcase how the United States has changed since 40 years ago.” Finman said.
Project DaVinci satellite
Finman wanted to get involved in space travel ever since he saw Elon Musk launch his reusable rockets. But his interest in the stars goes far back into his family’s history. Finman’s mother was involved in the NASA space program in the 80’s and he says she was set to go as part of the crew on the fated spaceship Challenger. However, she ended up finding out she was pregnant with Finman’s oldest brother and unable to go.
Though Challenger was a serious tragedy, his mother remained involved in the space program for many years. Her love for the stars instilled in him a desire to get involved himself. So, earlier this year, he submitted for and won a NASA grant enabling him to organize the endeavor, called Project DaVinci.
The government space program will handle the costs of the launch and provide materials for the satellite project. Meanwhile, Finman will gather the materials through a
website , launching today, and has already employed a team of high school students from his hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and engineers in Los Angeles and Scotland to build the mini satellite.
Other artists and tech leaders already onboard include “Vineographer” Logan Paul, XPRIZE’s Peter Diamandis, renowned aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and YouTube personality Casey Neistat.
Swift’s album ‘1989’ will head up into the stars, along with media from the previously listed participants and what he hopes will be something submitted from all 196 countries around the globe.
NASA has not yet set a date for the launch, but it should be sometime in Q1 of 2018, according to Finman. Those interested in submitting something in hopes it goes into space can do so by heading over to Finman’s
website and uploading a video, image or sound for free.
Courtesy of TechCrunch
