Another weekend begins and another of my now famous news dumps.
Personal–Medical tests were not good but more is needed…..I feel a post coming on.
Local–Cooler temps have finally arrived in South Mississippi but they will stick around for only a few days and then back to the 80s…..still no rain we are going on 5 weeks with no moisture.
Now onto the meat of the post…..
We all have heard about the hackers that get into people’s bank accounts or those that get into the voting records…..but this is a hack that I do not understand….
Those robot vacuums are handy devices—until they allow strangers to watch your family, hurl racial slurs, and torment the dog. ABC News of Australia reports that hackers gained control of Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2s in the homes of US customers. It’s not clear how many devices were compromised, but the outlet rounds up examples from Minnesota, Los Angeles, and El Paso, Texas.
- In Minnesota, lawyer Daniel Swenson says what sounded like a teenage voice began yelling “f—ing n—–s” over and over in front of his family. A similar incident happened in El Paso. In Los Angeles, one of the devices began chasing the family dog—because the hackers gained control of the device’s camera and remote operations.
This hack may sound like a bunch of bored teens goofing around, but it demonstrates how easily hackers can gain access to people’s homes to spy through cameras and microphones, notes Gizmodo. “A lot of the time the intent of these intruders is just to be punks,” writes Tom Maxwell. “But you have to wonder how many times it happens and no one knows about it.”
Ecovacs denies its devices were to blame for any vulnerability, though ABC demonstrated six months ago how easily it could commandeer one of the company’s vacuums from afar and see through its camera inside a home. The latest hack may come down to a PIN code vulnerability. A four-digit code is needed to gain access to the device’s video feed, but the code “is not validated server-side—meaning anyone with the basic know-how of a tool like Chrome web inspector could bypass it,” per Gizmodo. Its takeaway: Before buying any kind of smart device for the home, put due diligence into checking the company’s security measures. And maybe stop using the same PIN code over and over.
Some people have too much time on their hands.
I have been writing about the great recycling con for years now……and now others are helping spread the word….
Consumers want something to be done about plastic pollution. Recycling is something. Therefore oil companies, manufacturers and retailers are doing it. The trouble is, many of these initiatives are muddle-headed, some fall way short of their promise and others are actively causing more environmental damage than they are preventing.
Tesco’s recent travails are a case in point. In 2021, the supermarket set up bins in its stores in which customers could leave their difficult-to-recycle “soft plastics”, like the low density polyethylene from shopping bags and film lids. At the time the company boldly forecast it would “collect more than 1,000 tonnes a year” and planned to “recycle as much of this material as possible back into products and packaging sold in Tesco stores”.
However, according to a recent investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency and the pressure group Everyday Plastic, the vast majority of this waste ended up being incinerated rather than being recycled. ClientEarth, a non-government organisation that specialises in environmental law, says the results of the investigation show that supermarket soft plastic take-back schemes are misleading customers.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2024/10/14/myth-plastic-recycling-finally-unravelling/
I recycle every week and these reports make me wonder if I am doing the right thing…..
Looks like my grandmother was right yet again…..she always asaid the more color on your plate the better….
We’re told that we should eat the rainbow, choosing a diet filled with a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables. These nutrient-dense foods contain a range of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. But while we understand that phytochemicals keep us healthy, we might not understand why.
Phytochemicals, also called phytonutrients, are substances found in fruits, vegetables, and grains that are part of a plant’s immune system, meant to keep it healthy and free of disease. And by keeping the plants healthy, they also serve to keep the person eating them healthy.
“Phytochemicals, which are found in the colorful parts of fruits and vegetables, are basically a plant’s defense system to protect them from oxidative damage. They also play that role in humans,” says Rachel E. Scherr, a dietitian and lecturer at San Francisco State University.
This one is for all those lazy people and their lack of exercise….
Imagine a pill that could mimic the physical effects of running a 10k, without you moving a muscle—which is exactly what scientists in Denmark have developed. According to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the drug called LaKe is shown to encourage ketones and lactate in animal studies. “We’ve developed a molecule that can mimic the body’s natural metabolic response to strenuous exercise and fasting,” Dr. Thomas Poulsen, a chemist at Aarhus University who led the research, said, via the New York Post. “In practice, the molecule brings the body into a metabolic state corresponding to running 10 kilometers at high speed on an empty stomach.” Here’s what to know about the pill.
https://bestlifeonline.com/exercise-pill-mimics-metabolism/
Finally….there is gambling apps and ads everywhere these days….even a chance to wager on the 2024 election….
The self-proclaimed “world’s largest prediction market” is going big on a Donald Trump win this election cycle, based on what the Wall Street Journal calls a “mystery $30 million wave of pro-Trump bets” that have proliferated in recent days. The paper reports that at the start of this month, bettors on the crypto-based, Peter Thiel-funded Polymarket had the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris in a dead heat, in terms of their respective chances of winning the 2024 election. As of Thursday, that had shifted significantly in Trump’s favor, with a 62% chance of winning to Harris’ 38% (Forbes explains what betting market numbers mean).
- MAGA excitement: The news has fired up Trump world, with even Elon Musk gushing about the Polymarket arc. “Trump now leading Kamala by 3% in betting markets. More accurate than polls, as actual money is on the line,” he wrote on X on Oct. 6, though his site’s own Community Notes pointed out on his tweet that there’s “no evidence” betting markets are more accurate than polling, and that other betting markets have placed Harris ahead. (The Journal notes that “prediction markets have a mixed record of forecasting election results.”)
- Just an illusion? The paper also reports that the recent surge could simply be a “mirage,” thanks to just four Polymarket accounts—Fredi9999, Theo4, PrincessCaro, and Michie—that are behind the $30 million infusion. Although it’s possible that someone is just really bullish on a Trump win and wants to take home some big bucks, some are suspicious that the bets could be “an influence campaign designed to fuel social-media buzz for the former president.” “If I were trying to manipulate a market, this is exactly how I would do it,” economist Rajiv Sethi tells the Journal.
- Repercussions: One veteran investor says if there is manipulation involved, and the betting markets do keep putting Trump ahead, it could help boost his camp if he loses the election and tries to say the election was stolen from him. But it’s also “unclear whether that would help Trump by making him (look) successful, or energize Kamala supporters who are afraid that the markets are showing her as an underdog,” betting expert and American University history professor Laura Beers tells Newsweek.
- Who’s behind the bets? There may not be four separate parties making those wagers, all funded via deposits from the Kraken crypto exchange. “There’s strong reason to believe they are the same entity,” Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence, said after reviewing the accounts.
That does it for me on this Saturday…..I sincerely hope that everyone has a wonderful day and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”