Month: February 2022

CIA collecting bulk data on Americans without oversight, senators say

Senators demand more answers and transparency from CIA in redacted letter.

CIA collecting bulk data on Americans without oversight, senators say

Enlarge (credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Two US senators have asked the Central Intelligence Agency to release the details of a secret bulk data collection program that has apparently ensnared Americans.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) wrote the director of national intelligence and the CIA (PDF), asking them to declassify a review of a CIA program known as “Deep Dive II,” the details of which were redacted from their letter. The letter was written in April 2021 but was classified until yesterday.

The secret CIA program is operated under the authority of Executive Order 12333, which former President Ronald Reagan issued in 1981. It has been used to justify bulk data collection of people in the US, including phone calls, SMS messages, and, until recently, email metadata. That practice was limited by a 2015 reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which banned the bulk collection of phone and SMS metadata by the FBI.

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Moto Edge 30 Pro smartphone will be a flagship with 144 Hz display, stylus support

Motorola has scheduled a launch event for February 24th, when the company is expected to unveil the Moto Edge 30 Pro, a phone that’s basically expected to be the global version of the Moto Edge X30 that launched in China a few months ago. Now Evan Blass has posted a few leaked pictures showing that the Moto […]

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Motorola has scheduled a launch event for February 24th, when the company is expected to unveil the Moto Edge 30 Pro, a phone that’s basically expected to be the global version of the Moto Edge X30 that launched in China a few months ago.

Now Evan Blass has posted a few leaked pictures showing that the Moto Edge 30 pro does indeed look identical to the Chinese version. It’ll also be available with some interesting accessories.

@evleaks

Images show a phone with three rear cameras arranged in a vertical row on the back of the phone, along with an LED flash, and a hole-punch front-facing camera. Accessories include a stylus and a folio case which has two unusual features:

  • The case can also be folded for use as a stand, propping up the phone when you’re watching videos, for example.
  • When the case is closed over the screen, there’s a strip along the center of the cover where you can still see the screen, allowing Motorola to provide an always-on-display feature with the time, date, notification icons, and other information.
@evleaks

It doesn’t look like there’s a slot in the phone for storing the stylus when it’s not in use, and it’s unclear whether this is a pressure-sensitive pen or just a simple capacitive stylus that will act like a finger, but with a finer point. It will likely be sold as an optional accessory rather than included with the phone.

While full details for the Moto Edge 30 Pro haven’t been announced yet, the Chinese Moto Edge X30 features a 6.7 inch, FHD+ OLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. I’d be surprised if the global version didn’t share those specs.

What I’m less certain of are the memory and storage configurations: customers in China can purchase the phone with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it’s not unusual for there to be global variations of features like that.

Other features for the Chinese Moto Edge X30 include a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and 2MP depth-sensing camera, a 60MP front-facing camera, a 5,000 mAh battery and support for 68W wired fast charging.

Prices in China range from around $500 for a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage to $565 for a 12GB/256GB version of the phone.

The post Moto Edge 30 Pro smartphone will be a flagship with 144 Hz display, stylus support appeared first on Liliputing.

Elon Musk: Mediziner werfen Neuralink Tierquälerei vor

Elon Musks Unternehmen Neuralink hat das selbst entwickelte BCI an Affen getestet. Dabei hätten die Tiere stark gelitten, kritisiert eine Medizinerorganisation. (BCI, Technologie)

Elon Musks Unternehmen Neuralink hat das selbst entwickelte BCI an Affen getestet. Dabei hätten die Tiere stark gelitten, kritisiert eine Medizinerorganisation. (BCI, Technologie)

Bowser sentenced to 40 months for Team Xecuter’s console hacking

Two other indicted Team Xecuter members have yet to face trial.

A prototype SX Core device soldered to a Nintendo Switch motherboard.

Enlarge / A prototype SX Core device soldered to a Nintendo Switch motherboard. (credit: Team Xeceuter)

Gary Bowser, a member of the notorious Team Xecuter group of console hackers, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in promoting and selling devices in the SX OS line of piracy-enabling devices for the Nintendo Switch.

The final sentence, which comes after Bowser filed a guilty plea in November, falls almost precisely between the 60 months sought by prosecutors and the 19 months sought by Bowser's defense. Bowser has already served 16 months of pre-sentencing detention after being arrested in the Dominican Republic and deported to the US in 2020.

In pushing for jail time for Bowser, federal prosecutors were clear that they thought a significant sentence "would send a message that there are consequences for participating in a sustained effort to undermine the video game industry." Prosecutors are also expecting that media coverage of Bowser's fate will help with deterrence, writing that "any sentence imposed in this case will be widely disseminated within the video gaming community, as this case is being watched closely by the industry."

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Western Digital und Kioxia: Chemieunfall kontaminiert Flash-Speicher-Produktion

In zwei japanischen Fabs ist es offenbar zu einem Unfall gekommen. Etwa 6,5 Exabyte an Flash-Speicher-Kapazität bei Western Digital sind betroffen. (Solid State Drive, Speichermedien)

In zwei japanischen Fabs ist es offenbar zu einem Unfall gekommen. Etwa 6,5 Exabyte an Flash-Speicher-Kapazität bei Western Digital sind betroffen. (Solid State Drive, Speichermedien)