Month: December 2022

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Researchers recently discovered a Windows code-execution vulnerability that has the potential to rival EternalBlue, the name of a different Windows security flaw used to detonate WannaCry, the ransomware that shut down computer networks across the world in 2017.

Like EternalBlue, CVE-2022-37958, as the latest vulnerability is tracked, allows attackers to execute malicious code with no authentication required. Also, like EternalBlue, it’s wormable, meaning that a single exploit can trigger a chain reaction of self-replicating follow-on exploits on other vulnerable systems. The wormability of EternalBlue allowed WannaCry and several other attacks to spread across the world in a matter of minutes with no user interaction required.

But unlike EternalBlue, which could be exploited when using only the SMB, or server message block, a protocol for file and printer sharing and similar network activities, this latest vulnerability is present in a much broader range of network protocols, giving attackers more flexibility than they had when exploiting the older vulnerability.

• 

  The Pixel Tablet! Apparently it will also come in black, or at least this prototype does.

The Google Pixel Tablet is arriving at some point in 2023. While nobody knows quite when the release date is, someone was apparently already selling a prototype on Facebook Marketplace. (Why does this keep happening to Pixel prototypes?) The listing, spotted by Twitter user ShrimpApplePro, represents the first non-marketing pictures of Google's upcoming tablet, along with the base accessory that turns it into a smart display.

We can see this is a 256GB version of the tablet, and it's a rare look at the device in black, with a mismatched white speaker dock. Naturally it's running Android 13 with all the fun new tablet additions.

The Pixel Tablet was officially announced alongside the Pixel 7 in October, but we still don't have a price or release date. The hardware is designed to look identical to a Nest Hub, Google's line of smart displays, and Android 13 can launch a "hub mode" when docked, which seems purpose-built for a product like this. If the Pixel Tablet kicks over into a 10-foot "docked" interface, though—perhaps something that looks like the Nest Hub software—we haven't seen it. Every shot of the device shows it running the normal Android tablet interface.

Enlarge / Tech companies, including Apple, have lobbied hard to prevent a New York bill that would require them to make repair information and parts available to individuals and non-affiliated repair techs. (credit: Getty Images)

The Digital Fair Repair Act, the first right-to-repair bill to entirely pass through a state legislature, is awaiting New York Governor Kathy Hochul's signature. But lobbying by the nation's largest technology interests seems to have kept the bill parked on her desk for months, where it could remain until it dies early next year.

Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of the Repair Association, said that "opposition has not backed off" despite the bill's nearly unanimous passage in June. Gordon-Byrne has heard that industry groups are pushing for late amendments favoring tech firms but that the bill's sponsors would have to approve—or convince the governor to sign the bill without them. "It's up to the sponsors at this point," she said.

The final version of the bill received rare bipartisan support, passing the state assembly 147–2 and the senate 59–4. The bill was delivered to the governor Friday, according to the New York Senate's bill tracker, though she has been considering it since late June.

Enlarge (credit: Theo Wargo / Staff | Getty Images North America)

Last Wednesday, Elon Musk seemed absolutely convinced that an alleged “crazy stalker” used a Twitter account tracking his private jet to accurately pinpoint the Twitter CEO’s live location at a gas station outside the Los Angeles International Airport. Posting a video of the alleged stalker, claiming his son was in the car, and blaming @ElonJet for endangering his family, Musk banned the Twitter account and threatened legal action against the account’s creator, Jack Sweeney.

Police have since investigated the incident, and the alleged stalker, Brandon Collado, has come forward. On Saturday, Collado reportedly even tweeted directly at Musk to say, “I am the guy in the video.”

But so far, police told The Washington Post, there’s “no evidence to suggest the man police were investigating had used the jet-tracking account.” The Post also found no evidence that either of Musk’s kids were in the car when the incident occurred. Police told The Post that no arrests had been made, and no crime reports had been filed by Musk or his security team.

Enlarge / Modern Lexuses are dominated by a huge hourglass grille that reminds GenXers like me of Battlestar Galactica. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Something about automotive body styles brings out emotions in people. Witness the once-mighty station wagon's fall from grace; at one time, it was the family supercar, now it's mostly just adored by people on the Internet (who never actually buy them) and reviled by everyone else. The wagon gave way to the minivan, which in turn lost favor to the SUV, but the real winner over the past few decades has been the crossover. Something of an "I know it when I see it" category, the crossover is more car-like than an SUV, and more SUV-like than a car and subject to plenty of arguments over what does and doesn't quite fit in that four-wheeled pigeonhole.

If you have feelings about the crossover—and from the comments I know that some of you do—it's probably Lexus' fault for creating them in the first place. In 1998, the then-upstart Japanese luxury brand introduced the RX 300, an attractive luxury hatchback with an off-roader's ride height, and a new segment was born. Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, the RX is in its fifth iteration, on a new GA-K platform that's stiffer and lighter than before.

• 

  A black-on-black car is horrible to photograph. Just saying. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

Its styling has gotten a little more complicated of late—particularly that massive Cylon-like front grille. The powertrain options are a little less complicated than they used to be, however, as the entire lineup moves to four-cylinder turbocharged engines, some of which are supplemented by a hybrid system. In time, the US will get a plug-in hybrid RX, and the faithful RX 350h returns to the range, but new for model year 2023 is the (deep breath) RX 500h F Sport Performance AWD, which starts at $62,750.