Month: September 2024

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Researchers still don’t know the cause of a recently discovered malware infection affecting almost 1.3 million streaming devices running an open source version of Android in almost 200 countries.

Security firm Doctor Web reported Thursday that malware named Android.Vo1d has backdoored the Android-based boxes by putting malicious components in their system storage area, where they can be updated with additional malware at any time by command-and-control servers. Google representatives said the infected devices are running operating systems based on the Android Open Source Project, a version overseen by Google but distinct from Android TV, a proprietary version restricted to licensed device makers.

Dozens of variants

Although Doctor Web has a thorough understanding of Vo1d and the exceptional reach it has achieved, company researchers say they have yet to determine the attack vector that has led to the infections.

Tom Hardy is back for one last hurrah as investigative journalist Eddie Brock, host of an alien symbiote that imparts superhuman powers to its host, in the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. The trailer has all the wise-cracking "buddy cop" vibes and fast-paced action we've come to expect from the franchise, including a trip to Vegas where Venom discovers the addictive allure of slot machines. But there are also hints of an inevitable bittersweet farewell—because this time they'll face off against Knull, god-creator of the symbiotes.

(Spoilers for Venom and Venom: There Will Be Carnage below.)

As previously reported, the first film in the franchise served as an origin story for our antihero. A bioengineering firm called the Life Foundation discovered a comet covered with symbiotic lifeforms and brought four samples back to Earth. Brock's then-fiancée, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), showed him classified documents revealing that the foundation was conducting human/symbiote experiments. The symbiotes needed oxygen-breathing hosts to survive, but they invariably ended up killing those hosts.

Tom Hardy is back for one last hurrah as investigative journalist Eddie Brock, host of an alien symbiote that imparts superhuman powers to its host, in the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. The trailer has all the wise-cracking "buddy cop" vibes and fast-paced action we've come to expect from the franchise, including a trip to Vegas where Venom discovers the addictive allure of slot machines. But there are also hints of an inevitable bittersweet farewell—because this time they'll face off against Knull, god-creator of the symbiotes.

(Spoilers for Venom and Venom: There Will Be Carnage below.)

As previously reported, the first film in the franchise served as an origin story for our antihero. A bioengineering firm called the Life Foundation discovered a comet covered with symbiotic lifeforms and brought four samples back to Earth. Brock's then-fiancée, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), showed him classified documents revealing that the foundation was conducting human/symbiote experiments. The symbiotes needed oxygen-breathing hosts to survive, but they invariably ended up killing those hosts.

Enlarge / Cinnamon buns. (credit: Getty | Christoph Schmidt)

Consumer Reports on Thursday reported the concentration of lead it found in 36 ground cinnamon products, leading to a round of startling headlines. The testing is particularly nerve-racking given that it closely follows the tragic poisoning of at least 519 US children, who were exposed to extremely high levels of lead from purposefully tainted cinnamon in applesauce snack pouches.

With that horrifying event in mind, parents are likely primed to be alarmed by any other lead findings in cinnamon. So, how concerning were the concentrations Consumer Reports found? And does one need to strictly adhere to the limits the organization recommends? By my calculations, not very and probably not. It's really not an alarming report.

Similar to the outlet's chocolate testing before it, the lead concentrations found in cinnamons were largely within standard ranges. In all, the report is more of a reminder that trace amounts of heavy metals are present in various common foods. And such watchdog testing can play a crucial role in keeping consumers safe, especially with underfunded and underpowered regulators.

Enlarge / Cinnamon buns. (credit: Getty | Christoph Schmidt)

Consumer Reports on Thursday reported the concentration of lead it found in 36 ground cinnamon products, leading to a round of startling headlines. The testing is particularly nerve-racking given that it closely follows the tragic poisoning of at least 519 US children, who were exposed to extremely high levels of lead from purposefully tainted cinnamon in applesauce snack pouches.

With that horrifying event in mind, parents are likely primed to be alarmed by any other lead findings in cinnamon. So, how concerning were the concentrations Consumer Reports found? And does one need to strictly adhere to the limits the organization recommends? By my calculations, not very and probably not. It's really not an alarming report.

Similar to the outlet's chocolate testing before it, the lead concentrations found in cinnamons were largely within standard ranges. In all, the report is more of a reminder that trace amounts of heavy metals are present in various common foods. And such watchdog testing can play a crucial role in keeping consumers safe, especially with underfunded and underpowered regulators.

Enlarge / The Google Gemini logo. (credit: Google)

On Thursday, Google made Gemini Live, its voice-based AI chatbot feature, available for free to all Android users. The feature allows users to interact with Gemini through voice commands on their Android devices. That's notable because competitor OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode feature of ChatGPT, which is similar to Gemini Live, has not yet fully shipped.

Google unveiled Gemini Live during its Pixel 9 launch event last month. Initially, the feature was exclusive to Gemini Advanced subscribers, but now it's accessible to anyone using the Gemini app or its overlay on Android.

Gemini Live enables users to ask questions aloud and even interrupt the AI's responses mid-sentence. Users can choose from several voice options for Gemini's responses, adding a level of customization to the interaction.

Enlarge / Artist's conception of the state of the Earth during its global glaciations. (credit: NASA)

Earth has gone through many geologic phases, but it did have one striking period of stasis: Our planet experienced a tropical environment where algae and single-celled organisms flourished for almost 2 billion years. Then things changed drastically as the planet was plunged into a deep freeze.

It was previously unclear when Earth became a gargantuan freezer. Now, University College London researchers have found evidence in an outcrop of rocks in Scotland, known as the Port Askaig Formation, that show evidence of the transition from a tropical Earth to a frozen one 717 million years ago. This marks the onset of the Sturtian glaciation and would be the first of two "snowball Earth" events during which much of the planet’s surface was covered in ice. It is thought that multicellular life began to emerge after Earth thawed.

Found in the Scottish islands known as the Garvellachs, this outcrop within the Port Askaig Formation is unique because it offers the first conclusive evidence of when a tropical Earth froze over—underlying layers that are a timeline from a warmer era to a frigid one. Other rocks that formed during the same time period in other parts of the world lack this transitional evidence because ancient glaciers most likely scraped it off.

Enlarge / The state of New York says that this guy is the "assman," not me. Show him the butt ads! (credit: Seinfeld)

According to my research, everyone has a butt.

But that doesn't mean, when I'm imbibing my morning cuppa and reading up on the recent presidential debate, that I want to see an ad showing an illustrated derrière with a bar of soap clenched firmly between its two ripe cheeks.

Yet there it was, a riotous rump residing right in the middle of a New York Times article this week, causing me to reflect on just how far the Gray Lady has stooped to pick up those ad dollars lying in the gutter.