Proprietary Software: Chrome, Boycotts by GAFAM, and Amazon Listening Devices

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A new speed milestone for Chrome
Everyday, billions of people around the world turn to Chrome to get things done quickly on their devices, whether shopping for a new pair of headphones or pulling together a sales report for work. Nothing is more frustrating than having a slow experience while browsing the web. That’s why Chrome has always been focused on building the fastest possible browser since its launch in 2008, without compromising on feature functionality or security. In our first The Fast and the Curious post of 2022, we are thrilled to celebrate how in the M99 release of Chrome we were able to substantially increase the speed of Chrome across all major platforms.
We go deep on every platform where Chrome runs to provide the fastest possible experience. We’re excited to announce that in M99, Chrome on Mac has achieved the highest score to date of any browser – 300 – in Apple’s Speedometer browser responsiveness benchmark.
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Tech Giants Sanctions Against Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine [Ed: Reminder that nobody should ever rely on proprietary software, for many reasons including risks like these]
Last month when Russia started invading Ukraine, several European countries responded against the invasion by imposing sanctions on Russia, affecting several Russian industries including Oil processing. But it was not over yet, soon tech giants including Twitter, Google, and Facebook paused advertisements and other services till the conflict ends.
Last week Reddit quarantined r/Russia and r/RussiaPolitics for spreading misinformation in the subreddit. After quarantining the subreddit, Reddit suggestion system stopped suggesting it resulting in lowering the particular subreddit’s discovery across the Reddit platform.
Twitter also halted its advertisement system in Russia and Ukraine to prevent misinformation from spreading. As a result, Twitter and Facebook, both were restricted across Russia.
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Attackers can force Amazon Echos to hack themselves with self-issued commands
Academic researchers have devised a new working exploit that commandeers Amazon Echo smart speakers and forces them to unlock doors, make phone calls and unauthorized purchases, and control furnaces, microwave ovens, and other smart appliances.
The attack works by using the device’s speaker to issue voice commands. As long as the speech contains the device wake word (usually “Alexa” or “Echo”) followed by a permissible command, the Echo will carry it out, researchers from Royal Holloway University in London and Italy’s University of Catania found. Even when devices require verbal confirmation before executing sensitive commands, it’s trivial to bypass the measure by adding the word “yes” about six seconds after issuing the command. Attackers can also exploit what the researchers call the "FVV," or full voice vulnerability, which allows Echos to make self-issued commands without temporarily reducing the device volume.
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