Compulang: Technology, Programming & Privacy GeekLaunch

Troy and Jacob discuss the recent developments with the University of Minnesota being banned from contributing to the open-source Linux kernel source code because of a group of researchers who submitted intentionally buggy/broken/malicious patches.

Sources:

https://www.neowin.net/news/linux-bans-university-of-minnesota-for-sending-buggy-patches-in-the-name-of-research/

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/QiushiWu/qiushiwu.github.io/main/papers/OpenSourceInsecurity.pdf

https://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~kjlu/papers/clarifications-hc.pdf

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nfs/YH+7ZydHv4+Y1hlx@kroah.com/

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nfs/3B9A54F7-6A61-4A34-9EAC-95332709BAE7@northeastern.edu/

https://twitter.com/kengiter/status/1337805965459156996

Apple app store cuts transaction commission to 15% for small businesses (less than $1M/year): https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/11/18/apple-cuts-its-app-store-commission-from-30-to-15-if-your-apps-earn-less-than-1m/
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/small-business-program/
https://appfairness.org/
UK approves COVID vaccine, while Australian airline Qantas proposes immunization passports: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55187633
THAT COMPANY WHOSE NAME USED TO CONTAIN HTML SCRIPT TAGS LTD: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/06/companies-house-forces-business-name-change-to-prevent-security-risk
Apple phones home about every application launch: https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

HTTPS-only: too little, too late? How do you approach a programming problem when you don't even know where to start? Also, what's the deal with YouTube's latest TOS update? Jacob and Troy discuss.
Errata: joining the YouTube Partner Program requires 4,000 hours of watch time, not minutes
YouTube TOS update:
https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/youtube-ads-channels-no-revenue-sharing-1234834816/
YouTube channel breakdown:
https://www.tubics.com/blog/number-of-youtube-channels/
Google's advertising revenue:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/12/24/is-google-advertising-revenue-70-80-or-90-of-alphabets-total-revenue/
Mozilla Firefox introduces new https only mode in FF 83: https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2020/11/17/firefox-83-introduces-https-only-mode/
"Smart" doorbells vulnerable to hackers and caught sending unencrypted passwords to China: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55044568
Discussion topic:
How do you go about solving a programming problem when you don't necessarily know where to start? (For example: learning a new technology, or trying to fix a bug in a project that you didn't build)
Compulang: https://anchor.fm/compulang
GeekLaunch YouTube: https://youtube.com/GeekLaunch
Website: https://geeklaunch.net

No more unlimited Google Photos storage: https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/11/21560810/google-photos-unlimited-cap-free-uploads-15gb-ending

NASA + SpaceX launch 4 astronauts to ISS: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-spacex/one-heck-of-a-ride-spacex-launches-astronauts-into-space-idUSKBN27V0I3

YouTube down for 2 hours on the 12th: https://downdetector.com/status/youtube/news/347662-problems-at-youtube-2/

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/11/21561764/youtube-down-outage-loading-videos

Also cancelling Rewind: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54931875

https://twitter.com/YouTube/status/1326947861305696263

Zoom encryption debacle with the FTC: https://apnews.com/article/technology-9717b01b541a0cbad441f87bef89d871

What to expect from a computer science degree?

Pros:


Work in a bunch of different programming paradigms

Learn from researchers

Have eyes on your code all the time, manual review, etc.

Guided learning

Certification!

Work in areas you may not have thought to be interesting


Cons:


Doesn't really prepare you for industry

Often uses old or outdated technologies

Expensive

Time-consuming

Doesn't necessarily give you the experience you need to land a good job


FreeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/

Send in voice messages at: https://anchor.fm/compulang

Or comment on the YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/GeekLaunch

First manned Virgin Hyperloop test "flight": https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54838982

Unlimited Chase Ultimate Rewards Points hack finally disclosed: https://chadscira.com/post/5fa269d46142ac544e013d6e/DISCLOSURE-Unlimited-Chase-Ultimate-Rewards-Points

Trump to lose Twitter protections: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-socialmedia/trump-will-lose-special-twitter-protections-in-january-idUSKBN27O0MQ

GitHub Source Code Leak: https://resynth1943.net/articles/github-source-code-leak/

Let's Encrypt cross-signed certificate expiring September 2021; Android update problem: https://letsencrypt.org/2020/11/06/own-two-feet.html

Please Unsubscribe: https://please-unsubscribe.com/

Troy and Jacob discuss how hackers get your information and some prevention measures. Also in this episode: Google sued, cryptocurrency + PayPal = 😍, and McDonald's ice cream bots in your area.

Quibi shutting down: https://www.cnet.com/news/quibis-shutdown-will-take-place-on-or-about-dec-1/
https://in.reuters.com/article/quibi-shutdown/streaming-service-quibi-to-wind-down-operations-six-months-after-launch-idINKBN27704C
Open Letter: https://quibi-hq.medium.com/an-open-letter-from-quibi-8af6b415377f
Buy crypto with PayPal: https://in.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency/paypal-to-allow-cryptocurrency-buying-selling-and-shopping-on-its-network-idINL1N2HB14U
RobinHood hack: https://nypost.com/2020/10/16/hackers-broke-into-nearly-2000-robinhood-trading-accounts/
Have I Been Pwned: https://haveibeenpwned.com/
French COVID contact tracing app having issues: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54660499
McDonald's ice cream machine broken bot: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/is-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machine-working-near-you-theres-a-bot-for-that/
Google lawsuit for tracking even in incognito mode: https://mazech.com/2020/06/google-faces-5-billion-lawsuit-for-allegedly-tracking-users-even-in-incognito-mode/