Random News not worthy of own thread

[Morkonan]

Just an alert:

Hackers infect 500,000 consumer routers all over the world with malware

Followup:

FBI seizes domain Russia allegedly used to infect 500,000 consumer routers

A preliminary, non-exhaustive, list of routers that have vulnerabilities that could have been, but not necessarily were, effected:

Linksys E1200
Linksys E2500
Linksys WRVS4400N
Mikrotik RouterOS for Cloud Core Routers: Versions 1016, 1036, and 1072
Netgear DGN2200
Netgear R6400
Netgear R7000
Netgear R8000
Netgear WNR1000
Netgear WNR2000
QNAP TS251
QNAP TS439 Pro
Other QNAP NAS devices running QTS software
TP-Link R600VPN

The overall numbers are pretty small, considering. (500k) IP addys would have been captured as each router attempted to contact/notify the now-sinkholed server and the FBI would eventually notify ISPs, which should, in turn, notify the effected customer. (You, if your router was one of hijacked, would probably get an email or phone-call). But, it's very possible that the hacker's fallback would have enabled them to redirect some, before that happened, once they knew their operation had been compromised.

So, check your router model number, hard-reboot, restore factory settings (usually by pushing a push-pin in the back of the router with a paperclip end or something, check your manual), call your ISP and ask for a firmware push to get the newest firmware updates, then disable remote management features and all that, according to the article, then put in a new admin pass and reboot the router. Done and done, no problem.

Except... if you were really were caught up in this. Then, it's the whole "change your passwords" crapstorm. Have fun, sorry. :/

[Bishop149]

What the hell is this new monstrosity.

https://www.slashfilm.com/thundercats-roar/

Is there some rule of TV that now states: "It's animation for kids, therefore it must look like the Powerpuff Girls"

[pjknibbs]

I note that the article itself doesn't seem to think the animation style is important? Codswallop. The original Thundercats, while the premise was undeniably silly, never played it for laughs--in particular, Mumm-Ra in his pyramid was creepy as all heck (my nephew, who was around 6 years old at the time, refused to watch it because it scared him so). I still remember his transformation sequence now ("Ancient spirits of Evil! Transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!") and the associated animation and musical sting.

The wider point, I think, is this: the original Thundercats is 30 years old now. Anybody who doesn't remember the original isn't going to care about your new series, and anybody who *does* will want to burn down your offices when they see this abomination. Just call it something else or do it *properly*...

[Hank001]

Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, or even live action like Star Wars, They become touchstones to who and what we were then they first made their impressions on us. Fundamental changes to these personal touchstones can have the same effects as a slap in the face and draw some of same reactions.

For respect to the venue I'll not equate this to video games and subsequent sequels...

[Morkonan]

What the hell is this new monstrosity.

https://www.slashfilm.com/thundercats-roar/

Is there some rule of TV that now states: "It's animation for kids, therefore it must look like the Powerpuff Girls"

..

I'm probably more upset about that animator's man-bun, furry costume and waifu pillow. (The last two are just assumptions... But, I'm sure I saw a bottle of gluten-free homeopathic water on the table.)

I'm a little bit torn, but not overly so. "Thundercats" was after my time. Sure, I knew about it and thought it was interesting, but we probably spent more time trying to make drinking games out of it than anything else. ("Voltron" was another dorm favorite.)

I get the general outrage from diehard fans. Someone is offering them not only a retelling, which they'd be excited about, but a revision, which they wouldn't be excited about. Someone is telling them "this is what this was" and they're not likely to accept that it's really "this is what this is."

Children's "drama" is difficult. It looks like they've just decided to go a different route and make this into comedic entertainment, which would probably go over a lot better and snag some older fans, too. Widening the market using that tactic is probably the primary motivation, not some sort of "artistic license" sort of thing. I imagine they're actually shooting for the "older" market with late teens, early 20's and even older.

[OmegaKnight]

Dear Ghostery user and your 499 friends

[pjknibbs]

Wow, so they might successfully have become the first company to be fined for a GDPR violation...when sending out a GDPR message?

[red assassin]

Wow, so they might successfully have become the first company to be fined for a GDPR violation...when sending out a GDPR message?

Doubly ironic because Ghostery is a tracking prevention tool...

Friend of mine had the same thing happen, complete with then receiving a data breach notification about it, from a university society he was a member of, so apparently it's a fairly common screwup!

[Morkonan]

Dear Ghostery user and your 499 friends

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ghostery is fudgy, anyway. But this is just gold...

I had a similar thing happen with an email that should never have been "cc'd" or group mailed like that. A definite "Oh @$$&" moment.

And, who in the heck gives a legit email address to that kind of plugin, anyway? I guess those 499 people are the ones that didn't register with a temp email.

[Hank001]

I'll give the EU an A for effort. They at least COULD and did take action.

Will it have any effect on the US? This remains to be seen.
I doubt it it will.
It all reminds me of the fight Europe had with US
over their policy that the US National Science Foundation
owned the internet.

What came of that in the end?

In 1994 all us with server were told were kicked off until we registered as or with an "Internet Sevice Provider".
By the time time I completed the details someone had registered my internet address and wanted $600 US to sell it to me.
(And so it began)

And where it stops? When enough realize they aren't using the internet, it's using THEM.

However by that time we'll all be it's slaves anyway... ... ... Strike that. I think that ship has already sailed. (Sorry)

[Morkonan]

...By the time time I completed the details someone had registered my internet address and wanted $600 US to sell it to me.
(And so it began)..

Ah, the heady days of "I will make a bajjillion monies by squatting on this url!" These days, it's practically automated.

We had a website for our company. Another company had a similar name, but they had never done a letters of incorporation name-check, obviously. But, they were using our trademarked name... They weren't even incorporated, either, but still used the "inc" in their business name... Like, WTF? Aaaand, nothing we could do about it, either, simply because of how they wrote it. :/

[Alan Phipps]

@ Mork: Every time I see a rather scruffy lorry in the UK with an obviously cheaply-applied firm's name along the lines of "John Smith & Sons International Haulage" or "Dave Brown Logistic Solutions" I think of Del Boy and Rodney with their yellow Reliant Robin with 'Trotters International Traders' on it.

I always wonder how they get such ever-so-common business names legally registered (even if those *are* their actual family names).

[Hank001]

Well I suppose with all you have to go through with trademarks, copyrights, incorporations, licensing, patents, you name it, then taking a paintbrush and slapping "So & So & Sons" (Et al) on the side of their lorry and crossing their fingers might be the way to go.

[Morkonan]

Pics/vid from ESA's Rosetta released!!!!!!

https://imgur.com/gallery/LdTjc6o

Look at this beautiful landscape - https://i.imgur.com/BJmr4NO.mp4

OMG! SO AWESOME!

https://mobile.twitter.com/landru79/sta ... 3075463168

Bunch of other stuff in the Imgur link to look at and to followup on! Really awesome stuff!

[Hank001]

Wow Morkonan! I saw the vid and it made "The Wall" in the Game of Thrones look puny. Watch out! HBO might get into space just for location shots like that one!

[Morkonan]

Wow Morkonan! I saw the vid and it made "The Wall" in the Game of Thrones look puny. Watch out! HBO might get into space just for location shots like that one!

In the future, that may actually be a headline noteworthy audience tweaker - "Shot on location on the surface of a comet!"

That short clip is just too awesome. I'm still spellbound. And, I'm angrily gritting my teeth over the fact that I have yet to see it in broadcast news... It should get played every darn hour. Instead, someone associated with the current US administration says something stupid and the cameras focus right on their darn foreheads. :/

[Hank001]

Morkonan correctly noted:

That short clip is just too awesome. I'm still spellbound. And, I'm angrily gritting my teeth over the fact that I have yet to see it in broadcast news... It should get played every darn hour. Instead, someone associated with the current US administration says something stupid and the cameras focus right on their darn foreheads. :/

Strange that you're URL was the irst time I saw that clip. Let me do some checking on my astonomy sites and see if I can pull something better off of them and edit this post with the urls.
(Stay Tuned I'll be right back after his commercial message)

Edit: Well I searched ESA's entire photo gallery from Rosetta
That scene wasn't on any of their pages or NASA's or JPL's galleries (which the latter two are just cut down ESA galleries). It MIGHT be the real thing, but that "snow" is trucking down a bit fast for micro gravity. (Just saying).

[Morkonan]

... It MIGHT be the real thing, but that "snow" is trucking down a bit fast for micro gravity. (Just saying).

That's largely cosmic rays hitting the sensor. That's a common phenomenon.

Edit-Add: The "streaks" are a dead give-away for that. Often misinterpreted by UFO fans as alien craft, they're a bit more readily identifiable when the camera is outside of LoE and a magnetic field, since they're much more common. Some of the apparent "particles" may be true material. Look for bits that are truly obscured by terrain, there. (passing "behind" terrain)

Add2: From what I could glean from Twitter, the user has stacked frames/filters to produce this short "clip." But, AFAIK, it's an accurate representation as it uses captured images from the spacecraft without any intrusive embellishment other than that which allows it to be more readily serviceable. The Twitter poster plans to produce a colorized version, as well, presumably one that will be fairly accurate.

[Hank001]

@ Morkonan:

4G is a pain today. Typed long reply saying that's NOT cosmic rays. Some goofus posted that explanation.

Cosmic rays on VIDEO sensors do NOT have depth of field.
your seeing good old terrestrial snow on in a near 20-25 knot gale.

The dead give away is that the scene is at ground level. Go to ESA and look at landing site pics. Not close. And that bloom from camera light? Oops.

[Morkonan]

...Cosmic rays on VIDEO sensors do NOT have depth of field...

As I noted, above.

It's also a combination of different filters, and I don't know what was used. It's not "fake" though, at least in an attempt to show something that isn't there.

The use of differing filters can magnify the effect, as well. An example with Hubble: https://blog.galaxyzoo.org/2010/04/12/h ... le-images/

Again, not vouchsafing that short vid, just saying that many of those "particles" are likely cosmic ray hits. And, as I stated earlier, to find out which are not likely cosmic ray hits, look for terrain obscuring them. (Depth of field)

Note: Because of the various filters that may have been used, I have no idea if some of the "moving" background objects aren't, in fact, stars. We're used to seeing images taken that would not show the star background. The use of filters and the like, coupled with the fact that this camera may be of an entirely different type, could result in those stars actually being more visible than we're used to seeing. Again, unsure, just offering a possibility. (Though, given what debris/dust/offgassing one might think would be there, that might be a stretch. /dunno)