Technology is filled with all kinds of rumours and speculation — real and fabricated. All The News You Missed Overnight collects all those whispers into one place to deliver your morning buzz.
Uber and the Queensland Government have a difficult relationship. It’s only about to get more strained, too, as the Uber works to ban devices from the service used by inspectors in a bid to dodge fines. It’s a clever strategy, and one Uber has employed before in Australia.
It was revealed around the time of the New South Wales’ investigation into Uber that the ridesharing service was cancelling the accounts and banning the IMEI numbers of known Transport for NSW inspectors.
Anyone who has seen Mr Robot knows that your USB port is one of the best ways for a hacker to get at your personal information. That’s why the best way to keep yourself safe is to kill your own USB ports.
Wait, what?
That’s the pitch behind USB Killer, a product currently up for backing at Indiegogo.
It’s being hailed as a “security device”, and really should be put straight in the bin for both being stupid and overtly sexualising a cartoon character.
Meanwhile, the Star Wars hype train continues to gather steam, as the Japanese trailer released over the weekend shows a boatload of new footage. Get into it.
Hidden away high in the remote mountains of Georgia, the former Soviet observatory of Abastumani has weathered regime changes, political strife, and neglect. Now only one of its telescopes is fully operational and its handful of remaining astronomers struggle to make ends meet, but they’re still making important observations and publishing in international journals. [BBC]
Thousands of workers have flocked to North Dakota’s shale oil boom, and a team of archaeologists and sociologists are working with the oil workers to document and understand this moment in history. [Motherboard]
The open-source Linux operating system is the basis for Android and the backbone of a growing number of connected devices. There’s a growing discussion about security in Linux, but ultimately the operating system’s future hinges on creator Linus Torvalds, who is famously blasé about security. [Washington Post]
Back in the age of paper letters, mail chutes were ubiquitous and vital parts of big city office buildings. Today, many remain – disused, painted over, and forgotten remnants of the past. [Atlas Obscura]