Daily Tech News 14 January 2022

• Pixy's First Law of Personal Responsibility: Once you choose Node.js, everything that happens subsequently is your own damn fault.
  
  When open source developers tell you to go fuck yourself go bad. (ZDNet)

  While open-source developers should be fairly compensated for their work, wrecking your code isn't the way to persuade others to pay you.

  Yes it is.
  
  
  
• My new tablet is set up and installing stuff. The one significant quirk is that it thinks the 400GB Sandisk microSD card is a 512GB card with a bunch of space already used.
  
  I'm not sure why; I think they've monkeyed with Android's adoptable storage mechanism and screwed it up. I don't have a recent stock Android device with expandable storage to compare it with, but I don't think Google is that dumb, even now.
  
  I wondered if it was a fake card, but I've bought a dozen Sandisk microSD cards in recent years and the packaging and card looked genuine, and I've installed 54GB to it so far without a hiccup.* I think Lenovo just messed this up.
  
  * Mostly my Audible library. Being a member for 10 years times two books a month equals about 400 audiobooks. Somehow.
  
  
  
• Our hosting company found the payment - it fell down behind the sofa cushion. So we're safe for another month unless the IP address falls off the proxy server and how likely is it for that to happO*_$%#*#@ NO CARRIER
  
  
  
  

• TSMC has increased its CapEx for 2022 to $44 billion. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  That's three times what they spent in 2019. It will take a while for this to resolve the chip shortage but you certainly can't say they're not working on it.
  
  
  
• AMD's new 5800X3D is likely to be in short supply. (WCCFTech)
  
  Sounds like AMD is prioritising its $10,000 Epyc CPUs over its $400 Ryzen CPUs for the limited amount of 3D cache dies available. Which makes sense, but also means the fastest readily available gaming CPUs will remain Intel until Zen 4 arrives in the second half of the year.
  
  
  
• QNAP has released patches for three critical security vulnerabilities and how to breed wolves. (Serve the Home)
  
  If you run your QNAP NAS behind a firewall you're probably safe, except that -
  
  
  
• Chrome is introducing a new security measure to block an entire underexamined class of attacks. (Ars Technica)
  
  When you load a web page - this one, for example - JavaScript can make requests to other resources on the internet. Including your own private network.
  
  So if you have an insecure QNAP NAS locked away safely behind your firewall, and then you browse to a malicious website, guess what happens to your safe, secure, locked-away NAS?
  
  If you guessed "something bad" you win a goldfish with an extremely short life expectancy.
  
  
  
• Android phones can now mostly disable 2G. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  Stingray devices used to intercept phone calls often use old, insecure 2G, so blocking it will help keep the feds out of your business.
  
  
  
• China is doing the impossible: Making NFTs worse. (SCMP)
  
  It's not clear exactly what they think they're doing, since the Chinese government has banned cryptocurrencies and public blockchains, so these will be government-approved NFTs on government approved blockchains that you can't buy or sell, and can only trade with government approval.
  
  And the government are communists.

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

| Access Comments