Mike's List 235
Mike's List 235
Cars and privacy; wooden satellites; Minecraft revenge; a world of greetings; and more!
20 shocking ways your car threatens your privacy
Police are thrilled about the new world of digital vehicle forensics. But so are hackers.
Cars provide so much data now that it's become easy in some cases for police to prove guilt or innocence based on the mountains of data extractable from cars.
Some cars can generate or harvest and then store four terabytes of data per day. Not only do cars now come with increasingly sophisticated telematics -- recording everything that happens with the car -- but in-dash infotainment systems harvest and store person data from your smartphone when you connect!
The same data that would require a password, fingerprint or face recognition to access is available on the car without authentication.
Here are the 20 kinds of data your car can generate, collect and store — and how to delete that data.
3 brilliantly bad ideas of the day
1. Wooden satellites
A company called Sumitomo Forestry is working with Kyoto University eggheads to explore the best wood for satellites. Wait, what? Turns out that when satellites burn up in the atmosphere when they fall, they release tiny alumina particles that float in the air for years. This would really make a difference if SpaceX, which is currently making satellites at a rate of six satellites per day, embraced wood as the new housing material.
2. Revenge on the year 2020
A purpose-build Minecraft server invites everyone to help build a giant 2020, then blow it up (virtually) using Minecraft TNT on New Year's Eve.
3. A realtime map of people saying 'good night' and 'good morning'
Now you can tune in to a planet of Twitter users saying good-night and good morning to each other. The site Waking and Sleeping shows you the globe floating in space. Each time someone says good night or good morning, the tweet appears in the location where the sender is.
3 Shameless self promotions
1. How social media will become the most reliable source of information
2. Five IoT threats to look out for in 2021
3. Join us in glorious Oaxaca, Mexico, for next year's Day of the Dead!