Month: September 2021

Mozilla vs Google: Chrome 94 violates user privacy

Google’s releasing a new version of Chrome isn’t generally great news, but Chrome 94 is an exception.

In fact, Google has implemented the Idle Detection API, a programming interface that allows sites to understand if the user who opened one of their pages is still in front of the computer or smartphone (because he is doing something) or if instead is gone.

The detection of the presence of the user is based on the execution of certain actions: it is in fact possible that the user is not interacting with a given site but is in any case using software or another application; in these cases, however, it is present.

If, on the other hand, nothing has happened for a while, or if perhaps the screensaver has started, Chrome believes that the user has moved away and, through that API, can let the sites know.

Although each site must ask for permission to use the data provided by the API, Mozilla believes that its operation creates “an opportunity for surveillance capitalism” as it “invites sites to invade aspects of the physical privacy of users. , to keep data about the user’s physical behavior for a long time, to learn the daily rhythms (such as the lunch break) and to use this data for a proactive psychological manipulation (for example by acting on the sense of hunger, emotions, choices) »as Tantek Çelik explains.

One might think that, given the rivalry between Mozilla and Google (and the ugly situation in terms of popularity that Firefox has been in for some time), the objections have an ulterior motive, beyond protecting the privacy of users.

Despite the objections, Chrome 94 is now a reality, and soon other Chromium-based browsers will integrate its functions, including the Idle Detection API, unless the various development teams decide to eliminate what they do not share.

However, if sites start using it, and considering the fact that Chrome is the most used browser in the world, it is possible that willy-nilly all browsers must adopt the Idle Detection API to ensure full compatibility with all sites.

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The American singer and producer was found guilty of sexual abuse of many young women and underage girls: he faces life imprisonment

At the end of a six-week trial, US R&B singer and producer R. Kelly was found guilty of all nine counts he was charged with, including sexual abuse and exploitation and conspiracy to commit crime. This is Kelly’s first conviction, despite the first allegations of sexual abuse of underage women and girls against him dating back more than 25 years.

A total of 45 witnesses were involved in the trial, which was held in New York. The most crucial testimonies, however, were those of the eleven people – nine women and two men – who had accused Kelly, and who testified against him by describing numerous incidents of violence, threats and abuse, many of which occurred when they were minors.

According to the thesis supported by the prosecutors, with which the jury has shown agreement, for more than ten years Kelly would have used her fame to attract young women and underage girls interested in a career in music and then subject them to severe physical, psychological and sexual.

Among the charges of which he was found guilty there is also that of criminal association: the prosecution in fact claimed that the set of managers and assistants who helped Kelly to meet the girls (and then to ensure that they continued to remain under his control, obeying him without talking to anyone about what they suffered) constituted in fact a criminal organization. Kelly was also found guilty of violating the “Mann act”, a federal law that prohibits transporting a person outside the state borders for “immoral purposes” (the law dates back to 1910 and was made to combat trafficking. of human beings and the exploitation of prostitution).

This was not the first time Kelly had been on trial for sexual abuse of young women and underage girls.

The first time the allegations against him were widely spoken of was in 2000, thanks to a first investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times. Even before that, however, Kelly had been formally accused of having sex with underage girls, settling the lawsuits with compensation.

In 1994, when he was 27, Kelly made a lot of talk when he married singer Aaliyah, then 15: on the marriage certificate, the age of Aaliyah – who died in a plane crash in 2001, at 22 – had been falsified to pretend that she was of age. In 1995 the marriage was canceled. In 2002, however, he was accused of child pornography, when a video began to circulate showing him having sex with a fourteen-year-old girl. However, the girl who had accused him did not testify at the trial and in 2008 Kelly was acquitted of all 14 counts for which he had been indicted.

Things changed for him in 2019, the year in which the documentary Surviving R. Kelly was released, which collected many testimonies of young women who said they had been abused by him and made the allegations against him even more known and discussed. leading to his arrest.

R. Kelly, pseudonym of Robert Sylvester Kelly, is 54 years old and in his career he has achieved 12 platinum discs. He was most famous in the 90s and early 2000s thanks to singles like “I believe I can fly” and “Ignition”. He collaborated among others with rapper Jay-Z for two albums in 2002 and 2004 and with Lady Gaga for the single “Do what you want” in 2013.

As part of this trial, whose verdict will arrive on May 4, Kelly faces life imprisonment. At the same time, he remains involved in another federal trial in Chicago on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges, and has also been charged with sex abuse offenses in Illinois and Minnesota.

♬ Imagine Dragons – Lonely

LYRIC

Sometimes, I can get a little
I can get a little lonely
Sometimes, I can get a little
I can get a little lonelySome nights I get a little lonely
It’s even when there’s people all around me
Sometimes I get a little anxious
‘Cause these pills don’t work the way the doctor played itI’m startin’ to spin, needles and pins
Right on the brim, hand on a limb, takin’ it in
Sleep it away, life in a day, and a day in a life
Mixing it up, checkin’ it twice
Trying to breathe, starting to seize
Lights, camera, action and scene
Story of my lifeOh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)
Oh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)
I said-Sometimes, I smile to keep things easy
I hide in corners, hope that no one sees meSo I’m playin’ a role, ridin’ the boat, stuck in a hole
Takin’ a bow, lookin’ so proud
Look at me now, talkin’ about pills in my mouth
Under the tongue, isn’t it fun?
Trying to breathe, starting to seize
Lights, camera, action and scene
Story of my life, oh-ohOh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)
Oh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)I said, “Oh, love” (keep me company, I said, help keep me company, I said)
Have mercy (help keep me company, I said, oh, love)
Oh, love, can you please have mercy on me?
(Keep me company, I said, help keep me company, I said)
Can you keep me company? (Help keep me company, I said, help-)
L-O-N-E-L-Why am I so lonely?Oh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)
I said, oh, love (sometimes, I can get a little)
Have mercy (I can get a little lonely)
On me (sometimes, I can get a little)
And keep me company (I can get a little lonely)
I said, oh l-

Bill Gates teases Bezos and Musk: ‘Space? There is still a lot to do on Earth ‘

“Space? We have a lot to do here on Earth”, were the words of Bill Gates in response to a question from James Corden during the last interview. Corden questioned the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft about some billionaires’ interest in space travel, but it seems Gates is more interested in getting rid of diseases like malaria and HIV before thinking about building life on other planets.

Bill Gates

“I’ve become obsessed with things like malaria and HIV and getting rid of those diseases, and I’ve gotten to bore people at parties by just talking to them about diseases,” Gates said. The interview was conducted via Zoom as part of a special “Climate Night” edition of the “Late Late Show with James Corden” on Wednesday. During the interview, the comedian thanked Gates for “being the only billionaire who is not trying to escape from Earth in a spaceship”.

Gates’ comment comes at a time when Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are wasting much of their efforts to expand man’s presence in space. SpaceX has completed the first in-orbit mission composed exclusively of civilians, Inspiration4, Bezos and Richard Branson have made the first flights into space inside their respective private aircraft. But what does space have to do with climate problems on Earth?
Gates teases Musk and Bezos: it is better to fight malaria and HIV on Earth than to travel to space

In reality, there is a strong connection: both Bezos and Musk intend to use the consequences in space to compensate for the problems of climate change on Earth. Musk in this case plans to colonize Mars, Bezos wants to mobilize high-pollution industries on other planets. All in a context of strong opposition: in recent days, for example, the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has criticized the huge expenses made for space travel, while “millions meet fame on Earth”.

Jeff Bezos

Both Bezos and Musk have responded in the past to strong criticism of what may appear to be billionaire whims. Bezos partly agrees with the opponents, but also stated that “we have to do both”: “We have many problems here on earth, we have to work on those but we also have to look to the future, we have always done it as a species and as a civilization” , her words.

Elon Musk

Musk has never traveled to space, at least until today, but he was critical of his SpaceX. His comment on this can be found in a Netflix documentary on Inspiration4: “I think we spend the vast amount of our resources to solve problems on Earth. For example, 99% of our economy should be dedicated to solving problems on Earth. But I also believe it is worth investing at least 1%, or even less than 1%, for life beyond the Earth. “

On the other hand, the equally billionaire Gates has shown a radical approach: years with the Gates Foundation he invests hundreds of millions of dollars in public health, risking to fight malaria and HIV, or even fighting diseases for equity on the anti covid-19 vaccine. .

Google turns 23 and launches a special promotion on the Google Store: offers

Happy birthday, Google! Yes, today, September 27th, is Google’s birthday, which turns 23 years old. And despite his birthday, it is Google that gives the gift and does it to its most loyal users, launching a special promo on the Google Store.
Google turns 23: the Google Store promo

For the whole day today, in fact, all the products present in the Google Store, an exclusion of Google Chromecast with Google TV, Nest Hello, Nest Camera Indoor, FitBit Charge 5 and FitBit Charge 4, are available for purchase. with a 20% discount using the GOOGLEBDAY coupon during the checkout phase.

But not only because, Google says, there are other discounts hidden here and there inside the Google Store and it’s up to users to find them and take advantage of them, as a sort of treasure hunt (there is, for example, Pixel 4a at 299 euro with the code BDAYSURPRISE23). It is good to keep in mind that the promo is valid only for 24 hours and therefore from 00:00 to 23:59 of today 27 September.

Anabel Englund – Midnight Rapture

LYRIC

It was midnight, on my mind
Must have got lost in your eyes
Had a feeling, it’s God-like
Swear I had a vision of us touching
The moonlight
I just wanna feel like I’m alive

Said, don’t take me home
Take me to a place you’ve never gone
Where we can lose ourselves till dawn

Somewhere where everybody’s dancing
And they’re dancing really close
Everybody’s heavy breathing
Everybody’s toe-to-toe
Just wanna move my body
Up in till my heart explodes
And it beats faster

Can you feel the rapture?
(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)

Can you feel the rapture?
(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)
Can you feel it?

Satisfaction, frankincense
Overflowing, get no rest
Candles lit, some fruit to kiss
Paradise with a little risk
Feels like heaven, Elysium
I’m here waiting for you to come
Up through those golden doors
Très bien, mon amour

I know you like euphoria
We dance for hours, the both of us
Exhilaration, perspiration
On cloud nine, in rotation
Water pools in the dust
This world has enchanted touch
Come and go as you please
But you’ll never want to leave

Somewhere where everybody’s dancing
And they’re dancing really close
Everybody’s heavy breathing
Everybody’s toe-to-toe
Just wanna move my body
Up in till my heart explodes
And it beats faster

Can you feel the rapture?
(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)

Can you feel the rapture?
(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)

(Can you feel it?)
(Can you feel it?)
Can you feel it?

Can you feel it?