๐ Daily Recap ยท Oct 14
๐ธ Mashinsky lied to customers while tanking their deposits
๐บ๐ธ US set to seize a billion in Iranian crypto
๐ต Britney and Justin's 25-year-old duet just quietly dropped
๐ College cameras were secretly feeding data to Border Patrol
๐ค AI tool that reverse-engineers anything exploded on GitHub
Somebody near you was heads-down all day โ this is their catch-up
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
๐ธ Mashinsky lied to customers while tanking their deposits
๐บ๐ธ US set to seize a billion in Iranian crypto
๐ต Britney and Justin's 25-year-old duet just quietly dropped
๐ College cameras were secretly feeding data to Border Patrol
๐ค AI tool that reverse-engineers anything exploded on GitHub
Somebody near you was heads-down all day โ this is their catch-up
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
โค5
๐ Your car knows more about you than Pinterest needs to
Northeastern University researchers tested 21 vehicles and 30 automaker apps โ and found Pinterest, Snap and Meta receiving VINs straight from General Motors' apps. Why does Pinterest need your VIN? Nobody's saying.
GM's four apps were sending VINs to 10 companies including Microsoft and Adobe. The catch: a VIN isn't like a phone ad ID โ you can't reset it. Pair it with an email once, and ad networks have you forever.
28 of 30 apps contacted advertising or analytics companies. GM is already under a 20-year FTC privacy order over its driver-data scandal, though the testing predates that order. Of everyone studied, only Honda actually changed anything.
The rest shrugged: it's all in the vendor contracts, they said. Seven added that users should read the terms of every pre-installed service themselves. Convenient.
Engadget
Northeastern University researchers tested 21 vehicles and 30 automaker apps โ and found Pinterest, Snap and Meta receiving VINs straight from General Motors' apps. Why does Pinterest need your VIN? Nobody's saying.
GM's four apps were sending VINs to 10 companies including Microsoft and Adobe. The catch: a VIN isn't like a phone ad ID โ you can't reset it. Pair it with an email once, and ad networks have you forever.
28 of 30 apps contacted advertising or analytics companies. GM is already under a 20-year FTC privacy order over its driver-data scandal, though the testing predates that order. Of everyone studied, only Honda actually changed anything.
The rest shrugged: it's all in the vendor contracts, they said. Seven added that users should read the terms of every pre-installed service themselves. Convenient.
Engadget
โค3
๐ก A spy inside the hardware wallet
The whole point of a hardware wallet is keeping your keys off the internet. Someone found that amusing.
Ledger's security team confirmed that devices sold by CryptoBilis โ an authorized reseller in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines โ contained hidden implants with an embedded SIM and LTE radio. During setup, each implant read the 24-word recovery phrase off the screen and transmitted it over cellular. The security chip was never touched.
Estimated losses: $86โ103M. CryptoBilis halted sales; Trezor and OneKey both cut ties with the reseller. Ledger is now looking beyond CryptoBilis โ a user named Johannes found similar implants in two devices bought at MediaMarkt stores in Europe, CoinDesk reports.
Ledger has sold over 8 million wallets. How many passed through the wrong hands is the question that now matters most.
Cointelegraph
The whole point of a hardware wallet is keeping your keys off the internet. Someone found that amusing.
Ledger's security team confirmed that devices sold by CryptoBilis โ an authorized reseller in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines โ contained hidden implants with an embedded SIM and LTE radio. During setup, each implant read the 24-word recovery phrase off the screen and transmitted it over cellular. The security chip was never touched.
Estimated losses: $86โ103M. CryptoBilis halted sales; Trezor and OneKey both cut ties with the reseller. Ledger is now looking beyond CryptoBilis โ a user named Johannes found similar implants in two devices bought at MediaMarkt stores in Europe, CoinDesk reports.
Ledger has sold over 8 million wallets. How many passed through the wrong hands is the question that now matters most.
Cointelegraph
โค2๐ฑ2
๐ Goodbye, Walter White Jr.
RJ Mitte, who played Walter White's son across all five seasons of *Breaking Bad*, has died at 34. His death has been confirmed as suicide.
Cranston's tribute landed quietly and hard:
Like his character, Mitte genuinely had the condition. After the show he became president of the Mitte Foundation and an advocate for disabled performers in Hollywood. He and Cranston had been texting just weeks ago, making plans for lunch.
If you or someone you know is struggling: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline โ call or text 988.
Variety
RJ Mitte, who played Walter White's son across all five seasons of *Breaking Bad*, has died at 34. His death has been confirmed as suicide.
Cranston's tribute landed quietly and hard:
"He never โ ever โ allowed cerebral palsy to be an excuse for anything. I'll miss you, son."
Like his character, Mitte genuinely had the condition. After the show he became president of the Mitte Foundation and an advocate for disabled performers in Hollywood. He and Cranston had been texting just weeks ago, making plans for lunch.
If you or someone you know is struggling: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline โ call or text 988.
Variety
โค4๐2
๐ค Epic's new rule: the AI writes, humans supervise
Epic Games and Disney announced a $1.5 billion partnership in early 2024 โ a Marvel-and-Star-Wars-themed shooter due in March 2027. That release now has no date at all.
The reason: a hard pivot to "AI first" development. Bloomberg obtained internal messages describing it without much poetry: "no more hand-written code," art assets "generated with full AI workflows." Models like Anthropic's
CEO Tim Sweeney moved quickly to frame it as ambition, not cuts โ the goal, he wrote, is to build more and better, not the same things with fewer people. Which is exactly what every announcement like this has said for the past three years.
The Disney shooter waits. Nobody knows for how long.
Ars Technica
Epic Games and Disney announced a $1.5 billion partnership in early 2024 โ a Marvel-and-Star-Wars-themed shooter due in March 2027. That release now has no date at all.
The reason: a hard pivot to "AI first" development. Bloomberg obtained internal messages describing it without much poetry: "no more hand-written code," art assets "generated with full AI workflows." Models like Anthropic's
Claude do the coding and the visuals; human developers steer and review.CEO Tim Sweeney moved quickly to frame it as ambition, not cuts โ the goal, he wrote, is to build more and better, not the same things with fewer people. Which is exactly what every announcement like this has said for the past three years.
The Disney shooter waits. Nobody knows for how long.
Ars Technica
โค5
๐ Apple's smart home era, take two
The original HomePod underwhelmed, Siri lagged, plans kept slipping. On Tuesday Apple announced HomeView โ a
๐ธ A cuboid HomePod with a screen, counter or wall mount.
๐ธ 7-inch display, FaceTime camera, mics and speakers in the base.
๐ธ Updated Siri recognises family members by face and shifts the interface automatically.
Amazon and Google have owned this space for years. Apple arrives late but with the deepest ecosystem โ and Bloomberg says a robotic-arm version is already in the works. The humble cube has ambitions.
Pre-orders open today; ships November 13 in four colors.
TechCrunch
The original HomePod underwhelmed, Siri lagged, plans kept slipping. On Tuesday Apple announced HomeView โ a
$299 smart display that feels like a genuine second attempt.๐ธ A cuboid HomePod with a screen, counter or wall mount.
๐ธ 7-inch display, FaceTime camera, mics and speakers in the base.
๐ธ Updated Siri recognises family members by face and shifts the interface automatically.
Amazon and Google have owned this space for years. Apple arrives late but with the deepest ecosystem โ and Bloomberg says a robotic-arm version is already in the works. The humble cube has ambitions.
Pre-orders open today; ships November 13 in four colors.
TechCrunch
โค3
๐ Daily Recap ยท Oct 15
๐ Your car is quietly feeding Pinterest your VIN
๐ก Authorized Ledger reseller shipped wallets with hidden implants
๐ RJ Mitte, Breaking Bad's Walter Jr., dies at 34
๐ค Epic goes AI-first and loses its own release date
๐ Apple's HomeView is the HomePod redemption arc nobody expected
Send this to whoever had back-to-back meetings all day โ they missed a lot
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
๐ Your car is quietly feeding Pinterest your VIN
๐ก Authorized Ledger reseller shipped wallets with hidden implants
๐ RJ Mitte, Breaking Bad's Walter Jr., dies at 34
๐ค Epic goes AI-first and loses its own release date
๐ Apple's HomeView is the HomePod redemption arc nobody expected
Send this to whoever had back-to-back meetings all day โ they missed a lot
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
โค4
๐ฎ GTA 6 is one month out โ and the world is already calling in sick
Economists put a hard number on it: $1 billion in lost productivity during launch week alone.
Car tuning shop Burger Motorsports is closing on November 19 โ staff claimed the day before management could react. Australia's government issued official PSAs on citizens' rights to take time off for the release. The U.S. Army offered soldiers four days leave upon re-enlistment, timed to launch week.
Thirteen years between entries. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19. Keith Richards on the soundtrack, Lana Del Rey hosting a radio station โ and a PC version rumoured for Q1 2027, per IGN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq76pQsI1iw
Economists put a hard number on it: $1 billion in lost productivity during launch week alone.
Car tuning shop Burger Motorsports is closing on November 19 โ staff claimed the day before management could react. Australia's government issued official PSAs on citizens' rights to take time off for the release. The U.S. Army offered soldiers four days leave upon re-enlistment, timed to launch week.
Thirteen years between entries. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19. Keith Richards on the soundtrack, Lana Del Rey hosting a radio station โ and a PC version rumoured for Q1 2027, per IGN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq76pQsI1iw
YouTube
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look Coming August 27
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look will premiere on Netflix Thursday, August 27 at 3 p.m. ET and will also launch on the official Rockstar Games YouTube channel and the Grand Theft Auto VI site at 9 p.m. ET on August 27.
https://netflix.com/GTAVI
Grandโฆ
https://netflix.com/GTAVI
Grandโฆ
โค7
๐ก You paid full price. Do you actually own it?
Digital games have run on a quiet trick for years: you pay, but get a *license* โ valid until the publisher decides otherwise.
Rep. Ritchie Torres of the Bronx introduced the Power To The Players Act, which would direct the FTC to guarantee real ownership โ not a license โ and require an offline mode before any server shutdown.
A similar bill is already moving in Pennsylvania. The industry hasn't commented โ perhaps still workshopping how to explain that $70 was never really a purchase.
The Verge
Digital games have run on a quiet trick for years: you pay, but get a *license* โ valid until the publisher decides otherwise.
NBA 2K25 is the freshest example: 2K delists it this month, servers go dark December 31st.Rep. Ritchie Torres of the Bronx introduced the Power To The Players Act, which would direct the FTC to guarantee real ownership โ not a license โ and require an offline mode before any server shutdown.
"A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale."
A similar bill is already moving in Pennsylvania. The industry hasn't commented โ perhaps still workshopping how to explain that $70 was never really a purchase.
The Verge
๐6โค2๐1
๐ค Arrested for standing in a robot's way
Carolyn Marvin had made a habit of it: whenever she spotted one of Uber's sidewalk delivery robots rolling through downtown Philadelphia, she stepped in front of it and held her ground. This time, police showed up and asked her to move. She didn't. She left in handcuffs, charged with disorderly conduct.
Her explanation, on camera: "I know they're taking the jobs of human delivery workers โ so I protest them whenever I see them."
The robots have become a regular fixture in Center City, and so has the friction around them. Earlier this year, someone simply kicked one over. Marvin's approach was, at least, more principled.
The debate over automation and lower-skill jobs is everywhere right now โ just apparently not in the rooms where anything gets decided. Via ABC13.
The Verge
Carolyn Marvin had made a habit of it: whenever she spotted one of Uber's sidewalk delivery robots rolling through downtown Philadelphia, she stepped in front of it and held her ground. This time, police showed up and asked her to move. She didn't. She left in handcuffs, charged with disorderly conduct.
Her explanation, on camera: "I know they're taking the jobs of human delivery workers โ so I protest them whenever I see them."
The robots have become a regular fixture in Center City, and so has the friction around them. Earlier this year, someone simply kicked one over. Marvin's approach was, at least, more principled.
The debate over automation and lower-skill jobs is everywhere right now โ just apparently not in the rooms where anything gets decided. Via ABC13.
The Verge
โค8๐1
๐ธ Bangkok's safe harbour, closing in
Thai police arrested a 37-year-old Chinese national in Bangkok, wanted at home for running international money-laundering operations. Investigators say his network moved $75 million across 133+ accounts through crypto and foreign-currency exchanges โ and, as a bonus, handled visa arrangements for fellow criminals.
His escape plan: forged documents and swapped licence plates. Police found him in a luxury house anyway. His Thai visa had expired three years ago.
The arrest comes amid a broader crackdown โ in June, Coinbase froze $3M in crypto as part of a DOJ-led operation where Meta, Microsoft and Starlink ended up alongside regional police. That's quite a guest list for a crime bulletin, per Khaosod English.
Cointelegraph
Thai police arrested a 37-year-old Chinese national in Bangkok, wanted at home for running international money-laundering operations. Investigators say his network moved $75 million across 133+ accounts through crypto and foreign-currency exchanges โ and, as a bonus, handled visa arrangements for fellow criminals.
His escape plan: forged documents and swapped licence plates. Police found him in a luxury house anyway. His Thai visa had expired three years ago.
The arrest comes amid a broader crackdown โ in June, Coinbase froze $3M in crypto as part of a DOJ-led operation where Meta, Microsoft and Starlink ended up alongside regional police. That's quite a guest list for a crime bulletin, per Khaosod English.
Cointelegraph
โค4
๐ฌ The Coens are thinking about going home
Eight years since their last film together, Joel and Ethan Coen floated a reunion at Lyon's Lumiรจre Festival: a return to Minneapolis, where they shot *Fargo* and *A Serious Man*.
The push came from Frances McDormand, who asked from the stage for the unofficial trilogy to be finished. "I think Fran wants to see it," Joel said.
The hold-ups: one script was written for an actor who has since died; another is so dated they'd open it with *"Sometime during the Obama administration"*; a third they can't locate on the computer.
Reunion in progress. Approximately.
Via Variety.
Eight years since their last film together, Joel and Ethan Coen floated a reunion at Lyon's Lumiรจre Festival: a return to Minneapolis, where they shot *Fargo* and *A Serious Man*.
The push came from Frances McDormand, who asked from the stage for the unofficial trilogy to be finished. "I think Fran wants to see it," Joel said.
The hold-ups: one script was written for an actor who has since died; another is so dated they'd open it with *"Sometime during the Obama administration"*; a third they can't locate on the computer.
Reunion in progress. Approximately.
Via Variety.
โค3
๐ป MacBook Pro gets a touchscreen โ a decade after "that's not how it works"
Apple held the line longer than anyone: while rivals slapped touch panels on everything, Cupertino insisted poking a laptop screen was ergonomically wrong. That conviction, it turns out, has an expiry date.
Bloomberg reports the first touchscreen MacBook Pro could arrive November 6th. The rumour consensus is unusually tight, and macOS 27 betas have already surfaced pull-to-refresh and enlarged menu targets. Purely coincidental, surely.
The spec sheet: Tandem OLED ร la iPad Pro, a slightly smaller Dynamic Island (no Face ID),
Apple has clearly been thinking about this longer than it was willing to admit.
9to5Mac
Apple held the line longer than anyone: while rivals slapped touch panels on everything, Cupertino insisted poking a laptop screen was ergonomically wrong. That conviction, it turns out, has an expiry date.
Bloomberg reports the first touchscreen MacBook Pro could arrive November 6th. The rumour consensus is unusually tight, and macOS 27 betas have already surfaced pull-to-refresh and enlarged menu targets. Purely coincidental, surely.
The spec sheet: Tandem OLED ร la iPad Pro, a slightly smaller Dynamic Island (no Face ID),
M5 Pro / M5 Max chips โ M6 skipped to fast-track M7 โ and a chassis Bloomberg calls "significantly lighter." No base model until spring.Apple has clearly been thinking about this longer than it was willing to admit.
9to5Mac
โค8
๐ธ Steam Deck OLED is $789 โ but there's a more interesting option
Lenovo's Legion Go S running SteamOS is currently $999.99 at Best Buy โ and for that extra $200 over the base Steam Deck, you get a lot: an 8-inch IPS display at 1080p/120Hz versus the Deck's 800p/90Hz, double the RAM and storage (
Here's the quiet paradox: Lenovo also sells a version of this same device with the newer
The
The Verge tested multiple configurations with full benchmarks โ worth a look before you decide.
Lenovo's Legion Go S running SteamOS is currently $999.99 at Best Buy โ and for that extra $200 over the base Steam Deck, you get a lot: an 8-inch IPS display at 1080p/120Hz versus the Deck's 800p/90Hz, double the RAM and storage (
32GB / 1TB), two-stage triggers, and a Ryzen Z1 Extreme under the hood.Here's the quiet paradox: Lenovo also sells a version of this same device with the newer
Ryzen Z2 Go chip โ but the Z2 Go is actually slower than the Z1 Extreme. Sometimes "newer" just means "different".The
ROG Ally X20 with its OLED and Z2 Extreme beats it on raw power, but that'll run you $1,299.99 โ $300 more. The Legion Go S sits exactly in between: not a flagship, but not a budget compromise either.The Verge tested multiple configurations with full benchmarks โ worth a look before you decide.
๐3โค1