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October 2021

October. The tenth month in the year, although the name looks like it is something to do with the number eight. Rather than every fortnight, The Thirsty Robot is now going to publish the summary every month, although this one is very late!

So, here's some of what you may have missed in October's online meetings at The Thirsty Robot:

Technology

Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

Data Breaches (or Leaks)

At the start of October, the not-very-surprising news was that another InterWeb giant had lost some user data. You will excuse us if we aren't astonished by this news. This time it was Twitch, and once again, it barely made any headlines anywhere. It seems that nowadays the theft of personal information by organised crime is just regarded as inevitable and therefore should be acceptable and expected, and so we shouldn't get upset about it. Instead it seems that we should all just let the bad guys do it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58809169

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58817658

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58829604


What made this more interesting was that it was not just user names, passwords, and credit card details. instead this was important company confidential information like the source code for the service and the earnings of the top streamers who use the platform. So, the sort of thing that should be headline news, and the Police should be all over it. I will leave a space here for links to both of these actions... [ ... ]


The order of the news stories is interesting. The first is a story about how new Ofcom rules might affect Twitch and Tik-Tok - from 2020. Then there is the report of how Twitch had lost data, and then Twitch admitted that data had been lost. One site that tracks data breaches all the time is PortSwigger.net. It's a very busy site!


So who do you tell about breaches? The authorities!: ICO, Action Fraud. 


Over time, based on the current rate at which this type of story disappears from news servers, it seems very likely that this type of news story will not even be reported as news. Presumably, companies will fail and disappear without comment, and the problem will, for all intents and purposes, appear to have gone away - even though it hasn't at all. It's an 'interesting' way to deal with crime - although there are lots of other words which could replace 'interesting'. 


Unwanted Telephone Calls


For some time, a ringing land-line has meant two things:
1. It's a phonecall from someone you want to receive a call from
2. It's a scam from someone who intends to rip you off

For almost as long, the standard answer to 'Why don't they do something about this?' has been:

Signalling System Number 7 is too easy to get access to...

The scale of the problem: BBC Article

Ways to stop spam/fake/nuisance calls:



Things that Ofcom is doing to try and stop fake calls:



Is it Lego, or is it Real?


Lego continues to make astonishing strides towards recreating real-world objects. Often, the photos look like...well, photos!


Adidias trainers


Fender Stratocaster guitar


Typewriter


World Map


It needs to be pointed out that you can't actually wear the trainers, or play the guitar, and the typewriter doesn't actually type properly. But there again, how many athletes, guitar players, and typists come to The Thirsty Robot? (The World Map is, of course, a map of the world!)


...and, unrelated...


https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/hogwarts-icons-collectors-edition-76391



The Glass Sky


It was bound to happen eventually. Sky, despite their name strongly hinting at the satellite data delivery mechanism, were always going to go broadband in the end. But, in an unexpected twist, it wasn't another Sky Box release that dropped the satellite, but a TV with built-in set-top box - the Sky Glass.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58828822


Now, try as we did, the online denizens were unable to figure out any clever play on words other than: 'Spyglass', and that didn't feel worthy of the marketing department of a huge media company. So either it is just a victim of the pandemic putting people alone at home for long periods of time, where they didn't get the group-think impetus for good brainstorming, or there's a really smart reason that totally evaded us. 


The days of the set-top box may, or may not, be numbered, but it will be interesting to see what happens to all of the satellite TV delivery systems across the globe... 


The Night Sky


Whilst thinking about the Sky, then there can be lots to look at, but how do you find out what?


https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide/


Zoom


"On Zoom: Nerds hide behind icons and pictures; Normals reveal themselves via video!"


And in other news...


Looking forwards instead of upwards, have you noticed the new BBC logo? The letter inside those white boxes are smaller, and the font is different (The BBC's own 'Reith' typeface instead of the old classic 'Gill Sans', if you were asking.)


https://www.newscaststudio.com/2021/10/21/bbc-rebranding-2021/


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58970323  


For some reason, whenever a logo changes, the media always describe it as a 'controversy'... 


https://www.creativebloq.com/news/bbc-logo-controversy


The 2021 Logo


The 1997-2021 Logo

The previous change - obviously colour wasn't a special feature any longer...

Given the trend for 'simple' logos at the moment, we couldn't help wondering why the BBC didn't go down the BT route... There are several ways it could be done... (And if you ever thought that the ratio between the width of the circle and the text didn't matter, then look at how these mock-ups 'feel' wrong!


Whilst we are thinking about logos, here's the new one for the MIDI Association, the standards body for the digital communication between musical instruments, which was released in February 2021...



https://www.midi.org/midi-articles/pentagram-designs-the-new-midi-logo

And the October 2021 logo for Meta, the umbrella company above Google, Instagram, Nest...


But it could be worse...

(There are already quite a lot of companies called 'Meta', as it happens... and the 'infinity' sign is a popular logo...)







It seems that Mark Zuckerberg has chosen well... Meta-well, maybe...


There again, sometimes you are the first to invent something, and the world goes and rewards the people in second place instead...


Photo by Matt Diosdado on Unsplash

Caramel

Go on, admit it. You've secretly always wanted to know what makes caramel taste like caramel, haven't you? 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/030881469190148H


What Air-gap?

If it carries data, then you can be sure that someone will find a way to get at that data...

https://thehackernews.com/2021/10/creating-wireless-signals-with-ethernet.html


Secure Application Development, and Security in General...

Do you want highly recommended, intensive, application security training? 

https://secappdev.org/index.html

Why is the telephone system not secure?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_System_No._7

Useful hacking tool...

https://www.kali.org/tools/dirbuster/


https://wiki.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_DirBuster_Project


ISTN Talk on The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr8Q-1UHR3Q


A simple and straightforward answer to a question, maybe...


https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/14280/how-does-team-viewer-establish-a-remote-desktop-connection


Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash

The Next Big Thing...

Attendees who are more than a couple of decades older will remember the many times that Augmented Reality has been touted as 'The Next Big Thing'... Well, it is happening yet again, yet again. Just like every other time, this time it really IS going to be the Next Big Thing. 

https://ar-js-org.github.io/AR.js-Docs/

We would use the metaphor: 'like a stuck record', but we suspect that, nowadays, very few people would know what a 'Stuck Record' is... 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

Do not read 'Burning Chrome' by William Gibson...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson

Films to not watch... (from 1975)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawnmower_Man_(film)

So that's back to 1975, and whatever you do, do not read anything by Philip K Dick... (in fact, avoid any science fiction), and don't put a headset on - they are so 1970s! (That's 50 years ago!)

---

Whilst we are talking about how things turn out, have you noticed that Unsplash (as predicted here on Thursday, the 27th of May, 2021) now features commercial iStock photos first, and you have to scroll downwards to get to the free UnSplash photos. Sometimes the future is absolutely predictable...

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Media

Trailer for 'Lost In Space - the Final Season' [Will be streaming on Netflix in the UK in December 2021]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwBJv5A-bA0

Apparently, this might be the final season...


Kill Counts [This topic reinvents itself every few years... See also 'The Next Big Thing' above...]

https://the-dead-meat.fandom.com/wiki/Highest_Kill_Count_Records


Science Communicators

[If you want to know, then these people already do!] 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1kMZp36IQSyNx_9h4mpCg

https://www.youtube.com/c/veritasium (Caution: sometimes sells out for money)

https://www.youtube.com/c/whatdamath


https://www.youtube.com/c/TomScottGo


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEIwxahdLz7bap-VDs9h35A


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burke_(science_historian)



Madame Blanc [Streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15499118/


Our best is behind us...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark


The Lone Gunmen [Doesn't seem to be streaming in the UK at the moment...]

(A spinoff from The X-Files...)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Gunmen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Gunmen_(TV_series)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lone-Gunmen-Complete-DVD/dp/B000BTIPIE [DVD Box-set]


Familiar (and slightly famous) voice actor voices...

The voice is familiar...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hayter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_North


Chaos Walking [Streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK]

In fantasy, the rule is: 'Only change one thing...' Oops! 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2076822/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B091BH535L


Twin Peaks [Streaming on Sky, Amazon Prime, Apple TV]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks


Note that there is the 1990 original phenomenon (one of the first 'Event TV programmes'), as well as the 2017 additional TV series...



The Laundromat [Currently streaming on Netflix in the UK]


https://www.netflix.com/title/80994011



Inside Job [There are currently two different 'Inside Job's on Netflix in the UK. This is a documentary]


https://www.netflix.com/title/70139555


and this is an animation:


https://www.netflix.com/title/80995819


Both are very good!



The Mule [Currently streaming on Netflix in the UK]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mule_(2018_film)


No donkeys!



Gran Torino [Currently streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK]


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/



Lightning [a new Pixar movie about Buzz]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH-hhWuoxWw



Dune [Scene breakdown in a lot of depth. Minor spoilers...]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVboe-maygo



Deadpool meets Fast & Furious, via Wonder Woman


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPsOXImNcQg



The Ongoing Search for a Good Video Game Movie...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._(film)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat_(2021_film)


https://www.imdb.com/find?q=imdb+street+fighter&ref_=nv_sr_sm



Music

Metal Family Tree [If heavy metal music was a family...]

https://trickledown.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/hmngp9.jpg

Opinions vary...

https://hewgill.com/~greg/definitive-metal-family-tree.png

And then there are the other genres...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoner_rock


The end of music as we know it...

https://openai.com/blog/jukebox/


Famous but not to you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(group)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(TV_network)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_North

(Hang on, one of these is a TV channel! And one is a voice actor!)





Food

(Ok, so not a very regular topic, but here goes anyway...)

UK vs USA McDonalds portions, calorific values, etc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMaW6TamNAc

[Nothing to see here. Move on...]


Owls

(Hey, this isn't regular either!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Owls


Things you don't need to know

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-wine-glass/


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A lot of discussion happens at The Thirsty Robot. This blog is an edited, biased summary of just a small fraction of the conversation, links/URLs and references that were mentioned. It is an imperfect record and is definitely not complete - for that you should visit The Thirsty Robot!

---

Things have changed. From now onwards, the next online meeting at The Thirsty Robot is on a Thursday...

If you want to meet real people in the real world, then try this: Ipswich-Tech-Drinkabout




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