### Issue 1810 - Wednesday 22nd March, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Bug in Pixel phones and Windows Snipping Tool allow cropped images to be "uncropped"
- Amazon closing down legendary photography community & review site DPReview
- AI powered Google Bard, Bing Image Creator and Adobe Firefly all launched today
- TikTok isn't the problem, the data industrial complex we've allowed to metastasise is the problem
- Cheap Square credit card terminal, Apple Watch, GL.iNet portable router, 1080p portable monitor, Valve Complete Pack, Pluralsight Premium, 118GB Intel Optane SSD

## The News

### Bug in Pixel phones and Windows Snipping Tool allow cropped images to be "uncropped"

We have entered the Acropalypse - a range of bugs that allow someone to "uncrop" images that have been cropped, potentially revealing information not intended to be seen. It started off with the work of security researchers Simon Aarons and David Buchanan who discovered this flaw in images cropped on Pixel smartphones. Inspired by that work, Chris Blume realised Windows Snipping Tool has the same problem if you overwrite the un-cropped original with the cropped version. The way it works on the Pixel devices and the Windows Snipping Tool aren't exactly the same, but both has untruncated data in the image that when restored, provides enough information for the original image to be reconstructed. Nothing is sacred, folks.

### Amazon closing down legendary photography community & review site DPReview

Amazon owned (yeah, I didn't know Amazon owned them either) photography website and community, DPReview, is closing down April 10th after 25 years of providing some of the internet's most comprehensive reviews of camera gear. DPReview also had more than just great reviews, there's a huge database of digital cameras that I've used regularly to compare specs, a massive forum filled with expertise, and test images from a wide range of cameras. I don't know how DPReview was going financially, but it's sad to see an institution like DPReview end up as collateral damage of Amazon's financial pants pissing. Couldn't they spin it out as an independent business or sell it to a media company instead?

### AI powered Google Bard, Bing Image Creator and Adobe Firefly all launched today

It's AI-day at the world's biggest technology businesses! (again):

- Google unleashed Bard on the general public. It's basically Bing, but by Google and using Google's LaMDA LLM instead of a Microsoft tweaked version of Open AI's GPT-4. I would normally write here about my experience using it, but for some reason Google thinks Australia isn't ready to handle Bard. The USA and UK are, but not Australia. You'll have to read the New York Time's take on Bard instead.
- Microsoft's given Bing's chatbot thingy the ability to make images now. It's called Bing Image Creator and is "powered by an advanced version of the DALL∙E model from our partners at OpenAI". According to Microsoft, "by typing in a description of an image, providing additional context like location or activity, and choosing an art style, Image Creator will generate an image from your own imagination. It's like your creative copilot". Go try it out at https://bing.com/create
- Adobe has also entered the AI image generator game with Firefly. There's two bits to it - an image generator that makes pictures like DALL-E or Midjourney and a stylised text generator that The Verge describes as "AI-powered WordArt". Adobe used its own training model and claims it made sure to feed it images "out of copyright, licensed for training, or in the Adobe Stock library". Firefly is still invite only. You can sign up here if you're keen.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### TikTok isn't the problem, the data industrial complex we've allowed to metastasise is the problem

There's loads of noise out there about banning TikTok, but this post on TechDirt is a great explanation of why taking all our anger out on TikTok is misguided and futile. The problem isn't necessarily TikTok, but all the apps and services and platforms that indiscriminately suck up data, sell it to nefarious brokers who then package it up into neat little bundles for sale while turning a blind eye to what is being done with that data. By singling out TikTok, the government has acknowledged data collection is a problem - address the issue properly and regulate all data collection and brokerage services, not just the Chinese ones.

## Bargains

- Square credit card reader - $39 from Square
- Apple Watch Series 7 45mm green - $498 from JB Hi-Fi
- GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 OpenWRT portable wi-fi router - $156.75 from Amazon
- 15.6" 1080p IPS portable USB-C monitor - $107 from Aliexpress
- Valve Complete Pack for PC (most Valve games in a single bundle) - $15.46 on Steam
- Pluralsight Premium Skills Subscription - USD$224/yr
- 118GB Intel Optane P1600X PCIe Gen 3 NVMe M.2 2280 3D XPoint SSD - $185 from Newegg

## Image Of The Day

create an image featuring the north melbourne kangaroos AFL team winning the premiership at the MCG surrounded by confetti and happy players with the trophy (Bing Image Creator)

## The End

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