Issue 1843 - Thursday 11th May, 2023

In Today's Issue

The News

Google I/O 2023, AI rules everything around me

Google's annual I/O conference begun today. Lots of stuff, mostly AI adjacent announcements. Here's some highlights of what I thought was interesting:

FBI takes down huge Russian state sponsored malware platform, Snake

I've never heard of the Snake malware, but the FBI and US Justice Department is very proud of having "dismantled a global network of malware-infected computers that the Russian government has used for nearly two decades to conduct cyber-espionage, including against our NATO allies". Snake was operated by a group called "Turla", a "unit within Center 16 of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation" and according to the FBI is "among the most sophisticated pieces of malware ever found". Apparently the FBI developed something called PERSEUS that hacked Snake, impersonated Turla and issued commands to "effectively, and permanently, disable it". Sounds like a big deal.

YouTube testing ad blocker bans, Pakistan turns off the internet, MSI got hacked really bad, Microsoft buys fusion energy for 2028, Vietnam to make ID verification mandatory for social media

Something I Saw On The Internet

Dell's 6K monitor is nice, but expensive at US$3199

Dell's U3224KB 32" 6K monitor is finally on sale. In the USA only. For US$3,199. That's close to $5,000 in dollarydoos once you add on GST and the usual markup. Dell does put their monitors on sale often, but even after a 20% discount, you're looking at a $3,500 to $4,000 monitor. A very nice monitor and cheaper than the Apple XDR display, but still very expensive and way more than Apple's Studio Display that can be had for around $2,000 regularly if you wait for a JB Hi-Fi sale and do the gift card dance. Anyone know what's happening with Samsung's 5K display that they were hyping up around the same time Dell announced the U3224KB earlier this year?

Bargains

Image Of The Day

Everything Is Easy, the world's largest internet cafe, opens on Times Square with 800 computers in New York, United States on November 28, 2000 - Internet access for $1, 800 state-of-the-art PCs with flat screens and high-speed fiber optic communications lines. 18,300 sq.ft. of space. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. (Getty Images)

The End

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