Technology

Proprietary password manager and cybersecurity firm NordPass has just published its 2021 study of the world’s top 200 most common passwords, and the results are just what you’d think. Taking the top place in the U.S. is none other than “123456,” a sequence of six digits that might explain why America has the most leaked passwords per capita across the globe. In second place is the obvious “password,” and the rest of the top 10 slots are filled with varying versions of the two, such as “123456789” and “password1.” Interestingly enough, those across the pond also have an affinity to those same six numbers, with “123456” also being the most common password in the U.K., followed by “password” once again, a more local “liverpool,” “password1” and “123456789” rounding out the top five. Other not...

In the case of the BitConnect Ponzi scheme that has allegedly cheated many people across the U.S. out of more than $2 billion USD worth of Bitcoin, the U.S. Justice Department is selling the $56 million USD worth of cryptocurrency it seized in the scam. This September, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued BitConnect and its founder Satish Kumbhani and leade promoter of the company in the U.S. Glenn Arcaro for disregarding the fact that “BitConnect did not deploy investor funds for trading with its purported Trading Bot.” According to the SEC, “BitConnect and Kumbhani siphoned investors’ funds off for their own benefit, and their associates’ benefit, by transferring those funds to digital wallet addresses controlled by Kumbhani, Arcaro, other promoters, including the Arcaro Promoters...

Since TikTok came to the forefront of social media, viral challenges have contributed significantly to the app’s popularity, often spreading like wildfire especially among younger users. While some of these challenges are harmless and can drive engagement, the company is now looking to curb ones that are more dangerous along with toxic hoaxes. In a new survey of more than 10,000 teenage users, parents and teachers across numerous countries including the U.S. and U.K., TikTok found that 31 percent of teens have participated in some form of online challenge before. Although 48% of those users said that the challenge was completely safe and harmless, 32% said that their experience involved a little risk, and 14% actually described their challenge as risky or flat-out dangerous. 3% even called...

Haptics company HaptX claims Meta (formerly Facebook) copied its patented designs in a glove that the tech giant revealed yesterday. HaptX — a longtime player in the virtual and augmented reality industry — says parts of the glove appear “substantively identical” to its own work using pneumatics to simulate physical touch. “We welcome interest and competition in the field of microfluidic haptics; however, competition must be fair for the industry to thrive,” said HaptX founder and CEO Jake Rubin in a statement. “While we have not yet heard from Meta, we look forward to working with them to reach a fair and equitable arrangement that addresses our concerns and enables them to incorporate our innovative technology into their future consumer products.” The Meta glove is an in-progress design ...

Say you want to buy an early printing of the US Constitution, but you’ve only got a couple of bucks. Normally, you’d be out of luck, but maybe not today: over the last week, a collective has formed to raise enough money to buy a rare early printing of the Constitution at auction, raising money from anyone who wants to chip in online. The document is expected to sell at Sotheby’s for as high as $20 million — what would seem to be an insurmountable price for a crowdfunding initiative. And yet, somehow, the collective has raised $27 million to date. And they still have more than 24 hours to go. There’s a lot going on here, so I’m just going to break it down piece by piece: The document being purchased is one of 13 remaining copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution, a final draft cre...

Say you want to buy an early printing of the US Constitution, but you’ve only got a couple of bucks. Normally, you’d be out of luck, but maybe not today: over the last week, a collective has formed to raise enough money to buy a rare early printing of the Constitution at auction, raising money from anyone who wants to chip in online. The document is expected to sell at Sotheby’s for as high as $20 million — what would seem to be an insurmountable price for a crowdfunding initiative. And yet, somehow, the collective has raised $27 million to date. And they still have more than 24 hours to go. There’s a lot going on here, so I’m just going to break it down piece by piece: The document being purchased is one of 13 remaining copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution, a final draft cre...

Here are some facts. Mattel promoted a new toy Barbie car on Wednesday by showing off a full-size mockup at the 2021 LA Auto Show. The mockup was, according to Roadshow, based on an all-electric Fiat 500e. Not long after, Mattel’s stock pared back early-morning losses and finished the day’s trading slightly in the green. Now, are those things related? Probably not. But weirder things have happened, especially lately. Hertz announced a deal with Tesla and hired Tom Brady to make commercials, and then Elon Musk said the deal wasn’t done. Rivian passed every automaker in market cap except for Toyota and Tesla despite only shipping a few electric pickup trucks. Startups like Faraday Future, Canoo, and Lordstown Motors have collectively raised billions of dollars even though they won’t sell car...

Here are some facts. Mattel promoted a new toy Barbie car on Wednesday by showing off a full-size mockup at the 2021 LA Auto Show. The mockup was, according to Roadshow, based on an all-electric Fiat 500e. Not long after, Mattel’s stock pared back early-morning losses and finished the day’s trading slightly in the green. Now, are those things related? Probably not. But weirder things have happened, especially lately. Hertz announced a deal with Tesla and hired Tom Brady to make commercials, and then Elon Musk said the deal wasn’t done. Rivian passed every automaker in market cap except for Toyota and Tesla despite only shipping a few electric pickup trucks. Startups like Faraday Future, Canoo, and Lordstown Motors have collectively raised billions of dollars even though they won’t sell car...

The Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin has once again gone off track because of basic technology problems: Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys today requested a mistrial because prosecutors sent them a drone video via email, which compressed the video in size. This is after earlier arguments about what pinch-to-zoom does or does not do, and the judge struggling with the screenshot features on his Galaxy S20. Rittenhouse faces five felony charges for shooting three men and killing two of them last year during a protest in Kenosha. CNN reports the motion for a mistrial is focused on when and how defense attorneys received a copy of a drone video showing the shootings that was shown to the jury in open court. Rittenhouse’s lawyers say they only received a copy of the drone video on Nove...

Streamlabs has promised to remove “OBS” from the name of its livestreaming software, Streamlabs OBS, following backlash from streamers and the open-source livestreaming platform OBS Studio. OBS Studio says it asked Streamlabs not to use its name, which stands for “Open Broadcaster Software,” only to have the company do so anyway. Streamlabs has also been accused of copying the website of another broadcasting software, with all the drama hashed out on Twitter. The controversy started when Lightstream, another livestreaming app maker, tweeted out screenshots of its website right beside Streamlabs’, saying, “Hey, can I copy your homework?” suggesting that Streamlabs copied Lightstream. Stu Grubbs, the CEO of Lightstream, later retweeted the image, stating, “The team at @streamlabs should be a...

Cher Scarlett, an Apple engineer who helped organize pay equity surveys and anti-harassment / discrimination campaigns at the company, will be leaving the company and requesting the withdrawal of a complaint she made to the National Labor Relations Board (or NLRB), according to a report from Bloomberg. The software engineer announced on Twitter that Friday would be her last day at Apple. Scarlett’s lawyers told The Verge that she had reached a private settlement with the company, but she declined to provide details about the terms when asked by Bloomberg. Scarlett is leaving voluntarily, according to Bloomberg, unlike some other organizers who were fired from the company after speaking out. During her time at Apple, she was reportedly accused of leaking information to the press by other em...