If you use Google Photos, and you used the Google Takeout data download/backup service, you may want to pay attention closely to this warning sent by email today from Google to users.

Whoa, what? @googlephotos? pic.twitter.com/2cZsABz1xb

 Jon Oberheide (@jonoberheide) February 4, 2020

From 9to5google.com:

With Google Takeout, you can download your data from Google apps as a backup or for use with another service. Unfortunately, a brief issue with the tool last November saw your videos in Google Photos possibly get exported to strangers’ archives.

Google this evening began alerting Takeout users about the “technical issue.” From November 21-25, 2019, those that requested backups could have had videos in Google Photos “incorrectly exported to unrelated users’ archives.”

In requesting a backup, some of your videos — but not pictures — might be visible to random users that were also downloading their data through Google Takeout. The company did not specify what media was affected beyond “one or more videos in your Google Photos account was affected by this issue.”

Read more: Some Google Photos videos in ‘Takeout’ backups were sent to strangers last November [Abner Li, 9to5google.com, via techmeme.com]

Still think that dumb Google superbowl ad is great? The company sent private videos stored in Google Photos to strangers. https://t.co/h2DIvseyFs

 Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 4, 2020

This seems wildly insufficient, Google. At minimum, people should be informed exactly what videos of theirs were accidently provided to other users. https://t.co/wuDrsSJDrB

 Dieter Bohn (@backlon) February 4, 2020

Google has revealed it accidentally sent private videos in Google Photos to strangers.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/04/data.html

"Rubik Mona Lisa" (2005) by legendary French street artist Invader, is expected to sell for around $166,000 at a forthcoming auction. Made from more than 300 Rubik's Cubes, it's the centerpiece of Artcurial's "Urban Art" sale taking place on February 23. Invader first experimented with what he calls Rubikcubism in 2004 and has since created many other works including iconic videogame characters and representations of classical paintings by Alain Jacquet and Gustave Courbet. Invader writes:

Rubikcubism is similar to Op Art. To view a piece, you have to stand back from it. Close up, the image is nothing but a mass of cubes and colours, it’s only when you stand back that the face emerges. The further away you stand, the clearer it becomes. Two years ago, I displayed a Mona Lisa in the window of a gallery in Lyon. From the gallery entrance, the image was invisible. Overly pixelated. It was only when you stood on the pavement opposite that Mona Lisa’s features appeared. Faces become recognisable or amorphous, depending on the position of the viewer.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/04/rubiks-cube-mona-lisa-artwor.html

“In this day and age, you can trace everyone’s movements with big data,” Li Lanjuan, an adviser to the National Health Commission, said in an interview with state television.

Government officials in China are using big data to track the location and movement of people who are known to be infected with the Wuhan coronavirus, officially known as Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the Chinese government's “unprecedented effort to track the fast-spreading virus, which has infected more than 20,000 people and killed at least 425 around the world” as of today:

China has built a formidable digital-surveillance system in recent years, linking facial recognition, security cameras and social-media monitoring with regular human surveillance. The aim is to keep tabs on its 1.4 billion citizens, chiefly to identify and prevent threats to social order and Communist Party control.

The country’s state-run media has celebrated the application of the authorities’ big-data tracking abilities in the campaign to control the disease outbreak, touting it as an example of the social benefits of technology.

Shizhu county in Chongqing, in southwestern China, said it used unspecified data to track more than 5,500 people arriving for the Lunar New Year holiday from Hubei province. Roughly half were placed under home quarantine, according to a report in the Communist Party-run Chongqing Daily newspaper.

In Zhejiang province, not far from Nanjing, authorities dealing with one patient who denied having contact with anyone in Wuhan were able to use data analysis to show he had interacted with three others from the city, China Central Television reported last week.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/04/china-is-using-big-data-to-tra.html

Over at The Startup on Medium, David Laws, semiconductor curator at the wonderful Computer History Museum, has prepared a fascinating guide to Silicon Valley's "high-tech heritage trail exploring places that housed the early stirrings of the digital revolution." Covering the "30-mile corridor from Stanford University to the former IBM disk-drive campus," Laws visits dozens of historical locations in the area including the spot where in 1908 Cyril Elwell demonstrated wireless telephony, the Stanford Research Park where Russel and Sigurd Varian invented the klystron microwave tube in 1937, and the location of Fairchild Semiconductor, fabricators of the first "monolithic integrated circuit (computer chip)" in 1960. Here are a few other great stops on the tour:

Apple and Steve Jobs, the most famous beneficiaries of Xerox innovations, borrowed the Alto’s GUI, mouse, and other features to differentiate the Macintosh from the rest of the early PC pack. Together with Steve Wozniak, Jobs co-founded Apple Computer and built the Apple 1 in his parents’ suburban tract home... at 2066 Crist Drive, Los Altos. Private residence, do not disturb...

Mountain View

Scientists and engineers fabricated the first silicon devices in the Valley at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in a former apricot packing shed at 391 San Antonio Road, Mountain View in 1956. Razed in 2014 for a multi-use commercial development, the lab site is commemorated with an IEEE Milestone plaque, an interpretive panel, and towering semiconductor device sculptures mounted in the sidewalk. (photo above)...

South Valley

Known as Andy Capp’s Tavern in 1972, Rooster T.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/04/a-guide-to-silicon-valleys.html

For the owner of an anxious dog, coming home to a stray poop or a shredded pillow after a long day at work may be annoying, but that’s actually on the low end of potential problems. Some dogs get so upset by the boredom, loneliness and stress of being on their own that they end up doing some real damage, like demolishing rooms or chomping their way through wooden doors and even drywall as a way of expressing their upset feelings.

These dogs need to chill. Relax My Dog is a streaming service that can lay the mellow all over even the most keyed-up pooches. Right now, a two-year subscription to this doggie pacifier is available for $39.99, over half off the regular price.

Before you laugh, this is not some fly-by-night money grab. Backed by over seven years of research, Relax My Dog has actually proven to help 87 percent of its canine viewers, accounting for more than 10 million dogs in over 100 countries.

Just stream it to your home TV or connected iOS or Android device and the steady unlimited stream of looped content video and music will help put any dog of virtually any breed at ease. Also as with humans, not all music works for all situations, which is why you’ll find playlists tailored to specific canine demographics or incidents, like music for puppies, for grooming time, for combatting loud noises and fireworks, or just music for sleeping and general relaxation.

A Relax My Dog 2-year subscription is usually $84, but with the current deal, it’s available now for just $39.99 Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/if-youve-got-a-crazed-canin.html

The US government provides federal funds to states to help with disaster relief. This much hasn't changed under the Trump administration. In fact, in 2018, Ben Carson's Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a new program rewarding $28 billion dollars in financial support relating to natural disasters.

Curiously, that press release was taken down a few days after the New York Times reported on it — specifically, on its favoritism towards red states that still won't formally admit that climate change exists:

The money is distributed according to a formula benefiting states most affected by disasters in 2015, 2016 and 2017. That formula favors Republican-leaning states along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, which were hit particularly hard during that period.

Texas is in line for more than $4 billion, the most of any state. The next largest sums go to Louisiana ($1.2 billion), Florida ($633 million), North Carolina ($168 million) and South Carolina ($158 million), all of which voted Republican in the 2016 presidential election.

The other states getting funding are West Virginia, Missouri, Georgia and California, the only state getting money that voted Democratic in the presidential race of 2016.

Of course, these states have to submit proposals explaining why they need these funds. According to the Times, the proposal from Texas refers to things like “changing coastal conditions,” while South Carolina says that three major storms in four years have caused “destabilizing effects and unpredictability.” But none of them actually, explicitly mention climate change — except for Louisiana, in an appendix reference on the final page. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/republicans-get-billions-of-do.html

Artist and scholar on DIY culture and technology, Garnet Hertz, has a new piece opening up at York University, Gales Gallery, Toronto tonight. The piece, entitled "Experiments in Surveillance Capitalism: Device for Calling the Department of Homeland Security" is part of the exhibition "Disruptive Design & Digital Fabrication."

This system uses custom electronics to programmatically speak search terms into a seance-like ring of a dozen Google Home smart speakers. The system searches for controversial search terms that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are reported to monitor. The idea is that these "red flag" keyword Google searches will attract the attention of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, or CSIS. This system plays with the fear that individuals have about privacy with contemporary smart devices. Related to this, in Canada there have been recent concerns about Huawei's ties to the Chinese government in regard to 5G network infrastructure — but it is worth also considering how companies like Google collect, synthesize, and sell our private information.

Here is the concept art for a larger version of the piece. The image above is of the scaled-down version which is part of the Gales Gallery show opening tonight.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/garnet-hertzs-experiments.html

Nothing says "I love you" more than a greeting card featuring a indefatigable, tube-crawling plumber with a shroom-habit. Get this Hallmark Nintendo Super Mario Valentine's Day Card for Significant Other on Amazon for just . Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/super-mario-valentines-day-c.html

We’ve all got our hands full. And we’re not talking about tight schedules, full task lists and other assorted day-to-day hassles of life here. No, we’re talking literally. With keys, papers, purses, and wallets, devices like smartphones, cameras, laptops and tablets, not to mention all that hyper-specific stuff each of us needs every day, our hands are absolutely, completely, 100-percent chock full all the time.

Thankfully, Incase probably already has a bag tailored to even your highly individualized utility belt of necessities. We’ve assembled the full roster of Incase bags and backpacks they’ve got on sale now at up to 74 percent off so you can find the one that speaks to your jam-packed life.

Incase Drone & Camera Bags - $49.99 (Originally $199.95)

Did you know there are bags with special compartments made just for drones? Incase’s Drone Collection bag features padded spots for your flying robot, your assorted cameras, and controllers, even a cushioned back panel to store a 15-inch MacBook to keep all your drone gear or photography equipment in one highly mobile place.

Incase Camera Pro Pack - $99.99 (Originally $219.95)

Camera lenses ain’t cheap — and this spacious 21-inch durable 840D abrasion-resistant nylon camera bag has room to keep a full-frame DSLR with an attached lens cozy and protected. Of course, it also features loads of extra pockets for memory cards and all the other attachments a true photog needs.

Incase DSLR Sling Pack (Navy or Anthracite) - $57.95 (Originally $89.95)

Sling packs are perfect for more compact, on-the-go needs. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/check-out-these-14-backpacks.html

Australia sits on a fast-moving tectonic plate and is drifting north several inches a year. As its GPS coordinates haven't been updated since 1994, the discrepancy has grown to six feet and has begun causing trouble. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the continent's location is being fixed.

On January 1, the Victorian and NSW governments updated the coordinates of every road, property and geographical feature in their states, essentially moving the south-eastern seaboard 1.8 metres north-east overnight. Official government road maps and property boundaries will now line up perfectly with GPS location data.

“The real importance with data is it all lines up. Roads, people's property boundaries all line up,” says Ms Underwood. It will take some time for companies like Google to pick up and implement the new data. But when they do, you will enjoy slightly more accurate satellite navigation.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/australias-location-correcte.html

43-year-old Shakira and 50-year-old Jennifer Lopez at the Super Bowl from r/Celebhub

I learned that an important sportsball event took place in the United States yesterday. Apparently the game was interrupted with a song-and-dance routine that many people found pleasant. However, some people took umbrage at the choice of entertainment, including William Franklin Graham III, the Christian evangelist, missionary and trufan of the pussy-grabber in chief. Graham posted the following statement on Facebook:

In response, a mother of a 13-year-old boy shared Graham's sentiments:

Then another person weighed in:

When Graham's and the others' comments were posted to Twitter, several people commiserated with the mother.

  Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/socially-conservative-mom-says.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/high-school-drummer-plays-porn.html

It costs $1 in bitcoin to receive an in-game life on the SatoshiQuest Minecraft server. From there, you can start looking for bitcoin treasure (equal to 90% of the money collected from all the players) hidden within the blocky simulated world.

From Coindesk:

The first round of SatoshiQuest began on Jan. 26 and the game resets once treasure has been found. The server checks the bitcoin spot price every 15 minutes, automatically updating the participation fee to keep it at $1.

The project is open source, with the code available on GitHub.

Ninety percent of total game fees go towards the treasury address, with the remaining 10 percent going towards developer costs. After finding the treasure, winners receive 85 percent of the balance, while the remaining 5 percent is kept the wallet until the next round. The reward is only paid out if the treasury wallet balance exceeds the transaction fee.

[via Super Punch]

Image by allinonemovie from Pixabay Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/satoshiquest-is-a-game-where-p.html

This is the Tubmarine, a wood-burning hot tub. According to the company, the tub takes less than two hours to heat up and comfortably seats four adults. It's built from sustainably-sourced Kebony timber, 80% recycled stainless steel, and outfitted with a Kirami wood-fired water heater from Finland. The starting price is lb15,450.00 (US$20,070). If you prefer a classic 1970s style tub though, Kirami has those for sale at around $4,000.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/this-wood-fired-hot-tub-is-20.html

I'm really loving these old clips from The Dick Cavett Show on YouTube. Here's a 5-minute clip of Paul Simon telling Cavett about his music making process, his involvement in The Graduate, and how he wrote "Mrs. Robinson."

This is as good a time as any to share a theory about The Graduate that my late friend Mike Vodneck told me his high school teacher had about why Mrs. Robinson was willing to destroy her marriage to keep Ben from dating her daughter, Elaine. It's because Ben and Elaine were half-siblings. Try watching the movie with that in mind and see how it holds up. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/paul-simon-explains-his-song.html

This undated photo provided by the Wilson Country Sheriff’s Office shows Spencer Alan Boston. Authorities in Tennessee say Boston lit a cannabis cigarette in court while expressing his views on marijuana legalization. News outlets report Boston, 20, was arrested Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, and charged with disorderly conduct and simple possession after blazing a fattie in the courtroom. (Wilson Country Sheriff’s Office)

A gentleman in Lebanon, Tennessee man fired up a marijuana cigarette in the courtroom, authorities said, and for some reason, his situation did not improve.

From apnews.com:

Spencer Alan Boston, 20, was arrested Monday and charged with disorderly conduct and simple possession after sparking up in the courtroom, news outlets reported.

Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan said Boston was in court Monday on a simple drug possession charge. Boston approached the bench to discuss his sentence but instead expressed his views on legalizing marijuana.

Boston reached in his pocket, pulled out a marijuana cigarette, lit it, smoked it and was immediately taken into custody, Bryan said.

No word on whether the dude was smoking just weed, or weed mixed with tobacco, but we can all agree on one thing: poor guy is not smoking with a full pipe, if you catch my drift.

More: Sheriff: Man stirs the pot by lighting joint in court [apnews.com] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/man-lights-up-marijuana-joint.html

At at least 20 worshippers were killed in a stampede at a prosperity gospel church service in Tanzania on Sunday when the pastor told the thousands in attendance to come forward to get anointed with blessed miracle oil that solves all problems, reports The Telegraph. After the deadly incident, the pastor attempted to flee the country but was arrested before he could escape.

Pastor Boniface Mwamposa had been drawing huge crowds by promising prosperity and cures for diseases to worshippers who step in what he calls "blessed oil" during his services.

He was arrested on Sunday in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, as he attempted to flee the country, home affairs minister George Simbachawene said on Sunday.

"Mwamposa tried to flee after this incident, but we arrested him in Dar es Salaam ... he will be held accountable for causing this tragedy," the minister said.

According to the minister, the stampede took place after the pastor instructed worshippers, who numbered some 10,000, to rush to one side of the stadium all at once to get anointed.

Who else thinks that Pastor Mwamposa will say the people died because they lacked faith?

Image: YouTube/Kenya Citizen TV Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/20-worshippers-trampled-to-dea.html

“Spring will be early, it’s a certainty.”

Punxsutawney Phil said it on Sunday, gotta be true.

From The Associated Press:

At sunrise on Groundhog Day, members of Punxsutawney Phil’s top hat-wearing inner circle revealed the cuddly oracle’s prediction — his 134th, according to the Pennsylvania Tourism Office. Awoken by the crowd’s chants of “Phil!” the groundhog was hoisted in the air for the assembly to hail before making his decision. He then grasped the glove of a handler as a member of his inner circle announced that spring would come early this year.

The annual event has its origin in a German legend that says if a furry rodent casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter continues. If not, spring comes early. In reality, Phil’s prediction is decided ahead of time by the group on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney. That’s about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

More: Pennsylvania groundhog declares early spring 'a certainty' Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/early-spring-a-certainty.html

You've seen This Cat Does Not Exist, now behold Hopefully This Cat Does Not Exist, whereby the failings of generative adversarial networks become their horrifying strengths.

I'm a big fan of the ones where GANs try to write meme captions and ends up with this ... abyssal syllabary. AI text generation naturally focuses on creating readable phrases, but training it on the appearance of text is where the cold magic springs.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/hopefully-this-cat-does-not-ex.html

• Coronavirus, which WHO declared a global health emergency, threatens to disrupt Chinese manufacturing

The deadly virus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China continues to spread and claim lives around the world. At this time, still, the vast majority of infected patients and deaths are in mainland China, Hubei province.

The epidemic is also impacting business, finance, and technology production in China.

Apple's iPhone production relies in part on a Foxconn factory that has been shut down by the Chinese government.

If the halt is extended, Reuters reports today, this could impact iPhone production, availability, and sales.

Foxconn has so far sustained a “fairly small impact” from the outbreak, because the company shifted load to other factories in Vietnam, India and Mexico to fill the gap.

Excerpt:

In Eastern China’s Suzhou, one of its largest manufacturing hubs, companies have been told to stay shut until at least Feb. 8 and in Shanghai until Feb. 9. Factories in the southern manufacturing hub of Dongguan in export-oriented Guangdong province have also been told not to open before Feb. 10 (...)

The source said a halt beyond Feb. 10 could disrupt Foxconn’s shipments, highlighting concerns about production hubs in the southern province of Guangdong and the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province where key iPhone plants are located.

“What we are worried about is delays for another week or even another month. The impact would be big,” the source said. “It definitely will have an impact on the Apple production line.”

“The tricky question is whether we will be able to resume production (on Feb.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/03/china-virus-outbreak-may-impac.html