Police in Southern California are warning residents about QR codes that are being attached to parking meters and directing unsuspecting people to a website that has nothing to do with actually paying the local governments. The official companies that handle payments in the area are known by names like ParkMobile and PayByPhone, but the QR codes direct people to impersonation websites that are often just one letter off.
https://gizmodo.com/stop-scanning-random-qr-codes-2000492837
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering several different options after a federal judge ruled last week that Google has an illegal monopoly over internet search. The most drastic option, according to a report from Bloomberg, would include breaking up the company, though other options would include forcing Google to share data with its rivals or paying large fines.
https://gizmodo.com/doj-considering-breaking-up-google-after-monopoly-ruling-report-2000486766
An analysis of work posted on a popular art-sharing website finds that users who adopted generative artificial intelligence tools increased their output, but saw a drop in novelty.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2423087-artists-who-use-ai-are-more-productive-but-less-original/
As explained by Mayer, the app aims to help people easily create and share photos of trips, parties, or hangouts with friends. Shine does this by creating shared albums, to which you and others can add photos in their original resolution. If you’re too lazy to go through the photos you’ve taken to decide which ones you want to upload, you can turn on the app’s AI-powered “Manual Mode.”
https://gizmodo.com/marissa-mayer-new-app-shine-photo-sharing-yahoo-design-1851368662
In this particular case, the toothbrush botnet was thought to have been vulnerable due to its Java-based OS. No particular toothbrush brand was mentioned in the source report. Normally, the toothbrushes would have used their connectivity for tracking and improving user oral hygiene habits, but after a malware infection, these toothbrushes were press-ganged into a botnet.
https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/three-million-malware-infected-smart-toothbrushes-used-in-swiss-ddos-attacks-botnet-causes-millions-of-euros-in-damages
A video on TikTok has accused Wacom of using AI-generated images in their latest New Year’s advertisement. The images show different Chinese dragon-inspired illustrations. The quality of the images is, at best, a bit shonky. One of the dragons has a tail that doesn’t quite attach to its body. Another has some pretty bizarre-looking teeth. Or are they hair? I actually can’t tell, that’s how bad it is!
https://www.diyphotography.net/did-wacom-use-ai-generated-images-in-their-latest-ad/
Despite sounding like a parody, Wehead, from a company of the same name, appears to be a serious product. It was previously billed as a 'spatial video' device to allow '3D video calls'. With that having failed to grab the world's imagination, the device has now been repurposed as a face for AI in the form of a 'ChatGPT edition'.
https://www.creativebloq.com/news/chatgpt-face-wehead