Pebble, the social network formerly known as T2, is shutting down

The post-Twitter social scene just got a little simpler with the announced closure of Pebble, the social network formerly known as T2.

The app maxed out at 3,000 daily active users and 20,000 registered users, but fell to 1,000 daily users after changing the name from T2, according to TechCrunch.

The service closes November 1, according to Mashable. 

I was one of those daily users, and felt like the interface improved a bit after the re-branding. But, in general, I think fewer is better when it comes to social networks. 


What to know about new generative AI tools for criminals

ChatGPT and other mainstream LLMs sparked a revolution in generative AI this year. But their safeguards against misuse left an opening for alternative LLMs designed specifically to boost cyberattacks. Tools like WormGPT and FraudGPT emerged on the dark web, offering AI-powered capabilities to automate phishing, gather intelligence on victims, and generate malware. These tools make it easier for unsophisticated hackers to launch attacks by generating persuasive phishing emails or custom malware code. Here's my article on SecurityIntelligence telling you all you need to know. 

On the limits of AirTagged luggage

Placing AirTags in luggage gives you a sense of control -- a false sense of control, it turns out. 

We flew Sunday and Monday from San Francisco to Dallas, Dallas to Madrid, then Madrid to Marrakech. We booked all flights through American Airlines, but the final two legs were served by the Spanish airline, Iberia. 

American transferred our four bags in Dallas, but Iberia loaded only three of them, leaving one in Dallas. I know this because I have an AirTag in each of our suitcases.

When we called Iberia, they gave us a 900 number to call, and implied that it was an Iberian number. When we called, we learned that it was in fact the general number number for American Airlines, which has no access to our luggage.

We we called again, Iberia told us that there's nothing they can do; we all have to wait for the airport, somehow. When we offered to tell them exactly where in DFW Terminal D the luggage is, they had no interest, as they have no intention of doing anything about our lost luggage.

And so our AirTags give up up-to-the-minute reports on exactly where our luggage is, the knowledge is useless. It's in the control of Iberian Airlines, which has no intention of delivering our luggage. 


High tide in Venice

The "normal" high tide in Venice is actually higher than some sidewalks. 

MIKE'S LIST: AI companies shift the blame for data collection from them to you

OpenAI today said its new web crawler, called GPTBot, can now be blocked using the old robots.txt file standard or by blocking its IP address. If website owners choose to use one of these methods, OpenAI won’t extract data from your site and bake it into ChatGPT.

Meanwhile, video conferencing giant Zoom quietly changed its Terms of Service in March saying that it reserves the right to use your data to train its AI. Zoom users agree to the Terms of Service or can’t use Zoom.

What these moves have in common is that, while they sound like protective benefits for the public, in fact they shift the burden of responsibility for data collection from the data grabber to the data owner.

It’s time to break the ChatGPT habit and start discovering the new world of powerful alternatives

ChatGPT is the first artificial intelligence (AI) brand to go mainstream and it was the fastest-growing tech product ever. The brand returns more than three million results on Google News Search. Late-night TV talk show hosts mention ChatGPT by name — and their audiences know what they’re talking about.

In business and tech circles, as among the general public, ChatGPT is synonymous with Large Language Model (LLM)-based chatbots. But it's time to stop obsessing over ChatGPT and start discovering the world of powerful alternatives in this new world.

What are fake ransomware attacks and how do you deal with them?

Experts say we’re currently undergoing a new wave of fake extortion attempts — attackers pretending that they stole or encrypted data and demanding ransoms — and it’s likely to continue. Fake attacks have the advantage for scammers of being vastly faster and easier and therefore can be committed at a massive scale by scammers without skills. Because of the ease of this attack, cybersecurity experts expect it to exist indefinitely. 

Here's how to spot these fake attacks without wasting time or money. 

Apple’s Vision Pro means business. Here's how we know.

Simply by announcing Vision Pro, Apple is already changing the market. Google, for example, has reportedly canceled its Iris AR/VR product plans because (according to rumor) Apple’s product is just too good to compete with. That product was positioned in the press as a successor to Google Glass Enterprise Edition, which itself was recently canceled.

Meanwhile, other AR/VR glasses makers are getting a boost because Apple is making the market believe in the future of spacial computing.

But when the hardware gets real next year, and the software starts to emerge, that’s when the real change begins.

I had to run from teargas last night in Paris

I even inhaled a tiny bit (my throat was raw for a couple hours). 

Our group of five decided to check out the Champs Élysées at around one in the morning. 

Huge numbers of young people in their teens and twenties were just waiting for something to start, and riot police were everywhere. The tension was clear. So we decided to go one block away and try to make it back to the Metro in the other direction on a street mostly parallel with a Champs Élysées. 

Suddenly, as we were crossing an intersection, a huge crowd of people was running away in our direction, followed by a huge rolling cloud of tear gas. It looked nasty to breathe, and we didn’t know what people are running from, exactly. So we ran a bit too, made it to the Metro station, but it had been closed.

Before running, I stopped to take a video, but my wife urged me to run instead. Later, I found a half second video shot accidentally showing nothing, really. This image above is from that video.

Apple Vision Pro: Here come the apps!

It’s on!

Apple yesterday released the first beta version of the software that powers its $3,499 Apple Vision Pro platform, called visionOS, plus their visionOS software development kit.

Apple also rolled out a simulator. So we’ll get to see pictures and videos of Vision Pro apps online well before the hardware ships. (Here’s what it’s like to use the simulator.)

Videos showing third-party apps are also emerging, including this visionOS game.

We also learned more about what Apple is thinking and planning.

Here's a bit of American cultural influence nobody expects: Everybody loves Native American Dream Catchers

In my travels, I've noticed something that I haven't seen anyone comment on before: Different people around the world love and emulate Native American "dream catchers." 

I have a friend in Morocco, who's an artist, and 100% of his art is making "dream catchers" -- hoops that hold a kind of net, adorned with sacred items (like feathers or beads or other objects). 

Dream catchers originated with Anishinaabe peoples (a broad group of Native American people who occupied the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States, including the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississaugas, Nipissing and Algonquin peoples.

And now I'm seeing dream catchers all over the town of Carpentras, France (a big town in Provence), and I'm thinking about the global cultural influence of Native Americans, and feeling quite moved by it. 

Ghost sign in Carpentras, France, in Provence

This looks to be an agricultural supply store from a bygone era. I can't make out all the words, but the sign looks to advertise fertilizer, grains or seeds, copper (presumably for vineyards), sulfur and insecticide.

GPS coordinates: 44.0594218, 5.0487891

Why do some companies (like MailChimp) get hacked again and again?

MailChimp suffered a data breach last year after cyber attackers exploited an internal company tool to gain access to customer accounts. The criminals were able to look at around 300 accounts and exfiltrate data on 102 customers. They also accessed some customers’ AIP keys, which would have enabled them to send email campaigns posing as those customers.

Six months later, it happened again. As before, an intruder accessed internal tools to compromise data on 133 MailChimp accounts. The breach was made possible by a social engineering attack on employees and contractors to gain access to employee passwords.

The experience of getting attacked more than once in a similar manner as a previous attack isn’t rare. In fact, it’s very common. Here's why it happens.