Google has awarded $112,500 (roughly Rs. 71,83,300) to a security researcher for exposing a security flaw in Google Pixel smartphones. Guang Gong, in August 2017 submitted an exploit chain through the Android Security Rewards (ASR) programme. It was the first working remote exploit chain since the search giant has expanded the ASR program. Gong was awarded $105,000 (roughly Rs. 67,04,40), which Google claims is the highest reward in the ASR programme’s history. Additionally, she was awarded $7,500 (roughly Rs. 4,78,900) under the Chrome Rewards program as well. The technical details of the exploit were revealed by Google on its Android Developer’s blog on Wednesday.…
Author: Loknath Das
HIGHLIGHTS Wushu Studios consists of developers on Driveclub and MotorStorm Its debut effort is not a racing game Instead, it’s based in the sci-fi genre Driveclub and MotorStorm have been two of Sony’s most influential racing franchises in recent memory, outside of Gran Turismo. The developers behind them have banded together to form a new game studio called Wushu Studios. Some of its talent consists ofstudio founder Alan McDermott (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation), design director Nigel Kershaw (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation, Deep Silver, Revolution Software), and art director Stuart Trevor (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation). Surprisingly, Wushu Studios’ first effort will not be a racing…
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah gestures after a delivery in the second Test match against South Africa© BCCI Pacer Jasprit Bumrah feels that the second Test hangs in the balance despite South Africa taking a 118-run lead in the second innings with eight wickets in hand. “The game is still in balance if we get early wickets on Tuesday. The match can be in anybody’s favour. We will look to create pressure on Tuesday as well. I think the game is still in balance right now,” said Bumrah after stumps on day three. Bumrah bowled a sensational first spell and removed both Aiden Markram…
It was a good chance for Yuki Bhambri to improve his record at the Australian Open© AFP Yuki Bhambri struggled to rein in his unforced errors and played well only in patches as his third Australian Open appearance ended with a straight-set first-round defeat at the hands of a seasoned Marcos Baghdatis on Monday. The 25-year-old Indian qualifier ranked 122, had his chances against world number 103 Cypriot, but unforced errors cost him the match 6-7(4) 4-6 3-6 after two hours and nine minutes on court number eight. Bhambri is yet to win a round in the main draw of a…
On Ordinary Superstar, a track from her self-titled mini-album, Rina Sawayama imagines what it is like to be a famous vlogger, “so far removed from who you really are”. It is just one example of the way that the rising pop star, who has another track called Cyber Stockholm Syndrome, prods our perma-connected culture. True to her lyrics, when we meet for a morning coffee near her home in south London, she puts her phone into airplane mode straight away. “I’m very strict about that,” she says emphatically. “When I’m with someone, the phone is fucking off. There have been…
Once again, Mark Zuckerberg shook up the world last week when he announced Facebook will change its algorithm to promote more personal content rather than news. Soon after my inbox was flooded with headlines like: “Facebook Shares Fall”, “Facebook Is Changing” “Zuckerburg’s Net Worth Has Just Taken A 2.9 Billion Dollar Hit.” Since obsessing about Zuckerburg’s net worth has never yielded positive results for me, I instead called over our Social Media Strategist, Thomas Drew, to discuss the current social media environment. Our conclusion was this: What’s bad for businesses is good for Influencers. With new regulations on data (see GDPR) and less material…
Canadian planemaker Bombardier is ready to finance 80 percent of Iran’s order to buy 10 commercial aircrafts, Financial Tribune daily reported on Tuesday. Bombardier has obtained the license from the U.S. Treasury’s Office for Foreign Assets Control to sell 10 brand-new CRJ-900 NextGen regional jets to Iran and is ready to finance 80 percent of the order, the CEO and Chairman of Qeshm Investment and Development Company told the daily. “The remaining 20 percent would be funded by Iran’s Qeshm Free Area,” Reza Baqerinejad said without providing further details about the total value of the contract. The planemaker has submitted…
The new education secretary, Damian Hinds, is an unknown quantity for most teachers and parents, but we do know he is a grammar-educated former strategy consultant who would like to see an “elite” selective school in every town and reportedly said that only “mums” can really make a difference to children’s learning in the early years.The controversial removal of the comprehensive-educated Justine Greening and her replacement by Hinds makes sense only if you believe, as I do, that the prime minister is preparing for another election based on the same key commitments as last time. Yes, even though they didn’t go down hugely well with the electorate. It was…
Following last summer’s series of attacks on universities, the Commons Education Committee is looking at value for money in higher education, and the Treasury Committee has an enquiry on student loans. Although the current funding system has increased the number of young students entering higher education, including from disadvantaged backgrounds, which is very much to be welcomed, it has also led to a catastrophic fall in the number of mature and part-time students which is a source of grave concern. At the same time, politicians of all stripes are realising that the harsh cuts the further education sector has suffered – between 2009 and 2015 colleges dealt with…
When 32-year-old German teacher and academic book author Bahar Aslan took to Twitter last week to accuse authorities of not doing enough to investigate an alleged xenophobic murder potentially committed by police officers, she hardly assumed that in doing so she would soon be accused of having broken the law, too. After all, freedom of speech is enshrined in the German Constitution. But her tweet soon disappeared, and Aslan says Twitter later messaged her saying that she had violated Germany’s hate crime law. Aslan was not alone. She and hundreds of other affected social media users have voiced criticism and concerns about censorship over the controversial new…