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The Untold Story of Cyberattack NotPetya

Andrew Orr ·

So far NotPetya has been the worst cyberattack in history, and now we’ve got the untold story behind it.

On a normal day, these servers push out routine updates—bug fixes, security patches, new features—to a piece of accounting software called M.E.Doc, which is more or less Ukraine’s equivalent of TurboTax or Quicken. It’s used by nearly anyone who files taxes or does business in the country.

But for a moment in 2017, those machines served as ground zero for the most devastating cyberattack since the invention of the internet—an attack that began, at least, as an assault on one nation by another.

Psst! *whispers* That nation was Russia.

TMO Deals

The Very Clever Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus): $92.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

Check out the Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus), a device I would have linked to in a Cool Stuff Found article if we didn’t have a deal for it. It’s a camera grip that fits most iPhones, and it does that in a very clever way. Rather than matching physical buttons or even using a wireless connection for camera controls, this device emits high frequency sounds you can’t hear, but that the free companion app can. That allows you to control all manner of camera settings on your iPhone while using very little power. And you can 15% on the Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus) through us and get it for $92.99.

Intel Power Gadget Monitors Your Mac’s Energy Usage
Cool Stuff Found

Intel Power Gadget Monitors Your Mac's Energy Usage

Andrew Orr ·

Traditional methods to estimate power/energy usage of the processor has always been a cumbersome task that included special purpose tools or instrumentation on the platform along with third party equipment. Intel Power Gadget is supported on Windows and macOS and includes an application, driver, and libraries to monitor and estimate real-time processor package power information in watts using the energy counters in the processor. In version 3.0 there are more features that include estimation of power on multi-socket systems as well as externally callable APIs to extract power information within sections of code.

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Advertising is Obsolete. Let's Kill It With Fire

Andrew Orr ·

Advertising is obsolete, so let’s kill it with fire. Ramsi Woodcock of the University of Kentucky writes that if the only justification for advertising is that it informs, then it’s obsolete now.

Imagine a world wiped clean of advertising of all kinds…Would you still be able to find all the information you could ever want about products in this alternative world? Of course you would. Your friends, family and the host of complete strangers you follow on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and half a dozen other sites would continue to bombard you with information about their lives, including all the products they are using.

That argument make sense to me. However, he continues to write that advertising has another use: manipulation.

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Apple Lands Rights to 'Losing Earth' Climate Change Series

Jeff Gamet ·

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change is an epic New York Times Magazine article, and now it’s going to be an Apple television series. Apple bought the rights to the 30,000 word article. The series is produced by Anonymous Content, and the article’s author, Nathaniel Rich, will be involved. From the New York Times:

The “Losing Earth” article recounted how, from 1979 to 1989, a small group of American scientists, activists and politicians tried to save the world from the ravages of climate change before it was too late. The article was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center and was based on more than 18 months of reporting and over 100 interviews.

Climate change is a big topic, and rightly so. It’s good to see Apple interested in more than just entertainment shows for its original TV content lineup.