Free Games

• Twitch

  • Yono and the Celestial Elephants

    • 2017
    • Zelda-like action adventure game where you play as a young elephant tasked to save a world he’s never seen before, and explore the rich history of a kingdom where humans, zombies and robots live side by side.

• Epic Games

  • For The King

    • 2017
    • Strategic RPG with tabletop and roguelike elements and attractive polygonal visuals. Each playthrough is unique with procedural maps, quests, and events. Single player, local, or online co-op.

There’s a nasty wave of Nintendo account hijackings, and it’s mainly thanks to legacy accounts

• There have been a lot of reports of Nintendo account takeovers over the last few weeks, some even within hours of account owners resetting their passwords, and it’s all thanks to the old Nintendo Network ID system
• Long before Nintendo introduced the current account system for the Switch and their website, they used the NNID for things like the WiiU and 3DS
  • Because of the antiquated touch screens on these devices, people often used simpler, less secure passwords
  • Unfortunately if you linked that NNID to your Nintendo Account, anyone that gets access to the older and less secure account gets right in to your whole system and can change information or spend money from your linked payment credentials however they please
  • The worst part is, when Nintendo notifies you of a new login and prompts you to change your password if it wasn’t you, there’s no mention of the NNID at all. It only gets you to reset your Nintendo account’s password instead
• Your best bet is to go to account.nintendo.com, unlink your NNID by clicking Edit beside Linked Accounts, and then going to ‘Sign-in and security settings’ and setting up 2-Step Verification

Nintendo is releasing their final major Super Mario Maker 2 update this week, introducing the World Maker

• The World Maker will let you make full world maps with a coherent set of levels, just like the main series, so you can share an entire course with people around the world instead of having levels be their own individual set-pieces
  • The world maps can use all the familiar elements like bridges, hills, custom course icons, and a bunch of other cosmetic options, but they are locked to a 7×4 grid so we won’t be seeing an entire Super Mario World recreation any time soon
• You can even link up to 8 worlds together into an entire game with up to 40 different courses, and you can even hide bonus levels like the slot-machine matching game from Super Mario 3
• The update also introduces the Koopalings as new boss characters with slightly different capabilities, giving more variation from the usual Boom Booms and Bowsers you would see previously
• Other additions include an SMB2 mushroom that lets you pick up enemies, the SMB3 frog suit, the Super Mario World Power Balloon, the New SMB U Super Acorn, the 3D World Boomerang Flower, and the cursed key, as well as a bunch of new helmets

It turns out Telus’s Babylon Health app could be even worse for Alberta than we thought last week

• The Alberta privacy commissioner is investigating the “virtual walk-in clinic” that is currently having visits paid for by Alberta Health
• Normally privacy impact assessments are run on this kind of thing to make sure they’re safe and abiding by all applicable laws, but in this case the app was launched before any kind of assessment could be run
• Privacy Commissioner Jill Clayton says there’s no timeline for the investigation, and her office says it could take a year or more, but in the meantime she’s encouraging anyone with concerns to remain opted out of using it in the meantime
• One piece I wasn’t aware of when we reported on it last week is that, according to the terms and conditions, “video recording of patient visits is copied and stored on Babylon’s servers, and that the video may be shared with corporate partners and entities outside of Canada, including foreign governments.”
  • Which is pretty bonkers when you consider any of the health information privacy laws in Canada

Apple and Google are butting heads with European governments over privacy concerns and COVID-19 contact tracing apps

• Many organizations around the world are working to create easy ways to see if you’ve been in contact with someone who later tests positive for COVID-19
• We talked last week about the two tech companies developing a standard that would allow contact tracing to run in the background and, most importantly, stay local to your device and never actually send information to any computers
  • Otherwise the privacy implications would be just ridiculous, allowing anyone with access to track locations and contact with impunity
• Part of that work is also limiting any apps that do want to centralize information and take it off your device- any contact tracing apps that don’t adhere to the specific API won’t be able to access Bluetooth in the background, requiring the app be open and the phone unlocked
• The UK’s health service apparently wasn’t aware of Apple and Google’s project before it was announced, and so the app that they’ve been developing will be directly affected by those limitations unless they rework it to match the new requirements
• Similar issues have been seen in Singapore’s contact tracing app, TraceTogether, which currently requires the user to leave their phone unlocked to work properly. This has led to a three-star rating on the App Store and only being installed by 12% of the country’s population
• France has actually come out and directly asked Apple to remove the limitation, saying that it’s delaying the launch of their government’s contact tracing app originally slated for May 11.
  • Apple declined to comment on the story, pointing toward previous statements about their multi-platform venture with Google, but France and the European Union are pushing for data to be sent to a central server managed by state health services
• The Apple/Google joint API was originally announced to go live in May, but Tim Cook has apparently given the EU a version 1 release date of April 28th. Time will tell if governments can work within those restrictions to make the privacy of their citizens as much a priority as their health

Oculus Quest review

• It just feels so dang good
• The visuals are solid, and it’s so easy to pick up and play it solves my main complaint about the PSVR
  • No wires!!
• Make sure you adjust the head strap properly
• Bought battery counterweight and knuckle grips, but haven’t arrived yet
• Controllers are great with a surprising amount of finger tracking, hand tracking is neat but not mainstream yet
• Sidequest is a must-have
  • Lots of games and apps that aren’t available on the Oculus store for whatever reason
  • Plus mods and additions for things like Beat Saber and VR Desktop
• Games
  • Ironlights- backed on Kickstarter
    • Lots of fun but a little rigid
  • Beat Saber
    • Still excellent, plus custom songs are amazing
  • Pistol Whip
    • So much fun! Beat Saber meets John Wick
  • Pavlov
    • Crazy accurate military shooter
  • Tea For God
    • Redirected walking at its peak
  • Virtual Desktop
    • All my SteamVR games, wireless
  • Lambda1 VR
    • The original Half-Life in full roomscale VR, with upgraded textures to boot
    • https://www.lambda1vr.com/

Samsung is offering free repairs to frontline workers

• Samsung is doing a bit to help in these strange times
  • First responders and healthcare professionals are offered free repairs
    • Like: cracked screens or battery replacements
  • Offer is for the people who Samsung calls ‘Local Heroes’, which includes:
    • doctors
    • nurses
    • hospital workers
    • EMTs
    • police officers
    • and firefighters
  • If you have a valid ID for one of these careers, you are eligible for a free repair
    • Through June 30, 2020 while supplies last and terms and conditions apply
  • Once you get into the process, the limitations become more clear
    • Only one per “Local Hero”
    • Repair cost cannot exceed $279.99
    • US only (also no international models)
• Only Samsung phones are eligible
  • Tablets and Gears, their wear-able device, are no included
  • The phone must be able to turn on and not have liquid damage
• You set up a repair through
  • a local uBreakiFix location
  • or you can set up a mail in repair by calling 1-800-SAMSUNG
    • when you indicate you are a first responder, Samsung will cover the shipping cost for the repair
• Samsung is also extending their 30% employee discount to first responders as well
  • They also claim that this discount CAN be combined with most offers for additional savings

Google is trying to bring advertisers out of the shadows

• Google will be requiring advertisers to verify their identity
  • the change is to prevent advertisers from misrepresenting themselves
  • and will allow consumers to see who is running ad’s
    • and which country they are coming from
  • This is a response to the huge influx of shady advertisers
    • promoting fake vaccines
    • and complete fake businesses
• John Canfield, Google’s director of product management for ads integrity said in a blog post,
  • “This change will make it easier for people to understand who the advertiser is behind the ads they see from Google and help them make more informed decisions when using our advertising Controls”
  • “It will also help support the health of the digital advertising ecosystem by detecting bad actors and limiting their attempts to misrepresent themselves.”
• Advertisers already running ads will have 30 day’s once notified
  • they will be required to complete a verification process
  • When the documents are submitted
    • Advertisers have to commit an ‘In-account identity check’ to prove legitimacy
    • Organisations will be required to submit personal information that shows the organization’s name, address and employer identification number
    • The individual submitting on the organizations behalf will also need to provide government issued photo ID to prove their own identity
    • Advertising agencies will need to complete verification on behalf of each of their advertiser clients
    • Businesses like pharmacies already have to go through certification process
      • Yet, they will still need to take the new, additional verification steps
  • Goggle will respond with feedback or approval within 3 to 5 business days
    • Using a combination of human and computer review
    • All documents will be approved by humans, confirmed by a spokeswoman
• Starting in the summer
  • Consumers should start seeing information on the advertiser when clicking on the Why This Ad bubble
  • It is all starting on U.S. advertisers and then expand to the global market

Tidbits

• Amazon’s Ring doorbell surveillance system, after the shady-seeming partnerships that allowed law enforcement access to recordings without a warrant, has sent out surveys to beta users regarding adding facial recognition, license plate detection, and other potentially intrusive features
  • Who knows if or when these will hit, but if I had a Ring I’d be rethinking that part of my home setup
• With the release of the new iPhone SE this week, the cheapest iPhone available now has a faster processor than the most expensive Android on the market
• Apple TV+ has launched “Fraggle Rock: Rock On”, a shortform Fraggle series from the Jim Henson Company with a new episode debuting each Tuesday on the service.
  • The show is obeying government shelter in place orders by shooting with iPhone 11’s from the homes of the production team and artists

Josh got a phishing email!

• I got a suspicious email to join a Zoom meeting
  • [Phisher] is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
  • Topic: [My Last Name] BAC 5 benefits
  • Time: Apr 21, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
  • Join Zoom Meeting
  • https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77605528808?pwd=L21SVGczVkVFTWloQmJlbXRQZUNKUT09
  • Meeting ID: 776 0552 8808
  • Password: 007
    • I ignored it as spam.
• THE NEXT DAY!
  • There was a follow up
  • From the same email address
  • Hi josh, I am just finishing up with my 7 o’clock. I will call you when you can log on
• I asked my family if we had anything planned, because maybe it was with my Dad’s business
  • no one knew anything
  • I bit and replied:
  • What does this pertain to?
• A response 20 minutes later
  • Your benefits through the BAC 5. We spoke earlier today on the phone
• I spoke to no one that day, or previous
  • I googled BAC 5 and schooling things came up, so I tried playing dumb
  • Is this about the master’s program?
• Almost immediate response
  • No, it’s not. It’s about everything we discussed on the phone earlier. You don’t remember?
• With no information volunteered, I was annoyed and hoping to scare them a bit:
  • Either you did speak with someone and get an incorrect email today.
  • Or you are phishing a tech security journalist.
• Then I knew it was really fake when they stepped into a trap I have online
  • Hahaha, I’m hoping neither? Can you confirm whether or not this is your date of birth? [Fake DOB]
    • I have a fake date of birth on accounts that I don’t deal with government things
  • At that point I knew for sure it was aggregated data of mine that was bought from advertisers or stolen from someplace I had an account on
• What I did, is report them directly to Google.
  • Go to Gmail in a browser window
  • Go to the message sent from the attacker
  • Click on the kebab in top right the message window
  • And report phishing attack
  • You have put them under Google’s algorithmic microscope
    • And now blocked all future messages from that account