Samsung Backups and Cloud Sync can be End-To-End-Encrypted, but you need to Enable it Buried in the settings of certain Samsung Galaxy devices, there's a feature Samsung calls Enhanced Data Protection. This is a fancy, branded name for end-to-end encryption. It means that when you back up or sync data to Samsung servers, that data will be encrypted before leaving your device, and it won't be unencrypted until it returns to your phone. If anyone tries to look at your data on any device other than yours, all they will see is gibberish. Why isn't this enabled by default? The caveat is pretty severe. When you first enable the feature, Samsung generates a lengthy recovery code for you to store in a safe location. If you forget it, there's no way for anyone to restore your data. It's gone for good. I love (not) how companies think we will all forget our passwords, and they need to protect us from ourselves. This is why we don't always have effective security and privacy. We have quite a few messengers and social networks that already operate this - you forget your private key, and your profile is gone forever (well it will be there, but you won't ever post from it again). This "feature" for Samsung devices just needs to be flipped on, and you need to ensure you've saved that unlock key somewhere safe. See #technology #E2EE #privacy image
Openvibe is a single iOS and Android app for Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, and Nostr decentralised networks Often we have different friends on different social networks. This app allows you to have a single timeline to read across all these popular decentralised social networks, and to also cross post to all of them. We've seen plenty of apps like this for X, Facebook, Instagram, and other old legacy platforms, but really not many at all for the modern decentralised platforms. Mastodon, of course, allows your posts to be visible right across all the Fediverse social networks too. It claims no ads, no data selling, and permissionless. A potential downside, for any such aggregator, is going to be that it cannot support some of the more nuanced features that each platform offers. So, this will be ideal for reading a single timeline, liking, replying and posting. Still, that will save an awful lot of time for many users of these platforms. A plus is because it signs in to each network with your existing profile at each network, you lose nothing if you decide not to use the app in future. See #technology #socialnetworks #decentralisation #openvibe image
New $70 AI Camera works with all Raspberry Pi's without requiring additional accelerators or a GPU It comes with onboard AI processing that can help Raspberry Pi users develop “edge AI solutions that process visual data” with ease, according to the tiny computer maker. The 12.3 megapixel Raspberry Pi AI Camera can capture footage at either 10 frames per second in 4056 x 3040, or 40fps at 2028 x 1520. It also has a manually adjustable focus, a 76-degree field of view, and measures 25 x 24 x 11.9mm. It's refreshing to see some new high-end kit released that does NOT require throwing out the older hardware and having to upgrade (looking squarely at Microsoft here!). This may in fact allow some older Pis to have new life breathed into them. See #technology #raspberrypi #AI image
Mozilla Thunderbird Lands On Android With New Beta Release The popular open-source email client, Mozilla Thunderbird, has just launched a beta version of its Android app. This release, version 8.0b1, is available as a pre-release with a range of new features and improvements. This beta release introduces the official Thunderbird for Android branding, moving away from its previous identity as K-9 Mail. For those already using K-9 Mail or a previous Thunderbird for Android build, migrating settings to the new version is now a seamless process. See #technology #opensource #email image
South Africa’s first electric minibus taxi to hit the road in Cape Town Christened the eKamva (kamva is the Xhosa word for future), the 15-seater battery-powered minibus is supported by a cluster of dedicated “taxi-rank adjacent” charging stations to support the taxi industry’s transition to electric mobility. Coetzee said the DC charging hubs to support its electric taxis provide 60kW and are able to charge the eKamva to 80% capacity in an hour, with a full charge taking 75 minutes. eKamva delivers cost savings of between 40% and 70% on running costs compared traditional internal combustion engine vehicles of a similar build, he said. According to Coetzee, much of the cost savings promised by eKamva relate to the fact that the vehicle has only eight moving parts compared to the complexity of a traditional petrol- or diesel-powered taxi. “There are no oil filters and air filters, spark plugs or oil to change, so it is much easier to maintain. There are also fewer points of [possible] failure. I'm blown away that the usual 40% tax on EV imports will also apply to these vehicles (South Africa really needs to sort this out, as these are not "luxury vehicles"). I just dread to think what could happen though when drivers discover the acceleration that an EV motor has. It could be great for safer overtaking, but we'll really have to see how this pans out. The last paragraph in the linked article s very interesting about future plans for driver safety monitoring. As far as any public transport drivers go, this is probably a good thing. See #technology #southafrica #EV #taxis #environment image