Daily Tech News 7 October 2024

Top Story

Insecure "Deebot" vacuum cleaners made by Chinese company Ecovacs are recording you and taking pictures and measuring every corner of your house and sending the data back to the manufacturer. (ABC) (no, the other one)

But you agreed to this when you were silly enough to buy one of their products.
The Chinese home robotics company, which sells a range of popular Deebot models in Australia, said its users are "willingly participating" in a product improvement program.
When users opt into this program through the Ecovacs smartphone app, they are not told what data will be collected, only that it will "help us strengthen the improvement of product functions and attached quality".
But I can use the app to delete my data, right?
It also states that voice recordings, videos and photos that are deleted via the app may continue to be held and used by Ecovacs.
But at least the data doesn't go any further, right?
Cybersecurity researcher Dennis Giese reported the problems to the company last year after he found a series of basic errors putting Ecovacs customers' privacy at risk.

"If their robots are broken like that," he asked, "how does their back-end [server] look?

"Even if the company's not malicious, they might be the victim themselves of corporate espionage or nation state actors."
But... Lerian Jihad time.

Tech News

Intel's new Core Ultra 9 285K desktop CPU - expected to arrive this week - sets a new single-threaded performance record. (WCCFTech)

It scores 5268 on Passmark (my preferred benchmark for mainstream CPUs), about 10% ahead of competing chips from AMD and Apple.

On the multi-threaded version of the test, though, things are not so rosy.

There the 24 core (8P, 16E) 285K comes in behind AMD's Ryzen 7 7900, which has 12 cores, is two years old, and uses between half and one third the power of the Intel chip.

That might be a hiccup, but the 285K has only 8 full-size cores, without hyper-threading. (Intel has removed hyper-threading in this generation.) The Ryzen chip has 12 full-size cores with hyper-threading.
React on the server is not PHP all over again. (Christoffer Artmann)

No, it's not.
It's worse. (Infrequently Noted)

And here's why.
After shutting down its cashierless stores - where you can walk in, pick out what you want, and just leave - Amazon is looking to sell the technology to other companies. (CNBC)

I hear this is already big in California.

Disclaimer: D-14 and counting.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 First?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 07, 2024 04:01 AM (omVj0)

2 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at October 07, 2024 04:02 AM (fwDg9)

3 Morning all.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 07, 2024 04:03 AM (BLOW1)

4 At least not to far to get to work today, and my parents can be a stop on way home.

Posted by: Skip at October 07, 2024 04:04 AM (fwDg9)

5 Evening and morning to Mr. and Mrs. America (Australia, wherever) and all the ships at sea! Flash! Let's hit "publish"! (Yeah, Walter, I know it lacks the punch of yours. I'm still workin' on it.)

'Tis Monday, bloody Monday, but of course it's better than being not-alive, right? . . . Right?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 07, 2024 04:05 AM (omVj0)

6 Those Chinese robo -vacs really suck!

Posted by: Buzz Adrenaline at October 07, 2024 04:07 AM (JRP2U)

7 Yeah, I'm not buying a "smart" anything -- not a thermostat, refrigerator, or vacuum cleaner. Enough of my data is already out there thanks to computer use. I don't need to add to it. My phone is used for texts and phone calls pretty much exclusively, so I don't see ads or "suggestions" on it after I search for something the way I do on my PC.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 07, 2024 04:09 AM (omVj0)

8 Wouldn't the cashless stores be free in California. I have never ever spent over 900 dollars on my trips to the grocery stores anyway.

Posted by: Colin at October 07, 2024 04:09 AM (e8qy3)

9 I haven't found any information about why Intel removed hyper threading from this generation of CPUs. The only thing I can think of is they wanted to make clear they really do hate their customers and that they are on the path to becoming unburdened by what has been.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram at October 07, 2024 04:09 AM (R+yH5)

10 Hyper-threading makes the core design more complex, and Intel has its efficiency cores for when you have lots of threads running.

It does make sense for consumer CPUs. Intel's newest server CPUs still have hyper-threading.

AMD uses the same core design across laptop, desktop, server, and embedded CPUs, so it makes sense for them to keep hyper-threading.

AMD does have it's own efficiency core - Zen 4c and now Zen 5c - but the difference there is how it is manufactured; the design is identical.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 07, 2024 04:15 AM (BLOW1)

11 BOING!

Heading up north. Mrs. BD is staying put in Jerusalem.

Obligatory musical interlude. See if you can guess it before looking:

https://youtu.be/siwpn14IE7E

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at October 07, 2024 04:34 AM (xIFh6)

12 "It's worse. (Infrequently Noted)"

Dang. I haven't read such a thorough pantsing of a technology stack in quite a while. Thanks for finding and posting that Pixy. You just made my morning.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 07, 2024 04:36 AM (O7YUW)

13 It does make sense for consumer CPUs.

This sounds more like engineering resources constraints. They already had the technology down cold so why strip it out? I'm pretty sure I read that they're bringing back hyper threading in the next generation of CPUs so why on this generation only did Intel get rid of it.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram at October 07, 2024 04:39 AM (R+yH5)

14 Lock one of those Chinese robo-vacs in a room with flatscreens mounted just above the floor, all of which are showing things like Tienanmen square protests and massacre, the realities of Chinese "tofu-dreg" construction (and the lives it costs), gutter-oil resale and reuse in restaurants, and all the other awfulness that comes with a communist society.

Include screens showing all the history of China that the CCP tried to bury in year-zero.

You want some data? We've got some choice data for you.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 07, 2024 04:45 AM (O7YUW)

15 I am interested in your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 07, 2024 04:48 AM (BLOW1)

16 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 07, 2024 04:51 AM (dg+HA)

17 After shutting down its cashierless stores - where you can walk in, pick out what you want, and just leave - Amazon is looking to sell the technology to other companies. (CNBC)

I hear this is already big in California.

-------------

And if you're an illegal alien, we'll just ship shit to you free along with 100 Democrat voter registration forms!

BONUS: If you can prove that you're a convicted murderer and/or rapist, we'll send you another 1000 Democrat voter registration forms ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Assassination is The Ultimate Form of Censorship at October 07, 2024 05:00 AM (TDdfP)

18 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 07, 2024 04:51 AM (dg+HA)

------------

BREAKING: FEMA has banned all birds as well as birdbaths across a 10,000-square mile stretch of debris caused by Hurricane Helene. Developing ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Assassination is The Ultimate Form of Censorship at October 07, 2024 05:02 AM (TDdfP)

19 Cashless marts work in limited circumstances. Our office building, which requires security to enter, has a very successful cashless mart with coffee, snacks, frozen meals with microwave, and almost any refrigerated drink available.

Posted by: actually inside the beltway at October 07, 2024 05:02 AM (pLaQB)

20 CVS could use the Amazon tech to track exactly what is most frequently stolen and when. A real time theft tracker!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 07, 2024 05:03 AM (vbJrD)

21 Tim Walz is going on a podcast called "Smart Less" .

Seems like "Less Smart" would be more apt.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 07, 2024 05:08 AM (0OIwA)

22 Kamaunist did a sex talk podcast last week but don't know if it's been published yet.

Posted by: Skip at October 07, 2024 05:19 AM (fwDg9)

23 Good morning, good people, from the Adirondack Fall Foliage Festival (not mine, I stole it). Things ARE beginning to change, though. May be a muted change, what's normally bright at this point is a bit dull. The temps are seasonal at any rate.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at October 07, 2024 05:23 AM (hKoQL)

24 See of wifi picks up in driveway
Not bad out, and a lot less road to commute today
Forward Dog 9 out

Posted by: Skip at October 07, 2024 05:26 AM (fwDg9)

25 Birds aren't real. They don't take baths.

Posted by: flying, spying ops at October 07, 2024 05:27 AM (z5QST)

26 Been a week or so since the Hurricane and all that water has to go somewhere. I wonder what the downstream basin is looking like.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at October 07, 2024 05:29 AM (3Ope8)

27 That's the trouble with all the grocery delivery in my area - they're not stealing anything and I have to pay for it all! And tip them. Woe is I.

Posted by: iamfelix at October 07, 2024 05:34 AM (YXuNc)

28 The lefties at DailyKos are sweating the election, as am I

https://tinyurl.com/4b3c5yrn

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 07, 2024 05:39 AM (3QEmR)

29 Damn I need more sleep.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 07, 2024 05:40 AM (gbOdA)

30 Back from my workout! If the distance watch can be trusted, and I doubt it can, I covered 1.5 miles in 18 minutes -- well into the "excellent" Cooper aerobics category for my age. But I set the watch to "Run," and I walked almost half the time. I suspect the watch overestimated the distance. If I set it to "Walk," it'll be off by the same amount to the low side. Still, a good workout.

This Sunday I'll visit the 1/5 mile track again and check with an actual, measured distance.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 07, 2024 05:48 AM (omVj0)

31 Cashless marts work in limited circumstances. Our office building, which requires security to enter, has a very successful cashless mart with coffee, snacks, frozen meals with microwave, and almost any refrigerated drink available.
Posted by: actually inside the beltway at October 07, 2024 05:02 AM (pLaQB)
----
Universities have them as well. Students can access the store with their student ID and also pay for the items with their student points or a debit/credit card.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 07, 2024 05:50 AM (BpYfr)

32 Good morning to one and all.

Crotchety Old Jarhead, I hope you have a trip to the MoMe on your schedule.

Posted by: Ben Had at October 07, 2024 05:57 AM (I1GXe)

33 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at October 07, 2024 06:08 AM (UWgy2)

34 sock_rat, good morning to you.

Posted by: Ben Had at October 07, 2024 06:10 AM (I1GXe)

35 I thought the reason that I had the phrase "Butlerian jihad" in my head last night was because of Trump's rally but I guess it was actually me picking up Pixy's brainwaves.

Why am I craving gluten-free chicken nuggets all of a sudden?

Posted by: pookysgirl is apparently a comfy pillow at October 07, 2024 06:11 AM (dtlDP)

36 pookysgirl, how is the little pooky doing?

Posted by: Ben Had at October 07, 2024 06:13 AM (I1GXe)

37 pookysgirl, how is the little pooky doing?

Posted by: Ben Had at October 07, 2024 06:13 AM (I1GXe)

Conked out on my chest. Every day he's becoming more alert, and not coincidentally, Pookette is (very) slowly warming up to him.

Posted by: pookysgirl is apparently a comfy pillow at October 07, 2024 06:17 AM (dtlDP)

38 "Bibles in the backseat" Zechariah 4:1-7.
"Not by might, not by power , but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts":

https://tinyurl.com/ym24jv53

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:20 AM (PRN4U)

39 @ 28 Thanks so much, I visited that slime pit and now need a shower. Wouldn't hurt if you put up some kind of warning.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at October 07, 2024 06:24 AM (hKoQL)

40 Am Yisrael Chai.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at October 07, 2024 06:27 AM (PiwSw)

41 Man in prison hears God's voice through reading and mediating on the Bible. Scripture is 1st Samuel 3 : 1-10:

https://tinyurl.com/4awhtpkt

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:27 AM (PRN4U)

42 SunnySkyz website seems to be locked up. I hope they get their issues resolved. It's such a nice site with nice stories.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:30 AM (PRN4U)

43 Good morning, Irongrandpa and all. I get up really early with FenSpouse. One thing which I really enjoy is seeing the sunrise.hit the orange and red on the changing trees.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:32 AM (PRN4U)

44 I am the Shadout Mapes, indeed. Hope you are well.

Posted by: Ben Had at October 07, 2024 06:36 AM (I1GXe)

45
Diana woke me up this morning with her deep bark, wanting to go out. I know 5:00 is a good time to wake up, but I had a hard day yesterday and wouldn't have minded sleeping for a while longer.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 07, 2024 06:37 AM (BkEzK)

46 Fen, last week our church delivered a ton of gifts for Lil Pooky, including a handmade wooden cradle that we're to pass on in a few months. We're so blessed.

Posted by: pookysgirl is apparently a comfy pillow at October 07, 2024 06:38 AM (dtlDP)

47 Kamaunist did a sex talk podcast last week but don't know if it's been published yet.
Posted by: Skip at October 07, 2024 05:19 AM (fwDg9)

So she finally gave us details about how she's going to fuck everything up even harder than it already is.

Trust the experts, i guess.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at October 07, 2024 06:42 AM (DDGz9)

48 Posted by: pookysgirl is apparently a comfy pillow at October

That's wonderful, dear.. I am happy to hear that!am glad you have such a supportive church family. May the Lord bless you and your family and your church.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:43 AM (PRN4U)

49 SunnySkyz website seems to be locked up. I hope they get their issues resolved. It's such a nice site with nice stories.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:30 AM (PRN4U)

Somehow I read “seems to be locked up” as “needs to be locked up” and couldn’t figure out why you were then praising them. More coffee…

Posted by: Buzz Adrenaline at October 07, 2024 06:49 AM (JRP2U)

50 Posted by: Buzz Adrenaline

LOL. There are some people I think need to be locked up, but the owner of the SunnySkyz isn't one of them.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:50 AM (PRN4U)

51 Off to the store and I guess I'll see some lovely trees at some point. Have a good day, folks and remember, you are a blessing to others!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 07, 2024 06:52 AM (PRN4U)

52 Yeah, I'm not buying a "smart" anything -- not a thermostat, refrigerator, or vacuum cleaner

Really wish I had some startup money because I'd be installing dumb devices in houses.

"You don't want your information out there? Get a dummy!"

Posted by: NR Pax at October 07, 2024 06:53 AM (NR6c1)

53
JJ

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 07, 2024 06:56 AM (gbOdA)

54 >>>I hear this is already big in California.

NYC, too, I think.

Posted by: m at October 07, 2024 06:58 AM (VnUSN)

55

Hunkered down in a high rise hotel on miami beach at a conference, awaiting hurricane Milton. Need to buy more alcohol, and some butchering tools..

Posted by: My Pimp Shot My Dealer at October 07, 2024 07:00 AM (S3qms)

56 Joe Walsh
@WalshFreedom

And there it is. He’s accusing his political opponents of trying to kill him. He’s telling his voters that those of us who oppose him politically are trying to kill him. He’s using the assassination attempt to incite his voters to violence. There is no bottom with him.

Posted by: Mister Ghost at October 07, 2024 07:08 AM (TGPs7)

57 Another day to wake, look around, ponder then conclude once more it's a privilege indeed to live in this most exceptional country. Please allow me to say that if you've served this country in ANY manner, military, public, private--whatever, let me thank you most sincerely.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at October 07, 2024 07:34 AM (hKoQL)

58 >>>I hear this is already big in California.

Damn! From the top rope, down under.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 07, 2024 07:36 AM (i24o9)

59 35 I thought the reason that I had the phrase "Butlerian jihad" in my head last night was because of Trump's rally but I guess it was actually me picking up Pixy's brainwaves.

Why am I craving gluten-free chicken nuggets all of a sudden?
Posted by: pookysgirl is apparently a comfy pillow at October 07, 2024 06:11 AM (dtlDP)

Ha!

Posted by: m at October 07, 2024 07:46 AM (VnUSN)

60 Why no Intel Hyperthread? Stories suggest a progression of reasons.

Early on, nasty exploits targeted this feature, resulting in many recommendations to disable it.

Later, in an effort to compete with AMDs latest and much better offerings, Intel chose to release processors without HT at the low-end, reserving it for its top end, so as to compete with AMD AND not cannibalize it's own line-up (e.g., OC'd I7s with its own I9s, I am guessing).

Lastly, speculating, in a further effort to compete with AMD, Intel made a decision to prioritize single-threaded (ST) performance (high core counts) versus multi-threaded performance (with HT), since ST performance is the bulk of the workload of the bulk of the market's main computing, where speculative workloads (gaming, typical productivity work) dominate and benefit most from NOT relying on HT (high core count) versus predictable workloads (video rendering) using MT.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 07, 2024 08:03 AM (i24o9)

61 As kind of an aside, HT is tech used to wring out the last bit of performance from a CPUs cycle, by ensuring that the CPU has a full workload each cycle.

This relies on looking into the future of the workload, correctly predicting the workflow including any branches that would be taken and queuing up the necessary instructions and data so that when a CPU cycle is complete, there is work ready to do in the next cycle.

Think mass production lines.

As you can imagine, branch prediction tech is extremely complex. Moreover, IF you get it wrong, it takes many cycles to purge the pipeline, then repredict the workflow and requeu the work. This causes a major performance hit, instead of providing a boost, if the branch prediction is lousy or the work is not suited to it (e.g., gaming).

Note that MT and HT are not synonymous. HT is tech to accomplish MT in a once preferable and higher performance way, in a time where high core counts were not common.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 07, 2024 08:12 AM (i24o9)

62 Another day to wake, look around, ponder then conclude once more it's a privilege indeed to live in this most exceptional country. Please allow me to say that if you've served this country in ANY manner, military, public, private--whatever, let me thank you most sincerely.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at October 07, 2024 07:34 AM (hKoQL)

I echo this sentiment.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 07, 2024 08:12 AM (i24o9)

63 28 The lefties at DailyKos are sweating the election, as am I

https://tinyurl.com/4b3c5yrn
Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 07, 2024 05:39 AM (3QEmR)

Ewwwwww. I hope none of it got stuck on me.

Posted by: m at October 07, 2024 08:32 AM (VnUSN)

64 I tried to read the Infrequently Noted explanation, but trying to read about software lemons delivering bad UX and UI... I had to slog through bad UX and UI.

Resized my window several times to try and get the article to do wordwrap, but it completely refused to do so. Made reading a chore, having to scroll left and right every line.

Posted by: Another Anon at October 07, 2024 08:46 AM (QNMaY)

65 This is a glimpse of the future I was promised in September 1966. https://x.com/spacex/status/1842988427777605683?s=46

Posted by: Tmitsss at October 07, 2024 08:57 AM (l5Noi)

66 🍓Here you can undress a Girl and see her Naked) Please check it out ➤ https://ja.cat/nudisy

Posted by: erottus at October 07, 2024 06:44 PM (MUVsb)

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