Places and Things

A particularly persistent malware infection has been spreading amongst Android phones — and removing it only seems to bring it back with a vengeance. The Trojan xHelper, which Malwarebytes first wrote about last May, is reportedly re-spawning on devices where it’s already been removed. from https://www.inputmag.com/tech/report-old-android-virus-is-reinstalling-itself-even-after-factory-resets https://imgix.bustle.com/uploads/shutterstock/2020/2/13/d8fcc8b0-1b13-49d9-937d-a69b48f9c884-shutterstock-1320322352.jpg?w=350&h=298&auto=format&q=70&fit=crop&crop=faces&duotone=da6156%2Cc2d8ff

In 141 years of climate records, January 2020 was the hottest January yet, according to scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Global land and ocean surface temperatures were 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit (1. from https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/13/january-2020-hottest-on-record/ https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=85&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fimages%2Fdims%3Fcrop%3D990%252C617%252C0%252C135%26quality%3D85%26format%3Djpg%26resize%3D1600%252C998%26image_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fs.yimg.com%252Fos%252Fcreatr-uploaded-images%252F2020-02%252Faabecfa0-4eaa-11ea-9faf-9e0d06ca54a1%26client%3Da1acac3e1b3290917d92%26signature%3D206559231da2aa2e9cdab2386968eb46f6cd2324&client=amp-blogside-v2&signature=a4b9f8a2693154f343b1bd8c098fc946e0001270

Volkswagen Group Components and German electric utility company E.ON have unveiled a new electric vehicle charger prototype that could make charging stations a lot more common. from https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/13/volkswagen-battery-based-ev-charger/ https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=85&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fimages%2Fdims%3Fcrop%3D1163%252C653%252C0%252C0%26quality%3D85%26format%3Djpg%26resize%3D1600%252C900%26image_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fs.yimg.com%252Fos%252Fcreatr-uploaded-images%252F2020-02%252F29a4f090-4e35-11ea-bfbe-4b9949ba1f42%26client%3Da1acac3e1b3290917d92%26signature%3Dca863e99a60d5917020791542efff17bb371aafc&client=amp-blogside-v2&signature=936100b65beecf0367d10af284a9dfd4dd028a67

IBM has picked Slack to power its chat communications companywide for its more than 350,000 employees, according to Business Insider. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/10/21132060/ibm-slack-chat-employee-rollout-microsoft-teams-competition https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66288687/acastro_190412_1777_slack_0002.0.jpg

MWC, the smartphone industry's biggest annual trade show, won't happen this year. On Wednesday, the GSMA, the organization that puts together the event, said it's cancelling MWC 2020 over coronavirus-related concerns. The trade show was scheduled to run between February 24th and 27th. from https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/12/mwc-2020-cancelled-coronavirus/ https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=85&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fimages%2Fdims%3Fresize%3D2000%252C2000%252Cshrink%26image_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fs.yimg.com%252Fos%252Fcreatr-images%252F2020-02%252F81a9c4b0-4ce5-11ea-ba5f-5cbe6c8d238b%26client%3Da1acac3e1b3290917d92%26signature%3Dba0452bdc6ede028ae0c17dd1d2e297c69e7eca7&client=amp-blogside-v2&signature=a61b86517f270aa574b821219fb031248f061404

Nearly four years after it launched as an iPad-exclusive in 2016, Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app is now available for Mac as part of Apple’s Catalyst app initiative, designed to help bridge the software gap between its macOS and iOS platforms (via 9to5Mac). from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21135573/apple-swift-playgrounds-coding-app-available-mac https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66304601/Switch_Playgrounds_iPad.0.png

8K footage recorded on the Samsung Galaxy S20 will take up around 600MB per minute, according to Samsung, meaning that storage could quickly become an issue if you want to record video at the highest-possible resolution. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21134451/samsung-galaxy-s20-8k-footage-recording-600mb-minute-storage-capacity https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66299458/vpavic_200206_3899_0166.0.jpg