Eclectic Bytes

Monday, April 3, 2023

It’s 50 years to the day since the first cell phone call

American engineer Marty Cooper, now 94, who worked for Motorola at the time, thought it would be amusing to make the first call to Joel Engel, his counterpart at rival company Bell Laboratories (then the research division of AT&T and now part of Nokia).DigitalTrends writes about it here.

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat, India - Random Travel Instinct

This video captures views of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat, India. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

If you are unable to play the video directly from this page here is the direct link to YouTube, https://youtu.be/CInlj8DqEIM

Monday, February 6, 2023

Bard: Google launches ChatGPT rival

Bard is built on Google's existing large language model Lamda, which one engineer described as being so human-like in its responses that he believed it was sentient.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64546299

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Suspicious Activity Related to Google Fi Accounts

It seems like there were some suspicious activities detected in a server that contains some Google Fi customer data. This affects users of the Google Fi mobile phone network. Droid Life suggests here that the "primary network provider" that Google Fi refers in their email is very likely to be T-Mobile. A subsidiary of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile has suffered several data breaches in recent times including these incidents. Follow this link for an actively updated list at Firewall Times:

January 2023: Affected 37 million T-Mobile customers
August 2021: Affected about 77 million T-Mobile customers
December 2020: Affected about 200,000 T-Mobile customers
March 2020: Affected about T-Mobile employees
November 2019: Affected about 1 million T-Mobile customers
August 2018: Affected about 2 million T-Mobile customers
October 2017: Affected about 70 million T-Mobile customers
October 2015: Affected about 15 million T-Mobile customers
November 2009: Affected millions T-Mobile customers

Google Fi does not possess its cellular network infrastructure; instead, it collaborates with T-Mobile and UScellular to deliver its services. Moreover, Google Fi operates independently from Google's mobile operating system, Android.

The full text of the email from Google Fi is below.

From: googlefi-noreply@google.com
Date: Jan 31, 2023, 7:32 AM
Subject: Important information about your Google Fi account
Dear Google Fi customer,
We’re writing to let you know that the primary network provider for Google Fi recently informed us there has been suspicious activity relating to a third party system that contains a limited amount of Google Fi customer data.
There is no action required by you at this time.
This system is used for Google Fi customer support purposes and contains limited data including when your account was activated, data about your mobile service plan, SIM card serial number, and active or inactive account status.
It does not contain your name, date of birth, email address, payment card information, social security number or tax IDs, driver’s license or other form of government ID, or financial account information, passwords or PINs that you may use for Google Fi, or the contents of any SMS messages or calls.
Our incident response team undertook an investigation and determined that unauthorized access occurred and have worked with our primary network provider to identify and implement measures to secure the data on that third party system and notify everyone potentially impacted. There was no access to Google's systems or any systems overseen by Google.
If you are an active Fi user, please note that your Google Fi service continues to work as usual and was not interrupted by this issue.
What does this mean for me?
The accessed information included your phone number and limited technical information. This includes information about when your account was activated, SIM card serial number, account status (for example, whether your plan is active or inactive), and limited details about the mobile service plan and options provided by your Google Fi service (such as unlimited SMS or international roaming).
For more information
As always, be alert for phishing attempts. For more about best practices, see our advice on how to avoid phishing.
Read more about keeping your Google Fi information safe.
We’re always here for our customers and available to offer support. If you have any questions or require assistance, please see this Help Center article for contact options and reference issue ID 267187948.
Sincerely,
Google Fi Team

Monday, January 23, 2023

Statue of Unity, Gujarat, India - Random Travel Instinct

This video captures moments from a visit to the Statue of Unity. The Statue of Unity is the world's tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres (597 feet), located near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of independent India and an adherent of Mahatma Gandhi. Patel is highly respected for his leadership in uniting 562 princely states of India to form the single Union of India. The statue is located in Gujarat on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara.

If you are unable to play the video directly from this page here is the direct link to YouTube, https://youtu.be/FG0458b8X_Y

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan - Random Travel Instinct

The Holocaust Memorial Center (also the Zekelman Holocaust Center) in Farmington Hills, Michigan, near Detroit, is Michigan's largest Holocaust museum. This video is a slideshow of the artifacts on display at the museum.