Featured Links - March 10, 2025

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

Koerner Hall

• EFF creates a $20 device to detect cellular spying: Rayhunter. "Rayhunter monitors cell tower communications in real-time, alerting users when it spots suspicious activity like attempts to force phones onto less secure networks. When the device detects potential surveillance, it warns users to turn off their phones and saves detailed logs that can be analyzed by security experts."
• A new Android feature is scanning your photos for 'sensitive content' - how to stop it. "Google didn't tell Android users much about Android System SafetyCore before it hit their phones, and people are unhappy. Fortunately, you're not stuck with it." I can uninstall it, but it will probably come back with the next system update. Google should make use of this p
• New study reveals potential cause of a ‘drought’ in violent EF5 tornadoes. "A quirky aspect of the way we measure twisters helps explain why there hasn’t been a top-tier-rated tornado in 12 years." The article also discusses the impact of climate change on tornadoes. 
  
• 'In that moment, that was everything to me': Patient describes joy of regaining vision in 1 eye after new stem cell therapy. "A first-of-its-kind stem cell transplant has changed the life of a man who was left blind in one eye following a firework accident."
• Cory Doctorow writes science fiction to come to terms with his tech anxiety. "The Canadian journalist and writer discussed his latest novel Picks & Shovels on Bookends with Mattea Roach." If you haven't ready any of Cory's Martin Hench thrillers, you are in for a treat.
• Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality. "In this cohort study of 221 054 adults from 3 large cohorts, higher butter intake was associated with increased total and cancer mortality, while higher intake of plant-based oils was associated with lower total, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality."
• CyberPunk: How Black Women Are Hacking AI And Reprogramming The Future. "Artificial intelligence is running the world—whether we asked for it or not. It’s deciding who gets hired, who qualifies for a loan, even who gets flagged as a criminal. But let’s be real: AI has a bias problem, and that’s not by accident. When the people building the tech look the same, think the same, and move the same, the systems they create are just reflections of their worldviews. And that’s where Black women come in—not just to call it out, but to tear it down and rebuild it."
• Google AI Coding Tool Now Free, With 90x Copilot’s Output. "Google launches Gemini Code Assist for individuals, a free AI-coding assistant offering 90 times more code completions than GitHub Copilot."
• Long-term investors split with asset managers over climate risk. "Insurance groups and pension funds threaten to dump those ‘misaligned’ with retiree objectives."