Android updates often come with a bunch of security patches and bug fixes as standard, few of which ever get much attention, but the latest security update pushed out by Google is noteworthy: It addresses a vulnerability that may have already been exploited in the wild, which makes it even more important to update your devices as soon as possible.The vulnerability has been logged under the name CVE-2024-36971, and Google says it "may be under limited, targeted exploitation." In other words, there's the possibility that hackers have already found ways to make use of it, albeit with limited end results or a limited number of devices affected.It's registered as a high severity remote code execution bug, which means it potentially enables someone else to run code on your device without your knowledge. While there's a very good chance you haven't been hit yet, you should keep an eye on security updates for your phone or tablet. Well-known Google bug squasher Clment Lecigne has been credited with discovering the problem.There's little in the way of information about how the vulnerability could potentially be exploited, which is as you would expect: Google will be keen not to give away any clues as to the details of the issue or the methods bad actors could use to take advantage of it. Overall, for the month of August, Google has plugged 46 security gaps in Android.How to update your Android phone What you'll see on a fully updated Pixel phone. Credit: Lifehacker The good news here is that Android automatically checks for updates in the background, and tells you when they're available and ready to install: You'll usually just have to restart your phone when prompted, and the update is then applied.If you want to run a manual check for any pending updates, you can do that too. If you're on a Pixel phone, open Settings then choose System > Software updates > System update. Whether or not there's an update available, you'll be able to see when the latest update was installed, and the version of Android you're on.It's not much different with Samsung Galaxy phones. From Settings, pick Software update to see when your handset was last updated. You can then choose Download and install to see if any updates are in the pipeline, and get them set up on your phone.The update will roll out at different times for different devices, depending on region and manufacturer. Google told The Hacker News that it's working with hardware partners such as Samsung to make sure the necessary fixes are applied as soon as possible.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is taking Elon Musk's X to court. According to Irish broadcaster RTE, the commission has launched High Court proceedings against Twitter International over concerns on how Europeans' public posts on X are being used to train the company's artificial intelligence tools. The data protection watchdog is especially worried that European users' data is being used to train the next version of Grok that Musk previously said will be released sometime this month.In July, X rolled out a change that automatically activated a setting for all users, allowing the website to use their public posts on the platform to train its AI chatbot further. The commission told TechCrunchthat it was surprised by X's decision, seeing as it has been in contact with the company on the matter for months. X has had a help page instructing users on how to opt out of their data being used for AI training since at least May, but it didn't exactly tell them that it's switching on its access to people's data by default.The DPC has acknowledged that X had given people the mechanism to opt out. However, it reportedly isn't enough for the agency, which argued that there's still a significant number of European-based X users whose data had been processed without being afforded the protection of those mitigation measures. X's use of people's data to train Grok violates its obligations under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to the commission. Not offering users an opt-out mechanism in a timely manner also violates the GDPR, it added.As TechCrunch notes, there must be at least one legal basis for a European user's data to be lawfully processed under the GDPR. If a company wants to legally process a user's data, for instance, it must get their express consent, or it must be because the user needs to fulfill contractual obligations. There are other lawful purposes wherein a person's data could be used, but the DPC's complaint indicates that it doesn't believe X has any legal basis for its actions.Twitter International, X's Irish division, has also reportedly refused to stop processing users' data and to delay the launch of the next version of Grok as the commission had requested. That's why the DPC has decided to push through with its complaint so that it can ask the court to suspend or completely prohibit the company from training any AI system with X users' data. If the court determines that X has indeed violated GDPR rules, the company could be fined up to 4 percent of its annual worldwide turnover.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/x-accused-of-using-eu-user-data-to-train-grok-without-consent-133042114.html?src=rss

VFX asset library software Das Element uses AI to sort your 'chaos folder' into an organized library of 2D and 3D assetsCheck out the new features in yesterday's Das Element 2.1 update: https://www.cgchannel.com/2024/08/das-element-uses-ai-to-organise-your-vfx-asset-library/#latestupdate

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A hearing on Tuesday raised questions about a railroad companys use of eminent domain in one of Georgias poorest areas.After three days of hearings in November, an officer for the Georgia Public Service Commission granted Sandersville Railroad Co.s request to legally condemn nine properties in Sparta, Georgia. The commissions decision to adopt or reject the officers recommendation could affect property law nationwide.Sandersville, which is owned by a prominent Georgia family, wants to build a line 4.5 miles (7.25 kilometers) long called the Hanson Spur that would connect to the CSX railroad rail line at Sparta, 85 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.The hearing led Sparta property owners to make the drive north. Some of them might have their land condemned, and others were neighbors who dont want a railroad near their backyards.Lawyers representing the property owners and the No Railroad in Our Community Coalition, which formed to stop the railroads construction, say that Sandersville has not met the requirements of Georgias eminent domain law.The law requires the company to show that the railroad will serve a public use and needs the line for business. Although Sandersville brought five potential customers to the hearing, they have not shown signed contracts with the customers or the CSX railroad, lawyers representing property owners said. A spokesperson for Sandersville said the owner has reached agreements with potential customers.Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Bill Maurer, who represents property owners, said that Sandersville is motivated by profit. He pointed to earlier testimony from Benjamin Tarbutton III, the president of Sandersville Railroad Co., describing the expansion as an economic development project.It is a naked transfer of wealth from my clients to Sandersville and its small network of clients, so those companies can get richer, said Maurer, whose nonprofit fights for private property rights against eminent domain for private uses.Maurer added that Sandersville hasnt produced information on basic issues such as costs and expected loads. He also said that the company never contested a 50-page report produced by a railroad consultant that disputed the economic feasibility of the project.But Robert Highsmith, an attorney for Sandersville, noted that state law doesnt require the company to provide the analysis Maurer sought. They only have to show that the line is necessary for the business and public services.Right now, potential users of the Hanson Spur railroad cannot transfer products between areas that are best served by the CSX railroad. They can only truck their goods to the CSX railroad, which Sandersvilles lawyers said is not economical.There are markets that Veal Farms cant reach, Highsmith said. There are markets that Southern Chips cannot reach economically without access to the CSX mainline in East Georgia.Sparta residents also worry that the railroad would permit the expansion of a nearby quarry that generates noise and dust. One resident, Kenneth Clayton, 59, said the quarrys activities caused the ceiling on his home to fall.The quarry is owned by Heidelberg Materials, a publicly traded German firm, and Tarbutton has said the quarry is considering expanding so that the loudest part of its operation would happen farther from its current location.Quarry or not, Blaine Smith said nothing could convince him to willingly give up the part of his land. The property in Sparta has been in his family for several generations.I grew up farming, all of us out in the field, all of that land over there that the railroad is going to cross, Smith said.Now, Smith grows timber on the land and rests by the propertys pond. He and his wife, Diane, live in Maryland, but they come to Sparta several times a year.The couple might move back to Sparta full time, but they also want to protect their land for future generations of Black farmers a small slice of an already declining population of farmers.Diane Smith found Tarbuttons attitude cavalier when he spoke with them. It made her blood boil bad when he sent them notices to condemn the property before he had full legal authority to do so, she said.Representatives of Sandersville Railroad Co. said that Tarbutton tried to reach and agreement with the Smiths and travelled to Maryland to meet with family members. The company has made accommodating adjustments to the railroad in response to their requests, and it reached agreements with owners of nine of the 18 parcels the company needs.Sandersville would be legally required to pay fair market value for any land that it takes through the eminent domain process.But the Smiths said they arent in it for the money.We dont want this in our yard or anywhere we can hear it, see it, Blaine Smith said.Charlotte Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @ckramonCharlotte Kramon, Associated Press/Report for America

LA28 will have an even more ambitious carbon strategy than Paris 2024, Olympic sustainability chief Marie Sallois tells Dezeen in this Olympic Impact interview.Sallois, who is the corporate and sustainable development director for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), described the Paris Olympics as a landmark achievement in the journey to net-zero."We are demonstrating with Paris that we can be sustainable we are on our way," Sallois said."I do not know a lot of events or industries that have been able to cut their footprint in half in 12 years."Paris 2024 is the first ever Olympic Games organised to a carbon budget. It has a target to emit no more than 1.58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide around half the carbon cost of London 2012 or Rio 2016.A report published shortly before the games got underway stated that this ambition is on track to be met."Paris 2024 has done the utmost""We strongly believe that Paris 2024 has done the utmost at this given point in time, in the context of France," Sallois told Dezeen."We have gone really far in terms of implementation on the carbon and the material footprints. The innovation will leave a legacy in France and probably beyond."While reluctant to draw direct comparisons between Paris and Los Angeles, which will host the next summer Olympics in 2028, Sallois indicated that further progress can be expected."Every edition will aim higher in a certain context with new solutions from the market, so yes, we expect Los Angeles to come with other innovative solutions," she said.The most significant sustainability move for Paris 2024 has been a shift away from building new stadiums, with a focus instead on temporary structures and existing venues.LA is following suit, with no new permanent venues set to be built for the 2028 games.Top: Paris 2024 has focused on using existing venues such as the Stade de France. Photo by Franck Legros via Shutterstock. Above: Marie Sallois is the IOC's corporate and sustainable development director. Photo courtesy of the IOCSallois pointed to the use of the UCLA campus as an Olympic Village as an example of LA28 going even further than Paris on "radical reuse".And she hinted that artificial intelligence may also play a role in limiting emissions further."There will be some solutions that are not developed enough for Paris but that will be probably used more for LA, like artificial intelligence," she said. "I cannot even tell you how because it's in the beginning, but I'm sure we will use it more."The IOC has an ambition for the Olympic Games to be a net-zero event by 2050, Sallois said.While she believes the goal is "feasible", Sallois admitted that it is based on factors outside of the committee's control."We know to get there we have some remaining challenges, and we can only address these challenges within a wider ecosystem, including industries that need to transform themselves like air transportation," she said.IOC not considering multi-host modelAir travel is by far the biggest sustainability challenge for the Olympics, with Paris 2024 anticipating around 1.5 million overseas spectators.Sustainability campaigners have called for the IOC to adopt a multi-city model for future games, with events spread across different locations, in order to reduce the numbers of people tempted to fly long distances to attend.Sallois said that the IOC has partially adopted this approach already, giving hosts more flexibility over where sporting events are held in order to reduce the need to build new venues.At Paris 2024, for example, some events are taking place in Lille, Marseille and Chateauroux, while the South Pacific island of Tahiti located 15,000 kilometres away from the French capital will host surfing events."We do not ask the host to adapt to the games, but we really adapt to the local context," she explained.Read: Eight ways Paris aims to host the most sustainable Olympics in history"So we have reversed, if you wish, the approach and it means that if the host does not have necessarily all the venues, they can partner with another city, another region," she added."So the host can be a city, can be a region, can be several regions, can be different countries."However, Sallois indicated that the IOC is not currently considering a major departure from the existing setup, where athletes from multiple sports convene in a single city.She argued that bringing people together from around the world continues to be a crucial function of the Olympics."Spreading events across the world seems like a good idea, but it completely undermines this idea of bringing people together through the inspirational power of sport," she said."I do not know any other event that brings the world together through sport in peace and celebrates this unity in diversity, and this is a very important message of hope, especially at a time where tensions and conflicts are on the rise.""Don't think that we have not thought about all this"She also questioned whether spreading events around the globe would ultimately help to reduce emissions from travel."For us, the uniqueness of the Olympic Games is also that people can come and watch different sports," said Sallois."If they have to go to different locations, that's not more sustainable. So what seems very simple at first is actually much more complex.""Don't think that we have not thought about all this," she added. "And this is why what is really important for us is to have this flexibility built in, but keep the uniqueness and make sure we really remain within a footprint that is shrinking as much as we can."Paris 2024 has sought to reduce plastic waste but Sallois indicated this is an area she would like to improve on at future games. Photo by Saskia B via ShutterstockAs well as flying, another area in which Sallois believes more progress is needed is reducing plastic waste.Paris 2024 has pledged to reduce the use of single-use plastics by 50 per cent compared with London 2012, but large numbers of plastic bottles are still expected to be thrown away by spectators."I hope we can do more in the future, but again we need to rely on the industry at large, because we rely on a lot of providers," Sallois said.Nevertheless, she argues that the Olympics provide the perfect vehicle for developing new ways of limiting carbon emissions from human activity."We feel strongly that the games will continue to be a laboratory for innovation in sustainability," she said.Read: Paris 2024 Olympics sustainability efforts "not enough" says carbon expertThat includes architecture, which she suggested will continue to play a major role in the games despite the move away from new construction."I think there is a big field here to explore how renovation can aim at more sustainability and at the same time keep this iconic or symbolic dimension, or even enhance it," she said.Overall, Sallois is optimistic that the Olympic Games will be able to continue long into the future despite the demands of responding to climate change."I am really confident," she said. "It's not that it's going to be easy, you know, we are not undermining the difficulty.""But because we are working for the Olympic movement we are also very ambitious, and we feel, because of the power of the brand, that we can demonstrate it's feasible.""So not only do we want to continue to unite the world, but we want also to demonstrate how we can do that in a more sustainable manner."Illustration by Capucine MattiussiOlympic ImpactThis article is part of Dezeen's Olympic Impact series examining the sustainability measures taken by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and exploring whether major sporting events compatible with the climate challenge are possible.The post Multi-host Olympics would "completely undermine" the games says IOC sustainability director appeared first on Dezeen.

Subversive product firm MSCHF is at it again. Here's their new Flipped Flop, a high-heeled EVA flip flop that adds 4.5" of height:"The Flipped Flop is inspired by classic kick-around pool slides, conjoined, lengthened, and curled up into a 4.5" loft high heel. The ankle cuff fastens via adjustable velcro, and is flexible against the ankle; the heel is fully rigid and contains a nylon shank. The forefoot cuff uses a standard high heel fit over the front of the foot." These are yours for just $450 a pair.