Good morning. We’ve got some news that isn’t the U.S. Midterms over here if you want it, tell your friends.
1. Hacker/s leak Medibank data
First up, the hacker/hackers behind the Medibank data breach have done exactly what they said they were going to: posted a sample of stolen customer data. Per a report from the ABC, hundreds of names, addresses, dates of birth and Medicare details were allegedly being posted under “good-list” and “naughty-list” on a blog belonging to the ransomware group. Medibank said it wasn’t going to pay the ransom, which was the right call. But these are the ramifications.
I’m tweeting this without much more comment because 1) @medibank said it wouldn’t pay, making this a natural conclusion and 2) this is terrible and 3) @medibank made the right call in not paying.
— Jeremy Kirk (@Jeremy_Kirk) November 8, 2022
2. Victorian COVID-tracing data sent rogue
Still on breaching data and The Guardian is reporting that the Victorian government sent contact tracing data to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in the hope a controversial data mining platform Palantir (owned by billionaire U.S. Republican donor Peter Thiel) might help identify the source of mystery cases of COVID-19. Data security experts have apparently described the 2020 move as “dubious” and “outrageous”.
3. DoorDash? More like DroneDash
Google’s parent company Alphabet also owns a drone delivery service known as Wing. It’s set up shop in Queensland, delivering anything from groceries on the Gold Coast to KFC and Bánh Mì. But now, Wing has partnered with food delivery service DoorDash and will be putting its unmanned mini aircraft to work in the on-demand meals space. The pair reckon those that get their food delivered via drone will have it in 15 minutes. The idea will be tested via a pilot program in Logan (in Southeast Queensland). The future is wild.
We’re excited to be extending our #dronedelivery capability by making it available to customers through the @DoorDash app in parts of Logan, Australia 📱🇦🇺. #DoorDash #DeliveredByWing. pic.twitter.com/Ns5ZKBojNw
— Wing (@Wing) November 8, 2022
4. Zoom adding calendar
In slightly less exciting tech news (heaps less exciting, we’re sorry), Zoom is releasing new Mail and Calendar clients and services. Per The Verge, the Outlook-like Mail and Calendar will slot neatly into the company’s new unified Zoom One interface alongside Team Chat, Whiteboard, Phone, and Meetings. It’s wild that the company no one had heard of before the pandemic has taken this long to really go after Microsoft/Slack/Google, but hYbRiD wOrK isn’t going anywhere soon, every tech company ever keeps reminding us.
5. Stretchy screens of the future
Looking to the future now and LG is working on something exceptionally cool: it revealed the world’s first 12-inch OLED panel that’s both flexible and stretchable, like a giant piece of rubber band, improving its ability to survive wear and tear. This 12-inch panel can be stretched a full two inches to 14 inches diagonally, and then snap back to its original size without requiring a warranty claim. Read more about it here.
BONUS ITEM: Not even Ozzy Osbourne is safe from the metaverse. Glad they used MetalVerse this time.
Happy Wednesday.