Happy Monday, hope you enjoyed your weekend. Let’s dive right into your morning tech news briefing.
1. Google Messages is finally encrypting group chats
Google has announced that end-to-end encryption for group chats is coming to Messages by Google, the default messaging app for most Android smartphones. Messages by Google already encrypts threads between two Android-using parties. But now the encryption exists for group chats, too. It’s only rolling out in beta for now, but if you’re interested, you can sign up as a tester. The technology relies on RCS, or Rich Communication Services, for the encryption, which means it’s not compatible with iOS users, as iMessage doesn’t support the standard.
2. SKA construction is go
Construction of the world’s largest radio astronomy observatory, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), has officially begun in Australia after three decades in development. The SKA-Low telescope will be the first mega-science project co-hosted in Australia and will explore the Universe in more detail than ever before, with CSIRO saying it will transform our understanding of the cosmos and benefit society through global collaboration and innovation.
3. Swifties file lawsuit against Ticketmaster
A lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. by Taylor Swift fans alleging that Ticketmaster controls the primary ticket sales market, and has a stake in the secondary market as well. Per Deadline, the lawsuit alleges the company was “eager to allow” scalpers into Swift’s presale event in order to collect extra fees on resold tickets. It contends that even if there was no intentional collusion, the company wasn’t prepared for the ticketing onslaught. As the report notes, that’s an accusation Swift herself has made.
4. Hive responds to security concerns by taking servers offline
With many Twitterers fed up with Elon’s shit, a bunch of people had decided to try out alternative social media sites — and Hive Social was one of them. The platform saw an excess of users (in the millions) and normally that kind of bump would have been cause for celebration, but Hive wasn’t ready for the huge influx of users as we reported last week, the app was plagued with a host of security issues. Those caused Hive Social to take its servers offline.
Hi everyone!🐝
The Hive team has become aware of security issues that affect the stability of our application and the safety of our users. Fixing these issues will require temporarily turning off our servers for a couple of days while we fix this for a better and safer experience pic.twitter.com/wOgW7ga9xN— Hive (@TheHIVE_Social) December 1, 2022
5. No more aeroplane mode for EU
It looks like aeroplane mode will become a thing of the past in the European Union (EU) starting next year, following the European Commission’s decision to allow airline passengers to use data and even perhaps make calls while in the air. The ruling will allow airlines to provide 5G technology rather than offering historically slow free Wi-Fi or requiring passengers to pay for data access. Under the new rules, airline passengers will be able to stream music and videos, access their apps, and make phone calls on planes equipped with 5G.
BONUS ITEM: We came across this little gem this morning and couldn’t not share it with you. Monday energy.
This cutie captured your hearts this year, so we couldn’t resist resharing.
If you’ve been lucky enough to spot an echidna, you can record your find with @echidna_csi.
Every recording helps with important echidna conservation research.
📹: @BushHeritageAus / M. Bretz pic.twitter.com/2WnoKGzYFf
— CSIRO (@CSIRO) December 3, 2022
Have a great week.