quickstart
10 MAXIMUMPC FEB 2022
© LIFE 360REMEMBER WHEN we were asked to
donate idle processing power to SETI@
Home? Starting in 1999, this distributed
computing project analyzed radio signals
looking for signs of alien life. The project
closed a few years ago (it found no proof)
and you got nothing other than a warm
glow for helping science. Now distributed
computing is a target for money-making.
A start-up called Massive has raised
$11 million to fund work on an SDK to
enable developers to include the option
to pay for their products with donated
processing power. You get to use a game
or app solely for a donation of your rig’s
power, which is then sold off to power
scientific research projects, block-chain
processing, or other distributed tasks.
You don’t have to witness annoying
adverts, pay a subscription, or shell out
for any upfront purchase costs. You can
opt out at any point without having handed
over a cent. Smaller developers can have
a tough time getting remunerated for
their work, as little ad revenue filters
down, and they often have to become an
unwilling part of the great data gathering
of the corporations.
The team behind the scheme appears
to have an agenda, describing the
internet as an “attention-grabbing,
emotion-manipulating, privacy-violating
experience”. Harsh perhaps, but not
without merit. Nothing is free of course.
Your rig and internet connection may be
‘idle’, but it is still drawing power. Some
math may be required to see if this is
a good deal for the long-term use of
software, but it’s an interesting idea.
Paying for a game with processing
cycles (and contributing to science)
rather than having advertisements foisted
on you seems a fair exchange, especially
if you are evaluating something first. –CLFree software, in return
for your processing powerRENT OUT
YOUR RIG
Stop stealing
presents
A bill has been reintroduced to
Congress to curb the use of ‘grinch
bots’, that is automated software
to scan online stores, and snap up
the hot items before anybody else
can get them. These are then sold
on at a profit to those who missed
out, including desperate parents.
The bill’s sponsors have called
it the ‘Stopping Grinch Bots’
bill, and claim the “bots ruin the
holidays”. Bots spoil the fun for
PC users too—with supplies of
graphics cards tight, scalpers are
in full effect. The practicality of
the task is considerable, but it has
been done before. A bill in 2016,
aimed at stopping automated
systems from buying tickets to
sports events and concerts, has
led to prosecutions. – CLGoing off
track
NordicTrack sells a $3,999 X32i
smart treadmill that comes with
a superscription training service,
$39 per month to provide the
encouragement you need. Its 32-
inch HD touchscreen can be put to
other uses, and some owners had
been using the ‘privilege mode’ to
unlock the Android OS and make
full use of the hardware.
NordicTrack wasn’t happy
and, in a new software update,
access was blocked. You can work
around this with a hard reset and
by refusing the update. The real
money is in subscription services,
not treadmills. However, once you
buy hardware, it is up to you what
you do with it, although convoluted
laws on intellectual rights don’t
always make this easy. –CLLife360 sells your location data
LIFE360 CLAIMS TO BE the world’s leading family safety service. Essentially, it uses
your smartphone’s GPS to track your movements and sends alerts under specified
conditions to designated people. Naturally, this creates a lot of location data, which
is quite an asset. Two former employees have revealed that Life360 has been selling
it to leading data brokers for years. It transpires that Life360 is one of the largest
providers of location data in the country, part of a $12bn phone tracking business.
The privacy policy on the Life360 website says it may share collected data
with partners for “tailored advertising, attribution, analytics, research, and other
purposes”. You can opt out, but by default, it is on. Founder and CEO of Life360, Chris
Hulls, said that “we see data as an important part of our business model that allows
us to keep the core Life360 services free for users”. The truth is that if you don’t
pay in dollars, you pay in something else, that’s why social media is free. Selling the
collected data brought Life360 $16-22 million in 2020. Thankfully, your location data
is not connected to your identity, although one data point is your home. However,
once the data is with a broker, it is available to almost anybody willing to pay for it.
When you give a company data, you have no control over who gets it or what
use they make of it. Companies are not even obliged to tell you who buys it, and
you usually have to take active steps to keep it private. We shouldn’t be surprised
that even a company whose stated aim is safety resorts to selling your data. Only
legislation can curb these practices, which would be a huge step and a mammoth job
to remove. We may not like it, but we may be stuck with it. –CLWe know where you
live, do you mind if
everybody else does?