2019-09-01_Computer_Shopper

16 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379

ARTISSUBJECTIVE,which is

why we can just about swallow

the idea of alaptop riddled with

some of the greatest hits from

the malwareworld being marked

as art and selling for$1.3m.

Created by artist Guo ODong,

with some help from cyber security

firm Deep Instinct,the

malware-packedmachinehas

been dubbedthe Persistence of

Chaos. That’s afancy name fora

venerableSamsungNC10 10.2in netbook,

which was popularnearly adecade ago.

What makes this laptop valuable is it has

strains of the WannaCry,ILOVEYOU,

BlackEnergy,Mydoom,Sobig and DarkTequila

malware,which combinedhave caused$95bn

worth of damageworldwide.

One might wonderwhy the laptop hasn’t been

incinerated, but Dong reckonsit stands as aphysical

testamentto the threat of malwareand

the chaos it can cause.The netbookis kept

air gapped,meaningit’s not connected

to any network,therebypreventingthe

malwarefrom escapingor being erased;

there are ways to overcomeair-gapped

machines,however.

As the laptop was put up

forauction in New York, it had

to be sold as art, given that

malwarecan’t be sold legally in

the US unless it’s used foracademic

purposes.Dong intended forthe laptop to exist

as an art piece or be used by academicsand

researchers,but it was sold to an unknownbidder.

Whatever happensto the computer,it’s an

interestingexampleof how technologytouches

so many aspectsof our world that it can now be

consideredart in some situations;maybe think

about that before you bin your aged smartphone

or creakyold PC.

Malware-riddledlaptopsellsfor$1.3m

LIFEIMITATESARTsometimes.Case in point:

Robert DowneyJr, who plays Tony Stark/IronMan

in the popularMarvelfilms, has pledgedto clean up

the world by using technologyand robotics,in a

similar vein to his most famous role.

The actor,who as faraswecan tell has no

previous experiencein the technologyworld,

revealed the Footprint Coalitionat Amazon’s

AWSreMARStech conference,

which is the organisationthat will

help him achieve his goal to help

Planet Earth.

“I’m here to announce,against

all sound advice and from wildly

humblingbeginnings,the Footprint

Coalition,”DowneyJrsaid.

“It took 11 years to completethree Marvelphases

and I’m willing to spend the next 11 years making

good on that statement, that betweenroboticsand

nanotechnologywe can probablyclean up the

planet significantly,ifnot entirely,within adecade.”

It’s abizarre bit of news, and DowneyJrgaveno

real details as to how the organisationwill help

reduce carbonemissionsacross the world using

cutting-edge tech. But then again, the

Hollywoodstar is not short of cash

and has some influentialclout, so with

the right people on board and him as

afront man, perhapshe could indeed

becomeareal-world Tony Stark,

althoughthe Iron Man side might be

leftinthe world of sci-fi fornow.

IronManwantsto usetechto cleanup Earth

Wewant to

supporttheir

vitalwork bygiving

themtoolsthatcan

fosteracultureof

inclusivityand

creativity,easetheir

workloadandhelp

inspirethenext

generation”

Microsoftplans to train 30,

UK teachers in using technology

to improve teaching

Teaching

machinesto

learnontheirown

in thephysical

worldwill helpus

developmore

capable and

flexible AIsystems

in otherscenarios”

Facebookwants robots to teach

other robots

Althoughthis

is anapology

forthedelay, it is not

achangeinpolicy.

Ageverification

needsto happen”

CulturesecretaryJeremy Wright

reveals afurther six-monthdelay

to the UK’s controversial 18-plus

internet porn system

It wasonmy

lap,plugged

in,andsuddenly

startedto spew

smokeout both

sides.Iquickly

placedit onthe

floorwhereit

popped,thesmoke

increased,andit

caughtfire”

Reddit userWhitePanda’s tale of

an explodingMacBookPro led to

Apple recalling2015 models

SAMSUNGANDAMDdon’t make the most likely

chip partners,but the two companieshave joined

forces to get the latter’s Radeongraphicstech

implemented intothe former’s Exynosmobile chips.

That’s not to saythe Galaxy S11 will come with

the graphicalgrunt to run the types of games

normallyfound on the latest games consolesand

gamingPCs. But the partnershipwill see Samsung

have access to licensedAMD graphicsintellectual

property,which might mean that an Exynos

system-on-a-chipagenerationor so from now could

come with aseriouslyupgradedgraphicsprocessor.

The deal sets the scene forfuture-generation

Exynoschips to have anoticeablehike in graphics

power.But we emphasisethe ‘future’bit here,

as such partnershipstend to take agood while

before theybear consumer-facing fruit.

Smartphonechips are alreadypretty powerful,

with flagshipphonespossessingplenty of

processingpower in their slim forms. But there’s still

plenty of scope forgraphicsto improve,especiallyas

screensembracefaster refresh rates and mobile

gamingcontinuesto grow at aheady pace.

As there was preciouslittle to go on other than a

statement of intent from the partnership,we’re left

to speculateonwhat the two tech giants will come

up with. We’d like to see aphone that has the

graphicsand interface to double up as ahome

games machinethat can deliver console-quality

graphicswhen dockedto aTVorexternal monitor.

SamsungandAMDjoinforcesto give

mobilechipsaRadeongraphicskick