The Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: A Report on Smartphone Tracking and Advertising

A huge report in The New York Times on Monday looked at how dozens of companies track smartphone user locations and then sell that data to advertisers. This is not a surprise for tech-savvy individuals who regularly follow tech news, but it may come as a shock to those who are less familiar with the world of digital tracking.

Basically any app you install will collect some form of data, usually in an anonymous format. However, The Times reporters were able to easily track users back to their homes, which would be an obvious way to identify them. In one instance, they even tracked President Trump, showcasing the level of accuracy with which these apps can pinpoint locations.

The implications of this are significant, as it raises questions about privacy and security in the digital age. While the data is technically anonymous, the fact that users' locations can be easily tracked back to their homes means that there may be ways to identify individuals using this information.

Protecting yourself from smartphone tracking requires a certain level of awareness and caution. However, not a whole lot can be done to prevent this type of tracking, as it is often built into the very nature of how apps function.

Brilliant: A Platform for Learning

In other news, Brilliant is a platform that offers thought-provoking content in the fields of math, science, computer science, and other professional topics. The platform breaks down complex concepts into bite-sized, understandable chunks, allowing users to progress from curiosity to mastery.

For individuals on your Christmas list who love to ask questions and figure out how things work, Brilliant is a great way to spread their enthusiasm for learning. With over five and a half million members already sharing their curiosity, it's clear that this platform has resonated with many.

Brilliant offers a unique approach to education, making it easier for individuals to learn from each other and share knowledge. The platform also provides a range of features, including discussion forums and quizzes, to help users engage with the material and solidify their understanding.

For those who want to try out Brilliant, TechLink has an exclusive offer: use the code "TechLink20" to get 20% off your subscription. This is a great way to experience the platform's content and features for yourself.

Epic Games: A Changing of the Game Industry

In another development, Epic Games announced its own game store, which promises better developer revenue splitting than Steam. The company also launched an online services SDK, allowing developers to easily enable cross-platform capabilities in their games for free.

This move marks a significant shift in the game industry, as Epic Games seeks to challenge the dominance of Steam and other digital storefronts. By providing a more developer-friendly platform, Epic Games aims to attract independent developers and creators who are looking for new opportunities.

The launch of the online services SDK is particularly exciting, as it opens up a world of possibilities for cross-platform development. With this tool, developers can easily enable features such as cloud saves, matchmaking, and social sharing across different platforms, allowing them to reach a wider audience.

However, not everyone is happy with the new game store, particularly in regards to its competitive structure. The Infinity Blade, a powerful weapon that makes its wielder nearly unbeatable, was introduced into the tournament, causing concern among competitors. This move has been widely criticized, as it undermines the competitive nature of the game and creates an uneven playing field.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Leaks: A Cutout in the Future

Finally, news emerged about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10, with a photo posted by leaker Ice Universe showing a dual camera cutout in the top corner of the screen. This design has been met with mixed reactions, as some have expressed disappointment at the lack of innovation.

The line for the device was previously closed off until February, but it appears that this has now been lifted. However, instead of discussing the features and capabilities of the new phone, we can talk about something else – a bonkers new VR headset made by Vrgineers.

Vrgineers' latest creation boasts an impressive 180-degree field of view, dual 2560 x 1440 OLED displays, and integrated Leap Motion hand tracking. The headset also features a unique design, with the company claiming that it is "huge" in terms of its physical presence.

However, this new VR headset comes at a price: $5,800. While this may be out of reach for many consumers, Vrgineers argues that this is simply a matter of supply and demand. With the rise of virtual reality, there will inevitably be a market for high-end headsets like this one.

Corsair's RGB Memory Modules: Because Who Needs RAM When You Can Have Bling?

In another surprising move, Corsair has announced RGB memory modules – essentially, plastic cards with no actual RAM but plenty of visual flair. This is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to tinker with their computer and want to add some style to their system.

While these RGB memory modules may seem like a novelty, they also serve as a reminder that in the world of digital technology, form often follows function. In this case, Corsair has created something visually appealing while still delivering on its core promise: a product that is both functional and stylish.

As we move forward into a future where smartphone tracking and advertising are increasingly prevalent, it's clear that there will be more developments like these – innovative products and services that challenge our assumptions about technology and its impact on society.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enuh tech links number 69 to infinity and beyond you know this whole putting on the techlink shirt over top of my other shirt isn't really going to work as well now that it's winter i think you look great intel has apparently gotten sick of everyone talking about how amd is just killing it with their cpus right now and how intel just can't get their 10 nanometer process sorted out because they just came out swinging with a bunch of exciting announcements at an event called intel architecture days or iad it kind of sounds like a sponsored event at disneyland or something doesn't it first intel announced the 10 nanometer sunny cove cpu core which is expected to be used in the company's ice lake u processors early next year bringing improvements in cryptography ai and machine learning and of course overall speed second intel announced foverose 3d die stacking which allows not just memory but processor components to be stacked on top of each other with more and faster interconnects than other stacking technologies third intel's integrated graphics is now on its 11th generation and should offer up twice the performance of their current built-in graphics meaning that finally it might not be garbage and lastly intel has announced that their upcoming discrete gpus formerly codenamed arctic sound will be officially branded z or wait that's x with a superscript e it x to x to the power of e is it i really want to get excited about this but i'm going to have to know how to pronounce it first you guys samsung is reevaluating its decision to collaborate with fashion brand supreme really well it's because they weren't ever actually collaborating with supreme let me explain earlier this week samsung china held a launch event for the galaxy a8s at that event they announced a creative partnership with supreme women people problem is there are two companies called supreme in the world the original is based in new york and doesn't actually own the rights to their brand the second one is called supreme italia and sells products with the supreme name and logo which is technically legal because of the whole no copyright thing after the real supreme released a statement saying they are not part of the collab samsung china released statement saying that the collab was indeed with supreme italia and that they are currently re-evaluating this cooperation i mean did they get confused they also said that they deeply regret the inconvenience cause like they might they might not have known that they were talking to the wrong supreme which is the real supreme but not the one that owns the copyright was this a corporate case of catfishing i think so it's a stranger the truth is stranger than fiction a huge report in the new york times on monday looked at how dozens of companies track smartphone users locations then sell that data to advertisers now if you're the type of person who's really smart and watches tech linked every day this probably won't be a surprise to you basically any app you install will collect some form of usually anonymous data but the report found that even seemingly innocuous apps like the weather channel or gas buddy can track your location with pinpoint accuracy and while the data is technically anonymous the times reporters were able to easily track users back to their homes which would be an obvious way to identify them the reporters were even able to track president trump in one instance so then what can you do to protect yourself not a whole heck of a lot i mean this might actually have been a good segue into a vpn app but instead it's time for cow week pits brought to you by brilliant brilliant is the new way to master key concepts in math science computer science and other professional topics do you have someone on your christmas list this year who loves to ask questions and figure out how things work well you can spread your love of science with brilliant their thought-provoking content breaks up complexities into bite-sized understandable chunks that will lead them from curiosity to mastery over five and a half million members are already sharing their curiosity on brilliant and the first 200 of you lucky tech link viewers can sign up to get 20 off so head to brilliant.org tech link down below and sign up today brilliant epic games is apparently on a mission to change the game industry epically after launching their own game store with better developer revenue splitting than steam the company announced the online services sdk which developers will be able to use to more easily enable cross-platform capabilities in their games for free you know what great jobs we don't say this often enough great job game developer also bad job because epic games yes that same company we just mentioned is hosting the competitive winter royale fortnite tournament with a one million dollar prize however the game just got the infinity blade a weapon that basically makes its wielder incredibly powerful and nigh unstoppable and yeah it showed up in the tournament the community the competitors in the tournament and well basically that's everyone but they were understandably unhappy because this pretty much breaks the competitive structure of the game i mean that's kind of life though isn't it you know you win some you lose some some days you're winning and then suddenly you lose because everything got imba yeah and this is the last time we're going to talk about samsung galaxy s10 leaks for real this time but leaker ice universe has posted a photo of what is supposedly the upcoming flagship complete with a dual camera cutout in the top corner of the screen that's not quite as bad as it sounds like it's not two cutouts each with a camera it's one cutout with two cameras but either way there's going to be a cut out and that's it oh well the line was silenced until february but i'm not talking yeah but now you need to keep talking then i did finally one thing we can talk about is this bonkers new vr headset made by a company called vrgineers virgineers sounds like uh i never said it out loud i would hate to damage their virgin ears ah with the joke about virginia's the unit boasts a 180 degree field of view dual 2560 by 1440 oled displays and integrated leap motion hand tracking also it's huge and cost five thousand eight hundred dollars i mean you know that's one strategy for vr headsets most companies are trying to figure out how to lower the prices and make them palatable and these guys are like well hey if we make it six thousand dollars we don't have to sell that many of them hey and we know that the way your pc looks is the most important thing about it and so does corsair they have finally done it they've announced rgb memory modules that don't actually have any ram in them yep they're just empty rgb equipped plastic cards that you can stick in your motherboard so you have more rgb goodness in there because who needs actual ram when you can just have more bling you know it's a thought that counts merry christmas and that's all i can handle for today was the bear bit of pun it doesn't matter thanks for watching subscribe to techlink for more links into the tech world of tech news linkage i'm gonna see you next time i'm gonna i'm gonna take off my shirt but it doesn't matter because i have so much clothing on underneath look at all the shirts i could take off before i run out oh he still has it stop teasinguh tech links number 69 to infinity and beyond you know this whole putting on the techlink shirt over top of my other shirt isn't really going to work as well now that it's winter i think you look great intel has apparently gotten sick of everyone talking about how amd is just killing it with their cpus right now and how intel just can't get their 10 nanometer process sorted out because they just came out swinging with a bunch of exciting announcements at an event called intel architecture days or iad it kind of sounds like a sponsored event at disneyland or something doesn't it first intel announced the 10 nanometer sunny cove cpu core which is expected to be used in the company's ice lake u processors early next year bringing improvements in cryptography ai and machine learning and of course overall speed second intel announced foverose 3d die stacking which allows not just memory but processor components to be stacked on top of each other with more and faster interconnects than other stacking technologies third intel's integrated graphics is now on its 11th generation and should offer up twice the performance of their current built-in graphics meaning that finally it might not be garbage and lastly intel has announced that their upcoming discrete gpus formerly codenamed arctic sound will be officially branded z or wait that's x with a superscript e it x to x to the power of e is it i really want to get excited about this but i'm going to have to know how to pronounce it first you guys samsung is reevaluating its decision to collaborate with fashion brand supreme really well it's because they weren't ever actually collaborating with supreme let me explain earlier this week samsung china held a launch event for the galaxy a8s at that event they announced a creative partnership with supreme women people problem is there are two companies called supreme in the world the original is based in new york and doesn't actually own the rights to their brand the second one is called supreme italia and sells products with the supreme name and logo which is technically legal because of the whole no copyright thing after the real supreme released a statement saying they are not part of the collab samsung china released statement saying that the collab was indeed with supreme italia and that they are currently re-evaluating this cooperation i mean did they get confused they also said that they deeply regret the inconvenience cause like they might they might not have known that they were talking to the wrong supreme which is the real supreme but not the one that owns the copyright was this a corporate case of catfishing i think so it's a stranger the truth is stranger than fiction a huge report in the new york times on monday looked at how dozens of companies track smartphone users locations then sell that data to advertisers now if you're the type of person who's really smart and watches tech linked every day this probably won't be a surprise to you basically any app you install will collect some form of usually anonymous data but the report found that even seemingly innocuous apps like the weather channel or gas buddy can track your location with pinpoint accuracy and while the data is technically anonymous the times reporters were able to easily track users back to their homes which would be an obvious way to identify them the reporters were even able to track president trump in one instance so then what can you do to protect yourself not a whole heck of a lot i mean this might actually have been a good segue into a vpn app but instead it's time for cow week pits brought to you by brilliant brilliant is the new way to master key concepts in math science computer science and other professional topics do you have someone on your christmas list this year who loves to ask questions and figure out how things work well you can spread your love of science with brilliant their thought-provoking content breaks up complexities into bite-sized understandable chunks that will lead them from curiosity to mastery over five and a half million members are already sharing their curiosity on brilliant and the first 200 of you lucky tech link viewers can sign up to get 20 off so head to brilliant.org tech link down below and sign up today brilliant epic games is apparently on a mission to change the game industry epically after launching their own game store with better developer revenue splitting than steam the company announced the online services sdk which developers will be able to use to more easily enable cross-platform capabilities in their games for free you know what great jobs we don't say this often enough great job game developer also bad job because epic games yes that same company we just mentioned is hosting the competitive winter royale fortnite tournament with a one million dollar prize however the game just got the infinity blade a weapon that basically makes its wielder incredibly powerful and nigh unstoppable and yeah it showed up in the tournament the community the competitors in the tournament and well basically that's everyone but they were understandably unhappy because this pretty much breaks the competitive structure of the game i mean that's kind of life though isn't it you know you win some you lose some some days you're winning and then suddenly you lose because everything got imba yeah and this is the last time we're going to talk about samsung galaxy s10 leaks for real this time but leaker ice universe has posted a photo of what is supposedly the upcoming flagship complete with a dual camera cutout in the top corner of the screen that's not quite as bad as it sounds like it's not two cutouts each with a camera it's one cutout with two cameras but either way there's going to be a cut out and that's it oh well the line was silenced until february but i'm not talking yeah but now you need to keep talking then i did finally one thing we can talk about is this bonkers new vr headset made by a company called vrgineers virgineers sounds like uh i never said it out loud i would hate to damage their virgin ears ah with the joke about virginia's the unit boasts a 180 degree field of view dual 2560 by 1440 oled displays and integrated leap motion hand tracking also it's huge and cost five thousand eight hundred dollars i mean you know that's one strategy for vr headsets most companies are trying to figure out how to lower the prices and make them palatable and these guys are like well hey if we make it six thousand dollars we don't have to sell that many of them hey and we know that the way your pc looks is the most important thing about it and so does corsair they have finally done it they've announced rgb memory modules that don't actually have any ram in them yep they're just empty rgb equipped plastic cards that you can stick in your motherboard so you have more rgb goodness in there because who needs actual ram when you can just have more bling you know it's a thought that counts merry christmas and that's all i can handle for today was the bear bit of pun it doesn't matter thanks for watching subscribe to techlink for more links into the tech world of tech news linkage i'm gonna see you next time i'm gonna i'm gonna take off my shirt but it doesn't matter because i have so much clothing on underneath look at all the shirts i could take off before i run out oh he still has it stop teasing\n"