TLDR 2021-03-08

30,000 US governmental and commercial organizations' emails were hacked due to four exploits found in Microsoft's Exchange Server software. The exploits have been patched, but the cleanup process will be a massive effort. A Chinese hacking group has been blamed for the attack. The attack has been ongoing since January 6th. Microsoft released its patch on March 2nd. Exchange servers that haven't installed the patch are likely compromised. The attacks are not connected to the SolarWinds attacks.

Alpha Skip-Ahead Xbox testers can now access the new Microsoft Edge on Xbox One or Xbox Series S/X consoles. There is no keyboard or mouse support. A Chromium browser allows more access to the web, and it increases compatibility with web-based services. The Xbox version of Edge supports extensions, vertical tabs, Collections, and most other desktop features.

Carbfix is a startup from Iceland that is turning carbon dioxide into rocks. The process involves capturing and dissolving CO2 in water and then injecting it into the ground, where it turns into stone in less than two years. The process is cheap and environmentally friendly. Carbfix will install its technology at power plants to capture carbon emissions as they are released. It has also partnered with Swiss startup Climeworks to build machines that can capture CO2 directly from the air. Bill Gates and Microsoft are backing the project with Climeworks.

Engineers from the University of Buffalo have developed a method of 3D printing that is 10-50 times faster than the industry standard. The process uses stereolithography, a method that uses lasers to harden liquid resin and jelly-like substances called hydrogels. The method is suited for printing tiny details, which will be critical in the eventual production of 3D-printed human tissue and organs. Sped-up footage showing the 3D printer fully constructing an artificial hand in just 19 minutes is available in the article.

Zola is a static site generator (SSG) that uses dynamic templates to transform content into static HTML pages. It comes as a single executable with no dependencies. Zola features shortcodes and internal links to make it easier to write content. SSGs are fast and don't require a database, making them easy to host.

APKLeaks scans APK files for URIs, endpoints, and secrets. It is simple to install and use.

The prominent crime site Maza was hacked earlier this week. It was a long-standing destination for all types of criminal activity. The forum was considered elite and hard to join. The hackers obtained usernames, email addresses, and hashed passwords, and then subsequently dumped the stolen data on the dark web. Two other Russian cybercrime forums were recently hacked. It is impossible to know who the hackers are, but it is possible that the site takedowns were done by law enforcement.

This article follows the story of Amazon as it developed from a bookseller into a company that sells everything. It describes Amazon's design process and how Jeff Bezos' decisions affects the end products. Amazon's products are developed inside the company's secretive Lab126 group, which has around 3,000 employees, making it one of the largest internal design groups in the world. There are human and ecological costs to achieving the level of service that Amazon provides. Despite Bezos' customer-focused obsession and the company's focus on design and service, Amazon is still not human-centered, and that could be why the company is still neither cool nor loved.