Data just keeps getting lost. Last week, it was Facebook, and this week Google, after a Wall Street Journal report, was forced to admit it too had a security incident, improperly exposing about 500.000 users data until March this year.

Well, kinda. First, the incident involved Google+, a social network so few people use, I thought Google hat shut it down already (despite Google, for a time, forcing it down everyone’s throat).

Second, Google didn’t find any actual evidence of anyone exploiting the security hole (although its internal logs don’t go back far enough to make this definitive). Apart from Google announcing that it would shut down Google+ following the public disclosure, it didn’t really influence anything at Google: Its main event this week was the Pixel 3 smartphone keynote, where not a single word about Google+ was dropped, and even Google’s stock price barely changed, down only by 0.7% on the week the incident was disclosed. Arguably no one really cared about this incident, and considering that Google, so far, has had a pretty good track record of not losing their users’ data, it’s not surprising that the flurry of excitement around this died down pretty quickly.

Facebook, on the other hand, a company apparently in the business of collecting and then losing their users data, has launched a “smart display” called Facebook Portal, so you can have an always-on microphone and video camera by Facebook in your home. How does Facebook ensure it doesn’t snoop on you? By including a cover you can put over the camera. No, really.

If any other company had launched Portal, it would probably have received okay reviews. But since it’s Facebook, tech journalists reactions have ranged from mockery to questioning why anyone would put such a device from Facebook into their homes. Considering Facebook’s track record even just over the last weeks, it might have concluded that we just don’t give a shit about our private data anyway.

The Forgotten Network

Long before Facebook and even MySpace, when open standards were still cool, there was a way to get all the updates and news in your own personal newsfeed you ever wanted, without giving away your personal data: RSS. Since then, the technology has been all but forgotten by most: The Rise and Demise of RSS

Space Paint Job

Paint covers many things in our daily lives, sometimes just to make them look nicer, but often to also protect them from the elements. Space probes and rovers also need painting, but their paint has to withstand much harsher conditions on Mars: New Mars rover gets high-tech paint job

📖 Weekly Longread 📚

This profile was published in the middle of September, so it doesn’t address some of the more recent stuff, but it’s still an interesting read: Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?

🦄 Unicorn Chaser 🦄

What If… Movies Reimagined for Another Time/Place

🦄 Bonus Unicorn Chaser 🦄

One week ago, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenburg AFB in California, right into the fading twilight. So when the rocket got high enough so the sunlight caught it, the exhaust plumes… well, just see for yourself: The Falcon 9 Nebula.
Ars Technica has more pretty pictures of the launch, and kottke.org has a timelapse video.