Tech News Today 1648

Pilots for Amazon.com Inc.'s new in-house transportation network took to the picket line this week over an ongoing labor dispute involving increased demand and staffing shortages. ABX Air, which also flies for DHL, says 26 flights & 1.25 million pounds of cargo is currently grounded with no pilots crossing the picket line.

Google’s brand identity problems continue, as Google decided to switch its Google Cast branding back to Chromecast, after having already switched away from the Chromecast branding earlier this year. Supported devices will now show that the product has “Chromecast built-in.”

The New York Times says that Facebook built a tool that will allow them to monitor and suppress posts based on location, and they're doing this to get into China. The tool has been a secret, but some Facebook employees have already left the company in protest. This would be a pragmatic move on Zuckerberg's part, and he obviously wants to get into China at any cost.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued voluntary guidelines to smartphone manufacturers to push them towards implementing a “driver mode” into devices, preventing certain apps from running and blocking video playback, among other things, while the car is in motion.

Security researchers say there's a new way to spy on you, through your headphones. Shown with new proof of concept code called Speaker, which can exploit the audio-jack re-tasking function of RealTek codecs. An attacker can then swap the headphone jack for the microphone jack, resulting in an open mic that is ripe for surveillance.

• Fred Lambert from Electrek discusses how Tesla finalized its acquisition of SolarCity and wasted no time showing off the fruits of its labor by powering the small island of Ta'u entirely off of solar energy.

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Links

• Amazon’s Holiday Deliveries Face Disruption From Pilot Strike
• Google Quietly Phases Out ‘Google Cast’ Branding for TVs, Speakers
• Facebook Said to Create Censorship Tool to Get Back Into China
• The Feds are pushing smartphone makers to block certain apps while driving
• Great. Now Even Your Headphones Can Spy on You
• Tesla converted an entire island to solar with new microgrid product developed by SolarCity
• Tesla officially acquires SolarCity
• HOW TO COOK THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH A DRONE