Currency-Mining Android Malware Is So Aggressive It Can Physically Harm Phones

Ars Technica | A newly discovered piece of Android malware, Trojan.AndroidOS.Loapi, carries out a litany of malicious activities. Its biggest offense: a secret cryptocurrency miner that's so aggressive it can physically damage an infected phone. After two days in a lab setting, the mining caused the battery in the phone to bulge so badly it deformed the cover.

Chrome Will Start Auto-Blocking the Web’s Most Annoying Ads in February

TNW | Google revealed it will stop showing ads in Chrome that don’t meet certain standards for quality starting February 15. On desktop, those include pop-up ads, auto-playing videos with sounds, prestitials with countdowns, large sticky ads, and more. On mobile, these also include infuriating scrollover ads, flashing ads, etc.

A Hawaiian Politician Is Introducing a Bill That Would Encourage Creation of Locally Owned Broadband Networks

Motherboard | A Hawaii state lawmaker announced plans to introduce a bill that would require the state to explore the feasibility of creating and supporting locally owned broadband networks that do not rely on traditional internet service providers. “One option is to reject corporate internet service providers altogether, and control the internet ourselves,” he wrote.

The Top Chromebook Tips (And More!) of 2017

Computerworld | Whether you're a new Chromebook convert or a Chrome OS vet, the ecosystem's never-ending evolution means there's always something new to learn and consider. Behold: some of 2017's most useful and thought-provoking Chromebook stories.

Finally, An Easy, Quick Way to Transcribe Audio, for Free

Quartz at Work | If you haven’t wasted hours transcribing audio—endlessly replaying the same 30 seconds of the recording, cursing people’s inability to speak in full sentences—you’ve never transcribed audio. Or you’re a wizard. For the rest of us, there’s finally a transcribing solution. It’s free, easy, and requires no fancy apps, AI, or downloads—just Google Docs.