Chinese App Store users and developers will soon have to submit to upcoming Chinese regulations that dictates both app stores and providers must maintain a record of user activity for 60 days.
Source: Engadget – New rules for Chinese App Store mean mandatory identity tracking
Monthly Archives: June 2016
EA punts, gives $600k to former football star in Madden NFL rights flap
(credit: VictionaryHD)
Jim Brown, an NFL legend who played for the Cleveland Browns, scored big Monday despite his retirement from the gridiron in 1965. That’s because Electronic Arts, the maker of one of the world’s most popular video game series—Madden NFL—has given up its lengthy court battle with the former eight-time Pro Bowl player. The publisher is giving Brown $600,000 to settle a lawsuit that accuses EA of misappropriating his likeness.
Brown said he expected his case to set precedent for other players involved in similar litigation against EA concerning the right of publicity. The legal claim was first recognized in 1953 in a federal appeals court case about professional baseball cards. The claim is most often invoked by celebrities and professional athletes. For the most part, the right of publicity gives people an economic right to their names and likenesses so that they can profit from the commercial value of their identities.
“I took a stand for all athletes and laid a framework for future plaintiffs with my great legal team. Hopefully, this is a step forward in getting companies like Electronic Arts to recognize the value that athletes have in selling their products,” Brown said in a statement.
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Source: Ars Technica – EA punts, gives 0k to former football star in Madden NFL rights flap
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 In The Wild
Sharp-eyed [H]ardForum reader ‘Tainted Squirrel’ spotted what appears to be a GeForce GTX 1060 in the wild. From the looks of the bag the card is sitting on, I’m going to take a guess and say this picture probably originated in China.
Ongoing Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 In The Wild
Meet The Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen
The inventor of this adorable robot says that his company would like to get to a point where his mini-murderbots do new things every day. You know, like kill you in your sleep. I don’t care how cute they are, robots will KILL US ALL!
“We’d like to get it to the point where it literally does new things every day,” Andreessen says. “We want it to be programmable.” They hope that other companies will build robots like Cozmo, maybe even robots that are aware of Cozmo and want to be friends. This real-world video game might just take over the world. Or maybe it won’t. And then Cozmo will be all alone, and sad—at least, it’ll appear that way.
Comments
Source: [H]ardOCP – Meet The Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You’ve Ever Seen
My, What Big Tanks You Have
This E-Cig is a Terrible Vape, But a Solid Cigarette Replacement
The ploy of the rechargeable, Blu PLUS+ vape is obvious: It looks like a cigarette and the charging case resembles a pack. “It’s just like real smoking!” it seems to beg of your disbelief. It isn’t. But that should be obvious. And it’s far from the biggest problem with the Blu PLUS+.
Source: Gizmodo – This E-Cig is a Terrible Vape, But a Solid Cigarette Replacement
How Food Manufacturers Pick Expiration Dates and What They Really Mean
No one wants to serve spoiled food to their families. Conversely, consumers don’t want to throw food away unnecessarily–but we certainly do. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates Americans toss out the equivalent of US$162 billion in food every year, at the retail and consumer levels. Plenty of that food is discarded while still safe to eat.
Source: LifeHacker – How Food Manufacturers Pick Expiration Dates and What They Really Mean
Why ISPs’ fight against net neutrality probably won’t reach Supreme Court
The next stop for net neutrality? (credit: Joe Ravi (CC-BY-SA 3.0))
The US appeals court decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules wasn’t quite the final word on the matter, as ISPs immediately vowed to appeal the ruling, with AT&T saying it “expect[s] this issue to be decided by the Supreme Court.”
But while ISPs will give it their best shot, there are reasons to think that the Supreme Court won’t take up the case. The appeal probably won’t even make it to a rehearing by the full appeals court, a potential intermediate step before a Supreme Court case, legal expert Andrew Jay Schwartzman wrote last week in a Benton Foundation article titled, “Network Neutrality: Now What?” Schwartzman is a Georgetown Law lecturer, an attorney who specializes in media and telecommunications policy, and a longtime consumer advocate who previously led the Media Access Project.
The broadband industry lost a 2-1 decision (full text) by a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which rejected challenges to the FCC’s reclassification of broadband as a Title II common carrier service and imposition of net neutrality rules. The next step for ISPs and their lobby groups could be a petition for an “en banc” review in front of all of the court’s judges instead of just a three-judge panel. They could also appeal to the Supreme Court after losing an en banc review or appeal directly to the Supreme Court without taking that intermediate step.
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Source: Ars Technica – Why ISPs’ fight against net neutrality probably won’t reach Supreme Court
Microscopic camera could be injected into your body
You may have seen some very small cameras in your day, but nothing like this. University of Stuttgart scientist have developed a 3D-printed, three-lens camera that’s just 100 micrometers (0.004 inches) across. That’s small enough that you could injec…
Source: Engadget – Microscopic camera could be injected into your body
Apple Patents a Way To Keep People From Filming At Concerts and Movie Theaters
An anonymous reader writes: Apple has patented a system that prohibits smartphone users from taking photos and videos at concerts, movie theaters and other events where people tend to ignore such restrictions. The patent has been award to Apple today and was first spotted by Patently Apple. QZ reports: “It outlines a system which would allow venues to use an infrared emitter to remotely disable the camera function on smartphones. According to the patent, infrared beams could be picked up by the camera, and interpreted by the smartphone as a command to block the user from taking any photos or videos of whatever they’re seeing. The patent also outlines ways that infrared blasters could actually improve someone’s experience at a venue. For example, the beams could be used to send information to museum-goers by pointing a smartphone camera at a blaster placed next to a piece of art.” The report also mentions that the patent could in theory be used to help police limit smartphone filming of acts of brutality, or help a government shut off filming in certain locations. Last week, SlashGear reported that Alicia Keys is the latest musician to ban cellphones at her events.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Apple Patents a Way To Keep People From Filming At Concerts and Movie Theaters
Judge Says IP Address Doesn't Prove Anything in Piracy Case
What do you do if you get busted for pirating a terrible Adam Sandler movie? Deny it. That seems to be the lesson of a recently dismissed federal case, which raises the burden of proof that copyright owner must meet in order to hold you accountable for infringement.
Source: Gizmodo – Judge Says IP Address Doesn’t Prove Anything in Piracy Case
Boston Dynamics' Latest Robot Video Dubbed With What The Robot Is Thinking
Note: Tons of f-bombs. As a matter of fact, the robot thinks almost entirely in bad words. Watch at low to moderate volume while yelling ‘I hate my job!’ so your boss can’t hear it.
This is a video of Boston Dynamics’ most recent video of their SpotMini quadroped robot dubbed over by Youtuber vagabonds with what the robot is thinking in a Northern English accent. I’m pretty sure this at least serves as some sort of scientific proof that robots are, by nature, angry and destructive. Sure I don’t have any sort of college science degree, and I’ve gotten my penis stuck in more graduated cylinders than I’d like to admit, but that’s not the point. The point is– “You’re confusing graduated cylinders for test tubes?” Depends, is there a test tube that could hold all the water in the ocean? “Right.” Fine, but it’s at least a moderate-size city water tower. “Mhmm.” Okay okay — how about one of those big vats in Walter White’s meth lab?
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Boston Dynamics’ Latest Robot Video Dubbed With What The Robot Is Thinking
Umbrella Corps Is An Interesting Experiment That’s Not Much Fun To Play
Resident Evil 7‘s first-person take on the franchise is a bold experiment that holds tons of promise. The same could be said for Umbrella Corps, a new attempt by Capcom to graft multiplayer onto Resident Evil. Sadly, it doesn’t really work.
Source: Kotaku – Umbrella Corps Is An Interesting Experiment That’s Not Much Fun To Play
Transfer Your Evernote Notes Into Microsoft OneNote With the Importer Tool
If today’s news regarding Evernote’s new pricing plans and limitations
has you considering Microsoft OneNote, the OneNote Importer tool makes the transition relatively painless for Windows users.
Source: LifeHacker – Transfer Your Evernote Notes Into Microsoft OneNote With the Importer Tool
The free story mode for 'Street Fighter V' arrives this Friday
Earlier this month, we had a chance to try the first story mode Capcom has ever put into a Street Fighter game. It’s a free update for Street Fighter V owners, but there was one detail missing: a release date. Now, we know that the update will arrive…
Source: Engadget – The free story mode for ‘Street Fighter V’ arrives this Friday
Jalopnik Here’s Exactly How Much Volkswagen Will Pay You For Your Diesel Car | Lifehacker Feeling Po
Jalopnik Here’s Exactly How Much Volkswagen Will Pay You For Your Diesel Car
| Lifehacker Feeling Poor Doesn’t Stop Once You Make Money
| io9 Game of Thrones Showrunners Confirm There Are Only 15 Episodes Left, Max
| Kotaku INSIDE: The Kotaku Review
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Source: Gizmodo – Jalopnik Here’s Exactly How Much Volkswagen Will Pay You For Your Diesel Car | Lifehacker Feeling Po
This Spinning Illusion Is Obviously Some Sort of Light Magic
I don’t know how these tiny dancers got trapped inside this spinning zoetrope but it’s the only explanation I can come up with for this insane light animation. Their movements are so smooth, and the shining light captures the grace of their dance so well that I’m sure some sort of magic has to be at play here.
Source: Gizmodo – This Spinning Illusion Is Obviously Some Sort of Light Magic
Deadspin No One Is Watching All Takes Matter | Jezebel All the Greedy Young Abigail Fishers and Me |
Deadspin No One Is Watching All Takes Matter
| Jezebel All the Greedy Young Abigail Fishers and Me
| Sploid What Dark Magic Makes This Weird Yo-Yo Work?
| Gawker Why Has Donald Trump Stopped Tweeting?
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Source: Kotaku – Deadspin No One Is Watching All Takes Matter | Jezebel All the Greedy Young Abigail Fishers and Me |
Meet Jigsaw, the ransomware that taunts victims and offers live support
Enlarge (credit: Jakub Kroustek)
The crypto ransomware racket is a booming business that generates lots of revenue, so it only makes sense that the scourge is growing. And with new titles entering the market on almost a weekly basis, how do the criminals behind them make their malware stand out?
In the case of Jigsaw, a ransomware package that was first spotted in April by researchers with the Bleeping Computer security site, the answer is to be as brazen and mean-spirited as possible while at the same time making the payment process as easy as possible. A case in point: Jigsaw not only threatens the permanent loss of personal data, it also holds out the fear that victims’ dirty laundry will be published for all to see. And it uses a taunting tone when notifying people of their options. Witness the screenshot above from a recent version. It states:
Very bad news! I am a so-called ransomware/locker with following advanced functions: Encrypting all your data.
Collecting all logins, contacts, eMail, Passwords and Skype History …..Done!
Uploading all of it on a server …………………Done!
Sending a copy of those Datas to ALL of your contacts…………..Pending
The doxing threat, which was added last week, is pure evil genius because it gives victims a strong incentive to pay the ransom even when the purloined data is available on a backup drive.
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Source: Ars Technica – Meet Jigsaw, the ransomware that taunts victims and offers live support
The Star City PD Adds a New Detective as Arrow's Cast Continues to Expand
There’ll be a new face in Star City next season on the CW’s Arrow: Tyler Ritter (The McCarthys) as Detective Malone, added to the police force after Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) peaced out in season four. Actually, there will be several fresh faces in Star City, since Ritter is only the most recent new cast member to be announced.
Source: io9 – The Star City PD Adds a New Detective as Arrow’s Cast Continues to Expand