The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged businessman Maksim Zaslavskiy with fraudulently running two initial coin offerings (ICOs), a form of largely unregulated investment vehicle in which companies take investors’ cash or cryptocurrency in exchange for “crypto-tokens.”
Source: Gizmodo – SEC Charges Shady ICO Operator With Fraud
An anonymous reader quotes the EFF:
In the past few years, the sale of pre-configured Kodi boxes, and the availability of a range of plugins providing access to streaming media, has seen the software’s popularity balloon — and made it the latest target of Hollywood’s copyright enforcement juggernaut. We’ve seen this in the appearance of streaming media boxes as an enforcement priority in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Special 301 Report, in proposals for new legislation targeting the sale of “illicit” media boxes, and in lawsuits that have been brought on both sides of the Atlantic to address the “problem” that media boxes running Kodi, like any Web browser, can be used to access media streams that were not authorized by the copyright holder…
The difficulty facing the titans of TV is that since neither those who sell Kodi boxes, nor those who write or host add-ons for the software, are engaging in any unauthorized copying by doing so, cases targeting these parties have to rely on other legal theories. So far several legal theories have been used; one in Europe against sellers of Kodi boxes, one in Canada against the owner of the popular Kodi add-on repository TVAddons, and two in the United States against TVAddons and a plugin developer… These lawsuits by big TV incumbents seem to have a few goals: to expand the scope of secondary copyright infringement yet again, to force major Kodi add-on distributors off of the Internet, and to smear and discourage open source, freely configurable media players by focusing on the few bad actors in that ecosystem.
The EFF details the specific lawsuits in each region, and concludes that their courts “should reject these expansions of copyright liability, and TV networks should not target neutral platforms and technologies for abusive lawsuits.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Hollywood’s International War on Kodi Plugins And Video-Streaming Boxes
A long time ago in a far-away land called 2013, we used to run a feature called “Ask Engadget” where you — our readers, fans, followers and critics — could ask us for our advice, opinions and recommendations on everything from cheap laptops and sta…
Source: Engadget – Ask Engadget returns (and you should send us your questions)!
Legendary old-school drawing app Paint.NET has arrived in the Windows Store, but with a catch: while the classic version is available for free, the Microsoft Store version will cost you $8.99 (currently on sale for $5.99). This decision was made to offset the lack of donations supporting its development.
Paint.NET is now ready to download to any Windows 10 PC with a free trial. There is also a discounted price of $5.99 for the app, which is a savings from the regular $8.99 price tag. That sale runs through all of October. The price is thought more of as a donation to support the app’s continued development, although users can use the app with the free trial method instead.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Paint.NET Is Now Available in the Windows Store
Bethesda will not let fan complaints and criticisms define what games it works on or releases: that’s according to PR and marketing dude Pete Hines, who said he’s well aware of a critical fanbase, but won’t let the dissenting voices influence the publisher’s plans with the likes of Skyrim, Fallout and Doom. “We’re aware of it, but we’re not going to let it define what we do,” Hines said in an interview with GamesRadar.
Fans may cry for The Elder Scrolls 6 when Bethesda announces Skyrim for Switch, or Fallout 4 VR when it announces Doom VFR, but Hines made it clear that his development teams “aren’t just a vending machine where you press for the soda and they just go back and forth – they want to be able to stretch their legs creatively, or try a new idea, or do something different and not just fall into the same pattern.”
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Bethesda: Fan Criticisms Won’t Define What We Do
Before you get too excited—as I was—Big Mouth Billy Bass is not replacing the stark black cylinder we’ve come to know as the home of Alexa. But the paragon of fishing-shack chic is now, finally, because the people surely demanded it, compatible with Alexa.
Source: LifeHacker – Don’t Ask Why, But Big Mouth Billy Bass Will Soon Work With Alexa
schwit1 was the first Slashdot reader to bring us the news. Newsweek reports:
Archaeologists believe they have found the key to unlocking a mystery almost as old as the Great Pyramid itself: Who built the structure and how were they able to transport two-ton blocks of stone to the ancient wonder more than 4,500 years ago…?
Experts had long established that the stones from the pyramid’s chambers were transported from as far away as Luxor, more than 500 miles to the south of Giza, the location of the Great Pyramid, but had never agreed how they got there. However, the diary of an overseer, uncovered in the seaport of Wadi al-Jafr, appears to answer the age-old question, showing the ancient Egyptians harnessed the power of the Nile to transport the giant blocks of stone.
According to a new British documentary Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New Evidence, which aired on the U.K.’s Channel 4 on Sunday, the Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, was built using an intricate system of waterways which allowed thousands of workers to pull the massive stones, floated on boats, into place with ropes. Along with the papyrus diary of the overseer, known as Merer, the archaeologists uncovered a ceremonial boat and a system of waterworks. The ancient text described how Merer’s team dug huge canals to channel the water of the Nile to the pyramid.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Ancient Papyrus Finally Solves Egypt’s ‘Great Pyramid’ Mystery
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak penned a USA Today op-ed with a former Federal Communications Commission chairman, urging the current FCC to stop its proposed rollback of net neutrality regulations: they argue that it will threaten freedom for internet users and may corrode democracy, noting that fast lanes or “paid prioritization” create anticompetitive incentives for ISPs to favor their own services over those of their competitors.
The path forward is clear. The FCC must abandon its ill-conceived plan to end net neutrality. Instead of creating fast lanes for the few, it should be moving all of us to the fast lane by encouraging competition in local broadband connectivity and pushing companies to deliver higher speeds at more affordable prices. It’s the right thing for us as consumers and as citizens.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Steve Wozniak: Ending Net Neutrality Will End the Internet as We Know It
Warner Bros. and DC will be de-emphasizing the interconnected DC Extended Universe for future films, following a template set by Patty Jenkins’ blockbuster hit Wonder Woman: it’s something that’s been hinted at before, with reports of the standalone Joker prequel and director Matt Reeve’s conflicting statements on whether The Batman would be part of the official connected universe of films, but now DC Entertainment has made the change official.
DC and Warner have adopted a new strategy: Let’s rethink that whole universe thing. They’re not giving up on the idea of continuity, but they want to deemphasize the idea that all of these flicks are occupying the same space. “Our intention, certainly, moving forward is using the continuity to help make sure nothing is diverging in a way that doesn’t make sense, but there’s no insistence upon an overall story line or interconnectivity in that universe,” says Nelson, drawing nods from the top brass around her.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – DC Is Officially Stepping Away from Its Expanded Cinematic Universe
With each generation, the Apple Watch’s purpose has seemed to shift. The first one demonstrated what Apple thought a wearable should be, and the second tried to be the perfect workout companion. When it came time to build the Series 3, though, Apple…
Source: Engadget – Apple Watch Series 3 review: A good watch, a so-so phone replacement
An anonymous reader quotes the Verge:
Battery life on smartwatches is, in a word, bad. And while most of today’s watches can more or less make it through a day without dying, they’re still a far cry from the months or even years that traditional watches can run for. What if you never had to charge your smartwatch? That’s the promise of Lunar, a new Kickstarter project that claims to be the world’s first solar-powered smartwatch… The company says that the watch can charge off both indoor and outdoor light, and can run off as little as one hour of exposure a day. (The company also includes a traditional inductive charger as a backup.)
As for the watch itself, it’s a pretty standard hybrid smartwatch, solar power aside. It’ll be able to do basic activity and sleep tracking, offer some limited notification support through a colored LED, and automatically set time zones through a connected smartphone app. Also, given the need for low power consumption for the solar charging to feasibly work, there’s no screen on the Lunar. Instead, there’s just a ring of LED lights located where hour markers would be.
The campaign reached its funding goal wIthin two days of launching — and one week later had double that amount, raising a total of $101,987 from 564 backers.
It’s not clear if Slashdot readers love or hate smartwatches. Does it make a difference if the watch is solar powered?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Solar Powered Smartwatch Successfully Crowdfunded on Kickstarter
The Unity 3D Game Engine now has available a beta release of its upcoming “2017.3” update. There are interesting changes with this release…
Source: Phoronix – Unity 2017.3 Beta Has Vulkan Improvements, Initial Wayland Support
Facebook has its own version of Apple’s Face ID: if you get locked out of your Facebook account, the company is testing a way to regain access by using your face to verify your identity. That could be especially useful if you’re somewhere that you can’t receive two-factor authentication SMS, like on a plane or while traveling abroad, or if you lose access to your email account.
If the feature proves reliably helpful to users and isn’t fooled by hackers, Facebook could potentially roll it out to more people. Over the years Facebook has tried a number of novel ways to help you get back into a locked account. In some cases, it asks you to identify photos of your friends to prove you’re you. Or it’s tried allowing you to designate several “trusted friends” who receive a code that you can ask them for to unlock your account.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Facebook Tests Facial Recognition to Recover Your Account
Target’s in-store pick-up is already one of the great boons of modern life, especially for those of us who live near a constantly overcrowded, overrun store. But Target is building up an even more convenient online shopping option, Target Restock, which offers next-day delivery of home essentials.
Source: LifeHacker – Target is Expanding Next-Day Home Delivery to Eight More Cities
An anonymous reader quotes Recode:
Facebook has shared some details about the Russian-operated profiles it discovered on its platform with Google, as the search giant — with the rest of the tech industry — continues to probe the extent to which Kremlin-backed misinformation spread through their websites during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It is unclear if Google has found any suspicious ads or other content after evaluating Facebook’s data, an exchange of intel confirmed to Recode today by three sources familiar with the matter. At the very least, Google’s investigation appears to be much broader in scope than a similar one by Twitter, which had drawn the ire of Congress for appearing to be incomplete. A Google spokesperson declined to comment for this story, as did a Facebook rep.
For now, though, Google is slated to deliver a private briefing to U.S. lawmakers studying Russia’s political tactics in the coming weeks, additional sources told Recode. A date does not appear to have been set. And the search-and-advertising giant has been asked to join Facebook and Twitter at two upcoming hearings in the House and Senate where the industry will face questions — out in the open — about its safeguards against Russian political interference in the future.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google Investigates Facebook’s Russian Political Operatives, Will Address Congressmen
Uncovering How Streaming Is Changing the Sound of Pop
Marc Hogan,
Pitchfork
You don’t have to look far to find evidence of how streaming services have dramatically changed the way we listen to music. But it’s not just the consumption that’s been a…
Source: Engadget – Recommended Reading: Streaming is changing the sound of music
A Taiwanese iPhone 8 Plus owner has claimed that her device split open while being charged with the supplied cable and plug adapter, posting photos that show damage consistent with a swollen battery. Other iPhone 8 Plus owners have reported experiencing similar issues: one Japanese owner claims his phone arrived in a comparable state, with the screen visibly detached from the body.
So far, the finger of blame is being pointed at the battery. Unconfirmed reports state the iPhone 8 Plus uses the same battery manufacturer, Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. But it’s worth remembering a couple of things. Firstly, many of the details surrounding this incident are hazy and unconfirmed. Take them with a grain of salt. Most of all, it’s worth remembering that even if the reports are true, they aren’t necessarily indicative of a trend. It could easily be a manufacturing flaw with a couple of individual devices.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – iPhone 8 Plus Reportedly Splits Open While Charging
Nordic Hardware and Heise.de are both reporting that the GTX 1070 Ti will launch on October 26th, with market availability beginning in November. This card is designed to be almost as fast as the GTX 1080, featuring 2,432 CUDA cores, 152 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 8 GB of memory.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti to Launch in October
Donald Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner and a number of other senior White House officials who used their personal emails for work purposes were expressly warned by the National Security Agency not to do so, Politico reported on Friday.
Source: Gizmodo – The NSA Warned Jared Kushner Not to Do the Dumb Email Thing That He Then Did
A number of great directors have spent large portions of their careers working on widely ambitious passion projects that never see the light of day. Famously, Stanley Kubrick spent years of his life working on a sprawling biopic about Napoleon Bonaparte, the project failing to materialize again and again before his…
Source: Gizmodo – Wow, There Might Be An Actual Release Date for Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote Film