In December, details about Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) rules came out, threatening app developers with removal if they did not comply with the rules. Now, the largest ad provider, Google, is helping other developers and advertisers prepare for the oncoming privacy and data changes from Apple.
The death of user tracking on the
Source: Hot Hardware – Google Forced To Modify Ad Tracking Tech Over Restrictive iOS 14 Privacy Mandate
Monthly Archives: January 2021
What's New on HBO Max in February 2021
One of the biggest selling points for HBO Max is that it offers exclusive access to every film from Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese filmmakers behind My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away—and that includes a brand new one dropping in February, Earwig and the Witch (Feb. 12).
This film is a big deal for Studio…
Source: LifeHacker – What’s New on HBO Max in February 2021
Congressional Panel: We Have a 'Moral Imperative' to At Least Consider Building a Terminator
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a congressional advisory panel—helmed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt—has mulled whether or not the U.S. should deploy artificially intelligent autonomous weapons, and, after taking into account the numerous reasons it would be a terrible idea, decided …
Source: Gizmodo – Congressional Panel: We Have a ‘Moral Imperative’ to At Least Consider Building a Terminator
[$] A year of Python in Fedora
Distribution developers do a lot of work to keep a language ecosystem
working well within the distribution. It is relatively thankless work that
normally only becomes visible when there is a problem or complaint. But
Miro Hrončok recently put together a look
back at what the Fedora Python team did during 2020. While it is,
obviously, Fedora-specific, it provides something of a look inside at the
kinds of things that distribution teams work on.
Source: LWN.net – [$] A year of Python in Fedora
Twitter User Hit With Criminal Charges for Memetic Voter Suppression in 2016 Election
If the online MAGA army wasn’t nervous before today, the Department of Justice just gave them a good reason to tighten their sphincters. In a surprising announcement, DOJ officials said on Wednesday that they’ve charged a prominent Twitter user with taking part in a conspiracy to trick citizens into not voting during…
Source: Gizmodo – Twitter User Hit With Criminal Charges for Memetic Voter Suppression in 2016 Election
Mass Effect 2 Almost Had Another Gay Romance, With Jacob
Turns out Jack’s pansexuality wasn’t the only instance of BioWare scrubbing same-sex romance from Mass Effect 2 before it shipped. Jonathan Cooper, a former BioWare cinematic animator, revealed on Twitter this morning that his team also worked on a similar scene involving party member Jacob Taylor.
Source: Kotaku – Mass Effect 2 Almost Had Another Gay Romance, With Jacob
How to Mute Chrome Notifications When Sharing Your Screen
Just like video chatting, screen sharing is now a required tool for anyone working or socializing from home. Unfortunately, sharing your device’s screen can be a privacy risk—or just embarrassing—if you don’t take precautions against accidental oversharing. To help mitigate that risk, Google is testing a new feature…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Mute Chrome Notifications When Sharing Your Screen
How Joe Biden Wins the Climate Messaging War and Fixes the Crisis
When President Joe Biden revoked the Keystone XL pipeline permit, Republicans responded by over-inflating job loss numbers and generally making stuff up. On Wednesday, though, the administration showed it won’t cede ground to the lies.
Source: Gizmodo – How Joe Biden Wins the Climate Messaging War and Fixes the Crisis
Miami Uploads Bitcoin White Paper To Municipal Website
The city of Miami on Wednesday uploaded a copy of the Bitcoin white paper to its municipal website, joining a growing chorus of governments and companies now hosting bitcoin’s original blueprint. From a report: Mayor Francis Suarez emphasized his commitment to “turn Miami into a hub for crypto innovation” in his tweet announcing the upload. He’s been pumping the U.S. city’s potential as a landing ground for California tech expats for weeks on social media. Miami is the “first municipal government to host Satoshi’s white paper,” Suarez asserted. Also see: Twitter thread on who else is participating.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Miami Uploads Bitcoin White Paper To Municipal Website
Sidewalk-robot startup celebrates 1 million deliveries
Last March, just as the Washington, DC, area was locking down for COVID-19, I traveled to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, to eat a hamburger delivered by a robot.
The robot was owned by delivery startup Starship. Today, Starship announced that it has completed 1 million deliveries. Annika Keeton, a college student in Bowling Green, Ohio, was Starship’s millionth customer.
In recent years, a lot of hype has followed companies like Waymo and Tesla as they try to build full-size, go-anywhere self-driving cars. But designing these vehicles has proven fiendishly difficult. Tesla’s self-driving software still requires careful supervision, while Waymo’s driverless taxis are still limited to one corner of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Sidewalk-robot startup celebrates 1 million deliveries
Amazon’s motorized Echo Show 10 goes on sale February 25th
Back at its fall hardware event last year, Amazon announced the Echo Show 10. And now it finally has a release date. You’ll be able to pick the company’s latest smart display on February 25th for $250. In case you need a refresher, the Echo Show 10 i…
Source: Engadget – Amazon’s motorized Echo Show 10 goes on sale February 25th
Report: Activision Blizzard Calls Policy To Make Hiring More Diverse ‘Unworkable’
Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard was asked to institute some version of the Rooney Rule, a policy requiring employers to interview diverse candidates when hiring, according to a new report by Motherboard. Lawyers for the massive publisher behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft responded that such a policy…
Source: Kotaku – Report: Activision Blizzard Calls Policy To Make Hiring More Diverse ‘Unworkable’
The 10 Best Deals of January 27, 2021
Wednesday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals
Source: LifeHacker – The 10 Best Deals of January 27, 2021
Intel Launches Its First Desktop Graphics Cards in More Than 20 Years
It’s been more than 20 years since Intel released its last desktop graphics card, the Intel740, but as of yesterday the company is officially back in the discrete GPU game.
Source: Gizmodo – Intel Launches Its First Desktop Graphics Cards in More Than 20 Years
The Star Wars Games We Want to See Out of Lucasfilm's New Era
Earlier this month, Lucasfilm announced something of a pivot in its video game licensing. Rebranding its outreach as Lucasfilm Games, it looked toward a future where studios outside of EA, which currently holds an exclusivity deal until 2023, could make Star Wars games. Naturally, that led to us inevitably making a…
Source: io9 – The Star Wars Games We Want to See Out of Lucasfilm’s New Era
GameStop, AMC Trading Now Being Restricted at TD Ameritrade, Schwab
Some major brokerage houses have begun to respond to a frenetic surge in the price of shares of companies that has been attributed to rabid buying by individual investors on social-media platforms. From a report: On Wednesday, TD Ameritrade said it was restricting trading for GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings, as well as other names, amid a triple-digit percentage surge in the price of those companies in recent days. “In the interest of mitigating risk for our company and clients, we have put in place several restrictions on some transactions in $GME, $AMC and other securities,” a spokeswoman for TD Ameritrade told MarketWatch, referring to the ticker symbols of the companies. “We made these decisions out of an abundance of caution amid unprecedented market conditions and other factors,” she said. Charles Schwab, which bought TD Ameritrade but is still operating as an independent retail brokerage platform, said that it has tightened margin requirements in some of those trading names, including GameStop. A Schwab spokeswoman said that the platform changed its margin requirements, or how much an investor can borrow, on Jan. 13 and said it has placed “restrictions in place on certain transactions in GME and other securities.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – GameStop, AMC Trading Now Being Restricted at TD Ameritrade, Schwab
US arrests far-right Twitter troll for 2016 election interference
In a case that could set a precedent for how the US handles election-related misinformation moving forward, the Justice Department announced the arrest of infamous far-right troll Douglass Mackey on Wednesday. Better known by his online handle of Ric…
Source: Engadget – US arrests far-right Twitter troll for 2016 election interference
Tony Hawk completes probably final 720 at the age of 52
Last night Tony Hawk posted a video of him pulling off probably his last 720 at the age of 52.
I can’t say for certain that this is the last one I’ll ever do, but I can’t imagine doing many more. So I’m offering this board to raise money for public skateparks: donate any amount to @thenineclub superchat 1/27 7pm PT (on YouTube), & you’ll actually be donating to @skatepark
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) January 27, 2021
He’s 52 and still able to do a 720. When I was 52 I could barely get out of bed. Wait, how old am I? Where am I? Who am I? Okay, somebody bring me back to the retirement home now.
Keep going for a video of Tony Hawk pulling off a 900 when he was 48 years old, 17 years after he completed the world’s first 900.
Source: Geekologie – Tony Hawk completes probably final 720 at the age of 52
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Players Figured Out How To (Legitimately) Score That Secret Bow
Over the weekend, players of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla uncovered a secret bow (the laughably powerful Noden’s Arc) by…smacking a rock in the middle of a lake over and over again. The trick bounced around the web. Ubisoft’s Darby McDevitt even chimed in, describing it as a “clever brute force hack” before mentioning…
Source: Kotaku – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Players Figured Out How To (Legitimately) Score That Secret Bow
Install iOS/iPadOS 14.4 Today to Block Three Big Vulnerabilities
There’s a brand-new update for iOS and iPadOS, and you shouldn’t dawdle about installing it. While version 14.4 of the two operating systems might not sound like it has a lot going on beyond rather generic “improvements and bug fixes” for your iPhone or iPad, there’s a bit more under the hood that you need to know…
Source: LifeHacker – Install iOS/iPadOS 14.4 Today to Block Three Big Vulnerabilities