Friday, 31 March 2023
Mounting Russian disinformation campaign targeting Arab world
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Engadget Podcast: 'Tetris' creator chats about the 'Tetris' movie
With the Tetris movie hitting Apple TV+ this week, we chat with the game’s creator, Alexey Pajitnov, and Henk Rogers, the man who helped bring it out of the Soviet Union. We discuss just how realistic the film is (it definitely takes plenty of liberties), the impact of Tetris on gaming and where it could be headed in the future. Also, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the recent letter from the Future of Life Institute, which was signed by Elon Musk and other tech leaders, and called for a pause on AI development beyond GPT4. It turns out that wasn’t entirely altruistic.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
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Topics
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Interview with Tetris designer Alexey Pajitnov and Tetris publisher Henk Rogers – 1:17
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The open letter asking for a 6-month pause of AI development is more suspicious than you think – 16:57
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Do the proposed U.S. DATA and RESTRICT acts reach too far in trying to ban TikTok? – 26:48
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Pres. Biden bans the use of commercial spyware – 36:20
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Microsoft is focused on security, AI and a light processor friendly version in Windows 12 – 39:11
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Google unveils AI planning tool to help beat extreme heat due to climate change – 43:21
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Apple’s WWDC dates announced: June 5 to 9 – 45:12
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Working on – 57:39
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Pop culture picks – 1:02:16
Livestream
Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guests (Audio): Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks
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Ukrainians bust cyber criminals who stole over £3m across Europe
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The Morning After: Midjourney shutters free trials of its AI image generator due to 'extraordinary' abuse
It’s a day of reality catching up with the chatbot boom. In the last 24 hours alone, we’ve had hoaxes, FTC complaints and… ads. Hooray. We’ll get into how Microsoft is bringing ads to its Bing chatbot – bound to happen – while OpenAI may have to halt ChatGPT releases in the face of FTC complaints.
The nonprofit research organization, Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), says OpenAI’s models are "biased, deceptive" and threaten privacy and public safety. The CAIDP says OpenAI also fails to meet Commission guidelines calling for AI to be transparent, fair and easy to explain. There's no guarantee the FTC will act on the complaint. If it does set requirements, though, the move would affect development across the AI industry.
– Mat Smith
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
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Uber adds 14 new cities to its EV rideshare service
‘Star Trek: Picard’ embraces its nihilism
Apple’s 'Tetris' movie trades real-life drama for spy fantasies
Github ordered to identify user who leaked Twitter source code
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to latest fraud, bribery charges
Microsoft explains how ads will happen in Bing's AI chatbot
Ah, the end of the fun.
Over the past few days, users have reported seeing ads inside Microsoft’s Bing chatbot experience. Based on the limited examples we've seen, the GPT-4-powered chatbot embeds relevant ad links in response to users' actual questions. Ads don't seem to appear for most people (including us) yet, but they'll most likely pop up more frequently and in more places soon. In a post on the Bing blog, Microsoft Corporate VP for Search and Devices Yusuf Mehd, explained that ads would come in the form of a linked citation, along with additional links in a "Learn More" section below Bing's response to their query. In the future, Microsoft could add functionality where hovering over a link from an advertiser would display more links from its website to drive more traffic to it.
Midjourney ends free trials of its AI image generator due to 'extraordinary' abuse
The tool had been used to fake images of Trump and the Pope, among others.
Midjourney CEO, David Holz, announced on Discord that the company is ending free trials due to "extraordinary demand and trial abuse." New safeguards haven't been "sufficient," and you'll have to pay at least $10 per month to use the image generator going forward. As The Washington Post reported, Midjourney has picked up unwanted attention in recent weeks. Users relied on the company's AI to build deepfakes of Donald Trump being arrested, and Pope Francis wearing a trendy coat.
Polestar 3 first look
Possibly the best-looking EV of the year.
The Polestar 3 was recently showcased in New York for its North American debut, so we had to check it out. It might just be the best-looking new SUV in 2023. The Polestar 3 is built on the same platform as the Volvo EX90, but the company has made some significant changes that ensure there won’t be confusion between the two. Instead of three rows of seats, the Polestar 3 maxes out at two, with slightly less rear storage in favor of a more spacious cabin.
A new Twitter clone is trying to seduce original blue checkmark owners
T2 is led by former Twitter employees who want to recreate Twitter’s “public square.”
With “legacy” Twitter checkmarks about to disappear (tomorrow!), one Twitter alternative hopes to lure some of those OG verified users to its platform. T2, an invite-only service led by two former Twitter employees, says it will allow accounts to carry over their “legacy” Twitter verification to its site. T2 is part of a growing crop of Twitter alternatives that have sprung up after Musk’s takeover. Founder Gabor Cselle has been clear that he intends to create “a pretty straightforward copy of Twitter with some simplifications”.
Netflix is testing TV games that use phones as controllers
Hidden code references games on TV in the Netflix app.
Netflix might have started (or is at least looking to start) testing games for TV, based on code within its app that developer Steve Moser shared with Bloomberg. Moser reportedly found hidden references to games played on television, as well as additional code that indicates the possibility of using phones as controllers to play them. One line from within the app apparently reads: "A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?" The streaming giant launched several games on Android, iPhones and iPads in 2021, but on the Netflix app for TV, these games were notably absent.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/tVjPw3Hfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/tVjPw3H
Amazon's World Backup Day sale takes up to 67 percent off SSDs, memory and more
Today is World Backup Day (March 31st), meant to remind everyone to protect their precious data. Amazon is having a large storage sale to commemorate the occasion with discounts of up to 67 percent on hard disks, memory cards, SSDs and more. Some standout deals include the WD Black 2TB NVMe SSD for PS5 consoles for $170 (43 percent off), the SanDisk 2TB Extreme Pro Portable SSD for $175 (24 percent off) and SanDisk's 1TB Extreme microSDXC memory card for $100, a full two-thirds off the regular price.
Shop storage products on AmazonWD's Black Gen4 PCIe NVMe 2TB SSD can hold up to 50 games on your PS5 and delivers read/write speeds of 7,000MB/s and 5,300MB/s respectively, allowing for seamless gameplay. It'll work equally well for your PC, particularly for content creation. The 2TB model is an incredible deal at $170, considering the regular price is $300. But if you want to spend a bit less and don't need as much storage, the 1TB model is also on sale for $125 for a savings of 31 percent.
If it's backup storage you're after, Amazon has you covered here as well. The SanDisk 2TB Extreme Pro portable SSD, with speeds up to 2,000MB/s (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) is $175, for a savings of $24 percent. You can also pick up the 1TB version for $130 (58 percent off), and the 4TB model is $400, a whopping $500 off the regular price — though you'll actually spend less by getting two 2TB models.
The final product of note is SanDisk's 1TB microSDXC card, on sale for just $100, or 67 percent ($200) off the regular price. You'll also see a stellar deal on the 512GB version, which can be found for $48 or 56 percent off (again, it's cheaper to get two of these than a single 1TB card, though the latter may be more convenient).
You'll find plenty of other deals, like WD's 20TB Elements external HDD for $280 (45 percent off), Lexar's 2TB NM800 Pro NVMe Gen 4.0 SSD for $112 (57 percent off) and Lexar's CFexpress Type A Gold Series memory cards for Sony cameras at $272 (32 percent off). And bear in mind that a number of Samsung SSDs and memory cards are still on sale from last week with savings of up to 54 percent. The deals are just on for today, so if you're in the market, act soon.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/HeNhktlfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/HeNhktl
Thursday, 30 March 2023
The Morning After: Will we see Apple's mixed-reality headset at WWDC 2023?
Apple has set the dates for WWDC 2023, which will run between June 5th and June 9th. It's still an online-only affair, but there will be a "special experience" at Apple Park on the 5th for developers and students.
While we expect to see software-centric upgrades, with iOS, macOS and the rest, this could also be when Apple finally debuts its mixed-reality headset. Rumors suggest it could be called Reality Pro or Reality One, and it’s believed to be a standalone device with an M2 chip, dual 4K displays, advanced body tracking and controller-free input. It could be a pricey piece of hardware, even by Apple’s standards, with some reports suggesting it’ll cost $3,000.
– Mat Smith
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
The biggest stories you might have missed
Kia's EV9 electric SUV will offer Level 3 autonomy and a 336-mile range
Apple's M2 Pro Mac mini is back to a record-low price at Amazon
Google unveils AI-powered planning tools to help beat climate change's extreme heat
'The Last of Us Part I' for PC was a buggy mess at launch
Lenovo has shut down its Legion gaming phone business
Sony's 12-megapixel full-frame ZV-E1 is a low-light vlogging beast
It comes with 5-axis stabilization and AI-based auto-framing.
Sony has unveiled its latest, and by far greatest vlogging camera to date: The full-frame ZV-E1. Equipped with the same backside-illuminated (BSI) 12-megapixel sensor as one of the company’s flagship cameras, the A7S III, it promises excellent low-light performance and 4K video at up to 120p. The $2,200 price tag also makes it enticing for vloggers as it offers features found on the $3,500 A7S III, thanks to a full-frame sensor. Crucially, for people like me obsessed with the older ZV-1 vlogging camera, it uses the same Z-batteries as larger Sony models, meaning more video capture without having to keep it plugged in or swapping out batteries. It goes on pre-order tomorrow, with shipping set to start in early April.
Tech leaders and AI experts demand six-month pause on 'out-of-control' AI experiments
The open letter warns of risks to humans.
An open letter signed by tech leaders and prominent AI researchers has called for AI labs and companies to "immediately pause" their work. Signatories like Steve Wozniak and Elon Musk agree risks warrant a minimum six-month break from producing technology beyond GPT-4 to allow people to adjust and ensure they are benefiting everyone. The letter adds that care and forethought are necessary to ensure the safety of AI systems, and that may not be happening. Companies are racing to build complex chat systems that utilize the technology. Microsoft recently confirmed that its revamped Bing search engine has been powered by the GPT-4 model for over seven weeks, while Google also debuted Bard, its own generative AI system powered by LaMDA.
Renewable power generation overtook coal in the US last year
Natural gas is still the largest electricity source, however.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has determined that renewable power generation overtook coal in 2022, with 4,090 million megawatt-hours coming from solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal technology. The shift came through increased renewable capacity and coal's years-long decline. Wind was the dominant source of clean electricity, with the capacity jumping from 133 gigawatts in 2021 to 141 gigawatts a year later. However, natural gas still remains the top power source, with a 39 percent share.
Lamborghini's plug-in hybrid supercar runs for only six miles in electric mode
You’re not buying it for fuel economy anyway.
The Lamborghini Revuelto, which translates to “scrambled,” can reach 6.2 miles from a full charge. That is likely not enough juice to get you to Costco and back, but this is a hybrid vehicle not exactly intended for all-electric usage. With that said, the combustion engine charges the rather minuscule 3.8kWh battery on its own in just six minutes. If you’re waiting on an all-electric Lamborghini, the company still plans to introduce one by 2030.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/H3Gelkzfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/H3Gelkz
Uber adds 14 new cities to its EV rideshare service
Uber announced today that it’s adding 14 new markets to Comfort Electric, its EV rideshare service. The program allows you to hail electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Polestar 2. It’s another small step toward the company’s goal of phasing out gas-powered vehicles by 2030.
Beginning today, Uber’s Comfort Electric program adds availability for Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Montreal, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Tampa Bay and Toronto. The program’s rollout began last May in California and expanded to 25 US markets in September. Comfort Electric is separate from Uber Green, which costs the same as UberX but includes hybrid vehicles in addition to electrics. The company also offers e-bikes and e-scooters in partnership with Lime for customers who can skip cars altogether.
Uber says it will spend $800 million to help its drivers transition to EVs. It partnered with Hertz to help supply EVs while offering a (limited-time) Zero Emissions incentive, letting EV drivers earn an extra $1 on every trip (up to $4,000 per calendar year). Other driver perks include $100 off a Wallbox EV charger and another $100 off installation. In addition to its 2030 goal of zero emissions in North America, the company plans to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2025, and it wants to hit zero emissions globally by 2040.
Comfort Electric rides cost more than a standard UberX — usually by around 20 to 40 percent. However, Uber is enticing you to try it out by offering 25 percent off two rides with the coupon code “GOELECTRIC” from April 11th through the 30th.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/ojfMHbPfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/ojfMHbP
Podcast: Cloud storage, data protection and compliance
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Reddit says it's banning more people than ever in big transparency push
Reddit's transparency reports go beyond what most social media companies offer, providing copious data on content moderation and global legal requests. Now, the company has introduced a transparency center serving as a hub for safety, security and policy information. It also announced plans to release transparency reports biannually rather than just once per year and said that in 2022, it removed significantly more offensive content, including child abuse and revenge porn, than in 2021.
Last year, Reddit saw a big jump in moderation and legal requests, according to its 2022 transparency report. Government and law enforcement removal account information requests were up by 51 percent and 61 percent respectively, while copyright notices jumped 43 percent.
The story was similar on the moderation front. Last summer, the BBC reported that Reddit was still leaving up "thousands" of non-consensual intimate (NCII) images (aka revenge porn), despite making changes to its policy earlier in this year.
As a result, Reddit joined StopNCII.org, a database that aims to reduce the spread of revenge porn, operated by the nonprofit charity SWGfL's Revenge Porn Hotline. "We have already seen promising results from this tool and believe it will help us remove this content more quickly," a spokesperson told Ars Technica. To wit, it removed 244 percent more user accounts violating revenge porn policies than it did in 2021, and banned 473 percent more subreddits. The total number of NCII posts removed was 187,258 compared to around 88,000 the year before.
The site also removed 874 percent more child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) than it did in 2021. It achieved that by hiring more moderation staff and investing in proactive detection tools. By comparison, Twitter has reportedly been cutting its global moderation workforce and disbanded its Trust and Safety Council.
The aim with the transparency center, Reddit said, was to make it easier for user and "other interested parties like policymakers and the media" to find information about content moderation, legal requests and general platform safety. As such, there are sections for Reddit's terms & policies, guidelines for law enforcement, platform security updates, its bug bounty program and past transparency reports.
The company also said it would publish full transparency reports twice a year, rather than annually as it does now. Last year, it did publish its first mid-year transparency report, but it only focused on global legal requests. Going forward, however, the mid-year reports will cover both legal requests and content moderation data, exactly like the current year-end wrap-ups.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/NXRIiQlfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/NXRIiQl
Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Generative AI presents opportunities and challenges to UK schools
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The Morning After: 'Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' will feature fusion vehicles
Nintendo faces a major challenge following up on one of the best games of the last decade, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Yesterday, the company showed off 10 minutes of gameplay from its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. Its producer, Eiji Aonuma, showed off many familiar game mechanics augmented with special elevator stones to fast track you to floating islands, new fusion weapons and even fusion vehicles, like boats and hovercraft – not to mention the already teased drone style aircraft. Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12th. Check out the gameplay video here.
– Mat Smith
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
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Disney is reportedly shutting down its metaverse division
The company's planned mass layoffs are expected to begin this week.
Disney has shut down its metaverse division and laid off all of the team's 50 or so members as part of a broader restructuring process, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was just over a year ago when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek tapped company veteran Mike White to lead the team in finding interactive ways to tell Disney's stories using new technologies – which fortunately meant the metaverse and not NFTs. As The Journal notes, Bob Iger, who returned as CEO to replace Chapek in November 2022, showed he also sees a future in the metaverse when he joined the board of an animated avatar startup. The metaverse team could simply be one of the first teams impacted by Disney's significant restructuring efforts.
DJI's Goggles Integra has an integrated battery for improved ergonomics
It also unveiled the RC Motion 2 with an upgraded joystick.
One of the biggest criticisms of DJI's otherwise excellent Avata first-person view (FPV) drone was around the Goggles 2, which lacked comfort and tethered you to a battery. Now, DJI has unveiled the Goggles Integra, a new model designed for the Avata that offers an integrated battery, improved ergonomics and new flight control features. The new products show DJI is responding to users, but it's unfortunate the Goggles Integra lacks several key features from the $649 Goggles 2 — even though it's $150 cheaper. The Goggles Integra and RC Motion 2 are now available for $499 and $239, respectively.
Apple Music Classical is now available globally
It offers more than 5 million tracks.
Apple Music Classical is now available for download globally with more than five million tracks. Offered as part of an Apple Music subscription, it's designed to make it easier to find things unique to classical music, including specific orchestras, conductors, musicians and more. The app sprung from Primephonic, a streaming service Apple acquired in 2021. A few things are missing, compared with the main Apple Music app, though. Apple Music Voice Plan subscribers can't use Classical, there's no native iPad app yet and, especially odd, you can't download music for offline listening.
Amazon begins flagging ‘frequently returned’ products
Return rates spiked during the pandemic.
Amazon has begun displaying a warning about frequently returned items. Industry-wide e-commerce returns skyrocketed during pandemic lockdowns. Although they’ve declined, they’re still well above pre-pandemic numbers. The retailer’s new badge reads, “Frequently returned item: Check the product details and customer reviews to learn more about this item.” However, it doesn’t yet appear for everyone.
How to see 5 planets aligned in the night sky this week
Although last night was the best time to catch Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus.
If you want to catch a rare planetary alignment in the night sky, look west right after sunset any evening this week. There, you’ll see five of our neighbors — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus — lined up in an orderly fashion. The alignment will be visible at the same time this entire week, but this evening should provide the best view from the US. The planets will appear between the horizon line to around halfway up the sky. Although it’s a somewhat rare occurrence, it also happened last summer. And you’ll get another chance in June.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/FPSIcwMfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/FPSIcwM
Google unveils AI-powered planning tools to help beat climate change's extreme heat
With extreme weather events regularly flooding our coastal cities and burning out our rural communities, Google in its magnanimity has developed a new set of online tools that civil servants and community organizers alike can use in their efforts to stave off climate change-induced catastrophe.
Google already pushes extreme weather alerts to users in affected locations, providing helpful, easy-to-understand information about the event through the Search page — whether its a winter storm warning, flood advisories, tornado warnings, or what have you. The company has now added extreme heat alerts to that list. Googling details on the event will return everything from the predicted start and end dates of the heatwave to medical issues to be aware of during it and how to mitigate their impacts. The company is partnering with the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) to ensure that the information provided is both accurate and applicable.
It's a lot easier to keep the citizenry comfortable in hot weather if the cities themselves aren't sweltering, but our love affair with urban concrete has not been amenable to that goal. That's why Google has developed Tree Canopy, a feature within the company's Environmental Insights Explorer app, which "combines AI and aerial imagery so cities can understand their current tree coverage and better plan urban forestry initiatives," per Wednesday's release.
Tree Canopy is already in use in more than a dozen cities but, with Wednesday's announcement, the program will be drastically expanding, out to nearly 350 cities around the world including Atlanta, Sydney, Lisbon and Paris. Google also offers a similarly-designed AI to help plan the installation of "cool roofs" which reflect heat from the sun rather than absorb it like today's tar paper roofs do.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/6jParemfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/6jParem
Tuesday, 28 March 2023
HP's Omen Transcend 16 laptop caters to both creators and gamers
A decade ago, buying a gaming or creative workstation laptop meant sacrificing portability for power. Not anymore. These days machines with top specs can be had in relatively thin and light chassis — and HP just announced its latest laptop for this category: the Omen Transcend 16.
HP calls the Transcend 16 a "hybrid device" designed for lifestyle gamers, but don't let the phrasing confuse you — this laptop is thin and portable at just 19.9mm thick, but it isn't a 2-in-1 convertible. The Transcend 16 may not fold over into a tablet mode, but it still has a pretty impressive screen: HP says the mini-LED 2560 x 1600 HDR1000 display is the brightest of any Omen device. Paired with a 13th generation Intel Core i9-12900HX CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, the new gaming laptop should offer more than enough power for both gaming and work. The Omen Transcend 16 will launch this Spring, starting at $1670.
If you're looking for a machine focused more on high-end leisure, HP is also rolling out some updates for Omen 16 laptops. Unlike the Transcend 16, this machine offers a choice of processor: buyers can pick between an Intel Core i9-13900HX or an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS — and both models can be paired with GeForce RTX 4080 graphics and up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. Pricing will start at $1300 when the Omen 16 hits stores, also in Spring.
Both the Omen 16 and the Transcend 16 also come with 1-month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and support intuitive audio pairing when bundled with HyperX Cloud II Core Wireless Gaming Headsets.
Finally, HP has announced the new line-up of nine Omen gaming monitors in a variety of sizes. Almost all of the monitors hit a gaming-friendly 165hz refresh rate, but there are a few standouts: The Omen 27s and 27qs both boast a faster 240Hz refresh rate, while the 27K steps down to 144hz in exchange for a higher resolution 4K display. HP is also offering a new 21:9 ultrawide with the Omen 34c. All nine monitors are slated for a Spring launch and are priced between $200 and $480.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/1G0QVKRfrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/1G0QVKR
Google's new Classroom tools include a 'reader mode' for people with dyslexia
Google is making it easier for people with reading challenges, such as dyslexia, to be able to make out articles and text posts online. The tech giant has launched "reader mode" for Chrome, which takes a site's primary content and puts it into the sidebar to reduce clutter and distractions. Users will also be able to change the text's typeface, font size and spacing, as well as its color and background color, to find the combination that works best for them.
Reader mode is but one of the new features and updates Google has rolled out for education users. Another new feature for Google Classroom gives educators the ability to add interactive questions to YouTube videos. That will allow students to answer them and get immediate feedback, giving teachers an insight on how well they understand the subject matter.
Google is also giving teachers a way to share practice sets with other verified educators in their domain, so that they can expand the availability of materials their students have access to. For particularly difficult mathematical and scientific concepts, for instance, more examples mean more opportunity to better understand them. The company has released a new web player for Screencast on Chrome OS, as well, allowing users to watch casts in any browser on any platform. Plus, it has expanded language options for Screencast closed captions and for practice sets.
Classes using Meet for online lectures will also find a new and useful feature: Hand raise gesture detection powered by AI. Apparently, when a student raises a hand in real life, the video conferencing app can now automatically activate its Hand Raise icon. In addition, two teachers can now also manage slides concurrently on Meet and co-present lectures together. Google has been growing and improving its education-related tools for years, though it has perhaps kicked things up a notch after schools shut down during the pandemic. It released a slew of updates to make virtual classrooms more usable since then, and it looks like it hasn't forgotten online-based education even though schools have mostly gone back to in-person learning.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/1h5t6Dffrom Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/1h5t6Df
AWS confirms healthcare accelerator startup programme participants
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Ethical hackers urged to respond to Computer Misuse Act reform proposals
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The Morning After: Our verdict on Sonos' Era 300 and Era 100 speakers
Sonos has focused most of its efforts on two categories: portable speakers and home theater products, like its soundbars. The company’s main pair of music-focused speakers, the One and Five, have been getting a little old. The Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 aim to refresh that lineup.
The $250 Era 100 is a complete redesign of the Sonos One, introduced in 2017. It’s a mono speaker, just like the One and the Play:1 before it. But don’t let that simple description deceive you. The improvements over the One are immediately obvious in sound quality and new features, like line-in, Bluetooth and easier Trueplay setup. The Era 100 isn’t the most exciting speaker Engadget editor Nathan Ingraham’s ever listened to, but it provides impressive performance at a reasonable price.
The $450 Era 300 has a slightly strange place in the Sonos portfolio. Its higher price means it won’t be as broadly appealing as the Era 100. It’s closer to the $550 Sonos Five, arguably a superior speaker, but it still sounds notably better than the Era 100.
– Mat Smith
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
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Nintendo will show 10 minutes of 'Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' gameplay today
You'll see how the 'Breath of the Wild' sequel plays.
Nintendo and series producer Eiji Aonuma will showcase 10 minutes of Tears gameplay in a live premiere on YouTube at 10 AM ET or 7 AM PT. It's not clear what you'll see, but it's safe to presume the demo will feature new mechanics and less of a focus on worldbuilding or story.
We’re expecting the same open-world experience that made Breath of the Wild a hit, but with a new airborne environment (the floating islands above Hyrule) and an abundance of new ways to traverse the landscape. You can fly on a giant hoverboard and even grind rails.
iOS 16.4 is out with bug fixes and a ton of new emoji
Updates for the Mac, iPad and Apple Watch are also live.
Apple has officially released updates for each of its major platforms. The MacOS 13.3, iOS / iPadOS 16.4 and WatchOS 9.4 updates include 21 new emoji, improved voice isolation for calls and a smattering of minor bug fixes. Emoji additions include five new animals, two new hand gestures, three colored hearts and objects, including a folding fan, maracas and a flute.
Cellular calls now have Voice Isolation, designed to block out ambient noise. The Duplicates album in Photos will now cross check with images stored in the iCloud Shared Photo Library to keep your albums clean. There's even a new accessibility feature that helpfully dims the screen when it detects flashing lights or strobe effects in video content.
Acer Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition review
Sadly, glasses-free 3D is just pointless.
Acer's Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition has the company's glasses-free 3D screen in one last bid to make 3D content happen. It's meant to unlock an entirely new dimension of gameplay in titles like God of War and Forza Horizon 5 – and it does, to a degree. But it's also obscenely expensive, starting at $3,499, and the 3D means you miss out on higher refresh rates and a better quality screen.
Biden administration bans federal agencies from using commercial spyware
The order is likely to affect known government spyware makers like NSO Group.
In an executive order signed Monday, President Biden barred federal agencies from using commercial spyware that threatens US national security or carries a risk of improper use by foreign governments and individuals. The order applies to all departments, including those involved in law enforcement, defense and intelligence. It also prohibits the use of spyware that, in the past, was used to disclose non-public information about the US government.
As TechCrunch reported, security researchers have long warned of the dangers posed by commercial spyware. With NSO Group’s infamous Pegasus spyware, it exploited a vulnerability in iOS that allowed the program to infect an iPhone without the victim needing to tap anything. While many governments claim to use spyware sparingly to investigate serious crimes, that hasn’t stopped some from using the software for domestic surveillance and to target political dissidents.
Ubisoft has pulled out of E3 2023
The publisher will host its own show instead.
You can add Ubisoft to the list of companies not attending the first in-person E3 in four years. Before this week, it was one of the few major publishers to come out supporting the revamped event. On Monday, however, Ubisoft told VGC it would not be at the tradeshow and would instead host its own event at around the same time: “While we initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we’ve made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction and will be holding a Ubisoft Forward Live event on 12th June in Los Angeles.” You’ll have to wait, then, for your Skull and Bones update…
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Disney reportedly shuts down its metaverse division
Disney has shut down its metaverse division and laid off all of the team's 50 or so members as part of a broader restructuring process, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was just over a year ago when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek tapped company veteran Mike White to lead the team in its task of finding interactive ways to tell Disney's stories using new technologies. While the rest of team has lost their jobs, White will remain at the company, though it's unclear what role he's taking on going forward.
The executive's plan to launch an Amazon Prime-like subscription service for Disney has reportedly also been scrapped. It would've created a single user experience for Disney+, the company's retail operations and its apps that people use to purchase food and merchandise at Disney theme parks.
Chapek was hopeful and optimistic about Disney's future when it came to the metaverse and previously said that the company should excel at "blending... the physical and digital experiences." He called the metaverse "the next great storytelling frontier." The division's closure doesn't necessarily mean that Disney is abandoning its metaverse ambitions for good, though. As The Journal notes, Bob Iger, who returned as CEO to replace Chapek in November 2022, showed that he also sees a future in the metaverse when he joined the board of an animated avatar startup.
While Iger may have another strategy in mind, it may take some before we hear about it. Disney has been under pressure from investors to implement serious cost-cutting measures, and it previously announced that it was going to lay off 7,000 employees. According to TechCrunch, it will have three rounds of layoffs, with the first one taking place this week. The metaverse team might simply be one of the first teams impacted by Disney's significant restructuring efforts. In the note TechCrunch obtained, Iger said the company will send a larger round of layoff notifications in April and will notify the last affected employees before the beginning of summer.
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Monday, 27 March 2023
It's your last chance to buy from Nintendo’s Wii U and 3DS eShops
It's the end of an era as Nintendo is shutting down its Wii U and 3DS eShops today (March 27th) at 5PM PST (8PM EST). After that, you'll no longer be able to purchase new games for those consoles, though you'll still be able to redownload titles you've already purchased for the time being.
The company first warned of the eShop closures back in February 2022, and barred users from adding funds to their accounts on August 29th. Nintendo wrote at the time that that the move was "part of the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time."
That may be true, but a trove of over 1,000 digital games will be lost in the shutdown, including Dr. Luigi, Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge, and Pokémon Picross, to name but a few. In total, 450 digital-only Wii U games, 600 digital-only 3DS games and 530 virtual console games will disappear, VGC reported. Of the latter, 335 aren't currently available on Nintendo Switch Online.
That means the only option for folks who want to play these classic games will be physical copies, which have soared in value. Many other download-exclusive games, meanwhile, will disappear for good.
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Sunday, 26 March 2023
Portions of Twitter's source code were reportedly leaked online
In yet another embarrassing development for new Twitter boss Elon Musk, court filings published Friday reveal that portions of the social media site's source code — the base programming that makes Twitter possible — have been leaked online, the New York Times reports.
Per court filings, Twitter claimed copyright infringement in an effort to have the offending code taken down from the Github collaborative programming network, where it had been posted. While the code was removed the same day, details as to how long the code had been left up were not made available, nor were the leak's scope or depth. As part of the takedown request reminiscent of Raytheon's famous -- failed -- attempt at court-sanctioned doxxing, Twitter also asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California to order Github to reveal both the identity of the user who posted the code and those who accessed and downloaded it.
The NYT reports that, per sources within the company privy to the internal investigation into the leak, Twitter executives strongly suspect it's the work of a disgruntled employee who had left, "within the last year." Coincidentally, Elon Musk purchased Twitter last October for the eye-watering price of $44 billion and proceeded to lay-off and otherwise lose 80 percent of the company's staff, not the 75 percent that everybody feared Musk would enact in the run-up to his purchase.
The executive who spoke with the NYT are primarily concerned that revelations gleaned from the stolen code could empower future hacking efforts, either by revealing new exploits or allowing bad actors to access Twitter user data. If the increasingly temperamental page functionality wasn't enough to send the site's user base running for the hills that the site's resurgence of scammers and white nationalists since Elon's takeover didn't already scare off, will the threat of outright hacking be the final straw for advertisers and users alike?
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Netflix strikes last-minute deal to retain ‘Arrested Development’ streaming rights
Good news, Arrested Development fans. You can continue watching the highly acclaimed sitcom on Netflix. As The Verge outlines, all five seasons of the show, including the two financed by Netflix, were set to leave the service on March 15th. However, the series is now staying put, thanks to a licensing agreement the company reached with Disney-owned 20th Century Fox, the show’s original rights holder.
The Bluths aren’t going anywhere!
— Netflix (@netflix) March 24, 2023
Arrested Development is staying on Netflix! And there’s only one way to celebrate: pic.twitter.com/NlrSoBYk8t
According to Vulture, the new deal will see Netflix gain exclusive streaming rights to the series. As a result, the show’s first three seasons will not be available to watch on Hulu as of later this year. Notably, the deal reportedly gives Disney the option to sell the linear TV rights for all five seasons of Arrested Development. That means the show could end up on network television, much like BoJack Horseman did in 2018. Losing Arrested Development would have been a tough blow for Netflix. After Fox canceled the series in 2006, it found a home on the streaming service and was one of its early draws. It was also one of the first Netflix Originals after the company and Fox commissioned a new season in 2011.
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Elon Musk reportedly values Twitter at $20 billion
Elon Musk values Twitter at about $20 billion, according to an email seen by The Information and The New York Times. Musk shared the valuation, a significant drop from the $44 billion he paid to buy the company last fall, in a memo he sent to Twitter employees on Friday announcing a new stock compensation program. The billionaire reportedly warned Twitter’s significantly diminished workforce that the website was still in a precarious financial position. “Twitter is being reshaped rapidly,” he wrote, adding the company had, at one point, been four months away from running out of cash.
Comp increases will be based on X Corp stock. Current grants are based on a $20b valuation. Musk says he sees a “clear but difficult path” to $250 billion valuation which would mean current grants could 10x. 3/
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) March 25, 2023
According to Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer, Musk additionally told employees he sees a “clear but difficult path” to a $250 billion valuation, a hypothetical outcome that would make the company’s current stock grants worth 10 times as much in the future. Musk said Twitter would allow staff to sell stock every six months, a policy similar to one in place at SpaceX. According to Musk, the program would give employees “liquid stock” while shielding them from the “price chaos” that comes with equity at a publicly traded company.
To put Musk’s valuation in context, at $20 billion, Twitter would be worth more than Snapchat creator Snap, a company with nearly 140 million more daily active users. It’s also worth noting that the estimate likely reflects the difficulties Twitter has faced as a direct result of Musk’s decisions. At the start of 2023, the company’s daily revenue was reportedly down 40 percent from a year ago after more than 500 of its top advertising partners had paused spending on the platform. Many of those companies left following the firm’s messy relaunch of Twitter Blue, which saw verified trolls abuse the service to impersonate brands. Based on recent reporting from The Information, there were only about 180,000 Twitter Blue subscribers in the US at the beginning of February, suggesting the service is nowhere close to making up for the financial downturn Twitter has experienced since Musk’s takeover.
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EU agrees to allow sales of e-fuel internal combustion engine cars past 2035
The European Union has agreed to make a carveout for synthetic fuels in its proposed 2035 ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars. Per the Associated Press, the bloc made a deal with Germany on Saturday to allow automakers to sell new ICE cars past 2035, provided those vehicles run on climate-neutral fuels only. The agreement ends a dispute that had threatened to scuttle the EU’s signature climate change policy. At the start of March, the European Parliament delayed a vote that would have codified the proposed ban after Germany, with support from automakers, said it would not back the mandate without an exemption for synthetic fuels.
We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of efuels in cars.
— Frans Timmermans (@TimmermansEU) March 25, 2023
We will work now on getting the CO2-standards for cars regulation adopted as soon as possible, and the Commission will follow-up swiftly with the necessary legal steps to implement recital 11.
“We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars,” Frans Timmermans, the executive vice president of European Green Deal, posted to Twitter on Saturday. “We will work now on getting the CO2 standards for cars regulation adopted as soon as possible.” Environmental group Greenpeace criticized the agreement. “This lazy compromise undermines climate protection in transport, and it harms Europe,” the organization wrote in a statement.
As The Guardian notes, making synthetic fuels is incredibly energy intensive. Moreover, without direct air capture tech, e-fuel cars produce almost as many greenhouse emissions as their conventional ICE counterparts. According to one estimate published before Saturday’s announcement, a carveout for synthetic fuels could result in as many as 46 million fewer cumulative EV sales in Europe by 2050 “without providing any additional CO2 savings.” It’s also worth noting that no company is producing synthetic fuels at scale yet. That’s a significant point because e-fuels are unlikely to save European drivers money. By 2030, Transport & Environment estimates the average EU driver will pay €782 a year more to fill their car's tank with synthetic fuel than conventional gas.
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Hitting the Books: How the 'Godfather of Cybercrime' got his start on eBay
The internet has connected nearly everybody on the planet to a global network of information and influence, enabling humanity's best and brightest minds unparalleled collaborative capabilities. At least that was the idea, more often than not these days, it serves as a popular medium for scamming your more terminally-online relatives out of large sums of money. Just ask Brett Johnson, a reformed scam artist who at his rube-bilking pinnacle, was good at separating fools from their cash that he founded an entire online learning forum to train a new generation of digital scam artist.
Johnson's cautionary tale in one of many in the new book, Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry, from Harvard Business Review Press. In it, Professor of Forensic Accounting at DePaul University, Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope, chronicles some of the 20th and 21st century's most heinous financial misdeeds — from Bernie Madoff's pyramid schemes to Enron and VW, and all the Nigerian Princes in between — exploring how the grifts worked and why they often left their marks none the wiser.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry by Kelly Richmond Pope. Copyright 2023 Kelly Richmond Pope. All rights reserved.
Cyber Monday
I was doing my morning reading before class, and a story about a reformed cybercriminal caught my attention. I always wanted to learn more about cybercrime, but I’d never interacted with a convicted cyber offender. Here was my chance.
I did a quick Google search and found his personal website. I reached out, explained my interest in his story, and waited. By evening, I had an email from gollum@anglerphish.com. I was immediately suspicious, but it was a legit address of Brett Johnson, the man from the article.
After a few email exchanges, we got on a call. He was super friendly and had the voice of a radio DJ. I invited him to come speak to my class at DePaul.
“I teach on Monday nights for the next eight weeks, so whatever works for you will work for me,” I said.
“How about I hop in my car and come visit your class this coming Monday?” he said.
I was a little shocked—Birmingham, Alabama was a long drive— but I immediately took him up on his offer.
Brett was born and raised in Hazard, Kentucky, “one of these areas like the Florida Panhandle and parts of Louisiana, where if you’re not fortunate enough to have a job, you may be involved in some sort of scam, hustle, fraud, whatever you want to call it,” he said.
Maybe there was something in the water because his entire family engaged in fraud. Insurance fraud, document forgery, drug trafficking, mining illegal coal. You name it, Brett’s family did it.
Young Brett was a natural liar. As he grew up, he participated in the family scams.
Eventually, he branched out on his own. His first scam: in 1994, he faked his own car accident. Second scam: eBay fraud.
He reached his peak in the mid-’90s, during the Beanie Baby heyday. The Royal Blue Peanut, essentially a cobalt stuffed elephant toy, sold for as much as $1,700. Only five hundred of the dolls were manufactured, making it one of the most valuable Beanie Babies.
Brett was trying to earn some extra money. A Beanie Baby scam seemed easy and quick.
He advertised on eBay that he was selling Royal Blue Peanut for $1,500. Except he was actually selling a gray Beanie Baby that he dipped in blue dye to look like Royal Blue Peanut for $1,500.
He accepted a bid and instructed the winner to send a US postal money order. “It protects us both,” he said via email. “As soon as I get that and it clears, I’ll send you your elephant.”
The bidder sent Brett the money order; Brett cashed it and sent her his version of the blue Beanie Baby. The phone rang almost immediately.
“This is not what I ordered!” yelled a voice on the other line.
Brett’s response was swift. “Lady, you ordered a blue elephant. I sent you a blue-ish elephant.”
Brett gave her the runaround for a few weeks until she finally disappeared.
This experience taught Brett two very important lessons about cybercrime:
-
Delay the victim as long as possible.
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Victims rarely report the crime and eventually go away.
Brett continued to perfect his skills and graduated to selling pirated software. From pirated software, he moved to install mod chips (a small electronic device used to disable artificial restrictions of computers or entertainment devices) into gaming systems so owners could play the pirated games. Then he began installing mod chips in the cable boxes that would turn on all the pay-per-view on clients’ TV channels for free. Then it was programming satellite DSS cards (the satellite DSS card allows access to tv channels).
He was getting requests for his cable boxes from customers all over the United States and Canada. He was on a roll. Finally, it occurred to him: Why even fulfill the cable box order? Just take the money and run. He knew that no customer would complain about losing money in an illegal transaction. He stole even more money with this updated version of his cable box scam but soon worried that he’d get flagged for money laundering. He decided he needed a fake driver’s license so he could open up a bank account and launder the money through cash taken out of the ATM.
He found a person online who sold fake licenses. He sent a picture, $200, and waited. He waited and waited. Then reality punched him in the face: He’d been scammed. The nerve.
No one hates being deceived more than someone who deceives for a living. Brett was so frustrated he started ShadowCrew.com, an online forum where people could learn the ins and outs of cybercrime. Forbes called it “a one-stop marketplace for identity theft.” The ShadowCrew operated from August 2002 through November 2004, attracting as many as four thousand criminals or aspiring criminals. It’s considered the forerunner of today’s cybercrime forums and marketplaces; Brett is known as the Godfather of Cybercrime.
“Before ShadowCrew, the only avenue you had to commit online crime was a rolling chat board,” he told my students. “It’s called a IRC chat session and stands for Internet Relay Chat.” The problem with these rolling chat screens was that you had no idea if you were talking to a cop or a crook. Either was possible.
ShadowCrew gave criminals a trust mechanism. It was a large communication channel where people in different time zones could reference conversations. “By looking at someone’s screen name, you could tell if you could trust that person, if you could network with that person, or if you could learn from that person,” he said. The screen name on the dark web became the criminal’s brand name. They keep this brand name throughout their entire criminal tenure and it helps establish trust with others, so the screen name matters.
When Brett was in class, he showed my students how information ended up on the dark web. “You can find social security numbers, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers on the dark web for $3,” he explained. All the information is there, practically begging to be taken.
In 2004, authorities arrested twenty-eight men in six countries, claiming they had swapped 1.7 million stolen card numbers and caused $4.3 million in losses. But Brett escaped. He was placed on the Secret Service’s Most Wanted list. After four months on the run, he was arrested.
Brett has been in and out of prison five times and spent 7.5 years in federal prison. Today he considers himself a reformed white-collar offender.
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