Month: March 2016

(credit: donnaidh_sidhe)

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to impose a sentence of five years against Matthew Keys, who was found guilty last year on three counts of criminal hacking under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That federal law, which was passed in 1984, was what the late activist Aaron Swartz was prosecuted under. Last year, President Barack Obama called for Congress to expand prison sentences for those found guilty under this law.

Keys worked previously as an online producer for KTXL Fox 40, a Sacramento, California-based television station. Prosecutors argued that in December 2010, shortly after his dismissal, he handed over login credentials to a Tribune Media content management system (CMS), which allowed members of Anonymous to make unauthorized changes to a Los Angeles Times story. (At the time, both companies were both owned by Tribune Media.) Those changes amounted to a short-lived prank: they lasted only 40 minutes, and there is little evidence that the prank was widely noticed. Criminal charges were not filed until March 2013.

Even after he was found guilty, Keys continued to deny the government’s narrative. In a brief interview with Ars after his trial concluded, he described the prosecution’s theory as "total bullshit."

(credit: Aurich Lawson)

You may consider yourself an enterprising PC game-machine builder, and in the past few years, you may have built a pretty damned good rig. That doesn't mean you went crazy, however. Graphics standards have leveled off a bit lately—at least, enough for a reasonably priced machine to run "max" settings at the standard screen resolution of 1080p or even rock-solid frame rates and high fidelity at 1440p.

Those specs are still within quite reasonable reach, but system builders may now want to target two additional, beefier visual standards: 4K monitors and virtual reality headsets.

The former can mean a few different resolutions, but this goal typically quadruples the pixel count of standard 1080p resolution. And while the retail Oculus and Vive headsets have fewer pixels than 4K displays, they have to refresh content at 90 frames-per-second to offset nausea concerns—which far outpace the demands of a standard 1080p/60 display. Either way, if you haven't built a new PC in a while, you're gonna need a bigger boat.

The world's first zero-emissions GT (road-car-based) racing championships will begin in 2017, and every single car on the grid will be a Tesla Model S P85+.

The new championships, called the Electric GT World Series, will have a seven-race season in 2017, with races in Europe, America, and Asia. It sounds like the organisers are still trying to nail down which tracks will be used, but the press release specifically mentions Barcelona, Donington (UK), Mugello (Italy), and Estoril (Portugal).

There will be 10 teams, and each team will field two modified Tesla Model S P85+ road cars. The power unit and its control software will remain unchanged from the standard road car (416hp, 601Nm), but changes will be made to the aerodynamics, suspension, and brakes to make it more suitable for racing. The car's weight will also be reduced (presumably by tearing out unneeded upholstery and the like), and the battery's cooling system will be improved so that the drivers can keep their foot on the throttle for longer.

(credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

The A4 is an important car for Audi. Last year more people took home a new A4 than bought any kind of Audi just five years ago—it was literally the company's bread and butter, even if the bread was getting a little stale. Enter the 2017 A4, packed full of clever electronics and driver assists that inspired the tag line "intelligence is king." Make no mistake, Audi wants you—dear Ars reader—to buy this car.

The new A4 is a little wider and longer than the outgoing model, shedding some unwanted weight in the process. There's an entirely new five-link suspension front and rear, and it's available as front- or all-wheel drive. For now the entire line gets the same 4-cylinder 2.0L turbocharged direct injection gasoline engine and seven-speed dual clutch gearbox, which means 252hp (185kW), 273lb-ft (370Nm) and 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds. And it's priced aggressively to take on rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, starting at $37,900—although expect your invoice to start with a four if you want some bells and whistles.

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