Nach Angaben der Aktiven sind an drei Standorten von Amazon in Deutschland rund 1.100 Beschäftigte im Ausstand. Der Konzern kommt auf weniger als die Hälfte Streikender. (Amazon, Verdi) 
Month: March 2016
Videospeicher: Micron liefert GDDR5X aus
Der Speicherhersteller Micron hat angefangen, Partner mit GDDR5X-Videospeicher zu beliefern. Verfügbar sind Bausteine mit 1 GByte Kapazität und einer Datenrate von 10 bis 12 GBit pro Sekunde. (Grafikhardware, CAD) 
Der Speicherhersteller Micron hat angefangen, Partner mit GDDR5X-Videospeicher zu beliefern. Verfügbar sind Bausteine mit 1 GByte Kapazität und einer Datenrate von 10 bis 12 GBit pro Sekunde. (Grafikhardware, CAD) 
UK Police Arrest Pirate Box Seller, Threaten to Suspend Domain
The UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is continuing its crackdown against sellers of piracy-enabled TV devices. Their latest target is a 38-year-old man who was arrested in London on suspicion of fraud and copyright related offenses. Police seized more than 500 alleged ‘pirate’ devices and are now threatening a domain suspension.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Last week officers from the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested six individuals suspected of being involved in the supply of ‘pirate’ Internet-enabled set-top boxes.
Aimed at hampering the popularity of Android and similar devices used to access free movies, TV shows and live sports, the multi-location raids netted just 42 devices. Now it appears that the police have hit a relative jackpot.
PIPCU say that after executing two search warrants at a business premises and home address in East London, more than 500 Internet-enabled ‘pirate’ boxes have been seized. Police say they had been configured to illegally access subscription-only services.
Police have also confirmed the arrest of a 38-year-old man who was detained on suspicion of making and/or supplying articles for use in fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and two further offenses under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act and Proceeds of Crime Act.
PIPCU say that its investigation began in February 2016 after a broadcaster complained that modified devices were being sold both on the Internet and from a shop in Walthamstow. Details coming out of PIPCU are scarce but it’s possible that the broadcaster in question was either Sky TV and/or the Premier League, whose content is widely offered for streaming via these kinds of units.
Police have not yet made public the name of the business that was raided in Walthamstow but TorrentFreak is aware that one of the most popular sellers of Kodi-enabled Android devices operates from a shop in that same area. That could be a coincidence of course but TF’s request for comment sent to that shop’s website remains unanswered.
While we wait for more information, PIPCU says it will be asking the vendor raided yesterday to remove all illegal set top boxes from online sale. Interestingly, however, if that doesn’t happen PIPCU says it will take further action that could have a crippling effect on the business.
“Officers at PIPCU will be ordering the vendor to take the appropriate action to remove any illegal set top boxes from online sales sites,” PIPCU says.
“If the items continue to be sold online, then action will be taken to suspend the site by working closely with Nominet, the UK’s central registry for all .uk domains. This remains protocol for any site in breach of the Copyright and Trademark Act.”
The recent action carried out by PIPCU against sellers of IPTV devices is not unexpected. While modified editions of the legal Kodi software have been used on desktop machines for many years, the advent of cheap Android-based equipment has brought the streaming of movies, TV shows, sports and other content into the living rooms of countless non-tech savvy individuals.
With software like Popcorn Time and Showbox also gaining in popularity due to their placement on these devices, plug-and-play piracy is now a reality and rightsholders everywhere are more than tired of it.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
A9X-Prozessor: Kleines iPad Pro langsamer als das große Modell
Trotz des gleichen A9X-Prozessors ist das neu vorgestellte iPad Pro mit 9,7 Zoll großem Bildschirm etwas langsamer, weil der Prozessor mit niedrigem Takt läuft. Das haben Vergleichsmessungen ergeben. Außerdem sind nur 2 statt 4 GByte RAM verbaut worden. (
Navigation: Mytaxi-Anbindung für iOS-Version von Google Maps
Ein paar Tage nach der Android-Version gibt es auch für iOS-Nutzer ein Update für Google Maps. Damit erhält die Karten- und Navigations-App eine Mytaxi-Anbindung. Außerdem unterstützt Google Maps jetzt die Spotlight-Suche. (Google Maps, Google) 
Ein paar Tage nach der Android-Version gibt es auch für iOS-Nutzer ein Update für Google Maps. Damit erhält die Karten- und Navigations-App eine Mytaxi-Anbindung. Außerdem unterstützt Google Maps jetzt die Spotlight-Suche. (Google Maps, Google) 
Entlassungen: Smartwatch-Hersteller Pebble in Schwierigkeiten
Pebble will 25 Prozent seiner Angestellten entlassen, teilte der Chef des Unternehmens gegenüber Tech Insider mit. Die Verkäufe der ursprünglich über Kickstarter finanzierten Smartwatches entwickeln sich wohl nicht so wie erwartet. (
Boom Technologies: Virgin will Überschallflugzeuge bauen
"Boom Technologies" entwickelt Überschallflugzeuge. Virgin will zehn davon kaufen und dafür 2 Milliarden Dollar ausgeben. (
Tablet: Vorsicht beim Update des iPad 2 mit iOS 9.3
Beim Aufspielen von iOS 9.3 auf das alte iPad 2 soll es Schwierigkeiten geben. Anwender berichten von nicht mehr reagierenden Tablets und Aktivierungsproblemen, was wieder einmal beweist, wie wichtig Backups sein können. (
Ancient virus found hibernating in the human genome—and it might wake up
In DNA dig, scientists unearth more viral code, which makes up >8% of our genomes.
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding (in green) from a human cell. (credit: CDC)
In the current era of microbiome research, us humans are already having to come to grips with the fact that ‘I’ is actually ‘we’. Instead of our bodies constituting a single life-form, we are each comprised of complex and diverse ecosystems of microbes that have a profound influence on our existence. Our health and wellbeing is not just determined by what our own cells do, but what our trillions of invisible inhabitants do, too. And the genetic blueprints that govern our biology are partly carried in those microbial inhabitants, as well as in our own cells.
But, as it happens, the DNA in our own cells isn’t solely ours, either. More than eight percent of the human genome is not human at all—it’s from viruses. And scientists are still digging up yet more viral code from human DNA that may well influence our lives.
In a new study this week, researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 2,500 people and found 19 never-before-noticed segments of viral genetic code. Some of that viral DNA may have been traveling down human lineages for at least 670,000 years, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Representatives say NSA must end plans to expand domestic spying
Americans “deserve a public debate” on 4th amendment encroachments, reps say.
Today, two representatives from the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee sent a letter (PDF) to Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), asking him to discontinue any plans to expand the list of who the NSA shares certain information with.
In late February, the New York Times reported that the Obama Administration was working with the NSA to craft new rules and procedures to allow domestic law enforcement organizations like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) access to the digital communications information that the NSA collects through programs like PRISM. Under the new rules, domestic law enforcement agencies would be able to access raw information that the NSA collects, without the so-called “minimization” process that the NSA has formerly employed to scrub surveillance information of identifying data pertaining to American citizens before handing it over to the requesting agency.
”We are alarmed by press reports that state National Security Agency (NSA) data may soon routinely be used for domestic policing,” Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Representative Blake Farenthold (R-TX) wrote. "If media accounts are true, this radical policy shift by the NSA would be unconstitutional, and dangerous.”
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