Prototyp: Vodafone Hybrid-Router ist noch ein Mini-PC

Der auf der Cebit angekündigte Hybrid-Router von Vodafone ist zwar bisher ein Mini-PC, doch die Ausschreibung läuft – und das fertige Gerät könnte von AVM, aber auch von Huawei, Viprinet oder einem anderen Hersteller kommen. (Cebit 2016, DSL)

Der auf der Cebit angekündigte Hybrid-Router von Vodafone ist zwar bisher ein Mini-PC, doch die Ausschreibung läuft - und das fertige Gerät könnte von AVM, aber auch von Huawei, Viprinet oder einem anderen Hersteller kommen. (Cebit 2016, DSL)

LG Display: OLED-Leuchten erhellen ohne sichtbare Stromzuführung

LG hat interessante Konzepte für die Zukunft des OLED-Lichts in allen Formen und Farben präsentiert – darunter auch Leuchten, obwohl LG diese gar nicht produzieren möchte. Denn für den Marktstart müssen potentiellen Panel-Kunden sehen, wie solche aussehen können. (OLED-Lampe, OLED)

LG hat interessante Konzepte für die Zukunft des OLED-Lichts in allen Formen und Farben präsentiert - darunter auch Leuchten, obwohl LG diese gar nicht produzieren möchte. Denn für den Marktstart müssen potentiellen Panel-Kunden sehen, wie solche aussehen können. (OLED-Lampe, OLED)

General Motors: Opel-Mutterkonzern kauft Firma für autonomes Fahren

Die Opel-Muttergesellschaft General Motors will die Entwicklung selbstfahrender Autos vorantreiben. Dafür ist jetzt das Unternehmen Cruise Automation mit dem Schwerpunkt autonome Fahrzeuge übernommen worden – der Kaufpreis soll mehr als eine Milliarde US-Dollar betragen. (General Motors, Auto)

Die Opel-Muttergesellschaft General Motors will die Entwicklung selbstfahrender Autos vorantreiben. Dafür ist jetzt das Unternehmen Cruise Automation mit dem Schwerpunkt autonome Fahrzeuge übernommen worden - der Kaufpreis soll mehr als eine Milliarde US-Dollar betragen. (General Motors, Auto)

Babies know when they don’t know something

Do we think about thinking at a much younger age than we thought?

Thoughts don't just flit around in our heads unobserved: humans know when something's going on in our own brains, and we evaluate our own thoughts. For example, we can judge when we're not certain about something, and act accordingly. This ability, called metacognition (thinking about thinking), has been found in a number of species, but humans are unusual in our ability to communicate what we know about our own thoughts and knowledge.

How early in life do we develop metacognition? Toddlers, who confidently proclaim knowledge of things they can’t possibly know, seem to be pretty bad at it. Babies, on the other hand, point at things to ask questions about them. They shouldn't be able to do this unless they've worked out that they don't know something.

It’s possible that previous experiments haven’t found evidence of metacognition in younger children because they just weren’t testing it in the right way. After all, other species have metacognition, and experimenters have found ways to test that even though the animals can’t talk about what they know. What if children under four years old experience and use metacognition, but are just bad at realizing it and letting anyone know?

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Piracy Keyword Filters for Usenet Don’t Work, Expert Says

This week Hollywood-backed anti-piracy group BREIN reiterated its demands for a keyword-powered piracy filter to disable access to copyright infringing material on Usenet. However, according to one of the copyright enforcement experts at IP-Arrow, these keyword filters are very costly and not effective at all.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

usenetHollywood-backed anti-piracy group BREIN and Usenet provider News-Service.com have been battling in court for several years already.

BREIN is looking for a ruling that makes keyword filters mandatory on Usenet, but the now defunct Usenet provider argues that this is not feasible.

A final decision in the case was delayed again this week. Before it reaches a conclusion, the Dutch court wants both sides to answer detailed questions about the efficacy and costs associated with such a filtering mechanism.

Both parties are allowed to present their own experts to testify on the matter. This could prove to be very interesting, as the Usenet provider is already receiving support from an unexpected quarter.

IP-Arrow, a copyright enforcement company that works with rightsholders such as Lionsgate, has just published an opinion article arguing against keyword filters.

The company admits that their stance may not be a popular opinion in the industry, but as one of the outfits that specializes in Usenet, they strongly believe that keyword filters are costly and ineffective.

To understand the situation people have to understand the difference between the Usenet servers and the sites that act as indexers. On the indexing sites people search for NZB files that link to movies and music. However, the actual file-names on the Usenet servers are often quite cryptic.

While these filters may work on Usenet indexing sites, the files on the Usenet servers are often named differently and are therefore harder to filter. Instead of “JoesMovie.avi,” the file would be named “klj37jkhf812jkj11klh66690-132.avi” for example, or any other non-descriptive name.

“When we look at an indexing site for filtering, it makes sense because a user is actually looking or seeing “JoesMovie” in a list,” IP-Arrow’s Joe explains. “They are not looking for “klj37jkhf812jkj11klh66690-132” nor do they care what the actual filename is.

“They grab an NZB or torrent file and start downloading,” he adds.

As a result, using automated filters to remove content from Usenet servers is much harder than it looks. According to IP-Arrow these type of filters will therefore fail to deliver.

In theory it might be possible to arrive at a more effective solution, but that would certainly not be automated. Instead, it would require a rather expensive operation comprising of people who continuously scour Usenet for pirated content.

“This would require a massive database that would need to be updated hourly by live people for all the variations of titles. To do any filter on this scale would by an extremely expensive project on a level that we have not seen,” Joe notes.

As one of the most prominent Usenet takedown service providers, IP-Arrow of course has a stake in taking this position. That said, the company does have quite a bit of Usenet expertise on board.

The article cited above is written by Joe Morganelli, who himself operated the Usenet indexer Binnews several years ago.

Morganelli and his site were eventually targeted by the MPAA in 2006. A year later he agreed to a consent judgment which included several million dollars in damages, after he ‘switched sides’ and started a content protection outfit.

If News-Service.com continues their case against BREIN it looks like they might have found an excellent expert witness to argue their case…

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Archival Disc: Sony bringt 300-GByte-Discs mit Verspätung auf den Markt

Sony hat ein erstes System für die Archival Disc vorgestellt, die derzeit 300 GByte pro Scheibe fasst. Die neue Speichertechnik ist vor allem für die professionelle Archivierung gedacht – und soll Daten bis zu 100 Jahre vorhalten können. (Archival Disc, Sony)

Sony hat ein erstes System für die Archival Disc vorgestellt, die derzeit 300 GByte pro Scheibe fasst. Die neue Speichertechnik ist vor allem für die professionelle Archivierung gedacht - und soll Daten bis zu 100 Jahre vorhalten können. (Archival Disc, Sony)

Smartphones: Google wiederholt Preisaktion für Nexus 5X und Nexus 6P

Google bietet die beiden aktuellen Nexus-Smartphones erneut mit einem großen Rabatt an. In der zeitlich begrenzten Aktion ist vor allem der Preis für das Nexus 6P interessant, das Angebot für das Nexus 5X lohnt sich nicht mehr. (Nexus 6P, Smartphone)

Google bietet die beiden aktuellen Nexus-Smartphones erneut mit einem großen Rabatt an. In der zeitlich begrenzten Aktion ist vor allem der Preis für das Nexus 6P interessant, das Angebot für das Nexus 5X lohnt sich nicht mehr. (Nexus 6P, Smartphone)

Hitman im Technik-Test: Von Direct3D 12 profitieren vor allem CPUs

Das neue Hitman unterstützt zwar Direct3D 12, nützlich ist das jedoch nur für Spieler mit langsamer CPU. Für die Grafikkarte bringt D3D12 recht wenig, zudem nervt auch Hitman mit Vsync-Problemen. (Hitman, Prozessor)

Das neue Hitman unterstützt zwar Direct3D 12, nützlich ist das jedoch nur für Spieler mit langsamer CPU. Für die Grafikkarte bringt D3D12 recht wenig, zudem nervt auch Hitman mit Vsync-Problemen. (Hitman, Prozessor)