Month: May 2016

Car Seat Headrest is an ideal product of the Bandcamp generation

If today’s digital music ecosystem produces LPs like Teens of Denial, we’ll be OK.

"Vincent" by Car Seat Headrest from the new album Teens of Denial. (This is the online video cut.)

Car Seat Headrest's Teens of Denial, released yesterday on Matador Records, sounds like 2002. To these ears at least, it brings to mind the debut album from turn-of-the-century alternative hero Ben Kweller (Sha, Sha). While being perfect soundtracks for a windows-down spring drive, these records also make you think. Thoughtful yet obtuse lyrics cause you to ponder a track long after it ends, and the compositions seem to offer new musical ideas every listen as they eschew typical song formats and instrumentations.

But Teens of Denial couldn't possibly exist 15 years ago—least of all because songwriter Will Toledo hadn't yet turned 10 years old. Toledo instead stands as a "new" voice among a younger generation of musicians (ala Chance The Rapper, age 23, or Torres, age 25) who grew up alongside our current digital music ecosystem. As such, Car Seat Headrest's first original album for a label represents a culmination of many changes the industry has gone through in the past decade-plus: instant accessibility to vast catalogues; the democratization of recording and releasing; the need to share it all immediately.

And if Teens of Denial stands as a sign of the times, things have turned out all right for us fans.

Read 17 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Microsoft-Richtlinien: Terroristen dürfen nicht mehr Hotmail und Onedrive nutzen

Im Kampf gegen den weltweiten Terrorismus will Microsoft seine Dienste nicht mehr Terroristen zur Verfügung stellen. Möglicherweise gibt es eine Photo-DNA bald auch für Terrorinhalte. (NSA, Apple)

Im Kampf gegen den weltweiten Terrorismus will Microsoft seine Dienste nicht mehr Terroristen zur Verfügung stellen. Möglicherweise gibt es eine Photo-DNA bald auch für Terrorinhalte. (NSA, Apple)

From drone racers to pinball: Maker Faire Bay Area 2016 doesn’t disappoint

Gallery: An enlarged Monopoly board, gorgeous pottery and cool art stole our hearts.

Cyrus Farivar

This life-size automaton was a hit.

16 more images in gallery

SAN MATEO, Calif.—Maker Faire never gets old. While we only scratched the surface after a 90 minute walk through the fairgrounds, the drone racing was the coolest thing that we saw on Friday afternoon. Every 10 minutes, a few drone pilots would sit with headsets and zoom their aircraft through a netted raceway, replete with an illuminated track. (Check the video below!)

We also liked some of the clothing and craft wares, like cool kids' hoodies, and these gorgeous earthenware. If you're at all interested and you're anywhere near the Bay Area, the event continues Saturday and Sunday—it's well worth the price of admission.

The MegaBots in action. (video link)

Read on Ars Technica | Comments

ISP: Police Requests Most User Data for File-Sharing “Crimes”

For the first time Swedish Internet service provider Bahnhof has shared details on the nature of police requests for subscriber identities. The data reveals that with 27.5% “file-sharing” is by far the largest category. The ISP, however, doesn’t see piracy as a serious crime and has refused to hand over any subscriber data.

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

pirate-runningIn recent years Internet provider Bahnhof has fought hard to protect the privacy of its subscribers.

The company has been a major opponent of extensive data retention requirements, launched a free VPN to its users, and recently vowed to protect subscribers from a looming copyright troll invasion.

This week Bahnhof reiterated its pro-privacy stance by stressing that it doesn’t hand over personal details of alleged pirates, not even to the police.

For the first time in history the company published details on the nature of police data requests. Interestingly, this reveals that file-sharing ‘crime’ is the largest category by far.

Of all requests received by the ISP well over a quarter, 27.5%, were for cases related to online file-sharing. This trumps other crimes such as grooming minors, forgery and fraud.

“We want to publish these figures to show that police are violating people’s privacy and putting resources into meaningless trifles,” Bahnhof CEO Jon Karlung says, commenting on the release.

Bahnhof-small

While the total number of 40 requests is relatively modest the data shows that file-sharing is high on the agenda for the Swedish police. However, from Bahnhof they shouldn’t expect any cooperation.

Citing European privacy regulations the Internet provider says that it will only hand over data to the police if the complaint applies to a serious crime, which doesn’t apply to piracy according to the company.

The ISP’s decision goes against the recommendation of the Swedish Telecoms Authority as well as the police, and a future court ruling is expected to provide more clarity on the issue.

Until then, Bahnhof will continue to shield alleged file-sharers from police requests for their personal data.

“The IP address is your fingerprint on the web,” Karlung says, noting that it’s tied to people’s browsing habits and all sorts of private data. “It shall not be disclosed without strong reasons.”

The recent comments fall in line with the ISP’s critique on the ongoing push to criminalize file-sharing in Sweden. Just a few weeks ago Karlung dismissed calls for harsher punishments for online piracy, noting that rightsholders should concentrate on developing better legal options instead.

For their part, the police note that the high number of file-sharing related requests are the result of increased enforcement efforts from copyright holders. When these report criminal activity, police are obliged to investigate the matter.

—

Credit: Translated chart by Rick Falkvinge

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

Jacquard und Soli: Google bringt smarte Jacke und verbessert Radar-Chip

Googles Entwicklungsabteilung Atap meldet Fortschritte bei zwei ihrer Projekte: Aus dem smarten Stoff des Projekts Jacquard wird Levi’s eine Jacke herstellen, außerdem ist der Radar-Chip Soli jetzt soweit, dass er in Geräte eingebaut werden kann. Damit eröffnen sich neue Bedienmöglichkeiten für mobile Geräte. (Google I/O, Google)

Googles Entwicklungsabteilung Atap meldet Fortschritte bei zwei ihrer Projekte: Aus dem smarten Stoff des Projekts Jacquard wird Levi's eine Jacke herstellen, außerdem ist der Radar-Chip Soli jetzt soweit, dass er in Geräte eingebaut werden kann. Damit eröffnen sich neue Bedienmöglichkeiten für mobile Geräte. (Google I/O, Google)

Die Woche im Video: Wir besuchen die Hölle und telefonieren mit Abzockern

Geschmacklos? Absolut! Toll? Ja, und wie! Wir haben diese Woche begeistert Doom gespielt. Und unseren Spaß auf Kosten von Abzockern gehabt. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)

Geschmacklos? Absolut! Toll? Ja, und wie! Wir haben diese Woche begeistert Doom gespielt. Und unseren Spaß auf Kosten von Abzockern gehabt. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)

Fox ‘Borrows’ YouTube Clip for Family Guy, Then DMCA Blocks the Original

The absurdity of automated DMCA take-downs on YouTube has been highlighted once again, this time on prime time TV.Fox network’s popular animated series Family Guy referenced an obscure video game glitch in the most recent episode, showing a relatively …



The absurdity of automated DMCA take-downs on YouTube has been highlighted once again, this time on prime time TV.

Fox network's popular animated series Family Guy referenced an obscure video game glitch in the most recent episode, showing a relatively long clip of the game glitch in question being exploited by the series' main protagonist, Peter Griffin. However, eagle eyed viewers noted that the particular clip used was first uploaded to YouTube in 2009 by user 'sw1tched'.

With the issue of copyright enforcement on YouTube being heavily debated recently, the legality of sw1tched's original footage (which features copyrighted video game images and music) as it relates to fair use (pointing out a glitch in the game) might have already been the topic of a heated debate, but what Family Guy did with the footage, and what happened next, would border on the absurd.

According to updates posted by sw1tched, neither Family Guy nor Fox, the studios responsible for the show, contacted him in regards to obtaining permission to use the clip. And on top of this, shortly after the episode aired, the original video was blocked on copyright grounds by none other than Fox. 

The TV network claimed copyright on a clip that was uploaded 7 years before they used it without permission.

The original YouTube clip is now back up thanks to concerned parties and the Internet public voicing their displeasure at how things unfolded. Even Family Guy's creator and the voice of Peter, his dog Brian and many other characters, Seth MacFarlane, waded in on the issue, eventually intervening to get the original clip back up.

While this mistake is yet another embarrassing episode for rights-holders, the responsibility most likely fell to a computer algorithm, rather than an individual. YouTube's Content ID was most likely the culprit, having been convinced that the original clip contained footage from the aired Family Guy episode, and not the other way around as it should have been.

The error prone nature of automated copyright scanning system is precisely the reason why many want more protection against false copyright claims, despite some rights-holders arguing for the opposite. If their wish is granted, false positives such as this one may become more common, with more lasting effects.

Modulares Smartphone: Project Ara soll 2017 kommen – nur noch teilweise modular

Lange war es still um Googles modularer Smartphone Project Ara – jetzt kündigt das Unternehmen ein erstes Endkundengerät für das Jahr 2017 an. Mit dem ursprünglichen, voll modularen Konzept hat das neue Ara-Smartphone aber nur noch bedingt etwas zu tun. (Google I/O, Smartphone)

Lange war es still um Googles modularer Smartphone Project Ara - jetzt kündigt das Unternehmen ein erstes Endkundengerät für das Jahr 2017 an. Mit dem ursprünglichen, voll modularen Konzept hat das neue Ara-Smartphone aber nur noch bedingt etwas zu tun. (Google I/O, Smartphone)

Oculus workaround to play on HTC Vive rendered inoperable by app update

Founder once said, “our goal is not to profit by locking people to only our hardware.”

(credit: iFixit)

Currently, only two virtual reality platforms exist on Windows PCs: the Oculus Rift and the SteamVR-powered HTC Vive. Each set has its strengths and weaknesses, but until recently, they at least both offered limited compatibility with their rival's software stores. Oculus headset users can pick through compatible games on the SteamVR store and interface, while HTC Vive wearers could install a fan-made patch to play Oculus software.

SteamVR still plays nice, but the other side changed its tune on Friday with a major Oculus app update for Windows PCs, complete with advertised "updates to platform integrity checks." It didn't take long for the team behind that aforementioned HTC Vive patch, dubbed "Revive," to announce that those "integrity checks" appeared to block users' access to Oculus games on unauthorized hardware.

"Oculus has added a check [to look for] whether the Oculus Rift headset is connected to their Oculus Platform DRM," Revive developer "CrossVR" posted to the Vive Reddit community on Friday. "While Revive fools the application [into] thinking the Rift is connected, it does nothing to make the actual Oculus platform think the headset is connected."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments