Axanar: Paramount/CBS erlaubt Star-Trek-Fanfilme

Edel das Föderationsmitglied, unziemlichem Tun abhold – und nicht kommerziell: Das Filmunternehmen Paramount/CBS hat wie angekündigt Regeln für Fanfilme aus dem Star-Trek-Universum herausgegeben. Sie enthalten formale wie inhaltliche Vorgaben. (Star Trek, Urheberrecht)

Edel das Föderationsmitglied, unziemlichem Tun abhold - und nicht kommerziell: Das Filmunternehmen Paramount/CBS hat wie angekündigt Regeln für Fanfilme aus dem Star-Trek-Universum herausgegeben. Sie enthalten formale wie inhaltliche Vorgaben. (Star Trek, Urheberrecht)

Oculus reverses course, dumps its VR headset-checking DRM

News breaks not from official announcement, but from discovery by workaround dev.

Oculus has quietly dumped its unpopular checks for Oculus headsets, meaning HTC Vive owners can resume using the popular Revive hack without having to work around DRM. (credit: Sam Machkovech)

What a difference an Internet uproar can make.

The Oculus team has reversed course on one of its most unpopular decisions since launching the Rift VR headset in April: headset-specific DRM. After weeks of playing cat-and-mouse to block the "Revive" workaround that translated the VR calls of Oculus games to work smoothly and seamlessly inside of the rival HTC Vive, Oculus quietly updated its hardware-specific runtime on Friday and removed all traces of that controversial DRM.

What's more, Oculus didn't mention the change in its runtime update notes, which are curiously future-dated one day forward on Saturday, June 25. The news instead broke when Revive's head developer posted a note on the project's Github download page. "I've only just tested this and I'm still in disbelief," the unnamed LibreVR developer wrote. Accordingly, the Revive team has since removed the patch's DRM-disabling feature, which had later been implemented as an extreme measure to make Oculus games play on the HTC Vive.

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FTTH/FTTB: Oberirdische Glasfaser spart 85 Prozent der Kosten

Es lässt sich viel Geld sparen beim Bau von Fiber-To-The-Home-Netzen. Das ergab eine Studie und Expertenbefragung mit ausbauenden Unternehmen. Doch kurzfristig wird der Netzbetreiber nicht reich. (Glasfaser, Studie)

Es lässt sich viel Geld sparen beim Bau von Fiber-To-The-Home-Netzen. Das ergab eine Studie und Expertenbefragung mit ausbauenden Unternehmen. Doch kurzfristig wird der Netzbetreiber nicht reich. (Glasfaser, Studie)

Microsoft’s low-power Surface 3 tablet is on the way out

Microsoft’s low-power Surface 3 tablet is on the way out

The Microsoft Surface 3 is a 10.8 inch Windows tablet with an Intel Atom x7-Z8700 Cherry Trail processor, a 1920 x 1280 pixel display, and support for an optional Surface Pen and optional keyboard cover.

Microsoft sells the tablet for $499, but a little over a year after launching the Surface 3 it looks like stocks dwindling: most models are out of stock at the Microsoft Store, and the company tells Thurrott.com that it’ll stop producing the tablet by the end of the year.

Continue reading Microsoft’s low-power Surface 3 tablet is on the way out at Liliputing.

Microsoft’s low-power Surface 3 tablet is on the way out

The Microsoft Surface 3 is a 10.8 inch Windows tablet with an Intel Atom x7-Z8700 Cherry Trail processor, a 1920 x 1280 pixel display, and support for an optional Surface Pen and optional keyboard cover.

Microsoft sells the tablet for $499, but a little over a year after launching the Surface 3 it looks like stocks dwindling: most models are out of stock at the Microsoft Store, and the company tells Thurrott.com that it’ll stop producing the tablet by the end of the year.

Continue reading Microsoft’s low-power Surface 3 tablet is on the way out at Liliputing.

Botnet: Necurs kommt zurück und bringt Locky millionenfach mit

Locky ist zurück. Vor wenigen Wochen war mit dem zugehörigen Botnetz auch die Infrastruktur der Ransomware verschwunden. Die Kriminellen haben der Ransomware zudem neue Funktionen zur Verschleierung hinzugefügt. (Ransomware, Spam)

Locky ist zurück. Vor wenigen Wochen war mit dem zugehörigen Botnetz auch die Infrastruktur der Ransomware verschwunden. Die Kriminellen haben der Ransomware zudem neue Funktionen zur Verschleierung hinzugefügt. (Ransomware, Spam)

CivilizationEDU will make high school totally radical next year

Boring old history books don’t stand a chance next to video games in class!

Now I can learn about the pyramids while having fun (credit: civilization.com)

Hey, kids! Put away those boring old history books. There's a new way to learn about geopolitical conflict. It's a video game!

*Record scratch sound effect*

That's right, it's CivilizationEDU, the new education-focused version of the hit simulation series that will make learning fun! This isn't your daddy's old "Oh no, I died of dysentery" educational gaming, either! Starting next year, The Games for Change Conference and GlassLab Inc. will partner with 2K Games to "provide students with the opportunity to think critically and create historical events, consider and evaluate the geographical ramifications of their economic and technological decisions, and to engage in systems thinking and experiment with the causal/correlative relationships between military, technology, political and socioeconomic development."

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Qualcomm sues smartphone maker Meizu over patent infringement

Qualcomm sues smartphone maker Meizu over patent infringement

Chinese smartphone company Meizu may be using processors from MediaTek and Samsung in most of its latest phones. But US chip maker Qualcomm has filed a complaint with regulators in Beijing, claiming that Meizu is using Qualcomm’s patented technology without a license.

At issue are Qualcomm’s patents relating to 3G and 4G LTE wireless communications. Qualcomm says it’s been trying to reach a licensing agreement with Meizu, but that the Chinese phone maker has not signed a deal, which is why Qualcomm is taking legal action now.

Continue reading Qualcomm sues smartphone maker Meizu over patent infringement at Liliputing.

Qualcomm sues smartphone maker Meizu over patent infringement

Chinese smartphone company Meizu may be using processors from MediaTek and Samsung in most of its latest phones. But US chip maker Qualcomm has filed a complaint with regulators in Beijing, claiming that Meizu is using Qualcomm’s patented technology without a license.

At issue are Qualcomm’s patents relating to 3G and 4G LTE wireless communications. Qualcomm says it’s been trying to reach a licensing agreement with Meizu, but that the Chinese phone maker has not signed a deal, which is why Qualcomm is taking legal action now.

Continue reading Qualcomm sues smartphone maker Meizu over patent infringement at Liliputing.

FBI’s use of Tor exploit is like peering through “broken blinds”

Judge: Making a computer reveal its IP address does not constitute a search.

(credit: Billie)

Law enforcement does not need a warrant to hack someone’s computer, according to a just-unsealed court order written by a federal judge in Virginia.

This case, United States v. Matish, is one of at least 135 cases currently being prosecuted nationwide stemming from the FBI’s investigation of the Tor-hidden child pornography site called "Playpen."

US District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. further explained in the order on Thursday that warrantless government-sanctioned hacking "resembles" law enforcement looking through broken blinds. In this case, however, a warrant was sought and obtained. Judge Morgan found that even if the warrant did not exist—or was found to be invalid—the search would have been valid.

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Google: Livestreaming direkt aus der Youtube-App

Spät, aber immerhin: Nun will auch Youtube seinen Nutzern die Möglichkeit geben, einfach per App einen Livestream zu übertragen. Das Angebot soll schneller und stabiler als das von der Konkurrenz sein – gemeint ist vor allem Facebook. (Youtube, Google)

Spät, aber immerhin: Nun will auch Youtube seinen Nutzern die Möglichkeit geben, einfach per App einen Livestream zu übertragen. Das Angebot soll schneller und stabiler als das von der Konkurrenz sein - gemeint ist vor allem Facebook. (Youtube, Google)

Autonome Autos: Fahrer wollen vor allem ihr eigenes Leben schützen

Können autonome Autos ethische Entscheidungen treffen? Selbst wenn sie es könnten, wollen die Menschen offenbar lieber in Autos sitzen, die egoistischer sind. (Autonomes Fahren, Technologie)

Können autonome Autos ethische Entscheidungen treffen? Selbst wenn sie es könnten, wollen die Menschen offenbar lieber in Autos sitzen, die egoistischer sind. (Autonomes Fahren, Technologie)