Month: November 2016

(credit: Microsoft)

At the start of this year, Brussels' antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager warned data-hoarding tech giants that she was looking at them very closely—even though she was yet to spot a "competition problem." In June, Microsoft—with its planned buyout of LinkedIn—caught the eye of the Dane, who has been examining whether the £18.5 billion ($26.2 billion) deal should clear a regulatory hurdle in the 28-member-state bloc.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson at Vestager's office—which has been looking at the business activities of the two firms to determine whether the proposed merger could be bad for competition—confirmed to Ars that it had "received a commitments proposal" from Microsoft and LinkedIn.

It comes after Salesforce boss Marc Benioff, who had reportedly been considering a takeover of LinkedIn before Microsoft stepped in, told Recode that he had pushed the US Federal Trade Commission to probe the proposed merger. The deal has already received regulatory clearance Stateside, however.

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As the end credits rolled on Dishonored 2, the kingdom of Dunwall was in ruin. Hundreds of soldiers, servants, and sailors—many innocent bystanders in the age-old power struggle between an empress and her throne—lay dead. Once thriving cities had been razed to the ground in a blaze of steampunk gunfire and meticulously placed spring razors. Not a single soul that crossed me was left standing.

My time in Dishonored 2 may have been little more than a free-for-all blood bath of death, destruction, and chaos—but I don't regret a single bit of it.

That's the thing about Dishonored 2—the sequel to 2012's brilliant first-person stealth shooter Dishonored—it's not so much about the destination (and I've left out the much darker story spoilers) as it is about how you get there. This isn't a game that breaks new ground in interactive storytelling. Nor is it a game that creates bold new mechanics that push the boundaries of design. This is game that simply relishes being a game, a mix of tried-and-true mechanics as pure as those from an old '80s arcade cabinet that can be be picked apart and mastered by players.

Ultimately, it's about choice. From the moment you start and pick whether to play as series stalwart Corvo Attano or his empress daughter Emily Kaldwin, to the moment you decide whether to land a fatal blow in the game's dying moments, Dishonored 2 doesn't hold your hand and tell you how to complete your goals, but simply gives you tools to do so, difficulty curve be damned. This isn't an easy game to master for those unversed in the language of video games. Hell, it's not the easiest game to master or complete (even on the the "normal" difficulty level) full stop. But then few games make completing a task as simple as trying to get through the guarded door of a building, or eavesdrop on a political parley anywhere near as satisfying.

Enlarge / An Alameda County sheriff's deputy showed this drone-captured footage of a recent fire on the Oakland-Emeryville border. (credit: Cyrus Farivar)

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Speaking at the Drone World Expo on Tuesday, a panel of four law enforcement officers resoundingly approved their use and likely near-term expansion of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles.

“I really feel that small UAVs are a cost-effective way of enhancing public safety,” Cmdr. Tom Madigan, of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, told an assembled group of mostly fellow deputies and officers. “I hope in the near future we will be able to deploy these out of a patrol car or a fire truck.”

As one of the largest law enforcement agencies in Northern California, with a fleet of six drones that are often loaned out and used on behalf of other public safety agencies from Monterey County to the Oregon border, the ACSO has been busy.

Enlarge (credit: Samy Kamkar)

The perils of leaving computers unattended just got worse, thanks to a newly released exploit tool that takes only 30 seconds to install a privacy-invading backdoor, even when the machine is locked with a strong password.

PoisonTap, as the tool has been dubbed, runs freely available software on a $5/£4 Raspberry Pi Zero device. Once the payment card-sized computer is plugged into a computer's USB slot, it intercepts all unencrypted Web traffic, including any authentication cookies used to log in to private accounts. PoisonTap then sends that data to a server under the attacker's control. The hack also installs a backdoor that makes the owner's Web browser and local network remotely controllable by the attacker.

PoisonTap is the latest creation of Samy Kamkar, the engineer behind a long line of low-cost hacks, including a password-pilfering keylogger disguised as a USB charger, a key-sized dongle that jimmies open electronically locked cars and garages, and a DIY stalker app that mined Google Streetview. While inspiring for their creativity and elegance, Kamkar's inventions also underscore the security and privacy tradeoffs that arise from an increasingly computerized world. PoisonTap continues this cautionary theme by challenging the practice of password-protecting an unattended computer rather than shutting it off or, a safer bet still, toting it to the restroom or lunch room.