Month: January 2017

Michelin

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.—Michelin's got a new performance tire out. Called the Pilot Sport 4S (PS4S), it's a direct replacement for the company's current Pilot Super Sport (PSS) and Pilot Sport 2 (PS2) tires, and it's very good. The funny thing is that, in a way, it may be too good.

High-performance tires go on performance cars; sports cars, muscle cars—nowadays even SUVs. Since time began, they have been designed with one overriding goal in mind: more grip.

After turning heads with a stunning 2015 reveal, PlayStation 4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn has publicly stuck its robotic head into the figurative sand. Fans wouldn't be blamed for growing hesitant in the quiet months since. A playable slice of this open-world adventure game's combat underwhelmed in late 2015, and a launch delay from last holiday season to February 28 made us wonder if Guerrilla Games (makers of the Killzone shooter series) might ultimately disappoint its hopeful fans.

Thankfully, Sony and Guerrilla let us dive in to the apparently lengthy game from the start last week, with a four-hour long, go-to-town play session with the "near-final" version of the game. After this extended slice of the game, I can't wait to play it again.

Surreal color burn

Sam Machkovech

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

A lawyer representing artificial intelligence startup Loop AI Labs in a trade secrets dispute will have to pay $250 for allegedly throwing an iced coffee at opposing counsel during a deposition.

The order by Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu, reported Friday by The Recorder, requires Loop's lawyer, Valeria Calafiore Healy, to pay $250 to opposing counsel as damages. "Three eyewitnesses agree (i.e., everyone except Healy) that Healy used expletives, then threw a cup of coffee in [Almaware attorney Thomas] Wallerstein's direction, splattering its contents on his clothes and belongings," Ryu wrote in her order (PDF).

As to possible further sanctions, Ryu says she'll defer to the district judge overseeing the case, "who will be undertaking a broad assessment of Healy’s conduct in the context of his order to show cause regarding terminating sanctions."

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | JamesBrey)

The Federal Communications Commission is exempting ISPs with 250,000 or fewer subscribers from rules that require greater disclosures about billing and other aspects of Internet service.

The enhanced transparency requirements were passed in February 2015 as part of the commission's net neutrality order. To comply, home Internet providers and cellular carriers must make public disclosures with the following information:

• Price—the full monthly service charge. Any promotional rates should be clearly noted as such, specify the duration of the promotional period, and note the full monthly service charge the consumer will incur after the expiration of the promotional period.
• Other fees—all additional one-time and/or recurring fees and/or surcharges the consumer may incur either to initiate, maintain, or discontinue service, including the name, definition, and cost of each additional fee. These may include modem rental fees, installation fees, service charges, and early termination fees, among others.
• Data caps and allowances—any data caps or allowances that are a part of the plan the consumer is purchasing, as well as the consequences of exceeding the cap or allowance (e.g., additional charges, loss of service for the remainder of the billing cycle).

The enhanced transparency rule from 2015 also required ISPs to disclose packet loss statistics. That was in addition to other network performance measures that ISPs were required to disclose by earlier rules passed in 2010.