Month: August 2017

The ATLAS detector at the LHC.

Light interacts with matter all the time. Blue skies, green leaves, and the colors of the rainbow all come about because of the scattering of light. But light doesn't scatter off itself. In fact, under Maxwell's equations, which originally defined electromagnetism, light can't scatter off itself.

As with many other things, however, quantum mechanics showed that what we thought was impossible is possible: a photon can, technically, scatter off another photon. But that was recognized back in the 1930s, and we've not been able to confirm that it actually happens.

Until now, that is.

Enlarge (credit: LockState)

Hundreds of Internet-connected locks became inoperable last week after a faulty software update caused them to experience a fatal system error, manufacturer LockState said.

The incident is the latest reminder that the so-called Internet of Things—in which locks, thermostats, and other everyday appliances are embedded with small Internet-connected computers—often provide as many annoyances as they do conveniences. Over the past week, the Colorado-based company's Twitter feed has been gorged with comments from customers who were suddenly unable to lock or unlock their doors normally. Complicating the matter: the affected LockState model—the RemoteLock 6i—is included in an Airbnb partnership called Host Assist. That left many hosts unable to remotely control their locks.

@vrma 2 days later, still no follow up from John Cargile as promised, locks still down.

— Doug Miracle (@DougMiracle_) August 11, 2017

Are you a stranded @Airbnb guest? @LockState just BRICKED a bunch of 6i locks. But they won't tweet updates. Trying to hide their screw-up?

— Juniper (@JuniperWyoming) August 7, 2017

The failure occurred last Monday when LockState mistakenly sent some 6i lock models a firmware update developed for 7i locks. The update left earlier 6i models unable to be locked and no longer able to receive over-the-air updates. LockState Marketing Manager John Cargile told Ars that the failure hit about 500 locks. The company is offering affected customers one of two options: (1) return the back portion of the lock to LockState so the firmware can be updated, with a turnaround time of about five to seven days, or (2) request a replacement interior lock, with a turnaround time of about 14 to 18 days. In the meantime, customers can use a physical key to unlock doors. (Like most hotel rooms, the doors automatically lock each time they're closed.)

Enlarge / A rendering by SolarReserve of what the Aurora site will look like after it’s completed. (credit: SolarReserve)

On Monday the South Australian government awarded a key contract to a company called SolarReserve to build a 150MW solar thermal plant near Port Augusta. The California-based company uses giant mirrors, called heliostats, to direct sunlight to a thermal tower that heats molten salt, which can be stored in tanks for hours at very high temperatures. That molten salt can be pushed through a heat exchanger, where it will create steam to generate power, even when the Sun isn't shining.

South Australia suffered a severe blackout last September during a storm, and its government has been under pressure to come up with solutions. The state already has a lot of renewable energy—especially wind—on its grid, so storage has been a primary focus. The government recently bought a 100MW/129MWh lithium battery installation from Tesla after the company promised it could install the batteries in 100 days or less.

SolarReserve has been behind several ambitious projects, including a 110MW/1,100MWh plant in Tonopah, Nevada, and a planned plant in Chile that will have enough molten-salt storage to provide greenhouse gas-free power 24 hours a day. The Tonopah plant was completed in 2015, but it was recently taken offline for eight months after a leak was discovered in a molten salt tank. Nevertheless, Nevada seems to be interested in building as many as 10 more arrays in Nevada’s Nye County.

Hmmm... (credit: HBO)

Hackers who broke into HBO's computer systems last month continue to release the network's content, including episodes of the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is slated to air in October.

The latest content dump, reported earlier today by The Associated Press, also includes episodes of shows like "Ballers" and "Insecure." None of the additional material was related to Game of Thrones, HBO's current top hit.

The hackers have already released a script of one GoT episode, as well as other internal documents, including personally identifiable data and passwords from at least one senior HBO executive.

Enlarge / Flowers commemorate Heather Heyer, victim of Saturday’s deadly car attack in Charlottesville. (credit: Bob Mical)

For years, the website Daily Stormer has promoted hatred against Jews, black people, LGBT people, and other minorities, making it one of the Internet's most infamous destinations. But on Sunday, editor Andrew Anglin outdid himself by publishing a vulgar, slut-shaming article about Heather Heyer, a woman who was killed when someone rammed a car into a crowd of anti-racism protestors in Charlottesville.

The article prompted a response from the site's domain registrar, GoDaddy. "We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service," GoDaddy wrote in a tweet late Sunday night.

On Monday, the Daily Stormer switched its registration to Google's domain service. Within hours, Google announced a cancellation of its own. "We are cancelling Daily Stormer’s registration with Google Domains for violating our terms of service," the company wrote in an statement emailed to Ars.

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto/Getty Images)

The administration of President Donald Trump is scoffing at a lawsuit by Twitter users who claim in a federal lawsuit that their constitutional rights are being violated because the president has blocked them from his @realDonaldTrump Twitter handle.

"It would send the First Amendment deep into uncharted waters to hold that a president's choices about whom to follow, and whom to block, on Twitter—a privately run website that, as a central feature of its social-media platform, enables all users to block particular individuals from viewing posts—violate the Constitution." That's part of what Michael Baer, a Justice Department attorney, wrote to the New York federal judge overseeing the lawsuit Friday.

In addition, the Justice Department said the courts are powerless to tell Trump how he can manage his private Twitter handle, which has 35.8 million followers.

The game industry isn't a stranger to accusations that a new game is just a lightly reskinned clone of another title. But there's that, and then there's the "cloning" debate surrounding Tokyo 42 and its alleged inspiration, a 30-year-old ZX Spectrum and PC game called Tokyo 41.

As manufactured controversies go, this one leaves a lot to be skeptical of. As clever marketing plans go, though, it's an interesting public performance that touches on some real issues in modern gaming.

The first mention of a game called Tokyo 41 anywhere on the Internet seems to have come from a Twitter account belonging to alleged developer Mark Followill. On the same day the account was created, Followill replied to Tokyo 42 publisher Mode 7 Games with a couple of CGA-style screenshots of Tokyo 41. Those shots heavily resemble Tokyo 42's isometric shooter gameplay despite Tokyo 41 allegedly being originally published in 1987. "It is clear that this game is strongly similar to my game Tokyo 41 which you are clearly aware of," Followill tweeted.