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After Fitbit acquired smartwatch company Pebble in 2016, the company promised to keep Pebble’s software and services running through the end of 2017. While Pebble stopped making and selling watches, that move at least meant that existing customer…
After Fitbit acquired smartwatch company Pebble in 2016, the company promised to keep Pebble’s software and services running through the end of 2017. While Pebble stopped making and selling watches, that move at least meant that existing customers would be able to squeeze a little extra life out of their wearables. Now Fibit has extended […]
Pebble smartwatches aren’t dead yet (but they will be this summer) is a post from: Liliputing
iOS 11.3 will add a performance throttling toggle and updates to Messages.
Enlarge / An augmented reality demo by Apple. (credit: Apple)
Today, Apple released a developer preview of iOS 11.3 and previewed iOS 11.3 to the public with a blog post and a press event. As previously reported, some iteration of iOS 11.3 will include the ability to toggle the controversial performance throttling previously implemented to address problems related to aging batteries in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models.
However, the centerpiece of Apple's presentation is ARKit 1.5, a new version of the augmented reality software development framework introduced in iOS 11. Whereas ARKit previously only helped app developers map 3D objects to flat, horizontal surfaces like the floor or a table, ARKit 1.5 will make vertical surfaces like walls, doors, and windows workable by AR apps.
For example, Apple demonstrated an app that placed a target on the wall and tasked the user with throwing a virtual ball on the phone screen at the target. If the ball missed the target, it would bounce off the wall. None of that is part of the current version of ARKit. Further, ARKit apps will be able to read 2D information like signs, artwork, or screens placed on those horizontal surfaces, like "bringing a movie poster to life."
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MSI has been selling compact desktop computers under the MSI Cubi brand for the past few years, but the company recently introduced its first fanless model. Now the MSI Cubi Silent is available for purchase, and it’s surprisingly cheap. You can p…
MSI has been selling compact desktop computers under the MSI Cubi brand for the past few years, but the company recently introduced its first fanless model. Now the MSI Cubi Silent is available for purchase, and it’s surprisingly cheap. You can pick up a model with an Intel Celeron 3865U Kaby Lake processor for about […]
MSI Cubi 3 Silent is a fanless Kaby Lake mini PC for $192 and up is a post from: Liliputing
It’s a “cybersecurity intelligence platform” powered by Alphabet’s servers.
Alphabet—the parent company of Google, Nest, Waymo, and a million other companies—is launching a new company under the Alphabet umbrella. It's called "Chronicle," and the new company wants to apply the usual Google tenets of machine learning and cloud computing to cybersecurity.
The company is already up and running with an absolutely awesome URL, "chronicle.security," along with two introductory blog posts (1, 2), a logo, a Twitter account, and a vague sales pitch for some kind of security analysis product. The Chronicle team started in February 2016 under Alphabet's "Moonshot factory" X group and, before now, had been in stealth mode.
According to the website, the company is building a "cybersecurity intelligence platform" that can help organizations better manage and understand their own data.
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AT&T also wants to make sure net neutrality law won’t be too strict.
Enlarge / AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on November 20, 2017 in New York City. (credit: Getty Images | Amir Levy )
AT&T is lobbying Congress for a net neutrality law that isn't nearly as strict as the rules just recently repealed by the Federal Communications Commission. But the most notable aspect of AT&T's rather vague proposal is that the telco wants this law to apply to website operators in addition to Internet service providers.
An open letter from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson pats the telco on the back for its commitment to net neutrality.
AT&T supports bans on blocking and throttling, but not paid prioritization or data cap exemptions. (AT&T allows its own video services to stream on its mobile network without counting against data caps, but it charges other online companies for the same data cap exemptions. This doesn't count as discrimination in AT&T's view.)
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Lenovo and Acer aren’t the only companies unveiling new Chromebooks aimed at the education market this week. Dell is also introducing new models ahead of the BETT 2018 show. The new Dell Chromebook 5000 series machines will be available in 11.6 i…
Lenovo and Acer aren’t the only companies unveiling new Chromebooks aimed at the education market this week. Dell is also introducing new models ahead of the BETT 2018 show. The new Dell Chromebook 5000 series machines will be available in 11.6 inch convertible or clamshell laptop form factors. Prices are expected to start at $289 […]
Dell Chromebook 5000 series coming next month for $289 and up is a post from: Liliputing
The first smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor goes on sale February 1st for about $560. The Vivo X20 Plus features a 6.4 inch, 2160 x 1080 pixel display that covers most of the front of the phone. But rather than put a fingerprint sensor o…
The first smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor goes on sale February 1st for about $560. The Vivo X20 Plus features a 6.4 inch, 2160 x 1080 pixel display that covers most of the front of the phone. But rather than put a fingerprint sensor on the side or back, Vivo used under-glass fingerprint sensing […]
Vivo X20 Plus with under-glass fingerprint sensor launches in China is a post from: Liliputing
Beaufort Sea study tracks methane released from thawing ancient permafrost.
Enlarge / Measuring Beaufort Sea methane aboard the R/V Ukpik. (credit: John Kessler Lab)
The Earth responds to climate change in interesting ways, sometimes producing what we call “feedbacks,” which can either amplify global warming or dampen it. Some of the feedbacks that can amplify warming have behavior that is hard to predict in the near future and leaves scenarios that are potentially worse than expected hanging over our heads. One of those is the release of greenhouse gas from thawing permafrost—and regions of shallow seafloor that were frozen land thousands of years ago when sea level was much lower.
The most dangerous-sounding issue involves methane hydrate, an ice-like substance full of methane that is present in some ocean sediments. Its sudden release is a suspect in some major extinction events. But how much we should worry about destabilizing methane hydrates or thawing permafrost is not perfectly clear.
A group of researchers led by Kathryn Sparrow headed to the Beaufort Sea in the Canadian Arctic to bring an improved measurement technique to bear on an important question: how much of the methane in the sea floor is ending up in our atmosphere?
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Despite low success rate and ethics issues, creators hope they’re useful for research.
Enlarge / Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua (credit: Qiang Sun, Mu-ming Poo, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences)
More than 20 years after Dolly comes Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.
The twin long-tailed macaque monkeys are the first primates cloned using the same method that created the world’s most famous sheep in 1996—a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT. The twins’ genetic blueprints were swiped from fetal cells of another monkey. Researchers then popped the DNA into egg cells that they had also cleared of their DNA-containing nuclei. With a dash of compounds that spur embryo development, the reprogrammed cells developed into healthy baby monkeys in surrogate mother monkeys. The two were born about seven weeks ago in China and are developing normally so far, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Cell.
Though the overall SCNT method is the same as what was used for Dolly, researchers struggled for years to tweak it to work in primates. The procedure is delicate and required a lot of optimization—not to mention DNA-swaps.
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A tool just released by the TVAddons team might carry interesting copyright implications. Github Browser enables Kodi users to install third-party addons directly from development platform Github. This removes the requirement for sites like TVAddons to host repositories containing potentially infringing add-ons, something which forms the basis of two lawsuits against the platform.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons
Kodi is the now ubiquitous media player taking the world by storm. In itself it’s a great piece of software but augmented with third-party software it can become a piracy powerhouse.
This software, known collectively as ‘add-ons’, enables Kodi to do things it was never designed for such as watching pirated movies, TV shows, and live sports. As a result, it’s the go-to media platform for millions around the globe, but for those distributing the add-ons, there can be risks attached.
As one of the most prominent Kodi-related sites around, TVAddons helped to distribute huge numbers of add-ons. The platform insists that if any add-on infringed copyright, it was only too willing to remove them under a DMCA-like regime. Last year, however, it became clear that copyright holders would prefer to sue TVAddons (1,2) than ask for takedowns.
With those lawsuits still ongoing, the site was left with a dilemma. Despite add-ons being developed and uploaded by third-parties, rightsholders are still trying to hold TVAddons responsible for what those add-ons can do. It’s a precarious situation that has led to TVAddons not having its own repository/repo (a place where the addons are stored for users to download) since the site ran into trouble last summer.
Now, however, the site has just launched a new tool which not only provides some benefits for users looking for addons, but also attempts to shift some liability for potential infringement away from the service and onto a company with much broader shoulders.
TVAddons’ Github Browser was released yesterday and is available via the platform’s Indigo tool. Its premise is simple.
Since many third-party Kodi add-ons are developed and first made available on Github, the world’s leading software development platform, why don’t users install them directly from there instead?
The idea is that this might reduce liability for distributors like TVAddons but could also present benefits for users, as they can be assured that they’re getting add-ons directly from the source.
“Before the GitHub Browser, when an end user wanted to install a particular addon, they’d first have to download the necessary repository from either Fusion Installer or an alternative,” a TV addons spokesperson informs TF.
“This new feature gives the end user the ability to easily install any Kodi addon, and empowers developers to distribute their addons independently, without having to align themselves with a particular release group or web site.”
Aside from the benefits to users, it also means that TVAddons can provide its users with access to third-party add-ons without having to curate, store, or distribute them itself. In future, storage and distribution aspects can be carried out by Github, which has actually been the basic behind-the-scenes position for some time.
“GitHub has always been the leading host of Kodi addons, and also respects the law. The difference is, they are big enough to not be bullied by draconian legal maneuvers used by big corporations to censor the internet. We also felt that developers should be able to develop without having to comply with our rules, or any other Kodi web site’s rules for that matter,” TVAddons explain.
The screenshot of the Github Browser below reveals a text-heavy interface that will probably mean little to the low-level user of Kodi who bought his device already setup from a seller. However, those more familiar with the way Kodi functions will recognize that the filenames relate to add-ons which can now be directly installed via the browser.
While the approach may seem basic or even inaccessible at first view, that wrongfully discounts the significant resources available to the sprawling third-party Kodi add-on community.
Dozens of specialist blogs and thousands of YouTube videos report in detail on the most relevant addons, providing all of the details users will need to identify and locate the required software. Developer usernames could be a good starting point, TVAddons suggests.
“We have already seen many social media posts, blogs and developers advertising their GitHub usernames in order to make it easier for users to find them,” the site explains.
From our tests, it appears that users really have to do all the work themselves. There doesn’t appear to be any add-on curation and users must know what they’re looking for in advance. Indeed, entering the Github usernames of developers who produce software that has nothing to do with Kodi can still present zip file results in the browser. Whether this will prove problematic later on will remain to be seen.
While most keen users won’t have a problem using the Github Browser, there is the question of whether redirecting the focus to the development platform will cause copyright holders to pay more attention to Github.
This has certainly happened in the past, such as when the Federation Against Copyright Theft targeted the SportsDevil add-on and had it removed from Github. It’s also worth noting that Github doesn’t appear to challenge takedown requests, so add-ons could be vulnerable if the heat gets turned up.
Nevertheless, TVAddons believes that the open source nature of most addons coupled with Github’s relative strength means that they’ll be able to stand up to most threats.
“Open source code lives on forever, it’s impossible to scrub the internet of freely distributed legitimate code. I think that GitHub is in a better position to legitimately assess and enforce the DMCA than us. They won’t be sued out of nowhere in circumvention of the DMCA in similar fashion to what we have been the victim of,” TVAddons says.
Several years ago, when The Pirate Bay got rid of torrents and relied on magnet links instead, the platform became much more compact, thus saving on bandwidth. The lack of a repository at TVAddons has also had benefits for the site. Previously it was consuming around 3PB (3,000,000 gigabytes) of bandwidth a month, with a hosting provider demanding $25,000 per month not to discontinue business.
Finally, the team says it is working on new browser features for the future, including repository distribution over torrents. Only time will tell how this new system will be viewed by copyright holders but even with add-on hosting taken care of externally, any form of curation could be instantly frowned upon, with serious consequences.
Details of the browser can be found here.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons
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