Month: July 2018

Enlarge (credit: D-Wave Systems)

D-Wave's hardware has always occupied a unique space on the computing landscape. It's a general-purpose computer that relies on quantum mechanical effects to perform calculations. And, while other quantum-computer makers have struggled to put more than a few dozen qubits together, D-Wave's systems have already scaled to more than 2,000 addressable bits. But the D-Wave systems don't perform calculations in the same way and, despite all those bits, haven't clearly demonstrated performance that can outpace even traditional computing hardware.

But D-Wave has come out with a research paper in Science that suggests that the system can do interesting things even in its current state. The company's researchers have set it loose modeling a quantum system that closely resembles the bits used in the hardware itself, allowing them to examine quantum phase transitions. While this still isn't cutting-edge performance, it does allow researchers full control over the physical parameters of a relevant quantum system as it undergoes phase changes.

Spins and spin glass

D-Wave's systems can be thought of as a large collection of magnets, each of which can flip orientations. These aren't qubits in the same way that the components of IBM or Intel's quantum processors are, but they do rely on quantum behavior for performing calculations. On their own, there's nothing that favors one orientation over another. But put a second magnet nearby and the two influence each other; now, if one flips its orientation, it changes the energy content of the system. D-Wave's current system scales this up to 2,048 individual magnets, along with associated control hardware that determines which of these magnets is connected and how strong that connection is.

Enlarge / Courts in Thessaloniki, Greece, rules extradition of the Russian bitcoin master suspect Alexander Vinnik to France after the French authorities request. (credit: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A Greek court in Thessaloniki ruled last week that the creator of a shady bitcoin exchange under investigation by American authorities will be extradited to France rather than to the United States or to his native Russia.

Last summer, federal authorities identified Alexander Vinnik as a central figure in the massive bitcoin theft that was a major factor in the downfall of Mt. Gox, the Japanese bitcoin exchange that led the market in bitcoin's early years. If Vinnik is ultimately determined to be involved in the crash and eventual bankruptcy of Mt. Gox, that revelation would finally solve what has remained one of the bitcoin community's biggest mysteries.

American prosectors have previously said that the exchange, BTC-e, was behind around $4 billion worth of money laundering.

Enlarge / Skype 8.0. (credit: Microsoft)

Skype's development history is a little checkered; a wide range of clients has been developed with disparate features and a lack of clarity over direction. This has been especially true on Windows, where two different clients were available—the "Classic" client is a Win32 application that can trace its heritage back to the days before Microsoft bought Skype, while the "modern" client shipped through the Microsoft Store—each with its own interfaces and features.

Microsoft has finally, however, managed to more or less unify its Skype development across Windows, macOS, Linux, and the mobile apps. This effort was itself years in the making (we reported on it in 2016), and with that work done, the company is at last working on new features.

Today, the application allows video chat with screen sharing at up to 1080p, with up to 24 people. Messaging now supports the convention of using @mentions in a group chat to alert users and file sharing works with files up to 300MB. It's also now easier to find historic shared media with a built-in gallery of media content.

Enlarge / FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with his oversized coffee mug in November 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of Tribune Media Company has run into a major roadblock at the Federal Communications Commission.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he won't approve the Sinclair/Tribune acquisition as it's currently structured, saying Sinclair's plans for divested stations would violate the law. Pai is recommending that the merger be reviewed by an administrative law judge, a move that could ultimately kill the deal.

Pai's decisions came after months of pressure from Democratic lawmakers, consumer advocacy groups, and industry lobby groups. Pai has been repeatedly accused of making regulatory changes that benefit Sinclair; the FCC's inspector general in February agreed to investigate whether Pai has improperly coordinated with Sinclair on rule changes.

Through two seasons, the most dominant criticism of Netflix's Stranger Things series has been that the show perhaps over-relies on nostalgia (and under-relies on things like original story or true stakes). But with its season teasers, the show seems to playfully lean into this. Last year's season two trailer brought viewers hero kids in Ghostbuster uniforms and ample amounts of Dragon's Lair, and, for season three, the team has focused on another staple of 1980s American culture: the mall.

Bookstores! Old corporate logos! Whatever these people were thinking with those pants, that hair, and all the bright color! Made to lovingly look like an ad found on some old bootleg VHS, the new teaser delivers tons of style, though admittedly little substance. We learn Hawkins will be even more "Small town, USA" with the arrival of a mega-mall. We get a glimpse of Steve slinging ice cream with a likely soon-to-be-familiar co-worker (whom you can read a little about via casting news here). And... well, that's about it.

Noticeably absent from this new teaser is any firm indication of timing for S3, although the ad says this new mall will arrive "next summer," which could indicate a bit of a delay for fans. The first teasers for S2 infamously showed up during the 2017 Super Bowl, giving fans about a 10-month heads up before the Halloween-ish premiere. Ten months from now would put Stranger Things S3 around mid-May 2019. That would roughly mirror the summer-release timing of S1, though again, there's no firm word from Netflix on S3's release date just yet. The company's online media center lacks any S3 press materials, but the writers' room has tweeted about post-production being in progress.

Allan Unger

Ever since Sony and Naughty Dog released the first Uncharted video game, fans have pestered the companies about two things: wanting a live-action version, and dreaming of Firefly's Nathan Fillion as its star. Fillion's resemblance to fictional hero Nathan Drake, both in appearance and in sarcastic tone, has always been apparent.

Fillion himself got tongues wagging about the idea again over the weekend by posting a vague tease about the Uncharted series on social media. He followed through on Monday with quite the reveal: a 15-minute "fan film" (simply titled Uncharted) in which he stars as the game's globe-trotting action-hero.

Enlarge / Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber, arrives at the Sun Valley Resort for the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 10, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. (credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has opened a formal investigation into the hiring and employment practices of Uber.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the probe has been going on since August 2017. It seeks to reveal whether there is a pay disparity between male and female employees, among other labor concerns.

Uber did not immediately respond to Ars’ question as to how many federal inquiries the company currently faces, but the company told multiple media outlets in a statement that Uber has "made a lot of changes in the last 18 months" and that it had added new "diversity and leadership training" worldwide.