September 2018 – Page 54 – news.buyenne.com

Back to the future: Classic View is here for Ars Pro subscribers

Our newest subscriber-only feature is a throwback way of reading Ars.

We launched Ars Pro, our ad-free subscription service, at the beginning of the year. At the time, we told you we wanted to hear your ideas on how to make Ars Pro and Ars Pro++ more compelling. And we've been listening. Last spring, we removed tracking scripts for subscribers. More recently, we added PayPal as a payment option in response to your feedback. Today, we're excited to offer Classic View, an old-school way of browsing the front page.

When Ars launched in 1998—two whole decades ago—it was a simple site with the entire text of stories appearing on the front page. The only exceptions were things like Cæsar's lengthy musings on the blue-and-white Power Macintosh G3 ("Bottom line: I like the machine") and John Siracusa's epic Mac OS X reviews. Everything else was right there on the front page for you to read.

Classic View isn't exactly like the Ars of 20 years ago. Our stories are longer on average than they were back then, so putting the entire text of all of our stories on each page would result in an insane amount of scrolling. Instead, Ars Pro subscribers will see headlines, lower deks (the brief summaries that accompany story headlines), and the first three paragraphs of each story.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Amazon said to release eight new Alexa devices before year’s end

An Alexa “in-car gadget” could be one of many revealed at an event later this month.

The world could have an Alexa-enabled microwave before 2018 is finished—yes, a microwave. According to a report by CNBC, Amazon may be gearing up to reveal up to eight new Alexa devices before the end of this year. Among those could be a microwave oven, a subwoofer, an amplifier, and an "in-car gadget." CNBC's report claims that an internal Amazon document points at the online retailer revealing some or all of these devices at an event scheduled for later this month.

All of the rumored devices would have Alexa built in, or have easy access to the virtual assistant (likely over an Internet connection). While the microwave oven would be new, Amazon has already partnered with companies like Sonos to make Alexa-enabled amplifiers and other audio equipment. The company also partnered with Garmin recently to make the Garmin Speak Plus, a dash cam that connects to Alexa for in-car voice commands.

It's unclear if the new devices will consist solely of collaborations between Amazon and other tech manufacturers, or if all of the devices will be made and sold by Amazon. The company's Echo family has grown a lot since the first Echo speaker debuted in 2014. Around this time last year, Amazon revealed the newest members of the Echo family: the Echo Spot and updated Echo speakers.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Ice volcanoes have likely been erupting for billions of years on Ceres

The one cryovolcano we can see now is joined by dozens of extinct ones.

All of the bodies in our Solar System started out hot, with energy built up by their gravitational collapse and subsequent bombardment. Radioactivity then contributed further heating. For a planet like Earth, that has kept the interior hot enough to sustain plate tectonics. Smaller bodies like Mars and the Moon, however, have cooled and gone geologically silent. That set the expectations for the dwarf planets, where were thought to be cold and dead.

Pluto, however, turned out to be anything but. It turns out that water and nitrogen ices need far less energy input to participate in active geology, and radioactive decay and sporadic collisions seem to be enough to sustain it. Which brings us to Ceres, a dwarf planet that's the largest body in the asteroid belt. The Dawn spacecraft identified an unusual peak called Ahuna Mons that some have suggested is a cryovolcano, erupting viscous water ice. But why would Ceres only have enough energy to support a single volcano?

A new paper suggests it doesn't. Instead, there may be more than two dozen cryovolcanoes on Ceres' surface. We just haven't spotted them because geology on the dwarf planet didn't stop when the cryovolcanoes stopped erupting.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Unitymedia-Übernahme: Kleinere Kabelnetzbetreiber wollen Verträge übernehmen

Durch das Zusammengehen von Unitymedia und Vodafonekönnten die Verträge mit der Wohnungswirtschaft neu verhandelbar werden. Der FRK will Auflagen für die Übernahme und hofft auf Möglichkeiten durch ein Sonderkündigungsrecht. (Kabelnetz, Open Access) …

Firefox Reality: Mozillas VR-Browser erreicht erste stabile Version

Der spezielle Mixed-Reality-Browser Firefox Reality von Mozilla ist in Version 1.0 erschienen. Dieser läuft in HTCs Vive, Oculus und Googles Daydream. Der Browser ist für AR und VR gedacht und ermöglicht Nutzern unter anderem eine Sprachsteuerung. (Fir…

International Day Against DRM Celebrates its 12th Anniversary

The Free Software Foundation’s Defective by Design campaign today celebrates its 12th annual International Day Against Digital Rights Management. DRM is the controversial practice of restricting what consumers can do with legitimately acquired digital media. Given its pervasive nature, is it possible for you to completely avoid DRM for the day?

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

For creators of intellectual property, from movies, TV shows and software, through to the devices that allow them to be played, Digital Rights Management (DRM) is essential to control access to those products.

Proponents argue that without the digital locks of DRM, rampant copying of their content and designs would ensue, reducing revenues and threatening the very business models that bring these products to market.

On the flip side, DRM is seen as a huge hindrance by many consumers, particularly when its existence restricts, as it always does, what legitimate buyers of content and devices are able to do with their purchases.

From copying a DVD or game disc for backup purposes through to a myriad of legitimate fair-use scenarios, DRM is an ever-present mesh of digital barbed wire laid down for the sole purpose of restricting freedom.

While DRM aims to be its own protection (which can also backfire), it is also supported by legislation. Circumvention is criminalized under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the EU Copyright Directive, meaning those that choose to undermine it can face the wrath of the legal system.

For these reasons and many others, the Free Software Foundation’s (FSF) Defective by Design (DbD) campaign has sought to draw attention to the anti-consumer effects of DRM. From its roots back in 2006, today the FSF celebrates its 12th annual International Day Against DRM, inviting supporters to protest against digital locks while envisioning a world without DRM.

“DRM is a major problem for computer user freedom, artistic expression, free speech, and media,” says John Sullivan, executive director of the FSF.

“International Day Against DRM has allowed us to, year after year, empower people to rise up together and in one voice declare that DRM is harmful to everyone.”

The FSF and those who share their concerns over DRM believe that the addition of digital locks actually causes damage to a product. While offering no benefits to the consumer, DRM can fail catastrophically when those behind such systems are no longer able to maintain them, resulting in “massive digital book-burnings” when content is rendered inaccessible.

DRM also gives companies a reason and a route to spy on consumers and the use of their products. ‘Phoning home’ is commonplace, allowing media companies to conduct “large-scale surveillance” over people’s viewing habits.

For these reasons and many others, FSF has been fighting against DRM for more than a decade and today they’re calling on like-minded groups and individuals to support their mission to rid the world of DRM and return freedom to consumers. With that in mind, they have set a challenge for the day.

“This year’s theme is A Day Without DRM – the FSF invites people around the world to avoid DRM for the day,” FSF writes.

“DRM is lurking in many electronic devices we use, both online and offline, and you’ll find it everywhere from media files to vehicles. Its impact is echoed in the fight for the Right to Repair and the fight for the right to investigate the software in medical devices.”

Key Day Against DRM supporters

For online dwellers, going even a few hours without DRM today is likely to prove problematic, if not impossible. Users of Windows or any Apple device, for example, will find DRM baked into the system, meaning that the only option is to use DRM-free alternatives.

And if you’re thinking of enjoying your Kindle, Netflix or Spotify, DRM is part of the deal too. Even the now-infamous Kodi has joined the party, albeit in a limited way.

The main aim of the FSF however, is to raise awareness of DRM and how it negatively affects consumers.

Content with DRM is restricted by default yet by its very nature only affects legitimate purchases. Those who pirate their software, for example, are unaffected since piracy groups remove the DRM from content before release. Bizarrely, however, some pirates have even protected their work with DRM, signalling that no one is immune. There are great alternatives, however.

The International Day Against DRM campaign site can be found here. Those looking to support FSF can do so by purchasing an anti-DRM t-shirt. It was designed by Mark Lindhout, a winner in TorrentFreak’s anti-DRM competition way back in 2007.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Zero-Day: Überwachungskameras können übernommen und manipuliert werden

Sicherheitslücken ermöglichen den Zugriff und die Manipulation von Videoüberwachungsbildern in Banken, Kauf- und Krankenhäusern. Der betroffene Hersteller Nuuo hat Patches angekündigt. Aufgrund von Lizenzierungen sind auch Produkte anderer Firmen verwu…

Apple: Siri-Kurzbefehle-App für iOS 12 verfügbar

Mit den Siri-Kurzbefehlen hat Apple der neuen iOS-Version 12 eine interessante Möglichkeit gegeben, zahlreiche Prozesse zu verzahnen und per Sprachbefehl aufrufen zu können. Die umfangreiche Konfigurations-App ist jetzt verfügbar, inklusive Begleithand…

Fixed Wireless: Telefónica testet mehrere GBit/s in Hamburg

Die Telefónica und Samsung probieren in Hamburg 5G-Fixed-Wireless-Anschlüsse aus. Es geht darum, bei 26 GHz die Haushalte mit mehreren Gigabit zu versorgen. (Telefónica, Long Term Evolution)

CRI-O: Opensuses Container-Plattform verabschiedet sich von Docker

Vor Jahren konnte Docker quasi synonym für die Linux-Container-Technik verwendet werden. Der Bereich hat sich jedoch so schnell gewandelt, dass Opensuses Container-Plattform Kubic künftig auf Docker verzichtet. Stattdessen wird CRI-O genutzt, das mit K…