Month: November 2018

Enlarge / Want to flex your coding and hacking skills but can't get to a con? RunCode is for you. (credit: Nate Grigg)

Last year, a group of dedicated volunteers launched Codewarz, an online coding “capture the flag” (CTF) contest originally developed as an on-site competition for colleges and training events. Paid for entirely out of their own pockets, the competition included 24 challenges—challenges that could be taken on in one of 14 supported programming and scripting languages. There were over 1,000 participants in last year’s event, with only one completing all the challenges.

The team behind Codewarz has continued to do on-site events, including a Python workshop held at BSides Augusta this year focused on tackling CTF-style problems. But the open competition is back this weekend—bigger, better, and with a whole new domain. Re-dubbed RunCode, the contest is now backed by a newly-formed nonprofit funded by sponsors.

That sponsorship has made it possible to scale the event up—RunCode will have 180 coding challenges, including security-focused ones. And now there are prizes for top competitors, including an Intel NUC kit, Raspberry Pi and Arduino kits, and a one-year VIP subscription to the Hack The Box penetration testing lab.

What's the fucking shit with you, MS, pic.twitter.com/Bw9n7MbJ7v

— FaiKee (@FaiKeeF) November 8, 2018

For reasons that are currently unclear, Windows 10 Professional users are finding that their properly licensed installations are being deactivated.

On systems affected by the issue, Windows is complaining that a Windows 10 Home license key is being used with a Windows 10 Pro installation. To fix things, the system needs to be wiped and Windows 10 Home installed. Otherwise, a genuine Windows 10 Pro key needs to be used.

Microsoft has acknowledged that the problem exists and that some unspecified issue with the Windows Authentication servers is causing the problem, but as yet, there's no fix. The Windows 10 Pro licenses do seem to be valid, and some resolution is promised within a couple of business days.

Enlarge / For now, a YouTube search is as close as we're gonna get to Super Mario Sunshine on Nintendo Switch. (credit: Sam Machkovech)

Following a wave of rumors, Nintendo confirmed on Thursday that its Nintendo Switch console has added an official YouTube app to its meager selection of media-viewing options.

Google's app is now available as a free download on a variety of territories' eShops (including North America and Japan, which we've tested thus far), and its interface largely resembles dedicated YouTube apps on smart TVs and set-top boxes. The primary difference is that the Switch's on-screen keyboard obscures any auto-complete results you might expect while searching for topics. You can attach your YouTube credentials to retrieve viewing histories, check subscription feeds, and receive automatic video recommendations.

The app, in our limited testing, held up to visual scrutiny in terms of delivering a clear image and a 60fps refresh when replaying high-detail content like "let's play" videos of modern video games. Proving this via direct screenshots is a bit tricky, however, as the YouTube app forbids use of the Switch's built-in "share" button.

Enlarge (credit: TechBargains)

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our friends at TechBargains, we have another round of deals to share. Today's list is headlined by a deal on the 128GB variant of Apple's 9.7-inch iPad, which is down to $330 as of this writing. That's $100 off its usual going rate.

To be clear, this is Apple's entry-level iPad, not one of the new iPad Pros that Apple is trying to push as a pseudo-laptop replacement. This iPad uses a lesser processor and non-laminated display—meaning things on-screen look slightly worse than the otherwise excellent hardware—but is still perfectly competent for the media viewing and Web browsing it's designed for. If you have an older iPad that's on its last legs, it should be a nice upgrade. Just be aware that the base model, which comes with 32GB of storage, is likely to see its own discounts around Black Friday.

If you don't need a new tablet, we also have deals on Nvidia's Shield TV streamer, Jabra's well-reviewed Elite Active 65t wireless earphones, the Nokia 6.1 (our budget Android phone of choice), and much more. Have a look for yourself below.