April 2019 – Page 11 – news.buyenne.com

With its latest battle, Game of Thrones solidifies its seat on TV’s VFX throne

You can kind of tell by looking, but Ars spoke with some VFX pros who concur.

Ain't no battle like a <em>Game of Thrones</em> battle 'cause a <em>Game of Thrones</em> battle don't... <em>my word</em>.

Warning: This post contains some mild spoilers for Game of Thrones overall and specific discussions of S7's Loot Train attack. Though VFX pros working on the show are embargoed from discussing the currently in-progress season, this story would be best enjoyed after watching S8E3.

Maybe this doesn't get said out loud much because it feels obvious or viewers just subconsciously realize it while watching, but Game of Thrones represents the best visual effects work ever to appear on TV. While not a perfect metric, Emmys indicate what TV industry people admire and want to recognize at a given point in time—experts figuratively looking at other experts and nodding gently in respect, that'll do acknowledgement. Across the show's seven seasons thus far, Game of Thrones has won the Emmy for "Outstanding Visual Effects—Series" six times (somehow, it lost in S1 to Boardwalk Empire). Star Trek, across all series since the 1960s, only has eight versions of this award. That series brought the idea of beaming down to the mainstream and kinda-sorta predicted the iPad.

With the much-hyped Battle of Winterfell finally coming to fruition, the smart money now likely sits on Game of Thrones' VFX team making it seven out of eight Emmy wins. Dragons flew in whiteout conditions, hundreds of Dothraki took off with flaming swords, and characters like Samwell Tarly or Melisandre really saw every tiny undead detail of a White Walker face-to-face. One side in this battle quite literally built a bridge out of flaming bodies.

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Exodus Forks Show That Open Source Kodi Add-ons Are Hard to Eradicate

Two years ago “Exodus” was one of the hottest third-party add-ons for the Kodi media player. The open source software allows users to stream movies and TV-shows, often without permission. While the official Exodus shut down in 2017 many forks remain widely available today, showing that open source software is hard to eradicate.

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

When the pirate streaming box hype reached new heights early 2017, the third-party Kodi add-on “Exodus” was at the center of the action.

Exodus was widely praised as one of the most useful add-ons to access streaming video. This included many pirated movies and TV-shows.

The open source software was maintained by “Lambda,” one of the most prolific developers in the community. However, this meant that when rightsholders started to tighten the screws, Exodus became one of the main targets.

It all started when the popular add-on repository TVAddons mysteriously disappeared. Since Exodus was distributed through the repository, many people experienced trouble updating it.

Initially, it was unknown what was going on with TVAddons but when the site returned more than a month later, it became clear that it was being sued by Bell Canada, TVA, Videotron, and Rogers. This complaint also listed Exodus, alongside 17 other add-ons.

Not much later, development of the Exodus add-on was discontinued. This meant that from one day to another, millions of users found out that their pirate streaming boxes had become useless. At least, in their more recent configuration.

It didn’t take long before others stepped up to fill this void. Interestingly, many of the Exodus alternatives were based on the original Exodus code, which was open source. Even today, nearly two years after the add-on was discontinued, its code lives on.

TVAddons recently published an overview of the various Exodus ‘forks’ that are still online today.

The top one appears to be the aptly named “Exodus Redux,” which is available through GitHub and maintained by a developer known as I-A-C.

However, there are many more add-ons based on the same code. This includes “Yoda,” “Exodus 8,” “Overeasy,” and “13Clowns,” to name a few. All of these allow users to stream video through an easy-to-use interface.

While the open source code is easy to fork, these add-ons can’t operate with complete impunity, of course. Several other Exodus based add-ons have already been discontinued, often following pressure from groups such as anti-piracy group ACE.

The Covenant add-on, developed by Team Colossus, threw in the towel after one of the main developers received a house visit, for example,. The Placenta add-on was discontinued following a cease and desist letter.

This begs the question: if new forks keep appearing, does it mean that rightsholders’ actions are futile?

According to TVAddons, which has banned these forks from its own platform, takedown efforts may help in the short term. However, when open source software is taken down, many alternate versions usually pop-up.

“The Rights holders efforts to destroy dual-use technologies seem to be effective in the very short-term. However, those enforcements only result in software and tools being spread out in a way that becomes uncontrollable in the long term, as we’ve seen with Kodi addons,” a TVAddons spokesperson told us.

In theory, this is indeed true. TVAddons listed just seven active Exodus forks, but there are many more out there. It’s a problem that’s hard to eradicate.

However, the continued efforts from rightsholders to shut down these add-ons may have a more subtle effect. While hardcore pirates will always find a new fork, there’s also a group of people who will get frustrated by the repeated shutdowns, and give up eventually.

If we take a look at the popularity of the Google search term “Kodi add-ons” we see that interest started to drop after the major enforcement efforts started. This may be a coincidence of course, but it could also be a sign of people giving up.

Google searches for “Kodi add-ons”

It’s hard to deny that open source software can’t be easily eradicated, but the ease of access also play a role.

We’ve also seen that with other popular open source applications, such as Popcorn Time. When one of the most popular forks was taken out following pressure from Hollywood, others remained available. Still, as time went on, interest began to wane.

Similarly, when Limewire shut down years ago, the Frostwire fork remained available. However, this never reached the same audience as its predecessor.

All in all, it’s safe to conclude that, while Exodus has left the scene a long time ago, its code still thrives. Whether the total audience is still as large as it once was, remains a question.

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

The Orville’s S2 finale epitomizes all that’s great about this series

There’s no word yet on whether Fox will grant the Seth McFarlane show a third season.

The crew of the USS Orville stands ready for new adventures in season 2 of <em>The Orville</em>.

Fox's sci-fi series The Orville closed out a terrific second season with an ambitious finale that showcased all the elements that make this such an intellectually and emotionally satisfying show.

(Some spoilers below.)

Season 1 of The Orville admittedly had a rocky start, at least in terms of critical reception, garnering just a 19 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes when it debuted. Viewers begged to differ: they gave the freshman series a 91 percent favorable rating, won over by its skillful mix of humor and drama. That's a tough balance to pull off, but The Orville succeeds admirably. Season 2 won even more fans. This is a smart series that combines humor and witty dialogue with cutting-edge science, ethical musings, the occasional literary reference, and genuine heart. (For more on the science behind the series, see our interview with writer/producer Andre Bormanis.)

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Boys, the wealthy, and Canadians (?) talk the most BS

Students were asked how well they’ve mastered math concepts that don’t exist.

The Canadian flag waves against a blue sky.

The existence of what's colloquially known as "bullshit"—a combination of lies, exaggerations, and inaccuracies that makes it hard to figure out what the truth is—is familiar to all of us. Most of us have come across an individual so skilled in deploying it to advance their goals that we refer to them as "bullshit artists." Given it's such a prominent aspect of human behavior, however, you might be surprised to learn that field of bullshit studies is relatively young. Researchers trace BS back to an obscure 1986 essay by philosopher Harry Frankfurt, but it didn't pick up traction until it was expanded to book form nearly 20 years later.

Even then, another seven years had to go by before other researchers expanded on Frankfurt's theoretical framework, and empirical studies have only really picked up over the last several years. Now, a group of social scientists (John Jerrim, Phil Parker, and Nikki Shure) have done a massive study that polled 40,000 school students to find out who bullshits and why. The researchers use the phrases "bullshit" and "bullshitters" throughout, so we are, too.

Bullshit quantification

As defined by the academic community, bullshit can be contrasted with lying by the fact that the people who use it are indifferent to the truth. While lies are often a strategic mix of truth and falsehoods deployed for a specific goal, bullshit is just a collection with a random accuracy meant to establish an impression. So how do you test for that?

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75-Year-Old Can’t Sleep Following Accusations of Hardcore Porn Piracy

A pensioner from Sweden has revealed that he’s had difficulty sleeping ever since he was targeted by copyright trolls. The companies involved accuse the man of downloading and sharing hardcore pornography using BitTorrent, something he denies. However, unless he pays a substantial fine, the companies warn that worse lies in wait.

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

The practice of copyright-trolling is now well-established in many countries around the world.

The companies involved often gather IP addresses from BitTorrent swarms, then via the courts, obtain identities of users from their ISPs.

What follows are threats to the account holder, warning that if he or she doesn’t pay a ‘fine’, then court action will follow. This, of course, is boosted with claims that if the process gets this far, things will get much more expensive.

In reality, however, copyright trolls rarely take cases to court and when they do, they tend to head for the hills when people put up a spirited fight. That was demonstrated again earlier this week when a troll targeted an IT specialist, then backed away after claiming his technical knowledge would allow him to cover up any infringement.

Considering the main evidence in most trolling cases is a simple IP address, captured way before the rightsholders even write to a defendant, it raises the question of whether even the trolls have faith that an IP address alone is enough to prosecute a case. Some courts certainly don’t.

Yet that evidence alone appears to form the basis of claims detailed in a letter received by a pensioner in Sweden during March 2019.

The 75-year-old man was told that his IP address (allocated by his ISP TeliaSonera) had been used to share the hardcore porn movie “The Creepers Family Part 7”, which was produced by Girlfriends Films and licensed to MIRCOM International, a company with a long history of involvement in similar cases.

The company doing the tracking was Media Protector International GmbH, which has been providing data for similar cases for more than a decade.

While there can be no doubt that many IP addresses caught in the dragnets of these companies were indeed used to download and share copyrighted content, innocents are regularly caught in the crossfire. The pensioner from Sweden says that’s the case with him.

He shared his story with Bahnhof, a Swedish ISP which acts as a competitor to TeliaSonera and one that offers a sympathetic ear to people targeted by copyright trolls.

“The infringement occurred on Friday February 2, 2018 at 6:43:17, that is, a time that I as a pensioner sleeps,” he told the ISP.

“I am 75 years old and I do not know much about technology, and I wonder if there is anything I can do or if I should just pay?”

This, of course, is exactly the strategy of copyright trolls. Whether their targets are guilty or innocent, they hope their strongly-worded letters will break the resolve of recipients and make them cave in, parting with cash to make the nightmare go away.

“I sleep poorly and feel great concern because of this, I just want it to stop. My wife wants to pay to get rid of the problem, but if we do will it just make things worse?” he added.

“I am afraid that the bills will continue to come from other agencies and companies, it seems to be a business idea that is better than selling movies. This can be my ruin.”

While the mainstream media has largely given up about worrying about those targeted by copyright trolls, history has shown us that cases against pensioners are rarely well received by the public or those in power.

Two years ago, for example, an 83-year-old grandmother from the UK went to the press after being accused of pirating the Robert Redford film The Company You Keep. That attracted the attention of her local member of parliament, who branded the practice “disgusting” and raised the matter with the government.

It is not known whether the woman ever paid up but given the negative publicity and outcry, it seems unlikely. The case certainly never went to court, which is common when those accused by copyright trolls fight back and/or tell their stories in the media and complain to politicians.

For Bahnhof CEO Jon Karlung, not enough is being done to protect those wrongly targeted, with citizens currently left to fight for themselves.

“It’s a corrupt system promoting copyright trolls and legal firms that thrive on blackmail. Unfortunately, there is not enough political momentum to change the situation. It’s an ongoing scandal, and I believe that this affects the justice system as a whole,” Karlung told TorrentFreak.

“The only solution is to make this problem as visible as possible. People should also start asking their telecom operators why they save data for time spans of 24 months – Bahnhof only saves for 24 hours.”

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

Nubia’s Red Magic 3 is a gaming phone with active cooling

You can play games on any smartphone. But over the past year or two, we’ve seen a growing number of smartphones aimed specifically at gamers. Not only do these phones typically have fast processors and plenty of RAM, but some have additional feat…

The post Nubia’s Red Magic 3 is a gaming phone with active cooling appeared first on Liliputing.

Fear the Man in the Middle? This company wants to sell quantum key distribution

The future of VPNs may be fighting quanta with quanta.

That's a lofty promise you got there, quantum key distribution company.

When reviewing the WireGuard VPN last fall, one of the things that came up was WireGuard's support for an optional, additional PSK (Pre Shared Key) layer of security. Like most modern crypto, WireGuard's basic encryption is asymmetrical, meaning you encrypt the data with one key and decrypt it with another. PSKs, by contrast, are symmetric cryptography—the same key used to encrypt the data is also used to decrypt it.

The fundamental problem with symmetric cryptography is practical, not mathematical: how do you get the key to your communication partner in the first place? The whole reason you want the encryption is because you don't trust the medium in between you and your partner, so you can't use that medium to share a key. The ever-present fear is that an MITM—Man In The Middle—will intercept the key, destroying your secrecy.

That pitfall is what makes asymmetrical cryptography—the kind used for everything from SSH keys to SSL/TLS for websites to you name it—so attractive. With asymmetric cryptography, you send your public key to your communication partner in the clear. Your partner encodes a message with your public key, which you can then read with your private key because that was never shared. You can do the same thing in reverse to send data the other way—get your partner's public key, and use it to encrypt a message to send to them to be decrypted with their private key.

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Red Magic 3: Nubia stellt Gaming-Smartphone mit eingebautem Lüfter vor

Das Red Magic 3 von Nubia soll sich noch besser für mobiles Gaming eignen: dank nach vorne gerichteten Lautsprechern, Touch-Schultertasten und aktiver Kühlung. Neben einer Heatpipe hat das Smartphone auch einen eingebauten Lüfter. (Smartphone, Android)…

Domain-Registrierung: Mehrheit widerspricht Icann-Plan zur .org-Preiserhöhung

Die für die Verwaltung von Domainnamen zuständige Organisation Icann überlegt, die bisherigen Preisschranken aufzuheben. Begonnen werden soll damit für die TLD .org. Die öffentlichen Kommentare dazu sind bisher fast ausschließlich negativ. (Icann, Serv…

The sim swap the US isn’t using

Foreign phone carriers share data to stop SIM swap fraud; US carriers drag their feet.

Around a year ago, André Tenreiro was called into a meeting between the chief technology officer of the phone carrier he worked for—one of the largest in Mozambique—and an executive of the country's largest bank. The latter had seen an escalating pattern of fraud based on so-called SIM swap attacks, where hackers trick or bribe a phone company employee into switching the SIM card associated with a victim's phone number. The attackers then use that hijacked number to take over banking or other online accounts. According to Tenreiro, the bank had seen more than 17 SIM swap frauds every month. The problem was only getting worse.

"The gentleman from the bank, I could see by his face he was desperate. He wanted to do something but he didn't know what to do," says Tenreiro, who asked WIRED not to identify the phone carrier he worked for. "He was asking for our help. As mobile operators, we also had a responsibility to fight this fraud."

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