Leading voting-machine vendor vows to ditch paperless voting

Legislation to ban paperless electronic voting systems has stalled in Congress.

A woman gestures during a presentation.

Enlarge / Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) co-sponsored the Secure Elections Act with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). (credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Election Systems & Software, which describes itself as the nation’s leading elections-equipment provider, has vowed to stop selling paperless electronic voting systems—at least as the "primary voting device in a jurisdiction." And the company is calling on Congress to pass legislation mandating paper ballots and raising security standards for voting machines.

"Congress must pass legislation establishing a more robust testing program—one that mandates that all voting-machine suppliers submit their systems to stronger, programmatic security testing conducted by vetted and approved researchers," writes ES&S CEO Tom Burt in an op-ed for Roll Call.

Over the last 18 months, election-security advocates have been pushing for new legislation shoring up the nation's election infrastructure. Election-security reform proposals enjoy significant support among Democrats—who control the House of Representatives—and have picked up some Republican co-sponsors, too.

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Watch Dogs Legion gameplay premiere: Taking the “N” out of “NPC”

What happens when you can control any character in an open-world game?

LOS ANGELES—The rumors and leaks are true: the next Watch Dogs video game is titled Watch Dogs Legion, it's set in near-future London, and it lets you play the game as any of the characters you encounter in its GTA-like open world.

What we didn't know until this week is exactly how that works in action. But a 45-minute hands-on demo with WDL's E3 alpha version filled in a few gaps on what to expect when the game launches on March 6, 2020. In short: yes, even sweet British grandmas can become killing machines, but it's not as simple as "haxoring" their brains.

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WDL's "control anyone" twist works in a twofold manner. First is the incredible claim that its "heroes" are so distributed that, according to game director Clint Hocking, "there is no 'main character' or guy on the box cover art who stars in all the cut scenes." In fact, every voice-acted sequence, including "60+ story missions," can play out with any of the game's characters as lead actors (hence rendering the usual gaming acronym of NPC, or non-player character, a bit moot.)

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Roller Champions hands-on premiere: Ubisoft’s fun, F2P answer to Rocket League

Three-on-three roller derby action looks good, feels smooth, but how will MTX work?

LOS ANGELES—During its E3 2019 press conference, Ubisoft revealed a previously leaked three-on-three sports game, Roller Champions. But the company still had a tidy surprise for anyone who already knew about this virtual take on roller derby: the game is now available to download and play as part of a limited, E3-timed online demo for free.

Based on a half-hour of hands-on time playing the game ahead of the conference, we strongly suggest anyone with a Windows PC and the UPlay game launcher—and an affinity for the virtual-sports action of Rocket League—do just that.

The above gallery will tell you mostly everything you need to know about how the game looks and plays. Flashy, clear character designs whip around an oval skate track at high speeds, all vying for possession of a ball that must be carried or tossed all the way around the track at least one full lap before it can be "scored." Tossing the ball into a single hoop, hanging on the side of the track, will score your team that point, or you can try to keep possession for another lap or two to increase your shot's score value. Lose the ball, and the lap-count resets for the other team. First team to five points wins.

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iOS 12.3.2 fixes a camera bug but doesn’t do much else

It’s the first update to iOS since WWDC last week.

The iPhone 8 Plus has a dual-camera setup.

Enlarge / The iPhone 8 Plus has a dual-camera setup. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Today, Apple is pushing out a new update to iOS, its software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch—but this update is targeted at fixing an issue on just one device: the iPhone 8 Plus.

iOS 12.3.2 doesn't seem to do anything else worth remarking upon. Apple's notes simply say:

iOS 12.3.2 resolves an issue that could cause Camera to capture Portrait mode photos without depth effect on some iPhone 8 Plus devices.

Updates don't get much more minor than this. Apple typically releases updates that contain new features for macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS simultaneously. But sometimes the company updates only one operating system at a time when it's a targeted bug fix, as is the case here. If you don't have an iPhone 8 Plus, this update isn't for you.

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Project xCloud demo of Halo 5 nearly indistinguishable from local play

Only a few ms of additional input latency when streaming to a smartphone.

Project xCloud running <em>Gears of War 4</em> at an E3 Microsoft Theater demonstration.

Enlarge / Project xCloud running Gears of War 4 at an E3 Microsoft Theater demonstration.

After Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference yesterday, we got our first chance to try out Project xCloud, the cloud-based streaming gaming service the company will be launching in October. Video analysis of those hands-on tests shows response times via Wi-Fi that are practically indistinguishable from local gameplay—at least for a streaming version of Halo 5. For something as sensitive to latency as a first-person shooter, seeing is believing.

We tried out Project xCloud on a Samsung Galaxy S8, mounted to an Xbox One controller connected via USB. The game was running on the Microsoft Theater's Wi-Fi connection, but a Microsoft representative couldn't comment on the bandwidth or other details of that connection.

Playing Halo 5 on that setup felt responsive to my fingers, running at an apparent 60fps. We didn't have a high-end, custom-built latency testing rig to measure things precisely. But we did have an iPhone with a slow-motion camera to do some quick visual testing.

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Huawei’s export ban is wider in scope than most people imagine

Former US Assistant Secretary of Export Administration weighs in on Huawei’s ban.

Giant Huawei logo onstage.

Enlarge (credit: Huawei)

The tech industry is still trying to wrap its collective head around the Trump administration's export ban on Huawei. We've seen Huawei be de-listed and then re-listed from industry groups like the Wi-Fi Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, and the SD Association. Companies like Panasonic provided a statement to the BBC saying it would suspend transactions with Huawei, then later said it believed its transactions with Huawei were not in breach of US regulations. We've even seen non-US companies like ARM cut off contact with Huawei due to the US export ban. If you're not familiar with how export law works, it can be tough to understand exactly what's going on.

For the ins and outs of export law, there's probably no better person to turn to than international trade lawyer Kevin Wolf, who recently wrote a bulletin detailing some of the finer points of how export law applies to Huawei. Wolf is the former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration during the Obama administration—from 2010 to 2017, Wolf's job was to enforce export regulations like this. In the article, Wolf says a lot of the media coverage around Huawei's export ban hasn't been thorough enough, as it hasn't taken into account the full scope of US export law.

As Wolf explains, export law applies not just to the country of origin for end products like a smartphone processor or chip, but it also covers commodities—the base components—as well as software and technology used in its construction. Export law has this sort of viral property to it, in that anything that contains more than a trivial amount (the legal term is "de minimis") of US-origin items also becomes a US-origin item. The objects then become subject to US export law.

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E3’s first VR-exclusive gaming press conference was actually pretty rad

A John Wick-like rhythm shooter; Budget Cuts 2; trash hotel rooms; and Golem still lives.

E3 hasn't even begun, and we're already a bit weary about so many gaming publishers and companies hosting press conferences at the event. What's one more, right?

In the case of the virtual reality enthusiasts at UploadVR—a media site, not a publisher or developer—their first take on the press conference format actually managed to raise our VR-loving eyebrows. The hour-long conference included some delightful surprises and solid fare for PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest, and gaming-PC platforms. Here are a few highlights from the indie-heavy event.

Every major article about virtual reality in 2016 included at least some mention of the immersive stealth demo Budget Cuts, but when that full game finally launched in 2018, the results fell a little flat. The lack of variety in terrain, enemies, and tactics made the game's original sales pitch—Metal Gear Solid in VR—harder to swallow.

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This DIY handheld gaming PC has the same AMD Ryzen chip as the Smach Z and GPD Win Max

At least two handheld gaming computers featuring AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processors with Radeon Vega graphics are expected to launch this year: the GPD Win Max and the Smach Z. One YouTuber decided not to wait. Instead he built his own portable gamin…

At least two handheld gaming computers featuring AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processors with Radeon Vega graphics are expected to launch this year: the GPD Win Max and the Smach Z. One YouTuber decided not to wait. Instead he built his own portable gaming computer by attaching a game controller, display, and battery to a Sapphire […]

The post This DIY handheld gaming PC has the same AMD Ryzen chip as the Smach Z and GPD Win Max appeared first on Liliputing.

This DIY handheld gaming PC has the same AMD Ryzen chip as the Smach Z and GPD Win Max

At least two handheld gaming computers featuring AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processors with Radeon Vega graphics are expected to launch this year: the GPD Win Max and the Smach Z. One YouTuber decided not to wait. Instead he built his own portable gamin…

At least two handheld gaming computers featuring AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processors with Radeon Vega graphics are expected to launch this year: the GPD Win Max and the Smach Z. One YouTuber decided not to wait. Instead he built his own portable gaming computer by attaching a game controller, display, and battery to a Sapphire […]

The post This DIY handheld gaming PC has the same AMD Ryzen chip as the Smach Z and GPD Win Max appeared first on Liliputing.

SET TV Loses Lawyer and Goes Dark in Piracy Case

SET TV, which stands accused of selling pirate IPTV subscriptions, has stopped responding in the lawsuit filed against the company by several Hollywood studios, Amazon, and Netflix. The company’s lawyer has also withdrawn from the case due to a lack of payments and the company is now in default, facing hefty damages.

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

Last year the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, the global anti-piracy alliance featuring several Hollywood studios, Amazon, Netflix, and other entertainment companies, sued Florida-based SET Broadcast, LLC.

The company offered a popular software-based IPTV service and also sold pre-loaded set-top boxes.

While it was marketed as a legal service, according to the ACE members, Set TV’s software was little more than a pirate tool, allowing buyers to stream copyright-infringing content.

“Defendants market and sell subscriptions to ‘Setvnow,’ a software application that Defendants urge their customers to use as a tool for the mass infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted motion pictures and television shows,” the complaint read.

The ACE members were not the only rightsholders that complained. June last year Dish Network tagged on with another copyright infringement lawsuit against the company, and soon after, the IPTV service went offline.

This was a blow to SET TV’s more than 180,000 subscribers and the company itself was hit hard as well. Last November it reached a settlement with Dish, agreeing to pay more than $90 million in damages and sign over its domain name.

The case against ACE is not over yet though. Over the past months, it moved into the discovery phase and the copyright holders requested to depose owner SET TV owner Jason Labossiere and its employee Nelson Johnson, who are both listed as defendants.

However, both parties failed to respond, as did SET TV as a company. Meanwhile, the relationship with their attorney Joseph Shapiro also went south. Outstanding invoices were left unpaid which prompted Shapiro to withdraw from the case.

“Defendants have not paid invoices for attorney fees for more than five months and are unwilling to make any payment at this time or to commit to any payment plan,” the court was informed.

“Additionally, relations between Defendants and Mr. Shapiro have degraded such that it is no longer feasible for Mr. Shapiro to represent Defendants in this case.”

In April the court agreed to remove the attorney from the case, instructing SET TV to find new counsel. Despite this clear instruction from the court, none of the defendants responded.

This left the ACE members with few other options than to request an entry of default against Set Broadcast. This was entered by a court clerk a few days ago, and if the company remains dark, it will likely lose the case.

Now that the company is in default the copyright holders will likely submit a motion for a default judgment, proposing what they believe is an appropriate damages amount. This will likely amount to millions of dollars.

Considering the earlier $90 million settlement with Dish, it’s doubtful that there is any money left to take.

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