Month: August 2019

Netflix has released the first full trailer for its new fantasy series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. It's a prequel to the 1982 cult classic fantasy/adventure film The Dark Crystal and features a star-studded cast that includes Sigourney Weaver as the narrating Myth Speaker and Mark Hamill—fresh off voicing Chucky in the Child's Play reboot—as The Scientist.

(Some spoilers for the original film below.)

The original film was a marked departure for Jim Henson and his co-director Frank Oz, significantly darker in tone than his previous work. It tells the story of the planet Thra, which gets its power from a magical Crystal. That crystal cracks, producing two new species: the evil Skeksis and kindly wizards called the Mystics. The task of restoring a missing shard to heal the crystal falls to a young Gelfling named Jen, aided by a wise astronomer named Aughra and his fellow Gelfling Kira. And he's on a tight schedule: the shard must be restored before the planet's three suns align or the Skeksis will rule forever.

Enlarge / NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will announce that Marshall Space Flight Center will manage the lunar lander program. (credit: NASA)

On Friday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will visit the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. At 3pm local time, he will address employees in an "all hands" meeting in Morris Auditorium to make an announcement regarding the space agency's Artemis program to land humans on the Moon by 2024.

According to multiple sources, Bridenstine plans to announce that the Alabama-based field center will manage the program to develop the lunar lander for the Moon program. In political terms, this is a big win for the center, which has powerful congressional backing in both the US Senate as well as the House of Representatives. (Employees were, umm, strongly encouraged to attend the meeting).

As part of the carefully negotiated agreement, Marshall will have responsibility for the overall program as well as two elements of what is planned to be a three-stage lander. The center in northern Alabama will oversee commercial development of the Transfer Element—planned to ferry the lander from the Lunar Gateway down to low-lunar orbit—as well as the Descent Element that will fly down to the surface.

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of deals to share. Today's list is headlined by a nice discount on Anker's PowerLine II USB-C to Lightning cable, the three-foot variant of which is down to $11.99 at Amazon when you use the code "ANPL2CL3" at checkout. This cable dropped about 50 cents lower during a one-day lightning deal last month, but otherwise this price is tied for the lowest we've seen. It normally retails for $18. If you want a longer cable, meanwhile, the six-foot variant is down to $15.99 with the code "ANPL2CL6". That's tied for an all-time low from its usual price of $20.

Either way, these kind of USB-C to Lightning cables are what you'll need to take advantage of the fast-charging capabilities of newer iPhones and iPads. While there are rumors that Apple may include such cables and USB-C chargers in the box with its forthcoming iPhones, currently it requires iOS users to buy these accessories separately. The company sells three-foot and six-foot cables for $19 and $35, respectively, so you currently save a good chunk of change by going third-party.

Crucially, these Anker cables are also MFi-certified by Apple to work safely with iPhones and iPads. The Dealmaster has actually had the six-foot version on hand for the past few months and hasn't had any issues with durability or fraying. In fact, the rubberized housing around the cable is thicker than that of Apple's own cables, and if something does go wrong, Anker says the product is covered by a lifetime warranty. Just remember that you'll need an appropriate USB-C charger to actually get these faster charges, one with that supplies at least 18W for a newer iPhone or at least 29W for a newer iPad Pro—Anker's own PowerPort Speed PD 30 is a good USB-IF certified choice, but there are plenty of others as well.

Enlarge / This can be a bad idea, evidently. (credit: Aurich Lawson)

The relationship between Americans and their automobiles is a complicated one. More than mere transport, cars can become extensions of one's personality—think of stereotypes about drivers of a particular model like a Corvette, for instance. Since cars are mass-produced, it's natural that people want to personalize them. Sometimes it's covering them with every bit of chromed plastic you can find at JC Whitney. Sometimes it's plastering them in stickers. And sometimes, it might just be a personalized number plate.

The rules for personalized plates vary depending on the state in which you're registering your car. These can foster creativity, but today we have a cautionary tale from California, which reveals the risks of being too creative. It's the story of a security researcher known as Droogie, who presented his experience at the recent DEF CON conference in Las Vegas. Droogie decided his new vanity plate should read "NULL." While he did this mainly for the giggles, he told the audience that there was an ulterior motive, as reported by Mashable:

"I was like, ‘I'm the shit,'" he joked to the crowd. "'I’m gonna be invisible.' Instead, I got all the tickets."

Droogie's hope was that the new plate would exploit California's DMV ticketing system in a similar manner to the classic xkcd "Bobby Tables" cartoon. With any luck, the DMV's ticket database would see "NULL" and consign any of his tickets to the void. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened.

Enlarge / Get paid for your defective Google microphones.

Back in May, Google settled the defective Pixel 1 lawsuit brought against it in 2018 for $7.25 million, and now owners can file a claim at a new Pixel Settlement website. Owners of a first-generation Pixel could get up to $500 if they bought multiple defective devices, and everyone that bought an original Pixel before the cut off date is entitled to $20, even if they didn't experience a defect.

Some of the first-generation Pixel phones went out the door with defective microphones, and a class action lawsuit alleged that Google couldn't or wouldn't fix the problem. Google denies these allegations, but the company still agreed to pay out $7.25 million. According to the settlement site, Pixel 1 owners are eligible for a payout if they live in the United States and bought "a new Pixel or Pixel XL smartphone manufactured before January 4, 2017 and did not receive a replacement Pixel manufactured after January 3, 2017 or refurbished after June 5, 2017."

The site details four payment tiers that customers can land in: