Month: November 2019

Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2

From the archives: IBM doesn’t make consumer desktop OSes anymore for a reason.

Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2

Update: It's the day after Thanksgiving in the US, meaning most Ars staffers are on the lookout for deals rather than potential stories. With folks off for the holiday, we're resurfacing this consumer tech classic from the archives—a look at why we're not all trying to buy an IBM PS/10 today and updating to OS/12, perhaps. This story first ran in November 2013, and it appears unchanged below

It was a cloudy Seattle day in late 1980, and Bill Gates, the young chairman of a tiny company called Microsoft, had an appointment with IBM that would shape the destiny of the industry for decades to come.

He went into a room full of IBM lawyers, all dressed in immaculately tailored suits. Bill’s suit was rumpled and ill-fitting, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t here to win a fashion competition.

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Dealmaster: All the best Black Friday 2019 tech deals we can find

There’s plenty of junk out there, so let us curate the deals worth shopping.

Dealmaster: All the best Black Friday 2019 tech deals we can find

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of discounts to share—and, well, it's the big one. While the holiday sales have been steadily trickling out over the past few weeks, it's now Black Friday, which means the floodgates are officially open for tech deals across the Web.

Now, as is often the case with major shopping events like this, the majority of the offers retailers are pushing don't totally hold up. Sometimes the prices aren't much lower than you'll see at other points in the year, other times the products aren't worth buying in the first place. (If there's a product you're interested in but don't see below, we recommend using a price-tracking site to ensure you're not overpaying.) But with lots of consumer tech, Black Friday and Cyber Monday often do result in the lowest prices of the year. With that in mind, the Dealmaster has been burning the midnight oil to find the Black Friday tech deals that are most worth considering. You can find the fruits of his labor below.

There are simply too many notable deals going on now to give a quick recap here, but we've called out a few of our favorite offers based on testing the Dealmaster and the rest of the Ars team has done in the past. There's a truckload of discounts on video games, PC gear, headphones, TVs, streaming devices, and more alongside that. We'll do our best to update this roundup as deals expire and new ones become available, but for now, let's try to make your holiday shopping a little less hectic.

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Sicherheitslücken: So einfach lassen sich SMS mitlesen

Mit dem SMS-Nachfolger RCS werden SMS und Telefonanrufe über das Internet abgewickelt – mit einem vorgegebenen Passwort. Mit diesem können auch klassische SMS unbemerkt mitgelesen werden. Eine entsprechende Konfigurationsdatei lässt sich von jeder App …

Mit dem SMS-Nachfolger RCS werden SMS und Telefonanrufe über das Internet abgewickelt - mit einem vorgegebenen Passwort. Mit diesem können auch klassische SMS unbemerkt mitgelesen werden. Eine entsprechende Konfigurationsdatei lässt sich von jeder App empfangen. (Joyn, Datenschutz)

South Africa Faces US Trade Sanctions over Online Piracy

The US Trade Representative has launched a review of South Africa’s copyright protection policies, which could result in trade sanctions. The announcement follows a petition from the IIPA, which represents the MPA, RIAA, and other entertainment industry groups. The organizations are unhappy with how South Africa is handling the threat of online piracy and are demanding change.

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

The entertainment industry is a major driver of the US economy, good for millions of jobs and billions in revenue.

To protect this industry the US Government is keeping a close eye on copyright policies around the world.

This often happens following referrals from industry groups. For example, earlier this year the US Trade Representative (USTR) was asked to take a close look at South Africa’s copyright track record.

This request came from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). This coalition of prominent rightsholder groups, including the MPA and RIAA, informed the USTR that it’s not happy with how South Africa addresses copyright issues.

In its submission the IIPA called for trade sanctions, recommending that the U.S. Government should suspend South Africa’s GSP trade benefits. According to the group, the country doesn’t do enough to protect the interests of copyright holders.

“South Africa does not meet the GSP eligibility criteria primarily due to its weak copyright law and enforcement regime,” the IIPA noted.

The USTR took the matter seriously and recently launched an official review of South Africa’s intellectual property rights protections, asking the public for input. If these protections are not deemed to be “adequate and effective” the country faces trade sanctions.

“USTR has accepted a petition filed by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). The petition alleges that the Government of South Africa does not provide adequate and effective copyright protection for U.S. copyrighted works,” the USTR announced.

In recent years, copyright issues have already been on the political agenda in South Africa. Lawmakers have been working on a new copyright bill, which is close to being signed into law. However, according to the IIPA, this hasn’t delivered any progress. On the contrary.

“This legislation will move South Africa further away from international norms by failing to establish a clear legal framework to provide adequate and effective protection of copyrighted material, especially in the digital environment,” the IIPA noted.

The group strives for modern copyright laws and enforcement regimes around the world and notes that the African country falls short. Among other things, the IIPA would like South Africa to appoint special cybercrime inspectors and develop a cybercrime security hub, recognizing copyright as a top priority.

While the US Government can’t write South Africa’s laws directly, trade sanctions might just help motivate the local Government to take action in the interest of US companies. That would certainly not be the first time.

In 2017 the US Government sanctioned Ukraine following a similar referral from the IIPA. This triggered a wave of copyright-related actions in the country, after which President Trump decided to lift the sanctions last month.

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

Rocket Report: Cornwall locals protest spaceport, China’s toxic rocket problem

“Labour against the rocket in Branson’s pocket.”

The Rocket Report is published weekly.

Enlarge / The Rocket Report is published weekly. (credit: Arianespace)

Welcome to Edition 2.24 of the Rocket Report! We have a shorter report this week due to the American holiday of Thanksgiving. But don't worry, there is still plenty of interesting news from the world of lift—from strong anti-spaceport protests in England to continued problem with toxic rocket stages falling on people in China.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

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Raid Project Titan: Ghost Recon Breakpoint und der Kampf gegen Quantencomputer

Actionspieler erwartet auf Golem Island eine extreme Herausforderung: Das Eiland ist Schauplatz des ersten Raids für Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Spieler müssen unter anderem gegen einen Quantencomputer namens Baal antreten. (Ghost Recon, Ubisoft)

Actionspieler erwartet auf Golem Island eine extreme Herausforderung: Das Eiland ist Schauplatz des ersten Raids für Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Spieler müssen unter anderem gegen einen Quantencomputer namens Baal antreten. (Ghost Recon, Ubisoft)

Cloud Gaming im Test: Leise ruckelt der Stream

Kurz vor Weihnachten werben Dienste wie Google Stadia und Playstation Now um Kunden – mit noch nicht ganz perfekter Technik. Golem.de hat Cloud Gaming bei mehreren Anbietern ausprobiert und stellt Geschäftsmodelle und Besonderheiten vor. Von Peter Stei…

Kurz vor Weihnachten werben Dienste wie Google Stadia und Playstation Now um Kunden - mit noch nicht ganz perfekter Technik. Golem.de hat Cloud Gaming bei mehreren Anbietern ausprobiert und stellt Geschäftsmodelle und Besonderheiten vor. Von Peter Steinlechner (Spielestreaming, Google)

Klimaschutz: Airbus will 2035 einen Hybridflieger im Einsatz haben

Bei seinem Antritt als Airbus-Chef hatte Guillaume Faury angekündigt, dass er sich für den Klimaschutz einsetzen werde. Der Konzern entwickelt ein Flugzeug mit Hybridantrieb. Das Projekt habe Priorität, sagte Faury auf einer Veranstaltung. Es soll Mitt…

Bei seinem Antritt als Airbus-Chef hatte Guillaume Faury angekündigt, dass er sich für den Klimaschutz einsetzen werde. Der Konzern entwickelt ein Flugzeug mit Hybridantrieb. Das Projekt habe Priorität, sagte Faury auf einer Veranstaltung. Es soll Mitte der 2030er Jahre im Einsatz sein. (Airbus, Technologie)

Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray sales stats for the week ending November 16, 2019

The results and analysis for DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray sales for the week ending November 16, 2019, are in. The sequel to an animated movie based on a phone game is this week’s top selling new release. Find out what movie and game it was in our…



The results and analysis for DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray sales for the week ending November 16, 2019, are in. The sequel to an animated movie based on a phone game is this week's top selling new release. Find out what movie and game it was in our weekly DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray sales stats and analysis feature.