January 2020 – Page 19 – news.buyenne.com

USA: Karma plant Elektro-Pick-up

Der Elektroautohersteller Karma Automotive will einen eigenen Elektro-Pick-up bauen. Dieses Autosegment ist in den USA populär, doch Elektrovarianten sind noch nicht auf dem Markt. (Karma Automotive, Technologie)

Autohersteller: Maserati will Elektroautos mit Sound ausstatten

Maserati wird zwei elektrisch angetriebene Autos auf den Markt bringen und hat dafür einen eigenen Antriebsstrang entwickelt. Die Elektroautos sollen ein unverwechselbares Fahrgeräusch von sich geben. (Elektroauto, Technologie)

E-Roller: Bird übernimmt Berliner E-Scooter Circ

Bird hat die Berliner Firma Circ übernommen. Beide Unternehmen bieten E-Scooter im Verleih an. Mit einem Schlag wird Bird so zu einem wichtigen Anbieter in Europa. (E-Scooter, Berlin)

Deutsche Telekom: Erstmals LTE-Datentarife von Congstar

Congstar bietet erstmals reine Datentarife mit LTE-Abdeckung an. Im Zuge dessen werden sowohl das ungedrosselte Datenvolumen als auch die maximale Download- und Upload-Geschwindigkeit erhöht. (Congstar, Mobilfunk)

Planned nuclear storage material could decay faster than expected

The interface between different materials accelerates chemical breakdown.

Image of blocks of material submerged under water in a storage facility.

A number of countries, including the United States, has been planning for long-term storage of nuclear wastes. While many of these nations plan to keep the waste isolated from water, that's not something that can be guaranteed over the extremely long lifespans of the waste. If water reaches the radioactive isotopes, there's the chance that the isotopes could contaminate the groundwater in the area and spread well beyond the site of the storage repository.

To prevent that, plans are to have multiple layers of defense. The waste itself will be incorporated into a chemically inert, insoluble glass. And the glass itself will be placed in a stainless steel flask that will keep it from mixing with the surroundings.

Each of those materials seems to work well in tests. But now, a large team of researchers has found that, in combination, the materials aren't as robust as we'd like them to be. The problems only occur if water somehow gets into the container, but if it does, the interface between the glass and stainless steel actually accelerates chemical reactions that degrade both.

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Maryland bill would outlaw ransomware, keep researchers from reporting bugs

Requires consent before infecting, criminalizes other computering.

Low-angle photograph of Maryland's federal-style state house.

Remember last May, when Baltimore City was brought to a standstill by ransomware? Hot on the heels of that mess—in fact, the same day that the ransomware attack was reported—Maryland legislators started working on a bill to fight the threat of ransomware.

The results could use a little more work. A proposed law introduced in Maryland's state senate last week would criminalize the possession of ransomware and other criminal activities with a computer. But while it makes an attempt to protect actual researchers from prosecution, the language of the bill doesn't exactly do much to protect the general public from ransomware or make it easier for researchers to prevent attacks.

The bill, Senate Bill 3, covers a lot of ground already covered by US Federal law. But it classifies the mere possession of ransomware as a misdemeanor punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000. The bill also states (in all capital letters in the draft) that "THIS PARAGRAPH DOES NOT APPLY TO THE USE OF RANSOMWARE FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES."

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Check out Netflix’s Ghost in the Shell trailer and its contentious art style

Despite the CGI controversy, the pedigree of the cast and crew is strong.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 trailer

Netflix has released the first full trailer for its new 3DCG anime series Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, the latest in multiple decades of media releases based on the beloved manga by Shirow Masamune.

The trailer was shared by the official Netflix Japan Twitter account and posted to the Netflix Japan YouTube channel. It's in Japanese, obviously, and so far Netflix has not made a version of the trailer with English subtitles available.

Update: A subtitled version is now available.

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I replaced my Fitbit with a $35 Mi Band (mini-review)

Earlier this month I decided to replace my aging (and wonky) Fitbit One activity tracker with a Mi Band 4. I picked one up from Amazon for less than $35, but they’re also available from other retailers including Walmart and Newegg. I spent less o…

The post I replaced my Fitbit with a $35 Mi Band (mini-review) appeared first on Liliputing.

Plague Inc. maker: Don’t use our game for coronavirus modeling

Ndemic warns title is “not a scientific model” after spike in popularity.

A scene from <em>Plague Inc.</em> that should <em>not</em> serve as a model for the spread of coronavirus.

Interest in the continued spread of the coronavirus has had an unintended side effect for UK-based Ndemic Creations, makers of Plague Inc. The eight-year-old game—which asks players to shepherd a worldwide pandemic so it can destroy all of humanity—has seen a spike in popularity in recent weeks, becoming the most-downloaded iPhone app in China on January 21 and in the United State on January 23, according to tracking firm App Annie.

The surge in interest has led Ndemic to issue a statement urging players not to rely on the app for information on staying safe from the coronavirus' current spread. "Please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the currentcoronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people," the statement reads, in part. "We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities."

At the same time, Ndemic notes that Plague Inc. was "specifically designed... to be realistic and informative, while not sensationalising serious real-world issues." The company points to a 2013 CDC interview which highlights the online research that went into the game, as well as its use as "an educational tool—teachers and professors often get in touch to let me know how they used Plague Inc. to illustrate biological and economical concepts to their students."

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YTS ‘Settles’ Another Movie Piracy Lawsuit, While More Users Get Sued

The operator of YTS has ‘settled’ another lawsuit, agreeing to a stipulated judgment that includes a $150,000 damages payment. This is the second movie piracy case to be resolved in this manner, allowing the site to remain online. While that appears to be good news, the same filmmakers have also filed new cases against YTS users.

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

With millions of users, torrent site YTS is one of the largest pirate sites on the Internet.

The site is a thorn in the side of many filmmakers, several of which dragged the site’s operator to US courts last year.

These types of lawsuits have proven to be lethal in the past, but not for YTS. We previously reported that YTS settled its dispute with movie outfit Wicked Nevada, and late last week it reached a similar agreement with HB Productions, the makers of the film Hellboy.

A new filing submitted at a federal court in Hawaii shows that both parties agreed to a stipulated consent judgment. The order, signed by US District Court Judge Alan Kay, effectively ends the lawsuit.

Senthil Vijay Segaran, the suspected operator of YTS, denies liability but confirms that he is the ‘John Doe’ described in the complaint and admits that people used YTS to share pirated content.

“Defendant SENTHIL VIJAY SEGARAN denies liability but acknowledges that he is Defendant JOHN DOE dba YTS identified in the original complaint and concedes that one or more third parties uploaded the torrent file of Plaintiff’s motion picture to his website YTS.LT,” it reads.

The agreement also comes at a high price for the operator. Similar to the previous settlement, Segaran agrees to pay $150,000 to compensate for the damages suffered by the makers of Hellboy.

In addition, the consent judgment includes a permanent injunction. This prevents YTS’s operator from distributing and/or promoting torrent files that point to the Hellboy film. Thus far this is indeed the case, as YTS.lt no longer lists the movie.

It is quite unusual for a movie company to resolve a lawsuit against a torrent site in this manner. Like the previous settlement, this case was handled by attorney Kerry Culpepper, who is also behind the one remaining lawsuit against YTS.

The fact that YTS remains online is good news for millions of YTS users but not all will be pleased. Around the same time that the filmmakers and YTS resolved their differences, new copyright infringement lawsuits were filed against YTS users.

These cases partly rely on information that appears to have been obtained from the YTS user database. For example, a lawsuit filed against Hawaii resident Puakailima Davis last week states the following;

“Defendant, from Internet Protocol (‘IP’) address 72.130.57.100, used a registered account associated with the email address “redactedbyTF@gmail.com” to access torrent files from YTS.

“Defendant went to torrent sites including the website YTS to upload and download Plaintiffs’ copyrighted Works,” the complaints later adds.

The complaint further mentions at what times the defendant “logged into her email address,” although it’s not clear whether that refers to the website login or that of the email provider.

As mentioned previously, an email address itself is not hard evidence. People who register an account with YTS don’t have to confirm their email, so anyone can sign up with a random address, including those of other people.

It’s not stated how all the referenced information was obtained, which leaves us with little more than speculation.

A possible scenario is that the YTS operator gave up the user information as part of the negotiations. This would not be unprecedented, as the developer of the app CotoMovies shared similar information with the film companies in the past.

TorrentFreak contacted Kerry Culpepper, the attorney in charge, but he informed us that he couldn’t comment on the matter at this time.

YTS.lt, meanwhile, remains online.

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TorrentFreak obtained a copy of the stipulated consent judgment between HB Productions and Senthil Vijay Segaran, which is available here (pdf). Two new complaints against alleged YTS users are available here (pdf) and here (pdf).

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