Month: March 2020

Homeoffice: Videokonferenzen auf eigenen Servern mit Jitsi Meet

Wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie sind Videokonferenzen angesagt. Eine eigene Instanz der freien Videokonferenz-Software Jitsi Meet ist innerhalb von wenigen Minuten lauffähig, Golem.de stellt eine bereit. Eine Anleitung von Hanno Böck (Videotelefonie, Te…

Wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie sind Videokonferenzen angesagt. Eine eigene Instanz der freien Videokonferenz-Software Jitsi Meet ist innerhalb von wenigen Minuten lauffähig, Golem.de stellt eine bereit. Eine Anleitung von Hanno Böck (Videotelefonie, Technologie)

Westworld S3, episode 1: O brave new world, that has such hosts in it

Spoilers: A look at what we learned in the season premiere, and what might be yet to come.

SYMBOLISM, YO.

Enlarge / SYMBOLISM, YO. (credit: HBO)

"Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" —Joel 2:17, KJV

"The real gods are coming. And they're very angry." —Dolores Abernathy

This piece contains heavy spoilers for the season three premiere of Westworld. You probably won't want to read it until after you've seen the episode.

Westworld's third season premiere, "Parce Domine," is the first episode of the show to be set completely outside the park (well, okay, unless you count that post-credits scene). We don't see the familiar dim corridors of the Mesa even once, nor do we hear the name "Robert Ford" uttered a single time. Dolores has slipped her bonds, wearing a stolen body and carrying five pearls out with her, and she is free.

Only, she's not free—not really. Not yet, at least.

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‘Copyright Troll’ Uses Social Media Info Against Alleged BitTorrent Pirates

People put all sorts of information on social media nowadays. While most of it is relatively harmless, it can also be used against them in the future. The information doesn’t only allow neighbors and potential employers to spy on them, copyright trolls also use social media postings to support their cases against suspected pirates.

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Strike 3 Holdings is a familiar name in US federal courts. In recent years, the adult entertainment company has filed thousands of lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers.

While many of these resulted in private settlements, Strike 3 has also experienced some setbacks. This includes a scathing opinion that was released by Judge Royce C. Lamberth.

In 2018, Judge Lamberth accused the company of being a “copyright troll,” that uses “famously flawed” technology to prey on “low-hanging fruit,” flooding the courthouse “with lawsuits smacking of extortion.”

The Judge denied early discovery, which meant that Strike 3 couldn’t find out who the subscriber of an IP-address was, something that’s crucial in their cases.

The case in question is currently being appealed, with Strike 3 claiming that it wasn’t treated fairly, perhaps in part due to the adult nature of its works. This was discussed in detail during a hearing last week at the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Among other things, the appeal court judges questioned Strike 3 about possible false accusations, where the subscriber on an IP-address is not the infringer. The company admitted this indeed happens in roughly a quarter of all cases. However, to determine that they first have to know who the subscriber is.

This is where Strike 3’s attorney Lincoln Bandlow provided some interesting background. To back up some of their claims, the company has been scouring social media sites for possible leads. In some cases, that helps to serve as indirect evidence.

“We have cases where we get the name and address and we can look. We found somebody who’s tweeted ‘Love your content, do more works with this particular talent, etcetera, etcetera.’ Clearly that’s somebody who likes the works and there’s reason to believe that they are the ones who have infringed,” the attorney writes.

According to Bandlow, Strike 3 conducts a substantial investigation to back up their initial claims. And if it turns out they have the wrong person and can’t identify the target, the case is dismissed. However, in order to get to that point, they need to know who’s behind the IP-address.

This position was countered by the amicus curiae appellant, which wants the district court order to be upheld. While this decision is ultimately up to the appeals court, the social media angle also applies elsewhere.

Earlier this week we stumbled upon a new case Strike 3 filed at a federal court in Connecticut, which also mentions social media.

The lawsuit in question is different from the traditional ‘trolling cases’ where Strike 3 doesn’t know the defendant. In this case, it already obtained the subscriber information through the Florida state court, which we reported on previously.

Having a name and address upfront allowed Strike 3 to dig up some extra information, more than just an IP-address, which in this case includes social media info.

“Defendant’s social media webpages establishes that Defendant is interested in…,” the complaint reads, listing a summary of redacted interests.

While the adult entertainment company redacted the details, they likely relate to adult interests, or perhaps something piracy related. Whatever the case, it shows that people who put this type of information on social media may eventually have to face it in court.

Whether the judge in this case will see if as sufficient is another question. However, it clearly shows that the traces people leave online are not always as innocent as they seem.

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Gnirehtet reverse tethering app lets your Android phone use your PC’s internet connection

Most recent Android smartphones have a built-in tethering feature that allows you to share your phone’s internet connection with a laptop, tablet, or other devices (although not all wireless carriers let you use this feature, and many charge extr…

Most recent Android smartphones have a built-in tethering feature that allows you to share your phone’s internet connection with a laptop, tablet, or other devices (although not all wireless carriers let you use this feature, and many charge extra for it). But what if you want to share your PC’s internet connection with your phone? That’s where reverse […]

Suddenly working at home? We’ve done it for 22 years—and have advice

Your productivity, your health, and your sanity: We have your home office covered.

One work-from-home suggestion: snacks, supplies, a pet, and dolls. You should consider upgrading to a more ergonomic work station (better chair, better keyboard). Replacing the dolls, on the other hand, is not an option, as far as we're concerned. (Unless you swap in <EM>Babylon 5</em> toys, we guess.)

Enlarge / One work-from-home suggestion: snacks, supplies, a pet, and dolls. You should consider upgrading to a more ergonomic work station (better chair, better keyboard). Replacing the dolls, on the other hand, is not an option, as far as we're concerned. (Unless you swap in Babylon 5 toys, we guess.) (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty)

No matter where you live or work, the novel coronavirus means you've probably begun exploring the option of working from home instead of a centralized office. (In many cases, "option" is a gentle way of putting it.) Here at Ars Technica, our staffers have seen their phones and messaging apps blow up with countless versions of the following: "How the heck do you pull off this whole work-from-home thing?"

We're in a position to know. Ars Technica has operated as a remote workforce since it was founded in 1998, decentralized and connected entirely by Internet-fueled collaboration. If this is news to you, fear not: Senior Technology Editor Lee Hutchinson wrote a massive February explainer about how our site functions this way. That feature is one part of a recent remote-work series, and its other entries have focused largely on the business feasibility of the practice.

But that conversation's tenor is shifting rapidly in the face of coronavirus, and you might be more interested in a broader set of impressions and tips. Thus, we're here to offer ways big and small to improve your remote workplace experience, based on our staff's years of doing it successfully. These range from brief to lengthy, and they include suggestions that may seem obvious or silly to some, but sometimes in the course of working from home, the little stuff adds up in a big way.

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GPU: Nvidia ruft Gamer zum Kampf gegen Covid-19 auf

Die Software Folding@Home stellt Forschern Rechenkapazität von Heimrechnern zur Verfügung – Gamer sollen ihre GPUs im Kampf gegen das Coronavirus zur Verfügung stellen. (Coronavirus, Grafikhardware)

Die Software Folding@Home stellt Forschern Rechenkapazität von Heimrechnern zur Verfügung - Gamer sollen ihre GPUs im Kampf gegen das Coronavirus zur Verfügung stellen. (Coronavirus, Grafikhardware)