Month: June 2020

An Alaskan volcano may have hastened the fall of the Roman Republic

Climate shifts led to crop failures, which ramped up the growing unrest in Rome.

The 10km-wide caldera on Alaska's Unmak Island formed during the 43 BCE Okmok II eruption.

Enlarge / The 10km-wide caldera on Alaska's Unmak Island formed during the 43 BCE Okmok II eruption. (credit: Kerry Key (Columbia University, New York, NY))

Roman writers described unusual weather and famines in the years following Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, adding to the turbulence of the civil war that marked the transition from Republic to Empire. A recent study has now identified the culprit: a volcano 9,000km (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.

“Madness of wolves in winter”

“Madness of wolves in winter; in summer, no grain is harvested,” cried a voice from the Oracle of Apollo, in Delphi, in the months following Julius Caesar’s death. Ancient writers who survived the period describe cold weather, short growing seasons, and widespread famine around the Mediterranean, from Rome to Egypt. Throughout the empire, starvation led to disease and fueled growing civil unrest in an already turbulent time.

For years, modern historians have speculated that a major volcanic eruption might have been the culprit. An erupting volcano blasts sulfur dioxide high into the atmosphere. As the sulfur dioxide spreads out in the stratosphere, chemical reactions turn it into other sulfur compounds that reflect solar radiation, blocking the Sun’s light and warmth. Huge swaths of the planet turn colder, often continents away from the eruption.

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Apple adds CarKey function to iOS14, BMW will support it first

The near-field communication standard has been available on Android for a while.

The answer to Beenie Man's eternal question is "my iPhone."

Enlarge / The answer to Beenie Man's eternal question is "my iPhone." (credit: Apple)

On Monday, Apple revealed a new feature in iOS 14 that will allow (some) users to ditch the keys to their car. It's called CarKey, and it's Apple's implementation of the Car Connectivity Consortium's Digital Key Release 2.0 standard, which was finalized in early May. The idea is pretty simple. You pair your phone with your car—assuming your vehicle supports this new standard—and from then on you can use the device to unlock and start your car.

The digital key communicates with your car via near-field communication (NFC) and is stored in the same secure enclave that your iPhone uses to store credit cards. That means it's protected by Face ID or Touch ID, although there is an Express Mode option that allows you to skip authentication. And since it's a digital key, it can also be shared with other iOS users the way you can share other items in your iOS wallet. However, you don't need Internet access for it to work, so there shouldn't be any worries about being locked out of your car if you take a trip to the boonies.

Although this is the first time Apple has implemented this connected car tech, it's not a new idea. BMW will be the first carmaker to support Apple CarKey when the face-lifted 5 Series goes on sale in July, but the German OEM has already offered an Android version for some time now via its BMW Connected app.

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Saudi Arabia Announces Launch of Pirate Site Blocking Campaign

Saudi Arabia says that after carrying out an investigation it will prevent 231 pirate sites from being accessed in the country, including some that broadcast “encrypted sports”. The move will be interpreted as a step to calm the rows over pirate IPTV provider beoutQ and Saudi-backed efforts to buy Premier League club Newcastle United.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Saudia Arabia BlockingOver the past several years, Saudi Arabia has been subjected to accusations that it is a state sponsor of piracy.

Opponents believe that unlicensed pay-TV provider beoutQ, which previously broadcast via satellite but now carries out business via the Internet, is operated by Saudi Arabia, depriving broadcasters worldwide of much-needed revenue.

To date, the Kingdom has denied involvement in the massive piracy operation but significant pressure continues to build.

International Condemnation for Saudi Arabia

Earlier this year the USTR declared beoutQ a ‘notorious market’ and following a complaint from Qatar on behalf of local broadcaster beIN, which has been hit particularly hard by beoutQ’s streaming activities, last week the World Trade Organization said that Saudi Arabia had failed to live up to its obligations under the TRIPS agreement.

Yesterday, without reference to either of these matters, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) delivered an interesting announcement. The agency said that as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “continues” efforts to minimize intellectual property violations, it had recently monitored and analyzed 231 websites that violate intellectual property law.

Websites Will Be Blocked for Infringing Copyright

“Those detected sites included a group of violations, which are downloading and watching movies and series, directly broadcasting sites of encrypted sports channels, downloading books in PDF format sites, downloading and listening to music sites and all been done without obtaining a prior license or authorization from the right holder,” the statement reads.

The mention of sites that broadcast sports channels illegally is notable, especially considering additional emphasis by SAIP using specific terminology.

“SAIP has also detected websites that are selling subscriptions for encrypted TV channels through softwares or illicit streaming devices (ISDs) to break barriers for the purpose of displaying materials in illegal ways,” SAIP added.

Which group first penned the initialism ‘ISD’ is unclear but this relatively new creation has been widely adopted to describe any piece of hardware that is able to display streaming content without permission from rightsholders. It now features in most anti-piracy press releases concerning illicit sports streaming and is in regular use by groups such as the Premier League, including to describe beoutQ IPTV devices.

The names of the 231 allegedly-infringing sites haven’t been released by SAIP but the government agency suggests that while some are hosted overseas, others are managed locally leaving operators liable for significant financial and criminal penalties.

“SAIP confirmed that these practices violates the copyright protection law and entail financial penalties and fines that may reach up to 250,000 Saudi riyals [US$66,651],” SAIP writes.

“In addition to the applied fines, the violation may cause the closure of the site, or the cancelation of the commercial license, and in some cases it can cause to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or defamation at the account of the infringer and removing the infringement [sic].”

Saudi Arabia is Adept at Blocking Internet Resources

According to SAIP, its current aim is to prevent these platforms from being viewable by citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, presumably via blocking mechanisms.

No technical details have been provided on how this blocking will be carried out but the country’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has plenty of experience in censoring content delivered via the Internet.

In order to protect citizens from viewing content considered harmful by the state, CITC has an extensive Internet-filtering system in place, one that has blocked millions of links over the years, much of it pornographic in nature.

Copyright Crackdown Timing and Newcastle United Sale

The crackdown announced by SAIP makes no mention of the continued operation of piracy service beoutQ or the proposed Saudi-backed takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United. The latter has become inextricably linked to the former, with critics bemoaning Saudi Arabia for claiming to support the growth of football while simultaneously undermining revenues via pirate broadcasts.

Whether beoutQ is among the 231 sites awaiting blocking is unknown.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Schwarz-Gruppe: Kaufland übernimmt Onlineshop Real.de

Kaufland will wieder einen eigenen Onlineshop betreiben und kauft Real.de. Die Schwarz-Gruppe hatte experimentiert, den Lebensmittelhandel im Internet aber wieder aufgegeben. (Lebensmittel, Onlineshop)

Kaufland will wieder einen eigenen Onlineshop betreiben und kauft Real.de. Die Schwarz-Gruppe hatte experimentiert, den Lebensmittelhandel im Internet aber wieder aufgegeben. (Lebensmittel, Onlineshop)

Future Mac computers will use Apple Silicon chips

The rumors were true, and during today’s WWDC event, Apple confirmed that it will transition from using Intel chips to using its own Apple Silicon for upcoming Mac computers. Apple has made this sort of transition before — moving from Power…

The rumors were true, and during today’s WWDC event, Apple confirmed that it will transition from using Intel chips to using its own Apple Silicon for upcoming Mac computers. Apple has made this sort of transition before — moving from PowerPC to Intel x86 architecture around 15 years ago. Since then, the company has had […]

This is Apple’s roadmap for moving the first Macs away from Intel

After years of rumors, the inevitable has finally begun.

  • ARM Macs get a whole Apple SoC, with lots of components.

After 15 years, Apple will again transition the Mac to a new architecture. The company announced at its developer conference today that it will introduce Macs featuring Apple-designed, ARM-based processors similar to those already used in the iPhone and iPad.

Tim Cook pegged this switch as one of the four biggest transitions the Mac has ever had. Alongside the more to PowerPC, the move to Intel, and the transition to Mac OS X, ARM will be one of the biggest Mac changes ever. Apple is promising "a whole new level of performance" with a "Family of Mac SoCs.

Longtime Apple users have been through all this all been through this before, with the transition from PowerPC to Intel, and now for Intel x86 to ARM, all the big platform transition hits are coming back. The transition to ARM from x86 means that some Mac apps will be native and some won't. For apps that support both x86 and ARM, Apple is introducing the "Universal 2" binary that will package both codebases together. For apps that haven't made the transition to ARM yet, the Rosetta emulator is back as "Rosetta 2," and will now let x86 apps run on your ARM Mac, albeit with reduced performance.

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Post-Corona-Wars?

Zerstörungswut in Stuttgart gibt weiter Rätsel auf – Zusammenhang mit Corona-Leerlauf der letzten Monate vermutet – Partyszene wehrt sich gegen Unterstellungen

Zerstörungswut in Stuttgart gibt weiter Rätsel auf - Zusammenhang mit Corona-Leerlauf der letzten Monate vermutet - Partyszene wehrt sich gegen Unterstellungen

Apple announces macOS 10.16, “Big Sur,“ with an emphasis on design

The next big version of macOS has been announced at WWDC.

Apple announces macOS 10.16, “Big Sur,“ with an emphasis on design

Enlarge

It's WWDC and today Apple is announcing the next big version of macOS "Big Sur" aka version 10.16. Big Sur, like the previous versions, is named after a region in California.

Big Sur comes with an "entirely new interface" with "refinements in buttons and controls" along with unified icons from iOS. Apps feature more transparency in the sidebar, and new menus.

Control Center has arrived on the mac too. There are sliders for the volume and display brightness. You can drag controls into the status bar for quick access. Widgets have been reworked with a gallery display view, and you can easily drag them into the side widget bar.

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