Month: September 2020

• 

  Delta IV Heavy nestled in its Mobile Service Tower before launch of the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office [credit: Trevor Mahlmann for Ars ]

United Launch Alliance has been attempting to launch a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, valued at more than $1 billion, for quite a while now. On Tuesday evening, just hours before the company's latest attempt to launch the large Delta IV Heavy booster, the mission was scrubbed again.

The weather at the launch site was far from optimal, but the mission was delayed due a technical problem with the launch pad. What is notable is that this is now the third issue that the company, ULA, has experienced with its ground systems equipment at Space Launch Complex-37 in Cape Canaveral, Florida for this flight.

The mission, dubbed NROL-44, was originally due to launch in June. When it was delayed until late August, military officials did not cite a reason for the schedule slip. However, on August 29, everything seemed nominal as the three-core rocket counted down to liftoff from its Florida-based launch pad. The countdown reached zero, the three main RS-68 engines ignited, and the launch conductor said, "Liftoff!"

Enlarge / Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images (credit: Getty Images)

A US senator is calling on the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm to assess the threat posed by browser extensions made in countries known to conduct espionage against the US.

“I am concerned that the use by millions of Americans of foreign-controlled browser extensions could threaten US national security,” Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote in a letter to Christopher Krebs, director of the DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “I am concerned that these browser extensions could enable foreign governments to conduct surveillance of Americans.”

Also known as plugins and add-ons, extensions give browsers functionality not otherwise available. Ad blockers, language translators, HTTPS enforcers, grammar checkers, and cursor enhancers are just a few examples of legitimate extensions that can be downloaded either from browser-operated repositories or third-party websites.

• 

  The HP G2 Omnicept Edition looks a lot like the standard HP G2, but it comes with an additional slew of sensors. Visible at the top here is a heartrate tracker, while the eye-related trackers are built around the lenses. [credit: HP ]

We're still waiting to test out HP's next PC-VR headset, the $600 HP G2, but before it begins shipping to preorder customers in November, HP has already unveiled its next VR sales pitch. And it's a biometric-tracking doozy.

The HP G2 Omnicept Edition delivers everything you'll find in the G2, including a pair of high-res, fast-switching LCD panels; an "inside-out" tracking solution; lenses, speakers, and other optimizations borrowed from Valve Index; and HP's updated version of the Windows Mixed Reality controllers.

But this higher-tier version, which has a vague "Spring 2021" launch window and no price yet, is aimed squarely at enterprise customers with a wealth of built-in sensors. These include: eye-tracking and pupillometry sensors, to separately determine your gaze and your moment-to-moment dilation; a heart rate sensor; and a facial-capture camera, to translate how you look to other users. (HP has not yet shown us how that facial-capture system will work, and they've confirmed that some of its features will not be part of the Omnicept's launch SDK.)