Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars

Only the second time NASA’s skycrane has placed a rover on Mars’ surface.

A black-and-white image of the Martian surface.

Enlarge (credit: NASA)

NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully landed on the surface of Mars, transmitting telemetry information and the first images of its landing site. A low-resolution driving-camera image shows a field of dust-covered rocks, with the unmistakable shadow of the rover hardware. The early images are so fresh that you can still see the dust kicked up by the landing settling.

The landing came at the end of a cruise through interplanetary space and a dive through the Martian atmosphere, as the rover and its rocket-supported crane shed parachutes, a heat shield, and a lot of speed. The voyage culminated in the skycrane gently lowering the rover to the surface before rocketing off to land at a safe distance.

NASA refers to the landing protocol as "seven minutes of terror," due to its complicated, multistage nature, all of which is run under automated guidance. Adding to the tension, all of the outcomes already happened over 10 minutes ago by the time any indication of their success reaches Earth.

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Lilbits: Windows 10, 21H1, Office 2021, and NVIDIA’s crypto mining GPUs

Microsoft has developed a habit of releasing two major Windows 10 updates per year, usually with the spring update including at least a few big new features and the fall update focusing more on under-the-hood things that you might not notice as much. …

Microsoft has developed a habit of releasing two major Windows 10 updates per year, usually with the spring update including at least a few big new features and the fall update focusing more on under-the-hood things that you might not notice as much. This year the company is flipping things around. The spring update will […]

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“Shameful and inhumane”: DeSantis threatens to withhold vaccine amid criticism

Pop-up vaccination site serves “whitest demographic, the richest demographic.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference about the opening of a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Hard Rock Stadium on January 06, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Enlarge / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference about the opening of a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Hard Rock Stadium on January 06, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (credit: Getty | Joe Raedle)

As large swaths of the country face snags in COVID-19 vaccine distribution due to crippling snow and ice, some communities in Florida may face snags due to political windstorms from their governor, Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis was criticized this week after the state unveiled plans to open a "pop-up" clinic near Tampa that would offer vaccine doses only to residents in affluent, mostly white, mostly Republican areas of Manatee County. The clinic will vaccinate 3,000 residents of just two ZIP codes in the county, which were reportedly hand-selected by DeSantis and County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh—instead of being selected using the Sunshine State's vaccine lottery system.

Plans for the clinic were born from a deal struck between DeSantis, Baugh, and real estate developer Rex Jensen, according to the Bradenton Herald. DeSantis reportedly reached out to Jenson, who agreed to host the clinic on his development, Lakewood Ranch. The master-planned community covers much of the two selected ZIP codes served by the clinic. The ZIP codes also overlap with Baugh's district.

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Daily Deals (2-18-2021)

The Epic Games Store is giving away Rage 2 and Absolute Drift for free this week. And if you’re looking for a PC to play them on, Best Buy is selling an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with a Ryzen 7 4800HS processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics f…

The Epic Games Store is giving away Rage 2 and Absolute Drift for free this week. And if you’re looking for a PC to play them on, Best Buy is selling an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with a Ryzen 7 4800HS processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics for $850. Meanwhile Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and […]

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Let them fight! Mortal Kombat red-band trailer gives fans what they want

Reboot of popular franchise finally emerges from development hell.

Warner Bros. has released the red-band trailer for its forthcoming Mortal Kombat reboot, which had long languished in development hell. A Russian-dubbed version of the trailer initially leaked on reddit, according to Eurogamer, before being pulled. It's basically a nonstop, blood-soaked fighting fest, featuring all the fan favorites from the popular video game franchise.

(Some spoilers for the games and earlier films below.)

Midway Games released the first Mortal Kombat game in 1992, which proved hugely influential for many a teenager who frequented video arcades during that era. There have been 11 main games and multiple spinoffs in the franchise thus far, all set in a fictional universe of eight different realms. The greatest warriors from the various realms must compete in a series of Mortal Kombat tournaments to conquer other realms.

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Apple is already working on developing 6G wireless technology

6G is still many years away, but Apple doesn’t want to depend on Qualcomm again.

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, side-by-side

Enlarge / The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, side by side. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple has posted multiple job listings indicating that it is hiring engineers to work on 6G technology internally so it does not have to rely on partners like Qualcomm as the next generation of wireless technology hits several years down the line.

The job listings, which were first spotted and reported by Bloomberg, include titles like "Wireless Research Systems Engineer - 5G/6G" and "RAN1/RAN4 Standards Engineer."

The listings have statements like "You will be part of a team defining and doing research of next-generation standards like 6G," "You will research and design next-generation (6G) wireless communication systems for radio access networks with emphasis on the PHY/MAC/L2/L3 layers," "Participate in industry/academic forums passionate about 6G technology," and "Contribute to future 3GPP RAN work items on 6G technology."

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Today’s best tech deals: Nintendo Joy-Cons, Apple’s M1 Mac mini, and more

Dealmaster also has deals on Roombas, gaming keyboards, and the iPad Air.

Today’s best tech deals: Nintendo Joy-Cons, Apple’s M1 Mac mini, and more

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Today's Dealmaster includes a nice $11 discount on Nintendo's Joy-Cons, with various colors of the handheld Switch controllers down to $69 at Amazon and Walmart. While this isn't the lowest price we've tracked, more substantial price drops for the Joy-Cons have been uncommon over the past year. Those dealing with a busted Joy-Con can seek a repair through Nintendo, but for anyone else in need of a spare set, this deal should lessen the blow compared to buying directly from the company. You'll see the discounted price in your cart, but be aware that not all finishes are discounted and that there's currently a bit of a shipping delay on most options.

Otherwise, our deals roundup includes the lowest price we've seen to date on the entry-level model of Apple's newest Mac mini, which comes equipped with the company's powerful M1 chip. We also have discounts on a recommended compact (60 percent) gaming keyboard from Razer, Apple's iPad Air and iPhone 12 MagSafe Charger, a few Roomba vacuums, lots of video games, and more. You can have a look at the full list below.

Dealmaster: An Ars newsletter
The Dealmaster has launched its very own newsletter! Sign up to receive a shorter, tightly curated list of the very best tech deals on the Web—no nonsense, direct to your inbox, and often before they make it to the Ars homepage.

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Copyright Troll Lawyer Must Pay Victims $1.5 Million Restitution, Appeals Court Affirms

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed that Paul Hansmeier, a convicted copyright troll lawyer, must pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to victims of a piracy honeypot scheme. Hansmeier protested a district court order, arguing that the amount also included legitimate settlements, but the appeals court disagrees.

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

copyright trollIn 2019, a U.S. District Court in Minnesota sentenced Paul Hansmeier to 14 years in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release.

Hansmeier was a key player at the Prenda Law firm, which pursued cases against people who were suspected of downloading pirated porn videos via BitTorrent.

While suing alleged pirates is not illegal, Prenda Law went much further. Over the years the firm faced negative court rulings over identity theft, misrepresentation, and even deception.

The Original Prenda Honeypot

Most controversial were the shocking revelations that Prenda itself produced adult videos and uploaded its own torrents to The Pirate Bay. In doing so, the company created a honeypot for the people they later sued over pirate downloads.

The allegations were serious enough to appear on the radar of US law enforcement agencies which launched a criminal investigation, culminating in prison sentences for the two key players.

Today, Paul Hansmeier and his former colleague John Steele are both in prison. While the latter received a reduced sentence for his cooperative stance, Hansmeier continues to appeal his sentence to this day. To make a point, the lawyer even restarted his honeypot scheme from prison.

Hansmeier Doesn’t Want to Pay $1.5 Million

In addition to challenging his conviction, Hansmeier also appealed the $1,541,527.37 in restitution that he’s required to pay to victims. According to the former lawyer, this figure is too high because it also includes ‘legal’ settlements.

This case ended up at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the Government opposed Hansmeier’s claim, arguing that the convicted lawyer waived his right to appeal by signing a plea agreement.

After a careful review, the Court of Appeal judges ruled that Hansmeier has the right to appeal the restitution amount. However, that doesn’t help the former lawyer much, as the judges also concluded that the district court correctly awarded $1,541,527.37 in restitution.

Evidence Shows that $1.5 Million is Correct

According to the Court of Appeal, the Government provided sufficient evidence to show that the restitution amount “was attributable solely to settlement payments from the fraud scheme.”

This evidence was collected by FBI agent Jared Kary who went over all settlement payments that came in from April 2011, which was when the Prenda lawyers started to upload their own movies to The Pirate Bay.

“Agent Kary further attempted to narrow his calculation to payments from fraud victims by excluding any payments that came in over this period that he could not tie to a specific person,” the Court adds, suggesting that the actual figure might be higher.

However, the most compelling statement may come from none other than Paul Hansmeier himself, who pretty much confirmed the amount in the plea agreement.

From Hansmeier’s Plea Agreement

hansmeier plea

“Finally, Hansmeier himself acknowledged in his plea agreement that, between 2011 and 2014, he and Steele ‘received more than $3,000,000 in fraudulent proceeds’ from their lawsuits,” the Court writes.

More Setbacks for Hansmeier

The Court’s ruling also provides a detailed description of all the criminal wrongdoings. In a separate argument, Hansmeier also claimed that the district court incorrectly denied his motion to dismiss the indictment. However, the Court of Appeal disagrees with this as well.

“Because the facts in the indictment, accepted as true, describe a fraudulent scheme prohibited by federal law, Hansmeier cannot succeed in his claim that it is facially insufficient,” the Court notes.

While the order will certainly come as a setback for Hansmeier, the former attorney will likely continue to challenge his prison sentence. Among other things, the dispute about whether or not he can operate a piracy honeypot from prison remains ongoing.

A copy of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals order is available here (pdf)

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

What’s new in Android 12? (Privacy, performance, and user interface changes)

Google has released the first developer preview of Android 12 and it’s available for Google Pixel 3 and later devices. This is the first public preview of the next version of Android, with several more previews and betas planned in the coming mo…

Google has released the first developer preview of Android 12 and it’s available for Google Pixel 3 and later devices. This is the first public preview of the next version of Android, with several more previews and betas planned in the coming months before Android 12 is officially released in the fall of 2021. But […]

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