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A startup called Nothing has generated way more buzz this year than you’d expect from a company that’s never released a product yet. But Nothing was founded by Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, a company that knows a thing or two about gene…
A startup called Nothing has generated way more buzz this year than you’d expect from a company that’s never released a product yet. But Nothing was founded by Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, a company that knows a thing or two about generating press (not always good press, but at least people were talking). Now […]
The post Lilbits: Nothing introduces something, first look at the JingPad A1 Linux tablet appeared first on Liliputing.
Fully vaccinated people should mask up in high-transmission areas, schools.
Enlarge / Self-sewn protective face masks in a fabric store on April 3, 2020, in Jena, Germany. (credit: Getty | Jens Schlueter)
Fully vaccinated Americans should go back to masking up in schools and areas of high or substantial COVID-19 transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.
The CDC says its stark reversal in mask guidance is prompted by the current surge in COVID-19 cases and the spread of the hypertransmissible delta variant, which is now dominant in the US and thought to be more than twice as contagious as previous versions of the virus.
Specifically, the CDC says new data from outbreak investigations in the US and elsewhere suggests that fully vaccinated people who have breakthrough infections with the delta variant carry similar levels of viral loads in their respiratory tracts as unvaccinated people infected with the delta variant. This raises concern that fully vaccinated people can spread the delta variant to others.
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A gang of mini Stay-Puft marshmallow men in a Walmart steals the show.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife moves the setting from New York City to Summerville, Oklahoma. [credit: YouTube/Sony Pictures ]
We finally have a new trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was delayed multiple times before landing on its current November release date. This sequel to the iconic Ghostbusters films from the 1980s introduces a new generation to the franchise. So it's fitting that the film is directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking), son of Ivan Reitman, director of the 1980s' films and one of the producers on Afterlife.
As I've written previously, Vanity Fair offered a first look at the latest film in [checks notes] December 2019, featuring several stills—including one showing the tricked-out ambulance from the original Ghostbusters. Per the official synopsis, "A single mother and her two children move to Summerville, Oklahoma, after inheriting property from a previously unknown relative. They discover their family's legacy to the original Ghostbusters, who have become something of a myth, as many have long since forgotten the events of the 'Manhattan Crossrip of 1984'"—i.e., the events of the original film.
Carrie Coon (The Leftovers) plays mom Callie, while Mckenna Grace (The Haunting of Hill House) plays her science-loving daughter Phoebe. Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) plays son Trevor. Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) plays summer school teacher Mr. Grooberson. The cast also includes Logan Kim as Podcast, Celeste O'Connor as Lucky, Oliver Cooper as Elton, Bokeem Woodbine as Sheriff Domingo, Marlon Kazadi as Thickneck, Tracy Letts as Jack, and Sydney Mae Diaz as Swayze.
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Organizers seek movement on diversity, pay transparency, arbitration clauses.
Enlarge / A em>Warcraft-themed statue sites in front of the Blizzard employee campus. (credit: Flickr / gordontarpley)
A group of Activision Blizzard employees is planning a "Walkout for Equality" on Wednesday to protest the feeling that "our values as employees are not being accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership."
The move comes in the wake of a California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit alleging widespread discriminatory practices at the company. It also comes after an official response from the company that thousands of employees have called "abhorrent and insulting to all that we believe our company should stand for" in a signed petition.
In a statement, walkout organizers said they're asking management to work with them to develop new recruiting practices, publish employee pay rates, and undertake third-party audits to improve staff diversity and prevent harassment. Currently, organizers write, "women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups that are vulnerable to gender discrimination" are subject to unfair discrimination in hiring, pay, and promotion and suffer from harassment from other employees.
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Starlink and other ISPs may have to give up money that Pai shouldn’t have awarded.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | LdF)
The Federal Communications Commission wants SpaceX to give up a portion of the $885.51 million in broadband funding it was awarded in a reverse auction in December 2020.
SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband division was one of the biggest winners in the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) grants announced in Ajit Pai's last full month as FCC chairman. Overall, Pai's FCC awarded $9.2 billion over 10 years ($920 million per year) to 180 bidders nationwide, with SpaceX slated to get $885.51 million over 10 years to serve homes and businesses in parts of 35 states.
Pai apparently mismanaged the auction, as an announcement yesterday from Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office said the FCC has to "clean up issues with the program's design originating from its adoption in 2020." The FCC cited "complaints that the program was poised to fund broadband to parking lots and well-served urban areas." The FCC suggested that SpaceX give up its funding in about 6 percent of the census blocks where it's slated to get money. Other ISPs are being asked to give up smaller portions of their funding.
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GCP offers a stability promise that the rest of the company could learn from.
Enlarge / Google Cloud Platform, no longer perpetually under construction?
Google's reputation for aggressively killing products and services is hurting the company's brand. Any new product launch from Google is no longer a reason for optimism; instead, the company is met with questions about when the product will be shut down. It's a problem entirely of Google's own making, and it's yet another barrier that discourages customers from investing (either time, money, or data) in the latest Google thing. The wide public skepticism of Google Stadia is a great example of the problem.
A Google division with similar issues is Google Cloud Platform, which asks companies and developers to build a product or service powered by Google's cloud infrastructure. Like the rest of Google, Cloud Platform has a reputation for instability, thanks to quickly deprecating APIs, which require any project hosted on Google's platform to be continuously updated to keep up with the latest changes. Google Cloud wants to address this issue, though, with a new "Enterprise API" designation.
Enterprise APIs basically get a roadmap that promises stability for certain APIs. Google says, "The burden is on us: Our working principle is that no feature may be removed (or changed in a way that is not backwards compatible) for as long as customers are actively using it. If a deprecation or breaking change is inevitable, then the burden is on us to make the migration as effortless as possible."
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The Smart Response XE is a simple handheld device that was designed for use in classroom settings (teachers could send questions to students over a local wireless network and then collect responses). It was discontinued years ago, but hardware and sof…
The Smart Response XE is a simple handheld device that was designed for use in classroom settings (teachers could send questions to students over a local wireless network and then collect responses). It was discontinued years ago, but hardware and software hackers have been picking up user devices on eBay and finding new uses for […]
The post Discontinued classroom hardware hacked for use as a handheld Linux terminal appeared first on Liliputing.
Toyota has stepped up lobbying to preserve its investments in hybrids, hydrogen.
Toyota introduced the Prius Prime in 2016, years after other manufacturers released electric-only models. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
Executives at Toyota had a moment of inspiration when the company first developed the Prius. That moment, apparently, has long since passed.
The Prius was the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, years ahead of any competitors. The first model, a small sedan, was classic Toyota—a reliable vehicle tailor-made for commuting. After a major redesign in 2004, sales took off. The Prius' Kammback profile was instantly recognizable, and the car's combination of fuel economy and practicality was unparalleled. People snapped them up. Even celebrities looking to burnish their eco-friendly bona fides were smitten with the car. Leonardo DiCaprio appeared at the 2008 Oscars in one.
As the Prius' hybrid technology was refined over the years, it started appearing in other models, from the small Prius c to the three-row Highlander. Even the company's luxury brand, Lexus, hybridized several of its cars and SUVs.
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All Quest 2 systems pulled from shelves ahead of August price, storage refresh.
Enlarge / One day, the VR industry may be boosted with sensory tricks like smell-o-vision. That's different from the itching and burning sensations reported by Quest 2 users—unless one of Quest 2's VR zombie games is really, really ahead of its time. (credit: Oculus | Aurich Lawson)
Facebook's VR division is recalling every single foam facial liner included in its Oculus Quest 2 VR headset in North America, the company confirmed, as part of a US CPSC recall notice. An investigation found 5,716 reports of "skin irritation" from system owners, along with "approximately 45 reports of consumers that required medical attention."
The recall applies to "about 4 million" customers, which is the closest public estimate we've yet seen for Quest 2 hardware sales in the US since the system went on sale in late 2020. Since this estimate includes standalone purchases of face covers, it's not an exact measure, but considering how ho-hum the default face masks are, we're confident that few people were rushing to buy duplicates of it, as opposed to superior third-party options.
In light of the recall, Facebook is also taking the extreme measure of pausing all Oculus Quest 2 sales in North America, in addition to offering silicon-liner replacements to all existing owners. This news comes after UploadVR confirmed Facebook's plans to launch a new price point for the VR system in August: $299 for a 128GB model (up from 64GB) and $399 for a 256GB model (up from 128GB). Facebook now says that the August 24 relaunch will mark the system's return to retail outlets with an updated silicon face cover packed in by default.
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Tofig Kurbanov, the Russian operator of YouTube-rippers FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com, will no longer take part in the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by several record labels. The decision comes after a Virginia District Court ordered Kurbanov to keep extensive logs of the sites’ user activity and hand these over to the major record labels.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Three years ago a group of prominent music companies took two of the largest YouTube rippers to court.
The labels, including Universal, Warner Bros, and Sony, accused FLVTO.biz, 2conv.com and their Russian operator Tofig Kurbanov of facilitating copyright infringement.
While many foreign site operators choose not to fight back, Kurbanov did. With help from a seasoned legal team, he filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that US courts don’t have jurisdiction over a Russian site operator who conducts his business from another continent.
Initially, the district court agreed with this defense, dismissing the case. However, the record labels successfully appealed and, after Kurbanov’s petition at the Supreme Court was denied, the case was sent back to the Virginia district court to proceed on the merits.
Over the past weeks, both sides had the chance to conduct discovery and collect further evidence to back up their claims. The record labels, for example, asked the stream-rippers to share what files users rip and download, which source sites they use, and where these users are located.
The Russian operator wasn’t able to share this data though. He set up his sites with privacy in mind and none of the requested data were logged. As such, there was nothing to hand over.
The record labels didn’t take no for an answer and asked the court to compel Mr. Kurbanov to start logging this data. This request was approved by the magistrate judge and, despite fierce protest from the site owner, District Court Judge Claude Hilton affirmed the order last week.
This ruling was another setback for the operator of the stream-rippers who still believes that he shouldn’t be sued in the US. According to a new filing from his legal team, the data logging order appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
A few days after the court affirmed the data logging order, Mr. Kurbanov’s lawyers submitted a motion to withdraw as counsel. They inform the court that, despite the formal order, their (former) client doesn’t plan to provide all data the record labels asked for.
As it turns out, Mr. Kurbanov no longer intends to participate in the lawsuit at all, which means that his lawyers can no longer represent him.
“Despite the efforts of Counsel for Defendant, Mr. Kurbanov has made clear that he does not intend to cooperate further with the present litigation or counsel’s attempts to mount an effective defense on his behalf.
“Mr. Kurbanov has indicated that he will not provide Counsel for Defendant with any additional discovery and will not sit for his previously-noticed deposition,” the lawyers add.
Having lost faith in the process, the site operator has simply decided to drop out and move on, ignoring the lawsuit and moving ahead. This decision comes as a surprise after a legal battle that has lasted three years already.
Evan Fray-Witzer, one of the defense team lawyers, tells TorrentFreak that they are disappointed that their work ends here. They were confident that their client had a strong case and believe that YouTube-ripping tools have legitimate uses.
“We’re obviously disappointed that this is how things are ending: we’ve always believed that the case was a strong one on the merits and that websites like Mr. Kurbanov’s simply provide a legitimate tool with numerous non-infringing uses.
“We also continue to believe – as many do – that the youtube-dl software does not circumvent technological measures in any meaningful way,” Fray-Witzer adds.
While the data logging order may have been the final straw, the jurisdiction issue is still a sore spot as well. The site operator doesn’t believe a U.S. court can order him to do anything and his legal team reiterates that this issue should have been taken on by the Supreme Court.
“At the end of the day, though, Mr. Kurbanov is an individual who lives in Russia, who has operated the websites exclusively from Russia, and who has had almost no contact with the United States whatsoever. The whole issue of personal jurisdiction in such a context continues to cry out for guidance from the Supreme Court,” Fray-Witzer tells us.
With Mr. Kurbanov giving up his defense, it is very likely that the record labels will end up winning the lawsuit through a default judgment. This could result in millions of dollars in piracy damages.
It seems unlikely that the site operator will pay anything if it goes that far. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the labels also went after his assets indirectly, including the .com and .biz domain names, which are tied to US-based registries.
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A copy of the memorandum in support of the motion to withdraw as counsel, submitted by attorneys Val Gurvits, Matthew Shayefar, Evan FrayWitzer, and Jeffrey Geiger, is available here (pdf)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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