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Der zurückliegende Monat fiel besonders extrem und trocken aus. In Südostaustralien werden die Menschen hingegen schon wieder von schweren Niederschlägen heimgesucht
Roborock bringt mit dem Q7 Max einen neuen Saugroboter mit Lidar-Technik auf den Markt. Er könnte den beliebten S5 Max ablösen. (Roborock, Saugroboter)
Roborock bringt mit dem Q7 Max einen neuen Saugroboter mit Lidar-Technik auf den Markt. Er könnte den beliebten S5 Max ablösen. (Roborock, Saugroboter) The findings add further weight to the idea of mix-and-match boosting.
Enlarge / The Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech) and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. (credit: Getty | Marcos del Mazo)
The mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have proven highly effective at priming our immune systems to fight the pandemic coronavirus—preventing substantial amounts of infection, severe disease, and death throughout several waves of variants. But despite their similar design and efficacy, the two vaccines are not exactly the same—and our immune systems don't respond to them in the same way.
An early hint of this came from some real-world data that found startling differences in the effectiveness of the two vaccines, despite both shots performing nearly identically in Phase III clinical trials, with efficacies of 95 percent and 94 percent. Amid last year's delta wave, a Mayo Clinic study found that Pfizer's effectiveness against infection dipped to 42 percent while Moderna's fell to 76 percent.
According to a new study in Science Translational Medicine, such differences might be explained by evidence that the two vaccines spur the immune system to produce slightly different antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
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Eine Zeitung fordert gemäß dem Zeitgeist, die Auseinandersetzungen mit Russland “bis zum bitteren Ende” durchzustehen. Was aber bedeutet das konkret?
Berichterstattung mit deutlichen Unterschieden zu anderen Staaten der Union. Regierende Nea Dimokratia mit Putin-Partei verbunden
The DOJ investigates if Google Maps’ various bundling schemes are anticompetitive.
Enlarge / Let's see, you landed on my "Google Ads" space, and with three houses... that will be $1,400. (credit: Ron Amadeo / Hasbro)
Google's latest antitrust headache is coming from the US government, which is starting to take issue with how Google bundles Google Maps and restricts developers from using competing services. Nothing's official yet, but Reuters' sources say the US Justice Department has "breathed new life into an investigation of Google Maps to determine if bundling the service together with other Google software illegally stifles competition."
The DOJ investigation is concerned with two Google Maps strategies. The first is surprisingly all about Android Automotive—note that this is not Android Auto, the phone app. Android Automotive (fully spelled out) is a full operating system that manufacturers can ship on their cars. We covered it on the Polestar 2 last year. Just like on phones, Google bundles all of its apps together on Android Automotive. Google Maps is a killer app in a car, but if manufacturers want Google Maps, Google requires them to take the Play Store, the Google Assistant, YouTube Music, and any other car apps the company makes. The Justice Department is concerned that this requirement stifles competition.
What's surprising about this move by the DOJ is that the US never made Google do anything about app bundling on phones, which is a much larger market. Android Automotive is a very new, very limited OS, available on only around 10 vehicles, like the Polestar 2, other Volvo vehicles like the XC40 Recharge, the GMC Hummer EV, and soon 2023 Ford vehicles. Android, meanwhile, is on about 2.5 billion phones worldwide. The US has gone after Google for limiting app store competition on Android, paying to be the default search engine on most platforms, promoting its own services in search, and anticompetitive behavior in the advertising market. But Google is still free to bundle its apps on phones.
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Financial services will get the full Apple treatment, sources say.
Enlarge / The featureless, very Apple-like physical Apple Card. (credit: Apple)
Apple plans to build its own in-house technology and infrastructure for financial services, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The initiative is internally codenamed "Breakout" as an allusion to the idea of users breaking free from the current establishment players in the financial system.
Apple has long held to a philosophy of controlling as much of the user experience—and its own pipeline—as possible, believing this method offers the dual benefits of better experiences for customers and a bigger slice of the revenue pie for Apple. That control also means Apple can be less affected by surprises or failures from external partners.
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Dyson, a company known for its high-performance (and high-priced) vacuum cleaners, hair care products and fans has entered the wearable space with the introduction of Dyson Zone, which the company describes as “air purifying headphones.” Basically, they’re a set of wireless noise-cancelling headphones with a built-in air purifier that covers your nose. And while they […]
The post Lilbits: Maybe a wearable air purifier that sprays your breath outward isn’t such a great idea in 2022? appeared first on Liliputing.
Dyson, a company known for its high-performance (and high-priced) vacuum cleaners, hair care products and fans has entered the wearable space with the introduction of Dyson Zone, which the company describes as “air purifying headphones.”
Basically, they’re a set of wireless noise-cancelling headphones with a built-in air purifier that covers your nose. And while they look like they were designed with the pandemic in mind, they’ve actually been under development for six years… and it kind of shows, because while the Dyson Zone is designed to protect the wearer from air pollution, it’s not a medical-grade solution and doesn’t fully cover your mouth for full protection against the virus.
It also doesn’t protect the folks around you from anything you breathe out – in fact, it probably does the opposite, increasing the risks of contracting COVID-19 from anyone who’s infected and wearing one of these things.
As maker Naomi Wu explains in a Twitter thread, this thing is basically a “snot cannon” that takes the particles you breathe out and projects across greater distances since it has fans that move air outward.
While the idea of a wearable device to protect users from air pollution isn’t necessarily a bad one, Wu suggests that the Dyson Zone was designed for a pre-COVID world, and wearable air purifiers released now should include 2-way filtration so that it not only cleans the air coming in, but also the air you breathe out.
Dyson does plan to offer a mask attachment that will allow you to cover the already bulky-looking Dyson Zone to comply with masking mandates. But it’s unclear how effective that will be.
It’s also unclear how much you’ll have to pay for this wearable air purifier. It’s expected to go on sale in select markets this fall, and pricing will be revealed closer to launch.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
The Dyson Zone (which is apparently not an April Fools’ joke) combines wireless headphones with a wearable air purifier that covers your mouth, nose & ears. No pricing or availability details yet, but Dyson gear isn’t usually cheap. https://t.co/wFghF7qY2G
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) March 30, 2022
Ok here’s a technical breakdown of why the “@Dyson Zone
Air-Purifying Headphones” aka. the Snot Cannon aka. the Wearable SuperSpreader Event is such a staggeringly bad idea and a significant danger to public health if it is allowed to be sold.
pic.twitter.com/fwswU3lXDa
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) March 30, 2022
XMG has revealed a 2022 roadmap that includes plans for at least two laptops with Intel Arc graphics, a 15.6 inch model based on Intel’s Alder County NUC design, and an “X-Series” desktop replacement with Arc 7 graphics. https://t.co/wuNzEPmM5Y
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) March 30, 2022
PiSquare is a tiny board that lets you connect a Raspberry Pi to HAT add-on board wirelessly, allowing you to connect multiple boards without stacking. It’s powered by an RP2040 chip and WiFi and coming soon to a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. https://t.co/dgw99Qzh9d
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) March 30, 2022
Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.
The post Lilbits: Maybe a wearable air purifier that sprays your breath outward isn’t such a great idea in 2022? appeared first on Liliputing.
Data released by the group purports to belong to Apple, Facebook, and others.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
IT and software development firm Globant said in a statement Wednesday that it experienced a network breach. The statement appeared to confirm claims made by Lapsus$, a group that has successfully compromised Microsoft, Nvidia, Okta, and other victims in recent weeks.
Lapsus$ is a relative newcomer to the data-extortion scene. While the group's tactics and procedures lack sophistication, members largely believed to be young and technically immature make up for it with persistence. Gang members were rumored to be among seven individuals arrested last week by London police.
A leak Tuesday on the Lapsus$ Telegram channel included data the group said came from a recent hack on Globant, raising questions about precisely what relationship the suspects, aged 16 to 21, had with Lapsus$. On Wednesday, the FBI sought public assistance in tracking down the group.
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A group of filmmakers has won over $14 million in damages from VPN provider LiquidVPN. The default judgment finds the company guilty of copyright infringement and DMCA violations, in part by promoting the Popcorn Time app. The order also awards $250,000 in trademark damages in favor of 42 Ventures, which owns the Popcorn Time trademark.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A few years ago piracy-related lawsuits were pretty straightforward. Copyright holders would either sue alleged file-sharers or the operators of pirate sites.
More recently, we have seen a new breed of lawsuits filed on behalf of the makers of movies such as “Angel Has Fallen”, “Dallas Buyer’s Club”, “Hellboy” and “Rambo V: Last Blood”.
These lawsuits target VPN providers, which are generally seen as third-party intermediaries. This includes LiquidVPN. The company was taken to court in March last year, shortly after the former owner was sued in a separate lawsuit.
The new owner, Puerto Rico company 1701 Management, is allegedly linked to U.S. resident Mr. Muszynski, who continued operating the service. While running a VPN doesn’t equal copyright infringement, the movie companies accused the service of encouraging and facilitating piracy.
The complaint mentioned a variety of examples where the defendants directly or indirectly referenced copyright-infringing activity. This includes a screenshot of Popcorn Time which shows the Millennium film Survivor. The movie companies argue that, through various public statements, LiquidVPN ‘encouraged’ users to use its service to pirate movies.
“The LiquidVPN Defendants describe their VPN service as a tool to ‘Watch Popcorn Time without being detected by your ISP and P2P tracking software’ and promote it as a tool that can be used to pirate copyright protected content ‘without the risk of getting caught by your ISP or anyone else’,” they wrote.
Despite the serious allegations, 1701 Management and its alleged owner failed to respond in court. As such, the film companies requested a default judgment. This request was initially denied, as other defendants in the case had yet to resolve their disputes, but last week the filmmakers got the green light.
In the request for a default judgment, the rightsholders asked for nearly $10 million in copyright infringement damages, for a total of 66 films. They also sought millions in damages for DMCA violations, as well as damages for trademark infringement.
This week, Florida federal Judge Beth Bloom granted most of the demands. Without LiquidVPN putting up a defense, the court relied on the accusations of the filmmakers, which were properly plead and accepted as true.
“LiquidVPN Defendants intentionally induced and encouraged direct infringement of users of Popcorn Time,” Judge Bloom writes, adding that the VPN provider is liable for direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.
The court stresses that the defendants don’t qualify for safe harbor protection, as they didn’t have a known repeat infringer policy or a registered DMCA agent.
“LiquidVPN Defendants have no safe harbor from liability because they fail to implement a policy for terminating repeat infringers and have not registered a DMCA agent with the Copyright office,” Judge Bloom adds.
The list of infringed films is 66 titles long and includes “After We Collided”, “Angel Has Fallen”, “Dallas Buyer’s Club”, “Hellboy”, “Hunter Killer”, “Rambo V: Last Blood”, “Survivor”, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, and “Wild Horses”.
For all these films, the LiquidVPN defendants have to pay the maximum statutory damages for copyright infringement, set at $150,000 per work. That adds up to a total of $9.9 million. In addition, they have to pay $4.9 million for altering copyright management information, which violates the DMCA.
The court also granted the request for a permanent injunction that requires LiquidVPN to block the piracy websites included in USTR’s annual overview. Those include The Pirate Bay, RARBG, and YTS. In addition, it must implement a repeat infringer policy.
Whether LiquidVPN will comply with these requests is unknown. The homepage has been offline for a few months now, but the user panel where people can place new orders still appears to be operational.
In addition to the copyright-related damages, Judge Bloom also awarded $250,000 in trademark infringement damages to the Hawaiian company 42 Ventures. This company is owned by anti-piracy attorney Kerry Culpepper, who previously registered the “Popcorn Time” trademark.
Two years ago, Culpepper used this trademark to suspend the Twitter account of a popular Popcorn Time fork. In the present case, LiquidVPN was successfully accused of using the trademark without authorization.
“LiquidVPN Defendants have intentionally used Plaintiff 42’s Mark Popcorn Time in U.S. commerce without authorization or license by using the name ‘Popcorn Time VPN’ to promote their VPN service to use the piracy application Popcorn Time,” Judge Bloom writes.
As far as we know, this is the first default judgment against a VPN provider. Other companies including VPN Unlimited and VPN.ht have been sued as well, but these settled their disputes out of court.
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A copy of U.S. District Court Beth Bloom’s final default judgment and permanent injunction is available here (pdf)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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