Month: November 2023

Decades after “breakup,” Doom’s Carmack and Romero are rehashing their legacy

Despite reports of workplace tension, the two Johns insist they’re still friendly.

John Carmack (left) and John Romero (second from right) pose with their id Software colleagues in the early '90s.

Enlarge / John Carmack (left) and John Romero (second from right) pose with their id Software colleagues in the early '90s. (credit: John Romero)

For gamers of a certain age, the '90s break up of Doom co-creators John Carmack and John Romero is a cultural moment on par with the breakup of The Beatles. Now, as the 30th anniversary of Doom's original release approaches next month, the pair has announced plans to come together for a moderated livestreamed discussion of their most famous creation.

The Twitch-streamed event, announced on social media late last week by Romero, will take place on Doom's anniversary of December 10. Carmack and Romero will discuss the game and its legacy with moderator and Rocket Jump author David L. Craddock, whom Ars readers might remember from the Long Live Mortal Kombat excerpt that ran on the site last year.

Carmack and Romero reuniting might feel like a historic burying of the hatchet to those who have followed the pair's story over the decades. But "the two Johns" say that reports of their falling out have been exaggerated over the years, to say the least.

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KI: Googles Magic Editor bearbeitet nicht alles

Ausweisdokumente, Gesichter, Körperteile – bei einigen Motiven verweigert Googles KI-Bildbearbeitung Magic Editor die Kooperation. (KI, Google)

Ausweisdokumente, Gesichter, Körperteile - bei einigen Motiven verweigert Googles KI-Bildbearbeitung Magic Editor die Kooperation. (KI, Google)

After the sting of Ariane 6, Europe finally embraces commercial rockets

A new deal keeps the Ariane 6 rocket afloat while looking ahead to new launchers.

A view looking down on a test model of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket on its launch pad in French Guiana.

Enlarge / A view looking down on a test model of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket on its launch pad in French Guiana. (credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/ArianeGroup/Optique video du CSG-S. Martin)

Representatives from 22 European countries reached an agreement Monday to change the way the continent's rockets are developed, moving from a government-driven approach to a commercial paradigm that appears to be modeled after how NASA and the US military do business.

This is a big moment for the European Space Agency and its member states, which have traditionally funded the lion's share of rocket development costs since the start of Europe's launcher programs more than half a century ago. Josef Aschbacher, a scientist who took over as director general of ESA in 2021, has argued that Europe is in an "acute launcher crisis" now that the continent lacks independent launch capability for most of its space missions.

Officials from ESA's 22 member states met Monday for a Space Summit in Seville, Spain, to decide on several priorities for the space agency. The rocket question was perhaps the most pressing among the topics up for discussion.

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Relentless Genshin Impact Leakers Face Cognosphere’s Attorneys Yet Again

Genshin Impact publisher Cognosphere has gone to court in the United States multiple times hoping to obtain the identities of people who deliberately leak details of game updates ahead of the official schedule. The company went to court again yesterday, this time focusing on four Twitter accounts posting leaked content that went on to be viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

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

genshin-small99New figures published by CharlieIntel predict that free-to-play, action role-playing game Genshin Impact, will have 63 million players in November alone.

These impressive figures suggest that the game’s developers give gamers want they want but for a significant subset of Genshin Impact players with specific needs, that itch has to be scratched elsewhere.

The overwhelming urge to obtain or merely catch a glimpse of videogame content before its official release is a condition as old as gaming itself. In today’s social media-powered arena, those with access to leaked content can build huge audiences by putting it on display; when that content relates to Genshin Impact, publisher Cognosphere regularly calls in the lawyers.

New DMCA Subpoena Against X/Twitter

A new DMCA subpoena application was filed at a California district court on Monday. Attorneys acting for Cognosphere inform the court that the company is the exclusive licensee of Genshin Impact in the United States and other territories, which includes any artwork, gameplay footage, and related audiovisual content.

Following the now-familiar formula, Cognosphere says that since it needs to take action against alleged infringers, Twitter must “disclose the identity, including the name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), and e-mail addresses(es)” connected to four Twitter accounts: @HutaoLoverGI, @GIHutaoLover, @HutaoLover77, and @FurinaaLover.

“Cognosphere has reason to believe [the accounts] are operated or have been operated by the same individual and/or under common control,” the application notes. “The purpose for which this subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of the user(s) operating the Twitter Accounts who have posted the infringing content appearing thereon.”

Leaked Content Redacted in DMCA Takedown Notices

The locations of the allegedly-infringing content are laid out in eight-pages of DMCA takedown notices sent to Twitter on Sunday by anti-piracy company Remove Your Media.

Each contains links where the content could be found along with an identifying screenshot, all of which are redacted in court documents. The URLs relating to @HutaoLoverGI are still up (1,2) but the images in both tweets have been taken down.

cog-genshin-combine-s

For those not fully immersed in the Genshin Impact world, determining the nature of the leaked content is less than straightforward. The tweets themselves contain a Japanese-language hashtag (#原神リーク) which may provide clues elsewhere on Twitter, but regardless, the popularity of the tweets isn’t in question. One tweet was viewed 71,700 times, the other 191,300 times.

Cognosphere obviously considers the leaked content a problem, but importantly, a problem it can deal with under copyright law.

Notices Targeting Other Accounts

Other DMCA takedown notices sent to Twitter target content posted by three additional accounts; @GIHutaoLover, @HutaoLover77, and @FurinaaLover. Copies of the notices sent in support of the DMCA subpoena application are similarly redacted.

Unlike the @HutaoLoverGI account, these three accounts are no longer accessible; two appear to have been suspended for breaking X/Twitter’s rules and in the case of @Furinaalover, because the account no longer exists.

Suspend-exist account

The small white text on the right of each image are the allegedly-infringing URLs, so at least by volume, the @HutaoLover77 account is clearly the most problematic.

What Happens Next…

After obtaining DMCA subpoenas at courts in the United States, alleged leakers like the above (and others like Ubatcha and many others) face Twitter, Discord, or any other platforms they use, handing over their personal details to Cognosphere.

Whether those details eventually prove useful depends on the quality of information provided or left behind on X/Twitter by the account holders. What happens after useful information is handed over is rarely discussed in public.

The law says that any information obtained as part of a DMCA subpoena may only be used by the copyright holders for the purposes of enforcing their rights. The scope is narrowly defined for a reason but content protection is a broad field and Cognosphere is unlikely to feel restricted.

The DMCA subpoena application is available here (pdf)

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

Breko: Kommunen stellen aussichtslose Anträge für FTTH-Ausbau

Das Förderprogramm für Glasfaser scheint weiterhin nicht zu funktionieren. Der Breko verweist insbesondere auf Bayern und Baden-Württemberg. Doch so einfach ist es nicht. (Glasfaser, Mobilfunk)

Das Förderprogramm für Glasfaser scheint weiterhin nicht zu funktionieren. Der Breko verweist insbesondere auf Bayern und Baden-Württemberg. Doch so einfach ist es nicht. (Glasfaser, Mobilfunk)

AI bots can do the grunt work of filling out job applications for you

One programmer used AI to apply for 5,000 jobs.

stack of paper

Enlarge (credit: PM Images/Getty Images)

In July, software engineer Julian Joseph became the latest victim of the tech industry’s sweeping job cuts. Facing his second layoff in two years, he dreaded spending another couple months hunched over his laptop filling out repetitive job applications and blasting them into the void.

Joseph specializes in user interface automation and figured someone must have roboticized the unpleasant task of applying for jobs. Casting about online, he came upon a company called LazyApply. It offers an AI-powered service called Job GPT that promises to automatically apply to thousands of jobs “in a single click.” All he had to fill in was some basic information about his skills, experience, and desired position.

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