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The Furi FLX1 is a $499 smartphone from with a 6.6 inch FHD+ 120 Hz IPS LCD display, a MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 50MP primary camera. Basically it has the specs of a mid-range Android phone, but instead of An…
The Furi FLX1 is a $499 smartphone from with a 6.6 inch FHD+ 120 Hz IPS LCD display, a MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 50MP primary camera. Basically it has the specs of a mid-range Android phone, but instead of Android this phone ships with a Linux-based operating […]
The post Lilbits: Furi FLX1 Linux smartphone, Tile’s new Bluetooth trackers, and Haiki OS R1 Beta 5 appeared first on Liliputing.
The Jarratt, Virginia, plant is now closed indefinitely.
Enlarge / A recall notice is posted next to Boar's Head meats that are displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024, in San Rafael, California. (credit: Getty | Justin Sullivan)
The Boar's Head deli-meat plant at the epicenter of a nationwide Listeria outbreak that killed nine people so far harbored the deadly germ in a common area of the facility deemed "low risk" for Listeria. Further, it had no written plans to prevent cross-contamination of the dangerous bacteria to other products and areas. That's according to a federal document newly released by Boar's Head.
On Friday, the company announced that it is indefinitely closing that Jarratt, Virginia-based plant and will never again produce liverwurst—the product that Maryland health investigators first identified as the source of the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. The finding led to the recall of more than 7 million pounds of Boar's Head meat. The Jarratt plant, where the company's liverwurst is made, has been shuttered since late July amid the investigation into how the outbreak occurred.
In the September 13 update, Boar's Head explained that:
TikTok’s survival in the US may depend on an appeals court ruling this December.
Enlarge / Andrew J. Pincus, attorney for TikTok and ByteDance, leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman US Court House with members of his legal team as the U.S. Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in the case TikTok Inc. v. Merrick Garland on September 16 in Washington, DC. (credit: Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images News)
The fight to keep TikTok operating unchanged in the US reached an appeals court Monday, where TikTok and US-based creators teamed up to defend one of the world's most popular apps from a potential US ban.
TikTok lawyer Andrew Pincus kicked things off by warning a three-judge panel that a law targeting foreign adversaries that requires TikTok to divest from its allegedly China-controlled owner, ByteDance, is "unprecedented" and could have "staggering" effects on "the speech of 170 million Americans."
Pincus argued that the US government was "for the first time in history" attempting to ban speech by a specific US speaker—namely, TikTok US, the US-based entity that allegedly curates the content that Americans see on the app.
Apple often launches Macs and iPads in October, after the iPhone dust settles.
Enlarge / Apple's M3 Max-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro. New Pro laptops and some desktops could be on tap for later this fall. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)
Apple's newest iPhones and Apple Watches don't come out until later this week, but the rumor mill is already indicating that Apple is planning a product announcement for October to refresh some of the products that didn't get a mention at the iPhone event. Apple scheduled its release calendar similarly last year, when it announced and released new iPhones in September and then launched the first wave of M3 Macs around Halloween.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes that the event will mainly focus on the first wave of Macs with M4 processors, following the standard M4's introduction in the iPad Pro earlier this year. As he has reported previously, he expects new MacBook Pro models with the M4 and "pro-level M4 chip options," presumably the M4 Pro and M4 Max. He also expects an M4 version of the 24-inch iMac.
But the most interesting of the new Macs will still be the redesigned Mac mini, which hasn't gotten an M3 update at all and has been using the same basic external design since 2010. This Mac mini is said to be closer in size to the Apple TV than the current mini, but still uses an internal power supply so that owners won't have to wrangle a power brick. At least some of the current device's ports will be replaced by USB-C and/or Thunderbolt ports, something that MacRumors apparently confirmed earlier today when they found a reference to an "Apple silicon Mac mini (5 ports)" in an Apple software update (some of those ports are reportedly on the front of the device, a nice Mac Studio design upgrade that I'd like to see on a new Mac mini).
Starlink and X treated as one economic group, forcing both to pay X fines.
Enlarge / Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro participate in an event in the central area of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 7, 2024. Bolsonaro backers called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. (credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto )
Brazil seized about $2 million from a Starlink bank account and another $1.3 million from X to collect on fines issued to Elon Musk's social network, the country's Supreme Court announced Friday.
Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes previously froze the accounts of both companies, treating them as the same de facto economic group because both are controlled by Musk. The Starlink and X bank accounts were unfrozen last week after the money transfers ordered by de Moraes.
Two banks carried out orders to transfer the money from Starlink and X to Brazil's government. "After the payment of the full amount that was owed, the justice (de Moraes) considered there was no need to keep the bank accounts frozen and ordered the immediate unfreezing of bank accounts/financial assets," the court said, as quoted by The Associated Press.
A future iOS update may be needed to unlock better Apple-to-Android messages.
Enlarge / Illustration of a person who refuses to check their iPhone's messages until RCS is enabled on their MVNO carrier, out of respect for their Android-toting friends and family. (credit: Getty Images)
The future of inter-OS mobile messaging is here, it's just unevenly distributed.
With iOS 18, Apple has made it possible for non-Apple phones to message with iPhones through Rich Communication Services (RCS). This grants upgrades from standard SMS text messages, like read receipts, easier and higher-quality media sending, typing indicators, and emoji/response compatibility. More than that, it allows for messaging while on Wi-Fi without cellular services and makes group messages far less painful to navigate and leave. Notably, RCS messages between iPhones and non-iPhones will not be encrypted, like Apple's private iMessage service available exclusively between Apple devices.
iOS 18 makes these RCS upgrades possible, but certainly not guaranteed, at least as of today. Lots of people have already been enjoying cross-platform RCS messaging when texting with iOS 18 beta users. And iPhones on the big carriers' plans can now trade RCS with Android users. But some iPhone users, particularly on MVNOs—typically pre-paid services that do not own network hardware but resell major carrier access—do not have an RCS option available to them yet.
Earlier this year, a Hawaiian district court blocked movie companies’ efforts to unmask alleged BitTorrent pirates using a DMCA subpoena ‘shortcut’. The filmmakers requested the court to reconsider its position, but without success. Undeterred, the filmmakers are now petitioning the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review the lower court’s findings.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Tracking BitTorrent pirates isn’t all that hard since IP addresses are openly broadcasted. With help from Internet providers, these addresses can then be linked to account holders.
ISPs don’t hand over this data voluntarily; they typically require a subpoena or court order before taking action.
In the United States, subpoenas are typically obtained by filing a copyright complaint in federal court against a “John Doe” who’s known only by an IP address. Most of these cases are filed against a single person, which makes it a relatively expensive process.
In recent years, some rightsholders have used a shortcut to bypass this costly process. Drawing inspiration from the RIAA’s early efforts to identify music pirates in the early 2000s, they use the DMCA subpoena process to obtain the personal details of suspected copyright infringers.
Unlike regular subpoenas, the DMCA equivalents are not reviewed by a judge and only require a signature from the court clerk. While several courts effectively banned the practice two decades ago, more recent attempts cite fresh interpretations and conflicting case law to support their requests.
Many courts granted these new requests, which required Internet providers to identify hundreds, if not thousands of alleged pirates.
Most of these recent DMCA subpoenas progressed quietly, with little fanfare or pushback. That changed last year when a Cox subscriber, suspected of pirating the movie Fall, filed an objection in court.
The objection prompted Cox Communications to intervene. The Internet provider decided to challenge the use of the DMCA subpoena tool, as detailed in DMCA §512(h). Similar to the earlier opposition against RIAA’s attempts, the ISP argued that DMCA subpoenas don’t apply to mere conduit providers, as defined under § 512(a).
Earlier this year, a district court judge in Hawaii sided with Cox. The court ruled that DMCA subpoenas don’t apply to mere conduit services, but do apply to other providers that store or link to infringing content directly. As such, the movie companies’ request for a subpoena was denied.
The rightsholders in this matter, film companies Voltage Holdings, Millennium Funding, and Capstone Studios, swiftly submitted a motion for reconsideration. Among other things, they countered that ISPs are not just ‘mere conduits’, since they can remove or disable ‘references or links’ to infringing content.
The Hawaii district court reviewed the opposition, but eventually ruled that the ‘DMCA shortcut’ will remain closed.
The movie companies are not letting this issue go that easily. A few days ago, they filed a petition at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the district court’s interpretation of the DMCA was overly narrow and hinders their efforts to combat online piracy.
The 81-page petition presents a wide array of arguments. The movie studios argue that the district court’s interpretation, which relies on dated precedents, doesn’t reflect the realities of the modern Internet. They note that ISPs do play a role in facilitating piracy, even if indirectly, and should be subject to DMCA subpoenas.
“A careful reading of the full text of 17 U.S.C. §512 leads to the unquestionable conclusion that Congress intended for DMCA subpoenas to apply to §512(a) service providers despite the contrary conclusions of Verizon and Charter,” the petition reads.
The appeal touches on various DMCA nuances and how these have been interpreted by courts. Ultimately, two key questions are presented.
First, whether DMCA subpoenas can apply to residential ISPs under §512(a) and second, can ISPs be seen as information location tools. These fall under §512(d), which could make an ISP subject to DMCA subpoenas.
(1) Can a valid subpoena under 17 U.S.C. §512(h) be issued commanding a §512(a) residential Internet service provider (“ISP”) to identify subscribers that use the ISP’s service to share copies of pirated copyright protected content online to the entire world via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network?
(2) Is a residential ISP a provider of information location tools as defined in §512(d) when it provides a subscriber with customer premise equipment (modems and/or residential gateways) and assigns the subscriber an Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses and links other users to the subscribers’ assigned IP addresses where the subscriber shares pirated copies of copyright protected Works via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network?
The first question zooms in on the statutory language of the DMCA which, according to the movie companies, suggests that Congress intended DMCA subpoenas to apply to ‘mere conduit’ providers too.
For example, it mentions that §512(e) of the DMCA, which applies to educational institutions, explicitly conditions that a §512(a) service provider should not receive more than two §512(c)(3)(A) notifications within three years.
The District Court, however, concluded that these notifications don’t apply to §512(a) providers because there is no material to take down. That’s a clear conflict, the movie companies note.
The second key question is whether ISPs such as Cox operate as information location tools under §512(d). That would make DMCA subpoenas a valid instrument as well. The petition argues that this applies directly to Cox.
“Cox assigns the IP addresses that are used by its subscribers to share pirated copies of Fall online. Cox links other users to the online location to obtain copies of Fall when it routes their data to and from that IP address. Accordingly, Cox is a §512(d) service provider.”
To support this angle, the rightsholders add that Cox can take technical measures in response to infringing activity.
“Cox can use measures to disable the link to the infringing material such as null routing the IP addresses, blocking the ports associated with BitTorrent activity from the subscribers’ endpoint, or filtering the BitTorrent content from the subscriber’s endpoint,” the petitions reads.
The above is just a brief overview of some of the angles, questions, and arguments laid out in the petition. Much of it goes into great detail on the various DMCA sections, how these are linked, and what that means for the present case.
Whether the court agrees that there’s a statutory conflict has yet to be seen. However, the stakes are significant. If rightsholders can identify alleged pirates more easily, enforcement will likely ramp up.
Cox has yet to respond to the appeal. When it does, the ISP’s response will likely be mindful of the Supreme Court petition it filed in a separate copyright-related case, where a jury held the ISP liable for pirating subscribers.
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A copy of the petition, filed by Voltage Holdings, Millennium Funding, and Capstone Studios is available here (pdf).
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
The plug-in hybrid powertrain is pleasant, but the infotainment can irritate.
Enlarge / It's a somewhat pricey plug-in hybrid, but it's also quite competent. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
Arguably, some of Lexus' greatest innovations have been in its product strategy as much as any technology to emerge from its R&D labs. When it launched in 1989, it was with the idea that a car could combine Japanese reliability with the luxury and power expected from a big German sedan. A few years later the RX basically invented the crossover category with SUV-like looks but with fewer of the handling compromises.
I'll be frank—I haven't always jelled with those crossovers. During the last couple of years we tested both the RX 500h F Sport, which I didn't find that sporty or particularly efficient, and the battery-electric RZ 450e, which left me very cold. Third time is evidently the charm, because I got on much better with the topic of today's review, the RX 450h+ Luxury, to give it its full name.
This is Lexus' plug-in hybrid version—the 500h carries a much smaller battery that only recharges as the car drives. In fact, it's the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as that found in the smaller, cheaper NX crossover, combining a 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine and a pair of electric motors fed by an 18.1 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Total power output is 304 hp (227 kW), but Lexus has declined to publish a combined torque figure or any outputs for the electric motors.
Collection of 50 new ’80s-era game concepts brims with originality, care, and joy.
Enlarge / Just some of the inventive character designs included in UFO 50. (credit: Mossmouth)
UFO 50 captures that feeling perfectly, combining the freewheeling inventiveness of old-school game design with modern refinements and more consistent baseline quality bred over the ensuing decades. The result is an extremely playable love letter to the gaming history that will charm even the most jaded retro game fan.
UFO 50 presents itself as a collection of 50 dusty game cartridges made by UFO Soft, a fictional developer that operated from 1982 to 1989. Working through the company's catalog, you'll see evolution in graphics, music, and gameplay design that mirror the ever-changing gaming market of the real-world '80s. You'll also see the same characters, motifs, and credited "developers" appearing over and over again, building a convincing world behind the games themselves.
The individual games in UFO 50 definitely wear their influences on their sleeves, with countless, almost overt homages to specific '80s arcade and console games. But there isn't a single title here that I'd consider a simple clone or knock-off of an old gaming concept; each sub-game brings its own twist or novel idea that makes it feel new.
Security updates without the headaches for the risk-averse (and bug-averse).
Today is the official release date for the public versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, and a scad of other Apple software updates, the foundation that Apple will use for Apple Intelligence and whatever other features it wants to add between now and next year's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. But for those who value stability and reliability over new features, you may not be excited to update to a new operating system with a version number ending in "0."
For those of you who prefer to wait for a couple of bugfix updates before installing new stuff, Apple is also releasing security-only updates for a bunch of its (now) last-generation operating systems today. The iOS 17.7, iPadOS 17.7, and macOS 14.7 updates are either available now or should be shortly, along with a security update for 2022's macOS 13 Ventura, and an updated version of Safari 18 that runs on both macOS 13 and 14.
Apple has historically been pretty good about providing security updates to older macOS releases—you can expect them for about two years after the operating system is replaced by a newer version. But for iOS and iPadOS, the company used to stop updating older versions entirely after releasing a new one. This changed back in 2021, when Apple decided to start providing some security-only updates to older iOS versions to help people who were worried about installing an all-new potentially buggy OS upgrade.
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