Steal This Show S01E14: KickassTorrents Down!

Today we bring you the next episode of the Steal This Show podcast, discussing the shutdown of KickassTorrent following a criminal complaint from the United States Government. Our guests are Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde, isoHunt founder Gary Fung and U.S. Pirate Party chairman Andrew Norton.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

stslogoThe alleged owner of KickassTorrents was arrested last week, to be extradited from Poland to the United States. The site – at least the original version – remains offline.

In this episode of STEAL THIS SHOW, we invite Peter Sunde, co-founder of The Pirate Bay, Andrew Norton, US Pirate Party chairman, and Gary Fung, founder of isoHunt, to discuss this critical event, its significance for the torrent community, and implications for the world of P2P.

We discuss the propriety of extraordinary rendition for copyright crime, the question of how much money pirates are really making, and how the anti-P2P agenda is leading to further decentralisation. Kickass Torrents, we learn, is just one head of the many-headed hydra.

Steal This Show aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary and analysis.

The guests for our news discussions will vary and we’ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the great innovators and minds.

Host: Jamie King

Guests: Peter Sunde, Gary Fung and Andrew Norton.

Produced by Jamie King
Edited & Mixed by Riley Byrne
Original Music by David Triana
Web Production by Siraje Amarniss

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Mini John Cooper Works goes back to the original Cooper works

We take the most powerful Mini ever back to where the Mini Cooper was born in the 1950s.

It’s drizzling as I roll into the south-west London suburb of Surbiton, and every so often the automatic wipers on the Mini John Cooper Works I'm driving spring into life to sweep drops of water from the screen. It’s early, and the town is barely awake yet. But even as the pavements start to fill with Suburbiton commuters bustling between newsagents, big-chain coffee shops, and railway station, one part of the town remains empty and ignored. Yet that’s the place I’ve come here to see.

The new generation Mini JCW is named after the man whose vision and no-nonsense organisation created the Cooper racing cars that changed the face of Formula 1 motor racing in the 1950s, and the Mini Coopers that livened up 1960s circuit racing and rallying. So I’ve come to Surbiton—where the Cooper Car Company was based—to find the building that was the original works. From there I’ll head off in search of the greatest of the JCW’s distant ancestors.

First, to find the place where it all started. The Mini’s infotainment controller is on the console between the front seats, where the big rotary control is easy to reach and operate. Navigating the main mode buttons nearby is less easy; until you memorise the position of each one, you have to look down to choose between media, radio, phone, and nav. All set, the Mini navigates me precisely through the thick Surbiton traffic to the junction of Hollyfield Road and Ewell Road where the Cooper works stands. And it’s a bit of a disappointment.

Read 20 remaining paragraphs | Comments

SSD: Crucial erweitert MX300-Serie um 275, 525 und 1.050 GByte

Bisher war sie nur mit 750 GByte Kapazität erhältlich: Crucial hat die MX300-SSD mit 275 und 525 GByte sowie mit 1 TByte Speicherplatz im 2,5-Zoll-Formfaktor vorgestellt; die M.2-Varianten folgen. (Crucial, Speichermedien)

Bisher war sie nur mit 750 GByte Kapazität erhältlich: Crucial hat die MX300-SSD mit 275 und 525 GByte sowie mit 1 TByte Speicherplatz im 2,5-Zoll-Formfaktor vorgestellt; die M.2-Varianten folgen. (Crucial, Speichermedien)

Shroud of the Avatar: Neustart der Ultima-ähnlichen Fantasywelt

Lord British drückt in den nächsten Tagen den Reset-Knopf: Dem Rollenspiel Shroud of the Avatar steht ein Neubeginn bevor. Anschließend soll das MMORPG eine dauerhaft laufende Fantasywelt bieten. (Shroud of the Avatar, MMORPG)

Lord British drückt in den nächsten Tagen den Reset-Knopf: Dem Rollenspiel Shroud of the Avatar steht ein Neubeginn bevor. Anschließend soll das MMORPG eine dauerhaft laufende Fantasywelt bieten. (Shroud of the Avatar, MMORPG)

AT&T to lead robocall “strike force”—after claiming it can’t block them

Industry might finally take stronger action against robocalls after FCC demands.

It seems Ars readers are not ready to welcome our new IoT overlords. (credit: peyri)

AT&T has agreed to lead an "industry strike force" to limit robocalls, just a couple of months after its CEO claimed there's just about nothing it can do to block unwanted calls.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in May that his company doesn't have "permission" or "the appropriate authority" to block robocalls, even though the Federal Communications Commission clearly stated last year that carriers have the "green light" to offer robocall-blocking services to cell phone users. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler last week urged carriers to "offer call-blocking services to their customers now—at no cost to [consumers]," and AT&T has dropped its previous reluctance in response.

In a post titled "Answering the call on robocalling," AT&T Senior VP Bob Quinn yesterday said that Stephenson will chair the new "Robocalling Strike Force, the mission of which will be to accelerate the development and adoption of new tools and solutions to abate the proliferation of robocalls and to make recommendations to the FCC on the role government can play in this battle."

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone launches for $299

BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone launches for $299

BlackBerry’s second Android phone is now available for pre-order. The official launch was spoiled a bit by a premature leak, but the BlackBerry DTEK50 should begin shipping in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe in a few weeks.

The phone is available from the BlackBerry Shop for $299.

As expected, the phone is much more affordable than last year’s BlackBerry Priv smartphone, and seems to be aimed at mid-range smartphone shoppers rather than those looking for a premium device.

Continue reading BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone launches for $299 at Liliputing.

BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone launches for $299

BlackBerry’s second Android phone is now available for pre-order. The official launch was spoiled a bit by a premature leak, but the BlackBerry DTEK50 should begin shipping in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe in a few weeks.

The phone is available from the BlackBerry Shop for $299.

As expected, the phone is much more affordable than last year’s BlackBerry Priv smartphone, and seems to be aimed at mid-range smartphone shoppers rather than those looking for a premium device.

Continue reading BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone launches for $299 at Liliputing.

Spielekonsole: In Nintendos NX stecken Nvidias Tegra und Cartridges

Mehrere Entwicklerstudios haben bestätigt, dass in den Dev-Kits des Nintendo NX ein Tegra-X1-Chip von Nvidia rechnet. Der NX soll ein Handheld mit abnehmbaren Controllern und Cartridge-Modulen sein, der sich angedockt in eine stationäre Konsole verwandelt. (Nintendo NX, Tegra)

Mehrere Entwicklerstudios haben bestätigt, dass in den Dev-Kits des Nintendo NX ein Tegra-X1-Chip von Nvidia rechnet. Der NX soll ein Handheld mit abnehmbaren Controllern und Cartridge-Modulen sein, der sich angedockt in eine stationäre Konsole verwandelt. (Nintendo NX, Tegra)

Market doesn’t justify reusable launchers, expendable rocket makers argue

So what if SpaceX and Blue Origin are launching and landing. Can they profit?

Screen grab of the resuable rocket panel discussion. From left: Dan Dumbacher, Gary Payton, Doug Bradley, Ben Goldnerg and Tom Markusic. (credit: AIAA/LiveStream)

The US government and some of its major aerospace contractors have tried to tackle the problem of reusable rockets and spacecraft for several decades, from the DC-X to the space shuttle, with mixed success. Even after spending hundreds of billions of dollars on these technologies in development and flight costs, neither the government nor its traditional aerospace contractors have mastered the art of flying vehicles to space, recovering them, and turning them around for new missions quickly and at low cost.

During the last half year, however, both SpaceX and Blue Origin have begun to demonstrate these capabilities. Although much work remains to be done, Blue Origin has already flown a suborbital rocket four times, in relatively short order, with low turnaround costs. And SpaceX has recovered five orbital rockets at land and sea and expects to refly at least one of them later this year.

Monday evening in Salt Lake City, some aerospace industry officials sat down to discuss this new development. The panel at an American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics forum on propulsion had a provocative title, “Launch Vehicle Reusability: Holy Grail, Chasing Our Tail, or Somewhere in Between?"

Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The case of the vanishing pandemic: Deadly bird flu flies the coop in the US

Scientists puzzled by disappearance, but think lack of vaccination may be key.

(credit: Getty Images | PRAKASH SINGH)

In November of 2014, a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu from Eurasia called H5N2 landed in North America—in a Canadian turkey farm east of Vancouver, to be exact. From there, the virus quickly spread and mutated into new varieties, including H5N1, fanning fears it would vault to humans and cause a deadly pandemic. By March of 2015, it and its kin had swooped into 15 US states, causing 248 outbreaks in domestic birds and $5 billion worth of damages to poultry operations.

Then, it vanished.

“It’s very good news,” Robert Webster, prominent influenza expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, told Ars. He and colleagues published surveillance data in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday that shows the swift and unexpected disappearing act by the noxious germ. But, he added, “it’s a mystery where it went.”

Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Report: Nintendo’s NX is a Tegra-powered HDTV/portable hybrid

Cartridge-based system will reportedly sport two detachable controllers.

A concept illustration shared by Eurogamer's Tom Phillips shows how the NX's reported detachable controllers would work. (credit: Tom Phillips / Twitter)

As we approach the planned March 2017 launch of Nintendo's still-mysterious NX, a new report adds weight to some earlier rumors that the system will be a standalone portable with the ability to plug into an HDTV.

Eurogamer cites "a number of sources" in reporting that the system will have a built-in screen that is "bookended by two controller sections on either side, which can be attached or detached as required." The brains of the portable system can then reportedly be plugged into "a base unit, or dock station" for display and play on an HDTV.

Eurogamer's sources suggest the system will be powered by Nvidia's mobile-focused Tegra line of processors. Development kits are reportedly built around the Tegra X1, which powers tablets like the Google Pixel C and Nvidia's Shield Android TV console. That kind of hardware should be capable of decent 1080p HD graphics, but it definitely won't be a match for the kind of performance found on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 (not to mention the upcoming hardware refreshes announced for both of those platforms). On the other hand, the power-sipping Tegra chip should be effective at extending the system's battery life when it's being used as a portable and should help keep costs for the system relatively low.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments