Video startup quits T-Mobile’s Binge On over net neutrality concern

John Legere’s fight with EFF isn’t winning him many new fans.

(credit: T-Mobile)

T-Mobile USA today continued to face criticism of its online video zero-rating and throttling program with one small video company saying it would quit Binge On.

Slidefuse, maker of 4Stream.TV, was spurred to action in part by T-Mobile CEO John Legere insulting the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

"In light of recent events and of comments made by your CEO, John Legere, we have decided to halt our participation in Binge On and disable our traffic shaping rules for the time being," Slidefuse told T-Mobile.

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Chuwi Hi8 Pro is an 8 inch, dual-OS, Cherry Trail tablet with USB C

Chuwi Hi8 Pro is an 8 inch, dual-OS, Cherry Trail tablet with USB C

Chinse tablet maker Chuwi has a habit of offering low-cost tablets with decent specs… and occasionally the company goes all out and introduces a tablet with premium features, usually for far less money than a similar device from Samsung or Asus. The company’s newest tablet is an 8 inch model which packs an awful lot of […]

Chuwi Hi8 Pro is an 8 inch, dual-OS, Cherry Trail tablet with USB C is a post from: Liliputing

Chuwi Hi8 Pro is an 8 inch, dual-OS, Cherry Trail tablet with USB C

Chinse tablet maker Chuwi has a habit of offering low-cost tablets with decent specs… and occasionally the company goes all out and introduces a tablet with premium features, usually for far less money than a similar device from Samsung or Asus. The company’s newest tablet is an 8 inch model which packs an awful lot of […]

Chuwi Hi8 Pro is an 8 inch, dual-OS, Cherry Trail tablet with USB C is a post from: Liliputing

Freeze-dried poop pills being tested for obesity treatment

Trial will offer some of the first human data on microbe transplants and weight.

‘The freeze-dried poop method’ might not sound like a weight-loss strategy that would catch on, but—as some researchers are now testing—it may be an effective way to slim down.

In a randomized, controlled clinical trial starting this year, researchers will test out such a fecal formula for the treatment of obesity. They’ll also try to glean critical details about the human microbiome and its role in our health and metabolism. The trial, led by Elaine Yu, an assistant professor and clinical researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, will involve taking fecal samples from lean, healthy donors then freeze-drying the stool, putting a gram or two into capsules, and giving them to 20 obese patients.

Such poop-packed pills, which are designed to replace a person’s intestinal microbes with those from a donor via their feces, have proven effective at treating tenacious gut infections. This has led researchers to ponder whether the transplants could remedy other health problems, including obesity and metabolic disorders. A few animal studies and some anecdotal data in humans suggests the answer is yes—and Yu hopes to get a final answer with the upcoming trial.

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ISPs mad that FCC wants faster broadband deployment

FCC insists that US can do better, with 10 percent still lacking access.

"Seems fast enough to me." (credit: Comcast)

Broadband industry trade groups are hopping mad about a government report that says fast Internet service isn't being deployed to Americans quickly enough.

The Federal Communications Commission is required by Congress to determine annually whether broadband "is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion" and to take action to encourage deployment if the answer is negative. The FCC's latest report finds that access to broadband—defined as 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream—has improved significantly but still isn't reaching the whole country.

That's not what Internet service providers wanted to hear.

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Arizona lawmaker wants to make filming cops a crime—if you’re too close

“You can film, but you’ve got to stay back 20 feet.”

(credit: Tony Webster)

Kavanagh. (credit: gage Skidmore)

An Arizona lawmaker is proposing legislation to make it a crime to get too close to the police to film them in action. The proposal from Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh, which includes penalties of a $300 fine and up to six months in jail, comes as lawmakers nationwide grapple with a new YouTube society of sorts. In light of high-profile incidents, filming the police has become a routine endeavor.

Last year, a Texas lawmaker proposed similar legislation but scrapped it following widespread opposition. Colorado and California went to other extremes, approving measures protecting the public from police retaliation for filming them. For their part, police officers across the nation are taking to body cameras to fulfill filming goals as well.

"Basically what this law says is if the officer is engaged in law enforcement activity, so he's making an arrest or he's questioning a suspicious person, you can film, but you've got to stay back 20 feet," Kavanagh told The Associated Press. "The reason being when you get closer, you become a distraction, the officer doesn't know if you're a threat, and that jeopardizes everybody's safety, including the officer."

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Misfit built a fitness tracker into Bluetooth earbuds

Misfit built a fitness tracker into Bluetooth earbuds

Say you like the idea of a gadget that can track you steps… but you don’t really want to have one strapped to your wrist or clipped to your clothing all day. Misfit’s latest activity tracker isn’t meant to be worn all day… just when you’re listening to music (or podcasts, or whatever). The Misfit […]

Misfit built a fitness tracker into Bluetooth earbuds is a post from: Liliputing

Misfit built a fitness tracker into Bluetooth earbuds

Say you like the idea of a gadget that can track you steps… but you don’t really want to have one strapped to your wrist or clipped to your clothing all day. Misfit’s latest activity tracker isn’t meant to be worn all day… just when you’re listening to music (or podcasts, or whatever). The Misfit […]

Misfit built a fitness tracker into Bluetooth earbuds is a post from: Liliputing

NY requires 300Mbps speeds from Charter in TWC merger condition

Charter seeking to become nation’s second biggest ISP with merger.

(credit: Ildar Sagdejev)

Charter gained approval of its Time Warner Cable acquisition from New York state regulators today in exchange for providing 300Mbps speeds to all customers by 2019 and continuation of a cheap (but very slow) entry-level Internet service.

The state Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to approve the merger today, the Times Union of Albany reported. Charter's proposed $56.7 billion acquisition of TWC still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, but Charter had to gain approval for license transfers in states where TWC operates as well. TWC is also headquartered in New York City.

TWC already offers 300Mbps speeds in New York City and other major metro areas, and the combined company would have to offer that speed throughout its New York service area under the merger approval. TWC charges $64.99 a month for its 300Mbps downstream and 20Mbps upstream package in New York City, though that price is only good for the first 12 months a customer has service.

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Movie Studios Target Torrent users Over Leaked Screeners

Hollywood studios have sent thousands of warnings to Internet subscribers whose connections were used to share leaked DVD screeners. The warnings have no immediate consequences for the affected subscribers but are meant to deter pirates from sharing the high profile leaks.

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

hatefIn recent weeks more than a dozen high quality screener copies leaked online, including The Big Short and The Hateful Eight.

Most of the leaks originated from release group Hive-CM8. The group promised to leak 40 screeners but stopped at 14, after offering an apology in release notes last week.

Apology or not, the FBI is still trying to catch the perpetrators and has already traced The Hateful Eight leak back to a Hollywood executive.

Various movie companies have also started to issue takedown requests to various websites in the hope that this will prevent at least some people from downloading their films without permission. And it doesn’t stop there.

Over the past few days the movie studios have also sent out a flurry of takedown notices targeted at individual BitTorrent users. TorrentFreak has seen several notices, which all come in the standard format.

Through its anti-piracy partner IP-Echelon, Paramount Pictures instructs Internet providers to ensure that the account holder associated with the infringing IP-address stops the unauthorized distribution.

“We are requesting your immediate assistance in removing and disabling access to the infringing material from your network. We also ask that you ensure the user and/or IP address owner refrains from future use and sharing of Paramount materials and property,” the notices read.

Paramount targets downloaders of DVD screeners of both The Big Short and Anomalisa. Roadshow Films uses the same messages to contact subscribers who allegedly pirated The Hateful Eight.

Notice for The Big Short screener

bigshortnotice

Twentieth Century Fox is working with Irdeto to track down and report people who share “Joy” screeners and instructs Internet providers to relay the alerts to the associated account holders.

“These are serious offenses which could lead to legal consequences for the account holder,” the warnings read.

In addition, the notice suggests that ISPs may want to take additional measures such as disconnecting the accounts of repeat infringers, or they could be held liable as well.

The language in the notices is similar to other DMCA notices that are commonly sent out. Despite the stark warnings, the studios in question are not known to go after individual downloaders.

Instead, the companies hope that the warnings will deter some from downloading similar leaks in the future.

Whether that will have any effect has yet to be seen. Popular screeners such as The Hateful Eight and The Big Short have been downloaded million of times already and remain quite popular.

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

Uber to encrypt rider geo-location data, pay $20,000 to settle NY privacy flap

Remember when Uber showed off its “God View” of riders?

(credit: Uber)

On Thursday, Uber settled with New York state authorities, paying a $20,000 fine to end investigations into two data breach incidents from 2014 and 2015.

The first was in October 2014, when Valleywag reported on Uber’s real-time "God View" map of 30 of its "notable users" at a launch party in Chicago. One of those users on the map found out he was being tracked when an attendee of the party began texting him his Uber car's exact location. The following month, an Uber executive suggested that the company begin hiring opposition research to target journalists who reported unfavorably on the company.

The second incident, from February 2015, was when the company alerted the New York Attorney General to a data breach incident from months earlier. That resulted in 50,000 driver’s license numbers and driver names being stolen.

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Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12th

Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12th

Windows 10 may ship with the shiny new Edge web browser, but it also includes Internet Explorer 11, which makes sense since there are some features that aren’t yet supported by Edge, like extensions. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari have all eaten away at Internet Explorer’s market share in recent years. But there are still millions […]

Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12th is a post from: Liliputing

Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12th

Windows 10 may ship with the shiny new Edge web browser, but it also includes Internet Explorer 11, which makes sense since there are some features that aren’t yet supported by Edge, like extensions. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari have all eaten away at Internet Explorer’s market share in recent years. But there are still millions […]

Microsoft ends support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12th is a post from: Liliputing