Oliver Stone’s Snowden looks like the greatest techno-thriller ever

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this trailer feels exciting but lacks technical accuracy.

Trailer for Snowden.

When the drama around NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was unfolding, it felt like watching an incredible spy movie. So it's no surprise that Oliver Stone, a master of political thrillers, is turning the real-life version of Snowden's experiences into a movie that feels—at least in the trailer—as tense and exciting as the latest Mission Impossible installment. Which is good but also means that you'll need to forgive this movie for its unrealistic tech tropes.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, Looper) does a pitch-perfect impression of Snowden as a patriotic geek with smartass tendencies. Injured during military training, he sets his sights on intelligence work, where he scores off the charts on every task the government throws at him. And then one night, one of his fellow intelligence geeks shows him a tool that they can use to spy on everyone in the country. As Snowden has a crisis of conscience, we're treated to one of those classic "hacking scene" moments where a nonexistent piece of software behaves in ways that make no sense, swirling around and showing us random pieces of private data from all the social networks ever. I know, I know. This is not how it happened. Just go with it.

Probably the best part of the trailer, which captures both the serious and mischievous sides of Snowden, is when we see him sneaking data out of the NSA contractor where he works by hiding it on an SD card inside a Rubik's Cube. Then we see a rapid-fire series of scenes where the stakes get higher, Snowen meets with Glenn Greenwald (played by Zachary Quinto, AKA Spock), and the tension mounts as blinky lights illuminate everybody's faces. It's satisfying to see events that aroused so much passion around the world translated into an emotionally gripping story. But "story" is the operative term here. Stone, who co-wrote the film, has taken a lot of liberties to turn this tale of people typing and talking into a suspenseful drama.

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A Comcastic miracle: Data caps will go from 300GB to a terabyte

Going over the cap will be harder, but also more expensive.

Comcast today announced that it will boost its data cap from 300GB per month to 1TB beginning June 1, but will also charge more to customers who want unlimited data.

Comcast has been trialling different caps in various cities in preparation for a potential nationwide rollout. Typically, customers would get 300GB per month and have to pay another $10 for each additional 50GB when they go over. Comcast also allowed customers to pay an extra $30 to $35 a month for unlimited data, depending on the city.

After the June 1 change, fewer customers will need to buy unlimited data—but it will cost them $50 a month to do so instead of $30 or $35. Overage fees will stay the same, $10 for each additional 50GB. Thus far, Comcast has allowed customers to exceed the cap in three "courtesy months" before charging them overage fees.

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Researchers evolve new toxin to target agricultural pests

Amazing biotechnology creates a backup to current insect-killing GMO crops.

The dread cabbage looper. (credit: Peggy Greb/USDA)

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops have been one of the most successful applications of genetic engineering in agriculture. The crops carry a gene that encodes a bacterial protein that kills insects that ingest it. While it's possible to spray crops with the Bt toxin instead, farms that rely on Bt GMO crops are more profitable, have higher productivity, and use less pesticides.

Unfortunately, evolution isn't sitting still, and Bt-resistant insects are beginning to become a problem. While scientists are developing new crops with other Bt genes and farmers can adopt agricultural practices that limit the risk of resistance, some researchers decided to short-circuit the whole process. In a new paper, they figured out how to evolve a completely new Bt toxin in a virus that infects bacteria and showed that it was effective in killing insects.

The basics of Bt

The researchers' work highlights the importance of basic, fundamental research—while a handful of the research team worked at Monsanto, two-thirds came from various academic institutions. And the work relies on some basic information that's not essential to using Bt in GMOs.

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Ready, set, litigate: Judge sets time limits for Oracle v. Google rematch

Jury may see a whirlwind of dozens of witnesses in a few short weeks.

Was Android built the right way? For the second, a jury will weigh in. (credit: Illustration by Aurich Lawson)

SAN FRANCISCO—Lawyers for Google and Oracle fought over the final details of their upcoming copyright trial today, debating issues of courtroom technology, time limits, and what type of evidence jurors will see.

Oracle sued Google in 2010 for violating its copyright because the search giant used parts of 37 Java APIs in creating its Android operating system. Oracle acquired Java when it purchased Sun.

Oracle lawyer Peter Bicks pleaded for more time, saying that US District Judge William Alsup's original time limit of 12 hours of evidence per side for a "liability phase" and seven hours each for a possible "damages phase" isn't long enough for the company to make its case.

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Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Rumors have been making the rounds that at least one of Google’s next-gen Nexus devices could be built by HTC. Now expert leaker Evan Blass says that “HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google” which are code-named M1 and S1.

Website Android Police quickly followed up with a few more details, and WinFuture.de blogger Roland Quandt spotted some benchmark results that tell us a little more.

So if all of these leaks are accurate, here’s what we know:

  • HTC is developing two devices for Google, which could be upcoming Nexus phones, tablets, or other products.

Continue reading Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1) at Liliputing.

Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1)

Rumors have been making the rounds that at least one of Google’s next-gen Nexus devices could be built by HTC. Now expert leaker Evan Blass says that “HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google” which are code-named M1 and S1.

Website Android Police quickly followed up with a few more details, and WinFuture.de blogger Roland Quandt spotted some benchmark results that tell us a little more.

So if all of these leaks are accurate, here’s what we know:

  • HTC is developing two devices for Google, which could be upcoming Nexus phones, tablets, or other products.

Continue reading Reports: HTC working on two Google Nexus devices (S1 and M1) at Liliputing.

Report: HTC to build the next Nexus devices, codenamed Marlin and Sailfish

Multiple reports give us the first details on new Nexus devices.

HTC's latest smartphone, the HTC 10. Nexus devices usually have a lot in common with the OEM's latest flagship. (credit: Ron Amadeo)

The Nexus line has a long history of fish-inspired device code names, and these code names have an equally long history of leaking via rumors and AOSP commit comments. Today both Android Police and Evleaks are chiming in with details on the next Nexus phones.

Android Police nailed early Nexus rumors in 2014 with the Nexus 6 (Codenamed "Shamu") and again in 2015 with the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X (Codenamed "Angler" and "Bullhead," respectively) and today they're introducing us to "Marlin" and "Sailfish," two HTC-built Nexus devices. The names come from sources Android Police isn't sharing, but "Marlin" was actually mentioned in an AOSP commit by a Qualcomm engineer. This all but confirms the device exists as some kind of Nexus product. Qualcomm's involvement points to the device having a Snapdragon 820 SoC.

Scoring the Nexus contract would be a big deal for HTC. With the excellent HTC Vive VR headset and the revamped HTC 10 smartphone, the company has been on a bit of a resurgence.

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Report: In 2006, a VW executive suggested adding illegal software to diesels

Memos show that the company’s top brass were expecting quiet negotiations.

(credit: Thomas Hawk)

According to a report from The New York Times, slides from a 2006 presentation suggest that a "top technology executive" within Volkswagen Group detailed how the company could circumvent US auto emissions regulations by including illegal software on the German automaker’s diesel cars.

That illegal software showed up first in diesel Volkswagen and Audi models from 2009 and later and then in a handful of diesel Audi and Porsche SUV models. The US Environmental Protection Agency cited VW Group for its transgression in September, leading to a huge scandal for the automaker. Last week, VW Group said it would buy back nearly 500,000 affected 2.0L engine vehicles and set aside $18 billion to deal with the buyback, the legal costs, and regulatory fines.

The Times said the 2006 presentation was discovered during the course of investigations into the company’s actions, and two anonymous sources confirmed to the paper that they had seen the slides in question. Volkswagen has maintained that its top management was unaware of the problem for years and then misunderstood the severity of the problem when it was brought to its attention in 2014.

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Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus is preparing to launch a new 12.5 inch tablet with a detachable keyboard and Windows 10 software. The upcoming Asus Transformer Book T302 is a follow-up to last year’s T300 Chi. but instead of a Core M Broadwell processor, the new model will be available with low-power Skylake chip options.

Other new features include options for up to 512GB of solid state storage and an option for a backlit keyboard.

Asus hasn’t announced when the new 2-in-1 tablet will be available, but Tablet Monkeys says the Transformer Book T302 should be available in June or July… which suggests Asus will officially launch the notebook at the Computex trade show in June.

Continue reading Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon at Liliputing.

Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon

Asus is preparing to launch a new 12.5 inch tablet with a detachable keyboard and Windows 10 software. The upcoming Asus Transformer Book T302 is a follow-up to last year’s T300 Chi. but instead of a Core M Broadwell processor, the new model will be available with low-power Skylake chip options.

Other new features include options for up to 512GB of solid state storage and an option for a backlit keyboard.

Asus hasn’t announced when the new 2-in-1 tablet will be available, but Tablet Monkeys says the Transformer Book T302 should be available in June or July… which suggests Asus will officially launch the notebook at the Computex trade show in June.

Continue reading Asus Transformer Book T302 2-in-1 tablet coming soon at Liliputing.

Child porn suspect jailed indefinitely for refusing to decrypt hard drives

Man to remain locked up “until such time that he fully complies” with court order.

(credit: Yuri Samoilov)

A Philadelphia man suspected of possessing child pornography has been in jail for seven months and counting after being found in contempt of a court order demanding that he decrypt two password-protected hard drives.

The suspect, a former Philadelphia Police Department sergeant, has not been charged with any child porn crimes. Instead, he remains indefinitely imprisoned in Philadelphia's Federal Detention Center for refusing to unlock two drives encrypted with Apple's FileVault software in a case that once again highlights the extent to which the authorities are going to crack encrypted devices. The man is to remain jailed "until such time that he fully complies" with the decryption order.

The suspect's attorney, Federal Public Defender Keith Donoghue, urged a federal appeals court on Tuesday to release his client immediately, pending the outcome of appeals. "Not only is he presently being held without charges, but he has never in his life been charged with a crime," Donoghue wrote (PDF) in his brief to the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel recently announced plans eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its entire workforce as the company shifts some of its focus from personal computers to cloud services including data centers and the Internet of Things.

Now Intel CEO Brian Kraznich is offering a little more explanation of what that means.

The company isn’t giving up on PC chips, but Kraznich says the focus is now on a wide range of cloud-connected products, which includes personal computers like laptops, tablets, and desktops.

Continue reading Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud at Liliputing.

Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud

Intel recently announced plans eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its entire workforce as the company shifts some of its focus from personal computers to cloud services including data centers and the Internet of Things.

Now Intel CEO Brian Kraznich is offering a little more explanation of what that means.

The company isn’t giving up on PC chips, but Kraznich says the focus is now on a wide range of cloud-connected products, which includes personal computers like laptops, tablets, and desktops.

Continue reading Intel: Moore’s Law is alive and well as chip maker shifts focus to the cloud at Liliputing.