Ekko’s HUB streams audio over WiFi to up to 10 speakers, headphones (crowdfunding)

Ekko’s HUB streams audio over WiFi to up to 10 speakers, headphones (crowdfunding)

Want to share some music with other people in the same room? Just turn up your speakers. Want to do it without having everyone in the room listen in… or just want to use your favorite headphones instead of the lousy speaker built into your TV? Then you might need to run a bunch of cables […]

Ekko’s HUB streams audio over WiFi to up to 10 speakers, headphones (crowdfunding) is a post from: Liliputing

Ekko’s HUB streams audio over WiFi to up to 10 speakers, headphones (crowdfunding)

Want to share some music with other people in the same room? Just turn up your speakers. Want to do it without having everyone in the room listen in… or just want to use your favorite headphones instead of the lousy speaker built into your TV? Then you might need to run a bunch of cables […]

Ekko’s HUB streams audio over WiFi to up to 10 speakers, headphones (crowdfunding) is a post from: Liliputing

Zero-rating by major ISPs “threatens open Internet,” advocates tell FCC

FCC urged to stop data cap exemptions at Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

More than 50 advocacy groups today asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop zero-rating systems implemented by Comcast, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T­-Mobile USA.

Zero-rating plans, which exempt certain content from monthly data caps, "enable ISPs to pick winners and losers online or create new tolls for websites and applications," said a letter sent to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "As a result, they present a serious threat to the Open Internet: they distort competition, thwart innovation, threaten free speech, and restrict consumer choice—all harms the rules were meant to prevent."

Letter signers included the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, MoveOn.org, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the New America’s Open Technology Institute, and the Rural Broadband Policy Group.

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A graphene patch that monitors and possibly treats diabetes

Transparent, flexible electronics conform directly to the skin.

(credit: Hui Won Yun, Seoul National University)

Diabetes is growing into a global public health crisis, one that places enormous economic burdens on many nations. Once thought of as a disease that typically strikes affluent adults, type 2 diabetes has quickly spread all over the world, indifferent to socioeconomic status or age.

Treatment of type 2 diabetes requires patients to control their blood sugar levels through a mix of dietary restrictions and medication. Unfortunately, following the progress of these efforts is not as easy as it sounds. Glucose-monitoring devices available on the market typically require the user to obtain a small blood sample that can be read to quantify the level of the sugar. A minimally or non-invasive alternative would probably help many patients stay on top of their health.

Recently, a team of scientists have designed a flexible glucose-monitoring device that conforms to the skin and is barely visible. The device contains an array of sensors that are patterned onto gold-doped graphene and connected by a gold mesh. This setup both improves the electrochemical activity of graphene and enhances the biochemical sensitivity of the system.

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Deals of the Day (3-28-2016)

Deals of the Day (3-28-2016)

Already have a PC, phone, and tablet, but on the lookout for some good deals on accessories? Today’s daily deals roundup includes some great prices on portable batteries, chargers, Blu-ray drives, routers, webcams, and more. Amazon is running some particularly good sales today, letting you pick up a Microsoft wireless mouse for as little as […]

Deals of the Day (3-28-2016) is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (3-28-2016)

Already have a PC, phone, and tablet, but on the lookout for some good deals on accessories? Today’s daily deals roundup includes some great prices on portable batteries, chargers, Blu-ray drives, routers, webcams, and more. Amazon is running some particularly good sales today, letting you pick up a Microsoft wireless mouse for as little as […]

Deals of the Day (3-28-2016) is a post from: Liliputing

Texas cops joke on Facebook about Ebola-tainted meth and net one arrest

Police say they arrested a woman after she requested they test her meth for Ebola.

A Central Texas police department issued a "breaking news alert" on Facebook, cautioning residents that meth and heroin in the Granite Shoals area "could be contaminated with the life-threatening disease Ebola." Last week's fake Facebook alert urged the public "NOT" to ingest those illicit drugs "until it has been properly checked for possible Ebola contamination" by the police department.

The ploy netted one arrest, the Granite Shoals Police Department (GSPD) reported on Facebook. A woman allegedly brought in her meth so the police department could analyze it for Ebola:

This morning, we had our first concerned citizen notify the Granite Shoals Police Department (GSPD) that they believed their methamphetamine may be tainted. Our officers gladly took the item for further testing. Results and booking photos are pending. Please continue to report any possibly tainted methamphetamine or other narcotics to the Granite Shoals Police Department. Public health and safety continue to remain our #1 priority. ‪#‎notkidding‬

For the uninitiated, there are no Ebola-contaminated drugs. The alert was a hoax played on the citizens of Granite Shoals, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Austin. But the arrest of 29-year-old Chastity Eugina Hopson is not a joke. She was accused of possessing under a gram of a controlled substance. The police department described Hopson's arrest as "the winner of the Facebook post challenge."

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Redbox may launch a new video streaming service soon, dubbed Redbox Digital

The DVD rental company could try to secure its own piece of the streaming pie.

Redbox might try its hand at online video streaming again, according to a report from Variety. "Sources familiar with the company’s plans" told the entertainment news site that Redbox is getting ready to launch a new video streaming service called Redbox Digital. One source claims that a beta testing may begin soon.

Details of the Redbox Digital are still nebulous, and the company isn't giving up any more information. A Redbox representative told Variety, “Redbox continually looks for ways to enhance our customer experience. For tens of millions of consumers, Redbox is their source for new release rentals without a subscription. As such, we regularly conduct tests of potential new offerings, that may or may not be brought to market, as part of our ongoing commitment to provide additional value.”

A few design concepts of the service have leaked, showing that Redbox Digital could offer online video rental and purchase options that would be integrated with Redbox's current video offerings. The store would be accessed through Redbox's website through the "Digital" tab, and users could earn "Play Pass" points on each rental or purchase through the company's existing loyalty program. Pricing information isn't certain, but the design renders show different prices for standard-definition video rentals and purchases compared to HD content. Reports also suggest that this service would be integrated into Redbox's mobile apps and compatible streaming devices such as Rokus and Chromecasts, which would make it easier to watch Redbox content from all kinds of devices.

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Unfallgefahr: New Jersey überlegt Strafen für abgelenkte Smartphone-Nutzer

Im US-Bundesstaat Hawaii denkt man schon länger darüber nach, Fußgänger zu bestrafen, die beim Überqueren der Straße Kurznachrichten auf ihrem Smartphone schreiben. Jetzt wird dies auch in New Jersey diskutiert. Die angedachten Strafen sind teilweise recht hoch. (Smartphone, Handy)

Im US-Bundesstaat Hawaii denkt man schon länger darüber nach, Fußgänger zu bestrafen, die beim Überqueren der Straße Kurznachrichten auf ihrem Smartphone schreiben. Jetzt wird dies auch in New Jersey diskutiert. Die angedachten Strafen sind teilweise recht hoch. (Smartphone, Handy)

‘Pirate’ Sites Ordered to Pay $450,000 for Expendables 3 Leak

A federal court in California has ordered the operators of three file-sharing sites to pay $150,000 each for copyright infringement offenses. The men are being held responsible for their role in distributing leaked copies of The Expendables 3 and must now compensate movie studio LionsGate for the damages it has suffered.

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

expendablespiracyDuring the summer of 2014 LionsGate suffered a major setback when a high quality leak of the then unreleased Expendables 3 film appeared online.

Fearing a massive loss in revenue the movie studio sued the operators of several websites that allegedly failed to remove the infringing files.

Since most of the defendants failed to appear in court, LionsGate asked for a default judgment against the alleged operators of LimeTorrents and the defunct Dotsemper and Swankshare sites.

While the websites are not responsible for the original leak, they failed to respond to a slew of takedown requests sent by the movie studio in the days after the film first appeared online.

Last week United States District Judge Otis Wright granted the default judgment (pdf), ordering Muhammed Ashraf (LimeTorrents), Tom Messchendorp (Dotsemper), and Lucas Lim (Swankshare) to pay the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 each.

The maximum amount in statutory damages is appropriate, according to the Judge, because the movie studio likely suffered substantial losses as a result of the pre-release leak of The Expendables 3.

“In light of the fact that the film garnered over $575 million dollars in worldwide box office revenues, the ‘value of the copyright’ strongly favors a high award of statutory damages,” Judge Wright notes.

“Defendants hosted the anticipated film available online prior to its theatrical release for the purpose of enabling users to illegally download it, which more than likely diminished Plaintiff’s revenue substantially,” he adds.

Judge Otis Wright’s order

lionsorder

In addition, the maximum in damages may serve as a deterrent for the defendants and any other site operators that link to or host infringing content.

“Moreover, an award of the enhanced statutory damages will likely serve to deter Defendants and others from infringing Plaintiff’s rights in the future,” Judge Wright’s order reads.

The court also issued a permanent injunction on top of the damages, forbidding the men from operating their sites going forward, as well as any other websites through which The Expendables 3 is being made available.

Whether this injunction will be very effective is doubtful. TorrentFreak previously spoke with the LimeTorrents operator, who informed us that his site will remain online, no matter what the outcome is.

“We want to keep the site up and running, and we don’t care about default judgment because we don’t have any faith in the United States,” Ashraf told us.

The site operator, who also runs Torrentdownload.biz, said that the “Expendables 3” keyword was already banned from appearing in the search results, and that he doesn’t intent to pay any damages.

“We already took action and blocked their keyword, so we don’t have a penny to pay them for their own leak problem,” the operator said.

At the time of writing LimeTorrents and Torrentdownload indeed remain operational. LimeTorrent’s .com domain name was locked earlier, but the site is still accessible via a new .cc TLD.

Dotsemper and Swankshare previously shut down. The operators of these sites live outside of the United States and haven’t been responsive, so whether LionsGate will recoup much of the $450,000 is highly doubtful.

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

SolidRun’s latest tiny PC is an Intel Braswell-powered system-on-a-module

SolidRun’s latest tiny PC is an Intel Braswell-powered system-on-a-module

SolidRun offers a line of tiny, low-power computers and development boards including the CuBox and HummingBoard. Up until now, most of the company’s products have featured ARM-based chips from Freescale and Marvell. But now SolidRun has unveiled its first products to feature an Intel processor. The SolidRun Braswell SOM is a basically a little computer with an […]

SolidRun’s latest tiny PC is an Intel Braswell-powered system-on-a-module is a post from: Liliputing

SolidRun’s latest tiny PC is an Intel Braswell-powered system-on-a-module

SolidRun offers a line of tiny, low-power computers and development boards including the CuBox and HummingBoard. Up until now, most of the company’s products have featured ARM-based chips from Freescale and Marvell. But now SolidRun has unveiled its first products to feature an Intel processor. The SolidRun Braswell SOM is a basically a little computer with an […]

SolidRun’s latest tiny PC is an Intel Braswell-powered system-on-a-module is a post from: Liliputing

Dell to sell Perot Systems unit to NTT Data at loss of $800 million

Dell sheds IT services arm for $3.06 billion as it prepares to buy EMC.

Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell. (credit: Oracle PR)

Dell has agreed to sell its IT services subsidiary, Dell Services, to NTT Data for $3.06 billion. Dell Services is the former Perot Systems, a company founded by Ross Perot; Dell purchased it toward the end of 2009 for $3.9 billion.

Dell, which went private in 2013, is trying to raise money as it prepares to complete a $67 billion acquisition of EMC. NTT Data, the systems integration unit of Tokyo-based Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, announced its acquisition of Dell Services today, noting that it still needs regulatory approval.

NTT praised Dell Services as being "an IT services provider recognized for its depth in vertical industries and for its offerings around infrastructure services, cloud services, application services, and business process outsourcing." But under NTT, Dell Services will benefit from "expanded technology resources" and a network of 230 data centers operated by NTT worldwide, the announcement said. The combined company will give NTT Data a greater presence in North America and focus on customers in health care, financial services, insurance, and government.

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