A different side of time: Hulu drops trailer for The Orville: New Horizons

“Exploration always carries risk. I say we risk it.”

Seth MacFarlane’s epic space adventure series The Orville: New Horizons returns exclusively as a Hulu original series.

We here at Ars have sorely missed the intrepid crew of the USS Orville. Production on the third season of The Orville abruptly halted in March 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the series is finally coming back with a new home on Hulu, a new name (The Orville: New Horizons), and an entertaining new trailer rife with all the space-based action and buoyant good humor in the face of danger that we've come to expect from this sci-fi series.

(Spoilers for prior seasons of The Orville below.)

As I've written previously, the series is set aboard the USS Orville (ECV-197), an exploratory spaceship in the service of a 25th-century interstellar alliance known as the Planetary Union. Series creator and star Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), who plays Capt. Ed Mercer, was a huge fan of Star Trek growing up, particularly The Next Generation, so it's not surprising that The Orville has embraced a similar sensibility. As I wrote in my S2 review, "This is a smart series that combines humor and witty dialogue with cutting-edge science, ethical musings, the occasional literary reference, and genuine heart."

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Wie der Neoliberalismus unseren Alltag durchdringt

Wenn sich die politische Linke zu westlichen Werten bekennt, wird deren neoliberaler Gehalt vielfach übersehen. So bleibt unklar, wer politischer Verbündeter ist, wer Gegner (Teil 2)

Wenn sich die politische Linke zu westlichen Werten bekennt, wird deren neoliberaler Gehalt vielfach übersehen. So bleibt unklar, wer politischer Verbündeter ist, wer Gegner (Teil 2)

Google’s new Android Auto interface works with any screen size

Say goodbye to pillar boxes and other weird screen-fit solutions in your car.

The many sizes of Android Auto.

Enlarge / The many sizes of Android Auto. (credit: Google / Ron Amadeo)

Android Auto, Google's car interface app for Android, is getting a new, more flexible design at Google I/O. Android Auto previously demanded a pretty rigid screen aspect ratio. It could not handle things like large, vertically oriented car screens, and would often resort to pillar boxing or letterboxing the UI to keep a reasonable layout. Now, Google says the interface is "built to adapt to any screen size" thanks to a new panel design.

Google says "there are three main functionalities that drivers prioritize in their cars: navigation, media and communication," and the new Android Auto design puts each of those interfaces in its own panel. Maps gets the biggest, main panel, media and communication panels get stacked next to each other, and there's a combo status/navigation bar. To accommodate the million different screen sizes, these items can be arranged in whatever orientation works best in the car.

One example, close to the current Android Auto configuration, shows the combo bar oriented vertically against the side of the screen, followed by a vertical stack of the message and media panels, then a big Google Maps panel. Another example of a more vertical screen design shows a big Google Maps panel on top of the message and media panels, with the combo bar on the bottom. Things can be arranged to fit.

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Bitcoin plunges to lowest price since 2020 amid broader sell-off

The “stablecoin” Tether briefly lost its peg to the dollar on Thursday morning.

Bitcoin plunges to lowest price since 2020 amid broader sell-off

Enlarge (credit: R.Tsubin / Getty)

The price of one Bitcoin briefly fell below $27,000 on Thursday morning, the lowest price for the cryptocurrency since 2020. The world's leading virtual currency bounced back later in the day and now trades at $28,600. But that's still 20 percent below the price one week ago and 57 percent below last November's peak.

Bitcoin's fall is part of a broader cryptocurrency sell-off. Ethereum is currently down 8 percent over the last 24 hours and 28 percent over the last week. Additionally, Cardano (39 percent), Dogecoin (36 percent), and Litecoin (32 percent) have all fallen during the past week.

Perhaps most alarming for the cryptocurrency world: The "stablecoin" Tether lost its peg to the US dollar early Thursday, briefly dipping to 96 cents. Tether is now trading at $1 once again.

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Unvaccinated North Korea reports omicron outbreak, raising fears of new variants

State media reported that people in the capital tested positive for BA.2 subvariant.

People watch a television broadcast showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade at the Seoul Railway Station on May 4, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea.

Enlarge / People watch a television broadcast showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade at the Seoul Railway Station on May 4, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. (credit: Getty | Chung Sung-Jun)

North Korea instituted a nationwide lockdown Thursday after reporting an omicron coronavirus variant outbreak in its capital, Pyongyang. The report marks the first time during the pandemic that the secretive, authoritarian country has acknowledged coronavirus cases within its borders, though outside experts have doubted the country's previous claims of zero infections.

Acknowledging omicron cases in Pyongyang raises questions over whether the admission is a sign of deteriorating public health conditions and/or a signal that the country is willing to accept pandemic aid, including vaccines.

So far, North Korea's government has rejected offers of COVID-19 vaccine supplies from the United Nation's global vaccination effort, COVAX, and China's domestically produced vaccines. North Korea is one of the few countries that has not run a public vaccination effort, and its 26 million people are believed to be largely unvaccinated.

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Disney Seeks a Senior Paralegal to Help Combat Online Piracy

Disney is looking for a senior paralegal to expand its anti-piracy team in Burbank California. The ideal candidate will join the Digital Media Antipiracy Group to monitor and respond to the latest piracy threats, including websites and apps. Over in the UK, Disney also hopes to add a new analyst to its anti-piracy force.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

disneyDisney is one of the best-known brands in the world and the owner of an impressive collection of movies and TV shows.

New and old releases earn the company a healthy stream of revenue, both in movie theaters and through its own movie streaming service Disney+.

While there is plenty of competition from other movie studios, Disney’s single biggest threat appears to be piracy. To tackle this issue, Disney’s in-house anti-piracy team works around the clock, with fresh blood coming in on a regular basis.

Much of the anti-piracy work falls under the “Digital Media Antipiracy Group.” This Disney department doesn’t have a dedicated web presence, aside from this pdf, but we know that the headquarters are located at the studios in Burbank, California.

The broader public can get an occasional glimpse of the team by looking at Disney’s job applications, where a new position just opened up.

Anti-Piracy Paralegal

The media giant wants to complement its team with a senior paralegal in the digital media anti-piracy field. This is a position with a stronger focus on the legal side, working in tandem with Disney’s lawyers.

“This position will be part of a team that is responsible for providing antipiracy services with a focus on combating online piracy of film, television, and live events related to Disney properties worldwide,” the job listing reads.

The candidate needs to have a few years of experience in a law firm or legal department. In addition, some tech-savviness will come in handy, as the job requires good insight into the ever-changing piracy landscape.

disney

The job description itself is quite broad. It involves writing reports, conducting piracy research, and evaluating third-party anti-piracy partners. On top of that, the candidate also has to “review” pirate sites.

“Duties of this position include researching piracy technologies, websites, and apps, tracking piracy data, providing regular reports on piracy trends, evaluating prospective providers of antipiracy services and managing existing providers,” Disney writes.

Prospective candidates for this the paralegal position can reach out to Disney directly. And there are more anti-piracy job openings as well.

More ‘Pirate’ Jobs

Over in the UK, Disney is seeking to add an Antipiracy Analyst to the local branch of the Digital Media Antipiracy Group. This person will also research, document, and report on relevant piracy developments, all under the supervision of lawyers.

The ideal candidate for this role will have to “research and monitor piracy technologies, websites and apps to stay up to date on latest digital piracy methods and major happenings.”

Finally, for those who are not fluent in legal matters but would still like a pirate-themed job, there’s a job listing in Anaheim that may be of interest. For the Disneyland park, the company is looking for an electrician who can be called to repair circuits at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Zyxel silently patches command injection vulnerability with 9.8 severity rating

Flaw makes it possible to install web shell to maintain control of affected devices.

Zyxel silently patches command injection vulnerability with 9.8 severity rating

Enlarge (credit: Zyxel)

Hardware manufacturer Zyxel quietly released an update fixing a critical vulnerability that gives hackers the ability to control tens of thousands of firewall devices remotely.

The vulnerability, which allows remote command injection with no authentication required, carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. It’s easy to exploit by sending simple HTTP or HTTPS requests to affected devices. The requests allow hackers to send commands or open a web shell interface that enables hackers to maintain privileged access over time.

High-value, easy to weaponize, requires no authentication

The vulnerability affects a line of firewalls that offer a feature known as zero-touch provisioning. Zyxel markets the devices for use in small branch and corporate headquarter deployments. The devices perform VPN connectivity, SSL inspection, web filtering, intrusion protection, and email security and provide up to 5Gbps throughput through the firewall. The Shodan device search service shows more than 16,000 affected devices are exposed to the Internet.

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