"Now that Microsoft/Mojang have released VR support for MCPE/Win10 Minecraft, they are exercising their rights over our unofficial mod (Minecrift)," mod co-creator mabrowning wrote on Reddit. "I received notice a few days ago that I can no longer use the name 'Minecrift' or the minecraft-vr.com domain. I've already shutdown the website, but anyone who wants to get a copy of the code should grab it from GitHub before that goes offline, too."
Later in the thread, mabrowning clarified that Microsoft's problem was merely with the name of the Minecrift project and the minecrift-vr.com domain that hosted it. To be fair to Microsoft, names like Minecrift and Minecraft-VR do seem to carry a high chance of being legitimately confused with the new official "Minecraft for Rift" product (it's somewhat admirable that Microsoft didn't take exception to the name before now, in fact).
Off-path attack means malicious hackers can be located anywhere on the Internet.
(credit: Ron Amadeo)
An estimated 80 percent of Android phones contain a recently discovered vulnerability that allows attackers to terminate connections and, if the connections aren't encrypted, inject malicious code or content into the parties' communications, researchers from mobile security firm Lookout said Monday.
As Ars reported last Wednesday, the flaw first appeared in version 3.6 of the Linux operating system kernel, which was introduced in 2012. In a blog post published Monday, Lookout researchers said that the Linux flaw appears to have been introduced into Android version 4.4 (aka KitKat) and remains present in all future versions, including the latest developer preview of Android Nougat. That tally is based on the Android install base as reported by statistics provider Statista, and it would mean that about 1.4 billion Android devices, or about 80 percent of users, are vulnerable.
"The tl;dr is for Android users to ensure they are encrypting their communications by using VPNs, [or] ensuring the sites they go to are encrypted," Lookout researcher Andrew Blaich told Ars. "If there's somewhere they're going to that they don't want tracked, always ensure they're encrypted."
Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, and Intercontinental hotels across the country hacked.
(credit: HEI Hotels & Resorts)
The chain that owns Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt, and Intercontinental hotels—HEI Hotels & Resorts—said this weekend that the payment systems for 20 of its locations had been infected with malware that may have been able to steal tens of thousands of credit card numbers and corresponding customer names, expiration dates, and verification codes. HEI claims that it did not lose control of any customer PINs, as they are not collected by the company’s systems.
Still, HEI noted on its website that it doesn’t store credit card details either. “We believe that the malware may have accessed payment card information in real-time as it was being inputted into our systems,” the company said.
The breach appears to have hit 20 HEI Hotels, and in most cases, the malware appears to have been active from December 2, 2015 to June 21, 2016. In a few cases, hotels may have been affected as early as March 1, 2015. According to a statement on HEI’s website, the malware affected point-of-sale (POS) terminals at the affected properties, but online booking and other online transactions were not affected.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL may not be the most powerful Windows smartphones anymore… but if you don’t have $699 or so to spend on an HP Elite x3, Microosft’s phones still have a few things going for them including support for Microsoft’s Continuum software that lets you connect the phones to an external display to run (some) apps in a desktop-style environment.
When the Lumia 950 and 950 XL launched late last year they sold for $549 and $649 and up, respectively.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL may not be the most powerful Windows smartphones anymore… but if you don’t have $699 or so to spend on an HP Elite x3, Microosft’s phones still have a few things going for them including support for Microsoft’s Continuum software that lets you connect the phones to an external display to run (some) apps in a desktop-style environment.
When the Lumia 950 and 950 XL launched late last year they sold for $549 and $649 and up, respectively.
After a week of trying to part with green tides in two outdoor swimming pools, Olympic officials over the weekend wrung out a fresh mea culpa and yet another explanation—neither of which were comforting.
According to officials, a local pool-maintenance worker mistakenly added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide to the waters on August 5, which partially neutralized the chlorine used for disinfection. With chlorine disarmed, the officials said that “organic compounds”—i.e. algae and other microbes—were able to grow and turn the water a murky green in the subsequent days.
The revelation appears to contradict officials’ previous assurances that despite the emerald hue, which first appeared Tuesday, the waters were safe.
Personal Audio’s appeal comes down to tiny differences in Web presentation.
(credit: Getty Images)
The owner of a patent on podcasting is hoping to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Personal Audio and its owner, Jim Logan, lost their patent last year after lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation showed the US Patent and Trademark Office that various types of Internet broadcasts pre-date the patent, which claims a 1996 priority date.
The podcasting patent became famous and received national media attention after it was used to sue several high-profile podcasters, including Adam Carolla, who raised $500,000 and fought back for a time before reaching a settlement in 2014. Personal Audio had also sued several big TV networks, and its case against CBS went to a jury in September 2014. The jury found the patent valid and awarded Personal Audio $1.3 million, a victory that Personal Audio's lawyers have noted in their appeal arguments.
In an effort to protect its copyrights, Nintendo has managed to shut down yet another fan-made game that took years to develop. After generating over a million downloads in just a few days, the makers of the popular RPG Pokémon Uranium decided to cave in to legal pressure from the game giant.
After nearly ten years of development, the fan-made RPG Pokémon Uranium was finally released last week.
In no time the game was downloaded over a million times, in part leveraging on the success of this summer’s Pokémon hype.
Unfortunately for the makers it wasn’t just fans that jumped on the release, Nintendo’s lawyers quickly sprang into action too. Claiming copyright infringement, they asked the game’s hosting provider(s) to stop distributing the game.
While the developers themselves were not contacted directly, they decided to pull the release offline to avoid legal problems.
“After receiving more than 1,500,000 downloads of our game, we have been notified of multiple takedown notices from lawyers representing Nintendo of America,” Pokémon Uranium’s makers write in a statement.
“While we have not personally been contacted, it’s clear what their wishes are, and we respect those wishes deeply. Therefore, we will no longer provide official download links for the game through our website.”
Within a matter of days, nearly a decade of hard work now appears to have been ‘for nothing.’ Those who look hard enough can still find unofficial download links scattered online, but it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo begins clearing these up as well.
While the game’s makers and players are disappointed, Nintendo’s actions don’t come as a surprise. The company is known to go after fan projects that use Nintendo trademarks or copyrights, including Game Boy emulators and Mario inspired browser games.
Just last week, Nintendo’s lawyers pressured the makers of a fan-made Metroid 2 remake to pull their game offline. As with Pokémon Uranium, several years of hard work will now stay hidden from the public if the game maker has its way.
Nintendo is of course allowed to protect their rights, and they do have a good case to prohibit these fan-made games from being distributed. However, considering the enthusiastic response from the public, Nintendo could also learn something from these fan projects.
Why shut down a great project and waste hundreds of hours of work if you can use it to your advantage? This sentiment is widely shared online.
“It’s their business, I can understand it, but what I want more than anything is that they learn from their ‘competition’ instead of just destroying it,” sw9876 writes on Reddit.
“Honestly, this may be my favorite Pokemon game ever. The story is great, and long. The Pokemon designs are sweet and were made to look distinct from already existing Pokemon without being dumb. At any rate, this game is great. I hope the talent, effort and creativity put into it doesn’t go to waste.”
In part, Nintendo may already be doing this. In 2013 Nintendo pulled down the popular fan-made game “Full Screen Mario” and a few months later the company announced its new “Mario Maker” which included many similar features.
According to developer Josh Goldberg, his game may have inspired the Nintendo release, without him being credited.
“I think it’s too much of a coincidence that in the fall they take down a fan site that was too popular for them, then in the spring and summer they release a trailer for this product,” he previously told The Washington Post in an interview.
In any case, it’s safe to say that developers who plan to release a game inspired by a Nintendo release should refrain from using any trademarked or copyrighted material. Or else it’s doomed to be shut down sooner or later.
Sony hat die Firmware 4.0 für die Playstation 4 vorgestellt. Auffälligste Neuerung soll ein neuer Look für die Benutzeroberfläche werden. Außerdem soll das Anlegen von Ordnern möglich werden – und bei verstecken Trophäen sollen Nutzer spicken können. (Playstation 4, Sony)
Sony hat die Firmware 4.0 für die Playstation 4 vorgestellt. Auffälligste Neuerung soll ein neuer Look für die Benutzeroberfläche werden. Außerdem soll das Anlegen von Ordnern möglich werden - und bei verstecken Trophäen sollen Nutzer spicken können. (Playstation 4, Sony)
Reddit says it won't give Atlantic Records the IP address of a Reddit user who posted a link on the site of a single by Twenty One Pilots a week before the song's planned release.
The song, "Heathens," was originally uploaded on June 15 to the file-sharing site Dropfile. That same day, the file landed on Reddit. According to a lawsuit (PDF) in New York State Supreme Court, the file was posted to the Twenty One Pilots subreddit with the title “[Leak] New Song – ‘Heathens' at the URL https://www.reddit.com/r/twentyonepilots/comments/4oa475/leak_new_song_heathens/." The Poster submitted the link under the username "twentyoneheathens," according to Atlantic.
Atlantic and its subsidiary label, Fueled by Ramen, want the IP address of the Reddit leaker. The company said the file fell victim to "widespread distribution" on the Internet, so the company released the single June 16, a week ahead of schedule; the label also said the early release hindered a planned rollout on Spotify, iTunes, and other platforms. Atlantic says the leaker must be an Atlantic employee who was contractually obligated not to leak the track, which is featured in the movie Suicide Squad that debuted earlier this month.
Google makes most of its money by showing ads to users of its online services. So it makes sense that the company has been exploring ways to help users get online, ranging from internet-delivered-by-hot-air-balloons to an unusual cellular service that lets subscribers access the internet using a range of mobile and WiFi networks.
But one of the company’s most ambitious projects has been an effort to bring gigabit internet service to communities through Google Fiber.
Google makes most of its money by showing ads to users of its online services. So it makes sense that the company has been exploring ways to help users get online, ranging from internet-delivered-by-hot-air-balloons to an unusual cellular service that lets subscribers access the internet using a range of mobile and WiFi networks.
But one of the company’s most ambitious projects has been an effort to bring gigabit internet service to communities through Google Fiber.
After nearly ten years of development, the fan-made RPG 
Sony hat die Firmware 4.0 für die Playstation 4 vorgestellt. Auffälligste Neuerung soll ein neuer Look für die Benutzeroberfläche werden. Außerdem soll das Anlegen von Ordnern möglich werden - und bei verstecken Trophäen sollen Nutzer spicken können. (
