Why we can’t plug Southern California’s massive methane leak

There’s a burgeoning environmental disaster playing out in Southern California — but unlike the widespread media coverage on the Deepwater Horizon, this leak has been invisible until quite recently. In late October, the Southern California Gas Company detected an underground methane leak spewing an estimated 110,000 lbs of gas per hour into Aliso Canyon. Since it discovered the problem, the company has evacuated an estimated 1,700 people and closed two schools.

The leak is normally invisible, but an infrared video taken by the Environmental Defense Fund captured the massive leak and the methane escaping from it at multiple points.

Several of the problems associated with a leak this size are purely practical. The methane reeks of rotting eggs, because we add a chemical called tert-Butylthiol to the normally odorless gas to make certain people can smell a leak.

Remember Templeton from Charlotte’s Web? It’s that, times a billion. Image by SailorLoveSong

Reeking like an unventilated football stadium on $1 steak and free draft beer night ought to be punishment enough for anyone in one lifetime, but methane is also explosive, an asphyxiant, and a potent greenhouse gas.

CO2 vs. methane

Most of the conversation around greenhouse gas emissions revolves around carbon dioxide, or CO2. According to the EPA, CO2 emissions account for about 82% of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change. Methane, in contrast, only accounts for about 10% of total warming. Pound-for-pound, methane is about 21x more potent than CO2 over a 100-year cycle, and as much as 72x more potent within shorter timeframes.

The potency discrepancy reflects the different environmental persistence between the two gases. Methane persists in the environment for 10-12 years after it’s released, but ultimately reacts with water vapor in the upper atmosphere and is converted into carbon dioxide and water. The fact that methane still takes a decade or more to dissipate out of the atmosphere, however, means that a massive leak like this one is still capable of having an impact for a significant period of time.

Current estimate of the total gas leak is around 800,000 metric tons. That’s enough methane gas to boost California’s estimated methane emissions by 25% for the year — and bear in mind, this leak is thought to have begun on October 23.

Why can’t we plug the leak?

There’s another parallel between the Deepwater Horizon leak and the current methane problem in Aliso Canyon — in both cases, the depth and ferocity of the leak made it extremely difficult to plug. In this case, the methane is pouring out of a massive underground containment facility more than 8,000 feet below the surface. Traditional methods of sealing the broken pipe have already failed, so SoCalGas has drilled a second well to intersect the broken pipe.

Once the new well intersects the old one, fluid and eventually concrete will be injected to seal the pipe, rather than attempting to perform the injections at the surface. As of this past weekend, the drillers had located the broken pipe responsible for the leak. That’s no small feat, considering that the second well must be drilled far enough away to prevent any risk of explosion, and the broken line is just seven inches in diameter.

Unfortunately, we’re still months away from actually sealing off the problem. The relief well is currently at 3,800 feet, but the rest of the operation is expected to take until February or March. By that point, enough methane will have been released into the atmosphere to make an impact on the United States’ total yearly emissions — to say nothing of the costs and upheaval residents of Aliso Canyon have endured, or the financial cost of repairing the broken line. Residents of the area have already filed suits against the company, and it’s not clear what penalties or lawsuits it might face from the government of California.

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Strangling Superfish: Microsoft will block ad-injection software to prevent attacks

 
Lenovo’s Superfish scandal of early 2015 was one of the most significant computer security issues of the last decade. For those of you who don’t recall, the Chinese manufacturer shipped a number of IdeaPad models with a root certificate installed that fundamentally broke SSL encryption, and allowed a third party to inject content virtually at will, as well as to spy on any user’s web browsing if desired. Microsoft has now announced that it intends to put new security standards in place for Windows 10 that would block this kind of behavior and prevent certain types of man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

Microsoft initially revised its guidelines last April, but adware authors have evolved their products to bypass the company’s requirements. According to Redmond, it’s now common to see software use injection by proxy, change DNS settings, and manipulate the network layer.

To be clear: Microsoft isn’t going to declare all ad injection to be bad, and companies will still be allowed to create this type of software. What they’re cracking down on are programs that attempt to obfuscate their own behaviors behind advanced network settings and functions that are buried deep within the operating system or submenus that only advanced users know how to access.

From Microsoft’s “acceptable” adware policies.

Redmond has previously published its list of objective criteria for acceptable vs. unacceptable ad software. It states that all advertisements must have an “X” or other visible and obvious method for closing an ad, that the name of the program creating the advertisement must be clearly stated, and there must be a method of uninstalling software. Now, it’s adding a new requirement:

“[P]rograms that create advertisements in browsers must only use the browsers’ supported extensibility model for installation, execution, disabling, and removal.” (Emphasis original)
Currently, Microsoft Edge doesn’t support browser extensions, which is probably why MS will wait until March 31, 2016 to put this new rule into effect. The company has previously stated Edge extensions would arrive in Q1 2016. By limiting adware platforms to the extensibility platform(s) approved by various browsers, MS is also giving itself another method of controlling software, should vendors prove unwilling to adjust their applications to conform to Redmond’s requirements. Windows Defender can also be updated with the signatures of applications that refuse to play by the rules.

Whether this will actually accomplish its intended goal is an altogether different question. In nearly 20 years online, I’ve yet to see a single browser adware platform that delivered any kind of meaningful value. Instead, such applications shovel advertising at a frantic pace, often in ways that undercut the ads the actual site owner has chosen to display. These applications tend to be riddled with their own security flaws and instabilities, and often harass users with flashing lights and fake antivirus sales pitches. The best of them are parasites; the worst are criminals.

Microsoft may have good reason to allow these kinds of applications to exist, since it could face lawsuits and claims of abusive behavior if it acted to ban them altogether, but it’s not at all clear that there’s a happy medium to be found on this issue.

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The Tech Stories That Surprised, Shocked, and Amused Us in 2015

Every day, thousands of tech stories make headlines, but only a select few stir up a prolonged frenzy or keep our attention for weeks at a time.

This year had its share of surprising announcements, from BlackBerry embracing Android to Google becoming Alphabet. The Apple Watch also hit stores, while drones hit ... ferris wheels?

Tech companies and their execs got into fights, Silicon Valley had a few major fails, and products said farewell. But what were the biggest stories in tech this year? What products, scandals, and gaffes overloaded your Twitter feed, invaded your Slack channels, and dominated the chatter among your tech-savvy friends?
 
 

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CES 2016 Preview: Smart Home Gadgets

 
Last year's CES focused a lot on the Internet of Things, a clunky, vague term that came to define products fitted with electronics, software, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Basically, it means everything from your oven to your toothbrush to your dog's food bowl will be able to connect to your phone, the Web, and your social networks, where you'll control every possible parameter and share your hygiene and cooking habits with the world. It's a neat if potentially alarming idea, and we're sure to see even more home appliances take advantage of wireless networking at CES 2016.

Beginning to See the Light
Smart bulbs are rapidly replacing traditional incandescent bulbs. They last longer, use less energy, and you can control them with a few taps on your smartphone or tablet. They can also feature a whole host of functions unrelated to lighting. Companies like Sengled and MiPow $69.99 at Amazon will likely show off more bulbs with integrated speakers so you can play music from your phone via Bluetooth. Hopefully the speakers' sound will be improved since most current versions sound a bit tinny.

Sengled already sells a bulb that boosts your Wi-Fi signal to dead zones around your house, and we can expect to see more lighting solutions like that, including ones that respond to your voice, send you reminders, or come with an HD camera so you can monitor your home while away. All of this will simply become more intuitive.

Companies like Caséta $59.95 at Amazon will likely introduce more remote controls to control your lights, as well as wall-mounted or tabletop lights that allow you to record favorite lighting scenes and other light bulbs. Caséta, along with other companies' products, like Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 £49.95 at Amazon, now works with Apple HomeKit, too, so iPhone users can talk to Siri to control their lights. Expect almost every lighting solution on the show floor to connect with HomeKit in some way.

Speaking of Protocols…Bluetooth LE, Lutron ClearConnect, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, and ZigBee are all home automation and connectivity protocols, and they'll all rear their heads at CES 2016. But the one to look out for may be something called Bluetooth mesh networking, a new standard that will extend the distance for Bluetooth technology. That means you won't need a Wi-Fi network to connect smart bulbs or other appliances across an entire home. No doubt many products at CES 2016 will take advantage of this upcoming initiative.

Appliance PartyRobotic cleaning vacuums like the Neato Botvac Connected £547.97 at Amazon and the iRobot Roomba 980$899.99 at Amazon are another category that will grow even more in 2016. All of the usual appliance manufacturers, from Samsung to LG to GE, will most likely have fridges, ovens, microwaves, and robots with Wi-Fi to debut, so you can check the temperature of your meals, clean your throw rub, and monitor the lettuce while you're doing other things.

We also know that Haier will debut a fridge modeled after R2-D2 at this CES. It bloops and bleeps like you'd expect, but it even moves around on its own, like BB-8£128.60 at Amazon and delivers drinks to you. But don't get too excited. It's going to cost $9,000.

And the Weird…Surely, we'll see some outright strange smart home products at CES 2016, including peripheral devices that make dumb things "smart." They'll automatically turn light switches on and off, close doors and windows, and connect regular smoke detectors to wireless networks via sound recognition. You can find similar things like that on Indiegogo, like the Microbot Push, a robotic finger that, well, pushes buttons. It's gonna be great.
 
That should give you an idea of the tech you're going hear about at this CES. For all of the official announcements, along with photos and video, stay tuned for in-depth coverage from the CES show floor.

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Report: Samsung Pay Coming to Lower-Cost Phones

 
The gift-giving season may be over, but Samsung reportedly has one more present for owners of lower-priced smartphones.
 
Samsung Pay Global Co-General Manager Thomas Ko this week told Reuters that the mobile payment service will expand to more handsets "within the next year."
 
Initially introduced in South Korea via a handful of phones, Samsung Pay arrived in the U.S. in late September alongside the Galaxy Note 5 $349.99 at Best Buy and Galaxy S6 Edge $299.99 at Best Buy devices. The program uses NFC and magnetic stripe transmission (MST) for tap-to-pay functionality compatible with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Currently available on all major U.S. wireless networks and Galaxy S6£389.97 at Amazon, S6 Edge, S6 Edge Plus$349.99 at Best Buy, and Note 5 smartphones, the mobile wallet is expected to reach more lower-priced devices soon. There is no word, however, on which smartphones will join the lineup.

Samsung also reportedly plans to soon add online payment support — a perk already available to Android Pay and Apple Pay users.
 
Samsung did not immediately respond to TCMall's request for comment.

The tech titan entered the mobile payment arena in February with its acquisition of LoopPay, a mobile wallet firm that lets users pay with their phones.

A recent LoopPay breach, however, did not affect Samsung Pay, the company promised in October. An attack by the "Codoso Group" or "Sunshock Group" affected three servers on LoopPay's internal office network, separate from the one that handles mobile payment transactions.

Apple, meanwhile, debuted its own payment system in the fall of 2014 on its iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and new iPads; the service also works on the Apple Watch.

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Phablets, iDevices Popular This Christmas

 
If you turned on a shiny phablet or unwrapped an Apple gadget this Christmas, you're not alone.

According to an annual holiday report from mobile analytics firm Flurry, new device activations and app installs shattered records this year — and tipped a new trend in consumer electronics. As tablet sales continue to sink, the mid-sized phablet is quickly filling the gap between smartphones and PCs.

Two years ago, 4 percent of new device activations in the week leading up to Christmas were phablets, Flurry said. In 2015, the giant phones accounted for 27 percent of activations.

"It looks like this once-derided (even by us!) form factor appears here to stay," the company wrote in a blog post.
Since Apple's iPhone 6 Plus $299.00 at Verizon Wireless hit shelves in September 2014, more folks have been gravitating toward the phablet's big-but-still-able-to-fit-in-my-hand display. And, according to Flurry, Android devices (particularly the Samsung Galaxy Note) are also gaining popularity, especially in Asia.

But phablets aren't necessarily stealing market share from tablets: It appears consumers are opting for the 6-inch-plus handsets instead of smaller-sized smartphones (with 3.5-inch screens), which are nearing extinction.

Meanwhile, whether it was an iPhone 6s Plus, and iPad Pro, or a new iMac, Cupertino won this year's holiday shopping battle — again. Based on Flurry's data, Apple took the top spot with 49.1 percent of all new devices, down 2.2 percent from last year.

Samsung trailed with a second-place 19.8 percent, up 2.1 percent in 2014 thanks to the new Galaxy Grand Prime, Core Prime, and S6. Microsoft's Nokia, meanwhile, dropped from 5.8 percent to 2 percent, and Sony was knocked out of the top five manufacturers by newcomer Xiaomi.

"This is especially striking since Christmas is not the biggest gifting day of the year in China, and makes Xiaomi's rumored U.S. entry next year even more exciting," Flurry said.

iDevices and phablets weren't the only things weighing down Santa's sleigh this year. Fitbits proved a popular gift: The company's app shot to No. 1 in the iTunes App Store on Christmas Day, as millions of people presumably unwrapped a new fitness tracker and got a head start on New Year's resolutions.

Christmas also marked the biggest day of the year for mobile application downloads, counting 2.2 times as many installs on Dec. 25 as an average day the rest of the month.

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Updated Google Glass pops up on FCC’s website

 

 The FCC isn’t where most people go for leaked product photos and pre-release information, but every now and then a few tidbits slip out of the government database. Today is one such day — if, at least, you’re a fan of Google Glass and interested in how the platform has evolved since Google unceremoniously canceled it. There hasn’t been much to say about Glass since then, and while Google insisted the program wasn’t canceled, it wasn’t falling over itself to reveal anything of note about it, either.

The FCC’s website has new high-resolution images of Google Glass 2.0, and there’s a number of subtle changes between the original version and the new model. The new model can apparently fold (there’s a hinge in the image below).



The speaker is now internal (no more bone conduction), Ars reports that the power button has moved to the back, and we believe we’ve identified the flash memory IC, but can’t make out the exact model number well enough to identify the size.

Other features include a new charging port, support for 5GHz Wi-Fi, a camera light that enables automatically when someone is recording (and that apparently cannot be disabled), and a slightly larger Glass prism. No word on features like battery life, resolution, or capabilities, and we can’t find a screenshot yet that shows us the main SoC actually powering the device.

Can Google fix Glass?

Google Glass’s biggest problem the first time around had nothing to do with its hardware, battery life, or recording feature, even though all of these were limited and only modestly useful compared with what cell phones, camcorders, or even a D-SLR could do (at $1,500, Google Glass wasn’t cheap).

Instead, Glass’ primary problem was the PR its own user base created around the devices. While it’s not fair to blame an entire group (even a tiny, elite group) for the bad behavior of an even smaller number of people, it was the lousy behavior of a few individuals that dominated the conversation over Glass. When ordinary people voiced concerns about being invisibly recorded, a certain type of Glass user (quickly dubbed a “Glasshole”) couldn’t wait to argue that wearing a potentially invisible recording device was the same as using a smartphone — never mind the fact that most people would take exception to being followed by someone holding a smartphone in front of their face and obviously recording with it.

The fact that Google’s founders don’t put much value on user privacy or even on the privacy of medical data didn’t help Google Glass find a footing. Neither did the “In five years everyone will be wearing one of these, so DEAL” line of argument from many of Glass’ most ardent supporters. In short, Glassholes ruined Glass.

So far, Google has only mentioned launching this new device in an Enterprise Edition, possibly with an Atom processor and other souped-up internals.

 

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Samsung TVs Will Control Your Smart Home

The connected home is about to get even more connected: Samsung is turning your TV set into a smart home controller.

All of Samsung's 2016 SUHD (or "Superior 4K UHD") TVs will come with Internet of Things hub technology from SmartThings, allowing users to control lights, locks, thermostats, speakers, cameras, and other home appliances, the companies have announced.

Too lazy to leave the couch to dim the lights or turn off the streaming music? Just pick up the TV remote to manage devices directly from the SmartThings app on the big screen. (And when you've lost the controller between sofa cushions, a mobile version of the app is available on smartphones.)

"The 2016 lineup of Smart TVs will offer consumers new possibilities and cement Samsung's market leading position as the first company to launch IoT-ready TVs," Hyun Suk Kim, president of Samsung's Visual Display Business, said in a statement.

Users can pause Game of Thrones to check when visitors arrive and open the front door — without putting down the popcorn.

But to take full advantage of SmartThings-compatible products at home, you'll need more than just a new television set: Connect your SUHD TV with the free SmartThings Extend USB adaptor, which adds support for ZigBee and Z-Wave devices.

"With Samsung Smart TVs working with the SmartThings technology, we have an opportunity to reach millions of households," SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson said. "Applying this technology into current household devices is a major step forwards that will make it much easier for everyone to experience the benefits of a smart home."

But keep in mind that while every 2016 SUHD TV does come with built-in IoT technology, functionality will be activated regionally as SmartThings expands platform availability. So you may not be able to tap into these features immediately.

Samsung will show off its SmartThings-enabled Smart TVs at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, ahead of the product's 2016 public availability. A specific timeline for the television's rollout has not been revealed.

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Privacy-as-a-Service Scatters Data in Disappearing Clouds

 
When attackers breach through layers of encryption and firewalls, one good way to keep cloud-based data safe is to keep it scattered, in constant motion. Dispel, a start-up focusing on enterprise-grade digital privacy for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) and individuals, offers digital privacy rooted in ephemeral cloud infrastructure.

In Dispel's case, "ephemeral"—a term popularized by the disappearing messages of services such as Snapchat—pertains to endpoint security spread across multiple cloud providers in different countries. Dispel provides an on-demand network of continuously generated, encrypted connections and cloud-based virtual machines (VMs) as part of its "Privacy-as-a-Service" offering for daily browsing, email, file transfer, messaging, and other forms of communication including social media.

"We're at a perfect moment where people are becoming more cognizant of privacy as a digital risk," said Ethan Schmertzler, CEO of Dispel. "CPU fixed infrastructure is a fixed target. Bad actors targeting enterprises have more time to mobilize and breach. You can't just sit and wait."

Dispel recently emerged from stealth after more than two years in development and as a private tool for a handful of enterprise clients. Schmertzler believes traditional virtual private networks (VPNs) are insufficient for defending against security risks from run-of-the-mill Internet stalking to malicious incursions and wider surveillance efforts. He described Dispel's infrastructure as "un-attributable," meaning that, similar to anonymous communication clients such as Tor, when a user logs into the network to access their data, the services anonymizes the traffic from both sides—where the data is located and the location from where the user is accessing it.

Schmertzler also explained how Dispel works to control the end-to-end transaction from data transmission to exit points within the ephemeral infrastructure. As part of the Privacy-as-a-Service proposition, Dispel encrypts all communications and metadata up to modern accepted standards, including multiple layers of both AES 256-bit and 2048-bit encryption.

"The basic concept is for a business to be able to put any infrastructure into an ephemeral network," said Schmertzler.

Invisible Infrastructure
At its heart, Dispel combines the native endpoint protection services of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform such as Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection with the flexibility of a cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. What helps Dispel stand out, though, is its so-called "invisible infrastructure" built with privacy in mind.

Dispel offers two main products for SMBs: Invisible Connections and Invisible Computers. Schmertzler explained how each works.

Invisible Connections
"Invisible Connections give users access to the ephemeral infrastructure without changing their daily habits," said Schmertzler. "Privacy tooling is all about ease of use; it's one of the reasons PGP has never really caught on. Users see a little green 'on' button in their menu bar on Mac or Windows but otherwise access data and files normally. From a user experience perspective, Dispel acts almost like a browser extension."

Invisible Computers
For businesses or users who need a private and secure cloud environment in which to work, Dispel offers virtual sandbox desktops called Invisible Computers. The Ubuntu Linux VMs come pre-installed with Chrome, Firefox, and the LibreOffice suite of productivity tools, and the environment deletes itself when the user is finished. "These are essentially virtual air-gapped hardware for single use through a Chrome or Firefox browser where you get an on-demand desktop that doesn't touch your actual machine," said Schmertzler.

The C-Suite Service
Invisible Connections and Invisible Computers are Dispel's SMB-focused product, but the company also offers a custom installation service called C-Suite for enterprises that want to give executives greater control over the data infrastructure, including network management and cloud computing resource allocation.

Dispel is priced in three tiers, broken up by data storage and cloud computing time caps. The $19 per month Standard pricing tier offers 50GB of Invisible Connection storage and five hours of Invisible Computing time.
The $79 per month Professional tier ups that to 200GB and 20 hours, and the $199 per month Premium tier offers 500GB and 50 hours. Invisible Connections are currently available on Mac and Windows, with Android and iOS apps coming in 2016. In the large security landscape, Schmertzler said Privacy-as-a-Service through ephemeral infrastructure represents an evolved way of thinking about digital protection.
"Until now, businesses and security providers have largely been playing a game of archers versus cannons, building higher and higher walls. The problem with that approach is, it's only a matter of time before a data breach. Attackers will eventually build a strong enough cannon or find a crack in the wall," said Schmertzler. "Encryption, VPNs, ephemeral messaging—they're all pieces of the puzzle, but it's all a lot easier when the archers and cannons don't know where to aim."

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BMW to Unveil AirTouch 3D Gesture Control System at CES

 
BMW is taking gesture control to the next level.

The German auto maker on Monday announced plans to show off a futuristic new feature — dubbed AirTouch — at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. The technology lets you control your car's entertainment, navigation, and communication functions "using simple hand gestures made with a flat hand."

"AirTouch allows the display in a vehicle to be operated like a touchscreen without actually having to make contact with the surface," the company explained. "Sensors record the hand movements in the area between the central console and the interior mirror."

The technology will be part of a so-called Vision Car the company plans to present at the show, demonstrating what the interior and user interface of its vehicles might look like in the future.

BMW at CES last year showed off a similar feature, which lets you do things like adjust the volume of your music or accept phone calls using simple gestures like pointing your finger. This technology is already available in the new BMW 7 Series, but the company says AirTouch is a "big leap forward," offering "three-dimensional control."

Once you're done navigating through the menu with hand gestures, AirTouch lets you confirm your desired action using a concealed button on the left side of the steering wheel. Passengers will also have an AirTouch button on the door, so they can also use one hand to navigate the menu and the other to confirm inputs.

The new AirTouch system also promises to reduce the number of steps needed to make a selection. When activating the phone pad, for instance, the system automatically brings up your contacts for easy access, letting you make your call with just one more action.

It also recognizes which selection and control steps you'll need to do next, and displays them on the screen so you don't have to get out your owner's manual.

"This allows the driver to focus all their concentration on the road ahead," BMW said.

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Ashley Madison Adds 4 Million Users Since Hack

They say no publicity is bad publicity, and that might just be true for Ashley Madison.

Because even a massive data breach that exposed millions of unfaithful spouses apparently can't keep the site down. Turns out, the infamous adultery site has gained some 4 million members since the very public breach and dump of user data.

At the time of the breach this August, Ashley Madison claimed to have around 39 million users. Now, a counter on the Ashley Madison homepage shows that the site has more than 43 million members.

Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media declined to comment about the user uptick when contacted by PCMag.com on Tuesday. Just weeks after the breach, however, Avid Life Media said people were still signing up for the site in droves.

"Despite having our business and customers attacked, we are growing," ALM said in a statement at the time, adding that "hundreds of thousands of new users" signed up for the site during the last week of August alone, including 87,596 women.

Meanwhile, in case you somehow missed one if the biggest tech stories of 2015, here's the short version of what happened: online vigilantes this summer hacked into the Ashley Madison site, stole its user database, posted it online, and made it easily searchable. The group that claimed responsibility for the hack, The Impact Team, said it went after Ashley Madison in part because the site is a scam and has far fewer female members than it claims. The fallout from the breach included an ousted CEO, about a dozen lawsuits, broken marriages, and a major PR crisis for the Duggar family of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting.

For more, check out our roundup of the 12 Biggest Tech Fails of 2015 in the slideshow above.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Loses Senior Development Director

One of the top directors of Mass Effect: Andromeda has left the project and BioWare.

Senior Development Director Chris Wynn announced his departure on Twitter a week ago, though he didn't explain why he decided to leave.

It is with a heavy heart today to say that I am moving on from BioWare and Mass Effect: Andromeda, and returning to the USA.

— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) December 22, 2015

BioWare issued a statement on Wynn's departure to Game Informer which said: "Chris was a great member of the team. We want to thank him for his contributions and we wish him the best in his new adventures. Development of Mass Effect Andromeda continues to move full speed ahead at BioWare Montreal, Edmonton and Austin."

Before joining BioWare, Wynn worked as a producer for Epic Games and Microsoft, helping launch such titles as Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgement. He also worked on the Madden franchise. He has not revealed what he will be working on next now that he has returned to the U.S.

Though Wynn may have left BioWare, the studio is seeing the return of Mass Effect's original lead writer, Drew Karpyshyn. Karpyshyn took a three-year hiatus from BioWare to focus on non-game related projects but felt the time was right to return to the industry. Though he is back with BioWare, we don't yet know what project or projects he will be working on.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is slated to be released during the 2016 holiday season for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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Comcast begins rolling out DOCSIS 3.1-based gigabit home Internet

 

 

 Comcast announced that it installed the first gigabit DOCSIS 3.1-based cable modem in a customer’s home near Philadelphia this week. Savvy readers may recall Comcast already unveiling a 2Gbps service called Gigabit Pro earlier in the year, but there are some differences between the two. Aside from the variation in download speed, Gigabit Pro is available today in 14 states where Comcast provides service. The new DOCSIS 3.1-based gigabit service, on the other hand, is more of a demonstration and is not widely available to subscribers.

That said, the new DOCSIS 3.1-based service is significant, because it works with the coaxial-fiber cable infrastructure already in place. It does require a DOCSIS 3.1-compatible cable modem in the subscriber’s home. Comcast reported in May that its DOCSIS 3.1 Gigabit Home Gateway cable modem was developed in-house. This means upgrading will require exchanging cable modems based on older DOCSIS versions (3.0 or older) with the new DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem.

In order to get the 2Gbps Gigabit Pro service, you need to live within one-third of a mile from Comcast’s fiber network. That Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service also requires a technician to come to your house to complete the installation, as stated in the Gigabit Pro FAQ. This triggers a $500 installation fee. In contrast, customers should be able to install the DOCSIS 3.1 modem themselves, and it shouldn’t be subject to the same distance limitations. In fact, it should work in any home currently capable of obtaining broadband cable modem service from Comcast.

Comcast Xfinity engineer, in a ninja mask

There are a few theoretical differences in maximum speed. The Gigabit Pro service delivers a symmetrical 2Gbps down and 2Gbps up. Comcast doesn’t say what the upload speed is for its DOCSIS 3.1 service, though the DOCSIS 3.1 specification’s maximum speed is up to 10Gbps down and 1Gbps up.

Comcast has yet to announce pricing for DOCSIS 3.1 gigabit Internet, either. Its FTTH-based 2Gbps Gigabit Pro costs an astounding $299.95 per month, not counting the $500 activation fee and aforementioned $500 installation fee. In comparison, Google Fiber costs $70 per month, with its $300 so-called “construction fee” currently waived.

If you’re thinking of getting gigabit Internet, and it’s available where you live, make sure your own home network equipment supports it first. While it’s obvious 1Gbps is very fast, older switches and Wi-Fi gear may be limited to the tens of megabits per second. So, check your home network and make the necessary upgrades before moving up to some kind of gigabit broadband service. And if you’ve got it already, let us know in the comments how it is.

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Save Big on a Samsung Galaxy Prevail Smartphone

 
Looking for an affordable smartphone for your kids? Check out today's deal from FreedomPop.

For just $49.99, you can get a 4.5-inch pre-owned Samsung Galaxy Prevail, and enjoy 200 voice minutes, 500 text messages, and 500MB of LTE data every month for free for the life of the device.

Get this deal

In terms of specs, the Samsung Galaxy Prevail features a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable to 128GB with a memory card), a 4.5-inch 800-by-480 display, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2MP front-facing camera for selfies, and a 2000mAH battery. And since it's running Android 5.1 Lollipop, it has access to hundreds of thousands of apps in the Google Play store.

Earlier this year, PCMag reviewed this smartphone, and we had a handful of really nice things to say about it. For example, the build quality here is surprisingly solid. We didn't love the relatively low-res screen or the rear-facing camera, but our biggest complaint was the $129.99 asking price. But since FreedomPop is offering up a pre-owned model for less than half the original asking price, that's a non-issue now.

With your purchase, you'll get a free trial of the Premium Plus service (normally $7.99 per month) and the unlimited text, talk, and 1GB data plan (normally $19.99 per month). To take advantage of the completely free service, you'll need to cancel both trials before the next billing period starts. Once that's done, you won't have to pay for monthly service as long as you stay within your usage allotment.

However, if you find that you do need more texts, talk time, or data, FreedomPop offers the aformentioned  $19.99 plan, or a cheaper $10.99 offering. And since there are no long-term contracts, you're free to cancel whenever you'd like and revert back to the free plan.

For more great deals, check out TechBargains.com.

Our commerce group sources the best deals and products for theTCMall Deals posts. We operate independently of Editorial and Advertising and may earn a percentage of the sale, if you buy something via a link on the post. If you are interested in promoting your deals, please contact us at robinkhay@gmail.com

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Samsung Unveils New Bio-Processor For Fitness Wearables

The wearable device market has exploded over the past couple of years, and Samsung now wants a bigger piece of it.

The tech giant on Tuesday introduced a new chip dubbed the Samsung Bio-Processor, designed for health-oriented wearables. Now in mass production, the all-in-one chip can process numerous "biometric signals" without the need for any external processing parts. Aside from just heart rate, it can measure body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rhythm, skin temperature, and stress level.


It's also pretty tiny, which is a good thing when it comes to wearable technology. Samsung said it's about a quarter of the total combined size of its discrete parts, making it "ideal for small wearables, offering a bounty of options when designing new devices."

The company said customers today want their fitness gadgets to do more than just monitor heart rate.

"With improvements in smart, fitness devices and an increase in consumer health consciousness, more and more people are looking for ways to monitor various personal [biometric] data, or fitness data, to constantly manage their health" Ben K. Hur, vice president of marketing for Samsung's System LSI business, said in a statement. "Samsung's Bio-Processor… is the most versatile health and fitness monitoring chip available on the market today and is expected to open up many new health-based service options for our customers."

Samsung said its Bio-Processor will be available in fitness and health devices within the first half of 2016.
Meanwhile, IDC in September predicted that worldwide wearable device shipments will reach 76.1 million units this year, up more than 163 percent from the 28.9 million units shipped in 2014. By 2019, shipments are expected to grow even further—to 173.4 million units.

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MIT, Adobe aim to end ‘code rot’ by letting software auto-optimize

 

 

 In a job market absolutely stuffed with computer programming positions, few in the general population care, or should, about the complaints of pampered coders. “Oh, is PHP disorganized and difficult to bug-check? Boo-hoo, you’ll just have to bill some more over-priced hours, I guess.” But that sort of schadenfreude is self-defeating, since coders create the tools we use to interact with our world. Even minor frustrations for them can trickle down to major frustrations for the end user. One of the biggest such shared frustrations is the phenomenon of “code rot,” in which quickly advancing standards in hardware and foundational software leads to more and more conflicts and inefficiencies in existing programs. Code rot is why programs seem to run worse and worse over time — because, in reality, they do.

Now, Adobe and MIT are teaming up to try to address the problem of code rot, and remove from the life of the coder the arduous and time-consuming task of manually updating old code for new technological capabilities. The project is called Helium, and its goal is to build software solutions capable of taking old code and optimizing it for new CPU task-sharing technology, newly efficient GPU architecture, new hardware-level security features, and more. It could save coders months of hard work on just a single project and, more importantly, it could save software users quite a bit of time, money, and frustration.

So far, Helium has produced a single proof of concept study that centers on Photoshop image filters. Basically, they looked at all the commands that were coming out of Photoshop to the CPU when applying a certain filter, and compared this to the actual on-screen changes that result from these commands. The comparison can provide a software “auto-tuner” with the information necessary to see which commands are superfluous, and which could be made quicker by making use of new hardware capabilities.

As revealed in their proof of concept study published several months ago, the new version of the filter that resulted from these observations performed almost 75% faster, written more efficiently and in a more modern image processing language called Halide. The researchers admit that they picked an ideal candidate for this type of optimization. But still, 75% is an impressive achievement.

Adobe is a logical partner for the Helium project, for the same reason Photoshop was the logical choice for initial test code: Photoshop is the quintessential legacy program, and Adobe’s remarkable staying power has the perverse effect of making it harder for them to keep software efficient than almost anyone else. They invest enormous numbers of worker-hours in keeping their code from going rotten over time — oh, if it could just keep itself from doing so.

However, this remains primarily an MIT-driven initiative, which means that the fruits of this research will be widely available. Played out over the long term, this sort of approach could lead to code that is sold in an arguably slightly unfinished state, to be specifically finished off during the installation process as dictated by a scan of the user’s specific hardware setup.

Self-optimizing software could seriously reduce the workload for coders all over the world — but it’s probably still worth doing, all the same.

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Disney's VertiGo Robot Can Climb Walls

Alex Honnold and Chris Sharma better watch out. The rock climbing legends might soon face some new competition ... from a robot.

Meet VertiGo, a new robot that can actually climb walls. Developed by Disney Research Zurich in collaboration with ETH University, VertiGo might not yet be ready to take on Yosemite's Triple Crown any time soon, but it is capable of its own gravity-defying stunt: transitioning from the ground to the wall.
Riding on four wheels, the robot has two tiltable propellers that provide thrust onto the wall, allowing it to move on a vertical surface — even over challenges such as masonry — "quickly and with agility," the companies said. Check it out for yourself in the video below.

"The choice of two propellers rather than one enables a floor-to-wall transition — thrust is applied both towards the wall using the rear propeller, and in an upward direction using the front propeller, resulting in a flip onto the wall," Disney and ETH said.

As for the technical details of how they got this to work, the team said one of the biggest challenges was maximizing the ratio between thrust output and vehicle weight. It has a carbon fiber baseplate to minimize weight, while its wheels and suspension system are made of 3D-printed parts and carbon rods. It also has two thrusters, which are mounted using a two-ringed "cardan suspension," like a compass.

"Integrated servomotors allow the inner and outer ring to be moved independently from one another," the companies said. "This supports the generation of all the forces required to drive on the floor, on walls and theoretically even on the ceiling."

The VertiGo can be controlled by a human operator just like a remote control car. There's no word as to what the companies plan to do with this new technology, but they say it "extends the ability of robots to travel through urban and indoor environments."

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For VR to succeed, it needs evangelists. Will it get them?

 

 

 

 After years of impatiently waiting, the latest generation of virtual reality headsets are nearly here. Facebook alone has dumped over two billion dollars into the VR market, and countless developers are dedicating thousands of man-hours to make brand new titles for these shiny new platforms. This isn’t just a fun novelty anymore — it’s big business.

The stakes are huge, so everyone involved is scrambling to ensure that we don’t see a repeat of the 90s-era VR flops. Solid hardware and impressive games are vital, but those already seem to be in place for the launch window. To ensure widespread success, what these VR companies need are evangelists: People that can pound the pavement, and make sure the public is getting exposed to the highlights of modern virtual reality.

In preparation for next year’s big VR extravaganza, I grabbed a Google Cardboard viewer to experiment with. I spent a couple hours fiddling with it, pushing it to its limits, and making myself a little nauseous in the process. And while it’s fairly limited, it still delivers the immersive experience I was craving. For about 20 bucks or so, it offers a nice taste of what the full-fledged VR helmets of 2016 will bring us.

However, it’s worth noting that my own experience was somewhat tainted by foreknowledge. I’ve been keeping a close watch on the VR industry since Oculus came on the scene back in 2012, so I was well aware of the strengths and weaknesses before I touched it. To get an accurate idea of what the experience is like for VR virgins, I had my family use it over the Christmas break.

Across the board, it was a major hit. Simply running Google Street View in VR wowed them, and showing off a photo sphere of my kitchen made their jaws drop. After they went through a handful of demos, they were sold — all of them were VR converts. This lines up perfectly with everything I’ve heard before: Seeing is believing for virtual reality. The moment people experience modern VR in person, their interest spikes.
No amount of traditional advertising is going to make VR a financial success. Sony, Valve/HTC, and Facebook need to invest in demo stations in every big box store. Trailers filled with VR headsets need to be parked at every state fair in the country. Go out into the community, let the public try out the hardware, and you’ll have a hit on your hands.

With that said, the PC-focused headsets probably won’t get that kind of attention just yet — they’re going to be out of the reach of most people. Since you’re going to need to drop somewhere around $1,500 to get up and running from scratch, those helmets are only going to sell to serious gaming enthusiasts for the time being — not average consumers. But if Sony can sell a PlayStation VR to just one fifth of the current PS4 install base at roughly $350 a pop, that’s over $2 billion in gross revenue. That’d certainly make quite a splash, and encourage even more companies to enter the fray.

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A new thought experiment shows how we could get information from a black hole

 

 The event horizon of a black hole has long been thought to be the edge of the knowable universe. Black holes are little pockets of space that information can enter, but never leave. We can learn about black holes indirectly, by looking at their effects on non-black-hole objects around them, or at the extreme distortions in space immediately beyond the event horizon, but direct measurement has traditionally been thought impossible. Now, researchers have come up with a very, very hypothetical experiment which shows that, in principle, we might be able to look into a black hole after all.

The idea centers around the mechanism of Hawking radiation, in which one half of a particle-antiparticle pair can actually escape from a black hole. This is thought to occur because under the intense gravitational conditions just outside a black hole’s event horizon, pairs of virtual particles can be “boosted” into pairs of real, physical ones. In essence, probabilistic possibilities for particle location become concrete realities, thanks to input energy from the black hole. That’s crucial — the energy of these new particle pairs is from the black hole itself, and their creation theoretically decreases the black hole’s mass by some infinitesimally small amount. That’s why Hawking radiation is sometimes referred to as the process by which black holes “evaporate” and eventually die through a slow, slow, slow loss of mass.

The vast, vast majority of these matter-antimatter pairs will immediately annihilate one another, but a small proportion will have precisely the placement and direction needed to be pulled apart before that can happen. One particle heads in, to get sucked up by the black hole, and the other particle goes out — where we could possibly observe it. These observations are unlikely with telescopes, due to the extreme weakness and low frequency of such emissions, but in principle the math suggests that they ought to be there. Some in-lab experiments have claimed to confirm the existence of Hawking radiation, but no proof has been widely accepted by the field just yet.

The new idea for black hole archaeology, published this week in the Arxiv open research database, rests on one important additional fact: These particle-antiparticle pairs, even those pulled apart to such dramatically different fates, ought to be entangled. Entanglement is probably the most dreamed-about part of quantum physics by science fiction authors: Certain pairs of particles can be created or manipulated such that their physical states are related across unlimited physical distance, and with zero actual transfer of information. What this means is that two entangled particles can affect one another instantly, without the need for a signal to traverse the distance between them at the “unbreakable” speed of light. Their communication, if communication is even the right word for what goes on between them, cannot be intercepted, because it fundamentally does not travel from or to anywhere at all.

An artist’s impression of a black hole

That’s an immediately interesting property, in the context of a black hole, since the whole problem with studying them is that we can’t get information out — but entanglement doesn’t seem to involve the transmission of any information. So, if we have two entangled particles, one in the black hole, and one out, then we’ve got a possible inroad to learning about the black hole.

Physicists at CERN and elsewhere are working to understand antimatter, annihilation, and entanglement.

But, things get a little hairier than that. See, simply finding this escaped particle would confirm the existence of Hawking radiation overall, but not tell us much of real value about the black hole that created it. For that, the researchers say we’d need to go on to do three additional things: Measure the overall “spin state” of the black hole itself, drop a pre-measured photon into it, and finally measure the black hole again. The known impact of our added photon should be reflected in the state of our escaped particle, since its entanglement with the black hole via its captured partner particle does not require light or any other form information to actually leave the black hole at any point.
 
You know, maybe.
The extremely hypothetical nature of this paper means that the primary point for non-physicists is very general: Entanglement is weird, black holes are weird, and interactions between the two are even weirder. More than that, the fact that we have to conceive of such outlandish experimental procedures just to imagine some way of learning about the internal conditions of a black hole ought to make it clear just how powerful these singularities really are. Scientists may yet figure out a way to learn about the interior of a black hole, but if they do, it will be a truly monumental achievement.

 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider Coming to PC in January

 

According to Steam, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be available on the PC sometime in January.

Although this isn't an official release date, it does correspond with previous reports. Back in July, Square-Enix announced that the game would be released on PC in early 2016. Two weeks ago, a listing on Amazon France had the game set for release on January 29, 2016. The Baba Yaga DLC is also set to come out in January, which would coincide perfectly with a PC release date for that month.

Given all of this information, it's safe to assume the game will indeed be released on PC in January, though we don't have an exact day for its release yet.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced during Microsoft's Gamescom briefing in 2014 as a "2015 holiday exclusive" for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, though some were confused as to whether or not the game would be coming to other platforms. Shortly afterwards, Microsoft head Phil Spencer clarified that the game was in fact a timed exclusive, which meant that it would eventually be released on other platforms in the future.

In addition to revealing the PC launch window, Square-Enix also announced that the game would come to Sony's PlayStation 4 console sometime during the 2016 holiday season.

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Hyundai, others stumble with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto updates

 

 

 The news was bright and cheery: Back in 2014, Hyundai announced it would equip its 2015 lineup, including the then-new Sonata, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. The Sonata got Android Auto earlier this year, but CarPlay support ran into a snag; now the automaker is saying early 2016 for Sonatas to support CarPlay, putting it almost two years behind schedule, 9to5 Mac reports.

The update will still be free, but you’ll now need to buy an SD card. Hopefully dealers will be accommodating about this and not see it as an opportunity to charge extra money for something that should be free. For what its worth, Android Auto support is pretty good, but that’s a long delay for iPhone owners.

 

2016 Sonata

Meanwhile, Ford unveiled the much-improved Sync 3 late last year, and began rolling it out this past summer. Sync 3 ditches the venerable and archaic Microsoft-CE-based kernel for BlackBerry’s QNX, which already powers a lot of other carmaker’s infotainment systems. It’s great; we tested it. In the beginning, Ford said it would roll out on the Escape and Fiesta, and that by the end of 2016 it will be on all Fords and Lincolns.
Sync 3 also includes support for both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, although it’s spotty. For example, Ford just announced it’s rolling out support for voice-activated Siri Eyes Free on five million existing vehicles, but that’s not the same as running full-blown Apple CarPlay. Unfortunately, those cars will never get Sync 3, as it requires computer hardware the existing models don’t have.

That doesn’t mean you’ll get it even if you buy a brand new Ford. Car and Driver just tested the 2016 Ford Escape 2.0L EcoBoost FWD, which had Sync 3, as well as the latest ’16 Mustang. The magazine also juts tested the ’16 Ford Fusion, but that car still has the frustrating MyFord Touch system and Sync 2, with no way to upgrade to Sync 3, CarPlay, or Android Auto. (Ford really meant it when they said “by the end of 2016.”)

On the other hand, most new Volkswagens now on dealer lots now have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. But that automaker has its own problems, and over three months into the diesel emissions scandal, there’s a chance many of those cars may never leave those lots.

For its part, Toyota has decided against supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto altogether for now, preferring instead a hookup with Ford AppLink and a system sourced from longtime mobile GPS software maker TeleNav.

The bottom line: Be careful when car shopping. Just because a manufacturer makes an announcement doesn’t mean that tech will actually be in the car you plan on driving off the lot, especially if you’re looking for native support for your favorite smartphone. You could be making an expensive mistake.

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Tech That Should Excite (and Worry) You in 2016

 
For more than two decades, I have written an annual column with tech predictions for the next year. But this year I am deviating a bit from this tradition by highlighting promising technology as well as a few areas of concern. Let me start with the four tech products I believe will be interesting in 2016.

1. Uptick in Windows 10 Adoption
Although Windows 10 did not help the PC market in 2015, it should give it a boost next year, particularly in IT. Researchers and PC vendors I talk to say Windows 10 is the best OS Microsoft has introduced in 10 years, and they are seeing serious interest from IT departments that will be upgrading in larger numbers in 2016. If so, that would mean the PC market will only be off by -2 percent next year rather than -10 percent in 2015. PC vendors have concluded that PC demand will hover between 285-300 million global sales annually for the next three years. But others think that within 3-5 years, we may see only about 225-250 million sold each year, meaning we should prepare for a PC world where only HP, Dell, and Lenovo survive.

2. 2-in-1s and Convertibles Start to Catch On
By the end of this year, 2-in-1s and convertibles will account for less then 10 percent of all PCs sold in 2015. Despite heavy advertising from Microsoft and the PC vendors, products like Microsoft's Surface Pro and others in this category have been slow to take off. Even the iPad Pro £654.99 at Amazon has not helped this segment of the market grow. But that may change in 2016. Both 2-in-1s and convertibles are beginning to make more sense for a lot of laptop buyers since they do add a level of flexibility to the computing experience. Interestingly, if the industry pushed them as future proofing laptops, they would get a lot more attention as people now hold on to their laptops and PCs for years. But they would never do that because they really want people to buy new laptops every 3-4 years, with an eye on making 2-in-1s and convertibles account for as much as 40 percent of all laptops sold by 2018-2019.

3. Android 2-in-1s, Laptops Hit the Market
Although Google is still trying to push Chrome as its OS for laptops, the tide is turning and by the end of 2016 we should see many Android-based laptops and perhaps even Android desktops on the market. We know that at least one or two Android 2-in-1s will be launched at CES next week, but by this time next year, Android fans could have many more to choose from, sources tell me. These types of products would be especially attractive to a younger audience who cut their computing teeth on iOS and Android and have little interest in using Windows or even Mac at work.

4. VR and AR Domination? Not Exactly
I bought myself the $99 Samsung Gear VR for Christmas. It only works with a Samsung phone and needs special Oculus apps to really work. Although the experience is interesting, it is very clear to me that virtual and augmented reality are many years away from delivering a great consumer experience that will have major impact on the way people see and interact with technology. The Samsung Gear VR provides a glimpse of our future, and VR and AR will be a game changer for the overall PC, consumer electronics, and communications industries, just not in 2016. Next year is all about laying the building blocks for an eventual VR and AR experience that could be very cool for everyone.

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North Korea’s Linux-based Red Star OS is as oppressive as you’d expect

 

 

 As we’ve covered before, North Korea has its own version of Linux called Red Star OS. A pair of German researchers have just given the code a once over — and as you’d expect, it’s locked down and oppressive, and worse than just a weaker version of other Linux distros. It’s geared toward enabling and maintaining a total surveillance state, all while giving the illusion of technological progress to its citizens.

Red Star 3.0 was first leaked in 2014. We knew then that while it’s still based on Linux, it ditched its former Windows XP-style UI for that of a mid-2000s-era Mac OS X machine. Red Star OS uses KDE 3 and is available only in Korean, and is localized to North Korean spellings and terms. It contains a Firefox-based browser called Naenara for browsing the country’s intranet, along with an email client, media players, a music composition program, games, and a text editor.

Under the hood, it’s much worse. The researchers found that among Red Star 3.0’s capabilities, if you’d call them that, are watermarking different file types in order to track the distribution of documents and media files via USB stick, in a presumed effort to crack down on Western media creeping into the country.

Red Star OS: Looks a bit like OS X, eh?

The OS also has its own way of encrypting files. The researchers said that the system is “designed to defend and protect itself from changes made from user space,” and that the features implemented in Red Star OS are “the wet dream of a surveillance state dictator.” For example, if a user does make a change to the OS, like disabling an antivirus checker or firewall, the computer will display an error or even just reboot itself, according to a separate report in The Guardian.

It’s impossible to know just how many people even have access to computers in North Korea to begin with. Reports have circulated that the 14-year-old Windows XP is still floating around on machines, and Kim Jong-un has been photographed in front of an iMac before. It’s been suggested that North Korea is not only surveilling its citizens, but is also paranoid that other countries could install back doors to prevent snooping from other countries.

It’s nothing new that dictators force their citizens to use special operating systems. Back in 1999, China began developing Red Flag Linux, and Red Star OS in North Korea dates to 2002. Cuba also has its own Nova OS. The ultimate goal, aside from the above, is to ensure the populace is kept in line and isolated from any possible influence around the world.

All this, mind you, from open-source software that was originally designed to promote freedom. The irony is breathtaking.

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Handy Android Alarm Feature Disappears

The "until next alarm" for Android feature is acting awfully strange.
The feature, which lets users silence all alerts until their morning alarm goes off, has been disappearing at random, and it's once again on the lam.

Complaints first cropped up on Reddit, and Android Police said its readers also alerted it to the mishap. As the blog explains, "until next alarm" was removed from Android 6.0 but returned with Android 6.0.1. Now, however, it's missing again.

It's believed to be caused by a bug, though Google has yet to address it. Android Police points to a quick workaround: reset the date to before Dec. 25 or after Jan. 1. "That would seem to indicate that this is definitely a bug, and it should return to everyone on New Year's Day," the blog says. "Google will probably patch it in the next incremental release."

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Who Put This Huge Database of U.S. Voting Records Online?

 
Time to get out your deerstalker hat. Somewhere out there is a publicly available database with approximately 191 million voting records, with details like names, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers, and political party affiliation.

The problem? Nobody knows who owns the database, who set it up, how it got online, or why its information is public. According to CSO, which first reported on the story after being alerted to its existence by researcher Chris Vickery, it's likely that the information in the database came from the political data firm NationBuilder, but it's not necessarily the company's fault that the information is live. A customer possibly purchased this information and made it public, but it's unclear if they did so on purpose or by mistake.

"NationBuilder is under no obligation to identify customers, and once the data has been obtained, they cannot control what happens to it," writes CSO's Steve Ragan. "In short, while they provided the data that's in my newly leaked voter record, they're not liable in any way for it being exposed."
In a statement, NationBuilder founder and CEO Jim Gilliam said "the voter information included is already publicly available from each state government so no new or private information was released in this database."
"We strongly believe in making voter information more accessible to political campaigns and advocacy groups, so we provide cleaned versions of that publicly accessible information to them for free," Gilliam said. "We do not provide access to anyone for non-political purposes or that would violate any state's laws. Each state has different restrictions, and we make sure that each campaign understands those restrictions before providing them with any data. It is vital that everyone running for office knows who is registered to vote in their district."

As PCMag explained in our review of NationBuilder, the service is a cross between a content management system and customer relationship management package. An Election add-on lets you import voter files from the NationBuilder Election Center from the U.S., Canada, and the UK. That way you can tell whether a member in your database is a registered voter, and if not, send them a nudge.
That data, however, is not supposed to be used for commercial purposes.

"Most states or data brokers require that anyone obtaining voter data affirm that they're not going to use it for commercial gain and that they'll follow all related state laws," CSO's Ragan points out. "Yet, because the information Vickery discovered is in a database available to anyone on the Internet who knows how to find it, it's essentially unrestricted data."

Ragan expressed concern about the potential for abuse. "Stalking and the exposure of people who normally don't share their personal information is certainly an issue," he writes. "There are other long term issues too. The personal information in this database, including political affiliation, date of birth, could be used to construct a targeted Phishing campaign."

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can really do about the existence of this database beyond petitioning your representatives about data privacy. For security reasons, a link to this database was not published, so you can't even look to see if your information is in there.

"If you are a registered voter, we cannot offer you reassurance that your details have not been obtained and won't be misused. We don't know for how long this database has been left unsecured and how many people may have accessed and downloaded it. At this point, all we're pretty sure of is that the data in the database include data from Nation Builder," reads a report from DataBreaches.net. "Could it be one of their non-hosted clients leaking the database? Maybe. Could it be that someone hacked one of their clients and stored a copy of the database at this IP address? Maybe. Could it be that an employee of a client decided to make themselves a copy for their own purposes? Maybe. The possibilities are numerous."

DataBreaches has contacted a number of different agencies about the leak, including the FBI and the California Attorney General's Office—the latter, since the state puts fairly heavy restrictions on the use of voting records in any capacity.

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The ArcaBoard is an extremely impractical $20,000 turbine-powered hoverboard

 

 It’s the year 2015, and the predictions of Back to the Future Part II are being put to the test. The self-lacing shoes are sort of happening, but hoverboards — the real kind, not the wheeled kind — are a much trickier problem. An aerospace firm called Arca Space Corporation has started promoting the ArcaBoard, an honest to goodness (and ill-conceived) hoverboard that it plans to sell in 2016. It’s packed full of fans and batteries, and it won’t be cheap, but hey, it’s hovering.

The ArcaBoard isn’t as sexy as the tiny Mattel-branded hoverboard from the classic movie, but that’s the price you pay for having it actually fly using today’s technology. It looks a bit like a floating bar of soap in the video demo, but the creators still talk awkwardly about how carefully it was designed. Certainly the engineering that went into it is impressive. About 90% of the internal space is occupied by 36 electric ducted fans (EDF) and lithium-polymer batteries. There’s only so much you can do with the outside when you have to cram 272 horsepower inside.

When it’s powered up, the ArcaBoard will lift you 20-30 centimeters off the ground and let you surf around. With all those fans running, the contraption is pretty loud — 92dBm according to Arca. That’s about the same as a lawnmower. The maximum speed is roughly 12 miles per hour (20 kph), but you’ll need to be steady on your feet to get there.

The company claims that the ArcaBoard will contain a stabilization system that keeps it level as it moves across the terrain. You’ll have the option of controlling movement with a smartphone app using the stabilization system, but this can be disabled so you can steer by leaning with your body like those tiny wheeled vehicles that insist upon being called hoverboards.

Ignoring for a moment the substantial overselling of the demo video, the ArcaBoard looks like the most legitimate contender for the title of a true hoverboard. However, the complexity of flight becomes apparent when you look at the details. The ArcaBoard will only fly for six minutes at a time, and plugging it into a standard power source will recharge the batteries in six hours. That’s not exactly convenient.

And then there’s the price: Arca Space Corporation is asking almost $20,000 for the ArcaBoard, and there’s no option to add additional battery capacity. You can, however, buy a rapid charging dock that can juice it back up in a mere 35 minutes. That’ll cost you an extra $4,500, though.

Arca Space Corporation is offering pre-orders of the hoverboard right now with an expected shipping date of April 15th, 2016. Remember, this company has no experience making consumer products. The ArcaBoard could be vaporware or just a marketing gimmick. If nothing else, I’d expect delays getting the final product out. It’s still an interesting look at where technology is when it comes to making science fiction into reality.

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Santa's Sleigh Was Full of Fitbits

 

Did you get a Fitbit for Christmas? You're not alone.
As noted by Quartz, the company's app shot to No. 1 in Apple's App Store on Christmas Day, as millions of people presumably unwrapped a new fitness tracker and got a head start on New Year's resolutions.
As of Dec. 28, the Fitbit app was in second place, eclipsed only by YouTube. On Google Play, it's currently at No. 10.
The Fitbit lineup ranges from the clip-on Zip to the high-end Surge, with the wrist-worn Charge and Charge HR in the middle. The companion apps run on iOS and Android and let owners keep tabs on activity. They make for good gifts, which is perhaps why Fitbit has typically seen its sales jump in the fourth quarter, according to Quartz.

Wearables are expected to be a popular category well into 2016. Earlier this month, IDC said total wearable shipment volume for the quarter came to 21 million units—up 198 percent from the 7.1 million shipped during the same time last year. Fitbit retained its No. 1 position, beating out Apple, Xiaomi, Garmin, and BBK subsidiary XTC, which produces just one device—the Y01 children's phone watch.
Look for more from Fitbit and other fitness device makers at next week's CES.

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