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NYPD Will Use Drone Technology in First for New Year's Eve Security http://bit.ly/2Tjs95f  Thousands upon thousands of people are expected to pack into New York’s Times Square for the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop, as they have for more than a century. But this year will mark the first that the city’s officials will deploy drone technology as part of its increased security. The measure will be part of a counter-terror initiative that also incorporates “counter-drone technology,” Bloomberg reported Friday, noting there was no known credible threat ahead of Monday’s event. Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said during a press briefing this week that drones would work alongside other security measures and technology, including 1,225 portable and stationary cameras. “What’s different this year is the counter-drone technology and the drone factor,” Miller said. “We’ll be deploying NYPD drones for overwatch. We haven’t done that before, but that’s going to give us a visual aid and a flexibility of being able to move a camera to a certain spot with great rapidity through a tremendous crowd.” According to the New York Post, at least one of the NYPD’s drones “will be tethered to the top of a building to prevent potential attacks.” NBC News reported that this precaution was also in place to protect the crowd below in case of a malfunction. Citing Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, Bloomberg reported that thousands of NYPD officers on duty during New Year’s Eve will mean that nobody “will be more than 10 feet away from a uniformed or undercover plain clothes officer.” Helicopters, blocker vehicles, and bomb-sniffing police dogs will reportedly also be part of the NYPD’s boosted security, according to NBC News. “The NYPD routinely does a great job of planning and securing large-scale events around New York City,” O’Neill said in a statement about this year’s security measures. “Nothing in our profession is done alone, however, and our members work hand-in-hand with our law-enforcement partners—including the FBI, the New York State Police, the MTA Police, and many others—all throughout the year in preparation.” Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com December 29, 2018 at 05:27PM
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Tencent left out as China approves the release of 80 new video games https://tcrn.ch/2s1fng6 Chinese internet giant Tencent has been excluded from the first batch of video game license approvals issued by the state-run government since March. China regulators approved Saturday the released of 80 online video games after a months-long freeze, Reuters first reported. None of the approved titles listed on the approval list were from Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest gaming company. Tencent is best known as a the company behind WeChat, a popular messaging platform in China. But much of its revenue comes from gaming. Even with a recent decline in gaming revenue, the company has a thriving business that is majority owner of several companies including Activision, Grinding Gears Games, Riot and Supercell. In 2012, the company took a 40 percent stake in Epic Games, maker of Fortnite. Tencent also has alliances or publishing deals with other video gaming companies such as Square Enix, makers of Tomb Raider. The ban on new video game titles in China has affected Tencent’s bottom line. The company reported revenue from gaming fell 4 percent in the third quarter due to the prolonged freeze on licenses. At the time, Tencent claimed it had 15 games with monetization approval in its pipeline. China, the world’s largest gaming market, tightened restrictions in 2018 to combat myopia and addiction. Tencent placed its own restrictions on gaming in what appeared to be an attempt to assuage regulators. The company has expanded its age verification system, an effort aimed at curbing use of young players, and placed limits on daily play. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com December 29, 2018 at 05:21PM
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Bangladesh Shuts Down 3G, 4G Access Across Entire Country Ahead of Elections http://bit.ly/2LDROD2  The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the nation’s top telecommunications regulator, has ordered mobile providers to shut down all 3G and 4G services until midnight on Dec. 30, effective immediately, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday. The mobile blackout comes on the eve of a major national election on Sunday that has resulted in violence and crackdowns on protests, and follows on other temporary shutdowns of 3G and 4G services throughout Bangladesh earlier this week, per the Straits Times. Al Jazeera wrote that the elections have been “marred by allegations of mass arrests and jailing of activists and critics, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings” under the Bangladesh Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which has held power for a decade. “The decision has been taken to prevent rumours and propaganda surrounding the vote,” a spokesman for the regulator, Zakir Hussain Khan, told Al Jazeera. The news network added that opposition parties had called for a heavy security presence across the country:
Per the Straits Times:
The Awami League has sought to portray opposition parties as composed of thugs and traitors, with particular focus on its 1971 war for independence from Pakistan, Reuters recently reported. As CNN noted, members of the opposition have boycotted polls, with the nonprofit Human Rights Watch recently releasing a report alleging “authoritarian measures, including widespread surveillance and a crackdown on free speech, have contributed to a widely described climate of fear.” The report alleged that investigators had found credible evidence of “repeated instances of arbitrary security force arrest and detention of protesters and political opposition figures, and acts of violence and intimidation by members of the ruling party’s student and youth wings,” as well as that police forces were not acting impartially during the violence. Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Brad Adams, told CNN that “the police and election commission should not appear to be acting like extensions of the ruling party... The violence during the campaign that has mainly targeted the opposition bears out their misgivings about unfair treatment.” In October, Bangladesh passed a law criminalizing publishing information that is “aggressive or frightening” or “ruins communal harmony or creates instability or disorder or disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation” using digital devices, resulting in widespread criticism from human rights groups. Earlier this year, after student protesters took to the streets to demand safer roads, the government similarly shut down mobile internet access across large swathes of the country. In 2015, Bangladeshi authorities blocked messaging apps Tango and Viber during protests. [Al Jazeera via Engadget] Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com December 29, 2018 at 04:33PM
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Meet the Creators Behind the Advanced Visual Effects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe http://bit.ly/2LGceeG  The MCU’s special effects get more and more impressive, from de-aging that looks actually realistic to Josh Brolin’s impressive performance as a half-human half-CGI Thanos. In a lengthy, detailed interview with Collider, a few of Marvel’s important VFX creators talk about their craft, their history with the franchise, and how they got into the field. It’s a great interview, revealing fascinating details about the work that goes into making the Marvel movies look so impressive. For instance, according to Kelly Port from Digital Domain, new techniques based on machine learning played a role in making Thanos’s visuals as subtly compelling and emotive as possible. “From a technical perspective, we used a technical innovation from machine learning, on this project, that hadn’t been done before. That allowed us to get that subtlety, which was really important. With those subtle performances, it wouldn’t have been as effective or as believable, as a character. It certainly wouldn’t have been able to convey a non-dialogue performance as well because it was so subtle,” she said. In addition, VFX tinkering can last until past the premiere, until just days before the films hit theaters, which is fascinating (and a little depressing, from a labor perspective. Give these people a vacation!). Check it out here, the whole thing is well worth reading. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com December 29, 2018 at 04:33PM
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Citi slashes sales outlook for iPhone XS Max by nearly half https://tcrn.ch/2Alpfpm Citi Research has joined a growing list of analysts to lower first-quarter production estimates for Apple’s iPhones amid weakening demand for the smartphones. Citi Research analyst William Yang cut the overall iPhone shipment forecast by 5 million to 45 million for the quarter, reported Reuters. That’s a sting that falls in line with others such as influential TF International Securities Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who delivered a less than stellar iPhone forecast earlier this month. It’s Yang’s outlook for the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max that is particularly gloomy. In a research note to clients, Yang slashed the shipment forecast for the iPhone XS Max by 48 percent for the first quarter of 2019. The cut in Citi’s forecasts is driven by the firm’s view that ” 2018 iPhone is entering a destocking phase, which does not bode well for the supply chain,” Yang wrote. Two weeks ago, Kuo predicted that 2019 iPhone shipments will likely between 5 to 10 percent lower than 2018. He also lowered first quarter shipment forecasts by 20 percent. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com December 29, 2018 at 04:31PM
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Trump Blames Democrats for Children's Deaths While in Border Patrol Custody http://bit.ly/2RlXBT2  Seemingly incapable of any sense of empathy, the president of the United States has chosen to politicize on Twitter the deaths of two young children this month while they were in the Border Patrol’s custody. Seven-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin died on Dec. 8 in New Mexico, two days after being taken into CBP custody. Eight-year-old Felipe Gómez died in New Mexico on Christmas Eve. Both children were from Guatemala. On Saturday, Trump wrote: “Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two...children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!
In a third tweet, Trump tagged Fox News and mentioned the “Wall” again: “For those that naively ask why didn’t the Republicans get approval to build the Wall over the last year, it is because IN THE SENATE WE NEED 10 DEMOCRAT VOTES, and they will gives us ‘NONE’ for Border Security! Now we have to do it the hard way, with a Shutdown. Too bad! @FoxNews.”
Not only did Trump politicize these deaths, he continues to repeat information about Jakelin Caal Maquin that appears to be untrue. According to a report earlier this month by BuzzFeed, Caal’s father said the claims that she hadn’t eaten or been given water while crossing the border were false. He added that his daughter had shown no signs of being sick before being taken into CBP custody. Trump, of course, isn’t the only one in his administration politicizing the deaths. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen previously blamed Caal’s father, Nery Gilberto Caal, along with a “chain of human misery.” On Saturday, after meeting the previous day with local and federal officials in El Paso, TX, Nielsen blamed the courts and Congress. This is the same Trump official who, while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, didn’t know how many people have died while in Department of Homeland Security custody. Following Gómez’s death, CBP said it would conduct “secondary medical checks upon all children in CBP care and custody.” Nielsen said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would investigate increasing numbers of “sick children” crossing the border, The Hill reported. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com December 29, 2018 at 04:09PM Google Has Lawsuit in Illinois Over Facial Recognition Scanning in Google Photos Dismissed12/29/2018
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Google Has Lawsuit in Illinois Over Facial Recognition Scanning in Google Photos Dismissed http://bit.ly/2GYFCOL  Google has had a lawsuit in Illinois over its facial-recognition software thrown out, with a judge dismissing the case on the grounds that the plaintiff in the case did not suffer “concrete injuries,” Bloomberg reported on Saturday. The ruling puts to rest one of three lawsuits against major tech companies for alleged violations of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), with the Verge noting that cases against Facebook and Snapchat are still pending.
Individuals in Illinois who believe their rights under BIPA, the nation’s strongest biometrics privacy law, have been violated can sue for damages. Advertisement Bloomberg wrote that plaintiffs in this case alleged that Google violated BIPA by collecting facial recognition data without express user consent, specifically by extracting millions of “face templates” from images uploaded to the cloud-based Google Photos service. The plaintiffs further alleged that Google scanned the faces of people who had never signed up for Google Photos, but instead simply had images of themselves uploaded there by other means. From a 2016 International Business Times article on the case:
“Google never informed unwitting non-uses who had their face templates collected of the specific purpose and length of term for which their biometric identifiers or information would be collected, stored, and used, nor did Google obtain a written release from any of these individuals,” the plaintiffs wrote. Advertisement However, U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang was skeptical that the plaintiffs had proven any harm arose from the practice. A summary of the ruling obtained by Bloomberg said the case “is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, because Plaintiffs have not alleged an injury in-fact.” This year, Google became an active participant in trying to alter the law, which has also attracted criticism from industry players who believe most of the lawsuits it has generated impact businesses that use biometrics for justifiable employment or safety and security purposes. The tech giant supported an amendment to BIPA that would have exempted photos from the law after a separate effort by Facebook failed, Bloomberg reported in April 2018, but no further action has been taken on the proposed changes since shortly after that time, according to the state’s legislation-tracking website. Theme park operator Six Flags is also facing a lawsuit that threatens to undermine BIPA by redefining the nature of violations to only include incidents involving harm (such as data breaches or unauthorized release of biometric information). The plaintiff in that case alleged the company fingerprinted her son, a minor, without obtaining her permission first; the case is still making its way through the Illinois Supreme Court. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com December 29, 2018 at 03:33PM
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‘Monster Hunter: World’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’ collide in surprise crossover http://bit.ly/2QYFtiO Monster Hunter: World, no stranger to crossover events, quietly added a new quest that brings Assassin’s Creed into the game. The limited-time events that merged Monster Hunter: World with other franchises such as Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy are usually announced in advance. However, the sneaky addition of Assassin’s Creed just feels so appropriate. The new quest, titled SDF: Silent, Deadly, Fierce, will allow players to take on the appearances of Bayek from Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Ezio Auditore, last playable in the franchise’s main series on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The quest is shorter than some previous Monster Hunter: World events, but it will not be easy. Players will need to battle in a special arena with three of the biggest creatures in Monster Hunter: World, namely Odogaron, Deviljho, and Lunastra. Odogaron and Deviljho will spawn first, and once both have been defeated, Lunastra will arrive. Every successful completion of the quest will net players a special item named Senu’s Feather, which is in reference to Bayek’s eagle. Players will want to finish the quest four times, then use two feathers to unlock Bayek’s armor, which is purely cosmetic. The other two feathers may be used to acquire Ezio Auditore’s Assassin’s Hood, which provides wearers with stealth by increasing their movement speed and allowing them to hide quicker, with the effect lasting until they deal damage to a target. Players will only have until January 10 to gather four pieces of Senu’s Feather, so they might want to team up with others to be able to meet the deadline. Monster Hunter: World‘s collaboration with Assassin’s Creed is the last one for the year. The next crossover, meanwhile, is already known to be bringing Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 3 into the game in early 2019. Monster Hunter: World is heading towards a major expansion named Iceborne, which will arrive in fall 2019. Iceborne will be released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC as a paid expansion, though no price has yet been announced. Iceborne will feature new monsters to slay, new equipment to acquire, new quests to accomplish, and a new environment to explore. Capcom will likely reveal more information about Iceborne as its launch date draws nearer.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://bit.ly/2p4eJdC December 29, 2018 at 03:14PM
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Ancient ‘fossil cloud’ could shed light on formation of the early universe http://bit.ly/2EVvPGc A “fossilized” cloud of gas that could be from the time of the Big Bang has been discovered by researchers using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The distant cloud is one of only three known fossil clouds in the universe, and could provide valuable information about the formation of the earliest galaxies. The fossil was discovered by examining the spectrum of light given out by a quasar located behind a gas cloud. A quasar emits a bright burst of energy when matter falls into a black hole at the heart of a galaxy, and against the background of this bright light source the shadows of the hydrogen in the gas cloud can be seen. The gas cloud was detected using the Keck Observatory’s Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) and High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) instruments which could pick out the shadows of the gas cloud. The team selected particular quasars to investigate based on previous research where scientists had found shadows from hydrogen but not from heavier elements, suggesting that the gas clouds in question could be from the earliest stages of the universe before heavier elements had formed. 
The discovery of this fossil cloud is important because typically when astronomers look at information about the early universe they are working from samples which have been contaminated by later interactions. But the fossil cloud is essentially untouched, giving scientists the opportunity to see the composition of the cloud. “Everywhere we look, the gas in the universe is polluted by waste heavy elements from exploding stars,” PhD student Fred Robert, a member of the research team, explains. “But this particular cloud seems pristine, unpolluted by stars even 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.” “If it has any heavy elements at all, it must be less than 1/10,000th of the proportion we see in our Sun,” he went on to say. “This is extremely low; the most compelling explanation is that it’s a true relic of the Big Bang.” The previous two fossil clouds were discovered by chance, so this marks the first time that a team has searched for and discovered a fossil cloud deliberately.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://bit.ly/2p4eJdC December 29, 2018 at 03:14PM
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iPhone XS Max allegedly catches fire while in owner’s pants http://bit.ly/2EWJLAG A three-week-old iPhone XS Max allegedly caught fire while in the pants of its owner, who is considering legal action against Apple due to its apparently lackluster response to the incident. Josh Hillard from Columbus, Ohio reported to iDrop News that on December 12, while on lunch break at work, he noticed a strange smell coming from the back pocket of his pants. He then felt intense heat that burned his skin, followed by green and yellow smoke. The heat and smoke were coming from his iPhone XS Max, but Hillard was forced to move to another room to take off his pants as there was a female co-worker in the break room at the time. An executive heard Hillard yelling, and used a fire extinguisher to take out the flames.  
Hillard took the remains of the burnt iPhone XS Max to an Apple Store later that evening, but he was disappointed with how he was treated. He claims he spent 20 minutes answering questions by an Apple Store employee, and then waited 40 minutes after the phone was taken to a back room. After asking a manager to locate the employee and his phone, the employee returned with the device already packed. They reportedly told Hillard that the phone would be sent to the engineering team, and that this was the only way for him to receive a replacement. Unsatisfied with the customer service in the Apple Store, Hillard took back his burnt iPhone XS Max and went home, where he called the Apple Care line. It was not until he followed up the next day that he was offered a new phone, but by that time, Hillard felt that Apple needed to do more for him, including compensation for his ruined clothes and the wireless service that he is unable to use. Hillard is said to be thinking about launching legal action against Apple over the incident, according to iDrop News. The authenticity of the incident remains in question, as there is no confirmation outside of the iDrop News report. If true though, an abused battery is likely not at fault as the iPhone XS Max is almost brand new. Earlier this year, an iPhone 6S was filmed exploding and catching fire on a surveillance video from a store in Las Vegas. The fiery incidents involving iPhones, however, have never reached Samsung Galaxy Note 7 levels. Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://bit.ly/2p4eJdC December 29, 2018 at 03:14PM |
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