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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 15 Issue 50
Volume 15, Issue 50 Atari Online News, Etc. December 20, 2013
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2013
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1550 12/20/13
~ Task Force on the NSA! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Surveillance Limits?
~ Gates Is Secret Santa! ~ Best for Wii U and 3DS ~ Ready for Video Ads?
~ Best Xbox One Games! ~ More Worry of Hacking! ~ The Mac Pro Arrives!
~ Digging Atari's Past! ~ Best PS 4 Games So Far ~ Tablet for Under $40!
-* Italy Revises "Google Tax"! *-
-* Facebook Keeps Track of All Messages *-
-* White House Review Panel on NSA Programs! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
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As you're likely aware, it's a very hectic time of the year. If you're not
out dodging the snow and having to clean it all up like we have been a few
times recently, then you're probably trying to finish up your holiday
shopping. Well, the snow from the recent couple of storms has been cleaned
up here, and our shopping is essentially complete. It is nice to be able to
say we're done shopping, and quite early, for a change!
So, we'll let you get on with your holiday preparations, and then rest up
and then enjoy another week's issue! All of us here at A-ONE wish all of
our readers a happy holiday season - stay safe!
Until next year!
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - 5 Best Wii U and 3DS Games So Far!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 5 Best Xbox One Games So Far!
Digging for Ataris Long-Lost ET Carts!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
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These Are The 5 Best Wii U and 3DS Games So Far
We have chronicled the sad tale of the Wii U ever since it launched last
year. Nintendo failed to get the word out, and in turn the public failed
to show any interest. Some consumers didnt even understand what the Wii
U was, and its hard to blame them. Things still arent looking any
better for the king of the last generation, especially now that Microsoft
and Sony have both re-entered the market with hardware that blows away
anything the Wii U has to offer. The one thing the Wii U does have over
the PS4 and Xbox One this holiday season is a year long head start, which
means a much wider and better selection of games to purchase.
In this feature, BGR has done its best to comb through the lineup to find
the crown jewels of Nintendos newest console, the games you should pick
up over the holidays for your Wii U. Here are the best Wii U games money
can buy so far. Weve included a couple of our favorite 3DS games as
well.
Super Mario 3D World
This is it. The best next-gen game so far. Putting Nintendos business
woes aside for the moment, they still employ a stable of some of the most
talented, creatives developers in the industry, and Super Mario 3D World
shines as a result. Nintendo took a break from the 3D branch of Mario
games to focus on flatter titles for the past few years, which make 3D
World all the more welcome.
In our review of 3D World, we made an audacious claim: Come November
22nd, the best game on any next-gen console will be Super Mario 3D World,
and Nintendo might finally stand a chance to compete. A month after the
games release, theres no doubt in my mind that Mario has stolen the
spotlight for the holiday season. Not only is 3D World a great game, it
could work wonders with the holiday crowd. Pile the kids in front of the
television with some Wiimotes and theyll be entertained for hours. And
dont be ashamed to jump in yourself.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
My favorite game in the Zelda series has a fresh coat of paint on the Wii
U, and if youve never worked your way through Wind Waker, this should be
your top priority when you have downtime over the holidays. Wind Waker
was a worrisome concept when it first appeared. Rather than maturing
Link, Nintendo had turned him into a full-on cartoon, and fans of the
series did not respond positively. Ten years later, it is fondly
remembered as the revitalization of the character.
Its worth noting that Wind Waker HD is not a new game, simply a
high-definition upgrade of a Gamecube game, but the few additions that
Nintendo did make are welcome ones. Sailing across the Great Sea from
island to island was joyous in the original game, but became tedious as
Link was forced to backtrack to locations hed already visited. Easing
the pain a bit, Wind Waker HD introduces a method of upgrading your
ships speed. Other changes include messages from other players washing
up on the shore, the inventory screen being relegated to the GamePad and
off-TV play.
Wind Waker is a fascinating adventure, one that shouldnt be missed. The
Wii U first-party lineup is almost as stark as the lineups of the PS4 and
Xbox One, but gems like these make the Wii U a console worth owning.
Rayman Legends
Not long ago, before first-person shooters claimed the throne,
platformers were all the rage. Nintendo had Mario, Sony had Jak, Ratchet
and Sly, Sega had Sonic and Ubisoft had Rayman. Sadly, Rayman was never
given the same attention as his competition. He was even slowly pushed
out of the Raving Rabbids series after the titular rabbits began to
overshadow the limbless hero. That all changed in 2011 with the release
of Rayman Origins, one of the best reviewed platformers in recent memory.
Two years later, we finally have our sequel, and its everything a
follow-up to Origins should be. Rayman Legends picks up right where its
predecessor left off, dumping Rayman and his odd companions in some of
the most skillfully crafted, gorgeously animated worlds on any console.
In terms of visuals, Legends even trumps Super Mario 3D World.
Multiplayer is also a ton of fun, if you can stand the chaos.
Rayman Legends is not a Nintendo exclusive, despite Ubisofts original
intentions. The game is available for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 as well,
but the Wii U is home to the definitive Legends experience. Legends is
also coming to the PS4 and Xbox One next year, but if youre looking to
get your hands on another great family game for the holidays, take a
chance and pick up Legends for the Wii U.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Two games from the same series on a list of five might seem like overkill,
but this is Zelda were talking about, one of the staple franchises of
Nintendos storied history. In some ways, much like Wind Waker HD, A Link
Between Worlds in also an HD update. Link is placed in the same world
featured in A Link to the Past with most of the same tools at his
disposal, but the dungeons are all new, item acquisition has been
streamlined, and the power to morph into a painting adds far more to the
experience than you would expect.
One thing we failed to cover in our review is just how useful the 3D
feature is in A Link Between Worlds. The top-down view of the increasingly
dangerous worlds of Hyrule and Lorule is aided greatly by an added
dimension, and it helps distract from the mildly unattractive graphical
redesign of the character models. Many of you are bound to be traveling
over the holidays pop Zelda into your 3DS and youll be home in no
time.
There are so many secrets to discover and locations to explore, youll
find yourself coming back to A Link Between Worlds ever after youve
finished the main story. After the credits rolled, I realized that a
fourth of my inventory was still empty. I havent filled it quite yet,
but I plan to cap it off before the end of the year. A Link Between
Worlds is the best 3DS game yet, and a must-have for anyone who owns the
portable console.
Pokemon X & Y
The Pokemon series has been due for an overhaul for years, and the latest
release is everything fans have been waiting for and more. As an adult, I
figured that Pokemon would have lost its charm, and although it doesnt
have its claws in me quite like it did fifteen years ago, there is
something enigmatic about catching hundreds of these ridiculous little
creatures.
Pokemon X and Y are the first games of the series to feature polygonal 3D
graphics, livening up the world a bit from previous entries. Characters
and the Pokemon that they battle with actually look substantial for the
very first time. Fans of the franchise would likely be content with the
visual upgrade alone, but Mega evolutions, Sky Battles and Horde
Encounters spice up the action even further.
At the end of the day, its another Pokemon game, but what else would a
Pokemon fan want from Game Freak and Nintendo?
These Are The 5 Best Xbox One Games So Far
Over the past few months, weve spent a great deal of time discussing the
PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Both consoles offer a unique take on the
next generation of gaming: the PlayStation 4 is a streamlined, lightning
fast device that lacks some very basic media functionality, while the
Xbox One is a mostly successful all-in-one media center replacement that
still needs some polishing to capitalize on its potential.
Although BGR settled on the PlayStation 4 as the better of the two
consoles so far, both boxes would be little more than paperweights without
a decent game lineup. Unfortunately, console launches arent historically
paired with great games. Developers havent had much time to learn the ins
and outs of the hardware, and many are still hard at work on games for the
last generation consoles.
In this feature, BGR has done its best to comb through the stark lineup to
find the diamonds in the rough, the games you should pick up over the
holidays for your brand new Xbox One. Here are the five best Xbox One
games money can buy so far.
Dead Rising 3
Dead Rising 3 is my second-favorite console exclusive of the holiday
season, and its also the most full-featured release on either the PS4 or
the Xbox One so far. If youre a fan of the series, you might be a bit
taken aback when you see just how radically Capcom has changed the
formula. First off, the countdown timer has been removed from the primary
difficulty of the game. Individual missions are still timed, but Dead
Rising 3 gives you more freedom to explore its world than the previous
titles ever did.
And thats the best part of this game. Most launch titles are
understandably constrained. Developers would rather release a solid, tight
product than an ambitious one that doesnt hit the mark. Capcom managed to
do both. Dead Rising 3 is mechanically sound and impressively huge. Every
stretch of road is littered with dozens of unique weapons, many of which
can be combined with other items to form some of the most ridiculous
combinations in the history of weapon crafting systems.
The tone is a little off, and moving around the world can be tedious
without the right equipment, but Dead Rising 3 is a great evolution of a
series that has lacked accessibility in the past. If you have an Xbox One
and youre only picking up a single game, this is my recommendation.
Forza Motorsport 5
There are two racing games now available for the Xbox One, and they both
also happen to be the only two racing games that made it in time for
launch. Forza has been a staple of the Xbox since 2005, and although
Forza Motorsport 5 is a back-to-basics car simulator (as opposed to the
open-world Forza Horizon from 2012), the game has plenty to offer fans of
the series and newcomers alike.
One aspect of the game that has been universally panned is the
microtransaction system that Turn 10 has shoehorned into the game,
impeding your progress and forcing you to spend more money on top of the
price of the game to progress at a faster rate.
Peggle 2
Both Microsoft and Sony exhausted their next-gen lineups at launch. Every
PS4 game you can play before 2014 was released on or around November
15th. The same can be said of the Xbox One, save for a single
downloadable title that Microsoft saved for December: Peggle 2. The
original Peggle was a phenomenon in the same vein as Angry Birds or Candy
Crush Saga, but without any of the negative associations that those games
have acquired over the years.
Peggle 2 is the long-awaited sequel, although when a game is basically
just a pachinko simulator, theres not much room to improve upon the
formula. So Popcap stuck to their guns and released a game that is nearly
identical to the first. There are a new host of companions offering a new
set of powerups, but you will still spend your time dropping a ball into
a field of pegs and then praying to all that is holy that your last ball
will hit that final peg, because you are not going to replay this level
for the fifteenth time today.
OK, maybe youll give it another go. But this is the last time!
Zoo Tycoon
Now, wait a minute. I know what youre thinking. Zoo Tycoon sounds like
the title of a game that might have been developed for the sole purpose
of appealing to a younger audience. Kids love cute animals, therefore
theyll ask their parents to buy any old garbage with the word zoo in
it. That might be the case, but Zoo Tycoon is much more than a $60
diversion.
Frontier Developers has combined two of their most popular titles,
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Kinectimals, to turn what could have been a
niche product into a game that the whole family can enjoy. Building a zoo
is simple and exhibits click into place without much effort. If the
strategy and management of running a zoo is something youd rather not
dedicate your time to, theres a separate mode that allows you to build
your zoo without money constraints.
Overall, its a bit simplistic compared to some of its simulation
ancestors, but with the inclusion of some fun social elements and the most
interesting use of the Kinect of any game in the launch window, Zoo Tycoon
is a bright, colorful antithesis to the guns and zombies that populate
other Xbox One titles.
Call of Duty Ghosts
Ill admit, I had my doubts about Ghosts. The series has always been
hit-or-miss for me, and it didnt look like the latest rebranding would
bring anything new to the series. And for the most part, it didnt, but I
found myself enjoying the game regardless.
The campaign doesnt break any new ground America is once again attacked
by a mysterious terrorist cell and your team of highly trained soldiers
are tasked with rendering justice on the attackers. But this time you go
into space.
Despite some solid performances and an ending that rivals the likes of
Modern Warfare 2, the formula continues to grow tired. All in all, its
an adequate addition to a game with much more to offer to its multiplayer
fanbase.
The two primary draws of Call of Duty: Ghosts are the ubiquitous online
multiplayer and the revamped Extinction mode. If youre at all familiar
with Call of Duty multiplayer, you wont find many surprises in Ghosts,
but after playing every next-gen shooter on the market, theres no
denying that Infinity Ward still knows how to dangle that carrot just far
enough from the players to keep them coming back for more.
Extinction is also a welcome surprise. In this mode, aliens take the place
of the zombies that have appeared in the past few titles, and players have
to destroy alien hives while fighting off the speedy extraterrestrials and
completing challenges.
Its easy to be cynical about Call of Duty, and Ghosts is arguably a step
back from Black Ops II, but if youre a fan of the series, theres a whole
lot to like about the latest entry.
These Are The 5 Best PlayStation 4 Games So Far
Theres no way around it the PlayStation 4 is at a disadvantage when it
comes to launch lineups. Microsoft went all out on November 22nd, filling
the shelves with exclusives and multiplatform titles alike. Sonys paltry
offering consisted of just three PS4-only games, which might not be as
worrisome if either the two games actually available at retail were
earth-shatteringly impressive.
But that is not the case. One is a great multiplayer shooter with a
muddled campaign and the other is a repetitive platformer with a
forgettable mascot. Dont fret though, PlayStation 4 owners, there are
still a few games to stock your shelves with over the holidays, and some
are even worth playing.
In this feature, BGR has done its best to comb through the stark lineup to
find the diamonds in the rough, the games you should pick up over the
holidays for your brand new PlayStation 4. Here are the five best PS4
games money can buy so far.
Resogun Guide
I never would have guessed that what amounts to a digital pack-in title
would be the best exclusive on the PlayStation 4, but for better or worse,
that does seem to be the case. Resogun is not a complex game in the vein
of Super Stardust HD, Housemarques last PlayStation-exclusive space
shooter, the visuals and the simplicity are what give Resogun its charm.
Each level has a continuous wave of enemies with which you must do battle
while simultaneously rescuing tiny green humans from their suffocatingly
small cages.
The gimmick of Resogun is that the levels wrap around 360 degrees. Flying
in either direction gives the impression that the level is spinning on an
axis. It also gives you the ability to see whats happening on the
opposite side of the level while youre fighting off aliens in the
foreground. There are a few different ships to choose from, each with
different abilities that can be upgraded by picking up powerups, as is to
be expected from a game like this.
Im sure the spell will break within the next couple of years, but as with
nearly every game on both the PS4 and Xbox One, Resogun is stunning. The
core of every level serves as the background, and as you battle with the
enemy forces, the buildings collapse into a shower voxels behind your
ship. Its more than just the graphical power of the hardware;
Housemarque knows how to craft a beautiful aesthetic. If you own a
PlayStation 4, you deserve to download Resogun.
Killzone Shadow Fall
Its no surprise that both Xbox One and PS4 fans already have a few
shooters to choose from this month, but only one is doing anything
different than its competitors. Killzone: Shadow Fall is a deeply flawed
game with a hit-or-miss campaign that culminates in quite possibly the
dumbest ending Ive ever been unfortunate enough to witness, but the
multiplayer almost makes up for what is admittedly an uneven package.
Although BGRs review of Shadow Fall was less than enthusiastic, there
were plenty of other critics who were able to look past the rough edges
and find an enjoyable, noteworthy FPS, which can be hard to find amid the
sea of modern day military shooters that flood the market every three
months. And although the multiplayer lacks the obsessive-compulsive
leveling system of other titles, Killzones ever-evolving Warzone mode is
more engaging than any individual mode in Call of Duty: Ghosts or
Battlefield 4.
Do a little bit of research, maybe watch some streamers on the PS4 Twitch
app before you take the plunge, but if youre looking for a shooter that
tries to shake things up rather than dumbing them down, Killzone: Shadow
Fall is worth a look.
Battlefield 4
Battlefield 4 is the latest addition to one of the most popular FPS
series in the history of the genre. DICE brought the series to consoles
years ago with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, but the franchise made its
biggest impression yet in 2011 with the release of Battlefield 3. Two
years later, Battlefield 4 is out for both the last-gen and the next-gen
systems, and for my money, its the best next-gen shooter so far.
In a genre where Call of Duty has reigned supreme for far too long,
Battlefield feels like a genuine evolution of the formula. Multiplayer
matches play out across enormous, expansive environments, filled with
land, sea and air vehicles to maneuver. Vehicles have always been a
staple of the franchise, but after spending years with Call of Dutys
infantry-only online battles, its hard to imagine going back.
Thats not to say there arent issues. Much like Killzone, Battlefield 4
subjects you to a terribly boring campaign filled with unlikable
characters working their way through unlikely circumstances. Its also
been widely reported that the game suffers from regular crashes, a rarity
for any console release, much less from a publisher as monolithic as EA.
As with every shooter on the PS4 and Xbox One, Battlefield 4 is worth it
for the multiplayer alone, but this might be the best multiplayer of all.
Need for Speed Rivals
Need for Speed: Most Wanted was one of the games I spent the most time
with last generation, so Rivals was near the top of the list of games I
couldnt wait to get my hands on with the new console launches.
At first glance, Need for Speed: Rivals looks like a greatest hits
collection of some of the most popular Need for Speed titles, and not in
a good way. The huge open world of Most Wanted is in tact, but it feels
far more claustrophobic than before. The high-speed police chases of Hot
Pursuit are still exciting, but without a reliable matchmaking system,
youll spend almost all of your time shunting AI racers rather than
fellow human players.
For those expecting a direct follow-up to any of the previous titles in
the series (as I was), its important to realize that the team at Ghost
Games took a different approach entirely. The mission structure is much
more linear, cars unlock in sequence, and every session is a multiplayer
session as long as you are connected to the Internet. Its worth noting
that Rivals inexplicably features the most insane, baffling, poorly-acted
story I can remember seeing in a video game in recent memory. Its
frightening at first, but it takes on a so bad its good quality within
the first hour or so that immediately qualifies it for MST3K-style group
sessions.
As a PS4 owner, you dont have many options in the racing game
department. Driveclub has been delayed into 2014 and Forza Motorsport 5
is an Xbox One exclusive. Rivals takes some warming up to, but once you
click with it, youll start having a lot of fun.
Flower
After including Peggle on the list of best Xbox One games, I couldnt
rightfully exclude the higher-definition update of one of my favorite
PlayStation 3 games from this list. If youve never played Flower, the
game has a very simple premise: take control of the wind and fly from
flower to flower, collecting petals along the way. When you first pick
Flower up, it feels like a gorgeous tech demo; a way for Sony to show
off the DualShock motion controls. As you progress, a story slowly
unfolds, giving meaning to your actions.
Flower is as much a game as it is an audiovisual experience. The music is
absolutely stunning, as are the environments. I find myself coming back
to this game fairly regularly just to look at it again, despite its
brevity.
If you somehow missed out on Flower the first time around, consider
yourself lucky. This is the definitive version of Thatgamecompanys first
game designed for consoles, and with an entry fee as low as free, you
wont be losing anything for giving it a shot.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
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Xbox Live Documentary Goes Digging for Ataris Long-Lost E.T. Cartridges
One of the weirdest videogame urban legends out there goes like this: In
the early 1980s, Atari found itself with millions of unsold copies of the
videogame adaptation of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial it created for the
Atari 2600 console. With no idea what else to do, the legend goes, Atari
buried them in a small town in New Mexico. No one seems to know exactly
what happened, but next year a documentary film crew plans to finally
unearth the story for a film that will premiere in the most ironic, yet
oddly apropos place: Xbox.
As part of a deal, announced today, between Xbox Entertainment Studios and
producers Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn, the as-yet-untitled documentary
will be released through Xbox Live on the 360 and new Xbox One sometime in
2014. The doc, the first in a series of films the producers will make for
Xbox, will be directed by Zak Penn creator of Syfys Alphas and
present the backstory of the mysterious cartridge burial the history of
Atari. It will also follow multimedia studio Fuel Entertainment as they
excavate the 100-acre landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico where the
videogames are rumored to have been dumped.
When Simon and Jonathan Chinn approached me about this story, I knew it
would be something important and fascinating, Penn said in a statement.
I wasnt expecting to be handed the opportunity to uncover one of the
most controversial mysteries of gaming lore.
That particular piece of lore dates to 1983, when Atari found itself with
boatloads of unwanted copies of a reviled game and again, according to
legend opted to simply bury them. The truthiness of the story has always
been questioned, but a man named Ben King, who grew up in Alamogordo, told
ABC News earlier this year, I was maybe around 8 or 10 years old when
this happened, and I remember when they did it
I remember people going
out there to dig up the site to get the games. To stop them, they [the
city] placed concrete over them.
The announcement of the new documentary series of which the Atari mystery
will be a part comes about seven months after the Microsoft-run Xbox
Entertainment Studios announced its first piece of exclusive original
programming a live-action Halo series being produced by Steven
Spielberg. At the time, XES president Nancy Tellem said, TV on the Xbox
One will immerse you, allowing you to virtually jump into the action.
For the documentary series, she said, Jonathan and Simon Chinn would
focus on the impact of technology on our lives.
Simon Chinn, who produced the Oscar-winning documentaries Man on Wire and
Searching for Sugar Man, said doing a series for Xbox offered the chance
to make a unique series of films around the extraordinary events and
characters that have given rise to the digital age. The announcement of
Simon and Jonathan Chinns arrangement with Xbox comes the same day the
pair, who are cousins, announced the launch of a multi-platform company
called Lightbox, which will handle production of the documentaries for
Xbox.
They are consummate storytellers and they plan to match their creative
sensibility with the best talent in the industry, Tellem said in a
statement. These stories will expose how the digital revolution created
a global democracy of information, entertainment and commerce, and how it
impacts our lives every day.
Filming on the Atari cartridge documentary is slated to begin next month
and will be available on Xbox One and Xbox 360 sometime in 2014.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Task Force Urges Limit on NSA Snooping
A presidential advisory panel has recommended sweeping limits on the
government's surveillance programs, including requiring a court to sign
off on individual searches of phone records and stripping the National
Security Agency of its ability to store that data from Americans.
It was unclear how the changes, if enacted, would impact the scope of the
vast government surveillance programs. While President Barack Obama
ordered the review board to submit recommendations following government
spying disclosures earlier this year, he is under no obligation to accept
the proposals.
The White House authorized the release of the review group's report
Wednesday, weeks ahead of schedule. The president was also conducting an
internal review of the government's surveillance programs and planned to
announce his decisions in January.
The review board's proposals address the government's ability to collect
intelligence both in the United States and overseas.
The recommendations include tightening federal law enforcement's use of
so-called national security letters, which give the government sweeping
authority to demand financial and phone records without prior court
approval in national security cases. The task force recommended that
authorities should be required to obtain a prior "judicial finding"
showing "reasonable grounds" that the information sought is relevant to
terrorism or other intelligence activities.
In addition, the panel proposed terminating the NSA's ability to store
telephone data and instead require it to be held by the phone companies or
a third party. Access to the data would then be permitted only through an
order from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
"With regard to the bulk metadata of phone calls, we think there should be
judicial review before that information is accessed and we don't think the
government should retain it," said Richard Clarke, a member of the
five-person panel.
If both recommendations were enacted, it's likely they would slow down the
intelligence collection process. The panel recommendations do allow for
exceptions "in emergencies," leaving open the possibility of intelligence
agencies scanning the information quickly and asking for permission later
if they suspect imminent attack.
Although the task force did not recommend ending any of the NSA's daily
sweeps of telephone and Internet data, as some critics urged, a senior
lawyer for one influential privacy advocate group said the review group's
recommendations would amount to "sweeping" changes in government policy
if Obama accepts them in bulk.
The recommendations "will fuel the NSA reform effort both within the
administration and in Congress," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel with
the Center for Democracy and Technology.
The panel also tackled the diplomatic furor over NSA spying on the
leaders of allied nations, including Germany. The group recommended that
the president personally approve such spying and that the decisions be
based in part on whether the United States shares "fundamental values
and interests" with the leaders of those nations.
"Just because we can doesn't mean we should," Clarke said.
The panel's other recommendations include:
Guidelines for establishing reciprocal nonspying agreements with the
United States
Creation of a civil liberties policy official in the White House and at
the Office of Management and Budget.
Changes to the vetting process for those trying to obtain security
clearances, including requiring that the vetting process be ongoing for
those accessing classified information.
Panel members said they did not think any of the recommendations would
harm U.S. national security.
"We are not in any way recommending the disarming of the intelligence
community," said Michael Morell, a task force member and former deputy
director of the CIA. "We're not saying struggle against terrorism is
over."
White House Review Panel Proposes Curbs on Some NSA Programs
A White House-appointed panel on Wednesday proposed curbs on some key
National Security Agency surveillance operations, recommending limits on a
program to collect records of billions of telephone calls and new tests
before Washington spies on foreign leaders.
Among the panel's proposals, made in the wake of revelations by former NSA
contractor Edward Snowden, the most contentious may be its recommendation
that the eavesdropping agency halt collection of the phone call records,
known as "metadata."
Instead, it said, those records should be held by telecommunications
providers or a private third party. In a further limitation, the U.S.
government would need an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court to search the data.
"We don't see the need for the government to be retaining that data," said
Richard Clarke, a member of the panel and a former White House
counterterrorism advisor.
Across U.S. surveillance programs more broadly, "we tend to believe there
should be further judicial oversight than there has been," Clarke said.
It remains to be seen, however, how many of the panel's 46 recommendations
will be accepted by President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress. The
panel's five members met with Obama at the White House on Wednesday.
NSA officials have staunchly defended the bulk metadata program, saying it
is essential to "connect the dots" between terrorist plotters overseas and
co-conspirators inside the United States.
"There is no other way that we know of to connect the dots," Army General
Keith Alexander, NSA's director, told a Senate committee last week. "Given
that the threat is growing, I believe that is an unacceptable risk to our
country."
Michael Morell, a former deputy CIA director who is on the White House
review panel, said its members do not believe that its proposals for
change "in any way undermine the capabilities of the U.S. intelligence
community to collect the information it needs to collect to keep this
country safe."
In another major recommendation, the panel proposed five tests it said
should be met before Washington conducts surveillance against foreign
leaders.
Revelations in documents provided by Snowden that the United States spied
on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
have enraged those countries' citizens.
Brazil on Wednesday awarded a $4.5 billion contract to Saab AB to replace
its aging fleet of fighter jets, after news of U.S. spying on Brazilians
helped derail U.S. firm Boeing's chances for the deal.
"The NSA problem ruined it for the Americans," a Brazilian government
source said on condition of anonymity.
Before spying on foreign leaders, the panel said, U.S. leaders should
determine whether such surveillance is merited by "significant threats" to
national security, and whether the nation involved is one "whose leaders
we should accord a high degree of respect and deference."
U.S. leaders also should determine whether there is reason to believe the
foreign leader has been duplicitous, whether there are other ways to
obtain the necessary information, and weigh the negative effects if the
surveillance becomes public, the panel said.
It said the U.S. government should explore agreements on spying practices
"with a small number of closely allied governments."
Obama said earlier this month in a television interview that he would be
"proposing some self-restraint on the NSA" in reforms that the White House
has said will be announced in January.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said some of the outside panel's
recommendations could be accepted, others studied further, and some
rejected.
NSA Debate Shifts in Favor of Surveillance Limits
In a sharp and unexpected shift, the national debate over U.S. government
surveillance seems to be turning in favor of reining in the National
Security Agency's expansive spying powers at home and abroad.
It's happened suddenly, over a span of just three days. First, a federal
judge ruled that the NSA's bulk collection of telephone records was
unconstitutional, and then a presidential advisory panel recommended
sweeping changes to the agency. Together, the developments are ratcheting
up the pressure on President Barack Obama to scale back the controversial
surveillance programs.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin chimed in on Thursday. He said U.S.
surveillance efforts are necessary to fight terrorism and "not a cause
for repentance," but he, too, said they should be limited by clear rules.
Obama is in no way obligated to make substantial changes. And, countering
the public criticism he faces, he hears internal appeals from intelligence
officials who insist the collection of phone and Internet data is
necessary to protect the U.S. from terror attacks.
But even that argument has been undermined in the course of an
extraordinary week. Federal Judge Richard Leon said in a ruling on Monday
its effect stayed, pending appeal that even if the phone data
collection is constitutional, there is little evidence that it has
prevented terror attacks. The intelligence advisory panel, which had
access to significant amounts of classified information and counted as a
member a former acting director of the CIA, came to the same conclusion
in its 300-page report.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a fierce critic of the NSA programs, concluded,
"What this says to the millions of Americans who have been concerned that
the government knows who they called and when they called and for how
long, this says it wasn't essential for preventing attacks."
The White House has already rejected one proposal from the task force,
which would have allowed for a civilian to head the NSA. While Obama
spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday that the president was open to each of
the panel's other 45 recommendations, a U.S. official familiar with the
deliberations said that Obama rejected a handful of the proposals out of
hand when he met with the panel members this week.
The president indicated he was comfortable with about half of the
recommendations but thinks some others need further study, according to
the official. That official commented only on condition of anonymity
because the official was not authorized to discuss the process by name.
Obama is expected to announce his decisions in January.
Congress has been jarred by the new focus on government surveillance. For
years, lawmakers had shown little interest in curtailing the programs,
but an unusual coalition of conservative Republicans and liberal
Democrats has now taken up the issue.
However, Capitol Hill appears stuck over how to proceed. A broad
bipartisan coalition in the House is backing legislation that would
prohibit the NSA from collecting hundreds of millions of telephone
records every day from U.S. phone companies. But congressional leaders,
who have been briefed for years on the classified terrorist-tracking
programs, generally support more modest changes to the surveillance
systems and have sidelined the House measure.
The chairs of both the House and Senate intelligence committees have also
championed more-limited legislation that would call for greater court and
congressional oversight of the NSA.
At least before the review group's report, the Obama administration was
backing the intelligence committees' bill. However, the review group's
recommendations if Obama accepts some of them could change the
dynamic once again.
The mere consideration of rolling back the government's vast surveillance
powers marks a psychological shift for a nation that was set on edge by
the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. President George W. Bush faced
little resistance from Congress when he implemented the USA Patriot Act,
the law Congress approved that covers the surveillance programs. And
opinion polling at the time indicated Americans were broadly willing to
give up privacy for the sake of security.
But in the 12 years following the attacks, there has been no comparable
large-scale terror incident in the U.S. The public has also learned much
more about the government's surveillance activities, most recently in a
wave of disclosures from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
"The further out we are from 9/11, the more the American public begins to
ask the tough questions about the basics of liberties and civil rights,"
said Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union. "The question for the president is whether he gets in
front of the reform effort, shapes it, directs it and owns it, or whether
he gets dragged along."
NSA supporters worry that curtailing the surveillance programs would
leave the country vulnerable to threats.
"Any intelligence collection reforms must be careful to preserve
important national security capabilities," said Rep. Mike Rogers,
R-Mich., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Obama who ran for the White House in part on promises to curtail
government powers that expanded after Sept. 11 has said he welcomes the
public debate. Yet it's all but certain he would not have launched that
debate on his own had Snowden not leaked his trove of secret documents.
Snowden's most explosive disclosures focused on the NSA's bulk collections
of Americans' phone and internet records. The agency says it does not
listen to the content of the calls, nor does it read Internet messages
without specific court approval to do so on a case-by-cases basis. It
says it does, however, collect and store records of the time and date
calls are made, how long they last and the phone numbers that are used.
It was also revealed in recent months that the U.S. was monitoring the
communications of friendly foreign leaders, including German Chancellor
Angela Merkel. The disclosures incensed allies, and Obama's advisers say
they have negatively impacted the president's relations with some world
leaders.
Italy Revises 'Google Tax' To Exclude Goods Purchased Online
Italian lawmakers have revised proposed legislation that would raise
revenue from online companies including Google and Amazon, but its passage
is still uncertain as the leader of the main ruling party said it should
be scrapped.
Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government last month proposed the law,
dubbed the "Google tax", that would oblige companies that advertise and
sell online in Italy to do so only through agencies with a tax presence
in the country.
The lower house budget committee late on Tuesday, however, excluded goods
bought online from the legislation - also known as the "Web tax" - making
the law applicable to advertising only. The measure would become law with
the passage of the 2014 budget, due by the end of the year.
The measure was scaled back after Matteo Renzi, the new leader of the
Democratic Party (PD), which is the largest in the ruling coalition, said
on Tuesday that it should be scrapped.
It would not tax the multinationals directly, but require them to use
Italian companies to sell their advertisements rather than doing so
through third parties based in low-tax countries such as Luxembourg,
Ireland or outside the European Union.
"Web freedom does not mean the freedom not to pay taxes," said lawmaker
Francesco Boccia, president of the lower house budget committee, who is
considered close to Prime Minister Letta and has pushed hard for the
measure.
Since both Boccia and Letta are members of the Democratic Party, which
Renzi leads after a landslide victory in a primary vote earlier this
month, it still is not clear where exactly the PD stands on the issue.
While opponents of the measure say it would probably violate EU rules,
proponents have said it will raise at least 1 billion euros ($1.37
billion) a year for a country that is struggling to lower its debt, the
second-highest in the EU after Greece.
The Senate is expected to cast the final vote on the 2014 budget before
Christmas. The lower house is expected to vote by the end of the week on
whether to include the "Google tax" in the budget.
Facebook Keeps Track of Every Message You Type Even Ones You Dont Post
Everyone social network user has at some point typed something they knew
theyd regret sharing and has promptly erased it before clicking post.
However, Slates Jennifer Golbeck reports that these discarded thoughts
dont completely disappear rather, Facebook uses a code that keeps
track of every time you delete a would-be message and sends metadata
about that message back to its own data bases.
Just what is Facebook doing with information on these non-posts, you ask?
Golbeck cites a new research paper written by Facebook data scientist
Adam Kramer and Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. student Sauvik Das that examines
the reasons for Facebook users self-censorship and takes a look at
millions of users aborted status updates, posts on other peoples
timelines, and comments on others posts.
Facebook isnt keeping a database on all these non-posts contents, mind
you its simply keeping a record of all the data surrounding
self-censored posts such as what time it was almost posted and whether it
was set to be posted on a friends page or on the users own page. Kramer
and Das say that Facebook wants to understand all the reasons that people
decide against posting because the company loses value from the lack of
content generation every time a would-be post gets the axe.
Consider, for example, the college student who wants to promote a social
event for a special interest group, but does not for fear of spamming his
other friends some of who may, in fact, appreciate his efforts, the
authors write in explaining their interest in self-censoring behavior.
Golbeck concludes that Facebooks desire to get users to post absolutely
everything that comes into their heads is somewhat perverse because the
company is essentially encouraging its users to lower the standards of
what they share with their friends.
So Facebook considers your thoughtful discretion about what to post as
bad, because it withholds value from Facebook and from other users, she
writes. Facebook monitors those unposted thoughts to better understand
them, in order to build a system that minimizes this deliberate
behavior.
Get Ready for Video Ads in Your Facebook Newsfeed
Your Facebook Newsfeed might soon start to include some new moving ads.
Facebook announced today that it would begin rolling out video
advertisements in mobile and desktop Newsfeeds.
The company has been testing moving ads for the past few months, but this
week it will begin auto-playing video ads - specifically a trailer for
the movie "Divergent" - to more users
"Marketers will be able to use this new format to tell their stories to a
large number of people on Facebook in a short amount of time - with
high-quality sight, sound and motion. This approach will continue to
improve the quality of ads that you see in the Newsfeed," Facebook
announced Tuesday.
The ads, Facebook explains, will play on their own without sound. When you
tap or click them, they can be played at full screen with sound. If you
don't want to view the videos, you can swipe past them.
Facebook began introducing auto-playing videos within its mobile apps a
few weeks ago. The videos won't eat into your data plans. Instead,
Facebook downloads them in advance when a device is connected to Wi-FI.
The move comes as Facebook continues to look at ways to improve the
advertising experience for businesses and users on the social network.
Facebook has introduced tools that allow users to explain why they like
or dislike an ad. Additionally, the company has been working to create
higher-quality ads.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, also recently began incorporating
photo advertisements into users' photo feeds.
Long Live the Desktop! Apple's Made-in-America Mac Pro Arrives
Christmas is a week away, and you might still be scrambling around
looking for the perfect gifts. If there's an Apple-obsessed technophile
in your life, the newest Mac Pro might be your ticket to winning the
holidays. That is, if you have the cash.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced via tweet Wednesday morning that the Mac Pro
has begun rolling off the lines in Austin, Texas. The desktop computer
will be available Thursday, Dec. 19, in Apple Stores and on the Apple
website, starting at $2,999.
The Mac Pro's design is a big departure from Mac's previous desktops. It
stands at a little less than 10 inches, and its cylindrical shape makes
it look more like a futuristic coffee mug than a computer. The machine is
also assembled in the U.S., unlike many of Apple's other products, most
of which are put together in China.
But buried within the 11-pound machine is top-notch hardware that
outclasses not only all other Mac models but most other high-end towers.
The basic Mac Pro comes with the latest quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor,
as well as 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage space. But customers who
want a more powerful computer can buy a 6-core processor Mac Pro for
$3,999. Both computers can be customized even more, going up to a 12-core
processor, 64 GB of memory and 1 TB of storage space.
Along with both computers' powerful Dual AMD FirePro graphics processors,
the new Mac Pros can handle a lot at once - up to three separate 4K
displays or six Thunderbolt displays. It certainly is for the power user
who demands a lot of horsepower, especially for heavy video or graphic
work.
But be forewarned that those displays aren't included in the $2,999 price
tag. The only accessory that the Mac Pro comes with is a power cord.
Monitors, speakers and the keyboard and mouse are extra.
Datawind To Sell Tablets in the United States for Less Than $40
A tablet for less than $40 seems like the kind of deal reserved for Black
Friday or Cyber Monday, but one company is looking to make it available
year round. Datawind, a London-based company, is planning to release
three different models of Ubislate tablets starting early next year,
according to the Wall Street Journal.
Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said that the new tablets aren't out to
compete with the iPad. "Ubislate is primarily intended for students," he
told ABC News today in an email. "But it's also for anybody that is left
off the Web because of affordability."
A recent study from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life
Project estimates that 15 percent of American adults don't use the
Internet.
This isn't the company's first attempt at a tablet. Datawind is best
known for supplying India's students with its Aakash line of tablets.
Tuli added that the company has also expanded outside of India, providing
affordable devices to several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ubislate 7Ci, the cheapest tablet at $37.99, uses technology that
Apple has since abandoned. The tablet's Cortex A8 processor was last seen
in Apple's A4 chip, back with the original iPad and iPhone 4. But anyone
who's gotten used to the HD displays may be taken aback by the 7Ci's
800x480 display.
Datawind is also offering a higher-end model with a dual core processor
in the Ubislate 3G7, available for $129.99. Unlike the 7Ci and 7C+
models, the 3G7 can connect to a 3G network in addition to Wi-Fi. The 3G7
also branches into phablet territory, with its ability to make calls.
Though it has an improved 1024x600 display, it may still look blurry
compared to devices like the iPad mini and Kindle Fire HDX.
Tuli added that what's currently available will get some improvements
before they start shipping to the United States. "There are firmware and
some other basic upgrades to the entry-level product," he said. "The
higher-end devices for the U.S. are bundled with local data plans and
cater to the local networks."
News Corp. Acquires Social Media Tool Storyful
News Corp on Friday made its first acquisition as a stand-alone company
with the $25 million purchase of social news tool Storyful.
Founded in 2008 and based in Dublin, Ireland, Storyful verifies and
manages the rights holders of news and videos on social media platforms
such as Twitter in real time.
"Storyful has become the village square for valuable video, using
journalistic sensibility, integrity and creativity to find, authenticate
and commercialize user-generated content," News Corp CEO Robert Thomson
said in a statement.
The move sheds a bit of light on News Corp's acquisition strategy. Since
it separated from its cable, TV and movie sister properties, now known as
21st Century Fox, in July, analysts have been keen to understand how News
Corp plans to use its sizable chest of cash of more than $2 billion.
News Corp said it will operate Storyful as a stand-alone business unit
that will continue to maintain partnerships with other news organizations,
including the New York Times, Reuters and ABC News.
"We see significant value, especially on the video end, to marry your own
video with viral video that is out there," said Raju Narisetti, senior
vice president of strategy at News Corp.
Additionally, News Corp plans to extend Storyful's tool to advertisers
and marketers so they can verify the social chatter around a brand
campaign.
Storyful's management team of Chief Executive Mark Little and Executive
Editor David Clinch will continue to oversee operations. Rahul Chopra,
senior vice president of video for News Corp, will join Storyful, taking
the additional role of chief revenue officer.
Oracle To Buy Responsys for $1.39 Billion in Cloud Software Push
Oracle Corp, the world's No. 2 business software maker, said it would buy
web-based marketing software maker Responsys Inc for about $1.39 billion
to bolster its cloud computing offerings.
Oracle, led by billionaire Larry Ellison, has been focusing on cloud
software to fend off competition from nimbler rivals such as
Salesforce.com and Workday Inc, which offer web-based products at prices
that often undercut Oracle.
Four-decade-old Oracle, which came late to cloud computing, has created
sales teams targeting specific cloud competitors and is trying to be a
one-stop shop for operating systems, databases and software programs over
the Web.
Responsys makes cloud-based software that businesses use to manage their
marketing campaigns across e-mail, mobile and the Internet. Its customers
include LinkedIn, Southwest Airlines, and United Healthcare.
"(The Responsys acquisition) further expands the company's cloud
initiative, which remains a key ingredient to Oracle's recipe for success
over the coming years," FBR Capital Markets analysts Daniel Ives said in
a note to clients.
The deal comes exactly a year after Oracle said it would buy Eloqua, a
maker of cloud-based marketing automation software, for $810 billion.
Earlier this year, Salesforce.com acquired ExactTarget, another marketing
software maker, for $2.5 billion.
Cloud computing, a broad term referring to the delivery of services via
the Internet from remote data centers, is a favorite with corporate
technology buyers because it is faster to implement and has lower upfront
costs than traditional software.
The Responsys deal could also trigger consolidation in the software
industry in 2014 as larger firms explore new areas of growth, while
smaller vendors continue look at strategic acquisitions.
"In our opinion, this acquisition makes it more likely that NetSuite Inc
or SAP AG would acquire Marketo," Ives said, noting that neither have
made big acquisitions in digital marketing.
Marketo, which has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, also makes
marketing software for businesses.
Oracle's offer of $27 per share represents a premium of about 38 percent
to Responsys' Thursday closing. Responsys shares were trading at $26.94
on the Nasdaq on Friday.
Oracle priced the deal at about $1.5 billion, net of Responsys' cash.
The deal, which has been approved by the board of directors of Responsys,
is expected to close in the first half of 2014.
Oracle shares were down marginally at $36.65 in midday trading on the New
York Stock Exchange. Marketo shares jumped nearly 10 percent.
The Responsys deal, Oracle's seventh acquisition in the year, is also its
biggest since it acquired network gear maker Acme Packet for $1.7 billion
in February.
France: It's Not Sexting, It's Textopornographie
France, a nation with a centuries-old reputation for seduction, now has a
word for sexting.
If you want to send sexually explicit photos or text messages to your
lover in France, it's called "textopornographie." That's the term
recently chosen by the Academie Francaise, the respected institution that
watches over the French language and regularly invents French terms for
English or other expressions that have gone global.
The academy's Sophie Tonolo, a dictionary editor, says it was approached
by the Justice Ministry for a proper term for sexting because the
phenomenon often comes up in legal cases.
It was one of many words published this month in a government legal
database. It may not end up in the dictionary however, Tonolo said, if
the phenomenon fades.
People Are Way More Worried About Hackers Than Online Tracking
Nearly every action you take while online is monitored by advertisers,
from the products you buy to the links that you click. Ads are
tailor-made for each and every user, like a more accurate Pandora, but
without the music. Despite all of this, people are still more concerned
about hackers accessing their private information than they are about
advertisers paying for it.
AllThingsD shares the results of a survey where 75% of respondents say
they are worried about the threat of hacking, yet only 54% have the same
distress when it comes to advertisers tracking their every move. Only 15%
rank governments breach of privacy as their top security concern. What
this shows us is that sensationalism trumps common sense.
The threat of being hacked is very real just ask anyone who has ever
had to regain access to his or her email account but the seemingly
innocuous gathering of information by advertisers is both constant and
extremely invasive. Its possible that f the public was better informed
about how their information was stored and shared, this survey might have
seen very different results.
Bill Gates Sends Secret Santa Gift to Reddit User
While everyone knows the best part of a Secret Santa gift exchange is
finding out the identity of the gift giver, a Reddit user participating
in this year's online Secret Santa gift giving got the surprise of her
life during the big reveal.
The user, identified only as Rachel, posted a list of gifts she hoped to
get from her Reddit Secret Santa - makeup, nail polish, "glittery things"
and an iPad. But that's not what she got from Microsoft founder Bill
Gates.
"I thought Bill sounded like a friendly fellow," Rachel said. "In fact,
I had this whole image of this poor guy named Bill trying to navigate my
wish list full of makeup, nail polish, glittery things to buy me. Quite
frankly, I felt bad for this Bill," Rachel said in a follow-up post on
Reddit.
Rachel explained that a package showed up at her house with a card
addressed "To Rachel, From Bill." It contained a stuffed cow, a note
saying a donation had been made in her name to Heifer International and
a large National Geographic book about world travel. She was delighted.
"Still not realizing who was gifting me, I quickly opened ... the gift,
which was an amazing and beautiful travel book, 'Journeys of a
Lifetime.' I went on and on in my likes and dislikes for my love of
travel and seeing the world, and I cannot WAIT to read this. Not only
that, but I love pictures and reading up on new places. This gift was
perfect!" she wrote.
"I quickly flipped through it, missing the inscription, message and
signature from Bill on the first page and headed to the final part of my
gift. Once again, To me, From Bill. I opened this and it's a man holding
a sign. Oh ... wait," Rachel wrote, describing the moment she realized
the identity of her gifter.
"And then it finally hit me. All the presents I just tore open, the
charity, then everything - was from Bill GATES.
Rachel said she went back through the gifts and read the inscriptions
again, noting that all of the gifts were perfectly tailored to her
interests. She found a picture Gates had taken of himself with the
stuffed cow and the card made out to her.
"My jaw hit the EVER LOVING FLOOR. I went back to all the other gifts
completely shocked. My god. Never in my entire life did I imagine, ever,
ever, ever that Bill would get me. I am SO SO thankful for the time,
thought and energy he put into my gift, and especially thankful for him
overnighting it," she wrote.
At the end of her post, Rachel made sure to add a sly apology for asking
for an Apple iPad:
"PS: Sorry for the Apple ipad on my wish list, that was really awkward,"
she wrote.
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