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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 18 Issue 13
Volume 18, Issue 13 Atari Online News, Etc. April 1, 2016
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2016
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 #1813 04/01/16
~ Google Mic Drop Prank! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Flappy Bird VMU News
~ Atari Search Engine! ~ Apple Celebrates 40th! ~ Firebee News Update!
~ N. Korea Blocking Web! ~ Even Better PS4 Console ~ Ubuntu for Windows 10!
~ Lavabit Target: Snowden ~ Razer's Ripsaw Capture! ~ FCC To Help Poor!
-* Rollercoaster Tycoon World! *-
-* FBI Fighting Judge Order in TOR Case *-
-* FCC Votes To Propose New ISP Privacy Rules *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Happy April Fool's Day! No, we're not going to attempt any pranks
this year; we've done enough of them over the years. Plus, we
have plenty of hijinks going on every day with the presidential
race! This race reminds me of a typical New England weather
adage: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!"
I don't have much to say this week, so I think I'll give you all
a break this week and we'll get right to this week's issue!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
FireBee Update News
By Fred Horvat
As mentioned last week another user on Atari-Forum.com mentioned
their solution to the problem of not being able to install EasyMiNT
on their FireBee with the exact same problems as I was having
installing EasyMiNT. I did the same thing he suggested and copied
the EasyMiNT installer folder to the CF Card and install directly
off the CF Card instead of off the SD Card.
I got my previously partitioned CF Card I was going to use for
EasyMiNT and deleted everything off of the partitions. In this
case just the C: partition had my failed N.AES installation and
the other two partitions were already empty. If I remember
correctly the 16GB CF Card was partitioned as C: 990MB FAT16 /
D: 4GB EXT2 / E: 11GB as FAT32. I found my SD card with
EasyMiNT 1.90 and put both into the FireBee and booted it up. I
copied the EM190 installation folder to the CF Card C:
Partition. Once completed I shutdown the FireBee and removed the
SD Card. I know I could have just ejected the SD Card but I
wanted to be sure the FireBee had no knowledge of the SD card
when I started the installation. I booted up the FireBee and
started the installation. Right away I was greeted with two
errors that I had to say ìCancelî to. I didnít take pictures of
the errors figuring that the installation was going to fail plus
they were in German and I really had no idea what they were saying
and Cancel was the only option given. Well after hitting the
second cancel button the familiar EasyMiNT installation screen
appeared! It was in German but I have installed EasyMiNT enough
times that I was familiar with what I was being prompted with and
made my selections and continued with the installation.
It took a long time maybe 20-30 minutes. There was a couple other
prompts that came up that I answered like what Windowing system to
load I chose XaAES, Time Zone, and Keyboard Mapping. After it was
done I selected to Reboot and that took a couple of minutes as the
D: ext2 drive was never checked before so that drive was checked.
After all that the Thing Desktop appeared on the screen in German.
I knew that would happen from installing EasyMiNT 1.90 under
Aranym a few months ago. I may find the English Resource files or
just copy over from the original FireBee FreeMiNT installation
TeraDesk Desktop. For now that is OK with me. I just wanted to
see if the installation is working properly on FireBee. I opened
TOSWin2 and the Command Line and typed in a couple of Unix Commands
and the all seemed to work as expected. I then ran from the SD
Card Netsurf 3.4 build from December 2015 that would not load with
the original FireBee FreeMiNT and that loaded! I typed in a URL
and got a No path to Host Error message. During the FireBee
Booting I watched DHCP being loaded and proper IP Addresses being
assigned to the FireBee so I was not sure what was wrong. I went
back to the Command Line and typed in the PING Command to my Router
and that was reachable which told me that TCP/IP was properly
loaded on the FireBee. I decided to load the built in Text Web
Browser Lynx and see if that would be able to get to a Web Site.
I typed Lynx and the command line and was greeted with the error
that Lynx required a CPU with a FPU (Floating Point Unit or a Math
Coprocessor). I will have to hunt down a ColdFire version of Lynx
and try again. I figured I would copy Netsurf 3.4 from the SD
card to the E: Partition and try again. The folder would not copy
to E: drive. The folder would highlight but then refuse to copy to
E:. I donít know if it is Thing Desktop or something else as now
Error was given just nothing would happen no matter how I tried.
Thatís as far as I got with EasyMiNT this week. It is promising
now that I did get it to install on the FireBee. The Netsurf
folder not being able to copy is strange. I will try TeraDesk
Desktop in the coming week and also see if the Netsurf 3.4 folder
is corrupt in any way. I may just download the latest Netsurf 3.5
build and try that too.
Until next time.
Atari Search Engine
Francois Le Coat
The ATARI bookmarks page http://eureka.atari.org/atari.html
was updated. The goal consists in valid links, even if it
corresponds to sometimes dated information. Part of these
bookmarks persist since the creation of the WEB site, back to
the year 1996.
The interest with those numerous bookmarks, there's about 800,
is to constitute an ATARI uptodate and dedicated search engine
of the on-line scene. It is a service provided by Google Co-op.
The base of this engine is a collection composed from time to
time. It's now quite consistent.
This is a WEB 2.0 experience, because even if I'm responsible
for its creation, the *ATARI Search Engine* can possibly be
integrated by ATARI web-masters adding its HTML code.
____________________________
<script>
(function() {
var cx = '014753128619202207476:tzogojpdahi';
var gcse = document.createElement('script');
gcse.type = 'text/javascript';
gcse.async = true;
gcse.src = (document.location.protocol == 'https:' ? 'https:' :
'http:') +
'//cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=' + cx;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(gcse, s);
})();
</script>
<gcse:search></gcse:search>
____________________________
Have a good ATARI WEB Surfing =)
--
FranÁois LE COAT
Author of Eureka 2.12 (2D Graph Describer, 3D Modeller)
http://eureka.atari.org/
http://is.gd/atarian
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - An Even Better PS4 Console Is Coming This Fall!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Razer's Ripsaw Video Capture Card!
RollerCoaster Tycoon World Available Now!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
An Even Better PS4 Console Is Coming This Fall
Sonyís PlayStation VR headset will work with the existing
PlayStation 4, but the Japanese company is also developing a new
PS4 thatís supposed to deliver an even better experience. The more
powerful PS4 version would cater to the needs of hardcore gamers
who want higher-end gaming experiences, including virtual reality.
Itís not clear what the console would be named. For the time being,
it appears that the 2013 and 2016 models would both be part of the
PS4 family. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sony will keep
selling the regular PS4 model once the hardware update is
available. Sources familiar with Sonyís plans also said that itís
likely that both consoles will support the same catalog of games,
but the enhanced model would offer support for
ultra-high-definition resolution graphics.
The new console would be announced before the October release of
the PlayStation VR headset, though specific launch dates arenít
available yet.
Furthermore, itís not known what kind of internal changes the
new console will have, and itís too early to talk about pricing
updates for the PS4 line.
Just like Sony, Microsoft is also expected to launch similar
hardware updates for its Xbox One.
ìWe will see more hardware innovation in the console space than
weíve ever seen,î Xbox head Phil Spencer said a few weeks ago,
teasing that a better Xbox One is coming soon, well ahead of the
expected new Xbox release cycle. ìYouíll actually see us come out
with new hardware capability during a generation allowing the
same games to run backward and forward compatible.î
Razer's Ripsaw Video Capture Card Wants
To Help You Become The Next PewDiePie
Razer is making it even easier to realize your dreams of getting
paid to play video games all day. The gamer-centric hardware maker
recently announced the Razer Ripsaw, a capture card for
broadcasting your gameplay to services such as Twitch and YouTube
Gaming. The card features USB 3.0 and HDMI connections to stream
your gaming madness to the world.
Once youíre connected, Razer says the Ripsaw will be able to
capture your gameplay in 1080p at 60 frames per second
uncompressed with ìnearly zero latency.î To get that supreme game
capture up to the Internet, however, youíll need a healthy upload
speed from your ISP.
The Ripsaw isnít just for PCs. Razer says the card comes with all
the required peripheral cables you need to stream from consoles
too including the PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and One,
Nintentdo Wii U, and Razerís own Forge TV. There are also
auxiliary and microphone audio inputs to capture your licensed
music track or running commentary.
Razer decided not to reinvent the wheel and come out with its own
software. Instead, the box integrates with OBS (Open Broadcast
Software) or XSplit.
The impact on you at home: If you're going with a PC instead of a
console for your game streams, Razer has varying requirements
depending on whether youíre using a desktop or a laptop. Desktop
machines will need a quad-core 3.10 Ghz Intel ìHaswellî Core
i5-4440 or higher, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or higher.
Laptops need a quad-core 2.8GHz Intel ìHaswellî Core i7-4810MQ or
higher and a minimum GeForce GTX 870M. On top of that youíll need
a PC equipped with at least 4GB RAM, but 8GB is recommended.
The Ripsaw is available directly from Razer for $180, a similar
MSRP to the Elgato Game Capture HD60, a rival 1080p/60fps capture
cardóthough you can often find the Elgato hardware on sale for
slightly less.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
RollerCoaster Tycoon World Available Now
Atari, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers
of interactive entertainment, today announced that RollerCoaster
Tycoon World is available now. Players can purchase the game at
retail, on any website offering the game, or on Steam. As the
first PC version of the world-renowned RollerCoaster Tycoon
franchise in more than a decade, RollerCoaster Tycoon World
incorporates next-generation features to enhance the theme park
simulation experience. Between an advanced coaster building
system, an innovative approach to the management simulation, and
native user-generated content (UGC) tools ñ RollerCoaster Tycoon
World gives players complete freedom to create what they want
while bringing advanced functionality that will allow players to
experience RollerCoaster Tycoon in a completely fun, new way.
The game is released through Steam Early Access. Before playing,
users need to download the update from Steam to make sure they
play the latest version of the game. The game has all the
features to play and enjoy a fruitful experience, and will
benefit from free content updates and features that will be
driven by the feedback of the community. Atari has also announced
a roadmap of additional features. Please check the details of the
Steam Early Access program on the Steam page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/282560/
Participants will help shape the final details of RollerCoaster
Tycoon World and provide invaluable input for the game to evolve.
RollerCoaster Tycoon World is developed by Nvizzio Creations and
by releasing the game in Early Access fans will be given the
opportunity to get their hands on the game and provide feedback.
As the game will benefit from additional features and content,
fans can expect a number of fun additions, optimizations, and
enhancements to be released during and after the Early Access
period. These include, but are not limited to, Dark Rides,
Transport Rides, and Piece-by-Piece Custom Built Structures.
ìThe RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is beloved by millions of
fans worldwide, which is something we take very seriously. After
careful consideration, the decision to go through the Steam Early
Access program was made to ensure that we can get RollerCoaster
Tycoon World in the hands of the dedicated fans that have
followed us throughout the development process as soon as
possible,î said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer, Atari.
ìAs passionate RollerCoaster Tycoon fans ourselves, we look
forward to working with our community and those new to the series
on how we can make RollerCoaster Tycoon World the best theme park
simulation game possible. Early Access allows us to openly
communicate with fans about upcoming content and features and the
community will help us shape our roadmap.î
Key Features available with the Early Access launch of
RollerCoaster Tycoon World are:
Genre-Redefining Coaster Builder: Spline-based, 3D track
editor allows for the creation of the most creative freeform
coasters imaginable. Easily manipulate the track to build the
tamest to most puke-inducing coasters by creating loops, banks,
corkscrews, inversions and more. Players have the power to test
roller coasters before opening the ride to guests to ensure it
meets the physics standards required to stay on the track, or
the coaster might just jump the rails.
Responsive Environments & Guests: Themed zones can be
created throughout a playerís park, with various themed rides
and objects affecting how much guests enjoy the experience.
Sci-fi, Western, and Adventure are just a few themes that will
impact not only ratings, but increase the areaís attractiveness
to certain peeps.
UGC Functionality: For the first time, modding capabilities
are integrated directly into the game. Native support of Steam
Workshop allows for customer scenery, 3D objects, blueprinted
coasters, parks, and more to be imported into the game and
seamlessly shared from within the game. The UGC tools have been
designed to be accessible and easy to use for everyone.
ìOur realistic approach to the graphics and gameplay, combined
with several next-gen updates is breathing new life into a
franchise that has stood the test of time,î said Matthew Labunka,
Executive Producer of RollerCoaster Tycoon World, Atari. ìThis is
just the start for RollerCoaster Tycoon World, as we look to the
future of the title and how we continue delivering a fun,
immersive experience. Opening up the game to UGC natively allows
for unlimited creativity and expansion for years to come both for
us and the community.î
Throughout 2016 and beyond, Atari and Nvizzio Creations will be
bringing several free content updates ñ including Piece-by-Piece
Custom Built Structures, Tunnels, Dark Rides, Transportation
Rides, Weather, and more. For more on upcoming updates, check
out the official RollerCoaster Tycoon World blog:
http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/rctw-blog-30-rollercoaster-
tycoon-world-coming-to-steam-early-access/
RollerCoaster Tycoon World will be available in a Standard Version
for £29.99 GBP and Deluxe Edition (online only) for £44.99 GBP. To
keep up with whatís next for RollerCoaster Tycoon World, be sure
to sign up for updates and read the latest blogs at
RollerCoasterTycoon.com. Fans can also join the conversation by
participating in the official RollerCoaster Tycoon World forum,
or on Facebook at facebook.com/rollercoastertycoon and Twitter at
@OfficialRCT.
Flappy Bird VMU Released for Sega Dreamcast Visual Memory Unit
Ah, more Flappy Bird. This time the infectious timing game has
come to the Sega Dreamcast. Well, the Visual Memory Unit (VMU)
of the Sega Dreamcast. For those that have been living under a
rock for the last few years, Flappy Bird is a timing game. Not
exactly like the music games or rhythm based stuff but more
action based. You are tasked with tapping a button to make your
bird flap his wings and fly. Doing nothing allows gravity to
bring your bird down. The challenge is in avoiding the
obstacles, usually pipes of some sort, which have small openings
for you to fly through.
Flappy Bird for the Sega Dreamcast VMU is slightly unique in that
you are holding a button rather than tapping it to fly. Other
than that, this is Flappy Bird - you either love it or hate it by
now.
To get Flappy Bird on your Sega Dreamcast VMU you are going to
have to own an SD adapter of some sort for the Dreamcast. Also,
you will need to use, the free, Dreamshell program to move the
file from the CD you burned to the Sega Dreamcast Visual Memory
Unit. Once you do that, you can then play Flappy Bird on your
VMU, on the go.
There are members on the Dreamcast Junkyard Facebook group that
are working on getting a version of Flappy Bird for the VMU
uploaded to a Planetweb compatible service. Planetweb is the
most popular browser for the Sega Dreamcast but it is severely
limited on todayís Internet.
Once you have Flappy Bird on your Sega Dreamcast Visual Memory
Unit you can play it like you would any other VMU game. Watch
the embedded video above ad see how it looks. If you have a VMU
available, this may be worth your time to install.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
How To Find Your Messages If You Fell for Googleís ëMic Dropí Prank
It's April Fools' Day, so Google decided to have a little fun
with its users by adding a new function to Gmail: the "Mic Drop."
Using one of the Internet's favorite mascots, minions from
"Despicable Me," Google replaced its normal "Send and Archive"
button with a bright-orange one that guaranteed you'd have the
last word by blocking any replies that may come after that
message. It also appended a sassy little GIF of a minion dropping
a mic.
Cute, right? But panic ó not hilarity ó ensued after the prank
was deployed. Google's product forums were soon full of reports
from users saying that the feature had seriously hurt them
personally and professionally when they hit the button by
accident for emails that they really shouldn't have. The
complaints prompted Google to take back its joke and apologize
for the inconvenience.
Oh, dear.
For those affected by the prank, there is, however, a way to
recover your messages. You can find the replies to your email in
the "All Mail" folder, a Google spokesman said. Users on Google's
help forums have also reported that you can find any replies by
finding the email thread in your "Sent" folder, and then moving
it to your Inbox. While it won't undo whatever damage may already
be done, you will at least be able to see how people responded.
Then, you can send a fresh email explaining the circumstances.
It'd be easy to say that those complaining just can't take a
joke. Yet that glosses over the fact that email is a channel for
some pretty serious communication.
"I send a legal document which affects mine and my family's life
and you stick that button in the place of a send button," reads a
post from one of many complainants pointing out that maybe the
feature wasn't such a good idea. Others said on the forum that
they may have lost job opportunities because of the feature, after
accidentally using it in emails to prospective employers or to
freelance editors. Technologist Andy Baio, after criticizing
Google for their "short-sighted" prank, posted more examples of
people who'd run afoul of the prank, including one woman who
accidentally attached the GIF to a request for prayers.
Google, to its credit, wholeheartedly acknowledged that it messed
up. In a statement, the company said, "Well, it looks like we
pranked ourselves this year. Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature
inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. Weíre truly
sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing
it, please reload your Gmail page." The company did not disclose
what, if anything, it paid to license the Minion characters for
the joke feature.
The Google spokesman said that the company isn't sure how many
people may have used the feature between when it first went live
at 1 a.m. Friday Zurich time (7 p.m. Eastern on Thursday) and
when it was removed around 3 a.m. Eastern. The feature was not
turned on for professional "Google Apps" accounts ó which may
have limited some of the potential professional damage ó but
it's clear that a lot of people use the consumer version of
Gmail for serious business as well.
Things appear to be back to normal for most Gmail users; in fact,
many users may have never seen the button at all. But some users
have reported that they've had trouble getting the feature to
stop with conversations on which they've already used "Mic Drop,"
in some circumstances. For example, some users have reported
using the joke feature on a draft email with no recipients, only
to find themselves still unable to get replies after using the
normal send button.
Is this a lesson in being careful about what you click? Yes. But
it should also be a lesson for companies to think carefully about
how people actually use their products ó and a cautionary tale in
how not to mess that up.
FCC Votes To Propose New Privacy Rules For Internet Service Providers
The Federal Communications Commission voted to propose its first
Internet privacy rules and to expand a phone subsidy program to
cover Internet access.
The Federal Communications Commission is officially proposing to
begin regulating how Internet service providers handle user
privacy. The agency is looking to restrict the companies' ability
to share with advertisers and other third parties the information
they collect about what their customers do online.
The agency's vote, however, was delayed for more than three hours
by last-minute negotiations among commissioners and the chairman.
At stake was a budget cap for a telecom subsidy program, which
the FCC subsequently voted to expand to cover both phone and
Internet service.
The FCC voted to begin collecting public comment on its chairman's
proposal to let consumers weigh in on what information ISPs
collect about them and how that information gets used.
As we reported previously, "as they connect us to the Internet,
ISPs have insight into our lives ó websites we frequent, apps we
download or locations we visit ó and may use that data for their
own promotions or sell it to data brokers to be used for marketing
or other purposes."
Under this new proposal ó formally approved by a 3-2 Democratic
majority of FCC commissioners ó consumers would be able to opt out
of programs that let ISPs use the data they collect to offer other
services themselves, but the companies would require explicit
opt-in consent for data to be shared with third parties.
"It's the consumers' information and the consumers should have the
right to determine how it's used," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
Telecom companies are against this proposal, arguing it puts them
on an unequal footing with other Internet companies that collect
data on users, like Google and Netflix, which are only overseen by
the Federal Trade Commission. Republican FCC commissioners, too,
dissented from the proposal, calling it corporate favoritism.
The FCC will now collect public comment on this proposal before
voting to set new rules.
Since 1985, a government program called Lifeline has helped
low-income people pay for phone service ó first landlines and
later cellphones. On Thursday, the FCC voted to begin allowing
the recipients of the subsidy, which is $9.25 a month, to choose
whether to spend it on a phone or an Internet connection, wired
or wireless.
This is the vote that delayed the typically punctual FCC under
Wheeler. The FCC's two Republican commissioners and one of the
Democrats, Mignon Clyburn, had apparently worked on a last-minute
deal to cap the budget of the program at $2 billion a year, but
the deal was ultimately scuttled.
"I negotiated in good faith to have a budget mechanism in place
that ensures millions of new households will have the opportunity
to afford advanced telecommunications services," Clyburn said.
"Upon further deliberation, I concluded that such a mechanism
could not fully achieve my vision of a 21st century Lifeline
program."
The program, funded through fees paid by telephone companies and
users, spent about $1.5 billion in 2015 and has no cap. It had
in the past come under fire for waste and abuse and underwent
updates and changes in 2012. Republicans have long called for
restrictions to the subsidy's budget.
The FCC voted ó also 3-2 along party lines, with stern and
impassioned objections from the Republicans ó to set a budget of
$2.25 billion a year without a hard cap and impose new
eligibility checks, service standards and a funding review
process. The FCC estimates that the subsidy currently helps about
12 million households afford phone service.
The Unfinished Business
The FCC has a few other things on tap for the coming weeks:
The agency on Tuesday launched a major auction of airwaves, or in
telecom parlance, spectrum. It's expected to take several months.
The agency plans to first reclaim airwaves from TV stations and
then sell them to telecom companies in what's going to be the
most complex auction of radio frequencies in history. The idea
is to incentivize broadcasters to give up some of their airwaves,
freeing up more spectrum for the growing use of mobile devices.
The regulators are also expected to deliver a verdict on the
proposed $67 billion cable merger of Charter Communications,
Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. All signs are
pointing to an approval with conditions, but the timing and
details are unclear.
As the New York Times reports, the deal would create the
second-largest broadband provider behind Comcast and
third-largest video provider after Comcast (whose bid to buy
Time Warner Cable was rejected last year) and DirecTV (which was
bought by AT&T last year).
And the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the
FCC gets to keep the hotly debated "net neutrality" rules that
redefined the agency's authority over Internet service providers.
Though the timing of the court decision is uncertain, Wheeler in
an interview with NPR earlier this month said it could be "in the
next few weeks," consistent with the industry's expectation of
the ruling sometime this spring.
The key question in front of the court is whether the FCC had
proper authority to reclassify broadband Internet as a more
heavily regulated telecommunications service, similar to
traditional telephony.
North Korea Now Blocking Facebook, Twitter, Other Websites
North Korea has officially announced it is blocking Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter and South Korean websites in a move underscoring
its concern with the spread of online information.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications announcement was
posted this week at the country's main mobile service provider,
Koryolink, and other places serving Internet users.
Very few North Koreans have Internet access. Typically they can
see only a sealed-off, government-sanctioned intranet. But
foreigners had previously been able to surf the Web with almost no
overt restrictions, though most likely with behind-the-scenes
monitoring of their Internet activities.
The new restrictions will make it more difficult for visitors or
the small community of foreign residents in North Korea to post
real-time information about the country to the outside world, and
will further limit the ability of North Koreans with Internet
access to view information about their country posted elsewhere.
The government announcement named YouTube, Facebook, Twitter,
Voice of America and South Korean media sites as specific examples
of what it is blocking "for a certain period of time."
It also said gambling and "sex and adult websites" have been
blocked.
Facebook and Twitter had been informally blocked for months and
could not be accessed Friday in a Web search from Pyongyang.
The announcement added that anyone who tries to hack onto such
sites, access them in an "improper" way or distribute
"anti-republic data" from them will be subject to punishment
under North Korean law. It did not say what the punishment would
be.
The new North Korean restrictions are similar to Internet
censorship in neighboring China, which allows more access in
general but also maintains strict bans on sites that Beijing
deems politically sensitive or socially harmful.
They also mirror some restrictions in South Korea, which, despite
being one of the world's most Internet-crazy countries, also bans
North Korean websites and a wide variety of what the government
deems to be adult content.
It is estimated that more than 2 million North Koreans now use
mobile phones, but with few exceptions access to the Internet is
limited to officials, technicians or others who have special
permission to use it, usually under close supervision.
North Korea decided in 2013 to allow foreigners in the country to
use 3G on their mobile phones, which generally require a local
SIM card to get onto the Koryolink mobile carrier network.
That opened the door for them to surf the net and to post to
social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. More
recently, even live-streaming video had been posted using the
new Twitter app Periscope.
But Pyongyang, looking to maintain control over the flow of news
getting out and concerned that local people may have also been
finding ways onto the Web, has been quietly experimenting with
Internet controls for some time.
In June last year, warnings began appearing on Instagram accounts
in North Korea that claimed access to the popular photo-sharing
app was being denied for "harmful content." Access to other sites
was also denied with a screen notification saying, "Warning! You
can't connect to this website because it's in blacklist site."
Instagram was not on the new list of officially banned sites and
was functioning normally.
FBI Is Fighting Back Against Judge's Order To Reveal TOR Exploit Code
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was ordered
to reveal the complete source code for the TOR exploit it used to
hack visitors of the worldís largest dark web child pornography
site, PlayPen.
Robert J. Bryan, the federal judge, ordered the FBI to hand over
the TOR browser exploit code so that defence could better
understand how the agency hacked over 1,000 computers and if the
evidence gathered was covered under the scope of the warrant.
Now, the FBI is pushing back against the federal judgeís order.
On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI filed a
sealed motion asking the judge to reconsider its ruling, saying
revealing the exploit used to bypass the Tor Browser protections
is not necessary for the defense and other cases.
In previous filings, the defence has argued that the offensive
operation used in the case was "gross misconduct by government
and law enforcement agencies," and that the Network Investigative
Technique (NIT) conducted additional functions beyond the scope
of the warrant.
The Network Investigative Technique or NIT is the FBI's
terminology for a custom hacking tool designed to penetrate TOR
users.
This particular case concerns Jay Michaud, one of the accused
from Vancouver, Washington, who was arrested in last year after
the FBI seized a dark web child sex abuse site and ran it from
agencyís own servers for the duration of 13 days.
During this period, the FBI deployed an NIT tool against users who
visited particular, child pornography threads, grabbing their real
IP addresses among other details. This leads to the arrests of
Michaud among others.
The malware expert, Vlad Tsyrklevich held by the defense to
analyse the NIT, said that it received only the parts of the NIT
to analyse, but not sections that would ensure that the
identifier attached to the suspect's NIT-infection was unique.
"He is wrong," Special Agent Daniel Alfin writes. "Discovery
of the 'exploit' would do nothing to help him determine if the
government exceeded the scope of the warrant because it would
explain how the NIT was deployed to Michaud's computer, not what
it did once deployed."
In a separate case, the Tor Project has accused the FBI of paying
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) at least $1 Million to disclose
the technique it had discovered that could help them unmask Tor
users and reveal their IP addresses. Though, the FBI denies the
claims.
A Government Error Just Revealed Snowden
Was the Target in the Lavabit Case
Itís been one of the worst-kept secrets for years: the identity of
the person the government was investigating in 2013 when it served
the secure email firm Lavabit with a court order demanding help
spying on a particular customer.
Ladar Levison, owner of the now defunct email service, has been
forbidden since then, under threat of contempt and possibly jail
time, from identifying who the government was investigating. In
court documents from the case unsealed in late 2013, all
information that could identify the customer was redacted.
But federal authorities recently screwed up and revealed the
secret themselves when they published a cache of case documents
but failed to redact one identifying piece of information about
the target: his email address, Ed_Snowden@lavabit.com. With that,
the very authorities holding the threat of jail time over
Levisonís head if he said anything have confirmed what everyone
had long ago presumed: that the target account was Snowdenís.
The documents were posted on March 4 to the federal court system
known as Pacer as part of Levisonís long battle for transparency
in the case that ruined his business. They were spotted this
week by the transparency site Cryptome and published online.
Hereís a quick recap of that case: On June 28, 2013, shortly
after newspapers published the first NSA leaks from Snowden, FBI
agents showed up at Levisonís door in Texas and served him with
a pen register order requiring him to give the government
metadata for the email activity of one customerís account.
The case was initially sealed and the public didnít learn about
it and the fight over Levisonís customer until after he had
shuttered his email service in defiance of the government. But
even after he closed Lavabit and there was no hope of the
government obtaining information about the account that it had
been seeking, the target was never identified. When some of the
documents in the case were finally unsealed in redacted form in
October 2013, however, the unredacted parts left little doubt
that the Lavabit case was about Snowden, who was known to be
using a Lavabit account in the spring of 2013 when his first NSA
leaks were published and when he was hiding in a safe house in
Hong Kong. It was still an educated guess, however.
Cut to now. With the Lavabit case long ended, Levison has kept
fighting to get more of the documents unsealed and unredacted.
Heís been using money raised by supporters back in 2013 to fund
the fight for transparency. He filed a motion in December asking
an appeals court to unseal documents and vacate a non-disclosure
order that has silenced him about the target. It turns out he was
a little more successful in that latter request than he thought
he wasówith a little help from a government error. After a
hearing earlier this year, a court denied his motion to unseal
and vacate but ordered US attorneys in the case to re-release
all ìpreviously filed pleadings, transcripts, and ordersî with
everything unredacted except ìthe identity of the subscriber
and the subscriberís email address.î After some negotiation,
the government got the court to agree to let it redact other
information as well that might harm its investigation into the
target.
Then the government messed up. When the documents were re-posted
to Pacer this month, Snowdenís Lavabit email address was left
unredacted in plain sight in an August 2013 document.
When asked for comment, Levisonís lawyer Jesse Binnall told WIRED
in an email that ìdue to the letter and spirit of the courtís
January 7, 2016 order, Lavabit has no further comment on the
unredacted email address.î
Binnall is referencing the January 2016 order in which the court
denied Levisonís motion to unseal records and vacate the
non-disclosure order in the case.
WIRED spoke with Levison, prior to his learning that the
government had made the redaction error, about his struggle to
obtain transparency. ìThree years later, I still cannot tell you
who they were after. I keep getting asked the question, and I
canít answer.î
Now, it appears he doesnít have to. The government has answered
for him.
FCC Program To Help Poor Get Online Will Start in December
Low-income Americans are expected to be able to apply for help
from the federal government in paying for Internet access in
December.
The Federal Communications Commissioners voted, 3-2 along party
lines, Thursday to expand the $1.5 billion Lifeline program, a
$9.25-a-month subsidy, to Internet as well as phone service. It
can be used with cellphone Internet or home Internet.
It's the latest federal government attempt to close a "digital
divide" between those who have access to the Internet and those
who don't, as the ability to go online becomes seen as an
increasingly important part of modern life, key for looking for
jobs and going to school.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency is addressing abuse and
fraud problems with improvements like making an independent
party check that people are eligible rather than having phone or
Internet providers do it.
Providers get payments for signing up customers, and then pass
along discounted or free service. There had been problems with
some providers signing up ineligible customers. Having someone
else verify that people are ineligible could help remove the
incentive for them to do that.
The program will have a $2.25 billion budget, but that amount
could be raised.
There was a fair amount of drama accompanying the FCC meeting,
which was delayed for several hours.
The two Republican commissioners had wanted a lower, $2 billion
cap on spending, among other changes, and said that an agreement
with Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn went out the window
at the last minute after pressure from Wheeler.
Clyburn said that she changed her mind because she didn't want to
limit the impact of Lifeline, which she said could help millions
of households that don't have Internet access. She said she heard
from "a wide range of individuals."
Wheeler called the idea that he bullied Clyburn "balderdash."
Lifeline was started in 1985 and expanded to include wireless
phones in 2005. It's paid for with fees on Americans' phone bills.
Microsoft and Canonical Partner To Bring Ubuntu to Windows 10
According to sources at Canonical, Ubuntu Linux's parent company,
and Microsoft, you'll soon be able to run Ubuntu on Windows 10.
This will be more than just running the Bash shell on Windows 10.
After all, thanks to programs such as Cygwin or MSYS utilities,
hardcore Unix users have long been able to run the popular Bash
command line interface (CLI) on Windows.
With this new addition, Ubuntu users will be able to run Ubuntu
simultaneously with Windows. This will not be in a virtual
machine, but as an integrated part of Windows 10.
The details won't be revealed until tomorrow's morning keynote
speech at Microsoft Build. It is believed that Ubuntu will run on
top of Windows 10's recently and quietly introduced Linux
subsystems in a new Windows 10 Redstone build.
Microsoft and Canonical will not, however, sources say, be
integrating Linux per se into Windows. Instead, Ubuntu will
primarily run on a foundation of native Windows libraries. This
would indicate that while Microsoft is still hard at work on
bringing containers to Windows 10 in project Barcelona, this
isn't the path Ubuntu has taken to Windows.
That said, Canonical and Microsoft have been working on bringing
containers to Windows since last summer. They've been doing this
using LXD. This is an open-source hypervisor designed
specifically for use with containers instead of virtual machines
(VMs). The fruits of that project are more likely to show up in
Azure than Windows 10.
It also seems unlikely that Ubuntu will be bringing its Unity
interface with it. Instead the focus will be on Bash and other
CLI tools, such as make, gawk and grep.
Could you run a Linux desktop such as Unity, GNOME, or KDE on
it? Probably, but that's not the purpose of this partnership.
Canonical and Microsoft are doing this because Ubuntu on
Windows' target audience is developers, not desktop users. In
particular, as Microsoft and Canonical continue to work more
closely together on cloud projects, I expect to find tools that
will make it easy for programmers to use Ubuntu to write
programs for Ubuntu on the Azure cloud.
So is this MS-Linux? No. Is it a major step forward in the
integration of Windows and Linux on the developer desktop? Yes,
yes it is.
Apple Turns 40: Reflecting on Four Decades of History
Apple, co-founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
on April 1, 1976, celebrates its 40th anniversary today.
Last night, the company hung up a pirate flag at its One Infinite
Loop campus to pay homage to the Jobs-led team that worked on the
original Macintosh, which was viewed as rebellious at a time when
Apple was focusing on the Lisa.
From near-bankruptcy to becoming the world's most valuable public
company, Apple has been through a series of highs and lows over
the past four decades.
Apple's history is vast, but the timeline below provides a basic
overview of some of the company's important moments over the
years.
Apple Timeline
1976 - Apple's history begins in the garage of Steve Jobs'
childhood home in Los Altos, California, where Steve Wozniak and
Jobs tested -- but designed elsewhere -- the first Apple I
computers, which they later introduced at the Homebrew Computer
Club. The Byte Shop places 50 orders. The computer later sells
for $666.66.
1976 - Ronald Wayne designs the first Apple company logo, and
prepares the trio's first partnership agreement, but relinquishes
his 10% stake in the Apple Computer Company for $800 just twelve
days later to avoid the potential financial risk. Wayne has assets
that creditors could seize if the partnership becomes indebted.
1977 - Apple Computer Inc. incorporates on January 3, 1977.
1977 - Apple introduces its first successful product, the Apple II
computer, for $1,298 after multimillionaire Mike Markkula invests
$92,000 in the company. Markkula also helps Apple secure credit
and additional venture capital, and recruited Michael Scott from
National Semiconductor to be Apple's first CEO.
1978 - Apple begins development of the unsuccessful Apple III.
1979 - Jef Raskin, a human interface expert who joined Apple a
year prior, receives approval to begin work on the Macintosh
project. Raskin names the computer after the McIntosh apple, his
favorite fruit. The Lisa Project, another personal computer, also
begins under Ken Rothmuller, with a projected shipping date of
1981.
1980 - Apple launches its IPO and becomes a publicly traded
company on December 12, 1980, selling 4.2 million shares for
$22 each. The company generates more capital, and instant
millionaires, than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956.
Apple continues to trade on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker
AAPL today.
1981 - IBM introduces a low-spec PC for $1,565, and eclipses
Apple's market share within two years, as the Apple Lisa misses
its shipping target. Apple experiences its first internal
shakeup, with Markkula replacing Scott as president, Jobs
becoming chairman, and Wozniak taking a leave of absence.
1982 - Steve Jobs is forced out of the Lisa project and takes
over control of the Macintosh project from Jef Raskin, who
subsequently resigns.
1983 - Apple launches the Lisa on January 19, 1983, but sells
only 100,000 units due to the personal computer's expensive
$9,995 price tag, compatibility issues, and perceived slow
performance among consumers due to the Motorola 68000 processor's
difficulty in running the complex Lisa operating system.
1983 - Steve Jobs convinces John Sculley, then president of
Pepsi-Cola, to join Apple as president and CEO on April 8, 1983.
Sculley was convinced after Jobs asked him the following: "Do
you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do
you want to come with me and change the world?"
1984 - Apple's iconic "1984" commercial airs during a break in the
third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. The
one-minute spot, based on George Orwell's novel of the same name,
introduces the original Macintosh. The ad's intended message is
Macintosh combating the conformity of "Big Brother," sometimes
interpreted as IBM.
1984 - Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh at Apple's annual
shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984 for $2,495.
ìHello, Iím Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that
bag. Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, Iíd like to share
with you a maxim I thought of the first time I met an IBM
mainframe: NEVER TRUST A COMPUTER YOU CAN'T LIFT! Obviously, I
can talk, but right now Iíd like to sit back and listen. So, it
is with considerable pride that I introduce a man whoís been like
a father to meÖ STEVE JOBS.î
1985 - Steve Jobs resigns from Apple on September 16, 1985
following an internal power struggle with Apple's Board of
Directors and then-CEO John Sculley. Jobs founds NeXT Computer
with other former Apple employees later in the year.
1987 - Microsoft releases the first version of Windows to much
disappointment.
1991 - Apple and IBM partner on October 2, 1991 to create
PowerPC-based computers.
1991 - Apple releases the PowerBook series on October 21, 1991,
a two-decades-earlier precursor to the MacBook Pro.
1993 - John Sculley steps down as Apple CEO in May 1993 and is
replaced by Michael Spindler.
1993 - Apple releases the ill-fated Newton as an early entrant in
the PDA market.
1994 - Apple releases its first PowerPC-based desktop computers
and notebooks.
1995 - Microsoft releases Windows 95, a major competitor to Mac
OS.
1996 - Gil Amelio, a member of Apple's Board of Directors since
1994, succeeds Michael Spindler as Apple CEO on February 2, 1996.
1997 - Apple, still under the leadership of Amelio, finalizes its
acquisition of NeXT Computer on February 7, 1997, bringing Steve
Jobs back to the company he co-founded as an advisor.
1997 - Apple is in financial trouble, with its stock reaching a
12-year low in the second quarter. Over the Independence Day
weekend, and on the heels of the company losing over $700
million, Jobs convinces Apple's Board of Directors to oust
Amelio as CEO. Amelio resigns less than one week later.
"We were 90 days from going bankrupt," said Jobs at D8 in
2010.
1997 - Steve Jobs is appointed as interim CEO and focuses on
simplifying Apple's product lineup and giving importance to
talents such as Jony Ive.
1997 - Apple launches the Apple Online Store on November 10,
1997 based on its new built-to-order product strategy. The
website is built using NeXT's WebObjects web application
technology acquired earlier in the year.
1998 - Apple announces the iMac on May 6, 1998 as the first
consumer-facing product since Steve Jobs returned to the company
as interim CEO. The colorful, translucent all-in-one desktop
computer, designed by Jony Ive, plays a key role in Apple's
rebound from its financial problems of years prior.
1999 - Apple releases the iBook on June 21, 1999 based on the
colorful iMac design. The notebook lineup is positioned as a
lower-end offering alongside the PowerBook series. The original
iBook G3 features a clamshell design with translucent plastic,
while the iBook G4 has an opaque white plastic case and
keyboard.
2000 - Steve Jobs announces at Macworld that he has elected to
be Apple's permanent CEO on January 5, 2000, dropping his
"interim" designation.
2001 - Just months after the dot-com collapse, Apple's first two
retail stores open in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale,
California on May 19, 2001. The two locations welcome over 7,700
people and sell a combined total of $599,000 of merchandise
during their first two day weekend. Apple opens over two dozen
more retail stores in the U.S. over the following year.
2001 - Steve Jobs introduces the iTunes media player on
January 9, 2001.
2001 - OS X is released on March 24, 2001 based on the NeXTSTEP
platform.
2001 - Steve Jobs announces the iPod on October 23, 2001 during
a low-key event at Apple's Town Hall auditorium, describing the
portable media player as a "quantum leap" that allows you to
"fit your whole music library in your pocket." The iPod, like the
iMac, plays a key role in Apple's turnaround during the 2000s.
2003 - Apple launches the iTunes Store on April 28, 2003 for
digital music downloads.
2004 - Apple introduces the iPod mini on January 15, 2004.
2005 - Apple introduces the iPod shuffle on January 11, 2005.
2005 - Apple introduces the iPod nano on September 7, 2005.
2006 - Apple releases the MacBook Pro with Intel architecture on
January 10, 2006.
2006 - Apple releases the MacBook, the successor to the iBook,
on May 16, 2006.
2006 - Apple and TBWA\Media Arts Lab launch a memorable "Get a
Mac" advertising campaign starring actors John Hodgman as PC and
Justin Long as Mac. The series of ads, which each begin with
"Hello, I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC," highlight the perceived
weaknesses of Windows PCs while promoting Mac as a cooler
alternative.
2007 - Steve Jobs famously introduces the iPhone on January 9,
2007 as if it is three separate products: a widescreen iPod with
touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough
Internet communicator. The crowd erupts in applause upon
realizing each are simply features of the smartphone.
2007 - Apple releases the Apple TV on January 9, 2007.
2007 - Apple Computer Inc. renames to Apple Inc. on January 9,
2007 to reflect its wider focus on consumer electronics. ìThe Mac,
iPod, Apple TV, and iPhone. Only one of those is a computer. So
weíre changing the name," says Steve Jobs.
2007 - Steve Jobs introduces the iPod touch on September 5, 2007.
2008 - Apple launches MacBook Air on January 29, 2008 as its
thinnest notebook ever.
2008 - Apple launches the App Store on July 10, 2008.
2010 - Following years of speculation, Steve Jobs introduces the
iPad on January 27, 2010. The device resembles a larger-sized
iPhone with a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen, aluminum unibody, and
thin bezels. Apple's iOS device lineup hereafter consists of the
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
2011 - Apple passes oil giant ExxonMobil on August 9, 2011 to
become the world's most valuable publicly traded company, with a
market cap exceeding $337 billion. Apple remains the world's most
valuable company today, nearly five years later, despite briefly
trading places with Google parent company Alphabet in early
February.
2011 - Steve Jobs passes away on October 5, 2011, one day after
Apple introduced the iPhone 4S and Siri, following a lengthy
battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and other health
complications. Apple celebrates his life at its Cupertino campus
two weeks later as the public greatly mourns his loss.
2012 - Apple Maps launches on iOS 6 to much criticism, leading to
a public apology from Tim Cook and the resignation of iOS software
chief Scott Forstall.
2014 - Tim Cook introduces the Apple Watch on September 9, 2014 as
the company's first wearable device. The product is developed by a
team led by Apple COO Jeff Williams, and the company collected
over 18,000 hours of health and fitness data prior to its launch
in April 2015.
2014 - Apple Pay launches in the United States on October 20,
2014.
2015 - Tim Cook introduces Apple Music, the company's first
subscription-based streaming music service, at WWDC 2015. Apple
Music is compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, Apple
TV, and Android. The service competes directly with Spotify,
Google Play Music, Tidal, and other streaming music platforms.
2016 - Apple releases the iPhone SE and smaller iPad Pro as it
battles the FBI over smartphone encryption.
=~=~=~=
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