‘Blackshades’ webcam spying ring leader gets over 4 years in prison

A year and a half following his arrest, the leader of the ‘Blackshades’ hacking ring is going behind bars. An American judge has sentenced Alex Yucel to 57 months (4.75 years) in prison after he pled guilty to charges that he distributed remote access malware to “thousands” of crooks, who used it for everything from swiping passwords to spying on women through their webcams. The decision is proof that this snooping is a “serious crime worthy of a serious punishment,” the judge says. It’s not the stiffest penalty possible — prosecutors wanted Yucel to serve up to 7.5 years, and he likely got a break by promising that he wouldn’t appeal a sentence under 7.25 years. Still, it’s safe to say that his days of coding intrusive software are over.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew]

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Reuters, Wall Street Journal

Source: FBI

Foursquare and Swarm: Breaking up is never easy

More than a year ago, Foursquare decided to split its app in two. The main app was now focused on location discovery, while Swarm was created to handle the social check-in side of things. The reason? To streamline the two seemingly disparate functions so that each feature could flourish without encumbering the other. That sounds like a good idea in theory, but check-ins and mayorships were so integral to Foursquare’s identity that removing them seemed like a bad move. Recently, Foursquare decided to re-integrate global mayorships into Swarm due to user demand. But that might not be enough to win back its once-loyal user base.

As someone who was a fan of Foursquare (and even its predecessor, Dodgeball), I was open to the idea of the split. The old app did feel a little stale, and perhaps a split was enough to get me to use it again. However, I’ll admit that I was disappointed that Foursquare had removed the concept of mayorships — the idea that you could be the “mayor” of a location if you had the highest amount of check-ins at that place. Instead, Swarm limited “mayorships” to just your social circle, which meant that a single location could have multiple “mayors.” It’s a silly little title to begin with, but sharing that title with countless other people? It loses its meaning entirely.

When asked why it did this, a company spokesperson said it was to make mayorships seem more attainable, plus you were competing against people you knew instead of strangers. Additionally, she said that while badges and mayorships had been a great way to introduce people to Foursquare, the team wanted people to use it “past the onboarding point.” That’s because the app was really always meant to be a discovery and recommendation tool rather than just for check-ins or collecting badges.

As expected, removing mayorships wasn’t a very popular decision. So, Foursquare brought the old mayorship mechanic back. In a tweet from Dennis Crowley, Foursquare’s CEO and co-founder, he said, “You thought our old Mayor game was more fun. We thought our old Mayor game was more fun. So we fixed it.” It’s a welcome change, but in a lot of ways, it’s too little, too late.

Swarm — You thought our old Mayor game was more fun. We thought our old Mayor game was more fun. So we fixed it pic.twitter.com/XEMkAWshuM

– Dennis Crowley (@dens) June 22, 2015

See, the only reason I even used Foursquare was for the gaming aspect of it. I liked checking in to locations just so I could get badges and to vie for that coveted mayorship spot. Location discovery was a superfluous feature for me. I understand that a lot of people liked Foursquare because it was more personalized than Yelp, but for me, I don’t always want to eat at restaurants that my friends like and I don’t always want to eat at familiar places. In the months following the split, I found myself using the Foursquare app less and less. I still used Swarm occasionally to check-in because I like seeing a personal history of where I’ve been and I find it fun to see where my friends have been as well. But even then, I found that I had to remind myself to use it, instead of it being second nature like it used to be.

It seems that I’m not alone. I caught up with the same people I interviewed for last year’s story about Foursquare and some of them don’t seem to be using the new version as much, either. Carla Borsoi, vice president of marketing at 6SensorLabs, says that she uses Foursquare only rarely now. As for Swarm, it’s still something she uses for personal history, but she found that a lot of her friends who used it aren’t around anymore. Borsoi is, however, looking forward to the return of mayorships to see if she could reclaim her SFO crown.

John [last name withheld], a software engineer, has dropped the app almost entirely since the split. “Swarm is Foursquare’s Qwikster, but they lacked the sense to kill it when they had the chance,” he said. He used both apps for about six weeks before deleting them and then downgraded to Foursquare version 6.4.2 of the iOS app. But even then, his check-ins became sparse. I asked if the return of mayorships would get him to return to the fold, and he said no. “Reinstating functionality the app had five years ago might slow the rate that they’re losing users, but it’s not going to spur a big surge in adoption. They’ve dropped below critical mass and I don’t think they can fix it.”

Foursquare won’t share specific numbers with me, but a spokesperson did say that it has around 55 million users each month across the two apps, desktop and mobile, and that the company was “quite pleased with recent growth across both apps, both in the United States and internationally.” Eddie Codel, a live-video consultant who’s also a big Foursquare user, said that his usage of the apps hasn’t changed. In fact, he says he uses Swarm’s Messages function a lot to meet friends for drinks or announce last-minute film nights.

Yet, I can’t help but shake the feeling that Foursquare’s time has gone. Like Borsoi, most of my personal network has moved on. The removal of the original mayorship feature strikes me as an especially terrible idea, and I don’t know if reintroducing it after people have left will be enough to salvage it. At least not for me and, as several comments in our last story on Foursquare show, many of you have given up on it as well. If you have anything to share about your use (or non-use) of Foursquare and Swarm, let us know in the comments. Or, if you have an even longer tale to weave, you could sign up for our Public Access blog to tell us your story in greater depth.

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B&O’s H8 wireless headphones offer stellar audio at a steep price

I’m pretty vocal about my love for Bang and Olufsen’s BeoPlay H6 headphones. To me, they’re the best wired set I’ve used in the last three years and they still hold their own against newer rivals, even though they’ve been on sale for two years now. That being said, you can imagine my feelings when B&O announced the wireless H8 back at CES. The best set of cans I’ve used in ages are now wireless? I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a pair. By now, I’ve spent several weeks getting to know the new headphones, and I have to say, I’m not quite ready to ditch the old model just yet.

If you’re familiar with the H6, you know what to expect in terms of design. B&O carried over the aesthetics from the older model, save for some new color options. The stitched headband returns, as do the leather-wrapped earpads and metallic construction from the wired edition. In fact, the switch from silver to gold in some places is one of the only visual differences between the H8’s and my trusty H6’s. The earcups still rotate, allowing the set of lie flat on a desk or in a bag. It also means that the edge of the earcups won’t graze your chin if you need to wear them around your neck for a spell.

As on several other wireless headphones we’ve seen recently, B&O built touch controls into the right earcup for volume and play/pause adjustments. Tweaking the volume requires a circular motion rather than a vertical swipe, which I found a bit tricky at first. Once I got the hang of it, though, I didn’t encounter any ongoing issues. The power/pairing slider button is on the edge of the right earcup as well, positioned at the back so that you can easily flip the switch with your thumb. It’s a similar location to that of Samsung’s Level On Wireless headphones, and as I said with those, it’s really the best spot.

Finally, on the bottom of the right earcup you’ll find both the USB port for charging and a headphone jack for when the headset’s battery runs out. And speaking of battery life, I used these for a few hours every day and found myself having to charge ’em up about once a week. That’s with both Bluetooth and active noise cancellation turned on. B&O promises up to 14 hours of playback before needing to recharge, and I saw no indication that the H8 couldn’t match that claim. Of course, you can expect a boost if you turn either of those features off while listening.

There is one major design change that I haven’t mentioned yet: The H8’s are on-ear. I prefer the feel of over-ear headphones to the on-ear variety, so, to me, the H8’s aren’t nearly as comfortable as the H6’s. Sure, it’s mostly a matter of personal preference, but I think they just feel better, especially after lengthy listening sessions. I do have to give B&O credit for some skillful design; the H8’s could have been a lot heavier due to the addition of those wireless components. You can definitely tell the difference between the two, but the increase isn’t significant, so you won’t feel any extra heft after more than a few minutes. The H8s are still quite comfy, but for my ears, they’re just not as lovely as the H6’s.

With the price increase of $100, I expected improved sound quality over the H6 in addition to the wireless connectivity. The H8’s are a bit louder than the wired headphones, which is a welcome improvement as far as I’m concerned; the wired model doesn’t always get loud enough. In terms of overall sound quality, the clarity that I enjoy from the H6s is still there, but the EQ seems to have a bit more low end. I’m not talking about a significant bass increase here, but it’s noticeable when listening to hip-hop tracks like Run the Jewels’ “Blockbuster Night, Part 1″ and A$AP Rocky’s “Electric Body.” If you’ve listened to a pair of the H6’s, I’ll bet you’ll be able to tell the difference too. It’s definitely a subtle tweak, but it’s for the better and meanwhile, the stellar sound quality of the previous version remains largely untouched. If it ain’t broke, right?

Of course, for $499 headphones, you’d expect them to be perfect. And if not, at least pretty close. The B&O H8’s do sound amazing, and they offer every bit of the audio quality that I enjoy on the H6. For me, it’s a matter of ergonomics. Headphones that cost this much need to not only sound amazing, but also feel comfy enough to be worn for hours at a time. The switch to an on-ear construction is where B&O lost me with these cans. Don’t get me wrong, they’re probably the Bugatti of headphones for someone who likes the on-ear fit. That’s just not my preference.

I’ve tested a few on-ear models that cost less, so if you’re not looking to spend this much, there are plenty of options. Samsung’s Level On wireless model ($250) is but one of many capable units. However, even with the big price tag, I’ve yet to find headphone audio that I like as much as what B&O offers on its high-end cans without having to tack on an amp or some other extra tech. So if your budget allows, and you’re a big fan of on-ears, these are certainly worth considering.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

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Xiaomi Mi 4i expands beyond India, now available worldwide

Xiaomi’s Mi 4i is now available to buy across the globe. Originally the device was only available in India, but there seems to have been enough demand for Xiaomi to expand its availability.

It has a 5-inch 1,920 x 1080p display at 441ppi. The device is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper, and a large 3,120 mAh battery. The device is also running Xiaomi’s MIUI 6 interface atop of Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

The device was originally only available in India for around $200, but if you wanted it imported somewhere, you’d be looking at around $300 USD. Now, Xiaomi has made this powerful performer available across the globe for a mere $238.

Anyone looking at picking up the Mi 4i?

source: GearBest
via: The Techolic

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