Court rejects child porn case evidence FBI got through malware

A Massachusetts court has thrown out evidence for a child porn case that the feds obtained by using malware. Christopher Soghoian from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told Motherboard that “[t]his is the first time a court has ever suppressed anything from a government hacking operation.” If you recall, the FBI took over a child porn service on the Tor network called Playpen to infiltrate pedophiles’ computers from all over the world. The agency collected over a thousand IP addresses from users in the US. They then arrested a bunch of people based on their investigation, including Alex Levin, whose lawyers filed a motion to suppress: a request asking the court to disregard a particular evidence.

The lawyers argued (and Judge William G. Young of the District of Massachusetts agreed) that the operation relied on an invalid warrant. Young’s order reads:

“Based on the foregoing analysis, the Court concludes that the NIT warrant was issued without jurisdiction and thus was void ab initio. It follows that the resulting search was conducted as though there were no warrant at all… Since warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable, and the good-faith exception is inapplicable, the evidence must be excluded.”

According to USA Today reporter Brad Heath, the warrant was rendered invalid, because the FBI should have asked a district judge and not a magistrate for permission to hack computers to identify Playpen’s users. He added that “finding a district judge isn’t hard. There are four in the same courthouse as the magistrate who OK’d the Tor hack.” It’s unclear why a magistrate approved the FBI’s request, but we’ll bet other people who were arrested based on the investigation’s findings will take a leaf out of Levin’s lawyers book.

Court rules that the FBI relied on an invalid search warrant when it added malware to a Tor network child porn site. pic.twitter.com/3BzZybCOyD

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 20, 2016

If the FBI wants to hack computers to find out where they are, it needs to ask a district judge, not a magistrate. pic.twitter.com/bXeOULIJrn

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 20, 2016

And finding a district judge isn’t hard. There are 4 in the same courthouse as the magistrate who OK’d the Tor hack. pic.twitter.com/Ut1fx2C0t1

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 20, 2016

Court: FBI’s decision to run a child porn site to ID its users was “akin to the government itself selling drugs.” pic.twitter.com/txzsebbecT

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 20, 2016

Source: Motherboard

How to teleport video games to any room of your home – CNET

Even Frank Underwood (you know, from “House of Cards”) sometimes needs to blow off steam playing video games. You do, too. And if you’re lucky, you too have a private den where you can escape from the world. But perhaps not. What about those times when your partner wants to use the TV?

It turns out there’s a way for you to keep on playing your favorite games from any room of your house. Exactly how you do it depends on which game system you own.

Xbox, PS4 or PC?

If you own a Microsoft Xbox One, all you need is a Windows 10 laptop and a Micro-USB cable to sling games around your home. Plug your controller into the laptop, fire up Windows 10’s built-in Xbox app, and your laptop screen can become a portable wireless television for all your Xbox titles. (It works great with a Microsoft Surface tablet, too.)

If you’ve got a Sony PlayStation 4, you don’t even need a Windows 10 computer. You can beam those games to Windows, Mac, a PlayStation Vita handheld, or even an Android smartphone if you’ve got the right software installed. (Search for Twisted89’s PS4 Remote Play app to get that up and running.)

Another option: you can buy slim set-top boxes like the Steam Link and Nvidia Shield to beam PC games to your living room TV.

How it works

What all these solutions have in common is a technique called game streaming. It works practically the same way as a YouTube video does, only with a gamepad attached. Much like an Internet video server halfway across the globe delivers your favorite cat videos to your Web browser, here your Xbox, PlayStation or gaming PC delivers the processing power to stream games from the other side of your house.

Enlarge Image

Game streaming is quite the trip. Press a button (1) and your PC sends a signal (2) to your wireless router, which tells your Xbox (3) to move your video game character. Then your Xbox beams the result (4) to the screen in front of you.

McKibillo

You might be surprised how well game streaming works. While a lot depends on the speed of your home network (more on that in a minute), games can now run nearly as quickly and fluidly over a good Wi-Fi connection as they do hooked up to your flatscreen.

But before you start slinging games around your house, you may need to invest in a few tech products.

A great home network

There’s a reason CNET reviews routers: They’re not all the same. The Wi-Fi built into your cable box or DSL modem probably won’t cut it for streaming games.

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The more spider-like your router, the more likely it’ll be ready for game streaming. Generally speaking.

Asus

Instead, you’ll want an excellent wireless router, preferably one with three or more antennas, support for the 802.11ac protocol (currently the fastest form of consumer Wi-Fi), and one that performs well on the more reliable 5GHz frequency band (the radio signal it uses to connect). Two of our recent favorites: the Asus RT-AC87U ($300, £300, AU$450) and the $400 (£400, AU$530) Asus RT-AC5300.

You’ll need to make sure your wireless router has a strong connection to your devices, too; every wall between your router and gaming device, and the more distance you put between the two, can interfere with your signal and potentially make your games slow and unresponsive. With a high-quality router, a flight of stairs and a few feet of drywall shouldn’t matter, but check your Wi-Fi signal strength before you begin.

You may want to hook up your game console or your PC with a physical Ethernet cable for optimal results, since it reduces the need for your home Wi-Fi to be perfect.

Oh, and try to keep your network free of congestion while you’re playing. I’ll often notice a bit of lag, or a hazy image, when my wife starts watching her YouTube cooking shows.

Can any of this game streaming goodness work outside your home network? It’s technically possible with an Nvidia Shield…as long as you’ve got an amazing internet connection at home and at wherever you plan to play. For any other form of streaming, you’d need to trick the software into thinking your internet connection is a local area network, which can be a complicated, error-prone process.

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Microsoft’s Surface Book with an Xbox One controller, streaming a game from an Xbox game console.

Nate Ralph/CNET

A streaming device

Here are the best ways to beam games around:

Steam Link ($50, £100 bundled with Steam Controller, not yet available in AU)

• The easiest way to play PC games on your big-screen TV without lugging a desktop around or running cables through your walls. Just plug it in and power it up, and it’ll automatically recognize any Steam accounts on the same home network. It’s got USB ports, but it doesn’t come with a controller — unless you buy a bundle.

Nvidia Shield ($200, £150, not available in AU)

• If you’ve got an Nvidia graphics card in your gaming PC, the Shield is another way to beam those games to a TV. You can hook up a mouse and keyboard if you want, but it also comes with an excellent Xbox-style gamepad.

Your old laptop (Free)

• Whether you’re streaming games from Xbox One, PS4, or a gaming PC, an old laptop with a decent network connection might be all you need. For Xbox, you’ll have to install Windows 10 on the laptop first, and plug in your Xbox One gamepad. For PC, you just need to log into your Steam account on both computers simultaneously.

Your new Android phone (roughly $15, £15, AU$20)

• You can stream PlayStation 4 games to Sony’s own Vita handheld or the defunct PlayStation TV set-top, but there’s a better way. Buy a Nyko Smart Clip to attach your phone to your PS4 gamepad and a USB-OTG (USB On The Go) cable to connect it, then search the Web for Twisted89’s PS4 Remote Play app.

Nintendo Wii U ($300, £240, AU$430)

• If all you want to do is play some games while your partner uses the TV, the Nintendo Wii U does it right out of the box. The controller has a built-in LCD screen and direct wireless connectivity, so a fancy Wi-Fi router isn’t required. Just know that with an estimated wireless range of just 26 feet, you won’t be streaming very far.

A controller

While some streaming solutions like the Nvidia Shield and PlayStation Vita come with their own controllers, you’ll often need to provide one to play your game remotely.

If you’re streaming from Xbox One or PlayStation 4, just plug your existing console’s controllers into your PC using a standard Micro-USB cable (the kind that charges most non-Apple smartphones). If you’re using the controller with your phone, buy a cheap USB-OTG adapter to make the cable work with your handset.

If you’re streaming from a gaming PC, though, things get a little more complicated. You could connect a wireless mouse and keyboard. But using those on the couch might make streaming feel a little unresponsive because of how long they can take to send your commands. Instead, I’d recommend that you pair an Xbox gamepad ($60, £40, AU$90) with one of Microsoft’s official wireless adapters ($25, £20, AU$30), or try the $50 Steam Controller (£50, not yet available in AU) if you’re willing to tackle its steep learning curve.

Trust me, it’ll all be worth it. The next time you’re sick in bed, you’ll be able to keep on playing your favorite games from under those comfy blankets.

‘Hearthstone’ update brings drastic changes to the card game

Hearthstone is undergoing some changes in the interest of keeping the digital-trading-card game fresh. But in introducing the “Whispers of the Old Gods” — expansion out on the 26th — developer Blizzard is tweaking a bunch of cards and, based on the 5,000-plus comment Reddit thread, this isn’t exactly for the better. Fan favorite cards like Molten Giant have gotten a casting cost increase up to 25 from 20, while the Knife Juggler card has had its attack decreased by a point.
Polygon breaks the changes down on a card-by-card basis incredibly well. Blizzard says that “careful consideration” went into these choices, and that it was based on both the company’s own ideas and checking out community feedback. So, chances are that the developer is listening to what you have to say regarding the new expansion. Just remember to keep polite when airing your thoughts, okay? You can grab the expansion from the in-game store across all platforms next Tuesday.

Via: Polygon

Source: Blizzard (1), (2)

Antbo is a robot insect companion anyone can build

Interested in building and programming your own robot? You might want to give Antbo a try. Billed as the “insect robot designed for anyone with an inquisitive mind,” it’s a programmable entry-level kit for beginners or anyone with a casual interest in robotics.

DFRobot’s Antbo is geared toward children and teenagers, meant to impart coding and robotics knowledge. The ant-like bot can navigate mazes and even fight with other Antbo units.

Antbo can be programmed using Scratch, Arduino IDE, and DFRobot’s visual programming app WhenDo. Scratch is a great gateway drug to more advanced coding, while Arduino’s wide usage and support is great for programming newcomers to get accustomed to.

Antbo is unique in that it possesses impressive learning qualities that allow it to analyze its surroundings, interact with other Antbo devices and more. Its thirty “neurons” make it capable of learning, similar to real living things. It can also learn and mimic emotional responses to stimuli. For instance, it might tremble if frightened by something, or respond by looking back and forth to signify it’s feeling inquisitive.

The hope is that kids will be attracted to Antbo’s lighthearted design and simple assembly. But, expansion and additional programming is encouraged, which should keep them engaged and tinkering for a long time.

This diminutive insectoid is now live on Indiegogo, and you can go ahead and secure a pre-order for just $59. Units are expected to ship this November. Buy a couple Antbo units and you can make them fight each other, or simply fetch snacks.

UC Davis apologizes for trying to bury pepper spray incident

After leading UC Davis through some admittedly hard times, the school’s chancellor Linda Katehi has issued something of a mea culpa for the way her communications department handled the fallout from the widely reported pepper spray incident in 2011. In her official release, Katehi takes “full responsibility” for the university’s futile attempt to prevent it from showing up in search results, while also trying to shed some light on just what the heck they were thinking.

“The university’s identity has been shaken by a series of highly publicized missteps,” Katehi explained in her statement. “Consultants were brought in after the highly regrettable 2011 incident,” she continues, referring to Maryland PR firm Nevins & Associates, which the university paid at least $175,000 for the internet cleanup job.

But as any good academic should know, it is always a smart idea to scrutinize claims that appear too good to be true. Like the one where Nevins & Associates promised the “eradication of references to the pepper spray incident in search results on Google,” for example. From Katehi’s statement:

In hindsight, we should have been more careful in reviewing some of the more unrealistic and ridiculous scope-of-work claims in the written proposals of our outside vendors. What might be accepted industry hyperbole in the private public relations world falls far beneath the high standards of a public institution of higher learning.

Finally, just so we know she understands how the internet works, Katehi reassures her students and critics alike that, “none of our communications efforts were intended — or attempted — to erase online content or rewrite history.”

VLC media player is coming to Xbox One

The promise of Windows apps on Xbox One has been hanging out there for quite a while, but now that it’s really happening we’re seeing some results. One of the big names that will arrive on the console this summer is VLC, a popular desktop media player that already has versions for other connected TV platforms. Maintainer Thomas Nigro says that making it a UWP app means a beta version will hit Windows 10 Mobile next week before its official debut in May and an official version for Windows 10 desktop is due in mid-May.

Sharing our timeline, goals and progress of the VLC for Windows 10 project https://t.co/EFbz0RJdFu

— Thomas Nigro (@ThomasNigro) April 19, 2016

The Xbox One version is coming this summer once the store opens up, but anyone using their console as a development box will be able to try it out starting next week. Even Windows 10 for IoT/Raspberry Pi and Hololens are on the roadmap. The only bad news? Windows 8/RT versions have one more update coming before support ends.

Source: Thomas Nigro

Watch Acer’s April 21 event here!

Acer is all set to show off some new tech in New York City tomorrow, April 21. While we don’t yet know what the company has up its sleeve, Acer will be live streaming the next@acer event on its website.

It’s likely we’ll get a look at everything from new notebooks, tablets and even, possibly, some new smartphones. We’ll be bringing you the latest on what Acer announces, but if you’d like to follow along with the event, tune in at the link below tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST.

Watch the next@acer event live

Live TV listings are headed to Google search results

Google has revealed that you’ll soon be able to quickly check live TV listings inside of Google Search. While there’s no timeline on when to expect the feature to pop up, Google says you’ll be able to check air times and channels for any given TV show with a simple search. From Google:

Today, I’m excited to announce that, coming soon, Google Search will have live TV listings. So now when you’re looking for The Big Bang Theory, we’ll not only show you the apps and sites where you can find the latest episode, but also show which channel you can turn your tv to later in the evening or week to catch it live.

This is in addition to information that Google already surfaces for TV shows, such as where they’re available online, cast information and much more.

Google also made a number of announcements geared towards its ad industry partners, including ways it’s making its DoubleClick ad platform much better at targeting and managing its ads. For more on that, be sure to check out Google’s full blog post.

Apple iOS 10 release date, rumours and everything you need to know

Apple released iOS 9 to the public alongside new iPhones last autumn, and since then it’s rolled up multiple updates, but now we’re looking ahead to see what the next major version of Apple’s mobile operating system will include.

We’ve rounded up all the speculation, rumours, leaks, patents, and general information about when the software will release and just everything you need to know, basically. We also plan to continually update this piece as more details comes to light. In the meantime, let us know in the comments what you’d like to see from iOS 10 – like a feature wish list of sorts.

iOS 10: When should it release?

Apple first unveiled iOS 9 at WWDC 2015 last summer and then released it months later in September. It included transmit maps for Apple Maps, a News app, a Proactive assistant, and more. Later updates added Night Shift mode, Touch ID protection for Notes, and a number of new 3D Touch shortcuts, which would normally be included in a major update to iOS.

If Apple sticks to its typical release cycle, as it has done for years, we can expect the company to unveil iOS 10 at WWDC 2016 this summer (on 13 June), followed by a release next autumn. Apple tends to unveil the software about three months before releasing it for consumers, because it wants to give developers a chance to understand the update, improve their apps.

Check out Pocket-lint’s WWDC 2016 round-up for more information about the annual developer conference and how to watch the live-stream.

iOS 10: What might it feature?

The rumour mill doesn’t know too much about iOS 10, but there are a few interesting nuggets it’s managed to churn out in recent months. Keep in mind none of this information has been confirmed by Apple.

Delete stock apps

Apple’s iPhone and iPad come pre-loaded with Apple-developed apps, such as Compass and Stocks, but unfortunately, you’re unable to remove these apps. Unlike third-party apps, which you can long-press on the home screen until they vibrate and become removable, stock iOS apps are permanent and can only be stowed in folders should you want to declutter your screen.

All that could soon change, according to App Advice, which recently spotted new keys in iTunes metadata that suggested some stock apps might be removable one day. The keys are found on every app in the App Store and appear as “isFirstParty” and “isFirstPartyHideableApp”. They are now set to false but could be turned on during WWDC 2016.

It’s worth noting Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, told Buzzfeed News last autumn that Apple is considering letting consumers remove stock apps

Rootless security system

Redmond Pie has claimed iOS 10 will be difficult to jailbreak due to a new security system that Apple is working on called Rootless. The system is meant to stop administrator-level users from gaining access to certain file systems on an iPhone and iPad. Apple has been fixing holes in iOS for years – holed that jailbreakers use to gain access to parts of the system.

Apple’s Rootless technology would make it harder for jailbreakers to exploit iOS. But Redmond Pie has said it doesn’t know if Rootless will make an appearance in the next major software update.

HomeKit hub

HomeKit is Apple’s framework for home automation.

Manufacturers can implement HomeKit into their smart accessories. It was first announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2014. The name is a combination of “home” for home automation and “kit” for software developer kit (SDK). HomeKit-enabled accessories are secure, easy to control (commanded by a single interface: Siri), and work with Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

The idea is you’ll use a HomeKit-compatible app to set up your home and all the rooms with accessories, and then you’ll set up actions and triggers to control those accessories. If you’d like to know more about HomeKit, Pocket-lint has explained everything you need to know here. But the key thing to remember is we’re still waiting for an accompanying iOS app.

If you do own a HomeKit-compatible device, you’re able to control it via Siri in iOS 9. But many critics and reports, including this one by MacWorld, seems to think Apple will unveil a HomeKit app in iOS 10, most likely called Home. It will act as a central hub. It’ll be sort of like the Health app in fact, but for HomeKit devices rather than your diet and fitness data.

iCloud Voicemail

According to Business Insider, Apple is internal testing of a new Siri feature that will allow the virtual assistant to talk to your callers and transcribe voicemail messages into text. The feature is called iCloud Voicemail and could replace standard voicemail, meaning you’ll be able toquickly glance at and read voicemail messages instead of listening to them.

The feature might launch this year, possibly within iOS 10.

Contact availability

A recent patent revealed Apple has worked a new feature that would allow you to view whether your contacts are available to talk. It detects where your friends are, whether they’re available on their iPhone, and displays that information in the Contacts app. We assume both parties would have to enable this feature to work – much like the Find My Friends app.

The abstract of the patent explained how the feature would work:

“A command is received at an operating system of a first mobile phone for displaying contact information of a remote user having a mobile phone number of a second mobile phone. In response to the command, a request is transmitted to a remote server from the first mobile phone over a cellular network requesting an operating status of the second mobile phone. The operating status of the second mobile phone is received from the remote server over the cellular network. The operating status of the second mobile phone is displayed on a display of the first mobile phone as a part of contact information of the remote user associated with the second mobile phone, where the operating status includes current locality of the second mobile phone.”

Photos app

Apple is reportedly working on enhancing the Photos app in both iOS 10 and OS X 10.12, according to Japanese site Mac Otakara. The apps will be updated with new features to put them on par with the now-discontinued iPhoto 2.0.1 for iOS and iPhoto 9.6.1 for Mac.

Mac Otakara said iPhoto 2.0.1 had tools for editing EXIF information and touch-based brushes for adjusting brightness and other parameters. Similar editing tools could be added to the iOS version of Photos.

iOS 10: Which devices will be compatible?

Unlike iOS 9, which didn’t exclude any old iOS devices in terms of compatibility, some reports seem to think iOS 10 will demand more RAM from devices (512 RAM), and could therefore not work with the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. Anything newer should be compatible.

iOS 10: Want to know more?

Stay tuned to Pocket-lint’s iOS 10 hub for the latest news and analysis.

That crazy successful Exploding Kittens card game is now an Android app

One of the most-backed campaigns on Kickstarter is now an Android game.

Remember Exploding Kittens? It’s an excellent card game. Because, well, anything with kittens and explosions and cards is perfect. The world seems to agree with us, because within 20 minutes of appearing on Kickstarter last year, it reached $10,000. Then, an hour after going live on the site, over 116,000 pledges helped the campaign hit 1,000 per cent of its funding goal, which is amazing considering that’s for a $20 game.

Exploding Kittens became the most backed Kickstarter campaign in terms of individuals, and it’s the most-funded game ever. It’s now been given an Android launch. The multiplayer card game works much like the physical version but doesn’t use a physical deck. Up to five players can take turns pulling cards from a digital deck, and if they pull an Exploding Kitten, they have to use a card from their hand to defuse it.

Exploding Kittens was created by Matthew Inman (makes The Oatmeal cartoon), along with Elan Lee and Shane Small (game-makers formerly of Microsoft). The others cards in the digital deck allow a player to survive. These include diffuse cards, such as the “diffuse laser”, and action cards, such as the “Cheetah Butt to escape quickly”.Whoever is still around at the end, wins – much like Russian Roullette.

It costs $1.99 to download from the Google Play Store. An iOS version of the app, which launched months ago, is also available for $1.99.