Some of the biggest sites on the internet were shut down this morning
Happy Friday! If you’ve had trouble this morning accessing your favorite internet outlet, you’re not alone. Dyn, one of the internet’s biggest domain name servers (DNS) got hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack this morning, making it quite difficult to reach some of the biggest sites and services on the web. Twitter, Spotify, the New York Times, Reddit, Yelp, Box, Pinterest and Paypal are just a handful of the sites under siege this morning.
Most of the outages appear to have centered on the east coast, though a few other regions of the US also saw issues. Dyn says that services have been restored to normal, although you might see some lingering weirdness for a little bit. Here’s hoping Dyn truly has this DDoS under control so we can make it through the rest of the week without the internet collapsing on us again.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Dyn
‘Enemy of the State’ gets a timely TV series sequel
Jerry Bruckheimer has announced that he’s developing a TV sequel to his 1998 hit movie Enemy of the State. The series will be filmed with a view to airing on ABC and will be set 20 years after the original that starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Of course, back then, the notion of ubiquitous government surveillance that could examine every part of our lives seemed totally far-fetched. The film itself concerned a reckless NSA official who planned to erode traditional notions of privacy in modern day America. Yeah, about that.
In the intervening eighteen years, the US has proven to be exceptionally adept at building a wall-to-wall surveillance system that’s far more powerful than its fictional counterpart. Agents don’t even need to come into your house masquerading as repair people to use cameras to spy on you given the existence of the smartphone. The UK government has informally banned smartwatches from high-profile meetings out of concern that foreign powers could use them to eavesdrop. In a post-Snowden world, it seems almost quaint that people could attempt to rally against the police state that exists as the new normal.
Footage from a simpler, gentler time.
Speaking of which, the new series will focus on an NSA agent who is alleged to have leaked classified intelligence to the public. Maybe this person can be called Bedward Bowden or maybe Edward Manning or Chelsea Snowden, something like that. They’ll be working with an “idealistic female attorney” who teams up with a “hawkish FBI agent” to defeat a global conspiracy that threatens to expose “dark secrets.” It’s that last bit that seems the most fantastical, since in the real world, the dark secrets that Snowden exposed were pretty much ignored. After all, the NSA was cleared of abuses of power by an oversight committee and Section 702 of FISA remains in force and unchanged, at least until 2017.
Back in 1998, Enemy of the State was closer to sci-fi, but now we’re at a point where it’s a crushing reality that we all live with. Although, as with shows like Mr. Robot, there’s plenty of ways to make a show about arcane government surveillance engaging enough for a mainstream audience.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
NASA’s Juno probe napped through its latest Jupiter flyby
NASA’s Jupiter probe was supposed gather data when it did a close flyby of the gas giant a few days ago. Alas, it suddenly switched off all its scientific instruments as it unexpectedly entered safe mode due to some engine troubles. Thankfully, it was a temporary setback: Juno is now back and ready to do science the next time it’s scheduled to soar close to the planet (December 11th).
Even though it wasn’t able to gather data this time around, the information it beamed back from its August 27th flyby continues to keep its ground team busy. For instance, thanks to the info gathered by Juno’s Microwave Radiometer instrument (MWR), they discovered that Jupiter’s bands aren’t just skin-deep. They found that those bands extend “as far down as [their] instruments can see, but seem to change with each layer.” To note, the radiometer can see 215 to 250 miles below the planet’s cloudy facade. This discovery came from the same set of data which revealed that the planet’s auroras are much bigger and more powerful than ours here on Earth.
The photos Juno sent back are also keeping citizen scientists busy. Since JunoCam has no image processing personnel, NASA is relying on the public to help them generate images from the camera’s raw data. One particular submission (below) seem to have caught people’s attention: its creator made a smiley emoji using a photo of Jupiter’s south pole.
JunoCam imaging scientist Candy Hansen said:
“The amateurs are giving us a different perspective on how to process images. They are experimenting with different color enhancements, different highlights or annotations than we would normally expect. They are identifying storms tracked from Earth to connect our images to the historical record. This is citizen science at its best.”
[Image credit: Randy Ahn © CC NC SA]
Source: NASA
‘The Orange Box’ comes to Xbox One
It’s been more than nine years since Half-Life 2: Episode Two came out and, yeah, that cliffhanger still stings. Thankfully, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb has announced that The Orange Box is now available on the Xbox One via backwards compatibility. That gives everyone the chance to soften the blow of Valve’s contempt for its audience by once again replaying five of the company’s best games. The legendary bundle combines Half-Life 2, its two episodic sequels, Team Fortress Two and some rando game about physics puzzles that’ll probably never take off. It’s not just The Orange Box that’s now available for your nostalgia, since Galaga Legions and Joe Danger 2: The Movie are also now available.
The Orange Box, Joe Danger 2: The Movie & Galaga Legions are coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ pic.twitter.com/8nTaqGE9NG
— / Larry Hryb / + 1m (@majornelson) October 20, 2016
Facebook’s News Feed will adapt to your connection speed
Facebook is really trying to show News Feed stories you might want to see, even if you’re on a slow internet connection. Last year, it tweaked its algorithms to serve up stories by caching them on your device if internet speeds slow down. While this guarantees you have some kind of content, it means you might get old or irrelevant articles. So, Facebook devised a new ranking system that weighs “both new stories from the server and unseen stories from the persistent cache.” The result should be posts you’re more interested in reading, even if you’re stuck on a train or in a refugee camp.
The social network says this “client-side ranking” takes advantage of your smartphone’s computing power. It differs from browsers like Chrome, which serves up text only if the internet is slow, loading images later when things speed up. Facebook, by contrast, feels a story isn’t relevant “until its associated media (e.g. images, at least beginning of a video, text of Instant Articles, etc.) have loaded.” As a result, it avoids spinners and grey boxes by “requiring all stories to have all necessary media available before rendering them in News Feed.”
Now, when you start up the app and scroll your feed, the client (ie the app on your phone) triggers a request to “get next best story.” It then weighs the server ranking based on the type of article and looks at cached stories to see whether the image or video is available, among other things. After taking into account your internet speed, the algorithm scores and sorts all the stories, and gives you the top one based on all of that.
The motivation for the changes was to improve News Feeds in emerging markets, Facebook says. However, the updates will also benefit everyone, “as we all experience less than ideal internet connections at times.” Zuckerberg & Co. will build on the new foundation and have promised more updates to come.
Source: Facebook
ICYMI: Orbital space junk is putting us in jeopardy
Today on In Case You Missed It: The US Air Force is moving its Space Surveillance Telescope to Australia to track space junk littering geosynchronous orbit. That’s the orbit 22,000 miles away from our planet where satellites mirror the Earth’s rotation so that they don’t appear to move.
The Department of Justice story about facial recognition is here, while that darling sneezing baby (who eschews costumes) is here. If you enjoy the cartoon humor that is an engine giving up on a job, that’s here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Thieves Rob Apple Store in Massachusetts and Get Away With $13,000 Worth of iPhones
A group of seven individuals robbed an Apple retail store in Natick, Massachusetts on Tuesday, managing to get away with a total of 19 iPhones worth more than $13,000 (via AppleInsider). The “organized pack of thieves” is believed to be comprised of young teenagers and potentially connected to a similar crime in the nearby town of Hingham.
In a video posted on the Natick Police Department’s Facebook page, the group of seven is seen walking into the mall where Apple is located, and eventually gathering around one of the iPhone display tables. In “less than a minute,” the group had organized and grabbed 19 iPhones from the table and made a beeline out of the store and from the mall, without authorities being able to stop them.
The Natick Apple location still carried security tethers on the iPhones — a feature Apple is beginning to eliminate — and the group “grabbed iPhones from the chargers and tore them away from the security cord that secured them.”
On Tuesday, the group of seven walked into the Apple Store at the same time. Less than a minute later, they all grabbed iPhones from the chargers and tore them away from the security cord that secured them. “We’ve been hearing about this,” said police spokesman Lt. Cara Rossi. “They’re traveling in packs. They brazenly walk in together and steal.”
None of the suspects have yet to be identified following the robbery. Recently, a collection of Apple retail locations in New York City were targeted by criminals who dressed up as Apple employees to gain access to the store’s devices. One individual managed to steal $16,130 from Apple SoHo in June, and a similar string of thefts in the Upper West Side in March added up to $50,000 in stolen iPhones.
Tag: Apple retail
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Watch Pop Up Shop in Galeries Lafayette Closing January 2017 Due to Poor Sales
Originally opened in 2015 as a high-end location for users to browse various models of the Apple Watch, particularly the gold Apple Watch Edition, Mac4Ever is now reporting that Apple will close its location in Galeries Lafayette effective January 2017. A number of upscale department stores launched Apple Watch pop up shops when the original wearable device debuted in 2015, including Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Selfridges in London, and Isetan in Tokyo.
Today’s report cites a lack of sales at the Apple Watch-centric shop, along with an apparent reduction of employees over the past few months that had been in preparation for its January closure. The remaining employees will be given jobs at Apple retail stores around Paris once the pop up shop officially closes, including Apple’s future location in Saint Germain, expected to open by the end of the year. The status and potential closing dates of the other luxury Apple Watch shops was not confirmed.
The shops were some of the select few locations that users could browse and purchase the high-end Apple Watch Edition, which in Series 0 began at $10,000 and went up to over $17,000. The “shop-in-shops” were noted as being located in easily visible areas in each department store, nestled next to other high quality brand locations, and ensured that “customers looking to make major purchases” only received “the best service possible.” These locations only handled Apple Watch viewing and sales, however, with customers getting directed to other Apple retail stores for their support needs.
With Apple’s shift to health and fitness over fashion and luxury in Apple Watch Series 2, it makes sense for Apple to eliminate its high-end pop up stores that were marketing mostly in the now-retired gold Apple Watch Edition models. With Series 2, Apple’s new Edition device comes in white Ceramic and is noticeably cheaper, beginning at $1,250 for 38mm and rising to $1,300 for 42mm.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Tag: Apple Watch Edition
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple’s Website Hints at Apple Pay Coming to Germany
Last week, a number of German blogs noticed Germany highlighted on an Apple Pay availability map within a support document about participating banks in Europe. Germany has since been removed from the map, but the mixup suggests Apple Pay could launch in its fifth European country soon.
Germany highlighted on Apple Pay availability map (since removed)
Reddit user Alisamix has since discovered that searching for “Apple Pay” on Apple’s German website reveals an inactive Apple.com/de/apple-pay/ link and other German-language Apple Pay support documents, lending further credence to the mobile payment service’s anticipated arrival in the country.
Apple has invited the media to a special event on Thursday, October 27 at its Cupertino, California campus, and the keynote would be an opportune time for the company to announce additional Apple Pay regions. Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey said Apple is “working rapidly” to expand the service across Asia and Europe.
Apple Pay has launched in four European countries to date: France, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Germany
Discuss this article in our forums
Nougat update now rolling out to the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus in India
Just yesterday, Moto G4 Plus customers in Brazil started receiving soak test invites for Android 7.0 Nougat. Motorola is now announcing the official Nougat rollout to the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus in India, following which the update will be available to devices globally.
Motorola’s release notes (via GSMArena) highlight all the new features in the Nougat update, including multi-window mode, changes to Android for Work, Doze on the Go, built-in Data Saver, improved notifications, and much more.
My Moto G4 Plus running Marshmallow and the July security patch shows that I’m on the latest version. It’s likely the OTA will be delivered in phases. If you don’t see it just yet, hang on. Nougat is coming very soon.
AIVAnet 