FIFA YouTuber admits to breaking UK gambling law

Two prominent British YouTubers have been fined for running an unlicensed FIFA betting website called FUT Galaxy. Craig Douglas, better known as “NepentheZ” online, pleaded guilty to two charges — being an officer of an unlicensed gambling company, and another linked to the advertising of unlawful betting. His business partner, Dylan Rigby, admitted to three separate charges related to the provision of betting facilities and advertising illegal gambling. As BBC News reports, this is the first time a UK court has prosecuted people for running an unlicensed gambling website in connection with a video game.

FUT Galaxy allowed players to bet on real-life sporting events, including Premier League and Champions League fixtures, with FIFA’s virtual in-game currency. The “social gaming” site had no age restrictions and accepted credit card payments, as the Guardian reports. Winnings could then be transferred back into the game. NepentheZ would promote the service on his channel: “You don’t have to be 18 for this, because this is a virtual currency,” he said in one video, which was shown as part of the court case in Birmingham. As Eurogamer reported last September, many of these videos have now vanished from the YouTuber’s channel.

Douglas and Rigby have been fined £16,000 and £24,000 respectively. Alongside these charges are prosecution costs of £75,000 and £150,000 respectively. “In my opinion, both of you were aware of the use of the site by children and the attractiveness of it to children,” district judge Jack McGarva said. “At the very least, you both turned a blind eye to it.”

Douglas apologised on Twitter with a string of tweets:

I also owe a huge apology and debt of gratitude to my loyal supporters. Even if this is the end of our journey together, I’m grateful.

— NepentheZ (@NepentheZ) February 6, 2017

EA introduced FIFA Ultimate Team, or FUT, in the 2009 version of the annual sports franchise. It’s a fantasy mode that allows football fans to build and compete with a dream squad. Players cost coins, which can be earned in the game by winning matches or selling unwanted stars through the in-game marketplace. Alternatively, you can buy FIFA Points with real cash to unlock randomised player packs, similar to collectible stickers or trading cards. Inevitably, people have tried to game the system through “coin farming,” which relies on bots or gambling sites like FUT Galaxy. EA has tried to crack down on the practice, but it still persists.

FIFA isn’t the only video game franchise to face this problem. YouTubers Trevor “TmarTn” Martin and Tom “ProSyndicate” Cassell were caught promoting a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling site last year which, unbeknownst to their viewers, they also owned. (They’ve since admitted their involvement in apology videos.) CS:GO Lotto allowed players to gamble for lucrative weapon skins, which can be bought elsewhere for real or virtual cash. The pair were sued as part of an amended complaint against Valve last year, but neither YouTube star has been charged to date.

Source: The Guardian, Eurogamer, BBC News

76 Popular Apps Vulnerable to Data Interception, Warns iOS Security Researcher

At least 76 popular iOS apps have been found to be vulnerable to data inception, according to a report from a security expert.

The discovery was made by app binary code scanning service verify.ly and published in a Medium post by Sudo Security Group CEO Will Strafach, who revealed that the apps failed to make use of the Transport Layer Security protocol.

The TLS protocol secures communication between client and server. Without the protection, the apps are susceptible to data interception by an attacker with access to custom hardware such as modified smartphone, which can be used to initiate TLS certificate injection attacks. The interception is possible regardless of whether the developers chose to use Apple networking security feature, App Transport Security.

The truth of the matter is, this sort of attack can be conducted by any party within Wi-Fi range of your device while it is in use. This can be anywhere in public, or even within your home if an attacker can get within close range.

There is no possible fix to be made on Apple’s side, because if they were to override this functionality in attempt to block this security issue, it would actually make some iOS applications less secure as they would not be able to utilize certificate pinning for their connections, and they could not trust otherwise untrusted certificates which may be required for intranet connections within an enterprise using an in-house PKI. Therefore, the onus rests solely on app developers themselves to ensure their apps are not vulnerable.

Apps in the vulnerable list included a number of popular downloads like third-party Snapchat apps, the official app for Vice News, and banking apps for banks based in Puerto Rico and Libya.

Strafach sorted the 76 apps into low, medium, and high risk categories, and says he is reaching out to developers to fix the problems before disclosing the most high-risk apps in the list. According to Strafach, more than 18,000,000 downloads of the vulnerable app versions have been downloaded from the App Store.

Until the issues are dealt with, Strafach advises users of the apps to avoid accessing them over Wi-Fi, as it’s harder to exploit the vulnerabilities over over a cellular network.

Tags: App Store, security
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SpaceX is gearing up for a super-busy launch schedule

Why it matters to you

It’s still a ways off, but the imminent increase in activity will take us one step closer to getting humans on Mars.

SpaceX’s launch pad rocket explosion in September 2016 was a serious blow to the company’s reputation, but it soon got its project back on track with a faster-than-expected return to flight last month.

Clearly brimming with confidence, and determined as ever to move toward its ultimate goal of deep space exploration using reusable technology, SpaceX is about to ramp up its launch schedule to a level not seen in its seven-year history of rocket launches.

Making full use of its new launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Elon Musk’s space company is keen to undertake missions up to a couple of times a month.

Speaking to Reuters on Monday, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the team hoped to launch “every two to three weeks” from three sites in California and Florida.

Up to now, SpaceX has been helping to ferry supplies to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and also working with private firms to put a range of satellites into orbit.

Looking ahead, SpaceX has plans to take astronauts to and from the ISS using its Dragon crew capsule. A trial launch of the capsule without crew is slated for the end of 2017, and will include rigorous testing of spacesuits, parachutes, and other related equipment.

After that, SpaceX wants to confirm the capsule’s capabilities with a crewed test flight in May 2018. If the team is happy with it, astronauts could be on their way to the ISS inside inside the SpaceX capsule by the end of next year.

More: How in the world did SpaceX snap this stunning rocket-landing photo?

There are still, however, a few creases to iron out before the first unmanned test flight. Shotwell said engineers are working to increase the efficiency of the Falcon 9 rocket engines, and also plan to redesign its turbopumps to prevent potentially dangerous cracks from occurring during future missions.

As noted by Reuters, SpaceX has more than 70 missions worth more than $10 billion lined up for lift-off. It can’t afford another disaster like the one it suffered in September, and it’ll be keen to get its new, more frequent launch schedule up and running just as soon as it can.

Logitech claims industry first with its new Brio Ultra HD webcam supporting HDR

Why it matters to you

Your face is about to get a lot clearer in video chats with Ultra HD streaming.

Logitech is selling its new Brio webcam for the mainstream and enterprise markets. It’s the first Ultra HD webcam to support High Dynamic Range, and focuses on heavy-duty streamers and YouTubers who want viewers to have the best quality possible. It’s also compatible with Windows Hello, making it a great addition to any Windows 10 desktop or laptop system for credential-free logins.

First, the Brio webcam’s image sensor (4,096 x 2,160) supports the following resolutions:

• 3,840 x 2,160 at 30 frames per second (Ultra HD)
• 1,920 x 1,080 at 30 or 60 frames per second (Full HD or 1080p)
• 1,280 x 720 at 30 or 60 frames per second (HD or 720p)

But there is a catch with streaming video at Ultra HD. The camera will need to be connected to a USB 3.0 port, which transfers data up to five gigabits per second thus making it capable of handling compressed Ultra HD data in real time. Customers also need a desktop or laptop that is based on Intel’s seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors, which support Ultra HD 10-bit HEVC decoding on the hardware level.

That said, Logitech is essentially preparing mainstream and enterprise customers for Ultra HD to become the norm over the next few years. Until then, users may be required to fall back on 1080p streaming given Intel’s latest processors are beginning to saturate the PC market. Current devices typically include one or more USB 3.0 ports, so it is just a matter of waiting for Kaby Lake saturation and a greater number of end users with Ultra HD displays.

More: Logitech announces the G203, a new member of Prodigy series of gaming mice

The problem Logitech faces with the webcam market is that it holds a 73 percent share. That means the company needs to expand on the webcam design and reach additional markets. This is where the Brio comes in, offering the facial recognition component and HDR imagery. That latter aspect, combined with the company’s proprietary RigtLight 3 technology, provides the best imagery possible no matter the lighting conditions.

Logitech also added the ability for users to select a field of view. The 65-degree mode is for face-to-face meetings while the 78-degree mode provides a slightly larger scene. The third 90-degree view is great for streamers and YouTubers who want to include large elements in the background, or add their own using the camera’s background removal feature (currently in beta).

Complementing the field-of-view options is the camera’s 5x digital zoom capability. Other key ingredients thrown into Logitech’s new webcam include a detachable USB cable, omnidirectional microphones, a privacy shade, and a flexible mount packed with soft hinges to accommodate various monitor sizes.

“With Brio, our goal was to create an elegantly designed, feature-packed webcam that anyone who is the slightest bit serious about video quality will want,” said Logitech’s Video Collaboration General Manager Scott Wharton.

Logitech’s new camera is available through two different names, but there is no difference in price, hardware, or feature set.

Business
Mainstream
Name:
Logitech Brio
Logitech 4K Pro Webcam
Outlets:

Logitech Video Collaboration Reseller Network
Amazon
Logitech
Best Buy
Logitech
Price:
$199
$199

Run by robots: Amazon’s high-tech supermarket may only need 3 staff

Why it matters to you

Amazon may once again be on the verge of revolutionizing the way you shop, with robotic technology replacing most of the regular staff.

Amazon already has one of its revolutionary “Go” grocery stores open as part of a trial. If you missed the launch at the end of last year, it’s a place where you can just walk in, take what you need, and leave. There are no lines and no cashiers. Just choose, grab and, well, go.

Although it might feel a lot like shoplifting, you will of course be charged for each item you put in your bag. You didn’t think Amazon was giving stuff away, did you?

The store’s “Just Walk Out” sensor-based technology detects when you pick up something from the shelf and, when you leave the store, charges all of your items to your account.

While the Seattle company continues to refine Go’s in-store technology with a view to rolling out the concept to more locations, there’s talk that it’s also planning a far larger version of the high-tech store, with robots doing much of the work.

The supermarket might cover floorspace of up to 40,000 square feet and, alongside the robots, be staffed by between three and ten employees at any one time, an individual claiming to have knowledge of the plan told the NY Post this week.

Such a location would comprise two floors, with the first floor offering around 4,000 “goods that shoppers typically like to touch [such as] fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meats and cheeses, and grab-it-and-go stuff like beer and wine,” the source said. The second floor would have an army of robots picking and packing from a larger range of items – up to 20,000 different products – fulfilling online orders made by the shoppers downstairs or from people online at home who then drop by later to collect their items.

Staff responsibilities would include refilling shelves on the first floor, while there could also be someone on the door to greet customers – and possibly chase down thieves who try their luck in the sparsely staffed store. Greeters may also be required to politely persuade non-Prime members to sign up to Amazon’s paid membership program – or its grocery-focused Prime Fresh service – for extra benefits.

More: A robot that sucks won an Amazon technology competition

While Amazon’s smaller Go store is already up and running in Seattle as part of a trial, the company refused to confirm to the NY Post that it had plans for a much larger version.

However, if the source proves reliable, Amazon’s plan to automate the store with robots will come as little surprise to many observers. The ecommerce giant has already invested heavily in robotic technology, which, like many big companies, it’s using to cut labor costs and improve efficiency. And no doubt you’ve heard of its delivery-by-drone plan, which will replace the need for human-made deliveries within about 10 miles of an Amazon fulfilment center … if that particular project ever comes to fruition.

There’s a ‘space capsule’ on the roadside that’s been turning heads in Arizona

Why it matters to you

Keep your eyes peeled for you never quite know what you’ll find around the next corner. Or by the side of the road …

If you’re heading along Interstate 10 east of Casa Grande, Arizona, and you spot what appears to be an abandoned space capsule by the side of the road, don’t worry – your eyes are not deceiving you.

Plenty of drivers taking the desert highway this week have been caught out by the object, with a few no doubt wondering if they’d stumbled across the remnants of some secretive government project, or perhaps something altogether more sinister.

Resting by the road, the large silver object has the words “United States” and “Capt. J. Millard,” written on the side. There’s an American flag printed on it, too, and an open parachute flat on the ground close by.

A few curious folks made calls to local news outlets informing them of their mysterious discovery. At first, the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said they had no idea where it’d come from. Meanwhile, a NASA scientist who saw Monday’s TV reports about the capsule was so intrigued that he phoned officials to make sure the space agency wasn’t missing any large pieces of equipment. Like, y’know … a capsule.

So who called in the space capsule found in Casa Grande? A NASA scientist of all people! MORE PICS, DETAILS: https://t.co/qcn1m7nzil #abc15 pic.twitter.com/siNM8jqCgH

— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) February 6, 2017

Later in the day, the mystery was solved. The object was a pretty impressive recreation of a 1960s space capsule, made by local artist Jack Millard.

The object is in fact an abandoned cement mixer that had been resting for years a little further in from the highway. Millard hauled it to the roadside before working with another artist, Ren Eide, on the transformation, USA Today reported.

When it heard about the project, the DPS responded by tweeting: “It appears an artist got creative near Casa Grande and turned a cement truck drum into a space capsule! Caused a stir on I10 this morning.”

More: This hotel lets you “spend a night in space” with its moon-themed rooms

While creating the artwork, which included attaching the all-important parachute that he acquired from a military surplus store, Millard said around 10 drivers pulled over – including some traffic cops – to find out what he was up to.

“If they enjoy it, that’s great,” the artist told USA Today, adding, “We live in such a cynical, jaded world. If it distracts them for a moment, that’s a wonderful thing.”

These amazing Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus renders give us our clearest look at Samsung’s next flagship

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus have been subject to numerous leaks and rumours over the past few months. Over that time we’ve learnt more and more about what it will look like and what features it will come with.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know

Usually reliable tipster @OnLeaks has teamed up with GearIndia to produce a stunning set of rendered images of both phones, along with a video to show them off in all their glory. Both will sport a metal and glass build with the S8 featuring a 5.7in screen and a 6.2in for the S8 Plus. However, as we’ve heard before, the actual size of the phones won’t be much different to their S7 and S7 Edge predecessors because the screen will take up much more real estate than before.

#Samsung #GalaxyS8 vs #GalaxyS8Plus 360° video + dimensions, based on factory CADs, on behalf of @GearIndia… https://t.co/rfTQ4arsRp pic.twitter.com/3ujjJu5Syt

— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) 7 February 2017

Both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are said to come with the iris scanner security feature that launched with the now-deceased Galaxy Note 7, a USB Type-C port for charging and 3.5mm headphone port. We’ve recently seen schematic drawings that showed a fingerprint scanner mounted next to the camera on the back of the phone, and that feature has been included with these renders.

Samsung is expected to unveil the new flagship device either at the end of March or in mid-April at an event in New York City.

By March, the FBI won’t let you email in FOIA requests

Formal requests citing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have been a powerful tool in the public’s efforts to legally get info from the government. And not just for yourself: Once a FOIA request runs its lengthy course, an official body often releases that intel publicly — for example, when the CIA published 12 million declassified documents last month on everything from Nazis to UFOs. While they take time to fulfill, most agencies allow citizens to easily submit FOIA inquiries using email, with some notable exceptions relying on older communication methods. But on March 1st, the FBI is intentionally rolling back the technological clock, and will only allow requests via fax or snail mail, plus a limited amount through their online portal.

This will undoubtedly hinder the public’s ability to get information from the agency. On top of eliminating a far less burdensome method of communication, submitting through the FBI’s portal requires including personal information, including phone number and address, and agree to the site’s terms of service. Nested in the TOS is the requirement that users only make one FOIA request per submission per day.

As The Daily Dot points out, there is no legal limit on how many folks can submit daily, and since one could just send in other requests via fax or snail mail, the FBI isn’t preventing people from making more inquiries. But it does put enormous onus on the requester for little apparent reason.

“It’s a huge step backwards for the FBI to switch from a proven, ubiquitous, user-friendly technology like email to a portal that has consistently shown problems, ranging from restricting how often citizens can access their right to government oversight to legitimate privacy concerns,” Michael Morisy, co-founder of the public records request tracking nonprofit MuckRock, told The Daily Dot. “Given that email has worked well for millions of requests over the years, this seems like a move designed to reduce participation and transparency, and we hope that the FBI will reverse course.”

Citizens and groups have sued the FBI on behalf of FOIA requests to facilitate its review and release of documents. Last December, VICE brought a joint lawsuit against the agency alongside 50 inquiries related to its activities and disclosures immediately leading up to the election. But deliberately using outdated technology to slow down the process isn’t a new strategy for government agencies, either: In July 2016, the Department of Justice was sued for refusing to upgrade their decades-old machines, thereby deliberately prolonging the process.

Source: The Daily Dot

Injectable male contraceptive tested successfully on monkeys

It’s 2017, and male birth control methods haven’t really advanced beyond the vasectomy — a procedure that’s been performed since the 1800s — or condoms. That’s what makes Vasalgel so intriguing. It’s a “potentially” reversible method that uses gel to chemically incapacitate sperm as they pass through the vas deferens. It doesn’t stop sperm production, and, like with a vasectomy, the swimmers are just absorbed into the body. In a recent experiment, male rhesus monkeys given the treatment didn’t sire any offspring during a year-long study.

Sixteen males were housed with between three and nine breeding females in a free-roaming social setting. “All males wee monitored for at least one breeding season; 7 of the 16 were almost continuously housed with females for two years,” Vasalgel manufacturer the Parsemus Foundation writes.

More than that, there apparently wasn’t any sort of tissue irritation from the injection either. Even better? No mechanical switch nestled inside the scrotum. And versus hormonal treatments, there weren’t any side effects like depression, acne and what The Guardian describes as “soaring libido.”

“We were impressed that this alternative worked in every single monkey, even though this was our first time trying it,” lead veterinarian Angela Colagross-Schouten told The Guardian. The next step is raising the money needed for human clinical trials.

The first phase of testing would focus on whether it or not it works in humans in the US, while the second would target reversing the procedure. Previous experiments in rabbits have shown the process to be reversible, but larger creatures haven’t been studied.

A 2011 piece from Wired estimated that human clinical trials could cost $500,000 or more and that the entire approval process could cost as much as $5 million. Chump change for a pharmaceutical company, right? Not quite. Parsemus is a non-profit so access to that kind of cash comes from donors and outside funding. Hence the company setting up Revolution Contraceptives LLC as a way to court “socially-minded” investors.

As a bit of history, Vasalgel started life over 30 years ago in India as a way to purify water in rural areas. Scientist Sujoy Guha thought it up as a way to line pumps with a compound that would destroy bacteria and not deplete itself. Then after a few tweaks, he began testing it as a contraceptive in mice, and later humans. In his trials, which reached Phase III in human tests at the time of publication, the procedure had worked “100 percent of the time.”

It’s a fascinating story, and I can’t suggest hitting the coverage link below strongly enough.

Source: Parsemus Foundation

SpaceX plans to launch a rocket every two weeks

SpaceX has a bold plan in place to get through its backlog. The space corporation’s president Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters that SpaceX aims to send a rocket to space every two to three weeks as soon as its new launch pad in Florida opens next week. As you know, the company put its schedule on hold after a Falcon 9 exploded on its old launch pad at Cape Canaveral last year — its comeback mission took place just a few weeks ago in mid-January at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

SpaceX’s new launch pad is at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, located north of Cape Canaveral’s, which it’s still repairing at the moment. The new pad cost the company around $100 million, while the repairs will set it back roughly half that amount.

The private space corporation hasn’t forgotten that it’s in the midst of several design upgrades despite ramping up its launch schedule, though. Shotwell said it’s still tweaking its rocket engines to improve its performance and address safety concerns. It’s also designing new turbopumps and a software fix after NASA and government officials expressed their concerns about the current design’s tendency to crack.

“For us, the concern was not the cracks, but do they grow over time? Would these cracks cause a flight failure? I think NASA is used to engines that aren’t quite as robust, so they just don’t want any cracks at all in the turbo machinery,” Shotwell explained. She added that the new turbopumps will be installed before Crew Dragon’s first unmanned test flights take place, hopefully sometime in November.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, the Government Accountability Office expects SpaceX to push back its 2018 manned mission to the ISS due to all the issues it’s been dealing with. It’s unclear if the company can catch up to its original schedule with these rapid-fire launches. But so long as no explosive mishap happens again, we might finally see Crew Dragon fly astronauts to the space station.

Source: Reuters