NASA’s retiring EO-1 satellite changed how we see Earth with these stunning photos

Last week, NASA retired one of its greats — the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. Initially commissioned for the agency’s New Millennium Program, EO-1 proved to be the satellite that could. Its one-year mission turned into nearly 17.

EO-1 was never meant to be such a star. In fact, its original purpose was to test and refine technologies for future Earth imaging. It was launched on November 21, 2000 with 13 new technologies, three of which had never been tested. Many of the most stunning images were capture by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI).

“EO-1 has changed the way spectral Earth measurements are being made and used by the science community,” Betsy Middleton, EO-1’s project scientist said in a NASA news release.

But EO-1 did more than just prove a few instruments. During it’s mission the satellite captured a bunch of remarkable images, many of them firsts for a satellite, including the first to map of an active lava flow, first to measure a facility’s methane leak, and the first track Amazon forest regrowth.

“We’ll probably just see EO-1 as a streak in the sky as it disintegrates.”

The White House is saving all of Trump’s deleted tweets

Five days after Trump’s inauguration, news leaked that his staff was continuing to use email linked to a private server. While that’s not illegal (though hypocritical, given Hillary’s election pillorying), it requires those using non-government emails to disclose them. If that doesn’t happen — if those messages aren’t forwarded to an official account and stored for posterity — the offender violates the Presidential Records Act. It seems the same could apply to Trump’s tweets: The White House has agreed to the US National Archives’ request that they save every one, including those he deletes.

National Archives and Records Administration tells White House to keep each of President Donald Trump’s tweets. https://t.co/7iKj7QOm4q

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 3, 2017

We don’t know exactly how they’re archiving his tweets, but it’s the first confirmation that even his retracted and typo-filled messages will be saved. But concerns to save them came soon after it was clear Trump would continue his feverish Twitter posting. Back in February, Tom Carper (DE) and Claire McCaskill (MO) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis asking after the security of Trump’s unsecured Android smartphone (which he only replaced last week).

David S. Ferriero, head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), replied to the pair and assured them Trump’s Twitter messages would be saved. The White House had acquiesced to Ferriero’s requests to save the President’s current and future tweets, including ones that were deleted.

NARA was formed after the Nixon administration to make public the archives of Presidential correspondence. It’s the kind of safeguard that was supposed to protect against things like the George W. Bush administration “losing” 22 million emails between 2003 and 2009. In the event that the Trump team permits a similarly obscene level of erasure of public documents, at least ProPublica is looking after his deleted tweets, which they’ve tracked back to June 2015.

Via: Mashable

Source: The Associated Press

Google hopes license sharing will stop Android patent trolls

With over 4,000 different devices released in the last year alone, the Android ecosystem is massive. That kind of scale can lead to a lot of copyright confusion and patent squabbling on the platform, which Google would probably like to avoid in the future. So, to save everyone the licensing headaches and unnecessary lawsuits, Google has just announced PAX — a short acronym for the long-winded “Android Networked Cross-License Agreement.”

Like Google’s own License on Transfer Network, PAX is meant to deter patent trolls by making them the patents covered by the network free to use. In short, the companies that join PAX are are agreeing not to sue each other over software patents related to Android and Google applications. The agreement also allows Android partners to use each other’s software patents royalty-free on those same platforms. The list of companies who are already on board with PAX includes some of the big names you might expect, like Samsung, LG, Foxconn, HTC and others. According to Google VP of Android operations Jamie Rosen, the network already covers 230,000 patents worldwide and anyone can join.

Source: Google Blog

Trump signs bill rolling back FCC privacy rules for ISPs

As promised, Donald Trump has signed a bill that nullifies rules introduced last year by the FCC to protect data and privacy for customers of internet service providers. Those rules would’ve blocked an ISP from selling data like a customer’s browsing history that could be used to build a profile for advertisers. After the resolution passed both the House and Senate, AT&T, Comcast and Verizon came forward to state that they don’t currently sell customer’s browser history and say they have no plans to do so.

New FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has said he thinks the FTC should build a framework for privacy rules, while the ISPs and their lobbyists argued the FCC restrictions put them at a disadvantage against companies like Google or Facebook and were confusing for customers.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other consumers right groups disagreed, saying that “The rules—which codified and expanded on existing online privacy protections—were passed by the FCC in October of last year and set to go into effect later this year. They would have kept ISPs from selling customers’ data and using new invasive ways to track and deliver targeted ads to customers. Additionally, the rules would have required those companies to protect customers’ data against hackers.

Tens of thousands of people called on lawmakers to protect those rules, but Republicans in Congress repealed them by narrowly passing a Congressional Review Act resolution.

That measure not only repeals the rules, it also prevents the FCC from writing similar rules in the future, throwing into question how much the FCC can do to police ISPs looking to trade off their customers’ privacy for higher profits. Because of the current legal landscape, the FTC can’t police ISPs either, leaving customers without a federal agency that can clearly protect them in this space.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai:

President Trump and Congress have appropriately invalidated one part of the Obama-era plan for regulating the Internet. Those flawed privacy rules, which never went into effect, were designed to benefit one group of favored companies, not online consumers.

American consumers’ privacy deserves to be protected regardless of who handles their personal information. In order to deliver that consistent and comprehensive protection, the Federal Communications Commission will be working with the Federal Trade Commission to restore the FTC’s authority to police Internet service providers’ privacy practices. We need to put America’s most experienced and expert privacy cop back on the beat. And we need to end the uncertainty and confusion that was created in 2015 when the FCC intruded in this space.”

Source: EFF, Congress

What’s on TV: ‘Rogue One,’ ‘Archer,’ Louis CK and ‘Chewing Gum’

While March Madness is finally coming to an end, it’s also time for some big spring premieres. Archer’s latest season, Dreamland is here, and it’s on FXX these days so check your cable lineup. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story makes its Blu-ray debut this week while the second season of Chewing Gum arrives on Netflix here in the US. Louis CK doubles up this week by appearing on Saturday Night Live and bringing a brand new comedy special to Netflix, while the biggest game releases are Persona 5 and PaRappa the Rapper Remastered. Oh, and Prison Break is back. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Office Christmas Party
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (3D)
• Ride the High Country
• Little Nikita
• Punchline
• Paterson
• Psycho Circus
• Blackwood Crossing (PS4, Xbox One PC)
• Persona 5 (PS4, PS3)
• Lego City: Undercover (Xbox One, PS4)
• Drawn to Death (PS4)
• PaRappa the Rapper Remastered (PS4)
• Talent Not Included (Xbox One)
• Dead Rising 4: Frank Rising DLC (Xbox One)
• Enter the Gungeon (Xbox One, PC)
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (Xbox One, PS4)
• Use Your Words (PS4, Xbox One)
• Virry VR (PS VR)
• Mortal Blitz (PS VR)

Monday

• NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game: Gonzaga vs. UNC, CBS, 9PM
• Abortion: Stories Women Tell, HBO, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• 24: Legacy, Fox, 8PM
• Dancing With The Stars, ABC, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• APB, Fox, 9PM
• The Twins, Freeform, 9PM
• Rock and a Hard Place, HBO, 10PM
• Scorpion, CBS, 10PM
• The Breaks, VH1, 10PM
• Bates Motel, A&E, 10PM
• Taken, NBC, 10PM
• Quantico, ABC, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Tuesday

• The Mindy Project, Hulu, 3AM
• Louis C.K., Netflix, 3AM
• Dimension 404 (series premiere), Hulu, 3AM
• Chewing Gum (S2), Netflix, 3AM
• Tumble Leaf Spring Special, Amazon Prime, 3AM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• The Manns (series premiere), TV One, 8PM
• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• The Mick, Fox, 8:30PM
• iZombie (season premiere), CW, 9PM
• Prison Break (season premiere), Fox, 9PM
• Fresh off the Boat, BC, 9PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Switched at Birth, Freeform, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• Trial & Error, NBC, 9 & 9:30PM
• Imaginary Mary, ABC, 9:30PM
• The Americans, FX, 10PM
• The Partner, CNBC, 10PM
• Rebel, BET, 10PM
• The Detour, TBS, 10PM
• Cosplay Melee, Syfy, 10PM
• Stranded with a Million Dollars, MTV, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Imposters, Bravo, 10PM
• Detroiters, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3AM
• Harlots, Hulu, 3AM
• Shots Fired, Fox, 8PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8PM
• Catfish, MTV, 8PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8PM
• Arrow, CW, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Imaginary Mary, ABC, 8:30PM
• Are You the One: All Star Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Empire, Fox, 9PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
• Law & Order, NBC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
• Archer (season premiere), FXX, 10PM
• The Comedy Jam, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10PM
• Chicago Justice, NBC, 10PM
• Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CBS, 10PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 10PM
• Nobodies, TV Land, 10PM
• The Quad, BET, 10PM
• Suits, USA, 10PM
• Time: The Kalief Browder Story (season finale), Spike TV, 10PM
• Ripper Street, BBC America, 11PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Thursday

• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8PM
• Powerless, NBC, 8:30PM
• The Great Indoors, CBS, 8:30PM
• Riverdale, CW, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Kicking & Screaming, Fox, 9PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30PM
• The Amazing Race, CBS, 10PM
• The Catch, ABC, 10PM
• The Blacklist: Redemption, NBC, 10PM
• Colony (season finale), USA, 10PM
• Dark Net (season premiere), Showtime, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Friday

• American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Get Down (E7 – 13 season finale), Netflix, 3AM
• El Faro de Las Orchas, Netflix, 3AM
• Win It All, Netflix, 3AM
• Dawn of the Croods (S3), 3AM
• Tangled: The Series, Disney, 7:30PM
• The Originals, CW, 8PM
• First Dates (series premiere), NBC, 8PM
• Beach Boys: Making Pet Sounds, Showtime, 8PM
• Toy Box (series premiere), ABC, 8PM
• You the Jury (series premiere), Fox, 9PM
• Disgraced, Showtime, 9PM
• Tattoo Age, Viceland, 9PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals., HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• Clippers/Spurs, ABC, 8:30PM
• Ransom, CBS, 8PM
• Training Day, CBS, 9PM
• The Son (series premiere), AMC, 9PM
• Saturday Night Live: Louis CK / The Chainsmokers, 11:30PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3AM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime, 8PM
• Top Gear, BBC America, 8PM
• Once Upon a Time, ABC, 8PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 8PM
• Sunday Night Baseball: Marlins/Yankees, ESPN, 8PM
• Making History, Fox, 8:30PM
• Home Fires, PBS, 9PM
• Family Guy, Fox, 9PM
• Time After Time, ABC 9PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 9PM
• Homeland (season finale), Showtime, 9PM
• The Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30PM
• Into the Badlands, AMC, 10PM
• American Crime, ABC, 10PM
• Feud: Bette and Joan , FX, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10PM
• Trapped, Viceland, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Crashing (season finale), HBO, 10:30PM
• Talking with Chris Hardwick, AMC, 11PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

President Trump Signs Repeal of U.S. Broadband Privacy Rules

United States President Donald Trump today signed into law a bill that reverses Obama-era broadband privacy rules preventing Internet Service Providers from selling a subscriber’s web browsing history and other personal information without permission.

The now-reversed law would have limited what ISPs like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T could do with sensitive customer data like location, browsing history, and other personal information like Social Security numbers. Under the law, which would have been enacted at the end of 2017, ISPs were also required to strengthen protections against hackers and security breaches.

Going forward, Internet Service Providers will not need to get permission from customers to sell customer data like web browsing history, but following customer outcry and confusion over the repeal of the law, many ISPs have said customer data won’t be sold.

Image via The Verge
Comcast, for example, says it has “no plans” to sell individual web browsing history, while Verizon says it “does not sell the personal web browsing history” of its customers.

Internet providers argued that the rules were confusing to customers and discriminatory and unfair because they didn’t apply to tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook.

Privacy advocates like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation opposed the rollback of the law and have argued that privacy protections are desperately needed to keep consumers safe.

For end users, the repeal of the law effectively maintains the status quo because it was not enacted before being shuttered, but it’s worth noting that the resolution contains language preventing the FCC from enabling similar privacy rules in the future.

The repeal is the first step the Trump administration plans to take towards deregulating broadband internet service providers. According to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, President Trump has “pledged to reverse” net neutrality rules passed in 2015.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: privacy
Discuss this article in our forums

This $250,000 flight suit will turn you into a real life Iron Man

Why it matters to you

Who hasn’t dreamed of taking to the skies like a real life superhero? The Daedalus flight suit lets you do just that… for the price of a small condo.

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a real-life Iron Man, and have enough Tony Stark-style cheddar that you can afford to drop $250,000 on an expensive toy, then 2017 may be the year for you!

That’s because the U.K.-based startup Gravity, which launched at the end of last week, is set to offer intrepid customers the chance to buy their own flight suit; giving wealthy owners the opportunity to joyfully soar over us lowly peasants as we trudge to work the boring, old-fashioned way.

More: The 2017 MIT admissions video features a high-tech Marvel superhero cameo

“It is a system that employs six micro-gas turbines to augment the human form, such that the pilot can then achieve vertical takeoff and full flight maneuverability,” inventor and co-founder Richard Browning told Digital Trends. “It’s augmenting the human mind and body with elegant engineering in the form of the six micro-gas turbines, and therefore is the rawest form of human flight achieved so far.”

In addition to micro-gas turbines, the suit features plenty of other Iron Man-esque touches, such as a heads-up display capable of relaying fuel levels using a WiFi connection. Apparently the suit can travel at multiple hundreds of miles per hour, although so far its creators haven’t been able to get hold of a big enough test flight area to truly put it through its paces.

Given its hefty price tag, the Daedalus flight suit is unlikely to become a mass-market product any time soon, and Browning noted that it will appeal mainly to “high net worth individuals with the means to afford what’s likely to be a six-figure personalized suit.” There are other possibilities, however, such as using it at private demonstrations, educational events, or keynotes.

Put away your wallet, though, because the company’s not quite ready to start shipping.

“Our beta suit the Daedalus could go into mass production next week; however we are spending the next 3-6 months extensively improving and updating everything,” Browning said. “We see Q4 2017 as the point where we have a world class market leading technology, which has endless applications in commercial, military and entertainment market. It’s not just the suit in its current form that we will commercialize, but the technology behind it: brands who want to be part of the hundreds of millions of people who will want to see it in action and experience its development.”

Sony is developing a 150-megapixel sensor with some serious detail

Why it matters to you

Sony’s 150-megapixel backlit sensor likely won’t be in anything at a consumer price point, but the tech could power some serious medium-format cameras.

Sony’s backlit sensors could surpass three-digit megapixels as soon as 2018. A report recently released by the company’s imaging sensor division, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, includes a roadmap that has the company releasing 150-megapixel backlit sensors in 2018.

The report, part of an exhibit at the CeBIT 2017 conference in Germany in March, says the 100 million pixels will capture the detail on microscopic structures as well as allowing for a much bigger crop and zoom capabilities while maintaining detail. Those zoom capabilities are likely to make the sensor an option for aerial inspection drones and surveillance.

More: This 2-millimeter sensor could bring cameras to the smallest smartwatches

The sensor roadmap already includes a frontlit 100-megapixel sensor called the IMX211 already inside the Phase One XF. A monochrome version of that same sensor is due out this year.

Next year, that sensor will get an upgrade with backlighting, according to the company’s projected roadmap, with the IMX461. A backlit sensor moves the circuitry to the back of the sensor, resulting in better low-light performance. A150-megapixell sensor with a backlight design is also slated for launch in 2018 — the IMX411, which will come in both color and monochrome versions.

The report doesn’t hint at what cameras the sensor may be coming too but suggests the ultra high resolution could be used for aerial photography, surveillance, cultural heritage, and inspection. Sony also produces imaging sensors for other companies, including Nikon and Phase One. With the earliest version in the Phase One XP, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to expect an updated medium format camera in addition to the drone photography and surveillance applications the report suggests.

The report also indicates that Sony is currently developing high-sensitivity sensors for nighttime use in security, as well as concentrating efforts on image sensors with a high framerate to increase the response time for applications such as industrial robots and self-driving cars.

Need a good home router? The TP-Link Archer C1200 is now on sale for $60

The TP-Link Archer series is one of the most popular lineups of modern 802.11ac Wi-Fi routers on the market. Some of the Archer models offer highly advanced features aimed at power users and come with big price tags to match, but most of us just need a solid, simple router that delivers good coverage and performance for our home or office networks. If this describes you, then consider the highly rated TP-Link Archer C1200 Wi-Fi router which is now on sale for just $60 from Amazon.

The TP-Link Archer C1200 utilizes dual-band AC1200 Wi-Fi for wireless throughput of up to 1,200Mbps. Dual bands increase your speed and network stability by providing two channels for data: A 2.4GHz band handles simple tasks like web browsing while the 5GHz band tackles heavier loads like HD streaming and online gaming. Dual-band Wi-Fi also helps to mitigate network congestion and prevent signal drops when multiple users are connected to the router.

More: The Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat is now 18 percent off

Three adjustable antennas expand the router’s range for blanket coverage of your home or office. Four high-speed Gigabit Ethernet ports located on the back of the router provide access points for wired connections to computers, smart TVs, and gaming consoles, while a USB 2.0 port lets you hook up peripherals such as printers and share files across your network from a connected device.

The companion Tether App, available for iOS and Android, makes it simple to set up and manage the C1200 from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet. The easy-to-use app also allows you to create a separate guest network for visitors and establish parental controls. The router supports modern WPA/WPA2 encryption standards as well.

A limited-time $35 discount brings the TP-Link Archer C1200 down to $60 on Amazon. If you need a quality router for basic home Wi-Fi needs, the C1200 is a solid and affordable choice.

$60 on Amazon

Which virtual assistant would you hire? Cortana vs. Siri vs. Google Now

Nearly every smartphone and computer on the market today has a smart assistant trapped inside, like a helpful ghost, but how do they stack up against one another? While it may seem like Siri, Cortana, and the nameless Google Now assistant are all just variations of the same thing — and well, they are to some extent — they each have their own quirks, flaws, and strengths. So which one’s best for you? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer, as they’re so similar it’s hard to compare them without digging deep into their capabilities. That said, let’s get started.

Cortana

On Windows Phone, you can use Cortana to make calls, send messages, set reminders, take notes, recognize music, find great restaurants, check your calendar, and more. The Windows 10 version of Cortana adds a few more features, like the ability to search files by context — i.e., “Hey Cortana, show me presentations I’ve worked on in the past week.” The Windows 10 Creators Update adds even more functionality, including the ability to lock, restart, or shut down your computer. All of this is done using natural language.

While you can store specific bits of information with Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant is constantly analyzing your interactions to learn more about you. This info is stored in something Microsoft calls the “Notebook,” which includes the places you like to go, people you care about, your preferred quiet hours, and things you might be interested in, among other things. You can even edit it if you like.

Cortana can also read your emails, track your location, watch your browsing history, check your contact list, keep an eye on your calendar, and put all this data together to suggest useful info, if you allow it to. Cortana is designed to recognize context, so it should be able to understand follow-up requests, and you can phrase things in different ways and still expect a useful answer. You can also type your questions or requests, if you prefer to not speak out loud.

More: How to use and customize Cortana in Windows 10

Cortana is not limited Microsoft’s apps, either, as the it can access third-party content as well. For example, asking how many calories are in a banana would not only return the answer, but the option to add that food to your calorie tracker (if it supports Cortana). The assistant can also add something to your Hulu queue, or check out a friend’s Facebook feed. More and more third-party connectivity is being added all the time, and with the Creators Update, it’s easier than ever for third-party developers to include Cortana functionality. The latter update will open Cortana up to developers in a few important ways by allowing developers to add their own Cortana commands, which are tied directly to their respective applications.