Guess what Michael Moore’s ‘Trumpileaks’ site is about

Michael Moore just created a new website called “Trumpileaks,” for, you guessed it, collecting leaked information about Trump administration activities. In a letter posted on the site, Moore implored, “I need one of you to help me. It might get dangerous. It may get us in trouble. But we’re running out of time.”

The concept and website are both a little redundant. Nearly every major news outlet provides a way for would-be whistleblowers to send information securely, with many using the open-source, encrypted system SecureDrop. Moore’s site doesn’t use that particular program but instead provides instructions on how to send information via Signal, Peerio, WhatsApp, encrypted email, snail mail or regular email for those who don’t care about anonymity. But Moore’s options exist in a sea of many others because he’s far from the only person interested in collecting damaging information about President Trump.

Plus, it’s not like leaks haven’t been happening. On Monday, the Intercept published evidence that a Russian intelligence agency targeted a US voting-software company. The article included classified National Security Agency documents detailing the infiltration attempt, which had been leaked to the website by an anonymous source, according to the Intercept.

However, while there are already many outlets for distributing sensitive information and plenty of people trying to do so, what is clear is how careful potential leakers need to be. And that goes beyond deciding which method to use when sharing damaging information and who to share it with. After the Intercept’s report, the FBI arrested Reality Leigh Winner, a government contractor working for the defense and intelligence service company Pluribus International Corporation. According to an FBI affidavit, Winner mailed the documents to the Intercept. But she was found out nonetheless and reportedly later admitted to the crime.

Trump has had a love/hate relationship with leaks — championing Wikileaks when it worked in his favor and condemning the act when it disparages his administration. And Winner’s arrest makes it very clear how far he’ll go to punish those that undermine him. Leaks can contain a wealth of information but only time will tell whether Moore’s addition to the fray sources anything groundbreaking.

Via: The Hill

Source: Michael Moore

iOS 11 could use the iPhone’s NFC chip for more than Apple Pay

Apple may have an awkward history of avoiding and then embracing NFC in the past, but new developments at this week’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference indicate those days are long gone. Apple already announced new NFC functions coming to the Apple Watch with watchOS 4, but according to documents for the upcoming iOS 11 release, the iPhone’s NFC chip might also be handling much more than just Apple Pay transactions and Passbook check-ins.

Although the feature didn’t get any airtime onstage Monday, iOS 11 Beta adds support for Core NFC to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. (And presumably future hardware as well.) In release docs, Core NFC is described as “a new framework for reading Near Field Communications (NFC) tags and data in NFC Data Exchange Format.” At the moment, the iPhone’s NFC chip is useless for anything other than Apple’s in-house payment system, but the new framework appears to let the chip in the latest iPhones read any tags — not just Apple Pay tags — and take action on them based on the phone’s location. NFC could open up more ways for iOS apps to communicate with connected devices and iPhones could also replace NFC-based keycards or transit passes like London’s Oyster card and the Bay Area’s Clipper card. In theory, Core NFC could also enable functions like tap-to-pair Bluetooth speakers — something Android users have been enjoying for awhile now — but it’s possible Apple could block such features to keep the “magic” pairing experience limited to AirPods and other devices with its proprietary W1 chip.

On the other hand, opening NFC could also invite potential privacy issues onto iOS. Like Bluetooth Beacons, NFC tags allow for seamless, location-based interactions for better or worse. While the ability to tap your phone to a movie poster and instantly bring up the trailer might seem magical, even anonymous data gathered from those sorts of interactions can paint a startling clear picture of a consumer.

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Via: WCCFTech

Source: Apple Developer

Vodafone tries to keep its ads away from fake news sites

After Trump was elected President, folks clamored about the toxic sites that helped deliver him to the White House. The backlash pushed companies to distance themselves from some of them, and literally cost others income, like when major advertising firm AppNexus pulled all its ads from Breitbart last November. Today, global telecom Vodafone has taken a similar stand by blocking its ads from appearing on sites that promote fake news and hate speech.

As The Guardian points out, that means offending sites will miss out on Vodafone’s 400 million annual digital advertising budget. To be clear, the telecom group won’t stop customers from visiting those pages. But as part of new stricter rules to its ad transparency and integrity policy, the company will pull any Vodafone-promosting ads from any online outlet, social media site, app or broadcast channel whose “prominent purpose” is to disseminate hate speech or fake news. Only sites that have been whitelisted by Vodafone’s advertising network as “highly unlikely to be focused on harmful content” will be allowed to host the ads.

That means it’s not an outright ban on any site featuring a minority of offensive content. Per Vodafone’s’ statement: “An outlet that carries some hate speech or fake news content – but where the majority of content disseminated would not meet the tests above – must not be categorised as warranting exclusion from advertising whitelists on hate speech/fake news grounds.”

Via: Wired

Source: Vodafone

Trent Reznor blows dust off the ‘Quake’ score for vinyl reissue

Quake was a groundbreaking game in a number of ways, and that included its soundtrack — id Software scored a coup when it got Nine Inch Nails (technically, Trent Reznor) to score the grim first-person shooter. Until now, though, listening to that soundtrack has usually meant digging up your circa-1996 game CD or (let’s be honest) finding a YouTube rip. Thankfully, you’ll soon have an alternative if you own a turntable. As part of a larger wave of back catalog releases, Reznor is making the Quake soundtrack available on vinyl — you too can listen to that memorable theme in your living room.

There’s no date or price for pre-orders, but NIN’s current pricing for single-record LPs suggests you’ll be paying around $20. You might not have to wait long to get your copy after it ships, at least. NIN recently ran into serious delivery problems for other albums, but a recent change in fulfillment partners should have sorted that out.

If you haven’t listened to the Quake soundtrack before, it’s important to note that most of it is eerie ambient fare. You’re not getting B-sides to The Downward Spiral, folks. It added to the game’s sinister atmosphere, however, and the star power behind the soundtrack stood out at a time when many developers were just happy to have more than generic-sounding MIDI tunes. This work also led to Reznor being tapped to compose the score for Doom 3, though he ultimately left the project. Whatever you feel about Quake, consider this: while vinyl game soundtrack releases are relatively common nowadays, this is likely the only one you’ll ever get from an Oscar-winning artist who works in the tech industry.

Source: Nine Inch Nails

App Highlight: DisneyLife

The App

Developed by Disney, who is tagged as a top developer, Cookie Jam Blast is an established app with well over 500,000 installs. Having been updated on June 6, 2017, the developer is constantly fixing various bugs with the latest update bringing brand new content. DisneyLife needs very little introduction for Disney fans that allow you to experience the magic of Disney’s TV episodes and movies.

What it does

DisneyLife is any Disney fans’ one stop shop where you can watch stream, and download hundreds of movies and thousands of TV episodes. There’s also books and music from your favorite Disney shows and characters. You can even set up profiles so each member of your family can create their own favorite lists across up to 10 devices, with 4 people watching at any one time. You can enjoy 4000+ Disney TV episodes from box sets, plus live TV from Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior.

DisneyLife is a monthly subscription service with new content being added every week.

Why we like it

Our house is a huge fan of everything Disney so this app is perfect for not only my kids but also for me. My favorite feature is the read along story books that help my kids follow the story and see the words that are being spoken. With live channels able to be streamed and each of my children able to have their own profile, this is one of the most essential apps currently on our devices.

How to get it

DisneyLife is available for free from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.

Will my Mac run MacOS High Sierra?

Apple has announced a new version of MacOS. But can your Mac run it?

While at its mostly-annual developers conference in San Jose, Apple showed off MacOS High Sierra, a major update to the MacOS Sierra operating system announced last year. Apple tends to update the software powering its Macs every year, and 2017 is no different. Except, instead of unveiling an all-new version with its own name, Apple announced it simply chose to refine and perfect Sierra.

So, with that, we get High Sierra. And Apple has some good news for those of us who own older Macs. Unlike some of Apple’s other major software updates, the new release of MacOS will support older hardware. That is, it will run on any Mac that currently runs Sierra. Last year, Sierra dropped support for several 2007, 2008, and 2009-era Macs, so it’s welcomed news to hear that’s not the case again.

Here’s everything you need to know about High Sierra, including the full list of supported machines.

• Apple iOS 11: 11 new features coming to your iPhone and iPad
• Apple WWDC 2017: All the announcements that matter

What is MacOS High Sierra?

On 5 June, Apple previewed the next version of MacOS. It’s called High Sierra. Many of the new features include behind-the-scene updates that will make your Mac seem faster and more secure. For instance, the new OS will allow for virtual reality and augment reality content. Safari also got a number of improvements, including the ability block autoplay videos and stop advertisers from tracking you.

Apple’s iCloud service will also now remember your messages, among other things. Check out Pocket-lint’s High Sierra piece for more information. The software is now available for developers and will be released to the public this autumn. It’ll be free to download and use.

Which Macs will run MacOS High Sierra?

Here is the official list of supported hardware:

• MacBook: Late 2009 or later
• iMac/iMac Pro:Late 2009 or later
• MacBook Air: 2010 or later
• MacBook Pro: 2010 or later
• Mac mini: 2010 or later
• Mac Pro: 2010 or later

In other words, anything made more than seven years ago is obsolete and will no longer be supported.

Anything else you need to know?

Not all features in MacOS High Sierra will work on older hardware. For instance, 4K HEVC content will need a Mac with a sixth‑generation Intel Core processor or newer. We’ll keep you posted when we learn about other exceptions.

When can you get MacOS High Sierra?

A beta of macOS High Sierra is available now for developers. A public beta will be available in late June. Sign up here if you’d like to join and test out the latest features. The finished, consumer version of MacOS High Sierra is due to roll out sometime this autumn.

Apple is the perfect anti-VR test case

Apple shined a dull spotlight on virtual reality during its WWDC keynote yesterday, introducing VR support for macOS and a beefed-up, VR-capable version of the new iMac. This marks Apple’s first real dive into VR, and, honestly, it’s too little, too late. The potential of modern VR has been looming over the technology industry for nearly five years now, exciting consumers and prompting plenty of companies to develop their own support systems and hardware for this strange new virtual world.

But until yesterday, it was impossible to natively develop or even run VR experiences on an Apple machine. The first instance of built-in VR support for macOS developers comes about a year after Google, Facebook, Samsung, HTC and Sony actually put their VR headsets on stores shelves, and Apple hasn’t hinted that it’s working on any proprietary hardware.

Apple’s nod to VR, one year late, feels like a lackluster reaction to an evolving industry, rather than a prescient foray into a new and thrilling technological landscape. It feels a lot like Apple doesn’t believe in VR.

On the surface, it would make a lot of sense for Apple to build something like the Google Daydream headset for mobile VR. After all, Apple makes the iPhone and it loves selling ridiculous mobile accessories. However, the company has never expressed an interest in this space — a move that also makes a lot of sense, on the surface.

VR is not pretty. This is one of its main roadblocks to becoming a mainstream consumer product: VR headsets are ugly, unwieldy and unglamourous. While companies like Google and Samsung seem willing to experiment with design on a public scale, Apple is notoriously protective of its image. Apple products are neurotically designed to be clean and elegant, and every new iPhone, iMac and Macbook is revealed to the world with breathless, detailed wonder bordering on worship. Even Apple stores are pristine white boxes.

From a design perspective, VR is the antithesis of everything Apple. It has too many wires, too many straps and not enough form factor. In essence, it’s too easy to look like an asshole while wearing a VR headset. That’s not exactly the look Apple is going for.

And then there’s the tech itself. Apple has dabbled in VR content creation, but the company’s focus is fractured in a dozen different directions. While Apple CEO Tim Cook has apparently opted to let the VR wave wash over him, he’s juggling the company’s forays into artificial intelligence, self-driving-car technology and the IoT market. And, frankly, Apple isn’t exactly a leader in any of these spaces, either.

Google, for example, is gung-ho on the promises of AI and it’s already making huge strides in this space. At its I/O developer conference in late May, Google revealed a swathe of projects that leverage the latest advances in AI, and the company has published more than 700 research papers on machine intelligence alone.

Apple published its first AI research paper in December.

Apple’s plans to build self-driving-car technology are vague, at best, and its connected home speaker, HomePod, isn’t due until December. That’s two and a half years after the launch of the Amazon Echo, and one year after Google Home. And, the IoT space is where AI research really comes in handy — connected speakers use natural language processing and other machine learning tricks to answer questions, set reminders and play media. It’s notable that Apple didn’t publicly demonstrate HomePod when it revealed the device yesterday, instead relying on slides and animated images to explain its features. Plus, Apple is positioning the HomePod as a speaker first and an assistant second. Both of these moves suggest Apple’s AI skills aren’t quite up to snuff. But, hey, at least the HomePod sounds good.

If Apple is behind in AI, it could easily place the company behind in the IoT, self-driving and VR markets. It could also put Apple behind in terms of augmented reality.

And this is where Apple sees a ray of sunshine: AR. At WWDC, Apple took time to emphasize AR, announcing a new developer platform just for projects that blend digital images with the real world. ARKit will roll out with iOS 11 in the fall, and since it will then theoretically be available on every iPhone and iPad in existence, it’ll immediately become the world’s largest AR platform.

This is where the future is heading, according to Apple. It’s all about AR, not VR.

“My own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far, because this gives the capability for both of us to sit and be very present talking to each other, but also have other things visually for both of us to see,” Cook said in September.

AR requires a hefty amount of back-end AI work as well, and Apple isn’t oblivious. Over the past year, alongside the publication of its first AI research paper, Apple acquired the AI companies Turi and Lattice Data, hired a Carnegie Mellon AI expert, and started working on a mobile processor capable of powering AI. And Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, has been running on AI systems since 2011.

Even with these footholds in the wide world of machine learning, it still feels like Apple is playing catch-up right now. VR is perhaps the most obvious example of something that looks a lot like a scramble, because it’s a clear hole in the company’s repertoire.

However, skipping VR could simply turn out to be a savvy business move. Cook isn’t alone in thinking AR will eventually replace or become more valuable to society than VR, and initial headset sales have been a bit underwhelming (though Sony’s PlayStation VR definitely found an early audience).

Ignoring VR isn’t a sign that Apple is on the wrong path, but it’s a notable market for the company to miss. What matters more is why Apple doesn’t care about VR — that answer will determine whether skipping the craze is a clever business move, or a crippling fumble brought on by lack of foresight.

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Ingenious RC lawn mower lets you trim your grass without leaving your chair

Why it matters to you

This remote-controlled lawnmower could allow people who are physically unable to mow their lawn to continue doing so.

Inspiration can sometimes come from unexpected places. Several years ago, U.K.-based engineer Warren Harris’ wife began suffering the effects of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a currently incurable condition in which the joints in the body — including the spine — fuse together, causing unimaginable pain. As a result of his wife’s illness, Harris had to take on more of a caretaker role.

“As my time was limited due to my home and work commitments, I found it very difficult to mow my large backyard,” he told Digital Trends. “I already had a manual reel mower, which I had to push all over the garden, making it very tiring and time consuming. Mowing the lawn became a headache, and I hated it as it was taking so much time. I began wondering if it was difficult for me to do this chore, imagine how difficult it would be for an elderly or disabled person.”

While it may sound like a relatively small thing in the bigger picture, Harris’ research into the subject made clear to him how the ability of a person to keep their yard properly mowed and maintained gives them a sense of pride. Hiring a gardener is also prohibitively expensive for many people.

After plenty of work, he has developed a solution called Easy Mow — an automated, remote-control lawn mower. “Easy Mow has been tested and can mow an average 600-square foot-garden in 10 minutes,” Harris said. “This saves everyone so much time and energy; all you have to do is sit back, relax, and operate the Easy Mow from the touch of your fingertips. The remote-control technology also ensures that it be operated by anyone, of all ages and abilities.”

The mower is adjustable to a range of cutting heights to suit individual preference, and promises to easily cut through the most overgrown and wettest of grass with ease. “A fully automated mower, on the other hand, would get stuck in wet grass, or avoid overgrown grass which it cannot cut,” Harris said. “In essence, what we have made is something which tackles all problems — it eliminates the hard work of a conventional lawn mower, and it performs better than the fully automated mowers by leaps and bounds.”

Easy Mow is currently raising funds on Kickstarter. You can pre-order a unit with a pledge of 1,500 British pounds, or $1,933 U.S. Shipping is set to take place in January 2018.

Use NZXT’s system to make sure your gaming PC rocks your favorite games

Why it matters to you

You can now take the guesswork out of building your next custom gaming PC with NZXT BLD.

Building a new gaming PC can be a real pain, something that is getting even more difficult as AMD ramps up its CPUs and GPUs with Ryzen and Vega to more strongly compete with Intel’s Core CPUs and Nvidia’s GPUs. Simply put, knowing exactly which combination of components will optimize the performance of your favorite game is a challenge.

PC maker NZXT understands this, which is why it has put together a way to build a custom gaming rig. Called NZXT BLD, the system will let you choose the games you like the most and the price you want to pay and then build out a new PC for you.

NZXT’s CAM PC cloud-based monitoring software is at the heart of BLD, which uses greater than 10 million hours of gaming performance data to select components that will provide the best performance for certain titles. NZXT promises that its recommendation engine will predict frames per second (FPS) to within 10 percent accuracy so that buyers can be assured of building a gaming PC that will provide the expected performance.

In describing the new system, NZXT founder and CEO Johnny Hou said, “BLD features a brand new approach for those who want a DIY PC to play the PC games the way they without having to invest a lot of time. Because we’re PC gaming enthusiasts ourselves, we know what fellow gamers need out of their systems and our recommendation engine built upon millions of gaming sessions makes this easy. Simply tell us the games you want to play and we will do the rest.”

The process is simple. Just select up to three games from among the most popular titles and specify a budget range. Then, BLD will provide benchmark data based on a recommended build, which you can then use to customize your PC build with NTXT case and RBG lighting options. The custom PC will be built and shipped within 48 business hours.

If you’re not happy with the resulting performance of the new PC, specifically if it fails to perform within the promised FPS guarantee within 10 percent, then you will be able to return the machine for free. In addition, NZXT will back up the new PC with a solid two-year warranty.

Look ma, no wires! A smart pacemaker controls heart rhythms without a battery

Why it matters to you

A breakthrough pacemaker would mean a lower risk of infection and no operations to replace its battery.

Researchers at Rice University and the Texas Heart Institute have created the internal components for a battery-free pacemaker, designed to be inserted directly into the heart and free of wires. The team has successfully demonstrated the device in a pig heart, showing that it can tune the animal’s heart rate from 100 to 172 beats per minute.

The prototype — which is smaller than a dime in size — is being shown off this week at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ International Microwave Symposium (IMS) in Honolulu. It incorporates a receiving antenna, AC-to-DC rectifier, power management unit, and pacing activation signal. It receives power via microwaves in the 8-to-10 GHz electromagnetic frequency spectrum.

“The majority of conventional pacemakers use a large device equipped with a battery close to the heart to induce pacing with wires or leads,” Aydin Babakhani, an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Rice University, told Digital Trends. “These leads cause significant complications, such as infections.”

To resolve this issue, recently pacemaking companies have introduced leadless pacemakers that are implanted in the heart. However, these pacemakers have two main problems: They have a non-rechargeable battery and they are limited to single-chamber pacing, while the heart has two chambers that must be paced.

Rice Integrated Systems and Circuits/Rice University

“We are solving these two problems,” Babakhani continued. “Our pacemaker does not need a battery. It is a small chip that harvests energy wirelessly from a control unit just under the skin. The control unit has a battery and can be easily replaced. Since chips are small, a large number of them can be implanted in various locations in the heart to perform dual-chamber pacing.”

The resulting pacemaker could help with specific heart diseases, such as Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT), which require dual-chamber pacing.

The next step, Babakhani said, involves developing the prototype further. The team wants to make the device more robust, to add sensing elements to it, and to demonstrate it in action using multiple chips simultaneously.

In a related piece of work, they are also trying to resolve the complications of defibrillation — the process of restoring the heart’s normal rhythm using a controlled electric shock — using an array of implantable chips. This would greatly reduce the pain caused in defibrillation.