Netflix’s ‘Punisher’ trailer shows us a haunted, murderous antihero

While the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil didn’t quite measure up to the first, Jon Bernthal’s take on antihero The Punisher was a standout addition. The streaming company wasted little time announcing the haunted criminal-killer would get a show of his own, but we’ve only really gotten teasers. Today, Netflix dropped The Punisher’s first full trailer, giving fans a glimpse of a family-friendly Frank Castle before the deaths of his wife and child set him on his criminal-slaughtering path.

At the beginning of Daredevil’s second season, viewers met a grizzled, world-weary Punisher eager to wipe crime off the streets with lethal force. Secretary-turned-journalist Karen Page bonded with the occasional antagonist, so it makes sense that she’ll appear in The Punisher. Otherwise, the series looks like it’s striking out on its own, departing from the tightly-woven Defenders mini-cinematic universe to tell Castle’s story.

The trailer portrays Castle tortured over the sins of his past, as his part in black ops CIA missions leads to the deaths of his wife and kid. With no street heroes in his way, it seems like The Punisher will kill his way to the truth. If you wanted a darker take on the antihero with a body count to match, this looks up your alley. Naturally, we still don’t have a solid release date, though we know it’ll be sometime in 2017, riling up speculation to whether Netflix will drop it early in October or wait til just before Thanksgiving.

Source: Punisher trailer (YouTube)

Nest Announces New Alarm System, Smart Doorbell, and Outdoor Cam IQ

Alphabet-owned Nest Labs today held an event in San Francisco to unveil a whole new range of Nest home security products. Nest products don’t integrate with Apple’s HomeKit setup, but are popular competing connected home solutions.

Starting in 2018, Nest will release the Hello, a small smart doorbell device that’s able to stream 160 degree HD live video from your door directly to your phone. It will capture a photo of a person standing at your door even when the bell isn’t rung, and the Hello supports audio so you can speak with whoever’s at the door.

With Nest’s $10 monthly service, Hello will continually monitor all activity outside the door, and Nest is working on features like Warm Welcome, which will activate a light as someone approaches the door, both as a greeting and to ward off thieves. Nest plans to release the Hello Doorbell Cam in early 2018, but a price hasn’t been provided.

Nest also introduced the new Nest Cam IQ Outdoor, the outdoor sibling of the Nest Cam IQ announced in late May. Nest Cam IQ Outdoor is weatherproof (with an IP66 rating) and offers the same 4K high-quality recording and smart features like facial recognition and smart alerts. It comes with a tamper-resistant mount, and with Nest Aware ($10/month), features 10 days of recording and facial recognition. At $349, the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor is $50 more expensive than the indoor version.

Nest has also announced plans to bring Google Assistant to its Nest Cam IQ Indoor, with the feature available to all current and future Nest Cam IQ owners.

Nest’s biggest announcement this morning was the $499 Nest Secure, a Nest-branded multi-component alarm system that includes a Nest Guard, two Nest Detects, and two Nest Tags. The Nest Guard, a palm-sized puck with a keypad, is the main component (aka the brains) of the security system and is used to arm and disarm it. It can be mounted on a wall or placed on table for use wherever it’s convenient.

The Nest Detect is designed to be mounted in door frames and windows to detect motion in a room or an unauthorized breech of a window or door. Nest Secure only ships with two, but additional Nest Detect modules can be purchased for $59 so an entire house can be outfitted.

Two included Nest Tag keychains (more can be purchased for $25) are available to quickly arm and disarm the Nest Secure without needing to enter the security code of the device each time. Several smart features are built in, like automatic times for arming and disarming the Nest Secure. A 24/7 monitoring service is available through Moni Smart Security for $5 per month, putting Nest Secure on par with more well-known security systems.

Nest Secure integrates with all other Nest products, like security cameras, with everything accessible in the Nest app. Nest Secure will go on sale in the United States this November at a starting price of $499.

Tag: Nest
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Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 40 With Bug Fixes and Feature Improvements

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced one year ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.

Safari Technology Preview release 40 includes fixes and improvements for JavaScript, FileSystem Entry API, Fetch API, Accessibility, Web API, CSS, CSS Grid, Web Inspector, Media, Rendering, and WebGL.

With Safari 11 now available through the macOS High Sierra beta, Apple is providing two versions of Safari Technology Preview, one for macOS Sierra users and one for those using macOS High Sierra.

The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.

Tag: Safari Technology Preview
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Apple Watch Series 3 struggles to connect to LTE

For those awaiting their new Apple Watch Series 3, be prepared for some connectivity issues. The Verge’s Lauren Goode reports that during her review of the new smartwatch, it frequently struggled to connect to LTE and often linked to an unknown WiFi network instead. While surfing, and away from WiFi signals, Goode says that her watch either had a single bar of service or no service at all. And her connectivity issues spanned across two separate sample units. The Wall Street Journal reported similar issues with LTE, also across multiple watches.

Apple later told The Verge, “We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated WiFi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular. We are investigating a fix for a future software release.” But there’s no word on when that update will arrive.

Apple declined to comment further when we contacted the company about the issue.

Source: The Verge (1), (2)

Valve thinks charts will negate Steam review bombing

Review bombing in the gaming community is a woefully old concept, but after it took the spotlight again this month, following yet another racist outburst from YouTuber PewDiePie, Valve is taking action to mitigate the damaging effects it can have on game developers. Instead of single review scores, game pages will now be accompanied by a histogram displaying a visual history of user reviews.

In a lengthy blog post on Steam’s community page, UI designer Alden Kroll says changes to user reviews had been in the works for a while. He then lays out the options that Steam has toyed with, ranging from changing the way a score is calculated to simply removing scores altogether. In the event, he says, “we decided not to change the ways that players can review games, and instead focused on how potential purchasers can explore the review data.”

Each game page now features a histogram of both the positive and negative reviews submitted over the lifetime of the game. Click on any part of the histogram and you’ll be able to read a sample of reviews from that period. The thinking is, as a potential purchaser, you’ll be able to spot temporary distortions and then investigate why that distortion happened. Take Firewatch, for example. Its reviews fell off a cliff after Sean Vanaman, from the game’s developer Campo Santo, publicly denounced PewDiePie for his troubling comments. As Kroll says, you can then “decide for yourself whether it’s something you care about”.

The new system also has the benefit of allowing players to see how a game’s reviews have evolved over time, which is particularly useful for games that operate as services. As Kroll explains, “Earlier purchasers of a game are more likely to enjoy it than later purchasers. In the pool of players who are interested in a game, the ones who are more confident that they’ll like the game will buy it first, so as time goes on the potential purchasers left are less and less certain that they’ll like the game. So if you see a game’s reviews trending up over time, it may be an even more powerful statement about the quality of work its developers are doing.”

Source: Steam

‘Tomb Raider’ trailer teases the cinematic reboot of Lara Croft

What’s worse: Reboots or video game adaptations? The new Tomb Raider manages to be both, which means it’s already facing an uphill battle. The trailer for the wannabe blockbuster is here, with Alicia Vikander picking up the mantle from the original Lara Croft, Angelina Jolie. One Oscar winner replacing another is not a bad place to start. But, somehow the other puzzle pieces don’t seem to align. At least from what’s on offer in the new promo.

Fans of the recent video games will be happy to hear that it sticks closely to 2013’s Tomb Raider (itself a reboot of sorts). The plot involves Lara venturing to a fabled island off the coast of Japan in her quest to solve the mystery behind her father’s disappearance. There she encounters a villainous organization known as Trinity, and the mythical tomb her father spoke of. Plenty of butt kicking ensues, as Lara goes full Rambo on the bad guys. Speaking of influences, the flashback scenes of Lara’s privileged upbringing recall Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Still, it makes sense that Warner Bros. would want to recreate the magic from the groundbreaking franchise.

Tomb Raider is directed by Roar Uthang, and penned by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (who’s also handling writing duties on the upcoming Captain Marvel). The film co-stars Dominic West (The Wire, 300), and Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained).

So far so good. So, what’s missing? Well, mainly a much needed dose of humor. The jokes in the trailer fall flat, including a gag at the end involving Nick Frost. And, a video game film that takes itself too seriously can expect to get a mauling from critics and audiences alike (look no further than last year’s Assassin’s Creed for proof). Nonetheless, you’ll be able to judge for yourself when the film hits these shores in March.

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures (YouTube)

Facebook accused of supporting ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Myanmar

Facebook stands accused of censoring information related to the ethnic cleansing currently taking place in the Republic of Myanmar. The Guardian reports that the social network has essentially blacklisted posts from, or supporting, insurgent group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Critics believe that this gives the appearance that the site is supporting the incumbent government, and by extension, its actions. The paper quotes activist Mohammad Anwar, who says that by suppressing dissent, Facebook is “colluding with the genocidaires.”

The company confirmed that it had blacklisted posts by ARSA to official Zaw Htay, who posted a screenshot to their Facebook page. The statement says that “dangerous organizations are not allowed to use our services and we also remove content that supports or praises such groups.” It’s believed that the site has also suppressed images and video of Rohingya Muslims being tortured and killed.

Rohingya Muslims have a contentious status in Myanmar, and are considered a stateless minority in the mostly Buddhist country. They are considered to be deeply persecuted, which prompted a Rohingya militia group to attack police posts in late August, killing 12. In response, Myanmar’s government retaliated with a program of violence that Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, describes as “clearly disproportionate.” More than 300,000 Rohingya have now fled their home after their villages were burned and fleeing civilians have been allegedly gunned down. Al Hussein describes Myanmar’s actions as a a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

In a statement, Facebook said that it is “only removing graphic content when it is shared to celebrate the violence, versus raising awareness and condemning the action.” Spokesperson Ruchika Budhraja added that the company is “reviewing content against our Community Standards, and, when alerted to errors, quickly resolving them and working to prevent them from happening again.” The company has also affirmed that it chose to mark ARSA as a dangerous organization without the intervention of Myanmar’s government.

Subsequently, a Facebook spokesperson sent Engadget the following statement:

“We allow people to use Facebook to challenge ideas and raise awareness about important issues, but we will remove content that violates our Community Standards. These include hate speech, fake accounts, and dangerous organizations.

Anyone can report content to us if they think it violates our standards and it doesn’t matter how many times a piece of content is reported, it will be treated the same.

Sometimes we will allow content if newsworthy, significant or important to the public interest – even if it might otherwise violate our standards. In response to the situation in Myanmar, we are only removing graphic content when it is shared to celebrate the violence, versus raising awareness and condemning the action.

We are carefully reviewing content against our Community Standards and, when alerted to errors quickly resolving them and working to prevent them from happening again.”

Facebook has often struggled to balance its desire not to become a hotbed for graphic content with political and cultural sensibilities. The site came under fire in 2016 for blocking a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo from the Vietnam war that featured a naked child fleeing from soldiers. The image breached the site’s rules on underage nudity, but was reinstated following an international outcry. At the time, the site explained that its rules were evolving and that mistakes would be made, but will always improve.

Unfortunately, the role of monolithic media broadcaster with the attentions of a billion people comes with responsibilities. Facebook has often publicly rebutted the idea that it has any power, but it’s clear that the issue is coming to a head, and fast.

Source: The Guardian

NASA nominee lays out the agency’s most pressing challenges

The president’s pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine, hasn’t been without his share of controversy. He doesn’t have much technical experience and his politics and views on climate change could put a wrench in his Senate confirmation hearing, which could be as early as next week. But where will NASA go under Bridenstine’s leadership? The congressman submitted a pre-hearing questionnaire that gives us a few clues.

Specifically, Bridenstine was asked, “What do you believe to be the top three challenges facing the department/agency, and why?” His answers reveal what his priorities for the agencies could be.

According to the congressman, the agency’s top challenge concerns navigating politics. Specifically, Bridenstine wants to see NASA set goals for itself that aren’t dependent on which party is in office or the whims of Congress. He wants priorities and projects that have support across both sides of the aisle. One of the major issues the agency constantly faces is when a program that is supported by one administration is cancelled by the next. It leads to a lot of waste, both in resources and money. While this is a good goal to have (it’s a widely acknowledged and very frustrating problem), it makes me question how ambitious the agency will be under Bridenstine’s leadership. It also gives me pause that his top challenge for the agency is a political one.

Bridenstine’s second challenge is in regard to our international partnerships. Specifically, he wants to develop more of them but also “end . . . dependency on unfriendly nations to avoid exploitable vulnerabilities.” It’s not difficult to tell which country he’s referring to. Currently, we’re dependent on Russia to ferry our astronauts to and from the International Space Station. These types of ties are crucial to maintaining peace and stability between our countries.

Finally, Bridenstine’s last challenge for NASA is to work with both traditional space companies as well as new ones “to maximize resources and create efficiencies.” This signals that he’s open to working with all kinds of commercial spaceflight companies, both new and old, in order to reach NASA’s goals. But he’s been a supporter of this in the past, so that’s not a surprise.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: US Senate

Nest introduces Hello, its first video doorbell

It was just a few weeks ago that Nest introduced the E, a budget version of its smart thermostat; just a couple of months before that it unveiled the new Nest Cam IQ. But the company isn’t not done announcing new products just yet. At an event in San Francisco this morning, Nest unveiled another new product: the Nest Hello, its first-ever video doorbell.

Know who’s knocking. Introducing the Nest Hello video doorbell. Coming early 2018. #NestSecurity #NestEvent pic.twitter.com/VmiIKQpu3P

— Nest (@nest) September 20, 2017

Nest says the device records 4:3 aspect ratio HD video with HDR and a 160-degree field of view. It also has a microphone button, a speaker, a light ring, and a status LED. And, of course, it connects to your phone via Bluetooth LE. According to Nest, the camera in the doorbell can let you see the person at your door from head to toe, with an aspect ratio that accommodates both the wide and tall view.

What’s more, the Hello incorporates some of Nest Cam IQ’s smart tech, with both person-detection and facial recognition. That means it knows when your grandmother’s at the door, as opposed to a stranger, and it’ll notify you appropriately. The Hello also has Quick Responses built in so you can just say “Leave package at the door” if it’s the mailman.

There’s also a Nap Time mode, which is great if you have small children. This way, you won’t risk the doorbell waking them up during that time. If someone does come to the door, you’ll get a notification on your phone. If you want to look at just who came by your door in the past few days, there’s a feature called Sightline, that lets you look through days of footage. And ,last but not least, the Hello has a light underneath, which lights up the doorstep to welcome you home.

Nest hasn’t announced pricing just yet, but Hello should be available in the first quarter of 2018.

Source: Nest

Overwatch League’s first season is set to begin January 10th

The Overwatch League has added three more teams to its roster, bringing the total up to its target number of 12 and making way for the very first competition season. The new teams represent Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston and are owned by Comcast Spectacor, Team Envy and OpTic Gaming, respectively. They join franchises located across the US as well as China, South Korea and the UK.

With 12 teams in place, the Overwatch League announced that its preseason exhibition matches will begin on December 6th and the regular season will start on January 10th. The season will run through June while playoffs and finals will take place in July. The Blizzard Arena Los Angeles — built to optimize the experience of playing and viewing eSports — will play host to all of the regular season games. The arena has a number of sound stages, control rooms and practice facilities and was designed to support a slew of competitive eSports events, the first of which — Overwatch Contenders Season One Playoffs — will take place October 7th.

Over the next few months, the Overwatch League will release details about the teams and the competition including team names, logos and colors as well as the season schedule. “This is a huge milestone for the league; we can’t wait for the action to get underway and to see some of the top competitive Overwatch players in the world facing off to become the first-ever Overwatch League champions,” said Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime in a statement.

Source: Blizzard