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Submission + - Obama Says He's 'A Strong Believer In Strong Encryption' (recode.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Re/code recently on a variety of topics relating to technology. The talk included the president's thoughts on encryption, which has been a controversial subject in tech circles lately after government officials (including Obama himself) have publicly complained about default encryption in modern communication tools. In the interview, he says he's a "strong believer in strong encryption . I lean probably further on side of strong encryption than some in law enforcement." Obama puts it another way, more bluntly: "There’s no scenario in which we don’t want really strong encryption." However, the president says the public is driving concern for leaving law enforcement a way in: "The first time that an attack takes place in which it turns out that we had a lead and we couldn't follow up on it, the public’s going to demand answers."

Submission + - BitTorrent Announces Exclusive TV Shows

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: BitTorrent today announced an exclusive partnership with Rapid Eye Studios to launch BitTorrent Originals. In short, the two will identify, produce, and distribute original video content for the BitTorrent Bundle platform, the company's direct-to-fan publishing platform. BitTorrent Originals will be timed exclusives, meaning they will debut on the BitTorrent Bundle platform and only be available there for 30 to 60 days. After the BitTorrent exclusive window closes, each project will be available through other distribution channels.

Submission + - Layoffs begin at Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment)

Submitted by jjohn24680
jjohn24680 writes: There are several sources who are reporting layoffs at Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) today. Notable layoffs include Linda "Brasse" Carlson (former Global Community Relations Lead) and Dave Georgeson (former Director of Development / Franchise Director for Everquest, EverQuest II, and EverQuest Next / Landmark). This post from Daybreak Games has some additional information as well.
Robotics

Video Drone, Drone, Everywhere a Drone -- at CES (Video) 37

Posted by Roblimo from the it's-not-superman-and-it's-not-an-airplane-so-it-must-be-a-drone dept.
One thing Timothy noticed at CES was that there were drone vendors all over the place. Drones are obviously one of the hot-hot toy/gadget trends of the moment. The Drone that won 'Best Robot or Drone in Show' was the camera-carrying, "follows you like a dog on a (Bluetooth 3) leash" AirDog. They already had a crazy-sucessful KickStarter campaign that led to a large stack of pre-orders, so don't count on getting your very own AirDog right away, even if you have $1300 to spend on one.

Submission + - How to make your carrier unlock your smartphone

Submitted by catparty
catparty writes: After an FCC ruling, all carriers must comply with requests to unlock a phone on their network and that rule goes into effect starting today. Compiled here are the guidelines of the ruling, what makes you eligible, and how to get in touch with each carrier to go make them unlock your phone in the U.S.

Submission + - Russia seeking to ban Tor, VPNs and other anonymising tools (thestack.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Three separate Russian authorities have spoken out in favour of banning online anonymising tools since February 5th, with particular emphasis on Tor, which — despite its popularity with whistle-blowers such as Edward Snowden and with online activists — Russia's Safe Internet League describes as an 'Anonymous network used primarily to commit crimes'. The three authorities involved are the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, powerful Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor and the Safe Internet League, comprising the country's top three network providers, including state telecoms provider Rostelecom. Roskomnadzor's press secretary Vadim Roskomnadzora Ampelonsky describes the obstacles to identifying and blocking Tor and VPN traffic as 'difficult, but solvable'.

Submission + - Are there quality but affordable large HD/UHD/4K "stupid" screens? 1

Submitted by LOGINS SUC
LOGINS SUC writes: Truly in the first-world problems category, I've been looking for large format (>55") HD/UHD screens for home entertainment. In light of the recent Samsung big-brother monitoring and advertisement injection concerns, does any reputable manufacturer still make "stupid" TVs? I don't want to pay for all the WiFi, apps, cameras, or microphones. I don't need it to have speakers. And at this point, I don't even care if it has the TV receiver functionality. All this stuff leads to vendor lock-in or is well on the path to obsolescence by the time I purchase the device. I prefer all of this non-visual functionality be handled by devices better suited to the purpose and I don't want to pay for screens including these widgets I have no intention of ever using, at all.

I've searched all the normal retail outlets. If I find anything, they are wildly expensive. "Computer monitors" fit the bill but are almost all 55") LCDs in the sub-$3,000 range anymore? Are projectors the last bastion of visual purity for home entertainment?

Submission + - Firefox to mandate extension signing (mozilla.org)

Submitted by x0ra
x0ra writes: In a recent blog post, Mozilla announced its intention to require extension to be signed in Firefox, without any possible user override. Only Nightly, Developer Edition, and unbranded build will be able to run unsigned add-on.

With this move, Mozilla is joining Apple and Google in the realm of walled-garden ecosystem.
Medicine

Alcohol's Evaporating Health Benefits 305

Posted by Soulskill from the so-much-for-that-justification dept.
New submitter Heart44 writes: A study in the British Medical Journal shows that consuming alcohol — any volume, any type — does not increase life expectancy. The full academic paper is not paywalled. From its conclusions: "Beneficial associations between low intensity alcohol consumption and all cause mortality may in part be attributable to inappropriate selection of a referent group and weak adjustment for confounders. Selection biases may also play a part." The associated editorial adds, "Firstly, in health as elsewhere, if something looks too good to be true, it should be treated with great caution. Secondly, health professionals should discourage suggestions that even low level alcohol use protects against cardiovascular disease and brings mortality benefits. Thirdly, health advice should come from health authorities, not from the alcohol industry, and, finally, the alcohol industry and its organizations should remove misleading references to health benefits from their information materials."

Submission + - Doctors Warn Against 'Measle Parties'

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it's hard to know if the “measles party,” a relic of pre-vaccination times, is really making a comeback. But after a report out of Marin showed that some parents might indeed be thinking about hosting one to infect their children in a more “natural” way, the health department decided not to take chances. Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis says that although his office has received no reports of such parties, officials have fielded several calls from parents asking about the benefits of "natural immunity," or the idea that immunity gained from contracting a disease is superior to immunity conferred through vaccination. Measles is a serious illness that can cause brain swelling, long-term neurological effects and even death, Willis says. Plus, he added, there is no evidence that immunity gained through becoming sick with measles is any better than vaccine-imparted immunity. "Any parents who are considering this, they should have a look at a child who’s really sick with measles, and I think they’d change their minds."

Willis and other health officials suspect the concept of a measles party may have grown out of "pox parties," which were popular in the 1980s, before the chickenpox vaccine was widely available. Some parents, reports said, even arranged to pay strangers for licked lollipops, saliva or other items from infected children. Willis says he still hears reports of “pox parties” occurring in Marin today, even though a chickenpox vaccine has been available for more than two decades. "It was not a good idea then, and it's still not a good idea," says Wilbert Mason.

Submission + - EU Parliament Blocks Outlook Apps For Members Over Privacy Concerns (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Microsoft last week released Outlook apps for iOS and Android, but one group that won't be getting to use them is members of the European Parliament. They've been advised by their tech staff that the apps are insecure and that they shouldn't download them — and if they have, they should change their Outlook passwords.

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