Veronica Belmont is here to talk Twitch crackdowns and WarKittehs. Yes Kittens who hack WiFI. No kidding.
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Show Notes
Wednesday Bloomberg reported a Chinese procurement list drafted by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission with the Ministry of Finance had dropped Apple products, meaning government money could not be used in China to buy them. ReCode reports that the list was only for energy-saving products and China’s Central Government Procurement Centre, China’s finance ministry and Apple, all say the company never applied to be on the list in the first place. There are many government procurement lists in China and government money can still be used to purchase Apple products even if they are not on the energy-saving list. Apple products are certified as energy-saving in China but Apple has not applied to be included on that procurement list.
GigaOm reports that Russia’s Prime Minister has signed an order requiring users of public WiFi to register with a full name confirmed by personal identification. Simple. The Russian communications ministry clarified this only applies to hotspots set up by network operators. OK. Oh and also, Moscow’s IT chief claims it only applies access points provided by Russia’s postal service. AND Izvestia reported hostspot operators must log hardware identifiers, keep it for 6 months, and register with the telecoms regulator. Simple.
PCMag reports the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected multiple claims of Apple’s ‘172 autocomplete patent. Apple can still provide more information in its defense. However, Samsung alerted District Court Judge Lucy Koh of the decision as it affects claim 18 of the patent which Judge Koh had ruled Samsung had infringed. Samsung had been ordered to pay $119 million to Apple in the case.
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear came away from his Reddit AMA with a few changes for TWitch’s new policies on VOD and copyrighted music. Highlights, the only video that can be saved indefinitely under the new policy, can now be any length instead of being limited to two hours. Also, TWitch is deploying an appeal button to make it easier to dispute being flagged for copyrighted music. Under the new policy an entire 30-minute block of archived video would be muted if it’s flagged by Audible Magic’s system as infringing.
And just a note here that PC Mag’s Max Eddy made special mention of a talk at Black Hat by security analyst Dan Greer called ‘Cybersecurity as Realpolitik.” The 55 minute talk is more philosophical than most Black Hat speeches and puts forth 10 suggestions for the future now that the Internet is no longer a hobby but a tool for the projection of power by governments.
ReCode reports that the rumors of Alibaba’s investment in SnapChat can be dismissed. At least that’s the rumor they hear about the rumor. Recodes sources say talks did take place between the two companies but they have been over for a long time. Forbes reported Snapchat authorized the sale of 17.4 million preferred shares in a Delaware filing made Monday.
NEWS FROM YOU
habichuelacondulce posted the CNET article that Yahoo’s new Chief information security officer told Black Hat attendees Thursday that Yahoo mail will be encrypted end to end sometime in 2015. The encryption will be compatible with Gmail’s, meaning email between the two services would truly be encrypted end to end. Yahoo will release their encryption source code sometime this fall.
Aractor pointed out the Digital Trends article about US congressional librarian David Gibson coming across a DVD-R that contained complete source code and assets for Duke Nukem: Critical Mass for the PlayStation Portable. The disc was found during inventory. A game of the same name was released for Nintendo DS in 2011 but Gibson says this PSP version is substantially different. The acquisition provides an unprecedented look into the design process.
spsheridan posted the ReCode story quoting CBS CEO Les Moonves saying during the company’s earnigns call that CBS’s TV studio “will be producing more and more shows for more and more outlets, including major streaming companies and other emerging distributors.” A CBS spokesman confirmed to ReCode that Moonves was talking about selling new shows to the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.
Aractor also let us know about The Next Web story that Facebook is cracking down on how developers encourage users to click the like button. Games made for the Facebook platform may not offer rewards or bonus content in order to get people to like their Facebook page. Developers will also be required to disclose any in-app charges in their app’s description.
Plug of the day: Tuesday plug: The Sword and Laser Anthology collects 20 amazing stories from new writers in the Sword and Laser book club audience. 10 SciFi and 10 fantasy stories with an introduction by Patrick Rothfuss. Get a copy at swordandlaser.com/store
Discussion Story
Twitch Tweaks Controversial New Copyright Policy
I am Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Ask Me (almost) Anything. : IAmA
The Official Twitch Blog Two Important Updates. More to Come. » The Official Twitch Blog
The Official Twitch Blog Update: Changes To VODs On Twitch » The Official Twitch Blog
The Official Twitch Blog Important: Changes To Audio In VODS » The Official Twitch Blog
“WarKitteh” – Cat equiped with wifi sniffer collar maps neighborhood for vulnerable networks.
Calendar
Monday, August 11th through the 13 is the Game Developers Conference Europe in Cologne, Germany.
TechCrunch Beijing is August 11th & 12th
And finally Monday, earnings for Rackspace and Priceline will be released.
Pick of the day
Lighthead – Caffeine for OS X
Caffeine in Launchpad for Linux
Caffeine for Windows
Send your picks to feedbackatdailytechnewsshow.com and you can find MY picks at www.dailytechnewsshow.com/picks/
Messages of the day (feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com)
“Hi Tom,
It occurred to me that uBeam is a modification of standard audio equipment.
Microphones take sound waves and turn them into electrical signals that are then turned back into sound waves on the other end by the amplifier and speakers. We actually generate an electric current with our voices any time we speak into a microphone.
The brilliance of uBeam is that Ms. Perry realized she could put a mic into a device and use the current it generates to charge the battery. Like Fraser mentioned, efficiency is going to be important, but for devices like phones and maybe even laptops, something as low as 50% transfer rate might be enough.
uBeam is an exciting concept and I hope it pans out and becomes an open standard or at least readily available for licensing. If it turns into a proprietary technology I might cry.
andrew”
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Dave Haier on TWitter: @acedtect I find heads up display in the car very useful for directions and to see which episode I’m listening to pic.twitter.com/g0EYrreR7q
Look up sound powered phones US Navy, this is old tech!
Yes transducers are old tech. But the minute currents in sound powered telephones don’t look to be nearly enough to charge a battery. (Or likely the Navy would have been charging batteries with it six decades ago). This is new tech. It’s old *science.* But that’s what invention is all about, no?
Hi Tom & Jennie,
The head-up display discussed on Friday was provided by my car manufacturer. It really is very useful – showing my speed, turn-by-turn directions, etc. while keeping my eyes on the road. I also have my phone connected through bluetooth which allows me to see and interact with a limited amount of information such as audio tracks and incoming calls. And that’s it! I can’t read texts or email nor would I ever want to.
I look forward to seeing third party apps built into our cars (after all Waze is more accurate than my in-car sat nav), but there needs to be continued thoughtful consideration about what kinds of information drivers should be allowed to access.
Love the show!
Dave
Dave, so glad you called this a Head-up display, and not the mythical HeadS-Up display. 🙂 I think the HeadS-up display units are only used by multi-headed aliens. 🙂