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John Oliver made his own version of Facebook’s ‘we're sorry’ video
In April, after the Cambridge Analytica scandal erupted, Facebook put out an ad that was meant to reassure users about how their data would be treated going forward. Dubbed the "Here Together" ad, the video points to some of the issues that have come along with Facebook, like spam, clickbait and fake news, though the closest it gets to actually acknowledging the Cambridge Analytica debacle is noting "data misuse." "Facebook will do more to keep you safe and protect your privacy," said the ad. Well last week, Facebook's stock prices plummeted, knocking off around $120 billion in market value from the social media giant and inspiring John Oliver to tweak the ad just a bit.
HBO's website is apparently blocked in China thanks to John Oliver
According to a report from The New York Times, the HBO website has been blocked in China. The crackdown apparently came in response to John Oliver mocking president Xi Jinping on Last Week Tonight. Originally noticed by internet watchdog Greatfire.org, the block went into effect on June 22nd and currently appears to be at 83 percent across the country.
FCC denies report that it didn’t document alleged cyberattack (updated)
The Federal Communications Commission now claims to have no data on a DDoS attack that took down its website in May, just months after stating it had "gigabytes" of documentation on the incident. The supposed attack followed talk show host John Oliver redirecting viewers to the FCC's comment section, where he encouraged them to complain about the organization's stance on net neutrality. With over 9 million comments reportedly left on the site, the FCC quickly responded, stating that it couldn't accept more feedback, because it was incapacitated by an alleged DDoS attack. Now, after a freedom of information request filed by Gizmodo attempted to reveal more about the 'attack,' the FCC is claiming that its previous thorough analysis on the incident "did not result in written documentation." (Editor's note: the FCC has refuted the reporting done by Gizmodo and issued a statement. Please see the update below for the full details.)
John Oliver's Brexit takedown won't air in the UK until after EU vote
As Britain gears up to vote in the EU referendum later this week, broadcasters are constantly working to ensure their coverage remains impartial. One such company is Sky, which has this week been forced to delay the latest instalment of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight HBO show. Why? Because it contains a 15-minute diatribe on why the UK should remain part of Europe. Instead of airing the programme after Game of Thrones on Sky Atlantic on Monday night, like it does usually, Sky has pushed it back until 10:10pm on Thursday, just after the polls close. Social media users are up in arms about the decision, but in reality, Sky appears to be playing everything by the book.
John Oliver breaks down the San Bernardino iPhone case
John Oliver has earned himself a reputation for explaining politically complex topics in a way that anyone can understand during his Last Week Tonight talk show. After tackling net neutrality and Donald Trump, the comedian has turned his attention to the San Bernardino iPhone case. The legal tussle between Apple and the FBI has been all over the news recently, but the various arguments and counterarguments can be difficult to describe to someone that rarely reads about encryption, backdoors and government warrants. If you have friends or family that fall into this camp, Oliver's new 18-minute breakdown is a good place for them to start.
We pushed the in-flight WiFi of the future to its limit
It shouldn't have worked, but I streamed an episode of Last Week Tonight, a Twitch broadcast of Fallout 4, the premiere episode of Aziz Ansari's Master of None and Meow the Jewels all at once, all on airplane WiFi. In-flight WiFi giant Gogo demoed its next-gen version of mile-high connectivity, 2Ku, above the overcast November skies of Gary, Indiana, bragging 98 percent coverage around the world (the poles don't play nicely with airborne internet) at peak speeds of 70 Mbps. The reality is transfers much slower than that on a plane with roughly 25 journalists, business folks and Gogo staff all doing the same as me: trying to break the internet for about an hour.
ICYMI: Lightest building material, eco-bikini and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Boeing says it has produced the lightest material structure and the video demonstrates it by balancing a portion of its metal structure on top of a dandelion. A prototype for a swimming suit also acts as a water cleaner, absorbing pollutants with super-hydrophobic carbon-based material. And Makerarm combines everything we love about 3D printers with all kinds of other use cases because its robotic arm can be outfitted with many other tool heads.
Here's what the FCC thought about John Oliver's net neutrality rant
Remember when John Oliver gave the net neutrality issue a hammering on his HBO Show? If you hadn't heard (and we've embedded the segment after the break), Oliver's call to (digital) arms led to internet users collapsing part of the FCC's site with a torrent of comments. But what happened on the other side? The Verge made a Freedom of Information Act request to those that control the pipes of the internet, and part of the response included email exchanges between employees regarding the whole implosion.
Sorry, guys, you didn't actually crash the FCC website (update: FCC responds)
The only thing more charming than John Oliver's 13-minute net neutrality explainer? The idea that we, his viewers, managed to crash part of the FCC website because we submitted too many comments about its proposed net neutrality regulations. In fact, though, while Oliver did indeed send fans to FCC's comments page, and though the site did indeed collapse soon after, it appears the comedian and his band of trolls aren't to blame. In a statement to Vice, the Federal Communications Commission confirmed that it was actually hackers who took down the site, using a database denial-of-service attack. In layman's terms, that means they were able to get at the infrastructure of the site -- not surprising, considering the FCC's comment system is 17 years old (yikes). The irony, of course, is that the attack temporarily made it impossible for anyone to leave a comment. Fortunately, the problem seems to be fixed, so head here if you didn't get your say in the first time around -- the site might be old and creaky, but it can probably handle a few of you complaining at once. Update: An FCC spokesperson contacted us to say its statement to Vice about the recent site crash was misconstrued. The commission says it has no evidence of a malicious attack; if anything, a high volume of traffic caused the collapse (precisely because of the aging website infrastructure we mention in our story). Now, does that mean John Oliver incited a crash after all? The FCC says it has no way of proving that, but we suspect many of you are convinced anyway. Update #2: Vice says it confirmed with a "high-level FCC source" that the FCC site suffered a database denial-of-service attack. The publication stands by its story.
Congratulations, internet: you collapsed part of the FCC website with comments
Apparently Last Week Tonight host John Oliver's call to arms was answered, as the United States government's website for Federal Communications Commission complaints is experiencing some issues. Specifically, the page where you can submit comments regarding proposed internet provider regulation is having issues. The FCC's Twitter account says the issues are due to, "heavy traffic." And why might that page be experiencing especially high traffic volume? It could be that, after reading our net neutrality explainer, the entire internet decided to rise up and push back on the handful of major corporations which control the pipes we all use. But, more likely, it's a reaction to comedian-turned-host John Oliver's hilarious and smart piece this past weekend on the subject. See it yourself after the break -- and then tell the FCC what you think about keeping the internet open...if you can get to the site, that is. Keep trying!
