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Rand Paul will livestream an entire day from his presidential campaign
Senator Rand Paul's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination isn't going well -- he's as far down as eighth place, depending on whose polls you trust. And he's hoping that showing some internet savviness will help him get out of that rut. The politician has announced plans to livestream an entire day from his campaign (October 13th) on both Facebook and UStream. He'll take questions whenever he can, and hopes to finish after the Democratic debate wraps up in the evening.
Nintendo appoints Pokemon USA head as company president
After Satoru Iwata's passing, Nintendo has announced its new company president today -- and no, it's not the legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Instead, the console maker has promoted Tatsumi Kimishima (above left), a name that's probably unfamiliar to most of the gaming populace. Until now he's been a managing director at Nintendo, overseeing the human resources division. Not the most exciting role, but since he joined the company in 2000 Kimishima has also been chief financial officer for the Pokémon Company, president of Pokémon USA, and president of Nintendo of America.
President Obama welcomes telepresence robots into the White House
If you can't greet the president in person, don't worry... as of now, you can send a robot in your stead. President Barack Obama has welcomed a telepresence robot into the White House for the first time, letting Disability Visibility Project founder Alice Wong attend a celebration and say hello to both Obama as well as Vice President Joe Biden. It's not going to replace a handshake and a photo op, but it beats staying at home. It certainly won't be shocking if you see more of these robotic stand-ins at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the future -- they could help dignitaries show up at important events when traveling to Washington just isn't an option. [Image credit: Pete Souza, Instagram]
Thanks, Obama: Now you can take selfies in the White House
We've seen President Barack Obama take a few selfies in the White House before, but until now the practice has been strictly forbidden for visitors on the public tour. Well, today that 40-year-old ban has been officially lifted. From now on, you can use a smartphone or a compact camera with a lens no longer than three inches to take photos inside the building. (Yes, this includes selfies.) While the rules have been relaxed somewhat, there are still plenty of gadgets on the "Prohibited Items" list. These include selfie sticks, tablets, GoPro-style action cameras and any snapper with detachable lenses. Texting, calls and livestreaming are also forbidden -- so no Periscoping while you walk down the entrance hall.
President Obama gets his own Twitter account: @POTUS
The President of the United States of America is one of the most powerful people in the world. Now, whoever holds that office also has a Twitter account to match. The White House announced today that @POTUS is the official handle for the commander in chief. As you're probably well aware, President Barack Obama already has a Twitter account that's quite active, however his campaign manages that feed. With this new username, updates will come directly from the president himself as he continues working to make "his Administration the most open and participatory in history." The new account goes nicely with @FLOTUS and @VP, and all three will get new owners in 2017 as the next election cycle approaches.
Russian hackers scooped up the President's unclassified email
Russian hackers may have had more success in breaching the White House network than first thought. New York Times sources understand that intruders who got into the White House's unclassified system managed to collect some of President Obama's email. They didn't compromise the account itself, and they didn't snap up the classified messages passing through the President's BlackBerry. However, these messages likely included some "highly sensitive" material, like policy discussions, schedules and staff changes -- the data could have been abused in the worst circumstances.
Hillary Clinton recruits a Google exec as her chief tech officer
Hillary Clinton may not have even formally announced that she's running for President yet, but that isn't stopping her from gearing up for what should be a very tech-heavy election. Both the Washington Post and Reuters claim that the former Secretary of State has hired Google executive Stephanie Hannon as her campaign's chief technology officer. The higher-up will reportedly watch over a team building apps, websites and other tools to help enchant voters.
Drone landing drags White House security into the modern era (update: details)
The US government just got a real-world lesson about the security risks posed by easily accessible drones. Officials report that they recovered a quadcopter on the White House's grounds in the early morning on January 26th, with no clear indication as to who flew it or why. A spokesperson notes that the drone was never a threat to President Barack Obama (who was visiting India) or his family, but that's not the point. The greater concern is that the Secret Service was apparently unaware of the drone until it was already on their turf. A more sinister pilot could have been using it to conduct espionage, deliver explosives or just to annoy the daylights out of White House staff.
President's proposals would protect hack victims and student data
President Barack Obama's State of the Union address is going to include at least two proposals that will affect how companies handle your data. One, the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, would require that firms tell their customers about data breaches within 30 days after discovering that hackers got in. The varying state data laws that exist today both leave people vulnerable and create headaches for businesses, the president argues. The speech will also include a voluntary deal that makes it easier to get your credit score and find out if a data thief wrecked your financial reputation.
President Obama uses Facebook and Vine to preview his free college plan
President Barack Obama is previewing parts of his State of the Union address in a bid to drum up support ahead of the big speech, and his latest effort is breaking some ground -- both in the policy and how he's presenting it. The head of state took to Facebook, Twitter and Vine to unveil a proposal that would give Americans two free years of community college so long as they maintain good grades and graduate. It's a rare move for discussing politics online. While the president regularly makes announcements on social networks, it's not often that you get a peek at the State of the Union while you're catching up on friends' status updates and looping cat videos.
Obama doesn't believe the Sony hack was an act of war
If you were worried that the US government would see the Sony Pictures hack as grievous enough to prompt a larger conflict with North Korea, you can relax. President Obama tells CNN that he doesn't see the digital assault as an "act of war" -- it was a serious instance of "cybervandalism," but that's it. He still isn't giving any clues as to what the previously mentioned proportional response will be, but the remarks suggest that it won't involve an especially damaging retaliatory hack or any real-world weaponry. If leaks are correct, the White House may be more interested in stopping future attacks by North Korea than launching one of its own. [Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images]
The Witcher 3 dev: The market is afraid of badly-polished games
When CD Projekt RED delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to May 19, 2015 earlier this week, the developer said it saw "many details that need to be corrected" in the game before it was ready to launch. The group's President and Joint CEO Adam Kicinski added to that statement, telling Polish financial journalists (as translated by Eurogamer) that the studio's fans "took our decision very well. [The] market is afraid of badly polished games on next-gen platforms." While Kicinski did not name any games or developers in particular, games such as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Unity, Sony's DriveClub and Microsoft's Halo: The Master Chief Collection encountered varying, severe issues at their respective launches on PS4 and Xbox One this year. The CD Projekt head also said the developer wants "to disarm the opinion that [The Witcher 3] doesn't exist. It will be closed by the end of the year in line with the schedule." Kicinski said there are "a lot of small errors" in the game, which are "the only reason behind the delay," and that the company doesn't want to "release the game with bugs that undermine the gameplay." CD Projekt admitted it "set the release date too hastily" when it aimed for February 2015, which itself was a delay from The Witcher 3's previous 2014 launch window. [Image: WBIE]
Barack Obama just became the first US president to write a computer program
Remember that Hour of Code event we mentioned earlier today? The one that had President Barack Obama hosting a computer science workshop at the White House? Turns out the president used the event to mark a new milestone in American history: He's now the first US president to write a computer program. Specifically, the president used Google's Blockly tool to craft a tiny segment of code to draw a square. It's not a very useful program, but its creation is symbolic of the event's message -- with a little effort, anybody can learn to code. Even one of the busiest men on the planet. [Image credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin]
Here's how the first 3D-printed presidential portrait was made
One of the highlights of the White House's first-ever Maker Faire was another first: a 3D-printed portrait that recreated the President's head with uncanny detail. But just how did this eerily realistic image come to be? The White House is more than eager to explain, apparently. As you'll see in the clip below, the bust's creators (Autodesk, 3D Systems, the Smithsonian and the University of Southern California) surrounded President Obama with 50 LED lights, 14 cameras and handheld 3D scanners to capture every nuance of his skin. After that, they used high-resolution 3D printers to recreate the hyper-detailed model. It's not clear if this will become a custom for future US presidents. However, it's easy to see this technology becoming a valuable historical tool -- you could always know exactly what heads of state (and celebrities, for that matter) looked like in their prime.
Zynga founder Pincus steps down, Xbox Live GM to head Zynga Studios
Zynga Co-Founder Mark Pincus is stepping down as Chief Product Officer of Zynga, the social gaming company announced alongside its first quarter 2014 financial results today. Pincus will continue to serve in a non-operational capacity as Zynga's Chairman of the Board, a role he held in addition to company CEO until Don Mattrick was named CEO in July 2013. Additionally, Alex Garden was announced as President of Zynga Studios in the report. Garden departs Microsoft as the general manager of Xbox Live and Xbox Music, Video and Reading. Prior to that, he was CEO of Nexon Publishing North America. Garden will report directly to Mattrick, much like Zynga's new chief financial officer David Lee, who was hired this month as well. Zynga also added visual effects artist Henry LaBounta as the developer's chief visual officer. LaBounta worked with Electronic Arts and Microsoft Studios, and previously was visual effects supervisor at DreamWorks on the films Minority Report and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. [Image: Zynga]
Under Lenovo, Motorola picks a new but familiar leader
Motorola may have had to shuffle executives following Lenovo's acquisition plans, but the phone maker isn't straying far from its previous course. It just named company veteran Rick Osterloh as its President and COO, effective immediately. He'll provide the "business continuity" that Motorola needs right now, according to outgoing leader Jonathan Rosenberg. Recent history suggests as much. While many focused on ex-CEO Dennis Woodside as the face of the Google-era Motorola, Osterloh led product development during that period -- he can take at least some credit for attention-getting projects like the Moto X and Moto 360. He's also responsible for getting the ball rolling on Android at the company, having created the team that launched early efforts like the CLIQ and Droid.
President Obama is meeting tech CEOs again to discuss privacy concerns
Despite a few reforms, many in the technology industry still aren't happy with the US government's aggressive approach to online surveillance. President Obama is clearly aware of that ongoing discontent, as he's meeting the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Yahoo on Friday to discuss "privacy, technology and intelligence." Leaders from other companies (including Engadget's parent company, AOL) turned down the invitation. While the exact agenda isn't available, the tech executives in attendance are likely to keep pressing for both limits on US intelligence activities as well as greater transparency. There's no way of knowing how receptive the President will be, but a similar December chat appears to have borne fruit -- we won't be surprised if there are more policy changes in the future. [Image credit: The White House, Flickr]
Konami Digital Entertainment appoints Tomohiro Uesugi as president
Konami Digital Entertainment Inc., the North American division of the Metal Gear Solid publisher, announced a change in its leadership by appointing Tomohiro Uesugi as its president this week. Uesugi was formerly executive vice president of the digital division, which he joined in 2013 following his stint as executive vice president of Sanyo North America Corporation. Uesugi is filling the role of former president Tomoyuki Tsuboi, who was appointed in February 2012. Tsuboi will return to Konami's finance division in Japan, according to a Konami representative that spoke with Gamasutra. [Image: Konami]
Redbox gets a new president plucked from the studios, former Warner exec Mark Horak
Redbox went from duking it out with Warner in 2012 over a proposed 56-day delay for rentals to cutting a deal for a shorter 28-day delay and implementing UltraViolet support in Redbox Intant, and now the relationship is getting even cozier. Parent company Outerwall announced its earnings today and that Mark Horak, president of the Americas for Warner Bros. since 2008, will be the new president of Redbox. A "leadership transition" saw former president Anne Saunders leave in December, and Outerwall CEO J. Scott Di Valerio cited Horak's experience and relationships "growing DVD, Blu-ray, video game and digital sale" as reasons he's perfect for the spot he's taking over on March 17th. Other than executive changes at Outerwall's other businesses (Coinstar and ecoATM), we're not seeing any immediate changes, and Redbox's most recent numbers seem on track, with revenue for Q4 that was slightly higher than the same period last year. The most important new business is the Redbox Instant streaming/kiosk combo effort, although it hasn't gained much traction yet against competitors like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu Plus and Netflix. The company says Redbox Instant activity increased as it launched on new platforms like Windows Phone, Xbox One and PS4, but it still didn't have any exact data to share. As far as disc rentals Redbox is focusing on Blu-ray now, since 55 percent of its rental customers have a Blu-ray player. It's already trying to upsell customers to more expensive rentals on its website and app, and plans to roll that out directly on the kiosks soon. The investor call didn't reveal much in the way of a new direction for Redbox, but we're hoping the next step is squeezing a dedicated rental return slot onto the boxes.
White House will host its first Maker Faire later this year
Many will tell you that Maker Faires inspire entrepreneurs, and the White House certainly agrees -- it wants to foster that inventive spirit across the US. Accordingly, it just unveiled plans to host the first-ever White House Maker Faire later in 2014. Details of the competition are coming later, but the government is already encouraging builders to share their creations through both email and Twitter. The upcoming Faire is part of a broader initiative that will encourage support for maker spaces and startups. We wouldn't expect the event to create the next Elon Musk, but it might just give indie gadget designers the exposure (and potentially, funding) they crave.
