Daily Roundup: Hackers read President's email, eSports injuries and more!
In today's Daily Roundup, read how Russian hackers were able to read some unclassified email from President Obama. Meanwhile, one of eSports' biggest stars, Hai Lam, is retiring due to a repetitive strain injury and a Halo gaming tournament is canceled because the game is still broken. Read all these stories and more below.
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.
One of eSports' biggest stars retires with repetitive strain injury
If you're into eSports, then it's highly likely that you would have heard of Hai Lam. He's best known as the Mid Laner and captain of Cloud9, which is regarded as the best US eSports team for the popular online multiplayer game League of Legends. Nonetheless, just less than a week after his team finished second in the North American Championship Series, Cloud9's shot caller has announced he's getting out of the game.
'Halo' tournament canceled because Xbox One game is still broken
Halo: Combat Evolved may have been one of the first console shooters to hit the competitive gaming circuit but a recent tournament was derailed because almost six months later, The Master Chief Collection is still broken. The official Halo eSports league, Halo Championship Series, had to cancel the first online cup of the regular season over the weekend due to connectivity issues.
Want the best Apple Watch display? Get a Sport model
Splurging on a gold or steel Apple Watch might get you a fancier timepiece, but there's one thing you won't get: the best possible display. DisplayMate has taken a close look at the OLED screen in the smartwatch, and it notes that sapphire carries its share of drawbacks over the toughened glass in the Watch Sport. While you're still getting colorful, sharp visuals, the higher-end Watch's sapphire reflects almost twice as much light and washes out the picture in very bright conditions.
Samsung app helps Alzheimer's patients remember their families
If you've seen Still Alice, you know how important a smartphone can be for an Alzheimer's patient - it helps jog memories that might otherwise be lost. Samsung is clearly aware of this, as it just released a dedicated Backup Memory app to stimulate the memories of early-onset patients. The Android tool uses Bluetooth to detect when friends and family running the app are nearby. If they are, it'll both identify the person and show user-uploaded photos and videos that recall past events.
Car headlights of the future won't blind other drivers
Carnegie Mellon's work on headlights has made an appearance here before, where it's near-future smart headlights would parse raindrops and 'cancel' them out, projecting light around the rain drops, substantially improving visibility. But that's just one of many tricks that the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute's smart headlights are now capable of. The newest iteration's feedback system continuously looks at what your headlights are doing, processing and thinking about how to shine better.
Police can spot differences between identical twins by melting DNA
Believe it or not, police have a real problem with identifying suspects who are identical twins - unless you're willing to spend a month sequencing genes, DNA samples are all but useless. They may be far more effective in the future, though, as British researchers have developed a technique that melts DNA to identify what few differences exist. The team has determined that heating genes will break hydrogen bonds that form due to a person's environment and habits.
