The Morning After: Tuesday, November 29, 2016
SF Muni hacking, DirecTV Now and is the speed of light really constant?
Hey there, did you miss us?
Hopefully your Thanksgiving wasn't too much of a good thing, because we have even more for you today. SF's Muni went all "Mr. Robot," AT&T is launching IPTV and there's big news in the world of nuclear fusion.
San Francisco's MTA suffered a ransomware attack this weekend
The big winners in an SFMTA breach over the weekend appear to be train riders, who got free fares on Friday and Saturday. Due to what the agency is calling a ransomware attack, it turned off ticket machines and fare gates but kept the trains running from Friday evening until Sunday morning. The people behind the attack claim they demanded a $73,000 Bitcoin ransom, but they didn't get it, and the systems have been restored to service. Now it's time to find out if they will follow through on a threat to leak MTA data or if that was just a bluff.
Holiday Gift Guide 2016: The Entertainer
We are officially inside the gift-giving window, and you probably know someone who loves to invite a few friends over. These gift ideas can cover your friend's needs for cooking, drinks or entertainment, and on an extremely reasonable budget. But if you forget to wrap that countertop beer system, don't worry -- everyone can still enjoy it when they visit your place.
AT&T will launch DirecTV Now streaming on November 30th
The latest player in internet-provided TV is AT&T, which is leveraging its recent satellite TV acquisition as the brand name for an over-the-top service that follows in the footsteps of PlayStation Vue and Dish Network's Sling TV. If you sign up during the initial period, you can lock in a $60, 100-channel package for $35 per month, but that promo price will only be available for a little while. At launch, it will work with Apple TV, Fire TV devices, iOS, Android, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari, while Roku support is due early next year. At the moment, however, it's missing a DVR feature, CBS and Showtime channels.
"Mythbusters" alums have a new science-based investigation series
Amazon has resurrected the "Top Gear" crew to form "The Grand Tour," and soon Netflix will follow a similar path with "Mythbusters." Former Build Team members Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara will premiere "White Rabbit Project" December 9th, where they will be "ranking history's weirdest inventions, heists and happenings, and seeing how science makes them possible." Check out the first trailer here.
Test can show if the speed of light has changed
An assumption underpinning many theories in physics (including Einstein's theory of relativity) is that the speed of light is constant. But some scientists think that's not true, and now they have a prediction that could help prove it.
