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German law urges parents to rat out kids' illegal downloads
When it comes to piracy, institutions typically go after individual offenders and platforms, especially illicit ones. But Germany's highest court just ruled that children aren't just on the hook for illegally downloading music or movies -- their parents are, too. And if they don't rat out their kids, they'll get stuck with the court-decided fine.
Pornhub adds HTTPS to keep your kinks hidden
Now that your ISP will soon be able to sell your browsing history to advertisers, it's good to know which companies have your back, privacy-wise. Around the web, the recent switch to HTTPS encryption has been a step in the right direction, but adult websites -- the ones with the most potentially embarrassing content -- have been slow to adopt. This week Pornhub, the most popular porn site on the internet, announced it now supports HTTPS to keep users' browsing habits within its network of sites as private as possible.
When the 'S' in HTTPS also stands for shady
Just when we'd learned the importance of HTTPS in address bars, spammers and malicious hackers have figured out how to game the system. Let's Encrypt is an automated service that lets people turn their old unencrypted URLs into safely encrypted HTTPS addresses with a type of file called a certificate. It's terrific, especially because certificates are expensive (overpriced, actually) and many people can't afford them. So it's easy to argue that the Let's Encrypt service has done more than we may ever realize to strengthen the security of the internet and users everywhere.
The government plans to crack down on sketchy advertorial
The Federal Trade Commission is going back to an old well, and possibly will actually exercise some of its authority. We're talking about the FTC's stance on sponsored editorial posts that aren't clearly labeled as such. "The FTC will soon begin holding media companies accountable for deceptive practices," fashion business publication WWD reports. "Although the FTC works with publishers, it has never penalized a media company with a fine." That could soon change given the rise of native advertising online (especially with celebrity social media accounts) and in print. As a quick refresher, native advertising is different in that it looks like an editorial piece, but is paid for by advertisers.
'Final Fantasy XIV' live action drama heads to Netflix
Japan's unique Final Fantasy XIV-based drama is making its way to the rest of the world thanks to Netflix. Daddy of Light isn't really an adaptation of the hit MMO -- it's a live-action show that focuses on a father and son who play the game together. The series will start airing on Netflix in Japan starting on April 20th, Polygon reports, and it'll head to other countries in the fall.
Apple invests in Indian developers with a new app accelerator
In a bid to take advantage of India's growing developer community, Apple opened the doors to an App Accelerator in Bangalore today. True to its name, it'll serve as a place to speed up app development with weekly training, guidance and one-on-one app reviews. Apple opened similar accelerators in Naples and Brazil, but those were more focused on courting students as new developers. While the new Indian location will also try to win over students, it's more interested in honing the country's ready strong developer community, Apple marketing head Phil Schiller told NDTV.
Twitter eggs are bad news so the company got rid of them
The day before April Fools isn't the best time to make big announcements, but that's not stopping Twitter from dropping some big news. The social network revealed its new default profile picture today, an icon that looks more like a real person and gets rid of the egg. Originally, the idea was that new Twitter users would hatch into birds before sending tweets. Of course, the egg took on a negative meaning associated with trolling and other sorts of not-so-great activity.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 34: Intergalactic
On this special all Samsung edition of the Engadget Podcast host Terrence O'Brien is joined by executive editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Chris Velazco. First all three will debate some of the most burning questions surrounding South Korea's biggest phone manufacturer. Should Samsung be using resources to build yet another virtual assistant? Is there anyone who wants to use their phone as a desktop? And, most importantly, can the Galaxy S8 save Samsung from itself? Then Chris Velazco will paint a picture of the event on the ground, before the crew dives deep on the finer point of the S8's design, interface and audio pedigree. Then, on The Wind Down, we discover that Dana failed to do her homework and Chris is contemplating picking up Dungeons & Dragons.
ICYMI: Moving arms with thought and painting faces with light
Today on In Case You Missed It: A quadriplegic man can now move his right arm thanks to the miracles of modern science. No, not like that. A team of doctors from the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation center bridged the gap in his severed spine with a brain control interface and a "functional electrical stimulation" system allowing him to move his right arm. He still doesn't have a sense of touch but at least he can scratch his nose. We also take a look at new media artist Nobumichi Asai's latest work, a motion-tracking projector that paints its target's face and hands with digital designs. It's a more advanced version of what Asai set up for Lady Gaga for her David Bowie tribute. The system runs at 1000 frames per second and boasts a sub-10 millisecond lag time. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @terrortola.
EFF: Verizon will install spyware on all its Android phones (update)
Who'd have thought that just days after the house rolled back privacy protections for internet users, ISPs would take advantage? The EFF did, pointing out that Verizon has already announced that it will install spyware, in the form of the launcher AppFlash, across its users' Android devices in the coming weeks. AppFlash, as TechCrunch reports, will embed itself to the left of your home screen, offering details on local restaurants, movies or apps that you can download.
The Morning After: Friday, March 31st 2017
It's Friday, so live a little. Maybe order a pizza by robot? How about the latest phone available directly from Microsoft, the, er, Galaxy S8? Meanwhile, Destiny 2 is coming to PCs, and Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey parted ways with Facebook. No April Fools here -- it landing on a weekend means that's someone else's problem.
Russian hackers targeted Clinton's email before the elections
US intelligence agents are pretty sure the Russian government authorized the DNC hacks and leaked Hillary Clinton's emails. While the country continues to deny its involvement, security firm SecureWorks found evidence that it has been targeting Clinton even before the elections began. Apparently, a group of hackers (known by the names APT28, Sofacy and Fancy Bear) working for Russian military intelligence sent 19,315 malicious links to 6,730 people from March 2015 to May 2016. Their targets included Clinton, her campaign chairman John Podesta, her staff, known critics of the Russian government, members of the US military and diplomats around the world.
Tech's biggest players tackle climate change despite rollbacks
Some of America's biggest tech companies say they're still committed to battling climate change, Bloomberg reports, two days after President Trump signed a sweeping executive order that rolls back many Obama-era climate policies. Not only will it be good for the environment, they say, it will be good for their bottom line.
Dear Donald Trump: 'Clean coal' doesn't exist
"Clean coal" is an oxymoron. Even if you took a hunk of coal, doused it in bleach and scrubbed it for six hours with a soapy horsehair brush, it would still cause lung cancer and fill the air with carbon emissions when you burned it. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. However, the phrase "clean coal" is ridiculously tenacious in public discourse. Just this week, President Donald Trump used it: As he signed an executive order rolling back a bevvy of environmental protections laid out under the Clean Power Plan, he turned to the coal miners staged around his desk and promised to "end the war on coal and have clean coal, really clean coal." The president of the United States is lying.
Twitter removes @replies from 140-character limit
While many have embraced the short and sweet nature of Twitter's 140-character limit, the restriction can be something of a pain. So last year, Twitter made a few changes to help you express more with less. For example, it's now possible to quote a retweet without it affecting your character count, and you can attach images and polls without worrying about the restraint as well. Today, Twitter is introducing yet another change: you can now reply to someone or a group of people without those @usernames taking up precious space.
Volkswagen can sell (some) diesel cars in the US again
Volkswagen is about to sell diesel vehicles for the first time in the US since its emission scandal broke in 2015. The automaker has received the EPA's blessing to sell 2015 diesel models that have been updated with new hardware and anti-pollution software, VW spokesperson Jeannine Ginivan told Bloomberg.
Sway is a slick meditation app that makes sure you relax
Sway is a smartphone-based meditation (kind of) game, that comes from Ustwo, the company behind acclaimed mobile hit Monument Valley. No, this isn't a dreamily designed puzzler, but the same gentle aesthetics and attention to detail are definitely found in this app's DNA. I got to test Sway a few times earlier this week, and it's a cleverly distracting way to get into mindfulness — something I've been wrestling with over the last few months.
Uber finally lets you adjust your pickup location
Lest we forget among all the corporate stupidity, Uber is actually popular for a reason: It's convenient, and taxi service often sucks. The ridesharing firm has just fixed one of the main bugaboos with its app, the fact that you can't modify your location once you order a ride. Riders in the UK, US and Canada can now change their pickup address if they notice it's wrong, avoiding a "frustrating situation where riders aren't riding and drivers aren't earning," Uber says.
The Morning After: Thursday, March 30th 2017
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Yesterday we focused on Samsung's big Galaxy S8 reveal, and it didn't disappoint. If you need to get up to speed in a hurry, we boiled the entire event down into one nine-minute video that you can watch here.
Domino's delivery robots are invading Europe
Domino's has unleashed another set of pizza delivery drones, this time in Germany and the Netherlands. Last year, it worked with Flirtey to drop pizza to customers in New Zealand using unmanned aerial vehicles. For this pilot program, however, it chose to use autonomous rovers developed by Starship Technologies, a company built by two of Skype's founders. Domino's told Engadget that launching this program doesn't mean it has given up on developing its own delivery drones, which it's been doing for a year now.
