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Tor Browser 7.0 works harder to protect your anonymity on its own
The latest update for privacy-minded folks' favorite way to surf the web should make others' attempts at tracking what they do even more difficult. The Tor browser's 7. 0 version introduces a sandbox feature that, according to an interview on the Tor blog, should "make life a lot harder" for people using a Firefox exploit to discern the identities of a user. "It's like Plato's Allegory of the Cave," Tor developer Yawning Angel said. "The only reality Tor Browser knows is inside of the sandbox (cave). We prevent it from interacting with the rest of your computer (the outside world), except via the Tor Network (shadows on the wall)."
Toyota's latest infotainment system is powered by Linux
Toyota will be the first US automaker to use "Automotive Grade Linux (AGL)" for its 2018 Toyota Camry. In case you're understandably confused by all the competing infotaintment platforms, AGL is an open-source system based on, you guessed it, Linux. It boasts 200 members from various sectors including Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung. The system is designed as an option to offerings from tech companies like Google and Apple, giving automakers a solid base that they can easily customize and update.
Microsoft will offer 3 flavors of Linux in the Windows Store
Microsoft made headlines at last year's Build developer conference when it announced that it would build support for the Bash shell and Ubuntu Linux binaries directly into Windows 10. Doing so enables devs to run command-line tools while building apps as well as allows power users to run limited instances of Linux directly on top of Windows without installing a virtual machine. Today, at this year's conference, the company one-upped itself and announced that it's expanding Linux support to include OpenSUSE and Fedora distributions.
'Shadow Brokers' give away more NSA hacking tools
The elusive Shadow Brokers didn't have much luck selling the NSA's hacking tools, so they're giving more of the software away -- to everyone. In a Medium post, the mysterious team supplied the password for an encrypted file containing many of the Equation Group surveillance tools swiped back in 2016. Supposedly, the group posted the content in "protest" at President Trump turning his back on the people who voted for him. The leaked data appears to check out, according to researchers, but some of it is a couple of decades old and focused on platforms like Linux.
'Planescape: Torment' remaster arrives on April 11th
For many veteran gamers, Planescape: Torment was a definitive role-playing title -- it combined an unusual setting with a deep story, memorable dialogue and gameplay mechanics that still hold up. If you're one of those fans, you won't have long to wait to relieve that experience on modern hardware. Beamdog, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have revealed that they're launching Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition on April 11th. As with most better remastering efforts, this involves more than a little spit and polish to make the game run on newer hardware.
Netflix launches support for Firefox on Linux
Linux users have a new option if they want to watch Netflix -- the streaming service is now compatible with Firefox for the platform. Before this, only Google Chrome could play videos from the website outright. There was even a time when users had to make sure they're using a version of Chrome with the required Encrypted Media Extension (EME) support. Sure, they could trick the platform into thinking they're on Chrome when they're actually using Firefox. That's easy enough to set up for someone with a Linux PC. But this development means there are no extra steps to take to enjoy Netflix on Mozilla's browser.
Chrome quietly received a big 3D graphics boost
Did you recently notice a boost to 3D web graphics while using Chrome? It's not just you. Google has revealed that Chrome 56 and later releases support the WebGL 2.0 standard. You should see faster performance, new texture types and visual effects (such as volume-based effects and tone mapping). And importantly, it's now on par with the same OpenGL ES 3 spec you see in newer mobile games -- it might now be possible to port your favorite phone title to Chrome without losing graphical detail.
Brave's ad-blocking browser now syncs between computers
Brave's web browser may stand out through its emphasis on blocking and swapping ads, but its team still has a while to go before it nails some of the features you take for granted. Case in point: browser syncing. Brave has updated its software with a beta syncing feature that, much like in Chrome or Firefox, will share your browser data between computers. There's no support for mobile yet (that's due "soon"), but this could help a great deal if you were thinking of switching browsers and needed the reassurance of sync support to make the switch.
Linux Skype goes from alpha to beta and gets new features
Since its debut on Linux last July, Skype's engineering team has been hard at work, fleshing out the open platform's features and making it more user-friendly. The team announced on Thursday that it has made enough progress in recent months to warrant moving the program out of alpha build and into beta version 5.0.
Stealth action game 'Serial Cleaner' starts after the murder
Many stealth action games have you creating bodies: you're a hitman, a thief or someone who otherwise needs to eliminate enemies in a hurry. But what if you were the person disposing of the bodies? That's the premise behind Serial Cleaner, a top-down sneaking title from Curve Digital and iFun4all. The highly stylized, '70s-themed game has you removing bodies and cleaning up bloodstains while you dodge investigating police. Think of it as dealing with the aftermath of a Hotline Miami level, with a dash of Viscera Cleanup Detail thrown in.
Valve launches SteamVR support for Linux
Valve has been giving Steam users Linux love since 2012, and it's not stopping with VR. The company just launched SteamVR for Linux, letting developers create Linux content for the HTC Vive VR headset, trackers and other hardware. The program is in beta, meaning developers must use an NVIDIA developer beta driver that's built on "Vulkan," the successor to OpenGL. You're limited to "direct" mode, meaning you can only display images on the headset and not a desktop display at the same time.
Jolla's latest mobile OS upgrade focuses on the basics
Jolla is going some distance to putting its Sailfish OS on more phones you can buy, but it's clear the startup still has a ways to go before you're ditching your existing device. It just released an early access version of Sailfish OS 2.1 (nicknamed Iijoki) that adds features you probably take for granted on Android or iOS. For one, you can finally copy-and-paste text in the web browser -- yes, that wasn't present before. There's also a streamlined camera app with tap-to-focus, "initial" virtual private network support, basic 64-bit architecture and the ability to change system font sizes.
ASUS' Raspberry Pi rival can play 4K video
Homebrew-friendly boards like the Raspberry Pi are great for do-it-yourself projects, but they seldom have the oomph needed to handle intensive tasks. That's where ASUS hopes to do better -- it quietly released its own device, the appropriately named Tinker Board. It's almost the same size as the Pi, but its quad-core Rockchip processor has the power to play 4K video and 24-bit audio. This might be your ideal hardware if you're building your own mini media center.
Digitize your doodles with an e-reader you can draw on
No matter how useful a tablet can be, for many, nothing can beat the versatility of paper. Well, paper-loving reader, it might be time to re-think those analog allegiances as reMarkable has just unveiled an impressive new e-paper tablet.
Android's latest update doesn't patch major security flaw
The November Android security update is live and it fixes 15 critical vulnerabilities, but it doesn't patch a major Linux kernel exploit that can give hackers quick and complete access to devices running on Google's OS. Researcher Phil Oester discovered the flaw (CVE-2016-5195) in October, though he believes it's existed since 2007. The exploit is known as "Dirty COW" because of its basis in copy-on-write systems (and maybe because that name is adorable).
Opera's latest browser can cope with your mountain of open tabs
Many web browser creators like to boast about performance in ideal conditions, where there's only one tab and the app is already open. But that's not how it works in real life -- many people launch their browsers with numerous tabs left over from their last session, and that can be glacially slow if you don't have speedy storage or loads of memory. Opera thinks it can do better. It's releasing a new version of its desktop browser (41) with a smart startup sequence that prioritizes the tabs you've been using recently, dramatically reducing the time it takes to get going.
Linux exploit gives any user full access in five seconds
If you need another reason to be paranoid about network security, a serious exploit that attacks a nine-year-old Linux kernel flaw is now in the wild. The researcher who found it, Phil Oester, told V3 that the attack is "trivial to execute, never fails and has probably been around for years." Because of its complexity, he was only able to detect it because he had been "capturing all inbound HTTP traffic and was able to extract the exploit and test it out in a sandbox," Oester said.
Chrome's December update will be less of a memory hog
Google has spent a while reducing Chrome's sometimes notorious demands on your system, but it knows that its web browser still needs some work. Accordingly, the upcoming Chrome 55 will include an upgraded JavaScript engine that significantly reduces the memory footprint. Given that many modern websites thrive on JavaScript, this should lead to some dramatic improvements -- Google says its test sites (including the New York Times, Reddit and YouTube) used 50 percent less RAM on average than Chrome 53.
Spotify ads briefly served malware to your PC
Some Spotify listeners got more than just free music with their ad-supported software. Multiple users report that the streaming service was serving malware-laden ads that would pop up your default web browser in a bid to compromise your system. Reportedly, some of these didn't even require your input to do damage. And they weren't specific to any one platform, either -- Linux, Mac and Windows users all saw the same behavior, although it's not clear that the hostile code could damage all three platforms.
Steam is turning into the App Store and that's OK
Steam changed the video game industry in the same way Netflix changed television. Digital distribution was a natural evolution for gaming in the early 2010s, allowing PC players to skip the midnight-release lines at Gamestop and purchase new titles with the click of a button. While Steam wasn't the first hub to offer digitally distributed games -- Valve debuted it in 2003 -- it quickly gained a massive following and by 2011 was undoubtedly the largest platform for finding, buying and playing games on PC, Mac and Linux. Today, Steam hosts more than 10,000 titles and nearly 160 million active users per month, according to Steam Spy and EEDAR. Steam is Netflix on pixelated, interactive steroids.
