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Recommended Reading: How Russia hacked the US
The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the US Eric Lipton, David E. Sanger and Scott Shane, The New York Times Within the last week, the CIA, Obama administration and FBI have all agreed that Russian intervened in the presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump. The White House went so far as to say that the cyberattacks were directed by president Vladimir Putin himself. The New York Times offers a detailed look at the Russian hack of the DNC which led to emails and other documents making it into the hands of WikiLeaks and other websites.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 14: Welcome to the Terrordome
Trigger warning: This episode in a solid hour of Donald Trump talk. If you're still with us, strap in. Dana Wollman, Nathan Ingraham and Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about how social media traps us in echo chambers. The they'll envision what the world of tech and science looks like under a President Donald Trump. Hint: Things are a little bleak.
Scribd adds unlimited access to 'New York' and 'Time' magazine
Last summer Scribd axed romance novels because it couldn't afford them. Business has apparently stabilized because now it's adding magazines to the fold. Not those types of magazines, though. Starting this month, what's being added to the subscription-based reading service is unlimited access to publications Bloomberg Business Week, Fortune, Money, New York, People and Time. The magazines are a value-add and won't bump the existing $8.99 monthly fee, according to Wall Street Journal.
Twitter test makes Reader mode the default on iOS
For its latest experiment, Twitter has enabled the Apple-built 'Reader' feature by default inside its iOS app. As the Guardian reports, this meanssome, but not all users are seeing simplified web pages when they click on links contained within tweets. The option, which appeared in the mobile version of Safari back in 2011, removes the formatting found on almost any site, giving you a cleaner, arguably more readable layout. The drawback is that you lose the page's visual identity and sometimes, Safari will make a mess of it, giving you a broken or space-riddled article.
Plex Cloud lets you dump your home media server
Thanks to streaming, physical formats like CDs and Blu-rays aren't as popular than they once were. Some people choose to sign up for a monthly subscription like Netflix or Spotify, while others take the DIY approach. For many years, Plex has helped people build their own media collections and stream that content to (nearly) every connected device they own. However, it required either a computer or Network Attached Storage (NAS) to do so. Today, the company has opened a new avenue in its media streaming strategy with the launch of Plex Cloud. Gone is the need for the server in the cupboard, replaced with an Amazon Drive subscription and a Plex Pass.
The Engadget Podcast, Ep 4: All Eyez On Me
Editors Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about Intel's latest CPUs, Dead or Alive's controversial VR feature and Lenovo's "innovative" take on the keyboard. Then the panel takes a look at Chris Brown's standoff and how Instagram videos and Facebook Live fit into our modern media landscape.
Washington Post open-sources its 'Trump Revealed' biography
Last week, after the Washington Post published its new Trump Revealed biography, the Republican Nominee was quick to give the book a harsh, "Don't buy, boring!" review. While Trump may believe the reporting in the book is inaccurate, the Post decided to respond to the allegations with a blast of sunshine. On Tuesday, the paper published a huge chunk of the notes, documents and transcripts that went into the book, effectively open-sourcing the work so other journalists could build on it.
NYT's curated news app will shut down next month
Just about two and a half years after launching its NYT Now mobile experiment at South by Southwest, the New York Times has announced it will be "officially shelving" the app. After August, NYT Now will no longer be be available for download, but many of the features have already been rolled into the main NYTimes app or the paper's other digital platforms.
Torrentz.eu quietly shuts down its torrent search engine
Popular Poland-based torrent meta-search site Torrentz.eu has removed its key functionality, effectively shutting down a major portal for finding pirated material on the web. According to a message on the site, which refers to itself in the past tense: "Torrentz was a free, fast and powerful meta-search engine combining results from dozens of search engines. Torrentz will always love you. Farewell." A click on the search box currently re-directs to a pop-up ad from Alibaba. The end of Torrentz comes after the world's biggest torrent site KickAssTorrents was shut down by the feds in July. The proprietor of KickAssTorrents, 30-year-old Ukrainian Artem Vaulin was arrested in Poland and charged with criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. Vaulin is accused of illegally reproducing and distributing more than $1 billion worth of pirated media. In 2014, the founders of the popular Pirate Bay torrent site were also rounded up and the site struggled to stay online as it was raided several times. As for Torrentz.eu, the site managed to stay in the game a little longer because it didn't host torrent links directly -- only made it easier to find them elsewhere. As Variety notes, the site was moved to the .eu top-level domain after its .com was seized by the US Department of Homeland Security. The domain is also blocked in the several countries, including the UK. Torrenting as a means of pirating material may generally be in decline, however. A study by a UK-based antipiracy firm found that most online piracy activity has shifted to streaming sites. And BitTorrent itself has already gone legit.
Technicolor is building VR and AR projects for companies
For several years Technicolor has been providing video content for Hollywood movie studios. Now, it'll be working on virtual reality and augmented reality projects as well. The company is opening the Technicolor Experience Center in Culver City, California, to develop technology, platforms, and content for VR and AR.
Plex streams your music collection to Sonos speakers
If you're using Plex to store your music and video files, there's a new option for listening to those tracks around the house. The company announced today that access to your audio collection is now available inside the Sonos app. This means that you'll be able to browse and control playback of any stored music on Sonos' line of speakers. Plex says users can also expect access to their libraries away from home as well thanks to the Sonos mobile software. You know, in case your pals have one of the company's audio setups, too.
AP now automates news for most minor league baseball games
The Associated Press announced plans to automate financial stories back in 2014, and last year the media outlet started doing the same for college sports. Expanding its partnership with Automated Insights, the AP will now generate coverage for nearly every minor league baseball team. This is an expansion of existing bot-powered sports writing as it will now handle game storylines for 142 teams in 13 leagues. To put it another way, every Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A team is included with only Rookie Leagues left out.
Cyber 'bombs,' digital D-Days and other nonsense
Cybergeddon is coming. To the disappointment of many, it's just going to look like some dude sitting at a desk, typing, and probably farting into his Department of Defense office chair. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter was quoted recently as saying the United States was going to be "dropping cyber bombs" on ISIS, and the newly invented rhetoric produced its desired effect. In expressions of both eagerness and incomprehension, outlets wrote, "Pentagon hits ISIS with 'cyber bombs' in full-scale online campaign." Scientific American even went so far as to try and explain the skin-crawlingly crazy phrase in a piece titled "How U.S. 'Cyber Bombs' against Terrorists Really Work." India Times took it all quite literally, in an article titled "There's Something Called a Cyber Bomb and the US Is Planning to Drop It on ISIS." It explained, "The proper definition of a cyber-bomb is still a little convoluted and has been kept under wraps mainly because an operation of such magnitude is yet to be carried out."
New stats show how many newspaper jobs the internet has claimed
Anyone reading this, an article that exists only on the internet, is aware of the dramatic shift that's taken place in the media world since the 1990s. As internet penetration has grown, newspaper sales have dipped dramatically, as have traditional newspaper jobs. New research from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics quantifies these losses -- and they're hefty.
Knight Foundation invests $60 million to protect digital free speech
It's getting tough to be a journalist these days with the First Amendment seemingly encroached from all sides. That's why the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is granting Columbia University $60 million to create the Knight First Amendment Institute (FAI). The FAI will be tasked with preserving and expanding 1st Amendment protections. It will act as "a primary, durable and influential advocate of free expression in the digital age", according to a release from the Knight Foundation.
Google News highlights big stories from local news outlets
When a local news story breaks into a wider audience and major media outlets clamor for coverage, the local reporters and news sources with the most background and expertise can often get lost in the shuffle. To fix this error, Google News has just implemented a new "Local Source" tag designed to highlight the local news outlets reporting on national stories.
Time's up for Snapchat's original content
A service built on the two pillars of ephemerality and genitals was always going to be an unlikely destination for entertainment content. That's why it comes as little surprise that Snapchat is closing down Snap Channel, its portal for homegrown "TV" shows. According to Deadline Hollywood, the firm has also let go of Marcus Wiley, a high-profile comedy development executive that was hired in May of this year. Snap Channel had been withdrawn a few weeks ago, with Wiley charged with remaking the outlet in his own image. Unfortunately, original programming, much of it scripted, would have cost far more money than Snapchat wanted to spend. Now, the service will stick with using third-party content from other networks to provide a polite veneer behind which all those genital pictures can hide.
Rupert Murdoch out, son James in as Fox CEO
The Murdoch dynasty continues at 21st Century Fox as the company announced today that Rupert Murdoch's son, James Murdoch will take over as CEO beginning July 1. The elder Murdoch will join his other son Lachlan Murdoch as Co-Executive Chairman. Rupert announced he was stepping down as CEO less than a week ago. Placing James in charge isn't a surprise, he has been pushing Fox into the digital era with a heavy focus on streaming. In a joint statement the brothers said that they were, "humbled by the opportunity to lead, with our father and the talented team of executives at 21st Century Fox, this extraordinary company." [Image credit: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/AFP/Getty Images]
Big news outlets are researching drones at Virginia Tech
CNN already announced its intent to make drones part of news coverage. It's not the only media outlet looking to leverage the UAVs, though, as a group of 15 other companies are partnering with Virginia Tech to conduct trials of their own. The university's facility in Bealeton, Virginia is one of the FAA's approved test sites outside of Washington, DC. The group of media companies includes the Associated Press, Getty Images, Reuters, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gannett (USA Today) NBCUniversal, Univision and others. The group worked with the National Press Photographers Association to create guidelines for the trials. "The research testing we are initiating will provide the news media coalition a safe and innovative way to gather and disseminate information and keep journalists out of harm's way," said Rose Mooney, executive director of the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. The testing began today and will examine the use of drones for various settings, including both remote and urban locations. [Image credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Germany rules that using ad-blocking software is legal
The ability to silence the constant braying of advertising is great, unless you're a publisher who relies upon the cash that it generates to keep running. This tension between media outlets and ad-blocking agencies has finally spilled over into a courtroom punch-up after some German newspapers took AdBlock Plus to court. The outlets, which include Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, claim that the browser plugin was an anti-competitive product that threatened their businesses. Judges in Hamburg, however, ruled in favor of the company, saying that software that saves you from watching that awful Kate Upton advert for the thousandth damn time this week is perfectly legal.
