Friday 13 October 2017

The Morning After: Friday the 13th

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Friday, October 13, 2017.

Hey, good morning!

Good morning! Yesterday, we got a date for a giant robot battle, the chance to win tickets (and gadgets) for the Engadget Experience, and Virgin joined the Hyperloop... hype.

I don’t recognize myself on social media anymore.

Fear of the US government led me to censor myself on Twitter

Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low discusses the Department of Homeland Security’s modified system of records, and how it would allow the DHS, Border Patrol and other immigration authorities to collect social media handles as part of an individual’s official record. Working in the US on a visa, she was immediately worried about how it would affect her standing -- and it’s already changed how she uses social media.

Free tickets, travel and gadgets.

Win a trip to LA and two tickets to the Engadget Experience

Next month we’re hosting a series of futuristic art installations and panels, bringing together the brightest minds in art and technology. To make the Engadget Experience happen, we gave out $100,000 apiece to five visionaries making art out of VR, artificial intelligence and even search results. We are so excited to showcase our winners at LA’s Ace Hotel on November 14th. Tickets are on sale now, but one lucky reader can win two free tickets -- plus a boatload of other stuff. We’re also throwing in a two-night stay at the Ace Hotel, a $1,000 airfare stipend and a collection of gadgets that includes a Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Gear VR and more. Enter here to win -- good luck!

It wasn’t a hack, but it wasn’t good either.

Malicious code spotted on Equifax’s website

As if the company didn’t have enough problems, a malicious Flash pop-up appeared on its customer site. An Equifax rep said the company’s website was not compromised, and the errant Flash downloader came from one of its vendors’ code -- but it raised concerns of another hacker attack. According to Equifax: “Since we learned of the issue, the vendor’s code was removed from the webpage and we have taken the webpage offline to conduct further analysis.”

Moving forward.

Richard Branson and Virgin join forces with Hyperloop One

Hyperloop One is now Virgin Hyperloop One, thanks to a new investment from Sir Richard Branson. In a recent demo, one of its pods hit a top speed of 192 mph, faster than Category 1 high-speed rail, but not quite matching Japan’s bullet train. There’s no word on how much cash Branson plugged into the outfit, but hopefully the “world's most revolutionary train service” works out better than the UK's Virgin Trains.

Epic giant robot battle scheduled for October 17th

The MegaBots vs. Suidobashi fight will be streamed live on Twitch

Are you ready for the world’s first giant robot fight? We finally have a date.The fight will take place on October 17th, 2017, at 10:00 PM ET, streamed worldwide on Twitch. If you miss the live stream, you can catch it on YouTube and Facebook immediately after the event.

Going cord-free is worth the drop in audio quality for fitness fanatics.

Jaybird Run review: the perfect truly wireless earbuds for workouts

The Jaybird Run are exactly what you’d expect from a company that’s been working on wireless headphones for years. They’re comfortable, easy to use and they sound great. You’ll pay a bit more than similar headphones -- even Apple’s Airpods -- but it’s worth it for fitness fanatics.

Moving beyond the panels.

Square Enix’s Project Hikari makes a good case for VR comics

For its first big VR project, Square Enix’s Advanced Technology Division is putting the spotlight back on manga. Project Hikari feeds you the story mostly with floating comic panels, but also adds spoken dialogue, sound effects and music. The big difference here is its use of 3D animation that Kris Naudus said looks smooth from every angle. It should be available next year on all major VR platforms.

But wait, there's more...

1. Kansas City mayor tries to snag Amazon's new HQ by reviewing 1,000 products

2. #WomenBoycottTwitter protest spreads across social media

3. The NBA will broadcast every game in VR this season

4. EA rebuffs 'pay to win' loot criticism of 'SW Battlefront 2'

5. Sony's Xperia Touch projector arrives in the US priced at $1,700

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't subscribe.

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Thursday 12 October 2017

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Thursday -- October 12, 2017

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
FTC Tightens Screws on Social Media Influencers
Walmart Throws Down Gauntlet to Amazon
Container Runtime Brings Greater Flexibility to Kubernetes and BOSH
Salesforce Gets Granular

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Today's Story Highlights

FTC Tightens Screws on Social Media Influencers

Social media influencer advertising has become a major factor in e-
commerce. Marketers of both big and small brands long have committed
large chunks of their advertising budgets to endorsements by well-known
personalities. Social media influencer campaigns are based on that
tried-and-true formula, but the implication is that the endorsements are
voluntary.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84876.html

Walmart Throws Down Gauntlet to Amazon

Walmart on Tuesday outlined plans to grow its critically important e-
commerce business in the U.S. by 40 percent over the next fiscal year.
The company intends to leverage a series of key acquisitions and its
more than 4,600 brick-and-mortar locations to mount a direct challenge
to Amazon for millennial customers. Walmart is the largest retail
operation in the world and the leading U.S. challenger to Amazon.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84872.html

Container Runtime Brings Greater Flexibility to Kubernetes and BOSH

The Cloud Foundry Foundation has launched Container Runtime as the
default deployment and management platform for containers using
Kubernetes and BOSH. The foundation announced Container Runtime at its
annual European user conference. Cloud Foundry is an open source
Platform as a Service offering used for building and managing
applications in the cloud or in data centers.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84874.html

Salesforce Gets Granular

If you need an example of digital disruption, you can't do better than
the retail banking industry. A byzantine collection of rules and
regulations plus the overhang of many legacy systems have conspired to
prevent banks from becoming more involved with their customers. Even
innovations like the ATM, which entered the scene several decades ago,
only serve to distance banks from their customers.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84873.html

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The Morning After: Cutting the strings on VR

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Thursday, October 12, 2017.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

This Thursday, one porn site is using AI to catalog the stars of its clips, Amazon has a waterproof Kindle (unrelated) and we discuss how Blade Runner 2049 is pushing forward AI in fiction.

No strings on me.

Oculus Santa Cruz gets closer to the future of wireless VR

Last year, Oculus’ wireless VR headset was a hacked together jumble of exposed wiring, but now the Santa Cruz prototype is looking more like a real product. Nicole Lee gave it a shot, along with some new Touch controllers, quickly deeming it “easily one of the most comfortable VR headsets I’ve ever tried.”

Everything you need is right there.

Oculus Go is a $199 self-contained VR headset

While Santa Cruz is still a concept, Oculus is ready to put this VR headset on sale. It also lacks tethering, but for a different reason -- it’s completely standalone, with no PC or phone required. Better yet, the Go brings virtual reality to your face for just $199. Apparently, it will run the same apps as the Gear VR and is expected to ship early next year.

The system uses machine learning to catalog and tag every clip in Pornhub’s vast database.

Pornhub is improving search with an AI porn addict

“I’d recognize that face anywhere.”

A glitch could cause the smart speaker to listen in a little too closely.

Google disables Home Mini's top button so it won’t record everything

Google hasn’t even started shipping the Home Mini yet, but its launch has been marred by an unusual situation where some of the devices would record and upload practically any sound. As a result, Google says it’s taking the step of disabling all top touch functionality on the Home Mini. While owners can still control it using their voice and a volume switch on the side -- that’s it.

More movies in one place.

Disney relaunches Movies Anywhere with support from Fox, Warner, Sony and Universal

After nearly a decade, Disney may have the advantage in its digital movie locker war vs. Ultraviolet. Four other big studios are joining its Movies Anywhere platform, which will link to accounts on stores like iTunes, Vudu, Amazon and Google Play to unlock movies you’ve purchased across all of them. Even if you’re not set up with Movies Anywhere, you can snag five free movies just by logging in and linking your accounts.

The latest premium Kindle has a lot more going for it.

Amazon’s new Kindle Oasis is waterproof and has a bigger screen

Amazon’s last Kindle Oasis was “the perfect e-reader for the one percent.” That still describes the new Oasis, which Amazon is officially unveiling today. It includes some genuinely useful features: a larger 7-inch screen, an all-metal body, and yes, it’s waterproof. A decade after introducing its first e-reader, Amazon has finally delivered the first beach-ready Kindle.

The rare sequel that surpasses a classic.

'Blade Runner 2049' dives deeper on AI to transcend the original

According to Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar, Blade Runner 2049 is a miracle. It’s a sequel that nobody really wanted -- certainly not fans of the seminal 1982 original by Ridley Scott. And ponderous explorations of artificial intelligence aren’t something that typically clicks with mainstream audiences. But it turns out that Blade Runner 2049 -- directed by Denis Villeneuve -- may be the ideal sequel. It builds on its incredibly influential predecessor by asking deeper questions about AI. As the lines between humans and replicants blur, the idea of being “more human than human” seems truer than ever.

The only way to stop a bad guy with a drone is a good guy with an RF rifle.

The rise of drone crime and how cops can stop it

In 2015, US Border Patrol caught a two people dropping off 28 pounds of heroin in Calexico, California, and, in the same year, caught another drug ring delivering 30 pounds of cannabis to San Luis, Arizona. Drones -- easy to fly, difficult to spot and far more practical than catapults -- are quickly gaining favor among criminals for everything from smuggling and snooping to actively countering police actions and intimidating the locals. Elsewhere, police in the UK received 3,456 incident reports of drones behaving badly in 2016, a threefold jump from 2015, a 12-fold increase since 2014. The incidents ranged from minor spats between neighbors to covertly dropping drugs and firearms into prisons. Fortunately, counter-drone systems are as varied as they are numerous, ranging from shotgun shells loaded with wire nets to eagles trained to snatch UAVs from midair.

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Wednesday 11 October 2017

ECT News Network Weekly Newsletter

ECT News Network Weekly Newsletter: Wednesday -- October 11, 2017

ECT News Network -- Where Business Meets Technology
http://www.ectnews.com
E-Commerce Times | TechNewsWorld
CRM Buyer | LinuxInsider

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This Week's Top News Headlines From the E-Commerce Times

Walmart Throws Down Gauntlet to Amazon
(Posted 11-Oct-17)
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84872.html

Small Companies Often in the Dark About Cyberattacks
(Posted 10-Oct-17)
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84865.html

Android Devs May Follow Apple's Face ID Lead
(Posted 09-Oct-17)
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84868.html

HPE Gave Russia Deep Dive Into Security Software Used by Pentagon
(Posted 06-Oct-17)
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84862.html

Are You Ready for a RoboCEO?
(Posted 05-Oct-17)
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84858.html

This Week's Top News Headlines From TechNewsWorld

LogicHub CPO Monica Jain: Focus on Results
(Posted 11-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84869.html

Zuckerberg Pays Virtual Visit to Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico
(Posted 10-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84870.html

Google Pixel 2: 8/10ths of an Apple-Killer Strategy
(Posted 09-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84860.html

Report: Russian Hackers Penetrated Elite NSA Hacking Division
(Posted 07-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84864.html

Gadget Ogling: Same Old Apple
(Posted 06-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84861.html

AI Ripples Through Google's New Product Lineup
(Posted 05-Oct-17)
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84857.html

This Week's Top News Headlines From CRM Buyer

OpenWorld 2017
(Posted 10-Oct-17)
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/84871.html

AI-Powered Mobile Chatbots Promise More Efficient Customer Service
(Posted 09-Oct-17)
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/84867.html

This Week's Top News Headlines From LinuxInsider

GNOME and Budgie: 2 Comfy Ubuntu 17.10 Environments
(Posted 10-Oct-17)
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/84866.html

With the Shell, You Can Go Wild(card) and Follow Your Pipe Dream
(Posted 06-Oct-17)
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/84863.html

Hologram Debuts Open Source Cellular Modem for IoT
(Posted 05-Oct-17)
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/84859.html

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