Fight for the Future

Next week, some of the biggest tech companies will lead a symbolic “Internet Slowdown” to protest the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality proposal.

“Several top websites—including Etsy, Kickstarter, Foursquare, WordPress, Vimeo, reddit, Mozilla, Imgur, Meetup, Cheezburger, Namecheap, Bittorrent, Gandi.net, StartPage, BoingBoing, and Dwolla—announced that they will be joining more than 35 advocacy organizations and hundreds of thousands of activists in a day of action that will give a glimpse into what the Internet might look like if the FCC’s proposed rules go into effect,” a blog post today from the advocacy group “Fight for the Future” said.

The FCC’s proposal would require Internet service providers to provide a vaguely defined minimum level of service to all legal applications and websites, but it would not prevent ISPs from charging companies for faster access to Internet users. Net neutrality advocates argue that so-called “fast lanes” will divide the Internet into different tiers, with deep-pocketed companies having unfair advantages over smaller ones. But the FCC isn’t allowed to issue stronger restrictions on fast lanes unless it takes the controversial step of reclassifying broadband as a utility or "common carrier" service.

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Jennifer Hall

Some species of dinosaur were astonishingly enormous compared to anything alive on land today, which becomes obvious the moment you stand in the shadow of their skeletons in a museum. This is a key reason why we remain fascinated with these long-extinct beasts. The colossal size of the long-necked species like Brachiosaurus stretches the limits of our imaginations and exhausts our vocabulary. And nothing quite gets the hyperbole flowing like the discovery of a gigantic new dinosaur.

So meet Dreadnoughtus, the 65-ton, 26-meter-long plant-eating behemoth from the latest Cretaceous—84 to 66 million years ago—found in Argentina. It is named after the World War I British battleship Dreadnought.

This discovery comes only a few months after another team of Argentine researchers reported a slightly older, and apparently even larger, long-necked dinosaur. That discovery dominated the science news for days, to the point where elderly relatives, who never took much of an interest in my career in science, were phoning me up to ask how something so huge could have possibly existed.

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CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});It's still technically the day before the IFA show in Berlin, but companies continue to make pre-show announcements about all of their phones, tablets, and PCs. Yesterday, we took a look at all of the products that Toshiba, Acer, and Asus were planning to release between now and the end of the year, plus a single gaming notebook from Lenovo.

Today is a bigger day, if only because of the size of the companies involved. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the three biggest sellers of PCs, both worldwide and in the US, at least according to most estimates. Today all three are taking the wraps off the majority of their product lines. Many of the trends remain the same, however: you'll see low-cost Windows PCs priced to compete with Chromebooks, some mini desktops to address an actively growing segment of the PC market, and a few more Broadwell systems with Intel's Core M chips inside.

Dell

All of the Windows PCs Dell is unveiling today are actually business PCs in the Latitude and Optiplex lines—perhaps not the most exciting machines, but likely more lucrative and profitable to Dell than the majority of its mid- to low-end consumer PC lines. Businesses often have money to spend on equipment that consumers just don't have, and they're willing to pay more for easy-to-service machines that will last the three-to-five years most business computers are expected to last. Dell told us that its decision to return to being a private company last year made it easier to focus on important but "unsexy" machines like these.

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On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Google settled a complaint in which the FTC alleged that Google unlawfully charged parents for unauthorized in-app purchases made by their children. Google will provide full refunds to customers who were charged for purchases they did not approve, with a minimum payment of $19 million in refunds.

“Google has also agreed to modify its billing practices to ensure that it obtains express, informed consent from consumers before charging them for items sold in mobile apps,” the FTC wrote in a press release.

The FTC says that since Google introduced in-app purchases in 2011, it has heard from parents whose children racked up “hundreds” of dollars in in-app purchases, which ranged from $0.99 to $200. In the first year that Google permitted in-app purchases, the company did not require any password or other verification to bill the user through the Play Store. By 2012, Google introduced a pop-up box that asked for a password and informed consumers about in-app purchases, but the pop-up didn't tell the consumer how much they were being charged, nor did it tell them that entering a password would open up a 30-minute window for kids to go crazy with in-app purchases before they had to enter the password again.

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New York Apple Store Simon Greig

Labor rights groups said Thursday that a Chinese factory producing iPhone and iPad parts was found "to have a number of serious health and safety, environmental, and human rights violations."

The groups, US-based China Labor Watch and Green America, said the 20,000 workers at the Catcher Technology-owned plant in Suqian were exposed to aluminum-magnesium alloy sheddings without protective equipment and encountered locked safety exits, forced unpaid overtime, and other labor violations.

The groups' findings from its August investigation—which they say they also found the dumping of industrial fluids and waste into groundwater and rivers—comes days before Apple's Tuesday event, presumably the unveiling of the company's newest mobile device.

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Two sheets of molybdenum disulfide show why it's so hard to find any place to put impurities of any sort inside what's essentially a single molecule. Nano.gov

As chip manufacturers are getting close to the limits of their ability to scale features down, materials scientists are working hard to provide the raw materials that would let us build circuitry from individual molecules, such as carbon nanotubes. One class of molecules that may find a home in future chips is sheets of material that are a single atom thin.

Although graphene, a sheet of carbon atoms, tends to attract the most attention, there are actually a variety of atomically thin materials. And, while graphene is not normally semiconducting, a number of the alternatives are. One of these alternatives, molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), has already been used to create functional electronics. Unfortunately, the performance of these circuits has been erratic. Now, a collaboration of researchers at Rutgers University and Los Alamos National Lab has figured out why: hooking up wires to an atomically thin material is really hard. Fortunately, they've also figured out a solution.

Although MoS2 appears to have what it takes to make great circuitry, early attempts at using it have been inconsistent. As the authors of the new paper note, the mobility values (a measure of how quickly electrons move through the circuit) reported for these circuits can vary by as much as a factor of 400. The problem, the authors suspected, comes from wiring up the circuits. Although it's easy to deposit metal on top of an atomically thin material like MoS2, it's another thing entirely to make sure electrons can easily hop across that junction.

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Microsoft announced three new mid-range Lumia phones at IFA today. The Lumia 730, 735, and 830 are mid-range, mid-size handsets that will be launched globally this month.

The 730 and 735 are positioned as the ideal phones for Skype and selfies. The two are close siblings in a similar style to the Lumia 630 and 635—the 730 is a dual SIM, 3G handset; the 735 is a single SIM, 4G LTE device.

Stylistically, they look like so many Lumias before them: brightly colored polycarbonate unibody handsets with gentle curves.

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FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler speaking to the cable industry in April 2014. NCTA

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler today stated what is obvious to US Internet users: for broadband speeds fast enough to serve modern homes, competition simply does not exist in most of the country.

The numbers are OK if you use the FCC’s outdated broadband definition of 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. But the FCC is proposing to boost the download portion of the definition to 10Mbps and considering whether to raise the upstream portion. Even 10Mbps doesn’t cut it in homes where numerous devices connect to the Internet, however, Wheeler said.

“A 25Mbps connection is fast becoming ‘table stakes’ in 21st century communications,” Wheeler said in a speech this morning at 1776, a self-styled "hub for startups" in Washington, DC (transcript).

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Kyle Orland

When Oculus eventually releases a consumer version (CV1) of its Rift virtual reality headset, the company wants to "stay in that $200-$400 price range," founder Palmer Luckey told Eurogamer in a recent interview.

That lines up roughly with the $350 currently being charged for the second Development Kit (DK2) version of the Rift, which began shipping to developers recently. Luckey warned Eurogamer, though, that the consumer version price range "could slide in either direction depending on scale, pre-orders, the components we end up using, business negotiations..."

One thing that won't be sliding around anymore is the technical specs for the CV1. "We know what we're making and now it's a matter of making it." Luckey wouldn't be pinned down on the specifics of those consumer specs, but he said to expect a jump in resolution above the DK2, similar to the 720p to 1080p jump we saw between the first development kits (DK1) and DK2. Luckey also teased improvements to 90Hz "or higher" refresh rate (up from 75Hz in DK2) and lowered weight and size for the consumer headset.

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On Thursday, Epic Games announced that it would make the complete Unreal Engine 4 suite free to use for universities and students on a case-by-case basis. Interested teachers and administrators can now submit their credentials via Epic's official site, and upon acceptance, they will have access to the suite without having to pay the standard $19 per month fee.

"There's no separate 'academic' version or anything like that," UE4 General Manager Ray Davis said to Ars in a phone interview. "The cool thing is, as a student, even if you don’t decide to subscribe upon graduation, you'll still retain access to any version of the engine you had at that point. We’re not leaving people hanging at the end of a school year or anything like that."

Though UE4's university-specific offer isn't quite as accessible as Crytek's CryENGINE, which can be downloaded by anybody on a non-commercial basis, Epic's revision does stem from feedback the company received after it announced UE4's pricing structure during this year's Game Developers Conference.

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Temptation to look is once again being used as bait for a variety of malware attacks, thanks in part to the widespread coverage of the recent nude celebrity photos leaks on 4chan and reddit. The old bait-and-switch move, a well-worn social engineering attack on Twitter and other social networking services, has now been updated with promises of intimate photos of Jennifer Lawrence. In reality, the link delivers malware “dropper” software instead.

Researchers at Trend Micro have uncovered a number of new social engineering attacks based on the celebrity photos. One in particular uses Lawrence as the bait, with a shortened URL that the Twitter lure promises will take you to “Jennifer Lawrence Leaked Photos.” The tweet uses hashtags for Jennifer Lawrence both by her full name and by “JLaw” in order to target people actively seeking information about her.

A fraudulent tweet, used as a lure. Trend Micro Labs

Those who fall for the bait are taken to a website with a “video”—which is in fact a link to fake “Video Converter” software. What really gets delivered is a malware package that Trend Micro calls ADW_BRANTALL, an adware installer that targets Microsoft Windows 7 and earlier Windows versions.

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The FBI offered its assistance to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) back in July to help with what the organization sees as a growing tide of harassment of game developers, according to a report from Polygon. IGDA Executive Director Kate Edwards said the FBI approached her during Comic-Con in San Diego to let her know "the FBI's capability."

Edwards told Polygon that the FBI noted a rise in activity in the online harassment of game developers. Over the last year, BioWare senior writer Jennifer Hepler left her job after getting death threats from fans, and Adam Orth, a Microsoft creative director, got a "tidal wave of vitriol" for tweeting his support of always-online devices. Since the FBI's meeting with the IGDA took place, developer Zoe Quinn has been harassed over personal details aired by her ex-boyfriend, and a flight carrying Sony Online Entertainment CEO John Smedley was diverted after getting a bomb threat from a gaming hacker group. On Tuesday, thousands of developers released a signed petition "asking for tolerance and acceptance in the larger gaming community."

In addition to keeping in touch with the FBI, Edwards said the IGDA is creating a special interest group for mental health issues surrounding harassment. Last week, the IGDA released a statement condemning the personal attacks that had taken place over the last several weeks against Quinn, her supporters, and supporters of Anita Sarkeesian, who received death threats over her latest video about tropes of women in video games. "We call on the entire game community to stand together against this abhorrent behavior," the statement reads.

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Kyle Orland

Since the Xbox One launched at $500 with no pack-in game and one forced pack-in Kinect last year, there have been quite a few attempts to lower the price and/or increase the value proposition for people looking to buy. The offer Microsoft is rolling out next week might be the best such value yet, though, including a free retail game of your choosing when you purchase a new Xbox One.

The temporary offer comes on top of current bundles that already include a copy of Madden NFL 15 or Forza Motorsport 5, meaning you can in essence get a system and two games for the same old bare-hardware price (though it appears the Forza bundle still only comes in a Kinect-bundled $500 package).

The choose-your-free-game offer runs from September 7 through 13 at "participating retailers," so call ahead to make sure you can cash in. It also only applies to currently available disc-based games $60 or less, so if you want a free copy of the $250 Titanfall Collector's Edition or even just a downloadable version of Titanfall, you're out of luck.

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Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll actually prefers the one-eared version of Bose's new noise-canceling Bose NFL Headset: "I'm a one-eared kind of guy." Bose / NFL

Ahead of the NFL season kickoff, Bose invited us to a noise-canceling test on Thursday that got us pretty pumped. The longtime producer of speakers and headphones doesn't enjoy the best reputation among audiophiles, but the company does pride itself on solid noise-canceling tech, and it had just announced a four-year partnership with the NFL to equip every team's head and assistant coaches with a new fleet of game-ready headsets.

Since the Seattle Seahawks won the last Super Bowl, that meant the event was taking place at Centurylink Field, perhaps the ultimate test site for all things noise. After all, this stadium is notorious for record- and eardrum-shattering crowd noise, and the Seahawks' "12th Man" army of fans has topped 135 decibels on more than a few occasions.

Unfortunately, Bose didn't invite 67,000 of its closest friends to fill Centurylink's seats. Instead, I walked past a mostly empty football field to a small testing room. Against the wall rested eight headsets, uncreatively named Bose NFL Headsets. A few enormous speaker and subwoofer rigs hid beneath floor-level banners.

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The United States and the other 27 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plan to aid the defense of any other NATO country in the event of a major cyber attack, according to an agreement that will be ratified this week at a major alliance meeting.

On Thursday, NATO members will meet with 40 partner countries at a major summit in Wales, United Kingdom, to discuss the future security of the region. While the conflict in eastern Ukraine will dominate the meeting, the alliance will also agree to work together to defend its communications network and aid each other against major cyber attacks.

The policy, endorsed by NATO ministers in June, will task NATO countries with sharing information on cyber threats, lending expertise to harden member nations' communications and information systems (CIS), and working with industry partners to improve NATO's ability to respond to cyber attacks.

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Consensus? It's complicated and does not involve A) everyone agreeing or B) everyone meeting for coffee. Digital Desktop Wallpaper (via Flickr)

One of the many unfortunate aspects of arguments over climate change is that it's where many people come across the idea of a scientific consensus. Just as unfortunately, their first exposure tends to be in the form of shouted sound bites: "But there's a consensus!" "Consensus has no place in science!"

Lost in the shouting is the fact that consensus plays several key roles in the process of science. In light of all the consensus choruses, it's probably time to step back and examine its importance and why it's a central part of the scientific process. And only after that is it possible to take a look at consensus and climate change.

Standards of evidence

Fiction author Michael Crichton probably started the backlash against the idea of consensus in science. Crichton was rather notable for doubting the conclusions of climate scientists—he wrote an entire book in which they were the villains—so it's fair to say he wasn't thrilled when the field reached a consensus. Still, it's worth looking at what he said, if only because it's so painfully misguided:

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Tesla Motors

On Wednesday, a source speaking with the Associated Press said that Tesla has chosen an industrial plant outside of Reno, Nevada, to be the location of its $5 billion battery factory. The factory, which will be built in conjunction with Panasonic, will produce batteries for Tesla's forthcoming Model 3 line of low(er)-cost electric vehicles.

The AP's source spoke anonymously because no official announcement had been made. That source said that work on the factory will begin soon and that “Nevada still must approve a package of incentives Tesla negotiated.” Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is scheduled to make a "major economic development announcement" tomorrow afternoon, and Tesla representatives say the company will be present.

Ars contacted Tesla about the report, and a spokesperson wrote, “We continue to work with the state of Nevada and we look forward to joining the Governor and legislative leaders tomorrow in Carson City. More details to come tomorrow at 4 PM Pacific.”

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L Church

If you want a role model for work ethic in the animal kingdom, you’d do well to pick the ant. Maintaining tunnels, gathering food, and defending the colony are all in a solid day’s work. Now you might be able to cross off another item on the ant to-do list: pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Over geologic timescales, the Earth has a convenient regulator on its thermostat: the weathering of many minerals. During their breakdown, they react with carbon dioxide, which converts them into a clay mineral while also producing carbonate. In a warmer climate, weathering ramps up, removing more CO2 from the atmosphere. This provides a cooling influence. In a cooler climate, weathering slows and CO2 can accumulate in the atmosphere, nudging temperatures upwards.

Some of this is simply the result of physical weathering of exposed rock at the surface, but living organisms contribute as well. Tree roots penetrate cracks and pry rocks apart. Lichens and fungi in soil slowly dissolve rock. Burrowing things move material around.

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In the wake of the release of stolen, intimate photos from a number of celebrities’ cell phones this past weekend on 4chan’s /b/ Web forum, the site has added something to its rules and policies—a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown policy. While 4chan previously relied on its rapid expiration of content to keep 4chan LLC and site founder Chris “moot” Poole out of trouble, the heavy scrutiny that came from the latest round of celebrity exposure has pushed the site to adopt more formal measures to avoid litigation. (Victims of photo theft could use copyright claims to seek damages from publications and websites that publish them.)

Under the policy, 4chan will now remove content when notified of a “bona fide infringement” under the law. The site will also contact the individual posting the content to tell this user it has been removed. “It is the Company’s policy…that repeat offenders will have the infringing material removed from the system and that the Company will terminate such content provider’s, member’s or user’s access to the service,” the policy reads. Those who believe their content has been taken down improperly can file a counter-notice with 4chan.

The DMCA policy post designates a DMCA agent for the company (though not by name) at Corporation Service Company in Wilmington, Delaware. Corporation Service Company is an organization that acts as a corporate office and compliance agent for Delaware-registered companies.

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NEW YORK CITY—We're still in New York, where Samsung has dumped a bucket load of devices on us for the holidays. You've seen the liveblog and the official announcements, and now that the festivities are over it's time to see just what Samsung's new products are like in person.

With a whopping four devices and only a limited time for each, we didn't have much time to get very in-depth with each one, but we can at least whet your appetite for the full reviews, which will come once the devices have been released.

The Galaxy Note 4—Or, alternatively, the “Note 3S”

Left: The Note 3, Right: The Note 4. They're practically identical.

7 more images in gallery

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CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});First up is the Note 4. Have you seen a Note 3? If so, you're about 95 percent of the way there. The Note 4 looks almost identical to the Note 3—it's a big, 5.7-inch rectangle done in Samsung's typical style.

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