Ross Ulbricht, as seen here in an undated photo, is the alleged mastermind of the Silk Road underground drug bazaar. FreeRoss.org

Alleged Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s defense attorney Joshua Dratel has asked the court to suppress nearly all of the evidence collected against his client. Should the motion be successful, it would likely put a substantial damper on the government’s efforts to prosecute Ulbricht.

Dratel previously asked the court to dismiss all four criminal counts against his client. However, in a scathing opinion and order issued last month, the judge dismissed all of Dratel’s arguments. If this new motion doesn’t stick—absent a plea deal—the case will go to trial scheduled for November in a New York federal courtroom.

The underground drug website Silk Road was shut down as part of a federal raid late last year. It was only accessible through the anonymizing tool Tor and required payment in Bitcoin. The government claims that Ross Ulbricht, as Dread Pirate Roberts, "reaped commissions worth tens of millions of dollars” through his role as the site’s leader.

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The Ebola virus consists of small but lethal filament of RNA containing only seven genes. CDC

CNN reported Monday that the two US citizens who were flown back to the states after contracting the Ebola virus were given an extremely experimental treatment, one that's still undergoing animal testing. While the treatment involves antibodies, it's not a vaccine, and it can work effectively even after an infection has started. The process that produced it is a testament to the impressive capabilities developed in the field of biotechnology.

The Ebola virus, known for its horrific symptoms and high fatality rate, currently has no established treatment. The health care workers who are fighting the disease—and are thus at high risk for becoming infected themselves—can do little more than put themselves in isolation and try to compensate for the damage the virus causes. That situation was apparently the case for two Americans who contracted the virus while working in Liberia.

In this case, however, both people were apparently given an experimental treatment developed in part by a company called Mapp Biopharmaceutical. Complicating matters, Mapp licenses its developments to a company called LeafBio for production and distribution. But LeafBio has also licensed an Ebola treatment from a second company, called Defyrus, and it plans on combining the two. It's unclear whether the Americans received the original or combined therapy. In either case, both therapies were based on the same developmental process outlined below.

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Low-income families get cheap Internet access from Comcast. Flickr user: Karen Bryan

After complaints about a program that offers cheap Internet service to poor people, Comcast today announced it will provide "up to six months" of free Internet to new subscribers and an "amnesty" program for families with unpaid bills.

Comcast's Internet Essentials, mandated by the federal government when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal, gives $10-per-month Internet service to low-income households with schoolchildren. Critics have argued that the program is too hard to sign up for, that eligibility criteria should be less strict, and that further requirements should be implemented if Comcast is allowed to buy Time Warner Cable.

The amnesty program will make it possible for some families with unpaid bills to get the cheap service. Internet Essentials rejects applicants who have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment. Comcast isn't entirely getting rid of that policy, but the company said that "customers who have an outstanding bill that is more than one year old" are now eligible for the program. "Comcast will offer amnesty for that debt for the purpose of connecting to Internet Essentials, so long as the customer meets all the other eligibility criteria," Comcast said.

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A friend who works in one of the big banks recently told me that any new-fangled approach to identity and payments is going to have a hard time getting traction while credit cards continue to work as well as they do. "Using credit cards is too easy, too normal, too entrenched in Business As Usual", he said. They used to say the same thing about Windows. more>>

"Time to sleep"—inside Ukraine. A few new "fans" of Sanya Sotkin have noticed his geolocation faux pas.

A Russian soldier’s bored posts to Instagram from the Russian-Ukrainian frontier apparently show that he was taking "selfies" inside Ukraine on at least two occasions. Posts from June and July, with geotags stored in Instagram’s Photo Map feature, were made just prior to the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, apparently by a Russian-built antiaircraft missile.

This isn’t the first social media faux pas by Russian soldiers on the Ukraine border. On previous occasions, Russian soldiers have posted pictures and posts to VKontakte, the Russian social media site, saying they were on their way to or actually in Ukraine. But the posts of Sanya Sotkin, a Russian Army Signal Corps sergeant (based on the insignia on his uniform in many of his self-portraits), included geolocation data that show him within a military vehicle on the Ukrainian side of the border.

For someone who works with communications systems, it’s surprising that Sotkin apparently forgot he had turned Photo Map on. By default, Instagram doesn’t give up location data; as we demonstrated in our network analysis of the application a few weeks ago, Instagram scrubs EXIF data from photos posted from the iPhone and Android Instagram apps. However, if you switch on “Add Photo to Map” while posting an image, it will automatically add all future location data to Instagram’s Photo Map by default.

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A weird place for an SSD. Apacer

PC makers do all kinds of things to save space inside their cases, but this is a new one to us: Apacer is apparently sampling sticks of DDR3 desktop RAM that include slots for M.2 SSD add-in boards and CFast CompactFlash cards, allowing you to mount storage devices directly to your RAM rather than using slots on the motherboard. The slots will still use the SATA III interface to transfer data—they're just mounted to the RAM and they draw power through the RAM slot.

These sticks will support all three lengths of M.2 SSD boards (2242, 2260, and 2280). That's especially useful because, as AnandTech points out, only one mini-ITX desktop motherboard can directly support full-length M.2 boards. Full-length M.2 boards are necessary to accommodate higher storage capacities—currently available drives top out at 512GB, but 1TB drives are on the horizon.

Connectors visible on top of the DIMMs would likely need to be connected to the SATA connectors on your motherboard; unfortunately it doesn't look like these can take advantage of the faster PCI-Express flavor of M.2.

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Shovel Knight is one of the many indie games that came to Nintendo platforms under Adelman's tenure.

Since 2005, Dan Adelman has been the man inside Nintendo most responsible for championing independent games on the company's platforms. And while he says he's leaving Nintendo for a freelance life in independent business development—and doing so on good terms—Adelman appears to have been straining against some of Nintendo's business and marketing decisions for a while.

In a departure post on his website, Adelman says his tenure at Nintendo gave him "one of the best jobs in the best industry," fighting for indie game representation on Nintendo consoles since the days when indie games were barely a thing. He says he's leaving because Nintendo has established new groups devoted to independent game developers.

"People at Nintendo don’t need to be reminded that indie games are important," he writes. "They play them every day. In fact, one of the reasons I decided to leave was that there were fewer and fewer new battles to wage. Everyone was getting on the same page and starting to work together like a well-oiled machine. What fun is getting into an argument if the other person already agrees with you?"

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Sina Weibo

Yep. That's a Samsung phone.

8 more images in gallery

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Photos posted on the Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo show a new Samsung device said to be the "Galaxy Alpha." The leaker says (through translation) that the device is made of metal with a 4.7-inch screen and a "flagship S5 configuration," which presumably means it has the same specs as the Galaxy S5.

CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});The leaker also says that the back is still removable, and pictures show the typical fingernail slot to peel away the back panel. Presumably the removable back means only the sides are metal, with the back being plastic.

A high-powered 4.7-inch device made out of metal sounds a lot like Samsung's preemptive strike against the iPhone 6, which is rumored to have the same size screen. 4.7 inches would put the Galaxy Alpha at the smaller end of the Samsung spectrum, though the top and bottom bezels means the device itself won't be quite that compact.

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In early July, Intel released two new processors that go by the codename "Devil's Canyon" (DC). You can read our full review, but if you just want the executive summary it's pretty simple. Take the core processor design of Haswell (4th Generation Core Series) and modify the packaging to improve a few areas that will mostly be of interest to overclocking enthusiasts. Specifically, Intel has used a new Thermal Interface Material (NGPTIM) and they've added some capacitors to improve voltage stability/delivery. What does this mean to the layman? For most users, it means a drop in CPU core temperatures of around 10C under load, which can help with noise, cooling, and overclocking as well as improved performance.

There are only two DC CPUs at present, the i5-4690K and the i7-4790K. These are both K-series CPUs, so they're unlocked and target the overclocking enthusiast for a slight price premium, and they supersede the earlier i5-4670K and i7-4770K Haswell parts at similar prices ($5-$10 more). The only noteworthy specification changes: the TDP (Thermal Design Power) has been bumped from 84W to 88W, base/turbo clocks have been increased, and the DC CPUs are the first K-series parts to support VT-d and TSX-NI (mostly useful for workstation/server type environments). In the case of the i5-4690K, the jump in clock speeds is only 100MHz (base and turbo clocks), but the i7-4790K boasts a far more impressive 500MHz increase over the i7-4770K. The new CPUs should work with all 9-series and 8-series chipset motherboards, but 8-series boards will require a BIOS/firmware update so you'll want to verify compatibility before making a purchase.

What this boils down to is how much you want/need to increase CPU performance; you can see the quick summary of performance above. Without overclocking, the i5-4690K is functionally equivalent to the i5-4690 while costing $15 more, so it's almost solely targeted at overclockers. The i7-4790K on the other hand has the highest stock clocks of any CPU Intel has ever released; it's clocked 400Mhz higher than the i7-4790 while costing $25 more. That extra 400MHz translates into a 10-11% improvement in CPU clocks (9% overall performance increase on average), which is quite good all things considered – i7-4770K was only about 7% faster than i7-3770K on average in our testing. Gaming performance, if you're wondering, is largely bottlenecked by GPUs and so any of the CPUs listed above will result in very similar frame rates.

For those interested in overclocking, our internal testing suggests that the new sweet spot for maximum clocks on air/water is going to be around 4.7GHz, which is slightly improved from Haswell where there was more variability. Those chasing extreme overclocks who have already investigated other options for improving overclocking performance (e.g. delidding the CPU package to replace the TIM and integrated heatspreader) will likely find little to no difference between Haswell and DC. Unless you're after the top overclocking spot, DC isn't going to do much for enthusiasts who already own a fast CPU.

Users that aren't looking at overclocking will have an easier choice to make. If you're buying a new system, DC is of course worth considering, and the i7-4970K is the fastest consumer CPU to date. If you're thinking of upgrading, at the top of the product stack the i7-4790K still offers a 9% increase in average CPU performance over i7-4770K and 17% over i7-3770K, which is certainly enough to warrant consideration. But if you're running heavily threaded workloads, you're going to be better off waiting for Haswell-E and X99, which should bring 6-core and 8-core processor's to Intel's Extreme platform next month.

The Department of Transportation is drafting a proposal that could prevent airlines from allowing passengers to make in-flight cell phone calls, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

In-flight calls are not currently allowed, but that could change soon because of a proposal by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. The FCC has said its action would be "purely a technical decision" to lift outdated rules that prevent in-flight calling due to concerns about interference with ground-based cellular networks. In other words, the FCC isn't taking a position on whether in-flight calls are desirable. And airlines would still need permission from the Federal Aviation Administration and the DOT to allow them.

DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx said last December that he would consider a ban on calls, and the agency is now close to proposing one. A DOT spokesperson confirmed to the Journal that the agency "is developing 'a notice of proposed rulemaking' for publication in December that would lay out its objections to passengers making and receiving calls. It would open the issue for further comments by industry and travelers until February before making a final ruling. Regulators are focused primarily on the disruptive effects of voice calls rather than... other data use, having last year loosened restrictions that now allow airline passengers to use electronic devices for these purposes from gate to gate."

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When meeting with one of Thermaltake’s main press relations people at Computex, he was keen to show off what he described as ‘his baby’. We reported on the Core V1 at the time – a mini-ITX chassis to incorporate better cooling, quieter cooling, easy maintenance and a good-looking, fast system. Aside from the size, the interchangeable top, bottom and sides of the chassis could be replaced with Perspex side windows to increase the view of the internals, but also the front was fitted with a 200mm fan with space for another 120mm in the rear. The front of the chassis is designed with the fan offset such that longer GPUs can fit inside, up to 250mm.

Much like the full size ATX cases being designed with a warm side/cold side, the V1 uses the same concept but for top and bottom. The top half houses the motherboard, processor and CPU, with space for 140mm of CPU cooler. The bottom half is for storage and the power supply, with space for PSUs up to 180mm in length with another 80mm of cable management space. Thermaltake quote the Core V1 as supporting mounding points for 120mm and 140mm fans on the sides with an additional two 80mm points at the back. Thermaltake point to its Water 3.0 Performer and Pro CLCs as being supported.

The front panel is located on the left hand side, with power/reset buttons, two USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks.

One of the key elements of the Core V1, apart from the design and the visuals, was the price. During Computex I was told that Thermaltake was aiming at a US$50 MSRP, which caught the eye of a number of our readers. The Core V1 is currently listed at Newegg for $49.99, hitting that price right on the nose.

Source: Thermaltake

Gallery: Thermaltake Goes Small: Core V1 mini-ITX Chassis Launched

A critical vulnerability in all recent versions of Samba could put users on the receiving end of attacks that allow hackers on the same local network to run programs with nearly unfettered administrative privileges.

Samba is an open source implementation of the file-sharing components of Microsoft Windows. Most Linux releases and a wide variety of other operating systems use Samba to handle file-sharing with Windows systems.

The newly discovered bug can be exploited by sending specially manipulated traffic to a vulnerable system. The remote code execution vulnerability resides in Samba's nmbd NetBIOS name service daemon and is the result of the daemon incorrectly handling certain memory operations. The bug was found and fixed by Volker Lendecke, a Samba Team member working for SerNet.

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Truth be told, I am a fan of closed-loop liquid cooling systems. While they might be more expensive than air coolers of similar performance, they tend to be quieter, less bulky and use fan mounts already in the case. What Thermaltake is doing with the new Water 3.0 Ultimate seems to be providing the bulkier solution with better cooling for users with larger cases. The Water 3.0 series, from Performer to Extreme, uses the standard sized CLC configurations and the new Ultimate takes on the 3x120mm form factor with relatively little competition.

In liquid cooling systems, longer radiators mean a longer retention time for the liquid to cool down. Custom loops, especially those dealing with multiple components (CPU + GPU, or >2 GPU) use either longer radiators, thicker radiators or more radiators to help generate this delta. In some cases, radiators are put between the two hot components to maximize the delta of cooler air coming in. The downside of more radiators is resistive pressure in the system, so it helps to have a pump to compensate. Thermaltake is not quoting the efficiency or flow rate of the pump, but do have it listed at 3600 RPM. Each of the three fans included with the Water 3.0 Ultimate is rated for 99 CFM at 20 dBA, but no static pressure (the key figure in pushing air through a restrictive medium) is quoted.

All modern sockets are supported (1150/1155/1156, 1366, 2011-0/2011-3, AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2), and I can imagine that this unit has a price premium over the more common 2x120mm configuration. We have no pricing information as of yet but will update when we do.

Note that Thermaltake is not averse to large water cooling systems: we spotted this 3x180mm radiator for custom loops at Computex this year:

Now, I wonder what a CLC version of that would cost.

Source: Thermaltake

Gallery: Thermaltake Goes Big: Water 3.0 Ultimate CLC Launched, 3x120mm

Marine scientists have explored an underwater mountain off the west coast of Scotland for the first time.

Hundreds of flowers and tributes laid outside Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in remembrance of the victims of the Malaysian airliner which crashed in Ukraine are being moved to a new location.

Ganesh recently reviewed the ECS LIVA, a mini-PC aimed at the nettop market to replace basic office machines, library computers coming out of XP support and digital signage, among other uses with its Bay Trail-M SoC. One of the key points of the ECS LIVA, apart from the minute form factor, was its use of eMMC via the SDIO rather than SATA connectivity. One comment Ganesh made was in relation to the size of this eMMC – given that it is not upgradable a 64 GB edition would be welcomed. This is not surprising – I would want more storage in a cased PC than my smartphone. It was the point of view echoed by several reviews of the LIVA, and ECS is releasing a white 64 GB to help drive this market.

There is no indication if this upgrade is double density eMMC or multiplying the number of ICs on the motherboard itself, as each of these options would impact storage performance. All other specifications (Celeron N2806, Gigabit Ethernet, 2x2 802.11 WiFi) are identical. At Computex, ECS showcased the LIVA as a system ripe for modifications in terms of aesthetics, and the white design might help those users skip a step for a base coat.

The 64 GB White Edition should be available sometime in August. We are asking about the pricing increase over the 32 GB edition.

Source: ECS

A limited Israeli "humanitarian" ceasefire is under way in parts of Gaza, but there are reports of attacks on both sides of the border after the ceasefire began.

Mark Lowen tests the mood on the streets of Cairo as a seven-hour truce continues in Gaza.

Version:next-20140804 (linux-next) Released:2014-08-04

With every generation, motherboard manufacturers are increasingly using social media to provide teasers about their upcoming products. MSI had already shown one of its X99 motherboards, or at least a pre-production sample, at Computex but now another has surfaced via Facebook. The X99S SLI PLUS seems to come in an all-black delivery, although judging by the dull-ness of the rear panel one might suggest that MSI reduced the color palette to a grey scale but some red color in the USB 3.0 is still there.

Aside from the LGA2011-3 socket cover which is different to LGA2011-0, this X99 motherboard will support eight DIMMs with the power delivery isolated to above the CPU only. It looks like a single 8-pin ATX power connector, and we can tell that this motherboard is not part of MSI’s OC range as there are no overclocking buttons in the top right of the motherboard.

There are two USB 3.0 headers on the right, followed by eight SATA 6 Gbps ports. Storage also comes via a SATA Express (which has two more SATA ports) and an M.2, although as of yet we do not know whether X99 will support more than one PCIe storage device for Intel’s RST at a time, so there may still be some context of storage bandwidth switching similar to Z97. I see at least five fan headers on this motherboard, along with two USB 2.0 headers at the bottom as well as MSI’s usual power/reset/OC Genie buttons. Worth noting is the lack of a two-digit debug display.

The X99S SLI PLUS sounds like it will be aimed at a gaming crowd, however the audio portion of the motherboard looks significantly regular, more akin to a stock ALC1150 or ALC898 audio codec implementation. MSI also lists the number of PCB layers it uses on the bottom right of its boards, and this looks like an 8-layer implementation.

Teasers are great, although we cannot tell more about the storage controllers used until we get more information about the X99 chipset – whether it supports M.2/SATAe, how many SATA ports, how many USB 3.0 ports and so on. The MSI X99S SLI PLUS seems to come across as a mid-range X99 motherboard overall, especially when we consider what has been on X79 motherboards in the past.

Source: Facebook, MSI Malaysia Fanclub