Sony delists PlayStation version of Cyberpunk 2077, offers refunds to all owners by Sam Machkovech on 2020-12-18 02:34 (#5BSX6) Follows abysmal performance issues on base PS4; no word yet if Xbox will follow suit.
Microsoft is reportedly added to the growing list of victims in SolarWinds hack by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-17 23:36 (#5BSRN) Other reported victims include the Energy Department nuke security administration.
Moderna vaccine gets the thumbs-up for emergency use by John Timmer on 2020-12-17 22:44 (#5BSPK) A daylong meeting results in a decisive vote: 20 for, none against.
Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett, has passed away by Sam Machkovech on 2020-12-17 22:06 (#5BSPM) News confirmed by the actor who played childhood Boba in prequels.
Google committed “antitrust evils,” colluded with Facebook, new lawsuit says by Kate Cox on 2020-12-17 22:00 (#5BSPN) The AGs of 52 US states and territories are joining the feds to sue Google.
Tesla Cybertruck Hot Wheels toy ships late—just like real Tesla cars by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-17 21:29 (#5BSMB) Elon Musk can't be blamed for this production delay.
SolarWinds hack that breached gov networks poses a “grave risk” to the nation by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-17 20:56 (#5BSHQ) Nuclear weapons agency among those breached by state-sponsored hackers.
Twitter repeals retweet roadblocks, Facebook follows suit by Jim Salter on 2020-12-17 20:45 (#5BSHR) Both Twitter and Facebook are winding down some temporary emergency measures.
Google kills Android Things, its IoT OS, in January by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-17 20:25 (#5BSHS) Google promised three years of updates at launch but stopped updates after one year.
Looking into the genetics of severe COVID-19 by John Timmer on 2020-12-17 19:55 (#5BSEV) Genetics may underlie some of the variability in people's symptoms.
“Simp,” “incel” part of newly banned insults on Twitch by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-17 17:11 (#5BS9C) New policies also tighten restrictions on sexual harassment, hateful content.
MindGeek: The secretive owner of Pornhub and RedTube by Financial Times on 2020-12-17 16:30 (#5BS68) Porn is everywhere, but the company that owns the most popular sites is out of sight.
China collects Moon samples, may not share with NASA due to Wolf Amendment by Eric Berger on 2020-12-17 15:53 (#5BS3Q) The country returned about 2kg of rocks from the Moon's surface.
Amazon’s answer to SpaceX Starlink delivers 400Mbps in prototype phase by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-17 15:00 (#5BS0B) Amazon offers peek into development of antenna for Project Kuiper user terminal.
Don’t try this at home: George’s Marvelous Medicine is quite toxic by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-17 12:52 (#5BRVP) Roald Dahl's classic children's story proved "remarkably accurate" about toxic effects.
“Evil mobile emulator farms” used to steal millions from US and EU banks by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-17 12:41 (#5BRVQ) Scale of operation is unlike anything researchers had seen before.
As the world quieted down in 2020, Raspberry Shakes listened by Ars Contributors on 2020-12-17 12:10 (#5BRSP) Humble Raspberry Pis helped scientists track the seismic noise people stopped making in 2020.
HBO Max patches its Roku hole six months after launch by Sam Machkovech on 2020-12-17 00:59 (#5BRBT) Adds over 100 million potential users; follows deals for PlayStation 5, Amazon Fire.
Qualcomm promises three years of Android updates for its entire SoC lineup by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-16 23:40 (#5BR8R) The new plan is three years of major OS updates and four years of security updates.
Google bought CloudReady, the largest ChromiumOS distribution by Jim Salter on 2020-12-16 23:26 (#5BR8S) Google says it will continue to offer the free-as-in-beer Home edition.
What makes The Expanse so great: Good science, balancing epic with personal by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-16 20:43 (#5BR39) Ars chatted with showrunner Naren Shankar and writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.
Up to 3 million devices infected by malware-laced Chrome and Edge add-ons by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-16 19:58 (#5BR3A) Security firm identifies 28 malicious extensions hosted by Google and Microsoft.
40 GirlsDoPorn victims sue Pornhub for hosting “sex trafficking” videos by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-16 19:36 (#5BR0W) Pornhub owner "knew GirlsDoPorn was trafficking its victims," lawsuit alleges.
Google sees major services outages two days in a row by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-16 17:29 (#5BQV7) Some users are still reporting problems, especially if they use a third-party client.
Astra set up a rocket launch with five people and came within seconds of orbit by Eric Berger on 2020-12-16 17:06 (#5BQV8) "It's a really nice Christmas present for the team."
Bitcoin price passes $20,000, setting new record by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-16 16:42 (#5BQR3) The value of the world's bitcoins is around $380 billion.
Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-16 14:08 (#5BQFD) Join hundreds of readers who have donated over $23,000 so far.
FDA authorizes use of a nonprescription home COVID test by John Timmer on 2020-12-15 23:59 (#5BPWQ) Test works with a cellphone app that can alert local health authorities.
FDA releases data on Moderna’s COVID vaccine: It looks good [Updated] by John Timmer on 2020-12-15 22:10 (#5BP8H) Data drop comes ahead of a potential Emergency Use Authorization on Thursday.
Uber defends sexual assault victims’ privacy, gets fined $59 million by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-15 21:53 (#5BPRE) Victim rights group RAINN said Calif. request risks "re-traumatization of victims."
Apple’s watchOS 7.2 is out, offers new health and fitness metrics by Jim Salter on 2020-12-15 20:58 (#5BPP5) Apple's health-monitoring claims go far beyond those from typical fitness gear.
iPhone factory workers say they haven’t been paid, cause millions in damages by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-15 20:29 (#5BPMC) Dramatic video shows employees smashing windows in response to pay disputes.
The Super-est SuperFX: An unmodified SNES, revved up with ray tracing [Updated] by Sam Machkovech on 2020-12-15 20:05 (#5BPMD) FPGA board adds real-time RT effects, "sticks to the broad spirit of '90s technology."
Alan Tudyk plays a crime-solving alien in disguise in Resident Alien trailer by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-15 19:49 (#5BPHJ) Syfy series is adapted from the Dark Horse comics by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.
The Orion spacecraft is now 15 years old and has flown into space just once by Eric Berger on 2020-12-15 19:35 (#5BPHK) It was supposed to be the beginning of the Mars era.
Senator tries to block Frontier’s FCC funding, citing ISP’s various failures by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-15 19:05 (#5BPHM) Senator: Frontier mismanaged previous funds and shouldn’t get new gigabit money.
Canada set to raise carbon price considerably over next decade by Scott K. Johnson on 2020-12-15 17:46 (#5BPBT) Plan extends price trajectory to CAN$170 per ton by 2030.
CDPR admits it “ignored the signals” of Cyberpunk 2077’s console issues by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-15 17:18 (#5BPBV) Refund requests are dependent on console/retailer policies, CDPR says.
Pinterest agrees to $22.5 million settlement in discrimination lawsuit by Kate Cox on 2020-12-15 17:09 (#5BPBW) Settlement is one of the largest ever in this kind of case, Brougher's lawyer said.
The Google Home Max is dead—Google shuts down production by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-15 16:39 (#5BP8F) The Home Max was $400. It weighed 12 pounds. It was probably too expensive.
Modern Vintage Gamer talks dev details and hardware hackery by Lee Hutchinson on 2020-12-15 16:10 (#5BP8G) Maker, breaker, emulator co-developer, YouTuber—MVG's been around the block.
EU warns that it may break up Big Tech companies by Financial Times on 2020-12-15 15:28 (#5BP50) Repeat offenses under new rules will trigger action to force divestments.
The Audi R8 V10 performance: They won’t make them like this much longer by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-12-15 13:23 (#5BNZB) A mild midlife facelift does nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for the R8.
SolarWinds hackers have a clever way to bypass multi-factor authentication by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-15 03:00 (#5BNEB) Hackers who hit SolarWinds compromised a think tank three separate times.
Twenty years later, Dungeons & Dragons gets another movie adaptation by Sam Machkovech on 2020-12-15 00:55 (#5BNA4) Co-director clinches a Freaks & Geeks full-circle conclusion.
FTC kicks off sweeping privacy probe of nine major social media firms by Kate Cox on 2020-12-14 21:45 (#5BN3X) Consumer privacy has fallen into the FTC's purview, so it's digging deep.
SpaceX won “rural” FCC funding in surprising places, like major airports by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-14 21:20 (#5BN3Y) Starlink and other ISPs took advantage of broken FCC system, researcher says.
EA set to pay $1.2 billion for Codemasters and its stable of racing games by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-14 20:38 (#5BN1H) $1.2 billion purchase is part of a trend of game industry consolidation.
~18,000 organizations downloaded backdoor planted by Cozy Bear hackers by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-14 20:26 (#5BN1J) Russia-backed hackers use supply chain attack to infect public and private organizations.
COVID-19 vaccine rollout starts in the US by John Timmer on 2020-12-14 18:00 (#5BMVQ) White House cancels a plan to move its staff to the front of the line.