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.
Get your first look at a OnePlus 9 prototype by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-14 17:20 (#5BMRP) Even the cheaper OnePlus 9 will have a 120Hz display this year.
Millions of videos purged from Pornhub amid crackdown on user content by Kate Cox on 2020-12-14 17:07 (#5BMRQ) Almost 2/3 of content “suspended” as Pornhub scrambles following NYT report.
Amid massive bugs, CDPR offers refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-14 16:07 (#5BMNV) Studio promises patches in next two months will fix “most prominent problems.”
Virgin Galactic’s stock price drops following failed spaceflight attempt by Eric Berger on 2020-12-14 14:55 (#5BMG1) “As we do with every test flight, we are evaluating all the data.”
The Ars Technica ultimate holiday gift guide 2020 by Jeff Dunn on 2020-12-14 12:00 (#5BMAW) We propose some last-minute tech gift ideas for the various people in your life.
Russian hackers hit US government using widespread supply chain attack by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-14 07:29 (#5BM2H) Russia’s Cozy Bear is trojanizing business software to infect organizations worldwide.
Stroll down memory lane with this 1996 instructional video on How to Internet by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-13 21:54 (#5BKQE) Everything You Need to Know About... Introduction to the Internet is on the Internet Archive.
We have a winner in the world’s first quantum chess tournament by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-13 19:23 (#5BKKV) It’s like playing in a multiverse “but the different boards are connected to each other.”
Phosphorus equivalent of graphene makes reconfigurable transistors by John Timmer on 2020-12-13 14:00 (#5BKBY) May be useful for security, as it’s hard to tell how the circuitry might execute.
VR meetings are weird, but they beat our current reality by WIRED on 2020-12-13 12:26 (#5BKA0) VR app called Arthur lets you, distant colleagues collaborate within a 3D meeting space.
Zodiac Killer cipher is cracked after eluding sleuths for 51 years by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-12 16:11 (#5BJMS) Northern California serial murderer sent encoded messages that went uncracked until now.
Oracle joins Silicon Valley’s Texas exodus by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-12 15:30 (#5BJMT) Elon Musk revealed he had moved to Texas earlier this week.
Copyright law is bricking your game console. Time to fix that by WIRED on 2020-12-12 15:00 (#5BJK8) Op-ed: An exemption to the DMCA could make DIY console repairs possible—and legal.
The Christchurch shooter and YouTube’s radicalization trap by WIRED on 2020-12-12 11:50 (#5BJF9) Researchers say YouTube's policies and algorithms are still too opaque.
FDA has authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine [Updated] by Beth Mole on 2020-12-12 04:25 (#5BHYN) FDA head had been told to submit his resignation if vaccine wasn’t approved Friday.
Apple is full-steam ahead on replacing Qualcomm modems with its own by Samuel Axon on 2020-12-11 20:56 (#5BHYP) SVP Johny Srouji told Apple employees that development kicked off this year.
Apple’s app store is an illegal monopoly, rival Cydia claims in suit by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-11 20:15 (#5BHW3) Apple argues the iPhone and its app store are part of the same product.
Where do I go now that CentOS Linux is gone? Check our list by Jim Salter on 2020-12-11 20:10 (#5BHW4) CentOS was the most famous "RHEL rebuild" by far—but there are others.
Facebook says hackers backed by Vietnam’s government are linked to IT firm by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-11 19:43 (#5BHW5) Group is known for its robust, custom-made malware. IT firm says the link is a mistake.