Novermber 4th, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

https://youtu.be/9Dy1NVCSlVI

 

Soundcloud Link: TBD

Main News Topics

Google’s AI Created its own form of Encryption

Source 1: https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/28/google-ai-created-its-own-form-of-encryption/

Source 2: https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.06918

• Researchers from Google Brain deep learning project have already taught AI systems to make works of art

  • Now moving onto something potentially darker: AI-generated, human-independent encryption

  • Googlers martin Abadi and David G. Anderson have allowed three subjects - neural networks named Alice, Bob and Eve - to pass each other notes using an encryption method they created themselves

• They assigned each AI a task: Alice had to send a secret message that only Bob could read, while Eve would try to figure out how to eavesdrop and decode using cipher key

  • At first, Alice and Bob were bad at hiding their secrets, but over the course of 15,000 attempts Alice worked out her own encryption strategy and Bob simultaneously figured out how to decrypt it

• Message was only 16 bits long, with each bit being a 1 or a 0

• Eve was only able to guess half of the bits in the message

  • Means she was basically just flipping a coin or guessing at random

• Researchers don’t know what kind of encryption method Alice devised, so it won’t be useful in any practical applications

VRMark Now Available

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/685314-vrmark-now-available/ OP: porina

Source 2: https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/VRMark-arrives

• Futuremark’s VRMark is available today via Steam or directly from Futuremark

  • Basic version is free

  • Advanced edition is $20, with a 25% discount for the first week of its release

• Difference between the two versions is the inclusion of the Blue Room in addition to the Orange Room

• Two rooms can be used to run either a standard benchmark or to enter Experience mode which lets you wander the room on your own

  • To get a feel for the headsets reprojection performance as well as spatial audio and an interactive flashlight to test lighting

VRMark Basic Edition - free download

• See if your PC meets the performance requirements for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

• Test your system's VR readiness with the Orange Room benchmark

• Explore the Orange Room in Experience mode

VRMark Advanced Edition - $19.99

• Unlock the Blue Room benchmark for high-performance PCs

• See detailed results and hardware monitoring charts

• Explore both rooms in Experience mode

• Make tests more or less demanding with custom settings.

EVGA Issues Patch to Stop its GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 Cards from Catching Fire

Source 1: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/11/3/13510238/evga-gefo

Source 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/580b8w/welp_my_evga_1070_ftw_j

• Patch issues to its GeForce 1080, 1070, and 1060 graphics cards

  • After some users reported their cards overheated and sometimes caught on fire

• Tom’s Hardware Germany initially reported an issue with EVGA’s cooling system

  • Site found the card reached up to 107 degrees celsius, or 224 degrees Fahrenheit

  • Happened when put under the Furmark stress test

• Tom’s noted that EVGA failed to include an adequate cooling solution

  • Company now trying to remedy through a VBIOS update that will speed up the fans so everything stays cool

• EVGA offering optional thermal pads for those who don’t feel a VBIOS update is sufficient

• Company will honor warranties as well, and replace affected cards with new updated ones

EVGA chart for people to see if their card is one of the affected

Google Fiber Division Cuts Staff by 9%, “pauses” fiber plans in 11 cities

Source 1: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/google-fib

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/25/13411912/alphabets-access-will-lay-

Source 3: http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.ca/2016/10/advancing-our-amazing-bet.html

• Access, the Alphabet division containing Google Fiber, will lay off employees and replace its CEO as it looks for cheaper ways to deliver internet service to new cities

• Access CEO Craig Barratt made the announcement in a blog post saying that he would only be staying on as an advisory role

  • Mentions that Access is “going to pause” operations in 11 cities

• Future of Access, seems to lie in wireless

• Access purchased the internet provider Webpass in June

  • Giving it the technology to begin deploying over-the-air gigabit internet to homes

• In theory, it provides the same service that fiber would, but without as many deployment hurdles

Uber Drivers Win Key Employment Case Against Uber

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/682160-uber-drivers-win-key-e OP: NinjaCode

Source 2: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37802386

• Uber drivers have won the right to be classed as workers rather than self-employed

• Ruling by a London employment tribunal means drivers for Uber will be entitled to holiday pay, rest breaks and the national minimum wage

• GMB union described the decision as a “monumental victory” for some 40,000 drivers in England and Wales

  • Uber said it would appeal against the ruling, that it had acted unlawfully

• Ruling accused Uber of “resorting in its documentation to fictions, twisted language and even brand new terminology”

  • Adding: “The notion that Uber in London is a mosaic of 30,000 small businesses linked by a common ‘platform’ is to our mind faintly ridiculous

  • “What is happening at Uber is just the tip of the iceberg. Lots of people are now trapped in insecure jobs, with low pay and no voice at work. We need the government to get tough on sham self-employment

 

Rapid Fire

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp Shutdown in Turkey

Source 1: https://turkeyblocks.org/2016/11/04/social-media-shutdown-turkey/

• TurkeyBlocks has confirmed that Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have been blocked by throttling in Turkey

  • PICTURE OF TWEET

• Incident is believed to be related to detention of multiple leaders of opposition political party HDP

  • Accompanied by raids of the HDP headquarters in Ankara

• TurkeyBlocks monitoring probes have identified throttling at the ISP level as the source of slowdowns

  • Shutdown was first detected by national provider TTNet, Turkcell and other major ISPs

• Smaller providers have not yet been affected as of Nov 4th, 2016

• VPN tunnels have proven to be an effective means of circumvention for users determined to work around network throttling

Razer Mocks Apple MacBook Pro with Crude ‘Humor’

Source 1: https://www.cnet.com/news/razer-mocks-apple-with-crude-humor-sd-joke-twitter

Source 2: https://mic.com/articles/158278/razer-computers-tweet-apple-s-my-d#.GsLp6BRgh

• On Tuesday, Razer posted a tweet that said “You call yourself Pro? S my D”

  • Accompanied by a picture of a Razer Blade Pro that has an SD slot

• Mic.com posts that “Razer’s tweet doesn’t just reflect the lack of women in the gaming industry: It also shines a harsh light on the dismissive and hostile attitude many men have towards women gamers”

• Engineer Kelly Ellis summed up the reaction: “Razer doesn’t want women as customers”

Screenshot of the Tweet

• Razer responded via Twitter

  • “We’re not looking to offend - just proud of our SD card slot, which is becoming increasingly rare”

Boosted Tells People to Stop Riding its Electric Skateboards After Battery Malfunctions

Source 1: http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/3/13506242/boosted-warning-battery-electric-sk

Source 2: https://boostedboards.com/important-battery-information/

• Boosted has put out a release regarding “Important Battery Information”

  • “On two separate occasions, a lithium battery cell has vented inside the battery pack of the 2nd generation Boosted board”

  • “Fortunately, no one was injured and no property was damaged”

  • “We strongly urge all riders with 2nd generation boards to stop riding and stop charging them until we’ve completed our investigation”

  • “If your 2nd generation battery shows signs of venting, which includes any smoke or the battery pack becoming warm, please move the board to a safe location outside and contact us”

H440 Hyper Beast Confirmed

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/684345-h440-hyper-beast-confir OP: Clanscorpia

Source 2: https://www.nzxt.com/product-overview/h440-hyper-beast

• Collaboration between NZXT and Brock Hofer, the graphic artist behind the Hyper Beast

• PICTURE OF CASE

• Has a one-time production of 1,337 units

  • Each with a unique-numbered, limited edition plaque

Wii U Production Ending this Week

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/684355-wii-u-produ OP: goodtofufriday

Source 2: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-11-01-nintendo-to-end-wii-u-produ

• Slated to end Nov 4, 2016, today

• As of Sep 30th, Nintendo has shipped 13.36 million Wii U consoles

  • GameCube sold 21m

  • N64 sold 32m

  • Wii sold 101m

• Nintendo focusing on the switch

  • Will reveal more details at an event to be held on January 13th

Worldwide Tablet Sales Down Almost 15%

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/684692-worldwide-tabl OP: goodtofufriday

Source 2: http://in.pcmag.com/microsoft-surface-3/109519/news/low-cost-detachables-i

• Response for tablets is still going down

  • According to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC)

• Vendors shipped 43 million units in Q3, 2016

  • Year-over-year decline of 14.7%

• Low cost detachable/convertible machines with a sub-$200 price tag received a considerable rise in sale numbers

  • Senior research analyst with IDC, Jitesh Ubrani said “Unfortunately, many low-cost detachables also deliver a low-cost experience”

Adobe Publishing Panel in Premiere Pro

Source 1: https://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/slay-on-social-introducing-the

• Piloting a new streamlined workflow in Premiere Pro

  • For publishing videos to social media

  • Cross-platform social publishing and performance tracking, strategic recommendations to achieve peak performance

  • Abilities to save custom keyword sets and upload custom thumbnails

• Things they’ve learned there’s a need for:

• A streamlined publishing workflow that lets you optimize your videos for the unique needs of each individual social media platform

• A way to manage the different versions of videos (renditions) you’ve created, optimized for the specs and metadata each platform requires

• Strategic, personalized recommendations to help you understand what is working and why

• Fast ways to make your video stand out, show up in search, and gain views

• Easy-to-understand performance tracking across all of your different social destinations

• Can apply here to join the private beta program

Samsung Sets up Airport Kiosks for Last-minute Galaxy Note 7 Exchanges

Source 1: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/samsung-sets-up-airport

• Exchange kiosks will keep you from breaking the law

• Flying with the phone in the US is now illegal

• Samsung is setting up booths ahead of security checkpoints in busy airports to swap out phones

• This way, travelers won’t have their phones confiscated by airports or airlines

• Samsung’s official site only lists Australian airports, but ABC News has spotted a kiosk in San Francisco International Airport as well

• Working on bringing kiosks to other busy airports in the U.S. as well

Samsung Recalling Almost 2.8M Washers Due to Impact Injuries

Source 1: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/samsung-recalling-alm

• Following reports of “impact injuries” that included a broken jaw

• Problem stems from unbalanced drums

  • Which can separate from the washer and generate enough internal force to cause other parts of the washer to detach

  • And in some cases, be launched out of the machine

• Samsung is also the subject of an August lawsuit from owners who said their machines “explode during normal use”

• Customers with an affected model should contact Samsung for a repair kit, rebate, or full refund

Microsoft has Lost Over 300 Million Browser users in 2016, mostly to Chrome, Tracking site shows

Source 1: http://www.businessinsider.com/300-million-users-ditched-microsoft-browse

• IE and Edge have lost about 331 million users, reports Gregg Keizer from Computerworld, based on Net Applications

  • A website that tracks market share of operating systems and browsers on the internet

• Microsoft’s new browser Edge, came baked into nearly 400 million computers using Windows 10

• Internet Explorer began the year at about 44% of market share, ended in October at about 23%

• Edge started the year with about 3%, ended in October at 5%

• Chrome started at 35% market share, ended in October at 55%

Graph of Browser Market Share from Net Applications

Soylent Halt Sales of its Powder as customers keep getting sick

Source 1: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-so

• They reported that a handful of customers reported stomach sickness after consuming it

• In an announcement, Soylent said there appears to be a common ingredient that’s causing trouble in the latest version of the product’s snack bar and powder

  • They also said the investigation isn’t complete

• Soylent said there shouldn’t be any problems with the premade drinks

• Soylent urged customers discomforted by version 1.6 of its powder to toss it

  • Newly formulated powder and bar should be available by early next year at the latest

32GB Iphone 7 Isn’t ‘Slow’

Source 1: http://m.imore.com/no-32-gb-iphone-isnt-slow-or-how-storage-work

• Few stories going around right now, some about the 32GB iPhone 7 exhibiting slower storage speeds when compared to the 128GB or 256GB iPhone 7

• Apple doubled the density to go from iPhone 6s to the iPhone 7, using more chips

  • When you add more chips, they don’t work sequentially, they work in parallel. In other words, the more chips you add, the faster the performance becomes

Kodak’s New Phone - Ektra

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/678343-heres-kodaks-new-phon OP: TidaLWaveZ

Source 2: http://www.kodakphones.com/ektra/

• Kodak Ektra

• A “photography first” smartphone

• Unique hybrid of photography innovation and DSLR functionality that puts creative control in your hands

Specifications

• Helio X-20 Decacore processor

• 3000mAh battery

• 3GB RAM

• 32GB, expandable with MicroSD

• 5” Full HD display (441ppi) (1920 x 1080 resolution)

• 21MP main camera with Aperture f2.0

• Optical image stabilisation and auto focus

• 13MP front-facing camera

• Phase Detection Auto Focus & HDR Imaging

• 4K Video Capture

Apple Airpods Delayed Indefinitely Beyond Original “Late October” window

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/681351-apple-airpods-dela OP: GoodBytes

Source 2: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/apple-earpods-indefinitely-delay

• Apple has confirmed that the new $180 USD AirPods have swept the “late October” date off the table

• Apple told Ars Technica that the company “needs a little more time before AirPods are ready for customers”

• They declined to offer an estimate or release window information about when to expect the AirPods official launch

VR Headsets and Herpes

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/681181-vr-headsets-and-herpes/ OP: NumLock21

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/26/13420318/virtual-reality-headset-ocular-her

• Anonymous chat transcript suggested that vr headsets were spreading herpes

• Copy of Transcript and Tweet

• According to logs posted by YouTube game streamer Drift0r

• Ocular herpes refers to a range of eye conditions generally caused by same herpes simplex virus behind cold sores

  • Symptoms include: redness, discomfort, blurry vision, and light sensitivity

  • Mild forms clear up within a couple weeks and can be easily mistaken for pink eye

• It’s “highly unlikely, but not absolutely impossible,” that someone could get ocular herpes through a VR headset, says Todd Margolis, chair of the Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

• “The odds would be like the odds of transmitting herpes on toilet seats”

• General consensus is that VR developers should keep antimicrobial wipes or covers around show booths

•  

[suchamoneypit]

You used black on black for night theme users on your own forum

@nicklmg proper punishment must be given for this heinous act

""

[CookieMaster]

New Razer Blade Pro sounds expensive, any word on price yet? Just curious.

3 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Yo Linus you're almost never on this forum, what gives?

Searching for ideas because he is #OutOfIdeas 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Yo Linus you're almost never on this forum, what gives?

trying to give Linus attention is useless. Just like me trying to recommend blue parts. At least my idea get me banned

[Guest]

Just now, wrathoftheturkey said:

I'm über goth (wearing all black rn smh) so I would start a black theme but damn are those WD Blacks expensive (still the only sexy hard drive to date though)

you know apart from black sticker the hdd is metallic bright?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

But it does the stickers so well....

And there's always paint for the rest.

but wd blue is black apart from sticker, rest is black

[Dionyz]

This whole stream cuts out audio on and off. Like every 30 seconds to one minute it cuts audio for about 5 seconds... Many times during the whole stream

 

Never mind you guys know..

[Pyrii]

Your own forum has an entire topic about the Nintendo Switch, I know I posted multiple images and better ones than your BBC source, but it seems you ignored the topic entirely since you were grasping for details and names.

 

EDIT: Well done to Razor for making the show pretty hard to hear. The Irony was not lost on me.

 

EDIT2: The Japanese name of the console is: Nintendo Switch (ニンテンドースイッチ / nintendo-suichi)

[Pylinaer]

Came here to throw in a few things about this WAN show.

 

1. Luke was wearing a Polo.

2. I don't know if you use a capture card in the WAN show, but it appeared that there was some framerate issues during this episode along with the audio drops. They were not co-ordinated though in regards to when they occurred. I would consider possibly looking into that, whether the framerate is an issue on the production of the show, or if it gained the issue during upload to twitch/youtube. (I watched on youtube)

[Snadzies]

Is THX even relevant anymore?

I could not even tell you the last time I saw a movie, TV show or any other form of media with a THX logo and/or iconic sound test.

[Jishaku]

I bought a PG279Q and a HTC Vive when I earned money, thinking that I would be able to afford a cool GPU too but should just wait on the next generation.

Now I was kicked out of my families house got a way worse 10h Job, and Study full time at University so yes I "need" a 1080 but can't seem to get one within the next 3 years -.-

 

[xnamkcor]

The reason old cart based systems didn't need to "load" was that the cart acted as directly accessible storage memory.

 

Which is not true with Flash media like SSDs or SD. It's faster than optical, but using an SD card will not be the same as the cart.

[John Pombrio]

Possible fix for Windows 10 background services having a ton of CPU usage:

TURN OFF ALL BACKGROUND APPS in Windows 10. On my i7-4790K CPU, it was using 8-10% of my CPU usage! Nothing open, just sitting in desktop wallpaper. Go To Start Menu>Settings>Privacy>Background Apps and turn them all off. My CPU usage went to less than 1%.

Link to my post at tenforums:

http://www.tenforums.com/performance-maintenance/67195-appxscv-has-high-cpu-usage-turn-off-privacy-background-apps.html#post845169

[nowa]

Plz, fix the audio!

[xnamkcor]

4 hours ago, nowa said:

Plz, fix the audio!

Good thing you told them, otherwise they may have forgotten.

[HimymCZe]

Linus is out...

LUKE FUCKED UP AGAIN...

 

Where the duck is Oct 21 WAN SHOW document and why is here the one from Nov 4?