September 21 2018 - WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

 

Main News Topics

NCIX Data breach

Source 1: Remog https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/974112-ncix-data-breach-2018/

Source 2: https://www.privacyfly.com/articles/ncix_breach/

 

• When NCIX went bankrupt, their company computers and servers went into the hands of various third parties.

• The machines had unencrypted data and were not wiped.

• Sensitive personal data spanning decades of business transactions was sold to multiple domestic and international buyers.

• RCMP tweet: https://twitter.com/RichmondRCMP/status/1043234549558329344

 

New Amazon Hardware

Source 1: https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-hardware-2018/

Source 2:

 

• Amazon had its second annual fall hardware event to showcase all the latest in Echo and Alexa-integrated products yesterday and boy did they announce a lot of stuff:

  • Echo Auto: an in-car accessory that allows you to integrate Alexa into your car.

    • can connect to your car through a 3.5mm aux jack, or by connecting over a smartphone’s existing Bluetooth setup. Cannot connect directly to car via bluetooth

    • piggybacks onto your phone for a connection back to the cloud.

    • runs off an included cigarette lighter Micro USB cable

    • $49.99, offered at a discounted invite price of $24.99 for early users.

    • Shipping begins for invited users later this year.

  • Amazon Echo Sub, a subwoofer that allows for multi room audio, will release on October 11th and cost $129.99

    • 100W, 6” sub

    • Must pair with other Echo

  • Amazon Fire TV Recast, a DVR box that can store TV shows and movies for viewing at home or on the go, will release on November 14th and start at $229

  • Ring Stick Up camera is set to release on October 18th for $179.99

    • Lets you see, hear and speak to people from your phone, tablet or PC

  • Amazon Smart Plug adds voice control to anything plugged in, and it will cost $24.99 when it’s released on October 11th

    • Schedule lights, fans, and appliances to turn on and off automatically, or control them remotely when you’re away

  • AmazonBasics microwave with Alexa voice functionality will cost $59.99 when it releases on November 14th

    • Adds alexa to your kitchen without taking up any more space

      • ….except that it needs to be paired with an Echo

    • You don’t want to learn how to do things on a microwave

      • Comes with presets

    • Microwave UI is usually crap, probably easier with voice

  • Amazon Echo Wall Clock

    • Set timers on your paired Echo device with your voice and your clock will display the time remaining, as well as a countdown for the last 60 seconds.

    • $30

  • Amazon Echo Input, a device that brings voice functionality to your current speakers, will launch for $34.99

    • Basically an echo dot without the speaker. $15 cheaper.

  • Amazon Echo Link Amp claims to power speakers and bring modern features, like music streaming and voice, to speakers you already own.

    • will release for $299.99

 

Rumour: Google’s Chinese search engine links searches to phone numbers

Source 1: https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/14/17861962/google-china-dragonfly-censorship-search-engine-phone-number-link-report

Source 2:

 

• Google is taking a second crack at offering its search engine in China.

  • Google pulled out of mainland China in 2010 after discovering a phishing attack targeting human rights activists.

• This time, to comply with the Chinese government’s censorship requirements, Google is reportedly building a prototype system that would tie Chinese users’ Google searches to their personal phone numbers.

• Google hasn’t confirmed the existence of this project. Its previously said that it’s only doing “exploratory” work on a search service in China and that it’s “not close to launching a search product” in the country.

• Around 1,400 Google employees have allegedly signed a letter demanding more information about the project, which reportedly runs in partnership with a Chinese company.

  • Apparently 5 employees have left because of the project

 

What’s Coming Out on Floatplane? Go Over Current Week.

Rapid Fire

Vulkan 1.1.85 Released With Raytracing NVIDIA Extensions

Source 1: posted by Sniperfox47 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/973927-vulkan-support-for-rtx-now-shipped/

Source 2: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Vulkan-1.1.85-Released

 

• Vulcan driver update 1.1.85  has brought support for Nvidia RTX

  • VK_NVX_raytracing extension to enable a ray-tracing workflows

    • currently a NVIDIA experimental extension but will be stabilized moving forward

    • eventually there will likely be an official Vulkan ray-tracing extension backed by multiple vendors.

  • VK_NV_mesh_shader, VK_NV_compute_shader_derivatives,

  • VK_NV_corner_sampled_image, VK_NV_fragment_shader_barycentric,

  • VK_NV_representative_fragment_test, VK_NV_scissor_exclusive,

  • VK_NV_shader_image_footprint, and VK_NV_shading_rate_image

 

First Uncensored Adult Steam Game Banned in 28 Countries

Source 1: matrix07012 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/973622-first-uncensored-adult-game-for-steam-gets-banned-in-28-countries/

Source 2: https://nichegamer.com/2018/09/17/first-uncensored-adult-game-for-steam-gets-banned-in-28-countries/

 

• Negligee: Love Stories is the first totally uncensored adult game on Steam launched last  Friday, September 14th

• Now the game has been banned in a number of countries for having uncensored naked anime girls.

  • Still available in US, Canada, and UK

• The company now worries they’ll face damages:

  • “If they fined or targeted steam as per our agreement with steam, we (Dharker Studios) would be liable for all costs and damages. which would end our company, we are a small indie developer and do not have the resources for such costs whilst making games.”

  • they might release future games with a censored edition as the main release, with “free or cheap mature content” as DLC.

 

Twitch blocked in China

Source 1: Knockerclot https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/974369-twitched-is-now-blocked-in-china/

Source 2: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45600272

 

• Twitch has received a uptick in Chinese viewership over the last few months as audiences flocked to watch eSports matches being played at the Asian Games in Jakarta- an event not broadcasted on state-run media in China.

  • Last month Twitch hit the No. 3 spot among free apps in China

  • downloads for the app on the week of August 27th rose 23 times higher than the previous week

• China performed well during the event and brought back two gold medals.

• But now, Twitch has been blocked in China with no official statement being released by Chinese authorities.

• The steady shutdown of access to Twitch was logged via social media in China.

  • viewers in many provinces reported that the site was suddenly unavailable in their region while it was still up elsewhere.

  • By the end of the week, Twitch was completely blocked.

• Some believe the blockage was a cautionary measure taken before

 

Europe (& Washington State) bands together to tackle lootbox problem

Source 1: Master Disaster https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/973214-most-of-europe-and-washington-state-bands-together-to-tackle-the-lootbox-problem/

Source 2: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-09-17-15-european-gambling-regulators-unite-to-tackle-loot-box-threat

 

• Less than a week after Belgium began a criminal investigation into FIFA's loot boxes, 15 gambling regulators from Europe and one from the US have together announced they will "address the risks created by the blurring of lines between gaming and gambling".

  • includes signatories from the UK, France, Ireland, Spain, and US (via the Washington State Gambling Commission).

• The key focus is "tackling unlicensed third-party websites offering illegal gambling linked to popular video games".

  • think back to skin betting site CS:GO Lounge, which allowed users to bet real money on a pot of their CS:GO items

  • Valve cracked down on the site in 2016.

• The regulators stated games providers must "ensure that features within games, such as loot boxes, do not constitute gambling under national laws".

  • more countries will now examine whether loot boxes can be classed as gambling.

• "We encourage video games companies to work with their gambling regulators and take action now to address those concerns to make sure that consumers, and particularly children, are protected."

• The international nature of the agreement is also significant.

  • Previous attempts at regulation have been taken by individual countries,

  • this approach may bring about coordinated and wide-spread regulatory changes: ones which could potentially be harsher than those taken by individual nations.

  • It hints some countries which previously stated they did not consider loot boxes to be gambling, such as the UK, may now re-evaluate the issue.

• regulators expect game companies to be more cooperative.

  • this is probably a direct response to Blizzard's recent statement claiming it disagreed with the Belgian Gaming Commission's "interpretation of Belgian law," and EA's complete refusal to remove loot boxes from FIFA in Belgium.

 

OnePlus is making TVs

Source 1: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/9/17/17868976/oneplus-tv-official-announced-pete-lau

Source 2: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/intelligent-connectivity-our-next-step-forward.905928/

 

• This week OnePlus announced that they will soon be making TVs

• There is no timeline, no specs, basically no information other than the announcement.

• Best known for its phones, OnePlus also has a small catalog of accessories like wireless earphones and backpacks.

 

Magic Leap is Bidding on an Army Combat Contract

Source 1: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-21/magic-leap-is-bidding-on-an-army-combat-contract?srnd=technology-vp

Source 2:

 

• Magic Leap Inc. is pushing to land a contract with the U.S. Army to build augmented-reality devices for soldiers to use on combat missions

  • Microsoft is also interested

• The contract could eventually lead to the military purchasing over 100,000 headsets as part of a program whose total cost could exceed $500 million

• It’s intended to “increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy,”

• During training, soldiers would wear the headsets to take part in platoon assaults, and respond to simulated ambushes and chemical attacks.

  • This practice warfare would be recorded from all angles, and could be analyzed afterward much like an NFL football team reviews game footage

• soldiers would also wear the devices into all types of combat situations, both during the day and at night.

  • digital images would show soldiers maps, or help them aim their weapons.

  • The devices would also be used for communication.

• In their final form, the Army expects the devices to incorporate night vision and thermal sensing, measure vital signs like breathing and “readiness,” monitor for concussions and offer hearing protection.

• The website lays out plans to award an initial contract this November.

  • Over the first two years of the project, the winning bidder would be expected to deliver 2,500 headsets, and exhibit the capacity for full-scale production.

 

NVIDIA Segregates Turing GPUs

Source 1: https://www.techpowerup.com/247660/nvidia-segregates-turing-gpus-factory-overclocking-forbidden-on-the-cheaper-variant

Source 2:

 

• NVIDIA's RTX 20-series graphics cards, each have not one, but two device IDs assigned to them- which is really weird.

  • NVIDIA has always used just one ID per SKU, no matter if custom-design, reference or Founders Edition.

• the device ID can be used to enable or lock certain features

• For Turing, NVIDIA is creating two device IDs per GPU to correspond to two different ASIC codes per GPU model

  • For example TU102-300 and TU102-300-A for the RTX 2080 Ti

• The Turing -300 variant is designated to be used on cards targeting the MSRP price point, while the 300-A variant is for use on custom-design, overclocked cards.

  • Both are the same physical chip, just separated by binning and pricing, which means NVIDIA pretests all GPUs and sorts them by properties such as overclocking potential, power efficiency, etc.

• When a board partner uses a -300 Turing GPU variant, factory overclocking is forbidden.

  • Both can be overclocked manually though, by the user, but it's likely that the overclocking potential on the lower bin won't be as high

• Separate device IDs could also prevent consumers from buying the cheapest card, with reference clocks, and flashing it with the BIOS from a faster factory-overclocked variant of that card

[Crunchy Dragon]

18 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

• When a board partner uses a -300 Turing GPU variant, factory overclocking is forbidden.

  • Both can be overclocked manually though, by the user, but it's likely that the overclocking potential on the lower bin won't be as high

So this is kind of like the 1070Ti in a way. I remember that was never factory overclocked, but could be manually overclocked.

[ExplodingTNT]

@LinusTechkinda disappointed that you weren't on the show tonight to talk about the NCIX thing, as you (were) probably the highest profile NCIX employee. Do you have any comments to add from your perspective?

[DrMacintosh]

Man, I hope Dharker Studios ends up being ok. Though to be fair, they are a pretty lazy studio and can't even test and support (what I can only assume to be) an OpenGL based title on Linux and macOS. 

[Daniel644]

just stop the microwave 5-10 seconds before the end of the popcorn setting and it's perfect.

 

but yeah if you are gonna put Alexa in something put it in the stove/oven.

[GDRRiley]

Well are you happy now you didn't buy the NCIX brand?

[PX4XKkRWMM]

18 hours ago, Daniel644 said:

just stop the microwave 5-10 seconds before the end of the popcorn setting and it's perfect.

 

but yeah if you are gonna put Alexa in something put it in the stove/oven.

If you ask Alexa to blast your popcorn or you click the preset manually it will (probably) burn it either way, since it'll be same (wrong) factory preset. However, with Alexa integration (if the device actually is smart enough) you should be able to tell Alexa the preset was wrong and have it fixed for the next time, and that would be actually great.

 

Also personally I know how all the functions of my microwave work and do use some of the presets. And I do see the added value of a voice controlled smart microwave (if it is smart enough) for a couple of reasons: reduction of manual operations needed; ability to create new and change presets.

[Daniel644]

3 hours ago, PX4XKkRWMM said:

If you ask Alexa to blast your popcorn or you click the preset manually it will (probably) burn it either way, since it'll be same (wrong) factory preset. However, with Alexa integration (if the device actually is smart enough) you should be able to tell Alexa the preset was wrong and have it fixed for the next time, and that would be actually great.

 

Also personally I know how all the functions of my microwave work and do use some of the presets. And I do see the added value of a voice controlled smart microwave (if it is smart enough) for a couple of reasons: reduction of manual operations needed; ability to create new and change presets.

but you still have to be at the machine to put whatever you are cooking in it in the first place, at this point it's like pulling the phone out of your pocket, unlocking the screen and saying "OK Google, Open Netflix" instead of hitting the Netflix button, at least with the Oven you need to preheat so you can tell it to start preheating from the living room and it can tell you when it's done and if it was a Range (cooktop and oven) you could also build a display into the area where the clock normally is and that display could show your recipes for what you are cooking and eventually with enough AI integration it could set itself based on what the recipe says, so it really could be something more then a gimmick like it is on the Microwave and Clock.