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US regulators grant DMCA exemption legalizing vehicle software tinkering

(credit: Jerk Alert Productions ) Every three years, the Librarian of Congress issues new rules on Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemptions. Acting Librarian David Mao, in an order (PDF) released Thursday, authorized the public to tinker with software in vehicles for “good faith security research” and for “lawful modification.” The decision comes in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, in which the German automaker baked bogus code into its software that enabled the automaker’s diesel vehicles to reduce pollutants below acceptable levels during emissions tests. “I am glad they granted these exemptions,” Sherwin Siy, said vice president for legal affairs for Public Knowledge in Washington, DC. “I am not glad it was necessary for them to do so in the first place.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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US regulators grant DMCA exemption legalizing vehicle software tinkering

Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backwards compatibility with November 12 update

The new Xbox One dashboard, as originally shown off in June. The new Xbox One dashboard, which will usher in a bunch of new features including Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, will be released on November 12. Confirmation came via a tweet by Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb very early this morning. Microsoft first showed off the “New Xbox One Experience” (that’s its official name) back at E3 in June. The dashboard interface has been completely overhauled: now, instead of looking like the Windows 8 Start screen, it looks a bit more like a Windows 10 app. The interface is very flat, with a heavy focus on typography. Perhaps most importantly, settings, games, social updates, and all of the good stuff is much more easily accessible with a gamepad. The primary focus of the new dashboard, you’ll be happy to hear, is to make it faster and easier to do things. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backwards compatibility with November 12 update

950 Pro review: Samsung’s first PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD is an absolute monster

(credit: Orestis Bastounis) The 950 Pro isn’t Samsung’s first consumer M.2 SSD, or even the company’s first PCIe M.2 drive. It is, however, Samsung’s first consumer M.2 and NVMe drive that uses the full performance of four PCIe 3.0 lanes. It is also an upgrade from its predecessor the SM951, in that it uses 3D V-NAND rather than planar NAND. Somewhat disappointingly, the 950 Pro comes in only two capacities for now: 256GB or 512GB, with a 1TB model promised for next year. Samsung is resolute in only producing single-sided M.2 devices to keep the drive’s thickness to a minimum, so the 1TB drive will have to wait until 48-layer 3rd-generation V-NAND is available. Thankfully, no 128GB model will be sold, indicating that 128GB SSDs may be on their way out. UK pricing is pegged at £150 for the 256GB model and £270 for 512GB; in the US, it’s $200 and $350, respectively. As always, expect some variation between retailers with these prices, and in these early days, prices may be slightly higher than what Samsung is quoting. We’re told that the 950 Pro will hit retailers today; we’ll update this story with some links when they first appear. Read 44 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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950 Pro review: Samsung’s first PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD is an absolute monster

Couple sues Pandora and SiriusXM over copyright in pre-1972 songs

(credit: Getty Images) An Illinois couple who owned several recording companies specializing in doo-wop, jazz, and rhythm and blues have filed suit against the major satellite and Internet radio companies over their playing of pre-1972 songs. It’s the third lawsuit that highlights how the patchwork of state copyright laws over older music is putting a drag on Internet radio—sound recordings made before 1972 aren’t protected by federal copyright but are protected by many states. On Monday, Arthur and Barbara Sheridan filed two lawsuits in New Jersey federal court: one against Pandora and Sirius XM  (PDF) and another against iHeartMedia  (PDF), the parent company of online music service iHeartRadio. Their lawsuits seek class action status, looking to represent owners of pre-1972 songs. The companies have derived “significant benefits,” including “millions of dollars in annual revenue,” by playing those songs without permission, the suit alleges. “The Pre-1972 Recordings, when created, were the novel product of mental labor embodied in material form,” the complaint against Sirius and Pandora states. “Plaintiffs and the Misappropriation Class thus have property rights in them as recognized by New Jersey common law.” Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Couple sues Pandora and SiriusXM over copyright in pre-1972 songs

Today’s OS X El Capitan update should fix Microsoft Office crashes

An update to OS X El Capitan released by Apple today  promises to improve compatibility with Microsoft Office 2016. Office 2016 has been crashing a lot on the latest Mac operating system, which was released on September 30 . Although Microsoft released an Office update on October 13 that contained “stability improvements,” Microsoft told Ars at the time that the update “doesn’t address the issues experienced by Office customers with OS X 10.11 El Capitan.” Microsoft said it was working with Apple to fix the problems, and that work resulted in today’s release of OS X 10.11.1. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Today’s OS X El Capitan update should fix Microsoft Office crashes

Support scams that plagued Windows users for years now target Mac customers

Enlarge (credit: Malwarebytes) For years, scammers claiming that they’re “calling from Windows” have dialed up Microsoft customers and done their best to trick them into parting with their money or installing malicious wares. Now, the swindlers are turning their sights on Mac users. Researchers at antivirus provider Malwarebytes spotted a Web-based campaign that attempts to trick OS X and iOS users into thinking there’s something wrong with their devices . The ruse starts with a pop-up window that’s designed to look like an official OS notification. “Critical Security Warning!” it says. “Your Device (iPad, iPod, iPhone) is infected with a malicious adward [sic] attack.” It goes on to provide a phone number people can call to receive tech support. The site ara-apple.com is designed to masquerade as https://ara.apple.com/ , Apple’s official remote technical support page. People who are experiencing problems with their Macs can go there to get an official Apple tech support provider to remotely access the person’s computer desktop. Ara-apple provides links to the remote programs the supposed technician will use to log in to targets’ Macs. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Support scams that plagued Windows users for years now target Mac customers

Marijuana exposure in utero has lifelong consequences

A newborn mouse. (credit: Credit: Wikimedia Commons ) As marijuana is legalized in more states, questions about its safety and the health consequences of cannabis use are becoming mainstream. A new study published in PNAS finds that use of cannabis by pregnant women can have implications for the neural development of her child, and that some of the consequences continue into adulthood, So, like alcohol, another recreational drug that is legal in the US, marijuana is likely best avoided by pregnant women. The most prominent active ingredient in marijuana is a compound known as THC, which interacts with the naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system. Cannabinoid receptors are known to play an important role in the regulation of brain development, and this paper examines the influence of a prenatal THC exposure on the maturation of pathways regulated by these receptors. The study examined prenatal cannabis consumption in mice, with the aim of identifying the mechanisms responsible for cannabis-related changes in brain function. During the study, pregnant mice were exposed to daily injections of THC or injections of a control liquid. Then the offspring were run through a battery of behavioral tests. The animals’ brains were also examined closely using immunoflouresence and confocal microscopy. Embryonic brain tissue from some litters was also collected and checked for irregularities. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Marijuana exposure in utero has lifelong consequences

Android 6.0 re-implements mandatory device encryption for new devices

(credit: Google) Shortly after the announcement of iOS 8 in 2014, Google made headlines by saying that it would make full-device encryption mandatory for new Android devices running version 5.0. It then made more headlines several months later when we discovered that the company backed down , “strongly recommending” that Android device makers enable encryption but stopping short of actually requiring it. Now Google has published an updated version of the Android Compatibility Definition Document ( PDF ) for Android 6.0, and it looks like mandatory encryption is back with a couple of exceptions. New devices that come with Marshmallow and have AES crypto performance above 50MiB-per-second need to support encryption of the private user data partition (/data) and the public data partition (/sdcard). The relevant portion of the document, emphasis ours: Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Android 6.0 re-implements mandatory device encryption for new devices

Scientists grow functional kidney organoid from stem cells

A drawing shows the complex structure of a kidney. (credit: Wikimedia commons ) There are many diseases that attack specific organs, landing patients on a transplant list. Unfortunately, our bodies have markers that identify an organ as “self,” which makes it difficult to find an organ match. Many individuals die waiting for an organ transplant because a match can’t be found. Research on stem cells—a type of cell that is able to transform into nearly any cell type—has raised hopes of treating organ failure. Researchers envision using these cells to grow fully functional organs. A functional organ is similar to a machine. Organs contain many interacting parts that must be positioned in a specific configuration to work properly. Getting all the right cell types in the appropriate locations is a real challenge. Recently, a team of scientists has met that challenge by using stem cells to grow a tissue, termed an organoid, that resembles a developing kidney. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Scientists grow functional kidney organoid from stem cells

Cage against the EMP: New composite cases protect against the electro-apocalypse

A Faraday Cases travel case, configured to keep communications gear safe in transit from unfriendly electromagnetism. 2 more images in gallery WASHINGTON, DC—A small company from Utah has developed a composite material that combines carbon fibers with a nickel coating. The result is an extremely lightweight electric-conducting material with the properties of plastic. And now that material is being used to create cases and computer enclosures that are essentially lightweight Faraday cages—containing electromagnetic radiation from digital devices and shielding them from electronic eavesdropping or electromagnetic pulse attacks. Ars got a brief hands-on with some of the materials at the Association of the United States Army expo this week. The company, Conductive Composites , is now selling cases built with the Nickel Chemical Vapor Deposition (NiCVD) composite material through its Faraday Cases division . The cases range in size from suitcase-sized units for carrying smaller digital devices to wheeled portable enclosures that can house servers—providing what is essentially an EMP-shielded portable data center. The cases and enclosures are being marketed not just to the military but to consumers, corporations, and first responders as well. The materials used in Faraday Cases can also be used to create ultra-lightweight antennas, satellite communications reflector dishes, and hundreds of other things that currently need to be made with conductive metal. And they could be a boon to anyone trying to prevent electronic eavesdropping—be it through active wireless bugs, radio retroreflectors used by nation-state intelligence agencies, or passive surveillance through anything from Wi-FI hacking to electromagnetic signals leaking from computer cables and monitors. And in some cases, they could make it possible to create the kind of secure spaces used by government agencies to prevent eavesdropping nearly anywhere. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Cage against the EMP: New composite cases protect against the electro-apocalypse