Auto-complete blunder leaks passport details of world leaders

Australia has proved that it can hold its own against Hillary Clinton any day when it comes to email blunders . The nation’s immigration department accidentally disclosed the passport numbers and other personal info of every world leader attending last year’s G20 summit, then compounded the problem by hushing it up. Affected leaders include US president Barack Obama, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and British prime minister David Cameron. According to an email obtained by the Guardian , “the cause of the breach was human error… (an immigration employee) failed to check that the autofill function in Microsoft Outlook had entered the correct person’s detail into the email ‘To’ field.” As a result, the world leaders’ info was leaked to organizers of the Asian Cup soccer tournament, likely to their great surprise. The mistake was noticed immediately by the employee, who brought it to the attention of his superiors. However, after determining that it was “unlikely” the email was in the public domain, an immigration officer recommended against sharing the leak with the affected countries. That provoked a strong reaction from Australia’s opposition party, which said “the prime minister (Tony Abbott) must explain this serious incident and the decision not to inform those affected.” Many nations including the US and UK have strict laws requiring that victims of data breaches be informed — especially if they’re in charge of the entire country. [Image credit: Associated Press] Filed under: Internet Comments Source: The Guardian

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Auto-complete blunder leaks passport details of world leaders

Hillary Clinton confirms she wiped her email server

Members of the US House of Representatives hoping to get a look at Hillary Clinton’s personal email server just got a big disappointment. Clinton’s attorney has confirmed to a House committee on Benghazi that, after handing over work-related email to the State Department, the politician both “chose not to keep” personal messages and set a 60-day limit on what the server retains. In short, she effectively wiped it clean. There’s no going back to mail from her Secretary of State days beyond the 30, 490 messages on the record, or roughly half of what the server held during the period. Naturally, both sides are trying to spin the news to suit their own ends. The head of the committee, Rep. Trey Gowdy, is portraying this as an attempt to block anyone from trying to “check behind her analysis” and see if she deleted important conversations. Committee member Rep. Elijah Cummings, meanwhile, calls the server request a “political charade” and wants the on-the-record messages made public as proof that Clinton is squeaky clean. The problem is that there’s no practical way to verify the truth, no matter who’s right — officials have to take it on faith that Clinton followed the letter of the law and delivered all the messages related to her political life. [Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images] Filed under: Internet Comments Via: The Hill Source: House of Representatives (PDF)

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Hillary Clinton confirms she wiped her email server

Vine’s six-second slices of life get a big video-quality bump

Artists and comedians have been doing some truly amazing things with Vine since it launched as a Twitter product two years ago, but those mesmerizing slices of life that eat up your day in six-second increments have never really looked all that great. That’s finally starting to change, according to a blog post by Vine API lead Mike Kaplinskiy — you’ll start seeing vines in 720p (up from the normal, eye-searing 480p) in the team’s iOS and Android apps within the next few days, but some of them can already be spotted embedded around the web. Speaking of apps, there’s just a bit of platform bifurcation going on here (though that’s nothing new). Got an iPhone? The videos you shoot and share on Vine will be available in that higher-quality format now, and there’s nothing you really have to do since the big changes went through on the service’s back end. Alas, videos shot by Android users won’t appear in higher quality for a little while longer, and there’s zero word on whether the company’s languishing Windows Phone app will eventually get the nod (or, you know any kind of update ever again). Anyway, in case you’re absolutely dying to see what these new hi-def Vines look like, here’s a dog playing bongos. Let this endless loop of canine indie rock lull you into the weekend with the gentleness you deserve. Filed under: Mobile Comments Source: Official Vine blog

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Vine’s six-second slices of life get a big video-quality bump

Play Super Mario 64 in your browser now

Take the edge off of a full work week with a bit of Super Mario 64 , available for download or playable right in your browser thanks to ingenious Unity developer Roystan Ross. He calls it Super Mario 64 HD , and it features the original game’s first level, “Bob-Omb Battlefield.” Ross promises that everything is just as players of the 1996 game will remember, with a few exceptions, including no red coins and no Big Bob-Omb. But, it’s still Super Mario 64 in your browser (not your Bowser). Happy Friday, indeed! Filed under: Gaming , HD , Alt Comments Via: Kotaku UK Source: Roystan Ross

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Play Super Mario 64 in your browser now

YouTube starts testing silky smooth, ultra HD video quality

YouTube introduced videos that play at 60 frames per second last year and ones viewable in 4K resolution in February. Now, the website is starting to experiment with videos that are both silky smooth and ultra high-def. TechCrunch has spotted a low-key, semi-secret playlist comprised of only six videos that you can choose to play at 60 fps in 4K resolution — just toggle the settings switch to see the option. You’ll have to load YouTube on Chrome to see the 2160p60 4K setting under Quality. Plus, you’ll need a device capable of displaying ultra HD (3840 × 2160 resolution) to enjoy the feature’s benefits. Trust us when we say it’s not worth the buffering time if your computer or TV isn’t designed to handle 4K: the videos will look worse. We’ve embedded all six files below the fold, but feel free to visit the playlist itself to watch them all continuously. Filed under: Misc , Google Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: YouTube

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YouTube starts testing silky smooth, ultra HD video quality

Sony Pictures is planning a ‘Robotech’ live-action film franchise

We’ve got good news for you… though it may actually be bad news, depending on how you feel about Hollywood anime adaptations. That live-action Robotech movie might actually happen now that Sony Pictures has officially fished it out of limbo and snapped up its rights from Warner Bros. In fact, the studio’s looking at it as a potential film franchise à la Transformers instead of just as a single movie. A handful of new people have also joined the project, including producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton ( 300, The Immortals ), as well as scriptwriter Michael Gordon ( 300, GI Joe ). However, that also means Tobey Maguire, who was slated to produce years ago, is out. Sorry to break it to old-school anime fans who wanted to see him and best bro Leo DiCaprio play Rick Hunter, Breetai or any other character. Robotech , by the way, is the collective name of three different sci-fi/mecha anime series spliced together to be shown on American TV in the 1980s. It features a lot of robots, alien invaders, good-looking heroes, an intergalactic pop star and even an epic love triangle. Since Sony Pictures hasn’t revealed any solid details about the project yet, we’d love to hear who you think should star in the movie(s). Filed under: Misc , Sony Comments Source: Variety

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Sony Pictures is planning a ‘Robotech’ live-action film franchise

Microsoft’s next Surface could signal the death of RT

Microsoft hasn’t given up on the idea of a mini-me version of its successful Surface Pro 3 convertible, according to a rumor from WinBeta . But a Surface 3 model won’t follow in the Surface 2’s wobbly footsteps by packing the RT version of Windows. Instead, it will reportedly take a page from the latest Macbook and come with an Intel Atom or Core M fanless CPU and a full version of Windows 8.1, upgradeable to Windows 10 . That means it could hit a lower price point than the Surface Pro while maintaining standard Windows compatibility — the lack of which effectively sunk the Surface 2. As we recently learned , Microsoft appears to be phasing out Windows RT, saying future versions will have, at best, just “some” Windows 10 functionality. It also reportedly killed a Qualcomm-based “mini” RT version of the Surface just days before it was set to launch. So if it pans out, what will this Surface-lite look like, how much will it cost and when will it arrive? We’re not sure about the first two parts, but it’s rumored to be coming in time for Microsoft’s Build conference starting April 29th. Filed under: Laptops , Microsoft Comments Source: Winbeta

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Microsoft’s next Surface could signal the death of RT

PayPal’s failure to spot sanctioned accounts just cost it $7.7 millon

PayPal has has agreed to pay the US Department of the Treasury $7.7-million, after the financial giant processed transactions for a number of companies and individuals on the US sanctions list. A total of 486 violations of US regulations had apparently been committed by PayPal “for several years” after repeated failures in the firm’s screening process, a reports explains. While the severity of each instance will vary, the Treasury highlighted a number that relate to Turkish national Kursud Zafer Cire — an individual on the list after suspected involvement in the movement of weapons of mass destruction. The Treasury’s report states that Risk Operations Agents at PayPal manually overrode at least four alerts flagging Cire as blacklisted — resulting in transactions totalling over $7, 000. Since 2013, PayPal has introduced a “long term solution” that checks for violations in real time. An investment we imagine that’s a little more cost effective, than predicting future malware . Filed under: Internet Comments Via: Reuters Source: US Dept. Treasury , (2)

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PayPal’s failure to spot sanctioned accounts just cost it $7.7 millon

Google Fiber is launching in Salt Lake City

You no longer have to head to Provo if you want Google Fiber in Utah — Google has revealed that it’s bringing its gigabit internet access to the state’s capital, Salt Lake City. The company is short on details, but it won’t have a ready-made fiber network to use this time around. SLC’s fiber network is still in the design phase, much like those in Atlanta, Nashville and North Carolina , so you could be waiting a while before you have a chance to sign up. Nonetheless, this is a good sign. Even if you don’t live in the area, it suggests that Google is picking up the pace on its once-cautious Fiber rollouts and is more likely to bring extra-fast data to your city. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Networking , Internet , HD , Google Comments Source: Google Fiber Blog

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Google Fiber is launching in Salt Lake City

This $300 cybernetic arm gets its smarts from your cellphone

Iron Man isn’t the only one 3D-printing artificial limbs these days. But unlike the mechanical hand delivered by Robert Downey Jr, this recently unveiled prosthetic from Japanese manufacturer Exiii costs just $300 and leverages your mobile device’s computing power to act just like the real thing. The Ghost in the Shell future we’ve between waiting for came took a step closer to reality. The Handiii bionic limb’s exterior is completely 3D-printed. This not only keeps each unit’s initial production costs low (it’s already dropped $50 since we last saw it at Maker Faire Tokyo ), the technique also makes fabricating replacement parts faster and easier as well. But despite its bargain-basement price, the Handiii is packed with electronics. An EMG sensor detects electrical impulses emanating from the user’s remaining limb stump and converts those impulses into physical movement through a series of servos. What’s more, it connects wirelessly to your cell phone or tablet using the mobile device’s CPU to interpret these signals and initiate movement. Unfortunately, there’s already a waiting list for these handy devices, partly due to a backlog of existing orders. Its creators are also focusing on getting these arms into the hands of academic and industrial researchers — potentially as an open-source platform — before beginning deliveries to the general public. Filed under: Wearables , Science Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: Exiii.jp

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This $300 cybernetic arm gets its smarts from your cellphone