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Samsung lawsuit claims that NVIDIA’s benchmarks are misleading

Samsung definitely isn’t taking NVIDIA’s first patent lawsuit lying down. The Korean tech firm has countersued NVIDIA not just for allegedly infringing on six patents, but for leading buyers astray with benchmarks for the Shield Tablet . NVIDIA is supposedly trying to “confuse customers” by claiming that the slate’s Tegra K1 processor outpaces the Exynos 5433 chip in the Galaxy Note 4 ; regular benchmarks show that’s not true, Samsung claims. The suit also accuses PC vendor Velocity Micro of violating two additional patents (for a total of eight), since NVIDIA’s graphics cards play a heavy role in its lineup. NVIDIA tells Engadget that it’s still examining the complaint, but it’s already rejecting allegations that it misled gamers with its Shield tests. Both devices were using their stock, fresh-from-the-box software loadouts, the company insists. Whether or not that’s true, the lawsuit comes across as the pot calling the kettle black. After all, it was the revelation that Samsung inflated benchmark scores which led many to question the honesty of mobile device makers. Really, the assertion of dodgy benchmarking is as much about corporate pride as anything else — if successful, it would force NVIDIA to eat humble pie. Filed under: Gaming , Tablets , Mobile , Samsung , NVIDIA Comments Source: Law360 (registration required)

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Samsung lawsuit claims that NVIDIA’s benchmarks are misleading

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot weighs 330 pounds, but it can now balance on one leg

Atlas is back . While the robot itself may be from Google-owned Boston Dynamics, the balance algorithm is from IHMC (Institute for Human and Machine Cognition) who’s worked with the robotics company to get the six foot two biped walking better. IHMC has a strong track record in DARPA’s Robotics Challenge , coming first in computer simulations and second in real-life field trials. The next challenge comes in 2015, with more advanced trials in the summer. Turn down your speakers, then jump after the break to se a pile of motors and metal balance atop a few cinder blocks and flap its arms. There may be a beauty to its motions, but it certainly ain’t a quiet beauty. Again: mute the sound. Filed under: Robots , Google Comments Source: IHMC

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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot weighs 330 pounds, but it can now balance on one leg

Sam Raimi’s bringing an ‘Evil Dead’ series to TV in 2015

In a world where any show with “The” and “Dead” in the title is a runaway success comes, er, another one. That’s because Starz has teamed up with Sam Raimi to produce a new TV series that’ll follow cult movie trilogy The Evil Dead . The 10-part show will chronicle the later life of square-jawed hero Ash (Bruce Campbell) who will once again be called upon to battle the forces of Deadites. Given that the press release mentions Ash’s role as a “stock boy, ” it’s easy to presume that the character will be still working at the S-Mart where he was left at the end of Army of Darkness – rather than the post-apocalyptic future we saw in the director’s cut of the same movie. The series will begin next year, so be prepared for Twitter to be nothing more than an endless stream of people saying Groovy #Groovy. Filed under: Misc , HD Comments Source: Starz

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Sam Raimi’s bringing an ‘Evil Dead’ series to TV in 2015

​Google says the best phishing scams have a 45-percent success rate

Conceptually, phishing scams sound easy to see through: a fake webpage with the wrong URL that doesn’t look quite right — who’s going to fall for that? Quite a few people, apparently. According to a new Google study, the most successful phishing websites will capture data from 45-percent of its visitors. The least successful scams only scored information from three percent of its visitors, but when crooks are sending out phishing emails by the millions , that still adds up. The study found that the majority of the hijackers operate out of China, the Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Nigeria and South Africa, and that they work quick: 20-percent of accounts were compromised within 30 minutes of having information phished. Most hijacked accounts are used to continue the cycle: sending emails to account’s contacts asking for bank transfers (under false pretenses, of course) or simply distributing links that might capture yet more accounts. The best way to protect yourself, Google says on its blog, are the old ways: enable 2-step verification on your accounts when possible and “stay vigilant” — report messages asking for personal information to and never, ever reply to them. Want to read the full study? Click right here . [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Via: Huffington Source: Google (1) , (2)

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​Google says the best phishing scams have a 45-percent success rate

The most streamed single of 2013 only earned its authors $4,000 each

Avicii’s song Wake Me Up has been played more than 168 million times in the last year and a half, making it one of the most streamed songs, ever. You wouldn’t be blamed, therefore, for thinking that co-writer Aloe Blacc has made some serious bank from his labors. Unfortunately, in an editorial for Wired , the songwriter reveals that he’s only received $4, 000 in royalties from Pandora, America’s biggest streaming service. His voice is joining that of other artists like Taylor Swift , who believes that companies like Spotify and Pandora are seriously devaluing the work of songwriters. He also points an accusatory finger at outdated royalty laws that mean that he has no control over the price, or use, of his music so long as a minimum fee is paid – something that he hopes will change in order to enable musicians to make a living doing what so many people love. We’d make a joke about Blacc’s breakthrough record being I Need a Dollar , but it’d probably be in poor taste. Filed under: Misc , Portable Audio/Video Comments Source: Wired

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The most streamed single of 2013 only earned its authors $4,000 each

Silk Road 2.0 was just the first: police seize more Tor-shielded darknet sites

Yesterday’s FBI takeover of Silk Road 2.0 was just the tip of the iceberg apparently, as European law enforcement organizations have announced a “global action” against similar darknet marketplaces. “Operation Onymous” resulted in 17 arrests total, the removal of 410 hidden services that allegedly offered illegal drugs and weapons for sale, as well as the seizure of more than $1 million Bitcoins in, $250, 000 in cash and drugs. Troels Oerting of the European Cybercrime Center told Wired that his staff hadn’t had time to assemble a full list of takedowns, but it includes Cloud 9, Hydra, Pandora, Cannabis Road and more. The Telegraph reports six Britons accused of helping run Silk Road 2.0 are among those arrested, while the BBC has word of two arrested in Ireland. Like both iterations of Silk Road, the sites were using Tor to anonymize access, but were still exposed. Details of how the service was pierced have not been revealed (we have an idea ), but The Wall Street Journal quotes Eurojust spokesman Ulf Bergstrom saying “You’re not anonymous anymore when you’re using Tor.” A Reddit thread charting the darknet takedowns also points out how the FBI was able to identify Blake Benthall, the alleged operator of SR 2.0. According to the complaint ( PDF ) they located and imaged the server that hosted the site, and while that occurred a support request came in asking the hosts not to reboot the machine. Then the FBI obtained logs from Gmail that tied it to Benthall’s IP addresses, as well as a network at a hotel where he was staying. Until the takedown , running the enterprise had its benefits, allowing Benthall to cash out about $273, 626 in Bitcoins, and make a down payment on a Tesla Model S. So what’s next? This round of arrests focused on those running the marketplaces, occurring in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA. According to Oerting, the next step is to go after others, including those who purchased illegal goods from the marketplaces. Filed under: Internet Comments Source: Europol , Eurojust

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Silk Road 2.0 was just the first: police seize more Tor-shielded darknet sites

Taylor Swift wants no part of the music streaming ‘experiment’

Just days ago, Taylor Swift shook off Spotify . The star opted not to leave her new album off of the service and pulled the rest of her catalog. Lucky for us, Yahoo caught up with the globe-trotting star during a promotional tour in Japan for more insight on the matter. As you might expect, she echoed the sentiment shared by some of her fellow musician s: streaming services don’t adequately compensate artists and the rest of the folks who have a hand in making albums. What’s more, Swift goes on to call Spotify and similar offerings “experiments, ” and she isn’t “willing to contribute my life’s work” to those outfits that don’t properly pay up. Spotify, for example, has been around since 2008, so we’re a bit beyond the honeymoon phase. Subscription-based and ad-supported music streaming has taken root in our lives, and it’s not leaving anytime soon unless there’s some kind of drastic change. She’s also well aware of the example she’s setting. And being the popular role model that she is, Swift doesn’t want folks thinking it’s okay to give their hard work away for free. In the end though, it apparently just didn’t feel right. “But I think it’s really still up for debate whether this is actual progress, or whether this is taking the word “music” out of the music industry, ” Swift explainss. Of course, Swift’s previous releases are available elsewhere, and Rdio reaffirmed its commitment to artist choice today, while boasting that the star’s back catalog can still be streamed there. If you’re after the full quote from the interview, it’s just below. Oh yeah, Swift’s new album 1989 sold well over a million albums in its first week. If I had streamed the new album, it’s impossible to try to speculate what would have happened. But all I can say is that music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment. And I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music. And I just don’t agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free. I wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal this summer that basically portrayed my views on this. I try to stay really open-minded about things, because I do think it’s important to be a part of progress. But I think it’s really still up for debate whether this is actual progress, or whether this is taking the word “music” out of the music industry. Also, a lot of people were suggesting to me that I try putting new music on Spotify with “Shake It Off, ” and so I was open-minded about it. I thought, “I will try this; I’ll see how it feels.” It didn’t feel right to me. I felt like I was saying to my fans, “If you create music someday, if you create a painting someday, someone can just walk into a museum, take it off the wall, rip off a corner off it, and it’s theirs now and they don’t have to pay for it.” I didn’t like the perception that it was putting forth. And so I decided to change the way I was doing things. [Photo credit: Fred Lee/ABC via Getty Images] Filed under: Internet , Software Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: Yahoo

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Taylor Swift wants no part of the music streaming ‘experiment’

Facebook makes it easier to hide your annoying friends’ posts

If you’ve just about had enough of those annoying online quizzes you keep seeing on Facebook , well the social network has just introduced a new way for you to stop seeing them. Now when you select to hide a story (which you can do by hitting the arrow on the top right), you can also request to see less from that person or Page. Or, if you so choose, you can unfollow them entirely. Additionally, there’s also a new News Feed setting that’ll show you the top people, Pages and Groups that have popped up in your feed in the past week. You can then unfollow them if you want, or re-follow the folks that you’ve unfollowed in the past. Both features are available on desktop today. As for mobile, the latter News Feed setting is ready today, while the former “see less” feature will be available in coming weeks. Thankfully, even after you’ve unfollowed your buddy’s posts, your Facebook friendship will still remain intact. Filed under: Internet Comments

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Facebook makes it easier to hide your annoying friends’ posts

Tesla delays Model X again, aims for Q3 2015

Tucked into Tesla Motor’s Q3 2014 earnings letter to its shareholders, the automaker announced that its Model X SUV had been delayed once again. First slated to hit the road in 2013, and then pushed to 2014 before another bump to early 2015 , the company’s electric SUV won’t roll off of the assembly line until the second half of next year. Thanks to the new Dual Motor drive on the Model S, the powertrain for the X is said to be nearly done; however, more testing is needed elsewhere. In the letter, CEO Elon Musk admitted that criticism in regards to the varying timelines is valid, but that Tesla won’t trot out the vehicle until it’s ready to properly “delight customers.” “Doing so negatively affects the short term, but positively affects the long term, ” he continued. According to Musk, working out the kinks now will also ensure that the outfit can crank out the Model X quicker than it did the Model S back in 2012. Of course, folks who’ve already shelled out the reservation fee won’t be too happy, I’d imagine. Filed under: Transportation Comments Source: Tesla Motors (PDF)

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Tesla delays Model X again, aims for Q3 2015

ShitExpress will send poop in a box anywhere in exchange for Bitcoins

You can find absolutely anything on the internet, and services that send poop on your behalf to people who’ve incurred your hatred are old news . This new startup called ShitExpress, however, offers something its older rivals can’t: the ability to accept Bitcoins for total anonymity. No credit card means no paper trail. And, if you take great care to make sure you browse the internet anonymously, nobody will find out it’s your doing. For the Bitcoin equivalent of $17, the company will send horse manure (more types will be added in the future, as should be expected from a respected poop delivery service) anywhere in the world for you. That price includes packaging (you can choose to send it in a plain box or disguised as a fancy, expensive gift), shipping, a personalized letter and a message telling the recipient to be a better human being. When Motherboard’s Jason Koebler sent an order to himself, he said the package was marked as a Halloween gag gift to pass customs. But, we’ll bet an official from one of the stricter countries will open one to check it, only to come across a nasty surprise. [Image credit: Kristian Bjornard/Flickr ] Comments Via: Motherboard Source: Shit Express

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ShitExpress will send poop in a box anywhere in exchange for Bitcoins