Author name: 9u50fv

taco-bell,-kfc,-pizza-hut,-burger-king-pull-onions-amid-mcdonald’s-outbreak

Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King pull onions amid McDonald’s outbreak

CDC, E. coli, health, mcdonalds, onions, Science / /

On Thursday, Yum Brands—owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—followed that lead, saying it, too, would remove fresh onions from its chains’ menus at some locations, according to Reuters. Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King, also did the same.

“We’ve been told by corporate to not use any onions going forward for the foreseeable future,” Maria Gonzales, the on-duty manager inside a Burger King in Longmont, Colorado, told Reuters on Wednesday. “They’re off our menu.”

As of Thursday, the case count in the E. coli outbreak remained at 49 people in 10 states. Of those, 10 were hospitalized, including a child with a life-threatening complication. One older person in Colorado has died.

The states with cases include: Colorado (26 cases), Nebraska (9), Utah (4), Wyoming (4), and one case each in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

McDonald’s removed Quarter Pounders and slivered onions from restaurant menus in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, and portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. In a statement, McDonald’s said that for these restaurants, its onions are “sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers. The fast-food giant continues to serve other beef burgers and diced onions at impacted locations.

Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King pull onions amid McDonald’s outbreak Read More »

apple-teases-“week-of-announcements”-about-the-mac-starting-on-monday

Apple teases “week of announcements” about the Mac starting on Monday

Apple, m4, Mac, Tech / /

Apple has released new iPhones, new Apple Watches, a new iPad mini, and a flotilla of software updates this fall, but Mac hardware has gone unmentioned so far. That’s set to change next week, according to an uncharacteristically un-cryptic post from Apple Worldwide Marketing SVP Greg Joswiak earlier today.

Imploring readers to “Mac [sic] their calendars,” Joswiak’s post teases “an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning.” If the wordplay wasn’t enough, an attached teaser video with a winking neon Mac logo drives the point home.

Though Joswiak’s post was light on additional details, months of reliable rumors have told us the most likely things to expect: refreshed MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMacs with few if any external changes but new Apple M4-series chips on the inside, plus a new M4 Mac mini with a substantial design overhaul. The MacBook Pros and iMacs were refreshed with M3 chips almost exactly a year ago, but the Mac mini was last updated with the M2 in early 2023.

The new Mac mini will allegedly be closer in size to an Apple TV and is said to be slightly taller than current Mac minis but with a smaller footprint. The new design will continue to include a space-saving internal power supply rather than relying on an external power brick, but it will also rely more heavily on USB-C/Thunderbolt ports to save space, cutting down on the number of other ports. At least some models will also include USB-C ports on the front, a design change inherited from the Mac Studio.

Apple teases “week of announcements” about the Mac starting on Monday Read More »

phone-tracking-tool-lets-government-agencies-follow-your-every-move

Phone tracking tool lets government agencies follow your every move

Apple, Biz & IT, Google, location, Phones, privacy, Security, surveillance / /

Both operating systems will display a list of apps and whether they are permitted access always, never, only while the app is in use, or to prompt for permission each time. Both also allow users to choose whether the app sees precise locations down to a few feet or only a coarse-grained location.

For most users, there’s usefulness in allowing an app for photos, transit or maps to access a user’s precise location. For other classes of apps—say those for Internet jukeboxes at bars and restaurants—it can be helpful for them to have an approximate location, but giving them precise, fine-grained access is likely overkill. And for other apps, there’s no reason for them ever to know the device’s location. With a few exceptions, there’s little reason for apps to always have location access.

Not surprisingly, Android users who want to block intrusive location gathering have more settings to change than iOS users. The first thing to do is access Settings > Security & Privacy > Ads and choose “Delete advertising ID.” Then, promptly ignore the long, scary warning Google provides and hit the button confirming the decision at the bottom. If you don’t see that setting, good for you. It means you already deleted it. Google provides documentation here.

iOS, by default, doesn’t give apps access to “Identifier for Advertisers,” Apple’s version of the unique tracking number assigned to iPhones, iPads, and AppleTVs. Apps, however, can display a window asking that the setting be turned on, so it’s useful to check. iPhone users can do this by accessing Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. Any apps with permission to access the unique ID will appear. While there, users should also turn off the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” button. While in iOS Privacy & Security, users should navigate to Apple Advertising and ensure Personalized Ads is turned off.

Additional coverage of Location X from Haaretz and NOTUS is here and here. The New York Times, the other publication given access to the data, hadn’t posted an article at the time this Ars post went live.

Phone tracking tool lets government agencies follow your every move Read More »

ios-18.2-developer-beta-adds-chatgpt-and-image-generation-features

iOS 18.2 developer beta adds ChatGPT and image-generation features

AI, Apple, apple intelligence, chatgpt, iOS, ios 18, iOS 18.1, iOS 18.2, ml, openai, Tech / /

Today, Apple released the first developer beta of iOS 18.2 for supported devices. This beta release marks the first time several key AI features that Apple teased at its developer conference this June are available.

Apple is marketing a wide range of generative AI features under the banner “Apple Intelligence.” Initially, Apple Intelligence was planned to release as part of iOS 18, but some features slipped to iOS 18.1, others to iOS 18.2, and a few still to future undisclosed software updates.

iOS 18.1 has been in beta for a while and includes improvements to Siri, generative writing tools that help with rewriting or proofreading, smart replies for Messages, and notification summaries. That update is expected to reach the public next week.

Today’s developer update, iOS 18.2, includes some potentially more interesting components of Apple Intelligence, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence with Camera Control, and ChatGPT integration.

Genmoji and Image Playground allow users to generate images on-device to send to friends in Messages; there will be Genmoji and Image Playground APIs to allow third-party messaging apps to work with Genmojis, too.

ChatGPT integration allows Siri to pass off user queries that are outside Siri’s normal scope to be answered instead by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A ChatGPT account is not required, but logging in with an existing account gives you access to premium models available as part of a ChatGPT subscription. If you’re using these features without a ChatGPT account, OpenAI won’t be able to retain your data or use it to train models. If you connect your ChatGPT account, though, then OpenAI’s privacy policies will apply for ChatGPT queries instead of Apple’s.

Genmoji and Image Playground queries will be handled locally on the user’s device, but other Apple Intelligence features may dynamically opt to send queries to the cloud for computation.

There’s no word yet on when iOS 18.2 will be released publicly.

iOS 18.2 developer beta adds ChatGPT and image-generation features Read More »

meta-quest-3s-is-a-disappointing-half-step-to-carmack’s-low-cost-vr-vision

Meta Quest 3S is a disappointing half-step to Carmack’s low-cost VR vision

gaming, meta quest, Meta Quest 2, virtual reality / /

Significant visual and comfort compromises make last year’s Quest 3 a better VR investment.

Look at all those dots. Credit: Kyle Orland

It’s been just over two years now since soon-to-depart CTO John Carmack told a Meta Connect audience about his vision for a super low-end VR headset that came in at $250 and 250 grams. “We’re not building that headset today, but I keep trying,” Carmack said at the time with some exasperation.

On the pricing half of the equation, the recently released Quest 3S headset is nearly on target for Carmack’s hopes and dreams. Meta’s new $299 headset is a significant drop from the $499 Quest 3 and the cheapest price point for a Meta VR headset since the company raised the price of the aging Quest 2 to $400 back in the summer of 2022. When you account for a few years of inflation in there, the Quest 3S is close to the $250 headset Carmack envisioned.

A new button on the underside of the Quest 3S lets you transition to pass-through mode at any time.

Credit: Kyle Orland

A new button on the underside of the Quest 3S lets you transition to pass-through mode at any time. Credit: Kyle Orland

Unfortunately, Meta must still seriously tackle the “250 grams” part of Carmack’s vision. The 514g Quest 3S feels at least as unwieldy on your face as the 515g Quest 3, and both are still quite far from the “super light comforts” Carmack envisioned. Add in all the compromises Meta made so the Quest 3S could hit that lower price point, and you have a cheap, half-measure headset that we can only really recommend to the most price-conscious of VR consumers.

Meta Quest 2 Plus

iFixit’s recent teardown of the Quest 3S shows that the new headset is more than just a spiritual successor to the cheap and popular Quest 2. On the contrary, iFixit found the Quest 3S optical stack uses the exact same parts as the Quest 2, right down to the LCD panels and fresnel lenses.

In 2020, the 1832×1920 per-eye resolution offered by that visual stack represented a significant upgrade from what had come before, especially at such a low price point. Today, though, that dated display technology invites direct comparisons to the 2604×2208 per-eye display on last year’s Quest 3. With the displays sitting just inches from your eyes, that difference represents a very noticeable 20 percent drop in apparent clarity, down from 25 pixels per degree to a mere 20.

Going back to the 3S after a year spent in the Quest 3 is a bit like walking around in glasses that suddenly have a thin layer of Vaseline smeared on them. Everything looks quite a bit fuzzier, especially near the borders of the display, and edges of objects look distinctly more jagged than on the Quest 3. The difference is especially noticeable when trying to read small text in VR or make out fine details in the real world through the headset’s array of passthrough cameras.

It’s not quite a retreat to the days of the infamous “screen door effect” that plagued early Oculus-era headsets, but the distinct visual downgrade makes virtual reality experiences that much less convincing and engrossing on the 3S.

It’s the little things

The visual downgrades on the Quest 3S extend to the field of view, which narrows from 110 horizontal degrees on the Quest 3 to a mere 97 degrees on the 3S (the vertical field of view sees a smaller reduction from 97 degrees to 93 degrees). This difference isn’t as apparent as the drop in resolution between the two headsets, but it does lead to a few more “tunnel vision” moments at the margins. In a game like Beat Saber, for instance, I noticed many of my swings were rendered effectively invisible by the larger black void taking up much of my peripheral vision.

A comparative side view shows the reduced depth of the pancake lens housing on the Quest 3 (top) compared to the Quest 3S (bottom).

Credit: Kyle Orland

A comparative side view shows the reduced depth of the pancake lens housing on the Quest 3 (top) compared to the Quest 3S (bottom). Credit: Kyle Orland

Going back to the fresnel-lens-based Quest 2 visual stack also means doing without the thinner pancake lenses introduced on the Quest 3. The result is an eyebox on the 3S that extends about an inch farther from your face than on the Quest 3. That might not sound like much, but having the lens’ center of gravity farther from your face makes the headset feel a bit heavier and the fit a bit less secure as you move your head around in VR.

Then there are the compromises when it comes to fine-tuning the distance between the Quest 3S’ lenses. On the Quest 3, an adjustment wheel on the bottom of the headset lets you adjust this interpupillary distance (IPD) continuously, down to the millimeter precision. On the Quest 3S, you instead manually shift the lenses into three preset grooves that are a full 5 millimeters apart. If your face’s actual IPD falls in the middle of those 5 mm windows, the result can be the kind of eye strain and trouble focusing that we complained about in our original Quest 2 review.

Meta has also done away with quite a few Quest 3 creature comforts in an apparent effort to keep the Quest 3S price down. The lack of an external depth sensor, for instance, can make things like pass-through video and hand tracking feel a bit more wonky than on the Quest 3. The Quest 3S is missing a standard headphone jack, too, for those still using wired headphones. And the new headset also lacks any automatic face detection, adding the small annoyance of physically tapping the power button to return from sleep mode when you put it back on.

Spend the extra money

From the front, the external cameras are the easiest way to tell the difference between the Quest 3S (left) and the Quest 3.

From the front, the external cameras are the easiest way to tell the difference between the Quest 3S (left) and the Quest 3.

I’ve been comparing the Quest 3S to the Quest 3 because that’s the decision consumers considering a Meta headset will face today (if they can get over the need for a Meta account to use the headset in the first place). But Meta’s discontinuation of the aging Quest 2 means millions of current Quest 2 owners will soon be faced with the prospect of upgrading or abandoning Meta’s VR ecosystem for good, just as original Quest owners did last year.

For those current Quest 2 owners, the Quest 3S represents the cheapest way to maintain continued access to Meta’s library of VR games and apps. And that library continues to expand with everything from mind-bending indie games to quirky multiplayer arenas to single-player adventures like Batman: Arkham Shadow, which now comes free with every Quest 3 or 3S headset.

But the move from a Quest 2 to a Quest 3S is relatively small, considering the four-year gap between the similarly priced headsets. Yes, you’ll notice some significant improvements in the newer headset’s full-color pass-through cameras and the headset’s maximum frame rate (up from 90 Hz to 120 Hz). The 3S also offers a slightly more future-proofed Qualcomm XR Gen 2 processor (over the Quest 2’s original XR processor) and slightly more precise Touch Plus controllers (which are missing the annoying tracking ring on the original Quest 2 controllers).

All told, though, the Quest 3S is far from the generational upgrade from the Quest 2 you might hope for. For that kind of apparent jump, you’re much better off shelling out a bit more money for the full-fledged Quest 3. The improvements in form factor, field of view, IPD adjustment, and especially resolution make the higher-end set well worth the extra money. That’s especially true if you can manage to track down the now-discontinued 128GB Quest 3, which is currently being closed out for just $430 (compared to $500 for the new 528GB version).

If you simply want the cheapest way to access Meta’s library of virtual reality games, the Quest 3S certainly fills that hole in the market. If you want a more robust VR experience that’s likely to suffice further into the future, though, the extra investment in a Quest 3 headset is probably worth it.

Photo of Kyle Orland

Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper.

Meta Quest 3S is a disappointing half-step to Carmack’s low-cost VR vision Read More »

solar-power-from-space?-actually,-it-might-happen-in-a-couple-of-years.

Solar power from space? Actually, it might happen in a couple of years.

Space / /

That approach starts in low-Earth orbit rather than 36,000 km away from the surface of the Earth. Aetherflux plans to begin with a single satellite, launching into an orbit about 500 km above the planet on a SpaceX transporter mission about 12 to 15 months from now.

This initial satellite will be based on a commercially available bus from Apex, which will produce, on average, about 1 kilowatt of power. It’s a modest amount, enough electricity to power a dishwasher. This satellite will also include a high-powered infrared laser to transmit this power back to Earth. A mobile ground station, about 10 meters across, will receive the energy.

With a single satellite in low-Earth orbit, power beaming will only be available for any location on Earth for a few minutes as the spacecraft passes from horizon to horizon.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the last year with folks within Department of Defense, and with some of the folks within DARPA,” Bhatt said. “The idea is like do a demonstration mission which kind of establishes the core functionality.”

Where is all this headed?

One of the key aspects of the test is to determine both the safety and efficiency of collecting the solar energy in space, transmitting it through the atmosphere, and then producing a usable source of power on the ground.

If the demo mission works, Aetherflux plans to develop a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit that could provide power continuously and at greater amounts. Initially, the company seeks to deliver power in remote locations, such as disaster relief areas, off-the-grid mining operations, or forward operating bases for the military.

“If we can make that business model work, that’s kind of the jumping-off point to being able to say, hey, could we put this on things like freight shipping?” Bhatt said. “Could we meaningfully address the ability to do freight shipping across large bodies of water with renewable energy?”

Long term, there’s the potential to provide a base load of power to augment the intermittent availability of terrestrial wind and solar energy—a key need if the world is to de-carbonize its electricity generation.

But that’s probably putting the cart before the horse. One of the biggest challenges of space-based solar power is that it has always been theoretical. It should work. But will it work? Trying out a low-cost demonstrator mission in the next couple of years is a fine way of finally putting that question to rest.

Solar power from space? Actually, it might happen in a couple of years. Read More »

squadron-42’s-new-2026-launch-date-will-miss-its-original-target-by-11-years

Squadron 42’s new 2026 launch date will miss its original target by 11 years

gaming / /

Arena Commander was revealed to the public at PAX East in April 2014. From our perch in the press balcony, we could see the dev team on the stage (including Roberts) frantically re-compiling the game so that it would run properly.

Credit: Lee Hutchinson

Arena Commander was revealed to the public at PAX East in April 2014. From our perch in the press balcony, we could see the dev team on the stage (including Roberts) frantically re-compiling the game so that it would run properly. Credit: Lee Hutchinson

The planned May 2014 release of that module was eventually delayed until December. At the time, we noted that “a full release of the Star Citizen MMORPG [would be] expected near the end of 2016,” a date that now seems as naive as the original 2015 launch window for Squadron 42.

“We will build the game you are dreaming about”

Back in 2014, Roberts Space Industries had raised a mere $67 million from crowdfunders eager to see Roberts’ lofty vision for a new era of space simulation games. Now, that funding has climbed past a staggering $731 million from players buying pricey virtual ships in a game that still exists only as an unpolished alpha plagued with significant gameplay issues.

Roberts said in a March update that the team had “spent significant time looking at what Star Citizen 1.0 means and what it would take to get there.” For now, though, the team “is hard at work, heads down, driving toward the finish line” for Squadron 42, as highlighted by the game’s public progress tracker.

A fan-designed Star Citizen development roadmap summary, posted in early 2023.

A fan-designed Star Citizen development roadmap summary, posted in early 2023. Credit: Odysseus1992

The extremely lengthy development path for Star Citizen and Squadron 42 has become something of a joke in the 12 years since it first became a crowdfunding darling. But it’s not like we weren’t warned. In 2012, Roberts Space Industries offered a public pledge that the use of crowdfunding meant the developer would “focus on quality free of the pressure to deliver by a certain financial quarter.” The team also warned that “there may be delays and there may be changes; we recognize that such things are inevitable and would be lying to you if we claimed otherwise.”

“You’ve done your part, and we will now do our utmost to live up to your expectations,” the team wrote in that now 12-year-old pledge. “We will build you the game you are dreaming about.”

Squadron 42’s new 2026 launch date will miss its original target by 11 years Read More »

finally-upgrading-from-isc-dhcp-server-to-isc-kea-for-my-homelab

Finally upgrading from isc-dhcp-server to isc-kea for my homelab

Biz & IT, DHCP, dhcpd, Features, internet systems consortium, isc, isc-dhcp-server, isc-kea, kea, kea dns / /

Broken down that way, the migration didn’t look terribly scary—and it’s made easier by the fact that the Kea default config files come filled with descriptive comments and configuration examples to crib from. (And, again, ISC has done an outstanding job with the docs for Kea. All versions, from deprecated to bleeding-edge, have thorough and extensive online documentation if you’re curious about what a given option does or where to apply it—and, as noted above, there are also the supplied sample config files to tear apart if you want more detailed examples.)

Configuration time for DHCP

We have two Kea applications to configure, so we’ll do DHCP first and then get to the DDNS side. (Though the DHCP config file also contains a bunch of DDNS stuff, so I guess if we’re being pedantic, we’re setting both up at once.)

The first file to edit, if you installed Kea via package manager, is /etc/kea/kea-dhcp4.conf. The file should already have some reasonably sane defaults in it, and it’s worth taking a moment to look through the comments and see what those defaults are and what they mean.

Here’s a lightly sanitized version of my working kea-dhcp4.conf file: 

    "Dhcp4":       "control-socket":         "socket-type": "unix",        "socket-name": "https://arstechnica.com/tmp/kea4-ctrl-socket"      ,      "interfaces-config":         "interfaces": ["eth0"],        "dhcp-socket-type": "raw"      ,      "dhcp-ddns":         "enable-updates": true      ,      "ddns-conflict-resolution-mode": "no-check-with-dhcid",      "ddns-override-client-update": true,      "ddns-override-no-update": true,      "ddns-qualifying-suffix": "bigdinosaur.lan",      "authoritative": true,      "valid-lifetime": 86400,      "renew-timer": 43200,      "expired-leases-processing":         "reclaim-timer-wait-time": 3600,        "hold-reclaimed-time": 3600,        "max-reclaim-leases": 0,        "max-reclaim-time": 0      ,      "loggers": [      {        "name": "kea-dhcp4",        "output_options": [          {            "output": "syslog",            "pattern": "%-5p %mn",            "maxsize": 1048576,            "maxver": 8          }        ],        "severity": "INFO",        "debuglevel": 0              ],      "reservations-global": false,      "reservations-in-subnet": true,      "reservations-out-of-pool": true,      "host-reservation-identifiers": [        "hw-address"      ],      "subnet4": [        {          "id": 1,          "subnet": "10.10.10.0/24",          "pools": [            {              "pool": "10.10.10.170 - 10.10.10.254"            }          ],          "option-data": [            {              "name": "subnet-mask",              "data": "255.255.255.0"            },            {              "name": "routers",              "data": "10.10.10.1"            },            {              "name": "broadcast-address",              "data": "10.10.10.255"            },            {              "name": "domain-name-servers",              "data": "10.10.10.53"            },            {              "name": "domain-name",              "data": "bigdinosaur.lan"            }          ],          "reservations": [            {              "hostname": "host1.bigdinosaur.lan",              "hw-address": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff",              "ip-address": "10.10.10.100"            },            {              "hostname": "host2.bigdinosaur.lan",              "hw-address": "ff:ee:dd:cc:bb:aa",              "ip-address": "10.10.10.101"            }          ]              ]    }  }

The first stanzas set up the control socket on which the DHCP process listens for management API commands (we’re not going to set up the management tool, which is overkill for a homelab, but this will ensure the socket exists if you ever decide to go in that direction). They also set up the interface on which Kea listens for DHCP requests, and they tell Kea to listen for those requests in raw socket mode. You almost certainly want raw as your DHCP socket type (see here for why), but this can also be set to udp if needed.

Finally upgrading from isc-dhcp-server to isc-kea for my homelab Read More »

mechwarrior-5:-clans-is-supposed-to-be-newbie-friendly,-and-i-put-it-to-the-test

MechWarrior 5: Clans is supposed to be newbie-friendly, and I put it to the test

battletech, gaming, mechwarrior, mechwarrior 5, mechwarrior 5 clans, strategy / /

There are multiple layers to a Clans battle. There is your actual movement, which can take getting used to, with your legs moving on their own trajectory while you swivel your torso. There is your squad and how they’re deployed, which takes up many of your background thought cycles. And there is your mech, its heating levels, its armor condition, its speed, and everything else you set yourself up for during customization.

Your enemies and your copilots are, well, pretty dumb. There’s good variety in what you face and what you must do, but nobody besides you on the field seems to have a great sense of how verticality works or what the most important thing on the field is at that moment. Once you accept that your squad mates are powerful dummies, you’ll learn to let go of your own mech a bit and spend more time nudging them around or jumping into their cockpits and taking over for a spell.

The nature of mech combat in these games did not, after a half-dozen missions, click with me. On some level, it’s interesting juggling various weapons, positioning yourself with limited movement, and directing teammates. I’m going slow, and it feels like a slog, but I could go faster if I had made a different choice during loadout. I’d just have to make somebody else the heavy.

But it’s also a crunchy simulation game, simulating machinery that does not actually exist. Everything that stands between you and your sense of capable combat is a choice made by the developers.

Mecha culpa

Based on my conversations with longtime MechWarrior fans and reading lots of positive reviews to figure out if there’s something wrong with me, I think MechWarrior 5: Clans is a very juicy offering for mech fans who have been hungry for something new (and especially something set in this Clans-coming-back period) for quite some time. I’m just not entranced as a newcomer, and I’m now thinking something like Armored Core VI would be more my speed if I’m looking for rocking or possibly socking robots. I also didn’t engage with multiplayer at all, so my standard dismissal of combatant AI would only half-apply there.

By all means, though, tell me and each other how this game looks or plays to you. I was not bio-engineered for MechWarrior (I mean, just look at how many contractions I use), but I can still appreciate that it looks pretty good for those who fit better into the chassis.

MechWarrior 5: Clans is supposed to be newbie-friendly, and I put it to the test Read More »

qualcomm-cancels-windows-dev-kit-pc-for-“comprehensively”-failing-to-meet-standards

Qualcomm cancels Windows dev kit PC for “comprehensively” failing to meet standards

copilot, copilot+ PC, microsoft, snapdragon x, snapdragon x elite, Tech, Windows 11, windows 11 24h2, windows on arm / /

It’s been a big year for Windows running on Arm chips, something that Microsoft and Arm chipmakers have been trying to get off the ground for well over a decade. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus are at the heart of dozens of Copilot+ Windows PCs, which promise unique AI features and good battery life without as many of the app and hardware compatibility problems that have plagued Windows-on-Arm in the past.

Part of the initial wave of Copilot+ PCs was a single desktop, an $899 developer kit from Qualcomm itself that would give developers and testers a slightly cheaper way to buy into the Copilot+ ecosystem. Microsoft put out a similar Arm-powered dev kit two years ago.

But Qualcomm has unceremoniously canceled the dev kit and is sending out refunds to those who ordered them. That’s according to a note received by developer and YouTuber Jeff Geerling, who had already received the Snapdragon Dev Kit and given it a middling review a couple of weeks ago.

“The launch of 30+ Snapdragon X-series powered PCs is a testament to our ability to deliver leading technology and the PC industry’s desire to move to our next-generation technology,” reads Qualcomm’s statement. “However, the Developer Kit product comprehensively has not met our usual standards of excellence and so we are reaching out to let you know that unfortunately we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely.”

Qualcomm’s statement also says that “any material, if received” will not have to be returned—those lucky enough to have gotten one of the Dev Kits up until now may be able to keep it and get their money back, though the PC is no longer officially being supported by Qualcomm.

Qualcomm cancels Windows dev kit PC for “comprehensively” failing to meet standards Read More »

redbox-easily-reverse-engineered-to-reveal-customers’-names,-zip-codes,-rentals

Redbox easily reverse-engineered to reveal customers’ names, zip codes, rentals

dvd, privacy, redbox, Tech / /

Thousands of Redboxes getting dumped

It’s worth noting that the amount of data expected to be stored on Redboxes is small compared to Redbox’s overall business. Since Redbox once rented out millions of DVDs weekly, the data retrieved only represents a small portion of Redbox’s overall business and, likely, of business conducted on that specific kiosk.  That might not be much comfort to those whose data is left vulnerable, though.

The problem is more alarming when considering how many Redboxes are still out in the wild with uncertain futures. High demand for Redbox removals has resulted in all sorts of people, like Turing, gaining access to kiosk hardware and/or data. For example, The Wall Street Journal reported last week about a “former Redbox employee who convinced a 7-Eleven franchisee” to give him a Redbox, a 19-year-old who persuaded a contractor hauling a kiosk away from a drugstore to give it to him instead, as well as a Redbox landing in an Illinois dumpster.

Consumer privacy concerns

Chicken Soup’s actions may violate consumer privacy regulations, including the Video Privacy Protection Act outlawing “wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records.” However, Chicken Soup’s bankruptcy (most of its assets are in a holding pattern, Lowpass reported) makes customer remediation more complicated and less likely.

Mario Trujillo, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Ars that this incident “highlights the importance of security research in uncovering flaws that can leave customers unprotected.”

“While it may be hard to hold a bankrupt company accountable, uncovering the flaw is the first step,” he added.

Turing, which reverses engineers a lot of tech, said that the privacy problems she encountered with Redbox storage “isn’t terribly uncommon.”

Overall, the situation underscores the need for stricter controls around consumer data, whether it comes internally from companies or, as some would argue, through government regulation.

“This security flaw is a reminder that all companies should be obligated to minimize the amount of data they collect and retain in the first place,” Trujillo said. “We need strong data privacy laws to do that.”

Redbox easily reverse-engineered to reveal customers’ names, zip codes, rentals Read More »

it’s-increasingly-unlikely-that-humans-will-fly-around-the-moon-next-year

It’s increasingly unlikely that humans will fly around the Moon next year

artemis II, ground systems, orion, Science, Space / /

Don’t book your tickets for the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission next year just yet.

We have had reason to doubt the official September 2025 launch date for the mission, the first crewed flight into deep space in more than five decades, for a while now. This is principally because NASA is continuing to mull the implications of damage to the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield from the Artemis I mission nearly two years ago.

However, it turns out that there are now other problems with holding to this date as well.

No schedule margin

A new report from the US Government Accountability Office found that NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program—this is, essentially, the office at Kennedy Space Center in Florida responsible for building ground infrastructure to support the Space Launch System rocket and Orion—is in danger of missing its schedule for Artemis II.

During this flight a crew of four astronauts, commanded by NASA’s Reid Wiseman, will launch inside Orion on a 10-day mission out to the Moon and back. The spacecraft will follow a free-return trajectory, which is important, because if there is a significant problem with Orion spacecraft’s propulsion system, the trajectory of the vehicle will still carry it back to Earth. At their closest approach, the crew will come within about 6,500 miles (10,400 km) of the surface of the far side of the Moon.

The new report, published Thursday, finds that the Exploration Ground Systems program had several months of schedule margin in its work toward a September 2025 launch date at the beginning of the year. But now, the program has allocated all of that margin to technical issues experienced during work on the rocket’s mobile launcher and pad testing.

“Earlier in 2024, the program was reserving that time for technical issues that may arise during testing of the integrated SLS and Orion vehicle or if weather interferes with planned activities, among other things,” the report states. “Officials said it is likely that issues will arise because this is the first time testing many of these systems. Given the lack of margin, if further issues arise during testing or integration, there will likely be delays to the September 2025 Artemis II launch date.”

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