Uncategorized

A job application filled out by former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, hs just been sold at auction for $174,757 (£125,728). The questionnaire, completed by then-18-year-old Jobs in 1973, was snapped up by an anonymous London internet entrepreneur. The man that would go on to revolutionise the tech industry with his co-founding of Apple signed the application "Steven jobs" [sic] and said his special abilities included "electronics, tech or design engineer". Read more: Apple HomePod smart speaker review: A hell of a speaker controlled by a mildly disappointing assistant Steve Jobs' application sold for $174,757 Under interests, he wrote: "digital – from Bay near Hewitt-Packard" [sic]. Jobs scrawled "yes" next to computer and calculator skills, adding "design tech". According to the form, he had a driver's license but and stated his access to transportation as "possible, but not probable". Jobs gave his address on the application as Reed College, where he had begun studying English literature in 1972 but dropped out to preserve his parents' meagre amount of money. He hung around campus for a year and a half after quitting to audit creative courses, including classes on Shakespeare, dance, and calligraphy. Later, in 1974, Jobs secured a job as a technician at Atari, heavily relying on the help of Steve Wozniak who would become the other Apple co-founder. Other Steve Jobs highlights from the Pop Culture sale by PR Auction, which began on 8 March and concluded yesterday, include a signed Apple Mac OS X technical manual which sold for $41,806, and a signed 2008 newspaper clipping which went for $26,950. Jobs died at the age of 56 after a fight with cancer. Read more: Dialog Semiconductor says Apple supply deal in place until at least 2020 Original Article [contf] [contfnew] CityAM [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

New version! New characters! New content and packaging! AUSTIN, Texas—Sega hosted a South By Southwest 2018 panel about all things Sonic the Hedgehog, and the panel began with good news for anyone wanting a physical version of last year's tremendous 2D throwback, Sonic Mania. Their wishes will be granted in the form of Sonic Mania Plus, a physical release for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in "summer 2018" for $29.99. Shortly after that announcement, Sega also offered a surprise "one more thing" about an apparent new Sonic racing game. The panel noted that Mania's positive reception was tempered by one consistent complaint: that fans wanted a disc or cartridge version. So Sega moved forward with a boxed version of the game, and while its boxed version has its own physical perks (32-page art book, "holographic" cover, reversible Genesis-styled cover), the more interesting stuff comes in the form of new gameplay features. The most obvious of those are two classic-series creatures, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, being added as playable heroes. (These characters originated in the series' first Japan-exclusive arcade game, 1993's SegaSonic the Hedgehog.) Sega didn't confirm how differently those characters will control or whether existing levels will be opened up or changed for any unique mechanics. Additional content, which was only briefly teased at SXSW, will include a new "encore" mode of remixed stages and a new version of the original's "competition mode" that will let up to four players race side by side. How exactly those remixed stages will play out was not demonstrated. Sega confirmed that owners of the game's original digital version can pay for an unlock of the Plus content, though the company was not ready to confirm a price. Sadly, the game's PC version was not included in the Plus version's announcement banner. We have sent questions to Sega about that version's potential and will update this report with any news. Sega's SXSW panel ended with this tease, which contains the apparent word "racing," along with an assurance that this game is not a "sequel" to any existing Sonic series. The panel's "one more thing" announcement came in the form of the above image, which started out entirely black and exploded with a single letter "R" by the end. This followed a number of car headlight images and engine revving sounds, so the fact that the word looks like it spells "racing" is no surprise. The panel confirmed that this game is "not a sequel" to any existing Sonic series but said nothing more. This follows months of rumors about a followup to Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, which has been loudly hinted at by way of various toy companies announcing products that tie into a Sonic racing game of some sort. The panelists offered one other hint when a fan asked about further classic Sonic game ports to mobile platforms like iOS. "We've stolen Christian Whitehead away," one panelist said in response, referring to the Sonic Mania developer who previously built Sega's best existing iOS Sonic ports. This is as loud a hint as we've yet heard that another official, retro-styled Sonic game may be in the works at Sega. Listing image by Sega Original Article [contf] [contfnew] Ars Technica [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Enlarge/ Tehran, the capital city of Iran.A.Davey via Creative Commons Yesterday, users in Iran lost access to Apple's App Store. When users attempted to connect or download apps, they received a message saying that the App Store was "unavailable in the country or region" in which they resided. The cessation of services began around noon GMT yesterday, and services resumed around 5:00am GMT this morning, according to social media posts and sources who spoke with Bleeping Computer. A virtual private network (VPN) could still reach the App Store normally. Media coverage and social media posts were quick to speculate that the store's downtime was an Apple-imposed ban driven by US economic sanctions against Iran, as Apple is based in the US. However, we are not yet aware of evidence to support this. An accidental outage is also possible, as is a block imposed by Iran's government—Iran has previously blocked the Google Play store, though that block was later lifted. Apple has not responded to our requests for clarification. Because of US sanctions, Apple has no formal presence or operation in Iran, and its App Store is not officially supported there. The company does not sell phones there, nor does it work with any vendors that do. It nevertheless had an 11-percent market share in the country as of last year, as Iranians have purchased millions of iPhones smuggled in from other countries. Iranian app developers have published apps to the App Store for use by Iranian iPhone owners. US President Barack Obama's administration issued a license that allowed app stores to operate in Iran (it was not permitted previously). The license was framed as a way to win hearts and minds by allowing the free flow of information. In August 2017, The New York Times reported that Apple removed from its store many apps created by Iranian developers to provide services in Iran, including popular Uber-like ridesharing app Snapp and Seamless-like food delivery app DelionFoods, both of which were popular in the country. Iranian developers claimed that Apple issued the following statement to them at that time: We are unable to include your app, [App Name], on the App Store. Under the U.S. sanctions regulations, the App Store cannot host, distribute, or do business with apps or developers connected to certain U.S. embargoed countries. This area of law is complex and constantly changing. If the existing restrictions shift, we encourage you to resubmit your app for inclusion on the App Store. These app removals were part of an ongoing effort at Apple to remove apps "which facilitate transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran," according to Techrasa. The license issued by the Obama administration did not extend to helping developers in this case. Google is also a US-based company, and it is subject to the same restrictions as Apple. The Google Play Store for Android devices is officially available in Iran, but Google policy limits which kinds of app downloads are available; only free apps can be downloaded in Iran, as paid apps would violate the sanctions. Google also removed Iranian apps from the Google Play Store last fall. Original Article [contf] [contfnew] Ars Technica [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

EnlargeMarvel Studios Marvel Studios is on quite the roll. Black Panther has already grossed over a billion dollars and doesn't look like it's done making money, and the studio's accountants must be rubbing their hands with glee as thoughts turn to the next tentpole release, Avengers: Infinity War. That movie opens on April 27, and on Friday, Marvel dropped a new trailer on us: [embedded content] Since many readers might not be able to watch the trailer at work, I've pulled some images into the following gallery. You'll need to provide your own stirring Avengers theme music by humming along, and it goes without saying that you shouldn't look at it if you're at all sensitive to spoilers. Really, I mean it; if you look at those pictures, you've got nothing to complain about other than your own lack of self-control! The trailer opens with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and War Machine (Don Cheadle) standing on what looks to be the helicopter pad at Stark Tower. [Start humming theme now.] Marvel Studios Uh-oh! Something big and round and definitely evil-looking has materialized above Manhattan. You can see Ars' parent company offices in the foreground. Right about now, I'm glad I work remotely from Washington, DC; John Timmer, Jeff Dunn, and Peter Bright might be in trouble, as they aren't too far away. Marvel Studios This is Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). You probably knew that already since the entire world has seen his movie, more than once judging by the box office take. And why not? It was a damn good film. PS: His suit is made from vibranium. Marvel Studios This is Thanos (Josh Brolin). He's from outer space, he's purple, and he's basically unstoppable even before he has all the infinity stones (those glowing macguffins that we saw in lots of previous Marvel movies). How the gang is going to prevent him from wrecking the world is beyond me! Marvel Studios Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) might have a plan? It involves this suit. Will it work? We won't know until April 27th!! [Keep humming theme tune] Marvel Studios Starlord (Chris Pratt) and Iron Man discuss the plan, or lack of plan. [If you're still humming, start working up to a crescendo about now.] Marvel Studios Oooh, dramatic tension! Someone is poking Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in his face! With needles! (These needles are almost certainly metal and not plastic. +15 Ars points if you get the reference.) Marvel Studios Original Article [contf] [contfnew] Ars Technica [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

A "space harpoon" designed to catch a defunct satellite the size of a double-decker bus has passed a crucial earthbound test. The one-metre long metal device was fired at 55mph into a 3cm-thick satellite panel, successfully deploying four barbs to lock it in place. Image:An artist's impression of the Envisat, a satellite which stopped working in 2012 The harpoon, designed by Airbus UK, could be launched on a spacecraft in the 2020s in an attempt to snare the 8-ton EnviSat, which stopped working in 2012. Pete Steele, a space systems engineer at Airbus, told Sky News that the captured satellite would then be dragged through the atmosphere, burning up as it goes. "The problem with [EnviSat] is that it is now unresponsive," he said. "We can't control it, we can't steer it, so we can't get out of the way of any debris that comes its way. "If that does happen and the satellite does explode we will have a large cloud of debris, so it's important we get it down as soon as possible." Image:The ''space harpoon' was designed by Airbus UK There are already half a million pieces of space junk larger than a tennis ball orbiting the Earth at 17,500mph. Some of those are satellites that are no longer operational and pose a collision risk. In 2009, a crash between a Russian and an American satellite produced a cloud of 2,000 fragments large enough to destroy other spacecraft. The increasing number of orbiting objects raises the chance of Kessler syndrome – with a crash producing fragments that cause further collisions in a runaway series of explosions. Image:The device was fired at 55mph in a test Alastair Wayman, the harpoon project manager, said: "It's a big risk if we carry on using space as we do at the minute. "If we don't do anything, such as bringing out large pieces of space debris or implementing guidelines to make satellites de-orbit themselves at the end of mission, then this Kessler syndrome will present a real problem as we go forward." A smaller version of the Airbus harpoon will be launched next month on the European Space Agency's RemoveDebris mission. More from UK It will be fired at a test rig from a distance of 2m to confirm that it operates as expected in zero gravity. Even small fragments of junk put the International Space Station at risk, forcing the crew to take evasive action or even evacuate to the Soyuz spacecraft as a precaution. Original Article [contf] [contfnew] Sky News [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot can be seen in the left of this image (Picture: Reuters) It’s a storm big enough to swallow Earth whole and still have seconds and dessert. Now Nasa has spotted Jupiter’s Great Red Spot behaving extremely strangely. The Spot is a huge swirling storm that’s been whirling for centuries. At its biggest, it was large enough to swallow Earth three times over. But it appears to be getting taller as it shrinks and is even changing colour, meaning we might have to call it the Small Orange Spot in future. ‘Storms are dynamic, and that’s what we see with the Great Red Spot. It’s constantly changing in size and shape, and its winds shift, as well,’ said Amy Simon, an expert in planetary atmospheres at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and author of a report into the changing face of the Great Red Spot. Simon’s research indicates the Spot has been decreasing in length since 1878 and is now only big enough to swallow on Earth. It has also started to change colour and started ‘becoming intensely orange’ in 2014. Although Nasa cannot explain this process, it’s believed that chemical which colour the storm are being carried high into the atmosphere as it shape changes, where they are exposed to more UV radiation and change colour. More: UK ‘There is evidence in the archived observations that the Great Red Spot has grown and shrunk over time,’ added co-author Reta Beebe, an emeritus professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. ‘However, the storm is quite small now, and it’s been a long time since it last grew.’ Original Article [contf] [contfnew] METRO [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

(Picture: Getty) Sometimes social media goes above and beyond its remit – and not in a good way. What starts as a way to keep in touch with family and friends becomes all-encompassing, and all of a sudden you’re living your life through a screen. Perhaps you want to delete your social media account for this reason, or perphaps you just want to free up space on your phone. Either way, we’ve got you covered. How to delete apps? On iPhone, you delete apps by holding down on your home screen. When the apps start moving around click the cross in the top-right corner of the app you want to delete. On an Android phone, open your device’s settings, tap apps & notifications, then choose the app that you want to uninstall. If you don’t see it, first tap see all apps or app info. Then choose to uninstall. This will only delete the app from your phone, however, and won’t actually remove your accounts on these. That comes in next. (Picture: Getty) Delete your Facebook account You can deactivate your Facebook for a short period (which means all your data won’t be lost) or delete completely. To deactivate: Click the account menu down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page in your web browser Select settings Choose security in the left column Choose deactivate your account’, and follow the steps to finalise this To delete your account for good, follow this link. You may wish to save your photos and messages beforehand, as they’ll be permanently gone once you’ve deleted. Delete your Twitter account To delete your Twitter and never have another argument with a stranger again (hopefully) follow these instructions. Sign in to Twitter on desktop. Go to your account settings and click on deactivate my account at the bottom of the page. Tap Deactivate @username. Enter your password when prompted and verify that you want to deactivate your account. After 30 days, your information will begin being deleted for good, so if you change your mind you need to log back in before that time to access it. (Picture: Getty) Delete your Instagram account Like Facebook, you can deactivate or delete Instagram. To deacitivate follow these instructions: Log into Instagram from a mobile browser or computer (as you can’t temporarily disable your account from within the Instagram app). Tap the person icon in the top right and then select edit profile. Click temporarily disable my account in the bottom right. You’ll then be asked to say why you’re deleting your account and re-enter your password. The option to disable your account will only appear after you’ve selected a reason from the menu. Choose temporarily disable account. To permanently delete your Insta account: Go to the delete your account page. You’ll be asked to log in on web first as you can’t delete your account from within the Instagram app. You’ll then be asked to say why you’re deleting your account and re-enter your password. The option to permanently delete your account will only appear after you’ve selected a reason from the menu. Click permanently delete my account. Delete your Snapchat account To delete Snapchat: Follow this link on any browser (you can’t delete the account from the app). Enter your username and password and select ‘log in’ Enter your username and password once again. Select delete my account at the bottom. Like Twitter, Snapchat will keep all your data for 30 days before they start removing it permanently. More: Tech Finally, you can take a break from the endless notifications and pointless updates. That is, until you’re tempted to download again. MORE: Facebook bans Britain First and its leaders from the site MORE: Company is looking for bloggers to travel around Europe – all expenses paid Original Article [contf] [contfnew] METRO [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Scientists want to discover if the space rock can be redirected or blown up using nukes Scientists from a Nasa-led ‘Planetary Defence Team’ are preparing to publish a second piece of research aimed at working out how to stop a huge asteroid hitting Earth in 2135. This week, academics from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory released a study which concluded that Nasa would be unable to use a newly-designed spaceship to nudge Asteroid Bennu onto a new course which ensures it stays well clear of our planet. Horrifying footage of Egyptian student, 18, being 'attacked by gang of 10 women on bus' Now the lab is finalising research which details a ‘nuclear option’ in which the space rock will be blasted with weapons of mass destruction. Metro.co.uk has been told that the results of simulations exploring whether Bennu can be nuked are complete and about to be filed for publication in an academic journal. The study released this week related to a Nasa craft called HAMMER, which is designed to push asteroids onto new path – the ‘preferred option’ – or hit them with a nuclear blast. This graphic shows the size of Asteroid Bennu compared to a tiny ‘planetary defender’ spaceship (Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) MORE: Can nuclear weapons save Earth from apocalypse asteroids? This research said HAMMER would be unable physically move Bennu unless it was launched decades before Bennu’s possible date of impact, or dozens were sent into space at the same time. Nuking the doomsday space rock could be humanity’s only chance of survival – as long as it was carried out properly. The safest approach doesn’t necessarily involve blowing it to bits, but detonating a nuke at a distance from the asteroid. This would bombard the space rock with X-rays and vapourise the surface, creating a ‘rocket-like propulsion as the vaporized material is ejected from the object’ and pushing Bennu into a new trajectory. Of course, this would have to take place a long time before Bennu is due to hit Earth to guarantee our safety. However, nuclear weapons could allow us to save ourselves at the last minute. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ‘Successful disruption requires ensuring that the asteroid pieces are sufficiently small and well-dispersed so that they pose a much-reduced threat to the Earth,’ said Megan Bruck Syal, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and member of the Planetary Defence Team. ‘Disruption carried out as late as tens of days before impact can still be very effective in reducing the total damage felt by Earth. Previous work by our research group has shown that the impacting debris is reduced to less than 1% of its initial mass by disrupting the asteroid, even at these late times.’ Bennu has a 1 in 2,700-chance of striking Earth on Sept. 25, 2135, and it is estimated that the energy unleashed in this impact would be equivalent to 1,200 megatons, which is 80,000 times the energy released by the Hiroshima bomb. At 500 metres wide, it is as wide as five football fields and weights around 79 billion kilograms, which is 1,664 times as heavy as the Titanic. More: World The Nasa-led Planetary Defence Team consists of several different organisations, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Nasa is in charge of detecting asteroids, whilst Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is working to discover ways of neutralising the threat. All organisations are involved in considering the emergency response which would be needed if an asteroid hit our fragile planet. MORE: Nasa makes huge discovery on frozen dwarf planet Original Article [contf] [contfnew] METRO [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Google cultivated links with academics and research organizations across Europe to influence the region’s tough regulatory stance toward the search giant, according to an analysis by a U.S. non-profit group published Friday. The report argues that as part of a decade-long lobbying campaign, the American tech company earmarked millions of euros to support think tanks in Germany, the United Kingdom and Brussels that focused on hot-button topics like competition and copyright reform central to Google’s core advertising business. The analysis was published by the Campaign for Accountability, a Washington-based organization financed by one of Google’s harshest critics. Google’s financial and policy links with groups like the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin highlight the company’s increasingly sophisticated lobbying tactics to woo EU policymakers, who hold great sway over its corporate interests on the Continent and beyond. Google’s ties to European research groups and academics have not helped it steer clear of regulatory scrutiny. The disclosures by the Campaign for Accountability, which published a similar report last year outlining Google’s links with U.S. academics, also shed light on the tug-of-war between the search giant and its tech rivals. The Washington-based group is partly funded by Oracle, a long-time staunch Google critic, which also holds legal control over FairSearch, another anti-Google group at the center of Europe’s antitrust charges against the company. “Google’s strategy is to put money into a few institutions,” said Daniel Stevens, executive director at the Campaign for Accountability, who declined to comment on the group’s ties to Oracle. “If they can muddy the waters by pointing to academic papers, it helps their cause.” Google refuted claims it had bought influence among EU policymakers, adding that its financial support for research organizations was open to public scrutiny and did not affect those groups’ focus on digital topics. It also questioned the motives of Campaign for Accountability, which did not disclose its own source of funding. “We’re happy to support academic researchers in Europe,” said Al Verney, a Google spokesman. “Unlike our competitors who fund the Campaign for Accountability, we expect and require our grantees to disclose their funding.” Google’s ties to European research groups and academics have not helped it steer clear of regulatory scrutiny. Officials in Brussels, Paris and Berlin have filed antitrust charges, issued privacy fines and tried other ways to reduce the search giant’s perceived dominance of the digital world. That included a €2.4 billion antitrust fine last year from Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, for Google unfairly favoring some of its search services over those of rivals. The company is appealing that decision. Google’s academic ties The tech company provided roughly €9 million to the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, a Berlin-based research organization whose academics wrote reports and papers linked to digital issues tied to Google’s underlying business, according to the institute’s own public filings. That figure represented roughly three quarters of the organization’s yearly funding at a time when German politicians, including Angela Merkel, the country’s chancellor, raised questions about Google’s dominance over many parts of the online world. Wolfgang Schulz, director of the Humboldt Institute, acknowledged that Google’s funding placed greater responsibility on the organization to be impartial, but said the company had no say over research. He added that the organization’s contract with Google meant it only automatically received half of the annual €1.5 million budget from the search giant. The other half was dependent on the Humboldt Institute finding matching funding, on a euro-per-euro basis, from other corporate or government groups. “We are extremely transparent,” Schulz said. “When you accept corporate money, you are under special observation.” In London, Google also provided funding for the Research Alliance for a Digital Europe, or READIE, a think tank operated by Nesta, an independent foundation with ties to the British government, according to the Campaign for Accountability’s report. READIE published dozens of studies on digital topics, some — but not all — favorable to Google’s lobbying positions, while its events provided the search giant’s executives an opportunity to reach EU decision-makers, according to the Washington-based organization. That included privileged access to some of Europe’s most senior policymakers, including a 2017 presentation on digital policy by READIE’s founder Valerie Mocker, which was attended by Merkel. Mocker said the organization’s costs were split equally between Nesta and Google, and that it was always transparent about which groups and organizations were involved in its research. “Nesta independently runs READIE as a platform to share policies; connect Europe’s policymakers with businesses and entrepreneurs,” she wrote in an email. Building links in Brussels The Campaign for Accountability also highlighted Google’s membership of the Centre for European Policy Studies, or CEPS, a leading Brussels-based think tank chaired by Joaquín Almunia, the former competition commissioner who tried unsuccessfully to settle an EU antitrust probe with Google. The organization counts among its researchers a former Google employee and Andrea Renda, a professor occupying a Google-sponsored chair at the College of Europe, a post-graduate institute. The Campaign for Accountability claimed CEPS researchers’ stance on digital issues was influenced after Google began donating to the think tank and hosting its conferences, which promoted the company’s positions to senior EU policymakers. The group said the think tank wrote several policy papers critical of the Commission’s antitrust investigation into Google, though this work was not fully against Brussels’ stance, according to a review of CEPS’ documents. “It is part of the larger picture where larger internet companies are dominating this conversation” — Daniel Freund, head of advocacy EU integrity at Transparency International The think tank said that Google paid an annual corporate membership of €12,000, or less than 1 percent of its total membership income, and that the relationship did not give the company a say over its research topics. “CEPS remains committed to its founding values of transparency and independence, meticulously upheld by our researchers and members of management,” the organization said in a statement. Renda, the senior research fellow at CEPS, said that his critical stance toward the Commission’s antitrust investigation into Google was similar to his position against Brussels’ previous probe into Microsoft abuses more than a decade ago. Lobbying experts said Google’s ability to influence academics or think tanks depended on its financial deals with them, but that the amount of overall tech funding going into research risked distorting the debate around issues key to corporate interests. “Larger internet companies are dominating this conversation,” said Daniel Freund, head of advocacy EU integrity at Transparency International, whose corporate sponsors include Statoil and Microsoft. “You don’t have to script every message, but you fund the conversation taking place.” Original Article [contf] [contfnew]