If you buy this PC made out of wood please don't play Overwatch with both hands on the keyboard

Look at this cool computer! It sure makes this guy laugh and laugh. He's such a cool guy, he even takes notes with pen and paper and has need for a desk lamp because computers don't define him.

Except... if I could make one request.

Please don't join my Overwatch team, snap pick McCree, and then refuse to use your mouse. I know your PC is made out of wood by Computer Direct Outlet in South Carolina. I get it. You bought a Volta V. It's special.

There's a GeForce 1070 inside that box, and the wood is all USA-grown. I understand how great this is for you. And only $1,999 for all this style and power!

But you need to aim. See, this woman is using the keyboard exclusively to draw a picture of a person drawing on a computer:

It makes no sense! But at least she’s not letting her whole team down, you know?

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LG’s 5K monitor doesn’t work well with routers

Remember the LG UltraFine 5K Display that Apple says was specifically designed to work with the New MacBook Pro and as a replacement for the Thunderbolt Display? Well apparently it wasn’t designed to work next to routers. According to 9to5Mac, the 27-inch monitor is useless when it’s within two meters of a router, as the UltraFine 5K Display will flicker, disconnect, or freeze computers due to electromagnetic interference.

In emails to 9to5Mac, LG acknowledged the problem — which LG says isn’t an issue for any of its other monitors — noting that routers “may affect the performance of the monitor” and that users should “have the router placed at least two meters away from the monitor” to avoid issues. 

Once the monitor was moved into a different room away from the router, 9to5Mac says the issues subsided. 

Despite the fact that it’s insane to require a router to be far away from what is likely the main computer in your home, there’s been no indication that LG is working on a fix for the issue, which may be more troublesome. We’ve reached out to LG and will update if we get a response.

The article was published on : theverge

Apple should probably make black AirPods

Last week, I pondered the fashion value of Apple’s AirPods with The Verge’s Sean O’Kane and our friends from Racked. Some people, both on Instagram (where we posted that awesome headline photo) and in the comments of the article, noted that they’d buy AirPods if they came in black. A jet black iPhone 7 with black AirPods would look sharp as hell. But, as we all know, Apple really doesn’t do the whole color options thing when it comes to complimentary accessories. White is the company’s way, unless you feel like buying Beats with your own money. Maybe it’s time for Apple to change.

Apple isn’t being very flexible with its idea of future tech design. Sure, fashion designers release a single line and if you dig it you buy it, but there are a lot of clothing options available. There’s only one AirPods. Apple has always been prescriptive with its style, but at least we have iPhone color choices, even if we end up stuck with rose gold.

Now, luckily, enterprising companies are responding to our cry for color. An online store called BlackPods recently launched and specializes in selling black AirPods coated in a proprietary formula, of course. We don’t know how nice these AirPods look because the site only shows renders, but still, the idea is promising. A new customized pair costs $249 while coating an existing pair costs $99. Another company, SlickWraps, is also selling AirPods skins that people can apply at home for only $14.95. Random dreamers, too, are envisioning black AirPods. These will have to do until Apple gives us some choice. Ehm, Apple. Wink wink nudge nudge throat clearing throat clearing.

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MacBook Touch Bar barred from bar test takers this February

There are a lot of kitschy things you can do with the new MacBook Touch Bar. Autocorrect your typos! Fast forward through a YouTube video! Cheat on a test? Not for bar exams in North Carolina, according to a new announcement by the state’s Board of Law Examiners.

As reported by Apple Insider, the board today released a notice requiring bar test takers disable the Touch Bar function if they plan on using their new MacBooks for the upcoming February exam. The announcement doesn’t point out cheating as the reason for requiring Touch Bar to be disabled, but it seems obvious that’s what the board is trying to work around. Touch Bar helps automatically suggest phrases and words relevant to what you’re typing, so presumably students could add predictive texts ahead of their test date.

Similarly, Colorado has also banned Touch Bars during the February exam, citing that the feature is “not compatible with the security features of the ExamSoft software” used to administer the tests. Although not every state has released an official notice, ExamSoft itself did recommend proctors to disable the Touch Bar before testing takes place.

How exactly the boards will implement this rule seems a little vague. So far, according to the board of North Carolina’s statement, it seems a proctor will simply ask if anyone in the exam room has a new MacBook with Touch Bar, and a technician will come by to help disable it if you raise your hand. I guess the test of a good lawyer starts at being a trustworthy human.

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Nextbit has been bought by Razer

Razer, the gaming laptop and peripheral company, has acquired smartphone-maker Nextbit. A press release announcing the acquisition says that Razer “has acquired the majority of the assets of Nextbit Systems Inc. and has brought onboard the management and employees of the company,” but no financial details of the acquisition were disclosed. The deal closed on Friday, January 27th, 2017.

Nextbit, which was founded by former members of Google’s Android team and a former head of design at HTC, will remain a largely independent company, operating as a “standalone business unit under its own management,” according to the release. In an interview about the acquisition, Nextbit CEO Tom Moss said the “whole team” will be coming over and that the deal will give the company more resources than it otherwise would have access to. The Nextbit staff will remain in their current location in San Francisco and will not combine with Razer’s team at this time.

Moss would not comment on any new products in the pipeline, but said that Nextbit will “continue on its mission to push boundaries and do cool stuff in mobile.” It is likely that we’ll see new hardware and software at some point, but Moss did not provide any details about future plans.

Nextbit has released one smartphone so far, the Robin, which became available just about one year ago, following a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. It garnered a lot of acclaim for its unique software design and promise to “never run out of storage,” but didn’t exactly upend the mobile industry. Moss said that Nextbit is committing to another year of software updates on the Robin and Razer will be backing up purchases with six months of hardware warranty, though the device has been out of stock in official channels for a couple of months already. The forthcoming Android 7.0 Nougat update is expected to arrive this quarter, and Nextbit’s promised battery improvements are due to follow shortly after that.

For Razer, Nextbit is one in a series of acquisitions, following last year’s very similar purchase of audio technology company THX. What happens in the future remains to be seen, but by all accounts, it seems that Nextbit has found a lifeboat of sorts in its new parent company.

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Microsoft joins Amazon in lawsuit over Trump's immigration ban

Tech companies are joining forces with the Washington state government to fight against Donald Trump’s recent immigration-related executive order. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit today against Trump’s order, which bars legal immigrants and refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US and bans Syrian refugees indefinitely. 

Now, at least three tech companies — Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia — are joining that legal fight. A Microsoft spokesman told Reuters that the company is providing information about the effect of the order in order to "be supportive." They also would "be happy to testify further if needed." 

Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia are all based in the Seattle, Washington area

Both Amazon and Expedia are also preparing statements that demonstrate the order’s negative impact on their business. In an email to employees, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote that the company’s legal team "has prepared a declaration of support for the Washington State Attorney General who will be filing suit against the order." They are considering other legal options, as well. Expedia hasn’t publicly released its statement but Ferguson cited the company’s help in a press release.

The lawsuit will attempt to prove the immigration ban is unconstitutional and that the actions it spurs are "separating Washington families, harming thousands of Washington residents, damaging Washington’s economy, hurting Washington-based companies, and undermining Washington’s sovereign interest in remaining a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees."

Other tech company executives, ranging from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, have spoken out against the order. Yet only Amazon, Microsoft, and Expedia — all of which are based in the Seattle area in Washington — are in a position to support this particular legal challenge to the immigration ban, at least until more lawsuits begin popping up around the country.

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New Android betas are now available on Google’s Pixel phones

Google has released a beta version of Android Nougat 7.1.2 available to anyone with an eligible device in the public Android Beta Program. This includes, for the first time, Google’s own Pixel and Pixel XL phones, which shipped with 7.1. 

7.1.2 is set for a public release in a couple of months, and is focused on small bugfixes. But if you managed to buy a Pixel and want it to be running the latest software as soon as possible, now might be the time to sign up for the beta program. 

Other eligible devices include the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, and Pixel C, which suggests that 2014‘s Nexus 6 phone and Nexus 9 tablet may no longer receive updates in the future; they‘d both been supported through the beta program until this point. 

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Microsoft ‘shares the concerns’ over Trump’s executive orders

Microsoft has issued a memo to employees following an executive order from President Donald Trump restricting refugees from seven countries, noting that “our goal as a company is to provide you with legal advice and assistance,” and that affected employees with questions should reach out to its Corporate, External and Legal Affairs team. 

In a statement to Business Insider, a Microsoft spokesperson said that “we share the concerns about the impact of the executive order on our employees from the listed countries, all of whom have been in the United States lawfully, and we’re actively working with them to provide legal advice and assistance.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted a note to LinkedIn containing the memo, stating that as an immigrant and as the company’s CEO, he has “both experienced and seen the positive impact that immigration has on our company, for the country, and for the world. We will continue to advocate on this important topic.” 

The memo, authored by Brad Smith of Microsoft’s Corporate, External and Legal Affairs team (CLEA), notes that the company is aware of 76 employees who are from Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Syria Yemen, or Libya, and in the country on travel visas. Smith also notes that there could be other employees who are from these countries who have green cards, and that they should reach out for assistance if they have questions. 

Smith explains that the company “believes in a strong and balanced high-skilled immigration system,” but that it supports a programs such as the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. He went on to explain that Microsoft will continue to advocate for these issues. Yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that he had concerns about the impact of the executive orders, while earlier this morning, Google ordered its affected staff back to the United States. 

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Netflix CEO: ‘Trump’s actions are so un-American it pains us all’

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has just issued the strongest statement yet among his peers in the technology industry against an executive order on immigration that has sparked widespread condemnation. In a brief statement made on Facebook, Hastings said that President “Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all.”

President Trump’s order has caused chaos today at airports and around the world as refugees and visa holders are being detained, questioned, and denied entry to the United States. Lawyers on the scene at US airports are reporting that border agents have detained foreigners seeking entry, asked for social media details, and in some cases questioned their religious affiliation. 

Other technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Uber have also expressed concerns about the executive order — so far in measured and even deferential statements. 

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Zuckerberg to Trump: ‘Keep our doors open to refugees'

Mark Zuckerberg pushed back on President Donald Trump’s immigration initiatives today, protesting his call for local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws and his produced reduction in the number of refugees. “Like many of you, I’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post today. At the same time, Zuckerberg praised Trump’s vague pledge to “work something out” for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. “I’m also glad the president believes our country should continue to benefit from ‘people of great talent coming into the country,’” Zuckerberg said, quoting Trump.

The post doesn’t quite rise to the level of criticism, but it does reflect an increasing willingness to challenge Trump’s policies inside Facebook. (Yesterday, its chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, offered a mild rebuke to Trump’s revival of a Reagan-era policy that withholds international aid to health organizations that offer abortion counseling.)

An increasing willingness to challenge Trump

The executives are in a fraught position. On one hand, they face internal and external pressure to speak out against the administration’s erratic policymaking, which a majority of Americans oppose. On the other, they are striving to maintain good relations with the government, with which Facebook regularly has business. (Not to mention that Trump’s tweets alone have regularly sent companies’ stock prices tumbling.)

Zuckerberg has long been an advocate for expanding the number of legal immigrants to the United States. In 2013, he helped to launch FWD.us, a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting immigration reform. FWD released a statement yesterday criticizing Trump’s executive orders.

Zuckerberg’s full post is below.

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LG’s stunningly thin OLED TVs will start at $8,000

LG’s stupidly thin Signature 4K OLED W series has finally been given a price, and it will put a dent in your bank account. As first reported by TechRadar, retailer B&H has released pricing on most of LG’s 2017 TV lineup, and the 2.57-millimeter-thick, 65-inch W series TV will cost $7,996, with the larger 77-inch version coming in at a staggering $19,996.

One could argue that price is justified given just how amazing the TV actually is — it’s so thin the actual components that power the TV are housed in the Dolby Atmos soundbar that comes with it. The W series supports every HDR standard (HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG, and Advanced HDR by Technicolor) and runs on WebOS 3.5.

B&H also released pricing on LG’s C and E Series TVs, and so far the cheapest one comes in at $2,500. It’s probably smart to start saving now.

• LG OLED C7 55-inch ($2,496)
• LG OLED C7 65-inch ($3,996)
• LG OLED E7 55-inch ($3,496)
• LG OLED E7 65-inch ($4,996)
• LG OLED W7 65-inch ($7,996)
• LG OLED W7 77-inch ($19,996)

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This device, called Yo, will show you live video of your sperm

A new at-home male fertility product called Yo could make testing semen way less awkward. Yo turns a user’s phone camera into a microscope that’s able to zoom in on a semen sample and determine how many sperm exist and are moving, aka the motile sperm concentration. The higher the concentration of moving sperm, the better a man’s chance of fertilizing an egg. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a company turn a smartphone camera into a microscope, although this is one of the first times we’ve seen it applied for male fertility. 

Once obtaining a sample, men have to drop some on a slide that slips into the connected camera device. The Yo will then record video of the live sperm while its algorithm processes how many are moving. The companion iOS / Android app will ultimately give users a detailed reading of their sperm count and what it means.

I showed the product announcement to John Amory, a doctor at the University of Washington, who specializes in male infertility and contraception. After going through its FDA-approval application, he says the device seems medically sound. He also believes it could serve as a great first step for men looking to figure out their fertility status. Masturbating in a clinic isn’t an ideal situation for anyone, so the fact that a man could produce a semen sample at home is appealing. With Yo, Amory envisions men could come to their doctor’s appointment already prepared and able to rule out extra tests. Yo could also spare women more invasive tests by first ruling out her partner’s fertility because in 40 percent of cases, Amory says, men infertility is the root cause of conception troubles.

The device is available to preorder now for $49.95 and includes supplies for two tests. It’ll ship sometime in February. There aren’t slide refills for sale, although they might be available in the future.

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Twitter publishes FBI national security letters following gag order lift

Twitter has published a pair of FBI National Security Letters that had been served with gag orders. The company announced in a blog post that the gag order has been lifted. 

In its statement, Twitter’s Associate General Counsel for Global Law Enforcement Elizabeth Banker outlined that the company had been prohibited from notifying the affected accounts or the general public about the existence of the orders. 

The letters were sent in September 2015 and June 2016, and directed Twitter to provide the FBI with the “name, address, length of service, and electronic communications transactional records for all services, as well as all accounts,” pertaining to two accounts. Both letters instruct the company not to turn over the content of those accounts. 

The letters also specified that Twitter was not to “disable, suspend, lock, cancel or interrupt service” to either account, on fears that the users would become aware that they were under investigation.

Last year, Yahoo and Google revealed that they had been subjected to similar letters, which requested information from several redacted accounts. 

In its statement, Twitter noted that it “remains unsatisfied with restrictions on our right to speak more freely about national security requests we may receive,” and that the company was working through lawsuits to speak more freely. The next hearing in its case will take place on February 14th, 2017. 

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Facebook is bringing Snapchat-like Stories to its main mobile app

Facebook has been on a Snapchat-copying roll. First Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, rolled out its version of 24-hour stories. Then Facebook began testing a similar product on its Messenger app in Poland. And now, Facebook is testing ephemeral stories on its main mobile app. Facebook mobile app users in Ireland can now test the feature, called Facebook Stories, on iOS and Android, as first reported by Business Insider. 

The feature centers on Facebook’s new in-app camera that acts a lot like Snapchat’s. Users can put fun filters over their faces or add visual geolocation tags to their photos and videos. It’s accessed — like Snapchat — by swiping to the right on the mobile app.

Camera content added to stories will show up at the top of friends’ Facebook app, similarly to how stories are laid out on Instagram. Users just tap a friend’s circle to view their story, and once they’re viewing the story, they can reply with a direct message, like they can on Instagram or Snapchat. Videos and photos posted in a Facebook Story won’t show up in the News Feed or on a user’s timeline by default, although users can choose to share there, as well. Facebook Stories is expected to eventually roll out to additional countries, although we don’t have a more specific timeline. 

Facebook has seemingly had great success in replicating Snapchat’s strategy of camera-first sharing. The company says 150 million people use Instagram Stories daily, which is about the size of Snapchat’s total user base. With Facebook claiming more than a billion users, Facebook Stories has the potential to expand the reach of the temporary stories concept. I personally can’t wait to see what my long-lost high school frenemies are up to in their day-to-day lives. It’s content I’ve been missing out on for nearly a decade.

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HTC denies that it’s making an Android Wear smartwatch

Rumors of an HTC-built Android Wear watch have been circling for months, including recent photos of an Under Armour-branded prototype from last week. But HTC seems to be squashing those rumors today, with a statement made to Android Police from HTC — “We're not going to have an Android watch” — seemingly denying those rumors.

HTC has been rumored to be working on an Android Wear smartwatch since summer 2014, when a square smartwatch prototype made an appearance in an HTC design video. Then, after over two years of radio silence, photos leaked of a new, circular “Halfbeak” prototype with Under Armour and HTC branding late last year; this seemed to indicate that there might be an HTC Android Wear watch coming after all. 

Furthermore, according to Android Police, an unnamed source claimed that the Halfbeak prototype that had been making the rounds was an older prototype that hasn’t been in development for some time, although those reports remain unconfirmed by HTC. 

It’s worth noting that there is some wiggle room in HTC’s statement as well — the company says that HTC will not have an Android Wear watch, which doesn’t necessarily preclude HTC manufacturing one for say, Google to sell under its own branding, similar to the Google Pixel. But in any event, it’s another major Android manufacturer that seems to be sitting out on Android Wear, which could be concerning for Google as it begins to roll out the major 2.0 version of its wearable platform in a few weeks.

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Vertu made another phone for the rich and tasteless

Vertu has been hand crafting bad, high-priced, "luxury" phones since before the smartphone, and somehow has yet to be stopped. The company was started by Nokia back in 1998, and almost two decades later it won't quit making ugly devices of questionable worth and selling them for thousands of dollars.

The latest device is the Vertu Constellation, which includes the specs of a solid flagship from mid-2016. There's a 2,560 x 1,440 5.5-inch screen, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, and wireless charging. The main camera is 12 megapixels, with 1.55 micron pixels (similar specs to that of the Nexus 5X, 6P, and Pixel).

As for "luxury" amenities, the phone has a sapphire crystal screen, Dolby Digital Plus virtual surround sound, Italian leather, dual SIM support, and Vertu's various concierge services. Also, phone calls made on the phone are encrypted through Silent Circle.

And for that typical Vertu touch of irrelevance, the phone runs Android 6.01.

To be honest, I can't stand to look at this object, but I can't say Vertu made the worst possible Android phone, given the specs listed. If you have tens of thousands of spare dollars, very little taste, and a desire to revisit the smartphone glory days of last year, maybe Constellation is just what you’ve been waiting for. It’ll be out in mid-February.

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Facebook ends its effort to personalize Trending Topics

It’s been five months since Facebook removed editorial descriptions from its Trending Topics box, transforming it from a personalized guide to the day’s news to a context-free list of keywords. The move backfired, routinely grouping stories that had nothing to do with one another under a single keyword and promoting fictional news stories. Now Facebook is ending its effort to create a personalized Trending Topics box, replacing it with a regional list of subjects. 

Starting today, everyone in the same geographical area will see the same list, Facebook said in a blog post. “This is designed to help make sure people don't miss important topics being discussed on Facebook that might not show up in their News Feed,” the company said. It’s also easier: generating a list of newsworthy topics for a finite number of regions is much more manageable than an effort to track the individual interests of hundreds of millions of people. 

Facebook is making two other changes to the feature. One, Facebook will now display the headline and publisher below the topic. You could previously see the headline by hovering over an article, but that’s a lot of effort to go to only to find out that the thing you’re interested in is a viral article in HillaryEatsBabies.biz. (Facebook says publisher names were the “most requested feature” since the most update, which surprises me, since I would have requested editorially written descriptions long before I requested the display of publisher names.)

Facebook is also changing the way it calculates whether a story is trending. Before now, a story could appear in the trending box if a single story about it were going viral. Now Facebook will take into account how many publishers appear to be writing about the same thing. In part, it’s an effort to combat the viral spread of hoaxes. “This should surface trending topics quicker, be more effective at capturing a broader range of news and events from around the world, and also help ensure that trending topics reflect real world events,” the company said.

Given how bad Trending Topics has been since August, I’m taking today’s news as a good sign. It was never clear how a personalized list of keywords was supposed to present a compelling user experience. A set of aggregated headlines has a better shot. And if Facebook can get that right, I wouldn’t be surprised to eventually see personalization return.

 The article was published on : theverge

Pioneer is making the first 4K Blu-ray drive for PCs

Ultra HD Blu-rays are slowly making their way out into the world, and are probably a good way to watch 4K content, assuming you can cobble together the gear to play them back. Pioneer’s new UHD Blu-ray drives for PCs should help, as the first drives that can play back UHD Blu-rays to computers. UHD Blu-ray players are still really scare for home theaters, consisting mainly of Sony’s recently announced X800 standalone player and Microsoft’s Xbox One S, but it’s still nice to have the option on PCs. 

Or, some computers anyway. Turns out that to play back 4K content, you’ll need some hefty specs, to the tune of one of Intel’s latest Core i5 or Core i7 Kaby Lake processors, a minimum 6GB of RAM, and a 4K capable HDMI2.0a port. That’s of course in addition to a similarly HDMI2.0a-equipped 4K monitor to actually output the content on.

The drives are the first two Ultra HD Blu-ray readers for PCs on the market, and come in two slightly different versions: the BDR-S11J-BK and BDR-S11J-X models, with the BDR-S11J-X serving as a higher-end, quieter version that Pioneer claims offers improved audio quality when playing back CDs. 

Pioneer should be releasing the drives at the end of February in Japan, but no pricing or US release information has been announced yet. 

The article was published on : theverge

Dropcam co-founder who hated working for iPod creator Tony Fadell joins Apple

Apple has hired Dropcam co-founder Greg Duffy for an undisclosed position, reports The Information. 

The move to Apple is an interesting one, considering rumors of a culture clash between Duffy and former Nest CEO Tony Fadell, who led development on the iPod at Apple before founding Nest. Last year, Duffy said that selling Dropcam to Nest was a “mistake” and criticized Fadell for the way he ran the company, calling him a “tyrant bureaucrat.” Duffy departed Nest in 2015 and continued working for Google as an Entrepreneur in Residence until he ultimately quit later that same year. We’re not exactly sure how Duffy will fit in at Apple, which also boasts a rigid corporate culture.

The news comes just days after Nest rehired its old Chief Technology Officer, Yoky Matsuoka, back after her own run at Apple. The Information speculates that Duffy is expected to be “leading a special project at Apple,” similar to how Apple’s autonomous car team, Project Titan, operates separately from the core business.

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The new Pentax KP can shoot at ISO 819,200

Pentax’s newest camera is a relatively tiny DSLR called the KP. On paper, the KP is a mixed bag of features you’d expect to find in a modern camera: it has 5-axis in-body image stabilization and weather sealing, but only shoots 1080p video. It has Wi-Fi, and a tilt-out touchscreen, but only 27 autofocus points and a top speed of 7 still images per second.

The KP’s most mad feature, though, is that the 24-megapixel APS-C sensor is capable of shooting at ISO 819,200. That’s twice the limit of the Sony A7S II, a camera that can practically see in the dark. The cost of such low-light luxury? $1,099 for just the KP body when it goes on sale February 25th in North America.

Now, the A7S II has a full frame sensor, so there’s basically no chance it’s at risk of being outperformed in terms of actual image quality by the Pentax KP. Images taken by any camera at 819,200 are also going to look pretty awful by traditional photographic standards to begin with. (We asked Pentax for sample images shot at this ludicrous ISO but a rep for the company said there are none to share yet.)

But sometimes you just need the shot, image quality be damned. And high ISO rating aside, there appears to be a decent amount of other things to like about this camera — even if it’s probably not enough to help Pentax compete with the Canons and Nikons of the world.

The article was published on : theverge

Gmail will soon block JavaScript file attachments to reduce malicious attacks

Gmail will soon block JavaScript files from being uploaded and sent over email. Starting February 13th, you’ll no longer be able to attach .js files as they are increasingly being used as a form of malware. If a user downloads a malicious JavaScript file, hackers can use it to gain access to their PC to steal data or perform other damaging functions.

As reported by Android Police, JavaScript joins .exe, .bat, and .msc as file types that are restricted from being shared as a direct attachment on Gmail. You won’t be able to get around hiding them in compressed forms, such as .zip, either. If you must send a JavaScript file, you can use Google Drive or Google Cloud Storage instead.

Users will receive a warning when they attempt to upload a banned file type, but it is unclear whether they’ll get an alert as well if they’re on the receiving end of said file.

The article was published on : theverge

Microsoft is making it easier for the Thai government to break web encryption

The Thai government is looking to take greater control over its citizens' web encryption, according to a new report from Privacy International, and Microsoft is part of the problem.

At issue is the Thai government's root certificate, which is used to verify HTTPS-enabled websites. Windows automatically trusts the certificate, but many competing operating systems do not. Used maliciously, the root certificate could allow the government to smuggle malware into otherwise legitimate pages, or present counterfeit versions of entire websites. Privacy International cites Thailand's history of government surveillance as good reason to be suspicious. 

The report also claims that a 2014 Facebook outage in Thailand, which occurred amid a military coup, was orchestrated not only to censor users but to circumvent the social network's encryption, as well.

The Thai government has long exerted tight control over the internet, and the Thai military junta has only escalated the crackdown since taking power in 2014. Citizens have been jailed for criticizing the monarch on social media, and the legislature has moved to centralize its web controls. The report also notes that the government conducted downgrade attacks in September 2014, forcing users to send emails via unencrypted channels where they can be easily intercepted.

“Trusting a national root certificate from a country whose governments have a history of human right violations and a poor record on civil rights and freedom of speech should not be taken lightly,” Eva Blum-Dumontet, a research officer at Privacy International, said in a statement

Microsoft is the only major web company that automatically trusts the Thai national root certificate. Apple’s Mac OS X does not accept the national root certificate by default, nor do the Chrome or Firefox web browsers. In its report, Privacy International called on Microsoft to not trust the certificate by default “as a precautionary measure.”

In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft said Thailand’s root certificate meets its standards. “Microsoft only trusts certificates issued by organizations that receive Certificate Authority through the Microsoft Root Certificate Program,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “This program is an extensive review process that includes regular audits from a third-party web trust auditor. Thailand has met the requirements of our program and you can review the details of the latest audits here and here. This thorough review, backed by contractual obligations is not reflected in Privacy International’s assessment of the risks.”

This isn’t the first time that concerns have been raised over certificates. Last year, both Mozilla and Google announced that they would no longer trust certificates issued by WoSign and StartCom, two China-based certificate authorities, amid concerns over suspicious activity. (StartCom, an Israeli CA, was quietly acquired by WoSign in 2015.) The web companies found that WoSign had back-dated some certificates, raising the possibility that they could be used to impersonate websites or conduct surveillance.

The report also provides new details on a brief Facebook blockage that occurred in May 2014. At the time, Thailand’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry said that the social network was blocked to “stop the spread of critical messages” about the military coup. A military spokeswoman later blamed the half-hour outage on “technical problems with the internet gateway.”

But Privacy International, citing sources close to the ICT and in Thailand’s telecommunications sector, reports that although the government may have been trying to muzzle online criticism by blocking Facebook, it was also trying to circumvent the service’s SSL encryption. One source in the telecoms sector was asked to contact Facebook about sending traffic over HTTP, rather than the more secure HTTPS protocol.

The government’s so-called “door-knocking” strategy does not appear to have worked, since there is no evidence that encryption was circumvented on Facebook. But Privacy International says the incident underscores a broader authoritarian trend in Thailand, where internet service providers (ISPs) and telecom companies are closely linked to the government, and where authorities are increasingly pursuing low-cost forms of online surveillance.

The article was published on : theverge