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Pop-up stores are all the rage, but Pornhub's shop in New York City is offering something... unique. If you visit its just-opened location on 70 Wooster Street, you'll see a bed with a camera that livestreams directly to the porn giant's website. No, you can't get away with what normally happens on a bed at Pornhub, but you are encouraged to "interact" with the camera. And let's be honest: this is probably your best shot at appearing live on a porn site without having to explain a surprise career move.

The store itself (which, unsurprisingly, is adults-only) is also notable as Pornhub's retail debut. And it's mostly about fashion. You'll see some sex toys and "aphrodisiac herbs," but most of the wares are either self-branded clothing or apparel from Pornhub's partners. The company knowingly set up shop next to high fashion brands, in fact. While no one would confuse the porn purveyor with its haute couture neighbors, the company clearly wants to be taken seriously.

If you're curious enough to step inside, the New York pop-up will be open until December 20th. There will also be a "holiday-themed" store in Milan, Italy before long.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/25/pornhub-store-includes-livestreaming-bed-camera/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) believes that SpaceX will realize significant cost savings with reusable boosters (archive) without needing to launch them ten times each — as bitter SpaceX competitor United Launch Alliance asserts:

Gerd Gruppe, a member of DLR's executive board and responsible for DLR's space program, said the agency has concluded that SpaceX is on the verge of realizing the savings it has promised from reusing first stages. "With 20 launches a year the Falcon 9 uses around 200 engines, and while their cost of refurbishment is unknown, we think SpaceX is well on the way to establishing a competitive system based on the reusability" of the rocket's first stage, Gruppe said here Oct. 24 at the Space Tech Expo conference.

Not everyone is so sure. Leslie Kovacs, executive branch director at United Launch Alliance (ULA), said ULA has concluded that SpaceX needs to refly Falcon 9 first stages 10 times each to make reusability pay. "The question of reusability is not a technical problem. It boils down to an economic problem," Kovacs siad here Oct. 24. "Our internal analysis shows that if you are going to do that [reuse the first stage], the break-even point is about 10 times. You have to bring back that first stage 10 times for it to be economically beneficial for you."

Meanwhile, SpaceX has thrown the future of the European commercial launch provider Arianespace into doubt. Although Arianespace plans to launch its cheaper Ariane 6 rocket in 2020, it may not be able to compete with SpaceX's reusable rockets even with European subsidies (which Germany is reluctant to provide):

An Anonymous Coward writes:

UK age verification legislation will lead to a porn habit database (archive)

The country is eager to protect children from porn. It's a worthy goal, mind you, given that research shows that exposing kids to porn can be damaging. Unfortunately, it's a quixotic goal, given that porn is impossible to block. Nevertheless, the UK is now on the brink of creating a database of the country's porn habits.

It also seems poised to hand the age verification piece of that puzzle over to an outfit that Vice refers to as "the shady company that controls the majority of free porn tube sites." That company is called MindGeek. Vice likens it to the Walmart of porn. Britain's leading obscenity lawyer, Myles Jackman, says it supposedly owns about 90% of tube sites on the internet, and it didn't get that way by making friends in the industry.

[...] And now, MindGeek, the WalMart of porn, is getting ready to become even more filthy rich by having maneuvered itself into the position of becoming gatekeeper for consumers of porn, be they adults or kids who don't know how to use a virtual private network (VPN). It's not a done deal quite yet, but MindGeek has had several conversations with officials. It's also currently pushing its own age verification platform, AgeID. If selected, Britons could be dealing with AgeID as the principal gate between themselves and their porn.

Original Submission

Fnord666 writes:

Over the years, Plex has grown from a relatively simple home media server into an all-in-one entertainment powerhouse. Notable feature additions include streaming personalized news, the ability to operate entirely in the cloud instead of on your server, and a full-fledged DVR. Now that DVR has gotten even more powerful, adding a new feature to automatically remove commercials, which was spotted by Cord Cutters News.

The feature was added in an update the Plex team pushed out over the weekend. While most of the update was focused on fixing bugs, this new feature was also included. You'll need to manually enable the feature by heading into your Plex DVR settings and finding the option, labeled "Remove Commercials."

You may not want to turn the feature on immediately without looking into reports from other users. The description in the settings warns that while the feature will attempt to automatically locate and remove commercials, this could potentially take a long time and cause high CPU usage. If you're running your Plex server on a powerful computer, this may not be an issue, but if you're running it on an old laptop, you might want to hold off.

Source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/plex-dvr-removes-commercials/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

MIT's new desktop 3D printer technology increases speeds up to 10x

[A] team of engineers at MIT have shown off a 3D printer capable of creating builds up to 10 times the speed of their consumer counterparts. According to the team, objects that take around an hour to print on conventional systems are done in a matter of minutes.

The system is built around FDM — the same technology used in most desktop 3D printers, which deposits melted plastic layers to build up a structure. MIT made some key tweaks to the print head in order to speed things up, including a screw mechanism that feeds filaments through at higher speeds by getting a tighter grip on the plastic than the traditional pinch wheel model.

The print head also added a laser near the new mechanism capable of melting the plastic much more quickly. Those pieces were coupled with a speedier gantry capable of moving the print head at a higher speed in line with the upgraded print speed.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Automation could wipe out 375-800 million jobs globally in the next 13 years, including 16-54 million in the U.S. But don't worry, there's a new job waiting for you:

The McKinsey Global Institute cautions that as many as 375 million workers will need to switch occupational categories by 2030 due to automation.

[...] "The model where people go to school for the first 20 years of life and work for the next 40 or 50 years is broken," Susan Lund, a partner for the McKinsey Global Institute and co-author of the report, told CNN Tech. "We're going to have to think about learning and training throughout the course of your career."

[...] "The dire predictions that robots are taking our jobs are overblown," Lund said. "Yes, work will be automated, [but] there will be enough jobs for everyone in most areas." The authors don't expect automation will displace jobs involving managing people, social interactions or applying expertise. Gardeners, plumbers, child and elder-care workers are among those facing less risk from automation.

Also at Bloomberg.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

French porn star piqued over Macron's desire to crackdown on X-rated films

A star of French porn films has challenged President Emmanuel Macron to meet with him and female porn actresses after France's leader aroused his anger by linking the porn industry to violence against women and inequality. Manuel Ferrara was furious over the president's speech at the weekend which outlined his plan to tackle violence against women and ensure equality between the sexes. According to Macron pornography makes women "an object of humiliation" and that action needs to be taken because porn films are now so widely watched among school children.

Ferrara hit back on Twitter and invited the president to discuss the issue. "I am involved in this industry that you are trying to demonize by making this kind of remark. I am ready to sit down with you and discuss a topic that by all accounts you know nothing about. I'm waiting for your call!" In an interview with France Inter radio the porn star continued to criticize the president saying he found his remark "shocking". "He demonizes the porn industry and is jumping to conclusions (faire un amalgame). It's the same with video games. It's like saying 'a teenager who plays Call of Duty is going to pick up a gun and kill everyone in his school'."

[...] On Saturday Macron announced his plan to extend the powers of France's broadcasting regulator CSA to cover X-rated films as well as launch an awareness campaign on pornography in secondary schools. "The CSA plays an indispensable role in regulating audiovisual content everywhere and stopping the most undignified behavior becoming a form of tacit propaganda," said the president. "Today we do not regulate access to video games, internet content and pornographic content that is increasingly available."

Also at BBC and Reason (archive).

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has filed a lawsuit against a 14-year-old boy who used cheating software for Fortnite Battle Royale and uploaded a video to YouTube showing others how to use it. The boy filed a DMCA counterclaim after Epic Games tried (successfully) to take down his video, and then uploaded a second video doubling down on the cheating (here is a third intact video from the YouTuber explaining the situation, 7m16s). The original video was ultimately removed and resulted in a "strike" against the YouTuber's account. The boy's mother has filed a letter with the Eastern District Court of North Carolina blasting the lawsuit and asking for it to be dismissed. She says that Epic Games failed to bind underage users with the EULA for their free-to-play game and claims that she did not give parental consent for her son to play the game. She also points out that the software in question is easily obtainable online and that her son did not modify the game with his own code:

Epic Games, the game developer of the massively popular Fortnite survival shooter, now finds itself at the center of a heated debate around the ethics of punishing cheaters after filing a lawsuit against a 14-year-old boy. In response, the boy's mother filed a legal note tearing down Epic's lawsuit and calling for it to be thrown out. The ensuing debate has been fierce, with some praising Epic and others decrying the legal measures as excessive and heartless, suggesting this case could become a touchstone for how game developers of highly competitive online titles handle cheaters and licensing agreement violations in the future.

[...] Epic, which has banned cheaters only to see them develop more robust workarounds, has responded by suing both distributors of the software and, now it seems, at least one user of it. Suing an individual user instead of simply banning them is an unorthodox and controversial move because it echoes the misguided actions of the music recording industry in its attempt to crackdown on piracy. That parallel was only further cemented by the note submitted by the 14-year-old's mother in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

[...] "This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits," Epic told The Verge in a statement. "Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim. Epic is not okay with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age. As stated previously, we take cheating seriously, and we'll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players."

Here's some analysis from a copyright attorney (10m53s, starts at 5m45s). He is not impressed with the mom's letter.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Earthworms seem to enjoy Mars-like soil just fine after you add poop and water to it:

Two young worms are the first offspring in a Mars soil experiment at Wageningen University & Research. Biologist Wieger Wamelink found them in a Mars soil simulant that he obtained from NASA. At the start he only added adult worms. The experiments are crucial in the study that aims to determine whether people can keep themselves alive at the red planet by growing their own crops on Mars soils.

[...] 'The positive effect of adding manure was not unexpected', added Wamelink, 'but we were surprised that it makes Mars soil simulant outperform Earth silver sand'. Researchers added organic matter from earlier experiments to both sands. They added the manure to a sample of the pots and then, after germination of the rucola, they added the worms. The result: pots with all possible combinations with the exception of organic matter which was added to all of the pots.

Worms are very important for a healthy soil, not only on Earth but also in future indoor gardens on Mars or the moon. They thrive on dead organic matter such as old plant remains, which they eat, chew and mix with soil before they excrete it. This poo still contains organic matter that is broken down further by bacteria, thus releasing nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium for use by the plants. By digging burrows the worms also aerate and improve the structure of the soil, making watering the plants more effective.

Original Submission

RamiK writes:

From a Western Digital press release:

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) announced today at the 7th RISC-V Workshop that the company intends to lead the industry transition toward open, purpose-built compute architectures. In his keynote address, Western Digital's Chief Technology Officer Martin Fink expressed the company's commitment to [...] transitioning its own consumption of processors – over one billion cores per year – to RISC-V.

Original Submission

Absolutely.Geek writes:

You can log in as root on the latest version of MacOS by pressing enter on the login prompt a few times. Just type in root as the user and press enter. There you go no password required.

Not sure what else to say; is this the stupidest massive security hole ever?

From Extreme Tech:

Reproing the bug is simple (at least until Apple fixes it): Type the login "root," then move the cursor into the password field and hit enter several times. It also apparently works if you simply hit the "login" button several times rather than using the keyboard, though a few tries may be necessary.

This was also reported at Ars Technica. Beware that the behavior seems to be that if you do not already have a root account with a (preferably strong) password, this bug essentially creates a root account with an empty password. Attempting this on your own system should be followed up by ensuring that any root a count has a strong password.

There is a patch that has just been made available; again according to Ars Technica:

Yesterday we learned that Apple had made a serious security error in macOS—a bug that, under certain conditions, allowed anyone to log in as a system administrator on a Mac running High Sierra by simply typing in "root" as the username and leaving the password field blank. Apple says that vulnerability has now been fixed with a security update that became available for download this morning on the Mac App Store. Further, the update will automatically be applied to Macs running High Sierra 10.13.1 later today.

Apple's brief notes for this security update (Security Update 2017-001) explain the bug by saying, "A logic error existed in the validation of credentials," and claims the problem has been addressed "with improved credential validation."

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has now launched Panopticlick 3.0, the new version of its browser privacy auditor. The update adds tests for additional trackers including ones from the "Acceptable Ads" program. That is on top of the original function of browser fingerprinting, which is pattern of visible data such as web headers, canvas attributes, cookies, scripts, and other attributes.

Check panopticlick.eff.org to test how well your own browser is or isn't protecting you.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Viagra will be sold over-the-counter for the first time:

Men will no longer require a prescription to obtain the impotence drug Viagra and will instead be able to buy it over the counter at pharmacies.

The decision by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency follows a public consultation. It will be up to pharmacists to judge whether men over the age of 18 can safely be sold the little blue pills.

Manufacturer Pfizer hopes to get stocks of Viagra Connect (sildenafil 50mg) into UK pharmacies by spring 2018.

Related: News About Pfizer's Most Popular Pill

NOTE: Knowing this story was about to get posted, I took it upon myself to update a couple of site filters to allow use of the words 'viagra' and 'sildenafil' in user comments. Unfortunately, that revealed a bug in code we inherited from slashcode and which caused the site to be unable to accept any comments. I should have tested the changes with a test comment, but was pressed for time to push out a few stories into a nearly empty story queue while hurrying to get out the door. I had successfully used the same technique on other filters in the past, so I have no idea what went wrong with this time. But that's neither here nor there. The site was unable to accept comments after the change (about two hour's time). I apologize and will be more mindful of trusting the site's code in the future! --martyb

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

A new article reveals that large corporations are investing less in science. From 1980 to 2006, publications by company scientists have declined in a range of industries. The result holds across a range of industries.

Investigators also found that the value attributed to scientific research has dropped, whereas the value attributed to technical knowledge (as measured by patents) has remained stable. Companies appear to be focusing more on developing existing knowledge and commercializing it, rather than on creating new knowledge through basic research.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171127124929.htm

[Abstract]: The decline of science in corporate R&D

Remembering AT&T Bell Labs, IBM Labs, Xerox PARC, HP Labs, TI, etc. In the current political and economic situation, do you think companies in USA have the will and means to reverse this decline?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Mom charged after putting recording device in daughter's backpack

In late September, Sims says she had enough. She tells 10 On Your Side her 9-year-old daughter was getting bullied at Ocean View Elementary. She says repeated calls and emails to the school went un-returned. [...] Sims says she took actions into her own hands. She wanted to prove that nothing was being done to help her 4th grade daughter. She put a digital recorder into her daughter's backpack in hopes of catching audio from inside the classroom. "If I'm not getting an answer from you what am I left to do?" she asked. The recorder was found. The 9-year-old was moved to a new classroom and about a month later Sims was charged by police.

[...] Sims was charged with felony use of device to intercept oral communication and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The felony charge could carry five years in prison.

Also at CNN and Time.

Code of Virginia § 19.2-62. Interception, disclosure, etc., of wire, electronic or oral communications unlawful; penalties; exceptions.

Original Submission