Author Archives: Danny Gallagher

Google will give users free dark web monitoring

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Google announced in an update on Tuesday that its dark web monitoring service, also known as “dark web report,” will be made available to all Google users in 46 countries including the US and UK at the end of the month, according to Fast Company. The feature was previously only available to users with a Google One membership.

The dark web report will be located in the “Results about you” page when you visit myactivity.google.com.

Google’s “dark web report” feature will scan the seedy underbelly of algorithms that ended up on the wrong side of the digital tracks to determine if your personal information has been leaked. This includes information such as your name, address, phone numbers and email accounts.

It’s a handy feature to have especially if you’re one of the millions of people who’ve fallen victim to hacking, info leaks or identity theft. Just a few months ago, 7.6 million AT&T customers had their information leaked to the dark web forcing the telecom giant to reset all of its affected users’ passcodes.

Other services like Proton Mail and LastPass already have features that monitor the dark web for user information and leaked passwords and alert them if they find anything.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-will-give-users-free-dark-web-monitoring-222557429.html?src=rss

A British boarding school will make students use boring old Nokia phones

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A lot of school districts have instituted smartphone bans for students during the school day but a British boarding school has taken it one step further. Wait, scratch that. They’ve taken it one step back.

Eton College, the historic and elite British boarding school with famous alumni such as Prince William and Harry, Ian Fleming and Tom Hiddleston, has instituted a new mobile phone policy for its first-year students starting in September. Those students will have to leave their smartphones at home but bring their SIM card to school and put it in an old school, offline Nokia cell phone with a simple number pad that can only make phone calls and send text messages, according to CBS News.

The British boarding school’s policy is based on guidelines from the UK government that allows principals to enact smartphone bans on students during the school day.

Let’s hope nobody tells school officials about Snake or those poor kids may have to actually pay attention and learn something.

Smartphone bans and guidelines are starting to seep into American school districts as well. According to data from Govspend, 41 states have at least one school district that instituted a rule requiring students to place their smartphones in magnetically sealed Yondr pouches when they go to school.

The Los Angeles Unified School District passed a district-wide school phone ban for students in June that prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to call for a similar law on the state level.

Meanwhile in New York City, the city’s chancellor of public schools David Banks said he plans to institute a phone ban in the coming weeks. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is working with the state’s legislature to pass two new bills that would only allow students to carry phones that don’t have access internet access

Even Florida (yes, that Florida, the one that’s home to 10 million Florida Mans) has a statewide smartphone in schools ban that also requires schools to block students from accessing social media on its Wifi networks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-british-boarding-school-will-make-students-use-boring-old-nokia-phones-215048983.html?src=rss

Possibly the most-delayed video game in history is finally available on the Game Boy Advance

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Making a video game on any platform takes hard work, and even if a game is finished it’s still not immune to delays (see: Duke Nukem Forever, L.A. Noire and Diablo III.) A group of Italian programmers had to wait 22 years to finally see the release of their fantasy hack ‘n slasher Kien for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) — a console whose last units went into production in 2009. It's likely the most-delayed game in history, according to a feature in The Guardian.

Kien first started its long development in 2002. A small group of Italian programmers formed AgeOfGames, the first company in the country to start production on a GBA title. Two years later, they had a finished product, but the game never saw store shelves because its publisher deemed it too much of a financial risk to release.

In the interim, AgeOfGames switched to making educational games to stay in business,and the life cycle of the GBA came and went. Then the retro gaming boom gave the Italian studio an opportunity: a new publisher that specializes in classic console games, incube8 Games, took interest. Now Kien is available in cartridge form, and playable on original hardware.

Retro gaming in general is big business these days and more accessible than ever. There are all kinds of new consoles designed to play hundreds of thousands of different titles from yesteryear. The iPhone finally began allowing apps that emulate all sorts of classic consoles in its online stores earlier this year. There’s even been a renaissance of new games using old fashioned graphics. You’re never far away from the games and experiences that defined your childhood.

Kien is available to purchase from incube8's website for the (only slightly shocking) price of $60.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/possibly-the-most-delayed-video-game-in-history-is-finally-available-on-the-game-boy-advance-205150837.html?src=rss

Possibly the most-delayed video game in history is finally available on the Game Boy Advance

Posted on by

Making a video game on any platform takes hard work, and even if a game is finished it’s still not immune to delays (see: Duke Nukem Forever, L.A. Noire and Diablo III.) A group of Italian programmers had to wait 22 years to finally see the release of their fantasy hack ‘n slasher Kien for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) — a console whose last units went into production in 2009. It's likely the most-delayed game in history, according to a feature in The Guardian.

Kien first started its long development in 2002. A small group of Italian programmers formed AgeOfGames, the first company in the country to start production on a GBA title. Two years later, they had a finished product, but the game never saw store shelves because its publisher deemed it too much of a financial risk to release.

In the interim, AgeOfGames switched to making educational games to stay in business,and the life cycle of the GBA came and went. Then the retro gaming boom gave the Italian studio an opportunity: a new publisher that specializes in classic console games, incube8 Games, took interest. Now Kien is available in cartridge form, and playable on original hardware.

Retro gaming in general is big business these days and more accessible than ever. There are all kinds of new consoles designed to play hundreds of thousands of different titles from yesteryear. The iPhone finally began allowing apps that emulate all sorts of classic consoles in its online stores earlier this year. There’s even been a renaissance of new games using old fashioned graphics. You’re never far away from the games and experiences that defined your childhood.

Kien is available to purchase from incube8's website for the (only slightly shocking) price of $60.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/possibly-the-most-delayed-video-game-in-history-is-finally-available-on-the-game-boy-advance-205150837.html?src=rss

Japan’s government says goodbye to floppy disks

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Floppy disks may seem like a relic from an ancient time of computers but there are still places and even governments in the world that still use them to run its most basic functions. Japan is no longer one of those countries.

Japan’s Digital Agency announced on Wednesday it has rid its use of outdated floppy disks to operate its government computer systems. The only system still in place that requires the use of floppy disks is an environmental system that monitors vehicle recycling, according to Reuters.

Digital Minister Taro Kono declared in a statement to the news agency, “We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28!” Presumably, the statement wasn’t printed on that annoying dot matrix printer paper with the edges that never tear straight.

Kono’s agency started his crusade against ‘90s era computer technology in 2022 shortly after his appointment to the Digital Agency. Around 1,900 of Japan’s government procedures used floppy disks and other outdated technology such as fax machines, CDs and MiniDiscs. He famously declared “a war on floppy discs [sic]” to his 2.5 million followers on X.

Of course, Japan isn’t the only country that used to rely on floppy disks long after the rest of the world moved on to more efficient forms of data storage. The US military was still using 8-inch floppy disks to operate its Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), a 1970s computer system that received nuclear launch codes and sent emergency messages to military centers and field sources. The world learned the scary truth about SACCS thanks to CBS’s 60 Minutes and reporter Lesley Stahl. The Defense Department finally phased out the system in 2019. Let’s hope they also removed the shag carpeting and velvet upholstery.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/japans-government-says-goodbye-to-floppy-disks-214449682.html?src=rss

The Watch Dogs movie has finally started filming after 10 years

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Ever since the open world hacker adventure game Watch Dogs captured the attention of 2012’s E3, there were rumors circulating of a movie remake before the game even got a release date. Now more than 10 years later, the film version is finally happening. Ubisoft announced today on X that filming has begun on the Watch Dogs movie with a picture of a clapboard and the caption “Lights_Camera_Action.exe.”

The Watch Dogs movie was first announced in 2016 at Sony’s GamesCon press conference, according to IGN. Sony announced that Ubisoft Partners teamed up with New Regency to make a film adaptation of Aiden Pearce’s data-hacking adventure in a metropolis overseen by an intrusive server.

Since then, drips and hints of the movie’s status came and went for years until last month, when Ubisoft posted a press release announcing that production on Watch Dogs would start sometime this summer. The press release also announced that actor Tom Blyth from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sophie Wilde from the sleeper horror hit Talk to Me will star in the Watch Dogs film. The movie is being directed by Mathieu Turi based on a script written by Christie LeBlanc (who wrote the 2021 Netflix sci-fi film Oxygen) with rewrites by Victoria Bata.

A few years ago, there was also talk of turning Watch Dogs and Far Cry, another big Ubisoft franchise, into an animated TV series following a run of the Rabbids Invasion cartoons. However, there’s been nothing but radio silence from those projects ever since then. Maybe if the Watch Dogs movie becomes a hit, the animated series will follow it into production.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-watch-dogs-movie-has-finally-started-filming-after-10-years-201040830.html?src=rss

A new Resident Evil game is in the works from the director of Resident Evil 7

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It’s been a hot minute since we’ve had a brand new Resident Evil game. Then again, it’s hard to blame Capcom for that — Resident Evil: Village created such a high bar for future sequels to limbo under or jump over, depending on which hypothetical bar-based sport you’re playing in your head.

Capcom has finally confirmed that Resident Evil 9 is on the way and they’ve tapped a veteran director to oversee the tenth zombie adventure shooter. IGN reported that Capcom confirmed the news of the sequel during its Next Summer 2024 stream. 

Director Koshi Nakanishi will be in charge of the new Resident Evil game. Nakanishi has over a decade of experience directing Resident Evil games including The Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. "We're making a new Resident Evil," Nakanishi said. "It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7, but I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can't share any details just yet, but I hope you're excited for the day I can."

Capcom has unleashed a deluge of remasters of some of its biggest game classics. During the same stream, Capcom also announced a re-release of the first Dead Rising called Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The emaster of the mall zombie slayer will feature a new voiceover for the game’s journalist protagonist Frank West, updated HD graphics and fluffier poodles.

Capcom also announced a demo for the Japanese-inspired, strategy action game Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and a re-release of Resident Evil: Biohazard for Apple mobile devices and Apple computers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-resident-evil-game-is-in-the-works-from-the-director-of-resident-evil-7-235543024.html?src=rss

Michigan is building the nation’s first smart highway

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A three-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in Michigan will be converted into America’s first smart highway.

Axios reports that the Alphabet-backed startup Cavnue has started constructing the smart highway as part of a new pilot project that could spur other construction projects across the country. Another project, a "Smart Freight Corridor" on State Highway 130 by Austin, Texas, is also being developed.

The new smart road is big, long tracking system for Michigan’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) and for drivers on the highway. The smart highway is designed to inform both MDOT and drivers about potential issues ahead, such as obstacles in the road, accidents or traffic jams. It's hoped that the project will help relieve traffic congestion, prevent accidents and help authorities provide efficient responses to roadway emergencies.

The pilot program of the highway is located between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. There are future plans to extend the smart highway to 40 miles in six more phases that would connect to both cities once the pilot program is complete.

The smart highway works with a series of poles placed every 200 meters (about 655 feet) along the road that hold sensor pods, compute pods and communication equipment. There are also cameras along the highway that monitor every stretch of roadway and take images that are analyzed by AI and machine learning algorithms to identify hazardous driving conditions. Alerts are sent to MDOT and drivers connected to the roadway.

Cavnue says its technology can connect with "any vehicle that has connectivity features." A spokesperson said "Most modern cars with built-in navigation features fit into this category — a vintage old-timer would not." 

America has some catching up to do when it comes to building and implementing smart highways. Great Britain, for instance, started working on its first internet-connected road in 2014.

Update, July 2, 7:20PM: This article was updated with additional information from a Cavnue spokesperson, and also to clarify that one additional project, rather than two, is currently under way in Texas.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/michigan-is-building-the-nations-first-smart-highway-213004576.html?src=rss

The AI prison of the future is just an Outer Limits episode

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According to the Prison Policy Institute, the US has a higher incarceration rate per 100,000 people in its population than any other NATO country and it’s even higher than the next five member states combined (the UK, Portugal, Canada, France and Belgium).

So what’s the solution? Hashem Al-Ghaili, a molecular biologist and science communicator from Yemen, claims he’s got it in an interview with Wired: build a virtual prison instead. He’s not talking about stapling a bunch of Meta Quest 3’s to prisoners' heads for years at a time, but it’s also not far off from that concept.

Al-Ghaili is proposing a new neurological prison system that he calls Cognify. He posted a proposal video of the virtual justice system on his Instagram and YouTube channel and it looks downright horrifying.

Here’s how Cognify works in a theoretical nutshell — Instead of locking prisoners up for long periods of time, prisoners would be subjected to artificial memories in a virtual environment. The system creates customized AI-generated content that’s converted to visual information and delivered to the prisoner’s brain as well as the parts of their DNA and RNA linked to memory formation to establish a long term memory pattern.

Currently, such technology does not exist and Cognify is only a proposal. However, Al-Ghaili claims that experiments conducted on animals prove this process could work on humans at some point in the future. For instance, a study published in March in the scientific journal Nature in March that used mice as its test subjects found that memories are possibly formed by broken and repaired strands of DNA.

Of course, there are ethical implications and effects that would need to be addressed if such a system were to become a reality. Al-Ghaili says Cognify could happen within a decade from now but only “if we could overcome the ethical restrictions that limit testing such technology.”

If that doesn’t send a shiver up your spine, then check your wrist for a pulse. Horror anthology fans like me will remember an episode from the 1990s reboot of The Outer Limits on Showtime called “The Sentence” in which a scientist played by David Hyde Pierce invents a very similar virtual prison system that simulates an entire life sentence within a matter of minutes. He, of course, subjects himself to his own invention that makes him believe he committed a murder and served an entire lifetime in prison. He wakes up only to start denouncing the very system he championed just a few minutes earlier.

You can watch the whole thing on YouTube for free. Someone should send it to this guy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ai-prison-of-the-future-is-just-an-outer-limits-episode-200937257.html?src=rss

Dune director throws shade at the Deadpool & Wolverine popcorn bucket

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There’s a war brewing in Hollywood and we’re not talking about how AI will inevitably kill us all by plagiarizing The Joker’s chaos plans from The Dark Knight. We’re talking about the popcorn bucket war.

The latest shot came from Dune director Denis Villeneuve in a red carpet interview in which he called the Wolverine & Deadpool popcorn bucket “horrific” and called the Dune buckets “unmatchable.”

Villeneuve did an impromptu interview with eTalkCTV where a reporter asked him about the feud that’s been brewing between him and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds over their respective popcorn receptacles. The reporter showed Villeneuve a picture of the Deadpool & Wolverine bucket featuring the yellow Wolverine’s head and his gaping maw full of some of Orville Redenbacher’s finest. Villeneuve said he doesn’t have anything against the bucket but he thinks they are just riding the coattails he unfurled when the Dune sandworm popcorn bucket blew up the Internet.

“I’m not saying I don’t like the bucket,” Villeneuve said. “I’m just saying it was difficult to beat the Dune bucket. It was like one of a kind.”

He’s got a point. Popcorn buckets weren’t even a movie going craze until the release of the Dune 2 sandworm bucket, a popcorn tub that looks like a sex toy punishment designed by Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies. It sparked a whole new marketing trend for the struggling movie theater industry that’s been trying to fight the convenient onslaught of streaming media. Theaters and studios produced special buckets for other movies like Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s ghost trap and ECTO-1 buckets, Wonka’s Willy Wonka hat bucket and Inside Out 2’s core memory receptacle bucket.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dune-director-throws-shade-at-the-deadpool--wolverine-popcorn-bucket-225500203.html?src=rss