We've seen how a young child can place an order for a dollhouse using Alexa, and how a television anchorman repeating the story accidentally caused other Echo units to order a dollhouse too. Now comes a story that is even scarier in its implications. A report in Thursday's New York Times revealed that students from University of California, Berkeley, and Georgetown University were able to hide subliminal commands for virtual personal assistants inside white noise played over loudspeakers. The commands included enabling airplane mode and requesting a website on a smartphone. That was back in 2016. To make matters worse, a new report from some of the Berkley students found that the subliminal messages could be hidden in music. While a smart device owner might only hear music, underneath there are commands aimed at the device's virtual personal assistant. According to Nicholas Carlini, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in computer security at U.C. Berkeley, it is only a matter of time before this is exploited. "My assumption is that the malicious people already employ people to do what I do," Carlini said. Major smart speaker manufacturers like Amazon, Google and Apple say that they have safeguards in place to prevent their assistants from being hijacked. Amazon and Google use technology to block commands that cannot be heard. To block Alexa from accidentally getting activated on devices during its Super Bowl ad (which was about Alexa losing her voice), the company played a tone in the range of 3,000 to 6,000Hz. In addition, voice recognition technology prevents Alexa and Google Assistant from following through on tasks requested by an unknown voice. Apple says that its HomePod won't act on commands that unlock doors, and iPhone and iPod models must be unlocked before Siri can access personal data, call up websites or open apps. Last year, a Burger King commercial said, "O.K., Google, what is the Whopper burger?" The idea was to get Android devices to read aloud the ingredients of the burger from the Whopper's Wikipedia page. But when the page was overrun with obviously false ingredients like "toe nail clippings," the ad was pulled. A technique called DolphinAttack shows that subliminal messages can even be embedded in sounds inaudible to the human ear. Check out the video at the top of this story. While DolphinAttacks require the transmitter to be placed in close proximity to the smart device receiving the hidden message, last month researchers were able to send these subliminal message via ultrasound from 25 feet away. Perhaps the scariest scenario was tested by Chinese and American researchers who discovered that virtual personal assistants would follow commands hidden inside music played from the radio or over YouTube. So if your phone or smart speaker starts acting funny and performs tasks that you didn't request, it could be reacting to a message embedded in a song you are listening to on the radio. Or, it could be coming from a message embedded in a sound that you can't even hear.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today introduced the Music Modernization Act. The fact that the Senate bill, S.2823, is virtually identical to HR 5477 – the House MMA bill passed unanimously on April 25 – signals all systems go for smooth passage and an update to music laws that the industry has been laboring to update for the past decade. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been scheduled for hearing Tuesday. Having opposed the House version, background music company Music Choice as well as SiriusXM are those expected to oppose Senate passage, but they are among a small minority; the industry overwhelmingly supports the bill Hatch called “crucially important” earlier this year, stating, “our music licensing laws are convoluted, out-of-date, and don’t reward songwriters fairly for their work. They’ve also failed to keep up with recent, rapid changes in how Americans purchase and listen to music.” The industry applauded this latest move to update the nation’s music laws. “That the Senate has wisely decided to import the version of the bill that passed the House 415-0 is a strong signal that this bill has achieved the necessary support and consensus in the Senate to have a similar path of passing with a very large margin,” Israelite said, noting there has been no serious opposition among senators. As in the House, the new Senate bill combines three separate pieces of legislation: – The Music Modernization Act of 2018, S.2334, introduced by Hatch and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in January, which updates licensing and royalties as pertains to streaming. – The CLASSICS Act (or Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society Act), introduced in February by Chris Coons (D-DE) and John Kennedy (R-LA) to ensure that songwriters and artists receive royalties on pre-1972 songs. – The AMP Act (or Allocation for Music Producers Act), introduced in March by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley(R-LA) and ranking committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.) with the support of and Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Kamala Harris (D-CA). “This is exactly what we were hoping they would do,” Israelite said of the Senate move. “In this case everybody recognizes that this is a complicated bill and so late in Congress – this is an election year – Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Hatch were very smart to make the decision [to adopt the House bill]. The fact that the bill was introduced prior to the scheduled hearing is also seen as a fast-tracking move. The Senate bill is expected to go into markup and get the full Senate vote next month, and then on the president’s desk to be signed into law. “The introduction of the comprehensive MMA in the Senate before the hearing is an important step to ensure all music creators are treated fairly in the law. Songwriters, performers and producers are grateful to Senator Hatch for his leadership,” Recording Academy chief industry, government and member relations officer Daryl Friedman said. ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said, “After a unanimous vote to pass the MMA in the House, we are thrilled to see such ardent, bipartisan support for music creators in the Senate. This legislation is critical to ensuring songwriters have a pathway to fair compensation so they can sustain their livelihoods and create the next great songs. We applaud the leadership of fellow songwriter Senator Hatch, along with Senators Alexander and Whitehouse, for spearheading this effort in the Senate and to Chairman Grassley and all other co-sponsors for being champions of American songwriters. We look forward to the Senate’s vote and eventual passage of the MMA.” Mike O’Neill, BMI. President & CEO, said: “BMI applauds the introduction today, by Senators Hatch and Grassley, of the Music Modernization Act. This legislation represents an unprecedented collaboration among music creators and users, and represents an historic opportunity to make meaningful music licensing reform which will benefit America’s creative communities.” Hatch is a composer and member of ASCAP, with ditties like “The Answer’s Not in Washington” (“…We legislate, we demonstrate, but when all is said and done, the answer’s not in Washington”) and the love ballad “Everything and More,” recorded by country artist Billy Gilman on his 2005 album. Hatch, like his counterpart House MMA champion Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), has announced he will retire at the end of this session, making the Music Modernization Act initiative a swansong for both men. “On behalf of the 150,000-plus music creators represented by SoundExchange, we are grateful to Senator Hatch for building this consensus legislative package that will benefit the entire music ecosystem,” SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe said in a statement. “Taken together, the elements of this legislation will strengthen and protect the rights and interests of creators — the artists, songwriters and producers whose music enriches our lives – and it will improve engagement between the creative community and the digital services whose businesses rely on their work. We look forward to working with the sponsors and the entire community of stakeholders that built accord on this package to make it law.”

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Some 28 Israeli aircraft fired around 60 air-to-surface rockets in a massive overnight strike in Syria, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Syrian air-defense systems managed to intercept more than half of the missiles. A total of 70 projectiles, including 60 air-to-surface rockets and more than 10 surface-to-surface missiles, hit Iranian military targets and Syrian air-defense systems near Damascus and in the south of the country on Thursday morning, the Russian military said in a statement. “28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes were involved in the attack,” the ministry said. “Syrian air-defense systems shot down more than half of the rockets as they repelled the Israeli attack.” Israeli forces bombed the Syrian territory for two hours between 1:45am and 3:45am local time on Thursday. The attack was carried out under the pretext of allegations that Iranian forces had earlier hit Israeli targets in the Golan Heights. The damage inflicted on Iranian military and Syrian civilian infrastructure by the airstrikes is being evaluated. Earlier, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that all its aircraft had safely returned after one of its most extensive attacks in years. Tel-Aviv claims that it was carried out in retaliation to 20 rockets launched at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp’s Quds Force. “Four of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome and the rest landed on Syrian territory,” the IDF said, according to Ynet, adding that the incident had resulted in no damage or casualties. The allegations were denied by a member of the Iranian parliament's commission, Abolfazl Hassan Beigi, who accused Israel of “lying,” as Iran has “no military presence” or bases in Syria, Sputnik reports.

Time to ‘take fate into its own hands’: Europe can’t rely on US protection anymore, says Merkel Europe can no longer count on the US in defense and must take matters into its own hands, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who also said: “Something should be done.” “It’s no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us,” Merkel said in a speech honoring President Macron, who came to Aachen to receive the prestigious Charlemagne Prize. Receiving a round of applause, Merkel stated: “Rather, Europe needs to take its fate into its own hands. That’s the task for the future. Europe has to “act together and speak with one voice," she said, as cited by Germany’s Die Welt newspaper. “But let's be honest: Europe is still in its infancy with regard to the common foreign policy.” Speaking after Merkel, Macron said that “We should not be waiting, we must do something right now. Let us not be weak,” added the French president. Last year, Merkel had made a similar statement, urging Europe to become less dependent on its transatlantic ally. “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I've experienced that in the last few days,” she told a crowd a day after attending the G7 summit in Italy. The German chancellor, who secured her fourth term earlier this year, reiterated that Europeans “must really take our destiny into our own hands, of course in friendship with the United States, in friendship with Great Britain, with good neighborly relations wherever possible, also with Russia and other countries.” Nevertheless, countries within the EU “have to know that we have to fight for our future and our fate ourselves as Europeans." Merkel’s statement comes shortly after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, prompting a backlash from members of the accord, including Germany. On Wednesday, the German chancellor said: “We will remain committed to this agreement and will do everything to ensure that Iran complies with its obligations.” While Merkel avoided openly criticizing Trump, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas earlier accused the US leader of “not insignificantly throwing back the efforts to bring stability to the region.” Describing Trump's decision as “incomprehensible,” Maas said the move would undermine confidence in international treaties. On Thursday, he reiterated that it is crucial for Iran to stick to its obligations under the international nuclear deal, and that Moscow should use its influence on Tehran in this regard. Speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Maas also said that Berlin and Moscow agreed that the Iran nuclear agreement should be upheld. Moscow recently said it believes that there are ways to guarantee continued cooperation between Iran and the other parties to the deal despite Washington’s attempts to disrupt it. “There are means to guarantee that this cooperation would continue despite the attempts to deter it,” the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

The US president and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un will finally sit down for a summit on June 12 in Singapore, Donald Trump has stated. The date and venue for the meeting has long been the subject of speculation. “We will both try to make it a very special moment for world peace,” Trump stated. Speculation had been rife that the meeting, expected to focus the Kim Jong Un’s missile program, could be hosted in a number of nations like Mongolia or even the demilitarized zone on the Korean peninsula. Trump’s statement comes just a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo secured the return of three American prisoners to home soil in a whirlwind 13 hour visit to North Korea’s Pyongyang. Should the June gathering go ahead, it will mark a dramatic turnaround in political relations between North Korea and the US, two nations which officially have not had ties since the 1950s. Relations appeared to reach an all-time low last year when both leaders very publicly threatened to launch attacks on one another’s nations. In August, Trump warned that if North Korea continued to threaten missile strikes against US territories “they will be met with fire and fury.” When referring to his counterpart online, the US president also used terms such as ‘madman’ as well as ‘short and fat.’ Pyongyang responded by saying that Donald Trump was “begging” for a nuclear conflict. The tit-for-tat exchanges appeared to bring the two nations closer to war and, at one stage, the White House even intimated that an armada – the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier – was steaming towards North Korea when, in fact, it was heading in the opposite direction. But earlier this year Trump suddenly moved away from the erratic online threats and name-calling, and suggested he would like to meet with the leader he once called “little rocket man” as soon as possible.

Russian gas sales to EU hit record high despite the Skripals, election meddling & all that jazz European countries boosted imports of Russian gas to unprecedented levels in April with overall supplies in 2018 expected to climb above 200 billion cubic meters for the first time ever, ignoring the impact of strained relations. In the first quarter of this year, Gazprom’s gas deliveries to Europe reportedly increased by 6.6 percent against the same quarter a year ago. The deliveries to European countries kept on growing last month, even after the winter heating season ended. In April, the Russian energy giant shipped some 15.9 billion cubic meters of gas to non-CIS countries, reports RIA Novosti. The number is seen as record-breaking with shipments reportedly soaring to rates that are unusual for warmer months. Sales of the Russian gas to Europe reached 70 billion cubic meters from January to April. The high demand for the fuel was triggered by an extreme cold spell as the European states passed through one of the coldest winters over the past decade. Europe continued purchasing higher volumes, even after the winter, to refill gas storage that had been drained during cold months. Earlier this year, Gazprom’s Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Aleksandr Medvedev said the energy firm was shipping as much gas to Europe as it usually shipped in winter months. The official added that Gazprom expected demand in summer 2018 to get close to winter levels. According to rough estimates, the company may sell a record volume of natural gas throughout the entire history of gas exports, including the Soviet period. Gazprom’s gas supplies to European countries hit an all-time high in March, beating a previous record reported by the firm in January 2017. The recovery of prices for energy products boosted the the country’s energy revenues. According to customs data, Russia’s revenues from natural gas exports in January-March increased by 22.6 percent, to $12.4 billion. The Russian fuel is currently purchased by 30 countries with three quarters of supplies going to the EU. Apart from the cold winter that evoked low storage levels, Gazprom’s rivals decreased supplies due to various issues at facilities. In April, Norway had to fight with an unplanned outage at the Skarv gas field and Kollsnes processing plant. Russia’s closest competitor had to reduce flows as a compressor at the Skarv field failed. Libyan gas failed to reach Italy due to technical issues at the offshore gas field Bahr Essalam, while Algeria had to reduce gas supplies after the European buyers were disappointed with the high prices for the fuel. Unlike Gazprom, the North African state has its prices for gas tied to crude, so surging prices for oil unavoidably push gas bills higher. Meanwhile, the Russian gas monopoly continues hurdling antitrust barriers to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is aimed at doubling the existing capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany. Gazprom also completed the deep-water section of first thread of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline. Last month, the company said it was ready to build the Nord Stream 3 pipeline, if necessary.

Img The Chinese company nubia declared a war on bezels far before most of its rivals. It started with the Z9 that was onboard all the way to the Z17 where the bezels use light refraction to make it appear that the display stretches to the very edge. A poster from earlier this week revealed the company is ready with a new iteration of its display technology, and thanks to a leaked photo of the nubia Z18, we know what the Full Screen 3.0 will look like on the next flagship. The side bezels seem curved, with the screen pushing against the metal frame. It practically has no bezels on both sides and the top, but sadly, lighting falls in such way that we can’t see if there will be a notch. On the bottom we see a red virtual home key, meaning the chin of the Z18 will also be extremely small and significantly slimmer than the bottom bezel of the Z17s. Sources say the phone will also have Snapdragon 845 and 8 GB RAM, but no other specs have been confirmed just yet. The nubia Z18 is expected to arrive in June. Although it will keep the nubia UI for its domestic market, we hope the global units will switch to Stock Android, as promised back in March.

Whenever you open a new tab in the Firefox browser, it opens at the end of the tab bar of the current browser window regardless of which tab is active when you open it. That's not a problem if you work with less than a dozen tabs usually that are visible all the time but if you have 50 or more tabs open, you may dislike the default behavior as Firefox jumps to the new tab automatically when it is opened at the end of the tab bar. There is no option to jump back to the previously active tab in Firefox which means that you may spend some time locating it again after opening a new tab in the web browser. Firefox's behavior is different when you open links in new tabs. Links that you middle-click on (or use other means to open in a new tab) open to the right of the active tab which is quite useful as the newly opened tab is directly associated with the originating tab. You can use an extension to force Firefox to open new tabs to the right of the current tab or change the configuration of the browser. Always Right for Firefox Always Right is an open source add-on for the Firefox web browser that changes Firefox's default new tab opening behavior. Instead of opening new tabs at the end of the tab bar, new tabs will open to the right of the active tab all the time. It does not matter whether you use Ctrl-T, a click on the plus icon in the Firefox tab bar, or other means to open new tabs in the browser. Whenever you open a new tab, it is opened to the right of the active tab. The extension works automatically once installed. Without extension Please note that you may change the configuration of the Firefox web browser to change the tab opening behavior without installing an extension: Load about:config?filter=browser.tabs.insertAfterCurren t in the Firefox address bar. Confirm that you will be careful if the warning page is displayed. Set the preference to true by double-clicking on it. Restart the browser. Update: the preference is only available in Firefox Beta, Dev or Nightly at the time of writing. Closing Words While it may be more convenient to install the browser extension to get the Firefox web browser to open tabs on the right of the active tab, using the configuration is better as you don't need to install and run an extension for the behavior.

PortableApps.com is a popular destination for portable versions of popular software programs for Windows. Users can download and install individual programs so that they may be used as portable versions, or download the PortableApps Platform application to manage these better. You can use the Platform application to download and install new portable programs supported by PortableApps, to check for available updates, to backup files, and use it as a launcher application for portable programs. While it may feel strange at first to install applications that are portable, the programs that you install individually or by using the Platform application are indeed portable in the end. Platform 15 is the new version of the management application which users may download from the official PortableApps website or update from within the application. PortableApps Platform 15.0 The Platform application offers better management options for programs that PortableApps supports. While some users may prefer to download and install programs individually from the service, others may prefer to use the Platform application because of the functionality that it adds to the management of installed programs and options to search and download new programs. The program acts as a launcher application for all portable programs as well. While not mandatory at all, you may find it useful especially if you place it on a USB Flash Drive or other removable media. Platform 15.0 comes with new and improved features. If you use the program on High DPI device you will notice that it supports these better after the update. The program supports high DPI in the menu, options, about and other dialogs in version 15.0. The new version detects high contrast themes automatically in the new version, and supports touch scrolling in the menu app list. Other new features include support for Microsoft .NET Framework 2 to 4 applications, and alternate download options for Windows XP or Windows Vista devices for TLS 1.1 or 1.2 hosts. Several components were updated in the new version: 7-Zip support was updated to version 18.05 which patches a security vulnerability among other things and the Delphi compiler to version 10.2.3. Windows 2000 is no longer supported by the Platform application as a consequence. Platform users who used to hold down the Ctrl-key to launch programs with elevated rights will notice that the functionality is no longer available. You may right-click on any application to run it with elevated privileges, however. Closing Words Platform 15 is a major update of the PortableApps platform application that adds support for high DPI work environments and several other useful additions to the platform.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA ) today released a new DisplayHDR test tool that allows users to confirm the display parameters set forth in VESA's High-Performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (DisplayHDR), including brightness, color and contrast performance of high dynamic range (HDR) laptop and desktop monitors. The new DisplayHDR Test tool has a command line interface that enables professional and lab-level users to test and evaluate HDR displays at the three performance levels outlined in the DisplayHDR spec using an off-the-shelf calibration colorimeter. VESA also announced today that it has seen strong momentum in the adoption of its DisplayHDR standard, with several new certified displays being introduced this calendar quarter. Growing Momentum of DisplayHDR Standard with Launch of First DisplayHDR 1000 Certified Display Announced in December 2017, DisplayHDR is the display industry's first fully open standard specifying HDR quality. To date, nearly a dozen displays have been certified under the new spec across the three performance tiers (DisplayHDR 400, 600 and 1000) and released to the market. Among these is the first display to be officially certified for the DisplayHDR 1000 specification - the recently announced Philips Momentum 43-inch 4K display (436M6VBPAB). VESA anticipates many more display products to complete certification this year. Future releases of the spec are expected to reach beyond LCD to address other display technologies, including organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as higher HDR performance levels. All tiers require support of the industry standard HDR-10 format. "As with any new technology there can be confusion out there regarding HDR specs and benefits. VESA's new DisplayHDR standard will make monitor shopping easier by offering consumers a comparable standard to judge HDR picture performance between monitors," stated Chris Brown, Philips Monitors Global Marketing Manager, TPV. "We are very excited to launch the world's first DisplayHDR 1000 monitor, the Philips Momentum 43-inch 4K Display. DisplayHDR 1000 level of picture performance will offer a more intense gaming and entertainment experience. The contrast and color really bring action scenes alive, like we've never seen before." Transparent testing methodology without costly and cumbersome hardware To verify HDR display performance, the DisplayHDR Test tool projects the display patterns defined in the published VESA DisplayHDR certification tests onto the screen. The user then points a self-provided colorimeter at the test patterns and uses the colorimeter's software to measure and record the display's capabilities. These results can be entered into a separate program to compute the final score and make an accurate assessment. Future versions of the test application may drive the sensor in the test tool and compute the score directly. Chas Boyd, principal program manager with Microsoft Corp., noted that the DisplayHDR Test tool app has an important role to play, in concert with the specification, to help drive adoption of HDR technology. "HDR is still not well understood by consumers, and there exists a unique opportunity to educate and drive awareness in the market regarding the entry point for HDR," said Boyd. "Using this tool will allow those considering moving to HDR monitors to assess the quality for themselves and encourage them to make the leap." "As a leading monitor controller manufacturer, MStar provides a broad range of chip sets that enable consumers to experience the latest immersive display technologies, such as HDR, in their end products. Working within the VESA organization, we have teamed up with key players across the display ecosystem to establish a shared, open HDR standard for the PC industry that ensures all of the key display components involved in enabling HDR work together, including the panel, GPU, backlighting and other display electronics. We are proud to be a part of this important industry-wide endeavor," stated Kevin Tseng, general manager of Monitor BU, MStar Semiconductor. According to Vincent Chiou, associate vice president of the Display Business Unit of ASUS, "HDR promises to deliver an entirely new level of visual experience for consumers. Having co-worked closely with a clearly defined grading system like VESA's DisplayHDR standard, ASUS assures users that they are getting the display quality that they are asking for. This applies both to gamers and movie watchers who want more realism, and professional content developers who need more accuracy. Even the entry DisplayHDR performance level provides a very noticeable step-up in HDR quality for mainstream consumers, while the mid-range and high-range levels provide the serious photographer or professional artist the assurance they need when making a high-end product purchase. ASUS is leading the charge in this effort, with plans to introduce multiple products across all three performance tiers this year." DisplayHDR Performance Parameters The DisplayHDR specification establishes three HDR performance levels for PC displays - DisplayHDR 400 (baseline), DisplayHDR 600 (mid-range) and DisplayHDR 1000 (high-end) - using eight specific parameter requirements and associated tests. They comprise: Three peak luminance tests (small spot/high luminance, brief period full-screen flash luminance, and optimized use in bright environments); Two contrast measurement tests (native panel contrast and local dimming); Color testing of the BT.709 and DCI-P3 color gamuts; Bit-depth requirement test (stipulates minimum bit depth, confirmed via a simple visual test); HDR response performance test (analyzes the speed at which the backlight can respond to changes in luminance levels, a key parameter for gaming and rapid action in movies). A consumer-level version of the DisplayHDR Test tool will be available later this year, featuring a more consumer-accessible graphical user interface. The next release will also include a list of available colorimeters that meet the spec's requirements for accuracy and tolerance. More information on the DisplayHDR specification and DisplayHDR Test tool, as well as a link to download the DisplayHDR Test tool, is available at www.displayhdr.org.

Check out the update's patch notes within. Besides Victoria's England-strengthening Pax Britannica leader bonus, Civilization 6 now lets players call for help mid-battle. As part of the turn-based 4X 'em up's spring update, new diplomacy tinkerings to Joint and Third Party War means players can now ask others—be that pals, strangers or AI—to join battles they're already engaged in. "There's been a lot of discussion in the community about Joint Wars. These rules have been updated," says lead designer Anton Strenger in the video below. "First, Joint Wars may be declared using a Casus Belli, which will require a denouncement from at least one of the players. Second, AI and players can join wars that have already begun, and gain the benefits of the Casus Belli that are in effect." Over to you, Anton: Further to that, Joint War now requires one party to have denounced their enemy for five turns, so says this Steam Community update post, while the leader screen now clearly identifies that war declaration is part of a joint engagement. Above, Strenger addresses the yield discrepancies identified by Tyler in March, noting a "general all around improvement in AI scores." Civ 6's spring update also adds 12 new Historical Moments—from the World's First City with 25 Population, to the World's First National Park and World's First Seaside Resort—the sum of which can be perused here. Civilization 6's spring update rolls out today.

Codename Savage is back on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Experimental Server this week, and now with an official name. Codename Savage isn’t due for an official PUBG launch for another two months, but thankfully there’s still public testing to do. The new map will return to test servers on Thursday, and this time everyone with a Steam copy can play it. The PUBG Experimental Server will be available for all owners of the main game on Steam. No code or invite required, just click the Experimental Server entry in your Steam library to begin the download. What’s more, PUBG Corp has finally revealed Codename Savage’s actual name: Sanhok. “This new map is inspired by a wide variety of islands across southeast Asia, including those found in Thailand and the Philippines,” the PUBG team announced in a Steam Community update. “To reflect that inspiration, we invented a sort of hodgepodge combination of two words: First, the Thai word for ‘fun:’ สนุก (pronounced like “sah-nook”). Second, the Filipino (Tagalog) word for ‘chicken:’ manok (pronounced like “mah-nok”). “Combine the two and you get Codename: Savage’s new name: Sanhok (pronounced “sah-nok”). It’s grown on us quickly, and we hope all of you come to love it as much as we do!” Yes, that’s correct: The latest map name for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a reference to a fun chicken dinner. Winner winner, indeed. Here’s this weekend’s testing schedule: Testing Begins:Thursday, May 10, 7pm PDT / 10pm ET, Friday, May 11, 3am BST Testing Ends:Monday May 14, 4am PDT / 7am ET / 12pm BST North America, Europe, and Asia will be able to pick from solo, duo, and squads. First-person and third-person are available across all three regions. If you’re curious about the updates PUBG Corp. has made to Sanhok since you last played on it, here’s a recap of everything new in this beta round.

The Federal Communications Commission gave a notice today that states Net Neutrality rules will officially end in the United States on June 11, 2018 (via Reuters). The FCC voted 3-2 in favor of repealing the rules last December, a repeal that was then made official with an entry into the Federal Register in February. Multi-state lawsuits soon popped up in efforts to block the rollback of Net Neutrality, and now more than a dozen Democratic senators have moved to force a vote on a proposal that would reinstate Net Neutrality protections. According to CNN, the vote is expected to pass the Senate, but will face an "uphill battle" in the Republican-majority House of Representatives, and "would likely be vetoed" by President Trump if it got that far. Still, Democratic senator Ed Markey cited building momentum for the proposal, with the Senate's vote expected to happen in the middle of next week. "Our intent is to have it pass in the Senate, the momentum is building," he said. "We expect there to be some considerable momentum coming out of the Senate and 160 will quickly grow towards the 218 that we need to have a vote over there as well." "When we pass this in the Senate, when we pass it in the House of Representatives, when it's clear the electorate is at 86% favorable for this issue, that we would have a political firestorm throughout this country if President Trump announced that he was going to veto that said protections, replacing it with exactly nothing," he said. The repeal of Net Neutrality rules will allow internet service providers to block or slow down any website, service, or app they want to as long as they disclose any act of internet throttling to their customers. Those in favor of the repeal say the decision was made to restore broadband internet services as a "lightly-regulated" market. On the other side, opponents argue that the repeal gives Verizon, Comcast, and other ISPs the free reign to essentially control the customer's internet by dividing users into so-called "fast lanes" and "slow lanes." Apple is one of the many companies against the repeal of Net Neutrality, stating last August that the ruling could "fundamentally alter the internet as we know it," and if it passed it would be put in place to the detriment of consumers, competition, and innovation. Many websites are issuing alerts about the upcoming Net Neutrality Senate vote by joining the The Red Alert for Net Neutrality project. On sites like Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, GitHub, and more, visitors will be presented with a large red screen that urges users to contact their local lawmakers and voice their support of Net Neutrality.

Russia’s anti-monopoly watchdog is investigating online video hosting portal YouTube for its hosting of Russian-language videos promoting unauthorized online casino sites. On Tuesday, Russian media outlet RBC reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) had accepted a complaint filed by Russia’s Internet Video Association (IVA), which represents intellectual property rights holders, accusing YouTube of “gross and repeated” violations of Russia’s advertising rules. In March, the IVA made a fuss about a Russian-language video promoting Curacao-licensed online casino Azino777 that ranked in the top-20 of Russia’s most-viewed online video advertising sources in January. The video, starring rapper AK-47, featured prominently on websites hosting pirated digital content, much of it belonging to IVA members. The IVA’s current missive claims the Google-owned YouTube hosts “a lot of videos” featuring Azino777 and other forbidden online casinos, including Curacao-licensed Russian-language site AdmiralX. The IVA wants the FAS to prosecute YouTube/Google for violating Russia’s advertising and gambling laws. In March, the FAS commenced legal action against Google due to the latter’s apparent unwillingness to filter out contextual advertising for the Vulkan family of online gambling sites in search results displayed to Russia’s netizens. Russian internet watchdog Roskomnadzor has blocked over 5,400 Vulkan-related domains over the years with little effect on the site’s accessbility. Russia is set to further clamp down on its citizens’ ability to patronize internationally licensed online gambling sites on May 27, when Federal Law 358-FZ will require all financial institutions to block payments to gambling sites not holding a Russian online sports betting license. The law calls for the introduction of a blacklist for companies and individuals that handle such payments, and financial institutions must monitor the monthly updates to this blacklist to ensure compliance with the new law. Failure to observe the law could result in the financial institution losing its right to operate in Russia. Companies like The Stars Group (TSG), whose flagship PokerStars brand derives a significant chunk of its revenue from Russia, have been prepping for the changes. In March, TSG CEO Rafi Ashkenazi said the company had developed a “robust mitigation plan” to deal with the new reality, but nonetheless expected its Russian revenue to take a hit.

Two Danish telecommunication Internet Service Providers (ISP) have won the right to refuse the disclosure of information of suspected pirating customers. Østre Landsret ruled that Telia and Telenor are not required to disclose the details of subscribers who had allegedly pirated films and music. Over 4,000 infringing IP addresses were detected by Copyright Management Services (CMS), which was looking to prosecute the infringers. The court ruled that the disclosure of customer’s personal details would be a breach of the consumer’s rights and privacy as set out by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The court noted that CMS only uses the requested information to send out “threat letters”, not prosecute offenders. A witness in the case said that this was “unsympathetic” as the threat was not real. In previous rulings, CMS had acquired the addresses and names of alleged pirates and sent letters to subscribers. In the latest ruling, however, Østre Landsret ordered that because the subscriber information that was previously provided as a result of the earlier trial had not led to litigation, it must be assumed that the information was not being used to prosecute against copyright violations. The Court added that the delivery of data is intrusive for subscribers, and that, due to a lack of certainty as to who may or may not be a pirate, a concrete balance must be made and that there can only be extradition if each violation is of a certain extent. Commenting on the matter, Cathrine Stang Lund, communication manager at Telenor, said: “In Telenor, we guard our customers’ data and trust.” “The recent ruling established that we cannot be required, by default, to deliver personal data about our customers in Denmark to private parties who are driven by their commercial interests” She added: “We view the ruling as an important victory for Telenor Denmark’s right to protect its customers’ data.”

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Want to know if you should see Deadpool 2 with your parents? Wade Wilson, or more accurately Ryan Reynolds, has the answers. Deadpool is taking to Google to personally answer searches from across the globe. Similar to the first movie, Reynolds and company have gone above and beyond with the marketing for Deadpool 2. In the build-up to the movie’s release, Deadpool has mocked the #ThanosDemandsYourSilence campaign from Avengers: Infinity War, personally responded to a joke in a Teen Titans Go to the Movies! trailer and, of course, danced in a music video with Celine Dion. The latest stunt has had Deadpool make history by going live on Google’s search engine. Deadpool isn’t in every Google search, just a few choice ones. Yet the campaign is certainly going for quality over quantity, based on just a few of the responses that Ryan Reynolds has recorded, in character, as Deadpool. Each answer contains Deadpool’s signature snark and proves there’s almost nothing that Reynolds can’t do as the character. Here are some of Deadpool’s best questions and answers: Should I watch Deadpool 2 with my parents? Are you asking if you couldn’t line up a date or is it because you’re not 17 yet? Either way, the answer’s yes. Did Ryan Reynolds really play the piano in La La Land? Absolutely! He also earned critical acclaim for his role in The Notebook and the TV series Young Hercules. Player! Who is Deadpool? Witty superhero, wears a red suit, friendly neighborhood kind of guy, lives with an old woman, might shoot webs. Is the Earth flat? If I’m looking at a globe? Well, I say no. But if I’m looking at a crisp map laid out on the desk? I say no. To find Deadpool’s Google answer is rather easy. All it takes it to go into Google and search Deadpool 2. After scrolling down it’s simple to find the video answer to some of Google’s apparently most pressing questions, from everything to “When is Mother’s Day?” to “What is Love?” (Deadpool’s answer to the latter is exactly what you’re imagining.) This method of questioning and answering is relatively new for Google. Live answering launched in December 2017. Since then, it has been used to cover cultural events like the Grammys, International Women’s Day and Teacher’s Appreciation Day. Every previous live Google has been granted to real people, whether they’re celebrities or notable in some other way. With Deadpool, this is the first time a fictional character has taken over the platform. If that doesn’t prove how saturated and embedded Reynolds and company have made the character, nothing else will do it. Of the many, many Deadpool 2 publicity stunts, Deadpool answering Google searches falls somewhere in the middle. Reynolds isn’t the first celebrity to humorously answer the questions of the internet and he won’t be the last. It’s true that few have tackled the situation as creatively and originally as Deadpool. Yet the character can only do so much with the inane pondering of the Google masses. The exact plot and details of Deadpool 2 remain a tightly guarded secret. If the movie is even halfway as entertaining and passionate as the promotion building up to it, fans are going to be in store for a very special (and hilarious) experience. KEY RELEASE DATES Untitled Deadpool Sequel/Deadpool 2 release date: May 18, 2018 X-Men: Dark Phoenix release date: Feb 14, 2019 Gambit release date: Jun 7, 2019 New Mutants release date: Aug 2, 2019

A new rumor about Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel claims it will be a bigger superhero movie game changer than Avengers: Infinity War and Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman. It’s safe to say superhero films have seen an unprecedented level of success in Hollywood over the last few years. From the universe-uniting Avengers: Infinity War to offerings like Wonder Woman and Black Panther that brought much-needed gender and racial diversity to mainstream superhero movies, studios have pushed the boundaries on what defines comic book films. And, in the case of many expectation-defying comic book films – not only those above, but Deadpool, Logan, and Thor: Ragnarok, as well – they’ve been financially and critically successful. These successes may guarantee filmmakers and studios will take even bigger risks with their superhero universes, like Marvel Studios’ upcoming Phase 3 capper Avengers 4, which will act as an ending for the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. However, it turns out a different Marvel movie may be even more of a game changer. ScreenGeek is reporting one of their sources offered new insight about what fans can expect from Captain Marvel, the ’90s-set superhero film introducing Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) to the MCU. Though the report doesn’t reveal any plot details, it does tease massive implications not only for the Marvel franchise but superhero movies as a whole. However, the report does come from ScreenGeek’s unidentified source and, as a result, should be taken with a major grain of salt. Read it below: Though Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War were all different and original movies, nothing is going to be as different and original as Captain Marvel. The upcoming movie from Anna Bolden and Ryan Fleck is going to change the Marvel Cinematic Universe and give us something no one has seen before – and something that no fan is expecting. Wonder Woman was obviously considered a very important movie for women, but Captain Marvel is going to blow it away. It will completely redefine superhero movies – similar to how Marvel Studios changed everything back in 2008. If you thought Infinity War was a game-changer, you’re not ready for what’s coming in Captain Marvel. It’s likely the report is referring to the Kree-Skrull War, which Captain Marvel is confirmed to be adapting from the comics. Additionally, since Skrulls are a race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters, fans have speculated known MCU characters could be revealed to be Skrulls in disguise. Certainly, since the Kree-Skrull War will occur prior to the MCU proper – which kicked off in 2008 with Iron Man – it has the potential to completely change the way fans view the sprawling superhero universe. With that said, the comparison to Infinity War will likely be what most piques the interest of fans. The cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War left many fans reeling, or, at the very least, surprised by directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s bold choice. It’s an ending that many would agree paves the way for a wholly new story to be told in Avengers 4. As such, Captain Marvel potentially offering an even more game changing twist on the MCU is interesting to say the least. Though we still don’t know quite what the twist will be. As for Captain Marvel working to redefine superhero movies, it’s no secret the film will be Marvel Studios’ first MCU entry with a female superhero headlining a solo outing (the first female superhero to co-lead will be the Wasp in this summer’s Ant-Man and the Wasp). Still, Wonder Woman became the most successful female-led superhero film, and it was directed by Patty Jenkins, who tripled her salary for the sequel to become Hollywood’s highest paid female director. It’s difficult to see how Captain Marvel could “blow away” those milestones. Though, of course, Wonder Woman did receive criticism for certain aspects, including its portrayal of women of color, so there are undoubtedly ways Captain Marvel could be an improvement. Whether this rumor proves to be true remains to be seen, but fans who are eagerly anticipating Captain Marvel’s introduction to the MCU may be glad to hear it could be a massive game changer. Though, of course, with this rumor building up hype, Captain Marvel will need to meet or exceed those expectations.

On Wednesday, the California Energy Commission approved a set of standards that will require most new homes built in the state after 2020 to include solar panels on their roofs. The standards (PDF) apply only to single-family homes and certain low-rise condos, townhomes, and apartments. Exceptions are made for homes with roofs that would receive excessive shade during the daytime or homes with roofs too small to benefit from a few solar panels. The standards also include some smaller efficiency requirements for non-residential buildings. The state expects that, on the whole, the new requirements will help state residents save money. Overall, California expects the new residential and non-residential standards to cost the state economy $2.17 billion, while generating an energy bill savings of $3.87 billion, for a net savings of $1.7 billion. The standards must still be approved by the state's Building Standards Commission, according to ABC7. The OC Register reported earlier this week that the new standards are the successor of a "net-zero" objective that California law makers have toyed with implementing. Such an objective would have required that all new homes built after 2020 produce as much energy as the household would have consumed. The simpler requirement to include solar panels on homes has been supported by homebuilders and environmentalists, although solar industry groups pushed for the more stringent requirements. Of course, adding a solar requirement to new homes will increase the cost of a new home in a state where cost of living is already high. Proponents of the measure say that while the upfront cost of building or buying the home increases, utility costs for the home will be reduced every month. There may be some opportunity for creative pricing with the new regulations. The OC Register notes that homebuilders could make solar systems smaller if they install a stationary battery on the house. The homebuilder would then receive "compliance credits" for including an energy storage system. Provisions will also encourage homebuilders to move away from natural gas-burning appliances and include things like electric ovens and water heaters.

Google Pay got many solid improvements in the last six months, evidence that Google has major plans for the service. At the recent Google I/O conference, the Mountain View company confirmed Google Pay is getting even more improvements starting this week. So, if you've been using Google Pay on a regular basis, you'll be pleased to know that developers have decided to add support for flight, movie and concert tickets. You'll find all of these available in the new Tickets section that's been added after the update. Once you purchase a ticket, you will also get live alerts, updated departure times, as well as lock screen notifications. Some of these new features have been implemented over the weekend, but they should be rolled out to everyone using Google Pay. Keep in mind that in order to use Google Pay your phone must not be rooted. The app also requires Android 4.4 KitKat or higher to work properly.

Stranger Things season 3 has cast Francesca Reale as a character central to the show’s latest mystery. Filming on season 3 began in late April, with both longtime cast members (Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour) and the breakouts from season 2 (Sadie Sink as Max, Priah Ferguson as Lucas’ sister Erica) present and accounted for. Among the newcomers joining them in season 3 are seasoned veterans Cary Elwes and Jake Busey, as well as relative unknown Maya Thurman Hawke, aka. Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke’s daughter. Netflix’s Stranger Things season 1 marketing focused heavily on the show’s original mystery storyline, which concerned the disappearance of young Will Byers in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. When the series took off in popularity thereafter, it allowed the marketing for season 2 to be more enigmatic about everything from the fates of certain characters to what Stranger Things 2 (as season 2 is officially titled) is even about. Marketing for season 3 is expected to be even more secretive by comparison, what with the season 2 finale offering few hints about what to expect on the show next (other than something involving the Mind Flayer, aka. Shadow Monster). According to Deadline, Reale is playing a recurring role in Stranger Things season 3 as Heather, a popular lifeguard at the Hawkins community pool. Details beyond that are being kept under lock and key, though Deadline says Heather will be “the centerpiece” of a dark mystery in season 3. Reale, for her part, is already a member of the Netflix television community thanks to her role on the comedy TV series Haters Back Off! (which was cancelled last year after two seasons). It’s not clear if Heather is “popular” in general or with Stranger Things‘ young heroes in particular. Most of the show’s non-adult main characters will be entering their messy teen years in season 3, so it’s possible one or more of them will develop romantic feelings for Hawkins’ local lifeguard. Deadline further describes the Heather role as being a “major” recurring one in addition to being central to the season’s mystery (or one of them), so either way she should amount to more than a minor (read: throwaway) love interest for someone else. Whereas Stranger Things drew heavily from Steven Spielberg and Stephen King’s 1980s work for inspiration in its first two seasons, season 3 may yet expand its reach to other popular ’80s titles. The show’s young leads are growing up quickly, so it’s possible season 3 will take some of its cues from ’80s teen dramas (think John Hughes movies) and combine them with its sci-fi/horror elements, in order to reflect that. This would also explain why the series is adding multiple recurring teenaged characters (played by Hawke and Reale) to the mix this season. Stranger Things seasons 1 & 2 are now available through Netflix. Season 3 premieres sometime in 2019.