Since May 24, more than 114 websites have been blocked in Egypt, and this number keeps growing. The reason being that the Egyptian government is cracking down on both international and local digital outlets. A majority of the blocked websites are news websites, since the Egyptian government wants to quell controversy and the spread of news. But there are also websites that are blocked that include information on anonymity, encryption, and international communication. Blocked websites include huge names like Mada Masr, Al Borsa, Huffington Post Arabic, and multiple websites linked to Al Jazeera. The outage is also affecting Tor, and VPN services. Additionally, the OONI website, the Open Observatory of Network Interference which monitors internet censorship and surveillance has also been blocked. The government reasons that it’s cracking down on websites that are publishing fake news and false information, thereby supporting the spread of terrorism.Right now, Egypt is still in a state of emergency following attacks on churches that killed over 50 people in April. Additionally, Egypt is also part of a coalition that has put a blockade on Qatar demanding the closure of the Doha-based Al Jazeera media network which it considers to be a tool for propaganda. However, while the state of emergency and controversies are serious, it’s still not good that the government is suppressing freedom of speech. By censoring the people’s voices, their concerns can not be heard. This is one reason why many people get frustrated and turn to violence, and already, people in Egypt are accusing the government of failing to disclose judicial or administrative decisions concerning blocked websites. “Even in the darkest days of the repressive Mubarak era, the authorities didn’t cut off access to all independent news sites,” says Najia Bounaim, the north African campaigns director. Unsurprisingly, OONI reports that deep packet inspection is being used to monitor and block these websites in Egypt. Mada Masr, one of the blocked websites, reports that the decision was also made centrally, not from the authority of telecom or internet service providers. Here at TorGuard we’ve seen similar tools DPI blockades used in China to censor websites and prevent citizens from accessing current or even past news. However, with TorGuard’s new Stealth VPN tunnel options, and strong encryption methods, you can still access websites in Egypt OR China. Journalists and news websites are still finding ways around the blocks however, by posting relevant news pieces on Facebook. One of the editors from Mada Masr, one Lina Attalah, says that if they “did something more grave like arresting team members or me it would make big noise, whereas blocking the website is the best way to paralyze us without paying a high price for it.” The scary thing is that Egypt does have a history of jailing journalists.

* cum celebrate International Bikini Day, with a 2-day Site-Wide Free Leech Event...!!! * July 4, 2017 - July 5, 2017 (July 4th 00:00 UTC - July 5th 23:59:59) cum one, cum all, for our 2-day celebration...!!!

Want to help SceneFZ? You can do this very simply! Just download as many torrents and spend as much time on the seed. For this we will award you VIP or VIP Legend! After downloading the maximum torrents you can keep at the seed post here to receive the VIP! VIP-UL is active only during SEED (you are not obliged to keep the non-stop torrents at seed). If you want to help develop the SceneFZ community, just download how many torrents you can! IMPORTANT! For the VIP class, you must have at least 200 torrents or 500 GB at SEED. For LEGEND VIP you must have SEED at least 500 torrents or 1000 GB

New Features and Scheduled Maintenance Hi friends, Sorry it's been a few weeks since an update, but I wanted to take a minute to let you know what's been going on behind the scenes (...get it?) and some of what we have in store for the future. First, though I've posted it on the forums in a couple places, I'd like to now officially announce that you can enable poster images in place of genre icons on the browse page (and top10) by visiting your edit profile page, and checking off "Enable posters". There's definitely room for improvement on the design side, especially when it comes to the top10, as some have noted, and I'll leave that to our wonderfully creative designers to figure out. Next, we had a rocky last couple weeks with regard to some of our most used image hosts. While they ended up pulling through, we decided to proceed with a full backup of all images that were hosted there anyway. It went smoothly, and we backed up about 375k images from roughly 33k torrents. The images are stored on and served from our new host, tehimg.eu. We'll eventually be integrating the use of this host into the site. Finally, I'd like to announce a Scheduled Maintenance, which will start around1AM UTConSaturday, July 1, 2017. During this maintenance, we will perform tracker and security upgrades, and both the site and the tracker will be taken offline. The result will be the resolution of several longstanding tracker bugs, and will also allow us to add some new features, such as neutral leech. I expect this to take no more than two hours, and hope it to take much, much less. Please leave your clients seeding.When the maintenance is finished, no changes will be required on your end. Thanks all, for your continued support, Astarael

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered Google to remove a company's websites from search results. The case had nothing to do with copyright but according to music industry group IFPI, the implications are clear. When search engines link to illegal content, courts can compel them to permanently remove results, globally. Back in 2014, the case of Equustek Solutions Inc. v. Jack saw two Canadian entities battle over stolen intellectual property used to manufacture competing products. Google had no direct links to the case, yet it became embroiled when Equustek Solutions claimed that Google’s search results helped to send visitors to websites operated by the defendants (former Equustek employees) who were selling unlawful products. Google voluntarily removed links to the sites from its Google.ca (Canada) results, but Equustek demanded a more comprehensive response. It got one. In a ruling handed down by a court in British Columbia, Google was ordered to remove the infringing websites’ listings from its central database in the United States, meaning that the ruling had worldwide implications. Google filed an appeal hoping for a better result, arguing that it does not operate servers in British Columbia, nor does it operate any local offices. It also questioned whether the injunction could be enforced outside Canada’s borders. Ultimately, the British Columbia Court of Appeal disappointed the search giant. In a June 2015 ruling, the Court decided that Google does indeed do business in the region. It also found that a decision to restrict infringement was unlikely to offend any overseas nation. “The plaintiffs have established, in my view, that an order limited to the google.ca search site would not be effective. I am satisfied that there was a basis, here, for giving the injunction worldwide effect,” Justice Groberman wrote. Undeterred, Google took its case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, hoping to limit the scope of the injunction by arguing that it violates freedom of expression. That effort has now failed. In a 7-2 majority decision released Wednesday, Google was branded a “determinative player” in facilitating harm to Equustek. “This is not an order to remove speech that, on its face, engages freedom of expression values, it is an order to de-index websites that are in violation of several court orders,” wrote Justice Rosalia Abella. “We have not, to date, accepted that freedom of expression requires the facilitation of the unlawful sale of goods.” With Google now required to delist the sites on a global basis, the big question is what happens when other players attempt to apply the ruling to their particular business sector. Unsurprisingly that hasn’t taken long. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which supported Equustek’s position in the long-running case, welcomed the decision and said that Google must “take on the responsibility” to ensure it does not direct users to illegal sites. “Canada’s highest court has handed down a decision that is very good news for rights holders both in Canada and around the world. Whilst this was not a music piracy case, search engines play a prominent role in directing users to illegal content online including illegal music sites,” said IFPI CEO, Frances Moore. “If the digital economy is to grow to its full potential, online intermediaries, including search engines, must play their part by ensuring that their services are not used to facilitate the infringement of intellectual property rights.” Graham Henderson, President and CEO of Music Canada, which represents Sony, Universal, Warner and others, also welcomed the ruling. “Today’s decision confirms that online service providers cannot turn a blind eye to illegal activity that they facilitate; on the contrary, they have an affirmative duty to take steps to prevent the Internet from becoming a black market,” Henderson said. But for every voice of approval from groups like IFPI and Music Canada, others raised concerns over the scope of the decision and its potential to create a legal and political minefield. In particular, University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist raised a number of interesting scenarios. “What happens if a Chinese court orders [Google] to remove Taiwanese sites from the index? Or if an Iranian court orders it to remove gay and lesbian sites from the index? Since local content laws differ from country to country, there is a great likelihood of conflicts,” Geist said. But rather than painting Google as the loser in this battle, Geist believes the decision actually grants the search giant more power. “When it comes to Internet jurisdiction, exercising restraint and limiting the scope of court orders is likely to increase global respect for the law and the effectiveness of judicial decisions. Yet this decision demonstrates what many have feared: the temptation for courts will be to assert jurisdiction over online activities and leave it to the parties to sort out potential conflicts,” Geist says. “In doing so, the Supreme Court of Canada has lent its support to global takedowns and vested more power in Internet intermediaries, who may increasingly emerge as the arbiters of which laws to follow online.” Only time will tell how Google will react, but it’s clear there will be plenty of entities ready to test the limits and scope of the company’s responses to the ruling. Source: Torrentfreak.com

Adam Driver says writer and director Rian Johnson has created “new rules” for the franchise in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. And in many ways, The Last Jedi is shaping up to be an unintended response to many of the complaints fans and critics had about The Force Awakens, most of which revolved around the overwhelming similarities between its plot and that of A New Hope. Everyone involved in the film has been quick to not only praise Johnson’s work on it but also to point out just how different The Last Jedi feels when compared to all of the other Star Wars films that have come before it. That’s saying something considering that very little is actually known still about the plot and story of The Last Jedi, which like all of the other films from the Disney-owned era of the franchise, has been kept under tight lock and key from the very beginning. However, one of the film’s biggest proponents and supporters has always been Adam Driver, who previously called Johnson’s script for the film “remarkable,” echoing many of his co-stars other sentiments from the past year or so. During a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Driver elaborated slightly on his previous comments about the script, and what fans can expect from The Last Jedi when it hits theaters later this December: “[Johnson] created new rules for the Star Wars universe and balanced the familiar and unfamiliar very adeptly while respecting that his audience can handle ambiguity. Which you can see in his previous films. Characters and story are his priority.” It was made clear fairly quickly in the first trailer for The Last Jedi that Rian Johnson was going to be taking a much different approach to the film, visually, tonally, and thematically than what J.J. Abrams did with The Force Awakens. Driver’s comments about Johnson creating new rules for the franchise only further backs up what many fans and analysts had already assumed about the new film, and what Johnson himself has said about his creative process for it. It’ll likely be much closer to the film’s release date before details about those new rules are actually revealed, but it only adds another level of mystery to the overall trajectory of the film. In Driver’s case, Kylo Ren was only glimpsed briefly in the teaser trailer, and there hasn’t been much revealed about his arc in the film since then either. Johnson has teased that the film will pick up with Kylo when he’s grappling with an even greater internal conflict than before, as a direct result of killing his father, Han Solo, at the end of The Force Awakens. But how Kylo Ren may or may not factor into these new rules and creative directions will have to remain a mystery for the time being. http://screenrant.com/star-wars-8-ri...n-adam-driver/

On a recent Monday afternoon, the queen was taking her tea. "Could I just be more English than sense itself and get an Earl Grey?" asks Emilia Clarke from the deep folds of a leather chesterfield sofa in the so-called Drawing Room of her downtown Manhattan hotel. The young waiter is only too happy to oblige, though it's unclear whether he knows he's in the presence of the Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons and rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. That being said, six seasons into HBO's Game of Thrones – a cultural phenomenon that plays in no fewer than 170 countries, has inspired countless tattoos and baby namings, and has proved to be the network's most popular show of all time, with a seventh season set to premiere July 16th – it's more than likely that he does. Clarke smiles and tucks her feet up under her. "I'm crap at getting recognized," she confides. "People are like, 'Oh, hey!' And I'm like" – she starts yelling – "'God! Oh, hi! I'm sorry!' " When I first met Clarke, back in 2013, the actress was 26, still relatively unknown when not wearing her signature GoT blond wig, and not likely to compare herself to her warrior-queen character. She'd still seemed slightly in awe of the fact that she'd gotten the job at all, which was only her third acting role ever. "I'm all too painfully aware of how quickly this can disappear," she'd told me when we'd met in a Broadway dressing room, where she was rehearsing to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Four years later, Clarke has maintained her hallmarks – wry humor and ample good will, among them – but it's clear we're in another realm. Even in a messy bun and frayed blue jeans, she now comes across as a sort of beacon – poised, almost glowing, a point to which all other attention can't help but be drawn. In other words, she has a way of commanding the room that seems downright Khaleesi-esque. She has, after all, now spent the bulk of her adult life embodying one of our culture's most striking images of female domination, while eloquently explaining her onscreen nudity in broadly feminist terms. She's turned 30 (of which she says, "I was just quietly panicking"). She's graced the big screen multiple times, including opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys. And, like the rest of us, she's lived through Brexit and the ascendency of Trump, or, as she puts it, " '16. The fucking year where everything shit happened." So, times have changed – for better and for worse. "You can't expect everyone to just stop doing their jobs and march every day of their lives," she says of the volatile political climate. "But we've got to be in this shit for the long game." And for Clarke, being "in this shit" means not being OK with a lot of what goes on around her – a realization that grew and amplified "in a [post-Brexit] era where you suddenly go, 'What do you mean my views are so vastly different from my neighbor?' " Like, for example, her views on being one of the few women on any given set. Or the fact that women consistently have fewer lines than their male counterparts, even when they're playing the "lead." Or that actresses must arrive for hair and makeup hours before most of the male stars. "I feel so naive for saying it, but it's like dealing with racism," she says. "You're aware of it, and you're aware of it, but one day, you go, 'Oh, my God, it's everywhere!' Like you suddenly wake up to it and you go, 'Wait a fucking second, are you . . . are you treating me different because I've got a pair of tits? Is that actually happening?' It took me a really long time to see that I do get treated differently. But I look around, and that's my daily life." She recognizes, of course, that this is a complicated stance to take as a woman who has no doubt benefited hugely from her, ahem, pair of tits. She was Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2015 ("My mum bribed them"), and her role on Game of Thrones has been punctuated by momentous scenes in which she happened to be naked. "It doesn't stop me from being a feminist," she counters. "Like, guess what? Yes, I've got mascara on, and I also have a high IQ, so those two things can be one and the same." But the complexity of gaining women's-empowerment cred through such channels explains why she's also glad about the evolution of her character, a woman who rose literally from the ashes and now seems poised to win the game of thrones. Throughout history, Clarke reminds me, "Women have been great rulers. And then for that to be a character that I'm known to play? That's so fucking lucky. Anyone who seems to think that it's not needed need only look at the political environment we're all living in to be like, 'Oh, no, it's needed. It is needed.' " All of which means that Clarke is now embracing her character's power in a way that might not have been possible for her when the series first aired, when the dew of Oxfordshire was still fresh upon her. Clarke grew up about an hour outside London in the tweedy British countryside of meat pies and bovine creatures. "You know, I grew up with a stream in the garden and with fields everywhere," she says. "We used to go mushroom-picking. There were ducks. It was idyllic on every level." She followed her older brother to St. Edward's, a private boarding school in Oxford where, as the daughter of a sound designer (who'd started out as a roadie) and a marketing VP (who'd started out at secretarial college), she was somewhat removed from the upper-crust kids of her new milieu. "It was a fancy school," she says. "And we weren't that fancy." She was also an artsy kid at a school that wasn't that artsy. "People were good at hockey and wanted to be lawyers. I just wanted to be everyone's friend," she says. "It was painful – I was on the outskirts, peeping in, going, 'You guys look fun. Can I come join?' " After graduation, she applied to RADA, LAMDA and Guildhall, a trifecta of hallowed institutions for British would-be actors, and got rejected from every one. She waitressed, saved up some money, went backpacking around Southeast Asia and India, and then reapplied to "a bajillion schools," only getting into the Drama Centre London "by the skin of my teeth when I got a phone call saying, 'This girl broke her leg. The place is free if you want it.' " Drama school was another venue where she learned her place. She was never the favorite. She was never the ingénue. She played old ladies and bedraggled prostitutes. "They broke us down," she tells me. "But if you're a favorite at school, you're fucked for life. I mean, you come out and you're like, 'Hey, where's my golden egg?' Whereas when you haven't had that at all, you're just like, 'I will do anything. I will work harder than you could imagine.' " She gave herself a year to break into the industry. Right around that deadline, cash-strapped, despairing and casting about for alternative life plans, Clarke – just scraping five feet two, curvy and brunette – got a call from her agents about auditioning for the role of tall, willowy, blond Daenerys Targaryen. She turned to Google for a crash course on George R.R. Martin's novels and then went in to meet the HBO execs. At some point in the audition, she found herself doing the funky chicken. "You wake up and go, 'Wait a fucking second, are you treating me different because I've got a pair of tits'" She also managed to broadcast the range HBO was seeking: Clarke had the vulnerability of someone who wasn't the favorite but also the strength of a young woman who'd grown up with a working mother who had herself risen out of secretarial school to forge a high-powered career. "I was so lucky that I was brought up with a mum who just showed by example," Clarke says. "It was never spelt out that I would have a harder time in life. My family put a fair amount of onus on wanting to expand your thinking as opposed to shrinking your bottom." This goes a long way toward explaining the more personal reason why 2016 was a shitty year for Clarke. On July 10th, her father – whose behind-the-scenes work got her interested in acting in the first place – passed away from cancer. Clarke was filming a movie in Kentucky and unable to be home for all of his final days. When things got dire, she wrapped the movie early but arrived at the airport in London to learn that she'd just missed him. "I definitely think I'm still in varying degrees of shock," she says. "There's no measure for it. There are all of these books about grief, but there's no guide. Like, 'Oh, on Tuesday, you'll feel this, but on Thursday, you'll be here.' " Three weeks after her father's death, Clarke began filming the seventh season of Game of Thrones. A few weeks before it, Brexit had happened. "The world felt like a scarier place once my dad wasn't in it," she says. "And then those two things happening in quick succession threw me off balance and made me re-evaluate who I am. And it was in that re-evaluation that I was like, 'I'm a fucking woman, and there aren't very many of us performing in the environment that I'm performing in. I need to be incredibly sure of the ground on which I'm standing, and I need to take ownership of the choices I'm making.' " That included the way she comported herself on set. Clarke's general approach to the world is self-deprecating levity. "When one spends your days discussing the politics of King's Landing, it's very important not to forget to do your penguin dance between takes," co-star Peter Dinklage says of her capacity for goofing around, while she describes what goes through her mind when acting opposite a mechanical dragon thusly: "I'm like, 'Is he clenching? Is he farting? What do you want me to do?' " But over the course of the show, Clarke's own vulnerability has shrunk as Khaleesi's power has expanded. "You don't get to be a mother of dragons without a change or two," she says. "Being able to encompass and understand the kind of woman who could conquer armies and topple societies allows me, the actor, to stand firmly in those shoes." Which came in handy on set when something would remind her of her father and literally "take my breath away," she says. "You underestimate the enormity of it. I didn't know feeling this way was possible." In those moments, she'd gather her strength and try to channel that emotion into her work. "I was like, 'I'm not gonna let you see me cry. That ain't happening.' " Instead, she'd steal away for a moment and then come back to being Khaleesi. For Clarke, Khaleesi's story is about to come to a close. Sometime next year, the final episode of Game of Thrones will air and the role that she's been playing for almost a decade, the role that "saved my ass in so many ways – propelled my ass, really," will be over. "There's going to be a shake-up of my identity, I think," she says of that inevitability. "And I feel like I'm only going to understand what the last seven years has been when we stop." She promises the upcoming episodes of the epic will not disappoint. "Spoiler alert – I normally don't spend very much time in Belfast, but this last season I spent a little more time there," she says, throwing a hint to the GoT obsessives. "It's a really interesting season in terms of some loose ends that have been tied, some really satisfying plot points, some things where you're like, 'Oh, my God. I forgot about that!' Rumors are going to be confirmed or denied." But Khaleesi's plotline will continue through to the end. "I mean, I have no doubt there'll be prequels and sequels and who knows what else. But I am doing one more season. And then that'll be it." After that eighth and final season, Clarke will have a freedom that she hasn't had since she was cast at age 23. The roughly seven months of each year she's spent waking up at 3 a.m. to get into hair and makeup, the 18-hour days in which she's pretended to ride a dragon or lead an army or walk naked through fire, will suddenly be hers again. The thought is both daunting and titillating. "It makes me emotional to think about," she says. "It's my beginning, middle and end – the single thing that has changed me most as an adult." Not that freedom is here yet. When she returns to London in a few days, it will be for the Han Solo Star Wars prequel, in which she presumably plays yet another bad-ass woman. "All I can say is that she's awesome," Clarke tells me. "Like, legit, that's all I can actually get away with saying. There's a stormtrooper with a gun, and he's going to come walking in any second." After Star Wars, Clarke's ultimate goal is to create the kind of shop that rights the wrongs she's witnessed: "I would love to start a production company that was just full of nice, funny women," and where the vibe was one of "'Yeah, I've got a pair of tits, and aren't they lovely? Aren't they great? You do too! They're great, you're in the club!' " In the meantime, she says, she's been working on expanding her mind rather than shrinking her bottom. "I've suddenly got a ferocious need to learn things," she adds. "Like, I listen to podcasts manically – The New York Times and The Guardian and The Economist and TED Talks and Fresh Air. I need information. I'm like, 'I just want to know as much as humanly possible.' " Which means that for all Khaleesi has given Clarke, Clarke's in the process of reciprocating. "Khaleesi got a little something extra this year, you know what I mean? She got a little something else going on."

Starting this July 1st of 2017, all Chinese mobile Android and iOS stores will start prohibiting users from downloading VPN apps. In some ways, this event is a bit unremarkable or meaningless since TorGuard’s website is already blocked in China on most app stores. It’s simply a matter of downloading TorGuard’s .apk file and installing the VPN app manually. But the event does set a precedent in China towards increased aggression towards Chinese users looking to circumvent censorship. As you might know, VPNs in China are heavily regulated and hard to use for Chinese people, but even more so than in the US–VPNs are almost mandatory to be used if Chinese users want access to an internet that isn’t butchered with restrictions and censored content. By using a VPN in China, users can circumvent IP restrictions and website restrictions and encrypt their internet so the Chinese government can’t snoop on them. Since VPNs allow Chinese users unrestricted access to content, the Chinese government wants to restrict their use. The government doesn’t want people getting access to controversial political news which the government deems as terrorist propaganda. Unless a VPN gives over all of their information to the government including keys and user information, a VPN cannot operate. However, even now, a good number of users in China are finding ways around these restrictions and using VPNs like TorGuard as we mentioned before. One reason for the crackdown on July 1st could be related to the 30th anniversary of the transition from Hong Kong’s British to Chinese rule. China has falsely not upheld promises of letting Hong Kong remain independent however, which has resulted in controversial kidnappings and uprisings over rigged Hong Kong elections. Others theorize that the possible cause could be corruption allegation charges against Wang Qishan who is the secretary of the Chinese Communist party. Whatever the reason for restricting VPN apps, the problem highlights a serious censorship problem. If the Chinese government can restrict apps on the iOS store, it leaves mobile app stores like Apple in a tenuous situation. If they obey requests, it means that any app can be removed for a political agenda, and other countries observing might follow similar paths of censorship and app store restrictions.

As we’ve discussed at various points, the great cryptocurrency GPU mining craze of 2011 to 2014 (peaking in 2013) was great for GPU manufacturers’ profit margins, but terrible for AMD’s actual GPU sales and market share. At the time, GPU manufacturers weren’t interested in attempting to create mining-specific SKUs or capabilities, even though there was some information that suggested some ASICs held up better under constant mining loads than others. There were reports at the time that FirePro workstation cards held up better over the long term than their Radeon counterparts when run 24/7. While this may have never been formally proven, and I don’t think AMD ever issued any statements on the topic, there’s at least a plausible mechanism of action for how such a thing could be possible. Both AMD and Nvidia put their workstation and professional GPUs through additional rounds of validation over and above consumer cards, and these cards are designed for more demanding environments. This time around, companies like Asus and Sapphire seem to be getting in on the action with their own, dedicated mining cards. Asus has unveiled two GPUs, the AMD-based Mining RX 470 4G and the Nvidia-based Mining P106-6G. These are not consumer cards — the RX 470 has just one DVI port (it has holes for DP and HDMI, but no actual ports). Meanwhile, the 6GB GTX 1060 GPU is shown with this unintentionally amusing explanation: Asus is claiming substantially higher mining performance, however, and to be honest I’d need to dig into the specifics of what drives modern cryptocurrency performance to render an opinion on how likely the company’s cryptocurrency SKUs are to deliver on their performance claims. As always, we recommend being cautious when investing in fads like cryptocurrency. There are people who made amounts of money in Bitcoin and Litecoin ranging from modest to massive. There are plenty of other customers who paid for ASIC solutions that never shipped (and multiple companies were later sued for fraud), or were never able to break even on total cost of hardware and electricity given the way prices were fluctuating at the time. I consider cryptocurrency mining somewhat similar to gambling, in that one should never wager more than you can comfortably afford to lose. Asus has not yet announced availability or pricing on these cards. But it’ll be interesting to see how they’re positioned relative to standard consumer hardware. If this experiment works, we expect to see more GPU companies following with their own designs in fairly short order. As always, we recommend being cautious when investing in fads like cryptocurrency. There are people who made amounts of money in Bitcoin and Litecoin ranging from modest to massive. There are plenty of other customers who paid for ASIC solutions that never shipped (and multiple companies were later sued for fraud), or were never able to break even on total cost of hardware and electricity given the way prices were fluctuating at the time. I consider cryptocurrency mining somewhat similar to gambling, in that one should never wager more than you can comfortably afford to lose. Asus has not yet announced availability or pricing on these cards. But it’ll be interesting to see how they’re positioned relative to standard consumer hardware. If this experiment works, we expect to see more GPU companies following with their own designs in fairly short order.

While chasing after sellers of pirate Kodi boxes and add-on developers, UK anti-piracy group FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) could also begin exposing illegal add-ons users for Kodi in "the very near future." "What we've been looking at in conjunction with many of our clients and members are the different levels of crime being committed," Kieron Sharp, FACT's chief executive, told the Independent. "And then we'll also be looking at, at some point, the end user. The reason for end users to come into this is that they are committing criminal offences," Kieron Sharp, FACT's chief executive, told the Independent. However, it is still not clear as to how the group plans to catch illegal users since they don't publicize their IP address. But Sharp said sellers of the so-called fully loaded Kodi boxes could hold the answer. Kodi itself is legal, but it has been exploited and used as third-party add-ons to access illegal streams for sports events, films, and TV shows. These devices promise pirate content at no cost, and many of these boxes are "fully loaded," meaning they contain pre-installed plug-ins ready for social media use. "When we're working with the police against a company that's selling IPTV boxes or illicit streaming devices on a large scale, they have records of who they've sold them to," Sharp said. Previously, it was only illegal to download copyrighted contents. But in April, the EU Court of Justice ruled that people who use a media player to stream pirated files are breaking the law. The Digital Economy Act has also became a law earlier this year, raising the maximum sentence for copyright infringement cases between two to 10 years. However, the maximum punishment is only applicable to people who commit serious copyright violations like distributing content.

Google is launching a major redesign for Google News, bringing the site more in line with Google's company-wide "Material Design" guidelines. A gray background and white cards around each story bring the site more in line with what Google has been doing on Android and makes it look a lot like Google Now. Everything is a lot more spaced out, so you'll see less information on a single page. Google says the airier design is "designed for readability" and will make it easier to scan stories. The site remains recognizable as Google News. There's still a vertical column of sections on the left side, but now the list is customizable. There's also still a right-side column that houses recent items, the weather, sports scores, and local news. Google is highlighting its "Fact Check" labeling program with a new block in the right column that will show "the top fact checked articles recently published." One new navigation element is a top bar that lets you jump between top headlines, local news, and "For You"—a suggested content section. Story cards will still expand to show different perspectives on a news story, with labels on some articles like "Opinion," "Highly cited," and "Fact Check." At the bottom of a card is a new "Full Coverage" link, which will open up a new page full of stories about that topic. You can sort by date, top videos, or relevance. The previous Google News design dated all the way back to 2011, when Google was using a "red and white" design theme that is still prominent on sites like Gmail and Google Calendar. For those keeping track at home, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Translate, Google Groups, Hangouts, and Google Finance still lack Material Design themed desktop interfaces. They'll all need to be updated eventually.

BABY DRIVER IS AN EXHILARATING AND TENSE THRILL RIDE THAT’S INFECTIOUS WITH ITS HIGH-OCTANE ENERGY, SHEER CREATIVITY, AND STRONG PERFORMANCES. Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a talented, yet reluctant, getaway driver under the employment of notorious Atlanta kingpin Doc (Kevin Spacey) and yearns to eventually leave the criminal life behind in search of something more fulfilling. He suffers from a condition called tinnitus and constantly listens to music to drown out the ringing in his ears. Baby’s days are spent speeding away from heist targets, taking colorful robbers such as Griff (Jon Bernthal), Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza González), and Bats (Jamie Foxx) to safety once jobs are complete. Doc never uses the same crew more than once, but Baby has been his driver for years and is something of a lucky charm to him. As his time with Doc winds down to a close, Baby meets waitress Debora (Lily James) and the two quickly fall in love with each other. They dream of driving away out West as a couple, but before that happens, Baby is pulled into the criminal underworld one more time to do another job with Doc and his associates. While going along with the plan, Baby simultaneously looks for a way to get out and leave everything before things get out of hand and reach a tipping point. After concluding his Cornetto trilogy with 2013’s The World’s End and a falling out with Marvel over the creative direction of Ant-Man, Baby Driver is the latest film by writer/director Edgar Wright. The movie generated much attention over the course of its development due to its inventive use of the soundtrack and representing something of a change-of-pace for Wright as a helmsman. Using some classic crime films as inspiration, the hope going into the film was that it could continue Wright’s career-long hot streak and deliver rousingly entertaining summer fare. Fortunately, it hits on all spots. Baby Driver is an exhilarating and tense thrill ride that’s infectious with its high-octane energy, sheer creativity, and strong performances. Wright is widely-known for comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and Baby Driver marks the next stage of his directorial evolution. There are certainly moments and lines of humor peppered throughout this caper, but Baby Driver is designed more as a noir/crime film as seen through the eyes of Wright. The end result is something that’s exceptionally stylish and pure fun to watch, but it never skimps on the dramatic stakes. Baby Driver builds up to a pressure-packed third act that feels unpredictable and will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. Wright proves he can deftly handle serious-minded material, suggesting that he’s just entering his directorial prime. This was a passion project of Wright’s for a long time, and what’s on the screen demonstrates his dedication to his craft and this particular story. Baby Driver breaks away from the typical heist film mold by making the escapes from the crime scenes the big set pieces (as opposed to the robberies themselves). Audiences hear several times throughout the movie Baby is the best at what he does, and when he sits behind the wheel of any vehicle (be it a flashy car or a pickup truck), he does not disappoint. The action sequences are meticulously edited to match up with whatever song Baby happens to be listening to at the time, delivering car chases – and the occasional shootout – that are breathtaking and exciting in their execution. Wright has always been keen at finding the right songs for his movies, but he truly outdoes himself with Baby Driver, in which the music becomes a living aspect of the film and a character in its own right. The wide variety of tunes on Baby’s iPod ensure the soundtrack is never dull and has something for everyone. The spectacle of Baby Driver is a wonder to behold, but its cast of characters is what puts it over the top. Elgort is a likable and endearing protagonist, injecting Baby with a sweet innocence that makes him endearing. Wright allows viewers to truly become invested in the young driver by depicting his touching relationships with Debora and his foster parent Joe (CJ Jones). Elgort’s charm is a key reason why his performance works so well, but he’s hardly one-note. When called upon, he can shift gears and be as no-nonsense as any of his criminal associates – particularly towards the end of the film. Elgort also has nice chemistry with James, and the two are a delight to watch when they’re together and young love blossoms between them. Their dynamic arguably could have used a little more development, but they make a great couple nonetheless. In terms of the supporting cast, Spacey is terrific as Doc, showcasing his dry wit and tenacious demeanor. Spacey makes an excellent crime boss and isn’t a stereotypical authoritative figure. There are layers to Doc that shine through, making him a fleshed out character. Foxx’s Bats is also a standout with an unhinged turn that constantly makes those around him uneasy. For moviegoers, Bats’ instability makes him an entertaining character to watch, as he’s the wild card of the group capable of anything at a moment’s notice. There really is no wasted role in Baby Driver; even smaller parts like Buddy and Darling are memorable due to the amounts of characterization they get through the dialogue and their interactions with Baby. Each member in the ensemble makes the most of their screen time and Wright puts all his actors in the best position to shine. During a summer that’s been noteworthy for some high-profile disappointments, Baby Driver is a breath of fresh air at the multiplex, delivering a fantastic and original moviegoing experience that’s sure to please crowds. Wright hits on all fronts, once again illustrating why he’s one of the most creative voices working in the industry today. Baby Driver is a must-see on the big screen, whether one is a fan of Wright’s style, crime films, or just movies in general. It’s fun, wild, and a treat for viewers across the board. Baby Driver is now playing in U.S. theaters. It runs 113 minutes and is rated R for violence and language throughout. Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Must-See) http://screenrant.com/baby-driver-movie-reviews/

Swedish blockchain startup ChromaWay has announced a new distributed database product called Postchain. Revealed today at the Money2020 Europe in Copenhagen, ChromaWay positioned the new technology as one that would combine the benefits of an SQL database, while adding elements of blockchain technology. While that may sound antithetical to its past blockchain work, ChromaWay CEO Henrik Hjelte instead framed the product as one that was perhaps more in line with the needs of enterprise companies. "We can do the implementation directly in your database, but you get the same security properties as a federated blockchain. Postchain is one implementation of that idea," Hjelte said. A benefit, according to the CEO, is that Postchain works with established enterprise database systems like Oracle and Microsoft, or open-source databases like PostgreSQL, he said. Hjelte told CoinDesk: "Blockchain is often described as a database, but when you look at it, it's not really suitable for storing and retrieving data in the same way a relational database is. Blockchain, the core idea is a linked list of transactions, but a database is designed to have certain properties for managing information over a long time.” The idea for the Postchain product came from previous ChromaWay projects in which the team was attempting to speed up the transaction capacity of its designs in line with the demands of corporate users. Already ChromaWay’s customers, including a media sector consortium, are currently trying out Postchain, Hjelte said. It will further serve as the back-end for smart contracts on the company’s project with the Swedish land registry, which records property transaction deals. "You’ll have a secure replication of data between databases, so every node that is participating in a consortium will have the same copy of the database," explained Hjelte. The source code for the project will be released later this summer, according to the firm.

James Cameron has found another way to make all the Avatar sequels revolutionary, as they’ll be the first to implement glasses-free 3D technology. Cameron is highly regarded as one of the most innovative filmmakers and is also responsible for many of Hollywood’s biggest hits and classics. Whether those be the first two Terminator movies, Aliens, or Titanic, he would’ve left his mark on cinema, and then he did Avatar – a visual spectacle that became a box office juggernaut and still stands as the highest grossing movie of all-time. However, that record was set eight years ago, and the imprint of Avatar has all but faded. Cameron meanwhile has been developing four sequels to the smash hit, despite many deeming them to be too late to really make a mark. But just as Cameron does, he’s going to use Avatar 2 and the subsequent sequels to get his wish to push the boundaries of 3D. As reported by Inquisitr, following Cameron’s production company Lightstorm Entertainment extending its partnership with Christie Digital, both sides are working toward making Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 in 3D, but without the hassle of 3D glasses. This will be done by giving Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment access to Christie Digital’s new RGB laser projection system. This new system has been described as “pure laser” in the tech community for its ability to use 60,000 lumens to provide bright images at incredibly high frame rates. The result will be clearer pictures than ever before, which is always preferred – especially in 3D. The deeper details of how the technology works is not yet available, or is it known how widely accessible glasses-free 3D will be initially. Considering the amount of movie theaters that would have to swap out projectors to accommodate for the new system, it could be a slow roll out to start. Cameron helped revolutionize 3D in film with the first Avatar, so the prospects of him doing so again by eliminating the need for glasses for the sequel – and hypothetically all future 3D films – is something that could make the sequels worth the wait. Even if the sequels do not match the quality or financial success of the original, many moviegoers will be more accepting of this prolonged wait if it means Cameron has further innovated the technology. With production slated to begin this September, it may not be long until more details on this technology and how quickly it will be implemented across the world become known. But, before Cameron worries about that, he must first complete the sequels. Avatar 2 and 3 are being shot back-to-back ahead of the first sequel hitting theaters in 2020. As that still leaves Lightstorm, Christie, and Cameron with over three years before the release, they should have plenty of time to work out the details. Regardless of one’s excitement in another Avatar film, pulling off glasses-less 3D is something that could make the sequels just as big as the first film. ScreenRant

A security researcher has found a fix for the latest Petya Ransomware attack. For now, you can vaccinate your system in seconds by creating a particular file. If Petya finds that file on the disk, it stops the encryption business. Please note that users need to create this file independently on each computer and it doesn’t fix things globally like WannaCry killswitch. Yesterday we reported about the deadly Petya ransomware which exploits Eternal Blue vulnerability, the same exploit which was used by the creators of WannaCry exploit. For those who don’t know, Eternal Blue was designed by NSA and leaked by Shadow Brokers. The ransomware has already affected multiple countries like Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, etc. Earlier it was believed that the current malware is a variant of the older Petya ransomware, which made headlines last year. However, after further analysis, Kaspersky confirmed that it’s a new infection and they labeled it as “NotPetya.” https://twitter.com/kaspersky/status...817024/photo/1 The working of Petya is a lot different from its other ransomware counterparts. This malware waits for about 10-60 minutes after the infection and then reboots the system using “at” or “schtasks” and “shutdown.exe” utilities. After the reboot, Petya starts encrypting MFT table in NTFS partitions and overwrites the MBR with the folder that contains ransom notes. You can read more about Petya ransomware’s working here at Kaspersky’s Securelist blog. How to enable Petya ransomware fix/vaccine? Security researcher Amit Serper has found a way to prevent the Petya/NotPetya ransomware, according to a report from Bleeping Computer. As this ransomware has made an appearance around WannaCry’s timeline, the researchers believed that there might be some killswitch domain to take care of Petya’s wrath. However, after analyzing its inner working, Serper found that Petya ransomware would cease its encryption routine if it finds a local file on disk. His finding has been confirmed by other security researchers too. To make sure that your computer is vaccinated against Petya, you should create a file called perfc in C:\Windows folder and make it read only. Here’s how to do it — To do so, you need to first enable Windows extensions by opening Folder Options. There, uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option. Now open C:\Windows folder and find the notepad.exe program. Select it using left-click, press Ctrl+C to copy it and use Ctrl+V to paste it. After this, a new notepad – copy.exe file will be created. Now rename this file as perfc and hit Enter. You’ll be shown a prompt that’ll ask you if you’re sure to rename it. Choose Yes and continue. Now, to make the file read-only, right-click on the file and select Properties. In the perfc Properties window, look for a Read-only checkbox at the bottom. Check it and click on Apply and then OK. That’s all you need to do for making sure that you’re protected against Petya ransomware. Please note that it isn’t like a WannaCry killswitch that took care of the ransomware globally. This vaccine is applicable to a single computer on which it’s applied. Fossbytes

Adoption system has been released. You will get extra bonus for the torrents you adopted. Adoption Rules What does "adoption" mean? It means that you adopt a torrent then you should seed it for a long term to keep it alive. 1. All members can adopt torrents. 2. A torrents can be adopted by 10 members at most. 3. You must seed the torrents you adopted for at least 300 hours per month, or upload more than 10 times the size of this torrents. 4. System will calculate seed-time and upload of last month on the first day net month. 5. If you didn't meet up the requirements, you will lose the right to adopt this torrents. 6. If you meet up the requirements, you will get bonus and the right to adopt it continually. 7. You can abandon a torrent you have adopted, but you have to pay 500 bonus for per torrent. Reward Standard 1. Adopting torrents that has been released for less than 1 month will not be rewarded, even you meet the requirements. Torrents smaller than 2GB will not be rewarded. 2. Two kinds of torrents: 2.1 Internal releases: torrents of PbK, OurBits, OurTV, OurPad and HosT. 2.2 Normal releases: all torrents except internal releases. 3. Bonus rewards 3.1 800 bonus for normal releases per month. 3.2 1500 bonus for internal releases per month

Companies across the globe are reporting that they have been struck by a major ransomware cyber-attack. British advertising agency WPP is among those to say its IT systems have been disrupted as a consequence. Ukrainian firms, including the state power distributor and Kiev's main airport were among the first to report issues. Experts suggest the malware is taking advantage of the same weaknesses used by the Wannacry attack last month. "It appears to be a variant of a piece of ransomware that emerged last year," said computer scientist Prof Alan Woodward. "It was updated earlier in 2017 by the criminals when certain aspects were defeated. The ransomware was called Petya and the updated version Petrwrap." Andrei Barysevich, a spokesman for security firm Recorded Future, told the BBC that it had seen the malware for sale on many forums over the last 12 months. "It only costs $28 (£22) on the forums," he said. "But we are not sure if they used the latest version or a new variant of it. Mr Barysevich said the attacks would not stop because cyber-thieves found them too lucrative. "A South Korean hosting firm just paid $1m to get their data back and that's a huge incentive," he said. "It's the biggest incentive you could offer to a cyber-criminal." Network down Others reporting problems include the Ukrainian central bank, the aircraft manufacturer Antonov, and two postal services. Russian oil producer Rosneft and Danish shipping company Maersk also say they face disruption, including its offices in the UK and Ireland. "We can confirm that Maersk IT systems are down across multiple sites and business units due to a cyber-attack," the Copenhagen-headquartered firm said via Twitter. "We continue to assess the situation. The safety of our employees, our operations and customers' business is our top priority." Spanish media reports that the offices of large multinationals such as food giant Mondelez and legal firm DLA Piper have suffered attacks. And French construction materials company St Gobain has said that it had fallen victim. The attacks come two months after another global ransomware assault, known as Wannacry, which caused major problems for the UK's National Health Service. What is Petya/Petrwrap? By: Prof Alan Woodward, University of Surrey Petya is a type of ransomware that appeared in early 2016 and returned to a trick first seen in the early 1990s, whereby criminals do not encrypt all the files on your computer but instead they attack a part of the operating system called the Master File Table (MFT). The MFT is essential for the system to know where to find files on the computer, so it has the same effect as if each file had been locked separately. The big difference is that it is very much faster to attack the MFT than to encrypt each file separately. In early 2017, a new form of Petya, dubbed Petrwrap, emerged which built on Petya but it corrected some of the weaknesses in the original code that allowed security companies to help people unlock their systems. Whilst Petrwarp is detectable by antivirus checkers, if it manages to gain a foothold before it is stopped its encryption is so strong that you are unlikely to be able to break through to recover your files. Now it appears that whilst the initial attack is probably still via something such as an infected spreadsheet arriving in an email, it can spread, at least in part, across a network using what appears to be the same weakness as was used in the Wannacry ransomware outbreak. No defence Veteran security expert Chris Wysopal from Veracode said the malware seemed to be spreading via some of the same Windows code loopholes exploited by Wannacry. Many firms did not patch those holes because Wannacry was tackled so quickly, he added. Those being caught out were also industrial firms that often struggled to apply software patches quickly. "These organisations typically have a challenge patching all of their machines because so many systems cannot have down time," he said. "Airports also have this challenge." Copies of the virus have been submitted to online testing systems that check if security software, particularly anti-virus systems, were able to spot and stop it. "Only two vendors were able to detect it so many systems are defenceless if they are unpatched and relying on anti-virus," he said. Ukraine seems to have been particularly badly hit this time round. Reports suggest that the Kiev metro system has stopped accepting payment cards while several chains of petrol stations have suspended operations. Ukraine's deputy prime minister has tweeted a picture appearing to show government systems have been affected. His caption reads: "Ta-daaa! Network is down at the Cabinet of Minister's secretariat."

New Categories and Donation updates! Greetings fellow Immortalseeders! We are excited to announce a few changes, additions and upcoming events! New Categories: We have added two new Documentary categories to further assist us in keeping things tidy and organized. These categories will house any one off releases that we feel have a more non-fiction informational aspect to them. Serialized or episodic shows that might match this description (ex Through the Wormhole or Cosmos) will remain in their relevant TV categories. SD Documentaries will contain any release that is not HD including 480p. HD Documentaries will contain anything that is 720p or above. Donations: You gave us your feedback and we listened! We have adjusted the existing donation options and added a few new ones! Here are some of the interesting headlines: A new $5 freeleech option! You will receive one week's worth of freeleech and a fancy green suit! This is perfect for those who are unsure of donating, but want to try on the color green, or those that might want a quick boost to go on a downloading binge! A new Super Donation Special! Its like a special that never ends! It combines several donation options with the awesomeness of 180 days of freeleech and a green suit! To check out all the changes and new donation options, check them out there: https://immortalseed.me/donate.php. Keep in mind that donations help keep the lights on around here and go towards upgrades that keep things speedy and allow us to bring you new features and enhancements! If you are wary of using a credit card, you can now use bitcoins to stay completely anonymous! Stay tuned for future announcements coming soon, including details of iS'es birthday bash!

Is there a fuzzer in the house? Microsoft recently patched a critical vulnerability in its ubiquitous built-in antivirus engine. The vulnerability could have allowed attackers to execute malicious code by luring users to a booby-trapped website or attaching a booby-trapped file to an e-mail or instant message. A targeted user who had real-time protection turned on wasn't required to click on the booby-trapped file or take any other action other than visit the malicious website or receive the malicious e-mail or instant message. Even when real-time protection was off, malicious files would be executed shortly after a scheduled scan started. The ease was the result of the vulnerable x86 emulator not being protected by a security sandbox and being remotely accessible to attackers by design. That's according to Tavis Ormandy, the Google Project Zero researcher who discovered the vulnerability and explained it in a report published Friday. Ormandy said he identified the flaw almost immediately after developing a fuzzer for the Windows Defender component. Fuzzing is a software testing technique that locates bugs by subjecting application code to corrupted data and other types of malformed or otherwise unexpected input. "I took a quick stab at writing a fuzzer and immediately found heap corruption in the ERNEL32.DLL!VFS_Write API," he wrote on June 7. "I suspect this has never been fuzzed before." Google published the report on Friday after Microsoft released an update that patched the code-execution flaw. It was the third critical Windows Defender vulnerability Project Zero researchers have uncovered in the past seven weeks. The emulator is used to execute untrusted files that might have the potential to execute code. Asked if Microsoft had previously fuzzed the Windows Defender component, a company representative said yes. "Fuzzing is one of a number of techniques we employ to update and strengthen our software," the representative said in an e-mail. "It is a standard practice we use as part of the Security Development Lifecyle for our products." In an advisory that was also published Friday, Microsoft officials said attackers who exploited the vulnerability could execute arbitrary code that would run with the rights of a LocalSystem account. According to this document, the account has "extensive privileges on the local computer and acts as the computer on the network." Exploiting the memory corruption bug in the Windows Defender emulator, an attacker could take control of the system and perform a variety of tasks, including installing programs, viewing, changing, or deleting data, as well as creating new accounts with full user rights. Warning, this file may crash your server As a testament to the ease of triggering the bug, Ormandy took special precautions in publishing some of the proof-of-concept exploits, which were linked to a file named testcase.txt. "Note that, as soon as the testcase.txt file touches disk, it will immediately crash the MsMpEng service on Windows, which may destabilize your system," he wrote. "The testcases have been encrypted to prevent crashing your exchange server." In early May, Microsoft patched a separate severe code-execution vulnerability in the malware protection engine. That's the engine that powers Windows Defender, which is installed by Default on all consumer PCs running supported versions of Windows. Ormandy called the flaw "the worst Windows remote code exec in recent memory," and he warned that attacks "work against a default install, don't need to be on the same LAN, and [they're] wormable." Ormandy and fellow Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich discovered the issue and reported it. On May 25, Microsoft closed yet another code-execution hole in the malware projection engine that, like the other two, could be exploited with little or no interaction on the part of targets. The steady accumulation of critical AV vulnerabilities unearthed by Ormandy has involved products from a variety of companies, including Kaspersky Lab, Trend Micro, Symantec, McAfee, Eset, and Comodo. Taken together, the findings demonstrate how AV use can open users to attack they otherwise wouldn't be vulnerable to. At the same time, AV in many cases prevents infections that would otherwise prove costly, particularly for less experienced users who aren't likely to be individually targeted by state-sponsored hackers.

EU also rules that Google must stop demoting competitors in search results. Google has been gut-punched by the European Commission for abusing its search monopoly to squeeze out other players on the Web. Europe's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, had been expected to hit Google with a fine of around €1 billion, but the actual number is far larger: €2.42 billion, the largest anti-monopoly fine ever issued. In addition to the fine, Google will be required to change its search algorithm so that every competing service is fairly crawled, indexed, ranked, and displayed. If Google fails to remedy its anti-competitive conduct within 90 days, it will face daily penalty payments of up to 5 percent of the daily worldwide turnover of Google's parent company Alphabet. The commission's full statement on the decision makes for quite damning reading. Google, as reported by the AFP news agency, "respectfully disagrees" with the EU's fine and is considering an appeal. We have asked Google for comment and will update this story when it responds. The original complaint against Google was brought by UK comparison shopping site Foundem in 2009, and by 2010 the commission confirmed it was investigating alleged antitrust violations by Google. The commission formally issued a Statement of Objections (SO) against Google in April 2015 and has apparently spent the last couple of years working out how hard to hit Google. The commission's investigation primarily sought to uncover whether Google's search results systematically boosted the rankings of its other products—Google Shopping, for example—unfairly squeezing out companies that offer similar services to Google. Google's most recent public rebuttal was in November 2016, saying that improving the quality of search results isn't anti-competitive. The European Commission has the power to issue fines of up to 10 percent of a company's global revenues, though the largest monopoly-oriented fine before today was €1.06 billion for Intel in 2008, or roughly 3 percent of Intel's revenues at the time. €2.4 billion is again about 3 percent of Google's global turnover.

A fix is available for Linux systems; Windows users will have to use firmware updates. Under certain conditions, systems with Skylake or Kaby Lake processors can crash due to a bug that occurs when hyperthreading is enabled. Intel has fixed the bug in a microcode update, but until and unless you install the update, the recommendation is that hyperthreading be disabled in the system firmware. All Skylake and Kaby Lake processors appear to be affected, with one exception. While the brand-new Skylake-X chips still contain the flaw, their Kaby Lake X counterparts are listed by Intel as being fixed and unaffected. Systems with the bad hardware will need the microcode fix. The fix appears to have been published back in May, but, as is common with such fixes, there was little to no fanfare around the release. The nature of the flaw and the fact that it has been addressed only came to light this weekend courtesy of a notification from the Debian Linux distribution. This lack of publicity is in spite of all the bug reports pointing to the issue—albeit weird, hard-to-pin-down bug reports, with code that doesn't crash every single time. Microcode updates can be sourced in two ways. The system firmware can include new microcode that gets installed each time the system boots, and operating systems can also update processor microcode through use of special (proprietary) drivers. For Linux, this typically means using packages from a distribution's "non-free" repository, as no source code for these updates is available. For Windows, this means letting Windows Update do its job; Windows contains drivers for both AMD and Intel microcode updates. Updated microcode drivers for Linux are available. At the time of writing, the Windows microcode driver does not appear to contain the fix. On the system I'm using, at least, the driver was last updated in March. Insider builds of Windows have a newer driver, updated in June, but that, too, does not appear to include the updated microcode. Although Microsoft does not appear to document which updates are included in each driver version, the information is visible in a hex editor or similar tool; the Linux microcode updater includes four microcodes not found in the Windows driver, including the ones necessary to address this problem. One would expect that Microsoft will update its microcode driver in due course, at least for Windows 10. Less likely, however, is that the microcode drivers in Windows 7 and 8.1 receive the update. This is one of the implications of the company's new policy of only supporting Skylake and Kaby Lake in Windows 10; there's no need for Redmond to add Kaby Lake updates to Windows 7 and 8.1 when Windows 7 and 8.1 aren't supported on Kaby Lake chips anyway. In the meantime, a firmware fix—if available—is the best option, though again, availability may be spotty. Microsoft's Surface Book, for example, does not appear to have a system firmware that includes the fix. I don't mean to call out Microsoft specifically—I daresay many motherboard firmwares have similarly not been updated in the month and a half since Intel issued its patch—but rather to indicate that even systems that are still supported and do receive regular firmware updates may not have Intel's latest and greatest microcode yet. On systems without either a firmware fix or updated driver, disabling hyperthreading is believed to be a robust solution. Most users, however, will probably just want to take their chances; the exact sequence of instructions and runtime conditions that cause problems seem to be rare (certainly rarer than Intel's description of the bug, "Short Loops Which Use AH/BH/CH/DH Registers May Cause Unpredictable System Behavior," might otherwise indicate), and, under most circumstances, affected systems appear to be stable anyway. More than 18 months passed before this bug was fixed, after all, and there haven't been too many reports of Skylake machines crashing left and right because of it. Eying up AMD systems as an alternative might be tempting, but they're susceptible to comparable issues, too, in which certain sequences of instructions under certain system conditions can cause crashes or other misbehavior. The workaround in AMD's case is to disable the micro-op cache. Processors are certainly more reliable than software, but they all have bugs, no matter what chip you choose.

An incredible UFO sighting has been reported not on Earth but the surface of Mars. The UFO encounter was experienced not by a human, but by a Mars Rover. The story of UFO sightings and alien encounter are pretty much common nowadays. However, encounter an unidentified object on the surface of Mars is something that most people do not hear every day. NASA's Mars rover has been on the surface of the Red Planet for quite some time. Its mission is to collect samples of minerals and relevant date about our neighboring planet. However, in the most recent photo released by NASA, it was noticed by enthusiasts that the rover had taken a photograph of a softly-landed spacecraft, according to Inquistr. Thus, making it a subject of the subject of discussion among UFO enthusiasts. The said image made its appearance on the official website for the Mars mission by NASA. The date stamped on the image was that of March 17, 2017, 8:41:15 UTC. Based on the image, the surrounding of Mars was depicted. The barren landscape of the Red Planet was greatly showcased on the photograph, along with a strange object believed to be artificial positioned at the middle of the image. While many enthusiasts are pushing for the idea of aliens and spacecraft, other suggested that such object is but a part of the Mars rover itself. Other individuals also expressed online their thoughts about the object, saying that object might be the bottom heat shield of the Rover, which was jettisoned during entry to the Red Planet. Most UFO enthusiasts claim that such image is a clear evidence of UFO, coming from a reliable high-definition camera of the NASA's Mars rover. However, NASA is yet to reply to the theories and claims being presented online by UFO enthusiasts. Telegiz

In the early days of December 1805, a handful of prominent politicians received formal invitations to join President Thomas Jefferson for a White House dinner. Such entreaties were not uncommon: Jefferson frequently hosted lawmakers for political working dinners at the White House, almost always commencing them about 3:30 in the afternoon, shortly after the House or Senate had adjourned for the day. But this gathering, scheduled for Dec. 9, would be slightly different. "dinner will be on the table precisely at sun-set - " the invitations read. "The favour of an answer is asked." The occasion was the presence of a Tunisian envoy to the United States, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who had arrived in the country just the week before, in the midst of America's ongoing conflict with what were then known as the Barbary States. And the reason for the dinner's later-than-usual start was Mellimelli's observance of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims in which observers fast between dawn and dusk. Only after sunset do Muslims break their fast with a meal, referred to as an iftar. Jefferson's decision to change the time of the meal to accommodate Mellimelli's observance of Ramadan has been seized on by both sides in the 21st-century debate over Islam more than 200 years later. Historians have cited the meal as the first time an iftar took place in the White House - and it has been referenced in recent White House celebrations of Ramadan as an embodiment of the Founding Father's respect for religious freedom. Meanwhile, critics on the far right have taken issue with the characterization of Jefferson's Dec. 9, 1805, dinner as an iftar. Whatever Jefferson could have foreseen for the young country's future, it appears the modern-day White House tradition of marking Ramadan with an iftar dinner or Eid celebration has come to an end. Ramadan, which falls on the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, started on May 27 this year and ends at sundown Saturday. Muslims around the world will mark the end of the holy month by celebrating the holiday Eid al-Fitr, the "feast of breaking of the fast." For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. In recent weeks, several former White House staff members told The Post they would usually begin planning an iftar "months in advance" and didn't anticipate the Trump White House could pull something off before the end of Ramadan. White House officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Late Saturday afternoon, the White House released a short statement from President Trump and the first lady recognizing the holiday. "Muslims in the United States joined those around the world during the holy month of Ramadan to focus on acts of faith and charity," the statement read. "Now, as they commemorate Eid with family and friends, they carry on the tradition of helping neighbors and breaking bread with people from all walks of life. During this holiday, we are reminded of the importance of mercy, compassion, and goodwill. With Muslims around the world, the United States renews our commitment to honor these values. Eid Mubarak." In late May, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly said the State Department would break with recent tradition and not host a Ramadan reception, as it had done nearly annually for two decades. On Saturday morning, Tillerson also released a brief statement sending "best wishes to all Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr." "This holiday marks the culmination of Ramadan, a month in which many experience meaning and inspiration in acts of fasting, prayer, and charity," Tillerson said in the statement. "This day offers an opportunity to reflect on our shared commitment to building peaceful and prosperous communities. Eid Mubarak." Tillerson's and Trump's brief remarks were in stark contrast to Obama, who released a lengthy statement for the holiday last year, as well as to ceremonies hosted at the White House for the last 20 years. If there were any questions about whether Jefferson was aware of Mellimelli's religious practices, the memoirs of John Quincy Adams - later compiled and published by his son - put those to rest, according to the Papers of Thomas Jefferson at Princeton University. "I dined at the President's, in company with the Tunisian Ambassador and his two secretaries," Adams, at the time a senator from Massachusetts, wrote in his diary on Dec. 9, 1805. "By the invitation, dinner was to have been on the table precisely at sunset - it being in the midst of Ramadan, during which the Turks fast while the sun is above the horizon. Did not arrive until half an hour after sunset, and, immediately after greeting the President and the company, proposed to retire and smoke his pipe." In his diary, the future president described Mellimelli with an air of fascination, noting everything from how the envoy smelled (of rose-scented snuff) to how his appearance differed from that of the other "Turks" (Mellimelli wore his beard long, while the two secretaries who had accompanied him only had whiskers). Adams, the son of President John Adams, captured few details about what was served for dinner itself, only that Mellimelli "freely partook of the dishes on the table without inquiring into the cookery" and that, soon after eating, he left for the drawing room to smoke his pipe again. "His manners are courteous, but we were all unable to converse with him, except through the medium of an interpreter," Adams wrote. Compared with other, more thoroughly documented events that have taken place at the White House over the centuries, the details from the dinner are scarce. But what Jefferson couldn't have known is that changing the time of the meal to accommodate Mellimelli's observance of Ramadan would turn that dinner into a point of contention in America's culture wars more than 200 years later. It wasn't until 1996 that the modern-day White House tradition of celebrating Ramadan with a reception or meal started. That February, first lady Hillary Clinton hosted about 150 people for a reception for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month. The person Clinton credited for teaching her about Islam? Teenage daughter Chelsea, who had the year before studied Islamic history in school, according to reports that year cited by Muslim Voices. Clinton described the reception as a "historic and overdue occasion," a precedent for Muslim religious celebrations at the White House, the Associated Press reported then. (It's unclear if she knew about the Jefferson dinner.) "A greater understanding of the tenets of Islam in our national consciousness will help us build strength and resilience as a nation," Clinton told guests, according to the Associated Press. "The values that lie at the heart of Ramadan - faith, family, community and responsibility to the less fortunate - resonate with all the peoples of this earth." The tradition continued under President George W. Bush, who hosted an iftar dinner every year of his two terms in office - including shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when anger toward Muslim Americans was spiking. At the 2001 dinner, in mid-November, Bush emphasized that America was fighting against terrorism, not Islam, according to The Washington Post's coverage then: - - - "All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements," Bush said. "Ramadan and the upcoming holiday season are a good time for people of different faiths to learn more about each other. And the more we learn, the more we find that many commitments are broadly shared." After a White House Rose Garden ceremony, Bush had said his message for the dinner would be, "We're a nation of many faiths." Asked if the sentiment was symbolic, he immediately replied, "No - it's real." - - - More than 15 years later, Charlotte Beers, who served as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy under Bush, can still remember how effective the iftar had been diplomatically, in being able to show that the United States respected all religions. "We all agreed that we had to reach out to moderate Muslims and acknowledge that they had as much concern as we did about the circumstances," Beers told The Post in a recent interview. "That dinner was extremely important and heard around the world. . . . My personal opinion was, this speaks to that whole underpinning of what makes the United States tick - freedom of religion. It was extremely timely, we felt." But it was under President Barack Obama that the annual White House iftar dinner began to cause a bigger stir - in part because the president resurrected the story of Jefferson's 1805 dinner with Mellimelli. "Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America," Obama said in his remarks at the 2010 White House iftar. "The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan - making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago." Obama mentioned this historical dinner again in his 2012 White House iftar remarks; that year, organizers also had set up a special display of Jefferson's copy of the Koran, on loan from the Library of Congress. "And that's a reminder, along with the generations of patriotic Muslims in America, that Islam - like so many faiths - is part of our national story," Obama said. Terence Szuplat, a speechwriter for Obama, told The Post he couldn't pinpoint who had brought up the Jefferson dinner first. "I remember thinking, that would be a very interesting and fascinating and powerful story, but we can't have the president say it until we know that it's 100 percent accurate," Szuplat said. He does remember consulting with historians at Monticello; historian Gaye Wilson, who wrote a 2003 essay about Jefferson's dealings with Mellimelli, also remembers working with the White House to confirm details about the dinner. As Szuplat expected, far-right blogs seized upon Obama's comments, insisting that Jefferson had not hosted an iftar, but rather had simply moved the time back as a courtesy. "He didn't change the menu, he didn't change anything else," one blog declared, before calling Obama "disgusting" and accusing him of rewriting history to cast Islam in a favorable light. One of the biggest problems with those arguments, historians say, is that they ignore Jefferson's reputation as someone who was a staunch defender of religious freedom, whatever his opinions were of the religion in question. Nearly 30 years before the 1805 dinner, Jefferson had drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which he considered among his life's finest works. Jefferson described initial resistance to the proposed bill, as well as the significance of its passage in 1786, in his autobiography: - - - The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason & right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally past; and a singular proposition proved that it's protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read "departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion" the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of it's protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination. - - - That Jefferson would push back the time of a dinner by several hours is an indication for his respect for religious freedom, even though Jefferson was widely criticized in his time for his accommodation of the Tunisian envoy, said Scott Harrop, a professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian languages and cultures at the University of Virginia. Those who insist Jefferson didn't host an iftar - even if he intended to, in the spirit of religious freedom - are also missing the very simple definition of what an iftar is, historians and former White House staff members say. Much as one doesn't need a roasted turkey or eggnog to celebrate Christmas, there does not need to be a certain menu in place to make an iftar dinner. "All iftar is is people breaking their fast. If they broke their fast in the White House, then that was iftar," said Zaki Barzinji, a former senior associate director at the Obama White House who helped plan the administration's last Ramadan celebration. "If I'm with a group of friends who are not Muslim, and we go and eat super late, and I break my fast while I'm with them, technically there was an iftar at that dinner." John Ragosta, a historian and author of "Religious Freedom: Jefferson's Legacy, America's Creed," agreed, saying that people trying to claim Jefferson's 1805 dinner was not an iftar were playing a "rather childish semantic game." "Here is an ambassador, an honored guest. The dinner is specifically scheduled after sundown to accommodate him," Ragosta said. "Yeah, it sounds to me like an iftar dinner. You're breaking the fast during Ramadan with someone who is a Muslim." Rumana Ahmed, who helped plan several White House iftar dinners and one Eid celebration during the Obama administration, said it was unfortunate the tradition could end with Trump. For all of the events she helped coordinate, the focus changed slightly each year: from honoring Muslim American youth to recognizing the economic contributions of the community, for example. But the overarching message of each White House Ramadan event was always one of inclusion and respect, Ahmed said. "If you look at when it started and how it's evolved, in a way it's kind of been in response to conversations happening on a national level and in our society," Ahmed said. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

It’s gotten too darned hot lately to sleep without running the A-C. Of course, this means that now we’re losing sleep over our electricity bill, and whether global warming is going to threaten our retirement. Time to crack the science books. Don’t look for comfort from Popular Science, whose climate change-focused issue heaps on enough weather-related worrying to give us the hot shivers. We got a chuckle over the scientific quest to make it snow by seeding clouds with silver iodide. “There’s something seductive about the idea of controlling the weather,” writes Sarah Scoles, appealing to the inner Zeus in all of us. The idea is to help drought-afflicted areas while also ensuring that Aspen has enough snow for ski season. Priorities, folks. Worst was the 10-page spread on cute animals endangered by extreme weather. As temperatures climb, pandas may be forced to quickly migrate to colder regions, even though bamboo, their staple dish, may not be able to grow there. And koala bears are finding eucalyptus leaves increasingly poisonous because of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Is weather talk getting you down? Not to worry: Scientific American will give you plenty of other things to worry about. A crop of “super lice” has become immune to over-the-counter shampoo treatments, for example. The Food and Drug Administration has approved three new lice treatments since 2009, but some say doctors aren’t properly rotating them to ensure that the super lice don’t become immune to those treatments, too. “Lice seem poised to keep researchers — and the rest of us — scratching our heads for quite some time,” says mag contributor Karen Weintraub. If your skin isn’t already crawling, writer Steve Mirsky claims there are “eleventy bazillion” spiders lurking in our surroundings. “Wherever you sit as you read these lines, a spider is probably no more than a few yards away,” says arachnologist Norman Platnick. “As most spiders have eight eyes, it’s probably looking at you, too.” The top science mag even managed to make us worry about pizza pies. In Naples, Italy, Bruno Siciliano has been developing a pizza-making robot to see if it can master the “extraordinary level of agility and dexterity” required to work the dough. That sounds creepier than lice and spiders. Enquirer slammed on Trump coverage The New Yorker, taking a page from The Post’s own Media Ink column, puts a spotlight on President Trump’s cozy relationship with American Media chief David Pecker, which owns the National Enquirer. The gossip tabloid once considered “newsmakers” of all stripes fair game, according to a former staffer, who called the Trump administration “the ultimate target-rich environment.” Yet under Pecker, the Enquirer has turned a blind eye to this “golden opportunity,” according to this week’s New Yorker. The lives of Trump and Pecker have “intersected in myriad ways” for decades, writes Jeffrey Toobin, who quotes a source describing Pecker’s role in the relationship as that of “a little puppy.” But the possibility of Pecker expanding his empire to include top Time Inc.’s titles “makes the story of the Enquirer and its chief executive a little more important and a little less funny,” Toobin says. Meanwhile, Time’s cover story, “Someone’s not telling the truth” to special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigates Trump, invokes the “first law of holes” to yawning effect. “If you’re in one, stop digging,” the piece says, dusting off a platitude so shopworn it (almost) goes without saying. Elsewhere, the author shifts the metaphor to cancer treatment: “Live or die, it will be a draining, miserable experience.” New York’s cover story, “How the Presidency Ends,” compares the White Houses of Trump and Richard Nixon. “If you look through a sharp Nixonian lens at Trump’s trajectory in the office to date, short as it has been, you will discover more of an overlap than you might expect,” writes Frank Rich, as if such expectations among his left-wing readership weren’t already immeasurably high. A Trump resignation or Nixon-like impeachment may not happen, Rich admits — a contingency that clearly irks the author.

Netflix Wins Dan Gilroy Film; Jake Gyllenhaal & Rene Russo To Star EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has won a heated auction of a package for the next film by writer-director Dan Gilroy. The untitled genre pic is set in the art world and will reteam Gilroy with his Nightcrawler stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. Deadline revealed the project last week as a hot package, and Scott Stuber’s feature film division at Netflix outbid multiple buyers to get it. The film will get a small qualifying theatrical release when it is released on the streaming service. Gilroy, a veteran screenwriter who, believe it or not, began his career as a junior reporter at Weekly Variety back when it was based in Times Square and looked like something out of The Front Page, slowly has written his way toward the directing A-list. He made his debut with Nightcrawler, the pitch-black thriller that had Gyllenhaal playing the sociopath cameraman and Russo the local news producer who sells her soul for ratings. Gilroy followed that film by making a package deal to direct his script Inner City with Denzel Washington, with Sony taking that one off the table. That under-$40 million pic is Michael Clayton meets The Verdict, a legal thriller set in Los Angeles. Washington plays a hard-nosed liberal lawyer named Roman J. Israel who has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner, the firm’s frontman, has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He finds out some unsettling things about what the crusading law firm as done that run afoul of his values of helping the poor and dispossessed and finds himself in existential crisis that leads to extreme action. It is the second film for Gyllenhaal made expressly for Netflix. He co-stars in the Bong Joon-ho-directed Okja. Gyllehnaal is shooting The Sisters Brothers for Jacques Audiard and next has the David Gordon Green-directed Stronger. In the latter he plays Jeff Bauman in his recovery from the Boston Marathon blast that took his lower legs, and the film marks the narrative debut of Gyllenhaal’s production company Nine Stories, which produced along with Mandeville and Bold. Russo, who is Gilroy’s wife, wrapped the Ron Shelton-directed Villa Capri. CAA brokered the spec package deal. WME reps Gyllenhaal, and UTA and John Crosby Mgmt rep Russo. Source: Deadline