‘Untitled Goose Game’ will soon bring chaos to PS4 and Xbox

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‘Untitled Goose Game’ will soon bring chaos to PS4 and Xbox

There is a unique joy that comes with being deliberately and unapologetically annoying. It it a feeling that cannot be replicated — a conspiratorial giggle in your soul, both diabolical and innocent, conniving yet straightforward, obnoxious yet affectionate. Glee in its purest form.

Developer House House harnessed this delicious delight earlier this year in its viral hit Untitled Goose Game. Released on Sept. 20 for PC and Switch, the indie game places players in the webbed feet of a horrible goose who wants nothing more than to ruin people’s mornings. And oh, how it ruins them.

Now, other console gamers will soon know the pleasure of causing problems on purpose. Australian developer House House announced on Tuesday that their antagonistic waterfowl will arrive on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on Dec. 17, just in time for Christmas. Read more…

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Chrome will now warn you if your password’s been stolen as soon as you type it in

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Chrome will now warn you if your password's been stolen as soon as you type it in

Unless you’re a super conscientious internet user with password managers and two-factor authentication out the wazoo, it’s highly likely you’re still using a couple of logins that have been compromised in data breaches. 

You know you should use unique passwords for everything all the time, you’ve checked HaveIBeenPwned.com when you read about a major data breach, changed your Gmail or Facebook password when prompted — but ultimately you’ve kind of accepted a certain amount of regular pwnage as a fact of your digital life.

Now, Google has announced that Chrome will make it a bit easier to clean up your compromised credentials as you find them. Read more…

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We need to talk about that ridiculous Congressional hearing on encryption

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We need to talk about that ridiculous Congressional hearing on encryption

If one thing was made clear today, it’s that Congress is woefully unequipped to be debating encryption and backdoors for law enforcement with the major tech giants. But that surely didn’t stop them from doing so anyway!

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing titled “Encryption and Lawful Access: Evaluating Benefits and Risks to Public Safety and Privacy.”

In plain speak, the Congressional hearing was about big tech’s security protocols to protect your personal data and the police’s frustration in not being able to access that data.

Apple’s Manager of User Privacy, Erik Neuenschwander, and Facebook’s Product Management Director for Privacy and Integrity in Messenger, Jay Sullivan, were both on the panel representing their respective employers. Both of these privacy professionals explained (numerous times) how each of their products worked. They patiently walked through how, in some cases, it’s literally impossible for Apple and Facebook to provide information to law enforcement because the companies themselves don’t have access to the information in question either. Read more…

More about Facebook, Apple, Politics, Encryption, and Congressional Hearing

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A $722 million ‘too big to fail’ crypto Ponzi scheme just failed miserably

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A $722 million 'too big to fail' crypto Ponzi scheme just failed miserably

Just because you’re fraudulently raking in hundreds of millions of dollars doesn’t mean you have to be such a jerk about it. 

It’s clear no one passed this message along to the three men arrested today for their alleged part in a $722 million globe-spanning cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. In a Dec. 10 press release from the Department of Justice, the men stand accused of a years-long effort to fool investors into believing they ran a bitcoin mining pool — all the while disparaging anyone stupid enough to believe their supposed lies.   

Starting in 2014, Matthew Brent Goettsche and Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, both of Colorado, along with Joseph Frank Abel of California, allegedly ran BitClub Network — a service that promised to take investors’ money and put it toward mining cryptocurrency.  Read more…

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Exxon wins climate trial, but its battles have just started

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Exxon wins climate trial, but its battles have just started

Oil behemoth Exxon won a big climate trial on Tuesday. 

But critically, while New York State Supreme Court judge Barry Ostrager found the company did not deceive investors about the risks posed by sinking money into future oil projects, Ostrager emphasized this doesn’t excuse Exxon from its role in warming the planet. 

“Climate science wasn’t on trial, and the judge acknowledged that,” said Carroll Muffett, a lawyer and president of the Center for International Environmental Law.

“Nothing in this opinion is intended to absolve ExxonMobil from responsibility for contributing to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases in the production of its fossil fuel products,” wrote Ostrager. “ExxonMobil does not dispute either that its operations produce greenhouse gases or that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. But ExxonMobil is in the business of producing energy, and this is a securities fraud case, not a climate change case.” Read more…

More about Science, Lawsuit, Climate Change, Exxon, and Science

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