Geek News

Faraday Future's executive exodus last fall was bad enough, but the departure of one exec may have been particularly troublesome. The electric car startup has filed a lawsuit alleging that former CFO Stefan Krause stole trade secrets and poached staff as he left to form a startup, Evelozcity. Reportedly, Krause was quietly working at both Faraday and Evelozcity for weeks before he was formally let go, and encouraged staff to not only leave, but take secret info on the way out. Faraday had announced Krause's exit in November over "possible violations of law," and now it's clear what those might be. The company went on to accuse others of similar theft. Former vehicle manufacturing head Bill Strickland supposedly took "thousands" of documents, while staffers Christoph Kuttner and Sohel Merchant may have taken files as well. None of them have been named in the lawsuit, however. Whether or not that's how things happened isn't clear. Faraday bel...

This week the Super Bowl dominates the weekend, but before the game kicks off we'll be watching Netflix's next big sci-fi series, Altered Carbon. On NBC The Good Place is wrapping up its second season, and gamers can try out the third iteration of EA's UFC game. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed). Blu-ray & Games & Streaming Roman J. Israel, Esq. (VOD) Wonder (VOD) Class of 1999 Gothic Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Victoria (S2) Westfront 1918 (Criterion) Kameradschaft (Criterion) Rendel: Dark Vengeance Asemblance (Xbox One) Call of Duty: WWII - The Resisistance DLC (PS4) Candleman (PC) Feral Fury (PS4) Timothy vs. the Aliens (PS4) Briks 2 (PS4) Railway Empire (Xbox One) Wulverblade (Xbox One, PS4) Cold Iron (PS VR EA Sports UFC 3 (Xbox One, PS4 - 2/2) Monday May it Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, HBO, 8 PM Kevin Can Wait, CB...

Regulators may have had a change of heart about the danger of using e-cigarettes, but scientists would beg to differ. A newly published New York University School of Medicine study indicates that vaping may put you at a "higher risk" of cancer and heart disease. Mice subjected to the equivalent of "light" e-cigarette smoking for 10 years (12 weeks in reality) suffered DNA damage to their bladders, hearts and lungs, in addition to limiting both DNA repair and lung proteins. In short: nicotine can become a carcinogen in your body regardless of how it's transmitted. The study isn't completely shocking when researchers have identified other harmful chemicals . And it's not conclusive, either. While the testing shows that e-cigarettes are harmful, the highly compressed smoking exposure is far from what you'd see in real life -- tumors don't grow that quickly. You may not see more definitive results until additional animal testing in a year, and m...

Earlier this week, the eagle-eyed VR Focus caught wind of two patents filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which look suspiciously like motion controllers. It's too early to tell whether these are our first looks at an entirely new one for PlayStation VR. But it's been eight years since the Move controllers first hit the market, so these may inform the design of the models Sony eventually develops to follow up on its aging VR wands. The first patent includes figures that look like a vertical grip controller with a thumbstick at the top, buttons splayed out on top of that, and a trigger on the other side nestled under the index finger. A hand strap pokes out over the side, but it's the guts of the controller that show promise: Interlocking gears under the 'grip' expand and contract to give immersive feedback 'capable of imparting a tactile sense to a user," according to the patent. The other patent is for tracking a user's individual finger...

Yesterday, reports surfaced that a heat map released by fitness app company Strava showed the locations of US and other countries' military . While most of the locations spotted, including Afghanistan and Syria, are known to host US military bases, it still highlights the fact that information the Department of Defense would prefer remain under wraps could find its way out into the open. It also demonstrates that fitness apps could pose a security threat if location information isn't correctly handled. Now, Reuters reports, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has ordered a review of the situation. Strava released their global heatmap. 13 trillion GPS points from their users (turning off data sharing is an option). https://t.co/hA6jcxfBQI ... It looks very pretty, but not amazing for Op-Sec. US Bases are clearly identifiable and mappable pic.twitter.com/rBgGnOzasq — Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) January 27, 2018 In a statement, the Pentagon said, "We take matters like the...

Looks like Razer's latest update for its first smartphone should be worth installing. The new software enables support for Netflix HDR videos as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, so you can better immerse yourself in your favorite fictional universe. This makes the Razer Phone one of a handful of smartphones available that can render the streaming giant's HDR content, and the first to offer both HDR10 and Dolby Digital 5.1 support. That's thanks to the handset's 5.7-inch Sharp IGZO display, which our senior editor Chris Velazco found gorgeous in his review. The Razer Phone's 120Hz refresh rate will also make for smooth playback, although not many games can take advantage of that yet. According to Razer's tweet , the update will also improve the camera and theme store, as well as deliver a security patch for January. All told, if you own a Razer Phone, this is clearly a download to look out for. Source: Razer (Twitter) via Engadget RSS Feed ...

Americans are using less energy -- paradoxically, by spending more time indoors, according to a new study in the journal Joule . But researchers point out that keeping more lights on was offset by lifestyle changes that kept people inside instead of roaming around offices and retail stores -- like, say, online shopping and working from home. Despite energy consumption worldwide increasing every year, this slight uptick in American hermitage reduced national energy demand by 1.8 percent over a year. Via: The Verge Source: 'Changes in Time Use and Their Effect on Energy Consumption in the United States' -- Joule via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2nnnila"

Microsoft is determined to make Teams a strong alternative to collaborative chat apps like Slack, and it's now targeting one of Slack's strong points: apps. The company is rolling out a major update whose centerpiece is a new app store that lets you find the tools you need, whether it's a productivity booster like Adobe Creative Cloud or a chat bot. Accordingly, you can bring content from apps directly into a conversation, such as a relevant news story or the weather, and check out what's happening across your apps in a dedicated space. The Redmond-based crew has launched a new app of its own, Who, that helps you search for coworkers both by their name or their topic. You shouldn't have trouble tracking down a graphic designer or engineer when you need them to finish a key project. Microsoft is also courting power users with the update. You can now control apps straight from the command box, such as searching for a photo. Slash commands (like "/away"...

Director Steven Soderbergh has been pushing the limits of filmmaking in different ways lately. Be it independently releasing his last feature, working with HBO on its interactive Mosaic series , or, now, shooting a suspense movie entirely on an iPhone. How's Unsane look? Judging by the trailer below, it's promising. You won't mistake it for something shot on a RED camera anytime soon, and everything has a bit of a compressed aesthetic, but it works for the story of unraveling sanity and cyberstalking at hand. Of course, this isn't the first time a filmmaker shot entirely on iPhone, but Soderbergh is probably one of the most high-profile to do so. You'll be able to see how iPhone footage looks stretched across your multiplex's silver screens March 23rd. Via: Slashfilm Source: YouTube via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2EmTjlv"

You may start seeing more posts from local publishers popping up in your News Feed. Facebook announced today that it will begin prioritizing local news, bumping it up higher in your feed if you follow a local publisher's Page or if a friend shares a locally-published story. "We are prioritizing local news as a part of our emphasis on high-quality news, and with today's update, stories from local news publishers may appear higher in News Feed for followers in publishers' geographic areas," Facebook said in the announcement. This isn't Facebook's only shift towards local news. It's also testing a section called "Today In" that brings together local news stories, emergency updates and local events. And the company also isn't the only one interested in boosting local news. Google is working on an app called Bulletin that would let local journalists or anyone else write up a story and publish it to the web instantly. Facebook, which rec...

It's not always obvious, but many car leases don't allow you to drive with ridesharing services or rent your car to others. And it's no surprise as to why -- the high mileage and varying driving habits aren't going to help the car's condition when the lease is over. BMW, however, is sticking its neck out. It's trotting out a Car & Ride Sharing Lease for BMW- and Mini-branded cars that, as the name suggests, permits either driving for a service like Uber or renting your car to others. If the payments on your 3 Series are a little too difficult to bear, you can make some money on the side. The service is available in California, Oregon and Washington state right now. The initial selection isn't surprising. BMW is already familiar with car sharing in Oregon and Washington thanks to its ReachNow service, while California is a hotbed for new transportation services. BMW pitches this both as an acknowledgment of changing times and a part of its ongoing ...

On Wednesday, parts of the US will get to view a very special lunar eclipse . While typical lunar eclipses aren't terribly rare -- the next full one viewable from North America will occur in January 2019 -- this one combines a total eclipse with a supermoon and a blue moon, making it a sort of moon event triple threat. While not all of the US will get to see the entire eclipse, NASA will be televising it online and giving views from California and Arizona. A supermoon occurs when the moon reaches the part of its orbit that comes closest to Earth, making it appear around 14 percent brighter, while a blue moon is the second full moon of the month. These three events lining up at the same time makes this lunar eclipse particularly notable. Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast will get to see the eclipse in full. But those in Mountain, Central and Eastern time will only get to view the beginning of the eclipse since the moon will begin dipping below the horizon before it's full...

Back in 1982, Activision verified the fastest time on its Dragster video game on the Atari 2600. The record belonged to Todd Rogers, with a time of 5.51 minutes. According to Twin Galaxies , the current holders of the applicable video game records, this score was also acknowledged by Guinness World Records. In 2017, however, Twin Galaxies member Dick Moreland officially disputed Rogers' time, citing analysis by Eric Koziel that showed such a time was mathematically impossible. Twin Galaxies has now decided to remove all of Rogers' score and ban him from future participation in any of its competitive leaderboards. As noted by Polygon , Rogers never provided recorded proof of his time, and his personal blog gives only a cursory explanation of how he achieved the record, recognized as the longest standing gaming record in April of last year. Twin Galaxies cites "numerous credible sources confirming the veracity" of the software model and analysis that invalidated Rog...

As artificial intelligence advances at an unprecedented pace, we tend to see its arrival in emotional terms -- usually, either excitement or fear . But Noumena, a collective of designers, engineers and architects, is looking at AI and robots more practically. What form will they take, how will they survive and develop, and where will they live? It aims to explore those idea with an exhibition entitled " Robotic Habitats ." Noumena's project assumes that deep learning systems will grow out of their narrow Go-playing abilities and soon match humans at many, if not most, tasks. While that would put them on par with us, it doesn't mean they would live the same way, though. "Society will need to develop a framework for both to thrive," explains Neumena on its website. "A new form of artificial life will emerge, finding space at the peripheries of humanity in order to not compete for human-dominated resources." In order to imagine what this AI soci...

Every year, game publishers put out Game of the Year editions, typically chock full of all the downloadable content that's come out since the initial release along with new packaging to proclaim its "of the year" status. Some titles even get new content to entice customers into buying an older game. But what, exactly, does it mean to be a Game of the Year? And according to who exactly? Is there a regulating body that protects consumers from games that were not, in fact, that good? You might think of the "Game of the Year" term as an implication of quality, right? It turns out that — like most marketing — it's largely meaningless. And countless gaming outlets name their own "Games of the Year," further confusing things. Even more confoundingly, The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) hands out its own award to a title, regardless of platform, that best entertains users. The AIAS award isn't the one you'll see on a Game of th...

A slew of Lenovo devices have left users' systems vulnerable to a breach. Fingerprint Manager Pro software installed on any of some three dozen ThinkPad , ThinkCentre or ThinkStation devices apparently features weak encryption that allows someone to bypass the fingerprint scanner and take advantage of a hardcoded password in order to gain access to the system. It also exposes users' logon credentials and fingerprint data. Lenovo described the vulnerability in a security update and released a patch for the bug last week. There is some good news. The software was only used on devices running Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. Windows 10 didn't require the software, so systems using it won't need an update. Also, the vulnerability couldn't be exploited via the internet, only with local access, which limits users' exposure quite a bit. The patch was released on the 25th. You can get it here along with more information and a list of the affected devices. Via: Gizmodo So...

The latest sports star to get a Facebook Watch show is Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller. Variety reports that Miller will get a live weekly variety series that brings together comedy, celebrity guests, teammates and Miller's brothers. "Having my own show is a dream come true," Miller told Variety . "I look forward to bringing the fans into my home and into my world each week. I know we are going to have some fun." Miller's show joins a slew of other sports-related series on Facebook Watch. Dwyane Wade's BackCourt Wade premiered on the platform in November while Marshawn Lynch's No Script reality series debuted last September. Ball in the Family , which features LaVar Ball and his basketball-playing sons is wrapping up its second season on Facebook Watch. The reality shows work well alongside Facebook's sports coverage, which includes NFL , college basketball and wrestling programming. ESPN also just signed on to develop a Facebook Wa...

In 1996, law enforcement officials arrested Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, after nearly two decades of investigation. But it wasn't until the Washington Post and the New York Time s published Kaczynski's anonymous 35,000-word manifesto that a tip from his brother David led officials to Kaczynski and his isolated cabin in Montana. The massive nationwide hunt for the Unabomber, whose seemingly random attacks with lack of traceable evidence stumped law enforcement officials for years, is an interesting case and one that the Newseum in Washington DC has hosted an exhibit on for the past few years -- a display that includes Kaczynski's actual cabin. The exhibit has also featured a VR experience that let visitors explore the cabin from the perspective of an FBI agent, decide whether to publish the manifesto and even disarm the live bomb found in Kaczynski's cabin. Now, Variety reports, Unabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience is available for anyone to explore. ...

Dell has been a privately run company for more than 4 years , but it appears ready to return to public life -- in a convoluted way. CNBC sources have claimed that Dell is exploring a "reverse merger" with VMware where the virtual machine maker (80 percent owned by Dell following the EMC deal ) would buy its parent and let the resulting company go public without having to launch a new stock offering. It would also let Dell pay off some of its roughly $50 billion in debt. This isn't set in stone. The tipsters also said that a number of alternatives are on the table, including a straightforward public offering, other takeovers (the targets haven't been named) or buying the remaining 20 percent stake of VMware. Dell is unlikely to sell to an outside company or give up VMware, however. Dell has declined to comment on the report. A reverse merger would be one of the more "audacious" options for Dell, but it would reflect how much things have changed for Del...