The Nintendo Switch
Nintendo released the first trailer for their new gaming console, the Nintendo Switch. It will be released in March 2017 and feature aspects of both a console system and a portable system.
The console part of the system is held inside a dock that connects to a monitor or TV, and users can play their game on a controller that resembles a traditional console controller.
By removing the system from the dock, the system goes into a portable mode. The system has a built-in screen to view the game on with detachable controllers on either side of the screen which gives way for multiplayer capabilities.
“Nintendo Switch allows gamers the freedom to play however they like. It gives game developers new abilities to bring their creative visions to life by opening up the concept of gaming without boundaries,” Reggie Fils-Aimé, Nintendo president, said in a press release.
LinkedIn hack
Russian citizen Yevgeniy Nikulin was arrested on Oct. 5 in Prague, Czech Republic for hacking the LinkedIn website and posing a security threat to users of the social network. It was not until Oct. 21 that he was identified by government officials.
It is estimated that Nikulin had more than 100 million login names and passwords, along with personal information from breaking into the company’s computers using an employee username and password he obtained in 2012.
The Russian government now wants him handed over to Russia.
“The notice said he was arrested based on a request from a court in the United States. We insist the Russian citizen is handed to Russia,” Alexey Kolmakov, press secretary for the Russian embassy in Prague, said.
DDoS causes large-scale Internet outages
A major distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack occurred on the domain name system (DNS) host Dyn on Oct. 21st. The attack caused websites like Twitter, Spotify and Amazon to go down for about two hours.
The attacks mostly impacted the East Coast of the United States and seemed to be coordinated from a number of IP addresses.
“What they’re actually doing is moving around the world with each attack,” Kyle York, Chief Strategy Officer of Dyn said in a conference call according to CNBC.
A DNS is a system that redirects users to the correct webpage by converting the URL inputted into the web browser to the IP address that the website is on. A DDoS attack overloads the system so that the DNS is incapable of running properly.
On Sunday, a Chinese electronics company recalled its products that were used in the attacks.
SnapDragon X50 5G Modem announced
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced their newest modem, the SnapDragon X50, which the company claims has download speeds up to five gigabits per second, or 5G.
A modem is a hardware chip that deals with wireless network communications. The previous fastest modems ran at 4G speeds, so reaching 5G is a major breakthrough for wireless communications technology.
“The SnapDragon X50 5G modem heralds the arrival of 5G as operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) reach the cellular network and device testing phase. This shows that we’re not just talking about 5G, we’re truly committed to it,” Cristiano Amon, executive vice president of Qualcomm, said in a press release.
However, the download speeds are dependent on wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T to have networks that are capable of supporting the 5G download speeds.
Chemical bike locks
A new project on the crowd-funding website Indiegogo may be of interest to bikers. SkunkLock, as it is so aptly named, is a U-shaped bike lock that, when cut, releases a gaseous chemical similar to the stench of a skunk.
“The chemicals are so disgusting they induce vomit in the majority of cases, and elicit an instinctive response to run away immediately,” Daniel Idzkowski, founder of SkunkLock, wrote on the team’s Indiegogo page.
Since stolen bikes are only worth around five to ten percent of their market value and do not sell for much, the company hopes that the hassle of dealing with the stench is more trouble than steal the bike is worth.
Users might be apprehensive of carrying a smelly chemical, but the company assures users that the chemical will not be released unless cut.
