Bug lets humans grab Daily Double as Watson triumphs on Jeopardy
Note: In this article, Jeopardy's "answers" are referred to as "questions" and vice versa.
The humans tried to hold on in the second game of Jeopardy against the IBM computer, but ultimately were no match. Watson finished with a two-game total of $77,147 to Ken Jennings' $24,000 and Brad Rutter's $21,400. Jennings and Rutter managed to make a larger dent in Watson's progress in the second game, but the computer managed to take both Daily Doubles away from the human contestants, not affording them enough of an opportunity to make up for Watson's $25,000 lead from the first game. Still, there were a few aspects of the game that gave the humans some ins, including a bug that let Ken Jennings score the first Daily Double.
During a panel at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Dr Chris Welty, a member of Watson's algorithms team, noted that the start-and-stop nature of filming the episode got Watson mixed up and allowed a bug to surface. Watson begins every round looking for Daily Double clues, because they are crucial to progress in the game. After one filming pause in the first round when Watson had been made to stop and then pick up again, Welty said Watson began again thinking the Daily Double had already been found. So it stopped looking for the clue, allowing Jennings to find it first.
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Google music service expected to launch with Honeycomb and Xoom
Google may finally launch its long-rumored music service side-by-side with Honeycomb, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha has hinted. Jha was speaking at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona when he said that Android would be getting a music service sooner than later, and that it would likely launch on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet."If you look at Google Mobile services today, there's a video service, there's a music service," Jha was quoted saying in The Guardian. "That is, there will be a music service." Later on, Jha spoke about the Xoom—which will be the first to launch with the tablet-friendly Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)—and added that the OS "adds video services and music services."
Rumors about Google's music service go back to last year. The service has long been expected to be heavily based on streaming music from the cloud—liberating users from the typical computer-syncing model that iTunes users have come to know and loathe. More recent rumors, however, have pinned Google's offering as a combination of digital track downloads plus a "digital locker" streaming service.
Insiders said in September that Google was hoping to offer the streaming service to user for $25 per year, which would give them online access to their music library via desktops and mobile devices. Users would also be able to create playlists to share with others—friends would be able to listen to each track all the way through one time, then would be limited to 30-second previews after that until they buy the song(s) themselves.
Apple has also been rumored to be working on a streaming version of iTunes that would allow users to access their libraries on the go without syncing. The latest on that came just three days ago, when the WSJ suggested that a revamp of Apple's MobileMe service might act as a digital locker for Apple's streaming music service. Apple has allegedly been working on such a service since 2009 when the company bought Lala, but licensing talks have been cited as the reason why it has yet to launch.
Apple's streaming offering is expected to arrive this summer, presumably alongside new and updated iPhones, which would put it behind Google. February 24 remains the rumored launch date for the Xoom, though neither Motorola nor Google have confirmed a solid date.
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Report: PSN hacked, custom firmware could pose security risk to users (UPDATED)
Update: A document written by the hackers has clarified what they did and what privacy and security risks they believe the PlayStation 3 poses. The PS3's connection to PSN is protected by SSL. As is common to SSL implementations, the identity of the remote server is verified using a list of certificates stored on each PS3. The credit card and other information is sent over this SSL connection. So far so good; this is all safe, and your web browser depends on the same mechanisms for online purchases.The concern raised by the hackers is that custom firmwares could subvert this system. A custom firmware can include custom certificates in its trusted list. It can also use custom DNS servers. This raises the prospect of a malicious entity operating his own proxies to snaffle sensitive data. He would distribute a custom firmware that had a certificate corresponding to his proxy, and that used a DNS server that directed PSN connections to the proxy. His proxy would decrypt the data sent to it, and then re-encrypt it and forward it to the real PSN servers.
Such a scheme would be transparent to PSN users (except for any potential performance reduction caused by the proxying), and would give the attacker access to all the information that the PS3 sends to Sony. This information is shown to be extensive, but apart from the credit card data, probably not too sensitive or unreasonable.
As flaws go, the risks here are not substantial. There is no generalized ability for hackers to grab credit cards from PSN users; only those using specially devised custom firmwares would be at risk. Essentially the same risk could be faced by anyone downloading a pirated version of Windows: extra certificates could be added to those normally trusted, along with suitable DNS entries, to allow interception of any traffic destined for, say, amazon.com. In practice, the risk of either of these is slight, and in any case, trivially avoided: don't use custom firmware.
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Mozilla's "modern browser" attack on IE overlooks Firefox shortcomings
Microsoft and Mozilla traded barbs this week in a dispute over what constitutes a "modern" Web browser. The competitive friction is starting to heat up because the Redmond software giant and Silicon Valley nonprofit are preparing to release the next major versions of their respective Web browsers.Mozilla's Firefox 4 is expected to arrive this month and Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 is in the release candidate stage. Both browsers are set to introduce a significant number of new features for end users and Web developers, including extensive support for critical next-generation Web standards.
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Feature: The ABCs of virtual private servers, Part 1: Why go virtual?
Why own server hardware? I've asked myself that question repeatedly in the last 15 years every time a machine failed or I needed an upgrade for various Web, mail, and database servers. I could have chosen to lease dedicated hardware at co-location facilities, or use a shared host. But my needs required resources that cost far more than my amortized expenses if leased, and would outstrip shared needs. I was resigned to owning, maintaining, and replacing my own gear.
That is, until last fall, when I put my toes in the water with Virtual Private Servers (VPSes): virtualized servers with root access running on high-end hardware, and dedicated to your exclusive purposes. While you've been able to rent a VPS from various companies for several years, options flowered in 2010. The software has matured, robust services are available, and cost is now at a significant advantage relative to performance for the sort of routine Web and database tasks that the vast majority of websites carry out.
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La Taxe Google is back, this time to help French ISPs
It looks like the Internet Service Providers of France have a good friend in that country's Minister of Industry and the Digital Economy, Eric Besson. Monsieur Besson is reviving an idea that will doubtless inspire the nation's ISPs: La Taxe Google. This would boil down to a tithe upon the search engine giant and its social networking brethren, especially Facebook, to make up for the alleged fact that they don't help pay to keep France's broadband pipes in la manière to which they have grown accustomed.Read the comments on this post
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Rumored Dell purchase of AMD? Not likely
Like the tides, the AMD buyout rumor returned yesterday, this time with Dell as the alleged buyer. And yet again, the stock market dutifully responded by moving share prices around as the speculators who started and stoked the rumor no doubt took their gains. There are so many problems with this rumor whenever it arises, but the two main issues are (a) it's hard to see a good rationale for any other tech player to buy AMD, and (b) Intel wants to make sure that AMD stays independent and viable (although not too viable). What sparked the buyout rumors this time was a train of high-level executive exits at AMD, starting with CEO Dirk Meyer's departure last month. COO Robert Rivet and SVP of Corporate Strategy Marty Seyer announced last week that they'd be following Meyer out the door, prompting speculation about what, exactly, is going on at the chipmaker. A string of high-profile exits is always a bad sign, but it doesn't have to mean that it's sale time.
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BitTorrent is to stealing movies what "bolt-cutters are to stealing bicycles"
The Authors Guild really doesn't like piracy. Guild president Scott Turow, a best-selling author of legal thrillers, today summoned his powers to tell Congress:Read the comments on this post
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MetroPCS: the open Internet on a budget?
It has been filing-to-filing combat between MetroPCS, Free Press, and the Consumers Union over whether the wireless carrier's current 4G offerings violate the Federal Communications Commission's new net neutrality rules. Free Press has released another statement insisting that MetroPCS plans "block and discriminate against Internet content, applications and websites," thus running afoul of key FCC open Internet provisions."MetroPCS demands that its subscribers make a choice between a restricted Internet experience or paying extra fees to access websites, content and applications," charges Free Press' Chris Riley. "But those should not be the only options."
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Ask Sen. Al Franken anything (about technology)
Ars is speaking with Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) tomorrow, and we would love to ask him your questions. Franken is one of the Senate's strongest supporters of net neutrality, he's a foe of media consolidation, and he's chairing a new subcommittee that will deal with privacy, social networks, and Internet advertising. He also supports the new Internet censorship bill, COICA, which targets "rogue sites"—though Franken has several concerns about implementation.Franken has shown real depth on these tech issues, even mentioning issues like the Comcast/Level 3 peering dispute in recent speeches. If you've ever wanted the chance to ask him about his views in more detail, here it is.
We'll grab the best questions from the the comment thread below and put them to Sen. Franken along with some of our own. We'll bring you the results of that interview in a few days.
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Texas chainsaw massacre: senior judge "severs" most P2P lawsuits
Texas no longer welcomes mass Internet file-sharing lawsuits.Last month, we profiled Evan Stone, the Denton, Texas attorney who has brought nearly every Internet file-sharing lawsuit in the state since getting into the business in mid-2010. Stone sues a few hundred to a few thousand anonymous defendants on behalf of his client, has Internet providers look up their real names and addresses, then asks them to settle for a couple thousand bucks before he files a federal lawsuit against them personally. Most cases have involved pornography distributed by BitTorrent, but Stone recently convinced the anime distributor FUNimation to adopt the technique after much hesitation on the part of the FUNimation.
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Creators: Watson has no speed advantage as it crushes humans in Jeopardy
Watson, the computer built by IBM to play Jeopardy, outdid itself in the second half of its first official game against champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson finished with $35,734 to Rutter's $10,400 and Jenning's $4,800, despite coming up with a very wrong answer to what appeared to be a fairly straightforward final Jeopardy question on the topic of "US Cities."
The answer was, "Its largest airport was named for a World War II hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle." Both Jennings and Rutter got the correct question— "What is Chicago?"— while Watson put down "What is Toronto???" Dr. Chris Welty, who worked on the algorithms team during Watson's development, said that the phrasing of the question demonstrated again Watson's difficulty with implicit meanings and how quickly it can become tough for the computer to sort out what type of question the answer is looking for.
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Windows Phone 7 Connector released to Mac App Store
Windows Phone 7 Connector, the software that allows Mac OS X users to sync Windows Phone 7 devices with their iTunes and iPhoto collections, has moved out of beta and has been released to the Mac App Store.We took a look at a prerelease version of the application when we reviewed the phone operating system itself. The application hasn't changed much since then—it's still restricted to syncing media, as the platform is designed for calendars and contacts to sync over-the-air—but there are a couple of capabilities that weren't in the beta. The software can now be used to sync with Zunes as well as phones, and it now includes support for updating phone firmware and making phone backups. This is obviously a precursor to next month's copy-and-paste patch.
As was the case in the beta, iPhoto '09 or newer is still required, though it no longer appears to lock up when used with earlier versions. Mac OS X 10.6.6 is listed as the minimum supported version, so only up-to-date Macs need apply.
Though a fairly simple program, lacking the visual splendor of the Windows Zune software, it does what it has to with little fuss. The iTunes and Connector combination together fulfil most Zune roles; the only obvious omission is WiFi syncing. For that, the Windows software is required.
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Sony throws down: crack your PS3, get banned
Sony is fighting what may be a long, ugly legal battle to remove all traces of the PlayStation 3 hacks and cracks available online, and now the company has taken the fight directly to gamers. "Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently," Sony announced today."By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve," Jeff Rubenstein, Sony Computer Entertainment's Social Media Manager, wrote on the company's official blog.
Sony claims that the policy will not affect the vast majority of PlayStation 3 owners, and says that "circumvention devices and game piracy damage our industry and can potentially injure the online experience for you, our loyal PlayStation customers, via hacks and cheats."
So there we are. If you're running custom firmware, or have an open PlayStation 3, you may want to stay offline for a while. It is not currently known if there is some way for users to run hacked firmware and get around these bans, but one thing is certain: someone, or a group of someones, is already working on a solution to this newest wrinkle in Sony's ongoing effort to keep the PlayStation 3 locked down tight.
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WiFi-only Motorola Xoom priced at $600
The WiFi-only version of the Motorola Xoom tablet will be priced $200 less than the data network-enabled version, a Motorola chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday. The WiFi Xoom will cost $600 and will not require the activation of a data plan to use the WiFi, unlike the 4G-enabled version. The leak of a Best Buy circular ad listed the Xoom at an unsubsidized price of $799, and a note underneath said that even if customers only wanted to use the WiFi on the device, they would have to activate at least one month of data service at a cost of $20.
But Sanjay Jha, a chief executive with Motorola Mobility, officially confirmed on Wednesday that there would be a WiFi-only version of the tablet, which presumably won't need data activation to use. Of course, the downside is that a WiFi-only version can't be subsidized by a data contract, so customers will pay the full $600 price.
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Some publishers relieved, others irate over Apple subscription plan
It has now been one full day since Apple announced its new subscription "offerings" to third-party developers, along with a new set of rules, and the first wave of reactions is best described as "mixed." While some content creators have already tossed out the "L" word (as in "legal"), others are keeping quiet as Apple's June 30 deadline looms. Some are even relieved by the new guidelines.Among the details that riled up publishers on Tuesday, Apple said that it was requiring all publishers that regularly sell online subscriptions for access on iOS devices (including newspapers, magazines, music, and video services) to also offer those subscriptions for sale via Apple's own system. When they sell those subs through Apple's system, they must offer the same or better price as elsewhere, Apple will take a 30 percent cut of those sales, and their apps can no longer link to an outside store (where Apple would get no cut).
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MobileMe revamp may include status/check-in/streaming mashup
Rumors of a revamped MobileMe service have been coming in a steady stream recently, mostly associated with an alleged "iPhone nano." The previous rumors focused on Apple grafting Lala-like streaming abilities onto the service, but a new report on Wednesday suggests that MobileMe will gain mobile video streaming, location check-ins, and geo-tagging, as well as a personal webpage that friends can check and see what you are up to at that precise moment.An anonymous source told Cult of Mac that Apple's rumored new MobileMe service will combine the e-mail, contacts, and calendar syncing with new social media services, making it a sort of Facebook, Foursquare, Ustream, and Ping mashup. The current focus is on streaming media and location-based services, though the source said that "a lot of their ideas were shelved for a later date in order to focus on a few of them."
MobileMe users would have a webpage that friends can visit, which would include data pulled from your iPhone, such as current location, recent iTunes tracks, Game Center updates, currently used apps, recent geo-tagged photos, and even live-streamed video. Some information would be pulled automatically from your device, while other items could be shared at your whim. The service is also said to have "comprehensive" privacy controls, so you can control who has access to what bits of data.
The service will also reportedly work with a recently patented location check-in system called iGroups. Friends within an iGroup can get automatic notifications when they are within a certain range of each other, and have access to location updates via the new MobileMe homepage.
The combination of features could have some appeal if Apple can offer a unified, simple user interface and can match the reliability of current services. However, Apple will have its work cut out for it transitioning users away from other, more popular services if Ping's tepid uptake is any indication. If Apple offers straightforward integration with other services—MobileMe check-ins automatically post to FourSquare, or status updates automatically post to Facebook and/or Twitter—then an updated MobileMe might stand a chance of catching on.
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