081 Breaking News: Good News Is Coming

digitalSoup

This just in! From FBI Warnings to facial recognition the world is a scary place. Don’t worry, the next story will cheer you right up! Sony has some more bad news with the beginning of the end of the PS4 line. Dang, well, you’ll just have to trust us, Good News is Coming in this episode!

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FBI Issues Router Warning

The FBI recommends any owner of small office and home office routers power cycle (reboot) the devices. Foreign cyber actors have compromised hundreds of thousands of home and office routers and other networked devices worldwide. The actors used VPNFilter malware to target small office and home office routers. The malware is able to perform multiple functions, including possible information collection, device exploitation, and blocking network traffic.

Orlando Police Testing Amazon's Real-Time Facial Rekognition

Tech companies are trying to sell police real-time facial recognition systems, which can track and identify people as they walk down the street. As NPR reported two weeks ago, American police have generally held off, but there's new evidence that one police department — Orlando, Fla. — has decided to try it out. In a written statement, the Orlando Police Department called the Amazon facial recognition system a "pilot program" and said it "will be used in accordance with current and applicable law."

Beginning Of The End For The PS4

Sony’s has declared he PS4 era is entering its final stages. Speaking to investors, PlayStation boss John Kodera outlined the company's three-year roadmap and it seems console sales are not expected to be a major source of revenue going forward. This is largely due to declining sales which is, Kodera notes, typical of the usual profit- and life-cycle of consoles. It does also suggest a new console might be on its way -- likely the PS5 -- but Kodera didn't give away any specifics other than don't look for a new console before 2021.

The Writing Is On The Wall For The Playstation Vita But Not For Sony Portable Gaming

The Vita's shelf life is shrinking rapidly -- Sony is ending production of physical game copies and will stop offering free PlayStation Plus Vita games in 2019. It also dropped PlayStation Now support from the console last year. Rather than separating portable gaming from consoles, it's necessary to continue thinking of [portable gaming] as one method to deliver more gaming experiences and exploring what our customers want from portable," Kodera said on last Wednesday. The first part of that sentence especially suggests that mobile gaming will related in some way to the next PlayStation console (probably the PS5). Whether that portends a Nintendo Switch-style hybrid, a controller that has portable features or something else entirely is far from certain.

Geek Off:

Best Star Wars Character From Original Trilogy?

First Look At Matt Groening's First New Show In Twenty Years

Netflix released the first images of Disenchantment, an animated fantasy series that features the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Nat Faxon, and Eric Andre. Created by Groening (The Simpsons, Futurama), the show takes place in the crumbling medieval kingdom named Dreamland and centers on the exploits of a hard-drinking princess named Bean (Jacobson), her plucky elf friend Elfo (Faxon), and her personal demon Luci (Andre) as they match wits with “ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses, and lots of human fools.”

The Cast Of HBO's Watchmen Has Been Revealed and the Fantastic Regina King Will Lead Them

Variety reports Regina King will play the lead character in the series, and she’ll be joined by Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard. Deadline adds that “King is believed to be playing Angela Abraham, while Gossett Jr. likely is Old Man. Howard is said to be playing Red Scare, Clemens could be Pirate Jenny,” but none of that is confirmed. “But wait,” you’re wondering. Since it’s Watchmen, who is Rorschach, the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, etc? Well, just yesterday, showrunner Damon Lindelof explained that the HBO series is not a direct adaptation of the iconic Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons series. It’s both a sequel, and not a sequel. A modern retelling, but with familiar characters and situations. So, while the surviving characters from that series could appear in this new series, it’s not that simple.

Ryan Reynolds, Michael Bay, Deadpool Writers To Produce Netflix-exclusive Film

Brace yourselves! A massive action collaboration is coming to Netflix next year. According to a report from Deadline, Ryan Reynolds will star in a film titled Six Underground, to be directed by Michael Bay (yes, that Michael Bay) and written by Deadpool scribes Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who also penned Deadpool 2. The movie will release exclusively on Netflix sometime in 2019.

Weekly Garnish: ODroid-XU4 Based RetroPie

This is a small board just like the Raspberry Pi but it packed more of a punch! It doubles the core count to eight (8) and doubles the RAM to 2GB and because of this it's emulation power is far greater. Now you can play more N64 games at full speed and ... Dreamcast emulation is very close to full speed (the hardware can handle it, the emulators themselves are holding it back from perfect emulation). And check out this SWEET N64 CASE coming soon for the ODroid!

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