Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee has been the pioneer of the World Wide Web. In March 1989, which is exactly 28 years ago, he proposed a new information management system. He managed to obtain a communication line between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol client and server. To celebrate such a groundbreaking achievement, the web inventor revealed his own thoughts on how far the online realm has gone recently.

The Digital Letter of the Web Inventor

The 53-year-old computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee wrote in a blog post about his concerns regarding the last 12 months. His focus was on fake news, online political advertisement, and the power of data. He reinforced the main goal of the web which seemed to have been forgotten amid social and political struggles. The online world is there to help humanity make a better reality, and it is by all means not an agent of disruption. This is why he celebrates the 28^th anniversary of the Internet by describing how it can truly become a better place.

First of all, he tackles the loss of an important right that is as old as the Internet itself, namely the right to cyber security. He condemned how companies are buying personal data with so-called free content. By agreeing to their terms & conditions, users lose their direct control over their own personal information. This way, people are no longer safe. Bloggers’ real identity can be revealed which can lead even to their death. Moreover, the political system has no interdiction in monitoring and sanctioning opponents. As a consequence, the online world is no longer a fertile land for quality discussions around sensitive topics such as religion, health problems, and sexuality.

The Online World Might Crumble Under the Pressure of Fake News

Secondly, the web inventor makes a whole point about fake news. Tim Berners-Lee saw a disruptive news system where quantity prevails over quality. There are already too many ways to use the Internet for personal gain. Fake news is specially created to strike a chord in readers’ hearts and spread out in a matter of minutes. When people are tricked into clicking this kind of links, someone else wins financial or political benefits.

Finally, the computer scientist calls for a transparent medium for political advertising. He ends up questioning the democratic fabric of the European Union. When an important event such as the 2016 US election relied on 50,000 daily versions of ads to win the game and not on transparency, the system might fall in unethical pits. His final words highlight the fact that the Internet is merely a reflection of its users. Thus, it is up to users to create and mold the online medium they want.

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Overwatch is a successful video game from Blizzard Entertainment. Its unique gameplay and impressive design were already acknowledged by many committees that awarded the production.  As of recently, the Overwatch community can’t stop talking about Bastion. After a recent update, it became an unstoppable character. While some players have the skills to take advantage of the newly improved version, others are finding it hard to understand the mechanics behind it.

The social media platforms are now buzzing about the recent update that the Overwatch character, Bastion, received. The most shared opinion is that the producers came up with a far too difficult character that is almost impossible to compete against. On the other hand, the studio might have had other intentions when they thought how to rebuff it.

Bastion might have become an unstoppable character, but it also difficult to play with at the same time. As a defense hero, he must be skillful in respect with coordination to counter attack. He can heal himself now but only when he is moving. On the other hand, his bullet spread is wider, but he also has larger capacity for ammunition. What makes him almost invincible is a new buff that enables him to take 35% less damage whenever he is in tank or sentry mode. As a consequence, Bastion is not only more deadly, but also stronger, and more flexible.

The end result is an unstoppable character that can escape even the ultimate attacks by getting out of their way quickly or by healing himself. Moreover, he has no trouble taking down the shield of Reinhardt, which is the most powerful tank in the game. After the buff had been applied, Bastion became a permanent presence in all active teams.

The director of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan, wasn’t happy with how things turned out to be. Thus, he took the matter into his own hands and posted his opinion in a post. He explained the recent buff for Bastion as a way to make him more likable and turn him from a rare choice of a hero into a competitive one. For Jeff Kaplan, the buffed character is not unbeatable, especially if the opposing team succeeds to coordinate themselves to maximum efficiency. He is of the opinion that any change is normal to be met with skepticism at first by the community. However, with time, players succeed to adapt to the updates and make the unusual usual again through innovative strategies.

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The gaming industry has its own Oscar night, only it goes under the name of Game Developers Choice Awards. This year was the 17^th edition of the event, and the ceremony took place during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Players were excited to see their favorite games receiving the credit they deserve.

Overwatch, which is a Blizzard Entertainment production, was in the spotlight during the night of March 1^st. The team-based shooter won million of players, the Game of the Year, and the Best Design Awards. Critics acclaimed the video game right from its beginnings due to an enjoyable gameplay and the ease with which players can work its techniques. With only one year of its release, Overwatch is already recognized as an e-sport. Thus, fans will be able to enjoy and even take part in sponsored tournaments all over the world. Moreover, Blizzard announced that it would offer full support to professional league play that started at the beginning of 2017.

Inside created by Playdead was also a sensation of the night with two awards added to its portfolio for Best Audio and Best Visual Art. The dark dystopic world managed to fascinate the committee while the main character is trying to solve environmental puzzles to continue his journey. Firewatch was the third and final double award-winner of both best Debut and Best Narrative. The game created a stark presence through the voice of Mad Men actor, Rich Sommer, and it manages to engross players into a complex net of mysteries.

The Best Mobile/ Handheld Game was easily earned by Pokemon GO which managed to prove that overnight success is as real as possible. The gigantesque effort to create an entire universe based on procedural generation, No Man’s Sky, couldn’t have slipped the attention of the jury. The game won the Innovation Award.

The Best Technology prize went to Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End while Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives received the Best VR/AR Game award. The GDCA finalists voted through an online process the production that deserves the Audience Award, which ended up to be Battlefield 1.

Not only productions but also creators received recognition for their work. The Pioneer Award went to Jordan Mechner, creator of Prince of Persia, for his innovative approach to video games. Mark DeLoura received the Ambassador Award thanks to the fact that he devoted his entire life to advancing the world of media and video games through technology.

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For numerous times, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, explained the purpose of his website as a social tool that connects people from all corners of the world. However, there are side effects of this online phenomenon. For instance, many people claimed that this social media platform was responsible for spreading fake news that altered the outcome of the recent American presidential campaign. Moreover, as of recently, the company is facing yet another grave social trend. People started taking their own lives during their live videos. The company worked on new tools that are going to try preventing such live suicide attempts in the future.

On Wednesday, the tech giant announced a new upgrade for its Facebook Messenger and Facebook Live. This time, the implementation regards a series of tools that can prevent live suicide attempts in real time. The announcement also mentioned collaboration with the Crisis Text Line and the National Suicide Prevention. These two organizations are going to be available on Messenger for contact for anyone that needs crisis support. This way, the company hopes to enable a more efficient aiding system for those who want to report a self-injury attempt.

Facebook stated that the mission of these new improvements is to create a direct link between people who need help and those who can offer help. The wave of live suicide attempts started as recently as January 2017. This was when a 14-year-old girl hung herself in Florida in the house of her foster family. There have been many public acts of suicide before Facebook introduced its Live video service. However, live streaming is a new technology that helped these terrible events appear in the newsfeed of far too many people.

Mark Zuckerberg wrote his opinion that these public acts might have been prevented if someone figured out the real intentions of the streamers. The next step would have been reporting the videos. Thus, as of Wednesday, friends have the option to report a video to Facebook if they appear suspicious. Afterward, the streamer is going to receive a series of tools on his or her display. If they open them, they will be able to contact a helpline or a friend, and read tips. The company explained that it is not going to interrupt the streaming sessions as this would mean cutting all means to offer support.

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The new technology era might bring fruitful results, but it has awakened an issue that clouds these achievements. This problem regards personal privacy within the digital world. On the other hand, the good news is that half of web publishers decided to encrypt their assets with HTTPS. This protocol makes sure any communication over a computer network is safe and secure. The volume of data that is exchanged whenever an authentication takes place enjoys privacy and integrity. The good news means that half of the web can now protect users against eavesdropping, cookie stealing, hijacking, and censorship.

As of earlier this week, experts started to notice an improvement in the security layers of the web. Their speculations were confirmed by a report that the Electronic Frontier Foundation published this week. The paper is based on the data released by web browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome. These two used data from users that chose to share their personal details to understand the evolution of the standard HTTPS encryption protocol.

For a too long time, web publishers relied on HTTPS protocol only for a narrow list of site types such as those that require passwords or credit card numbers. However, as of recently half of them came to understand that web users are entitled to privacy and security no matter the format of the pages they access. The main threat is the content injection. Not only hackers, but companies use this too to learn more about their customers. For instance, Verizon turned to content injection into requests made by their clients.

Thus, Mozilla found out that as of February 21^st, 51.3% of its web pages are protected by HTTPS protocol. As for Chrome, the web browser disclosed the fact that little over half of its websites are loading with this encryption across all types of operating systems. This movement was supported even by the Obama administration. The former president requested all websites under .org domain to move to HTTPS by the end of last year. Even though this didn’t happen, the General Services is still trying to implement this directive.

While the other half of the Internet is still an unsafe territory, users can take the matter into their own hands. For instance, they can use the add-on from EFF called HTTPS Everywhere that can force HTTP website to offer HTTPS pages only.

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The world is more ready than ever to begin its next challenge, which is that of finding another habitable planet. Technology advanced enough to potentially mitigate a cultural clash between humans and aliens. However, this high-tech aspect does not describe only the scientific world. It has also become an attribute for the gaming industry. This is why Eve Online, a multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG, is capable enough to take up the job of finding the next exoplanet.

Eve Online consists of a collection of 7,800 star systems that players can visit. This project is so complex that not even developers are aware of how things are on each of the space bodies. Players can either explore or settle to one of these planets. Once there, they can start growing some of their skills, such as piracy, mining, trading, manufacturing, and combat. As users enjoy much freedom in this game, they can even interact with one another and create an entire reality by themselves. For instance, the Bloodbath war that took place on the B-R5RB planet lasted for 21 hours and was officially the longest and most expensive battle in the gaming industry.

The developers of the game decided to lend a hand to the scientific world. This is how the Project Discovery started. This project has the form of a mini-game where players get to explore the universe created by data collected from our reality. Players will then study space during their flights. If an observation is backed by a certain number of players, then the developers are going to send it back to the University of Geneva. In their turn, scientists will adjust their research based on these confirmed observations.

A comprehensive explanation of how things are going to work within the Project Discovery will be given by the winner of the 2017 Wolf Prize in Physics, Michael Mayor. He is also the first person who has ever discovered an exoplanet. The presentation will take place during the EVE Fanfest 2017 in Reykjavik, Iceland between April 6^th and April 8^th.

This is not the first time Project Discovery helped the scientific community. Last year, Eve Online players contributed to the Human Protein Atlas. They had the possibility to analyze patterns in images of human cells. Their insights helped scientists to understand better the purpose of proteins. According to CCP games, players contributed with 25 million of human cells classifications.

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NASA will receive help from the Navy for an interesting new project. Called SnowEx, it will be part of a larger program. Its primary role? To analyze the Colorado snowpack water levels.

Measuring the snowpack is not a new practice. The process started being used back in the 1930s. And it was influenced by the snow’s big role in the human life. The snowpack is important as, amongst others, it is a source of water. According to reports, snow is considered the main water source for some 20 percent of the population.

In the Western United States, this percent is even higher. Snow is estimated to be a water supply for about 80 percent of the population. As such, scientists took to measuring the water content in a snowpack.

Until now, such data was gathered through land-based observations. These offered precious information for example, on the probable water supply and stream flow.

But land methods lack the details offered by an aerial one. This is where NASA stepped in. The space agency set up and is the leader of SnowEx. This is a new snowpack analysis project. And it is being carried out with help from other researchers. And also from the U.S. Navy.

Approximately 100 technicians and scientists are already involved in the project. And the Navy is contributed as it offered one of its planes. This is a stripped down Lockheed P-3 Orion, offered on loan.

SnowEx is also using four other airplanes. This work in a direct collaboration. Air and land teams both gather data on the same areas. Later on, this data is compared and further analyzed.

The SnowEx planes are equipped with ten different instruments. These are used in order to detect the water levels of the snowpack bellow them. Currently, the project is flying over the Western Colorado mountains. Or more exactly, over its Rocky Mountains.

Land teams are also measuring the water levels of the same areas. These two sets of data will then be put together and compared. This will help NASA accomplish its bigger goal.

The space agency is planning on developing a snowpack measuring satellite. This should be able to capture, analyze, and offer real-time information about the snow.

As such SnowEx is working on developing the needed technology. Deploying a satellite would not be so hard. However, this must be equipped with the appropriate instruments. Ones capable of offering real-time, and very importantly, accurate data.

For the moment, this system is still somewhat lacking. This is where the aerial surveys come in. They will help establish the exact data set which must be used. And they will do so with help from its land counterparts.

The already developed and accurate land tests should offer the staple results. Aerial data will be compared with this data set. And the sensors and system will be adjusted in order to reach their level and accuracy.

As such, SnowEx should find the right combination of parameters and instruments. These will have to be able to detect the snow’s water content. And to do so whilst in the outer space, from a satellite.

The SnowEx project was initiated this month. According to reports, it is expected to roll out over the next following years. A period of at least 5 years has already been advanced. Still, additional details would be needed in this area.

As yet, it is unclear if SnowEx will be solely carried out in Colorado. Or if, perhaps, it will be moved to other parts of the United States or the world.

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Pollution is one of the biggest problems these days. This is why many car companies decided to make their cars electric and give their customers the chance to drive without hurting the environment. One of the companies that are producing electric cars is Mercedes-Benz.

The company just announced that by 2018, all gas-powered Smart cars will be replaced by Electric Smart cars. Mercedes mentioned that they are going to discontinue the gas-powered version in the US and that they are only going to produce Electric Smart cars.

This is not the case for Europe because the company announced that they are still going to produce the gas-powered version there. They are going to keep this version in Europe because it is selling better than the electric one.

The company also said that they are going to replace all the gas-powered cars with electric Smart cars because in the US electric cars are the ones that sell best. Apparently, people in the United States think about the environment when they buy a car.

These electric Smart cars are going to cost around $25,000 like the previous generation’s MSRP. Some of the features of these electric Smart cars include 80 horsepower and its small dimensions of 8-foot, 8-inch long. The fact that it is so small makes it easier for drivers to go on small streets, to park almost anywhere, and to through traffic.

The Smart model has been selling well in the United States but the electric Smart cars are more liked by Americans compared to the gas-powered version. The fact that sales have dropped in the last year made Mercedes reconsider the idea of selling the gas-powered model in the US. This is why they made this decision so fast.

Experts say that by 2035 more than 30% of cars are going to be electric. That is going to be a massive increase considering that now there are only 1.4% electric cars. Others predict that by 2050 more than 60% of all cars are going to be electric.

What is your opinion about the decision that Mercedes-Benz made? Do you think that people are interested in buying electric Smart cars?

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Earlier this week, Microsoft came with a cybersecurity announcement. The company is planning to release a series of new security options. These should prove useful to both individual users and organizations.

The new services will be structured around Windows and the Office 365 pack. Surface products will also not be forgotten.

Microsoft’s announcement was released on February 10. And most are expecting even more cyber security news. Next week will see an RSA security conference. This will be held in San Francisco, California.

Windows’s new security options will target the following. They will add a new feature to the Windows Hello. This later is the company’s biometric-based login system. And now, it will also be offering on-premises Active Directory. As such, users will not be required to have an Azure Active Directory.

Windows Hello will also be coming with a new Dynamic Lock. This feature should help users that often forget to lock their devices. By using the new feature, they can connect a smartphone to the Windows 10 computer. As the smartphone’s Bluetooth system drifts away, the computer will lock automatically.

It will do so as it considers that the user left. Still, clients will also have to have the Microsoft Authenticator app installed on their phones. This will use the Windows Hello Companion Device Framework. And this latter will be in-charge of the lock-down.

Microsoft will also launch a new set of tools. These will be specifically targeted towards organizations. They should help them get more out of the mobile device management products.

Organizations could benefit more from them. They will now have an easier way of migrating group policy settings. They will now be easily applicable to cloud-managed devices.

Office 365 users will see new assessment tool security options. And also the release of a private beta service. This will be offering information about various security threats.

Microsoft Surface users should also find it easier to configure their devices. A new tool is being rolled out for them. This will help with the Surface hardware configuration. For examples, users will be able to disable the device’s camera or microphone.

This will be done through the Surface Enterprise Management Tool. Also known as SEMM, it offers additional hardware restrictions. These will be applicable to Surface Book laptops. Also Surface Studio desktops and Surface Pro 4 tablets.

These new security options can also be case-specific. More exactly, they can be activated under a particular set of data. For example, when they are connected to specific networks.

SEMM will function at a fundamental, hardware level. It will be based at the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface levels. This should help put a total stop to a potential attack that could have gone undetected.

Microsoft’s security options will start allowing MDM software. This is the mobile device management. These will help apply configurations and settings. They will be applied based on the Security Baseline Policies list. Until this recent update, they were only accessible via Group Policy.

And Microsoft also released the MDM Migration Analytics Tool. This should help users migrate from the Group Policy to MDM. It will work by scanning the system. This will detect all the applied policies. And then try to map them out in relation to their MDM equivalents. The results will then be listed as a report.

For the moment, these security options will only be available to the English language pack users. But this can be re-installed even on a non-English system. As such, all users should be able to access them.

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In an effort to keep government information transparent for the American citizens, the Freedom of Information Act was instated by the President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. Thus, this federal law allows people to inquire about unreleased documents or data that are in possession of the United States government. After an official request, the authorities can disclose the needed file fully or only parts of it. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it is going to make some changes regarding the requesting system for their information.

The new project will come into effect as of the month of March. The FBI will no longer use an e-mail system to tackle any FOIA requests. On the other hand, American citizens can submit their official statements through other methods. The old ways allow them to make use of traditional mail services or even fax equipment if they want access to unreleased documents. The FBI is also going to replace the disconnected email with an online website.

The official statement from the FBI explains that the eFOIA would be a better choice of requested submissions for authorities. The online portal is going to streamline this process. This will happen thanks to its automatization feature that will replace hours of work due to a high volume of requests. The new change will make the FOIA procedure more efficient than before, by automatically receiving and opening the FOIA request.

On the other hand, the American citizens will have to deal with a more complex system than before. First of all, to submit their request they have to accept the terms and conditions of the service. Secondly, it will be the first time they are forced to disclose personal information such as the mobile number and physical address. By refusing to comply with the new conditions, citizens will no longer gain access to government information. Moreover, an additional feature will be that the online portal is capable of processing a limited number of forms per day. This means that citizens will have to wait even longer periods of time to receive what they want.

A major point of concern for the opposition to this new system regards the terms and conditions of the website. By reading these parameters, people will be warned not to submit more than one request per day. Moreover, they have to clearly write if they are located in the U.S. or another country. The opposition states that these demands are not mentioned at all in the FOIA legislation.

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