04 July 2018
6 Psychological Reasons Why Video Games Are Addicting
Video games can suck you in and hold onto you like few other activities.
On the surface, playing video games is no more or less valuable than reading, watching movies, or similar hobbies. But unlike those activities, games have a tendency to encourage extended play sessions and even addictive behavior in some people.
Why is this? Let’s explore six reasons why video games can be so addicting.
1. Feedback Loops in Video Games
Every video game, from early arcade titles to modern blockbusters, uses feedback loops to keep the player engaged. This is a core part of video games because developers have a vested interest in making players want to play their games for as long as possible.
Early on, feedback loops were as simple as showing a high score after you saw a Game Over screen. Seeing that AAA beat your score by just a few thousand points was enough to make you drop another quarter into Donkey Kong and start again.
Today, most popular multiplayer games reward you with treats as you progress. The draw of unlocking a new weapon once you reach level 50, for instance, is enough to make you continue playing. And the more players who do so, the larger a player base the developer can boast. More people playing means a longer lifespan for the game, which brings more monetization opportunities (more on that below).
But it’s not just these macro examples—tiny feedback loops appear all over in every game. Nailing a combo in a fighting game and seeing your opponent bested feels good. Leveling up in an RPG boosts your stats just a bit more. Unlocking new power-ups and finding secrets encourages you to look for more.
The takeaway: If games didn’t have feedback loops, they’d quickly become boring. But as they regularly present you with new reasons to keep playing, it’s easy to continue.
2. Multiplayer Gaming Never Ends
I'm addicted to too many games right now. Pokemon GO, Fortnite, Overwatch. I need 30 hours in the day. I am determined to win at Fortnite. 2nd once, 3rd a few times, never first.
— Big Daddy Red (@BigDaddyRed2) February 23, 2018
While you can finish most single-player adventures in a relatively short amount of time, many games include multiplayer elements. And unlike solo experiences, you can spend hundreds of hours in multiplayer modes and never truly “complete” them.
In the past, this was limited to local (couch) multiplayer modes. You could battle friends in GoldenEye, or beat each other up in Super Smash Bros., yet the fun ended once your friends went home. But with every home gaming system connected to the internet nowadays, there’s always someone to play multiplayer with online.
This is obvious when you examine MMOs like World of Warcraft, which contain so much content that you couldn’t see it all in a lifetime. But it’s also true for multiplayer games like Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, and Fortnite.
Jump online, and you’ll always find someone who’s better than you, or another goodie to unlock, that keeps you playing. And in games with competitive modes like Overwatch, if you don’t keep playing, you won’t improve.
The takeaway: Multiplayer modes never truly end. With online play bringing you someone to play against anytime, there’s always a drive to improve and play “just one more match.”
3. DLC Means Games Grow Over Time
From expansion packs to microtransactions, DLC has been around for over a decade and allows developers to introduce more content into their games. As a consequence, this makes it hard to properly finish a game since new content could show up at any time.
An expansion for a game like Horizon Zero Dawn or Fallout 4 adds another dozen hours to play. If you enjoyed the gameplay, you’re apt to sit down with it again for more of the same.
The same applies to multiplayer games. Whether through traditional DLC packs (Call of Duty, Battlefield) or regular free updates (Fortnite, Overwatch), most multiplayer games add more content over time. Some new maps, weapons, or playable characters could be just the trick to get you back into a game and get re-addicted to it.
The takeaway: Games aren’t static. New content released for your favorite games makes it easy to slip back into playing them all the time, even when you thought you were done.
4. Video Games Evoke Strong Emotions
We’ve focused a lot on multiplayer, but there are strong factors at play for single-player games too. One of these is that games bring out our emotions, often in ways that other mediums simply can’t. It’s easier to enjoy something when you feel connected to it.
Consider a game series like Persona, where you play as a high school student over the course of a year. As you spend time with your in-game friends, you get to know their struggles, dreams, and interests. You’ll connect to them and want to learn more about their stories, even though they’re not real. This is something achievable in an 80-hour game (or a good book), but not a two-hour movie.
This isn’t exclusive to long RPGs though. Games like The Last of Us were acclaimed for the emotional connection between characters that grows throughout the game. Titles where you’re free to make decisions can pull on your emotions even more when they show you the consequences of your actions.
Masterful game soundtracks can also take generate strong emotions in you. A tearful piano piece during a sad moment, an epic sweeping score during an escape, or an interesting groove that introduces a character all make an impact on players.
The takeaway: Games offer unique ways to build emotional connections with players. When you’re emotionally invested in a game, it’s easier to sink more time into it.
5. Some Video Games Are Designed to Addict
The above are reasons that you can get addicted to any game. But unfortunately, many games are built with the mindset of addicting the player.
Mobile games are infamous for this. They’re “free to play,” but not for long. After the game entices you with easy levels (and frequent dopamine hits) early on, they introduce limits on how much you can play, often with a limited number of lives. Bypassing these “time-outs” means spending real money on in-app purchases.
This isn’t limited to mobile games like Candy Crush and Clash Royale. Big-budget games have introduced “freemium” elements as well. While these were once small transactions for a particular item, gambling-like loot boxes have become the preferred method. Gambling is obviously addictive for a reason, and some of its worst elements are now commonplace in AAA games.
Take Call of Duty, for example. It has hundreds of custom gun camos, outfits, and player icons. You can earn these by getting lucky with loot boxes or grinding out hundreds of in-game credits to get what you really want. But the game always offers the ability to spend real money on loot boxes—which don’t even guarantee you’ll get the item you’re looking for.
As mentioned above, the more players keep playing a game long after release, the larger the potential amount of loot box buyers. Overwatch features a few seasonal events during the year with special limited-time items. If you can’t get what you want through playing, you may turn to spending a few dollars on boxes.
The takeaway: Mobile games, and significant elements of big-budget games, are built to addict players. Whether through carefully crafted experiences that keep you drip-fed with rewards or pressuring you to spend money to enjoy gambling on loot boxes, they want your time and money.
6. Modern Video Games Are Enormous and Dense
Today’s technology enables video games on a scale that we couldn’t have imagined 20 years ago. From open-world games with hundreds of square miles to explore to RPGs that can take hundreds of hours to beat, there’s a staggering amount of content in modern games.
Most early video games had a set ending. Once you saved the princess in Super Mario Bros., you’d seen pretty much everything the game had to offer. Some games had a “hard mode” with a few variations, but it was simply a loop of what you’d already experienced.
Nowadays, series like Fallout, Just Cause, Far Cry, and Grand Theft Auto have densely packed maps with tons of missions to take on. Games like Civilization, FTL, and Spelunky have near-infinite replay value thanks to their randomized scenarios every time you play. And we’ve already discussed massive multiplayer games like League of Legends, Fornite, and Overwatch that receive regular updates and have millions of active players.
It’s easier to get addicted to games when there’s a seemingly endless amount of content to enjoy. Games of the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 eras didn’t offer such vast experiences, which lessened their potential to addict gamers.
The takeaway: Today’s mega-games have more potential to addict because of their sheer wealth of content. Players who want to experience everything a game has to offer are in for a long haul.
Video Game Addiction and You
Like anything else, games CAN become a problem for some. However, that doesn’t mean they’re inherently bad. Just because games have the potential to addict some people doesn’t mean that everyone who plays them has an issue. But it’s wise to know what can make games so addicting and stop if you see yourself going too far.
If you think you’re addicted to games or other technology, our guide to overcoming your tech addiction should be able to help.
Image Credit: Voyagerix/Depositphotos
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10 of the Best Windows 10 Themes for Every Desktop
A surprising number of users don’t change their desktop background. Don’t believe us? Just peek over a couple of people’s shoulders next time you’re in a coffee shop or airport.
And of the people that do change their desktop, far too many stick with one of the operating system’s stock images. It’s boring.
Why not jazz up your computer with a cool system-wide theme instead? Here are 10 Windows 10 themes for every desktop.
1. Windows 10 Dark Theme: GreyEve Theme
We think it’s fair to say that dark themes look the coolest. And, as an extra benefit, they are also much easier on your eyes than bright themes.
There are so many dark themes out there that it’s hard to choose a winner, but we like GreyEve. You can grab the ZIP file off DeviantArt. Place the file into %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes then go to Settings > Personalization > Themes and select it from the list.
We covered lots of other dark themes for Windows 10 if you don’t like GreyEve Theme.
2. Windows 10 Black Theme: Hover Dark Aero Theme
Granted there’s not a lot of difference between a dark theme and a black theme. However, Hover Dark Aero Theme does use more blacks and fewer greys than GreyEve Theme.
Before using the theme, you need to install UXThemePatcher For Windows 10. Once that’s up and running, grab a copy of the theme off DeviantArt.
When the download has finished, move the contents of the Theme folder into %windir%/Resources/Themes. You can apply the theme to your system from the Settings app.
3. HD Theme for Windows 10: 3D Theme
3D Theme, which is available on ThemePack, contains 17 high-definition wallpapers. The wallpapers all give the illusion of a 3D graphic.
The images are all abstract; though several of them draw inspiration from spheres and cubes.
To use 3D Theme, put the files in %windir%/Resources/Themes. You can use all 17 images at once; right-click on your desktop and choose Next Desktop Background to cycle through the options.
4. Windows 10 Aero Theme: Three Options
Windows removed the highly-popular Aero Glass Theme in Windows 8. But it is possible to restore the aero look to your operating system.
There are three solid options available to you. They are Glass2K, Aero Glass for Windows 8, and Winaero Tweaker. Don’t worry, both the latter options still work on Windows 10.
Going into the setup instructions for all three is beyond the scope of this article. Thankfully, we’ve covered them in detail when we explained how to get the Aero Glass theme on Windows 10. Check out the article if you’d like more information.
5. Windows XP Theme for Windows 10: XP Themes
Windows XP lives long in the memory.
Of course, you shouldn’t still be using the operating system for your day-to-day computing. Support ended a long time ago and it’s a security nightmare, not to mention it’s severely lacking in features compared to newer releases.
However, you can still make Windows 10 look like XP—it’s the best of both worlds for XP diehards.
The best option is XP Themes on DeviantArt. Just make sure you install the latest version of UxStyle before you proceed with setup.
6. Mac Theme for Windows 10: macDock
The most well-known aspect of the macOS operating system is the dock. It provides quick access to all your frequently-used apps. The Windows taskbar works in a similar way, but if you’re craving the Mac feel, perhaps you should try using macDock.
As the name suggests, it adds a Mac-like dock to the bottom of your screen. It will replace the existing taskbar, and you can customize the dock to display the apps you want to see.
Better yet, it also comes with a host of Mac apps ready to use, including Widget, Launchpad, Siri, Finder, and Exposé. It even has three skins and a drag-and-drop interface.
Grab the installation files off DeviantArt and run the EXE file to get started.
7. Windows 10 Anime Theme: Various
Anime, in all its forms, seems to become more popular with every passing day. Netflix has made a slew of Anime originals, you can stream it on Amazon Prime, and there are near-endless resources that’ll teach you how to draw in the anime style.
Therefore, it perhaps unsurprising to learn that you can find a glut of anime themes for Windows 10. On ThemePack you can grab themes for all your favorite stars and shows, including Gintama, Vegeta, Evangelion, and Haikyuu.
8. Windows 10 Christmas Theme: ReGe Special
What are the colors you associate with Christmas? For us, it’s red, green, gold, silver, and white.
And those five colors are precisely what ReGe Special is based around. The inside of windows gets a gold hue, app borders are red, menus are green, and there are sprinklings of other festive colors dotted about.
Like with Hover Dark Aero Theme, you’ll need to install UXThemePatcher before running the theme on your machine.
9. Sound Theme: Age of Empires
The Age of Empires soundtrack is one of the all-time video game greats. Who can forget the sound of the catapult firing off its payload or the priest converting enemy soldiers into loyal citizens?
You can find the Age of Empires theme in the official Windows theme catalog. And it doesn’t just come with sounds—you can also enjoy desktop backgrounds and an overhaul of the Windows color scheme into something resembling the game.
If Age of Empires isn’t your thing, the store offers plenty of other sound themes, including Beach Sunsets, Angry Birds, Gears of War, and Coastal Portugal.
10. Windows 10 Halloween Theme: Ticket to Fear
We’ll leave you with another theme for a specific time of year: Halloween.
The images in Ticket to Fear are genuinely a bit disturbing. There’s not a pumpkin in sight. Therefore, if young children use your computer, it’s probably not suitable.
But, if you feel like mentally scarring anyone who sees your screen, you can grab the eight high-definition images from Softpedia.
Note: Before Changing Your Windows 10 Theme…
Whenever you change your Windows 10 theme, you should always make sure you make Windows’ accent colors match your desktop background. It’ll make your theme appear more cohesive.
Luckily, this process can be automated. Head to Settings > Personalization > Colors > Choose your color and mark the checkbox next to Automatically pick an accent color from my background.
And if you didn’t know that setting existed, you might be even more surprised to learn about some of the newest menu items in the Settings app.
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5 Arduino Power Saving Tips That’ll Keep Yours Running for Days
Arduino boards have changed the face of DIY technology. Simple projects like creating miniature Arduino traffic lights are perfect for teaching beginners about basic electronics and programming.
Arduinos are perfect for home projects, and can be used on the move by attaching a battery pack to them. The problem is, even the chunkiest battery will be run down quickly by even a small Arduino board.
If you truly want your Arduino to run for the long haul, you are going to need to make some tweaks and changes.
1. Arduino Low-Power Software Libraries
There are several software libraries available that can change your Arduino’s power consumption. By sending the Arduino into a deep sleep for a set amount of time, power can be saved between operations. This is particularly useful for microcontrollers taking sensor readings in remote areas such as weather stations, or sensing sub-circuits for larger devices.
The Low-Power library by Github user rocketscream is an example of an easy to use library which is perfect for saving some power. Consider the following code, based on some of the library’s example code:
#include "LowPower.h"
// setup() your sensors/LEDs here
void loop()
{
// This next line powers the arduino down for 8 seconds
//ADC means analogue to digital conversion, and BOD for brown out detection
//both are turned off during the sleep period to save power
LowPower.powerDown(SLEEP_8S, ADC_OFF, BOD_OFF);
//After each sleep, you can instruct the Arduino to carry out its tasks here - for example, take a temperature reading and send it to a server.
}
This code is a good start. Not only does it drop the power consumption using already built in methods, it turns off the potentially costly analogue to digital conversion (which can use power even when idle) and the brown out detection which stops the Arduino running code when its input voltage gets too low.
This is a simple but effective measure to start cutting down how much power your Arduino pulls. We can go much deeper than this though!
2. Arduino Built-In Power Saving
The Arduino programming language has its own built-in sleep functionality designed to help with power saving. The sleep function, used in tandem with interrupt clauses, allow the Arduino to wake up again.
Arduino has specific pins designed for interrupting the sleep cycle, and you can access them using the setup function:
#define interruptPin 2
void setup()
{
//interrupt pin MUST be Arduino pin 2 or 3 on Uno
//set the pin to pull up mode
pinMode(interruptPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
Now that this is set up as an interrupt pin, you can safely go about sending your Arduino to sleep. A simplified way of doing this is to create two small functions:
void sendToSleep()
{
//enable sleeping - note this primes sleep, not starts it!
sleep_enable();
//attach the interrupt, specify the pin, the method to call on interrupt,
//and the interrupt conditions, in this case when the pin is pulled low.
attachInterrupt(interruptPin, wakeUpAgain, LOW);
//actually activate sleep mode
sleep_cpu();
//code continues on from here after interrupt
Serial.println("Just awoke.");
}
void wakeUpAgain()
{
//stop sleep mode
sleep_disable();
//clear the interrupt
detachInterrupt(interrputPin);
}
The code above is a simplified way to send your Arduino into sleep mode, and you can wake it up again by connecting pin 2 to the GND pin. While the Arduino Uno is in sleep mode it shaves around 11mA off the total power draw, and if you use a Pro Mini instead you can expect to drop from 25mA regular power usage to just 0.57mA.
Interrupts are a great way to bring your power consumption down, and The Kurks blog has some detailed posts about them, which help to demystify interrupts for beginners.
3. Slow Down the Arduino Clock Speed
The clock speed of your Arduino determines how many operations it can perform per second. Most Arduino boards run on a 8 or 16 MHz processor, though some of the offshoot boards such as the Teensy 3.6 boast processing speeds of up to 180MHz! This is why many DIY hackers like to use Teensy boards over Arduino in their DIY projects.
All of this processing power comes at a power cost, and for many use cases employing the full clock speed is overkill. This is where regulating the clock speed through software can make a difference.
It would be remiss of me not to warn you, changing the clock speed can cause bootloader issues and may leave you with an Arduino you cannot upload sketches to, if done incorrectly.
If you do want to try changing your clock speed, along with making tools in the Arduino IDE to allow you to change CPU frequency on the fly, Pieter P’s detailed guide can help you get started.
4. Replace Power-Hungry Arduino Components
The Arduino Uno is the most popular board for beginners, and most Arduino kits supply either an official or clone model. Its larger form factor and hot swappable microchips make it perfect for experimentation, and its broad capacity for input voltages along with onboard voltage conversion for 3.3v components make it fit for almost every purpose.
All of this functionality doesn’t come cheap in terms of power usage. With this in mind, there are a number of things you can do to physically alter an Arduino Uno to save power.
The voltage regulator on the Arduino Uno causes the largest single power drain on the board. This isn’t particularly surprising, as it has to drop up to 7v safely from the input power supply to the board itself. Some have tried to get around this by replacing the regulator with more efficient ones, but this doesn’t really solve the issue.
Patrick Fenner of DefProc engineering came up with a great solution in his blog post covering Uno power saving strategies. By replacing the voltage regulator entirely with a DC-DC buck converter, he managed to half the power consumption of the microcontroller.
5. Make Your Own Arduino
A sure-fire way to only use the power needed for your project is to design a microcontroller to your own specifications. In the past we’ve shown how you can build your own Arduino for a fraction of the cost of an official board.
As well as having much more control over the size and scope of your circuit, this can bring power consumption down to 15.15mA in standby, and as little as 0.36mA in sleep mode. These figures are taken from the incredibly detailed post by Nick Gammon on his forum.
This post covers many other aspects of Arduino power saving, and is a fantastic resource to refer to when trying to squeeze a little more time out of a mobile power supply.
Use Arduino for Big Ideas and a Small Power Footprint
When you are working on your first beginner Arduino projects, power consumption probably isn’t too much of a concern.
As your ideas get bigger and require more thought, it is well worth learning ways to streamline your set up. Between making sure you get the right Arduino board and setting it up to get the most out of it, you can go a long way to making truly unique and useful devices. Good luck and keep tinkering!
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How to Record and Stream Games Online in Windows 10
There’s no doubt that streaming has changed video gaming. If you want to hop on board and show your gaming skills off, or just want to record the video for your own pride, we’re here to show you the simplest and best methods for streaming and recording games in Windows 10.
We’ll guide you through how to record and stream games using Microsoft Mixer, Steam, or your video card’s native software. These are all very simple to set up and will have you streaming and recording in no time. If you want something a bit more advanced, check our guide on how to use Open Broadcaster Software.
How to Record and Stream With Microsoft Mixer
Windows 10 has been making strides to be a better gaming platform. It’s now easier than ever to record and stream your games and you don’t have to download anything extra. To get started, press Windows key + I to open Settings and go to Gaming.
Recording
For recording settings, go to Game DVR.
By default, recordings will be saved in a Captures folder within Videos. If you want to save to a different location, use File Explorer to move the Captures folder.
The Background recording section gives the ability to automatically record as you play without you specifying it. This is great to capture unexpected moments. Just remember to set Record audio when I record a game to On, otherwise you’ll be stuck with silent clips.
The Video frame rate and Video quality options will help lower or boost the quality of the recording. If you have a powerful PC, set these to 60 fps and High respectively.
When in a game, press Windows key + G to open the Game bar. Here you can click the recording icon to capture immediately.
Streaming
For streaming settings, go to Broadcasting. If you don’t see this option, plug in a microphone or switch it to your primary audio device.
For people to hear you on your steam, slide Record audio when I broadcast to On. For people to see you on your stream, slide Use camera when I broadcast to On.
You can adjust the settings for each accordingly. It’s best to keep Use auto echo cancellation enabled for the microphone.
Windows 10 uses Mixer as the streaming service. Launch your game and press Windows key + G to open the Game bar. Click the Broadcast button and then customize the settings: name of the stream, where your webcam is positioned, whether it should use your microphone, and more.
Your stream can be found online by going to mixer.com/username, with username being whatever your Xbox gamertag is.
How to Stream Games With Steam
If you’re playing games on the computer, chances are you’re running them through Steam. Valve’s platform has long dominated the market, but did you know you can also stream on it? The platform doesn’t have a big audience, but if you want something simple to get started with then it’s a great choice.
Open Steam and from the top menu go to Steam > Settings > Broadcasting. Use the Privacy setting dropdown to choose who you want to be able to stream to: friends (with or without requesting), or everyone.
Use the Video Dimensions, Maximum Bitrate and Optimize encoding for dropdowns to change your stream quality. What it can handle will depend on how good your computer and internet connection is, along with how performance intensive the game you’re playing is.
There are other settings here, but a key one is Record my microphone if you want viewers to be able to hear you. If you’ve not already done so for Steam, click Configure microphone to get it set up correctly.
Your friends can view your stream by going to the Friends list, then clicking the dropdown arrow next to your name and clicking Watch Game. If you’ve got your privacy set so anyone can view, you’ll be discoverable on the Broadcasts tab. This is found in Steam by going to Community > Broadcasts.
If you want to stream primarily for your friends, and don’t need advanced features like displaying your webcam or other overlays on the video, then Steam Broadcasts is a great option.
How to Record and Stream With NVIDIA GeForce Experience
If you have an NVIDIA card, you can use GeForce Experience to record and stream. If you don’t already have it, download GeForce Experience directly from NVIDIA.
Recording
Press Alt + Z to open the Share overlay. Click Record > Settings. Here you can set the Resolution, Frame rate, and Bit rate you want your videos to record in. The higher these are, the more strain it’ll put on your system and the larger file sizes the videos will be. You can alternatively use a Quality preset. Click Save when done.
To edit where your videos are saved, press Alt + Z to open the overlay, click the settings cog, and go to Recordings. When in-game, press Alt + F9 to start and stop your recordings. You can also do this in the Alt + Z overlay.
You may have heard about ShadowPlay. This is what NVIDIA call the ability to save replays of your games without needing to explicitly press record. You can do it for a certain number of minutes passed; that limit can be edited via Alt + Z > Instant Replay > Settings.
To enable ShadowPlay, press Alt + Z, click Instant Replay, and click Turn on. You can turn it off the same way, though feel free to keep it on if your system can handle it. When in-game, press Alt + F10 to save the replay.
Streaming
Press Alt + Z to open the Share overlay and click the settings cog. Click Broadcast and select Yes to enable streaming. Press Back to return to Settings.
Click Connect and select the service you want to stream to, like Twitch or YouTube, and click Log in. You will be prompted to enter your login information with that service.
To set your stream settings, return to Settings and go to Broadcast > Customize. Here you can alter the Resolution, Frame rate, and Bit rate. Alternatively, use a Quality preset. The higher you choose, the more powerful system and internet connection you’ll need.
To begin streaming, open your game and press Alt + Z. Click Broadcast > Start and choose the service. Here you can set a Title, Location, and Audience for your stream. When you’re ready, click Go Live.
How to Record and Stream With AMD ReLive
If you have an AMD card, you can use Radeon Settings to record and stream. If you can’t find this program on your computer, download the latest drivers directly from AMD.
Open Radeon Settings and click the ReLive tab at the bottom. This is an optional feature of the program, so you may be prompted to Install it.
Once here, the first tab at the top is Global. To begin, slide ReLive to On. Now you can customize things like your Save Folder, various hotkeys, and your Audio Capture Device. Simply click each tile to edit it.
All of the Radeon options can be activated in-game via the overlay, activated by the Toggle Toolbar Hotkey (Alt + Z by default.)
Recording
Switch to the Recording tab. Here you can configure your recording settings; the Recording Profile offers presets, but you can change any of the settings for the ideal experience.
Having a higher Recording Resolution, Max Recording Bitrate and Recording FPS will produce better quality video, but it’ll put more of a strain on your system and will drain storage space quicker.
A good feature to enable here is Instant Replay. This will continuously record your games, up to the time limit you specify. This means that you don’t always need to be actively recording to capture your great gaming moments—simply press the Save Instant Replay Hotkey (Ctrl + Shift + S by default) while in-game to save.
To bring up the other recording options in-game, press the Toggle Recording Hotkey (Ctrl + Shift + R by default.)
Remember, all your video will output to the Save Folder that is specified on the Global tab. You can also customize the recording hotkeys here.
Streaming
Switch to the Streaming tab. Here you can connect to streaming accounts and customize your settings.
There are a number of services offered here, like Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube, which you can click to have automatically configured. Sign in with your username and password to automatically configure them. Alternatively, if the service you want isn’t listed, click Custom Stream and provide the Server URL and Connection Key.
On this tab you’ll also be able to customize the quality of the stream, via options like Streaming Resolution, Streaming Bitrate, and Streaming FPS. If you have a powerful system you can set these higher. Alternatively, use the Streaming Profile dropdown to use a preset.
When in game, press the Toggle Streaming Hotkey (Ctrl + Shift + G by default) to bring up the streaming options and go live. Don’t forget that this, and the other recording shortcuts, can be edited on the Global tab.
Start Building an Audience for Your Game Stream
Any of these programs are great for recording videos. If you’re more interested in streaming, pick one that lets you output to your platform of choice. Microsoft and Steam keep things within their ecosystem, but NVIDIA and AMD let you use things like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and more.
If you’re ready to take your streaming to the next level, you can start building an audience for your live streaming channel.
Image Credit: Gorodenkoff/Depositphotos
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Review: The V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless headphones look and sound beautiful
Damn. These are good looking headphones. The V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless could be the best looking headphones available. Better yet, they sound good, too.
As the name suggests, this is the second generation of this series of headphones from V-Moda. The drivers are different and the company improved on the build quality. The originals were already one of my favorite headphones and the followup is even better.
[gallery ids="1667954,1667951,1667952,1667950,1667953,1667955,1667956"]Here’s what I like:
The build quality of these headphones is superb. The V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless headphones feel like they’ll last a lifetime. I have headphones from Bose, Definitive, Denon, Shinola, Audeze and more and none look or feel as good as these. They’re comfortable. Even on my large head, they fit nicely and I’m able to wear them for hours at a time without issue.
The headphones sound great, too. To be clear, they’re not the best sounding headphones available, but the sound is on par for the price. The sound stage is full and wide with great separation between the channels.
The V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless are most comfortable with the mid tones found in rock, country, jazz and pop. That’s not to say low and high tones are absent; they’re present but not noteworthy. The headphones are balanced nicely with a preference to sounds in the middle of the range.
I always use a few tracks to test headphones. Save Tonight by Eagle-Eye Cherry is one of them. The track is mixed in a way that produced a narrow soundstage. On headphones the audio can be either muddled or clean. On these headphones, it’s closer to clean but not perfect. The lyrics come across clear while the instruments are a bit blended. 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up sounds fantastics. You can hear the strumming of the guitars and feel the emotion of the band. The Cranberries’ Linger is more of the same. It’s just lovely on these headphones.
The wide soundstage is put on display for Look At Me Now. Busta sits in the middle and his lyrics flow in the middle while the beat comes in from the sides. Reproduced correctly, it’s an immersive experience and these headphones do it correctly. Meek Mill’s Dreams and Nightmares is another great example. These headphones put Meek in the center of the stage while the piano tracks sits on the side of the stage. The headphone’s tuning makes the track a stunning example of properly tuned headphones.
These headphones get loud. They’re among the loudest headphones I’ve tested. And since the headphones lack active noise cancelation, that’s a good thing. I’m pleased to report, there is very little distortion when the headphones are at their max volume.
Wireless battery life is excellent. V-Moda claims 14 hours. I used these headphones for several days and never found the bottom of the battery. That’s good enough for me.
Here’s what I don’t like:
The headphones lack on key feature: They keep playing when taken off. That’s a big no-no and an unfortunate miss from V-moda. It’s not a dealbreaker, though. These are wireless headphones and therefore they have a limited battery life even though they have great battery life. Such headphones need to have the ability to stop playing audio when removed from the head.
Bottom line:
The headphones are available in several colors through retailers or buyers can use V-Moda’s customizer to build a custom pair. Want a set of headphones with 14k gold plated side plates? That’s an option though it adds hundreds to the cost. Platinum headphones? That’ll cost $26,000.
I love the V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless headphones. These are great headphones and I whole heartily recommend them. At $350, they punch above their weight class. These are solid headphones with a build quality that seem like they’ll last longer than other options.
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Facebook Kills Hello, Moves, and tbh Apps
Facebook is shutting down three of its mobile apps, including one it only acquired last year. Facebook obviously has a massive userbase of 2 billion users, but its attempts to build out other apps haven’t always worked. As is the case here.
The three apps in question are Hello, which displayed information about callers, Moves, which tracked your exercise, and tbh, an anonymous feedback app for teenagers. While none boast Facebook-sized numbers, existing users will be disappointed.
Facebook Waves Goodbye to Hello, Etc.
In a post on the Facebook Newsroom, the social network says it’s “shutting down three apps due to low usage”. Facebook will be shutting down all three apps within weeks, and has promised to “delete the user data from all three of these apps within 90 days”.
Facebook launched Hello in 2015 for Android users in the U.S., Brazil, and Nigeria. Hello was a caller ID app which let you combine Facebook information with your contacts. Which meant you could learn all about who was calling before you even picked up.
Hello. tbh, we're moving on https://t.co/PEqmoler4P
— Facebook (@facebook) July 2, 2018
Facebook acquired Moves in 2014. Moves being a fitness tracker app that let you record your daily activity across a range of disciplines using your smartphone. Despite gaining 13 million users, Facebook stopped updating the app a while ago.
Lastly, there’s tbh, which launched in August 2017. Sensing potential competition, Facebook acquired tbh in October. Unfortunately, ultimately, Facebook has decided that the app which let you compliment other people has no future.
Facebook Focuses on Fan Favorites
Facebook has had very little success in launching its own standalone apps. And, as we can see here with Moves and tbh, even its acquisitions don’t always turn out well. Still, Facebook does own both Instagram and WhatsApp, and they’re not exactly struggling.
If you’ve read this far down this article you’re probably a big fan of Facebook. Or at least use it begrudgingly. Whatever the case may be you should be sure to read our guide detailing how to use Facebook and our complete guide to Facebook privacy.
Read the full article: Facebook Kills Hello, Moves, and tbh Apps
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Wikipedia goes dark in Spanish, Italian ahead of key EU vote on copyright
Wikipedia’s Italian and Spanish language versions have temporarily shut off access to their respective versions of the free online encyclopedia in Europe to protest against controversial components of a copyright reform package ahead of a key vote in the EU parliament tomorrow.
The protest follows a vote by the EU parliament’s legal affairs committee last month which backed the reforms — including the two most controversial elements: Article 13, which makes platforms directly liable for copyright infringements by their users — pushing them towards pre-filtering all content uploads, with all the associated potential chilling effects for free expression; and Article 11, which targets news aggregator business models by creating a neighboring right for snippets of journalistic content — aka ‘the link tax’, as critics dub it.
Visitors to Wikipedia in many parts of the EU (and further afield) are met with a banner which urges them to defend the open Internet against the controversial proposal by calling their MEP to voice their opposition to a measure critics describe as ‘censorship machines’, warning it will “weaken the values, culture and ecosystem on which Wikipedia is based”.
Clicking on a button to ‘call your MEP’ links through to anti-Article 13 campaign website, saveyourinternet.eu, where users can search for the phone number of their MEP and/or send an email to protest against the measure. The initiative is backed by a large coalition of digital and civil rights groups — including the EFF, the Open Rights Group, and the Center for Democracy & Technology.
In a longer letter to visitors explaining its action, the Spanish Wikipedia community writes that: “If the proposal were approved in its current version, actions such as sharing a news item on social networks or accessing it through a search engine would become more complicated on the Internet; Wikipedia itself would be at risk.”
The Spanish language version of Wikipedia will remain dark throughout the EU parliament vote — which is due to take place at 10 o’clock (UTC) on July 5.
“We want to continue offering an open, free, collaborative and free work with verifiable content. We call on all members of the European Parliament to vote against the current text, to open it up for discussion and to consider the numerous proposals of the Wikimedia movement to protect access to knowledge; among them, the elimination of articles 11 and 13, the extension of the freedom of panorama to the whole EU and the preservation of the public domain,” it adds.
The Italian language version of Wikipedia went dark yesterday.
While the protest banners about the reform are appearing widely across Wikipedia, the decisions to block out encyclopedia content are less widespread — and are being taken by each local community of editors.
As you’d expect, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has been a very vocal critic of Article 13 — including lashing out at whoever was in control of the European Commission’s Twitter feed yesterday when they tried to suggest that online encyclopedias will not be affected by the proposal — by suggesting they would not be “considered” to be giving access to “large amounts of unauthorised protected content” by claiming most of their content would fall outside the scope of the law because it’s covered by Creative Commons licenses. (An interpretation of the proposed rules that anti-Article 13 campaigners dispute.)
And the commissioners drafting this portion of the directive do appear to have been mostly intending to regulate YouTube — which has been a target for record industry ire in recent years, over the relatively small royalties paid to artists vs streaming music services.
But critics argue this is a wrongheaded, sledgehammer-to-crack a nut approach to lawmaking — which will have the unintended consequence of damaging free expression and access to information online.
Wales shot back at the EC’s tweet — saying it’s “deeply inappropriate for the European Commission to be lobbying publicly and misleading the public in this way”.
A little later in the same Twitter thread, as more users had joined the argument, he added: “The Wikipedia community is not so narrow minded as to let the rest of the Internet suffer just because we are big enough that they try to throw us a bone. Justice matters.”
The EU parliament will vote as a whole tomorrow — when we’ll find out whether or not MEPs have been swayed by this latest #SaveYourInternet campaign.
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Captiv8 is making its influencer database available for free
You might think that the main selling point of an influencer marketing startup like Captiv8 is to help marketers find influencers and creators to work with. Maybe so, but that isn’t stopping the company from making its creator discovery product available for free.
“We felt that we really wanted to just open up that ecosystem, to provide brands access to find and research influencers without having to pay for it,” co-founder Krishna Subramanian told me.
Through the free product, marketers can look through the 1 million-plus influencers indexed on the platform — in some cases, those profiles are based entirely on public data, but influencers can also claim them and provide additional data.
Marketers can then search based on filters like personality archetype, content type, location, representation and much more. Plus, Captiv8 is offering demographic and brand affinity data about an influencer’s audiences.
Until now, Subramanian said that if you weren’t paying for a service like Captiv8, you could only find influencers in scattershot, ad hoc ways, like reading articles about the top influencers in various categories.
On Captiv8, meanwhile, marketers are apparently spending two hours per day on creator discovery, saving them 60 percent of the time they would have spent on the process.
So why make it available for free? While brands like Dr Pepper, Snapple, StubHub and Honda already use Captiv8, Subramanian said the goal is to “widen the funnel,” turning this into “the default place” where marketers go to learn about influencers.
And then, of course, the company can upsell you on Captiv8’s entire “end-to-end SaaS platform,” charging for additional audience data, as well as tools like campaign management, measurement and social listening.
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Facebook quietly relaunches apps for Groups platform after lockdown
Facebook is becoming a marketplace for enterprise apps that help Group admins manage their communities.
To protect itself and its users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook locked down the Groups API for building apps for Groups. These apps had to go through a human-reviewed approval process, and lost access to Group member lists, plus the names and profile pics of people who posted. Now, approved Groups apps are reemerging on Facebook, accessible to admins through a new in-Facebook Groups apps browser that gives the platform control over discoverability.
Facebook confirmed the new Groups apps browser after our inquiry, telling TechCrunch, “What you’re seeing today is related to changes we announced in April that require developers to go through an updated app review process in order to use the Groups API. As part of this, some developers who have gone through the review process are now able to access the Groups API.”
Facebook wouldn’t comment further, but this Help Center article details how Groups can now add apps. Matt Navarra first spotted the new Groups apps option and tipped us off. Previously, admins would have to find Group management tools outside of Facebook and then use their logged-in Facebook account to give the app permissions to access their Group’s data.
Groups are often a labor of love for admins, but generate tons of engagement for the social network. That’s why the company recently began testing Facebook subscription Groups that allow admins to charge a monthly fee. With the right set of approved partners, the platform offers Group admins some of the capabilities usually reserved for big brands and businesses that pay for enterprise tools to manage their online presences.
Becoming a gateway to enterprise tool sets could make Facebook Groups more engaging, generating more time on site and ad views from users. This also positions Facebook as a natural home for ad campaigns promoting different enterprise tools. And one day, Facebook could potentially try to act more formally as a Groups App Store and try to take a cut of software-as-a-service subscription fees the tool makers charge.
Facebook can’t build every tool that admins might need, so in 2010 it launched the Groups API to enlist some outside help. Moderating comments, gathering analytics and posting pre-composed content were some of the popular capabilities of Facebook Groups apps. But in April, it halted use of the API, announcing that “there is information about people and conversations in groups that we want to make sure is better protected. Going forward, all third-party apps using the Groups API will need approval from Facebook and an admin to ensure they benefit the group.”
Now apps that have received the necessary approval are appearing in this Groups apps browser. It’s available to admins through their Group Settings page. The apps browser lets them pick from a selection of tools like Buffer and Sendible for scheduling posts to their Group, and others for handling commerce messages.
Facebook is still trying to bar the windows of its platform, ensuring there are no more easy ways to slurp up massive amounts of sensitive user data. Yesterday it shut down more APIs and standalone apps in what appears to be an attempt to streamline the platform so there are fewer points of risk and more staff to concentrate on safeguarding the most popular and powerful parts of its developer offering.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal has subsided to some degree, with Facebook’s share price recovering and user growth maintaining at standard levels. However, a new report from The Washington Post says the FBI, FTC and SEC will be investigating Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and the social network’s executives’ testimony to Congress. Facebook surely wants to get back to concentrating on product, not politics, but must take it slow and steady. There are too many eyes on it to move fast or break anything.
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500 Intel drones to replace fireworks above Travis Air Force base for Fourth of July
The Fourth of July will be a little different tomorrow at Travis Air Force base in Fairfield California. Instead of fireworks, 500 Intel Shooting Star drones will take to the sky and preform an aerial routine in honor of the holiday and the base’s 75th anniversary.
These are the same drones that preformed at Disney World, the Super Bowl and the Olympics.
One person controls the fleet of drones thanks to a sophisticated control platform that pre-plans the route of each drone. At that time Intel engineers told me that the system can control an unlimited amount of drones. In the version I saw, the drones used GPS to stay in place and the drones lacked any collision detection sensors.
It’s an impressive show of technology. I was in attendance for the first show at Disney World and the drones are a wonderful alternative to fireworks. Sure, fireworks are a Fourth of July tradition, but they can’t do the things these drones can do plus, since they’re much more quiet, more people can enjoy the show.
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Facebook quietly relaunches Apps For Groups platform after lockdown
Facebook is becoming a marketplace for enterprise apps that help Group admins manage their communities.
To protect itself and its users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook locked down the Groups API for building apps for Groups. These apps had to go through a human-reviewed approval process, and lost access to Group member lists, plus the names and profile pics of people who posted. Now, approved Groups Apps are reemerging on Facebook, accessible to admins through a new in-Facebook Groups apps browser that gives the platform control over discoverability.
Facebook confirmed the new Group apps browser after our inquiry, telling TechCrunch “What you’re seeing today is related to changes we announced in April that require developers to go through an updated app review process in order to use the Groups API. As part of this, some developers who have gone through the review process are now able to access the Groups API.”
Facebook wouldn’t comment further, but this Help Center article details how Groups can now add apps. Matt Navarra first spotted the new Group apps option and tipped us off. Previously, admins would have to find Group management tools outside of Facebook and then use their logged-in Facebook account to give the app permissions to access their Group’s data.
Groups are often a labor of love for admins, but generate tons of engagement for the social network. That’s why the company recently began testing Facebook subscription Groups that allow admins to charge a monthly fee. With the right set of approved partners, the platform offers Group admins some of the capabilities usually reserved for big brands and businesses that pay for enterprise tools to manage their online presences.
Becoming a gateway to enterprise tool sets could make Facebook Groups more engaging, generating more time on site and ad views from users. This also positions Facebook as a natural home for ad campaigns promoting different enterprise tools. And one day, Facebook could potentially try to act more formally as a Groups App Store and try to take a cut of software-as-a-service subscription fees the tool makers charge.
Facebook can’t build every tool that admins might need by itself, so in 2010 it launched the Groups API to enlist some outside help. Moderating comments, gathering analytics, and posting pre-composed content were some of the popularity capabilities of Facebook Groups Apps. But in April, it halted use of the API, announcing that “there is information about people and conversations in groups that we want to make sure is better protected. Going forward, all third-party apps using the Groups API will need approval from Facebook and an admin to ensure they benefit the group.”
Now apps that have received the necessary approval are appearing in this Groups Apps browser. It’s available to admins through their Group Settings page. The apps browser lets them pick from a selection of tools like Buffer and Sendible for scheduling posts to their Group, and others for handling commerce messages.
Facebook is still trying to bar the windows of its platform, ensuring there are no more easy ways to slurp up massive amounts of sensitive user data. Yesterday it shut down more APIs and standalone apps in a what appears to be an attempt to streamline the platform so there are fewer points of risk and more staff to concentrate on safeguarding the most popular and powerful parts of its developer offering.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal has subsided to some degree, with Facebook’s share price recovering and user growth maintaining at standard levels. However, a new report from the Washington Post says the FBI, FTC, and SEC will be investigating Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and the social network’s executives testimonies to congress. Facebook surely wants to get back to concentrating on product, not politics, but must take it slow and steady. There are too many eyes on it to move fast or break anything.
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What Is GrayKey? A Tool That Breaks iPhone Encryption and Passwords
Encryption is a boon to anyone using a digital device. The internet would be a dangerous place without encryption, as would Wi-Fi access points and password-protected devices like iPhones.
However, the iPhone is no longer the bastion of security it once was. US law enforcement agencies are using a cheap tool to bypass iPhone encryption, drastically reducing privacy while damaging security.
Here’s a deeper look at the new GrayKey tool, what it does, why it’s dangerous, and why Apple is worried about it.
Apple vs. The FBI
Before we examine GrayKey, a little background context for iPhone encryption and attempts to crack it.
Remember the San Bernardino iPhone? After a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, the FBI took Apple to court. The FBI wanted Apple to create an encryption backdoor that would let them skirt the iPhone security of one of the deceased terrorists. Naturally, Apple refused, correctly asserting that once the backdoor was created, it would never be closed.
The Israeli-based security firm, Cellebrite, eventually found a way through the Apple security mechanisms using a previously unknown vulnerability. And there was nothing of note on the phone. Also note that at the time, the Cellebrite service cost $5,000 per device and the phone had to be sent to their secure facility.
Flash forward to 2017. A company known as Grayshift appears on the market, selling their new product: GrayKey. The purpose of GrayKey was unclear until Thomas Fox-Brewster revealed the device in a Forbes Exclusive, including several pictures as well as an overview of exactly what the GrayKey iPhone unlocker does.
The GrayKey iPhone Unlocker
Here’s what is known about the GrayKey iPhone unlocker so far.
The GrayKey device itself is a small, gray box measuring four inches deep by two inches tall. The box comes with two Lightning cables sticking out the front for connecting two iPhones at a time.
An iPhone connects to the GrayKey device for about two minutes, after which they are disconnected but not yet cracked. The actual cracking process time varies depending on the password strength.
An easy passcode takes around two hours to crack via brute-force, while more difficult passcodes (six digits) can take three days or longer. The GrayKey documentation, also seen by Malwarebytes, doesn’t mention cracking times for longer combinations.
When the crack finds the device passcode, the phone will display a black screen showing the code with other device information. (Tips for creating a strong and memorable password.)
GrayKey Downloads the Entire iPhone
The unlocker displays the device passcode, but it also downloads the entire iPhone file system to the GrayKey device. The GrayKey then connects to a web-based interface where it is available for analysis.
The image below shows the results of a cracked iPhone X. Note the “Found passcode,” the very recent “Software Version,” and the “iTunes Backup” and “Full Filesystem” available for download (including their SHA256 hash).
GrayKey Costs a Lot of Money
The GrayKey iPhone unlocker has two different versions.
The first model costs $15,000 and requires internet connectivity to work. In that, the device is geofenced to its initial setup network to make sure the GrayKey isn’t easily transferred. Other reports claim the persistent internet connection model also only allows 300 unlocks, working out at $50 per iPhone.
The second model costs $30,000 and works offline, with no apparent limit on the number of uses of the GrayKey device. The device will presumably work until Apple finally figures out the vulnerability and patches it.
Which Law Enforcement Agencies Have a GrayKey?
While these are undoubtedly huge sums of money, law enforcement agency budgets will easily (or miraculously, depending on the agency) stretch for a tool that creates an entirely new avenue of information. Especially one previously unobtainable for many agencies, at least in such an apparently easy capacity.
An ongoing Motherboard investigation found several different agency types had already bought a GrayKey:
- Local police: The Miami-Dade County Police indicated that they might have purchased a GrayKey device.
- Regional police: The Maryland State Police and Indiana State Police have issued procurement forms for GrayKey devices.
- City police: Documents also indicate that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received a quote from Grayshift regarding GrayKey devices.
- Secret Service: Emails show agency plans to purchase six GrayKey devices.
- State Department: The Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security bought a $15,000 item from Grayshift in March 2018, according to public procurement records.
- DEA: The Drug Enforcement Agency issued a Sources Sought document for an offline GrayKey device.
- FBI: Online public procurement records show the FBI looking to buy six GrayKey devices.
If Grayshift’s GrayKey continues to provide authorities with previously unobtainable iPhone data, you are likely to see more agency procurement forms too.
The IRS is now a GrayShift customer – $15k purchase of the iPhone hacker's kit https://t.co/lWDLQscSHY
— Thomas Fox-Brewster (@iblametom) June 23, 2018
What Is Apple Doing to Stop GrayKey?
As you might imagine, Apple is not best pleased with the iPhone’s security being so publicly breached. And not just old iPhone’s—we’re talking top of the range devices running some of the latest versions of iOS. Apple isn’t going to sit and wait for Grayshift to keep the vulnerability open.
Instead, in the current iOS 12 public beta, there is a new feature that drastically limits access to the Lightning port of a locked iPhone. (More features coming to your iPhone with iOS 12!)
“We’re constantly strengthening the security protections in every Apple product to help customers defend against hackers, identity thieves, and intrusions into their personal data,” an Apple spokesperson told Reuters. “We have the greatest respect for law enforcement, and we don’t design our security improvements to frustrate their efforts to do their jobs.”
iOS 12 will render Lightning port brute-force attacks useless by disabling access via that route after just one hour. The new USB Restricted Mode will stop any data communication from a newly connected device after that 60-minute period, effectively rendering the GrayKey useless. The current USB Restricted Mode settings have a time limit of one week, giving authorities a lengthy period to hopefully brute-force the password.
How Can You Protect Yourself Against GrayKey?
Given the incoming update to iOS 12 and the introduction of restrictions to USB Restricted Mode, there is only one thing you can do right now: update your passcodes. You should always use a minimum of eight digits to keep your phone secure. Alternatively, to truly bulk out your iPhone security, switch to a lengthier passphrase.
iOS supports custom numeric and custom alphanumeric codes of any length. A passphrase uses multiple words to create much stronger lock than your regular PIN or password. Check out the extremely relevant XKCD comic for more information:
The Ongoing Gray Area of GrayKey
Right now, law enforcement agencies hold the cards. In a sense, at least. An iPhone with poor security is vulnerable. However, this situation might not last long, unless Grayshift keeps finding vulnerabilities and workarounds for Apple’s iPhone security patches. Furthermore, the GrayKey isn’t unprecedented.
The IP-Box was a similar device that could access the information of locked iPhones running older iOS versions. Its functionality ceased with the iOS 8.2 update but gave rise to the IP-Box 2. The IP-Box 2 is still widely available but requires knowledge of how to remove integrated circuit chips to place in the device.
There are other implications, too. Is the iPhone permanently vulnerable after the password cracking completes? Can the iPhone owner use their phone as normal again, or will it need to be replaced?
And finally, how should authorities decide when to use their GrayKey device? I mean, is there a defined protocol that governs device password cracking using a third-party tool? Do they need an affidavit, reasonable suspicion, and so on?
The ongoing implications and debate surrounding iPhone password cracking using a GrayKey device will continue. I’m sure the majority of readers expect law enforcement to do as much as they can to protect victims. If password cracking becomes a core tenet of civic security, do you trust the authorities to exercise that power at the right time?
And would you just increase the amount of encryption on your device to counteract their efforts?
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