What just happened? Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who has repeatedly made the false claim that he is Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, has been found to be in contempt of court and handed a 12-month jail sentence for continuing to sue developers. Back in 2016, Wright announced that he was the pseudonymous Satoshi and said he could prove it. That claim has been disputed ever since, but Wright continues to argue that he really is the mysterious creator and has launched legal battles against those who say otherwise.The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) forced a trial earlier this year aiming to stop Wright from suing more people.The high court in London Wright lives in the UK found in favor of COPA. The judge said during the trial that Wright had lied about his role in launching Bitcoin, using clumsy forgeries "on a grand scale" and "technobabble," and that he is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper. Wright was ordered to stop taking legal action against Bitcoin developers.In October, Wright ignored this court order and launched a legal case claiming he was owed $1.2 trillion for the intellectual property rights related to Bitcoin. He also repeated his claim that he is Satoshi.The judge said the case is a "flagrant breach" of the original court order. For the five counts of contempt of court, Wright has been sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years, and must pay 145,000 ($181,308) in costs within two weeks. His $1.2 trillion claim has also been dismissed. // Related StoriesWright had been ordered to appear in court in person during the hearing, but he refused on the grounds that he could only do so if he was paid 240,000 ($300,000) to cover his costs and lost earnings. He appeared via video call from somewhere in Asia Wright refused to say where stating that he intends to appeal the sentence.COPA counsel Jonathan Hough KC said Wright's legal threats had "terrorized" people, putting "developers and bloggers through [] years of personal hell." He said the latest claims were intended to "cause maximum possible distress."In May, High Court judge Mr Justice Mellor said that Wright presents himself as an extremely clever person, "however, in my judgment, he is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is.""In both his written evidence and in days of oral evidence under cross-examination, I am entirely satisfied that Dr Wright lied to the court extensively and repeatedly," the judge said, via The Guardian. "Most of his lies related to the documents he had forged which purported to support his claim. All his lies and forged documents were in support of his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto."In October, an HBO documentary claimed Peter Todd, a Canadian developer who was heavily involved in Bitcoin in its early days, was Satoshi Nakamoto. Todd denied the claim and went into hiding for his own safety.Satoshi is thought to own 1 million bitcoins, worth around $92 billion, which would make him one of the richest people in the world.

Google Photos for Android is introducing a new feature that simplifies photo editing right before sharing. A tipster from Android Authority first reported this tool.The new Quick Edit tool lets users easily enhance or crop individual photos before sharing them. It features an Enhance button, which functions similarly to the Enhance effect in the standard photo editing options. Additionally, a crop button is similar to the one in the regular photo editor. When multiple photos are selected before hitting the share button, the typical share sheet appears instead of the new Quick Edit screen.Recommended VideosSimple, one-click photo enhancement tools in Google Photos are not new. At least four different options are currently available. The Enhance tool automatically analyzes your photo and adjusts the brightness, contrast, and color. Additionally, Suggested Edits may appear, providing personalized recommendations such as cropping or rotating that can be applied with just one click.Android AuthorityYou can also apply various filters instantly to change the mood and style of your image. Basic adjustments like Crop and Rotate are available with a single click, offering presets for common aspect ratios.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe tipster says the new Quick Edit tool works on his Pixel 6 Pro running version 7.10.0 of the Google Photos app. Interestingly, my Pixel 9 Pro XL is running Google Photos 7.11.0, and I dont see the new feature, so perhaps its being rolled out to Android devices on a rolling basis.RelatedGoogle Photos is accessible on various devices. In addition to Android, the Google Photos app can be found in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. It is also available on the web.Editors Recommendations

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim has been part of the rumor mill for a while now. If youve missed it, heres what you need to know: It almost certainly does exist, and its expected to launch sometime during the middle of 2025, instead of next month like the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup. And now, we have a better idea of just how thin this phone might actually be.Well-known tipster Ice Universe shared the information on Weibo, stating that its thickness may be 6.x mm. In other words, the leaker isnt sure of the exact thickness, but expects it to fall between 6mm and 6.9mm.Recommended VideosThe thinnest model of a Galaxy phone currently available is the Galaxy S24, coming in at 7.6mm thick. The Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus also come in at that same thickness. Even if the S25 Slim is only 6.9mm thick, thats still a significant decrease over whats currently available.Joe Maring / Digital TrendsIt wouldnt be Samsungs first attempt at a slender phone, either. Back in 2015, Samsung launched the Galaxy A8, a handset that was just 5.9mm thick. It remains one of the thinnest Samsung phones ever created, and while we expect the S25 Slim to be small, we dont expect it to be that small.Please enable Javascript to view this contentFor comparison, the Apple iPhone 16 is 7.8mm thick, while the Google Pixel 9 comes in at 8.5mm. The Galaxy S25 lineup already looks to be thinner than much of the competition.RelatedAnd as far as the thinnest phone goes, that honor falls to the Honor Magic V3. This folding handset measures only 9.2mm when closed an already impressive size but is just 4.4mm when opened. For reference, thats less than two-tenths of an inch.How much of a practical benefit will come from the Galaxy S25 Slims thin design remains to be seen. However, assuming this latest leak is accurate, itll certainly be an impressive technical feat, if nothing else.Editors Recommendations

I suspected to see some new handheld gaming PCs this year at CES, but it looks like something even more exciting is in store. AMD and Lenovo are hosting an event during the week of the show, and itll have two special guests in attendance: Valves Pierre-Loup Griffais and Microsofts Jason Ronald.Ill be attending the event on January 7, about which Sean Hollister over at The Verge initially shared out the details. There are a couple of reasons why this event could be significant. First, Valve. Since the launch of the Asus ROG Ally, there have been a handful of these types of events featuring spokespeople from AMD, Microsoft, and the company making a handheld Lenovo or Asus. Valve hasnt ever been in attendance, and considering Valve makes the Linux-based Steam Deck, it would be odd for the company to have a presence.Recommended VideosLike most Valve employees, Pierre-Loup Griffais wears a lot of hats, but hes been focused on the Steam Deck for a while. In fact, hes one of the people I spoke to about the origins of Proton in the Steam Deck. The Lenovo Legion Go is a Windows-based handheld, so the fact that Griffais will be in attendance says quite a lot.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming That brings us to the second interesting detail. A couple of weeks ago, Valve updated its branding guidelines with a handful of logos that say Powered by SteamOS. Alongside this, Even Blass leaked various images of a black Lenovo handheld with a button showing the Steam logo. Valve has been clear that its working to bring SteamOS to other handheld devices, and this convolution of different factors paints a pretty clear picture of whats coming.Evan Blass / XIts not confirmed, but its just about as close to a confirmation as were going to get before January 7.RelatedId stop short of calling this the Steam Deck 2, however. Valve says its working on a Steam Deck 2, and itll make one whenever theres a big upgrade in performance available. There are still reasons to get excited about this handheld, though. The Lenovo Legion Go uses the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, which is more powerful than the chip inside of both the Steam Deck and the Steam Deck OLED. In addition, AMD confirmed that its next-gen Ryzen Z2 Extreme will arrive early next year.Its impossible to say right now what this mystery handheld will be packing, but either way, itll be more powerful than the Steam Deck. Add on top of that the lightweight performance of SteamOS, and the true wizardry of Proton, and we might have a very compelling handheld.Thankfully, its just a few shorts weeks before we know for sure. Ill be at the event, and Lenovo is promising an opportunity to play with the latest Lenovo Legion Go lineup. You can bet Ill be shouldering my way through the crowd to see whatever device is there in person.Editors Recommendations

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holiday homework Senators blast carmakers over right-to-repair opposition OEMs also called out for selling data they collect on drivers. Jonathan M. Gitlin Dec 20, 2024 11:09 am | 0 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreYesterday, US Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Joshua Hawley (R-MO) sent letters to the heads of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla, as well as the US heads of Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen, excoriating them over their opposition to the right-to-repair movement."We need to hit the brakes on automakers stealing your data and undermining your right-to-repair," said Senator Merkley in a statement to Ars. "Time and again, these billionaire corporations have a double standard when it comes to your privacy and security: claiming that sharing vehicle data with repair shops poses cybersecurity risks while selling consumer data themselves. Oregon has one of the strongest right-to-repair laws in the nation, and thats why Im working across the aisle to advance efforts nationwide that protect consumer rights."Most repairs arent at dealershipsThe Senators point out that 70 percent of car parts and services currently come from independent outlets, which are seen as trustworthy and providing good value for money, "while nearly all dealerships receive the worst possible rating for price."OEMs and their tier-one suppliers restricting the supply of car parts to within their franchised dealership networks also slows down the entire repair process for owners as well as increasing the cost of getting one's car fixed, the letter states.As Ars noted recently, more than one in five automotive recalls are now fixed with software patches, and increasingly the right-to-repair fight has centered on things digitalaccess to diagnostics, firmware, and connected services. The percentage of non-hardware recall fixes will surely grow in the coming years as more and more automakers replace older models with software-defined vehicles.But proponents of the right to repair have faced stiff opposition from automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on cybersecurity grounds. In 2023, NHTSA went as far as telling OEMs not to comply with an expanded state law in Massachusetts that requires an open data platform for telematics, something the voters of Mass. were overwhelmingly in favor of.The Senators argue that in fact, allowing third-party access "is consistent with the FTC's data security guidance," and point out that an attempt by Mercedes-Benz to use the same argument against independent repairs in Germany was shot down by the German court, which told the company that it was no "excuse to restrict data access to suppliers."Shoddy software is the risk, not third-party accessRather than the availability of diagnostic tools and repair information, the cybersecurity threat instead comes from "the poor quality of deployed software and the poor state of device security," according to expert testimony given to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.The Senators also highlight the dichotomy of automakers claiming in one breath to be concerned about the risks of data leakage as a result of allowing access to vehicle software while at the same time packaging and sharing driving data, collected by their connected cars, with third parties like data brokers, and insurance companies, often without the driver's consent.The automakers that received the letter are going to have a busy holiday season collating data, for they have been tasked with answering a series of questions by January 6, including: how much income each makes from car repairs, what user and driving data it collects, whether and how it obtains consent for that data collection, with whom it shares that data with (including specifics), as well as data protection and cybersecurity practices to protect its customer's sensitive information. Additionally, each automaker is asked about its lobbying activities against the right-to-repair movement.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 0 Comments

Dingus behavior Louisiana bars health dept. from promoting flu, COVID, mpox vaccines: Report Staff worried they were no longer helping people and the ban would lead to deaths. Beth Mole Dec 20, 2024 10:58 am | 12 A healthcare worker prepares a flu shot during a drive-thru clinic at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds in Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. Shreveport recently completed a test run for distributing an eventual coronavirus vaccine, using a community drive-thru clinic for flu shots. Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images Credit: Getty | Bloomberg A healthcare worker prepares a flu shot during a drive-thru clinic at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds in Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. Shreveport recently completed a test run for distributing an eventual coronavirus vaccine, using a community drive-thru clinic for flu shots. Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images Credit: Getty | Bloomberg Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLouisiana's health department has been barred from advertising or promoting vaccines for flu, COVID-19, and mpox, according to reporting by NPR, KFF Health News, and New Orleans Public Radio WWNO.Their investigative reportbased on interviews with multiple health department employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliationrevealed that employees were told of the startling policy change in meetings in October and November and that the policy would be implemented quietly and not put into writing.Ars Technica has contacted the health department for comment and will update this post with any new information.The health department provided a statement to NPR saying that it has been "reevaluating both the state's public health priorities as well as our messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and influenza." The statement described the change as a move "away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance" to a stance in which "immunization for any vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are an individual's personal choice."According to employees, the new policy cancelled standard fall flu vaccination events this year and affects every other aspect of the health department's work, as NPR explained:"Employees could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put up signs at the department's clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were available on site."We're really talking about deathsThe change comes amid a dangerous swell of anti-vaccine sentiment and misinformation in Louisiana and across the country. President-elect Trump has picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr.a high-profile anti-vaccine advocate and one of the most prolific spreaders of vaccine misinformationto head the US Department of Health and Human Services.Louisiana's health department has not updated its web page on influenza since last year. It has also noticeably refrained from mentioning vaccines on social media posts. A post earlier this month warned of flu season, but only urged people to wash their hands, cover coughs and sneezes, avoid touching their faces, and improve indoor air quality. There was no mention of flu vaccines.The shift has disheartened and shaken staff. "I mean, do they want to dismantle public health?" one employee at the health department told NPR."We're really talking about deaths," said another. "Even a reduction in flu and COVID vaccines can lead to increased deaths.""We've never felt so unsure of our future," an employee added. "Like, why am I here? Why am I doing this anymore? Because you're just so stifled and you are not helping people."Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 12 Comments

Ready for a fresh set of puzzles? Click here for the January/February Puzzle Corner, brought to you with a special Mystery Hunt twist by guest editor Dan Katz 03.This column includes solutions to three September/October 24 problems. Find solutions to the other three problems here.