Hasta La Gadget!

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill into law which bans cashless retail stores and restaurants in the state. It’s now the second state in the United States to ban stores that don’t accept cash, Massachusetts being the first, enacting a similar law back in 1978. Cashless stores were also banned in Philadelphia earlier this month.

Philadelphia’s ban on such stores came following the growing number of stores that don’t accept cash. They require customers to pay with a card or through a payment app, much like the new Amazon Go stores.

The law that New Jersey has passed does make an exception for parking garages and car rental companies like the Philadelphia law. Reports also suggest that some exceptions are also in place for certain airport stores.

Those who support the legislation argue that cashless stores put people who don’t have credit cards and don’t want to pay debit card fees at a disadvantage. “Many people don’t have access to consumer credit, and any effort by retail establishments to ban the use of cash is discriminatory towards those people,” said State Assemblyman Paul Moriarty. Businesses that are found in violation of this new law will now be fined $2,500 for the first offense and $5,000 for the second. The fines will continue to go up for every additional offense.

Cashless Shops And Restaurants Banned In New Jersey

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Vitaly Kamluk, a malware researcher, recently spotted what appeared to be a camera lens integrated into the seatback inflight entertainment system on a Singapore Airlines flight. It emerged that some recent IFE products indeed feature an integrated camera even though Singapore Airlines and others have denied using them to monitor passengers. Two U.S. senators are now demanding answers as they want airlines to clarify how these devices are used.

Singapore Airlines had said in a statement that the cameras had been intended by manufacturers of the inflight entertainment systems for future feature additions and that the cameras are permanently disabled on its aircraft and can’t be activated on board.

Democrat Senator Jeff Merkley and Republican John Kennedy have written a bipartisan letter to several major airlines with questions about how the seatback inflight entertainment system cameras are used. Even though the airlines have denied using them to monitor passengers, tech experts have concerns about whether or not these cameras can be hacked.

“While Americans have an expectation that they are monitored in airports as a necessary security measure, the notion that in-flight cameras may monitor passengers while they sleep, eat, or have private conversations is troubling,” the letter says. It adds that owing to recent data breaches which impacted major airlines, they have “misgivings” that these cameras may not have the necessary security measures to prevent them from hacking.

The senators have sent their letter to CEOs of Delta, Southwest, United, Frontier, Spirit, American, JetBlue, and Alaska Air. Each airline has been asked to answer questions about seatback cameras. They specifically want to know if each airline uses the cameras to monitor passengers, what circumstances might cause the cameras to be activated, and whether passengers are informed about this.

U.S. Senators Want Airlines To Clarify How Seatback Cameras Are Used

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The FCC’s public comment system is a bloody mess. Over the past two years, it’s become apparent that political lobbyists, usually acting on behalf of the telecom industry itself, are prepared to manipulate the agency’s rulemaking process and impersonate everyday Americans just to create the illusion of public support…

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Google’s much-awaited game streaming service was finally announced today. What was previously known by its Project Stream codename will be launched later this year as Stadia. It will stream games to a variety of different platforms via the Chrome browser and Chromecast in addition to Pixel smartphones. Conventional USB controllers will work but Google has made a dedicated controller for Stadia as well.

This is the only piece of hardware that has got anything to do with Stadia. The gaming service itself doesn’t require a console or set-top box. It runs entirely on Google’s cloud which is immensely powerful and has a global reach.

This wireless game controller will connect over Wi-Fi which will give it access to the Internet. That would explain why there’s a dedicated Google Assistant button on it and why it can let players share gaming moments directly to YouTube with the press of a button.

It doesn’t look all that different from a conventional gaming controller, some might feel it’s kind of like a mix between the Xbox One and PS4 controllers. Google hasn’t confirmed when the controller will go on sale and how much it will cost. It hasn’t provided a confirmed launched date for Stadia as well, only saying that it will go live later this year.

Google Unveils Controller For Stadia Gaming Service

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The “Dumbo” star said he “was so in love” with the stand-up scene during his early years in New York.