Technology - Google News |
- Google sells the future, powered by your personal data
- Fortnite's 'Solo Showdown' Mode Leaderboard: Who's On Track To Win The Top Prize
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 Makes Big Changes With A More Tactical Focus
| Google sells the future, powered by your personal data Posted: 10 May 2018 01:30 AM PDT  “We may analyze [email] content to customize search results, better detect spam and malware,” he added, later noting Google has customized search in this way since 2012. How Google collects data from Gmail users and what it uses that data for has been a particularly sensitive topic. In June 2017, Google said it would stop scanning Gmail messages in order to sell targeted ads. After this article was published, Google’s confirmation that it does still collect data from the email of Gmail users drew attention from some journalists that cover technology and digital privacy. Google reached out to NBC to clarify that the company’s spokesperson was referring to “narrow use cases” in Gmail. "First, since 2012, we’ve enabled people to use Google Search to find information from their Gmail accounts by answering questions like 'When is my restaurant reservation?'" Stein, the Google spokesperson, wrote in an email. "We present customized search results containing this information if someone is signed-in and asks us for it. Second, like other email providers, our systems may also automatically process email messages to detect spam, malware and phishing patterns, to help us stop this abuse and protect people’s inboxes. We have the most secure email service because of these systems - and they are powered by machine learning technology.” It doesn’t stop there, though. Google says it is also leverages some of its datasets to “help build the next generation of ground-breaking artificial intelligence solutions.” On Tuesday, Google rolled out “Smart Replies,” in which artificial intelligence helps users finish sentences. The extent of the information Google has can be eyebrow-raising even for technology professionals. Dylan Curran, an information technology consultant, recently downloaded everything Facebook had on him and got a 600-megabyte file. When he downloaded the same kind of file from Google, it was 5.5 gigabytes, about nine times as large. His tweets highlighting each kind of information Google had on him, and therefore other users, got nearly 170,000 retweets. “This is one of the craziest things about the modern age, we would never let the government or a corporation put cameras/microphones in our homes or location trackers on us, but we just went ahead and did it ourselves because … I want to watch cute dog videos,” Curran wrote. What does Google guarantee?The company has installed various guardrails against this data being misused. It says it doesn’t sell your personal information, makes user data anonymous after 18 months, and offers tools for users to delete their recorded data piece by piece or in its (almost) entirety, and to limit how they’re being tracked and targeted for advertising. And it doesn't allow marketers to target users based on sensitive categories like beliefs, sexual interests or personal hardships. However, that doesn't prevent the company from selling advertising slots that can be narrowed to a user’s ZIP code. Combined with enough other categories of interest and behavior, Google advertisers can create a fairly tight Venn diagram of potential viewers of a marketing message, with a minimum of 100 people. "They collect everything they can, as a culture," Scott Cleland, chairman of NetCompetition, an advocacy group that counts Comcast and other cable companies among its members, told NBC News. "They know they'll find some use for it." What can you do about it?Users can see and limit the data Google collects on them by changing their advertising preferences through an online dashboard. The internet giant offers fine-tune controls to opt out of tracking via Google’s advertising cookie, as well as limiting whether you’ll see targeted ads based on your interest groups and categories. You can also see and delete many of the personal tracking data about yourself, including your entire search history and any geolocation data that may have been tracking your every physical movement if you were signed into Google services on your phone. “We give users controls to delete individual items, services or their entire account,” said Google’s Stein. “When a user decides to delete data, we go through a process over time to safely and completely remove it from our systems, including backups. We keep some data with a user’s Google Account, like when and how they use certain features, until the account is deleted.” |
| Fortnite's 'Solo Showdown' Mode Leaderboard: Who's On Track To Win The Top Prize Posted: 19 May 2018 07:08 AM PDT  A viable strategy: hiding like a coward. Fortnite: Battle Royale's first competitive mode is live now, and like the game itself, it's a little bit brutal. Now not only do you have to drop onto a dangerous island and fight off 99 bloodthirsty strangers until you're the only one left standing, now you have to do it 50 times in a row. Solo Showdown is the name for developer Epic Games' first in-game tournament, and it's deceptively simple. You get points depending on how high you place in a given match, and the person with the most points at 10:00 AM on May 21 wins the top prize of 50,000 V-bucks, worth something like $500. That's it -- kills don't matter, only survival. Checking to see who's in the lead is pretty straightforward: Epic is running a leaderboard on its website, and it looks like its updating it daily. For hourly updates as well as information on which platform different players are using, you can also check out Fortnite Tracker. Here's what we're working with right now: Fortnite's Solo Showdown Leaderboard Right now, Kadenwes has a commanding lead with 3888 points and only 48 matches played. Second place player Jared Ross is in second with 3800, but 50 matches played means they have no chance at catching Kadenwes -- same goes with third place contestant Steel Jim DiGriz at 3740 matches played and 3740 points. These rankings are likely to change, so check back: keep in mind that the perfect score, with 50 first place finishes, would be 5,000. A near-perfect score of 50 2nd place finishes would be 4700, which wouldn't actually be the worst strategy here. Over at Fortnite Tracker we can see which platforms people are playing on, which provides some more interesting information: Kadenwes and Jared Ross are both on Xbox, with old Steel Jim marking the first PC player to show up on the board. That's not surprising -- it's a higher level of play on PC overall, but that doesn't really matter here because console players will never play against PC players, and so the contest is all about relative skill on an individual platform. I see no mobile players on the leaderboard, but mobile players use Epic accounts so it's possible that we're seeing some of them registered as PC players. I like the setup with big prizes for the top players -- that's what this is all about, after all. But the vast majority of players have no hope at even catching some consolation prizes against untold millions of competitors. I'd like it if Epic had some small cosmetics available for clearing certain point thresholds regardless of overall standing, giving players like me something to strive for. I got fourth in my first match, but it doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment when I know I'm likely not walking away with any V-Bucks. |
| Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 Makes Big Changes With A More Tactical Focus Posted: 18 May 2018 11:18 AM PDT Treyarch has big plans for the next entry in the Black Ops series. Along with revamped multiplayer, an expanded Zombies mode, and a series of solo missions centered around the Specialist characters, the developer plans to bring the battle royale craze to Call of Duty. During yesterday's Black Ops 4 reveal event, we got to play over an hour of multiplayer. We also spoke with studio design director David Vonderhaar about Treyarch's influence on the Call of Duty series and how the team is looking to make big changes with the next game. Set between Black Ops 2 and 3, this fourth entry in the series re-examines the pace of combat, rebalancing many of the more established perks and weapons, while also slowing things down to offer a team-oriented and consistent combat loop. One of the biggest changes in Black Ops 4 is the move back to more traditional infantry-based multiplayer gameplay. Gone are the thruster-packs and wall-running antics of the future soldiers, and in their place is a more tactical take on engagement.            However, many of the more established features from the previous Black Ops games are still present. Along with the Pick 10 system, which allows you to customize your build with weapons, perks, and attachments, the Specialists from Black Ops 3 also make a return. In Black Ops 4, the Specialists--who include Ruin, Seraph, and Battery--and their dynamic with the other members of the team are far more important to winning matches, and there are many cases where the team will use their unique skills in tandem. My team used Recon's Vision Pulse ability to highlight all the enemies in a room, for example, and then relied on Ajax's riot shield to clear it out. This emphasis on teamwork and how to balance it with Call of Duty's gameplay took time to figure out, Vonderhaar said. "It's really hard to make a tactical game if your character's not [on the ground], so that was the main motivation for us when looking at Black Ops 4. We looked at the thrust-packing and wall-running from the last game... but for the experience we wanted to make, it made the most sense to make things a little bit slower--and slower by Black Ops standards is not slow at all! To give it a more tactical experience, it was really about the [removal of] health regeneration and keeping you on the ground." 
One thing I appreciated about playing Black Ops 4 is that the Specialists have a much stronger presence in-game. Compared to Black Ops 3, the unique characters were mostly about their special abilities, which were only activated every so often during a fight. But with each character having access to a particular set of gear in BO4, their place in the general flow of battle is much more identifiable. This goes great with the more tactical approach the game is going for, with players having to be a bit more reliant on their squad while also being more aware of which Specialists are on the other team. During our few games, I was more cognisant of which characters were in use by the enemy squad and how to best counter their skills. This was a nice change of pace from most other COD multiplayer games, where both sides just spam the same tactics ad nauseam. While skilled players are still capable of taking on multiple enemies at once, there are a few changes in Black Ops 4 that they'll have to get used to first. Though players actually have more health than in previous COD games, Black Ops 4 also removes health regeneration in favor of a new healing button. This makes healing a conscious decision, as opposed to running for cover and waiting for the damage to pass over, that can also lead to some hairy moments where you have to pick a good time to heal. Also, the mini-map will only show a set distance ahead of you--meaning you're largely blind when navigating much of the map. The more tactical flow of matches took some time for me to get used to, which meant a few failed games of multiplayer. Despite these changes, Black Ops 4's multiplayer still runs at an extremely brisk pace. The general flow and movement of Black Ops 4 feels far more in line with Black Ops 2, which was a favorite among fans. There were a number of thrilling moments during my matches in Hardpoint, Domination, and the new game type Control, which forces the teams to fight for specific territory with only a limited number of lives. Seeing the team gel together, as opposed to just running off and trying to be the hero, was exciting to be a part of. Click To Unmute Call Of Duty Black Ops 4 - Blackout Battle Royale Introduction Trailer Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. This video has an invalid file format. Sorry, but you can't access this content! Please enter your date of birth to view this video By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's One of the new game types in Black Ops 4 is the long-rumored battle royale mode called Blackout. Set on a large map, where players can take control of characters and use any weapon from the Black Ops games, Treyarch aims to make a battle royale mode that is consistent with the style and tone of the series. While the team hasn't shared any more info regarding the specifics of player count--which according to Vonderhaar is still being decided--they're confident they're introducing a new take on the game mode that will feel unique to Call of Duty and to other games of the sub-genre. "We love those types of games internally, and our fans love those types of games as well," said Vonderhaar. "I think there's a strong opportunity to create something special for the series, and specifically for Black Ops fans. There's a unique way to do that for Treyarch, and for Call of Duty. If we didn't believe that, then we wouldn't do it. This is a unique battle royale-experience for the Black Ops series... All we really want with [Blackout] is for Black Ops fans to have an experience to call their own. We're going to do it the Black Ops way."'
Treyarch plans to launch Black Ops 4 on October 12 for PC as a Battle.net exclusive alongside a simultaneous console release on PS4 and Xbox One. Going hands-on with it took some adjustment--who knew that we'd be so used to using jetpacks and exo-suits--but these changes felt welcome after few matches. The new pace of combat felt fresh, and I'm already looking forward to getting into a few more matches with the Specialists, along with diving into the new battle royale mode. For more info on Black Ops 4, check out our full list of written and video coverage, which includes the Zombies footage and the new Blackout mode trailer. |
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