News written by James Delahunty (December, 2018)

A video made by a former NASA engineer went viral this week, but it turns out some of the reactions of package thieves were staged.

Mark Rober delighted the Internet with his invention; a smart glitter bomb with multiple cameras, GPS and fart spray aimed at package thieves. After a package was stolen from his residence months before, Rober designed a device that would spray the thieves with glitter when opened, film their reactions and also unleash an intoxicating fart spray.

Even if the devices could not be recovered, the four included phones recording the reaction were set to upload video to the Internet using LTE. GPS also allowed Rober to find out exactly where the packages are.

However, Rober has since re-uploaded the video to cut out about 90 seconds of reactions after finding out that some of the reactions were staged. Unbeknown to Rober, a friend had recruited others to fake their reactions, posing as victims.

After the edit and re-upload, Rober apologized to his subscribers and explained the situation.

Note about 2 missing the reactions in the video- I was presented with information that caused me to doubt the veracity of 2 of the 5 reactions in the video. These were reactions that were captured during a two week period while the device was at house 2 hours away from where I live. I put a feeler out for people willing to put a package on their porch and this person (who is a friend of a friend) volunteered to help. To compensate them for their time and willingness to risk putting a package on their porch I offered financial compensation for any successful recoveries of the package. It appears (and I've since confirmed) in these two cases, the "thieves" were actually acquaintances of the person helping me. From the footage I received from the phones which intentionally only record at specific times, this wasn't clear to me. I have since removed those reactions from the original video (originally 6:26-7:59). I'm really sorry about this. Ultimately, I am responsible for the content that goes on my channel and I should have done more here. I can vouch for that the reactions were genuine when the package was taken from my house. Having said that, I know my credibly is sort of shot but I encourage you to look at the types of videos I've been making for the past 7 years. This is my first ever video with some kind of "prank" and like I mentioned in the video it's pretty removed from my comfort zone and I should have done more. I'm especially gutted because so much thought, time, money and effort went into building the device and I hope this doesn't just taint the entire effort as "fake". It genuinely works (like all the other things I've built on my channel) and we've made all the code and build info public. Again, I'm sorry for putting something up on my channel that was misleading. That is totally on me and I will take all necessary steps to make sure it won't happen again.

Google has silently launched Chrome Canvas, which allows you to doodle and take notes in your browser that will be saved to your Google account.

It isn't just compatible with Chrome either, it will work with any browser that supports WebAssembly. You don't need to download and install it, it can be accessed by simply visiting the URL: https://canvas.apps.chrome/

It offers basic drawing tools, including Pencil, Ink Pen, Marker, and Chalk. There is also an eraser. If you don't have a touchscreen, you can use your mouse or touchpad to control the tools.

Your drawings are saved to your Google account and can be downloaded as PNG graphics files at any time.

Try it out at: https://canvas.apps.chrome/

via: Engadget

A report from the New York Times into how Facebook shared user information with third-party services has the social network on the defensive.

The report detailed how Facebook has shared access to user data with third parties including Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft and more over the years. However, the company responded to the report insisting that no user data was shared with those third parties without authorization.

"None of these partnerships or features gave companies access to information without people's permission, nor did they violate our 2012 settlement with the FTC," wrote Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Director of Developer Platforms and Programs, at Facebook.

Furthermore, most of the features driven by the data sharing are now gone. Facebook shut down instant personalization, which powered Bing's features, in 2014, but did acknowledge that it had left APIs in place after the shutdown that left some partners with access to data until late 2017. The social network stresses that Instant Personalization only involved public information.

Facebook has been scrutinized in several countries by politicians and regulators for its use of user data, and allegations that it has been used as a means to influence elections by Russia, Iran, and other states.

Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, is suing Epic over a dance displayed in Fortnite.

The dance is known as the "Carlton dance", and is performed with Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual. The dance in Fortnite is very similar to the Carlton dance and is even performed with music reminiscent of the Tom Jones classic.

Ribiero claims that Epic has mimicked the dance in the megapupular Fortnite without asking permission and paying compensation.

Several weeks ago, Epic was hit with a similar lawsuit from rapped 2 Milly for allegedly mimicking the "Milly Rock".

You can view a comparison of the Carlton Dance and the dance movies in the game below.

Figures from the NPD Group are being touted by Nintendo as evidence that the Switch is the fastest selling video games console of the current generation.

Launched in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch console has amassed 8.7 million unit sales. Nintendo notes that this is faster than competitors (namely PS4, Xbox One) at the same stage of their lifecycle. Nintendo is also the overall top-selling U.S. software publisher so far for 2018, according to NPD data through November.

Of course, there are millions more PS4s and Xbox One consoles in the wild, having launched in the fourth quarter of 2013. However, the numbers for the Nintendo Switch show that the Japanese gamemaker has moved beyond its Wii U falter and is going strong.

Nintendo's software performance should receive an additional boost from the December release of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game, which has become not only the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time but also the fastest-selling game in the Super Smash Bros. series, with U.S. sales of over 3 million units in just 11 days.