More GNU/Linux Games and CodeWeavers Joins The Khronos Group

• Top-down 3D action-adventure game Sikanda gives you a shape-shifting weapon

  Sikanda seems like a pretty interesting top-down action-adventure, one that gives you a shape-shifting weapon that takes inspiration from some well-known titles. It's another that's currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, although it primarily seems to mention Nintendo Switch it is also planned to release on Linux too according to the FAQ page. When digging a little further, they said this in the comments on their Kickstarter page:

• Time Traveling Raptors is a 16-bit inspired action-platformer where you're trying to fix the timeline

  Time Traveling Raptors looks all kinds of nuts, an action-platformer where you're facing people as well as dinosaurs as you attempt to fix a broken timeline. Currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter and planned for Linux.

• Prepare to set sail as seafaring strategy game 'Nantucket' is now officially supported on Linux

  After being in Beta since April, Picaresque Studio have now given the Linux version of the seafaring strategy game Nantucket some official support.

• Isometric university management game 'UniverCity' has entered Early Access, developed on Linux

  UniverCity from developer Matthew Collins who develops on Linux is a new in-development university management game, it's now available in Early Access on Steam. Note: Steam key provided by the developer to our Steam Curator.

• The Humble Jackbox Party Bundle is out, some of their games have hidden Linux beta versions

• CodeWeavers Joins The Khronos Group Along With IKEA

  In addition to the many technical accomplishments of Khronos this week at SIGGRAPH 2018, they were also celebrating the milestone of crossing 140 members to this industry standards group. The Khronos Group membership count has largely stayed about the same in recent years as while they get new members, it's largely been through acquisitions within the industry that their headcount hasn't grown too much. But recently they welcomed several new members to this standards group developing Vulkan, OpenCL, OpenGL, OpenXR, SPIR-V, etc.

Get Fresh Wallpaper Everyday Using Variety in Ubuntu/Linux

Variety is a cool utility available for Linux systems which makes your dull desktop look great, every day. This free wallpaper changer utility replaces your wallpaper in your desktop in an interval. You can set it to change wallpaper in every 5 minutes also!

Today in Techrights

• Antiquated Patenting Trick: Adding Words Like ‘Apparatus’ to Make Abstract Ideas Look/Sound Like They Pertain to or Contain a ‘Device’
• Open Invention Network (OIN) Member Companies Need to Become Unanimous in Opposition to Software Patents
• President Battistelli ‘Killed’ the EPO; António Campinos Will ‘Finish the Job’
• Links 14/8/2018: Virtlyst 1.2.0, Blender 2.8 Planning Update, Zorin OS 12.4, FreeBSD 12.0 Alpha

Security Leftovers

• The Internet of Torts

  Rebecca Crootof at Balkinization has two interesting posts:

  • Introducing the Internet of Torts, in which she describes "how IoT devices empower companies at the expense of consumers and how extant law shields industry from liability."
  • Accountability for the Internet of Torts, in which she discusses "how new products liability law and fiduciary duties could be used to rectify this new power imbalance and ensure that IoT companies are held accountable for the harms they foreseeably cause.

  Below the fold, some commentary on both.

• Password Analyst Says QAnon’s ‘Codes’ Are Consistent With Random Typing

  “The funny thing about people is that even when we type random stuff we tend to have a signature. This guy, for example, likes to have his hand on the ends of each side of the keyboard (e.g., 1,2,3 and 7,8,9) and alternate,” Burnett wrote in his thread.

• Uber taps former NSA official to head security team

  Olsen, who served as the counterterrorism head under President Obama until 2014, will replace Joe Sullivan as the ride-hailing company's top security official.

  Sullivan was fired by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi over his handling of a massive cyber breach last year that happened during former CEO Travis Kalanick’s tenure.

• Malware has no trouble hiding and bypassing macOS user warnings

  With the ability to generate synthetic clicks, an attack, for example, could dismiss many of Apple's privacy-related security prompts. On recent versions of macOS, Apple has added a confirmation window that requires users to click an OK button before an installed app can access geolocation, contacts, or calendar information stored on the Mac. Apple engineers added the requirement to act as a secondary safeguard. Even if a machine was infected by malware, the thinking went, the malicious app wouldn’t be able to copy this sensitive data without the owner’s explicit permission.

• Caesars Palace not-so-Praetorian guards intimidate DEF CON goers with searches [Updated]

• Amazon Echo turned into snooping device by Chinese hackers [sic]

  Cybersecurity boffins from Chinese firm Tencent's Blade security research team exploited various vulnerabilities they found in the Echo smart speaker to eventually coax it into becoming an eavesdropping device.