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Cinemark launches a monthly movie program to rival MoviePass

MoviePass, the $10-per-month movie theater subscription service, was so unexpectedly popular when it launched last August that the company struggled to meet demand. Its success hasn’t gone unnoticed, especially by the competition. Theater chain Cinemark is creating its own service, Movie Club, but with far less generous perks. For a $9 monthly subscription, it grants a single ticket (instead of one every day) but also gives 20 percent off concessions and cheaper bulk ticket rates. In short, it’s a compromise coming from within the movie theater establishment. Movie Club’s lone included ticket is only for 2D films (like MoviePass), the concession discount can be shared with friends and subscribers can buy additional tickets for a discounted $9 each. If you don’t see a film one month, that credit rolls over to the next. Plus, online buying fees are waived. And like MoviePass, there’s no contract, so you can cancel any time. You’ll still be limited to Cinemark’s 350 theaters, while MoviePass boasts over 4, 000 participating cinemas. But if you’re an industry loyalist or just want to build up sweet loyalty points, Movie Club could be for you. Via: Variety Source: Cinemark Movie Club

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Cinemark launches a monthly movie program to rival MoviePass

‘Watershed’ Medical Trial Proves Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Reversed

dryriver writes: For those suffering from type 2 diabetes, there is good news. Nearly half of the participants in a watershed trial of a new diabetes treatment were able to reverse their affliction. The method is quite simple — an all liquid diet that causes participants to lose a lot of weight, followed by a carefully controlled diet of real solid foods. Four times a day, a sachet of powder is stirred in water to make a soup or shake. They contain about 200 calories, but also the right balance of nutrients. If the patient can keep away from other foods long enough, there is a chance of reversing type 2 diabetes completely. Prof Roy Taylor, from Newcastle University, told the BBC: “It’s a real watershed moment. Before we started this line of work, doctors and specialists regarded type 2 as irreversible. But if we grasp the nettle and get people out of their dangerous state (being overweight), they can get remission of diabetes.” However, doctors are not calling this a cure. If the weight goes back on, then the diabetes will return. The trial only looked at people diagnosed with diabetes in the last six years. Doctors believe — but do not know with absolute certainty yet — that in people who have had the affliction much longer than that, there may be too much permanent damage to make remission possible. The trial results have been published in the Lancet medical journal. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Watershed’ Medical Trial Proves Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Reversed

Android 8.1 Oreo goes final, rolling out now to Pixel and Nexus devices

After two developer previews, Android 8.1 Oreo is ready for the masses. Google announced that the new OS is rolling out now and is posting system images for the Pixel 2 and 2 XL , the Pixel 1 and 1 XL, the Pixel C tablet, and the Nexus 6P and 5X. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code drop should be happening now, too. Android 8.1 Oreo is a minor maintenance release after the major update of Android 8.0 . The biggest feature in 8.1 is a new ” Neural Networks API ” (NNAPI), which is designed for running machine learning operations on mobile devices. Phones with specialized machine learning hardware can hardware accelerate this API, while older devices can use a CPU fallback mode. The API provides a base layer higher-level machine-learning framework to plug into, like Google’s TensorFlow Lite. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Android 8.1 Oreo goes final, rolling out now to Pixel and Nexus devices

HP Envy x2 hands-on: A Snapdragon-powered, always-on PC

For its first “Always Connected” PC, HP made a pragmatic choice: It stuffed a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor into its latest Surface clone, the Envy x2 . The result is compelling: A thin and light laptop with 20 hours of battery life, and built-in LTE connectivity. It’s precisely the sort of machine that Microsoft envisioned when it revealed its vision of always connected devices at Computex . At first glance, the Envy X2 doesn’t seem that different than a typical hybrid PC. It’s slightly thinner than an iPad Pro, at 6.9 millimeters thick, and it weighs just 1.54 pounds. Thanks to its aluminum case, it feels like a premium device. The bundled keyboard case, which wraps around the entire tablet, also houses its kickstand. You won’t notice anything out of the ordinary until you take a look at the “System” menu to see that it’s powered by a Snapdragon process. Which, of course, is exactly what HP wants. Based on my short time with the x2, it felt a lot like HP’s recent Spectre x2 hybrid. The keyboard was comfortable to use and sturdy enough to handle my heavy typing style. Every key also had a satisfying amount of travel, something we don’t see too often on hybrid machines (aside from the Surface devices). Its case is a bit awkward though — while it offers a decent amount of protection, a built-in kickstand would be more convenient for using the x2 for things like viewing video in bed. Since it runs Windows 10 S out of the box, it can only run apps from the Windows Store. But, just like the Surface Laptop, you can also upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free down the line. Performance-wise, the x2 kept up with me as I opened several Office apps, Paint 3D, and Edge windows and tabs. There weren’t any games to play, and I didn’t have a chance to test out extreme multi-tasking scenarios, unfortunately. But, for the most part, it seems like the x2 can handle basic productivity tasks, despite its mobile CPU. Another potential limiting factor is its 4GB of RAM, something that could easily get filled up if you’re addicted to opening dozens of browser tabs at once. Developing…

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HP Envy x2 hands-on: A Snapdragon-powered, always-on PC

A brief history of Bitcoin hacks and frauds

Enlarge (credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images ) There’s a lot of excitement about Bitcoin right now, with the value of the cryptocurrency recently soaring above $11,000—more than 10 times its value at the start of the year. This has caused many people to wonder if they should be getting involved in the Bitcoin craze. But it’s important to keep in mind that participating in the Bitcoin economy comes with big risks. Over the years, the Bitcoin world has been plagued by hacks, scams, and abusive practices. Users who don’t take appropriate precautions can lose everything. Here we present a short history of the Bitcoin world’s most significant scams and hacks. It’s worth noting that all of these attacks were against Bitcoin-related services, not the core Bitcoin software. As far as we know, the Bitcoin network itself is highly secure, though of course that’s little comfort if you entrust your bitcoins to a third party who gets hacked. Read 25 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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A brief history of Bitcoin hacks and frauds

Gizmodo: Don’t Buy Anyone an Amazon Echo Speaker

Adam Clark Estes, writing for Gizmodo: Three years ago, we said the Echo was “the most innovative device Amazon’s made in years.” That’s still true. But you shouldn’t buy one. You shouldn’t buy one for your family. Your family members do not need an Amazon Echo or a Google Home or an AppleHomePod or whatever that one smart speaker that uses Cortana is called. And you don’t either. You only want one because every single gadget-slinger on the planet is marketing them to you as an all-new, life-changing device that could turn your kitchen into a futuristic voice-controlled paradise. You probably think that having an always-on microphone in your home is fine, and furthermore, tech companies only record and store snippets of your most intimate conversations. No big deal, you tell yourself. Actually, it is a big deal. The newfound privacy conundrum presented by installing a device that can literally listen to everything you’re saying represents a chilling new development in the age of internet-connected things. By buying a smart speaker, you’re effectively paying money to let a huge tech company surveil you. And I don’t mean to sound overly cynical about this, either. Amazon, Google, Apple, and others say that their devices aren’t spying on unsuspecting families. The only problem is that these gadgets are both hackable and prone to bugs. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Gizmodo: Don’t Buy Anyone an Amazon Echo Speaker

Google releases its Android file storage manager to all

Google has filled a big hole in its Android system by releasing Files Go! , its mobile file organization and sharing app. Launched in beta last month , the app makes it easier for Android users to free up space, find files, back them up to the cloud, and share them with other smartphones, even offline. It’s one of the linchpin apps of Google’s Oreo 8.1 (Go edition) , a slimmed down version of Android meant for the less-powerful devices in developing nations. Files Go! will also be handy for power users who currently lean on third-party file organization apps, which are often paid or ad-supported . On top of giving you direct access to your downloads, received files, apps, images, video, audio and documents, it will offer suggestions for freeing up space. For instance, it can tell you how much you can free from your app cache, unused apps, large files and downloaded files. It’ll also offer to move files to an SD card, if you have one. Another long overdue feature is the ability to share files offline, Airdrop-style. When you enable the feature, it lets you create a “hotspot” to connect and transfer files via Bluetooth. If a friend also has Files Go and file sharing enabled, it’s simply a matter of hitting send or receive. “The file transfers are encrypted, fast (up to 125 Mbps) and free, ” says Google. The app can also remind you when you’re low on storage and let you backup files to Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and other apps. Google says it has been testing the app for a month and has saved users an average of 1GB space. It’s now available for all on the Google Play Store , assuming you have Android 5.0 or higher. ” Source: Google

Samsung’s 512GB chip will give your phone PC-like storage

Samsung has begun mass production of the world’s first 512GB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS), meaning its flagship phones can now hold double what they could last year, when the company released its 256GB version. Phones with the new chips can store up to 130 10-minute UHD videos. Read and write performance has been given a boost, too. Sequential read and write speeds reach 860MB per second and 255MB per second respectively — not a huge increase on the 256GB chip but enough transfer a 5GB HD video clip to a solid state hard drive in around six seconds, or more than eight times faster than a standard microSD card. It also has a random read speed of 42, 000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and a write speed of 40, 000 IOPS. Samsung pitched previous versions of this technology to the automotive market as cars will soon need to record high volumes of sensor data, but says at this time that next-gen smartphones and tablets are the best candidates for the chip, and plans to “steadily increase an aggressive production volume” to meet increasing demand for advanced mobile storage. Via: Business Wire

Netflix is letting adults in on choose-your-own-adventure shows

Netflix’s choose-your-own adventure TV shows for kids went down so well that it’s planning one for adults, reports Bloomberg . Or was the decision fueled by HBO’s entrance into the field with Steven Soderbergh’s Mosaic series and accompanying smartphone app? Originally unveiled in June, Netflix’s interactive programming lets iOS and TV viewers control parts of the storyline (including up to 13 choices for children’s animation Puss in Boots: Trapped in an Epic Tale ). Less forward-thinking auteurs will likely bemoan the format, which has been kicking around with little success for years. Other “branched narratives” (as Netflix likes to call them) include Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile. And if the new series is successful, who knows? Maybe, Netflix will start adding interactive elements to future seasons of existing “grown-up” shows. Because, who doesn’t want to decide Queen Elizabeth II’s fate in The Crown , right? Wait, that’s a bad example. Targeting who Frank Castle picks off in The Punisher would make more sense. Either way, Netflix has deep enough pockets to go nuts with its new fave fad in 2018. Via: Bloomberg

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Netflix is letting adults in on choose-your-own-adventure shows

An electric cargo ship is delivering coal in China

An all-electric cargo ship is now in use in China and it boasts an impressive 2.4 MWh energy storage capacity, Electrek reports. The ship is over 230 feet long, 45 feet wide and 14 feet deep and can carry a maximum of 2, 000 tons. Supercapacitors and lithium batteries make up the energy storage system and the ship can go about 50 miles on one charge. It will run between two shipyards, each of which has a charging station that can recharge the ship in around two hours. Moving towards electric power will be important for the shipping industry and this vessel is a step in that direction. Its payload however, is, wait for it, coal. And that may seem like an odd pairing but at least the ship isn’t burning fossil fuels while it’s carrying them. Tesla , Daimler , Cummins and Toyota are all working on shipping trucks that use alternative fuels and pushing our cargo ships in that direction will do a lot for the environment. The ship, which took its maiden voyage last month, will transport coal along the Pearl River in China’s Guangdong Province. Via: Electrek

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An electric cargo ship is delivering coal in China

Ken May

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