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BBC Three is now an online-only channel

For sentimentality’s sake, we hope you indulged in your pre-bed ritual of catching a cheeky episode of American Dad! on BBC Three last night — because as of the early hours of this morning, it ceased to exist as a broadcast channel. For the next few weeks, it’ll be repurposed to promote BBC Three’s new online-only identity before disappearing from your TV’s EPG… forever . The switch has been a long time coming, of course, with the BBC setting the ball rolling almost two years ago as part of continued cost-cutting measures. Despite some opposition from the public, the BBC Trust formally approved the broadcaster’s plan for an online-only BBC Three late last year, and that transition has concluded today . The BBC Trust’s green light wasn’t without fine print, with various conditions set “to ensure younger audiences continue to be well served.” BBC Three became known for its experimental and often hilarious commissions, and the BBC has been keen to comfort loyal viewers with the promise its doctrine won’t die alongside the linear TV channel. As part of BBC Three’s rebirth, it’ll further embrace new media , with its YouTube channel and social network activity becoming more important outlets for content. In addition to BBC Three’s iPlayer presence, a new online portal called The Daily Drop is already live, highlighting content on social media channels and blending in blog posts, news and short-form videos. Joining that site later today is another platform, “The Best Of, ” which will primarily feature long-form content like documentaries, dramas and comedies, such as the new series of Cuckoo that premieres online this evening. Plenty of new commissions have been announced across all these genres already, and while BBC Three Controller Damian Kavanagh admits “we won’t get everything right immediately, ” he’s confident “being online means we can now adapt and iterate quickly.” “We aren’t constrained by duration or form anymore so the shackles are off when it comes to creativity.” Source: BBC

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BBC Three is now an online-only channel

Exclusive: This Is The First Known Image Of DARPA’s Submarine-Hunting Drone Ship

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s initiative to build a long-endurance unmanned ship that will hunt and track the quietest submarines on Earth has come to fruition. The image above is the first glimpse ever of the potentially revolutionary Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel or ACTUV, also known as Sea Hunter. Read more…

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Exclusive: This Is The First Known Image Of DARPA’s Submarine-Hunting Drone Ship

Hackers hold Hollywood hospital’s systems for ransom

A Hollywood hospital is having to rely on pencil and paper after a ransomware attack. For more than a week, the computer systems at Hollywood Presbyterian Memorial Medical Center have been down at the hands of hackers . In addition to having to keep registration and logs on paper, staff is without email access and unable to use some patient records. Patients have been transported to other facilities as the computers needed to complete lab work, pharmacy tasks and CT scans are all unavailable. Hospital officials say they’re working with LAPD and the FBI on the investigation, but they’ve yet to determine who is responsible for the attack. President and CEO Allen Stefanek said the attack was random, and local news outlets report that the breach shows signs of a ransomware-style bug. Details on the intrusion are still quite scarce, but the culprits are demanding 9, 000 bitcoin or just under $3.6 million in exchange for the key to restore the facility’s systems. Source: CSO

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Hackers hold Hollywood hospital’s systems for ransom

Google is shutting down Picasa in favor of Photos

Google has been steadily migrating its resources towards the Photos ecosystem since the company first announced it at last year’s I/O developers conference. It’s already shut down Google+ photos in lieu of the newer service and linked Photos to your phone’s native camera app. Today Google announced that it will shut down Picasa . The move will occur over the next several months, beginning on May 1, 2016. Take note, however, that the Picasa desktop application won’t work after March 1st. Current Picasa users simply have to log into Photos — all of their content has already been moved over. Source: Google (Picasa Blog)

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Google is shutting down Picasa in favor of Photos

AT&T gets ready to test 5G technologies this 2016

AT&T has been working on possible 5G technologies, such as millimeter waves, for years. Now that it’s time to get serious, it’s teaming up with Ericsson and Intel to ramp up its development in the lab in the second quarter of the year. After that, it’s moving its 5G endeavors out of the lab and into the field, starting with outdoor tests over the summer. The carrier says 60 percent of its mobile traffic in 2015 came from video. It’s moving forward with its 5G plans, because emerging technologies like virtual reality, 4K video, robots, Internet of Things and self-driving cars will be even more demanding. As AT&T’s Chief Strategy Officer John Donovan notes, those technologies “will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers. 5G will help make them a reality.” 5G internet could be anywhere from 10 to 100 times faster than LTE, with users observing downloads going gigabits (yes, giga bits) per second. Imagine being able to finish downloading a TV show for less than three seconds. That’s nowhere near enough time to get up and microwave some popcorn. AT&T believes its 5G network will even be able to start streaming videos much, much faster — just 1 to 5 milliseconds from the moment you press play — than an LTE connection. If everything goes well, some parts of Austin, Texas will be able to test out Ma Bell’s 5G tech by the end of this year. The company says it’s conducting tests in a way that enables it to deploy the network commercially as soon as 5G standards are set. You’d have to wait a while for that to happen, though. 3GPP, the international consortium in charge of hashing out network standards, is working on it right now. However, phase one (of two) won’t be completed until the first half of 2018. By the way, AT&T isn’t the only US carrier gearing up to test its next-gen mobile network: Verizon will soon begin its 5G wireless service trials, as well. [Image credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr ] Source: AT&T

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AT&T gets ready to test 5G technologies this 2016

Time Inc buys…MySpace?

MySpace still exists . Crazy, right? The once monolithic social network had faded into irrelevancy until it was relaunched with a little help from Justin Timberlake back in 2013. The fresh coat of paint wasn’t enough to reinvigorate the platform, however, and it’s now being sold as part of its parent company Viant to Time Inc. Yep, that’s the same Time Inc that publishes Time, Fortune , Entertainment Weekly and a whole bunch of other magazines. The company described the acquisition as “game changing, ” most likely in reference to Viant’s broader ad-tech business. MySpace does, supposedly, still have a part to play in that offering, but it’s notable the site was barely mentioned in the footnote of today’s press release . Source: Time Inc. (Press Release)

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Time Inc buys…MySpace?

Holy Shit! Scientists Have Confirmed the Existence of Gravitational Waves

R. Hurt, Caltech/JPL. Since Albert Einstein first predicted their existence a century ago, physicists have been on the hunt for gravitational waves , ripples in the fabric of spacetime. That hunt is now over. Gravitational waves exist, and we’ve found them. Read more…

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Holy Shit! Scientists Have Confirmed the Existence of Gravitational Waves

‘Final Fantasy IX’ is now on iOS and Android

You could argue that Final Fantasy IX is the long-running series’ high point. It’s certainly the highest-rated Final Fantasy game on Metacritic , even if its sales and nostalgic value pale in comparison to Final Fantasy VII . Putting that argument aside for a moment, it’s easy to say that it’s definitely a game worth playing if you like JRPGs. And now — less than two months after it was announced — it’s available on iOS and Android. The bar for entry has never been lower. The mobile port includes “high-definition movies and character models, ” autosave, achievements and a collection of “game boosters” that let you essentially cheat your way through the game. You can speed up time, cut out random encounters or hit every enemy for 9, 999 damage. The idea of the boosters is to make the game, which in its original incarnation involved well over a full day’s worth of grinding, more playable for casual gamers. If grinding on a phone or tablet isn’t your thing — or you don’t have a phone with the necessary 8GB of free space to install it — Final Fantasy IX will also be coming to Steam in ” Early 2016 , ” together with the enhancements mentioned above and some Steam trading cards. Via: Kotaku Source: Square Enix (Google Play) , (App Store)

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‘Final Fantasy IX’ is now on iOS and Android