Tag: culture

BBC captures nature in 4K for ‘Planet Earth II’

The 4K wildflife documentary Netflix promised us isn’t slated to debut until 2019, but you won’t have to wait that long to see vivid images of nature on TV. BBC’s gearing up for the release of Planet Earth II , its six-part follow-up to the original Planet Earth series shown in 2006, later this year. Just like the original series, the six, one-hour episodes will explore jungles (both real ones and concrete), deserts, grasslands “and the extraordinary ways animals survive within them.” This time, though, BBC captured the planet’s habitats on cam entirely in 4K. Planet Earth II’s executive producer Mike Gunton says “It will be a truly immersive experience, providing audiences with a unique perspective on the most extraordinary places and animals on our planet.” As icing on the cake, Sir David Attenborough (who provided the first series’ voice-over) is coming back to narrate how animals live in the wild. Source: BBC , Variety

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BBC captures nature in 4K for ‘Planet Earth II’

Daytona 500 will be broadcast in VR

Fancy seeing the Daytona 500 from the perspective of the pit crew? Now you can, thanks to a new five-year deal signed between Fox Sports and NextVR . The pair are planning to broadcast a series of major sporting events in VR , with the deal kicking off at this year’s edition of the great American race. If you own a GearVR headset and a compatible phone, you’ll be able to watch the race from the stands, starting line, middle of the infield and the aforementioned pit lane. In addition, the VR stream will have dedicated audio commentary and pop-up graphics telling you who’s in pole position. It’s not the first time that the two companies have teamed up to share a sporting event, having previously shown a professional boxing event in the format. This deal, however, makes a big step forward for NextVR, which is quickly cementing itself as the premier VR streaming service for all of the events you want to see. After all, it was this firm that brought users the first NBA games in VR as well as the republican and democratic presidential debates . As before, the Daytona 500 will be free-to-view and will kick off at 1pm ET on Sunday, February 21st. Now, it’s not clear yet if NextVR is going to produce 360-degree footage for the event, or if it’ll stick to 180-degree video. When it broadcast the Warriors/Pelicans game at the start of the season, it didn’t bother to film the action from the stands behind you. We’ve contacted the company to find out what the situation is this time, and will let you know when they’ve told us.

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Daytona 500 will be broadcast in VR

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

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

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?

‘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

The first Ultra HD Blu-ray players are already on sale

I wasn’t expecting to see Samsung’s UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player on sale until the end of the month , but it’s already available at a few stores. USA Today points out that Video and Audio Center in Santa Monica is kicking off sales today, and the store’s Facebook page indicates that there are already movies available as well. If that’s not close and you feel the need for 4K discs, AVS Forum posters have also found the players in stock at San Diego-area Fry’s Electronics stores. Sure, not everyone is feeling the Ultra HD Blu-ray hype , but if you want to be among the first to see that extra resolution and HDR, then it’s time to get moving. SAMSUNG’S STREAMING UBD-K8500 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER & 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY DISKS DEBUTS TODAY AT VIDEO & AUDIO CENTER!You… Posted by Video & Audio Center on Friday, February 5, 2016 Source: USA Today , Video and Audio Center (Facebook) , AVS Forum

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The first Ultra HD Blu-ray players are already on sale

Twisty fusion reactor goes online after 19 years of work

Germany just took fusion power one big, important step forward. The country’s Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics has just switched on Wendelstein 7-X , the first large fusion reactor based on a twisty stellarator design. It’s only producing hydrogen plasma at the moment and won’t actually generate energy, but power isn’t really the point. Instead, it’ll serve as proof that stellarators could provide energy while operating continuously, unlike current (tokamak-based) fusion reactors that operate in short pulses. They should be safer, too. The inaugural test phase will run through mid-March, after which point it’ll get an upgrade to let it run hotter and longer. Eventually, it should discharge for up to 30 minutes at a time, and muster a heating power of 20 megawatts. The machine comes at a high price in more ways than one. It took roughly 19 years to design and build Wendelstein 7-X at a staggering cost of €1.2 billion, or about $1.3 billion. That’s a lot of effort for a testbed device. However, it could pay off if it leads to a much more powerful (not to mention less dangerous ) alternative to nuclear fission energy. Via: Motherboard Source: Max Planck Institute

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Twisty fusion reactor goes online after 19 years of work

Yahoo is laying off 1,700 people and closing five offices

Yahoo can’t seem to figure out how to turn itself around. Today it announced a new ” aggressive strategic plan ” to pare itself down to focus on its strength in its Q4 earnings report. That plan involves laying off 15 percent of its workforce and closing five international offices. The offices closing will be in Dubai, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid and Milan. The layoffs will mean the company will have only 9, 000 employees by the end of 2016. The overall goal is to reduce operating costs by $400 million in the coming year. The company brought in $1.27 billion in revenue during the quarter. The company had a huge writedown of $4.5 billion. Ouch. In a statement CEO Marissa Mayer said, “today, we’re announcing a strategic plan that we strongly believe will enable us to accelerate Yahoo’s transformation. This is a strong plan calling for bold shifts in products and in resources.” During the earnings’ livestream Mayer noted that when she took over, the company was full of legacy businesses and a declining revenue stream that had to be shuttered. She noted that the Mavens (mobile, video, native and social) sector was a revenue source that had an “incredibly fast growth line of business.” Mayer also said that it needs to be engage its users and will focus on its top businesses, Search, Mail and Tumblr. It will also be even more bullish on mobile with upcoming changes to the sports and finance apps and the recent change to the search app. Source: Yahoo

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Yahoo is laying off 1,700 people and closing five offices