Tag: events

Michigan Sues HP Over Decade Long, $49 Million Incomplete Project

itwbennett writes: On Friday, embattled HP was hit with a new lawsuit filed by the state of Michigan over a 10-year-old, $49 million project that called for HP to replace a legacy mainframe-based system built in the 1960s. Through the suit filed in Kent County Circuit Court, the state seeks $11 million in damages along with attorney’s fees and the funds needed to rebid and re-procure the contract. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Continued here:
Michigan Sues HP Over Decade Long, $49 Million Incomplete Project

DoJ shells out $23 million for the President’s body camera pilot program

The Department of Justice announced last May that it would fund a national pilot program for law enforcement body cameras, a plan first put forth by President Obama. On Monday, the DoJ made good on that promise by awarding $23 million in grants to 32 states for the purchase of these devices. Of that total, $19.3 million will go towards actually purchasing the necessary 50, 000 cameras, another $2 million is earmarked for training and the remaining $1.9 million will be used to conduct impact studies in Miami, Milwaukee and Phoenix. “This vital pilot program is designed to assist local jurisdictions that are interested in exploring and expanding the use of body-worn cameras in order to enhance transparency, accountability and credibility, ” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “The impact of body-worn cameras touches on a range of outcomes that build upon efforts to mend the fabric of trust, respect and common purpose that all communities need to thrive.” Source: Department of Justice

View article:
DoJ shells out $23 million for the President’s body camera pilot program

4chan sells to the founder of the site that inspired it

If you know your internet message board history, you know that Chris Poole’s legendary 4chan was inspired by 2channel, a board dedicated to anime and other aspects of Japanese culture. Well, things are about to come full circle: Poole (aka Moot) just sold 4chan to Hiroyuki Nishimura, 2channel’s founder and the current editor in chief for Variety Japan . The terms of the deal aren’t public, but Poole notes to the New York Times that there’s a “lot of opportunity” to grow his site with the “right resources.” That wouldn’t be hard. Unlike some other community mainstays, such as Reddit, 4chan has never really been run as a full-fledged business. If you’re a loyal 4chan user, the handover might be worrying. Part of its appeal is that homebrew, almost-anything-goes vibe that has frequently made it both the launching point for internet memes and a bastion of open, anonymous expression. However, Poole believes that he’s putting his creation in good hands. Nishimura is the “only person in the world” with as much experience running a message board like this — if anyone can understand what makes 4chan popular, it’s him. The real question is whether or not he can (or wants to) make it a profitable venture without compromising its spirit. Reddit has already taken some flak for cleaning up some of its hate communities in its bid for mainstream success. While 4chan already has experience with this kind of backlash (the notorious 8chan board exists partly to house 4chan exiles), it’s still considered more laissez-faire than its commercial cousin. It risks losing that image if it goes too far in sanitizing the experience for the sake of advertisers. [Image credit: Johannes Simon/Getty Images] Source: New York Times

Continue reading here:
4chan sells to the founder of the site that inspired it

Dropbox Teams will offer a host of business features to free users

Dropbox for Business is an increasingly important part of the company’s revenue stream — there are more than 130, 000 businesses using the service — but there are many more people out there using the company’s more consumer-focused free service and its $9.99 monthly subscription plan. Millions of those users are in fact using their personal Dropbox accounts to get work done, as well — so now Dropbox is going to offer a set of tools to make it a lot easier for individuals and smaller businesses to use Dropbox with a team of co-workers. In fact, that’s the name of the new service that launches tomorrow: Dropbox Teams. Anyone using Dropbox will now have the opportunity to create a team. When you start the process, Dropbox will even suggest users it thinks you should invite based on what documents you share with what people or whether you’re all using the same email address domain. Once your team is set up, everyone will have access to the same shared folder, which Dropbox expects teams will use to share documents that the whole group will need access to. Fortunately, you can also set up sub-groups (like a marketing team, or the specific people involved with a specific project) — that’ll keep everyone on the team from having files they don’t need taking up space in their Dropbox. Dropbox Teams will also give administrators granular control over what different users will have access to — you can limit what files and folders they can see, and you can also decide whether files can be shared or not. Another sharing option is the ability to determine whether folders and files can be shared with people who aren’t on your team. If files are confidential, you can keep them only within your team, but other files will be able to be freely shared with anyone using Dropbox. (Of course, that won’t stop anyone from downloading the file and sharing it via email, but there’s only so much you can expect from a free offering.) The last major feature here is pulled directly from Dropbox for Business. If you happen to have created Dropbox accounts for separate work and personal accounts, Dropbox will let you link them together so you can see them both while logged in, rather than have to log in and out to jump between them. All in all, it’s a pretty generous set of free features: it lets the many people out there already using the popular Dropbox Basic and Pro services for work have more control over how they do that. And it just might help the company sell more Dropbox for Business subscriptions as those small companies start growing up. Source: Dropbox

Read more here:
Dropbox Teams will offer a host of business features to free users

Netflix’s first original feature film will be shown in UK cinemas

Netflix has earned a reputation as a producer of high-quality TV shows and documentaries, and now it wants to do the same with feature films. Beasts of No Nation , a war drama featuring Idris Elba, will be available to stream on October 16th, but Brits will also have option to watch it in cinemas from October 9th . Netflix has struck a deal with Curzon Cinemas, a chain specialising in independent and art house films, to get its first major movie up on the big screen. It’s also set to premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 8th — with more mainstream exposure, there’s a greater chance it’ll pick up some awards and legitimise Netflix’s filmmaking efforts. Beasts of No Nation is based on a 2005 novel by Uzodinma Iweala, and stars Abraham Attah as a young boy swept up in the middle of an African civil war and forced to become a child soldier. The first trailer shows promise — it’s a cut above what we’re expecting from Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous Six , anyway. Source: Vodzilla , Deadline

Visit link:
Netflix’s first original feature film will be shown in UK cinemas

Volkswagen Ordered To Recall 500K Vehicles Over Its Own Malicious Programming

Etherwalk writes: The Obama Administration today ordered Volkswagen to recall 500, 000 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The vehicles were programmed to turn on more thorough emissions control and generate cleaner readings when tested for emissions than they did when in ordinary operation. In effect, the software made everything operate normally when you looked at it, just like any good malware. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

See more here:
Volkswagen Ordered To Recall 500K Vehicles Over Its Own Malicious Programming

US and Chinese firms agree on high-speed rail plan from LA to Vegas

Pledge agreements aren’t the only deals being inked ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first official state visit to the US. A consortium led by China Railway Group has come to terms with America’s XpressWest Enterprises LLC to jointly build and operate a high-speed rail link running between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The project has already cleared its environmental impact study, obtained all of the necessary DoT licensing and right-of-way approvals, and is ready to begin building as soon as next September. China Railway has already put up $100 million in initial capital . According to China Railway, the route will span 230 miles between Las Vegas and Los Angeles proper. XpressWest’s website, however, claims the tracks will stop in Victorville, California, 85 miles outside of LA, and 55 miles closer to its destination. The route would fling passengers along at speeds topping 150 MPH, shortening the usual 4 hour car ride to a more manageable 80 minutes. What’s more, the train service is being billed as more than just a ride out to the desert, it will reportedly be part of a “Las Vegas Experience.” Amenities will include full-service entertainment club cars (though likely sans the gambling, at least until you cross into Nevada), business and first class seating, food, beverages and WiFi. China, as a nation, operates more than 10, 000 miles of domestic high-speed tracks and competes extensively with neighboring Japan — specifically JR Central, the country’s largest locomotive company — for contracts throughout Asia. As the domestic Chinese market has become saturated with high-speed rail projects, many of its largest railway companies have begun vying for international contracts. As Yang Zhongmin, deputy chief engineer with China Railway Group, pointed out at a recent press conference, “This is the first high-speed railway project where China and the U.S. will have systematic cooperation. It shows the advancement of China-made high-speed railways.” And given that multiple plans to link LA and LV with a rail line have been proposed over the years (with every single one of them failing due to budget or technological issues), China’s expertise in such matters certainly can’t hurt. Via: Bloomberg Source: LA Times

View the original here:
US and Chinese firms agree on high-speed rail plan from LA to Vegas

Apple’s First Android App, Move To iOS, Is Getting Killed With One-Star Reviews

An anonymous reader writes: Apple today launched Move to iOS, the company’s first Android app built in-house. As we noted earlier, “It should surprise no one that the first app Apple built for Android helps you ditch the platform.” The fact that the app is getting flooded with one-star reviews is not particularly surprising, either. At the time of publication, the app has an average rating of 1.8. The larger majority (almost 79 percent) are one-star reviews, followed by five-star reviews (almost 19 percent). Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View post:
Apple’s First Android App, Move To iOS, Is Getting Killed With One-Star Reviews

The New Roomba 980 Can Now Watch Your Dirt

 It knows when you’ve been sleeping, it knows when you’re awake, it knows when your kids spilled Rice Krispies next to the couch and covered the spill with the dog. The new Roomba 980 is a round robotic vacuum with a new twist. While previous models got around by bumping into things and coming to the edge of stairs, the new 980 uses a low-res video camera to “map”… Read More

Link:
The New Roomba 980 Can Now Watch Your Dirt