The Concept Art for Las Vegas’ ‘Mars World’ Looks Nuts

It’s long been said that space tourism will be big business. Whole spaceports have sprung up ( and basically died ) in belief of that economic promise. The problem is that shooting people past our bubble of atmosphere, safely and reliably, is still tricky. Not to mention you need to be rich as hell or dead to even consider it. Read more…

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The Concept Art for Las Vegas’ ‘Mars World’ Looks Nuts

Blizzard’s ‘Overwatch’ hits consoles and PC on May 24

The wait is almost over for Overwatch , Blizzard’s first original game in some time. The shooter will hit PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on May 24, the company announced today . Additionally, you’ll be able to get your feet wet during an open beta from May 5 through May 9. Those who preorder the game will also be able to get an early start on the beta on May 3. Multiplayer shooters are fairly common these days, but it’ll be interesting to see how Blizzard, a company best known for MMORPGs and strategy games, approaches the genre. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Overwatch ‘ s gameplay is frenetic, giving you control of 21 different heroes with different skills. This isn’t some stroll through Destiny’s Crucible. Blizzard also revealed two new editions of the game today. PC players can snag the base version for $40 — which doesn’t include some of the skins and other “digital goodies” buyers of the $60 “Origins Edition” will get — and the “Collector’s Edition” for all platforms will retail for around $130. The latter will come with a Soldier: 76 statue, art book and soundtrack. Source: Blizzard

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Blizzard’s ‘Overwatch’ hits consoles and PC on May 24

The Coolest Attractions Coming to Shanghai Disneyland

The new Disneyland in Shanghai doesn’t open until June 16th, but we’ve got a new drone’s-eye view of the progress at the new park. It will be the first Disney park in mainland China, and we can expect three things from it: It’s going to be busy; it’s going to have some cool new rides; and it’s going to make Disney a ton of money. Read more…

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The Coolest Attractions Coming to Shanghai Disneyland

Netflix is going all in on HDR and more original content

After revealing an ambitious plan for global expansion earlier this year , Netflix is now looking to focus on what’s arguably the most important part of its business: content. In a recent meeting at Mobile World Congress 2016 , the video giant shared more details about what subscribers should expect next. And that mostly revolves around making a bigger push for original shows, improving the Netflix mobile apps on iOS and Android, as well as bringing support for high dynamic range (HDR) programming. The company hasn’t been shy to divulge its appreciation for HDR, but it’s going all out on the technology in 2016. “We started exploring HDR content about one year ago, ” says Chris Jaffe, vice president of user interface innovation at Netflix, “it is the [obvious] next-level resolution in the playback experience.” Over the coming months, there will be many HDR shows available on the platform, including Marco Polo season one and the highly anticipated second season of Daredevil . But Jaffe knows it won’t be easy, particularly due to the amount of internet bandwidth required by this type of content. As such, he says, Netflix has already worked out various compression algorithms , which adjust the quality of the video based on its complexity and still serve it up at a high resolution. So long as you have 16-20 Mbps connection, the experience should suffer from a minimum buffering woes. Of course, Ultra HD content plays a major role in Netflix’s strategy too, and there are more than 600 hours of 4K programming expected to hit the streaming service in 2016. Additionally, Jaffe says Netflix is launching 30 shows this year, including new seasons for existing series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black , plus 10 original movies and a number of documentaries and exclusive content for kids . “[We have] 75 million members around the world; essentially that means 75 million different experiences, ” he says about the challenge Netflix faces to have something for everyone, from movies and TV shows to the algorithm used to recommend what you should watch. On the mobile side, Netflix is expected to rollout a revamped iOS app tomorrow, featuring support for Arabic and auto-play episodes. Later this year, both the iOS and Android applications will let also you manage your data usage, in case you have a cap on your smartphone or tablet plan and want to limit streams to a certain quality. Meanwhile, if you have a Chromecast, you can expect a second-screen experience for to arrive “shortly, ” which is going to give you access to IMDB-like metadata from your iOS or Android device. It’ll come in handy during those times when you don’t know who an actor is, or want to know what other movies they are in — the benefit here is you’re able to do it directly from the app. You have to give it to Netflix for its appetite to keep growing across the board, but you also have to ask yourself if it’s trying to do too much all at once. As always, however, only time will tell. For now, if you’re a Netflix buff , there’s no reason you shouldn’t be excited about the company’s plans for the near future. [Image credits: Netflix, Getty Images]

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Netflix is going all in on HDR and more original content

Reluctant Wikipedia Lifts Lid On $2.5M Internet Search Engine Project

The Wikimedia Foundation has finally disclosed details of its controversial Knowledge Engine grant — and it confirms that Wikipedia is getting seriously into search, despite Jimmy Wales’ categorical denial that WMF is “doing a Google.” After a Wikipedia signpost article, and coverage at El Reg this week, the WMF caved and posted the Knight Foundation’s approval of the $250, 000 grant. The grant provides seed money for stage one of the Knowledge Engine, described as “a system for discovering reliable and trustworthy information on the Internet.” The discovery stage includes an exploration of prototypes of future versions of Wikipedia.org which are “open channels” rather than an encyclopedia, analyzing the query-to-content path, and embedding the Wikipedia Knowledge Engine “via carriers and Original Equipment Manufacturers.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Reluctant Wikipedia Lifts Lid On $2.5M Internet Search Engine Project

Let’s Hope Valve’s Vive VR Is as Great as Its Setup Instructions

Unlike most of my colleagues, I haven’t had the chance to try HTC and Valve’s Vive Pre virtual reality headset. I hear it’s good , but it could be another overhyped disappointment like The Phantom Menace . Read more…

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Let’s Hope Valve’s Vive VR Is as Great as Its Setup Instructions

California lawmaker wants to ban phone encryption in 2017

California lawmaker, State Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the sale of mobile devices that have encryption on by default beginning in 2017. The bill, AB 1681 , demands that any phone sold after January 1, 2017 be “capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider.” Should this bill become law, manufacturers found in violation would be subject to fines of $2, 500 per phone. Cooper’s reasoning puts a novel spin on the same, tired “The police can’t do their jobs unless tech companies do it for them” argument. This time, he used human trafficking as the boogeyman that needs defeating and which can only be accomplished if the government has unfettered, disk-level access to its citizens’ cell phones. “If you’re a bad guy [we] can get a search record for your bank, for your house, you can get a search warrant for just about anything, ” Cooper told ArsTechnica . “For the industry to say it’s privacy, it really doesn’t hold any water. We’re going after human traffickers and people who are doing bad and evil things. Human trafficking trumps privacy, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Apparently human trafficking also trumps the 4th Amendment as well. Via: The Next Web Source: Ars Technica

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California lawmaker wants to ban phone encryption in 2017

The Foam Fins Covering This Wetsuit Let You Body Surf Without a Board

The next time you’re driving along the coast and admiring the waves, don’t feel bad about not packing a surfboard. The WaveWrecker wetsuit can be kept tucked away in a corner of your trunk at all times, and when the waves are ideal, it turns your body into its own surfboard. Read more…

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The Foam Fins Covering This Wetsuit Let You Body Surf Without a Board