Tag: public-access

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

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

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

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

Politiwoops uploads its 1.1 million-tweet collection to the Internet Archive

Twitter may have revoked Politiwoop’s API access but that isn’t stopping the political watchdog from preserving its already-sizeable collection of online gaffs and retractions from elected officials . Politiwoops, which archived the deleted tweets of politicians in 35 countries worldwide, announced on Wednesday that it will upload its collection of 1.1 million formerly-deleted tweets to the Internet Archive for perpetual preservation. This move follows the publication earlier this month of an open letter penned by 17 international rights groups — including the EFF, Sunlight Foundation and Human Rights Watch — urging Twitter to reverse its decision. That letter has since been endorsed by more than 50 more rights groups from across the globe. “Social networks should take into account international norms about transparency and the right to information, ” Arjan El Fassed, director of Open State Foundation, said in a statement. “When politicians turn to social networks to amplify their views, they are inviting greater scrutiny of their expression.” However, to date, Twitter has refused to review the decision. [Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images] Filed under: Internet Comments Source: Open State , Internet Archive Tags: Human Rights Watch, Internet Archive, politics, politiwoops, Social networks, Sunlight Foundation, twitter

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Politiwoops uploads its 1.1 million-tweet collection to the Internet Archive

Buy items right from their Facebook pages with the new Shop section

Facebook is on its way to becoming a one-stop shop for all of your social networking, selfie, news, disliking and retail therapy needs. Select merchants will now feature a Shop section on their Facebook pages, allowing customers to purchase items without leaving the site. The new section is made in collaboration with digital commerce company Shopify , and at first the Shop addition will be available only to Shopify retailers (at no additional charge). It’s designed with mobile devices in mind, since that’s where most of Facebook’s users are, Shopify says. “Existing Facebook Store apps don’t work on mobile devices, which is how most people now use Facebook, ” Shopify writes . “As well, existing Facebook Store apps only add a tab to your page, while the new Facebook Shop section appears as a larger section on your main Facebook Page…. Finally, the new Shop section includes a subscribe button that lets people get notified when you add new products.” Facebook and Shopify have been testing out the Shop function over the past few months. So far, Facebook doesn’t take a cut from sales secured via Shop. [GIF credit: Shopify] Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Via: Wired Source: Shopify Tags: facebook, shop, Shopify, shopping

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Buy items right from their Facebook pages with the new Shop section

‘Sleepy Hollow’ for Oculus wins first virtual reality Emmy

Virtual reality has officially become mainstream, as an Emmy has been awarded to a work created for a VR headset (the Oculus Rift DK2 ) for the first time. The Sleepy Hollow Virtual Reality Experience (below), co-produced by Fox and Toronto-based Secret Location, won in the “Interactive Media, User Experience and Visual Design” category. It debuted at Comic-Con, and gave thousands of Oculus Rift users the unique gift of seeing what it would be like to have their heads cut off and held aloft by the Headless Horseman. You can view it yourself on Oculus Share if you have a Rift DK2. Another Emmy was handed to the team behind the AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience app , a 360-degree video based on the singer’s Blank Space music video, which has been viewed over a billion times. The experience lets users look around the entire scene, follow Swift and look for hidden clues. However, it was designed for a smartphone or tablet and not a headset, so falls outside what most folks would call virtual reality. Nevertheless, Swift was clearly well pleased , and the awards will no doubt motivate producers and artists to create similar side projects and keep the VR snowball rolling. [Thanks, Felipe!] Filed under: Wearables , Facebook Comments Source: Fox Tags: Emmy, facebook, OculusRift, SecretLocation, SleepyHollow, video, VR, VRExperience

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‘Sleepy Hollow’ for Oculus wins first virtual reality Emmy

TomTom’s RoadDNA system helps anyone build a self-driving car

TomTom has launched RoadDNA , a product aimed at bringing self-driving car tech to more potential developers. The system captures 3D roadside data from depth sensing cameras and compares it to a database of images, letting vehicles know their exact position on the road, even at high speeds. The mapping company said it takes “vehicle data storage and processing limitations in mind, ” by converting the mass of 3D data it collects into a manageable, optimized 2D view of the road. TomTom said earlier that the RoadDNA database takes up just 25 Kb per kilometer of road. The company said the system also works despite changes in the environment, meaning it can adapt to fresh snowfall, leaves falling off of trees or new road signs. It would have to be paired with GPS systems, obstacle detection and other tech to be used in autonomous systems. Nevertheless, it’s a key piece: “We know that the future of automated driving hinges on the ability of a vehicle to continuously know exactly where it is on the road, ” said TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn. Filed under: Transportation Comments Source: TomTom Tags: AutomatedDriving, mapping, RoadDNA, SelfDrivingCar, software, TomTom

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TomTom’s RoadDNA system helps anyone build a self-driving car

Dainese’s airbag jacket doesn’t rely on a motorcycle to activate

Airbag jackets for motorcyclists typically rely on the bike to activate the safety features, which, in some cases, could be a bit tricky. Dainese remedied the issue by packing all of the requisite tech inside the jacket itself on its D-air Misano 1000. The collection of sensors, GPS and other electronics that are housed in the back protector “monitor the dynamics of the rider’s body 800 times a second” and deploy the airbag when they detect impact or tumbling. As you might expect, there’s an on/off switch to activate the system when you’re in the saddle and an LED status like keeps your informed of its status. Looking to snag one? The D-air Misano 1000 will arrive in November for €1, 499 (around $1, 700). Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Gizmag , Gizmodo Source: Dainese Tags: airbagjacket, d-airmisano1000, dainese, jacket, motorcycle, safety, transportation

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Dainese’s airbag jacket doesn’t rely on a motorcycle to activate

VLC’s media player app will launch on Apple TV

Plex isn’t the only one bringing a fan-favorite media app to the new Apple TV . Jean-Baptiste Kempf has quietly revealed that VLC , VideoLAN’s signature media player, will reach Apple’s latest set-top box. It’s still early, but this could open up your playback options for music and video — you may have more choices for formats and sources than you get out of the box. While you aren’t going to get total freedom (you certainly won’t be playing DVDs on an Apple TV), this beats having to rely primarily on streaming services. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Software , HD , Apple Comments Via: VentureBeat Source: Jean-Baptiste Kempf Tags: app, apple, appletv, hdpostcross, internet, streaming, videolan, vlc

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VLC’s media player app will launch on Apple TV

Dainese’s airbag jacket doesn’t rely on a motorcycle to activate

Airbag jackets for motorcyclists typically rely on the bike to activate the safety features, which, in some cases, could be a bit tricky. Dainese remedied the issue by packing all of the requisite tech inside the jacket itself on its D-air Misano 1000. The collection of sensors, GPS and other electronics that are housed in the back protector “monitor the dynamics of the rider’s body 800 times a second” and deploy the airbag when they detect impact or tumbling. As you might expect, there’s an on/off switch to activate the system when you’re in the saddle and an LED status like keeps your informed of its status. Looking to snag one? The D-air Misano 1000 will arrive in November for €1, 499 (around $1, 700). Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Gizmag , Gizmodo Source: Dainese Tags: airbagjacket, d-airmisano1000, dainese, jacket, motorcycle, safety, transportation

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Dainese’s airbag jacket doesn’t rely on a motorcycle to activate