Lionsgate and Starz join forces to compete with HBO, Netflix
In an effort to compete with the likes of HBO and Netflix, Lionsgate Entertainment and Starz are joining forces. The former is picking up the latter for $4.4 billion in cash and stock, according to The LA Times. The deal seems mutually beneficial. With it, Starz gets some industry cache (and a bunch of cash) that could help it attract projects that’d otherwise go toward HBO and Netflix. If that means more like the fantastic Ash vs Evil Dead, hey, alright.
Lionsgate, on the other hand, might have a homegrown streaming destination for its own properties instead of inking exclusivity agreements with outsiders. Like the one it’s in with Epix at the moment, for instance. Of course, that could draw the ire of customers accustomed to watching Mad Men (a Lionsgate property) on Netflix, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Source: The Los Angeles Times, Lionsgate
Facebook’s new tool will help you raise funds for charity orgs
It’s now much easier to raise funds for your favorite causes and charity organizations on Facebook. The social network has begun rolling out a tool that’ll enable you to create personal fundraisers for 501c3 nonprofits verified by the company, including The Nature Conservancy, Alzheimer’s Association and Oxfam. Best thing about these campaigns is that they’ll allow your friends to donate money within Facebook itself — it won’t send them to an external website.
The company’s “Social Good” team, which was also behind Safety Check, designed it that way, because people are more inclined to give money directly through Facebook. They also found that people tend to be more generous if someone they know asks for help using their personal stories or photos. The company already launched a fundraising tool that organizations can use last year, but this one could compel more folks to open their wallets.
If you’re wondering if Facebook gets a cut, well, it does get a tiny percentage of the total funds raised — five percent, to be exact. Two percent goes towards the costs associated with vetting nonprofits and fraud protection, while the remaining three will go towards payment processing. Recipients will get 95 percent of whatever you raise.
At the moment, only one percent of users in US has access to the tool, and there are only 100 verified organizations. Facebook plans to make it available nationwide in the coming weeks, though, so keep an eye out if you want to help a nonprofit close to your heart.
Via: Mashable
Source: USA Today, The Mercury News
These homemade wheels let you maneuver your car as you please
Your regular old car’s wheels can probably only go in a finite number of directions. One crafty YouTuber took it upon himself to create a set of wheels that would allow his trusty Toyota Echo to handle moving around in just about any direction you can think of. The result looks pretty ridiculous, but also totally awesome.
William’s “Liddiard Wheels” are powered by 24,000 pounds of torque to the wheels, allowing for some ridiculous moves. You can bolt them on to any vehicle if your own car needs an upgrade for some reason, and they’ll definitely be the catalyst for some insane conversations in the future.
Liddiard is looking to get some exposure for this interesting invention, and it looks like he’s going to get it. But would this be something drivers would actually be able to utilize? Check out the wheels in action for yourself in the video below.
Via: Gizmodo
Nintendo t-shirt design contest will be judged by Shigeru Miyamoto
In case you didn’t own enough gaming tees, Uniqlo has opening its annual tee design competition, this time centered around Nintendo. The UTGP’17 comes with a healthy $10,000 prize pot and the contest is open to global entries. (Yes, even from you.) Notably, the collaboration has ensured Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto will be act as a “special judge” for the competition. The winning (and runner-up) designs typically go on to be sold in Uniqlo stores, which adds an incentive worth even more than that prize pot. (Or not. Real talk; it is 10,000 bucks.)
Source: Uniqlo
Jury awards HP $3 billion in damages from Oracle
In yet another legal tussle between HP and Oracle, a jury has decided to award HP $3 billion in damages. The case stems from Oracle’s decision to stop developing software for HP’s Intel Itanium-powered servers in 2011, which HP says is a breach of contract between the two companies. Oracle’s argument has been that the Itanium processor was nearing end of life and it didn’t think there was a contract requiring it to support the hardware indefinitely.
Reuters reports that a judge decided there was a contract in 2012, and today the jury ruled on the amount of damages. For its part, Oracle plans to appeal both decisions (just like it’s appealing a ruling in its case against Google over the use of Java APIs in Android), saying HP and Intel “stopped developing systems years ago,” and that HP breached its own obligations. Until that happens we’ll be pawing through the Itanium Wikipedia page for quotes like “The Itanium approach…was supposed to be so terrific—until it turned out that the wished-for compilers were basically impossible to write.”
Source: Oracle, Reuters, USA Today
Google is working on a VR version of Chrome for Android
Google had a lot to say about its VR ambitions at this year’s I/O, and it looks like a more immersive web browsing experience will be part of those plans. Road to VR reports that the latest versions of Chrome Beta and Chrome Dev for Android have a couple notable features that will make hopping around the web in VR a reality. The beta version of Chrome now has WebVR abilities that allows for more engaging experiences when you visit a website that’s designed for virtual reality. As was recently noted by Chromium guru François Beaufort, the Chrome Dev now offers a “VR shell” that would allow Cardboard and Daydream users to browse the internet with a headset.
As Road to VR notes, the VR shell isn’t full functional just yet, but should be only a matter of time before it and other virtual reality features pop up in stable beta versions. With the way VR on the web currently works, you have to take off that headset when you come to a site that isn’t properly equipped. However, Google’s pending solution for Android mean you wouldn’t have to do that as the so-called shell would accommodate those non-VR-ready sites.
Samsung already built a browser for its Gear VR. Of course, that headset only works with the company’s own handsets, so it’s not open for a wide audience. By adding virtual reality browsing for Chrome, Google can offer the feature to users of Cardboard and its upcoming Daydream setup. The company also revealed that Google Play would get a dedicated VR section so you’ll know exactly where to find the apps and content you’re after. For desktop users, Google is said to be working on a version of Chrome that supports the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Source: Road to VR, François Beaufort
Dell discontinues its Android tablets in favor of Windows 2-in-1s
Another Android tablet maker bites the dust. Dell has decided to end distribution of its Android tabs and will instead focus on Windows 2-in-1 devices. This means several things: One, the company will no longer offer its Venue brand of Android tablets or the Android-based Wyse Cloud Connect, which can be used to turn displays into viable PCs. The reason isn’t so complicated, either. Dell simply believes that the slate-style tablet market has become oversaturated. Customers aren’t demanding these types of products as often, which lead to this decision. What is in demand, Dell notes, is the 2-in-1 computer line.
“We are seeing 2-in-1s rising in popularity since they provide a more optimal blend of PC capabilities with tablet mobility,” a Dell spokesperson explained in an email to PC World. It’s definitely a business decision that makes sense, but it may frustrate those who have already invested in Dell’s Android products, as the company will no longer be offering OS upgrades to its Venue tablets.
“For customers who own Android-based Venue products, Dell will continue to support currently active warranty and service contracts until they expire, but we will not be pushing out future OS upgrades,” Dell explained. While it’s easy to understand why Dell is moving away from its tablet line in the first place, this is an important point to keep in mind if you might be deciding on a new tablet in the future to sate that Android habit.
Via: PCWorld
US wiretap operations encountering encryption fell in 2015
The US government has been very vocal recently about how the increase in encryption on user devices is hampering their investigations. The reality is that according to a report from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, law enforcement with court-ordered wiretaps encountered fewer encrypted devices in 2015 than in 2014.
In regards to encrypted devices, the reports states: “The number of state wiretaps in which encryption was encountered decreased from 22 in 2014 to seven in 2015. In all of these wiretaps, officials were unable to decipher the plain text of the messages. Six federal wiretaps were reported as being encrypted in 2015, of which four could not be decrypted.”
This is out of 2,745 state and 1,403 federal for a grand total of 4,148 wiretaps, an increase of 17 percent over 2014. So while surveillance increased, the amount of times law enforcement encountered encryption decreased.
Earlier this year the Department of Justice and FBI were locked in a court battle with Apple over an encrypted iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. The government eventually dropped the case after finding a third party to help it bypass the phone’s security.
But it started a national debate about personal devices and encryption. Tech companies want their customers to be secure while law enforcement want backdoors or keys to encrypted devices for investigations. But it looks like when it comes to wiretaps, encryption isn’t as big a problem as many would suspect.
Via: The Intercept
Source: Administrative Office of US Courts
‘Serial’ podcast subject Adnan Syed is granted a retrial
Adnan Syed, the subject of Serial podcast’s first season, has gotten a retrial, and it was partly thanks to a “cell tower issue.” Syed is currently serving a life sentence after getting convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, but he has always maintained his innocence. Serial dissected his case back in 2014, which cast doubt on whether he even got a fair trial. When Syed was given the chance to present new evidence in court earlier this year, his new lawyer, C. Justin Brown, challenged the testimony of an AT&T engineer who served as one of the case’s original witnesses.
The engineer’s statement linked Syed to the location of the victim’s body. According to The New York Times, though, the engineer wasn’t shown “a crucial disclaimer about cell tower data that would have affected his testimony.” Brown didn’t detail what that disclaimer and cell tower issue were, but the judge’s retrial order said there was a “failure to cross-examine the State’s cell tower expert about the reliability of cell tower location evidence.” It was only one of the reasons why Syed is getting a second chance to defend himself, though.
The other reason is that the defense team secured the help of an alibi witness who wasn’t called in the first time. A woman named Asia McClain testified that she was chatting with Syed in a library while the crime was being committed. If her name sounds familiar, it’s because she was also a prominent character in the first season of Serial, as host Sarah Koenig talked about Syed’s alibi.
Adnan Syed has been granted a new trial. Judge Welch’s order: https://t.co/Io4HRRNWLt pic.twitter.com/CzT4LK2w79
— Serial (@serial) June 30, 2016
Source: Serial (Twitter), The New York Times
Facebook to Shut Down ‘Paper’ News Creation and Curation App
Facebook is shutting down news creation and curation app Paper, reports The Verge. Paper, which debuted in 2014, was the first product to come out of Facebook Creative Labs, which has since been dismantled.
Paper, a Flipboard competitor, consisted of a news reader that pulled content from a user’s Facebook News Feed and a variety of well-known online publications, organizing it all into a magazine-style layout with sections ranging from technology to animals. A team of editors curated the most popular online content for users and for a time, it was a popular replacement for the traditional Facebook News Feed.
Though it received positive reviews and was one of Facebook’s most downloaded apps, it was not able to attract and maintain a large audience, leading to Facebook’s decision to shut it down. Paper has been defunct for a while, going without an update since March of 2015.
According to Facebook, many of the concepts introduced in Paper, like Instant Articles, have since been added to its other apps and services. Instant Articles is a platform designed to speed up the loading times of articles and news stories and it adopted much of its design language from Paper.
Paper has been removed from the App Store as of today and existing app users will no longer be able to use the app after July 29.
Tag: Facebook
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