Month: March 2016

Scientists have started working on real-life teleportation technology, but it’s still in its infancy and may never really be able to transport a human being across great distances. But Microsoft has already developed a virtual teleportation system that makes it look like you’re in the same room as someone who may be thousands of miles away. It’s […]

Microsoft’s holoportation is a virtual teleportation system (using HoloLens) is a post from: Liliputing

In 1999, when Napster began drawing its first digital breaths, few users realized they were part of the dawn of a people-powered sharing revolution that would reach millions.

In time, founders Shawn Fanning, John Fanning, and Sean Parker would become both famous and infamous, with the latter surviving Metallica’s destruction of his business and emerging 15 years later as a Facebook multi-billionaire.

But while Parker is publicly living the dream with his pirate history all but forgotten, others on the receiving end of massive litigation have slowly but surely drifted into the background to pursue other interests. Like Gary Fung, for example.

As the former admin of torrent site isoHunt.com, Fung became a hero to many due to his extended battle with Hollywood’s MPAA. Year after year Fung defied the most powerful people in the movie industry to keep his site online, something that was well received among the file-sharing masses.

While it eventually came to a costly end, Fung’s battle was a true David and Goliath affair.

It inspired many, in part due to the way the Canadian was prepared to become a public figure whose face was well known to his fans. As a result he is still one of the most recognizable individuals to have emerged from the torrent world.

Of course, there are at least three other individuals who enjoyed even greater pirate infamy than Gary Fung. Like Madonna, Bono or Oprah, the trio of Gottfrid, Fredrik and Peter are recognizable by a single name, albeit when placed together. While moderately recognizable in the mainstream they are truly world famous among the technological masses.

Just like Fung, these Pirate Bay operators gained superstar fame due to their willingness to become recognized in public. During the height of the site’s popularity it was never a secret who was loading the servers and keeping fellow pirates happy. At every opportunity and even when on trial, one or the other was courting publicity in order to further the pirate movement.

And, overall, people absolutely loved it. Unlike most of the faceless operators of dozens of similar sites, Anakata, TiAMO and brokep became icons, appearing in hundreds of mainstream publications around the world and even starring in their own movie. Throughout they stayed defiant, and remain so to this day.

While Napster may have been first and Fung was undoubtedly brave, these three renegades were in a class of their own and will go down in history as the most popular digital pirates the world has ever seen.

Of course there have been others since, most notably Kim Dotcom. Although he’s never likely to embrace the Department of Justice’s claims that he’s the biggest intellectual property pirate the world has ever seen, to many Dotcom is still a pirate hero, regardless of whether he was responsible for the massive piracy on Megaupload.

The key factor is that like Gary, Gottfrid, Fredrik and Peter, rightly or wrongly Dotcom is facing similar persecution from Hollywood. And, just like them, he has remained strong, refused to fold and has indicated the studios can go forth and multiply. A lot of people like that.

Furthermore, what Dotcom has done is position himself as a freedom fighter. He’s placed a human face on what began as a fight over piracy yet has developed into a struggle for control of the Internet. That resonates with millions, even those who oppose other elements of his character.

But although it was fun while it lasted, in terms of public personalities the pirate movement has already enjoyed its ‘Concorde Moment‘. During the last decade and a half fearless pirates put their faces into the public arena, confident in the knowledge that they could never be touched, that somehow laws would never catch up with innovation.

Now, however, it’s clear that the only pirates with their faces being shown in public are those being raided, arrested, prosecuted or subjected to punishing civil litigation. No longer is it fun to prod the bear while shouting out one’s real name. The bears have learned to be patient and now return at a later date to inflict mountains of regret.

There might still be a surprise in store, a brave entrepreneur and entertainer might arrive prepared to sacrifice himself for the benefit of others. But for now the prospect of lawsuits, jail and extradition will ensure that the next generation of pirates will reject superstar status and accept something much more basic.

Their freedom.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

From a popular Blu-ray release to a not so popular game console, read the news roundup for the week ending 27 March 2016

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Jonathan Gitlin

The 2017 Nissan GT-R: faster and more refined.

4 more images in gallery

Everyone from car enthusiasts to gamers to RC joystick jockeys knows the Nissan GT-R, but it wasn't always thus. For most of its life, the car that many now call "Godzilla" toiled away in relative obscurity, at least in the West. Yet its performance cred has never been questioned. To emphasize the GT-R's distinguished lineage, Nissan surrounded the 2017 model at the New York International Auto Show with an inspired display of its fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers.

The new GT-R boasts better-quality interior materials, additional sound deadening, revised rear bodywork, and a "V Motion" grille in matte chrome. With its hand-built 3.8L twin-turbo engine, it also cranks out 20hp (15kW) more than last year's model, for a total of 565hp (421kW). Nissan declares that the 2017 GT-R has the most standard horsepower among all of its competitors, though no performance figures are cited. (The previous GT-R does 0-60 mph in just 2.7 seconds, however.)

For the New York Auto Show, Nissan had four of its five master craftsmen, or Takumi, demonstrate engine building for the gathered press. Even with all that, the new car had to compete for attention with the classic Skyline GT-Rs parked next to it.

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During the latter part of every year, pressure builds as Internet pirates prepare for the inevitable.

Having been sent out to industry professionals “For Their Consideration”, so-called DVD Screener copies of the latest movies begin to hit the Internet.

Last year was a pretty memorable one with some massive titles hitting the web. Both The Revenant and The Hateful Eight were furiously downloaded on BitTorrent before their theatrical debuts, causing shockwaves and controversy as anti-piracy advocates took the opportunity to bemoan droves of “Internet thieves”.

But of course, these leaks have to originate somewhere and as revealed in February with a high-profile arrest, movie insiders are often to blame for content being made available online.

While Kyle Moriarty from Lancaster admitted to copying screeners of The Revenant and The Peanuts Movie while working on a movie studio lot, other DVD screeners do make it to their intended recipients. However, even though these people are supposed to guard the discs with their lives, some don’t appear to do so and are happy to let their friends view them in advance of their theatrical release.

This kind of reckless behavior is welcomed by pirates and almost guarantees a flood of titles hitting BitTorrent around the same time every year. At this point Internet pirates get all the blame yet it’s pretty clear that although the industry doesn’t really want to talk about it, those closer to home are main source of the problem

To see the scale of the issue one only has to turn to the world’s favorite online auction house. Known as a source for just about anything, it turns out that eBay is also a great place to buy DVD screeners, presumably being offloaded directly or indirectly by those who were expected to review them.

For example, for just US$16.53 one can currently buy a lovely Emmy ‘boxed set’ of TV show screeners including episodes of Bates Motel, The Returned, Intervention, Wahlburgers and Married at First Sight.

For those more interested in movies, eBay has plenty of treasures available. Around December 17 last year a DVD screener copy of Straight Outta Compton leaked onto the Internet. Just a handful of months later and it appears that screener recipients are looking to convert those discs into cash via the popular site.

And the more one digs, the more titles appear. A copy of Tom Hardy’s Kray’s movie Legend, for example, along with a vintage copy of Inglourious Basterds, and many, many more besides. Shame the Walking Dead screeners aren’t more recent.

Finally, if binge-watching is more your thing, Netflix screeners are also catered for on eBay. Apparently the company sends out huge box-sets for recipients’ binge-worthy consideration.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

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Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage right here—and let us know what you think.

The board in all its glory—Imperial side.

Looking at the box for Star Wars: Rebellion, the massive new two-to-four-player galactic board game from Fantasy Flight, I had only one thought: "Look at the size of that thing!"

Loosely based on the 1998 video game of the same name, the board game version of Rebellion is ludicrously outsized. The galaxy, too large to fit on a single game board, here sprawls across two. Rebel and Imperial forces aren't represented by cardboard but by 153 plastic miniatures—including three Death Stars and two Super Star Destroyers.

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