Month: September 2018

Wasmjit: Webassembly-Laufzeit entsteht als Linux-Kernel-Modul

Das Projekt Wasmjit soll als Modul im Linux-Kernel zum Einsatz kommen und dort als Laufzeitumgebung Webassembly ausführen. Der Code ist in C geschrieben, soll gut portierbar sein und Webassembly aus dem Browser herausholen. (Wasm, Linux-Kernel)

Das Projekt Wasmjit soll als Modul im Linux-Kernel zum Einsatz kommen und dort als Laufzeitumgebung Webassembly ausführen. Der Code ist in C geschrieben, soll gut portierbar sein und Webassembly aus dem Browser herausholen. (Wasm, Linux-Kernel)

Compromise Reached: Copyright Bill Shortens Copyright Protection for Older Songs

For the first time in a long time, politicians, artists, publishers, tech companies and digital rights advocates have come to an agreement on limiting the copy protection terms on older recordings, and at the same time, introduced a new way to reward s…



For the first time in a long time, politicians, artists, publishers, tech companies and digital rights advocates have come to an agreement on limiting the copy protection terms on older recordings, and at the same time, introduced a new way to reward songwriters for their work.

The 'Music Modernization Act' was passed unanimously in the US Senate, itself something of a miracle in today's political climate, and it has the endorsement of music publishers, record labels and even digital rights groups such as Public Knowledge.

The crux of the bill is two fold, one to provide a streamlined way for songwriters to receive royalties for their works, and two, to standardized copyright terms for song recordings made prior to 1972 that are current covered by a series of state-level laws.

A new modern system would now be set up to track and reward songwriters in a similar system to how royalties for public performances are distributed. Right now, streaming services often have difficulties tracking down owners of songs, and some songwriters end up unpaid. The new system would use a national database that aims to include all copyrighted music and would allow royalties to be distributed fairly.

Earlier in the year, the US House of Representatives passed its own version of bill, but granted as much as 140 years of protection for older songs. A song recorded in 1927 wouldn't fall out of copyright protection into the public domain until 2067, for example. This would unfairly give songs longer copyright protection than what is currently enjoyed by other types of works, such as movies and books. That bill was opposed by digital rights groups such as Public Knowledge.

This new bill would see songs recorded prior to 1923 expire three years after the passing of this legislation, and songs from 1923 to 1946 would get the same 95-year term as other types of copyright works. Works published between 1947 and 1956 would get a 110 year term, while works published between 1957 and 1972 would see their copyright terms expire in 2067.

While these are still relatively long terms for works that some view should have fallen into public domain a long time ago, others, like Public Knowledge, view the bill as a compromise that we had to have, and see it as a "significant step forward for music consumers and fans".

[via Arstechnica]

L-Mount: Sigma will Kamera mit Foveon-Vollbildsensor bauen

Sigma will eine Systemkamera mit seinem Foveon-Sensor im 35mm-Kleinbildformat bauen. Der Sensor ist bisher nur in kleineren Formaten verfügbar gewesen. Zudem will Sigma die Kamera mit Leicas L-Bajonett ausstatten. (Sigma, Digitalkamera)

Sigma will eine Systemkamera mit seinem Foveon-Sensor im 35mm-Kleinbildformat bauen. Der Sensor ist bisher nur in kleineren Formaten verfügbar gewesen. Zudem will Sigma die Kamera mit Leicas L-Bajonett ausstatten. (Sigma, Digitalkamera)

Ricoh GR III: Kompaktkamera mit APS-C-Sensor geplant

Ricoh will mit der GR III die dritte Generation seiner APS-C-Sensor-Kompaktkamera entwickeln, die eine Auflösung von 24 Megapixeln und einen integrierten Bildstabilisator haben wird. (Ricoh, Digitalkamera)

Ricoh will mit der GR III die dritte Generation seiner APS-C-Sensor-Kompaktkamera entwickeln, die eine Auflösung von 24 Megapixeln und einen integrierten Bildstabilisator haben wird. (Ricoh, Digitalkamera)

Panasonic completing 3 new cell production lines at Tesla’s Gigafactory

More battery cells may not smooth out other bottlenecks in Model 3 production.

A car has wheels, tires, and a frame, but nothing else. It's terrifying.

Enlarge / An automobile chassis sits on display inside a Tesla Motors Inc. store in Munich, Germany, on Monday, March 30, 2015. (credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a Tuesday interview with Bloomberg, the head of Panasonic's Automotive Division said that the company was on track to complete an additional three battery-cell production lines at Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory before the end of this year. That puts the expansion ahead of schedule for completion.

Panasonic is a joint owner of the Gigafactory. The company provides the "2170" battery cells that go into a Model 3 battery pack. Tesla packages those cells to complete the pack.

In the interview, Panasonic automotive executive Yoshio Ito told Bloomberg that "the bottleneck for Model 3 production has been our batteries."

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Ancient DNA reveals the secrets of a devastating European disease

Comparison with modern strains offers glimpses of the pathogen’s evolutionary history.

Image of two skeletons.

(credit: PNAS)

Many epidemics of fever ravaged Europe from ancient times through the early 20th century. But one disease stands out in historical accounts because authors describe patients appearing to recover before relapsing into fever again and again. This disease has been around for so long that Hippocrates described a series of such fevers that struck the city of Thasos in the wake of an especially harsh winter, and outbreaks have persisted through last century.

The disease tended to show up when times were hardest. Over the centuries, records describe epidemics of a nearly identical illness, usually on the heels of war or famine, with isolated cases popping up between times among the poor. One such epidemic struck during the Great Irish Famine of 1846 to 1852. Another ravaged Central Europe and Russia in the aftermath of World War I, killing at least five million people.

For years, historians have blamed those epidemics, termed louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF), on Borrelia recurrentis, a twisting, spiral-shaped bacterium transmitted only by the human body louse. The logic was simple: B. recurrentis causes the only relapsing fever we know of that’s carried by lice and capable of spreading fast enough to cause an epidemic. Although it seems to make frequent and horrible appearances in the historical record, LBRF has been totally invisible in the archaeological record. A new study changes that and provides evidence that B. recurrentis is indeed at fault.

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Lilbits 339: Smartphone leaks (LG V40 ThinQ and OnePlus 6T)

October is going to be a busy month for smartphone launches, but thanks to a series of leaks we already have a good idea of what to expect from some upcoming devices like the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, LG V40 ThinQ, and some other devices. Now MySm…

October is going to be a busy month for smartphone launches, but thanks to a series of leaks we already have a good idea of what to expect from some upcoming devices like the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, LG V40 ThinQ, and some other devices. Now MySmartPrice is giving us an idea […]

The post Lilbits 339: Smartphone leaks (LG V40 ThinQ and OnePlus 6T) appeared first on Liliputing.

Illuminati Kodi Repository Throws in the Towel After ACE Threats

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the global anti-piracy coalition that counts the major Hollywood studios, Netflix, Amazon, and the BBC among its 30 members, has claimed yet another scalp. The Illuminati Kodi addon repository says that its entire team got hit with ACE letters yesterday so they have shut down with immediate effect.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

As one of the most popular media players of all time, Kodi has amassed tens of millions of users.

While completely legal in its own right, the open source platform is often augmented with third-party addons that regularly provide access to huge amounts of infringing content. This has attracted the negative attention of copyright holders who are keen to prevent unlicensed content being exploited by the masses.

Since last year, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has been at the forefront of anti-piracy enforcement against such addons. This huge global coalition, made up of 30 of the world’s most powerful entertainment companies, have been knocking on doors (physically in many cases) with letters that order addon developers, addon repositories, and build developers, to cease their activities or face legal consequences.

This week, ACE claimed yet another scalp.

Team Illuminati advertised itself as a great source for the “very best addons” and “stunning” Kodi builds (pre-configured Kodi installers), all available from its own repository.

All previously available from Illuminati

The group built up a decent following but with hundreds of posts on its Twitter account detailing efforts to bring infringing content including movies, TV shows, plus live and recorded sports to the masses, it probably isn’t a surprise they attracted the negative attention of ACE.

Yesterday, in a tweet to the group’s followers, Team Illuminati announced its demise after receiving a visit from the world’s most powerful anti-piracy coalition.

“Sorry guys our entire team got hit with ACE letters today so we’re leaving twitter, this group closes tomorrow AM thanks for your support all,” Illuminati wrote.

While it’s not completely unheard of, it is relatively unusual for Kodi addon developers and repositories to announce that they’ve had a visit from ACE. As recently highlighted, those entering into settlement agreements with ACE are required not to mention they’ve had any contact whatsoever.

It’s not clear whether Illuminati intend to simply cease-and-desist, as others in a similar position have done so previously, or whether its members will eventually sign the ACE settlement agreeement. TF has seen copies of previous agreement letters which indicate that cooperation will be required moving forward, including providing information on others closely connected with the addon, build, repository, or other service.

For now, however, it seems clear that Team Illuminati have thrown in the towel.

Visitors to their repository URL at repo.theunjudged.xyz are simply greeted with a pentagon-shaped ‘Illuminati’ logo, rather than the addons (including the recent ‘Underdog’ addon shown below) they’ve grown accustomed to.

Currently, Android APK (installation files) are accessible from another URL but quite how long these will remain available is yet to be seen.

The takedown of Team Illuminati is the latest in a long line of efforts by ACE to stem the tide of allegedly-infringing Kodi addons. Earlier this month, players known as Blamo and UrbanKingz exited under similar circumstances with several other individuals and groups (1,2,3,4) meeting with a similar fate over the past year.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

A Japanese company has announced a long-term plan to develop the Moon

“Around 2030 we expect to begin developing propellant and sending it to spacecraft.”

ispace

On Wednesday, a Japanese company called ispace announced that it has two missions planned to the Moon within the next three years and that it has acquired ride-share launches on two Falcon 9 rockets to carry out those flights. The company's founder, Takeshi Hakamada, also said he has a long-term vision to have a city on the Moon visited by 10,000 people a year by 2040.

If this all sounds a little too ambitious, well, welcome to the world of aerospace, which is always heavy on promotion and big ideas. And we like that. NASA didn't land on the Moon because it was timid. However, we also feel compelled to bring at least a splash of realism to the conversation.

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New Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes hit Netflix this Thanksgiving

Six new episodes will show up for streaming on Turkey Day.

Article intro image

Enlarge / Jonah and his robot friends. (credit: Satellite of Love, LLC)

Mystery Science Theater 3000's 12th season is premiering in the not-too-distant future. New episodes will stream on Netflix starting on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018, The A.V. Club reports. That's just in time for the 30th anniversary of the show's original premiere on Minneapolis local television—Thanksgiving Day, 1988.

Thanksgiving has always been tightly associated with MST3K. Not only did the show originally air on Thanksgiving, but marathons of the show around Thanksgiving are customary. The 12th season was announced by creator and original host Joel Hodgson during a livestreamed marathon last Thanksgiving.

"Thirty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1988 is when we premiered Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the Minneapolis market," Hodgson told The A.V. Club. "We were competing with 60 Minutes for the same time slot, and I think history has shown which is the better show."

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