Hololens beim US-Militär: “Fast wie eine Echtwelt-Version von Call of Duty”

Der US-Sender CNBC konnte sich das IVAS bei der US Army anschauen. Dieses basiert auf der zweiten Hololens-Generation. Die Einblendungen, samt Kompass, strategischer Karte und sogar Zielhilfe, erinnern an First-Person-Shooter. Das Projekt ist allerding…

Der US-Sender CNBC konnte sich das IVAS bei der US Army anschauen. Dieses basiert auf der zweiten Hololens-Generation. Die Einblendungen, samt Kompass, strategischer Karte und sogar Zielhilfe, erinnern an First-Person-Shooter. Das Projekt ist allerdings wohl noch nicht praktikabel genug. (Microsoft, Eingabegerät)

One night of telescope time rules out black hole/dark matter idea

Black holes formed right after the Big Bang aren’t common enough to be dark matter.

19th-century etching of a telescope in use.

Enlarge / 19th-century etching of a telescope in use. (credit: Fondo Antiguo de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla / Flickr)

Much of the Universe behaves as if there's more matter there than we can see. Dark matter explains this by positing that there's matter present that we can't see, and evidence has piled up in favor of this idea. In contrast, evidence for the identify of dark matter has behaved in an opposite manner: every thing we've done to look for it has come up empty.

The latest bit of emptiness was published this week, and it seemingly puts an end to one of the possible remaining explanations for dark matter: black holes that formed shortly after the Big Bang and have been structuring the Universe ever since. While earlier studies have seemingly ruled out larger versions of these primordial black holes, the new study closes the window on anything more massive than a large asteroid. And it was all accomplished with just a single night of telescope time.

From the dawn of time

Black holes would seemingly make fantastic candidates for dark matter, given that they're black and thus difficult to detect. But there's a number of reasons they don't work especially well. For one, while light may not escape a black hole, it's often produced in prodigious amounts by the material just outside a black hole. So it's not clear whether large numbers of black holes could somehow go undetected.

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‘Pirate Sites and Copyright Holders Can Both Profit From Advertising’

Anti-piracy company DMCAForce is trying to unite copyright holders with torrent and streaming sites. Instead of asking for content to be removed, it’s experimenting with an advertising revenue share model. Today, the company’s CEO Mark Bauman explains why it prefers this approach.

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

A few weeks ago, we reported that anti-piracy company DMCAForce offered a rather unique partnership to torrent and streaming sites.

Where many companies in the advertising industry do their best to avoid sites that are linked to piracy, the San Diego-based company takes the opposite approach.

In an email, the company promised the sites a revenue-sharing opportunity. Instead of removing a link or file, they can remain up, if the site owner agrees to share part of its advertising space.

“DMCAForce recently launched a new way for File Sharing sites to work with content creators. Where you as the file sharing site can distribute their content for free, but in exchange provide the advertising space around the product,” the email read.

It’s a rather intriguing proposal which we were eager to hear more about. DMCAForce had clearly seen our article, as the company used it in its communication to prospective clients, which prompted us to reach out.

We spoke to Mark Bauman, the CEO of DMCAForce. He explained that the company sought a solution to keep both copyright holders and website operators happy.

“We chose this approach as corporations, large to small, constantly pay DMCAForce and our other companies like DigiRegs, for services to remove content all day every day,” Bauman said.

“It’s a loss on the content creators books to pay us, but a necessary job that needs to be done. To further that, it’s a loss on the books of the place it’s taken from, as it is technically ad space for users who are looking for their product.”

When copyright holders have to pay to remove content and site owners lose appealing content and advertising space, nobody wins.

This provided an opportunity for Bauman, who also has a strong footprint in the advertising business. Combining classic anti-piracy tools with advertising expertise, was a logical next step.

“Since I’m also the owner of an Ad Platform; TrafficHaus, which provides advertising and revenue to sites, including torrent sites, I decided it’s time to bridge that gap,” Bauman told us.

So, instead of removing content through takedown notices, the company now offers to show ads around it, with the websites and rightsholders sharing the revenue.

It’s a noteworthy move in a time where more and more advertisers are taking measures to avoid sites with a pirate stigma. The advertising and entertainment industry has been rather active on this front, with help from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and Europol, among others.

Bauman says that his advertising company prefers not to ban or block any sites. It doesn’t want to reward piracy either but sees cooperation between site operators and copyright holders as a win-win.

“We don’t want to reward torrent sites for stealing, and we don’t want to deter their sites from operating,” Bauman said.

This works well, Bauman said. With the adult-oriented site Spankbang.com they were able to bring in $15,000 a month, which is nothing to sneeze at. And with that kind of extra income, copyright holders are happy too.

“Rightsholders liked it, they got a fair rate because we were able to drive solid revenues for their content that they invested in and worked so hard to create,” Bauman said.

With the revenue share model, copyright holders retain full control. If they don’t believe that they are generating enough revenue, they can still remove the content. Also, they can choose to exclude certain works, such as new releases.

This filtering can even be done automatically, through a fingerprinting API, which recognizes infringing content. This can then be removed, replaced, or monetized with ads. This technology can also come in handy when Article 13 (now 17) is implemented, Bauman adds.

The initial tests were conducted with adult-themed content, but DMCAForce is expanding its reach. While Bauman prefers not to name any clients, some music industry companies have shown an interest in the model.

The ultimate goal is to make sure that the system works for everyone involved.

Bauman believes that cooperation is key as pirates will always find a way to upload and share content somewhere. That’s not going to change anytime soon. So instead of fighting it, bringing both sides together may prove to be more fruitful.

“Users are going to steal and share and need somewhere to upload content. They’re just going to do it and there’s no way to stop it. So our stance is to protect content, but leverage it as well,” he said.

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

‘Pirate Sites and Copyright Holders Can Both Profit From Advertising’

Anti-piracy company DMCAForce is trying to unite copyright holders with torrent and streaming sites. Instead of asking for content to be removed, it’s experimenting with an advertising revenue share model. Today, the company’s CEO Mark Bauman explains why it prefers this approach.

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

A few weeks ago, we reported that anti-piracy company DMCAForce offered a rather unique partnership to torrent and streaming sites.

Where many companies in the advertising industry do their best to avoid sites that are linked to piracy, the San Diego-based company takes the opposite approach.

In an email, the company promised the sites a revenue-sharing opportunity. Instead of removing a link or file, they can remain up, if the site owner agrees to share part of its advertising space.

“DMCAForce recently launched a new way for File Sharing sites to work with content creators. Where you as the file sharing site can distribute their content for free, but in exchange provide the advertising space around the product,” the email read.

It’s a rather intriguing proposal which we were eager to hear more about. DMCAForce had clearly seen our article, as the company used it in its communication to prospective clients, which prompted us to reach out.

We spoke to Mark Bauman, the CEO of DMCAForce. He explained that the company sought a solution to keep both copyright holders and website operators happy.

“We chose this approach as corporations, large to small, constantly pay DMCAForce and our other companies like DigiRegs, for services to remove content all day every day,” Bauman said.

“It’s a loss on the content creators books to pay us, but a necessary job that needs to be done. To further that, it’s a loss on the books of the place it’s taken from, as it is technically ad space for users who are looking for their product.”

When copyright holders have to pay to remove content and site owners lose appealing content and advertising space, nobody wins.

This provided an opportunity for Bauman, who also has a strong footprint in the advertising business. Combining classic anti-piracy tools with advertising expertise, was a logical next step.

“Since I’m also the owner of an Ad Platform; TrafficHaus, which provides advertising and revenue to sites, including torrent sites, I decided it’s time to bridge that gap,” Bauman told us.

So, instead of removing content through takedown notices, the company now offers to show ads around it, with the websites and rightsholders sharing the revenue.

It’s a noteworthy move in a time where more and more advertisers are taking measures to avoid sites with a pirate stigma. The advertising and entertainment industry has been rather active on this front, with help from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and Europol, among others.

Bauman says that his advertising company prefers not to ban or block any sites. It doesn’t want to reward piracy either but sees cooperation between site operators and copyright holders as a win-win.

“We don’t want to reward torrent sites for stealing, and we don’t want to deter their sites from operating,” Bauman said.

This works well, Bauman said. With the adult-oriented site Spankbang.com they were able to bring in $15,000 a month, which is nothing to sneeze at. And with that kind of extra income, copyright holders are happy too.

“Rightsholders liked it, they got a fair rate because we were able to drive solid revenues for their content that they invested in and worked so hard to create,” Bauman said.

With the revenue share model, copyright holders retain full control. If they don’t believe that they are generating enough revenue, they can still remove the content. Also, they can choose to exclude certain works, such as new releases.

This filtering can even be done automatically, through a fingerprinting API, which recognizes infringing content. This can then be removed, replaced, or monetized with ads. This technology can also come in handy when Article 13 (now 17) is implemented, Bauman adds.

The initial tests were conducted with adult-themed content, but DMCAForce is expanding its reach. While Bauman prefers not to name any clients, some music industry companies have shown an interest in the model.

The ultimate goal is to make sure that the system works for everyone involved.

Bauman believes that cooperation is key as pirates will always find a way to upload and share content somewhere. That’s not going to change anytime soon. So instead of fighting it, bringing both sides together may prove to be more fruitful.

“Users are going to steal and share and need somewhere to upload content. They’re just going to do it and there’s no way to stop it. So our stance is to protect content, but leverage it as well,” he said.

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

I Like Scary Movies interactive horror exhibit is art for the Instagram era

“Experiential” artist Maximillian Castillo’s pop-up homage to horror comes to LA.

"Look dead. No, more dead." Ars writer in a horror playground inspired by 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King's <em>It</em>.

Enlarge / "Look dead. No, more dead." Ars writer in a horror playground inspired by 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King's It. (credit: Rachael Porter)

Horror movie fans are known for their love of immersive "haunts": special exhibits of events that pay tribute to their favorite films while letting the fans in on a bit of the scary action. That's the thinking behind I Love Scary Movies, a pop-up interactive art installation that just opened in Los Angeles.

I Love Scary Movies is the brainchild of "experiential" artist Maximillian Castillo (who goes by Maximillian), well-known for his interactive immersive creations, like a Snakes on Plane installation or a Pirates of the Caribbean walk-through for San Diego Comic-Con. He's also a horror movie buff, and the current exhibit—housed in the historic art deco building The Desmond, along LA's Miracle Mile—draws inspiration from five films in particular: The Shining, It, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beetlejuice, and The Lost Boys.

"I wanted to do something that was more like an interactive art installation, something that isn’t your standard Halloween scare maze, which I love, but I feel like we can celebrate and interpret these movies over and over again," Castillo said in an interview. "Other than going through a walk-through maze once a year during Halloween, there’s really no other way to really enjoy these movies and dive deeper into the content of these films and these worlds."

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You call that EDM? Moritz Simon Geist’s robots make the most technical techno

German musician builds instruments, then robots to play those instruments.

AUSTIN, Texas—If you find Moritz Simon Geist's "Entropy" on Spotify, you might think nothing of it. The song is built upon repetitive, droning phrases that layer upon each other in ways you can't help but move your head to. Along with the rest of the tracks on The Material Turn, it wouldn't be out of place as deep cuts in the DFA Records catalogue, but they're less obviously electronic—no soaring synths or flourishes of rhythmic glitches here. Instead, "Entropy" has that breathy groove of an early song from The XX along with an overall industrial aesthetic like what music fans loved about Nine Inch Nails. "Entropy" is a dance track, but sinister, something that could soundtrack a highly stylized sci-fi flick or a dungeon level in a cool side scroller.

All that to say, Moritz Simon Geist wrote a catchy song. But what makes this remarkable is—unlike Hot Chip or Trent Reznor or whoever—Geist's music doesn't start from a synthesizer or emanate from his computer. He's "the world's only techno producer playing entirely with his self-made futurist robots," as the press release for his new EP, Speculative Machine, puts it. Glitchy tones on a track like "Maschyn" might come from a circuit board he printed himself. Sizzle sounds that listeners are accustomed to hearing from cymbals instead arrive from controlled bursts of pressurized air. The eerie melody of "Entropy" literally utilizes one of the oldest forms of a DIY instrument: water glasses filled with liquid to produce different tones, only this time they're played by a motorized set of mallets. And unless you see him performing live—as several new fans did during Geist's seven-performance run at SXSW 2019—you may never know something extraordinary is taking place.

Moritz Simon Geist's demo video for his music, showcasing the track "Entropy."

"There's a lot of experimental artists that put a lot of stress on the experimental part. For me, the music has to stand on its own," he tells Ars. "This artwork has a technical aspect to how it's made, but it has to be really good content-wise. I want to make this music good and on the same level as someone with a computer or synthesizer would program music. In the end, mine's just made with robots, of course—and they add different layers or special sounds you can't replicate with a synth or maybe replicate at all."

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Senators Aim to Help Students, Might Even Reduce Textbook Piracy Too

Textbooks are essential tools for students hoping to build a better life through education, but their sheer expense can be prohibitive. Taking on extra work is one option, going into debt is another. Piracy, of course, is extremely attractive too. However, if four US senators have their way, there could be more accessible options moving forward.

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

Free access to information is a very hot topic, particularly in the academic field where many believe that putting studies behind a paywall is unethical.

This has led to the rise of ‘pirate’ sites like Sci-Hub, that aim to provide free access to information and education, for the betterment of the world.

But, when one considers how these sites operate, even this noble aim can prove controversial.

Much of the content offered by these types of platforms infringes copyright. That’s often publishing giants such as Elsevier, who in return have waged war on Sci-Hub in particular. Just this week, yet another blocking order against the site was handed down in France, with operator Alexandra Elbakyan pledging to continue as usual.

But what if there was another way to access academic content, studies, and textbooks without having to resort to piracy?

In 2018, several prestigious European research councils announced a major push for Open Access publishing, with a plan to limit the power of major copyright holders and ‘tear down academia’s paywalls.’

And, just this week, there was more news for academics and students to become cautiously excited about – the reintroduction of the Affordable College Textbook Act.

On Thursday, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), along with U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), introduced bicameral legislation with the aim of making high-quality textbooks available to students, professors, and the public, for free.

“One of the most basic higher education costs to students is often overlooked: textbooks,” Durbin said, citing figures from The College Board estimating costs of $1,240 per student, per year.

“In Illinois, we know federal support for open textbooks can be successful. Expanding this program to more states will mean lower costs for students to incur. This bill will help prevent the high cost of textbooks from putting students’ academic success at risk.”

Senator Smith said that when meeting with college students, they often talk about the cost of textbooks and how difficult it is to afford them.

“Sometimes textbooks are so expensive that students take the chance and don’t purchase them at all, and try to make it work without the needed material,” she said. According to U.S. PRIG, 65% of students choose to go without textbooks.

Of course, others resort to piracy too. Over the years we’ve reported on several initiatives to provide free or cheap textbooks to students, but many have either faded away or ended in criminal convictions for their operators.

There are even patents out there that attempt to prevent students from sharing their own books with others. Clearly, open alternatives are preferable to all of the above.

As per information released Thursday, the Affordable College Textbook Act, among other things, has these ambitions, should it eventually pass:

  • Authorizes a grant program, similar to the Open Textbooks Pilot, to support projects at colleges and universities to create and expand the use of open textbooks with priority for projects that will achieve the highest savings for students;
  • Ensures that any open textbooks or educational materials created using grant funds will be freely and easily accessible to the public, including individuals with disabilities;
  • Strengthens existing price transparency so students can easily identify classes that use open textbooks when they register;

While the passing of the Act certainly won’t end piracy overnight, giving students options that don’t involve compromising their already limited finances or forcing them towards popular search engines such as Library Genesis has to be considered a step forward.

More information here and here

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

Datenschutz: Bundeskriminalamt fragt immer öfter Bestandsdaten ab

Beamte des Bundeskriminalamts fragen bei den Internetprovidern immer öfter Bestandsdaten zu deren Kunden ab. Laut einem Medienbericht geht es um IP-Adressen, aber auch um Zugangscodes wie PIN und PUK etwa für Smartphones und Geldkarten. (Datenschutz, I…

Beamte des Bundeskriminalamts fragen bei den Internetprovidern immer öfter Bestandsdaten zu deren Kunden ab. Laut einem Medienbericht geht es um IP-Adressen, aber auch um Zugangscodes wie PIN und PUK etwa für Smartphones und Geldkarten. (Datenschutz, Internet)

Week Roll Over: GPS-Geräte könnten über Nacht lahmgelegt werden

Weil die Wochenzählung zurückgesetzt wird und ein Format geändert wird, können einige ältere Navigationssysteme und andere GPS-Geräte in der Nacht auf Sonntag Probleme bekommen. (GPS, Navigationssystem)

Weil die Wochenzählung zurückgesetzt wird und ein Format geändert wird, können einige ältere Navigationssysteme und andere GPS-Geräte in der Nacht auf Sonntag Probleme bekommen. (GPS, Navigationssystem)