Month: January 2021

Four-point-whoa: The 2021 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS

The two-seat sports car gets the 4.0L engine from the Boxster Spyder.

  • The weather wasn't great during my days with the new 2021 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS, so you'll only be seeing Porsche's photos here. [credit: Porsche ]

Accidentally scheduling two different appointments for the same time slot is probably something all of us have done at least once or twice. In my case, that meant mistakenly booking a pair of test cars for the same week late last year. And they couldn't have been more different cars. I've already written about the Toyota Venza—it's an attractive and efficient hybrid crossover that charmed me far more than I expected after I drove from DC to upstate New York and back. I was already expecting good things from that week's other car—a 2021 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS—yet it too exceeded them.

The 718 Boxster is the entry point into the Porsche sports car range, but there's nothing entry level about the $88,900 GTS. It sits almost at the top of the tree, between the cheaper, more everyday 718 Boxster S and the more expensive 718 Spyder, a car with which it shares an engine. Which in this case is a 4.0L flat-six, an engine that makes Porsche nerds get a little weak at the knees.

Most of Porsche's power units have turned to turbocharging in the past few years—including the lesser variants of the 718. But not this four-liter lump, which remains resolutely naturally aspirated. Installed in the GTS, it makes 394hp (294kW), 20hp less than in the stripped-out Spyder. (Both GTS and Spyder make an identical 309lb-ft/420Nm). Although the engine isn't quite as rev-happy in the GTS as in the Spyder, it's not far off—the torque peak is between 5,000-6,500rpm, and peak power arrives at 7,000rpm, with a 7,800rpm redline to call time on things.

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Judge: Sci-Hub Blocking Case “Important” For Science, Community Representations Will Be Heard

A High Court judge says that nineteen scientists and three scientific and medical organizations will have their intervention applications heard before any decision is handed down in the ongoing Sci-Hub blocking case. Filed by several publishers, the lawsuit seeks ISP blocking of the platform in India. Justice JR Midha notes that the case addresses an “issue of public importance.”

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Sci-HubOn December 21, 2020, academic publishers Elsevier, Wiley, and American Chemical Society filed a lawsuit demanding that Indian ISPs block access to Sci-Hub and Libgen.

The companies accuse the platforms of engaging in large-scale copyright infringement and note that preventing citizens of India from accessing the platforms is the only real option available to prevent their rights from being further abused.

In similar blocking applications, there has been relatively little difficulty in getting the court onside. All have targeted torrent and streaming sites offering movies, TV shows, and similar content without permission. However, while the case against Sci-Hub and Libgen is materially similar, there are additional factors that make the case more complex.

Protests By Scientists, Academics, Teachers and Students

As reported this week, scientists, academics, teachers and students have been applying pressure to have their voices heard in the case. According to them, any blocking of Sci-Hub and Libgen would amount to a denial of access to information crucial to the wellbeing of not only the scientific and research communities but also of India as a whole.

During a hearing yesterday at the Delhi High Court, the publishers hoped to obtain an order to have the platforms and their many domains blocked. However, the presiding judge listened to the calls of the scientific community and agreed that a delay to allow more detailed consideration would be appropriate in this case.

“It is an issue of public importance. It’s very important to the scientific community,” said Justice JR Midha.

Representations of Scientific Community Will Be Heard

The Court’s decision to delay the hearing for around six weeks came following intervention applications filed by nineteen scientists, including a virologist and several physicists specializing in multiple research areas, plus the Delhi Science Forum and Knowledge Commons.

Arguing that open access to scientific research is absolutely vital for the advancement of scientific knowledge, the scientists believe that the publishers are making excessive profits while effectively restricting access only to the “elite institutions” that can afford their prices.

“Unfortunately, scientific publication is controlled by an oligopoly of publishers who charge exorbitant fees and practice anti-competitive business models that seriously hamper the ability of the scientific community to access and share research,” they write.

According to Bar and Bench, Senior Advocate Amit Sibal appeared for the publishing houses and Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared for Sci-Hub. The scientists were represented by Advocate Jawahar Raja and Advocate Rohit Sharma appeared for Delhi Science Forum.

After consideration, the Court rejected pleas for the sites to blocked immediately and instead ordered pleadings to be completed within the next six weeks.

According to SpicyIP, Sci-Hub received a two-week extension to fulfill its procedural obligations and was granted permission to file an application for exemption from formal compliances. This is due to the unusual nature of the case and Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan currently living in Russia.

Interestingly, the publication further notes that while there is an arrangement to prevent any of the publishers’ content from appearing on Sci-Hub while the matter is under consideration, a request to have this ‘ban’ extended to Libgen was rejected by the Court. Libgen is reportedly yet to be properly served by the publishers, excluding it from the interim direction.

The case will now be heard on February 23, 2021 (link to order here)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Acer Chromebook Spin 514 with Ryzen 3000U coming in February for $480 and up

Acer’s first Chromebook with AMD Ryzen processors are coming next month. The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is a 3.4 pound convertible with a 14 inch touchscreen display and a 360-degree hinge that lets you use the Chrome OS computer in laptop or tabl…

Acer’s first Chromebook with AMD Ryzen processors are coming next month. The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is a 3.4 pound convertible with a 14 inch touchscreen display and a 360-degree hinge that lets you use the Chrome OS computer in laptop or tablet modes. The Chromebook Spin 514 will be available starting in February for […]

The post Acer Chromebook Spin 514 with Ryzen 3000U coming in February for $480 and up appeared first on Liliputing.

Republican state lawmaker livestreamed himself in mob storming US Capitol

“Patriots inside, baby!” WV state legislator Derrick Evans yelled in Capitol.

Derrick Evans shouts on his Facebook livestream as a mob enters the US Capitol.

Derrick Evans shouts on his Facebook livestream as a mob enters the US Capitol. (credit: Derrick Evans)

A Republican lawmaker recently elected to the West Virginia State Legislature yesterday livestreamed himself storming the US Capitol with the Trump-incited mob that tried to stop certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

Derrick Evans, who was sworn in to the West Virginia House of Delegates last month, "was livestreaming on Facebook as he and other protesters muscled their way through the doors of one entrance carrying Trump flags and signs," BuzzFeed News wrote, adding that Evans shouted, "Patriots inside, baby!"

The now-deleted video shows Evans "wearing a helmet and clamoring at the door to breach" the building, the Associated Press reported.

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The world’s cryptocurrency is now worth more than $1 trillion

Bitcoin’s anonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, could be worth $40 billion.

The world’s cryptocurrency is now worth more than $1 trillion

(credit: fdecomite)

The world's cryptocurrency is now worth more than $1 trillion, with bitcoin accounting for a large majority of the value. The price of the oldest virtual currency has risen to almost $40,000, pushing the value of all bitcoins in circulation up to more than $700 billion.

Ether, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, is now worth more than $140 billion. Then there's a long list of less valuable cryptocurrencies, including Tether at $22 million, Litecoin at $11 million, and Bitcoin Cash at $8 billion.

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is believed to own around 1 million bitcoins. Most of these were mined in the first two years of Bitcoin's existence when there was little competition. If he still has copies of the private keys that control these coins, that would give him a net worth of nearly $40 billion—enough to make him among the 40 wealthiest people on the planet. Nakamoto has never publicly revealed his true identity and has not communicated publicly since 2014.

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Milliardäre: Musk ist reicher als Bezos

Laut dem Milliardärsranking Bloomberg Billionaires Index konnte Elon Musk Jeff Bezos überholen. Doch es bleibt ein Dollar-an-Dollar-Rennen. (Elon Musk, Amazon)

Laut dem Milliardärsranking Bloomberg Billionaires Index konnte Elon Musk Jeff Bezos überholen. Doch es bleibt ein Dollar-an-Dollar-Rennen. (Elon Musk, Amazon)

Lenovo Tab P11 is a $229 Android tablet with the specs of a decent mid-range phone

Less than a month after launching the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Android tablet for $500 and up, Lenovo is introducing a new model that sells for less than half the price. The new Lenovo Tab P11 has an 11 inch, 2000 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD display, at least 4GB …

Less than a month after launching the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Android tablet for $500 and up, Lenovo is introducing a new model that sells for less than half the price. The new Lenovo Tab P11 has an 11 inch, 2000 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD display, at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of […]

The post Lenovo Tab P11 is a $229 Android tablet with the specs of a decent mid-range phone appeared first on Liliputing.

At risk of extinction, black-footed ferrets get vaccinated for COVID-19

Ferrets, minks, and other Mustelinae species are susceptible to COVID-19.

A curious pair of black-footed ferret kits survey the shortgrass prairie from their outdoor enclosures at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado.

Enlarge / A curious pair of black-footed ferret kits survey the shortgrass prairie from their outdoor enclosures at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado. (credit: Ryan Moehring | US Fish and Wildlife Service (CC BY-2.0))

In late summer, as researchers accelerated the first clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines for humans, a group of scientists in Colorado worked to inoculate a far more fragile species.

About 120 black-footed ferrets, among the most endangered mammals in North America, were injected with an experimental COVID vaccine aimed at protecting the small, weasel-like creatures rescued from the brink of extinction four decades ago.

The effort came months before US Department of Agriculture officials began accepting applications from veterinary drugmakers for a commercial vaccine for minks, a close cousin of the ferrets. Farmed minks, raised for their valuable fur, have died by the tens of thousands in the US and been culled by the millions in Europe after catching the COVID virus from infected humans.

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