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Darf die Bundesregierung 2G-Regeln einführen? Ist das rechtens? Ein Gespräch mit dem Staatsrechtler Henrik Eibenstein
Die westliche Besatzung ab 2001 hat die Taliban von einer Ordnungsmacht zu einer antikolonialen Kraft gemacht. Ein Rückblick (Teil 3)
Sozialwissenschaftler berichten Ergebnisse über Integration, Willkommenskultur und Feindseligkeit
Tastefully done, fun in VR, but we hope noted issues are rendered moot before long.
Enlarge / Welcome back, yet again, to Myst Island. (credit: Cyan Worlds, Inc.)
This week, eight months after a touched-up version of 1993's Myst landed exclusively on the Oculus Quest VR system, the same remake has been further touched up and made available on more devices—including non-VR options. This remade version of the puzzle classic, simply titled Myst, is included on Xbox Game Pass on both consoles and PC, and that subscription option may be easier for some longtime fans to swallow than another $30 retail purchase (on Xbox, Steam, or GOG).
This release goes beyond the touch-ups found in 2014's realMyst Masterpiece Edition, but it's equal parts refined and iffy. Cyan has so far been proactive on its Steam forums, suggesting that fans should expect fixes and responses to some of this release's first-week woes in short order. In the meantime, certain returns to Myst Island are already easy to recommend. Others merit a wait-and-see approach.
On the most basic level imaginable, this week's Myst is the same as the CD-ROM Myst you know and (possibly) love. Should you have the original game's puzzles and steps memorized, load the game in its default state, and you can either unravel every puzzle and story as you remember it or skip the hunt for clues and instantly expose every age attached to Myst Island.
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Dealmaster also has webcams, MagSafe chargers, and AMD Ryzen processors.
Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)
Our latest Dealmaster includes a nice one-day sale on Samsung microSD cards, as the 256GB and 512GB variants of the company's Evo Select card are down to $28 and $60 at Amazon, respectively. The former discount is the best we've seen since January, while the latter matches the lowest price we've ever tracked. As we've noted before, this certainly isn't the fastest card on the market, but it's reliable and performant enough for most casual needs, making it a good value when it's on sale.
Elsewhere, our deals roundup has a couple of steep discounts on Anda Seat's Kaiser 2 and T-Pro 2 gaming chairs. You can read our review from earlier this year for more details. While they're better suited for taller folks (think 5 feet, 8 inches or more), those who can fit into them should find them to provide sturdy frames and firm-but-generally-comfortable padding, regardless of whether they call themselves "gamers." Again, they're particularly solid value at these prices.
Beyond that, we also have deals on Apple's wireless MagSafe charger, recommended webcams, Razer's handheld Kishi game controller for iOS, a couple of AMD Ryzen processors, and more. You can see the full rundown for yourself below.
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Das Problem der Impfmüdigkeit und der Impfgegner gibt es auch in Frankreich. In Paris ist aber erlaubt, was in Berlin größtenteils verboten ist
Die westliche Besatzung ab 2001 hat die Taliban von einer Ordnungsmacht zu einer antikolonialen Kraft gemacht. Ein Rückblick (Teil 2)
Movie studios are increasingly experimenting with shorter release windows or even simultaneous theatrical and digital premieres. This is good news for consumers, who have more choice. This drastic decision is also changing the piracy landscape, which worries some stakeholders. However, we caution everyone from jumping to conclusions.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Movie studios are increasingly experimenting with shorter release windows, or even no windows at all.
During the COVID pandemic, studios including Disney, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros have premiered titles on streaming services and at the box office at the same time.
This is good news for consumers, who have more choice. However, not everyone is happy. Movie theaters, in particular, are terrified that the new release strategy will cannibalize their revenues.
This discussion isn’t new. Release windows have been a topic of debate for decades. Back in 2005, then Disney CEO Bob Iger went on the record stating that his company and consumers would actually prefer shorter release windows.
“We’d be better off as a company and an industry if we compressed that window. We could spend less money pushing the box office and get to the next window sooner where a movie has more perceived value to the consumer because it’s more fresh,” Iger said.
“The problem is the theater owners threaten that if you do that, then you’re not going to run your film on as many screens,” Iger told WSJ, which brings up a point that’s still relevant today.
The recent wave of simultaneous releases is being met with massive pushback from movie theaters. AMC, for example, announced earlier this year that it would no longer screen movies from Universal at its theaters. This decision was ultimately reversed after both parties agreed on a 17-day window.
The uproar is understandable, but one can wonder whether theaters should be the ones deciding here. While they have been a loyal Hollywood partner for a century, they are not necessarily entitled to exclusive releases.
A quick comparison to the music industry makes this clear. Imagine a world where you’d have to wait six weeks to hear the latest album from your favorite artist because auditoriums have the exclusive rights to the premiere. That wouldn’t go over well.
It is still early days for ‘simultaneous releases’ and it will take months or years to figure out how this model impacts the broader movie industry revenue-wise. What’s clear, however, is that it’s already changing the piracy landscape.
One of the direct consequences is that high-quality pirated copies are available much sooner, as the WSJ highlighted this week. Previously, pirates had to wait weeks or months following a theatrical release, but this window disappears when streaming releases are pirated instantly.
As we have shown in our earlier coverage relating to Mulan and Wonder Woman 1984, this results in massive piracy surges. With the movie PR at its peak, millions of pirates flock to illegal download and streaming sites right away.
This ‘instant’ availability makes piracy more appealing to some. People who were planning to pirate movies anyway can access them earlier. However, it’s only one part of a much more complex puzzle.
We can just as easily argue that simultaneous releases make piracy less appealing. For years, people used release windows as a reason to explain why they pirated movies. With the new release strategy, this reason is gone.
This means that some people may actually choose to watch a movie legally – instead of pirating it – because they can see it whenever and wherever they want. It allows them to see the movie legally while it’s still fresh, without being ‘forced’ to go to a movie theater.
But what about that massive piracy surge then? Well, as we stressed in our earlier coverage, a more concentrated piracy peak doesn’t necessarily mean that more people end up pirating a movie. It may simply be more concentrated.
With the information we have now it’s impossible to tell how the movie industry is impacted. That said, we’re fairly sure that studios wouldn’t experiment with this model if they have nothing to gain. They will guard every penny closely.
Detailed research will eventually shed more light on the new release strategies. This is already taking place behind closed doors at the studios but academics have shown an interest as well.
A few weeks ago we covered a Korean study that looked into significantly shorter release windows. The research concluded that pirated titles indeed become available quicker. However, the overall piracy numbers don’t change.
The research also found that box office revenue is unaffected by earlier releases. At the same time, there were more on-demand streaming sales, so revenue for movie studios increased.
The Korean research can’t be one-on-one applied to the ‘simultaneous’ release model we see today, but it clearly signals that early releases may have positive effects, even when piracy is pushed forward.
This week, MPA CEO Charles Rivkin, who represents the major Hollywood studios, was also positive about the new developments. During his ‘State of the Industry’ speech at CinemaCon, he briefly touched on the issue.
“Recent studies have confirmed that streaming and moviegoing are not zero-sum. They are not in competition,” Rivkin said, suggesting that streaming and box-office premieres can co-exist.
At the same event, John Fithian, CEO of the movie theater industry group NATO, shared an entirely different opinion. Simultaneous releases simply do not work.
“Exclusive release periods remain vital to the survival and success of the industry. They won’t be what they were before, but they can’t be what they were during the pandemic,” Fithian said.
These comments were backed by AMC CEO Adam Aron, who stressed that exclusive theater premieres are the only way to prevent massive piracy.
We don’t want to take sides in this internal movie industry battle. However, it’s probably wise to do proper research and let the data decide what works and what doesn’t.
There are still dozens of questions to answer. Will some people stop pirating because they have a legal streaming option? Will others cancel their theater visits because they can pirate?
Movie theaters could be impacted by the simultaneous release model, but that’s not a given. And even if they are, do their profits have priority over the advantages movie studios and consumers may experience?
There is one conclusion we can draw though. Whatever the future release strategy will look like, piracy doesn’t appear to go away. Pirates will get their fix sooner or later. Release windows are simply not the answer to that problem.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Requirements always have to be achievable and equitable.
Enlarge (credit: Mario Tama | Getty Images)
On Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration gave formal, full approval to the Covid-19 vaccine made by the drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech. You might’ve already gotten a dose of it, of course; millions of Americans have, thanks to an “emergency use authorization” awarded in December 2020. But the new designation was more than just a formality. “If you’re one of the millions of Americans who said they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval from the FDA, it has now happened,” President Joe Biden said when he announced the approval. And, in the same speech: “If you’re a business leader, a non-profit leader, a state or local leader who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that—require it.”
Pretty much right away, a lot of places did. Vaccines are safe, effective, and free, but somewhere around 30 percent of Americans haven’t got their shots. Carrots didn’t work; here come the sticks. And they might be able to crush the fourth wave of the Covid pandemic in the US—if they’re done right.
Like the other vaccines still available under EUA, the Pfizer drug is extraordinarily good at keeping people from getting really sick or dying from Covid. But with more than 100,000 people in the hospital with Covid in the US—the most since January—and with the vast majority of them unvaccinated, it’s clear that alone isn’t enough. States, localities, and businesses have tried inducements like prizes, cash, or lotteries, little tricks designed to corral people into doing what’s good for them. In the language of behavioral economics, that’s called a nudge. But in states with low vaccine uptake, those nudges didn’t change the momentum. So now, it’s time for mandates. If you’re one of the 30 percent or so of Americans who haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, get ready for a good hard shove.
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Der Pocuter ist ein winziger Bastelcomputer. Trotzdem ist er mit OLED-Display, Akku, SD-Kartenslot und WLAN ein vollständiges System. (Bastelrechner, OLED)
Der Pocuter ist ein winziger Bastelcomputer. Trotzdem ist er mit OLED-Display, Akku, SD-Kartenslot und WLAN ein vollständiges System. (Bastelrechner, OLED) 
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