Racing with royalty—Behind the scenes with Pikes Peak’s “King of the Mountain”

We embed with the team as it aims to be fastest overall at the event’s 100th anniversary.

Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima's team checks over his 2016 Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One at the start line before heading out for a practice run. (credit: Elle Cayabyab Gitlin)

Even as a young man in Japan, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima knew he wanted to compete in the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The race is the second oldest in the United States—2016 marks its 100th anniversary—and this track provides a rare challenge to driver and car in motorsport. Its 12.4 miles (19.9km) have more corners than the Nürburgring. The course rises 4,750 feet (1,440m) from the start line to the summit, finishing at 14,100 feet (4,300m). And forget mental images of mountain roads as nothing but switchbacks; there are plenty of straights and fast corners with nothing but a sharp drop off to one side.

And it's truly a hill climb. Racers set off one after another, and they only get one run. In fact, the first time they're able to drive the full 12.4 miles flat-out is during Sunday's race—practice and qualifying take place on shorter stretches of the route. For most of the race's history, the road to the top of the mountain was dirt. Paving started in 1998 following concerns about erosion, and the race has run on tarmac exclusively since 2012.

The unique setup means both car and driver must call upon different skills to set the fastest time of the day. Perfectly balanced drifts have given way to maximizing corner speed, and the tires are racing slicks with no tread blocks. But there's still that huge climb in altitude, almost 3 miles (4.3km) up to where there's much less air to push down on wings or feed engines and radiators. On top of all that, the weather can give you four different seasons between the starting line and the summit, bringing with it all the associated consequences for track temperature and grip.

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Grafikkarten: Geforce GTX 1060 und Radeon RX 490 kündigen sich an

Kaum ist die Radeon RX 480 verfügbar, da listet AMD eventuell unbeabsichtigt schon eine schnellere Grafikkarte an: Die Radeon RX 490 könnte gegen die kommende Geforce GTX 1060 gestellt werden. (Grafikhardware, PC-Hardware)

Kaum ist die Radeon RX 480 verfügbar, da listet AMD eventuell unbeabsichtigt schon eine schnellere Grafikkarte an: Die Radeon RX 490 könnte gegen die kommende Geforce GTX 1060 gestellt werden. (Grafikhardware, PC-Hardware)

Elektroauto: Tesla muss ein Model X zurücknehmen

Nicht marktreif: Ein verärgerter Käufer des Model X hat gegen Tesla Motors geklagt und sein Elektroauto zurückgegeben. Er ist nicht der einzige Käufer, der sich über Design-Fehler beim Model X beschwert. (Tesla Motors, Elektroauto)

Nicht marktreif: Ein verärgerter Käufer des Model X hat gegen Tesla Motors geklagt und sein Elektroauto zurückgegeben. Er ist nicht der einzige Käufer, der sich über Design-Fehler beim Model X beschwert. (Tesla Motors, Elektroauto)

Kompressionsverfahren: Dropbox portiert Brotli auf Rust

Dropbox nutzt das von Google initiierte Kompressionsverfahren Brotli für seinen Dienst. Um die Systeme weniger angreifbar zu machen, hat sich Dropbox zu einer Portierung von C zu der Sprache Rust für Brotli entschieden. (Brotli, Google)

Dropbox nutzt das von Google initiierte Kompressionsverfahren Brotli für seinen Dienst. Um die Systeme weniger angreifbar zu machen, hat sich Dropbox zu einer Portierung von C zu der Sprache Rust für Brotli entschieden. (Brotli, Google)

Amazon: Smartphone-Kauf wird durch Werbeeinblendungen billiger

Amazon verkauft Android-Smartphones günstiger, wenn sich Prime-Kunden mit Werbebotschaften auf dem Sperrbildschirm und im Benachrichtigungsbereich abfinden. Außerdem werden eine Reihe von Amazon-Apps auf dem Smartphone vorinstalliert. (Amazon, Smartphone)

Amazon verkauft Android-Smartphones günstiger, wenn sich Prime-Kunden mit Werbebotschaften auf dem Sperrbildschirm und im Benachrichtigungsbereich abfinden. Außerdem werden eine Reihe von Amazon-Apps auf dem Smartphone vorinstalliert. (Amazon, Smartphone)

EM-Drive: Der Warp-Antrieb muss noch warten

Das EM-Triebwerk wurde bereits als Zukunft der Raumfahrt gehandelt. Mit physikalischer Detektivarbeit sind Forscher dem Mikrowellen-Triebwerk nun auf die Spur gekommen. Hinweis: Diesen Artikel gibt es auch zum Anhören. Klicken Sie dafür auf den Player im Artikel. (Raumfahrt, Nasa)

Das EM-Triebwerk wurde bereits als Zukunft der Raumfahrt gehandelt. Mit physikalischer Detektivarbeit sind Forscher dem Mikrowellen-Triebwerk nun auf die Spur gekommen. Hinweis: Diesen Artikel gibt es auch zum Anhören. Klicken Sie dafür auf den Player im Artikel. (Raumfahrt, Nasa)

Landmark Piracy Trial Suspended Pending EU Ruling

Following a year-long wait, a landmark piracy trial in Sweden has been suspended after just two hours. The case, which sees the prosecution of two men behind the country’s largest streaming site, is now on hold pending a decision from the European Court of Justice.

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

pirate-cardFollowing successful prosecutions of torrent site operators such as those behind The Pirate Bay, Sweden has turned to the increasing problem of online streaming.

Cases involving streaming sites are relatively rare and as a result, case law is thin on the ground. Nevertheless, last year Swedish authorities felt confident enough to close down the country’s most popular streaming site.

Founded half a decade ago, Swefilmer took advantage of increasing trends towards browser-based viewing of pirate content. In addition to convenience and a non-existent learning curve, advanced users were also attracted to the perceived security benefits of streaming platforms.

Swefilmer gained significant traction but that came to an end last summer when one of the site’s operators was arrested and detained for 90 hours.

That was followed this year by the detention of the site’s main operator in Germany, following the execution of a secret European arrest warrant.

As reported last week, the men – aged 22 and 25 – were recently prosecuted. Together they face charges of facilitating copyright infringement of more than 1,400 movies alongside penalties of $1.7m.

Swefilmer’s primary operator also stands accused of aggravated money laundering offenses related to his handling of the site’s finances.

The Swefilmer case is one of the most important prosecutions in Sweden’s piracy crackdown history and this week the trial began as planned. Entertainment giants including Disney, Sony, Warner, Universal and Fox lined up Tuesday to take down their adversaries, but things didn’t go to plan.

Rather than the relatively open-and-shut case anticipated by the prosecution, after just a few hours a decision was made to suspend the case.

“We asked the court to seek a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice, and we got what we wanted,” says Claes Kennedy, the lawyer representing the 22-year-old.

While Kennedy’s client admits to having been involved in the operation of Swefilmer, all along he has maintained that his actions did not amount to a crime. Why that might indeed be true lies in a case currently in the hands of the ECJ.

The case deals with a dispute between Dutch blog GeenStijl.nl and Playboy. In 2011, GeenStijl published a post linking to leaked Playboy photos, which were stored on file-hosting platform FileFactory.

Although Playboy publisher Sanoma successfully requested the removal of the photos from FileFactory, GeenStijl continued to link to other public sources where the images were still available. This, Sanoma argued, amounted to infringement.

A Dutch Court subsequently asked the EU Court of Justice to rule whether those links could be seen as a ‘communication to the public’ under Article 3(1) of the Copyright Directive of the Copyright Directive, and whether they facilitated copyright infringement.

Earlier this year, Advocate General Melchior Wathelet delivered his advice to the ECJ, noting that in his opinion “linking” is not the same as “making available” – that would only apply to the original uploader. That means that GeenStijl’s acts of linking would not amount to infringement, the ECJ summarized.

“Hyperlinks which lead, even directly, to protected works are not ‘making them available’ to the public when they are already freely accessible on another website, and only serve to facilitate their discovery,” the EU Court of Justice wrote.

The Advocate General’s advice is not binding, but the ECJ often gives significant weight to this kind of expert opinion. The final verdict is expected to be released later this year and Claes Kennedy is hoping for a positive outcome for his client.

“What we know so far, is that linking to another website is not to be considered the same as making available to the public. But we are waiting for a decision from the EU Court,” Kennedy says.

So for now the Swefilmer trial is on hold, initially until September but potentially later depending on when the ECJ hands down its ruling. Whenever it arrives the decision will have implications way beyond this case and right across Europe.

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

Uncharted 4: Nathan Drake mit Level 70

Im August 2016 beginnt die erste Saison, Spieler können bis Level 70 aufsteigen: Das erste große Update für Uncharted 4 enthält umfangreiche Änderungen am Multiplayermodus. Die rund 1,3 GByte große Erweiterung ist ab sofort erhältlich. (Uncharted, Sony)

Im August 2016 beginnt die erste Saison, Spieler können bis Level 70 aufsteigen: Das erste große Update für Uncharted 4 enthält umfangreiche Änderungen am Multiplayermodus. Die rund 1,3 GByte große Erweiterung ist ab sofort erhältlich. (Uncharted, Sony)

BVG: U-Bahn nutzt für WiFi-Hotspots eigenes Glasfasernetz

Eine Beschränkung des Datenvolumens für die Nutzer der neuen WLAN-Hotspots ist derzeit nicht geplant. Beim Festnetz wird auf freie Fasern im eigenen Besitz zugegriffen. (WLAN, PC-Hardware)

Eine Beschränkung des Datenvolumens für die Nutzer der neuen WLAN-Hotspots ist derzeit nicht geplant. Beim Festnetz wird auf freie Fasern im eigenen Besitz zugegriffen. (WLAN, PC-Hardware)