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Aboard HMS Cavalier, where Wargaming is battling to shape the future of VR films

World of Tanks maker is doing great work preserving the HMS Cavalier.

Sometimes promotion for a videogame can go too far, becoming overwrought and vastly inflating the value of what it is promoting. Other times it can be subtle, unique, maybe even truly interesting, and draw in a new audience that might not have otherwise have cared. Then there's the Wargaming approach, which seems to be: "make something that doesn't promote any of our games, purely because we can."

Thus, Virtually Inside Warships was born: a virtual, 360-degree video tour of the HMS Cavalier, made with virtual reality headsets in mind, but the kind of thing you can just as easily watch on a smartphone, tablet, or even (with some cumbersome mouse-swiping) your browser. It is a complex technical undertaking, requiring much preparation, technical know-how, and traditional documentary-making chops—and, if you didn't already know ahead of time, there's almost no indication that it was made by a gaming company.

This isn't uncharted territory for the Minsk-based studio, which is best known for developing the game World of Tanks. Its first VR outing was Virtually Inside Tanks, and it followed that with a 360-degree 1941 battle re-enactment, a neat proof-of-concept for where the studio wants its VR ambitions to end up. But Virtually Inside Warships sees a number of improvements to the technology used, including a far more experienced production team, and a level of ambition I've yet to see in any VR or 360-degree film to date.

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Dell: Aktuelles XPS 13 mit Ubuntu erhältlich

Linux-Freunde können ab sofort ein aktuelles XPS 13 mit vorinstalliertem Ubuntu bestellen. Das Gerät ist auch mit mattem Full-HD-Display verfügbar. (Dell XPS 13, Ubuntu)

Verbraucherschutzminister: “Kupfer verhindert Glasfaser”

Die Vectoring-Technologie der Deutschen Telekom ist umstritten. Nachdem die Bundesnetzagentur das Unternehmen unterstützt, warnt der Verbraucherschutzminister von Baden-Württemberg jetzt vor der Technologie. Sie “schade” dem Wirtschaftsstandort Deutschland. (Vectoring, DSL)

Die Vectoring-Technologie der Deutschen Telekom ist umstritten. Nachdem die Bundesnetzagentur das Unternehmen unterstützt, warnt der Verbraucherschutzminister von Baden-Württemberg jetzt vor der Technologie. Sie "schade" dem Wirtschaftsstandort Deutschland. (Vectoring, DSL)

BPI Buys Up ‘Pirate’ Domains To Foil Pro-Piracy Activists

Internet pirates are a swarthy bunch that have been known to hijack anti-piracy projects to further their own aims. The BPI is aware of these kinds of efforts and has registered a whole heap of ‘pirate’ domains to avoid a similar fate befalling the UK’s Get it Right From a Genuine Site campaign.

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

For many digital pirates the Internet is a playground, a place where they can do as they please without fear of retribution. While that assertion has become less valid as the years have progressed, acts of sharing defiance are still commonplace.

With the ‘War on Sharing’ apparently impossible to win by force alone, various educational campaigns have been launched by the entertainment industries in the hope that pirates and would-be pirates will eventually see the error of their ways.

In the UK one such project from Creative Content UK is known as Get it Right From a Genuine Site. While yet to achieve significant mainstream exposure, the overall campaign is head and shoulders above the offensive and aggressive campaigns of years gone by.

Whether the millions being spent by the government will have the desired effect is unknown at this point, but those behind the campaign have already taken measures to ensure that it doesn’t get sabotaged.

UK music group BPI owns the GetitRightFromaGenuineSite.org domain but to be doubly sure there are no imposters the group has also bagged at least 17 others, including the .audio, .band, .biz, .com, .digital, .email, .foundation and .net variants.

TF discovered these domains while trawling through WHOIS records this week but it was more of a surprise to see that the BPI had also grabbed a bunch of ‘pirate’ versions too. As can be seen below, the BPI has secured the opportunity for people to GetitRightFromaPirateSite too.

Of course, the chances of the BPI turning its hand to torrent and streaming site promotion are somewhat slim so there must be an alternative reason for it securing not only this .com variant but also many, many more.

We spoke to the music group who confirmed that their intention was indeed preventing abuse of the ‘Get it Right’ campaign.

“It’s standard practice to adopt in respect of brands or major campaigns or initiatives,” a BPI spokesperson said.

“It gives options should alternatives ever be required and also helps to reduce possible abuse.”

The BPI’s strategy here is pretty sound as this kind of thing has happened in the past.

Perhaps most famously, aggressive Swedish anti-piracy outfit and Pirate Bay nemesis Antipiratbyran (Anti-Piracy Agency) was countered by equally notorious piracy activist group Piratbyran (Piracy Agency) whose website remains operational to this day.

But while a notional threat of sabotage remains in 2016, it seems much less likely today than it did several years ago. It’s true that millions of people are currently sharing content every day but the stunts carried out by activists during file-sharing’s golden years have largely disappeared.

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

Falcon 9: SpaceX gelingt Landung auf Drohnenschiff

Die zweite gelungene Landung der Falcon 9, diesmal auf dem Meer, zeigt, dass die Wiederverwendung von Raketen ein Teil der Zukunft der Raumfahrt sein wird. (SpaceX, Internet)

WordPress.com: 1 Million neue Let’s-Encrypt-Seiten

In Zusammenarbeit mit Wordpress wird Let’s Encrypt alle dort gehosteten Seiten mit einem SSL-Zertifikat ausstatten. Ein Problem mit Windows-XP-Nutzern wurde zwischenzeitlich behoben. (Let’s Encrypt, Firefox)

In Zusammenarbeit mit Wordpress wird Let's Encrypt alle dort gehosteten Seiten mit einem SSL-Zertifikat ausstatten. Ein Problem mit Windows-XP-Nutzern wurde zwischenzeitlich behoben. (Let's Encrypt, Firefox)

Die Woche im Video: Ein gigantisches Datenleck und großartige VR-Erlebnisse

Mehr als 200.000 Briefkastenfirmen in Panama sind in dieser Woche aufgeflogen. Wir sind mit HTCs Vive durch Höhlen gekrochen und mit Microsofts Hololens auf dem Mars gewesen. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)

Linking To Pirated Content Not Copyright Infringement, EU Court Advised

In the latest non binding interpretation of EU copyright law, as advised by European Court of Justice’s advocate general, linking to pirated content in itself may not constitute copyright infringement.Making an advisory opinion in case involv…

In the latest non binding interpretation of EU copyright law, as advised by European Court of Justice's advocate general, linking to pirated content in itself may not constitute copyright infringement.

Making an advisory opinion in case involving Dutch website GeenStijl.nl and Playboy, EU Advocate General Melchior Wathelet says that linking to pirated works, even directly linking to it, is not necessarily the same as "making them available".

The case involves the linking to of pictures taken originally by Playboy and published without authorization on a third party website. GeenStijl.nl linked to these, although the site did not directly host or upload them.

While Wathelet does agree that such linking would be helping users to find pirated content, to "facilitate their discovery", such linking cannot be considered copyright infringement because the content is already available publicly, with or without intervention from GeenStijl.nl.

"... 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 advisory reads.

"The actual act of 'making available' is the action of the person who effected the initial communication. Consequently, hyperlinks which are placed on a website and which link to protected works that are freely accessible on another site cannot be classified as an 'act of communication' within the meaning of the Directive."

The Court was also at pains to note that the advisory opinion only affects this particular case, and that the nature and main purpose of the website (that is, whether the site's main purpose is to provide pirated content) will need to be taken into affect when considering the legal status of the hyperlinking.

Like a boss: Falcon soars into space and lands in the ocean

SpaceX takes another key step toward “rapid, reusable spaceflight,” Elon Musk says.

A little more than 8 minutes after launch the Falcon 9 rocket landed safely back on Earth. (credit: SpaceX)

A nonchalant Elon Musk met with reporters on Friday evening. “It didn't put a hole in the ship or fall over, so we're pretty excited,” the SpaceX founder said at a news conference.

This is what understatement sounds like. Musk's Falcon 9 rocket had just shot 200km up into space and flown almost horizontal to the planet at six times the speed of sound, before falling back to Earth. Then, somehow, it landed like a feather on a robotic barge in the ocean. The Falcon even found time to put an inflatable space habitat into orbit, too.

“This was a beautiful day, and circumstances were good," Musk continued. "It's quite a tiny target. It's really trying to land on a postage stamp out there.”

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Using the uncertainty principle against itself to gain precision

Researchers show how classical and quantum measurements beat quantum limits.

You can't beat the Heisenberg limit, but with enough math, you can come close. (credit: Focus Features)

Accurate measurement underlies a huge amount of modern technology. Atomic clocks, fiber optical communications systems, and many other types of hardware require accurate and precise measurements. The laws of quantum mechanics, on the other hand, are designed to annoy anyone obsessed with precision. In some cases, it's impossible to increase precision—not because the laws of physics prohibit knowledge but because the probe with which we measure is limited by quantum mechanics.

This limit is often referred to as the standard quantum limit. However, you can, with a great deal of pain, prepare special probes that beat the standard quantum limit. In this case, a different limit applies, called the Heisenberg limit.

You can't beat the Heisenberg limit. So the big question is "can we find a method that reduces the amount of pain required to approach it?" The answer, it seems, is yes.

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