Day: February 16, 2020

In Trump fascist playbook, Johnson trying to kill BBC licence fee in favour of a subscription model due to BBC being critical, independent

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Claims were made on Sunday that No 10may be preparing a new onslaught on the BBC with a threat to scrap the television licence fee and turn it into a subscription service. The Sunday Times quoted a senior source as saying that the broadcaster could be forced to sell off most of its radio stations Read more about In Trump fascist playbook, Johnson trying to kill BBC licence fee in favour of a subscription model due to BBC being critical, independent[…]

Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal 80% decline in number of insects in last decade

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades. The research adds to growing evidence of what some scientists have called an “insect apocalypse”, which is threatening a collapse in the natural world that sustains humans and all life on Read more about Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal 80% decline in number of insects in last decade[…]

Netflix Loses Bid to Dismiss $25 Million Lawsuit Over ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ because someone feels they own the phrase: choose your own adventure

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chooseco LLC, a children’s book publisher, filed its complaint in January 2019. According to the plaintiff, it has been using the mark since the 1980s and has sold more than 265 million copies of its Choose Your Own Adventure books. 20th Century Fox holds options for movie versions, and Chooseco alleges that Netflix actively pursued Read more about Netflix Loses Bid to Dismiss $25 Million Lawsuit Over ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ because someone feels they own the phrase: choose your own adventure[…]

Plastic surgery images and invoices leak from unsecured database

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Thousands of images, videos and records pertaining to plastic surgery patients were left on an unsecured database where they could be viewed by anyone with the right IP address, researchers said Friday. The data included about 900,000 records, which researchers say could belong to thousands of different patients. The data was generated at clinics around Read more about Plastic surgery images and invoices leak from unsecured database[…]

Google’s Autoflip Can Intelligently Crop Videos

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google has released an open-source tool, Autoflip, that could make bad cropping a thing of the past by intelligently reframing video to correctly fit alternate aspect ratios. In a blog post, Google’s AI team wrote that footage shot for television and desktop computers normally comes in a 16:9 or 4:3 format, but with mobile devices Read more about Google’s Autoflip Can Intelligently Crop Videos[…]

Printing tiny, high-precision objects in a matter of seconds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers at EPFL have developed a new, high-precision method for 3D-printing small, soft objects. The process, which takes less than 30 seconds from start to finish, has potential applications in a wide range of fields, including 3D bioprinting. It all starts with a translucent liquid. Then, as if by magic, darker spots begin to form Read more about Printing tiny, high-precision objects in a matter of seconds[…]