Jump to content

NelsonG

Admin
  • Posts

    190,866
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    12

Everything posted by NelsonG

  1. After the 2016 presidential election, Sean Solomon, the singer-guitarist of the melancholic L.A. post-punk band Moaning, said he felt paralyzed. Like a lot of people, he and his bandmates were suddenly mired in a mix of confusion, despair and bleak humor about the unexpected outcome. “My roommate... View the full article
  2. Also films about Ryuichi Sakamoto, Studio 54, Blue Note Records, and more View the full article
  3. Someone at Oculus screwed up pretty badly today: An expired certificate appears to have soft-bricked all of the company’s Rift VR headsets, with users still unable to fire up software on the devices and no word of an incoming fix from the company yet. Issues were first reported several hours ago on Reddit, where a post on the topic has already garnered hundreds of comments. Read More View the full article
  4. Rick: “I’m in the mood to turn some shit up, Morty. I’m not in the mood for a message about how I can be whatever I want.” View the full article
  5. The tablet market has no chill. The lineup is becoming overwhelmingly saturated with brands like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung trying to prove that their tablet is the best — and more than just an oversized smartphone. Most tablets have the same basic touchscreens, displays decent enough for streaming movies, etc., and it's seriously hard to tell at first glance what the differences are. Like anything else, which tablet you should get depends on, well, what you want it for. Do you care about artistic features or storing files? Are you a customization person or a person who likes a slick, uniform design? Is this baby's first tablet or are you an experienced user? Are you buying a tablet to put off splurging on a computer? Read more... More about Tech, Ipad, Tablets, Microsoft Surface, and Galaxy Tab IMAGE: Amazon BEST FOR PROJECTS AND COMPUTING iPad Pro (3rd generation) Apple ditches the old look and swaps it for a liquid retina display and unmatched power. Size: 11-inch, 12.9-inch Battery life: 10 hours Storage: 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB Rear camera: 12 MP $799 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST IPAD VALUE iPad Air (3rd generation) More or less a diet iPad Pro, the 2019 Air is speedy and packed with power that lasts all day. Size: 10.5-inch Battery life: 11 hours Storage: 64 GB, 256 GB Rear camera: 8 MP $499 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST FOR FAMILIES Fire HD Tablet Simple, customizable, and kid-friendly, the Fire HD tablets shine in areas that don't call for fancy features. Size: 8-inch, 10-inch Battery life: 10 hours Storage: 16 GB, 32 GB Rear camera: 2 MP $79.99 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST KIDS TABLET Fire HD Kids Tablet Size: 8-inch, 10-inch Battery life: 10 hours Storage: 32 GB Rear camera: 2 MP $129.99 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST FOR TRAVELING Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e The newest Galaxy Tablet is less than an inch wide and has an unbelievable battery life, perfect for taking on the go. Size: 10.5-inch Battery life: 14 hours Storage: 64 GB, 128 GB Rear camera: 13 MP $397.99 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST ANDROID TABLET FOR WORK Galaxy Tab S4 Switch between work and entertainment on the Galaxy Tab that nails productivity with DeXmode. Size: 10.5-inch Battery life: 16 hours Storage: 64 GB, 256 GB Rear camera: 13 MP $647.99 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST 2-IN-1 Microsoft Surface Pro 6 The Surface Pro 6 clocks speeds comparable to the MacBook but is thin and light enough to take everywhere. Size: 12.3-inch Battery life: 13 hours Storage: 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB Camera: 8 MP $1,199 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST STARTER KINDLE Kindle Paperwhite Size: 6-inch Battery life: 6 weeks Storage: 8 GB, 32 GB Rear camera: N/A $129.99 from Amazon IMAGE: Amazon BEST PREMIUM KINDLE Kindle Oasis Hardcore readers will flip over the high-res display and warm light slider, perfect for reading in the dark. Size: 7-inch Battery life: 6 weeks Storage: 8 GB, 32 GB Rear camera: N/A $249.99 from Amazon View the full article
  6. Watch the new music video for “Dirty Cigarettes” View the full article
  7. Besides winning several prestigious awards, the people behind the movie Dallas Buyers Club are also known for their vigorous pursuit of online pirates. The film’s copyright holders have sued thousands of people in recent years, resulting in numerous out-of-court settlements. In Oregon, however, one defendant has proven to be a tough adversary. In a lawsuit that’s been ongoing for three years, defendant John Huszar was sued for an alleged copyright infringement that occurred via his Tor exit node. Tor is an anonymity tool and operating a relay or exit node basically means that the traffic of hundreds or thousands of users hit the Internet from your IP-address. When pirates use Tor, it will then appear as if the traffic comes from this connection. During the course of the legal proceedings, Huszar repeatedly denied that he personally downloaded a pirated copy of the film. However, he faces substantial damages because he failed to respond to a request for admissions, which stated that he distributed the film. This generally means that it’s seen by the court as true. With this admission, Dallas Buyers Club (DBC) requested a ruling in its favor. A few months ago, the film company argued that the Tor exit node operator admitted willful infringement, which could cost him up to $150,000 in damages. The Tor exit node operator then fought back pointing out several disputed claims and asked for a ruling in its favor. However, according to the filmmakers, this simply came too late, more than a year after the Court ordered the admissions. Huszar is not letting DBC off easy though. Before the court ruled on the filmmakers’ request, the defendant submitted a request for summary judgment of non-infringement a few days ago. Among other things, the defense argues that DBC misled the court about the quality and integrity of the evidence gathering software ‘MaverickMonitor,’ which was created by the German company MaverickEye. The defendant asked Dr. Kal Toth, a qualified software verification expert, to take a look at the system to see if it’s as reliable as claimed. According to his findings, it is not possible to “conclude that MaverickMonitor detects the IP addresses of infringing BitTorrent users correctly, consistently and reliably.” From the declaration In addition, the defense points out that DBC’s own expert never ran the software, suggesting that the filmmakers have no idea how it works. “Bizarrely, DBC’s fact and expert witness, Robert Young, testified that he never installed and ran the MaverickMonitor software on any server despite being designated by DBC as its designee on software. “DBC, a company that used software to sue thousands of people, has no idea how this software works,” the defense argues in its motion. Huszar’s legal team argues that the BitTorrent monitoring system that was used to sue thousands of people is “flawed and unreliable.” While it may produce accurate findings, there could be many false positives as well, their motion explains. “Perhaps Maverickmonitor worked 50% of the time. The problem is that we have no idea for this case which side of the coin was up for Huszar, nor does DBC, or MaverickMonitor. “It is, technically speaking, simply the equivalent of a random number generator, and as such any data generated from the MaverickMonitor system should be excluded,” the motion adds. While the filmmakers have the admission as their main ammunition, the Tor exit node operator points the finger at the evidence gathering software, hoping to find the court on his side. “[H]ere Huszar demonstrated with an inspection of the code that MaverickMonitor’s claim of ‘100% accuracy’ is a complete fraud. Huszar respectfully requests this Court grant his motion for summary judgment and deem him the prevailing party,” the motion concludes. It’s now up to the court to decide which side prevails. — A copy of the motion for summary judgment is available here (pdf). Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons View the full article
  8. Los Angeles techno producer John Tejada and musical chameleon Reggie Watts — who also happens to be a successful comedian and bandleader for “The Late Late Show With James Corden” — have furthered their musical partnership by announcing the release of their debut album as Wajatta. “Casual High... View the full article
  9. Vince Staples starts a GoFundMe so fans can pay for him to retire. View the full article
  10. Yung Lean discusses recording with Frank Ocean and Fredo Santana before he passed. View the full article
  11. On Saturday evening, Shaun White stood at the foot of a snow-covered ramp in downtown Los Angeles, grinning from ear to ear as a scrum of photographers with flashing cameras vied for his attention. Fresh off his win on the men’s halfpipe at Pyeongchang, South Korea, the 31-year-old superstar snowboarder... View the full article
  12. Fstoppers is an online community that produces extremely high-quality photographic tutorials. One of its most popular series is called Photographing the World which sees photographer Elia Locardi travel to exotic locations to demonstrate landscape and cityscape photography. These tutorials sell for almost $300, with two or three versions in a pack selling for up $700. Of course, like any other media they get pirated so when Fstoppers were ready to release Photographing the World 3, they released it themselves on torrent sites a few days before retail. Well, that’s what they wanted the world to believe. “I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all downloaded ‘something’ illegally in the past. Whether it’s an MP3 years ago or a movie or a TV show, and occasionally you download something and it turns out it was kinda like a Rick Roll,” says Locardi. “So we kept talking and we thought it would be a good idea to create this dummy lesson or shadow tutorial that was actually a fake and then seed it on BitTorrent.” Where Fstoppers normally go to beautiful and exotic international locations, for their fake they decided to go to an Olive Garden in Charleston, South Carolina. Yet despite the clear change of location, they wanted people to believe the tutorial was legitimate. “We wanted to ride this constant line of ‘Is this for real? Could this possibly be real? Is Elia [Locardi] joking right now? I don’t think he’s joking, he’s being totally serious’,” says Lee Morris, one of the co-owners of Fstoppers. People really have to watch the tutorial to see what a fantastic job Fstoppers did in achieving that goal. For anyone unfamiliar with their work, the tutorial is initially hard to spot as a fake and even for veterans the level of ambiguity is really impressive. However, when the tutorial heads back to the studio, where the post-processing lesson gets underway, there can be no doubt that something is amiss. Things start off normally with serious teaching, then over time, the tutorial gets more and more ridiculous. Then, when the camera cuts away to show Locardi forming a ‘mask’ on an Olive Garden image, there can be no confusion. That’s a cool mask….wait.. In order to get the tutorial out to the world, the site created its own torrent. They had never done anything like it before so got some associates to upload the huge 25GB+ package to The Pirate Bay and have their friends seed it. Then, in order to get past more savvy users on the site, they had other people come in and give the torrent good (but fake) reviews. The fake torrent on The Pirate Bay (as of yesterday) Screenshots provided by Fstoppers taken months ago reveal hundreds of downloaders. And, according to Morris, the fake became the most-downloaded Photographing the World 3 torrent online, meaning that the “majority of downloaders” got the comedy version. Also of interest is the feedback Fstoppers got following their special release. Emails flooded in from pirates, some of whom were confused while others were upset at the ‘quality’ of the tutorial. “The whole time we were thinking: ‘This isn’t even on the market yet! You guys are totally stealing this and emailing us and complaining about it,” says Fstoppers co-owner Patrick Hall. While the tutorial itself is brilliant, Fstoppers points to a certain hypocrisy within its target audience of photographers, who themselves have to put up with a lot of online piracy of their work. Yet, clearly, many are happy to pirate the work of other photographers in order to make their own art better. All that being said, the exercise is certainly an interesting one and the creativity behind the hoax puts it head and shoulders above more aggressive anti-piracy campaigns. However, when TF tracked down the torrent on The Pirate Bay last evening, it’s popularity had nosedived. While it was initially downloaded by a lot of eager photographers, probably encouraged by the fake comments placed on the site by Fstoppers, the torrent is now only being shared by less than 10 people. As usual, the Pirate Bay users appear to have caught on, flagging the torrent as a fake. The moderators, it seems, have also deleted the fake comments. While most people won’t want to download a 25GB torrent to see what Fstoppers came up with, the site has uploaded the fake tutorial to YouTube. It’s best viewed alongside their other work, which is sensational, but people should get a good idea by watching the explanation below. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons View the full article
  13. Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture: Mashup of the Day: This was inevitable and very quickly done, a mashup of the new Christopher Robin teaser with Ted by Nelson Carvajal of Free Cinema Now: Cosplay of the Day: In anticipation of this week's release of A Wrinkle in Time, here's an adorable mini Mrs. Whatsit (via Ava DuVernay): Channeling my inner Mrs. Whatsit from #WrinkleInTime @RWitherspoon ??? Be a warrior pic.twitter.com/1PNcUz2jgh — Ferdalump (@ferdalump) March 6, 2018 Video Essay of the Day: Here's a video essay from Like Stories From Old that explores the stoicism in the internet's favorite movie, The Shawshank... Read More View the full article
  14. Rae Sremmurd discuss what a collaborative album with Childish Gambino would sound like. View the full article
  15. Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical The Disaster Artist (comedy-drama; James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Paul Scheer; rated R) Thor: Ragnarok (superhero action; Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Neill; rated PG-13) The Breadwinner (animated family drama; voices: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya; rated PG-13) Wonder Wheel (drama; James Belushi, Juno Temple; rated PG-13) The... Read More View the full article
  16. Anderson .Paak debuts the funky new song "Til It's Over" in an FKA Twigs-starring Apple video. View the full article
  17. K.D. Lang didn’t futz with the arrangements on her 1992 album “Ingénue” when she brought it to the Theatre at Ace Hotel as part of a tour launched last year to mark the record’s 25th anniversary. And why on earth would she? A canny and sumptuous blend of roots music and pre-rock pop, “Ingénue”... View the full article
  18. Epoch Index: Brad Peyton, who directed the upcoming Rampage (above) is attached to direct sci-fi thriller Epoch Index. It's based on a short story by Christian Cantrell about a CIA analyst who hunts for a "flashy assassin." The twist is that the assassin somehow transports her hapless victims from the future so she can kill them in the present. Matt Reeves (War of the Planet of the Apes) will produce; Justin Rhodes (the Terminator reboot) will write the screenplay. [Deadline] The List: Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, above), who was very funny as a presenter at the Academy Awards show the other night, will star in The List, the next movie from Tyler Perry. Haddish will play a wild woman; recently released from prison, she re-enters the life of her sister... Read More View the full article
  19. Regular Internet providers are being put under increasing pressure for not doing enough to curb copyright infringement. Last year several major record labels, represented by the RIAA, filed a lawsuit in a Texas District Court, accusing ISP Grande Communications of turning a blind eye on its pirating subscribers. According to the RIAA, the Internet provider knew that some of its subscribers were frequently distributing copyrighted material, and accused the company of failing to take any meaningful action in response. Grande disagreed with this assertion and filed a motion to dismiss the case. The ISP argued that it doesn’t encourage any of its customers to download copyrighted works, and that it has no control over the content subscribers access. The Internet provider admitted that it received millions of takedown notices through the piracy tracking company Rightscorp. However, it believes that these notices are flawed and not worthy of acting upon. It was not keeping subscribers on board with a profit motive, as the RIAA suggested. A few days ago US Magistrate Judge Andrew Austin issued his “report and recommendation” on the motions to dismiss, which brings some good and bad news for both sides. First of all, Judge Austin recommends granting the motion to dismiss the piracy claims against Grande’s management company Patriot Media Consulting, which is also listed as a defendant. According to the order, the RIAA failed to show that Patriot employees were involved in the decisions or actions that led to the infringements, only that they may have been involved in formulating Grande’s infringement related policies. “This is a far cry from showing that Patriot as an entity was an active participant in the alleged secondary infringement,” Judge Austin writes. Moving to Grande Communications itself, Judge Austin recommends dropping the vicarious infringement claim, as Grande requested. To show vicarious infringement, the RIAA would have to prove that the ISP has a direct financial interest in the infringing activity. That is not the case here. The record labels argued that the availability of copyrighted music lures customers, but the Judge found this allegation too vague, as it would apply to all ISPs. “There are no allegations that Grande’s actions in failing to adequately police their infringing subscribers is a draw to subscribers to purchase its services, so that they can then use those services to infringe on UMG’s (and others’) copyrights,” Judge Austin argues. “Instead UMG only alleges that the existence of music and the BitTorrent protocol is the draw. But that would impose liability on every ISP, as the music at issue is available on the Internet generally, as is the BitTorrent protocol, and is not something exclusively available through Grande’s services.” While the above is good news for the Internet provider, the report and recommendation opt to keep the contributory infringement claim alive. Contributory copyright infringement happens where a defendant intentionally induces or encourages direct infringement. Grande argued that Rightcorp’s notices were not sufficient to show that copyrighted material was ever downloaded, but Judge Austin disagrees. The RIAA has made a “plausible claim” that the ISP’s subscribers are infringing the labels’ copyrights. “It would be inappropriate to dismiss the case based on factual allegations Grande makes about the Rightscorp notices and system, without any evidence to back those up,” Judge Austin’s recommendation reads. In addition, Grande also argued that it’s protected from a secondary copyright infringement claim under the “staple article of commerce” doctrine, as “it is beyond dispute” that ISPs have numerous non-infringing uses. Referring to the legal case between BMG and Cox Communications, Judge Austin says that this isn’t as clear as Grande suggests. “The Court acknowledges that this is not yet a well-defined area of the law, and that there are good arguments on both sides of this issue,” the recommendation reads. “However, at this point in the case, the Court is persuaded that UMG has pled a plausible claim of secondary infringement based on Grande’s alleged failure to act when presented with evidence of ongoing, pervasive infringement by its subscribers.” The recommendation, therefore, is to deny the motion to dismiss the contributory infringement claim against Grande. If the U.S. District Court Judge adopts this position, it would mean that the case is heading to trial based on this claim. — Judge Austin’s full report and recommendations filing is available here (pdf). Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons View the full article
  20. Chance the Rapper reveals the status of his long-delayed collaborative project with Donald Glover. View the full article
  21. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is a coalition of 30 companies that reads like a who’s who of the global entertainment market. All of the major Hollywood studios are members, plus Amazon, Netflix, BBC, Hulu, and Village Roadshow, to name a few. ACE was launched last year to present a united front against online infringement and since then has been involved in various anti-piracy actions. ACE has made the third-party Kodi addon scene one of its early priorities, targeting developers with home visits and lengthy letters demanding that they cease and desist their activities. This has led to several pulling back from the scene but in some instances, this doesn’t appear to have been enough for ACE. The letters received by the developers also include a requirement for them to sign a settlement agreement which binds them to a particular course of future behavior set out by ACE. It’s unclear how many developers have signed but TorrentFreak is aware that several have not. One of those is JSergio123 who last November announced he would be discontinuing development of several Kodi addons after being targeted by ACE. “Sorry to say but I am stopping all development of the urlresolver, metahandler, and my other addons,” he said. JSergio123’s reluctance to sign an agreement with ACE hasn’t gone unnoticed by the anti-piracy group. In a letter dated March 5, 2018 and signed by Kelly Klaus of US-based lawfirm Munger, Tolles & Olson, the developer is reminded of what transpired last year and what is expected of him moving forward. “I understand that ACE counsel have discussed with you various of your “Addon” software applications and related software and services, including URLResolver (collectively, the “[redacted] Addons”) and other actions you have undertaken to induce and contribute to the mass infringement of the ACE members’ copyrighted works,” Klaus writes. “I also understand that ACE counsel have provided you with a proposed settlement agreement, pursuant to which you would end your infringing activities and provide cooperation and other consideration in exchange for ACE agreeing not to pursue legal action against you arising out of your infringing activities. To date, you have not signed the settlement agreement.” JSergio123’s precise reasons for not signing the settlement agreement aren’t being made public. However, TorrentFreak understands that some of the terms presented to addon developers last year have caused considerable concern. In some cases they are difficult to meet, not to mention unpalatable to the people involved. They include promises to ensure that specified addons and indeed any developed in the future can no longer infringe copyright. For those that scrape third-party sources, this could prove impossible to absolutely guarantee. This could effectively put developers out of the addon game – legitimate or otherwise – for good. TF is also informed that ACE demanded a high-level of cooperation, including that the developers should supply what amounts to a full confession, detailing all the projects they’ve been involved in, past and present. Furthermore, the ACE agreement reportedly requires developers to inform on their colleagues by providing personal information such as identities and contact details. There’s also a requirement to indicate whether and how developers been making money from their activities. The new letter from ACE, which is shown below after being published by JSergio, refers to a “most recent draft of the settlement agreement that ACE members would be willing to sign.” Whether this contains any amendments from the settlement agreements sent out last year isn’t clear but Mr Klaus, who is a veteran of several large infringement lawsuits in the US, says that JSergio should take the offer seriously. “I strongly urge you to consider the gravity of this situation and sign the agreement,” the lawyer concludes. ACE Letter (credit: JSergio123) Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN discounts, offers and coupons View the full article
  22. The co-founders behind Centrifuge have previously created an essential company with Taulia. Now, they want to do it again, but on the blockchain. Taulia is a supply-chain financing company. It has raised over $150 million and moves billions of dollars per day. 97 out of the Fortune 100 companies use it to improve liquidity when it comes to accounts payable. Let’s say you’re a… Read More View the full article
  23. Listen to Anderson .Paak's new song "Til It's Over." https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/anderson-paak-releases-new-song-til-its-over-new-song.1977663.htmlView the full article
  24. In an effort to attract more government clients, Microsoft said it will integrate Azure Stack, its hybrid cloud platform, with Azure Government in the middle of this year. Azure Stack will let government agencies run Azure’s cloud computing platform on their own private servers while retaining access to Microsoft’s cloud services. This makes it easier for clients to protect… Read More View the full article
×
×
  • Create New...