Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 104
August 3, 2017
Futuristic Hyperloop transport system hits nearly 200mph as passenger pod is tested for the first time
The dream of travelling from London to Edinburgh has taken a step closer after Hyperloop One successfully tested a passenger pod travelling at 192mph.
Dreamt up by SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, Hyperloop is the vacuum tube technology that could revolutionise transportation.
Now the US-based Hyperloop One company has sent its first pod zooming along a 500-metre test track in the Nevada desert.
Eventually the company hopes to hit speeds of over 700mph, capable of transporting passengers from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes or London to Edinburgh in 50 minutes.
By creating a vacuum, the team are able to limit air resistance and shoot the levitating pod along a magnetized track.
Made of structural aluminum and a lightweight carbon fiber, the pod measures 28 feet long. Using electromagnetic propulsion and magnetic levitation, the Pod will transport passengers and cargo inside the tube.
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“By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you’re flying at 200,000 feet in the air,” Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and executive chairman of Hyperloop One.
“For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it’s here now.”
The next part of the process for the company is loading the pods with weight without losing air pressure and still increasing speed.
First proposed by billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX boss Elon Musk in 2012, the Hyperloop transport system is based around the concept of propelling pod-like vehicles through reduced-pressure tubes.
Source:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/futuristic-hyperloop-transport-system-hits-10921671
Disney will show the sights, sounds and smells of ‘Star Wars’ in VR
Disney is teaming up with virtual reality gaming centre The Void to launch an immersive Star Wars experience at two of its sites. Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire lets you step inside the intergalactic world of the hit films through a VR headset. You’ll also be able to touch, feel, and even smell your surroundings (which may not bode well if you end up chilling with Yoda on Dagobah). Built in collaboration with Lucasfilm, the new experience hits Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort this holiday season.
For those not familiar with The Void, its gaming centres offer “hyper-reality” attractions. Essentially, you enter real rooms in groups, wearing the company’s headsets and haptic feedback vests that allow you to interact with the VR environments. Some of these are based on movies, like its Ghostbusters: Dimensions experience that lets you use virtual plasma packs to zap green ghouls.
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is The Void’s first partnership with the House of Mouse, since it joined its accelerator program in July. It will see the company open its gaming centres on the Disney sites — through which guests will jump into the virtual adventure.
The social VR experience could be the first of many immersive Star Wars-themed attractions at the parks, courtesy of the folks at Lucasfilm’s ILMxLab division. Just last month Disney revealed ambitious plans of building an entire hotel based on the franchise. And then there’s its upcoming Star Wars theme park, due to open in 2019 at both Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida.
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Source:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/03/disney-star-wars-vr-the-void/
Google will allow real-money gambling apps on the Play Store in the UK, Ireland, and France
Last month, we heard rumors that Google was planning to relax its ban on real-money gambling apps in the Play Store, but after reaching out to Google we didn’t get a response either way. With an update to its developer policy page, Google has now confirmed that some of these apps are going to be allowed on the Play Store in the UK, Ireland, and France.
The gambling apps will be subject to a strict application process if they want to get in, meeting the requirements outlined on the content policy page. Most importantly, the company developing it will have to prove they have a valid gambling license in the country they wish to distribute the app. That includes complying with all local laws and industry standards. There must also be robust measures in place to restrict under-age gamblers and prevent use in other territories outside the country of issue.
Other stipulations prohibit the use of any Google payments services, so you won’t able to gamble with Play Store credit through IAPs. The apps must also be free to download in the first place. As a final precaution, all gambling apps will be required to display prominent information regarding responsible gambling practices.
At the same time, Google is also softening its stance on gambling related adverts in other Play Store apps. The ads will have to comply with local industry standards and meet licensing requirements. Perhaps the most restrictive rule is that which precludes the ads from being seen by anyone under the age of 18, which should out rule their use in any apps without an age restriction. The same rules on responsible gambling information apply here, too, and it’s also not permitted to advertise real-money gambling in a simulated gambling app. While Google may have loosened its policies substantially, it seems they should still be able to exert a considerable amount of control.
Source:
August 2, 2017
How murder mystery ‘Wind River’ explores hard life on Native American reservations
When Elizabeth Olsen’s Las Vegas-based FBI investigator Jane Banner first meets Jeremy Renner’s Forest Service game tracker Cory Lambert on the snowy Wyoming hill where a young Indian woman has run to her death in “Wind River,” he sincerely offers his help to discover why someone would do such a thing to herself — and barefoot in the freezing drifts, at that.
Fairly new at her job but skeptical, Banner asks Lambert what he can contribute to the investigation. He simply says, “I hunt predators.” And it’s true; he’s out on the remote reservation of the film’s title stalking a lioness that’s been going after Shoshone livestock. But he’s also looking for a way to assuage his own deep sorrow, ever since his teenage, half-Indian daughter met a similar fate.
“Wind River” marks the first feature directed by actor Taylor Sheridan (Deputy Chief David Hale on TV’s “Sons of Anarchy”) since he became the hottest screenwriter in town with “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water.” This third component of his loose Modern West trilogy may be a murder mystery, but its main concern is with the sad, lawless state many Native Americans still live in and how that gets exploited and neglected by the white world.
Shot near Park City, Utah, and to a lesser extent on Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation shared by the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho, the movie is also a chilling paean to the implacable outdoors. Weather and terrain constantly threaten to dwarf the concerns of mere humans in this country, no matter how big the feelings and aching the pain an individual may bear.
“There are a lot of themes that I’m exploring,” Sheridan explains, “and probably the most prescient is that demarcation line where the rule of law gives way to the law of nature, and this real sense of how small we are in that world.”
For Renner, the project’s attraction was a far more intimate thing.
“The character was what I was drawn to,” says Marvel’s once and future Hawkeye, while he gets physical therapy for two broken arms he sustained on a production between the arduous “Wind River” and the next action-packed “Avengers” opus. “There was a lot on the page which allowed for a lot of growth. It’s about loss, how people cope and how not to cope. I like that Cory does a lot instead of being stagnant. He carries a lot of weight and hurting on his shoulders, but he’s actionable about helping others in any way that he possibly could.”
For Olsen, who had to do a lot of firearms training to convince as her welcomed but not entirely respected fed in Indian territory — think of Banner as a kindred law-enforcing spirit to Emily Blunt’s Kate Macer in “Sicario” — “Wind River” started out as a chance to play a strong professional, but quickly evolved into an eye-opening experience.
“I’d never gotten to play someone with that kind of discipline or training,” the “Avengers’” Scarlet Witch actress notes. “To have to immerse myself into a completely different profession, that was very interesting to me. But I think the world was shocking to me, and of course when I met Taylor, the first stupid question I asked was, ‘Is this real? Where did you get this story from?’ You’re shocked that it’s your neighbors, basically, and you know nothing about them. The issue with reservation versus federal law is incredibly depressing.”
Sheridan’s lived in the area and likes to point out that the Wind River reservation, one of the poorest places in America, is just 50 miles from one of the richest, Jackson Hole’s Teton County.
Additionally, “Wind River” was almost entirely financed by Louisiana’s Tunica-Biloxi Tribe. During his first conference call with those investors, 15 minutes in, one of them asked, “Wait a minute, are you white?” followed by laughter all around regarding the details, dialogue cadences and humor of the script’s Indian characters that the money men felt Sheridan nailed. The script was also approved by the Arapaho and Shoshone Tribal Councils.
All that noted, Sheridan understands that criticism will come for making the two leads in an otherwise Indian story white.
“It came up at the premiere at Sundance,” Sheridan acknowledges. “I told the questioner that I did not have the right to tell the story from the point of view of a Native American. I got a standing ovation from the Native Americans in the audience because … How could I? I haven’t experienced that.
“I can absolutely write roles that are diverse,” Sheridan adds. “But writing from the point of view of someone who’s had a foot in both of those worlds, who’s had a relationship with a Native American woman and had that relationship fall apart, I can write about that because I know that, I lived that. And I can write comfortably about that experience of coming into another culture and learning how to respect that and not pretend that I am from it. To me, that’s responsible.”
Meanwhile, Banner and Lambert’s relationship is a marvel of professionalism — and not in the Marvel manner that the actors are more accustomed to sharing.
“I like to see strong women’s roles,” Renner says. “Lizzie worked really hard to be good with weapons, and I think her hard work paid off in the movie. And getting to work with her in a different way — out of costume, if you will — was great. We got to explore more character depth and behavior. The two characters experience a growth in their relations that doesn’t have anything to do with the physical; it’s a pure thing. There’s a journey that they both go on together, and they grow close because of that.”
A journey that, we think’s been mentioned, was pretty arduous, as the production crew had to climb — or snowmobile — higher and higher in the Utah mountains to capture undisturbed winter as spring rapidly approached.
“They tried to not rely on CGI to keep the snow pristine,” Valley girl Olsen reveals. “A lot of times, especially when we had to follow tracks, y’know someone has to make the track then walk away. So that was a very delicate situation. Also, just moving the crew and the equipment that high up where there aren’t any roads paved. … We were taking Sno-Cats and snowmobiles, dragging bigger equipment behind on sleds. And they’d have to hide the port-a-potties behind trees, so that would be a hike.
“Walking in snow is exhausting!” Olsen learned. “But it was a really collaborative, creative experience. You’d go home and be physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted, and you were like ‘Great!’ That’s how I want to feel after a day of work.”
Both actors say that Sheridan’s preparation, flexibility and brutal creative honesty made it all work out in the end. For his part, the Texan filmmaker is glad the talented likes of Denis Villeneuve and David Mackenzie called the shots for his two previous scripts.
“The real glue to the trilogy, aside from the fact that it’s an exploration of the modern American frontier, is failure,” Sheridan points out. “Failure as fathers, failure of our government in every way, and examining the consequences of those failures and overcoming them. It’s probably very good that I didn’t direct the first two — because they turned out extremely well! But beyond that, had I, I might have hit those themes too hard and they would have seemed redundant.
“So, it’s really one of those happy accidents of filmmaking,” Sheridan concludes.
Source:
Merge Cube augmented reality toy debuts at Walmart
Merge is announcing that the Merge Cube is debuting exclusively this week at Walmart stores across the U.S.
The Merge Cube is a holographic toy that allows users to physically hold and interact with 3D objects using augmented reality (AR) technology. The Merge Cube costs only $15, and it is compatible with iOS and Android devices. It features dozens of games and experiences built for it.
The launch of the Merge Cube in Walmart stores follows the earlier launch of the company’s Merge VR/AR Goggles, which are $60 devices that are available in 5,000 stores worldwide. While the goggles are aimed at those ages 10 and up, the Merge Cube is targeted at kids. The Merge Cube will expand into other major retailers soon.
“We’re excited to bring the Merge Cube to Walmart stores and physically put this technology into people’s hands. With this first-of-its-kind product, people can experience the wonder and amazement of interacting with holographic, 3D content in a natural and intuitive way,” said Merge founder Franklin Lyons, in a statement. “Our Merge Cube and Goggles allow users to interact with more than just a screen — now, they can build worlds, explore the human brain, visit foreign lands, and more through the power of VR/AR.”
Also launching today is Merge Miniverse, a portal for virtual and augmented worlds. Merge makes both physical products and apps, and it also curates a library of family-friendly experiences like 360-degree videos, virtual and augmented reality apps, and games.
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The Merge Miniverse allows AR and VR explorers to choose from hundreds of apps and experiences to use with the Merge VR/AR Goggles and Merge Cube, as well as with other AR/VR devices.
Some of the Merge Cube apps currently available on the Miniverse (with more coming soon) include:
Th!ngs: A collection of holographic minigames where users can hatch and play with their very own Octopet, battle alien forces, and hold a campfire in the palm of their hands.
Mr. Body: A hands-on holographic anatomy lesson that gives a close-up view of the vital organs and their functions.
Galactic Explorer: An educational game that lets users hold and interact with the solar system. They can watch as planets orbit the Sun, explore the texture and color of each planet’s surface, and discover interesting facts while navigating the universe.
Dig!: A world-building game that lets users build and mine to create holographic 3D worlds they can hold in the palm of their hand, save their creations, share with friends, and download and build off others’ pre-built worlds.
Merge is inviting developers from around the world to join them in shaping the future of play. In June, the company announced its Merge AR/VR Developer Fund, a $1 million fund to support the developer community building apps for Merge products.
Source:
https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/01/merge-cube-augmented-reality-toy-debuts-at-walmart/
Amazon to counter-program ‘Confederate’ with reparations-themed ‘Black America’
Amazon is hoping that viewers who registered their disapproval of HBO’s upcoming slavery drama Confederate will have a positive reaction to their own alternate-history series, Black America.
As in Confederate, from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Black America takes place in a universe where the South has seceded from the Union. But where Confederate imagines slavery as a modern-day institution, the Amazon offering focuses on freed slaves who form their own country, New Colonia, out of the states of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, given to them as reparations for the country’s original sin.
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New Colonia has been at peace with the United States for twenty years following 150 years of fighting. But their newfound accord is endangered by an economic role reversal: the new country has emerged as a new global power player as America slides into decline.
“It was something that was personally intriguing for me as a black American,” William Packer (Straight Outta Compton), who is partnering with Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder, told Deadline in a story published Tuesday. “You would be hard pressed to find many black Americans who have not thought about the concept of reparation, what would happen if reparations were actually given.”
He added that the Black America team is working with a team of historians, explaining, “Even though the story is set in contemporary society, not post-slavery, it relies on us being factually correct in telling the story of how we got to a contemporary society where you’ve got a sovereign country that is run by black Americans.”
Amazon announced the project earlier this year with little detail or fanfare. Packer says the show is now in “active development” but did not mention how far along it is, when it will premiere or whether anyone has been cast.
It now appears to be positioning Black America as counter programming. It marks the streaming platform’s second original alternate-history series after The Man in the High Castle. That show imagines an America occupied by the Nazis and Japanese after the Axis powers won World War II.
Packer sidestepped direct questions about Confederate; however, he noted, “Slavery is far too real and far too painful, and we still see the manifestations of it today as a country for me to ever view that as a form of entertainment.”
Source:
Bitcoin splits as new currency takes off
A new version of Bitcoin has been mined for the first time in the crypto-currency’s history.
Bitcoin Cash is the result of months of debate and development over how the currency would continue to evolve.
Fears of large swings in the value of Bitcoin have so far not been realised – but some exchanges are still adapting to the new currency.
One expert said the process had gone smoothly so far and pointed out that trade in Bitcoin Cash seemed “robust”.
Bitcoin Cash was developed as a measure to increase the capacity of Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the blockchain – a digital ledger that records every single transaction.
Bigger blocks
Because the old blockchain could only have one megabyte (MB) of data added to it every 10 minutes, transactions have come to be processed at slower rates.
Bitcoin Cash blocks can be as large as 8MB, which its proponents hope will help to solve this problem.
Yesterday, Bitcoin Cash was officially born when block number 478559 – at just under 2MB in size – was mined.
No major issues have so far been detected following the split although a few exchanges and wallets have had minor technical issues with supporting Bitcoin Cash initially, said Dr Garrick Hileman, research fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.
Thanks to its larger block size, Bitcoin Cash requires more computer storage space from parties wishing to take part in the process of mining.
Mining involves computers being tasked with solving difficult mathematical problems in order to authorise transactions on the blockchain.
Miners receive new bitcoins as a reward for this work – making it lucrative – and it has also been something open to individuals in the past, because the cost of small scale mining equipment has been relatively low.
That could change thanks to Bitcoin Cash.
“Bigger players with access to server farms and big budgets will have no problem running bigger nodes, but smaller operators could be squeezed out,” said Dr Hileman.
“Will companies dominate Bitcoin Cash more than Bitcoin? We’re going to see this in the flesh now, how this will play out.”
Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40800270
