Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 84
September 8, 2017
Facebook is testing features to help you make new friends
Facebook wants to show you more of what you have in common with potential new friends and make sure you don’t forget about your old ones either.
The company is rolling out a feature that allows you to get a closer look at your friend’s buddies. It’s not only showcasing connections you’ve yet to make but a lot of current friends as well, which seems a bit odd, but I suppose it helps you orient yourself with friends you haven’t interacted with in a bit.
Once you tap on a button urging you to “get to know [name’s] friends” you’re cast into a carousel of the connections. Previously, the most prominent way Facebook orients you with potential new friends was by showing you your mutual friends. This option digs deeper, showing you events that you both attended, pages you both like, places you’ve both worked or lived.
In February, Facebook began rolling out “Discover People,” a feature designed to help you find new connections largely through groups and events. The friend cards are the same here, but this roll out throws them into a more wide feature release.
Facebook is also looking to get you closer to some of the friends you already have in the app. Motherboard reports that a new feature is bringing some Tinder-like functionality to Messenger, allowing users to connect if they both indicate that they’re interested in hanging out. It’s also a little reminiscent of some of Snapchat’s efforts to get you to interact with friends you haven’t traded messages with in a while. Having this functionality inside Messenger is, again, a bit of an odd choice given that you’d have to switch to the main app to view a person’s profiles.
There doesn’t seem to be any clear “dating app” language present instead it’s more focused on friendly encounters, i.e. “Would you like to meet up with [name] this week?” The changes that would need to be taken to transform this feature into a Tinder or Bumble-like applet don’t take any major mental leaps though and dating could be a huge move for the company in the future.
Ultimately, Facebook is better with friends and even if the connection suggestions that Facebook comes up with are already stellar, it’s good to see some of the thinking that’s being done behind the scenes in terms of common interests.
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Facebook is testing features to help you make new friends
It’s Official: ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel Movies Leaving Netflix for Disney Streaming Service
The announcement that Disney is launching its own streaming service sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry, as that new venture came with the caveat that Disney was pulling its content from Netflix in 2019. What was uncertain, was whether that mandate included content from Disney’s Marvel and Lucasfilm brands – but now we have the official answer on that front.
Deadline reports that Disney has decided to pull both Marvel and Star Wars content from Netflix in 2019, as was revealed by Disney CEO Bob Iger in a recent investor meeting.
According Iger, the plan for Disney’s streaming service is “We’re going to launch big, and we’re going to launch hot.” He added that the app, “will have the entire output of the studio — animation, live action and Disney including Pixar, Star Wars and all of the Marvel films.”
That library includes exclusively offering the full lineup of Disney properties on the service (500 films and 7,000 TV episodes), in addition to four or five original TV series and three or four original movies. An expansive lineup of short form content is also expected, and the digital service will be used as the exclusive distribution platform for lower-budgeted films (no more risky theatrical premieres).
While Disney’s service sounds impressive, it does leave us with one big question:
What Does This Mean for Netflix?
How Disney’s launch will impact other major streaming services is a big, looming question – especially for Netflx. Netflix has clearly benefited from having big Marvel and Star Wars movies offered on the service, but since the companies ratings and returns are largely unknown to the public, we have no real measurement for just how much Marvel and Star Wars features pull in, in terms of viewers, and what that loss will mean for Netflix’s bottom line.
This question gets even more expansive when you factor in all the Disney movies and TV content that is offered through the services. Families with children aged toddler to teen would arguably have much more incentive to pay for a Disney streaming service that could offer animated fare and TV content for kids, and fantastical superhero and sci-fi content for teens, than the more adult offerings of Netflix. Indeed: the “Kids” section of Netflix’s service is probably in the biggest danger from this new Disney venture.
For now, you can still catch all your Marvel and Stars Wars movies on Netflix. The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with Thor: Ragnarok on November 3rd; the Star Wars saga continues with The Last Jedi on December 15, 2017.
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http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/09/07/marvel-and-star-wars-movies-leaving-netflix-2019/#1
Black Panther Toys Reveal New Vibranium Suits
New toys for Black Panther further shine the spotlight on Wakanda’s superior technology and upgraded suits for T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Marvel Studios is continuing to grow the Marvel Cinematic Universe and next year will kick off their slate by bringing some much needed diversity to the screen. Black Panther will take the Captain America: Civil War breakout character out of the familiar world audiences are used to and put him back within his home, Wakanda. Not only will this move give Marvel Studios their first film led by a person of color, it will also give them the first MCU movie directed by a black filmmaker (Creed‘s Ryan Coogler).
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While Coogler and Boseman are part of the equation, they will be surrounded by an influx of talent, on and off-screen. The Black Panther cast is arguably the most impressive of any MCU film to date, but fans are also excited to see more of Black Panther and the whole new world that he brings with him. In doing so, Wakanda’s technology will be put on full display and a glimpse at their gear can now be seen in the latest Black Panther toys.
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Black Panther Toys Spotlight T’Challa’s New Suit & Killmonger’s Armor
Mexico hit by ‘strongest earthquake in a century’ as magnitude 8.2 tremor triggers tsunami waves
A rare and powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico late Thursday, killing at least 15 people as seismologists warned of a tsunami of more than 10 feet.
The quake hit offshore in the Pacific about 75 miles southwest of the town of Tres Picos in far southern Chiapas state, the US Geological Survey said, putting the magnitude at 8.1.
Mexico’s president said the earthquake magnitude was 8.2, the strongest in a century in the country.
The country’s seismologic service initially gave a magnitude of 8.4, which if confirmed would be the most powerful ever recorded in this quake-prone country.
The quake shook a large swath of the country and was felt as far north as Mexico City – 600 miles from the quake epicenter – where people ran out of their homes in their pajamas as buildings trembled and swayed.
A tsunami warning and the prospect of aftershocks kept the nation on alert.
“Based on all available data … widespread hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
“Tsunami waves reaching more than three meters above the tide level are possible along the coasts of Mexico,” it said, with lower waves in other countries.
The tsunami warning was for the coasts of Mexico, down through Central America into Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras, and as far south as Ecuador.
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The quake was felt in much of Guatemala, which borders Chiapas.
President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered schools to remain closed Friday in Chiapas and Mexico City so officials could inspect for structural damage.
He said on Twitter he was overseeing the emergency response from the National Disaster Prevention Center’s headquarters.
In Mexico City, people ran out of buildings after hearing earthquake warning sirens go off just before midnight (6am UK time Friday).
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Equifax Says Cyberattack May Have Affected 143 Million Customers
Equifax, one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies, said on Thursday that hackers had gained access to company data that potentially compromised sensitive information for 143 million American consumers, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
The attack on the company represents one of the largest risks to personally sensitive information in recent years, and is the third major cybersecurity threat for the agency since 2015.
Equifax, based in Atlanta, is a particularly tempting target for hackers. If identity thieves wanted to hit one place to grab all the data needed to do the most damage, they would go straight to one of the three major credit reporting agencies.
“This is about as bad as it gets,” said Pamela Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit research group. “If you have a credit report, chances are you may be in this breach. The chances are much better than 50 percent.”
Criminals gained access to certain files in the company’s system from mid-May to July by exploiting a weak point in website software, according to an investigation by Equifax and security consultants. The company said that it discovered the intrusion on July 29 and has since found no evidence of unauthorized activity on its main consumer or commercial credit reporting databases.
In addition to the other material, hackers were also able to retrieve names, birth dates and addresses. Credit card numbers for 209,000 consumers were stolen, while documents with personal information used in disputes for 182,000 people were also taken.
Other cyberattacks, such as the two breaches that Yahoo announced in 2016, have eclipsed the penetration at Equifax in sheer size, but the Equifax attack is worse in terms of severity. Thieves were able to siphon far more personal information — the keys that unlock consumers’ medical histories, bank accounts and employee accounts.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of risk to consumers, this is a 10,” said Avivah Litan, a fraud analyst at Gartner.
An F.B.I. spokesperson said the agency was aware of the breach and was tracking the situation.
Last year, identity thieves successfully made off with critical W-2 tax and salary data from an Equifax website. And earlier this year, thieves again stole W-2 tax data from an Equifax subsidiary, TALX, which provides online payroll, tax and human resources services to some of the nation’s largest corporations.
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September 7, 2017
Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev tickets to go on sale from Monday
Matchroom Boxing have announced that tickets for the blockbuster Heavyweight World title clash between Anthony Joshua MBE and Kubrat Pulev will be available to fans from Monday.
The tickets for what could be Joshua’s last UK fight for over a year go on pre-sale to Matchroom Fight Pass members at midday on Monday and general sale on Tuesday ahead of the October 28 event live on Sky Sports Box Office.
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Joshua is back in action after his epic win over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, and the unbeaten British star now heads to the Principality Stadium in Wales to face IBF mandatory challenger Pulev.
Tickets for the event are priced at £40, £60, £80, £100, £200, £300 and £500 – with VIP tickets priced at £1500.
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Lyft is bringing another self-driving car pilot program to the Bay Area
Lyft is partnering with yet another self-driving car startup — this time with Drive.ai in the San Francisco Bay Area — to launch a pilot program that will shuttle ride-sharing customers to their destinations in vehicles controlled by artificial intelligence, not humans.
The partnership is just the latest step in Lyft’s plan to offer up its vast network of passengers and drivers to companies developing self-driving cars. Lyft already has partnerships with GM, Boston-based NuTonomy, and Waymo, the Google self-driving car project that spun out to become a business under parent company Alphabet.
Drive.ai and Lyft did not specify when this pilot program will start actively shuttling passengers in autonomous vehicles. Executives with Drive.ai and Lyft say they expect to launch “soon.”
Initially, the pilot will involve a small set of passengers who will opt in to this program, Taggart Matthiesen, senior director of product of Lyft, told The Verge. He did not provide a specific number of vehicles or participants, but noted the self-driving car will have a Drive.ai safety driver behind the wheel to take over in case the artificial intelligence controlling the car fails, and of course, to meet California regulations.
Once a ride is requested, Drive.ai’s software will evaluate whether or not the route is feasible, said Carol Reiley, co-founder and president of Drive.ai. This may be a route that has been pre-selected, Reiley said, adding that the company’s self-driving technology can handle rainy and nighttime conditions.
Drive.ai, which was founded by former graduate students working in Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, will use the pilot to test the limits of the self-driving car technology and further develop it so the riding experience is consistent, regardless of the conditions of route, Reiley said. A consistent and safe ride is something all companies developing self-driving car technology are chasing, with varying degrees of success.
Despite the lack of logistical details, the partnership is a milestone for the lesser-known Drive.ai, which received an autonomous vehicle testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles in April 2016. This partnership — the first that Drive.ai has publicly announced — gives the startup the opportunity to potentially bring its self-driving cars to the 350 cities in 40 US states where Lyft operates.
Drive.ai uses a different approach from other companies racing to deploy autonomous vehicles. Startups generally train their self-driving vehicles with deep learning technology, a sophisticated form of artificial intelligence algorithms that allow a computer — essentially the car’s brain — to learn by using a series of connected networks to identify patterns in data. Traditionally, deep learning is used to teach the car how to recognize objects, such as the ability of the car to detect a traffic light or a pedestrian. In general, the use of deep neural networks is limited to this task.
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Disney just added a new character to ‘Aladdin,’ and not everyone is pleased
Disney has been busy making live-action versions of beloved animated classics, and perhaps none has been as closely watched — and criticized — as “Aladdin.”
The latest blowback started after the Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday that Billy Magnussen is joining the cast to play a new character that wasn’t in the 1992 animated version.
Much of the scrutiny over how Disney would handle remaking “Aladdin” has centered around casting choices, fueled by increased attention on whitewashing in Hollywood and the representation of racial minorities and women on screen. First came reports that director Guy Ritchie was hoping to snag Tom Hardy to play Jafar. Stories emerged that Ritchie and the studio were having trouble finding leads of Middle Eastern or Indian descent during a worldwide casting search — sparking skepticism among fans and critics who took such claims as preemptive excuse-making for casting white actors.
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Disney avoided the likely firestorm when it cast Mena Massoud for the title role. The Egyptian-born Canadian actor, a relative newcomer, is joined by Marwan Kenzari as Jafar and Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine. The biggest star, Will Smith, will play Genie.
Meet the cast of #Aladdin: Will Smith (Genie), @MenaMassoud(Aladdin), @NaomiScott (Jasmine), and Marwan Kenzari (Jafar)! : @realguyritchie pic.twitter.com/1Sktyu5Sle
— Disney (@Disney) September 6, 2017
Filmmakers previously added another new character to their live-action remake — Mara, a handmaiden and friend to Jasmine — but that didn’t draw much negative attention, probably because the original “Aladdin” only had one notable female character, so adding another would help lessen that disparity. Plus, Mara is played by “Saturday Night Live” alum Nasim Pedrad, an Iranian-American actress.
But the news of Magnussen’s addition was met by critics on social media and some sites, who viewed the move as Disney going out of its way to find a way to add a white actor to the cast.
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