Monthly Archives: May 2018

Goodbye, Anxiety: Ten Hour Looping Video Of Relaxing, Under The Sea Oceanscapes

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This is a ten hour looping video (the actual footage appears to be about 20 minutes) of relaxing open-sea oceanscapes, complete with soothing audio. The video is a collaboration between BBC Earth and OceanX Media, and is perfect for a person with anxiety who finds the sights and sounds of ocean life relaxing. Unfortunately, I find ocean life absolutely terrifying and now I’m having a panic attack in a bathroom stall at work. Bring chocolate and toilet paper.

Keep going for the video, which I tried playing for my dog on my flatscreen but she demanded sea lion videos only.

Source: Geekologie – Goodbye, Anxiety: Ten Hour Looping Video Of Relaxing, Under The Sea Oceanscapes

Trump wants a total ban on German luxury car imports

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Enlarge (credit: Chris Kleponis/Pool via Bloomberg)

US President Donald Trump wants to escalate his trade war to include a total ban on German luxury cars, says a report in WirtschaftsWoche. According to the German publication, which says its report results from talking to several unnamed US and European diplomats, during French President Macron’s recent visit to Washington, Trump told him that he would “maintain his trade policy until no Mercedes models rolled on Fifth Avenue in New York.”

This news follows news last week that Trump had already asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to launch an investigation into the national security threat posed by imported cars, trucks, and auto parts; Trump is also considering adding 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles. WirtschaftsWoche‘s article points out that just prior to his inauguration in 2017, Trump railed against the Mercedes-Benz vehicles he saw in New York.

When you walk down Fifth Avenue, everyone has a Mercedes-Benz in front of their house.” But that’s not reciprocity. “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not too many, maybe none at all. You do not see anything over there; it’s a one-way street,” said the real estate billionaire. Although he is for free trade, but not at any price: “I love free trade, but it must be a smart trade, so I call it fair.

The US market is extremely important for luxury German automakers, and a ban on importing new vehicles would be devastating for brands like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. But even if Trump gets his wish, an import ban is highly unlikely to have the effect he’s looking for. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz maintain large manufacturing presences here in the US, in part because any vehicles they build and sell here are exempt from existing import tariffs.

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Source: Ars Technica – Trump wants a total ban on German luxury car imports

Alibaba Co-founder Says Many Americans 'Want To Stop China' From Upgrading Its Tech

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With the threat of Trump’s ever-looming trade war with China and his administration’s sanctions on Chinese companies like ZTE, it’s hard to remember a more contentious period between the two countries in recent times. Adding fuel to the conversation, an Alibaba co-founder alleged that many Americans want to stop China from upgrading its technology and from becoming more innovative. From a report: Chinese media outlets have repeatedly asserted that American complaints about the tech sector are really just efforts to slow the country’s rise as a global power. “There’s nothing wrong with a country wanting to upgrade its own manufacturing sector, go higher tech, be more innovative,” Tsai said. “But then, from the Chinese perspective, what we’re seeing is there are a lot of people in America that want to stop China from doing that.” After three decades of producing low-end manufacturing goods, Tsai said, China recognizes the need to develop better technology, upgrade its manufacturing sector and focus more on value-added areas like robotics, aeronautics and high-tech medical equipment.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Alibaba Co-founder Says Many Americans ‘Want To Stop China’ From Upgrading Its Tech

Monster Cable's Plan for Saving Its Failing Business Is a Cryptocoin Called 'Monster Money Tokens'

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Ever since Dr. Dre forgot about Monster and walked into the loving arms of Apple, the overpriced cable manufacturer has struggled to keep its head above water. But it’s 2018 and every failing company has one ace up its sleeve when it needs to save itself: Pivot to blockchain. Say hello to “Monster Money.”

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Source: Gizmodo – Monster Cable’s Plan for Saving Its Failing Business Is a Cryptocoin Called ‘Monster Money Tokens’

Chrome 67 Hits Release Channel With Biometric Login Support And Improves AR/VR Compatibility

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Chrome 67 Hits Release Channel With Biometric Login Support And Improves AR/VR Compatibility
Google has started pushing out a version update to its Chrome browser, Chrome 67 (67.0.3396.62, to be exact), for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. The latest releases introduces several fixes and improvements, including password-free login support by way of WebAuthn, a new specification that is supported by default in Chrome 67. It’s the first

Source: Hot Hardware – Chrome 67 Hits Release Channel With Biometric Login Support And Improves AR/VR Compatibility

Intel Announces New Optane DC Persistent Memory

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Intel is launching a new type of memory based upon 3D Xpoint and it’s persistent memory in a DDR4 form factor. This new memory is expected to be used in datacenters and should really help out with database operations, but I’m not sure this will help the mainstream. With that said, I’m sure big data will love it.



Intel clearly sees new storage technology as key to its long-term addressable market spaces, and it’s targeting its initiatives at these areas, possibly in a bid to tie companies more closely to its CPU products. After all, if Optane provides significant performance advantages and Works Best With Intel (or only with Intel), then Intel has a neat method for keeping itself even more relevant in the data center market.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Intel Announces New Optane DC Persistent Memory

NVIDIA Next Generation Mainstream GPU to be Discussed at Hot Chips 30

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Ok, now we know NVIDIA is going to start talking about their next gen mainstream GPU and it’s going to be at Hot Chips 30 on the 20th of August. No code names are mentioned so there’s no telling what it’s going to be, but at least we know something is going to be talked about. This could also mean we’ll see new GPUs from NVIDIA around that time frame as well. Bring on my new precious!



Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – NVIDIA Next Generation Mainstream GPU to be Discussed at Hot Chips 30

Telegram CEO Says Apple Is Blocking Updates as Russia Tries to Ban the Messaging App

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took to the encrypted messaging app today to explain why certain Telegram features aren’t working as expected on iOS 11.4, Apple’s most recent mobile OS update. In short, Durov says it’s Apple’s fault.

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Source: Gizmodo – Telegram CEO Says Apple Is Blocking Updates as Russia Tries to Ban the Messaging App

Which Vitamins Do You Really Need?

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We all need vitamins, but that doesn’t mean you need to take a vitamin. This week, science gave us another brick for the giant “vitamin pills are useless for most of us” sign that’s been under construction for a while. (It’s a metaphor, but I imagine it as something like the Hollywood sign, except nobody looks at it…

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Source: LifeHacker – Which Vitamins Do You Really Need?

15-Way Linux Distribution / Operating System Comparison, Including Windows 10 & WSL

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As part of the large Linux performance tests we have begun and continuing through June with Phoronix celebrating its 14th birthday next week along with the 10th anniversary of the Phoronix Test Suite 1.0 release, for your viewing pleasure today is a 15-way Linux distribution / operating system comparison testing not only the leading and latest Linux distributions but also Windows 10 April 2018 Update and Linux on Windows WSL.

Source: Phoronix – 15-Way Linux Distribution / Operating System Comparison, Including Windows 10 & WSL