Rights, Technology, World

EU Votes Today On Content Portability to Reduce Piracy

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22 May 2017
3 min read
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In Rights, Technology, World
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Members of the European Parliament will vote today on draft rules that would allow citizens to enjoy legally purchased music and movie streaming subscriptions when they travel to another EU country. It’s hoped that improved access to content will help to dampen frustrations and reduce Internet piracy.

Being a fully-paid up customer of a streaming service such as Spotify or Netflix should be a painless experience, but for citizens of the EU, complexities exist.

Subscribers of Netflix, for example, have access to different libraries, depending on where they’re located. This means that a viewer in the Netherlands could begin watching a movie at home, travel to France for a weekend break, and find on arrival that the content he paid for is not available there.

A similar situation can arise with a UK citizen’s access to BBC’s iPlayer. While he has free access to the service he previously paid for while at home, travel to Spain for a week and access is denied, since the service believes he’s not entitled to view.

While the EU is fiercely protective of its aim to grant free movement to both people and goods, this clearly hasn’t always translated well to the digital domain. There are currently no explicit provisions under EU law which mandate cross-border portability of online content services.

Following a vote today, however, all that may change.

In a few hours time, Members of the European Parliament will vote on whether to introduce new Cross-border portability rules (pdf), that will give citizens the freedom to enjoy their media wherever they are in the EU, without having to resort to piracy — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Craft

Woodturning a Bowl from a Log / Le PicBois

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21 May 2017
41 second read
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In Craft
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Pat Laperrière of Le PicBois from Quebec who is a woodworker primarily focused on wood turning. In this video, he demonstrates how he makes a simple, yet beautiful wooden bowl out of a log of beech. Pat has been wood turning for three years, and although he makes it look easy, it’s quite a dangerous and skilful endeavour — via Youtube

Health

The Man and The Dog / FATH

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20 May 2017
55 second read
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In Health
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The FATH (Fundación Argentina de Trasplante Hepático) and DDB Argentina present The man and the dog, a story of friendship that seeks to inspire people to become organ donors.

The film The man and the dog, by DDB Argentina, is an awareness film created by DDB Buenos Aires for the FATH (Fundacion Argentina de Transplante Hepatico), a non-governmental non-profit organization that thanks to the commitment of people and companies has been carrying out its charitable work since 18 years ago — via Youtube

Craft

Totem Vase / Matthew Ward

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19 May 2017
44 second read
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In Craft
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Drawing inspiration from post-war studio pottery and mid-century design, self-taught ceramicist Matthew Ward’s work blends the past and present in a charming manner. His glazed stoneware Totem Vase is seven inches tall and features a pattern reminiscent of mid-century-era star bursts. The subtle blue-on-blue colour means this piece will be at home in just about any room, no matter the décor — via Cool Hunting

Design

Astrofire / Modfire

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18 May 2017
1 min read
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In Design
1340 views

The company does various designs, but the Astrofire retro-style fire pit by Modfire is the one that stands out. Ideal for a mid century-inspired outdoor space. Love the sweeping legs, as well as the choice of colours. So many to choose from, which means there’s almost certainly one to match your space. Options too for fuel options — natural gas, propane, or wood burning — with that choice dictating the price. They start from $1,450 directly from the maker, with the option of a solid cover and tabletop too if you don’t need the fire, but do need the surface space — via Retro to Go

Politics

Election Campaign Poster (1974) / Scarfolk Council

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17 May 2017
1 min read
In Politics
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Gerry Mander (see above) was the Scarfolk Party candidate in the 1974 election. Though much of his nationalistic campaign consisted of subliminal brainwashing techniques, complicated satanic invocations, and simply lying and punching liberals in the face, he did also proffer tangible promises.

For example, he wanted Britain to be the first western nation to construct an underground sewage system designed specifically to transport its disabled and sick to landfill sites. He also insisted that women finally be recognised as the most valuable resource in their husband’s or father’s livestock.

Most of all, he strongly promoted British exports such as conker wine and badger cheese and demanded that the UK be acknowledged as the clear trade leader out of all the world’s authoritarian third world nations — via Scarfolk Council

Science

Forensic scientists overwhelmed by number of donors to NSW body farm

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13 May 2017
2 min read
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In Science
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Forensic scientists say they have been overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to donate their corpses to the southern hemisphere’s first body farm.

The secret bushland facility on the outskirts of Sydney is being used to study how human bodies decompose.

It was established in early 2016 by Professor Shari Forbes, a forensic scientist from the University of Technology Sydney.

We’re not CSI, we don’t solve investigations in an hour, but we can solve investigations through the research that we do, Professor Forbes said.

The facility is currently the only body farm outside the United States and Professor Forbes said the public interest had been higher than anyone had expected.

The level of interest has definitely surprised us, she said.

We already have 30 of our donors who have arrived at our facility, and that’s in just over a year.

We weren’t expecting anywhere near that number.

More than 500 people have now said they will also donate their bodies to the cause once they die.

We do have a slight bias towards seniors and the elderly, thankfully because they live long and healthy lives and intend to die from natural causes, Professor Forbes said.

We don’t hope to see young people out there, but the few that arrive are really beneficial to the work that we do for the police — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Politics, Technology

How Australia Bungled Its $36 Billion High-Speed Internet Rollout

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12 May 2017
2 min read
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In Politics, Technology
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The story of Australia’s costly internet bungle illustrates the hazards of mingling telecommunication infrastructure with the impatience of modern politics. The internet modernization plan has been hobbled by cost overruns, partisan maneuvering and a major technical compromise that put 19th-century technology between the country’s 21st-century digital backbone and many of its homes and businesses.

The government-led push to modernize its telecommunications system was unprecedented, experts say — and provides a cautionary tale for others who might like to try something similar.

Australia was the first country where a totally national plan to cover every house or business was considered, said Rod Tucker, a University of Melbourne professor and a member of the expert panel that advised on the effort. The fact it was a government plan didn’t necessarily make it doomed. In Australia, we have changes of governments every three years, which really works against the ability to undertake long-term planning, and the long-term rollouts of networks like this.

Australia poses natural connectivity challenges. It lies oceans away from other countries, and any network would have to connect far-flung cities separated by its sparsely populated interior.

Still, Australia had high hopes for its ambitious internet project. Started in 2009, the initiative, known as the National Broadband Network, was intended to bring advanced fibre-optic technology to the doorstep of just about every home and business. It was initially estimated to cost 43 billion Australian dollars, shared by the government and the private sector — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Wildlife

Maned Wolves / Paignton Zoo

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6 May 2017
42 second read
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In Wildlife
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Paignton Zoo’s South American Maned Wolves are rearing a litter of three pups. This is the first litter for the pair. The male, Tolock, arrived at Paignton Zoo in September 2016 from Katowice Zoo in Poland, where he was born in 2015. Female Milla was born in December 2012 and arrived in the UK a year later from Nordens Ark Zoo in Sweden — via ZooBorns

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