Lead Hacker

Given the simple structure of A Series of Unfortunate Events ’ plots, it must have been tempting for Netflix to try to extend the series as long as it could. Sure, author Daniel Handler only penned 13 books in the Unfortunate Events series, but the setup of his plot could inspire any number of additional schemes where the scheming Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) dons some ridiculous costume to try to steal the inheritance of the Baudelaire orphans. But series developers Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld took a disciplined approach to their adaptation, hewing closely to the novels’ plots, spirit, and timeline. The show’s third and final season, which premieres on January 1st, 2019, is a masterclass in how to build a faithful adaptation, and… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163269/series-unfortunate-events-review-netflix-season-3-lemony-snicket-daniel-handler-neil-patrick-harris from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/in-season-3-netf...

Are you enjoying Bandersnatch, the first choose-your-own-adventure interactive episode of the oft-delightfully dystopian Black Mirror? Good, because it may be the only new episode you’ll be seeing for a while. Executive producer and co-creator Annabel Jones has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Bandersnatch took such an “enormous” amount of effort that it wound up pushing back Black Mirror’s fifth season. Black Mirror Season 5 is now due in 2019, a Netflix spokesperson tells The Verge , without elaborating. It’s not clear how long a wait we’re looking at. An entire year might make sense: The New York Times reports that showrunners spent a full year on the Bandersnatch episode alone, and the past few Black Mirror projects have each… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163043/black-mirror-season-5-pushed-back-2019-bandersnatch from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/black-mirror-season-5-now-coming-in.html The post Black Mir...

Although music streaming has been an integral part of daily life for what seems like ages, both the music industry and tech companies have consistently and frustratingly been behind the curve. So in many ways, 2018 felt like the first year that both sectors embraced innovation in the world of music streaming in ways that will meaningfully affect its future. There were substantial developments on the consumer side, but this year was more impactful for artists, many of whom rely on streaming platforms as their bread and butter. Some shifts can be attributed to the platforms themselves, as services like SoundCloud and Spotify waded into new territories like self-monetization. But the biggest change came from advocacy within the music… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18156503/2018-tech-recap-streaming-music-spotify-apple-soundcloud-tidal from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-card_97.html The post The Verge 2...

After a twenty year hiatus, tomorrow will finally see the 95 year long copyrights of works released in 1923 expire. These 1923 films, books and songs will effectively be the first to enter the public domain in the US since 1998, and Duke University notes that it will include such classics as Charlie Chaplin’s The Pilgrim , Jacob’s Room by Viginia Woolf, and the song Charleston (based on the popular dance of the same name). Welcoming classic works to the public domain was an annual New Year’s Day tradition. Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 directorial debut, The Kid, became public on January 1st, 1997, and was joined by the 1922 German horror classic Nosferatu a year later. But in 1998, Congress extended the length of copyright from 75 years to… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18162933/public-domain-day-2019-the-pilgrim-jacobs-room-charleston-copyright-expiration from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/after-20-year-delay-works-from-1923.h...

The war between electric car startup Faraday Future and its main investor, Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande, appears to be over. Evergrande announced on Monday that it has agreed to restructure its $2 billion investment in Faraday Future. The conglomerate will walk away with full control over Faraday Future’s efforts in China, and both sides will drop all ongoing litigation against each other, according to a release posted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange . Faraday Future will receive a bridge loan from Evergrande to “overcome [the startup’s] cash flow difficulties,” spokesperson John Schilling said in an email. Those difficulties involve Faraday Future almost completely running out of cash over the last few months, which… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18162827/faraday-future-evergrande-settlement-restructuring-china-ev-investor from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/faraday-future-gets-lifeline-as-it.html The post Fara...

Leaks of a potential Nokia-branded phone with five cameras on the rear have been appearing for months , but a new video suggests that the device could be officially unveiled soon. Evan Blass first posted a photo of the rumored Nokia 9 PureView on Twitter earlier today, and now mysmartprice has published what looks like a promotional video for the unannounced device. The Nokia 9 PureView looks very similar to the existing Nokia 8 Sirocco , except for the rear. The video shows off a wild penta-lens setup capable of five simultaneous shots and claims of improved efficiency in low-light situations and the ability to re-focus images after they’re taken. HMD also appears to be including a 5.99-inch “PureDisplay” with support for HDR10 and an… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163007/nokia-9-pureview-five-cameras-launch-date-rumors from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/leaked-video-reveals-new-nokia-9.html The post Leaked video reveals...

In 2018, tech needed government more than ever. We were surrounded by problems that the industry couldn’t solve on its own, whether it was Russian trolls, growing monopoly fears, or the ever-escalating pace of cybersecurity failures. Unfortunately, in the second year of undivided Republican control, the US government was too busy punching itself in the face. This year saw unprecedented dysfunction in even the most basic mechanisms of government, a point driven painfully home by the ongoing government shutdown (the third of the year) which has left thousands of government employees without a paycheck over the holidays. This year, tech policy largely took a backseat to immigration, taxes and the ongoing Mueller investigation, but whenever… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18161810/2018-tech-recap-us-government-congress-conservative-bias-climate-change-ice-trade-war from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-card-...

Netflix announced on December 28 that more than 45 million accounts watched its Netflix original horror movie, Bird Box, in seven days, making it a record breaking debut for the streaming service — but considering Netflix rarely specifies what its data means, it was difficult to gauge what that number meant. There are a lot of variables in Netflix’s statement. 45 million accounts doesn’t exactly translate to specific viewer counts, as an account could serve one person or an entire family. It’s also unclear from Netflix’s tweet how many people watched all of Bird Box (starring A-list actors like Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich) or even half of the movie, before switching to something else. Netflix famously doesn’t make its viewership… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161741/bird-box-netflix-45-million-accounts-statistics-views from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/netflix-says-over-45-million-accounts.html The post Netflix sa...

For the first time ever, a police drone will keep a watchful eye on the New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York’s Times Square, as first reported by the Associated Press . The New York City Police Department deployed the gadget to keep the festivities safe, in addition to the 7,000 police officers it has on deck, bomb-sniffing dogs, and 200 blocker trucks filled with sand. The quadcopter drone will be controlled remotely by trained police and will help give a bird’s-eye view of the massive crowds, although it will be fairly hard for passersby to spot, given its height in the air. While the police commissioner has said that there are no known threats to the New Year’s festivities, it’s pretty standard protocol for the police to come out in… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161633/new-years-eve-nypd-drone-new-york-surveillance from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-york-city-cops-will-fly-drone-over.html The post New York City cops...

What standard, exactly, am I supposed to be judging virtual and augmented reality against in 2018? Should I measure it against the sci-fi aspirations that VR and AR companies set years ago and have unsurprisingly failed to meet? Should I estimate how far it remains from mainstream adoption? Or should I stick to comparing 2018 with 2017, when I gave VR a middling C grade and didn’t even talk about AR? Since I just went through the trouble of listing those options, my predictable answer is “all of the above.” 2018 was partly a year of disillusionment. Some prominent AR and VR companies, including Meta , Jaunt , and Starbreeze , either massively downsized or shifted their focus. As the head of CCP Games put it in October , a year after leaving… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18159462/2018-tech-recap-vr-ar-virtual-augmented-reality-beat-saber-oculus-hololens-magic-leap from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-...

Given the simple structure of A Series of Unfortunate Events ’ plots, it must have been tempting for Netflix to try to extend the series as long as it could. Sure, author Daniel Handler only penned 13 books in the Unfortunate Events series, but the setup of his plot could inspire any number of additional schemes where the scheming Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) dons some ridiculous costume to try to steal the inheritance of the Baudelaire orphans. But series developers Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld took a disciplined approach to their adaptation, hewing closely to the novels’ plots, spirit, and timeline. The show’s third and final season, which premieres on January 1st, 2019, is a masterclass in how to build a faithful adaptation, and… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163269/series-unfortunate-events-review-netflix-season-3-lemony-snicket-daniel-handler-neil-patrick-harris from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/in-season-3-netf...

Are you enjoying Bandersnatch, the first choose-your-own-adventure interactive episode of the oft-delightfully dystopian Black Mirror? Good, because it may be the only new episode you’ll be seeing for a while. Executive producer and co-creator Annabel Jones has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Bandersnatch took such an “enormous” amount of effort that it wound up pushing back Black Mirror’s fifth season. Black Mirror Season 5 is now due in 2019, a Netflix spokesperson tells The Verge , without elaborating. It’s not clear how long a wait we’re looking at. An entire year might make sense: The New York Times reports that showrunners spent a full year on the Bandersnatch episode alone, and the past few Black Mirror projects have each… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163043/black-mirror-season-5-pushed-back-2019-bandersnatch from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/black-mirror-season-5-now-coming-in.html The post Black Mir...

Although music streaming has been an integral part of daily life for what seems like ages, both the music industry and tech companies have consistently and frustratingly been behind the curve. So in many ways, 2018 felt like the first year that both sectors embraced innovation in the world of music streaming in ways that will meaningfully affect its future. There were substantial developments on the consumer side, but this year was more impactful for artists, many of whom rely on streaming platforms as their bread and butter. Some shifts can be attributed to the platforms themselves, as services like SoundCloud and Spotify waded into new territories like self-monetization. But the biggest change came from advocacy within the music… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18156503/2018-tech-recap-streaming-music-spotify-apple-soundcloud-tidal from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-card_97.html The post The Verge 2...

After a twenty year hiatus, tomorrow will finally see the 95 year long copyrights of works released in 1923 expire. These 1923 films, books and songs will effectively be the first to enter the public domain in the US since 1998, and Duke University notes that it will include such classics as Charlie Chaplin’s The Pilgrim , Jacob’s Room by Viginia Woolf, and the song Charleston (based on the popular dance of the same name). Welcoming classic works to the public domain was an annual New Year’s Day tradition. Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 directorial debut, The Kid, became public on January 1st, 1997, and was joined by the 1922 German horror classic Nosferatu a year later. But in 1998, Congress extended the length of copyright from 75 years to… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18162933/public-domain-day-2019-the-pilgrim-jacobs-room-charleston-copyright-expiration from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/after-20-year-delay-works-from-1923.h...

The war between electric car startup Faraday Future and its main investor, Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande, appears to be over. Evergrande announced on Monday that it has agreed to restructure its $2 billion investment in Faraday Future. The conglomerate will walk away with full control over Faraday Future’s efforts in China, and both sides will drop all ongoing litigation against each other, according to a release posted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange . Faraday Future will receive a bridge loan from Evergrande to “overcome [the startup’s] cash flow difficulties,” spokesperson John Schilling said in an email. Those difficulties involve Faraday Future almost completely running out of cash over the last few months, which… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18162827/faraday-future-evergrande-settlement-restructuring-china-ev-investor from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/faraday-future-gets-lifeline-as-it.html The post Fara...

Leaks of a potential Nokia-branded phone with five cameras on the rear have been appearing for months , but a new video suggests that the device could be officially unveiled soon. Evan Blass first posted a photo of the rumored Nokia 9 PureView on Twitter earlier today, and now mysmartprice has published what looks like a promotional video for the unannounced device. The Nokia 9 PureView looks very similar to the existing Nokia 8 Sirocco , except for the rear. The video shows off a wild penta-lens setup capable of five simultaneous shots and claims of improved efficiency in low-light situations and the ability to re-focus images after they’re taken. HMD also appears to be including a 5.99-inch “PureDisplay” with support for HDR10 and an… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163007/nokia-9-pureview-five-cameras-launch-date-rumors from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/leaked-video-reveals-new-nokia-9.html The post Leaked video reveals...

In 2018, tech needed government more than ever. We were surrounded by problems that the industry couldn’t solve on its own, whether it was Russian trolls, growing monopoly fears, or the ever-escalating pace of cybersecurity failures. Unfortunately, in the second year of undivided Republican control, the US government was too busy punching itself in the face. This year saw unprecedented dysfunction in even the most basic mechanisms of government, a point driven painfully home by the ongoing government shutdown (the third of the year) which has left thousands of government employees without a paycheck over the holidays. This year, tech policy largely took a backseat to immigration, taxes and the ongoing Mueller investigation, but whenever… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18161810/2018-tech-recap-us-government-congress-conservative-bias-climate-change-ice-trade-war from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-card-...

Netflix announced on December 28 that more than 45 million accounts watched its Netflix original horror movie, Bird Box, in seven days, making it a record breaking debut for the streaming service — but considering Netflix rarely specifies what its data means, it was difficult to gauge what that number meant. There are a lot of variables in Netflix’s statement. 45 million accounts doesn’t exactly translate to specific viewer counts, as an account could serve one person or an entire family. It’s also unclear from Netflix’s tweet how many people watched all of Bird Box (starring A-list actors like Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich) or even half of the movie, before switching to something else. Netflix famously doesn’t make its viewership… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161741/bird-box-netflix-45-million-accounts-statistics-views from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/netflix-says-over-45-million-accounts.html The post Netflix sa...

For the first time ever, a police drone will keep a watchful eye on the New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York’s Times Square, as first reported by the Associated Press . The New York City Police Department deployed the gadget to keep the festivities safe, in addition to the 7,000 police officers it has on deck, bomb-sniffing dogs, and 200 blocker trucks filled with sand. The quadcopter drone will be controlled remotely by trained police and will help give a bird’s-eye view of the massive crowds, although it will be fairly hard for passersby to spot, given its height in the air. While the police commissioner has said that there are no known threats to the New Year’s festivities, it’s pretty standard protocol for the police to come out in… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161633/new-years-eve-nypd-drone-new-york-surveillance from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-york-city-cops-will-fly-drone-over.html The post New York City cops...

What standard, exactly, am I supposed to be judging virtual and augmented reality against in 2018? Should I measure it against the sci-fi aspirations that VR and AR companies set years ago and have unsurprisingly failed to meet? Should I estimate how far it remains from mainstream adoption? Or should I stick to comparing 2018 with 2017, when I gave VR a middling C grade and didn’t even talk about AR? Since I just went through the trouble of listing those options, my predictable answer is “all of the above.” 2018 was partly a year of disillusionment. Some prominent AR and VR companies, including Meta , Jaunt , and Starbreeze , either massively downsized or shifted their focus. As the head of CCP Games put it in October , a year after leaving… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18159462/2018-tech-recap-vr-ar-virtual-augmented-reality-beat-saber-oculus-hololens-magic-leap from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-verge-2018-tech-report-...

Given the simple structure of A Series of Unfortunate Events ’ plots, it must have been tempting for Netflix to try to extend the series as long as it could. Sure, author Daniel Handler only penned 13 books in the Unfortunate Events series, but the setup of his plot could inspire any number of additional schemes where the scheming Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) dons some ridiculous costume to try to steal the inheritance of the Baudelaire orphans. But series developers Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld took a disciplined approach to their adaptation, hewing closely to the novels’ plots, spirit, and timeline. The show’s third and final season, which premieres on January 1st, 2019, is a masterclass in how to build a faithful adaptation, and… Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/31/18163269/series-unfortunate-events-review-netflix-season-3-lemony-snicket-daniel-handler-neil-patrick-harris from Blogger http://leadhackerdigital.blogspot.com/2018/12/in-season-3-netf...