Instagram today announced plans
to increase the maximum length of videos uploaded to the social network
from 15 seconds to 60 seconds, giving iOS users an opportunity to
upload and share much longer videos.
British bank Barclays appears to be in the process of enabling much-anticipated Apple Pay support in the United Kingdom, as multiple Twitter users
have shared screenshots of a new terms and conditions page that now
appears when attempting to add a Barclays-issued card to the
iPhone-based mobile payments service.
It was last May that the
BBC unveiled an ambitious plan to give a million schoolchildren a tiny
device designed to inspire them to get coding. Now, after a few bumps in
the road, the Micro Bits are finally ending up in the hands of
children.
The tiny device can be plugged into a computer and
programmed to do all sorts of cool stuff, and Year Seven pupils across
the UK are being told it is theirs to take home.
Some, who have
had early access to the Micro Bit, have come up with amazing projects -
like the Yorkshire school that sent one up 32km (20 miles) on a balloon
bringing back pictures of its journey to the fringes of space.
But,
amid all the excitement from the young people getting a new toy, this
is where the serious stuff starts. Big claims have been made for how
this project can change the way children learn about and engage with
technology. Now, it's up to teachers to make that happen.
Media captionRishworth School sent a Micro Bit into the stratosphereI've been talking to two people with different perspectives
on the Micro Bit. Steve Hodges is a Microsoft engineer who was closely
involved in the design of the device and Drew Buddie is head of
computing at a girls' school and chairman of NAACE, an educational
technology association.
Steve told me that his whole career in computing had started as a result of the BBC Micro in the 1980s.
"I
begged my parents to buy me one for home. I told them I would never ask
for anything again if they bought me a BBC Micro!" he recalls.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and CEO of
Twitter, speaks during an interview with CNBC following the IPO for
Square Inc., on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) will keep the 140-character limit for tweets, Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said on Friday."It's
staying. It's a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment
brevity," Dorsey said on NBC's Today Show when asked whether the limit
was staying.
Technology news
website Re/code
Apple has called
the US government's request to help it unlock an iPhone a "stretch" of
the law and said America's founding fathers would be "appalled".
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered Apple to help unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino gunman Rizwan Farook.
But Apple has continued to fight the order, saying it would set a "dangerous precedent".
The case will be heard in a federal court on 22 March.
Farook and his wife killed 14 people in the Californian city last December before police fatally shot them.
Media captionEXPLAINED: What does the FBI want?The FBI wants to access data on Farook's iPhone but the
device is encrypted and can only be unlocked by entering the correct Pin
code.
[NAIROBI] Environmental experts have appealed to African governments to adopt policies that promote the sustainable management of forest and wildlife resources to conserve biodiversity and enhance socio-economic growth.
The appeal was made during the 20th Session of the African Forestry and
Wildlife Commission of the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural
Organisation (FAO) and the 4th African Forestry and Wildlife Week held
in Kenya last month (1-5 February).
Apple has announced a new partnership
with Dubset Media Holdings to stream thousands of remixed songs and DJ
mixes, both based on original recordings, that were previously
unavailable due to copyright issues. Apple Music will be the first
streaming music service to provide access to these previously unlicensed
tracks, according to Billboard.
Dubset will use a technology called MixBank to analyze a remix or DJ mix
file, identify existing recordings within the file, pay the necessary
rights holders, and distribute the mix through Apple Music and other
streaming services. The process can take about 15 minutes for a
60-minute recording.
An image of the rear case allegedly belonging to the Apple iPhone 7
has leaked. A photograph of the inside and outside of the case was
taken off of a computer, and appears to have been snapped at Catcher
Technologies. The latter is an Apple supplier that produces casings for
the iPhone. Instead of the protruding camera seen on the Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6s, there is some black material around the rear-camera cutout that was described as a "slight bulging outgrowth."
Other
changes include the removal of the antenna lines on the back case, and
as expected, the earphone jack has been eliminated. The source of the
image says that the casing is thinner than the one used on the iPhone
6s.
The rumored 'iPhone SE' (top), iPhone 5S and iPhone 6S (Nick from Beeep/Seven Design).
With the rumor mill spinning full speed ahead of next
week’s Apple event, YouTube channel Beeep says that it may have spotted
the tech giant’s rumored iPhone SE in China.
A video
shot in Huaqiangbei Shenzhen China, the so-called "silicon valley of
hardware," purports to show the new 4-inch Apple phone. Unlike the
‘sharper’ edges of the iPhone 5s, the new phone has rounded edges, and
weighs about the same as the 5s, according to a woman in the video. Related:Apple will host 'let us loop you in' media event on March 21
Beeep, however, was unable to turn the phone on.
The rumored 'iPhone SE' (top), iPhone 5S and iPhone 6S (Nick from Beeep/Seven Design).
While the video has sparked plenty of interest, Apple
watchers say that there is no way to confirm whether the device is
genuine. The phone, for example, may be a mock-up of what the iPhone SE
is rumored to look like, says iPhone Hacks.
BGR also strikes a cautious note, but adds that the phone may be a dummy model assembled from real iPhone SE components.
A Google self-driving car is seen
inside a lobby at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California
Reuters/Stephen Lam
The head of Alphabet Inc's Google
self-driving car program will urge the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to grant
national auto safety regulators new authority to speed the introduction
of self-driving cars on American roads.Chris
Urmson, director of Google's self-driving cars program, will tell the
Senate Commerce Committee that legislators should grant new authority to
the U.S. Transportation Department to help get fully autonomous
vehicles on the road, according to his prepared testimony, which was
reviewed by Reuters.
"We propose that
Congress move swiftly to provide the secretary of transportation with
new authority to approve lifesaving safety innovations. This new
authority would permit the deployment of innovative safety technologies
that meet or exceed the level of safety required by existing federal
standards, while ensuring a prompt and transparent process," according
to the prepared testimony.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Paul Simao)
Technically Incorrect: In a new interview, the Apple co-founder extols the virtues of "not having to lift anything." Gosh.
Steve Wozniak, under the spell of an Echo.
CNBC screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
Your phone's been hurting you lately, hasn't it?
The sheer effort it takes to pick it up, press its buttons, bend your
arm, and -- perish the concept -- talk into it is all a little much.
You'd rather just wander about your world and utter your demands like a
latter-day monarch, without lifting so much as a finger.
I know this because that's what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak would prefer. In a CNBC interview Friday, Woz explained that he'd found the answer to many of his woes.
"I'm excited right now about the Amazon Echo, oddly enough," he said.
"I think it's the next big platform for the near future, if I'm right."
The Echo has, indeed, captivated minds and mouths.
Its ability to sit in your room and be your permanent servant is highly
alluring. It behaves as if it's the love child of Siri and your Fairy
Godmother.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's just become such a wonderful part of our life, not
having to lift anything up and speak to things, and just speak to it
anywhere across a room," said Woz.
Yes, that sheer strain of lifting your iPhone is a burdensome thing. The Echo, said Woz, "is such a luxury and freedom."
by Juli Clover
Last summer, Intel announced 3D Xpoint, a new class of memory labeled as a "major breakthrough in memory process technology." 3D Xpoint
is 1,000 times faster and more durable than NAND Flash storage, as well
as 10 times denser than the DRAM chips used in computers.
The
innovative, transistor-less cross point architecture creates a
three-dimensional checkerboard where memory cells sit at the
intersection of word lines and bit lines, allowing the cells to be
addressed individually. As a result, data can be written and read in
small sizes, leading to faster and more efficient read/write processes.
Intel
has promised that the first 3D Xpoint (pronounced "crosspoint") product
will be coming in early 2016 in the form of its Optane solid state
drives, which may be of interest to Apple. According to Macworld,
3D Xpoint is compatible with NVM Express (NVMe), an SSD protocol that
offers improved latency and performance over the older AHCI protocol.
Apple's Retina MacBooks
already use NVMe technology, and it's likely Skylake Macs set to be
released across 2016 will also support NVMe. With NVMe compatibility
built into 3D Xpoint, Apple could adopt Intel's Optane solid state
drives for super fast performance speeds that significantly outpace
what's possible with current SSDs. As Macworld points out,
Apple is often an early adopter of emerging technology, having been the
first company to implement Thunderbolt and chip technology from Intel.
"This is the Mojave
shovel-nosed snake," says Perrin Schiebel as she hands me a 40cm
reptile. It is vibrantly patterned, apparently harmless, and quickly
wraps itself around my fingers.
"They're native to deserts of the American south-west. This is a full-grown adult."
Ms
Schiebel is studying for a PhD in physics at the Georgia Institute of
Technology in Atlanta, US. She has spent many months putting 10 of these
snakes through their slippery paces in a sand-filled aquarium.
Why
is a team of physicists playing with snakes in a custom-built sand pit?
Because, I am told, the way they move is a marvel. (The snakes, not the
physicists.)
Innumerable critters have evolved superb ways to
scuttle and slither - or even burrow and "swim" - across the most
unhelpful of terrains: those that flow.
If you've ever tried to
walk up a sand dune, then you are familiar with the problem: unstable
ground makes a mission out of locomotion. Now, imagine doing it on your
belly.
"One of the things that's really interesting about snakes
is that their entire body is, in this type of locomotion, in sliding
contact with the ground," Ms Schiebel explains.
Prof Stephen Hawking has called for Britain to stay in the EU, saying that a Brexit would be a "disaster for UK science".
A
letter to the Times newspaper signed by more than 150 fellows of the
Royal Society argues that leaving the EU would devastate research.
The researchers, including Prof Hawking, say that many promising young scientists were recruited from Europe.
They add that increased funding from Europe had benefitted UK science.
"First,
increased funding has raised greatly the level of European science as a
whole and of the UK in particular because we have a competitive edge,"
they wrote.
From
the Cheapskate: That's for the 8GB GSM model; it's also available with
16GB for $134.99. Either way you get a free case. Grab this as a backup
phone or maybe a starter phone for your kid.
"Apple
products are a rip-off! How can you call yourself a cheapskate and
still promote iPhones? I wouldn't use an iPhone if Apple paid me! How
much is Apple paying you to shill their junk?"
Whew. Okay, now that we've got all that out of the way...
See,
I've been at this long enough to know what all the haters are going to
say, so I figured I'd just spare them the trouble. If you're rabidly
anti-Apple, that's cool, you're entitled to your opinion. Feel free to
move along to the bonus deal (it's really good!), or maybe just check
back tomorrow. Because I'm not really interested in hearing a lot of
pointless Apple-hate today, you know? Pretty phones. Pretty, pretty phones.
Apple
On to business. Not everyone wants a big phone. In fact, rumors persist that Apple will once again offer a smaller iPhone. And why not? They're lighter, easier to pocket, easier to operate one-handed and, in some cases, way cheaper.
Example: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Daily Steals has the refurbished factory-unlocked iPhone 5C (8GB) for $99.99 shipped, a price that includes a free case. Both the phone and case are available in your choice of colors.
If you feel like 8GB isn't enough (I agree), Mobilepros (via Ebay) has the same refurbished unlocked iPhone 5C with 16GB for $134.99 shipped. Again you get a free case, though the yellow one appears to be sold out.
I always felt the iPhone 5C was unappreciated -- probably because it didn't improve on the iPhone 5's
specs, only added color to the equation. But they're pretty, you know?
Fun. Playful-looking in a way that most smartphones aren't.
Image caption
Masquerade filters let people dramatically change their appearance
Facebook has bought photo-editing app Masquerade, which lets people change their appearance in real-time.
The
app can transform faces - often in a cartoon-like fashion - and overlay
make-up, animal features or accessories on live video.
Masquerade's filters have been compared to those in rival Snapchat, which Facebook tried to buy in 2013.
One expert said Facebook was responding to competition from Snapchat, which streams millions of videos daily.
Lee Se-dol lost to Google's AI software for a second day in a row
Google's AlphaGo artificial intelligence program has defeated a top Go player for a second time.
The five-game contest is being seen as a major test of what scientists and engineers have achieved in the sphere of AI.
After the match, Lee Se-dol said: "Yesterday I was surprised but today it's more than that, I am quite speechless.
Image caption
The next version of Android is still known as "N"
Split-screen
multitasking and improved notification controls are among the new
features being added to the Android operating system (OS).
An early build of the new OS, known as Android N, was released on Thursday for app developers to test.
Google
said it had released the beta software earlier than usual so that
device manufacturers could get the finished version sooner.
At the moment, fewer than 3% of Android phones run the latest OS, Marshmallow.
The
Very Large Telescope in Chile captures the best image to date of the
disc of dust and gas that forms around a star in the final stages of its
life.
Stars
are born and stars die, living out gargantuan life cycles book-ended by
two stages of life that look, to our human eyes, fairly similar to one
another.
Around a young star, you'll find a disc of gas and dust
being drawn in by the star's gravitational pull. Around an elderly star,
you'll find a ring of gas and dust moulted by the star, blown outward
by stellar winds as it passes through the red giant phase of its life
cycle.
As with any move performed in the incredible dance of the
cosmos, Earth-based scientists would love to study these discs, compare
them and learn more about the fascinating stages of stellar evolution.
Young star discs are close, making them available for intense study. But
old star discs nearby are few and far between.
Astronomers just got their best chance yet to study old star discs. The disc being ejected by dying red giant IRAS 08544-4431.
ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2; Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin
Ten One Design today announced the "Blockhead,"
a side-facing plug for Apple chargers that will allow users to place
the large wall adapters flush and parallel with a wall to save space,
and open up more possibilities for charging behind large furniture. The
accessory replaces the detachable prongs that ship with Apple products,
and Ten One Design promises Blockhead will fit "every MacBook" and
"every iPad" adapter, with one caveat regarding older model iPad minis.
Specifically sculpted to be a companion for Apple's chargers, the
company promises that Blockhead will provide a "strong" grip and
electrical connection in lieu of using Apple's first party prongs.
Thanks to the geometry of the plug's design, Blockhead also points the
Apple adapter's plug downwards instead of straight out from a wall,
which Ten One Design says "protects against cord stress."
Blockhead
directs your cord downward at a more natural angle. It looks great and
protects against cord stress. By turning your adapter sideways,
Blockhead brings its center of mass closer to the wall. This means less
tension on the plug and a lot less falling out.
In a frank Reddit AMA, Microsoft's founder
reveals he may not be the supervillain that open source advocates have
made him out to be
But in a Reddit AMA
(ask me anything), Gates came across as anything but an emperor of
evil. Not generally known for his sense of humor, Gates seemed relaxed
and, yes, funny. When asked what people get for the man who can buy
himself anything, he quipped, "Free software. Just kidding."
Much
of the conversation revolved around the humanitarian work that Gates
and his wife, Melinda, spend the majority of their time doing. One is
left with the question: Was Gates ever truly the caricature of anti-open
source fury he once seemed?
Also in today's open source roundup: Why is
Microsoft releasing SQL Server for Linux? And what do Linux users think
about SQL Server coming to their favorite operating system?
Microsoft announces SQL Server for Linux
Today's
Microsoft is quite different than the company that existed 15 or 20
years ago. Since the cloud and mobile revolutions happened, Microsoft no
longer enjoys the position of near absolute power it used to have in
earlier days. The latest indication that things have changed at
Microsoft is the company's announcement that SQL Server is coming to
Linux.
Today I'm excited to announce our plans to bring SQL Server to Linux
as well. This will enable SQL Server to deliver a consistent data
platform across Windows Server and Linux, as well as on-premises and
cloud. We are bringing the core relational database capabilities to
preview today, and are targeting availability in mid-2017. SQL Server on Linux will provide customers with even more flexibility
in their data solution. One with mission-critical performance,
industry-leading TCO, best-in-class security, and hybrid cloud
innovations – like Stretch Database which lets customers access their
data on-premises and in the cloud whenever they want at low cost – all
built in.
"This is an enormously important decision for Microsoft, allowing it
to offer its well-known and trusted database to an expanded set of
customers," said Al Gillen, group vice president, enterprise
infrastructure, at IDC. "By taking this key product to Linux Microsoft
is proving its commitment to being a cross platform solution provider.
This gives customers choice and reduces the concerns for lock-in. We
would expect this will also accelerate the overall adoption of SQL
Server."
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is backing the company he helped create in its skirmish with the FBI.
"I side with Apple on this one," he said in an appearance on Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show
on Monday. Citing the importance of computer security, he pointed to
the dangers of governments telling companies to make their products
insecure.
Beyond that, Wozniak said, the FBI picked
"the lamest case they ever could," citing, among other factors, the lack
of a court conviction in the terrorism incident.
Apple
is fighting a legal battle with the US government over the issue of
iPhone encryption. The FBI has demanded that the company unlock an iPhone 5C
tied to one of the two shooters in the San Bernardino, California,
massacre in December. The agency believes the phone's contents are
important to the investigation. Apple has so far refused, arguing that
it would need to create an entirely new custom version of its iOS
software, building a backdoor that would put all iPhones in jeopardy.
The case has stirred controversy over the balance between individual
privacy and national security. Apple and others argue that encryption,
which scrambles data so it can be read only by someone with authorized
access, is crucial to protect private information and communications.
The FBI and law enforcement officials say the technology obstructs their
ability to investigate and prevent criminal and terrorist activity.
Some who have taken Apple's side see this as a privacy issue; others
have argued that it's unlikely the feds would find anything on the phone
in question. In his interview with O'Brien, Wozniak noted his early
efforts on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an
organization that seeks to protect the privacy of technology users. But
he also said he didn't think the phone would contain any useful data.
"Verizon
turned over all the phone records and SMS messages," Wozniak said. "So
they want to take this other phone that the two didn't destroy, which
was a work phone. It's so lame and worthless to expect there's
something on it and to get Apple to expose it."
Referring to the custom version of the iOS software that the FBI wants
Apple to develop to unlock the shooter's phone, Wozniak said that once
you create such a thing, there's a good chance hackers can make use of
it. He also speculated that countries beyond the US might request a
backdoor for their own purposes.
That's not without precedent. Half a decade ago, the maker of the BlackBerry phones clashed with India
and other nations over their demands that it build backdoors into its
secure e-mail and instant messaging services. India had argued that the
tight encryption built into BlackBerry's customer networks was an
obstacle in its fight against criminals and terrorists.
The
company largely finagled its way out of those situations, but the
demands on it have continued. The same could apply to Apple.
"What if China says: 'Apple, you've got to give us a backdoor so we can
get into any phone, even your government officials, and inspect them any
time.' That's wrong," Wozniak said.
US authorities are appealing against a judge's decision not to order Apple to unlock an iPhone in a drugs case.
The
Justice Department is relying on the same law as the one in its fight
with Apple over the encrypted phone belonging to the San Bernardino
gunman.
It has gone to a higher court after a Brooklyn judge said he had no power to give the order.
Apple said the order would be the start of a "slippery slope that threatens everyone's safety and privacy".
In
the original hearing, the US government asked Judge James Orenstein to
order Apple to open up a locked phone belonging to Jun Feng, who has
pleaded guilty to participation in a methamphetamine distribution
conspiracy. The Justice Department wants to use the device to find any
of his co-conspirators.
The iPad Pro is Apple's largest
iPad yet, with a 12.9-inch 2732 x 2048 resolution display, a powerful
A9X processor, a super slim design, and a four-speaker audio system.
Apple began taking online orders for delivery and in-store pickup on
November 11.
The
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a series of 40 new
patents, including one that describes various implementations and
benefits of a Liquidmetal home button on iPhones and iPads.
Liquidmetal alloys, otherwise known as "bulk solidifying amorphous alloys" in the patent filing (via Patently Apple), have a number of unique properties, including high strength, corrosion resistance, light weight, and malleability.
Today's patent explains how Liquidmetal's high elasticity makes it an
ideal material for a pressure-sensitive home button that would deform
slightly when pressed, but return to its normal shape when you remove
your finger or thumb. Liquidmetal would always retain this elasticity,
while other materials like titanium or stainless steel could become
irreversibly deformed and adversely affect the home button.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Chairman Tom Wheeler arrives to testify before a Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee hearing on FCC's proposed budget for 2016, in Washington,
May 12, 2015.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
The head of the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission will circulate Tuesday a final proposal
seeking approval for a $9.25 monthly subsidy for low-income Americans to
get broadband Internet access, three officials briefed on the plan
said.Since last year, the
FCC has been considering revamping the almost $2 billion program, called
Lifeline, which has helped lower income Americans get access to
telecommunications technologies since 1985.
FCC
Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he wants to give those receiving the
subsidy a choice of using it for phone services, high-speed Internet, or
both. The program currently helps about 12 million U.S. households
afford landline and mobile phones, according to agency estimates.
The FCC estimates
that some 95 percent of U.S. households with incomes of $150,000 have
access to high-speed Internet, while less than half of households with
incomes lower than $25,000 have Internet access at home. by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
Goodyear
presented its vision for tyres to support early generation autonomous
vehicles at the 2016 Geneva International Motor Show.
The
Goodyear IntelliGrip concept tyre, with its advanced sensor technology,
is designed to support autonomous vehicle control systems. intelligrip
As autonomous vehicles rely on data from other vehicles, drivers,
pedestrians and smart cities, tyres such as the Goodyear IntelliGrip
concept could play a critical role in the exchange of information.
According to a study from the World Economic Forum,cities expect
autonomous vehicles to become a reality in the next 10 years . In
addition, the J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Tech Choice Study concludes that
consumers deem collision protection technology most important in the
wake of the changing automotive industry.
“By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in
self-driving vehicles, tyres will play an even more important role as
the primary link to the road,” said Joseph Zekoski, Goodyear’s senior
vice president and chief technical officer. “Goodyear’s concept tyres
play a dual role in the future both as creative platforms to push the
boundaries of conventional thinking and as testbeds for next-generation
technologies.”
Thanks to its advanced sensor technology and specially designed
tread, the Goodyear IntelliGrip concept tyrecan sense many road
conditions, including both surface and weather conditions.
Apple Maps has been updated with new traffic
data in Singapore and Malaysia, providing users with real-time updates
about vehicular traffic in the neighboring southeast Asia countries. As
usual, highly congested areas will have orange or red dotted lines along
the roads to indicate that drivers may face delays.
Apple has yet to list Singapore or Malaysia under Apple Maps: Traffic on its iOS 9 feature availability
website, but the page will likely be updated soon. Apple Maps traffic
data is available in 30 other countries, including the U.S., Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, China, and most of Europe.
By new report from Economic Daily News (by means of DigiTimes), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has plans to double the output capacity of its 16nm chip production from 40,000 12-inch wafers in February to 80,000 in March. The news corroborates
past reports that recommended TSMC was prepared to extend its 16nm FinFET generation limit in the second quarter of 2016, exclusively for the iPhone 7.
In a late financial specialists meeting, TSMC's co-CEO CC Wei said that the organization's rate offer of the 14/16nm business sector is relied upon to increment from 40 percent in 2015 to more than 70 percent in 2016. Apple isn't particularly referenced in the report today, yet among TSMC's other indicated 16nm clients - Xilinx, MediaTek, HiSilicon, Spreadtrum and Nvidia - it is one of the greater names.
The Video Electronics Standards Association yesterday formally reported its new DisplayPort 1.4 standard, setting the stage for enhanced video quality and shading for outer showcase associations over both DisplayPort and USB-C connectors.
As opposed to an expansion in real transfer speed, the enhancements in DisplayPort 1.4 come because of enhanced pressure, exploiting VESA's new Display Stream Compression 1.2 standard to bolster High Dynamic Range (HDR) video up to either 8K determination at 60 Hz or 4K determination at 120 Hz.
Fungus kills Cavendish bananas and spores contaminate soil for decades
Tropical Race 4 now affecting Asia, East Africa and Middle East
African and Latin American scientists ramping up research on disease
Scientists in developing countries are scrambling to find a cure for a
devastating fungus that threatens to wipe out the global banana trade and plunge millions of farmers into poverty.
Around the world, banana farmers are fighting a losing battle against
Tropical Race 4, a soil fungus that kills Cavendish bananas, the only
type grown for the international market. The disease was first spotted
in the early 1990s in Malaysia, but has now started to wipe out crops in
large parts of South-East Asia as well as in Africa and the Middle East. [1]
The Tropical Race 4 pathogen, a new strain of what is known as Panama
disease, escaped from Asia in 2013. By 2015, it had infected plantations
in Jordan and Mozambique, as well as Lebanon and Pakistan, with many scientists fearing an epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. [2]
“The impact on affected farms is immense, with significant losses of
plants and the inability to eradicate the fungus from affected fields,”
says Altus Viljoen, a plant pathologist at Stellenbosch University in
South Africa.
The disease can be devastating for small banana farmers,
who provide much of the 17 million tonnes of Cavendish bananas traded
every year — mostly to rich countries where the fruit is popular as a
healthy snack. [3] Bananas are also a staple food in many tropical
countries, and the main source of protein for more than half a billion
people around the world.
Tropical Race 4, a variant of the Fusarium oxysporum fungus, is transmitted by infected plant matter, but also from the clothes and shoes of plantation workers.
In Indonesia and Malaysia, the fungus wiped out more than 5,000 hectares
of Cavendish bananas in 1992/93, says Agustin Molina, who leads the
banana research efforts in the Asia-Pacific region for Bioversity International, a global research organisation.
Sony has announced
that its forthcoming Remote Play app for streaming PlayStation 4 games
on Mac or Windows PC will be available "soon." However, the feature will
not be included in PlayStation 4's latest 3.50 system software update,
which launches in beta tomorrow.
Last November, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida tweeted that it is working on an official Remote Play app
for Mac and PC, enabling users to stream and play PS4 games on desktops
and notebooks. Physically owning a PS4 will still be required to stream
games.
Remote Play is currently limited to various Sony devices, including the
PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV and newer Xperia-branded smartphones
and tablets. All new PS4 games must be compatible with Remote Play,
except for games that use peripherals such as PlayStation Move.
by Mitchel Broussard
Eight months after posting a detailed summary of the "clunky" behind-the-scenes process musicians have to go through when using Apple Music Connect, Dave Wiskus decided to revisit his stance
on the platform to see if Apple had made any notable changes to its
grasps at socially connecting artists and fans. Wiskus -- an app
developer and lead singer for the band Airplane Mode
-- admitted in the blog post that he feels less "connected" to the
musical world and thinks the actual social aspects of the experience
have failed "miserably."
Similar to his post from July, Wiskus expounded on Connect's basic
inability to function as a normal social network: it lacks a follow
button on artist pages, a metric for how many followers a band has, and
individual profile pages for a more engaged community, among other
things.
One of his most interesting points detailed a blunder with Connect's
support, centering around the fact that an artist with a similar name
managed to change the profile picture on Airplane Mode's page. After
weeks of back-and-forth with Apple Music Connect support, eventually the
band discovered that Apple's solution was creating an entirely new
profile for Airplane Mode and abandoning the one with the wrong picture.
Instagram today announced plans
to increase the maximum length of videos uploaded to the social network
from 15 seconds to 60 seconds, giving iOS users an opportunity to
upload and share much longer videos.
