Astronaut Mike Hopkins, aboard the International Space Station, shared this picture of the northern lights on Oct. 9, 2013, saying "The pic doesn't do the northern lights justice. Covered the whole sky. Truly amazing!" The northern lights are caused by collisions between fast-moving particles (electrons) from space and the oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere. These electrons originate in the magnetosphere, the region of space controlled by Earth’s magnetic field. As they rain into the atmosphere, the electrons impart energy to oxygen and nitrogen molecules, making them excited. When the molecules return to their normal state, they release photons, small bursts of energy in the form of light. Astronauts have used hand-held cameras to photograph the Earth for more than 40 years. Beginning with the Mercury missions in the early 1960s, astronauts have taken more than 700,000 photographs of the Earth. Today, the space station continues the NASA tradition of Earth observation from human-tended spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA

Playing games on a PlayStation 4 will cost a lot of money in Brazil — the PS4 will sell for 3,999 Brazilian reais (approximately $1,852), Sony announced today on the Brazilian PlayStation Blog.

The console will be available in Brazil on Nov. 29, the same day as in Europe. Sony's suggested retail price for PS4 games is 179 reais ($83). For comparison, the console will go for $399 in North America, £349 in the U.K. and €399 in Europe.

That cost appears to be a significant outlay even for professionals in Brazil. According to data from 2007, the median annual salary for jobs such as dentist, chemical engineer, lawyer and architect was at or below 40,000 reais, which means the PS4 would cost 10 percent of their yearly income.

W...

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Ditching traditional aluminum horse shoes for lighter, 3D-printed replacements could lead to improved race day performance. That's according to scientists (and one horse trainer) in Australia, who recently scanned the hooves of one local race horse, and then used 3D modeling software to create a perfectly-sized shoe. From there, it took less than 24 hours to have four titanium shoes printed and ready for the horse.

And while the process is far more costly than sticking with tried-and-true aluminum shoes (the four titanium prints costed approximately $600), experts say the reduced weight could bring enormous benefits. "Any extra weight in the horseshoe will slow the horse down," says trainer John Moloney. "These titanium shoes could...

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Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger first announced plans to build an Avatar-themed area at Disney World's Animal Kingdom park in 2011. Two years later, his company has released the first concept art of what the Florida-based attraction will look like.

The renders show a world of floating mountains and bioluminescent plants. The images aren't grounded in reality: the shots are devoid of zig-zagging lines, and show no obvious earthly way to keep the floating mountains floating. The renders also include shots of colorfully plumed 'Banshees' with what look like park guests on their backs. This is a high concept visualization for a ride rather than notice of a Disney genetic modification program: Disney's parks division chairman, Tom Staggs said at...

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Earlier this year, a meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere and exploded some 10,000 meters over Russia — the shower of "meteorite rain" injured more than 1,000 people and was captured in a number of stunning first-person cell phone videos. Now, divers have recovered a massive chunk of the meteor — the largest such piece of space debris ever recovered. According to the BBC, the five-foot meteorite crashed through the frozen surface of Lake Chebarkul in central Russia back on February 15th, leaving a six-meter-wide hole in the ice. It stayed there until a team of divers were able to recover it; it's just the latest in an ongoing series of meteorite pieces recovered from the lake, but it's by far the biggest.

Unfortunately, the...

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• The biggest difference between human vision and cat vision is in the retina.
• Cats can't detect colors as well as humans do, nor can they see as far.
• But cats do have a superior ability to see in the dark compared to humans.

What do cats see behind those reflective eyes?

Artist Nickolay Lamm consulted three animal vision experts nearly a decade ago to hypothesize and visually represent how cats view the world compared to humans.

The biggest difference between human vision and cat vision is in the retina, a layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains cells called photoreceptors. The photoreceptors convert light rays into electrical signals, which are processed by nerve cells, sent to the brain, and translated into the images we see.

The two types of photoreceptor cells are known as rods and cones. Rods are responsible for peripheral and night vision. They detect brightness and shades of gray. Cones are responsible for day vision and color perception.

Both cats and dogs have a high concentration of rod receptors and a low concentration of cone receptors. Humans have the opposite, which why we can't see as well at night but can detect colors better.

But Lamm wanted to give humans the chance to see the world through their favorite pet's eyes. In the following pictures, the human view is on top and the cat view is below.

Visual field 

The visual field refers to the area that can be seen when the eyes focus on a single point. It includes what can be seen straight ahead, as well as above, below, and to the side. Cats have a slighter wider visual field of 200 degrees compared to the average human visual field of 180 degrees.

Visual acuity

Visual acuity refers to the clearness of vision. The average human has a visual acuity of 20/20. A cat's visual acuity is anywhere from 20/100 to 20/200, which means a cat has to be at 20 feet to see what an average human can see at 100 or 200 feet. This is why the bottom picture is so blurry.

Color vision

There's a common misconception that cats can't see any colors, and only view the world through shades of gray. Humans are known as trichromats, meaning they have three kinds of cones that allow them to see red, green, and blue. Cats are also thought to be trichromats, but not in the same way humans are. A cat's vision is similar to a human who is color blind. They can see shades of blue and green, but reds and pinks can be confusing. These may appear more green, while purple can look like another shade of blue.

Cats also don't see the same richness of hues and saturation of colors that we can.

Distance 

Experts believe cats to be nearsighted, which means they can't see far objects as well. Their ability to see close objects, however, is well-suited for hunting and capturing prey.

Night vision

Cats can't see fine detail or rich color, but they do have a superior ability to see in the dark because of the high number of rods in their retina that are sensitive to dim light. As a result, cats can see using roughly one-sixth the amount light that people need.

Cats also have a structure behind the retina, called the tapetum, that is thought to improve night vision. Cells in the tapetum act like a mirror, reflecting light that passes between the rods and the cones back to the photoreceptors and giving them another chance to pick up the small amount of light available at night. This is what makes cats' eyes glow in the dark.

Nickolay Lamm consulted with Kerry L. Ketring, DVM, DACVO of All Animal Eye Clinic, Dr. DJ Haeussler of The Animal Eye Institute, and the Ophthalmology group at Penn Vet for this project.

This article was originally published on October 16, 2013. 

Streaming steaming towards your ear

The issue of Internet piracy is certainly a polarizing one, with different camps setting out their stances over whether the practice is generally a good or bad thing.

Just last month a report from the London School of Economics reignited the debate after coming to the conclusion that rather than hurting the entertainment industries, piracy is actually helping matters.

Needless to say, the MPAA and IFPI were less than impressed with that conclusion and quickly moved to counter the study. But while scholars and music businessmen fight it out, what about the opinions of those who are supposed to really matter – the artists.

The BBC has spoken to several British artists to get their views on piracy and their responses are quite a mixed bag.

Pop icon Jessie J didn’t deviate from the opinions she’s expressed in the past. Perhaps cleverly addressing the “nothing was stolen” response to the piracy-is-theft mantra, the 10 million album selling star said downloading is akin to taking someone’s time.

“It’s like going to the hairdressers, having your hair cut and running out,” she said.

“You can’t make music for free, you can’t live for free. If people illegally download your album it’s very likely that you won’t make another one.”

Of course, plenty of people downloaded Jessie J’s first album and she’s just released another, so her argument doesn’t quite stand up. However, she was nowhere near as aggressive as singer John Newman.

“I think it’s disgusting. Get some respect for the artist. It’s not fair at all,” he said. “[Downloaders are] ruining the music industry, they really are and it’s really not fair.”

Interestingly, Grammy-winning artist Sean Paul sees things quite differently.

“Before there was the internet, there was people selling mix tapes and CDs with your music on it – they sell it, they benefit from it,” he said. “I get promotion out of it, which is a good thing for me, because people like my song and put on a stage show.”

Producer Naughty Boy, who has deals with Sony and Virgin EMI, says that there’s plenty of money to be made, even in the face of piracy.

“I don’t like the idea of people thinking you’re never going to get rich from music. You can, even with illegal downloading,” he told the BBC. “You’ve just got to make great music that people want to buy. You’ve just got to give them more of a reason to buy it than before.”

Of course, while the artists have their differing opinions, the major labels are singing with one harmonious voice – piracy is bad and it costs them money. Together they finance the BPI whose anti-piracy department takes down millions of links from file-sharing sites and search engines such as Google. Whether Sean Paul likes it or not, links to his music get taken down too.

The BBC were invited to the secretive operation where they spoke with John Hodge, the BPI’s head of internet investigation who suggested that people at home – the actual downloaders – aren’t a BPI target.

“Our focus is on the people who want to make profit,” Hodge said. “Whether it’s streaming or downloading, there’s somebody there facilitating this and making money out of it.”

Like the FACT operatives who visited the home of a file-sharing site admin earlier this month, the remainder of the BPI’s five man anti-piracy team asked to remain anonymous. Taking down links must be a dangerous game these days.

Source: Piracy is Disgusting! No, it’s Promotion! Artists Disagree as Links Get Removed

De Horizon mediabox van UPC functioneert ook na de grootschalige update van...

Before the advent of the Internet, regular computer enthusiasts looking for software had few options other than to buy boxed software from specialist computer stores or paw through magazines looking for mail order outlets. Distribution routes were poor but for those with a like-minded friend – or a friend of friend – pirate copies were never too far away.

Of course, when the Internet took off things changed massively. Free software became available to anyone willing to persevere, not just those with access to a private BBS. Applications for just about any purpose were uploaded to the Internet thick and fast and as a result manufacturers had to think even more about their copy protection mechanisms.

But while software houses were applying anti-piracy measures to their products, plenty of groups were at work stripping them out and sharing DRM-free versions with close friends and associates online. Inevitably though, so-called “cracked” software leaked out, meaning that pretty much everyone could gain access to zero cost software, often on the day of release – 0day as it’s known.

Created way back in 1999, one such group was LineZer0. More commonly known by the characters Lz0, the group has operated for an incredible 14 years and to say they have been prolific would be a massive understatement.

During that time Lz0 has delivered an incredible 30,000 software and games releases for desktop machines and handhelds (including iPhone and iPad), each designed to be enjoyed only by the reclusive ‘warez’ scene.

LineZer0 ASCii Art

“We do not wish for our releases to be widely spread across web boards, P2P networks and the like. While we do know that occurs we strongly urge people to not share these titles at such places,” Lz0 stated in their releases. Few took any notice.

Typing the term ‘Lz0′ into any search engine or torrent site reveals endless streams of cracked software from hundreds of companies, for anyone to download and enjoy, for free. But for Lz0 and their countless fans, the final curtain came down prematurely yesterday.

Over the weekend someone in the warez scene released information that was obtained as part of a security breach against Lz0 in 2009. While assuring people that much of the data was related to closed sites and individuals who have since left the piracy scene, Lz0 felt it had no option other than to close down the group and retire completely.

“We’ve shared a long and fun road, and we’re sad that this is how it ends,” Lz0 said in a statement.

The group confirmed that the names Lz0 and Lz0PDA will be put completely to rest – no one will ever be able to genuinely use those tags again. Additionally, hundreds of software companies will be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief, at least until other groups take up the slack. But annoying companies was never LzO’s stated aim.

“Our releases are made to make sure that the end-user is able to fully test a title before going into a purchase as well as give the end-user an opportunity to make backup copies of titles he or she already owns,” the group said. “Please do respect our stance on this and make sure that you buy the required licenses upon deciding to buy the product. Respect the software authors that have put time, money and effort into creating the title you now have in your hand.”

Finally, for some the joy of cracked software was not the tools themselves, but the entertainment value of the additional items groups like Lz0 packaged with their releases. For many – piracy dramas aside – the kind of music and graphics illustrated below provided the most intoxicating mix.

Lz0: 1999-2013

Source: Huge Software Piracy Group Calls it Quits After 30,000 Cracked Titles

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On the heels of its recent redesign, Yahoo Mail is adding a new feature many users have been requesting for years: encryption. The Washington Post revealed today that Yahoo Mail will begin using default SSL encryption for its webmail interface as of January 8th, 2014. The encryption, which protects messages sent between a user's computer and Yahoo servers, was only made available earlier this year as an option from Yahoo, although most security professionals view it as crucial for any level of privacy on the web. The move comes nearly four years after Gmail switched over to default SSL in January of 2010.

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The latest episode of DefendTheHouse's Grand Theft Auto 5 Mythbusters series is all about exploring your safety as a player.

Episode 4 explores the bullet-stopping power of helmets, what do to when your car is on fire and whether or not you can board a plane in midair. Safely. Check out the video above to find out what works and what doesn't.

Other episodes test police evasion techniques and cable car detachment. Mythbusters episodes for other franchises, including Halo 4, can be found on DefendTheHouse's YouTube channel.

A group of Muslim clerics in Syria issue a religious ruling permitting people living in besieged suburbs of Damascus to eat cats, dogs and donkeys.

If you’re using Windows 8, it’s time to upgrade to Windows 8.1, for free, a day ahead of promised General Availability of Windows 8.1 by Microsoft. Microsoft is providing Windows [...]

The post How to Download and Upgrade to Windows 8.1 for Free appeared first on My Digital Life.

Just in time

The firm's first OS that unites the desktop and smartphone

One user's struggle with the Windows Store

BlackBerry kan zomaar in Chinese handen komen. Lenovo heeft een geheimhoudingsverklaring getekend om in de boeken te kijken.

It's not just Microsoft that's trying to make Windows 8 better... The post Logitech Ups Windows 8 Usability With the Wireless M560 Mouse appeared first on We Got Served.

Facebook and Pinterest account for substantially more referral traffic to publishers' websites than they did last year, and keep growing their lead in referral volume over other social platforms. 

• Facebook now accounts for more than 10% of traffic referred to publishers' websites, compared to 6.5% last year. 
• Pinterest is referring nearly 4% of traffic to publishers' websites, compared to just over 2% last year. 
• Pinterest increased its share of referral traffic by 67% over last year (more than any other social network). 
• Together, Facebook and Pinterest refer more traffic to publisher sites than Twitter, StumbleUpon, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ combined. 

The findings are based on two years of data collected by Shareaholic from 200,000 publishers that use its share buttons and widgets. Shareaholic includes search engine and direct traffic in its calculations, so the percentages above are each social network's percentage of all traffic to these publishers.

We attribute Pinterest's success to three factors: overall user growth (particularly on mobile devices), brands adopting the platform for marketing, and Internet users' preference for sharing photos over text. In fact, Pinterest is close to overtaking email as the third-most popular sharing channel behind Facebook and Twitter. 

Pinterest management is focusing on the platform's strengths. The company recently announced its own advertising platform and an update to "Article Pins," which allow users to share stories they find on the Web. 

Although Twitter processes large volumes of link-sharing, it doesn't necessarily mean users are clicking on those links, as they seem to be on Pinterest. In an amended S-1 filing, Twitter management said they are wary of users' "perceived decline in the quality of content" on the platform. 

Download the chart and data in Excel.

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TOULOUSE - Airbus topman Fabrice Brégier zegt in een interview met het Duitse Welt am Sonntag dat zijn bedrijf, binnen vier tot vijf jaar, de 'nummer 1' positie in de productie van vliegtuigen overneemt van rivaal Boeing. De vliegtuigbouwer gaat volgens Brégier de oplevering van de A320neo en A350-modellen opvoeren.

WASHINGTON - Vliegtuigbouwer Boeing heeft de Amerikaanse krijgsmacht jarenlang laten betalen voor nieuwe helikopteronderdelen, terwijl het voornamelijk oude onderdelen hergebruikte. Dat meldde persbureau Bloomberg maandag op basis van een rapport waarop het de hand heeft weten te leggen.