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Blockbusters Not Boxsets Might Decide The Streaming Wars

Charlotte Henry ·

As more and more streaming services are announced, a lot of the talk is on the boxset-style series that are available. It is though they will be crucial in attracting subscribers. However, Variety suggests the blockbuster-style might be more important in deciding who wins the streaming wars.

The pressure is only growing on the film front, particularly as Netflix has dramatically increased the quality of its feature offerings. After backing critically maligned productions such as the Will Smith fantasy “Bright,” Netflix’s feature division is overflowing with Oscar contenders this year. The company has generated rave reviews for the likes of Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” Fernando Meirelles’ “The Two Popes” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” That track record, along with its 2017 decision to enlist former Universal executive Scott Stuber to oversee its film division, has made the service a desirable destination for filmmakers looking for a home for their passion projects.

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AvengerCon: The Return of a Hack Convention for the Military

Andrew Orr ·

AvengerCon is a hacking convention for members of the US Cyber Command and government cyber operations community at the US CYBERCOM DreamPort facility.

AvengerCon is an event that is attracting the very best talent both from our DoD participants and also from some of the folks that are working with us outside of the DoD,” Luber said. “When you bring those very best cyber experts together, they get to learn, test out new ideas, and work in an environment that is hosted by and for DoD cyber operations community experts.

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The AI 'AlphaStar' Becomes a Grandmaster in StarCraft II

Andrew Orr ·

DeepMind’s AlphaStar AI has recently become a Grandmaster in the game StarCraft II.

StarCraft requires players to gather resources, build dozens of military units, and use them to try to destroy their opponents. StarCraft is particularly challenging for an AI because players must carry out long-term plans over several minutes of gameplay, tweaking them on the fly in the face of enemy counterattacks. DeepMind says that prior to its own effort, no one had come close to designing a StarCraft AI as good as the best human players.

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Apple Previews Upcoming 'See' Series on YouTube

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has uploading a two-minute featurette of See, a series in which everyone in the world has lost the ability to see.

Jason Momoa stars as Baba Voss, the father of twins born centuries later with the mythic ability to see—who must protect his tribe against a powerful yet desperate queen who believes it’s witchcraft and wants them destroyed. Alfre Woodard also stars as Paris, Baba Voss’ spiritual leader.

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Facebook Fined by UK Information Commissioner Over Cambridge Analytica

Charlotte Henry ·

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The social media giant will pay a total of £500,000 ($630,240) and made no admission of liability, BBC News reported.

As part of the agreement, Facebook has made no admission of liability. The US firm said it “wished it had done more to investigate Cambridge Analytica” earlier. James Dipple-Johnstone, deputy commissioner of the ICO said: “The ICO’s main concern was that UK citizen data was exposed to a serious risk of harm. Protection of personal information and personal privacy is of fundamental importance, not only for the rights of individuals, but also as we now know, for the preservation of a strong democracy.” Harry Kinmonth, a Facebook lawyer, noted that the social network had made changes to restrict the information app developers could access following the scandal.