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Set thousands of years before the events of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. It has been revealed that the highly-anticipated series will take place in the “Second Age.” It was rumored the show would focus on a young Aragorn, Viggo Mortenson’s character. But Aragorn was born in the “Third Age” so he will likely not appear in the new series.
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Le’Veon Bell is finally on the open market, and multiple teams are interested in signing the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back.
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN (via Evan Silva of Rotoworld), the New York Jets are the clear favorites to sign Bell, but the San Francisco 49ers are also interested in him.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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For almost seven decades, Tibet, a mainly-Buddhist, Himalayan area has been governed as an autonomous region of China.
Beijing claims a centuries-old sovereignty over the mountainous region, known as the “roof of the world”, but the allegiances of many Tibetans lie with the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
For China, he’s a separatist threat; for his followers, he’s a living God.
Huge crowds gathered at the Dalai Lama’s temple in northern India on Sunday to commemorate 60 years since the failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
Supporters of the 83-year-old spiritual leader prayed at the Buddhist shrine in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama established a government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet following the failed 1959 uprising.
How long can Tibetans pursue their struggle? And what’s Beijing doing to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Einar Tangen – political analyst who advises the Chinese goverment on economic and development issues
Andrew Fischer – professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam who researches the impact of Chinese developmental policies in Tibet
Tenzin Tsundue – Tibetan activist, writer and poet
Source: Al Jazeera News
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By Morgan SungWhat’s the most iconic line of pop culture?
The “straight line/dashed line” meme started last December, just before the new year. It called out people who post too much on their Instagram stories, but has since taken on a variety of forms.
Straight line:
______________________________________Dashed line:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
The IG story of a girl recapping her 2018:
⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻⁻
— Trashye (@TrashyeWest) January 1, 2019
SEE ALSO: Elon Musk and The Rock bonded over these cursed Photoshopped memes
One of the meme’s variations is back, as Twitter users remember the most iconic lines of entertainment. It started with an homage to the powerhouse that is Astrid from Crazy Rich Asians.
Then the Grey’s Anatomy Twitter account shared an inspiring line, which got other fans to post some of Meredith Grey’s most iconic one-liners.
Since then, Twitter users brought the meme back by remembering some of the most noteworthy lines seen on screens.
straight line:
______________________________________dashed line:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
most iconic line: pic.twitter.com/xZe3elNeQg
— Wheelchair X-Tremist
(@OneWheelchairX) March 11, 2019
straight line:
______________________________________dashed line:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
iconic line:
MY NAMES PHIL LESTER THANKFULLY NOT MO
— ava | 57 (@killerqueenpml) March 11, 2019
straight line:
_______________________dashed line:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
dotted line:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iconic line: pic.twitter.com/HYY7ShFtfr
— yuna pics (@picyuna) March 10, 2019
straight line:
______________________________________dashed line:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
iconic line:
i’ve spent the majority of 2016 with another person, so i think it’s only fair that he comes up here and shares this with me
— incorrect d&p (@incorrectphan) March 10, 2019
straight line:
______________________________________dashed line:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
iconic line:
please use discretion
when you’re messing with the message man
these lyrics aren’t for everyone
only few understand— cal / was @isleofdema
(@philsvenom) March 10, 2019
straight line:
_______________________dashed line:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
dotted line:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iconic line: pic.twitter.com/XhcrkPBgcg
— jenlisa loops (@jenlisasloops) March 10, 2019
We stan a chance to give incredible lines the recognition they deserve.
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Image: AFP/Getty Images
PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
The car industry is in a state of flux at the moment due to a slow transition away from gas-guzzling engines to full electric alternatives with hybrids in the middle. Toyota, which currently doesn’t sell a fully-electric vehicle in the US, believes electric vehicles are actually less eco-friendly than hybrids, and it has a valid reason to back up that claim.
As Popular Mechanics reports, Toyota’s Gerald Killmann, vice president of research and development for Europe, explained the thinking behind the company’s focus on hybrids over full-electric vehicles during the Geneva Motor Show 2019. The problem is one of battery production and allocation.
According to Killmann, Toyota’s battery manufacturing capacity is currently 28,000 units per year if the batteries are required to power full-electric vehicles. However, if instead that manufacturing is dedicated to batteries for use in hybrids where they sit alongside a more conventional gasoline engine, then Toyota can produce 1.5 million vehicles.
Toyota therefore views hybrids as having the more positive environmental impact because replacing 1.5 million gas guzzlers with hybrids means a much lower carbon footprint than 28,000 full electric vehicles would.
In the short term this makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons. Having an inventory of 1.5 million low carbon vehicles to sell will generate more profit than 28,000 full electric vehicles. By embracing hybrids, Toyota is giving itself time to steadily increase battery production without massive investment being required upfront.
This way of thinking also suggests we could see Toyota move to offer all hybrids as a priority before refocusing to transition to all electric eventually. We also can’t forget that Toyota is pushing for hydrogen-powered vehicles, with the Mirai being a prime example.
This article originally published at PCMag
here
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The San Francisco 49ers‘ pursuit of Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t over quite yet.
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report reported it’s “still possible” the 49ers land the All-Pro wideout via trade this offseason.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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In-display fingerprint readers — biometric sensors embedded within the screens of many new phones — are garbage. They must be purged from all future devices unless they get significantly better soon.
There, I said it, and boy does it feel great to get that off my chest. Because it’s true.
SEE ALSO: 5G will be crazy fast, but it’ll be worthless without unlimited data
As a tech reviewer, I’m in the enviable position of being able to test out new devices before they trickle down to everyone.
Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not. It sucked to live without a headphone jack on the iPhone 7, but was life-changing to use AirPods before anyone else could. It was really fun to use phones like the Vivo Nex S and Oppo Find X, with its motorized cameras, and even the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, with its fidgety sliding design.
But I can’t get behind the in-display fingerprint sensors that are being included in virtually every new Android phone.
They’re all terrible.
Unlike physical fingerprint readers such as Touch ID on the iPhone 8 (and older), the Pixel Imprint sensor on the back of Google Pixel phones, or the reader on the back of the Galaxy S9 and Note 9, in-display fingerprint readers are slower and less responsive.
For an in-display fingerprint reader to be considered an upgrade, it needs to succeed at two things:
Work as fast (or faster) than the physical one it replaces.
Work as as reliably or better than the sensor it replaces.
At the time of this rant, no in-display fingerprint reader meets both of these two requisites.
It was fine to give Chinese phone maker Vivo a pass for the wonky, first-gen in-display fingerprint reader inside of the X20 Plus. But that phone was the first of its kind to include the new biometric tech.
To shrug and give new phones launching in 2019 the same break for including half-baked in-display fingerprint readers simply because it’s new tech is not OK. It’s unacceptable to spend $1,000 for a Samsung Galaxy S10+ only to get a fingerprint reader that’s inferior to the one on the previous Galaxy S9.
I’ve tried just about all of the in-display sensors — Galaxy S10, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, OnePlus 6T, and even the one on the new Nokia 9 PureView — and none of them live up to the hype.
Tradeoffs are inevitable when it comes to new technologies, but when new innovation is a noticeable step backwards from what came before, we should stop and ask big tech companies why?
What good is using an in-display fingerprint reader for unlocking your phone if it’s constantly telling you it failed to recognize your fingerprint or to press harder into the screen?
It’s kind of mind-boggling when somebody needs to make a video showing how it makes no difference if you tap or tap-and-hold your finger on the S10’s in-display reader.
Another problem with in-display fingerprint readers: many screen protectors don’t play nice with them. Because some sensors, like the one in the OnePlus 6T, require light to illuminate your fingerprints before capturing an image of them, screen protectors can actually get in the way.
Same goes for ultrasonic fingerprint readers like the one in the Galaxy S10 and S10+. Only instead of blocking light, many third-party screen protectors can block the ultrasound waves emitted from the grooves of your finger when it touches the sensor. And the only one that seems to work takes like 30 minutes. No thank you.
Regular fingerprint readers don’t have issues with screen protectors because they’re not inside of the display.
But if in-display fingerprint sensors aren’t good enough yet, shouldn’t phone makers put more dollars into research and development to make facial recognition and face unlock systems more reliable and secure? Since face unlock is often touted as more convenient, anyway?
You would think yes. But the opposite seems to be happening. Whereas the Galaxy S8 and S9 both had secure iris scanners, the S10’s doesn’t. As a result, the face unlock feature on the S10 is wimpy — like comically easy to fool with a printed photo or video on your phone. Unbox Therapy’s Lewis Hilsenteger was able to bypass the S10’s face unlock with a YouTube video of himself. Another person fooled the face unlock on her brother’s S10 and they’re not even twins. Like, oh damn.
The reality is, you can’t get a notch-free display or screen with only a “hole punch” if you want a secure facial recognition system like Face ID on the iPhone X, XS, and XR. Unlike the 2D-based face unlock recognition on phones like the S10, the 3D-based Face ID on the latest iPhones requires many sensors (i.e. flood illuminator, infrared camera, dot projector, etc.) housed in the notch. Some phones like the Oppo Find X get around this by hiding the front-facing camera and its sensors inside of a motorized mechanism, but that introduces its own durability issues.
Using these crummy in-display readers made me realize one very obvious thing: Apple was right to go with Face ID instead of trying to put Touch ID in the screen. Face ID isn’t perfect by any means — for example, it doesn’t work well sideways in bed or at all if you’ve got a scarf or mask covering your mouth — but more times than not it does work quickly and reliably. The same just can’t be said for in-display fingerprint sensors.
So why did we want these in-display fingerprint readers again? Does anyone really want them if they’re so bad? So that we can get sleeker phones without a sensor on the back or on the side? Thinner phones? Give me a break. If this was true, the Galaxy S10e and its side-mounted fingerprint reader wouldn’t exist.
Until these in-display fingerprint sensors get significantly better, they’re going to be a stain on otherwise excellent phones.
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Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander reportedly signed with the San Francisco 49ers Monday on a four-year, $54 million deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the deal includes $27 million in guaranteed money.
The 24-year-old saw his 2018 season end in disappointment with a torn ACL after just six games. When he was on the field, he notched 45 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles in six games, his first season with fewer than 90 tackles.
In his first three seasons, Alexander proved to be a tackling machine, accumulating 335 tackles, six sacks, six interceptions, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. That was always likely to make him one of the most appealing defensive players on the market, even coming off a season-ending injury.
Ultimately, the Bucs weren’t willing to splash major cash to keep the LSU product, but their loss was San Francisco’s gain.
Alexander should anchor the team’s linebacker corps nicely, but he’ll also offer leadership in the middle of San Francisco’s defense.
“For us as a team, losing someone like Kwon hurts,” Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate said after Alexander suffered his injury in October, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He’s kind of the heart and soul of our team. Just the kind of passion he brings every day. You know, we’re going to miss that a lot.”
They missed Alexander after his injury, and they’ll likely continue to miss him now that he’s playing his football elsewhere. There will be questions about how he recovers from his knee injury, but the Niners are banking on him being a difference-maker in 2019 and pairing with Fred Warner and either Malcolm Smith, Brock Coyle or Elijah Lee to give the team a solid linebacker unit.
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An advanced control system designed to stop Boeing’s top-selling 737 MAX 8 from stalling in mid-flight is coming under scrutiny following Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 people.
The aircraft’s state-of-the-art Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was also implicated in the downing last year of Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia, when all passengers and crew members also died.
In both cases, the aircraft were just a few months old and crashed minutes after take-off. Both planes are reported to have flown erratically, climbing and descending steeply before finally crashing.
“We are hearing that the problem was similar to the Lion Air accident; ‘unreliable airspeed’ and/or difficulty in controlling the aircraft, and both had asked to return to the airport,” Gerry Soejatman, an aviation analyst based in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, told Al Jazeera.
An initial investigation in the Lion Air accident suggested a faulty sensor had triggered the plane’s automated MCAS system possibly resulting in the nose of the aircraft being pushed down.
“New planes do have issues,” said Soejatman. “But they are usually solved before delivery.”
“These two accidents, potentially with similar causes, are definitely raising eyebrows within the industry.”
The similarity of the two accidents has also put the aviation industry into a tailspin, with a number of countries grounding their Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleets, even before the results of an investigation are known.
China, a major buyer of the aircraft, was one of the first to ground its 737 MAX 8 aircraft until further notice.
“Given that two accidents both involved newly delivered Boeing 737-8 planes and happened during take-off phase, they have some degree of similarity,” China’s Civil Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at the Atmosphere Research Group, said Beijing’s move “will carry enormous impact across the global airline community”.
“China’s decision may be premature, [but] it’s one that cannot be ignored,” he added. “China is an extremely important market for Boeing.”
Cayman Airways and Ethiopian Airlines have also grounded their 737 MAX 8 fleet.
Boeing has delivered about 350 of the approximately $120m each aircraft to date, with more than 4,500 in total ordered since 2017, making it one of Boeing’s most important and profitable aircraft.
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The MCAS, introduced with the launch the 737 MAX 8 in May 2017, was the result of an effort to equip the new model with larger and more fuel-efficient engines.
These were placed further forward and higher on the wing, altering the aircraft’s balance. This resulted in the plane’s nose pitching upwards in certain circumstances.
To solve the problem, Boeing added the MCAS flight-control system, which automatically pushed the aircraft’s nose down when a sensor indicated the plane was at risk of stalling.
The MCAS is designed to only activate when the wing flaps are retracted after take-off and the aircraft has gained altitude.
However, it is speculated this system may have played a part in both accidents, with the climbing and diving behaviour of the flight the result of the pilot’s struggle to overcome the automated system.
Following the Lion Air crash in October 2018, which killed 189 people, it was reported that the addition of the MCAS flight-control system had not been adequately explained to pilots, possibly making them ill-prepared if it were to activate during flight.
At the time, Boeing denied the company had “intentionally withheld” information about the new system. According to digital aviation publication Air Current, citing an internal Boeing memo, company CEO Dennis Muilenburg told staff the “relevant function [of MCAS] is described in the Flight Crew Operations Manual”.
“We routinely engage with customers about how to operate our airplanes safely,” Muilenburg said in the memo, according to an Air Current report.
But pilots flying the aircraft for Southwest Airlines were reported to have been told that it was likely they would never see the system at work as “it operates in situations where the aircraft is under relatively high g load and near stall … designed to assist the pilot during recover, and likely going unnoticed by the pilot.”
Air Current, citing a Q&A document provided to pilots at SouthWest Airlines, said staff were told this was why “Boeing did not include an MCAS description in its Flight Crew Operations Manual”.
In the wake of the Lion Air crash, Boeing stepped up its efforts to make pilots familiar with the new system, but the relations between to two companies soured, with Lion Air threatening to cancel billions of dollars of orders.
“Normally, manufacturers would be supportive of their customer in times of accidents,” said Soejatman.
“This crash has raised questions on the real reason behind the breakdown in relations between Lion Air and Boeing.”
The US aerospace giant is also understood to be working on updated software for the MCAS system but it is unclear if the Ethiopian Airlines accident will delay this.
As investigators from Boeing, Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and US National Transportation Safety Board sift through the remains of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, the focus now turns to understanding the cause of the accident.
“At the very least, this accident will dampen the Boeing 737 MAX 8 sales campaign from this point on, until the completion of the accident investigations,” said Soejatman.
For Boeing, a great deal hangs on the findings of those investigations.
On Tuesday, the aerospace giant’s shares plunged in value by nearly 13 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
The dive left the company poised for their worst day of trading since September 17, 2001, when several aerospace firms saw their share prices plummet in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the US.
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