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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

For two decades, Francesco Benedetti, who heads the psychiatry and clinical psychobiology unit at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, has been investigating so-called wake therapy, in combination with bright light exposure and lithium, as a means of treating depression where drugs have often failed. As a result, psychiatrists in the USA, the UK and other European countries are starting to take notice, launching variations of it in their own clinics. These 'chronotherapies' seem to work by kick-starting a sluggish biological clock; in doing so, they're also shedding new light on the underlying pathology of depression, and on the function of sleep more generally.

"Sleep deprivation really has opposite effects in healthy people and those with depression," says Benedetti. If you're healthy and you don't sleep, you'll feel in a bad mood. But if you're depressed, it can prompt an immediate improvement in mood, and in cognitive abilities. But, Benedetti adds, there's a catch: once you go to sleep and catch up on those missed hours of sleep, you'll have a 95% chance of relapse.

So pulling more all-nighters makes me feel better?

Source: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180123-can-staying-awake-beat-depression

Original Submission

c0lo writes:

Australian Broadcast Corporation reports

Australia's biggest gold refiner, the Perth Mint, is developing its own cryptocurrency backed by physical precious metals.

The ambitious plan, which is subject to a confidentiality agreement, will make it easier for consumers to buy gold.

[...] For the Perth Mint, the need to bring investors back to precious metals after a boom in alternative investments such as cryptocurrencies posed an opportunity, according to chief executive Richard Hayes.

"I think as the world moves through times of increasing uncertainty, you're seeing people look for alternate offerings," he said.
But Mr Hayes said the volatility of some of the current cryptocurrencies meant they did not suit all investors.

And that is where a gold-backed offering may fit.

"With a crypto-gold or a crypto-precious metals offering, what you will see is that gold is actually backing it," Mr Hayes said.

"So it will have all the benefits of something that is on a distributed ledger that settles very, very quickly, that is easy to trade, but is actually backed by precious metals, so there is actually something behind it, something backing it."

What do you see here: some golden cryptocurrency dust sprinkled around or a decentralized ledger of precious metal transactions?

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martyb writes:

I regularly read the Knowing and Doing blog of Eugene Wallingford who is Associate Professor and Head, Department of Computer Science at the University of Northern Iowa. In a sequence of blog posts, he artfully raises some concepts of film editing to a much wider application than just films.

We start with a blog post 95:1 that introduces a book he is currently reading:

This morning, I read the first few pages of In the Blink of an Eye, an essay on film editing by Walter Murch. He starts by talking about his work on Apocalypse Now, which took well over a year in large part because of the massive amount of film Coppola shot: 1,250,000 linear feet, enough for 230 hours of running time. The movie ended up being about two hours and twenty-five minutes, so Murch and his colleagues culled 95 minutes of footage for every minute that made it into the final product. A more typical project, Murch says, has a ratio of 20:1.

He continues this thread with a later entry The Cut:

takyon writes:

Qualcomm Gets $1.2 Billion EU Fine for Apple Chip Payments

Qualcomm Inc. was fined 997 million euros ($1.2 billion) by the European Union for paying Apple Inc. to shun rival chips in its iPhones.

The largest maker of chips that help run smartphones "paid billions of U.S. dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. "This meant that no rival could effectively challenge Qualcomm in this market, no matter how good their products were."

Qualcomm struck a deal with Apple in 2011 that pledged significant payments if Apple only used Qualcomm chipsets for the iPhone and iPad devices. That agreement was renewed in 2013 until 2016. Qualcomm warned it would stop these payments if Apple sold another product with a rival chip. This effectively shut out competitors such as Intel Corp. from the market for LTE baseband chipsets used in the 4G mobile phone standard for five years, the EU said.

European Commission press release. Also at Reuters.

Previously: EU Investigates Qualcomm For Antitrust Activities
U.S. Federal Trade Commission Sues Qualcomm for Anti-Competitive Practices
Apple Could Switch From Qualcomm to Intel and MediaTek for Modems

Related: Apple vs. Qualcomm Escalates, Manufacturers Join in, Lawsuits Filed in California and Germany
Qualcomm Files New Lawsuit Against Apple, Alleging it Shared Confidential Information with Intel
Broadcom Offers $105 Billion for Qualcomm; Moves HQ Back to the USA

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Sulla writes:

Trump administration imposes tariffs on imported solar cells and modules at 30% and certain washing machines up to 50%:

This new determination sets tariffs on imported solar cells and modules at 30 percent with a gradual decrease of that tariff over the subsequent four years. In years two, three, and four, the tariff will be imposed at 25 percent, 20 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, of the value of the import. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells imported are exempt from the tariff (but it seems that a similar provision was not made for solar modules). Though the executive branch has broad authority to impose whatever tariff it wants after the ITC finds that an industry has been harmed by imports, this tariff decision closely matches the middle-ground recommendation made by two of the four-person ITC's commissioners. Those commissioners recommended a 30-percent tariff on modules and a 30-percent tariff on imported solar cells in excess of 1GW, with declining rates after the first year.

Whirlpool shares rise after Trump tariff on washing machine imports

The new tax is expected to hit Trump's desk on Tuesday. The administration is imposing 20% tariffs on the first 1.2 million machines imported each year, and 50% on those after that. There will also be a 50% tariff on washing machine parts.

Naturally South Korea and China are upset and plan to argue their case at the WTO. From the articles I read this morning there should be a boost to US manufacturing but the gains may all be offset by the losses with people not wanting to pay more for solar. I think regardless of price people will do solar for solar's sake, but there is sure to be some impact on sales and installation jobs.

Guess I should have bought that 30% off washing machine at the Sears going out of business sale.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

The IEEE Spectrum has an article about why Finland is the mobile data capital of the world. Many factors converge. Perhaps the most relvant one is that mobile data plans cover unlimited use and the different operators compete on speed rather than data caps. Also, despite sparse population distribution, very close to 100% of the population has good access to high-speed mobile networks. If plans are followed through, 5G coverage should become commercially available in Finland by 2020.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Could the newest farmhand be a drone?

Research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is bringing drone technology to agriculture, one of the major industries with excellent potential for growth. Specifically, drone technology is being tested with sheep at Virginia Tech.

"We are looking at ways drones can be used on small farms," said Dan Swafford, project associate for Virginia Cooperative Extension. "Farms could use drones as a 'check-on' tool to ensure that sheep are where they are supposed to be."

Drones can help farmers gain quick access to see if an animal is in need or injured, to examine if a ewe has delivered a new lamb, or more generally to check the status of the farm.

Agriculture is one of the industries where drones will make a big impact in the coming years. A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the potential market for agricultural drones is $32.4 billion because high-tech systems with the ability to monitor crops or livestock can reduce human errors and save time and money.

Do drones make more sense than static cameras with CCTV?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Netflix has continued to add millions of new subscribers, even after it raised prices:

Netflix Inc snagged 2 million more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the final three months of 2017, tripling profits at the online video service that is burning money on new programming to dominate internet television around the world.

The results drove Netflix to a market capitalization of more than $100 billion for the first time. Shares jumped 9 percent to over $248 in after-hours trading on Monday after rallying throughout the month and rising 53 percent last year.

The company has signed up more than half of all U.S. broadband households and is building its customer base in 190 countries by spending billions on programming.

Netflix picked up 6.36 million subscribers in international markets from October through December, when it released new seasons of critically acclaimed shows "Stranger Things" and "The Crown" as well as Will Smith action movie "Bright." That topped Wall Street expectations of 5.1 million, according to FactSet.

Along with 1.98 million customer additions in the United States, the company ended the year with 117.58 million streaming subscribers around the globe, despite a price hike in October.

From a Bloomberg op-ed: "The rapid pace of subscriber additions is impressive, but so is the amount of cash going up in flames."

Also at USA Today and The Street.

Previously: Netflix Has More Subscribers Than Major Cable Providers in the U.S.
Disney to Break Away From Netflix With its Own Streaming Service
Netflix Adds 5 Million Subscribers, Doubles Profit

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Screen-addicted Teens are unhappy?

Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between adolescent life satisfaction and screen time. Teens whose eyes are habitually glued to their smartphones are markedly unhappier, said study lead author and San Diego State University and professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge.

To investigate this link, Twenge, along with colleagues Gabrielle Martin at SDSU and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia, crunched data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) longitudinal study, a nationally representative survey of more than a million U.S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their in-the-flesh social interactions and their overall happiness.

On average, they found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices -- playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting -- were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interaction.

Twenge believes this screen time is driving unhappiness rather than the other way around.

"Although this study can't show causation, several other studies have shown that more social media use leads to unhappiness, but unhappiness does not lead to more social media use," said Twenge, author of "iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy -- And Completely Unprepared for Adulthood."

Journal Reference:

Jean M. Twenge, Gabrielle N. Martin, W. Keith Campbell. Decreases in Psychological Well-Being Among American Adolescents After 2012 and Links to Screen Time During the Rise of Smartphone Technology.. Emotion, 2018; DOI: 10.1037/emo0000403

"Reading newspapers and magazines" makes teens happier? Perhaps paper produces happiness radiation...

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Why don't anyone go outside and play?

Since the internet became mainstream less than 20 years ago, faith in traditional institutions and consumption of traditional media has also been displaced by faith in newer, digital institutions and consumption of newer, digital media, according to the 15th annual Digital Future Report recently produced by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future.

In the years since the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future published its first Digital Future Report in 2000, the internet has evolved from a secondary medium to an essential component of daily life.

Over the course of that time:

• Overall internet penetration has increased from 67 to 92 percent.
• Total hours per week online has steadily increased from 9.4 to 23.6.
• Internet usage at home has risen from 3.3 to 17.6 hours per week.

[...] Perhaps the largest change affecting our online behavior over the life of the report was the introduction of the iPhone and other smartphone technologies in 2007, which increased the internet's always on—and always with us—technology capabilities.

Since 2010 alone:

• People who use their phone to access the internet has skyrocketed from 23 to 84 percent.
• Use of smartphone email has nearly quadrupled from 21 to 79 percent.
• The use of mobile apps increased from 49 to 74 percent.
• GPS location service use has gone from 12 to 71 percent.
• The percentage of people who stream music on their phone has increased from 13 to 67 percent.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Mazda and China's Changan Automobile Group are poised to build electric SUVs together.

According to Japan's Nikkei Asian Review, the automakers plan to collaborate to develop and build a battery-powered crossover SUV by 2019. The two manufacturers have been in a 50:50 joint-venture partnership since 2012, and their relationship stretches back even longer, into the mid-2000s.

The Nikkei's report indicates that Changan will supply much of the SUV's electric drivetrain -- including batteries and motors, while Mazda will produce the bodies.

The move comes amidst a backdrop where Chinese authorities are pushing to adopt more stringent clean-air regulations. The country is already the world's largest market for electric vehicles, and it's become a global leader in the move to electrification through public policy.

China ranks fifth highest in the world for deaths from air pollution.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Here's a challenge: do you reckon you can fill half-a-terabyte of memory using only a smartphone?

For some people, we're sure, the answer will be along the lines of “hold my beer while I set my camera to HDR mode and snap some selfies”. So the good news is that from February, you'll be able to lay out the readies on a 512 GB microSDXC card from Integral Memory.

At a transfer rate of 80 megabytes per second, you'd need more than an hour and a half to transfer a full card's worth of data; last year's 400 GB monster from SanDisk (no longer the world's biggest little memory card) still has the edge there, claiming a 100 MB/second transfer rate.

Integral's 512GB microSDXC V10, UHS-I U1 card is fast enough to meet V10 (Video speed class 10) for capturing full HD video.

Integral has put up a web page and a Spec sheet (pdf) for it.

Now we can set them up as media hubs for all.

Original Submission

realDonaldTrump writes:

"The Supreme Court announced Friday it will take up the case against the latest version of President Trump's travel ban, which bars entry in to the United States for residents of six majority-Muslim countries.

The court will hear arguments in April and is expected to issue a ruling by June." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/19/supreme-court-announces-it-will-rule-on-trumps-travel-ban.html

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Facebook invented a new time unit called the 'flick' and it's truly amazing

So what is a flick? A flick is one seven hundred and five million six hundred thousandth of a second — 1/705,600,000 if you prefer the digits, or 1.417233560090703e-9 if you prefer decimals. And why is that useful?

As a hint, here's a list of numbers into which 1/706,600,000 divides evenly: 8, 16, 22.05, 24, 25, 30, 32, 44.1, 48, 50, 60, 90, 100, 120. Notice a pattern? Even if you don't work in media production, some of those numbers probably look familiar. That's because they're all framerates or frequencies used in encoding or showing things like films and music. 24 frames per second, 120 hertz TVs, 44.1 KHz sample rate audio.

[...] Even the weird NTSC numbers in use due to certain technical constraints divide nicely. 23.976 (technically 24*(1,000/1,001)=23.976023976230 with the last 6 digits repeating) becomes exactly 29,429,400 flicks. It's the same for 29.97, 59.94, and any others like them. No more fractions or decimals needed whatsoever! How great is that?!

There is more detail and background information on GitHub.

Do you give a flick? How many flicks do you feel you have wasted on this article?

Original Submission

Fnord666 writes:

Anyone who's ever heard the Grado name is probably also familiar with the old-school way this headphones manufacturer does business. The majority of Grado models are still made by hand at the company's original home in Brooklyn, New York, and very little has changed about the materials, design, or sound of its products over the decades. That's why it's quite a momentous thing to learn that Grado is developing a wireless model, which is set to be released this year.

[...] The specs, release date, and even name of this new wireless Grado model are yet to be finalized, but it's something definitely on the schedule for 2018. One final note of import is that these wireless headphones will remain open-back, as has been the Grado tradition. When I asked Jonathan Grado whether the company would build a closed-back pair — which would be more suitable for using outdoors because of its sound isolation between your music and the outside world — he (half-)jokingly replied, "Let's see where we are in another 65 years."

Source: TheVerge

Original Submission