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Huawei Matebook 2017 Launch Live Blog: Starts 2pm CEST (8am ET)

Huawei Launching Two New Clamshell Laptops: The MateBook X and the MateBook D

Huawei Launches the MateBook E 2-in-1: The Next Generation (compare to Surface Pro 5)

Or at the extreme end, would you only buy Purism? Or this thing?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39993739

The Church of England's investment success has pushed it into the top ranks of the world's best performing funds of its type last year.

The fund made a 17.1% on its 2016 investments, more than double the 8.2% it made in 2016, according to the Church Commissioners annual report.

[...] "While this is only around 15% of the Church's overall income - most funding comes from the extraordinary generosity of parishioners - we are delighted to be able to play our part."

The Church's ethical investment policy dictates that all investments should be compatible with Christian values and "recommends against investment" in companies which make more than 3% of their income from pornography, 10% from military products and services, or 25% from other industries such as gambling, alcohol and high interest rate lenders.

However, in 2013 it emerged that the Church had invested indirectly in payday loan firm Wonga. It was a particular embarrassment for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who had pledged to try to put Wonga out of business by helping credit unions compete with it.

Thousands of 'Second Life' Bunnies Are Going to Starve to Death This Saturday

Any bunny who is Everlasting will continue to function, as he or she does now: without cost.
Any bunny who is not Everlasting will be unable to eat and will hibernate within 72 hours.

"Hibernate" is a very kind word for it, considering that these bunnies are unlikely to ever be revived. In essence, every mortal rabbit in Second Life is going to starve to death on Saturday morning.

Cloud Computing wins Preakness Stakes, dashing Always Dreaming's chances for Triple Crown

I've been documenting work (and re-using some code from an under-funded project which came to a grinding halt when my last SD card burned out). As part of the documenting process, I've been dubbing audio on OpenOffice presentations. I've automated this process and the workflow is conceptually simple: .odp -> .pdf -> .png -> (quite a few more steps) -> .mp4 container with H.264 video at 10 frames per second and MP3 audio at a maximum of 128kb/s quality.

Software requirements are as follows: Unix type operating system with bash, make and perl on command path, OpenOffice or LibreOffice on command path, pdftocairo or pdftoppm on command path, ffmpeg or avconv on command path.

The directory structure is relatively simple (compared to previous projects). Populate a leaf directory with the given Makefile and an OpenOffice presentation with any name. (Or a PowerPoint presentation, if you really insist.) If multiple presentations exist in a directory, the one which numerically sorts last is chosen. This allows crude versioning to occur within a directory. Anyhow, with these two files present, type:-

make slides

and the directory will be populated with .png files - one for every slide in the presentation. (This workflow specifically doesn't work with animated images or embedded video. Feel free to add features as required. Likewise, script may fail to batch convert .odp to .pdf if OpenOffice or LibreOffice is running in foreground. Feel free to detect or correct this problem.)

With your preferred image viewer, step through slides and record audio for the presentation. Edit audio and place .wav or .mp3 with any name in the same directory. If multiple audio files exist in a directory, the one which numerically sorts last is chosen. This further allows crude versioning to occur within a directory.

Next comes the tricky part: slide transition times defined in a .csv file. The .csv file should be in the following format:-

01,1:06
02,2:33
03,5:04

where the first column is the slide number and the second column is the absolute time within the audio at which the slide should be *discarded*. (So, the last entry should be the duration of the audio plus maybe a small margin of error.) Times may be specified in seconds; minutes and seconds; hours, minutes and seconds; all with or without fractional values. Times are rounded down to the nearest 0.1 second.

Numbers in the first column should follow the numerical format of pdftocairo and therefore some slides may require one or more leading zeros.

With the audio track and transition times present, type:-

make this

and wait for the presentation to be made at 1024×768 pixels, 512×384 pixels, 256×192 pixels and audio only.

If making multiple presentaions, the second optional Makefile provides additional functionality for directory recursion and consistent titling across multiple presentations. Specifically, branch directories form sections and subsections. Each section (and suchlike) may optionally have one slide (plus audio) which prefixes every video and may optionally have one slide (plus audio) which suffixes every video. These "bookends" may be nested such that a video may be of the form:-

• common title
• section prefix
• subsection prefix
• content
• subsection suffix
• section suffix
• further info

However, this configuration is significantly more fiddly and knocks all of the timings in the .csv files.

I'll be using these scripts to process about 800 slides in 60 presentations. However, I've yet to record the accompanying audio. This will require about two minutes of audio per slide and, for me, before audio editing, that requires at least five minutes per slide with a hot microphone plus additional time to practice. So, I've got at least 4000 minutes of talking and I'll require significantly more time to edit and check my work.

Understandably, this task got me thinking about accelerated learning and it is my belief that 400 hours of finished presentations could form the vast bulk of a rigorous degree education.

Script to make one presentation:-

begin 644 Makefile.gz
M'XL(`!6B'UD"`[T8:7/;MO)S^"MV:+DB)8&'?"5RE,AM_5)/ZR23>-+WQO*+
M*1*24),$'T'*<FSWMW?!0P=U.)V7-!F3Q![8Q6)/[9BIB,T!"TT:3B!P;JBB
M[,"[B(;OAD/F4C@+HI@*`1<<3E*/<?,3\RB']PBD8>(DC(?P$P\G-!;XB;S:
M3WK;LH_@8DPE0O`X86E@*#N(DPBK;=L@$B=.YH`V"&="Y^N#ROJPLCY:6N]7
MZ/<K]/M5^O9^95VA;U?H]ZRE]8&UK.^!O5]9/\_7"/"92`Q73$",>>I[,*#`
MAY"@;88\#CH$23B`R_TT",'N0)@&-&:NXX-(\0*FDEKX:'*X9<D8?.IX+!S!
M%QIS82PQMSO@I7%^(;@W>$Q$OG,'+`1!71YZ`F['-$;!L>-**I0Q<?R4"G`0
M&O,T]*@''K\-(>%@F[95,!KR(*G(-#<].C%%@DJ`$WKY4BJ#KG.'APU8`A'>
MN#-@/DON,DXW\XX$S,A)QF;"S2'GYL")R<#Y8OXO3:=2W)1&!.%$PB6"2(1R
M<7;QVZG5I>Z80[VFO?_]9[T.#ZB6!R2&NN@9#5.[_*]YU307GGJMUL/]S+[=
M6Z;62%/OD66PZ)G-'NF-E--_7YR^M;O.A.6?>]T@VE?^]>'D_-3NVI:B.+[?
MP9MC0E%<O(?P,[,ZRC,2!T"&P((1:1A1.*I`$C$#".9CQ"Q"T#*)!-6T7+@^
MP]A6>W]Z=/B\1.W-40=V>[KW?'\-IGUP.+5?M-=@8LX3(XCV9H":EIG6ULD6
M27.BS3+G-)NESV@R%7+CH>7H5'H*Y+CN=4%EZ=?PPP_(<W[RZZD.I:45)8L"
M@7QSCS*X%TGG,2)OJ#P3/,]8A(PQ2GR9M`@I2`E2(1%<^PC$>Y]`(V/&*XN2
M_#E%GT@<Y@.QKZ']*G?M,/5]>'B`OO*,8T[\OA)\-HCI]Q4Q='Q!I0EYE*<`
M_ZZ5?0<,XSNW8W%KBU*DU/G&?R(-0I!M"]$3_,%D&\$6W+J(6_`(29QYA(3C
M(N&NPS`]$00`$9A8*9J13&6$'2X`[N#HR`()!_S&Q^]9#`+Y!3`XMIT3]2B,
MFXF+HN`?$9;?I"+SD4Q$>:#DI4(L6P1U08M,9-E6GBW:;B'M[,"0Q2)IS=BH
MXXYGO.?O3]^0BX]Y"7)Y'%,WF14;`P].8U2/8HJN)5WK6$:*=O:VI;Z<E3]5
M/[X=8_[3/#ID(?6T6LWOOCQ[^TK7[^7GG\*\[(?]^*I9JYDF%\<]VM7TXR@5
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M7C>FLD.A@#61)9K9,7%/>FE?Z<>UFM?%OTOKJF$WY8=]U3BTLJ_V56/OT+((
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MMS-!^PRF[4.\^:3$>@4V8M//PR"!NW2RW[8B6:IJ6EZ-])*69V^T+1NB85[K
M]Z7LX3"(Z.@?D?V(QFE*`SZZ/A<4[UVOYVX65V(T;R8R%W,=K'OXEWLEMBCH
M9#S$VTEBZF"O^`P)9@447BV6SFIQW9$E.<9MO70`CNQ0D;VT/9MSRL5B8`U]
MQ\77K3.IY,EYL)'`B<!"2V4?=L>IV&W1*HAQ`,O;:DTOX[6XDN^KT@`7MI7]
M^[OZ%95AJ5=9SA`\C9-Q"W`>D(VI;/^*'C6[Q<4\@/UG%JG/,4+\5Y@2\$6(
M#'4,(L,PU2D"##7?:2Y%E8Z,_$BFW\]CG^F/C^5*7=$?W;\4E\EYF0EM-E>D
MY<I^E;1J#!?QDWMN1S7^X"S4U`>UU:.ZH:Z+*6ENET=W:SJYA7BE4TQ&MOY8
M+RO(/)%&&%.G;S_=9YMCXYN]'X^_B65C##A0AWC'931'9ID;^J&*UEY'L6+Y
MDOZ;V/])G63/7@:1<(84K**%EKD";VAA,B'N)MNO=?8U;;BLAT/I['(BQ@R3
M!H,08U`LY98UVS^1(#*MB"A[^-5>?B59_/\REG+"1H&Y0;[%V8HY8'4:^89G
M*V4LG6VCP++G%6PZN]*L4D""H_#-5]QI(;D<H[[R)!NX9NI@2Q+.%'+'U+T1
M:2!:P(8X0PO!!CY%W4B)(>,[S`]N.J#$Q3*)U;,J%LU4N6"$5,R"D/DTN`.4
MC<8S'7P6WD@7)WZX[DA/#(W(M.I>VV=(9%F]M>TC);+,#+H\6&Y0VQB[]E;5
M)<$&]2N\:_$;CE%A78M?/LXR1PG)6_RO'9>+<4!1J,>2SGPFKHZ,"RW%RG3[
M).WBG/HD<3&GR$%@09_9SV+;!^UM9(M:;*,K%!AP?D-##RVI>$C]F;51'<WU
MP#"D`8,;C\7R-Z8?3SZ>ZG7T-!?[WBB&!M2QA)7P19;$B7$V+WZP(_PVI+&L
M/%A0RFT,)*EG)JII;WY[]Z.^I-]UF:"6MW3_-G^148J>>UG=T1>&YWB1:35'
MY!OGW`.D:&\GF7[9CD_BE)9FM3MK^L!*8X#@;+[$J0&TWLF'-Y_R!@QZHU;>
M]:A2AOIHJ*9JJ(VB@Y!#QF.!E^90'[MY(P;8B.&81Z?4U=0R%(I;5O4ZG&-R
MRSL+Z:2C>OZ.LC=Z3?:6S7?V@>UWO3R,-8\[J5`7-__Y[(-.));("#P_U=7%
M^"MLD///F9&IJUY'MU[QNZ.8&@US.BU6=6'F.UY:Y,55(WOFWQL?<DJN7V>B
F9WGA'/6[]F1=:.[^9S?8]<CN+[OGNQ^OUVB(&>(O29%TT_H7````
`
end

Optional script to make multiple presentations:-

begin 644 Makefile.gz
M'XL(`#NB'UD"`\U7>5/;1A3_&WV*5R%'DD&'Q6$P<0:2>A*F)702AK9#&"Q+
M*WN#KM%*PN;(9^];R?(%>*"E3&!&N_ONW[ZWN\^KOQ@92XP>#0T2YA#8ET00
M5N$X)N&QYU&'P&$0)X0Q.(G@('-I9)Q2ET3P!Q))F-HIC4+X$(4Y21A.45?Y
MH%IFHPDG`\(9+$I2F@6ZL(H\SC"MA@4LM9-T2F@"LW,R65O6W'IS@;]I;<^O
M-\RY]98YK[_5V%Q8[Y1K)&2,0.2!X9+<8*E+0[!#MUQ>DR3"'1F!3P.:0HQ`
M[![U:3K2!:'SUTGG<Z-MYU00;-]O@>,3.[R@)J0#RH2554B(DR6,Z,)*3!(?
M-`+RU8#Z1'&)1T/B*I(T:+^M&T>XYQ[2WZGJ#2?]8,:W"=$P(K;'1BPE@2(Z
M+L@B_J-4,>X5^0)T+ZIWLB!4(;2$E20`S0,:]+6Z'H?]BH"I].A0EY0R?+6B
ML\R;IY>VIJ@0T*OA*7R6B/A>MOAF.D6%I:!';@QI!'KL>L(*B\H:U;0!L5V?
MEZFFC44UE$(AZ/I(=$'+H5XHWT)J4PR_T87;6_@FK$18ZR]AQZ>]A+R$(<_V
M&>&@HYB?+DSO:+V8!Q2+M42NE7F;M<5M3VW]`.M=6<9AYONH@&RTL41CF3'4
M#_*EWA[G38*=J<:9A'+A(J&<CHLTBF,4QR5HS+%]@ONF#:%AXJ&?$D;0;)K`
MZ8!S_/S))39!^P3-[9UE*#&*\3X7SAR;XBE_#7>3M$ZAHU.$GO,+%7?)SCD'
M-#^*8NZ#%CO6*,0TIY7C/=0;6MOH-<5[#&.FPPLO2&&4Y9N6&8.68%!CG<E)
MKIQ[04SZ_Y/M$M@C\5O_PH?UQ/A?R':5&#?K@<W?.'T&#;V'&DFS"?=\V\'A
MRL[GCAP6`>DG)`99.;.UZ_,S4]L]KY]AU6SOG&NWY4VLRK.UH@5V#":"*2:-
MEKT`K<"`)!N">`.K<X`O$F'IO5M]8<]^7@0]Y#7,XN\)<!;*C-Y+YW^"U=C8
M:NXBK/(I?)G$+#ZK#R;F9T3P<&(>@U,D1NA%T24)7=:J.J!7:Q@JSV7/P'R\
M3XNNX=4"*%V6[HE+T]:T-7E.^_&L%N.);83@4I9>4`M#4C!Z78<W;R"X=&D"
MLJ2\/_C:465L`QV\(N,$ZB#KNE'19U6P7\=6)LP"DE!'BZY"@FN'/^N5&1U%
MY"(L2?GX^_%[=:YFNU6US)MTGJT_O@9X2Y%X"^'VKRGBV"VBFC)*PZ5V#R6L
MY2+#Z^7\-,DFV]IHS=26%R5847[;W,/OVQW^75M3;Y!,;&<`DN2"LG_PY>.I
M>A-G;`#[_75)ZGP^O1&Y#_%.%PU1%^N&.$1-'<7O[L9\OAWB7?M[1$-%!'%]
MOZ_ND2%Q%%%2C@Y^ZZ@PSK*(I[XJ7)!Y8?3E<HR+T6%Y,?*+I9C@U2)78/CO
M!C+D/W.`!]1&X[\>?E$USM4DY>3PJ*.*/''S3ANE_E09E=IB-[YRL289<8$-
M];HQ'(Y7,C-*B]5S@M]R_NA'D@Q#[A:NQRYX+.C#M5,":[6_:T'-U6J?:D>U
0K]T'(C0%X1^4/-2PZ`X`````
`
end

(Usual instructions for uudecode process.)

I deleted these Seth Rich submissions and threw them here with some updates.

takyon writes:

The Washington Post reports:

The family of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich refuted Fox News reports that he had leaked work e-mails to WikiLeaks before he was fatally shot last year in the District.

The reports, which gained traction on social media, said an FBI forensics examination showed Rich transferred 44,053 DNC e-mails and 17,761 attachments to a now-deceased WikiLeaks director.

[...] Several federal and local law enforcement authorities also said Tuesday they were not aware that Rich sent any DNC information to WikiLeaks. "There is nothing that we can find that any of this is accurate," said Dustin Sternbeck, the chief spokesman for D.C police, which is leading the investigation into Rich's death.

[...] The allegations were reported by Fox News, including WTTG-TV, the District's Fox News affiliate. The reports cited a private investigator, Rod Wheeler, who Fox said was hired by the family and had previously worked for D.C. police. He also has been an on-air contributor to the Fox-5 news station. Fox also cited an unnamed federal official who said Rich had transferred thousands of emails to a WikiLeaks director. Fox's source asserts those emails were transferred between January 2015 and May 2016.

Also at MarketWatch, Fox News, and Washingtonian. Original Fox 5 DC story which now includes details of Wheeler backtracking on his claims multiple times during the week:

On Wednesday, just before our newscast, Wheeler responded to our requests via a telephone conversation, where he now backtracks his position and Wheeler characterizes his on-the-record and on-camera statements as "miscommunication."

And here is a reddit thread about some new "evidence".

-----

butthurt writes:

—Fox News (archive link)

—BuzzFeed News

—CNN Money

—Haaretz

additional coverage:

• Media Matters for America
• Infowars
• Heavy
• Washington Times (earlier story from 1 May)
• Breitbart News
• Breitbart News
• Breitbart News
• Washington Times
• The Guardian
• Mic
• Newsweek
• The Independent
• Right Wing Watch
• 1011 News
• The Week

• previous story:
  WikiLeaks Announces $20k Bounty For Murderer(s) of DNC Staffer

-----

Original Submission #1   Original Submission #2

I'm not doing this up as a proper story right at the moment because I'm not feeling especially professional and I prefer to be when talking about site business as a staff member. That said, this needs some attention.

A combination of personal issues and burnout have caused staffing on the site to drop annoyingly low. Here's the current shortfalls in staffing:

• Half a dozen or so Editors. We could use ten. Preferably folks not on a GMT or east coast time daylight hours schedule.
• Two perl coders. NCommander is still around doing systems and infrastructure but it's just me and paulej72 writing perl for the site currently. We realistically need four to six.
• Two board members. We need a bare minimum of three to prevent tie votes.
• Zero treasurers. The two board members have been covering this but we need someone who's good with finances and can keep track of everything officially.
• Zero artsy types. All UI design choices and graphics are currently done by us code monkeys, this is far from ideal.
• Zero wiki admins. We usually have to figure out who even has emergency backup access to it when something needs administratively done.

Again, this is not an official call to arms. This is me being annoyed at the state of things and venting. Board and treasurer decisions will be made by the board and it's not even my place to ask for recruits, so I'm not. That said, if you want to volunteer for any staff position, we're always open.

Best way to get in touch is to contact us on IRC (look over to the left) but don't expect an immediate response because we're often busy doing Life Stuff. Email works as well. themightybuzzard@soylentnews.org or any other staff member will get you forwarded to someone happy to help you on your way to exploitation.

The Humble Bundle has a 'Super Nebula Author Showcase' going: pretty good deal for those who enjoy reading from an ebook or tablet, etc.

Authors of interest to me are:
Harlan Ellison,Greg Bear, George RR Martin

There was one that caught my attention, then made me mad: the new thing to push books by unknowns...

Arthur C. Clarke's 'Venus Prime'
and underneath, 'Venus Prime', Arthur C. Clarke, Winning Author
**But it was written by Paul Preuss (who as far as i can tell is not a pen name that Clarke used and is NOT an award winner).

I hate this sort of thing, and have seen a lot of it sold under names like:
Clive Cussler and James Patterson

I know it's a way of getting known, but sheeesh.

Anyways, looks like a good bundle but i find i am one of those people turning against ebooks, sadly... i just find, i dunno, inconvenient or something.

Men-only island set for UNESCO World Heritage status

A Japanese island where women are not allowed to set foot has been recommended for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Okinoshima in south-western Japan is deemed so sacred that only men are allowed to visit, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports. Even then, visitors are not allowed to bring back any souvenirs to the mainland, not even a blade of grass, the paper says. It has been recommended for World Heritage status by an advisory panel, with a final decision to be made at a UNESCO meeting in July.

The home to the Munakata Taisha Okitsumiya shrine, which honours a goddess of the sea, Okinoshima was the site of rituals for the safety of ships, and successful exchanges with the people of the Korean Peninsula and China between the fourth and ninth centuries, the Japan Times says.

wut about the kawaii goddess? Do she count?

New World Order Government cultural organization enforces gender norms on a Japanese island with a for real goddess on it, leading to a disastrous series of events. I'm sure somebody could write a 25 episode anime with that premise.

The FBI translator who went rogue and married an ISIS terrorist

He was Denis Cuspert, a German rapper turned ISIS pitchman, whose growing influence as an online recruiter for violent jihadists had put him on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities on two continents.

In Germany, Cuspert went by the rap name Deso Dogg. In Syria, he was known as Abu Talha al-Almani. He praised Osama bin Laden in a song, threatened former President Barack Obama with a throat-cutting gesture and appeared in propaganda videos, including one in which he was holding a freshly severed human head.

Within weeks of marrying Cuspert, Greene, 38, seemed to realize she had made a terrible mistake. She fled back to the US, where she was immediately arrested and agreed to cooperate with authorities. She pleaded guilty to making false statements involving international terrorism and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. She was released last summer.

FBI employee married ISIS fighter she was asked to investigate

Prosecutors describe her actions as deserving of "severe punishment," but she was sentenced to just two years in prison. According to an analysis by Fordham University, Americans who are prosecuted for ISIS-related cases received on average 13.5 years in prison.

Quick! WRITE THE SCRIPT! Call Lionsgate!

Unblur!