Mixcloud Live: Legal Live Streaming For DJ’s

Live Streaming in the DJ world has had a lot of interest over the past few years. While nothing has come close to the demand we’ve seen for live today, during a pandemic. A new reality has set in and there’s been plenty of cancelled events. Therefore creators and institutions are facing an extremely challenging financial future. Mixcloud LIVE is here to help that.

Mixcloud LIVE

So, as a result, Mixcloud have launched Mixcloud LIVE for all of their PRO Creators. Mixcloud LIVE is a first music focused, integrated solution to allow audio creators to live stream video and archive the audio (coming soon). Futhermore they’re able to generate income via SELECT. While this is done via a legal and licensed platform ensuring that underlying artists and songwriters who get played will get paid.

All via a legal and licensed platform ensuring the underlying artists and songwriters who get played, get paid.

Some Bugs

Mixcloud have been working hard to bring a brand new way for creators to express themselves over the last few weeks. All within the best way possible. They’ve built and released Mixcloud LOVE earlier than they’d normally do, so expect some bugs and UI flaws when using it. However, don’t worry as they will iron them out as quickly a possible.

Mixcloud LIVE has been designed to bring an interactive, fun, human experience to both creators and listeners, at a time when the world is socially distant we can feel closer than ever with music.

Start here: mixcloud.com/live/new

For help setting up, check out this article on how to go live on Mixcloud

(Mixcloud)

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To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate

At a time where vaccinations are a hot topic right now and on everyone’s lips. Coronavirus vaccine is a way off, but it brings us to think about vaccination’s in general and how important they are to everyone’s livelihood.

To most of us getting a vaccination is just a natural way of life and a way of protecting ourselves against the many different diseases out there. However, in America, vaccination’s are a controversial topic, with many parent’s opting to not have their children vaccinated.

So when an outbreak of measles infected a small town in America, one parent who decided against getting their child a vaccination. Was worried about their child getting sick and asked her community how best to protect her child from measles. Well….you can guess the response.

Take a look at the gallery below for the full response on how people reacted to her not getting a vaccine for her child:

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Extreme Cheapskates: Testicle Donations

The video above is from an episode of Extreme Cheapskates. It is said that people’s loose change tantamounts to millions of dollars each year. This extreme cheapskate hunts down dimes, nickels and pennies all of Las Vegas to gain a few extra cash every day.

Mark is a cheapskate. There’s no other word for it. When a dog chewed up his shoes, instead of buying a new pair, he took a marker and coloured in the damaged tongue of his shoes. He buys his shoes from the shoe repair store too, however, we don’t see too much wrong with that.

Mark even keeps his grocery bills at under $60 a MONTH! He disregards expiration dates on food as well! Spending no more than a dollar on a single item. Frugal to say the least!

Mark even, now this is cheeky, asks people at the laundromat if he can put HIS CLOTHES in the washer/dryer with other people’s clothes. Oh Mark! Extreme Cheapskate indeed!

He does like a gamble, but in true Extreme Cheapskate fashion, it’s not with his own money. He’ll use money that he finds around town on the floors of Las Vegas. However at the casino he’ll get drinks for free. Which in a bar would cost $12. I can see his point there I guess. Win Win. Doesn’t spend a dime. Could win loads of cash and get’s free booze. I’ll give you that one Mark.

Extreme Cheapskates: Medical Studies

However, Mark, in an attempt to save or rather earn some money, has over the years volunteered in over 100 medical studies.

The riskier the trials the more money he gets paid. He also keeps the scrubs.

One medical trial that caught marks eye was to Donate a testical for $35,000. WHAT? $35K for one ball?! Where do sign up?!

Maybe being an extreme cheapskate isn’t so bad afterall.

As Mark has signed up for so many trials he gets free check ups each month to see if he is a good candidate for each study.

The doctor wasn’t too pleased when he heard Mark’s reasoning for giving up a ball though.

Losing a ball however, leads to Mark growing even more of the ‘Man Boobs’ as the doctor called them.

Ultimately, the doc put an end to Mark’s dreams of losing a ball. However he did get given the go ahead for testosterone replacement trials, which pays $520 per month.

Which pays for his rent and car payment each month.

You see may be Mark has a point here……maybe.

 

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Coronavirus

Coronavirus: Are you helping to flatten the curve?

Drastic measures have been put into place to stop the spread of Coronavirus. Every country affected by the Coronavirus have put in varying levels of lockdown to help dampen and flatten the curve until many of us can go back outside again. But what would happen if we do go out?

Coronavirus Explainer: What if you go out?

  • You go out and visit friends and family
  • However, you don’t display any symptoms of COVID-19 and think that you are safe.
  • Turns out you have COVID 19 but don’t show any symptoms whatsoever
  • When visiting friends and family you pass it on to 2 of your friends and a grandparent
  • Each of those go on to visit their own friends and members of their family
  • According to scientific modelling, those affected, on average, without social distancing in place, will pass on the virus to 3 other people.

Spreading Coronavirus

  • As a result out of one infection, cases will soon start to spread quickly and far outside your own network
  • Most of those infected, however, would experience either mild symptoms or have a nasty flu like experience, making a full recovery. Some would require hospital treatment.
  • According to scientific modelling by Imperial College London, about 4.5% of those infected would need to be admitted to hospital
  • The same model predicts that out of 100 people, 30 would need a critical care bed.
  • However the NHS face problems as out of those 30 people only 1 person can receive a bed once the pandemic hits peak
  • Therefore NHS doctors face dilemma’s as to who does and who doesn’t receive the bed
  • Should Patient A, a 78 year old retired teacher and grandmother of 7 get the bed. Or Patient B, a 68 year old retired fire fighter who is the sole carer of his wife who has Alzeihmers disease?

Overcoming the disease

  • The Imperial team have assessed various different ways of reducing the number of people needing the NHS’s critical-care beds.
  • The team discovered that if people experienced symptoms and those who lived with them. Stayed home for 2 weeks. Whilst those over 70 reduced social contact and kept it to a minimum. The impact on the NHS would be reduced.
  • However, even with this measure it still leaves 8 patients needing 1 bed.
  • Therefore the team discovered that if social distancing measures applied to everyone. Schools and Universities closed. The two week quarantine period applied to households who had people living in them that showed symptoms. Then the NHS can cope.
  • This would then lead to the NHS being able to cope with the number of patients in their wards at the peak of the pandemic
  • However, despite all these measures. Those in places where demand happened to be above average, NHS services would still be be strained.
  • The research undertaken by Imperial College has been very influencial. The approach explained here is similar to what UK government ministers have implemented. The NHS, so far, has not been overwhelmed largely because of social distancing and lockdown measures.

2nd Wave

  • Though, we have to be careful.
  • As, as soon as the measures are lifted, the research predicts that another outbreak could occur. Which would be just as bad if we had done nothing this time round.
  • There are only 2 ways out of lockdown. A development of a vaccine. Or a more effective way of testing people, tracing all those who had come into contact with those who were tested positive.
  • Since the research was released, so far there has been a huge effort to increase the number of critical care beds available, up from 5,000 that the NHS had at the time
  • To keep the curve flat, we must stay at home and work from home where possible. It is vitaly important.

(BBC)

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SO REAL

We recently chatted with Kelly Vero of SO REAL a company who have the fastest 3D Model tech tool in the business. They produce some awesome content. Content that is built at cinematic quality and game/VR ready assets which can be usde in games film and all XR!

They do this by using their patent pending scanning and conversion tech, the SO REAL tech then automates the productionof digital twins of 3D real life objects. It’s so incredibly cool, you really cannot tell which is real and which is computer generated. Check out the image at the bottom of this article for an example.

The SO REAL tech also does a whole host of things such as:

  • Game- / XR-Ready Guarantee
  • Cinematic Quality
  • Huge, Growing Portfolio
  • Physics Parameters
  • Cool Features. Such as: Built-in Physics Parameters, X-Ray Vision Mode and Shatter Effect

SO REAL: Why?

Immersion > Empathy > Understanding > Peace & Commerce

The guys over at SO REAL are all about making the world smaller. They want to allow you to immerse yourself in the content you engage with. If you want to understand or learn another language or culture, what better way to immerse yourself in it. (Other than flying to another country to experience a new culture first hand)

Well immersion helps with a few things other than making your carbon footprint smaller:

  • Immersive experiences are the next best thing.
  • Immersion leads to empathy.
  • Empathy leads to understanding.
  • Understanding leads to peace.

Their Mission Statement

By mass-producing cinematic-quality, XR- / game-ready 3D objects, we enable global access to immersive experiences and thus accelerate the journey to global understanding.

They believe that by making the world smaller and immersing individually you are able to emerge together as one. Aritsts and business people are the true ambassadors of the world and by immersing your content with SO REAL it would help with understanding others more. Therefore as SO REAL state that if it doesn’t WOW you, it’s not complete. You have to BUSHIDO, which is samurai code for commit and deliver, walk the talk! Collaborate with others and find a way to complete the task at hand. Plus humour. Having fun and laughing accelerates the speed of adoption of anything new that you are learning!

Check out what they promise to both their customers and their investors:

The SO REAL Promise (USP) for customers

Each SO REAL object:

  1. is game- / xR-ready.
  2. is of cinematic quality, (but we can make them more cartoony if you’d like).
  3. has astonishingly precise topology.
  4. has the physics parameters already built in.
  5. has optional cool features not available anywhere else:
    • Superman X-Ray Vision Mode built in. (Yes, you can look inside the objects!)
    • Shatter Effect. (precalculated shatter points and shards)

SO REAL’s proprietary automation technology reduces production time of 3D objects by orders of magnitude. As we can produce 100’s of new objects per week, we deliver you never-ending VARIETY.

The SO REAL promise For INVESTORS

SCALE!

SO REAL has 2 stages of multipliers.

STAGE 1, the rocket booster:
With very little effort, we create 1000’s of objects each of which can be sold 1000’s of times.

STAGE 2, the afterburner:
After a few years, the SO REAL automation tool will be a robust, stable product of its own. By licensing it to 3rd parties, 1000’s of 3D artists can also create 100’s or even 1000’s of 3D objects per year, each of which can be sold (by SO REAL) 1000’s of times.

 

An example of their work is below, can YOU tell the difference?

Above all we think that SO REAL are doing some fantastic work and we cannot wait to see what they come up with over the next few years. It’s an incredible piece of tech that we LOVE!

Check them out here

Listen to our interview with Kelly Vero here

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Who funds the WHO?

The WHO, the World Health Organisation have been in the news a lot lately. Giving us daily updates on the world wide pandemic that we are all currently experiencing. It’s been in the news for other reasons lately however. As President Trump recently announced that he would be halting US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to Trump, the WHO, are guilty of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”.

So, how much does the US give to the WHO?

The latest figures (above) from the WHO show that the US gave $893m for its latest 2 year budget cycle. That accounts for about 15% of the groups total funding base. Furthermore it’s 10x that of the contribution of China.

While it goes without saying, retracting funding to the WHO. In one of the worlds worst global pandemics for a century has been heavily criticised. However, Trump hasn’t been the only one to criticise the WHO for it’s advice and actions at the start of the pandemic.

Contributors to the WHO is a really long list, coming in at #2 is the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. They are soon followed by the UK, the GAVI Alliance, Germany, Japan and other organisations such as the World Bank.

China?

China contributed just $86M to the most recent funding cycle. This is on par with Norway. A country with a population of 1/260th of it’s size.

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sweden

Sweden has a FAR different approach to COVID

 

Sweden is one of the few countries not to enter a partial or full lockdown to help the fight against coronavirus.

Swedish authorities have opted for a relaxed measure to help isolated confirmed cases as much as possible. Keeping schools for younger children, restaurants and most shops open. While Denmark, Finland and Norway have all imposed some form of lockdown 3 weeks ago.

Sweden still operate social distancing guidelines. Traffic data from Citymapper suggest that trips within Stockholm have fallen 70%. As most people are working from home if they can.

However, the most recent figures are suggesting that this wasn’t enough. Sweden have now recorded almost 800 deaths from Coronavirus. Which is twice as many as it’s Scandinavian neighbours combined.

Sweden’s strategy is a bold one, though if deaths keep rising at the current rate, it has not worked as intended.

(Chartr)

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Zoom COVID benefits in more ways than one!

 

Zoom. The meeting app that has skyrocketed in popularity. Our friends over at Chartr have taken a look at it in a closer and have found a few things. They’ve have had a huge few months, their user base has increased twenty-fold and their share price has more than doubled. It’s gone on to become the go to communication tool for many of us in lockdown. However, another company called Zoom Technologies, a tiny company who have no affiliation to the video conferencing company.

Some people are investing. Some think that they’re investing in Zoom Communications (the real one) when they’re actually buying Zoom Technologies stock (the other one). Those mistakes have pushed the wrong Zoom companies price up to 1800%. Which is a tidy return for those who made the mistake early doors and benefited from others doing the same later on down the line. By the way here is where you can get buy Zoom shares.

Suspended Trading

To try and minimise the confusion and protect investors. The SEC (US Security and Exchange Commission) had to suspend trading in Zoom Technologies for a short period.

This has actually happened before. Zoom Communications went public in April 2019. Investors poured money into Zoom Technologies. Seeing their share price go from under a cent to almost $6 in a month. Other instances of these mistakes happening are, Twitter and Snapchat. When Twitter (TWTR) went public in 2013, investors bought Tweeter Home Entertainment (TWTRQ) stock. In one day increased their stock by 1,500%! In 2017 Snapchat (SNAP) went public, the stock price of Snap Iterative increased 164%

(Chartr)

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Playstation 5 Controller Announced: Dualsense!

The Playstation 5 Controller Announced: The Dualsense.

The Playstation 5 controller brings with it a whole host of new features such as haptic feedback, Tempest 3D AudioTech, the Share button and an inbuilt microphone. It sounds like this new controller will be very captivating indeed.

It looks like the Dualshock controller concept is still there, but with added functionality while refining the design. With a particular focus on touch!

For example you;ll feel the grittiness of driving a car through mud! Bringing an incredible feeling of immersion! Furthermore there’s adaptive triggers in the L2 and R2 buttons making you truly feel the tension of the action. For example the drawing of a bow to shoot an arrow.

The designers at Sony wanted to have these adaptive triggers and not have a bulky feeling. They worked with engineers to place the triggers and actuators to make a controller which looks and feels great. While making the controller feel smaller than it looks. Furthermore the angles of the hand triggers has been adjusted and there’s some subtle updates to the grip. The weight has also been kept low with the new features added and Sony have stated that they’ve kept the battery life long.

Create

The share button has been replaced by the ‘Create’ button. Sony sare stating that it’s a new way for players to create epic gameplay and share with the world. No more details has been announced yet, which will be revealed closer to launch.

The DualSense has also got a built in microphone array, allowing players to easily chat with friends.

Playstation 5 Controller Announced: Colours

Colours are different this time round and there is a two tone design. The position of the lightbar has changed, now sitting either side of the touch pad.

Design

The DualSense has been designed with a wide range of gamers in mind. All with a variety of hand sizes, with the ultimate goal to give fantastic comfort. DualSense is designed to give gamers a feeling of being transported into the game, an extension of themselves when playing. So much so they will forget they’re holding it!

What Sony are saying:

“DualSense marks a radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5. The new controller, along with the many innovative features in PS5, will be transformative for games – continuing our mission at PlayStation to push the boundaries of play, now and in the future.

To the PlayStation community, I truly want to thank you for sharing this exciting journey with us as we head toward PS5’s launch in Holiday 2020. We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months.”

– Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment  

(playstation

 

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6 Ways An Apple Watch Can Keep You In Shape!

Apple Watch is a great way to help you stay fit, it’s a great fitness helper and an incredible gadget too! So, why not get involved and find out how the Apple Watch can help you stay fit. While not just in lockdown but also when we return to regular old normal day to day life!

1. Activity Sharing


At times like this, people feel more isolated. So why not get involved with the Activity Sharing features! While this is a great time to try it out with your friends. As it’s a way to make keeping in shape fun! Furthermore it can boost your spirits. As it can be just as much about being active. As it is about staying connected and social! Get out there and challenge your friends and family!

 

 


2. Activity Competitions

So as we stated in #1, you can set competitions. While more specifically, activity competitions! Yet, it doesn’t have to be about winning and losing. So just set a goal that is easy to hit. Therefore aim to tie each other or max out the points for a certain number of days. Simple! Therefore a simple shared goal can be a fun addition to the week for you and your friends. Help each other stay connected. Motivate one another. While staying fit!

3. Stand Reminder

Also, don’t forget to pay attention to the stand reminder! Use it as an encouragement to get active. Not just a notification to ignore! Just walk around the house/flat if you can’t go out. So just do a few minutes every hour over 12 hours. Therefore it can really add up over the course of the whole day

4. Awards

So, remember competitions? Check out Awards tab in the Activity app on iPhone. Compete with yourself and go for an award you haven’t received yet

5. Mindfulness

While, the Breathe app is an easy way to take a few minutes during the day to reset. As your mental health is just as important as your physical!  Furthermore, there are also many guided meditation apps on the App Store to select!
Also, whilst you’re doing so, why not check out new podcasts on Apple Podcasts or playlists on Apple Music!

6. Apps


While it’s a great time to explore the App Store on iPhone or Apple Watch, get moving! Download apps which encourage group fitness classes or live classes! Experiment with activities and try some in the privacy of your own home!

 

 

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