Payment - Page 18 of 19

Netflix disappoints with poor growth: shares under pressure

After tremendous growth in the wake of the Corona restrictions, Netflix has recently been noticeably worse. The share price plummeted.

(Image: XanderSt / Shutterstock.com)

After the corona-related subscription boom in the first half of the year, the number of customers for the online video service Netflix fell sharply in the third quarter. In the three months to the end of September, the bottom line was only 2.2 million payment subscriptions, as the streaming market leader announced on Tuesday after the US market closed. In doing so, Netflix missed its own forecast and remained well below the analysts’ expectations. Investors let the share fall by around six percent in an initial reaction after the trading day.

Had series hits like “Tiger King” in combination with the increased streaming demand due to the corona pandemic in the previous quarters caused a huge rush , user growth has now slowed down sharply. Compared to the same period of the previous year, when 6.8 million customers were added, things looked much more modest. Year-on-year profit increased from 665 million to 790 million dollars (668 million euros), but also fell short of expectations. Meanwhile, sales even increased by around 23 percent

New billions: USA wants to bring nuclear power into the renewable age

The “new king” in global power generation is photovoltaics, as the International Energy Agency recently stated in its annual report 2020, but at least some countries see it continue to have a future in nuclear power. This includes, for example, the USA: Here the Department of Energy (DoE) has just received the first 160 million dollars for the construction of two new types of power plants released, which should run from the end 2027. A total of several billion dollars in funding is possible for this – and one of the two new reactors could be a good addition to more and more electricity from the sun and other renewable but unstable sources.

The two companies that are now receiving DoE funding as part of the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, which started in spring, are young, but still old acquaintances in the nuclear scene: Terrapower was 2006 founded by Bill Gates and others and already got 2016 together with the partner Southern Energy 40 Million dollars for the further development of a new reactor design. And also X-energy, founded 2009, was already 2016 by the DoE with the same amount

In the USA, too, the ongoing projects for new nuclear power plants are repeatedly delayed or have been completely stopped, but the country has said goodbye to the further development of technology Not. In an article on the new funding for Terrapower and X-energy, the DoE even seems to want to signal something like a spirit of optimism: After decades, the USA is finally ready to take the next step in demonstrating advanced reactors, it says . There is non-partisan support for this in the US Congress, and the two projects could receive 3.2 billion dollars in total.

Wherever the funds go Half of the money goes to the two funded companies, which in turn have to contribute the same amount of funds. The aim is for each of them to build a reactor with a new design that will be “fully operational” within seven years, as the DoE explains (in another communication, however, it speaks of “can”). The payment of the remaining planned funding depends on further allocations from the Congress as well as on satisfactory progress in the period up to 2027.

Both of the designs now funded are different from today’s nuclear power plants, but have been researched and developed in some cases for decades with setbacks. X-energy wants to build a so-called pebble bed reactor in which the uranium fuel is encapsulated in graphite balls. A larger supply is used up very slowly.

The X-energy concept also has two other special features. Instead of water, helium is used for cooling and heat transfer, which enables higher steam temperatures and thus efficiency. And the reactor Xe – 100 is modular and will later be prefabricated in factories; For the DoE project, four units with a total of 320 megawatts of power are planned.

Liquid salt in the tank Terrapower, in turn, is working, together with its partner GE-Hitachi, on a fast reactor cooled with sodium (after the English name, abbreviated as SFR) . The metal only melts at high temperatures, so it does not have to be under pressure, which reduces complexity and costs. As usual with SFR, the resulting heat is transferred to another molten medium, namely salt. This non-nuclear part is decoupled from the actual reactor at Terrapower and can therefore be designed and built less expensively.

In addition, the heated molten salt can not only be used immediately to generate electricity in the generator, but also later – alternatively, it can be stored in tanks first. The actual reactor output for the planned Terrapower demonstrator is 345 M

Now At Work 2020: here's what we talked about during the virtual event held by ServiceNow

During Now At Work 2020 ServiceNow has collected the success stories of the companies and Public Administrations that have adopted the Now Platform, including Acea and the Municipality of Milan. He then took the opportunity to present the news of the latest release, Paris

by Alberto Falchi published on 20 October 2020 , at 14: 01 in the Innovation channel

ServiceNow

Recently ServiceNow held the virtual event Now at Work 2020 where he presented the success stories of his customers and the news of the new release of the Now Platform , code name Paris . All the keynotes and the various presentations are still accessible on the event website, one of the advantages of organizing these presentations in a virtual way, thus making them accessible to everyone, not just professionals, and allowing those who have not been able to follow them in real time to access these materials.

Now at Work 2020: what did we talk about

Now At Work 2020 was focused not only on the presentation of the new version of the Now Platform , ServiceNow’s platform for creating custom workflows, but ample space has been given to the stories of customers who have successfully adopted the platform. Sessions were also dedicated to how to optimize company procedures thanks to technology, seizing the opportunities offered by the digital transformation . Particular attention was given to the transformation of the workplace that affected everyone during the health emergency. From this point of view, the keynote is interesting, during which Filippo Giannelli of ServiceNow Italia, Mario Attubato by Saipem and Sebastiano Barisoni de Il Sole 24 Hours discussed how the business should be transformed to respond to the challenges imposed by the crisis generated by the covid – 19.

Roberto Galdini of ServiceNow conducted a session dedicated to the convergence between project management and customer service , while Mario Noioso focused his speech on how to make the most of data from a business perspective, also relying on analysis systems based on machine learning . There was no lack of sessions dedicated to real use cases, where customers illustrated the problems they solved thanks to the ServiceNow platform: Alan Montanari and Giuseppe Giordano of Snam and Carlotta Comite di Iren , who has explained how the lockdown has changed the habits of those who work in Iren, but not the company’s objectives, which always see people at the center of everything.

Ample space has been given the sessions dedicated to successful cases, one of which focused on the digital transformation of the city of Milan , one of the few Italian municipalities that can boast a councilor for digital transformation and physical services. Armando Crisafo and Alessandro Visintini of ServiceNow discussed together with Stefano Marcon , Executive Instructor Information Systems of the Municipality of Milan, of how the ServiceNow platform has supported the administration in providing a series of digital services to citizens, such as the request for certificates, the payment of taxes and duties.

Maurizio Figliomeni, ServiceNow platform manager at Inail, spoke about Inail’s vision on how the ServiceNow platform has standardized and optimized IT processes and has become central to the digitization of the Institute’s business processes.

Also interesting is the case of Acea , a company operating in the energy sector and supplies Rome and some areas of Tuscany. Angelo Basile, Head of the Products Unit & Platforms di Acea , explained how the adoption of the Now Platform has made it possible to have a single and consolidated view of all IT initiatives, both from a technical point of view both from the economic one.

All these case studies and insights are available on demand, free of charge, with lots of subtitles in different languages. The only prerequisite is to register on the ServiceNow website.

Paris: the news of the new version of the Now Platform

ServiceNow goes on to give the versions of its platform the names of the main cities. If the previous versions were called New York and Orlando, the current one takes us back to the Old Continent and takes the name of Paris , which introduces 6 new products: Business Continuity Management , to ensure resilience and support businesses in crisis management; Financial Services Operations , which helps financial organizations better connect teams and the back office; Hardware Asset Management , to automate the management of the company’s physical assets; Legal Service Delivery , which gives legal teams the visibility they need to make better decisions; Telecommunications Service Management , to manage communication services more flexibly and finally Telecommunications Network Performance Management , which offers IT teams l

Google launches free Stadia game demos to entice people into cloud gaming

Google is launching a series of Stadia game demos that are truly free to play. Starting today, existing or new Stadia users will be able to play demos of Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, with more coming later this week. These will be available for seven days and won’t require a Stadia Pro subscription or even a form of payment to play them.

All you’ll need to do is click a link, create a Stadia account, and then start playing the game demos streamed from Google’s Stadia cloud servers. It’s a clear attempt from Google to entice more people over to its Stadia service, with an easy and free way to play game demos to see if the service is worth paying for. It should help address concerns around Stadia’s small user base and allow anyone to try out cloud gaming for free.

Google is holding three consecutive days of game demos and betas, and Humankind will be available tomorrow, with an Immortals Fenyx Rising demo arriving on October 22nd. Each demo game will be available for one week free of charge. Google also announced today that Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is coming to Stadia on November 17th.

It’s interesting to see Google embrace free demos: they were one of the key selling points for Gaikai — one of the original cloud gaming services — but Sony never tried them after buying up Gaikai and rolling its tech into the rival PlayStation Now. Google Stadia is run by Phil Harrison, who used to sit on Gaikai’s advisory board, and Stadia head of business development Jack Buser used to run Sony’s PlayStation Now.

Stadia Pro owners now have 29 claimable games and the release of Cyberpunk 2077 on November 19th to look forward to playing on the cloud gaming service.

Correction: A previous versi

Microsoft releases a new Xbox app for streaming games to iPhone and iPad

Enable the Remote Play function, not to be confused with xCloud. The Android version of the app had already been made available

by Rosario Grasso published 20 October 2020 , at 17: 01 in the Videogames channel

Microsoft Xbox

One new Xbox app is now available on the App Store and includes, among other features, the so-called Remote Play , which allows you to stream games for Xbox One to devices iOS as iPhone and iPad .

The Remote Play should not be confused with the service xCloud : if in the latter case the games are processed on Microsoft’s remote servers, with Remote Play it is the Xbox console One to process the game and then to stream it to the device via network Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G . Previously available on Android , the new Xbox app replicates a service already active in the world for some time PlayStation .

The new Xbox app is capable of streaming games for Xbox Series S and Series X , as well as for Xbox One, while it does not support Xbox 360 and the original Xbox.

The Remote Play functionality is not the only one made available by the app: among other things, in fact, yes can turn on and control the console remotely , even when you are not at home. Started in this way, the Xbox does not turn on any indicator lights and emit no noise, and goes into standby after a short period of inactivity.

The iOS app presents mirror functionality compared to the existing Android app. There is also the possibility of to start remote downloads and share game clips and screenshots . From the app you can also manage the space available on your hard drive and uninstall games. The new app is faster than the previous version for iOS, and its graphics are already adapted to the motifs that we will see from 10 November with Xbox Series S and Series X.

The release of the new Xbox app on iOS seems like an attempt at reconciliation between Microsoft and Apple after the discontent arising from the change of policies operated by Apple for the App Store. Microsoft has not yet released the xCloud app for iOS precisely because of these changes which, among others things, prevent you from releasing a service that integrates a multitude of games within it. According to Apple, each game must match an app, which is not compatible with the philosophy behind the xCloud project according to Microsoft. It is not the only limiting element because Apple wants to verify all game updates before they are released and that in-app purchases are conveyed through its payment system.

Intel sells its NAND and SSD memory division and facilities to SK Hynix

by Antonio Delgado Ago 30 minutes ago …

I ntel is ditching its SSD and NAND memory business , including also its factories, selling them to SK Hynix for 9. 000 millions of dollars. In this way, the processor giant will say goodbye to one of its product lines, leaving a market where they had a catalog with different SSD units, especially in the business market.

The sale will be will be made in phases, with an initial payment of 7. 000 million and a final payment of 2. 000 million and will not be until 2025 when completed, meanwhile, Intel will continue to build NAND and SSD chips on its premises. In addition, the Optane Memory brand will remain under the control of the company, since, at least until now, its production was in the hands of Micron and not Intel itself.

Following the acquisition, SK Hynix will be the world’s second largest manufacturer of NAND memories

The sale also includes intellectual property related to its SSDs and employees across the division and factories, an agreement after which SK Hynix will strengthen its position in the market as one of the main manufacturers of enterprise NAND memories and SSDs, positioning itself as the second manufacturer of NAND memories after Samsung

Intel has ensured that this transaction will help them prioritize their investments in differentiating technologies where they can play a greater role in the success of their clients and offer more attractive returns to our shareholders.

For its part, Hynix has stated that, following this purchase, the company will proactively respond to diverse customer needs and optimize our business structure, expanding our innovative portfolio in the NAND flash market segment, which will be comparable to what we achieve in DRAM “

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TechStage | Buying advice: Apple Watch clones from 30 euros

Beginning Willful Amazfit GTS Amazfit Bip Fitbit Versa 2 Conclusion Comments by Matthias // 19 . 10. 2020 17: 22 Clock

Apple Watch clones are cheap, stylish and can do a lot. TechStage takes a look at the Willful Samrtwatch, Xiaomi Amazfit GTS, Amazfit Bip, Fitbit Versa 2 and their alternatives.

The Apple Watch is considered the best smartwatch. It owes this to its pleasing appearance, the high-quality workmanship and above all the high range of functions. Your problem: The current version costs at least 400 Euro and only works with iOS devices.

But there are alternatives. The Willful Smartwatch is very popular on Amazon thanks to its low price and great visual similarity to the Apple Watch. Huami also competes with the Apple group in the wearable sector. The Xiaomi daughter is only about five years old and sold 2018 already most wearables worldwide. It also owes this to its Xiaomi Mi Band series. In our test, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 (test report) and the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 (test report) convince with their strong hardware and the unbeatable price-performance ratio. With the 3 series we complained about the bad localization, the 4 series, on the other hand, does everything right and consequently receives the grade ” Very good” our clear purchase recommendation.

Willful Smartwatch The Willful Smartwatch is the most popular smart watch on Amazon. Depending on the color, it costs between 30 and 40 Euro and offers a lot of features for its low price. This includes tracking the steps taken, the calories burned and the kilometers traveled. It also measures the pulse, sleep and uses the GPS of the smartphone connected via Bluetooth to show a route, for example while running. It also shows incoming messages and calls, controls music and has a flashlight, timer, stopwatch, mobile phone location and breathing trainer.

It looks a lot like the Apple Watch. She is 12 millimeters thick, 35 mm wide and 41 millimeters long. Your 1.3 inch display is with 240 × 240 Pixels nice and sharp, sufficiently bright and offers usable viewing angles. However, the display edge is much too thick, especially on the lower side. Remarkable: Despite its low price it offers an IP 65 certification. You should be able to swim with it without hesitation. Salt water should be avoided.

The bracelet offers a quick-release fastener so that it can be swapped with one hand. It’s made of a soft plastic and feels good on the skin. According to the seller Willfull, the battery should last seven to ten days. In practice, we still get a good five days. It is charged using the charging adapter supplied.

Willful Smartwatch (17 Pictures) The Willful Smartwatch has a sharp and quite bright display.

When using the app, you can quickly see why the watch is so cheap. For example, when setting up for the first time, it is not possible to set the unit from feet to centimeters and from pounds to kilograms when specifying your own height and weight. In this case, Google will help with the conversion. The notification function only works with some apps, including Facebook, Instagram, SMS, Messenger and Whatsapp. When it comes to music control, the app gives the user the choice between Spotify, Youtube Music and Google Play Music. If desired, the app exchanges with Google Fit and Strava. Overall, however, the app is okay, if a little confusing. It offers a lot of setting options.

Not surprisingly, the Willful Smartwatch cannot do ten times keep up with such expensive apple watch. Nevertheless, it is just for its low price of 28 to 40 euros worth a recommendation. They are almost identical in construction from other retailers on Amazon and from various China retailers.

Amazfit GTS At the IFA 2019 showed Huami an Apple Watch clone that has it all. The Amazfit GTS is visually very similar to the Apple model, offers very good workmanship with a metal frame, water resistance up to 50 m and a very beautiful, bright and colorful 1, 65 – inch OLED touch display with a resolution of strong 400 × 348 Pixel, which is easy to read even in direct sunlight. The Amazfit GTS even manages to undercut the weight and dimensions of the Apple Watch and surpass the battery life. Huami states ten days here. In practice it is even significantly more days.

Huami Amazfit GTS (7 pictures) In terms of its range of functions, you have to accept compromises compared to an Apple Watch. Nevertheless, the Amazfit GTS does a very good job both as a fitness and sleep tracker and as a smartwatch. It supports twelve activities, including walking, running, cycling, swimming, climbing and skiing. It also records GPS data and shows the distance covered in the app. The athlete can see his current pulse at any time on the Amazfit GTS display. The display shows incoming messages reliably, the vibration alarm is strong. However, pictures and emojis are left out and the smartphone must also be used to answer.

The Amazfit GTS costs well 85 Euro.

Amazfit Bip The Amazfit Bip is the predecessor of the GTS. It also looks like the Apple Watch, is up to date with 55 Euro but only half as expensive as you Amazfit GTS. For this, your color display solves with 100 × 127 pixels significantly lower, the display is 1, 28 inches also much smaller and therefore the display edges thicker. The housing is made of plastic. The Bip is waterproof and GPS is on board. In terms of battery life, the Amazfit Bip outperforms most competing models. So should the little one 190 – mAh battery the clock 45 Keep going for days. A value that many testers confirm. It also offers many fitness and some smartwatch functions. Users complain about their sometimes poor localization. However, the price-performance ratio is unbeatable, here many buyers can certainly overlook one or the other defect.

Fitbit Versa 2 The Fitbit Versa 2 (test report) and its predecessor Fitbit Versa (test report) largely look like the Apple Watch. In the following we describe the Versa 2, which we recommend if you are interested in buying. It costs about 30 euros more than its predecessor, but offers, among other things, the payment option Fitbit Pay via NFC, more sophisticated fitness options and the much nicer display. This is 1.4 inches tall, loosens 300 × 300 pixels and uses OLED technology, the perfect black level of which is particularly impressive on a smartwatch. Above all, OLED saves the battery, as black pixels do not convert any energy. This lasts for about five to six days with normal use, with an activated Always-On-Display the time is halved. We really like the integration of the voice assistant Alexa, which is activated via the button on the side. Despite the WLAN option, the whole thing only works if the connected smartphone is nearby. The Versa 2 app is very good. We would have only wished for a few more watch faces. The clock only saves one thing locally, which is no longer up to date.

Fitbit offers the option for everyone who wants to leave their smartphone at home while exercising To save MP3 files to the Versa 2. Fitbit does not reveal how big the memory is, but it should be used for 300 Songs are enough. She owns

Apple MagSafe: Old name, new ecosystem with a future

During the premiere of this year’s smartphones from the iPhone family 12, Apple also talked about a completely new solution for the company, which took a well-known name to Mac users. MagSafe, because this particular technology is at stake, will allow you to use the inductive charger in a rather unusual way. Well, it will be literally “attached” to the smartphone housing using a magnetic connector. Of course, not only standard wireless chargers are involved, but also car chargers. This is of course not all, because the giant from Cupertino also presented other accessories that can be used here and it looks like it will not stop there.

The newly presented Apple MagSafe is not only technology that enables wireless charging. Soon, a real flood of accessories using this solution will appear on the market. Here are some examples.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro – performance results from AnTuTu and Geekbench

Probably most of you remember the concept of a modular smartphone. Project Ara was to consist of a so-called stand, to which interchangeable camera, memory, processor, battery, WiFi and Bluetooth modules were to be mounted. Of course, these are just examples. Unfortunately, the project expired before it “really” started, although the idea was partially used by Motorola in the case of Moto Mods. Modules attached to the backs of the device, such as a projector, powerbank or JBL speakers, did not turn out to be as tempting for customers as expected. Apparently the market was not yet ready for this and the manufacturer did not gain sufficient customer confidence. Today we absorb innovation like never before, which is why Apple can provide a similar solution.

Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini smartphones have only 4 GB RAM

At the moment, the company showed an attached case for payment cards and a wireless magnetic charger. However, the company wants to go further. One of the Apple patent applications shows us a module attached with MagSafe, equipped with a place for wireless charging of Apple AirPods headphones. This means that the giant can build a veritable ecosystem of various accessories in the form of modules. Yes, exactly as Motorola did. The difference, however, is the reach and power of convincing the market to its own solutions, and these are the issues that Growers advise

Mobile payment: Lidl wants to add a payment function to its in-house app

In the future, the discounter Lidl would like to install its own payment system in its customer card app Lidl Plus. Lidl-Digital managing director Dominik Eberhard told WirtschaftsWoche that the “payment function one of the next extensions for the German app will be “. The application was launched last month as a discount program with various functions such as digital brochures, a branch finder and a product search. According to Lidl, it has already been downloaded several million times.

Start date unknown so far According to a report by Wirtschaftswoche, mobile payment via customer app in Germany is to be implemented with a direct debit procedure. Last year, the discounter in Spain tested a payment function with credit cards stored in the app, which works via QR codes. This system is now running in Poland and Spain. Lidl has not yet responded to heise online’s request as to when the payment function can be expected in this country and how it is technically implemented (NFC, QR code).

Lidl’s own payment system joins one

Legendary Berlin Bitcoin bar Room 77 closes

It was probably one of the first stationary shops in the world where customers could pay with Bitcoin crypto money: the burger bar Room 77 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. But now the pub will finally close its doors, announced operator Joerg Platzer via Reddit. Since spring 2011 the bar had accepted Bitcoin as a means of payment – Bitcoin was still a long way from today’s rates and one of the first large speculative bubbles on the long-gone Mt. Gox exchange was imminent.

The mission to make a really hard money palatable to mankind has been fulfilled and you can now return to your home planet, from which you once came , it says in the farewell posting, which is an allusion to the sci-fi satire “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Platzer confirmed the end to heise online: “The Bitcoin is now big enough to get along without a Kreuzberg rock’n’roll bar.” Corona regulations and an upcoming renovation of the building were the decisive factors for the closure.

The Bitcoin-Kiez Numerous members of the Bitcoin community regretted the end and recalled memories of the first place where they could actually spend Bitcoin for the first time. The Room 77 is one of the central places for the development of the European Bitcoin scene, community members from all over the world met there, numerous journalists visited the bar to talk about the ” Phenomenon Bitcoin “.

Owner Joerg Platzer describes himself as a Bitcoin evangelist and, as an activist, has repeatedly campaigned for the spread of crypto money. His pub on Graefestrasse in Kreuzberg was also the starting point for the “Bitcoin-Kiez”, an initiative of shops in the neighborhood that accepted all Bitcoin payments. There were similar initiatives in other cities like London, Amsterdam and even Hanover. Germany’s first Bitcoin machine was also set up here.

Speculation instead of mass acceptance But the concept really took hold Bitcoin as everyday money at the checkout is not. Apart from very tech-savvy people, hardly anyone pays with it. In general, the vision of a free world currency for broad strata as a leitmotif of the crypto money scene seems to have had its day.

Defense in space: NATO wants to build Space Center in Ramstein

NATO is advancing its preparations for the defense of the alliance in space. According to information from the German Press Agency and the Süddeutsche Zeitung , the defense ministers of the 30 member states want to set up a space this Thursday Announce Center. It is to be affiliated with the NATO air force command in Ramstein, Rhineland-Palatinate and primarily serve as a coordination point for space surveillance.

Think tank for space activities In future, information about possible threats against satellites could flow together in Ramstein. It is also conceivable that the Space Center will later be expanded into a command center for defense measures a kind of think tank for NATO’s space activities will also be set up. Kalkar in North Rhine-Westphalia and Toulouse in France were recently discussed as locations for the so-called competence center.

Kalkar is already home to the Joint Air Power Competence Center for the NATO air force – JAPCC). Toulouse advertises that the French national space command is currently being set up there.

Independent operational area NATO’s plans are the result of the fundamental decision made last year to declare space an independent operational area. The resolution enables NATO, for example, to request the Allies to provide capacities for satellite communication or image data transfers for operations. In addition, it has led to even more intensive discussions in the alliance about the case in which possible attacks from or in space should be treated as an alliance case in the future To station weapons in space, but we have to ensure that our missions and operations have the appropriate support, “said General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg on the subject last year. For example, space is of crucial importance for early warning systems, communication and navigation.

Dependent on technology in space The Norwegian was alluding to the fact that NATO is increasingly dependent on technology in space. Communication during military operations takes place via satellites; they are used for reconnaissance and espionage as well as for navigation systems. Conversely, this means that an attack on satellites of the NATO countries could significantly reduce their defense capabilities.

In addition, attacks on satellites could be used in the event of a war to protect parts of the public Paralyze life. For example, the handling of cashless payment transactions or navigation systems for road, sea and air traffic could be severely impaired.

Satellite launch In addition to the NATO country USA, countries such as Russia, China and India have recently significantly expanded their capabilities in space. Russia caused a sensation this year with several tests of anti-satellite weapons, after India already last year

Default in payment: Tesla plant in Grünheide, the water was turned off

Tesla is temporarily unable to continue building its factory in Grünheide near Berlin. The Strausberg-Erkner water association turned off the water because Tesla did not pay the bill, said association spokeswoman Sandra Ponesky on Thursday in Strausberg.

Multiple reminders The company had been reminded several times, with the threat of blocking. The period of 14 days has expired. “Tesla is not treated differently from others,” said the spokeswoman. When the money arrives, the water will be turned on again. The Märkische Oderzeitung had previously reported online about it.

The temporary cutting off of the water comes at an inopportune time for the US automaker: construction work is in full swing. Starting next summer, Tesla intends to manufacture electric cars in Grünheide in the Oder-Spree district. In a first stage are 500. 000 electric cars per year and around 12. 000 Number of employees planned.

Tesla Manufacturing Brandenburg SE recently signed the water development contract. However, this is about the water supply and wastewater disposal for the first expansion stage. Tesla is currently receiving the water from a temporary connection via standpipes.

The approval for the project is pending The environmental approval for the project by the state of Brandenburg is still pending. Tesla is already building with preliminary

Halloween: building a bread pan with a face

Since the beginning of the pandemic, sourdough has been found in almost every household – so why not bake a scary bread for Halloween? With these instructions you can make a bread pan that looks like your own face.

Material Alginate, approx . 500 g plaster of paris, 5kg plaster of paris bandages to support the alginate mold Red clay, 2.5-5kg Baking ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, water (for your favorite bread recipe) Tool Bucket (clean) for mixing alginate or plaster of paris Color brewer for mixing alginate or plaster of paris Plastic poncho / film to protect clothing when making the facial print Hair gel or Vaseline to protect the eyebrows Access to a kiln (for baking the bread pan) Time required: a few days

Costs: 60 – 70 € plus 10 – 30 € for the use of a kiln

Take a facial impression with alginate First, you take an impression of your own face. To do this, alginate is used for facial impressions, which is also often used for special effects. You also need someone to help. The eyebrows and any facial hair should be covered with hair gel or petroleum jelly; the clothing is protected with a plastic poncho or something similar.

First the alginate is in one touched a clean bucket. The helping person now covers the other person’s face with the alginate, which then slowly hardens.

Cover the face well, but leave the nostrils free.

It is important that the nostrils remain clear; if you use a straw you can also breathe through your mouth. It is best to think about beforehand which facial expression you want to cast – and whether you can hold it until the mold is finished (approximately 30 minutes).

The result with a relaxed facial expression.

After about 10 minutes, the shape is reinforced with plaster bandages. Soaking the sanitary napkins in salt water before attaching them will dry the form faster. The process can be accelerated with a hair dryer.

If you help with a hair dryer, the plaster layer dries faster.

When the plaster bandages have hardened, you can carefully remove the form from your face. Alginate decomposes after about 10 to 18 hours; it is advisable to make the next mold within four hours.

Plaster positive make The alginate form reinforced with plaster should be quite stiff, but you can additionally support it with clay so that it does not deform . The whole thing is best packed in a cardboard box, which gives additional strength and also catches any falling plaster residue.

When the mold is ready, you mix the plaster (follow the manufacturer’s instructions), which you put in Pour the mold to make a positive impression. The plaster of paris should be of high quality, it is advisable to use plaster of paris as fine as possible so that all details are well represented – stucco plaster, for example, is rather unsuitable.

Alginate mold filled with plaster of paris.

The plaster of paris takes about an hour to harden, then you can take it out of the alginate mold. By the way, plaster of paris is easy to work with (by scraping / scraping, sawing and sanding), so there is an opportunity here to adjust the shape again, if necessary. The alginate mold can also be reused – however, it can be deformed by the heat generated during the hardening of the plaster of paris.

The new positive form after hardening.

The plaster cast must dry out. This takes 1 to 2 weeks in the air. It is faster, for example, in the oven. The hardened plaster must not be heated above 65 ° C, Otherwise the mold can break.

Form a baking pan out of clay As soon as the plaster positive is dry, you can start making the baking mold. Classic red soft clay can be used for this.

Warning: Air-drying clay or polymer clay (such as Fimo) must not be used in the oven for baking bread, so they are not suitable here!

You also need access to a kiln. In the relevant workshops (e.g. for pottery courses), payment is typically made according to volume.

To make the baking pan, about 2.5 kg of clay are formed into a 2 cm thick plate and pressed them on the plaster positive. It is best to cover the entire shape with a single piece of clay. This way, there are no wrinkles that have to be touched up afterwards. Smooth out the clay and press it well into the mold so that all the details in the plaster can be reproduced. The mass should be applied evenly and thickly everywhere. Finally, put a few feet underneath so that the baking pan is level in the oven. When the clay is already a bit dry and can support itself, you can remove it from the plaster of paris.

The clay form on little feet.

Then dry the baking pan completely and then place it in a kiln at approx. 1000 ° C burn. Clay shrinks during firing, so the finished baking pan will be about 6 percent smaller.

The result: The bread shape with a face.

Baking bread Place the baking pan in the oven and place on 230 – 230 Preheat ° C. As soon as the mold is up to temperature, add about 750 to 1000 g batter in and let it bake. The dough must be soft enough to take on the shape of the nose and lips, so a baking recipe with a higher water content is recommended.

Preheating the baking pan is crucial so that the bread is heated evenly on all sides . The bread is ready when it is golden brown on top (after about 40 minutes).

Copyright: Civil rights activists and publishers criticize the draft law

The Federal Ministry of Justice published a new draft for the implementation of the EU Copyright Directive on Tuesday and thus provoked divided reactions. There is criticism of the reform of digital copyright law from consumer protection and civil rights circles because it restricts user rights and freedom of expression too much. Publishers’ associations welcome parts of the law; other rules do not go far enough for them. Search engine and platform operator Google, on the other hand, is reluctant to express itself.

In comparison to two discussion papers from January and July, the ministry of Christine Lambrecht (SPD ) changed some key points. The focus is on the role of large online platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, which will in future be more liable for copyright infringements by their users, as well as ancillary copyrights for the press. What is new in the draft is that the platforms are to pay flat-rate fees to the authors not only for minor uses, but also for “pastiches” (including remixes and memes). In addition, the draft formulates new rules for user uploads that are intended to prevent content from being unjustifiably blocked.

“Pre-Check” – upload filter with a new name? In the original discussion proposal, “pre-flagging” should enable users to publish copyrighted content in legal forms of use, such as parodies, quotations or memes, without being blocked immediately by the platform. The current draft bill now stipulates that a “pre-check” should sound an alarm during the upload if a rights holder has deposited the content on the platform for blocking. Only then is “pre-flagging” still possible.

In an accompanying letter, the BMJV explains: “The user only has to answer the question if he / she requests blocking discuss whether the upload could also be legally permitted. ” The problem: In order to recognize whether a content is licensed or a blocking request has been made, the platforms would inevitably have to automatically check all uploads. In the eyes of some critics, these are at best weakened upload filters, which the federal government actually wanted to avoid after the protests against the EU directive.

Julia Reda, former MEP and project manager at the Society for Freedom Rights , criticizes the innovations as a “step backwards for freedom of expression”. In addition, the “pre-check” does not allow a precautionary measure to prevent rights holders from having their content blocked subsequently. If users complain to the platform in such cases, the draft provides for a decision period of one week. In her press release Reda warns: “Once the content is blocked, the damage to freedom of expression has already been done.”

Consumer advice center: step backwards in user rights The Federation of German Consumer Organizations also speaks of a “step backwards” in a message to heise online. The fact that this is now going to the detriment of user rights in “pre-flagging” is “disappointing,” said a spokesman. The consumer association also considers retroactive bans to be a problem. The spokesman emphasized: “The advantage that the content could initially go online fizzled out.” In practice, “in many cases either a license or a blocking request will already be stored at the time of the upload.” The platforms are ultimately obliged by law to actively seek license agreements with collecting societies. However, they want to examine the objection again.

A heavily affected platform would be the Google subsidiary YouTube. They at least appreciate that the ministry is trying to reconcile the various interests. However, when asked by heise online, a spokesman indicated that some suggestions for implementing the article 17 “could lead to additional complexity and legal uncertainty”. In earlier statements, the group had strongly criticized “pre-flagging” and a possible compulsion to license agreements.

Copyright associations protest against “minor uses” Various associations of rights holders have also criticized the draft bill – but for completely different reasons. You are particularly bothered by the exception for minor uses, according to which users can use up to 1000 characters of a protected text, 20 Seconds of an audio or video file or images up to 250 kB may legally be used on platforms. A group around the media association Vaunet, the Federal Association of the Music Industry and VG Media consider the exception to be “contrary to European law”. In a press release they explain that even such short excerpts are by no means insignificant. In 20 seconds could often already contain “key moments” of a protected song or film.

The Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) and the Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ) see the new press ancillary copyright law in particular at risk. An exception for a picture and 1000 characters of a text are “often half or even whole press articles”, explains a spokeswoman to heise online. The draft stipulates that rights holders should receive a lump sum payment from the platforms for this minor use. But the two publishers’ associations emphasize: Such a compensation “doesn’t help.”

Ancillary copyright: Exceptions again unclear That the ministry in the case of ancillary copyright law will

Oculus Quest 2 in the test: Unrivaled hardware, great hunger for data

We tested the Oculus Quest 2 virtual headset from Facebook. If you know what it is and why it is not available in Germany, just skip the next two paragraphs.

The virtual reality headset Oculus Quest 2 offers high quality VR performance for 350 Euro – completely self-sufficient, you don’t need a PC or smartphone for operation (A mobile device is only required for initial setup, more on that later). On top of that, the Quest 2 can also be used with Windows VR software on the PC, for this you have to attach it to the computer with a conventional USB cable. No other manufacturer offers this variety of functions, other self-sufficient headsets – for example from Pico or HTC – perform less and cost significantly more.

No VR without Facebook: Even an existing Oculus account is required you can link to a Facebook account.

But there is a catch: Oculus is owned by Facebook; and Facebook finally wants to make money with its expensive VR subsidiary. Therefore, Facebook forces the users of Quest 2 to connect a Facebook account to the headset. One can only speculate about what Facebook will bring. One thing is certain in any case: Data recorded by VR headsets should be very valuable for advertising customers, after all, the headset knows when to flinch, where to look for how long and what to instinctively walk towards.

Facebook is undoubtedly sitting on a treasure trove of data, after all, in addition to Oculus, the US company also owns WhatsApp and Instagram. The Bundeskartellamt has therefore decided to prohibit Facebook from merging user data. Apparently this is one of the reasons why Facebook decided not to sell any Oculus products in Germany for the time being.

Can be bought without any problems (Image: jkj / c’t magazine)

For this test we were still able to buy a Quest 2 without any problems: We ordered the device from the French Amazon.fr in Germany – we didn’t even have to create our own account for this, Amazon.fr also works with a German Amazon customer account. With 343, 19 Euro including shipping the headset was even a bit cheaper than in the official Oculus store: an order to Austria for example costs 349 euros including shipping. As with the predecessor, a mobile device with Android or iOS and an installed Oculus app is required for the initial setup of Quest 2. The app asks you to log into your own Facebook account immediately after starting. After that, you can control almost everything in the glasses yourself – so theoretically you can uninstall the app. Oculus veterans who have previously only used their headsets with an Oculus account must enter a Facebook account to install Quest 2, Oculus and Facebook accounts are then merged, including any software purchases linked to the Oculus account.

Account fiddling Even if you want to use the Quest 2 exclusively as a PC headset with a cable connection to your computer, you can’t avoid Facebook logging in: You can’t do anything with the Quest 2 without an app and Facebook coupling , on the displays you only see a “Please pair” message. Since an Android runs on the headset, you could get the idea of bypassing the Oculus store by installing your own APK packages. It actually works (very comfortably with the unofficial Sidequest app store, by the way), but you still have to pair the app and Facebook with the headset first – because this is the only way to activate the required developer mode.

It is also necessary to have your Oculus / Facebook account activated as a developer account. This worked without delay in the test, but you have to save a credit card for this (even though PayPal was already active as a source of payment in the associated Facebook account). In the curious German-English mish-mash of the developer area, it was said that a telephone number could be stored instead of the credit card, but this option was not offered to us.

In the heise forum was mentioned more often of the fact that, as a data-sparing person, you could simply set up a Facebook fake account and then link it to Quest 2. According to Facebook, this violates the guidelines and, despite rumors to the contrary, this rule has not been overturned by German courts. Still: We just got it from