Xbox's New Gaming Subscription Is Just What the Struggling Console Needed

In this generation of console wars, the Xbox One has lagged behind the PS4 in both sales and consumer mindshare. In fact, a January report from games intelligence firm SuperData pegged Microsoft has selling half the number of consoles as Sony. To be frank, Microsoft is getting its ass kicked.
Read more: http://gizmodo.com/xboxs-new-gaming-subscription-is-just-what-the-struggli-1792821461?source=Snapzu

Kim Jong Nam killing organised by North Korean ministries, says Seoul

South Korean intelligence believes suspects wanted for the murder of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader included several officials who worked for the reclusive state’s foreign and security ministries, according to lawmakers in Seoul. Kim Jong Nam was killed earlier this month at a Malaysian airport by assassins using VX nerve agent, a chemical capable of killing in minutes and listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.
Read more: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/kim-jong-nam-killing-organised-by-north-korean-ministries-says-seoul/story-DCM4VMCziya6PJMdrr7GLP.html?source=Snapzu

Gene therapy to fight a blood cancer succeeds in major study

An experimental gene therapy that turns a patient's own blood cells into cancer killers worked in a major study, with more than one-third of very sick lymphoma patients showing no sign of disease six months after a single treatment, its maker said Tuesday. In all, 82 percent of patients had their cancer shrink at least by half at some point in the study.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/aa3a95b155cb4932a30271a917ce238e/gene-therapy-fight-blood-cancer-succeeds-major-study?source=Snapzu

Cooking oil dumped in Lakewood pond kills more than 30 ducks, geese

More than 30 ducks and geese died after someone dumped cooking oil in a retention pond in Lakewood. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking the public to help them track down the people involved. The Estes Park Trail Gazette published a statement from the FSW about the incident.
Read more: http://kdvr.com/2017/02/28/cooking-oil-dumped-in-lakewood-pond-kills-more-than-30-ducks-geese/?source=Snapzu

Sean Spicer Launches Witch Hunt Over The 'Secure' App He Just Said Was No Big Deal

So here's a story that goes from weird to bizarre in record time. A few weeks ago, Axios was among the first to report that White House staffers were using an app called "Confide" to make use of its disappearing message feature...
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170227/17580836804/sean-spicer-launches-witch-hunt-over-secure-app-he-just-said-was-no-big-deal.shtml?source=Snapzu

‘The way this world is going is not for us’: Elderly Northchurch couple’s final words in emotional note before gassing themselves to death

An elderly couple asked neighbours to feed their cat and tidied their home before driving to Northchurch Common where they toasted their last moments and gassed themselves to death, an inquest has heard. Kathleen Howell, 72, and her husband David, 73, were found in a final embrace, sat in their Nissan Micra and surrounded by bottles of booze. The couple, who lived at Compass Point in Northchurch...
Read more: http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/the-way-this-world-is-going-is-not-for-us-elderly-northchurch-couple-s-final-words-in-emotional-note-before-gassing-themselves-to-death-1-7841215?source=Snapzu

YouTube launches its own streaming TV service

Another way to cut the cord!
Read more: http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/28/14750894/youtube-streaming-tv-service-announced-hd-live-cable-channels?source=Snapzu

Donald Trump to ‘sign new Muslim ban this week’

Donald Trump is expected to sign a new travel ban on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. A senior administration official told the news agency of the plans to roll out the fresh refugee and immigration executive order this week, but spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to discuss the plans publicly. The fresh travel ban was expected to be signed last week, but White House spokesman Sean Spicer claimed the President had delayed the order “to make sure that we execute this, it’s done in a manner that’s flawless”.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-refugee-immigration-travel-executive-order-us-president-white-house-oval-office-a7601311.html?source=Snapzu

Theresa May to cut school funding for first time since 1990s, IFS warns

The Government is to cut school funding per pupil for the first time since the mid 1990s, a new analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has determined. The respected think-tank calculated that real-terms terms spending on school pupils would drop by 6.5 per cent over the course of this parliament, with further education funding also set for significant decreases. The IFS said schools funding had been well protected for the last two decades but that further education has already been squeezed.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/school-funding-cuts-tories-theresa-may-education-1990s-budget-2017-a7601366.html?source=Snapzu

Amazon AWS S3 outage is breaking things for a lot of websites and apps

Amazon’s S3 web-based storage service is experiencing widespread issues, leading to service that’s either partially or fully broken on websites, apps and devices upon which it relies. The AWS offering provides hosting for images for a lot of sites, and also hosts entire websites, and app backends including Nest.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/28/amazon-aws-s3-outage-is-breaking-things-for-a-lot-of-websites-and-apps/?source=Snapzu

New $10 Raspberry Pi Zero comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Still tinier and cheaper than the flagship, the Raspberry Pi Zero goes wireless.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/02/new-10-raspberry-pi-zero-comes-with-wi-fi-and-bluetooth/?source=Snapzu

‘Shell knew’: oil giant's 1991 film warned of climate change danger

Public information film unseen for years shows Shell had clear grasp of global warming 26 years ago but has not acted accordingly since.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/shell-knew-oil-giants-1991-film-warned-climate-change-danger?source=Snapzu

AI System Finds Another Game to Dominate Humans

AI has been quietly invading our lives. From our operating rooms to our roads, and even our homes. Still, we never expected AI to infringe on one thing in particular, our Super Smash Brothers. If you haven’t heard of Super Smash Brothers, do yourself a favor. Super Smash Brothers is a popular video game series spanning multiple generations of gaming consoles. Unlike what we have seen AI do before with professional players in chess, poker, and the ancient game of Go— Super Smash Brothers is a particularly tricky game for AI.
Read more: https://futurism.com/3-ai-can-now-wipe-out-professional-super-smash-bro-players/?source=Snapzu

Physicists Uncover Geometric ‘Theory Space’

A decades-old method called the “bootstrap” is enabling new discoveries about the geometry underlying all quantum theories. By Natalie Wolchover.
Read more: https://www.quantamagazine.org/20170223-bootstrap-geometry-theory-space/?source=Snapzu

The Democrats Have Chosen Defeat

It’s official. After a contentious election, the Democratic National Committee has chosen its next chairman, former Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez. With Perez, the Democrats indicated they will be abandoning their extreme left-wing base and, in so doing, relegating themselves to being the party of entrenched, wealthy special interests and preferred minority groups… By Brandon J. Weichert.
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2017/02/26/democrats-chosen-defeat/?source=Snapzu

For the First Time in History Brain-Machine Interfaces Achieve Two-Way Communication

A prosthetic limb can recover the lost motor function partially when it is controlled by brain activity directly. This is made possible by decoding neuronal activity that is recorded with electrodes and then translating these into robotic movements. Due to the absence of sensory feedback from the artificial limb, these systems do however suffer from limited precision.
Read more: http://sciencenewsjournal.com/first-time-history-brain-machine-interfaces-achieve-two-way-communication/?source=Snapzu

China sees sharp decline in ivory smuggling in 2016

Liu Dongsheng, deputy head of the SFA, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of a wildlife protection campaign, without specifying detailed numbers. China will stop commercial processing and sales of ivory by the end of this year. Last year, it imposed a three-year ban on ivory imports in an escalated fight against illegal trading of wild animals and plants. The number of illegal wildlife trade cases has been on the decline since last year, said Liu.
Read more: http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/27/china-sees-sharp-decline-in-ivory-smuggling-in-2016/?source=Snapzu

N.J. woman uses couponing to feed 30,000 people in need.

A woman in New Jersey is using couponing in a big way to feed people in her community who are in need. Lauren Puryear, 29, is a mental health clinician and has been spending years helping to feed the hungry. Her ultimate goal? Deliver 30,000 meals to people in need by her 30th birthday. It all began four years ago after the death of her grandmother, who had strongly instilled the importance of helping others.
Read more: http://www.vidmero.com/2017/02/nj-woman-uses-couponing-to-feed-30000_27.html?source=Snapzu

Storm Chasers Unite to Give Bill Paxton an Epic Tribute

Storm chasers combined forces this afternoon to pay tribute to a man who put them on the map by literally putting his initials on their maps. Hundreds of professionals and enthusiasts are checking in to form the letters “BP” with their GPS coordinates. Paxton reportedly died on Saturday due to complications following heart surgery. He was just 61-years-old.
Read more: http://gizmodo.com/storm-chasers-unite-to-give-bill-paxton-an-epic-tribute-1792765560?source=Snapzu

Theresa May poised to announce end of free movement for new EU migrants next month

Theresa May is next month poised to announce the end of free movement for new EU migrants on the same day that she formally triggers Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister is expected to say that EU citizens who travel to Britain after she triggers Article 50 will no longer have the automatic right to stay in the UK permanently. They will instead be subject to migration curbs after Britain leaves the European Union, which could include a new visa regime and restricted access to benefits.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/26/theresa-may-poised-announce-end-free-movement-new-eu-migrants/?source=Snapzu

Deported gay Afghans told to ‘pretend to be straight’

Gay Afghans can be deported to their home country, where homosexuality is illegal and “wholly taboo” and they must pretend to be straight, under new British government guidelines for handling asylum applications. The new guidance for a country where not a single citizen lives an openly gay life has been denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law, and criticised by the Home Office’s own Afghanistan unit.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/25/afghanistan-gay-asylum-seekers-home-office-illegal-homosexuality?source=Snapzu

Rejection of EU citizens seeking UK residency hits 28%

More than a quarter of EU citizens are having their applications for permanent residency in the UK rejected since the UK voted to leave the EU, according to new analysis of the government’s migration data. If the government was to require all EU citizens to apply for permanent residency, the refusal rate could mean 800,000 EU citizens are left without certainty as to whether they can stay in the UK post-Brexit, according to the research.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/27/rejections-eu-citizens-seeking-uk-residency?source=Snapzu

OJ Simpson could walk free from prison in months as a multi-millionaire

OJ Simpson could walk free from jail in a few months after serving less than a third of his sentence before cashing in on his multi-million dollar NFL pension. The former American football star could be released exactly nine years into his 33-year sentence after he was jailed for a string of crimes including armed robbery and kidnapping in 2008. A parole board hearing on 3 July is expected to recommend the 69-year-old’s release based on good behaviour.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/oj-simpson-free-prison-nfl-pension-multi-millionaire-release-a7600051.html?source=Snapzu

Father of Navy Seal killed in Yemen calls for investigation into 'stupid mission'

The father of a Navy Seal killed in a raid in Yemen last month has demanded an investigation into the planning and timing of what he called a “stupid mission”. Bill Owens also told the Miami Herald he refused to meet Donald Trump when he and the president went to Dover air force base in Delaware to receive the casket carrying his son, William “Ryan” Owens. “My conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him,” he said.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/26/father-navy-seal-yemen-trump-investigation-stupid-mission?source=Snapzu

SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration. We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year. Other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow.
Read more: http://www.spacex.com/news/2017/02/27/spacex-send-privately-crewed-dragon-spacecraft-beyond-moon-next-year?source=Snapzu

Production on CBS' 'Training Day,' Starring Bill Paxton, Has Already Been Completed

The late actor had wrapped work on the reboot before his untimely passing at the age of 61. Bill Paxton had completed work on CBS drama Training Day before his untimely death. Paxton died Saturday after suffering complications from surgery. He was 61. His passing leaves the reboot as his last TV role. Production on the midseason drama was completed in December. Four of the show's 13 episodes have already aired on CBS.
Read more: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bill-paxton-dead-training-day-production-completed-980180?source=Snapzu

Trump: 'Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated'

President Trump said Monday that "nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated," as Republicans have been slow to unite around a replacement plan for ObamaCare.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/321318-trump-nobody-knew-that-healthcare-could-be-so-complicated?source=Snapzu

Red states are acting on climate change — without calling it climate change

President Donald Trump has the environmental community understandably concerned. He and members of his Cabinet have questioned the established science of climate change, and his choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has sued the EPA many times and regularly sided with the fossil fuel industry. Even if the Trump administration withdraws from all international climate negotiations and reduces the EPA to bare bones, the effects of climate change are happening and will continue to build.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/red-states-are-acting-on-climate-change-2017-2?source=Snapzu

Man who shot controversial pipeline with rifle killed by cops after chase, authorities say

A man accused of using a high-powered rifle to shoot at the controversial Sabal Pipeline Sunday was killed after a car chase and confrontation with authorities, according to Marion County officials. The incident started about 9 a.m. when deputies were called about a man using a rifle to shoot at the under-construction pipeline and nearby equipment in Dennellon. When deputies responded, the suspect fled.
Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-shooting-suspect-killed-after-firing-at-fhp-trooper-and-deputies-20170226-story.html?source=Snapzu

NASA Wind Tunnel Tests X-Plane Design for Quieter Supersonic Jet

Supersonic passenger airplanes are another step closer to reality as NASA and Lockheed Martin begin the first high-speed wind tunnel tests for the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) X-plane preliminary design at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The agency is testing a nine percent scale model of Lockheed Martin’s X-plane design in Glenn’s 8’ x 6’ Supersonic Wind Tunnel. During the next eight weeks, engineers will expose the model to wind speeds ranging from Mach 0.3 to Mach 1.6...
Read more: http://go.nasa.gov/2mjCO3s?source=Snapzu

Scientists Are Developing Graphene Solar Panels That Generate Energy When It Rains

Solar power is making huge strides as a reliable, renewable energy source, but there's still a lot of untapped potential in terms of the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and what happens at night and during inclement weather. Now a solution has been put forward in the form of producing energy from raindrops. The key to the new process is graphene: a 'wonder' material we've heard plenty about before. Because raindrops are not made up of pure water and contain various salts that split up into positive and negative ions, a team from the Ocean University of China in Qingdao thinks we can harness power via a simple chemical reaction. Specifically,
Read more: http://ochen.com/scientists-are-developing-graphene-solar-panels-that-generate-energy-when-it-rains?source=Snapzu

The weird, contentious tradition of Oscars gift bags, explained

Though not affiliated with the Academy, the gift bags are a reliable (and wildly expensive) part of Oscars night.
Read more: http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/22/14688240/oscars-gift-bags-distinctive-assets?platform=hootsuite?source=Snapzu

'Government cuts denied me care I need so I've chosen to die'

Wracked with pain, and after eight years on morphine, Marie Lopez has finally chosen death over a life blighted by illness and cruel spending cuts. This once vibrant businesswoman has spent her every last penny paying for her own care after social services left her to suffer in agony.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/crohns-sufferer-ending-life-swiss-9917689?source=Snapzu

The New York Times Is Running A 'Truth Is Hard' Ad During Oscars

“The truth is hard to find. The truth is hard to know. The truth is more important now than ever.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ny-times-truth-ad_us_58b2813ee4b0a8a9b782eba0?source=Snapzu

CloudBleed bug compromises millions of sites, change your passwords now

A new bug may have compromised user data on millions of websites. Change your passwords now.
Read more: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/02/24/cloudbleed-bug-compromises-millions-of-sites-change-your-passwords-now/?source=Snapzu

'Game of Thrones' Star Neil Fingleton Dead at 36

"Game of Thrones" star Neil Fingleton has died from heart failure. The 7'7" actor died Saturday in the UK. Fingleton was a basketball player both in college and professionally before becoming an actor. He played in college for both University of North Carolina and Holy Cross. He played professionally in Spain, China, Italy, Greece and England. Fingleton played Mag the Mighty on the hit show. He also appeared on "Dr. Who," and in "X-Men: First Class" and "Avengers" Age of Ultron."
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/26/neil-fingleton-dead-game-of-thrones/?source=Snapzu

Russian diplomats keep dying unexpectedly

And there was another high profile death in December 2016 and another in November 2015.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/four-russian-diplomats-died-in-the-last-three-months-2281281560.html?source=Snapzu

Israel to Amazon: Stop selling Holocaust-denying literature

Israel's official Holocaust memorial has asked Amazon to stop selling literature on its site that denies the genocide of 6 million Jews during World War II and otherwise promotes anti-Semitism. Yad Vashem's director of libraries Robert Rozett says he has dispatched a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offering his assistance to "curb the spread of hatred." Rozett says Sunday that Yad Vashem has approached Amazon before on the subject but the internet retailing giant insisted it would not halt sales of offensive...
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-amazon-stop-selling-holocaust-denying-literature-45746218?source=Snapzu

Epic Oscars Mistake: Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty Announce Wrong Best Picture Winner

“Moonlight” walked away with best picture honors at the end of Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony in Hollywood. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the best actress award envelope. A confused Beatty saw Emma Stone’s name and “La La Land,” and handed the envelope to Dunaway, who then announced the musical as the Best Picture winner.
Read more: http://variety.com/2017/film/in-contention/oscars-mistake-warren-beatty-announces-wrong-winner-la-la-land-moonlight-1201995099/?source=Snapzu

If automation is already messing with our economy and our politics, just wait until self-driving trucks arrive

Tractor-trailers without a human at the wheel will soon barrel onto highways near you. What will this mean for the nation’s 1.7 million truck drivers?
Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603493/10-breakthrough-technologies-2017-self-driving-trucks/?source=Snapzu

Virginia Security Guard Shot, Killed 60-Year-Old Man Playing Pokémon Go, Attorney Says

A game that takes most of its players on a fun adventure may have lead one Virginia man to his death. According to a local attorney, 60-year-old Jiansheng Chen of Chesapeake was playing Pokémon Go on Thursday when he was shot and killed by a neighborhood security guard, KTLA sister station WTKR reported. “I did not want the public to misunderstand Mr. Chen,” said the attorney Greg Sandler, who believes the incident escalated partially because of a language barrier.
Read more: http://ktla.com/2017/01/31/virginia-security-guard-shot-killed-60-year-old-man-playing-pokemon-go-attorney-says/?source=Snapzu

White Helmet to miss Oscars because Syria cancelled passport

A Syrian cameraman and rescue worker whose documentary about the civil defence group known as the White Helmets has been nominated for an Oscar will not attend the awards ceremony because Damascus has cancelled his passport, the group said on Sunday. The White Helmets operate a rescue service in rebel-held parts of Syria, which have been subjected to fierce bombardment by the government and Russia’s air force during the country’s civil war that has levelled whole city districts.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/26/white-helmet-to-miss-oscars-because-syria-cancelled-passport?source=Snapzu

Sean Spicer targets own staff in leak crackdown

The push includes random phone checks overseen by White House lawyers.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/sean-spicer-targets-own-staff-in-leak-crackdown-235413?source=Snapzu

Pakistan airline admits taking extra passengers in aisle

Pakistan International Airlines is investigating how seven extra passengers were allowed to stand in the aisles on a flight to Saudi Arabia, a spokesman told the BBC. The passengers were allowed on the 20 January flight to Medina despite every seat being filled, the airline said. Details of the flight have only emerged now because of extensive investigations by Dawn newspaper. Staff had issued additional handwritten boarding passes, the paper reported.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39081476?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin worth more than gold as price reaches all-time high

Industry heads cite global factors for surge; see the currency reaching $US2000 by the end of the year.
Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/bitcoin-worth-more-than-gold-as-price-reaches-alltime-high-20170224-gukw9r.html?source=Snapzu

TRAPPIST-1 Comparison to Solar System and Jovian Moons

All seven planets discovered in orbit around the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 could easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury, the innermost planet of our solar system. In fact, they would have room to spare. TRAPPIST-1 also is only a fraction of the size of our sun; it isn't much larger than Jupiter. So the TRAPPIST-1 system's proportions look more like Jupiter and its moons than those of our solar system. The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all Earth-sized and...
Read more: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21428?source=Snapzu

Emmy-Winning Actor Bill Paxton Dead at 61 Due to Complications from Surgery

Emmy-winning actor Bill Paxton died due to complications from surgery, PEOPLE confirms. “It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery,” a family representative said in a statement. “A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker. Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable.
Read more: http://people.com/movies/bill-paxton-dead-complications-surgery-age-61/?source=Snapzu

Revealed: how US billionaire helped to back Brexit

Robert Mercer, who bankrolled Donald Trump, played key role with ‘sinister’ advice on using Facebook data
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/us-billionaire-mercer-helped-back-brexit?source=Snapzu

German intel agency notes dramatic increase in Islamic extremism

The domestic intelligence service has announced an uptick of hundreds in a matter of months. At least one cause of the worrying trend is the ease with which young people can become radicalized online, authorities said. Deutschland Kundgebung von Salafisten und Gegendemonstration in Bremen (picture alliance/dpa/C. Jaspersen) Germany's domestic security and intelligance agency (the BfV) said on Wednesday that the radical Islamist scene in the country had grown considerably, from only about 100 people in 2013 to some 1,600 today. Indeed, according to BfV chief Hans-Georg Maassen, the number had jumped by several hundred in a matter of months.
Read more: http://www.dw.com/en/german-intel-agency-notes-dramatic-increase-in-islamic-extremism/a-37667354?source=Snapzu

Trump administration withdrew memo that found 'ample legal justification' to halt Dakota Access pipeline

Two days before the Trump administration approved an easement for the Dakota Access pipeline to cross a reservoir near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation, the U.S. Department of the Interior withdrew a legal opinion that concluded there was “ample legal justification” to deny it. The withdrawal of the opinion was revealed in court documents filed this week by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the same agency that requested the review late last year.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-withdraws-legal-memo-found-ample-legal/story?id=45696135?source=Snapzu