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More Cyberpunk 2077 details coming very soon in new Night City Wire show – PCGamesN

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has announced plans for a second edition of its Night City Wire presentations. The new broadcast is scheduled for Monday, August 10, at 09:00 PT / 12:00 ET / 17:00 BST.

Announcing the new stream, the developer says it willshare details about lifepaths, show you the types of weapons you will be using in the game, and discuss Refuseds transformation into Samurai, referring to the punk band signed up to contribute to the in-game soundtrack. You can watch the livestream on Twitch, though its not clear how long it will last or what else will be included.

The previous Night City Wire, which was held during the recent quasi-E3 period., brought usnews on Cyberpunk 2077s ray tracingtechniques, as well as the new Cyberpunk anime series coming to Netflix, Edgerunners. It also coincided with a round of media previews, including our interview with CD Projekt Red. There, the developer revealed that Cyberpunks open world might not be as big as first thought and that GTA mode is possible in the game.

Were now around three months from the Cyberpunk 2077 release date, which is set for November 19 after numerous delays.

If you cant wait for then, check out our list of the best cyberpunk games on PC for something to keep you occupied in the meantime.

Cyberpunk 2020 | Cyberpunk Wiki | Fandom

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

R.Talsorian Games

Johnny Silverhand

Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., later subtitled, The Classic Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future, is the second edition of the popular pen and paper RPG series Cyberpunk. The Game was designed by Mike Pondsmith and was an updated version of the original Cyberpunk 2013 rule set.

The Second edition was titled 2020 to reflect the updated setting of the year 2020. The Second edition was originally produced as a box set that included the rulebook and a supplementary screamsheet booklet, featuring information and several mini adventures.

Cyberpunk 2020 spawned numerous Sourcebooks and Adventurebooks and was followed up with the Firestorm series that moved the timeline to the year 2022 and the beginnings of the Fourth Corporate War.

In 2005 the series was followed up by an official sequel, Cyberpunk Version 3.0. In 2013 it was announced that an official video game sequel would be made by Polish developer, CD Projekt Red as well as an official fourth edition of the pen and paper RPG titled Cyberpunk RED.

Mike Pondsmith moved Cyberpunk into the 2020s for the second edition, with this updated setting came new world events, technology and characters as well as greatly expanding the existing world. The setting of Night City became a real world rather than the ambiguous near future city of Cyberpunk 2013 and many of the Corporations received fully fleshed out histories, and names for high level members. The Cyberpunk 2020 rulebook included almost everything from the first edition from the character roles to the Never Fade Away adventure with Johnny Silverhand. After the widespread publication of the book, the first edition, Cyberpunk 2013 became obsolete and Cyberpunk 2020 took its place as the primary way to play the game.

To start playing, first one must create their character. A Cyberpunk on the mean streets of Night City, working for whoever pays best, taking down local gangs or going up against multinational conglomerates, whatever it is you will need to prepare accordingly. In both Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020 there are nine primary character roles, each filling a specific niche. In the subsequent sourcebooks, many of these roles were greatly expanded upon to give location or scenario specific alternates.

The first printing of Cyberpunk 2020 was published in 1990 and like Cyberpunk 2013, came as a boxed set, featuring dice, the version 1.00 rule-book and the scream sheet supplementary booklet.

A Year later in 1991 the version 2.00 edition was released. It is assumed that this was just the standalone book release after the initial run of the box set. The Screamsheet booklet was included as part of the book.

Two years later in 1993 R.Talsorian Games published their 2.01 version of the core rulebook. Included are the screamsheets and character sheets as spelling and grammatical error fixes. The biggest new addition is the new artwork from the Italian printing of the book by Stratelibri. Creator Mike Pondsmith thanks Stratelibri as well as the team and artist that put it together.

After the 2013 reveal of the Cyberpunk 2077 video game R.Talsorian Games began production on a new printing of the Cyberpunk 2020 rule book. The new printing of the book is essentially the 2.01 version with slightly altered cover art. The book subtitle was changed to The Classic Role Playing Game of the Dark Future, the sign advertising the new artwork was removed, and the two horizontal white bars were removed from around the logo.

With the release of the first edition, Cyberpunk 2013, R.Talsorian Games also produced several supplementary sourcebooks, to give players a little bit more information on certain aspects of the game. Only four were produced and were nothing more than small, magazine sized booklets. In the coming years after 2020s initial release, dozens of Sourcebooks would be produced, detailing all aspects that were not covered by the original rulebooks. Everything from guides to Night City, America and the far East, to detailed reports on the various Corporations as well as several catalogue style books, giving players more choice in their fashion, technology and weapons.

As of 2018 the Box set is long out of print and is seldom seen on online auction websites, typically going for a large sum. However in 2013, after the announcement of the video game Cyberpunk 2077, R.Talsorian Games began a fourth printing. In mid 2018, after the E3 reveal of Cyberpunk 2077, the popularity surged once again with a high demand for the books and several more printings are planned throughout 2018.

PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk 2020. 2nd ed. Berkeley CA; R.Talsorian Games, 1990.

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Change the course of the pandemic: UMass Medical School, Boston tech company at center of national push to – MassLive.com

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

UMass Medical School in Worcester and a Boston biotechnology company are in the center of a push by the National Institute of Health to increase coronavirus testing results to more than a million a week by September.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) announced on Friday it is investing $248.7 million in new technologies to seven companies including Ginkgo Bioworks.

The Boston-based company is tasked with developing a process that can produces tens of thousands of individual tests results at once. The idea is to have Ginkgo Bioworks work with with universities, schools, public or private companies and local communities, NIH said.

Ginkgo Bioworks will provide end-to-end sample collection and report results within 24-48 hours from sample receipt. The company is expected to perform 50,000 tests per day in September 2020 and 100,000 per day by the end of the year, NIH said.

NIH also awarded UMass Medical School with more than $100 million in grants to participate in the institutes Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, or RADx, program.

Chancellor Michael F. Collins said the program could change the course of the pandemic.

The RADx initiative was launched in late April and is supported by federal stimulus funding.

We need to get to a place where you get up in the morning, youre going about your day, you brush your teeth, youre putting your saliva sample or nasal swab, and then you run your test in your home every day to determine if you have COVID, David McManus MD, a professor at UMass Medical Center said in a statement.

The companies that received funding from NIH range from small start-ups to large publicly held organizations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided advice on test validation and is prioritizing the review of emergency use authorization (EUA) for tests supported by RADx, NIH said.

The companies selected Friday were narrowed down through a one week in a scenario that NIH compared to a shark-tank evaluation process. Thirty-one concepts made the cut and moved to Phase 1, which included a four to six-week period of initial technology validation.

The seven tests announced today are the first to be chosen for scale up, manufacturing and delivery to the marketplace through RADx. But more than 20 companies will be considered in the coming weeks.

Duality Health Begins Rapid Blockchain Innovation Cycle with Health Product Innovation Team at Dell Medical School – Tyler Morning Telegraph

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Duality Health, a digital health company specializing in identity management, today announced the company's membership in the philanthropic Founders Circleof Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin as well as a collaboration that brings together technology, academia, and industry stakeholders to focus on blockchain and healthcare innovation.

This collaboration between Dell Med's Health Product Innovation team and Duality Health is a first step in establishing a sustainable Blockchain Innovation Hub that will ultimately enable rapid and efficient problem identification and solution iterations with the goal of clinical and commercially viable Blockchain-based products in healthcare.

The first innovation cycle is already underway to identify critical needs and develop prototype solutions leveraging Duality's robust blockchain infrastructure,Dynamic. The Dynamic blockchain functions as a highly redundant and available API framework for which to build and host interoperable health applications.

"Dell Med provides a world-class research environment to further validate a blockchain-based approach to solving some of healthcare's biggest challenges," said Clayton Saliba, CEO and Co-Founder of Duality. "Our passion aligns with the school's efforts to 'rethink everything', explore new possibilities, and develop novel technologies that will ultimately improve health care for all."

On the back of this announcement comes the news that Duality has secured cornerstone investors Bandera Capitaland Sapien Venturesin the company's ongoing pre-Seed round of investment.

"We believe blockchain technology will be a keystone in the future of healthcare and are excited to support forward-thinking organizations like Duality and Dell Med," said Gabriel Reyna, Managing Partner at Bandera Capital.

About Duality Health

Duality Health is a fast-growing startup focused on the nexus between healthcare data and blockchain technology. Founded in 2018, Duality's mission is to develop a highly secure and interoperable blockchain ecosystem to accurately identify, manage, track, and link global health data. The company's product suite includes Patient Identity Management, Practitioner Single-Sign-On, and Electronic Health Data Exchange. Duality's founders and employees are dedicated to making health care safer and more affordable to all.

Media Contact:Allie Perez726-999-0067info@duality.health

Related Linkshttps://duality.healthhttps://duality.solutions

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Duality Health Begins Rapid Blockchain Innovation Cycle with Health Product Innovation Team at Dell Medical School - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Deciding whether to send your child back to school? Heres what the experts say to consider – nj.com

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Hudson County parents have a deadline looming for a big decision: whether to send their kids to school for in-person learning.

Hoboken parents have been asked to submit their decisions by Friday and other local districts have said families will soon also have the option to elect fully remote learning.

Many districts reopening plans offer hybrid models of learning, in which cohorts of students will alternate between remote and in-person lessons. Some will have the option of full-time, in-person schooling.

The coronavirus local trajectory is always in flux, so making a decision a month out may feel like a bit of a gamble.

But health experts say the risk level of a child returning to school depends on a variety of factors, particularly the individual school districts plan and the status of the virus in the locality.

Parents need to be cognizant of that nothing is going to be zero risk, and certainly the more virus thats in the community the more likelihood that their child will be exposed and could become infected, said Dr. David Cennimo, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark.

When looking at a school districts policies, one of the most important parts to study is what the plan is for when an infection is discovered, Cennimo said.

Its just such an eventuality that it cant be a surprise or a panic when it actually happens, he said.

Districts must have an acute plan for how to track and contain the virus spread within their buildings, a new study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health concluded using data from the United Kingdom.

If there is not widespread testing in schools and society continues to ease lockdown measures, a second wave of the virus is likely this winter, the study suggests.

Hobokens contact tracing will be a collaboration between the school nurse, administration and the citys contact tracing team, according to its restart and recovery plan. If 5% of a schools population tests positive for coronavirus at any given time it will close for 14 days and operate remotely during that time.

Beyond contact tracing, other crucial policies for parents to review include mask use and student cohort procedures, Cennimo said. Districts are gradually making their reopening plans available online.

There is not a consensus on how low the coronavirus transmission rate should be for schools to reopen, but New Jerseys current status should be met with caution, Dr. Lawrence Kleinman of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University, said in an interview with NJ Spotlight.

In recent weeks, as New Jersey loosened restrictions and other states experienced surges, the rate of transmission here increased. That figure represents the average number of people each infectious person is spreading the virus to, a key measurement officials have used to understand whether coronavirus is gaining or losing speed in a particular area.

With a transmission rate higher than one its currently 1.32 in New Jersey Kleinman believes students shouldnt be in school, he said. Even if it was closer to one that wouldnt signal all was dandy.

To crush the curve is to have the transmission rate close to zero, not just lower than one, he told NJ Spotlight.

Major health organizations and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have said children, particularly elementary students, should return to school if essential protocols are followed. Those include the use of face masks, physical distancing and sanitization.

Scientific understanding of how the virus spreads and how susceptible children are to contracting it remains inconclusive.

In a much-reported study, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine acknowledged that much, but concluded that young children are among those most at risk from stunted learning if they are not physically in school. It recommended that school attendance be considered more of a priority for students in grades K-5, as well as students with special needs.

The risks of not having face-to-face learning are especially high for young children, who may suffer long-term consequences academically if they fall behind in the early grades, it said.

Each familys footing is different, and for some, homeschooling will be hardly feasible, Cennimo of Rutgers Newark said. Still, a second wave of the virus could be in the cards for New Jersey, and not even having the option to go into school may once again be a reality every family faces, he said.

Unfortunately, even if you choose to send your kid to school now, which might be a really good idea for your family situation now ... come November the schools might be closed again regardless of what we want, he said. I dont know if people are thinking of it that way.

Elizabeth Swanns 16 Pirates of the Caribbean costumes, ranked – Polygon

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

With the Pirates of the Caribbean movies more accessible than ever, and a summer season void of blockbusters, this month were diving deep into Disneys swashbuckling series. Grab your cutlass and hoist the colors: here be Polygons take on all things PotC.

While most of the characters sport one or two looks the entire series, Elizabeth Swann, however, sports a grand total of 16. Its not just because shes the leading lady, but because Elizabeth undergoes the most dramatic character journey of the whole cast, going from privileged aristocrat to fearsome Pirate King. Not only does she have just as an important journey as Will, but hers can also be told through the nuances of wardrobe.

Every one of Elizabeths outfits across the main trilogy, designed by costume designer Penny Rose, is a certifiable Look . But some are more iconic and speak more to her character than others.

Weve broken down every single of the 15 outfits that Elizabeth wore in the main trilogy (sorry, not touching Dead Men Tell No Tales here) and ranked them, according to general aesthetic and symbolic meaning.

Elizabeth is at first thrilled to receive such a lovely gift from her father, the latest look from London, but she quickly realizes the intention is to make her look nice for Norrington, who is going to propose that day. Not only does the dress stifle her ability to breathe, it also represents the stifling expectations thrust upon her: Elizabeth is expected to make a smart match, not for love but for station. This gets the bottom ranking because even though it kickstarts our grand adventure and Elizabeths arc over the series, its her at her most unrealized, still trapped in the role society has stuck her in.

After the adventures Elizabeth goes through in Curse of the Black Pearl, the peach ensemble she wears at the end of the movie is rather demure. It gets a leg up over the fainting dress because at least shes loosened the corset and also takes a stand in it! But overall, it feels like a very tame ending for Elizabeth and definitely not indicative of where she goes from here.

Elizabeth Swann is a capable protagonist and the moments where shes caught off-guard are few and far between, but the moment Barbossa forces her to walk the plank in narry but her underthings is one of them. Thankfully, she manages to outsmart Jack and find a way off the island, taking advantage of her privilege to save both their necks. Even stripped down, Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with.

Elizabeth appears in this fancy Chinese dress when Captain Sao Feng has dolled her up, thinking that she is actually the goddess Calypso. Its similar to the underdress in that its representative of Elizabeth at one of her weakest moments, yet she still manages to play along with the situation and circumvent the expectations men have of her. He does, uh, forcibly kiss her though, so not cool. This gets a leg up over the nightgown, however, for being a generally prettier dress.

The creepy attendant at the bathhouse makes Elizabeth but none of the men! strip down into a bathrobe. Very rude, but that doesnt stop her from swinging a sword when the time comes. This is higher than the other Elizabeth was forced into this by someone else because she gets to wield not one, but TWO swords while wearing it.

While not particularly glamorous, the disguise is indicative of just how well Keira Knightley pulls off enemsebles that are pretty plain. Its not particularly memorable, but it does what it needs to do, Elizabeth looks much better than everyone else even when she is disheveled, and also it marks her fully growing into the pirate she becomes, especially with the prolonged scene where she unloads all the weapons shes managed to stick under it. She wears some variation of this black shirt and pants combo in the first part of Worlds End, sans the straw hat.

Young Elizabeth looks very cute in this grey-ish purple ensemble. It is eerie enough to set the tone of the movie, especially as she discovers young Will floating on the refuge. This is the first we see of Elizabeths more rebellious nature, as she refuses to believe that all pirates are scum and then blatantly lies to Norrington when she steals Wills pirate-y necklace off him.

In the post-credit scene, Elizabeth wears a smart-looking waistcoat over a flowy blouse and skirt. Its a happy medium between her sea-faring looks and the dresses of her youth and for that, I have the utmost respect for it. What has Elizabeth been doing in this 10 year span? We never really find out, but perhaps shes pioneering looks for women that are both stylish, yet freeing.

The one thing Elizabeth has wanted to do from the beginning of the first movie is bang Will Turner and, by God, she does it! Is this just a modification of what she was wearing earlier? Maybe, but it symbolizes Elizabeth getting that D after going across the world and to hell and back, and for that, we salute it. Only Keira Knightley can pull off wearing just a shirt like its a hot couture look.

Nothing says Gothic Romance quite like a billowing white nightgown. Even if the first Pirates of the Caribbean is ultimately an action-adventure, the ghost story tinges make it appropriate from some genre-y costuming. Elizabeth spends a good amount of time in this nightgown and what a lovely nightgown it is.

I lied: the one thing that says Gothic Romance more than a billowing white nightgown is a wedding gown ruined by the rain. Elizabeth doesnt get the fancy wedding her father probably wanted for her, which is a shame because she looks quite fetching in the ivory, but then again, a fancy wedding probably just wasnt true to her character. She takes advantage of this fancy dress and uses it to pretend to be a ghost in order to get some sailors to take her where she needs to go. So not only does it fit the horror roots of the trilogy, it also speaks to her quick-thinking and innovation.

Barbossa basically forces her to wear this dress, which puts it in the realm of the other outfits Elizabeth kinda wore only because she had to, but there are reasons for the high ranking. One is that its absolutely gorgeous. This blood red ensemble is probably the prettiest dress in the entire franchise, fancy fainting dress and wedding gown included. It looks a bit eerie and certainly thinking about how Barbossa got his hands on it might lend itself to a darker backstory, but that just tonally fits with the revelation that Elizabeth is aboard a ship full of undead pirates. Two is that its one of the few connections to the theme park attraction that inspired the franchise, this one being a callback to a problematic part of the ride, wherein pirates auction off women, particularly a woman in a red dress (its since been revamped). In a way, Elizabeths arc wearing that dress as a captive, but ultimately out-pirating all the pirates foreshadows the woman in the ride turning from a captive lady to a pirate herself.

Keira Knightley looks devastatingly beautiful in every period gown, but no matter how decorated the period gown, she will always look 1000% more gorgeous in period menswear. This is just the irrefutable truth. (If you have doubts, might I direct you to Colette.) Is it believable that Elizabeth tricked an entire ship into thinking she was a young lad without any suspicion? Maybe not, but she sure looks amazing.

Elizabeths best look of the first movie is when she refuses to sit still, disguises herself in a soldiers uniform, and heads out to save the boys. Its red like the Red Dress, but absolutely iconic. The jacket is undone, so it walks the fine line of super proper and disheveled, and boy, Keira Knightley is the ultimate queen of that fine line.

This is almost the same outfit as the sailor disguise, but Elizabeth lets her hair down, dons a tricorn hat, and generally seems more at ease. This is the most traditionally pirate-y outfit she wears, complete with the tricorn cap, a generally scruffy appearance, and all the cunning pirate attitude Elizabeth has been cultivating over the course of a movie and a half. The looks of Dead Mans Chest can generally be described as rougher, toucher, and scruffier. Elizabeths pivot is less drastic than Norringtons, but thats because theres always been a touch of pirate within her. She fits this look naturally, one wonders if this is where she truly belongs

Every moment of the series has led to Elizabeth taking charge as Pirate King and wow, she has the Look to end all Looks. Shes basically wearing a variation of Sao Fengs armor, but tailored to fit her. Hat on, she looks ready to fight. With the hat off, her hair billowing in the wind, shes wild and free,

Its in this armor she makes the choice to stick with her crew, even when offered more comfortable quarters by the East India Trading company, ultimately sealing her loyalty to the pirates instead of her aristocratic roots. From the beginning of Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth was a sharp and quick-thinking heroine, even when she was stuck in tightly corseted dresses or billowing nightgowns. But in the Pirate King outfit, shes not just a cunning protagonist; shes a leader, negotiating with enemies and rallying the Pirate lords together for one final stand.

Its fitting, then, that this is the outfit she gets married in. Elizabeth may be a fearless Pirate King by the end of the trilogy, but shes also a woman in love. A wedding in white was never going to be fitting of her and Wills epic romance as much as vows exchanged in the midst of battle.

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Elizabeth Swanns 16 Pirates of the Caribbean costumes, ranked - Polygon

Pope finances 168 projects in Latin American and Caribbean – Vatican News

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

The Popes charitable initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean are carried out largely through the Populorum Progressio Foundation for Latin America and the Caribbean, operating under the Vaticans Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

By Robin Gomes

During the annual meeting held online, July 29-30, the board of directors of the Populorum Progressio Foundation selected 138 social development projects from among the numerous proposals, developed by the Latin American and Caribean communities and regions most in need.

In addition to these, another 30 food aid projects already in operation, were approved earlier by the board of directors in June. This was in response to a request by Pope Francis, as a collaboration between the Foundation and the Vatican Covid-19 Commission, which the Pontiff established in March in the Dicastery, in collaboration with other dicasteries of the Roman Curia and other agencies. The 168 projects in 23 countries express the Church's concern and love for the entire human family in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

The board of directors also analyzed the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in the region. The projects selected aim at helping mitigate the short and mid-term effects of the virus.

At the virtual meeting, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the prefect of the Dicastery, who is the president of the Foundation, thanked and encouraged the members to continue working with dedication and enthusiasm on behalf of those who need their support in this difficult situation.

Among the several participants in the annual meeting were representatives of the Committee for Charitable Interventions in favour of the Third World of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), which finances most of the projects. Also present were delegates from Cross Catholic Outreach, an American charity that has been funding a significant number of them since 2018.

In collaboration with the Italian Church, the Foundation aims at promoting the integral human development of farmers communities (campesinos), indigenous peoples and African Americans of Latin America and the Caribbean. This way, it bears witness to the closeness of the Pope through the works of charity that are accomplished.

In the face of this crisis of global proportions that we are experiencing, these projects are intended to be a tangible sign of the Pope's charity, said a statement issued at the end of the meeting. It also appealed to all Christians and people of goodwill to practice the virtue of charity and solidarity ever better, ensuring that during this pandemic "no one is left behind", as the Holy Father Pope Francis has asked.

Founded in 1992 by Saint Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of the 5th centenary of the evangelization of the Americas, the Foundation is headquartered at the Vaticans Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, while its operations secretariat is in Bogot, Colombia.

There are 3 other foundations for papal charities within the Dicastery, namely, the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, Justice and Peace Foundation and the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Pope finances 168 projects in Latin American and Caribbean - Vatican News

Could This Be The New Reggae Summer Anthem? – Caribbean and Latin America Daily News – News Americas

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

By NAN ET Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 7, 2020: Is the new reggae summer anthem really Loco?

Jamaican singer Agent Sascohopes so and has now dropped a remixof the song in collaboration with Bounty Killer & Kabaka Pyramid.

The new remix takes the original track produced by Romain Teflonzincfence Arnettto the next level and highlights the Jamaican artists versatility with dancehall and hip-hop.

This monstrous first single speaks volumes and will be available on his upcoming EP slated for release later this year.

For almost two decades, Agent Sasco has maintained an active presence in Jamaican reggae and dancehall. Through this years pandemic, Agent Sasco has taken toInstagram Liveto produce a weekly retrospectiveRiddim Classicsseries where he revisits classic dancehall rhythms through interviews with producers and the contemporary artists that appeared on the compilations with him back when he was most-known as Assassin (circa 2001).

Agent Sascos talent for juggling his quick-witted rhymes in his fiery Jamaican-peppered voice opened doors for him as a guest vocalist alongsideKendrick Lamar(The Blacker the Berry)Kanye West(Im In It), andFreddie Gibbs(Bandana). Internationally, he left his mark on 2015s Good Times (Dre SkullRemix), theJamie XX-produced 2015-summer banger in the U.K. Under hisAssassinalias, he stole the spotlight on theCadenzaremix of Saturnz Barz byGorillaz. Last year, Sasco landed his highest streamed record (2M on Spotify plus 2M on Apple Music) with Slow Down, a suave, seductive jam session produced by Ghanaian-British beatsmithJuls.

This July, he performed Loco and Hope River as part ofLive Nation Urbans weekly Instagram Live series. Agent Sasco also joinedChronixxand Bounty Killer forIrieJam Radios virtual concert. Also, keeping with tradition, the veteran artist delivered yet another electrifyingReggae Sumfestperformance for this years virtual edition of Jamaicas most-celebrated two-day concert.

Listen to the remix here.

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Could This Be The New Reggae Summer Anthem? - Caribbean and Latin America Daily News - News Americas

Pirates of the Caribbean: Why The Black Pearl Is Really The Fastest Ship – Screen Rant

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

The Black Pearl is the fastest ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and it's all thanks to a deal between Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones.

The Black Pearl is the fastest ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and it's all thanks to a deal between Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones. Much like its captain(s), there's more to the famous pirate ship than meets the eye at first glance. Years before it gained its all too recognizable black hull and sails, the Black Pearl was known as the Wicked Wench, a former merchant ship used by the pirate Captain Morgan and his crew. As depicted via flashback in the fifth film in the series, Dead Men Tell No Tales, a young Jack was made the ship's captain by a dying Morgan in the middle of abattle with the Silent Mary and its Captain/leader of the Spanish Royal Navy, Armando Salazar.

After using his wit and craftiness to lead the Wicked Wench to victory against Salazar, Jack eventually wound up working for not only the East India Trading Company, but aman who would go on to become one of his most dangerous enemies, Cutler Beckett (as coveredin A. C. Crispin's 2011 novel, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom). Suffice it to say, the pair's relationship quickly went south and, before long, Beckett had personally branded Jack with a "P" for "Pirate" before then ordering his ship to fire upon and sink the Wicked Wench, as punishment for Jack's defiant behavior.

Related: Pirates of the Caribbean: All 5 Ships Captained By Jack Sparrow

Unable to stop the ship from sinking, Jack thusly spoke the magical incantation necessary to summon Davy Jones, the condemnedCaptain of the Flying Dutchman and supernatural ruler of the Seven Seas. The pair then struck a bargain: in return for Jack's soul and one hundred years of servitude aboard the Flying Dutchman, Jones agreed to save the Wicked Wench and allow Jack to act as itscaptain for the next thirteen years. As part of their agreement, Jones also made the ship the fastest vessel on the Seven Seas (one that's even capable of outrunning the Flying Dutchman, as was confirmed duringthe third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, At World's End).

Upon making his deal with Jones, Jack then repainted the Wicked Wench black and added several black sails (to better match its charred appearance from all the damage it took) before re-dubbing it the Black Pearl. However, as far as those who are unaware of either the ship's history and/or Jack's deal with Davy Jones are concerned, the ship's speed can be attributed to its many sails, as opposed to its supernatural qualities.

Of course, as anyone who's seen the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy knows, Jones agreeing to make the Black Pearl the fastest ship in the world came back to haunt himwhen the time came for him to collect on Jack's debt. To be fair, things didn't work out for Jack as he'd planned either. Two years into his reign as the vessel's captain, Jack hired a new crew to go hunting for the legendaryChest of Corts (located on the islandIsla de Muerta), only for his treacherous First Mate Hector Barboass to lead a mutiny against him, leave him for dead on a remote island, and set off to claim the treasure for himself. The rest of the story, as they say, is (pirate) history.

NEXT: Every Pirates of the Caribbean Movie in Chronological Order

Alien: Why Dallas' Death Scene Was Cut (& Why That Was A Bad Decision)

Sandy Schaefer is Screen Rant's Movie Reviews Editor and an Associate News Editor.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Why The Black Pearl Is Really The Fastest Ship - Screen Rant

Three Modified Tesla Model 3 Race Cars Will Attack Pikes Peak This Year – The Drive

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

In obliterating the Pikes Peak course record with its electric ID.R prototype, Volkswagen showed the racing world that electric cars are a threat to be taken seriously. Their instant torque and linear throttle response are the stuff of racing drivers' fantasies, and their insensitivity to altitude makes them particularly potent at hill climbs, like the high-altitude Pikes Peak. So while Acura hopes its trio of entriesled by the new TLX Type Swill seize victory at this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, it'll face stiff competition from an equal number of modified Tesla Model 3s, wheeled by an esteemed cast of drivers.

The least experienced of their number is Pikes Peak rookie Josh Allen, a software whiz in the orbit of Formula 1. Allen is known best for slinging an extensively modified Model 3 around race tracks across California, occasionally snagging electric vehicle lap records as he goes.

He will be backed up by Blake Fuller, a two-time PPIHC class winner who became the first person to race a Tesla up the treacherous mountain in 2016. This year's goal is to trounce the record for an electric production car, which stands at just 11:48.264.

Baddest of the bunch is veteran racer-turned-automotive writer Randy Pobst, atwo-time 24 Hours of Daytona class winner with many PPIHCs under his belt. He will trade last year's ride, a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, for a Model 3 modified similarly to Allen's, with a full catalog of Unplugged Performance parts. He will remain in the Exhibition class, which he hopes to win this year after placing a tantalizing second at 2019's event.

As the PPIHC's organizers have banned motorcycles following the fatal crash of Carlin Dunne during last year's race, this year's event should unfold without risk of repeating such a tragedy. Still, a dark cloud will hang over the race in the form of COVID-19, as the event will be run sans spectators for the first time in history to slow the deadly virus' spread. Come Aug. 30, the ghost race will receive live online coverage through the Facebook page of event sponsor Mobil 1it'll be a perfect after-party to the day's F1 race.

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Three Modified Tesla Model 3 Race Cars Will Attack Pikes Peak This Year - The Drive

Europe Is Building the Next Tesla. Who Knew? – Yahoo Finance

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When Nikola Corp. started trading on Nasdaq in June, the Phoenix-based clean transportation company raced quickly to a valuation of almost $30 billion.

Its market worth has since fallen to a more reasonable $10.5billion, but thats still pretty spicy for a business yet to generate any revenue. Its most promising products are its heavy trucks, powered by electric batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.

The rise of Nikola (whose name, cheekily, is another evocation of electrical engineer Nikola Tesla) will have reinforced a view among European auto industry executives that the U.S. stock market operates by different rules. While Tesla Inc. is only modestly profitable, its valued at about $275billion, more than Europes five largest carmakers combined.

At least Europe has a stake in the latest heavily hyped project.Founded by Trevor Milton, a 38-year-old American college dropout, Nikola is relying heavily on expertise from the old continent. Robert Bosch Gmbh, a German automotive supplier, has helped develop the U.S. companys electric powertrain, and the first Nikola trucks will be built in a German factory belonging to Italys Iveco, a truck maker backed by the billionaire Agnelli family. Bosch and Iveco each own more than 6% of Nikola.CNH Industrial NV, Ivecos parent, just recorded a $1.5 billion fair value gain on that investment.(1)

The biggest question is whether a start-up dependent on so much external help should have a whizzy valuation like Tesla, which builds much of its technology itself.And if Europe has this expertise, why hasnt it produced its own rival to Elon Musks carmaker?

Maybe its a lack of chutzpah. Nikolas name isnt the only reason its often compared with Tesla. Miltons hyperactive Twitter presence makes Musk look tame by comparison. Both mens ambitions extend beyond selling zero-emission vehicles to producing and storing clean energy. While Nikola is focused on heavy-duty trucks, it has touted a variety of consumer products including a pickup called the Badger. These are catnip for retail investors, as the excitement over Musks Cybertruck demonstrates.

While Tesla and Nikola are both working on electric heavy trucks, they differ in at least two important respects. The first is hydrogen: Musk is dismissive, while Milton thinks hydrogen is the perfect fuel for long truck journeys. The second is their attitude towardbuilding stuff in-house.

True, in its early days Tesla worked withLotus to help make the Roadster, and Daimler AG helpeddevelop the Model S saloon. Teslapartners with Panasonic to produce battery cells. But Musk is famous for trying to build his own technology, from electric powertrains and automated-driving software to car seats.

Nikola developed its own software,infotainment andbattery management-system, as well as vehicle aerodynamics, according to Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne. It has outsourced or used hired help to do much of the other stuff.More than 200 Bosch employees were involved in building important parts of Nikolas trucks, including the electric motor for the axle, the vehicle-control unit, the battery and the hydrogen fuel cell. The result isa mix of intellectual property owned either separately orjointly by Nikola and its suppliers.

Theres no doubt, however, who has the deeper expertise.So far Nikola has been awarded 11 U.S. patents, about 1% of the totalBosch is awarded in a typical year. Bosch gets paid to help us get to industry standards on products, Milton told me.

Getting partners to providethe technological building blockshas some advantages. Nikola has only 300 employees and yet its first trucks should start rolling off theproduction line soon. Working with partners cuts the risk of the manufacturing delays and quality problems that plagued Tesla.

Its an efficient use of capital too. Nikolas research and development expenses were just $68million last year. Tesla spent$1.3 billion. After going public, Nikola has about $900 million of cash,although that wont go far in the automotive business. Forthe North Americanmarket, Nikola plans to handle its own manufacturing, with technical assistance from Iveco. Nikola broke ground this week on a$600 million factory in Arizona.

Story continues

Whether or not you believe the extensive involvement of outside partners shouldhave a bearing on its lofty valuation, there are other things that could upset Nikolas plans.

Building a refueling network is a central part of its business model, but this wont come cheap at $17 million for each hydrogen station. The company is also entering a competitive field populated by more experienced and better capitalized rivals. Daimlers Mercedes-Benz failed to follow through on its early experiments with electric cars and let Tesla roar past. It probably wont make the same mistake withtrucks.

Daimler is the worlds largest truck maker and it plans to start production of its electric eActros and eCascadia models next year. The German giant has alsoformed a joint venture with Swedens Volvo AB to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems for heavy vehicles. That venture is valued by the companies at just 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion), putting the Nikola valuation into perspective.

Even if its share price looks overblown, Nikolas improbable rise shows theres investor demand for clean transportation companies that dont still have one foot planted in the combustion-engine past. European manufacturers have the technicalchopsbut they must find better ways to capitalize on investor excitement through new business models or spinoffs. Otherwise someone else will.

(1) This was measured on June 30 when Nikola's stock was much higher

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Europe Is Building the Next Tesla. Who Knew? - Yahoo Finance

Why cultivated meat is about to have its Tesla Roadster moment – Massive Science

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Almost everything we consider a great invention is, in fact, a series of great inventions. Take the electric car, which was dreamed up long before the gasoline engine, and had numerous rebirths and deaths throughout the 20th century, with a whos who of great companies and inventors trying their hand at new prototypes. Unfortunately, its battery life remained too short and its top speed too slow to compete with the gas-guzzling competition. That is, until California engineer J.B. Straubel invented a new lithium-ion battery that solved both problems. His fateful meeting with Elon Musk in 2003 led to the creation of the Tesla Roadster the beginning of the end for gasoline cars.

Cultivated meat the industry I work in as a scientist has followed a similar trajectory. In a 1931 essay, Winston Churchill already imagined growing meat in a lab without harming animals. This dream has also recently become a reality, driven by constant innovation and growing concerns about the carbon footprint of factory farms. Over the past ten years, I have witnessed it grow from a niche preoccupation into a global effort. But like the old electric car, cultivated meat has since been working through its prototype phase. Whats holding it back? The stem cells that are the driving force behind it run out of steam too quickly for efficient harvesting. The process of combining the necessary fat and muscle cells has proven too unwieldy. The resulting price tag is still too high. These hurdles often dubbed our scalability problem have prevented cultivated meat from making the transition from the lab to the market. Until now.

Today, seven years after Mark Post debuted the first lab-grown hamburger to the world, my company Meatable is unveiling a new invention that could give cultivated meat that final push from prototype to widely available product. Our new patented cell-programming technology, opti-ox, has already shown exceptional promise in overcoming our industrys scalability problems. We are betting that this transition will eventually be looked back on as cultivated meats roadster moment the crucial step that helps our industry get over the hump and into supermarkets, in pursuit of a more ecological world.

But how does our technology work? And what needs to happen next for it to fulfill its revolutionary potential? In what follows, I hope to offer some exclusive insights into this breakthrough and how we got there.

Seven years ago, I was working on the research end of Mark Posts pioneer hamburger project, and I remember feeling immensely proud. News cameras started flocking to our lab in the cardiovascular department of Maastricht University. Perhaps now my mother would stop asking me when I planned to get a real job. Marks famous patty showed the world that cultivated meat was a real and transformative possibility. To those of us working on the back end, the project also illustrated how far we still had to go for its prophecy to be fulfilled. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and tens of millions of cells (and the gargantuan lab space required for processing them) had gone into creating that burger. This was an early introduction to cultivated meats famous scalability problem.

10 layers of culture flasks used in the production of the first cultivated hamburger.

Photo by Daan Luining

In the following years, I was excited to work with start-ups around the world who devoted themselves to scaling up production while bringing down the price. The hope was huge. The success of our collective project could save countless animal lives and offer an ecological alternative to an industry with a deleterious carbon footprint. What needed to be done? I immersed myself in these questions while working as Research Director for Cellular Agriculture non-profit New Harvest, getting an overview of all the great work happening in cultivated meat and a crash course in what was holding us back.

The limitations were innate. Cultivated meat is made of cells, lots of them, ideally a combination of fat and muscle cells. Unfortunately for us, these mammalian cells are innately limited by something called senescence. Anatomist Leonard Hayflick discovered it in 1961: mammalian cells can only divide between forty to sixty times before they cannot divide any more. This limitation meant that cultivated meat makers had to keep harvesting and introducing new animal cells a highly inefficient process.

We have long known of a possible way of overcoming this hurdle: using pluripotent cells. Discovered by Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, these cells are special because they are able to divide endlessly, never running out of steam. The question was: how could we turn them into the specific cells we needed, muscle and fat? This requires shepherding the development of a cell all the way to adulthood. The available methods to do this have been time- and space-consuming. Until now.

In the years after Mark Posts famous hamburger, another Mark was (unwittingly) doing research that would prove crucial to the advancement of cultivated meat. Mark Kotter, a neurosurgeon and principal investigator at Cambridges STEM Cell Institute, spent years trying to reprogram pluripotent cells for neurological application.

Starting in 2014, Kotter discovered a way to build specific transcription factors into the pluripotent cells DNA. Every cell in the population turned into exactly what he wanted. He couldnt believe his eyes. He had his graduate students re-run the experiment over and over. Every time, 100% of the pluripotent cells were converted to oligodendrocytes. He had created pure culture of cells from stem cells, which was unheard of thus far.

This turned out to have unintended applications, when I was introduced to Mark in 2016 through a New Harvest fellow. Mark had never heard of cultivated meat, but it took me maybe five minutes to convince him that it was exactly what the world needed. I realized just as quickly that opti-ox could be a game-changer for our industry. In 2018, we co-founded Meatable with our CEO Krijn de Nood, and started applying Marks technology to reprogramming pig cells. Soon, all our hard work started to pay off.

In several experiments earlier this year, we have finally proved that we can grow pork using opti-ox technology on a porcine pluripotent cell. For the first time in history, we have successfully differentiated pluripotent cells into fat and muscle with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

Pluripotent pork cells differentiated into fat (red) and muscle (green) in 7 days.

This process will allow us to grow fat and muscle together. An answer to an elusive problem: adult muscle and fat stem cells require vastly different nearly opposite environments to thrive. With pluripotent stem cells, muscle and fat cultures start from the same type of cell, so they can be grown side-by-side. No mixing required afterwards. The two ingredients can be grown together as they naturally do in animal meat. This, too, is a game changer. It will allow us to create a controlled large-scale process on both ends.

We believe that our opti-ox technology will be the battery pack that helps propel cultivated meat into the mainstream. Combining two breakthrough technologies that use cellular reprogramming in a way that has never been done before, the next test will be our first prototype sausage, followed by a pork chop. We then intend to continue our experiments with beef.

This technology will help us produce meat that's faster to market, higher quality, and more cost effective. More importantly, it will bring us one step closer to our greater goal: separating meat consumption from the death and carbon of factory farms, just as electric cars allowed us to drive without polluting the environment.

This reality may still be 5 years off, but in science that is little more than a blink of an eye. In the long-term, our success depends not only on scaling technological boundaries, but on challenging social perceptions, and having the courage to rethink one of humanitys oldest habits. The possibilities are humbling.

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Whats Ahead for Tesla, Nikola, and Other Electric-Vehicle Stocks – Barron’s

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

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Electric-vehicle stocks are Wall Streets Wild West. EV stocks tracked by Barrons are up more than 160% year to date, led by Teslas 250% rise. Li Auto a maker of electric SUVs with onboard generatorsrose 43% in its market debut Thursday.

There is no lack of volatility in the sector. Shares in battery- and fuel-cell powered truck maker Nikola (ticker: NKLA), for instance, moved double-digit percentage points seven separate days in July, and shares dropped 56% in the month. Still, the stock is up more than 190% year to date.

All of this action is leaving Wall Street a little befuddled.

Most EV stocks now trade above analyst price targets. And those are the EV stocks followed by Wall Street analysts. Four EV companies worth more than $15 billionincluding Li Auto (LI)dont even have analyst coverage yet.

Instead of raising or lowering stock prices and stock targets rapidlysomething analysts are loath to dothey are writing worst-, base-, and best-case scenarios for EV stocks and leaving it up to investors to figure out what to do next.

Analysts, in other words, are sitting on the fence. Still, such scenario planning is a good idea for investors, especially traders. It can help them plan what to do no matter what happens, which is especially important in a sector like electric vehicles.

Nikola investors are in the midst of worst-case planning. Shares plunged after rising 135% in June. It now trades at $30. How bad can it get?

July-like declines for Nikola shares, which were catalyzed by warrant vesting, probably arent in the cards for a few months. Warrants give holders the right to buy stock at a discountfor $11.50 a share, in this caseand 24 million Nikola warrants became exercisable recently. Most of the warrant-related selling pressure is over now. Despite recent declines, Nikola stock is worth about $11 billion.

RBC analyst Joseph Spaks worst-case scenario is $20 a share. Officially, he rates the stock the equivalent of Hold and has a $46 price target. Getting to $20 means Nikola didnt hit his truck market share estimate he models in 2028.

But 2028 is a long way off. It illustrates a problem investors have with all EV startups. Nikolas ultimate success or failure will be determined far in the future. That makes EV stocks, in the short run, very sensitive to changes in investor sentiment.

Nikolas 56% correction was severe. It stalled out at around the stocks 100-day moving average. The next stop on the worst-case train might be around $21 a share. Thats the stocks 200-day moving average. Its very close to Spaks fundamental case.

Nikola reports earnings on Aug. 4. Thats the next catalyst for shares, up or down.

U.S.-listed EV stocks we track, excluding Tesla (TSLA), are worth some $30 billion, more than Ford Motor (F). Include Tesla, and the number jumps to more than $300 billion.

Tesla, the sector behemoth, is valued at roughly $750,000 per vehicle delivered, or about 10 times as much as General Motors (GM) on the same metric. Whats being discounted in Tesla stock, as well as shares of smaller EV makers, is higher and higher EV penetration of the light-vehicle market for years. Tesla stock trades at $1,430.76.

New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu has a $1,500 price target on Tesla and a Hold rating. Its a good place to review the stocks base case. He believes Tesla can sell two to three million cars by 2025, making it roughly the size of BMW (BMW.Germany), with better-than-industry growth extending past that year. Thats a good benchmark for what fundamental assumptions are reflected in the share price today.

But 2025, like 2029 in the case of Nikola, is far off. What drives Tesla higher next is better 2021 earnings. Tesla 2021 earnings estimates have gone from roughly $9 a share to $16 a share over the past year. At this point, with shares trading for 100 times estimated 2021 earnings, Tesla needs to keep beating Street estimates to maintain stock price momentum.

Wall Streets best-case scenarios for Tesla stock discount a number of different things. Some see Tesla selling more than 10 million cars in the future. Others see Tesla selling full self-driving software and making EV powertrains for other auto makers. Still others see value in Teslas battery storage and solar business.

Over the short term, the best-case scenario for Tesla stock is a surge in buying after its inclusion in the S&P 500something the stock qualified for after its recent quarterly profit.

Inclusion would lead to new buying by index funds, and more buying than selling drives up stocks. The question is: How much higher can it go? Tesla stock would be overboughtin Wall Street parlanceat around $1,700. Thats very rough math, but its a level where traders might decide to take profits.

An easier bull case is the one for electric commercial van maker Workhorse Group (WKHS). Its bidding to replace 160,000 U.S. Postal Service vehicles. If it wins, sharesnow at $15.52will top $20 and perhaps approach the top Street target price of $27 set by Roth Capitals Craig Irwin.

Losing the bid would hurt. Whatever happens, Workhorse stock, up more than 400% year to date, will stay volatile. So will shares of its EV peers.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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Whats Ahead for Tesla, Nikola, and Other Electric-Vehicle Stocks - Barron's

Onit Accelerates Workflow and Business Process Automation with Latest Version of its Apptitude Platform – GlobeNewswire

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

HOUSTON, Aug. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Onit, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise workflow solutions including enterprise legal management, contract lifecycle management and business process automation, today announced the latest version of its workflow and business process automation platform Apptitude.

The no-code platform is highly configurable and scalable. Apptitude supports an unlimited number of solutions from department-specific, such as legal spend management, legal holds and legal service requests, to shared solutions across departments including compliance, finance, human resources, risk management, IT, marketing, operations and procurement.

Serving the enterprise, the platform supports hundreds of thousands of users, millions of files and transactions and has a global reach. Close to 300 people have been certified in building Apps in Apptitude, and 5,500 production Apps have been built and deployed. Onits 2020 summer release of Apptitude includes an entirely new visual drag-and-drop workflow builder that allows customers to create workflows in a way that is easy for even nontechnical people to understand.

COVID-19 will certainly be an inflection point in the global economy. This pandemic proves that all companies need a technology platform that can enable rapid change, commented Eric M. Elfman, CEO and co-founder of Onit. Although it is uncertain what the new normal will be in the legal ecosystem, we can safely say that efficiency, collaboration, workflow and automation are now more imperative than ever before. The latest version of our platform addresses these challenges, making it easier than ever to build workflows, automate critical business processes and connect and empower a global workforce.

Introducing Apptitude Process BuilderOnit built the new version of Apptitude to bridge the gap between technical and business users and designed it to simplify the creation of new workflows. Apptitudes new visual interface, Process Builder, allows all users to build and manage business logic and workflows using a drag-and-drop interface.

The complexity of solutions being built with Apptitude has grown significantly over the last 10 years. Builders who were initially tasked with addressing simple workflow problems are now solving vastly more complex enterprise-wide challenges, including risk management and compliance, where the Onit solutions compete with the best purpose-built compliance software. Building and managing business logic at this scale can be challenging for even the most advanced users. Process Builder makes it easier for customers and project managers to understand how applications work and create efficient workflows.

Process Builder provides a visual interface for building workflows. Builders configure business logic by dragging and dropping actions and groups of actions exactly where they need to go. Building new workflows is intuitive and only takes minutes for experienced builders to learn. Most important, Process Builder works with existing Apptitude configurations, and no migration or changes are required to get started. The new release also makes it easy to show your work to other stakeholders in an agile build process so that internal customers can quickly and easily give their input. This helps shorten the time to value in Onit implementations, which often take weeks - not months.

One of our primary goals with this summer release is to support our community of App builders and accelerate new workflow creation and execution across the enterprise, explained John Gilman, vice president of product strategy at Onit. Using the new visual drag-and-drop workflow builder, technical and business analysts are empowered to build Apps faster and more efficiently, enabling better connections and collaboration with key stakeholders and knowledge workers. The reaction I got from customers is that Process Builder is a game-changer. The App builder can instantly visualize the process, and the sponsor can demonstrate in real-time the work of the project team to internal stakeholders.

The new version of Apptitude is generally available and delivers:

The Power of the Platform With a new Apptitude version release every month, legal and business teams can benefit from the latest technology innovations and best practices and stay up to date with industry trends and compliance regulations. Designed from the ground up to be a comprehensive, scalable and agile platform, it has unlimited potential for growth. Whether a legal department is looking to automate one process or 20, it can configure and deploy what is needed when it is required. Its easy to enhance existing solutions and add new departments as needs change and a company evolves. Apptitude scales to support thousands of users and millions of documents, meaning companies will not outgrow the Apptitude platform.

The Onit Advantage Onit Nation The latest version of Apptitude has best practices from 400+ global companies that have built workflow solutions for more than a decade. Customers, employees and Onits technology and consulting partners have configured more than 5,500 Apps, comprised of 160 bespoke legal-focused workflow solutions with deployment in 120 countries. Onit has certified nearly 300 employees, partners and customers in more than 80 training sessions with 686 certification levels granted. The Onit implementation team, coupled with its partner network, brings decades of unmatched industry expertise to the creation, implementation and support of your solutions.

About Onit Onit is a global leader of enterprise workflow solutions for legal, compliance, sales, IT, HR and finance departments. Our solutions transform best practices into smarter workflows, better processes and operational efficiencies. With a focus on enterprise legal management, matter management, spend management, contract management and legal holds, we operate globally and help transform the way Fortune 500 companies and billion-dollar legal departments bridge the gap between systems of record and systems of engagement. We help customers find gains in efficiency, reduce costs and automate transactions faster. For more information, visit http://www.onit.com or call 1-800-281-1330.

Media inquiries:Melanie BrennemanOnit(713) 294-7857Melanie.brenneman@onit.com

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Onit Accelerates Workflow and Business Process Automation with Latest Version of its Apptitude Platform - GlobeNewswire

Automation: The Future of Manufacturing Is Here – Quality Magazine

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Automation: The Future of Manufacturing Is Here | 2020-08-01 | Quality Magazine This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn MoreThis website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.

Automation: The Future of Manufacturing Is Here - Quality Magazine

Automation Arts and Daktronics Build Partnership With Multiple Recent Projects – Digital Signage Connection

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

BMO Tower and Mecca Sports Bar & Grill highlight collaboration efforts

BROOKINGS, S.D. Aug. 6, 2020 Daktronics(NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota, has built a partnership withAutomation Arts, a Wisconsin-based commercial and residential AV integrator, for multiple recent installations including LED video displays at BMO Tower and the Milwaukee Bucks Mecca Sports Bar & Grill at Fiserv Forum.

Our experience working with the Daktronics team has been incredible, said Ron Moore, vice president of Automation Arts. From the first project, their team including Tony Mulder and Brock Wallen have been the most responsive and professional partners I have personally ever worked with leading to some very successful projects. Everything from design, delivery and support, Daktronics has been with us every step of the way on these projects. We are looking forward to collaborating on many more projects in the future.

One of the most recently completed projects took place at BMO Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project included a large LED video display featuring 2.9-millimeter pixel spacing. The display measures more than 21 feet high by 10 feet wide and shares crisp, clear high-resolution imagery as people enter the building.

The display brings additional branding and Milwaukee-focused content to grab viewers attention and elevate the ambiance of the space to match the luxury of the building. It can show live and recorded video as well as graphics and promotional content to meet the needs of BMO Tower.

Working with Automation Arts on these installations was an exceptional experience and the results are amazing, said Daktronics Regional Sales Manager Tony Mulder. At Daktronics, weve instilled a commitment to developing relationships with AV integrators and these projects show the great things we can accomplish when working together to bring our customers visions to life. We look forward to many more successful projects, similar to these, in the future.

Another project the companies worked together to complete last year took place at the Mecca Sports Bar & Grillnear Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks.Automation Arts recently was awarded a2020 Commercial Integrator Awardfor this installation which includes a large LED video display paired with three ribbon displays that surround fans in this entertainment space.

The main display measures nearly 17.5 feet high by 31 feet wide while the three ribbon displays all measure 2 feet high and vary in length at 34.5 feet, 40.5 feet and 48 feet long. The main display shows live sports coverage and additional entertainment content while the ribbon displays supplement informationsuch as statistics and scores while sharing other graphics.

The companies also worked together to install a 17.5-feet high by 30.5-feet wide LED video display in the Bucks Beer Garden. The display features 6-millimeter pixel spacing and is similarly used to show live sporting events, supporting graphics and information.

About Automation Arts

Automation Arts has been at the forefront of high-level Commercial Audio-Visual Integration since1993.Our objective is to provide the highest quality end-user experience possible. This objective is reachedthrough our passion for customer service, attention to detail, and our experience with deploying high-level/innovative product offerings.Automation Arts has grown to become one of thelargest Audio-Visual Integrators in the state of Wisconsin.

About Daktronics

Daktronicshelps its customers to impact their audiences throughout the world with large-format LED video displays, message displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, audio systems and control systems in sport, business and transportation applications. Founded in 1968 as a USA-based manufacturing company, Daktronics has grown into the world leader in audiovisual systems and implementation with offices around the globe. Discover more atwww.daktronics.com.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Cautionary Notice: In addition to statements of historical fact, this news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is intended to enjoy the protection of that Act.These forward-looking statements reflect the Companys expectations or beliefs concerning future events. The Company cautions that these and similar statements involve risk and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, including, but not limited to, changes in economic and market conditions, management of growth, timing and magnitude of future contracts, fluctuations in margins, the introduction of new products and technology, the impact of adverse weather conditions and other risks noted in the Companys SEC filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for its2019fiscal year.Forward-looking statements are made in the context of information available as of the date stated. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur.

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Automation Arts and Daktronics Build Partnership With Multiple Recent Projects - Digital Signage Connection

Parrot + Dronisos: Imagining the future of Drone Automation – UASweekly.com

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Parrot, the leading European drone group, andDronisos, a pioneer in the creation and production of customised drone swarm light shows, are expanding their ongoing partnership to explore new applications for drone flight automation leveraging the Parrot ANAFI drone platform.

Dronisos drone swarms combine sophisticated technology and artistic expression to entertain audiences around the world with dancing drones and lights for clients including Lancme, Peugeot, FIFA, and Oreo. These shows require sophisticated drone flight automation to synchronise up one thousand drones to perform choreographed movements, tricks and flight patterns.

Dronisoshas previously featured Parrot Bebop and Mambo drones, modified with specialised lights, hardware and software to act as the stars of their shows. Parrots latest ANAFI drone platform offers new opportunities to advance flight automation and synchronisation thanks to its compact size, quiet flights, and industry-leading security.

Parrot is a dream partner to help us bring to life spectacular displays of imagination though both their technology and appreciation for artistry, saidJean-DominiqueLauwereins, CTO and Co-Founder ofDronisos. Now, Parrots ANAFI droneplatform has both inspired and equipped our team to push the boundaries and take our drone swarm capabilities to new heights and new industries. In particular, the small size of the ANAFI prevents any physical harm and the highly secure connection ensures the safety and integrity of autonomous flights from potential hackers.

Parrot first partnered withDronisosin 2016 to help produce the companys now infamous drone dances at its annual CES booth to showcase the launch of the Bebop. The lighthearted and entertaining dances entertained CES attendees and served as a memorable showcase of the brand and its technology.These elaborate choreographed drone dances broke barriers in drone automation previously unimagined.

Five years later, amid months of lockdown due to the global coronavirus pandemic, theDronisosteam created a world-record breaking show flying 200 Parrot Bebop 2 drones simultaneously. Created with a dispersed team throughout the lockdown, the show broke the world record for the largest number of drones flying autonomously indoors. The show, sponsored by Cisco and Tim, was broadcast nationally for the celebration of San Giovanni, a popular annual Italian festival in Turin, Genoa and Florence.

Dronisoshas broken barriers and world records with their vision and engineering and our drone technology, said Jerome Bouvard, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Parrot. We see the ways in which our professional and enterprise customers are using our drones and believe that through this next phase of our partnership we can showcase what else can be achieved to solve new challenges forinspections, surveying and mapping, security and defense industries.

For more information on Parrot and its ANAFI drones, visitParrot.com. To learn more aboutDronisos, visitDronisos.com.

Parrot + Dronisos: Imagining the future of Drone Automation - UASweekly.com

Automating to innovate on the factory floor – CanadianManufacturing.com

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

TORONTO When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown back in March, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) saw temporary closures, labour shortages, new safety measures, production delays and even unexpected spikes in consumer demands. In this new environment, manufacturers have had to find ways to accommodate changes on the factory floor.

In a virtual summit co-hosted by Manufacturing AUTOMATION and Canadian Plastics, these magazines looked at ways to help manufacturers prepare for a potential second wave of the coronavirus and to ensure long-term competitiveness, with a focus on the role automation will play in recovery.

One session focused on the factors that should be considered when considering new industrial automation on the factory floor. Panel experts included:

Known for their Collaborative Robots nicknamed Cobots Universal Robots Michael Phillips explained that cobots can help address not only the skills shortage, but also facilitate social distancing.

Our goal is to improve the productivity of existing processes by using a collaborative approach humans working alongside with robots, Phillips said.

Phillips went on to explain that Cobots can be trained on the production floor by staff easily and quickly to set up jobs.

The main takeaway from this is that these robots can be deployed for small production runs in small batches, Phillips said. Customers can then free up their employees to complete more meaningful work.

Speaking from the Siemens perspective, Asghar Rizvi shared that COVID-19 not only accelerated the companys transition to Industry 4.0 but also an automation boom.

The power of data will assist in automating our factories of the future, said Rizvi.

Ashgar Rizvi of Siemens. PHOTO: Automate to Innovate

Rizvi then went on to review the digital technologies that enable manufacturers to operate remotely and more efficiently: remote working, AI in automation and integrated automation (IT/OT).

We need to advise our customers on what will change in their lives by applying remote working, and how they can improve these experiences, Rizvi said. This pandemic will pass, but it will change how our executives will review their readiness for real time events. Real time data will play a very important role when it comes to this pandemic.

Rizvi explained that artificial intelligence is set for a huge takeover in the coming years, and that the current COVID-19 situation is pushing the development of robots and the improvement of AI.

This could lead to a new era of robotic human helpers, Rizvi said. It is expected that global AI software market will grow exponentially.

Lastly, Rizvi shared that Siemens would be providing its customers with data at the field level rather than the cloud level.

By this approach, we are able to do application and analytics at the edge of the application itself. Customers would save a lot of costs that are currently taken as an expense at the cloud level, Rizvi said. Digitalization has become a necessity instead of an option.

Speaking on behalf of Festo, Santiago Olmedo said that the companys customer solutions group played critical role in the selection and implementation of automation systems.

We have a well rounded team of engineers, with solid project management and logistics functions, and our expertise comes from heavy piping and high volume, Olmedo said. Our goal is to make our customers more productive.

He continued, We offer integration support for our customers and a true engineering partnership Customers are able to now order a complete subsystem with a function and performance commitment, rather than ordering many, many components that they have to integrate on their own.

Olmedo added: We welcome the opportunity to collaborate and develop new solutions with our customers based on their requirements.

In another session, Michelle Chrtien, director, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT), Sheridan College, looked ahead at how the future of industrial automation will expand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are different types of automation that are replacing the concept of robots, doing things we dont want to do, and expanding the role and utility of automation to work alongside humans, Chrtien said.

Chrtien reiterated Phillips thoughts by saying that collaborative robots will have a space in automation, noting that it will change the way manufacturing will look in a post-COVID-19 world.

However, she also noted that the advent of machine learning and AI will also have a massive impact on the industry.

In the events second session, Mentor Works president and founder Bernadeen McLeod took charge.

McLeods presentation addressed the ways manufacturers can scale automation in their workplace, including how to access key government funding opportunities for innovation and new manufacturing technologies.

I find the best way to strategize and navigate in this space is to look at your strategic projects and put them into funding pools and look at your challenges and identify government programs that will help you with commercialization and business expansion, McLeod said in her presentation. Look at a separate group of programs that will help you with talent acquisition and training, a separate group of programs dedicated to R&D, and then a separate group for export development.

PHOTO: Automate to Innovate

McLeod went on to educate viewers on the different types of government funding, which include the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) and the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, two COVID relief programs.

A partnership between Export Development Canada (EDC) and approved financial institutions across Canada, McLeod explains that BCAP is a low-interest loan product where depending upon company revenues a manufacturing company can borrow up to $300,000 to $12 million in funding.

The banks take complete control of the program and you must approach your bank, outline what your shortfall is and fixed operating expenses over the next three to 18 months, and then the banks respond to you with this low-interest loan product, McLeod explained. Theres no repayment back for 12 months.

Should a company be denied funding under BCAP, McLeod advised manufacturers to instead apply for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund.

This is up to a $500,000 loan product with no repayments until January 2023, McLeod explained.

McLeod also stresses that when applying for government funding, manufacturers need to stress their project timelines, what types of expenses the projects require and the overall impact the project will have.

I would encourage you to be aware that the assessment for government incentives are job creation, incremental revenue growth, and the governments desire to support innovative processes and technologies into your production site, McLeod said.

The final hour of the virtual event was a panel discussion that focused on funding, planning an innovation strategy, determining primary investments, best practices for testing and scaling, enterprise risk management and automations true cost.

Moderated by Manufacturing AUTOMATION editor Kristina Urquhart, the panelists for the final session included:

PHOTO: Automate to Innovate

de Verteuil said that the most important thing for manufacturers to consider during COVID-19 is to know what problem they are trying to fix and to know the objectives of their project in order to receive funding.

Whether its cost-centric, unit cost reduction or a reduction in changeover time, your competition is edging you out, de Verteuil said.Its really difficult to convince anyone internally or organization lenders and grant decision makers to pony up cash unless you really know what youre selling.

Jeffrey reiterated de Verteuils point, but also emphasized that it is important for manufacturers to not just articulate the problem, but to quantify it as well, advising that manufacturers dont want to be solving a $10 problem with $100 solution.

Sometimes people fail to quantify and youre using a hammer to swat a fly, Jeffrey said. I think thats something where a lot of companies struggle with cash flow.

Obviously its a difficult thing to get over, but we see status quo as being the strongest gravitational force, the ability to have a vision, understand the problem and have a vision about what youre going to do to change that.

When discussing what manufacturers can expect as they start to develop their innovation strategy, Jeffrey said that its important for the manufacturing sector to adjust to the changes that COVID-19 has brought on, namely the adjustment of data-driven processes.

If we fail to adjust and operate with the status quo, you run the risk of going down and unfortunately fear is a big motivator for change, Jeffrey said. These models are changing and its a huge opportunity, but its up to us to make sure we support that with the right types of technology.

Lookig ahead, Felows said she believes that if the manufacturing industry does not implement changes to their technologies, it will result in a loss of competitiveness.

To remain competitive, adopting new innovative technologies for the factory floor will help manufacturers survive.

If our Canadian manufacturers are not adopting the technologies that will help them be more profitable produce a better quality product in a safer manner, more efficient operations, efficient use of resources, they are going to lose ground competitively, Fellows predicted.

With the right partners, and the right collaboration and the right companies to collaborate with, manufacturers will be on the right path.

See more here:

Automating to innovate on the factory floor - CanadianManufacturing.com

Jumpstarting the Hyperautomation Journey with Intelligent Automation – socPub

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

By Tyler Suss, Product Marketing Director atKofax

Gartner calls hyperautomation the most important of the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020. Is it worth the hype? The short answer is, Yes.

As 2020 has unfolded, digital disruption has had many organizations feeling the pressure to innovate to streamline internal operations and customer-facing experiences more quickly. However, as organizations look to drive innovation by transforming business processes, they often run into roadblocks or are uncertain of where to begin.

Hyperautomation may be the solution. Hyperautomation deals with the application of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to increase the scope of automated processes and augment the efforts of the human workforce.

Hyperautomation requires implementing the right combination of the right technologies, in the right order, at the right time. By adopting an intelligent automation platform, organizations gain the tools they need to jump start digital transformation and follow a methodology that catapults them into a state of hyperautomation:

Process discovery: Organizations can use IA to easily analyse patterns and tasks, then quickly identify automation opportunities. Businesses can also discover potential challenges with compliance or regulatory issues and remediate them swiftly.

Digital workflow orchestration: They can centrally build and run automated digital workflows in collaboration with existing applications and human workers. Orchestrating multiple people, actions, software robots, policies and systems enables organizations to analyse, measure and optimize business activities.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Businesses can reliably and efficiently automate repetitive, manual tasks across the enterprise, even through web interfaces and business apps.

AI and machine learning: Advanced automation technologies can be leveraged to understand, classify, and extract data including voice, text, chat, and images. AI allows organizations to automatically recognize people and documents, understand the content and context of communications, and make more insightful business decisions. Machine learning improves the accuracy of document identification, classification and separation conducted as part of cognitive capture and RPA.

Digital workforce management: An Intelligent Automation platform provides the capability to govern a growing digital workforce, including software robots that improve security, compliance, scalability, and audit ability. Organizations can increase work capacity without adding headcount.

Analytics: Businesses can measure the impact of intelligent automation across the enterprise and calculate ROI. Improved visibility, process intelligence and insight into customers, employees and business partners give executives the tools and information needed to adapt to changing market conditions and customer expectations.

The benefits of hyperautomation are measurable:

Reduced costs: Intelligent automation of business processes and workflows reduces the time and resources needed to complete manual tasks and cuts down on the number of errors.

Scalability: Hyperautomation transforms a manual or complex task into a reliable and repeatable process. A collaborative ecosystem of complementary technologies and humans working together generates exponentially better outcomes across the business.

Personalizedcustomer experience: Hyperautomation enables organizations to deliver a more personalized customer experience, resulting in improved satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.

Operational excellence: An efficient workforce comprised of the right blend of human and digital workers creates a flexible and agile organization that can swiftly respond to changing market conditions.

Employee work satisfaction: Human workers enjoy the more thought-provoking and strategic work automation allows them. Workers get more satisfaction out of their jobs when they can see the added value they bring.

Executives who want to drive innovation and transform business processes will do well to consider hyperautomation.

See the article here:

Jumpstarting the Hyperautomation Journey with Intelligent Automation - socPub

DigiCert Announces Automation Gateway To Automate Certificate Lifecycle And Increase Web Security – SecurityInformed

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

DigiCert, Inc., the worlds provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and other PKI solutions, announced its new DigiCert Automation Gateway. Automation Gateway launches with integration into DigiCert CertCentral in Q4. This new automation approach is designed to accelerate the adoption of automated certificate issuance, renewal, reissuance and revocation by tackling some of the common concerns with existing offerings. Automation Gateway will provide organizations the confidence to widely deploy automation protocols within their company networks to provide greater agility.

Automation Gateway lives on-premises in an enterprise network to securely monitor, automate and process certificate lifecycle events through a controllable proxied connection. It is a communication bridge between DigiCerts various management and automation tools, such as ACME, to simplify acquiring and deploying certificates.

Deployment of this offering is a significant milestone in DigiCerts vision to promote and enable crypto-agility and shorter certificate lifecycles. Automation is key in managing security events and responding to new threats.

DigiCert is dedicated to creating robust management and automation tools that enterprises can use to simplify their security processes and increase web security. With the constant increase in threats, enterprises need agility in how they deploy and manage certificates throughout their organization, said Jeremy Rowley, Chief of Product at DigiCert. "Many enterprises are wary of fully adopting automated PKI solutions because of the inherent risk of needing to open their network ports to the public internet. Automation Gateway removes that risk with trusted, automated controllers and proxies.

Automation Gateway also offers failover to provide uninterrupted uptime and prevent outages. The gateway automatically replaces missing, expired or revoked certificates on connected devices. Using the gateway, any number of internal servers can be automatically updated. With smart meshed interaction, if one node goes dark in the network, devices may still acquire certificates and continue to function securely.

Previous industry events, such as the transition from SHA-1 to SHA-2, demonstrate the need for a more agile web PKI. In addition, CA/B Forum requirements specify that a certificate must be replaced within 24 hours for key compromise and similar events, and five days if information changes or there is a technical gap in certificate contents. Automation is critical in meeting these requirements.

Continued Rowley, Automation Gateway in CertCentral will offer an intuitive experience, with smart software that remembers organizational security preferences and eliminates the manual configuration currently required for ACME certbot and other clients in use today."

When released later, Automation Gateway will join CertCentral Automation Tools to provide a completely automated certificate management solution. Currently, CertCentral Automation Tools feature the following benefits:

Original post:

DigiCert Announces Automation Gateway To Automate Certificate Lifecycle And Increase Web Security - SecurityInformed

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