November technology blogspot

Tributes to Marvel Legend Stan Lee

From Wolverine to Spider-Man, Black Panther to Captain America, not many people will forget the world Stan Lee imagined and leaves behind. The Marvel creator died this month, but his legacy will continue. His career, which started with pen and paper, grew to so much more. In  2012, at age 88, Lee aimed his ambitions towards the Web, launching a YouTube project called Stan Lee's World of Heroes from his company, POW! Entertainment, saying the internet was ready for more of his brand of superhero content. "I don't feel I'm working, I feel as though I'm playing", said Lee. It was not the first time Lee focused on the Web. His Time Jumper, which he created in 2009 as a digital hybrid between animation and comics, was sold on iTunes through a distribution deal with Disney. As the Marvel Universe expanded with more characters and storylines, it also reached new platforms with the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, which introduced Iron Man to filmgoers. For enthusiasts who prefer seeing their comic art in its original printed form, or pages viewable online, Comixology.co.uk/free-comics has free downloadable versions of whole comic books, including several Captain America and other Marvel titles. Meanwhile, CreativeBloq has rounded up some of the best tributes to Marvel’s marvel.

https://www.creativebloq.com/news/artists-pay-tribute-to-marvel-legend-stan-lee

The British Photography Awards

The shortlist for the British Photography Awards highlights a terrific array of stunning images celebrating the best work by dozens of UK photographers. This year’s competition incorporates a People’s Choice Award alongside 12 category winners selected by an independent judging panel. The British Photography Awards is a relatively new competition on the photography scene. It is designed to highlight and celebrate the talent of British photographers, with 50 per cent of all the entry fees going to charity. There are 12 categories in the 2019 competition, spanning many of the usual areas, from an assortment of different animal sections (pets, birds, and land animals) to more niche categories, including drone or macro photography. Unusually, the competition also has a category focusing on wedding photography, which highlights the efforts some people will go to in pursuit of something different or unique.

All the awards are set to be revealed in late January at a ceremony in London.

https://www.britishphotographyawards.org/2019-Shortlist

Top Shops (Online)

What makes the latest Which? list of the best and worst online shops such interesting reading?

Everybody loves a winner but we also love scare stories, and warnings to stay clear of a bad retail experience. Topping the list this time are specialist stores that focus on the best kind of user experience, with easy navigation and helpful technology. People trust what they see, find the advice they need and then find what they want to buy - knowing they may not always be paying the lowest price but are getting great service that won't end at the checkout. Online beauty retailer LizEarle.com is the clear winner, with hi-fi and home theatre specialist RicherSounds.com in second place, just ahead of clothing stores Rohan.co.uk and SeaSaltCornwall.co.uk, and WexPhotoVideo.com. As shown by the other end of the list, you probably won't find a category of retailer that lets down its customers more than a DIY store. Terms are often confusing, help is never available and navigating in-store or online is a nightmare, so it's no surprise to find Homebase propping up the list from the very lowest ranking position. In fact, Which? highlights the winners' ability to step in and take full advantage of the failings at bigger-name stores which shoppers are abandoning in droves.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2018/11/homebase-co-uk-rated-the-worst-retail-website-for-2018/

Robots Into Battle

A century after it saw the first tanks roll across its landscape, Salisbury Plain this month played host to the largest military robotic exercise in British history. Over four weeks, the Autonomous Warrior exercise will test over 70 different types of robots under simulated combat conditions, including enhanced surveillance drones and unmanned vehicles. Conceived as a follow up to the Royal Navy's Unmanned Warrior exercise in 2016, the purpose of the Autonomous Warrior experiment is to test a wide variety of robots in the field, and to find ways to integrate them into present army structures. According to the Ministry of Defence, this includes areas like surveillance, long-range and precision targeting, enhanced mobility and the re-supply of forces, urban warfare, and enhanced situational awareness. One of the key goals is to look at how robots can be used to solve the problem of "the last mile", the bottleneck that infantry and special forces face in getting the food, fuel, medicine and ammunition that they need to survive. Autonomous Warrior will look at how aerial and ground robots can bring supplies to the combat line in a more efficient way with fewer human soldiers at risk.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/army-start-biggest-military-robot-exercise-in-british-history-defence-secretary-announces

Search Engine Of The Month

Google wants to make it easier for people to find fact checks and is building another version of what it’s best known for: search engines. The new feature, which the company has been working on for months, uses the same signals as other Google products, such as Google News, to highlight work from fact-checkers. "The goal here is to have fact-checking journalists have an easier job of locating all the work that fact-checkers have done on a specific topic", said a Google research spokesman. "For general users, it's for anytime you want to know more about a certain topic". When first launched, fact-checking organisations started using it by invitation and giving Google feedback. Full Fact - https://fullfact.org - a fact-checking charity based in London - was a major helper. Schema.org played a pivotal role in releasing the new fact-checking feature. A triple-check process includes ClaimReview markup being validated by Schema as well as adherence to Google News General Guidelines and "being algorithmically determined to be an authoritative source of information".

https://blog.google/products/search/fact-check-now-available-google-search-and-news-around-world/