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Sheppard, Willard F., 76, of Clinton, formerly of Whitestown, died February 9, 2019. Arrangements by Autenrith Funeral Home, Newport. |
Apple is building a new operating system to power a new augmented reality headset that may be ready for consumers by 2020, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. |
What does that mean? Here's what I think. |
Apple's headset is supposed to employ augmented reality, which means it will take elements from the digital world, such as apps, and place them on top of the real world. |
It might work like Google Glass did, whereby the user could see messages, directions and other commands while also looking through the glasses to see the street and their life carrying on as usual in front of them. |
Much of Apple's power comes from its developers and the tools it provides them. Apple might already have a head start (pun intended) on a whole array of apps for the headset if it launches as reported sometime in 2020. |
That's because Apple has already built a framework, ARKit, to let developers create augmented reality apps for the iPhone. |
Ikea has an app that's really fun to use, for example, which lets you place furniture around your home as a sort of dry-run before you buy it right from the app. Houzz offers a similar experience. Other applications include games that let you visualize all sorts of creatures and scenarios all in your living room. |
You see this as you peer through your smartphone screen currently, but why not through glasses, too? It makes more sense. |
Now cut out the iPhone entirely and put those experiences in a pair of glasses. Instead of peering through a smartphone screen, you'll look around you naturally and see whatever it is Apple's new operating system, reportedly called rOS, enables. |
A patent filed by a company named Metaio, which Apple acquired in 2015, shows how a user might touch digital objects around them -- menus, messages and more -- to command the augmented reality experience. |
I imagine you might initiate an AR version of Apple Maps by bringing up an augmented reality menu of applications, or through a voice command using the Siri voice assistant. You could then tap buttons -- presented in front of you, "on top of" the real world -- to choose where you want to go and how you plan to get ther... |
A model shows off Augmate, a digital eyewear platform for Google glass at the Wearable Tech Fashion Show during Social Media Week. |
Why should Apple enter the space? After all, Google Glass got a lot of backlash for its awkward design and from onlookers who were afraid of the attached camera, which could be turned on at will. Snap's similar camera glasses, Spectacles, introduced last year, have also fared poorly -- the company just had to write off... |
But I think Apple has learned from the mistakes of its predecessors, and might not even have to include the ability to take photos or videos -- just leave those tasks to a smartphone. |
Instead, Apple's smart glasses could be used for guides: providing directions as you walk around a city. Or maybe more information about the restaurant that you're looking at (Yelp reviews, for example). Or perhaps Apple glasses could be used in the enterprise, as Google Glass has been used to allow engineers more accu... |
What if you could pull up notes on Apple's glasses during a business meeting? Or receive and send emails and messages, likely via voice, without breaking a stride. Or what about health? As Apple continues to expand its focus in the area, what if doctors could use rOS-powered glasses to better diagnose patients by compa... |
Apple could potentially generate revenue in two or more ways from its glasses. First, on the sale of the glasses themselves and, second, on the apps that it could sell that were developed specifically for the rOS software platform. I imagine wireless carriers would be happy to jump on board, too, since they'd need some... |
The end of the iPhone? |
Does this signal Apple's intentions to move entirely away from the iPhone? I don't think so. The iPhone will likely remain -- at least for now -- the place where we go to watch movies, play games, and interact with software that isn't placed on top of the world we live in. |
There's room for this sort of product, and the race is on to get it out there. Microsoft is planning something similar with HoloLens, and patents filed by Facebook and other major tech companies show that these sorts of products are just over the horizon. |
If Apple launches these glasses by 2020, though, it may be the first to deliver on what has otherwise been failed attempts or the dreams of science fiction fans. |
For many people, common sense is not so common. But for Dr Cleopa Kilonzo Mailu, the first African chief executive officer of the Nairobi Hospital, common sense is key in whatever tasks he undertakes. |
Apart from being an accomplished health administrator, Dr Mailu, who is also the first medical doctor to attain a Masters degree in Medical Genetics and went ahead to start the service at the Kenyatta National Hospital in 1989, beat a difficult early childhood to be what he is today. |
"My early life was full of struggle. I lacked most basic things. I remember changing schools three times between Form One and Form Four," Dr Mailu says. |
Born 55 years ago in Makueni, the soft-spoken doctor grew up in the semi-arid area surrounded by rampant poverty, more so after losing his father in 1973. Encouraged by his mother, Rael, he placed his hopes in education. |
"I remember I got a zero out of 20 in CRE while in Form Three. I walked home and proudly placed the papers on the table. A neighbour saw the papers and asked my mother whether I was still interested in learning," Dr Mailu recalls. |
"My mother answered in affirmative, "He can still do well." |
This was a turning point for young Mailu as that was the last time he ever came back home with such results. |
"The fact that my mother still believed in me encouraged me. I never looked back again," he says. |
Armed with a determination to succeed, Mailu worked his way up academically, first at Kyulu and Kangundo secondary schools and later Friends School Kamusinga in western Kenya. |
"When I joined Friends School in 1980 for my ‘A’ level, the school motto was as it is still today. "Use common sense". It is still my guiding principal," Dr Mailu adds. |
"My life was most enjoyable at Kamusinga. The friends I met there remain my best," Dr Mailu said when he donated a Sh3 million dormitory to Kamusinga last July. |
"This is where I grew up," he adds. Among the old boys of Kamusinga during his time include Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula and businessman Chris Kirubi among others. |
He later joined the University of Nairobi in 1984 to study medicine and then five years later, a Masters in Medical Genetics from the University of Glasgow, USA. |
"I met my wife Teresa while at the University of Nairobi. We are blessed with two sons, Dennis 25, and Alex 20." |
Dr Mailu believes that he who cannot balance between family and professional duties may not make a good leader. |
"Life is about balancing and family should always come first," he adds. |
He first joined Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) as an intern in 1984. He was later appointed medical officer I. Within two years, he was appointed a manager but in an acting capacity. One year later, Ihe became the manager of the casualty department. |
In 1995, he left KNH to join the Ministry of Health. Within a month, he rose to the position of acting director, Division of Family Health. He was actually the face behind the successful campaign to eradicate polio, running under the banner "Kick Polio out of Kenya." |
In June 2000, he left the government to become a reproductive health adviser with an non-governmental organisation. He was to later work with Unicef and WHO in Geneva; positions that eventually saw him work in different countries including Malawi and Zambia, among others. |
In 2003, he was posted to New Delhi, India, as a project officer for Unicef. He left the same year to take up the CEO position at Nairobi Hospital, a position he holds to date. |
Under his watch, Nairobi Hospital has undertaken an ambitious programme with capacity increasing to 300 beds. |
"We also intend to bring the hospital closer to the people," Mailu says. |
Currently, the hospital has opened outpatient posts in the city including Galleria Mall, Lang’ata and Warwick Centre in Gigiri. |
Mailu was instrumental in initiating hospital management boards and performance contracts at the ministry way before such concepts picked up in other government departments. |
"I had a good career with international bodies before coming to work in the local health sector. I am happy to have pioneered such ideas that were almost 15 or 20 years ahead of their time," says Mailu, a recipient of the President’s Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear in recognition of his efforts in initiating su... |
Citing his appointment as the first African to head Nairobi Hospital, Mailu, who also chairs the Federation of Kenya Employers, says the country has some of the best professionals in the continent. |
He says: "I am convinced that there are hands in the local field able to run this institution should I leave. We should not leave our institutions in the hands of expatriates." |
He feels the country has great potential to develop if only the resources are put in the hands of the right people. |
Citing his stint at Nairobi Hospital where Kenyans have come to expect a certain level of treatment, Dr Mailu says it is a challenge maintaining that high level of trust that people have come to associate the hospital with. |
"It is a humbling experience to be entrusted with people’s lives," says Mailu who is always at the hospital by six o’clock in the morning. |
The country’s challenge, he says, is putting the right people to run institutions. |
Given the hospital’s rigorous routine, Dr Mailu hardly engages in activities that may make him unavailable should duty call. |
"I cannot play golf since I cannot switch off my phone. I prefer relaxing at home with my family," he concludes. |
Britain's Princess Charlotte will act as a bridesmaid for the wedding of her uncle Prince Harry and his bride-to-be Meghan Markle this weekend. |
Kensington Palace confirmed that the daughter of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be in the bridal party for the big day on Saturday, as will her little brother George, who will act as a page boy. |
Among the party will be the sons and daughters of Meghan's close friend Jessica Mulroney. |
The palace tweeted the news that the names of the bridesmaids and page boys for the upcoming wedding had been revealed, and listed on the official British Royals website. |
Other bridesmaids include goddaughter of Prince Harry Florence van Cutsem, 3 and Zalie Warren, 2, goddaughters of Ms. Markle Remi and Rylan Litt, 6 & 7, and daughter of Meghan's good friend Jessica Mulroney, Ivy, 4. |
Page boys include the twin sons of Mrs. Jessica Mulroney, Brian and John, 7, and godson of Prince Harry, Jasper Dyer, 6. |
The news comes as reports that bride-to-be Meghan Markle's father will now not be able to attend the wedding as he is due to have heart surgery, after a tumultuous week in the media. |
Meghan's mother Doria has been seen arriving in London, as has her friend and 'unofficial wedding planner', 37-year-old Jessica Mulroney was also pictured arriving in London this morning. |
The wedding will take place at 12pm in St George's Chapel in Windsor and will be televised in Britain and Ireland. |
Softbans, which traps players in a separate world of cheaters, are on the rise in Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. It’s not clear why, but players have a theory: a very useful mod. |
Several Kotaku readers, including many reddit users, have reported being softbanned from the game. This is a problem because it makes it extremely difficult to summon another player for help or engage in PvP, as the pool of people the game’s matching you with is much smaller. |
The typical reason someone is softbanned from Dark Souls 2 is because they’re cheating and playing online. This is a totally reasonable reason for From Software to push back, and in a sense, they’re being nice enough to let you keep playing the game online with others players. |
The running theory now, however, is that people are being softbanned for using a fan-made patch called DS2fix that addresses several glaring issues From Software has yet to address. |
Chiefly, it fixes the annoying durability bug that’s been part of Dark Souls 2 since it was released in early 2014, a glitch that From Software has only recently decided to address in a patch. It also prevents griefers from naming themselves a certain way and triggering crashes in other player’s games, and automaticall... |
In other words, it’s very useful, and what you expect from the passionate Souls community. But it also might be causing people to get softbanned from the game. |
-Hacking, modifying, or exploiting the game (game data, character, souls, Soul Memory, etc.) with external files/mods or trainers. |
The Dark Souls II server team (FROMSOFTWARE) has specifically stated that any players found in violation of the End User License Agreement (EULA – which a player is forced to agree to follow before being able to play the game in “online mode”) WILL NOT have these restrictions/limitations lifted from their account. Howe... |
The decisions for these restrictions/limitations on your account are ultimately handled by the Dark Souls II server team (FROMSOFTWARE) in Japan that is monitoring the servers and we would have no control or ability to change their decisions (we can only provide information regarding whether or not restrictions have be... |
Other Kotaku readers relayed similar experiences, and I’ve seen the same story on reddit. Everyone claims they’re only using DS2fix, and no other mods. They’re not cheaters, they say. |
The modder who created DS2fix, Alessandro De Micheli, isn’t so sure he’s at fault. |
As I said, however, the people I’ve spoken to claim DS2fix is the only mod they’ve ever used. |
Enough people were experiencing an issue that even De Micheli was eventually given pause. |
I’m in the same boat, as From Software has not yet responded to my request for comment. Is this a change in policy? How come people have used the mod for weeks without issue? That said, Bandai Namco cautioned people from using any mods for the game, including DS2fix. |
“The safest way for people to avoid these soft bans is to not install mods like DS2Fix into Dark Souls II,” said a company representative. |
If I hear something back via From Software, I’ll let you know, but if it’s true the company is pushing back on modders who are trying to help, it could create a rift within the community. |
Remember, the PC version of Dark Souls was terrible. The reason it became acceptable was because fans came in and did something about it. Dark Souls 2 and Scholar of the First Sin were steps in the right direction, but the community still had pick up where the developer left off. |
Yoon Mi Rae, known as T, is the reigning queen of South Korean hip hop, despite being born in America. While she has been laying down beats for more than ten years, some of her current fame comes from her marriage to Tiger JK of renowned Korean hip-hop collective Drunken Tiger. She has well earned her own accolades, th... |
Is this a performance drug that could actually increase the fairness of Olympic contests? |
Nobody seemed terribly surprised when two North Korean athletes tested positive for performance enhancing drugs at the Olympics last week. By now, stories of disgraced athletes sound familiar almost to the point of tedium. But if you had the patience to read beyond the headlines, you might have noticed something unusua... |
Propranolol comes from a class of drugs known as beta blockers, which lower blood pressure by blocking particular sympathetic nervous system receptors. These receptors also happen to be the ones that get activated in times of fear or anxiety, which is why beta blockers are useful as performance enhancers. A beta blocke... |
Beta blockers seem to be especially good performance enhancers when the performance in question involves an anxiety-producing public setting. This is because a large part of the anxiety of performing in public comes from the worry that one’s anxiety will become outwardly obvious. Most people who worry about public spea... |
Beta blockers have been around since the 1960s, but it took a while before anyone noticed how useful they were for performance anxiety. Probably the first performers to start using them widely were musicians, especially classical musicians, whose hands can get clammy or tremble during a concert performance. In the mid-... |
From a competitive standpoint, this is what makes beta blockers so interesting : they seem to level the playing field for anxious and non-anxious performers, helping nervous performers much more than they help performers who are naturally relaxed. In the British study, for example, the musician who experienced the grea... |
One of the most compelling arguments against performance enhancing drugs is that they produce an arms race among competitors, who feel compelled to use the drugs even when they would prefer not to, simply to stay competitive. But this argument falls away if the effects of the drug are distributed so unequally. If it's ... |
Beta blockers are banned in certain sports, like archery and pistol shooting, because they're seen as unfairly improving a user’s skills. But there is another way to see beta blockers—not as improving someone’s skills, but as preventing the effects of anxiety from interfering with their skills. Taking a beta blocker, i... |
Even assuming that the effect was the same for the Swedish shooters as it was for the London violinists, however, it’s not obvious whether or not the drug should be banned. The question is whether the ability to perform the activity in public is integral to the activity itself. For some sports, being able to perform un... |
Given that we’ve turned big-time sports into a spectator activity, we might well conclude that the answer is the second—it is the athlete who performs best in front of a crowd who should be rewarded. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that that athlete is really the best. Nor does it mean that using beta blockers is nec... |
Not safe, not effective and not well led. That is the damming conclusion of a report into the county’s mental health services, which have been ordered to improve by inspectors. |
The Care Quality Commission has carried out a review into services run by the Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which includes The Harbour in Blackpool and also the Guild Lodge in Preston. |
The trust that run the Harbour mental health facility in Blackpool 'requires improvement', according to CQC inspectors. |
The result of the inspection is that the Trust has been given a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating in three areas – safety, effectiveness and quality of leadership. Two other areas were rated good – caring and responsive – and inspectors noted individual staff treat patients with care, compassion and dignity. |
One of the most serious issues raised by the report was patients spending too long in crisis support units. Intended as a short-term measure for patients in crisis, the units were frequently being used to hold patients for long periods, because of a lack of available beds elsewhere. The Mental Health Act sets out that ... |
Some patients spent several days in the unit which – intended only for temporary use – have no beds, leading the patients sleeping in reclining chairs, sometimes for several days at a time. |
The CQC has now issued five requirement notices to the trust, ordering them to improve certain key areas, including eight breaches of legal requirements that were observed by inspectors. |
The inspection involved a series of visits by inspectors over a month between January 8 and February 15. |
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