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sociallife<br />
RIDING THE STREAM:<br />
QUAD CORE ANDROID<br />
MXQ TV BOX<br />
F<br />
lashback to a schoolyard in the mid-1980s and I’m standing<br />
with a group of friends talking about how cool it<br />
would be if there was a machine or service that would let<br />
us watch whatever movie or TV show we wanted, whenever<br />
we wanted.<br />
Fast-forward to 2016 and those idle imaginings seem<br />
positively prophetic. As physical formats like CDs, DVDs and<br />
Blu-rays yield to the new frontier of content streaming, and<br />
upstart services like Netflix and Hulu compete with old school<br />
media companies for customers, you’re probably thinking the<br />
same thing as me: I should get some new tech!<br />
Fortunately, London’s Forest City Surplus (FCS) has got us<br />
covered. Among the assorted items to arrive at the retailer<br />
recently was the Quad Core Android MXQ TV Box, a product<br />
which has the support of, arguably, the most influential<br />
technology, innovation and communications company on the<br />
planet. (Sorry, Apple!).<br />
Not only do MXQ TV boxes allow owners to stream thousands<br />
of movies and TV shows for free, much of it is streaming<br />
that can (and should be) done legally.<br />
That sort of access is possible with MXQ TV boxes. Popular<br />
programs from Global TV and CTV like MasterChef, Big Brother,<br />
Big Bang Theory, Amazing Race Canada, Hollywood Game<br />
Night, Under the Dome, Blue Bloods, CSI, CSI: Cyber, The Young<br />
and the Restless, CTV National News, Global News are available<br />
to stream as soon as an MXQ TV box is hooked-up.<br />
Since this is a full Android Box, however, it can download<br />
any app – not just apps approved for Google TV. Consequently,<br />
it’s excellent for enjoying games from the Google Play store,<br />
as well as other 2D/3D video games, or running Skype, office<br />
software, or other applications usually run on a laptop or tablet.<br />
The box Uses H.264 advanced video encoding standard and<br />
H.265 decoding standard. It supports 1080P HD video and has<br />
Android 4.4 KitKat OS installed.<br />
Additionally, the box is Bluetooth-enabled, which gamers<br />
will certainly appreciate. Attach a controller, and the box’s<br />
powerful quad core processor, 4X GPU MALI-450 graphics<br />
processor, and 1 GB of RAM will allow owners to play almost<br />
anything on the Google Play market.<br />
If high quality 3D games are your thing, the Box can handle<br />
most of them. According to reviews, 3D games downloaded<br />
from Google Play operated without a hitch. They maintained<br />
high-resolution graphics and ran well using a Bluetooth controller.<br />
It goes without saying that the box supports high-speed Wi-<br />
Fi for network applications. If the connection is fast (10 MB per<br />
second or better), the utility of the box is enhanced.<br />
As far as accessing portable storage, the box supports external<br />
devices such as USB flash drives and SD/MMC memory<br />
cards. Inputs include four USB ports, one HDMI port, one<br />
Ethernet port, one AV port and one S/PDIF port. The box also<br />
comes with a TV remote control.<br />
The box has been engineered to be compact, measuring a<br />
mere 11.5 cm long x 11.5 cm wide x 2.5 cm high. The device<br />
was intended for easy set-up and use, but if unfamiliar with<br />
the process, the company offers customer support for those<br />
who get overwhelmed.<br />
As well as saving money on films, games and television, the<br />
box allows access to international programming that would<br />
cost much more through a regular cable provider.<br />
Among the choices are Indian programming, made available<br />
from the Bollywood Channel app; seven channels of<br />
Spanish programming, made available from TV Directo<br />
España; free programming in Persian, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish,<br />
Farsi, Afghan, Tajik, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Assyrian, and<br />
Kurdish languages from Iranian TV (GLWiz); info on connecting<br />
to Italian satellite TV feeds; China Central Television (CCTV)<br />
feeds, and more.<br />
The Quad Core Android MXQ TV Box is available for $95.00 at<br />
Forest City Surplus (1712 Dundas Street East). For more information<br />
on the product or to order online, visit the FCS website.<br />
- Chris Morgan<br />
PICK-UP A NEW QUAD CORE ANDROID MXQ TV BOX FROM FOREST CITY SURPLUS AND GET STREAMING<br />
SCI-TECH NEWS DIGEST<br />
Evidence of<br />
Planet Nine<br />
While NASA cautions that existence of a ninth planet from<br />
the sun remains speculation, astronomers say there may be<br />
a planet roughly ten times the size of Earth orbiting in the far<br />
reaches of our solar system. Mike Brown of the California Institute<br />
of Technology (Caltech) is one researcher behind a new<br />
report outlining evidence for what is being called ‘Planet Nine’,<br />
including computer models and the unusual orbits of several<br />
objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune containing<br />
comets, asteroids, and several dwarf planets. The Caltech report<br />
maps a possible orbit for the ninth planet, meaning that many<br />
telescopes on earth should soon be able to spot Planet Nine, if<br />
it exists. Much of our solar system is “still out there to be found,<br />
which is pretty exciting,” Brown said.<br />
Widespread Zika Virus<br />
more dangerous than<br />
originally thought<br />
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public<br />
health emergency after reports of Zika virus infection across in<br />
Southern Asia, Africa, and at least 23 nations in South and North<br />
America. Zika is mainly spread through mosquito bites, although<br />
WHO listed several reports of sexual transmission of the<br />
disease, one in the US. Historically, only 20 to 25 percent of those<br />
infected with Zika show any symptoms, which usually include<br />
mild fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. In the recent outbreak,<br />
however, Zika infection has sometimes caused Guillain<br />
Barré syndrome and birth complications such as microcephaly,<br />
leading officials in some nations to recommend women defer<br />
pregnancy.<br />
Authorities in a number of nations have taken steps to eliminate<br />
standing water that could serve as mosquito breeding<br />
grounds. And while WHO officials say a vaccine is likely years<br />
away, a British team believes they could genetically modify a<br />
strain of mosquito to breed with mosquitos responsible for carrying<br />
Zika and render them sterile.<br />
US commemorates<br />
Challenger, Columbia,<br />
and astronaut Edgar<br />
Mitchell<br />
Former astronauts and officials at NASA added their voices to<br />
tributes from across North America commemorating the 30th<br />
anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger explosion. On January<br />
28, 1986, a failed seal allowed a stream of hot gas to ignite<br />
an external fuel tank, causing the Challenger to burst into flame<br />
shortly after liftoff, killing all seven aboard, including schoolteacher<br />
Christa McAuliffe, who had won a national contest to<br />
join the Challenger crew. Just days later, the US remembered the<br />
seven crew lost when the shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry<br />
on February 1, 2003.<br />
In related news, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell died<br />
at age 85 on February 4, nearly 45 years after walking on the<br />
moon. Mitchell piloted the lunar module, overcoming several<br />
electrical problems that threatened to abort the descent. Originally<br />
assigned to the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, Mitchell was instrumental<br />
in helping with simulations after 13 “had a problem”.<br />
FEBRUARY 11 - MARCH 9 • 2016 <strong>CELEBRATING</strong> 27 YEARS<br />
5<br />
THE CREW OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER<br />
LOST THEIR LIVES ON JANUARY 28, 1986<br />
Blue whale could be<br />
world’s most powerful<br />
animal<br />
The massive tail muscles of a 200-ton blue whale can exert<br />
more than double the thrust of an F-15 fighter jet according to a<br />
Popular Mechanics list of 20 of the most powerful things in the<br />
world, helping propel their 100 foot long body at more than 32<br />
kilometres per hour through the water. And while size, strength<br />
and speed protect a blue whale from most natural predators,<br />
hunting in the first half of the 1900’s reduced the world’s blue<br />
whale population to less than a tenth of its former size. The blue<br />
whale’s numbers have increased somewhat since it was granted<br />
protection from the 1966 International Whaling Commission,<br />
but it remains endangered, with somewhere between 10,000<br />
and 25,000 whales believed to be inhabiting the world’s oceans.<br />
MICROBES CAN BE STUDIED MORE EASILY IN THEIR<br />
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT USING THE ICHIP<br />
A new weapon to<br />
fight superbugs<br />
In 2015, scientists discovered the first new antibiotic in more<br />
than three decades, which proved successful against several<br />
superbugs resistant to most current drugs and antibiotics. The<br />
development was made possible by the iChip, an invention by<br />
researchers at Northeastern University that allows microbes to<br />
grow in samples of water or soil from another environment, dramatically<br />
expanding the types of bacteria that could be used to<br />
create antibiotics. So far, iChip has allowed for 25 new antibiotics,<br />
the first of which should be entering clinical trials within two<br />
years. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but because of this<br />
device, the door is open and a bright light is on,” said Stuart Levy<br />
of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance.<br />
- Adam Shirley
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