Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Police concerned about man last seen in Coventry

Sunday, January 15th, 2017

48-year-old Jeffrey Bromley was found safe and well after going missing from Wood End earlier this week.

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‘Game of Thrones’ is the most pirated TV show of 2016

Tuesday, December 27th, 2016

For the fifth year in a row Game of Thrones has taken the crown for the most pirated TV-show on the Internet. The Walking Dead remains in second place, with newcomer Westworld right behind.

got6For several years in a row Game of Thrones has been the most pirated TV-show, and this year the interest is once again overwhelming.

Game of Thrones has the honor of becoming the most-downloaded TV show through BitTorrent for the fifth year in a row.

This means that its half-decade reign remains unchallenged, despite reports to the contrary.

Although there was no new swarm record, traffic-wise the interest was roughly on par with last year. The highest number of people actively sharing an episode across several torrents was 350,000 at its peak, this was right after the season finale came online.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no growth in piracy. A lot of people have made the switch from torrents to streaming sites over the past months, which likely had an impact on the numbers.

This year there’s also an important newcomer with the science-fiction western ‘Westworld.’ The new show quickly gained popularity in pirate circles and is in third spot already, which is quite an achievement.

Finally, we see a continuation of the trend of downloaders showing an increased interest in high-quality video. In recent years, many pirates have moved from 480p copies to 720p and 1080p videos, in part thanks to better broadband availability.

Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2016 
rank last year show
torrentfreak.com
1 (1) Game of Thrones
2 (2) The Walking Dead
3 (…) Westworld
4 (5) The Flash
5 (4) Arrow
6 (3) The Big Bang Theory
7 (7) Vikings
8 (…) Lucifer
9 (10) Suits
10 (…) The Grand Tour

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Former Sky Blues player and conspiracy researcher David Icke is interviewed by Brooklyn science-fiction author Mark A. Rivera

Thursday, September 8th, 2016

David Icke is the world’s most famous conspiracy researcher. He is the author of numerous books and some controversial theories too. Please note that I do not agree with everything David Icke has said or written, but within guidelines that I stipulated to his publicist when I requested the opportunity to interview him after hearing him on talk radio, I found Mr. Icke to be very forthcoming and gracious. In fact I found him to be a gentleman regardless of the content we did discuss and I am very grateful for the time he gave me out of his “World Wide Wakeup Tour, “ which has been selling out in multiple countries. Mr. Icke is now on the USA leg of this tour with a seminar in New York and then moves on to Los Angeles and SanFrancisco. There will be a link at the end of this interview where those interested in attending can purchase tickets. In addition he has a new book entitled Phantom Self, which can be purchased at booksellers on and offline globally. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

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Someone Already Made a Kickass Torrents Clone

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

The game of whack-a-mole continues. Less than 24 hours after being taken down in an international sting operation, Kickass Torrents (KAT) is back—well, sort of. The popular torrent link site isoHunt has created a mirror for KAT at KickassTorrents.website.

According to a Venture Beat report, the KAT mirror is hosting files from about the last year and a half or so, giving people just enough time to archive anything they didn’t have time to save. Although the links should still work, there are no forums on the mirror—one of the biggest draws to the original KAT website.

This isn’t the first time the team at isoHunt has come to the rescue of the pirating community, either. Back in December 2014, isoHunt created a mirror of The Pirate Bay, another popular torrenting site, after it was taken down following a police raid in Sweden. The Pirate Bay mirror was practically identical to the original Pirate Bay website, and the mirror even hosted new content.

The KAT mirror won’t be anywhere near as robust. “We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something,” the isoHunt team said in a statement that pops up on the newly created mirror site.

The isoHunt team is encouraging pirates to rally around KickassTorrents creator Artem Vaulin by signing this petition on Change.org. The likelihood that the petition will be enough to save Vaulin is slim, but if the petition reaches more than 100,000 signatures in 30 days, the US government will likely release an official response. Before you sign the petition, you should remember that you’re basically identifying yourself as a piracy sympathizer—so think long and hard before you sign your name on something you know the Feds will be watching.

Freeview to carry eight extra BBC channels during Rio Olympics

Tuesday, July 12th, 2016

Multiplex and broadcast infrastructure company Arqiva has confirmed it will carry eight additional services on digital terrestrial TV for the duration of the 2016 Olympics

The additional services, delivered in conjunction with the BBC and consisting of a mixture of standard and high definition streams, will broadcast on the company’s COM8 multiplex, which has a technical reach of 76% of households. Arqiva says the move will help contribute towards the BBC’s goal of bringing more than 3,000 hours of coverage of the event.

In order to receive the channels, viewers must have a device that’s DVB-T2 compatible – i.e. a device supporting Freeview HD, Freeview Play, YouView (BT TV, TalkTalk TV, Plusnet TV) or EE TV.

The COM8 multiplex already carries QVC+1 HD and QVC Beauty HD on channels 111 and 112, so viewers who can receive these services now will be able to benefit from the expanded service. Viewers may need to retune their receivers at the beginning of August in order to receive the expanded Olympics service, which will be live from 5th August – 21st August 2016.

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NHS promotion film captures glory days of Sky Blues

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

A short film capturing the memories of the Sky Blues’ thrilling 1987 FA Cup victory was launched on social media last Wednesday (March 2).

As part of a campaign to promote free NHS Health Checks to those aged between 40 and 74, the film stars former players including Dave Bennett and Micky Gynn.

The new ‘Be there for the good times’ campaign has been developed in partnership with Coventry City Council, Coventry City Football Club and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust.

The video aims to encourage those aged between 40 and 74 to take up the free health MOT and keep their health in check.

Coun Kamran Caan, cabinet member for health and adult services, said: “The 1987 FA Cup Final was a wonderful day for our city and many Coventry people of a certain age will have special memories of it.

“By this age many of us have dramatically increased our risk of contracting diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

“But by taking up a free NHS Health Check and making small changes we can dramatically increase the chances of staying healthy and active as we get older.”

Dave Bennett, who was voted man of the match in the 1987 FA Cup Final, is backing the campaign and has taken up the opportunity of a Health Check himself.

He said: “I had my check-up at my local surgery.

“It was really thorough and they checked my bloods, my weight, my cholesterol, everything really.

“It has all come back fine, which is good to know and I would recommend the service to anyone.”

Karen Wagstaff, Lifestyle Service Manager at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, said: “A free NHS Health Check can save your life by identifying any warning signs early and giving you the chance to make lifestyle changes.

“Its’ quick and easy – you just need to ask your GP.”

All adults aged between 40 and 74 who have not had a Health Check in the last five years are eligible for the scheme and can get a check at their GP surgery or at one of several community venues across the city.

For more information about NHS Health Checks visit www.coventry.gov.uk/nhshealthcheck or call 024 7696 1590.

Premier League expands UK pirate site blockades

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

Major UK Internet providers have been ordered to block access to dozens of domain names belonging to popular sports streaming sites. The Football Association and Premier League recently submitted several new domain names that link to previously blocked sites, to expand the scope of the national piracy blocklist.

premierleagueOver the past several years hundreds of domain names have been blocked in the UK for facilitating copyright infringement, and this list is getting longer and longer.

The blocks are somewhat effective, at least in preventing subscribers from accessing the domains directly. However, many site operators and supporters launch alternative domains to bypass the restrictions.

This is also true for several sports streaming sites that were blocked by the High Court following complaints from the Football Association and Premier League Limited, including Firstrow, Rojadirecta, LiveTV and Drakulastream.

The football organizations recently submitted an extensive list of new domains and subdomains which were added to existing ISP filters, including 3pmstream.com, ifirstrowuk.eu and rojadirecta.es (full list below).

With the new blockades they hope to make it harder for UK citizens to stream unauthorized sports broadcasts. However, FirstRow’s operator previously told TorrentFreak that domain blocking is not going to be very effective as the streaming sources remain available.

“Our site uses third-party players, so blocking FirstRow will not stop the streams, as these will still be accessible online. They are saying that FirstRow is illegal, but our site is indexing streams that are available on the web, which is free information,” FirstRow’s owner told us.

“FirstRow will remain accessible for all other countries, and UK users can use proxies or the thousands of other websites like ours that remain open,” he added.

The site’s owner has a point. Interestingly, FirstRow’s most popular site in the UK appears to be Firstrows.eu. This site is not listed among the newly blocked URLs, so the game of Whack-A-Mole will is bound to continue.

Irish President visits Coventry Cathedral

Saturday, April 12th, 2014

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‘Game of Thrones’ UK return date announced

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
Game of Thrones Season 2 in production (still)

Game of Thrones will return to Sky Atlantic on Monday, April 2.

The premiere has been scheduled for 9pm, meaning that it will broadcast in the UK less than 24 hours after it airs on HBO in the US.

Lena Headey, who plays Cersei on the fantasy drama, teased that the second run will be “even more crazy” and “exciting”.

Natalie Dormer, Liam Cunningham, Hannah Murray, Robert Pugh, Michael McElhatton and Patrick Malahide are among the actors who have signed up for this season’s instalments of Game of Thrones.

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‘Doctor Who’: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe – prequel video

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011