A friend of mine used to say that the first question we ask when we’re introduced to a new piece of technology is, “how can I use this to have sex?” To that end, here’s how to use an Oculus Quest 2, PSVR, Vive, or other VR headset to have sex…or watch virtual porn, anyway.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Watch Virtual Reality Porn
Today I’m kicking off a new series of articles to spread the word about the newest Flatpak apps, the universal binary format used by more and more GNU/Linux distributions by default. I will start this series with a recently released app called QPrompt, developed by Javier O. Cordero Pérez.
Source: LXer – Flatpak App of the Week: QPrompt – Teleprompter Software for Video Creators
The iPhone’s Voice Memos app is easy to use to record anything from a college lecture to a podcast—but not all recordings turn out to have the quality you’d like. You might end up with wind noise in the background, or a speaker’s voice that is barely audible. With patience (and some audio editing skills), you might…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Make Your iPhone’s Voice Memos Sound Better
Hulu wants to turn its Bite Size Halloween series into something not so bite sized. Another live-action remake is in the works at Disney. Matt Reeves discusses the tone of his lengthy, lengthy Batman movie. Plus, the Beauty and the Beast Disney+ prequel adds to its cast. Spoilers now!
Source: Gizmodo – Updates From Batgirl, Squid Game’s Future, and More
Earlier this week the Linux Vendor Firmware Service began surging with activity following many new system firmware files being uploaded for what appears to be a “high severity upcoming security issue” but currently undisclosed. That issue hasn’t been made public yet, but after poking around it is updating the Intel CPU microcode.
Source: Phoronix – Looking At The New “Critical” Security Firmware Update Hitting Systems – Delivers New Intel Microcode
Samsung’s handy T7 Touch portable SSD is cheaper right now than it was during the holiday shopping season just a couple of months ago. The 1TB black model is down to a new low of $140, which is $50 off and the best price we’ve seen it. Most other versions are also discounted, including the 500GB model for $105, but you’ll get the best deal if you go for the black 1TB drive.
Buy T7 Touch (1TB) at Amazon – $140
Storage gadgets are some that are useful to keep around, but often expensive to get your hands on. That’s why we recommend waiting for a sale like this one to pick up an extra drive, SD card and the like while you can get them for less. Samsung’s T7 Touch is a palm-sized portable SSD with read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, plus features like Dynamic Thermal Guard to control heat levels. While the drive supports optional password protection, the kicker here is its built-in fingerprint reader that you can use as an extra layer of security.
The T7 Touch’s compact design helps it fit into nearly any bag you may be carrying, plus its shock- and drop-resistant aluminum unibody should protect it from too much damage if it accidentally takes a tumble. We also appreciate that it comes with both USB-C to C and USB-C to A cables, allowing you to use the drive with most laptops, smartphones, tablets and even some game consoles.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Source: Engadget – Samsung’s 1TB T7 Touch SSD is off at Amazon
We’re still quite a ways away from wielding proper Power Loaders but advances in exosuit technology are rapidly changing how people perform physical tasks in their daily lives — some designed to help rehabilitate spinal injury patients, others created to improve a Marine’s warfighting capabilities, and many built simply to make physically repetitive vocations less stressful for the people performing them. But German Bionic claims only one of them is intelligent enough to learn from its users’ mistaken movements: its 5th-generation Cray X.
The Cray X fits on workers like a 7kg backpack with hip-mounted actuators that move carbon fiber linkages strapped to the upper legs, allowing a person to easily lift and walk with up to 30kg (66 lbs) with both their legs and backs fully supported. Though it doesn’t actively assist the person’s shoulders and arms with the task, the Cray X does offer a Smart Safety Companion system to help mitigate common lifting injuries.
“It’s a real time software application that runs in the background and can warn the worker when the ergonomic risk is getting too high,” Norma Steller, German Bionic’s Head of IoT, told Engadget. “For example, recommending a break because we know that… the repetition and the overall stress can lead to fatigue, and fatigue can lead to injuries. This is something we want to prevent.”
The SSC not only collects granular telemetry information — what load is being lifted, ergonomic risks such as twisting while lifting, and potential environmental factors — it uses a machine learning algorithm to analyze that data to adapt the exoskeleton to the worker wearing it via OTA software updates. Not only is this data displayed to the workers themselves on an attached monitor, the Cray X also transmits that data up the supervisory chain allowing managers to monitor the movements of their employees to ensure that they are not overexerting themselves.
“Since we are collecting every single step and every single lift, the data that we provide is much more accurate,” Steller noted. The data the Cray collects is gathered from real-world use, not lab tests or supervised trials where workers are on their best ergonomic behavior. “Especially in logistics, every single step, every single lift, every single trend is usually planned. But sometimes in the real world, not every plan comes to fulfillment and then we suddenly see workplace performance drop very, very quickly. And with the data we provide, you can actually do an investigation and figure out why [that drop off is occurring].”
Steller sees the Cray X as a “preventative device” designed to ensure workers don’t overextend or overexert themselves. “We are a preventative device, so we are preventing injury,” Steller added. “We’re not considered a medical [device manufacturer]. We consider ourselves an exoskeleton for industrial use.” As such, the Cray X is IP54 rated for dust and moisture so it can work in all but the dingiest of warehouse environments.
And though the Cray X is designed to be put on and taken off in under a minute, it can be worn for up to a full work shift without being removed thanks to the 5th generation’s new hot-swappable 40V battery system.
“We implemented the hot swapping function so that you can just drop it on the spot without having to turn off the device,” Mauris Kiss, Head of Mechanical R&D at German Bionic, told Engadget. “You can pull out the [spent battery] for a new one, place the old one on the charger — we use the Makita fast charging stations which charge the battery in like 30 to 40 minutes — and then you can just move on. You could potentially work like eight hours without having to take off the exoskeleton.”
For as useful as the current generation of exoskeletal technologies are today, the German Bionic team sees them becoming even more capable, and widespread, in the years ahead. “My feeling is that we will see much more specialized exoskeletons in the future because the technology is more available.” Steller said. “I think they will enter our world, not only in the B2B industrial sectors. We will see them basically everywhere because we have the chance to augment our body and usually humans take the chance to do that. We will see them everywhere, without any real limitation but very specialized to the use case.”
“I really see everyone on the street wearing an exoskeleton in one form or another,” Eric Eitel, German Bionic’s Head of Communications, added. “But I think that the exoskeletons that we are looking for in the future are the active ones. I see them being a lot slimmer, smarter and connected.”
And even as the technology expands to consumer uses, Eitel believes exoskeletons will likely remain a common sight in industrial settings. “There are still a lot of workspaces that cannot be automated and I think that’s going to stay like that for a long time. You still have to rely on people so we don’t want to replace all the humans. I really see that technology is going alongside [automation].”
“We see robots more as companions, our product is actually a companion,” added Kiss. “I think this can be just another possibility, I mean, there’s still situations where automation still makes a lot of sense. When you go into dangerous environments, you should actually automate that. But why should we automate everything?”
Source: Engadget – German Bionic’s connected exoskeleton helps workers lift smarter
It’s now been well over a year since a horde of pro-Donald Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, trying and failing to return the former president to office. Slowly but surely, the nation has settled into a new normal. So too have the perpetrators’ ideological allies, ranging from the street-brawling Proud Boys to…
Source: Gizmodo – 7 Trends in Online Extremism to Look Out for in 2022
This week, all the kids are breathlessly following corporate acquisition news and making one another sign non-disclosure agreements. It’s all very adult.
Source: LifeHacker – The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: What Does ‘Pushing P’ Mean?
Iceberg A-68a—the sixth largest in recorded history—released a hideous amount of freshwater near an ecologically sensitive island, according to new research chronicling the berg’s life.
Source: Gizmodo – Colossal Iceberg Spilled 168 Billion Tons of Freshwater Near Wildlife-Rich Island
The open source community is working on many simultaneous challenges, not the least of which is addressing vulnerabilities in the core of our projects, securing the software supply chain, and protecting it from threat actors. At the same time, community health is equally as important as the security and vitality of software code.
Source: LXer – On DEI Research: Why the Linux Foundation? Why now?
Now that the James Webb Space Telescope is safely on the way to its orbital home, Cherlynn and Devindra chat about why it’s so important with Space.com editor-in-chief Tariq Malik, as well as science and technology journalist Swapna Krishna. They dive into why it’s such a big upgrade from Hubble, as well as the discoveries astronomers hope to make about exoplanets, black holes and our own solar system. Also, Senior Editor Jessica Conditt joins to chat about Microsoft’s mammoth $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Is more consolidating a bad thing for the video game industry? (Spoilers: Probably.)
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
James Webb Space Telescope post-launch update – 1:07
Microsoft buys Activision/Blizzard for $68.7 billion – 31:03
Working On – 58:46
Pop Culture Picks – 1:01:06
Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guests: Tariq Malik and Swapna Krishna
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos and Luke Brooks
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks, Kyle Maack
Source: Engadget – Engadget Podcast: James Webb’s eye in the stars, Microsoft buys Activision
Two YouTube channels linked to the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers have been deactivated by the website, the Google subsidiary told Axios. It wasn’t exactly due to the content of their videos, however, but because some of the group’s members were charged with seditious conspiracy over their role in the January 6th, 2021 US Capitol breach. One of the deactivated channels was named “Oath Keepers” and had fewer than 45,000 subscribers, while the other belonged to group leader Stewart Rhodes and had fewer than 20 subscribers. Rhodes (pictured above) was arrested for his role in the attack and was one of the members who were charged.
YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi told Axios that the channels broke the platform’s creator responsibility guidelines. According to those guidelines, YouTube may terminate a channel if there’s “significant evidence presented in a court of law against a creator for a very egregious crime” and that channel’s “YouTube comment is closely related to the crime.” YouTube said that the termination “follows evidence presented in federal indictments against the Oath Keepers and the charges against them and their role in the Jan. 6 attacks.”
According to the Justice Department, the Oath Keepers discussed their plans to seize the Capitol building using encrypted messaging apps and social networks. The group has long used online platforms to disseminate information, including COVID-19 conspiracy theories with QAnon hashtags and threats of violence. Twitter banned the group back in 2020 for violating its policies on violent extremist groups. In addition to removing two channels, YouTube will no longer allow the Oath Keepers to create, use or own any other channel. Further, it will remove re-uploads of its old videos and will even delete new channels that try to reuse content from the deleted accounts.
Source: Engadget – YouTube deactivates two Oath Keepers channels after seditious conspiracy charges
If you’ve been looking at a set of AirPods but hesitate due to concerns about fit, don’t forget about the Beats Fit Pro earbuds. They have the many of the same perks including ANC and spatial audio, but offer a more comfortable design. If you’ve been hesitating due to the $200 price, you can now pick up a pair at either Amazon or Walmart for $153.11, for a savings of 23 percent.
But Beats Fit Pro at Amazon – $153.11Buy Beats Fit Pro at Walmart – $153.11
The Beats Fit Pro wireless earbuds earned an excellent 87 Engadget review score for their solid around performance. On the comfort front, the “fit wing” tip can bend to a wide range of ear shapes while keeping the buds firmly in place. They also offer physical buttons to answer calls, control volume, play/pause music and skip tracks.
The sound quality is “balanced and powerful” with punchy bass as you’d expect with Beats earphones, while also offering great clarity. They support Apple’s spatial audio, giving you the ability to listen to Dolby Atmos Music content in Apple Music, or TV/movies on Apple TV. They also support Adaptive EQ that adjusts low- and mid-range frequencies depending on ambient sound to keep audio quality consistent. The ANC is powered by Apple’s H1 chip and does a solid job of blocking distractions when you need it to.
The regular $200 price is fairly high and we haven’t seen them on sale much yet, so the discount is welcome news if you’ve been eyeing a pair. Keep in mind that the $153.11 price won’t show in Amazon until you add it to your cart, but the discount is there. The deal also only applies to the black color model.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Source: Engadget – Beats Fit Pro earbuds are 23 percent off right now
Intel will invest $20 billion in a sprawling new processor manufacturing facility outside Columbus, Ohio, according to an announcement from the tech giant early Friday. The plant, billed as the single largest private-sector investment in Ohio’s history, is expected to create 3,000 jobs, based on the company’s…
Source: Gizmodo – Intel Plans Billion Factory in Ohio to Accelerate Domestic Chip Manufacturing
An open source cloud data lake platform is finding adoption at large organizations including Uber, Walmart and Disney+ Hotstar as the demands of data scale grow.
Source: LXer – Apache Hudi powering data lake efforts at Walmart,Uber and Disney+ Hotstar
Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)
You may think of the mouse as one of the most basic PC peripherals. And some mice may be. Point, click, and you’re done. But modern mice, especially those in the high-end, gaming, and wireless realms, have come a long way. And if you’re looking for a more advanced mouse, you may be surprised by some of the parlance going around.
Below, we’ll provide quick breakdowns of some of the most common terms you’ll see when looking for an advanced mouse. Some of this may be a refresher for you, while other phrases may be irrelevant to your needs. Some terminology may deal with performance differences that only an astute enthusiast would notice. More importantly, some of the specs detailed below will hopefully provide you the kind of information needed to justify spending $50-plus (or even $150-plus) for a mouse.
High-end mice these days aren’t relying on trackballs anymore. Instead, they’re largely using optical sensors, leveraging a camera, LED, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (like in a camera), and digital signal processor (DSP) to convert your arm movements into pointer movements. The DSP, as explained by How Stuff Works, “is able to detect patterns in the images and see how those patterns have moved since the previous image. Based on the change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer.” A bit less common in terms of new releases of late (but still advanced) are laser sensors, like Logitech’s Darkfield sensor used in Logitech MX Master 3.
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Source: Ars Technica – Want a great PC mouse? Understand these terms
New Year fitness resolutions aside, many of us are cautiously making our way back to the gym. What about our home workout spaces? What about your Peloton bike? Following reports from CNBC that the company had put production on hold for its standard Bike and Tread (treadmill) products, as well as looking to cut costs, Peloton says it’s not halted production. However, and note the choice of words, Peloton CEO John Foley said in a letter to employees that the company is “resetting [its] production levels for sustainable growth.”
And what to do if you’ve moved on from your Bike? My dad used his stationary bike almost daily when I was growing up. And when he didn’t, it made a pretty functional clothes rack.
— Mat Smith
Today, as carriers expand their 5G networks across the country, they’re faced with a dangerous prospect: That one of 5G’s spectrum bands may interfere with the radio altimeters aboard commercial aircraft below 2,500 feet, potentially causing automated landing controls to misjudge the distance from the ground and crash. This forms the basis of a fight between the US airline industry and the country’s phone carriers.
Arguably one of the most subtle wearables, the Oura ring is back. It’s smarter, it has a subscription service and it lasts almost a week between charges. But is there enough to recommend it above the Fitbits and the Apple Watches out there? It’s not a device that every fitness person will love, but Oura seems a less ostentatious way of tracking your life. Senior Editor Daniel Cooper slips on the third-generation smart ring.
Casio hasn’t been a serious player in the world of synthesizers for some time. Recently, the company teased what seemed like a return to real-deal synths. What we got is the Casiotone CT-S1000V. It looks like a mid-range Casiotone that uses the company’s flagship AiX engine, with vocal synthesis tossed in as a bonus. In short, it’s a singing keyboard.
The novelty of being able to whip up some lyrics in the companion app, send them to the CT-S1000V and play the words as a melody was more than enough to pique Terrence O’Brien’s interest.
Crypto.com’s Chief Executive Kris Marszalek has admitted that hackers compromised over 400 customer accounts. While the issue was fixed immediately, and the company has fully reimbursed the affected users, unauthorized withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 Ethereum (ETH), 443.93 Bitcoin (BTC) and approximately $66,200 in other currencies. Based on current exchange rates, that’s $15.3 million of ETH and $18.7 million of BTC for a total of $34 million in losses.
Amazon is opening its first-ever Amazon Style physical clothing store with the promise of a high-tech shopping experience, confirming a rumor from last year. It will offer brands consumers “know and love,” according to Amazon, and an app will let you choose an item, size and color and send it directly to a fitting room or pickup counter. The first store is coming to The Americana at Brand in Los Angeles sometime “later this year,” the company said.
Consumer Reports now rewards driver monitoring, but only Ford and GM pass muster
‘Zero Trust’ is the guiding principle of Sikur’s latest security-focused smartphone
Wandercraft’s latest exoskeleton lets paraplegic patients walk with a more natural gait
Amazon one-day sale knocks up to 40 percent off Anker chargers and accessories
PlayStation’s Wrap-Up is back to break down your PS4 and PS5 stats for 2021
Canon’s EOS R5C is a hybrid cinema camera with 8K video and 45-megapixel stills
‘Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’ will arrive on April 5th
Source: Engadget – The Morning After: Peloton denies pausing production on its bikes
After recently carrying out the Core i5 12400 Linux benchmarks against other modern processors, for curiosity I ran some benchmarks on some older hardware going back to AMD Kaveri and Intel Sandy Bridge for a look at how the modern Ubuntu performance compares across all those systems…
Source: Phoronix – A Look At Alder Lake Against Older CPUs Going Back To Sandy Bridge, Kaveri
A group of surgeons from the University of Alabama at Birmingham has proven that it’s possible to genetically alter a pig so that its kidneys can be used on human transplant patients. The doctors have transplanted kidneys from a genetically altered pig into the abdomen of a brain-dead man, and as The New York Times has reported, the procedure was described in a paper published in the American Journal of Transplantation.
According to the doctors, the kidneys from the pig started producing urine as soon as 23 minutes after the procedure and continued to do so for three days. The patient’s kidneys were fully removed, and his body didn’t show signs of rejecting the transplanted organs. This is the latest in a series of developments wherein organs from genetically altered pigs were successfully transplanted into humans. In late 2021, NYU Langone Health doctors attached a pig kidney onto the blood vessels of a brain-dead patient’s upper leg. And, just a few days ago, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine transplanted a pig’s heart into a live patient as part of an experimental procedure.
The UAB surgeons performed the procedure with consent from the family of the recipient, James Parsons, who wanted to be an organ donor. They’re now naming this type of study after him. While the recipient was brain dead in this case, it’s a big step towards a clinical trial involving live patients that they’re hoping would start later this year. Dr. Jayme Locke, the team’s lead surgeon, said this wasn’t a one-off experiment, and that the hope is to “advance the field to help… patients.” The doctor who serves as director to UAB’s Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program added: “What a wonderful day it will be when I can walk into clinic and know I have a kidney for everyone waiting to see me.”
Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are currently 90,272 people on the waiting list for kidney transplant. In addition, around 3,000 new patients are added to the waiting list for the organ each month. Dr. Locke said “kidney failure is refractory, severe and impactful” and that “it needs a radical solution.” She hopes to be able to offer life-saving pig kidney transplants to patients within the next five years.
Source: Engadget – US surgeons implant genetically altered pig kidneys in a brain-dead patient
