When you repair electronics, you frequently test individual parts to see how they affect the whole. Why not try that with the brain? Stanford is doing just that. It developed a technique that fires specific kinds of neurons to map the brain and ident…
Source: Engadget – Brain mapping could lead to better Parkinson’s treatments
Monthly Archives: January 2017
Try Not to Lose Your Lunch on This Bonkers Never-Ending Slip 'N Slide
In an effort to celebrate Australia Day—a holiday in which the nation apparently likes to risk life and limb for a little fun—a bunch of Aussies realized that the ride on a Slip ‘N Slide is always way too short. So they built an infinite version where you can keep hurtling around for as long as you can hold on.
Source: Gizmodo – Try Not to Lose Your Lunch on This Bonkers Never-Ending Slip ‘N Slide
Bill Gates Warns Against Denying Climate Change
Reader JoshTops shares a USA Today report: Bill Gates warned against denying climate change and pushed for more innovation in clean energy, during an event Friday at Columbia University in New York. The billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder joined friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett for a question-and-answer session with students. “Certain topics are so complicated like climate change that to really get a broad understanding is a bit difficult and particularly when people take that complexity and create uncertainty about it,” Gates said. The planet needs to find reliable, cheap and clean energy, “the innovations there will be profound,” Gates said. In December, Gates announced that he and a group of investors would invest more than $1 billion in Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund that aims to finance the development of affordable energy that will reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Bill Gates Warns Against Denying Climate Change
Quitting Your Job Doesn't Mean You're Too Weak to Handle It
Some of the worst jobs you’ll ever work will try to tell you that “You’ve gotta be tough to work here!” They’ll make you think you’re too weak if you feel like you have to quit for your mental health. This is very rarely true.
Source: LifeHacker – Quitting Your Job Doesn’t Mean You’re Too Weak to Handle It
Even 3D Fumes can be Bad PSA
This is a tragic story, but worthy of mention here as I know it could very well pertain to a lot of our readers. Many of you have gotten into 3D printing of parts over the last couple of years, and this is one of those moments that you need to RTFM. Some extruded plastics are very very bad for you. And don’t think you are too smart and this could not happen to you. Both these folks attended MIT.
The source said that the couple was using a laser 3-D printer that was venting into their residence. Symptoms and signs consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning were found in their bodies.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Even 3D Fumes can be Bad PSA
One DC Comics Villain May Not Be In Justice League After All
New Wonder Woman details tease Diana’s team of ragtag soldiers. Richard Kelly is interested in making a new Donnie Darko. Finn Jones teases Danny Rand’s costume in Iron Fist. Plus, Talia al Ghul makes her full debut in Arrow, new footage from The Belko Experiment, and The Walking Dead’s midseason return. Spoilers!
Source: Gizmodo – One DC Comics Villain May Not Be In Justice League After All
Electronic glasses auto-focus on what you're looking at
They’re not very pretty, but prototype eyeglasses from University of Utah scientists could make progressive lenses obsolete for older people. Using electronically activated lenses and infrared distance meters, they can focus automatically on whatever…
Source: Engadget – Electronic glasses auto-focus on what you’re looking at
New York's Finest
Nikolai Lockertsen is an artist based in Norway who has worked on movies like Dead Snow and Troll Hunter.
Source: Kotaku – New York’s Finest
USB-C power meter could save your devices from dodgy cables and chargers
There will be many obstacles on the way to the promised single cable type USB-C utopia: new standards that aren’t backwards compatible; USB-C sockets that outwardly look the same, but aren’t functionally the same; and, of course, dodgy USB-C cables that can fry your exceedingly expensive Chromebook Pixel or MacBook laptop. In the mean time, might I recommend a healthy dose of vigilance, some branded USB-C cables and chargers, and if you’re feeling fancy, perhaps a USB-C power meter?
Satechi, which makes a range of reasonably well-reviewed USB cables, hubs, and peripherals, has just released a USB-C power meter ($30, or about £35 delivered to the UK). There are lots of good USB power meters on the market for older USB sockets and standards, but this appears to be the first true USB-C meter (earlier meters aren’t rated to the full 5A/20V requirements of USB Power Delivery 2.0).
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Source: Ars Technica – USB-C power meter could save your devices from dodgy cables and chargers
More Mesa Work Coming Out Of Imagination Tech?
While many Phoronix readers cringe when hearing “Imagination Tech” or “PowerVR” due to past Linux driver issues and the lack of a full-featured open-source driver, one of their developers is now requesting commit rights to Mesa…
Source: Phoronix – More Mesa Work Coming Out Of Imagination Tech?
Namco founder and “Father of Pac-Man” has died
Enlarge (credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)
Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Japanese video game company Namco, has died at age 91. Nakamura is widely known as the “Father of Pac-Man” for his role in bringing the arcade classic—created by designer Toru Iwatani in 1980—to Japan, and to the US via a licensing deal with Midway.
Nakamura originally founded the company as Nakamura Manufacturing, selling coin-operated children’s rides to a department store in Yokohama, Japan. He later changed the name of the company to Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company (NAMMCo!), and began producing electromechanical arcade machines like 1976’s Namco F-1.
Namco hit the big time when Nakamura shrewdly purchased the struggling Atari Japan from owner Nolan Bushnell for $500,000—far higher than the $80,000 offered by Sega. The deal granted Namco an exclusive license to distribute Atari’s games in Japan for ten years, and led to the development and release of original games such as Gee Bee and Galaxian.
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Source: Ars Technica – Namco founder and “Father of Pac-Man” has died
Hackers Locked Every Room in This Hotel Until a Bitcoin Ransom Was Paid
As more and more things become connected to the internet, they all become more susceptible to hackers. So it should come as no surprise that even state-of-the-art hotel lock systems are now getting ransomed. Hackers recently penetrated the security system of a 4-star hotel in Austria, locking every room’s door from…
Source: Gizmodo – Hackers Locked Every Room in This Hotel Until a Bitcoin Ransom Was Paid
Windows 10 Cloud May Be Microsoft’s Latest Assault On Chromebooks With UWP App Exclusivity
During the past week, some rather adventurous types dug into Insider Preview Build 15019 to unlock Microsoft’s deepest secrets regarding Windows 10. Using a tool called the Product Key Configuration Reader, the folks over at Petri were able to uncover two upcoming versions of the operating system: Windows 10 Cloud and Windows 10 Cloud N (“N”
Source: Hot Hardware – Windows 10 Cloud May Be Microsoft’s Latest Assault On Chromebooks With UWP App Exclusivity
How To Get All Your Fitness Tracking Data in One Place
You’ve got data pouring in from your connected fitness tracker, your smartphone, your smartwatch, the smart scales in your bathroom and the dieting app you use to log your meals—so how do you get all of this information in one place? It isn’t easy, but here are a few pointers to help.
Source: Gizmodo – How To Get All Your Fitness Tracking Data in One Place
Install a Windowed GNU/Linux Environment On Any Android Device With This Guide
Android’s designed largely for mobile users, but since it has Linux at its core, it can work with a desktop environment as well. If you’ve ever wanted a Linux-style GNU workspace for Android, this guide from XDA can show you how.
Source: LifeHacker – Install a Windowed GNU/Linux Environment On Any Android Device With This Guide
Trump's Immigration Order Is Already Harming Scientists
In April, a half dozen polar scientists are meeting at a US Air National Guard base in upstate New York to board an LC-130 cargo plane bound for Greenland. Once there, the researchers will spend a month traversing remote glacial terrain on snow mobiles, taking measurements at field stations to help NASA determine how…
Source: Gizmodo – Trump’s Immigration Order Is Already Harming Scientists
Explosions may be the answer to mass-producing graphene
Graphene is difficult and expensive to mass produce, but while trying to make something else altogether, Kansas State University (KSU) scientists may have lucked into a promising technique. The team was attempting to make carbon soot aerosol gels by…
Source: Engadget – Explosions may be the answer to mass-producing graphene
Hacker House Smartphone-Connected Door Lock
The team at YouTube channel Hacker House always deliver when it comes to clear, detailed tutorials, and their newest project, ‘How to Make a Smartphone-Connected Door Lock’, is no exception.
Using a Raspberry Pi-powered deadbolt actuator, multiple users can remotely unlock a door via a smartphone app.
The build can be attached to your existing lock, so there’s no need to start pulling out the inner workings of your door.
The app will also notify you when the door has been unlocked, offering added peace of mind when you’re away from home.
For a full run-through, check out their video below.
How to Make a Smartphone Connected Door Lock
In this video, we show you how to make a smartphone-controlled, internet-connected deadbolt actuator powered by a Raspberry Pi that can be added onto your existing door lock without any modifications to the door. The door lock can be controlled by multiple smartphones, and even notify you whenever someone locks/unlocks the door.
You’ll need access to a 3D printer for some of the parts and, as a way to support their growing channel, the team provide printed parts for sale on eBay.
You may also wish to check out their other Raspberry Pi projects too. They’ve made a lot of cool things, including a Facebook Chatbot, a Portable Arcade Console, a Smart Mirror, and a Motion-tracking Nerf Turret.
How to Make a Raspberry Pi Motion Tracking Airsoft / Nerf Turret
In this video we show you how to build a DIY motion tracking airsoft (or nerf gun) turret with a raspberry pi 3. The airsoft turret is autonomous so it moves and fires the gun when it detects motion. There is also an interactive mode so that you can control it manually from your keyboard.
And in celebration of hitting 50k subscribers, the team are giving away two Raspberry Pis! Just subscribe to their channel and tell them how you would use one in your own project to be in with a chance of winning.
If you have built your own Raspberry Pi-powered lock or security system, we’d love to see it. So go ahead and share it in the comments below, or post it across social media, remembering to tag us in the process.
The post Hacker House Smartphone-Connected Door Lock appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
Source: Raspberry Pi – Hacker House Smartphone-Connected Door Lock
AMD Video Card Driver Performance Review – Fine Wine?
We take the AMD Radeon R9 Fury X and AMD Radeon RX 480 for a ride in 11 games using drivers from the time of each video card’s launch date, to the latest AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.1.1 Beta driver. We will see how performance in old and newer games has changed over the course of 2015-2017 with new drivers.
Source: [H]ardOCP – AMD Video Card Driver Performance Review – Fine Wine?
Elite Dangerous to add Multiplayer VR Crew in February
Frontier Developments is expanding upon the VR experience in their premium space simulator Elite Dangerous by adding in VR support for up to four players to assist in flying a ship. Each of the virtual crew members will have a specialized job via the multicrew implementation of the expansion set to come out during the week of February 26th, 2017. The commander creator will focus on giving each crew member the option to create their own special face in VR. I can’t wait to yell for shields and to boldly go where no man has gone before.
So far the studio has released just a few teasing details on the forthcoming update, with features such as Multicrew and a Commander Creator unveiled. Multicrew looks to be the major inclusion for this update, allowing friends or strangers to team up and crew a ship together. The feature will allow up to four players to crew a vessel, each with their own role to play. Details appearing on Reddit suggest these will be: Helm (pilot), Fire Control (ship weaponry), Tactical (sensors, shields, countermeasures) and Engineer (power distribution, repairs).
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Elite Dangerous to add Multiplayer VR Crew in February