Tinder is introducing another subscription option, which comes with an exclusive perk to get existing premium members to fork out some extra cash. Tinder Gold gives you access to a new “Likes You” option that basically allows you to browse through al…
Source: Engadget – Tinder’s new Gold subscription shows your likes before you swipe
Monthly Archives: June 2017
Toshiba Sues Western Digital For $1 Billion in Damages
Toshiba has raised the stakes in an embittered legal row with its joint venture partner, suing Western Digital for a $1bn in damages and hoping Japanese courts will quash the US firm’s interference in the sale of its memory chip business. From a report: The litigation, filed Wednesday in Tokyo District Court, seeks to stop Western Digital from making ownership claims over the enterprise that Toshiba is trying to sell. The Japanese company said in a statement that Western Digital’s employees improperly obtained proprietary information. The relationship between Toshiba and Western Digital has gotten more acrimonious, as Toshiba moves toward a sale of the flash-memory division. Last month, Western Digital invoked an arbitration clause in their business agreement, seeking to block Toshiba’s transfer of ownership of the unit to a separate legal entity in preparation for a sale. Toshiba, which has since reversed that transfer, then had its lawyers send a letter demanding that the U.S. company stop its “harassment” as Toshiba tries to sell the business.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Toshiba Sues Western Digital For Billion in Damages
Priorities: British Man Gets Hit By Runaway Bus, Stands Up, Walks Into Pub
This is a video from Reading in Berkshire, England, of a man who gets hit by a runaway double decker bus, pushed around twenty feet, then stands up and walks into a pub, presumably where he’d already been headed before the incident. Except now he’s probably getting a whole bunch of free pints bought for him. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? “Do not try to get hit by a bus in front of a bar for free drinks.” But I don’t get paid till Friday!
Keep going for the video of the classic joke, “So a guy gets creamed by a bus and walks into a bar…”
Source: Geekologie – Priorities: British Man Gets Hit By Runaway Bus, Stands Up, Walks Into Pub
Xiaomi is bringing cinema tech to a living room projector
When it comes to home theater setups, high-quality projectors have traditionally been the pricier way to enjoy your movies. Now, however, Chinese tech company Xiaomi is hoping to change that with its new cinema-quality Mi Laser Projector. Priced at a…
Source: Engadget – Xiaomi is bringing cinema tech to a living room projector
Greenpeace tech product guide ranks Apple, Samsung low on repairability
A consumer product guide compiled along with iFixit shows which brands make it easy to fix our gadgets and which don’t.
Source: TreeHugger – Greenpeace tech product guide ranks Apple, Samsung low on repairability
Google Patents Rear Side Touchpad For Future Pixel Smartphone Control
A current smartphone trend has seen vendors put fingerprint readers on the backs of our devices, which also might beg the question, “what else could we put back there?” According to a newly granted Google patent, a touchpad could be in the cards for the Android creator’s future branded Pixel smartphone devices. If that sounds a bit bizarre,
Source: Hot Hardware – Google Patents Rear Side Touchpad For Future Pixel Smartphone Control
How The Health Care Bill Could Affect You If You Get Health Insurance Through Your Work
We’ve been hearing a lot about the 22 million people who will lose coverage under the Better Care Reconciliation Act, and how much more insurance will cost on the individual market. But what if you have coverage through work? Turns out you’re not immune to the effects of the bill. There’s plenty of bad news to go…
Source: LifeHacker – How The Health Care Bill Could Affect You If You Get Health Insurance Through Your Work
Théoriz recreates the Holodeck with AR tech and projectors
If you had to list the most mind-blowing tech demos in recent memory, Microsoft’s Hololens AR headset would need to be included, as would its projector-enhanced Illumiroom. A company called Théoriz from Lyon, France has married both of those t…
Source: Engadget – Théoriz recreates the Holodeck with AR tech and projectors
It's Just "I Before E"—Forget About C
We all know the rule: “I before E, except after C…except”…uh…something. Good news: you can forget everything except the “I before E” part. And even that will only help you guess correctly three times out of four.
Source: LifeHacker – It’s Just “I Before E”—Forget About C
John Romero’s Doom II floppy disks sell for over $3,000
Enlarge / Back in my day… (credit: eBay / John Romero)
If you want to play the original version of Doom II, the game will set you back just $1.24 during the current Steam sale. If you want a boxed copy of the original floppy disk version, circa 1994, there’s a copy available on eBay right now for $75.
But if you want Doom II floppy disks that were once owned (and potentially signed) by Doom co-creator John Romero, you’ll need to pay over $3,000.
That’s what we learned this week when Romero posted “Original DOOM 2 disks / 3.5″ floppies / PC” on eBay and promoted the listing via Twitter. The auction drew 84 bids from 31 distinct bidders over three days, ending this morning with a winning bid of $3,150. “I will sign these disks if you like,” Romero wrote in the eBay description, leading us to wonder if that signature would increase or decrease the collector’s value (we kid).
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Source: Ars Technica – John Romero’s Doom II floppy disks sell for over ,000
AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition 16GB HBM2 Card Unboxed, First Benchmarks Are In
Earlier this week, AMD officially released its first Vega-based graphics card — the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition — to the public. The card is aimed at graphics professionals, hence its price tag of $999 for the air-cooled card and $1,499 for the water-cooled card.
Fortunately, one lucky enthusiast has already gotten his hands on the air-cooled
Source: Hot Hardware – AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition 16GB HBM2 Card Unboxed, First Benchmarks Are In
President Trump Attacks Amazon, Incorrectly Claiming That It Owns The Washington Post For Tax Purposes
The Washington Post, which has been critical of Donald Trump and his administration in its coverage, has become the latest victim in Trump’s Twitter tirade. On Wednesday, he accused Amazon of not “paying internet taxes (which they should),” adding that the company is using The Washington Post “in a scheme to dodge” the taxes. Quick fact check: Amazon doesn’t own The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos — in his personal capacity — does. At any rate, Trump’s furious tweets come a day after The Washington Post reported that a fake issue of Time magazine with Trump on the cover was hanging in some of the president’s golf clubs. The timing of this is also awkward because just last week the president met with Bezos and other top executives to discuss ways the White House can modernize government and aid the tech industry. But the two have a long history. As Recode reminds: Meanwhile, Amazon is about to embark on what could be a lengthy government antitrust review of its bid to buy Whole Foods. Already looming large over the roughly $14 billion deal are the president’s own comments: He has previously attacked Bezos and claimed the Post is a tax-dodging scheme for Amazon. “He thinks I’ll go after him for antitrust,” Trump said at one point during his campaign. “Because he’s got a huge antitrust problem, because he’s controlling so much, Amazon is controlling so much of what they are doing.” Months later, Trump charged: “Believe me, if I become president, oh, do they have problems, they are going to have such problems.” Meanwhile, Bezos isn’t one to shy about his anti-Trump views either. At one point during the election, Bezos tweeted that he’d save a seat for Trump on his Blue Origin spacecraft, with the hashtag “sendDonaldtospace.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – President Trump Attacks Amazon, Incorrectly Claiming That It Owns The Washington Post For Tax Purposes
Chinese tech giant LeEco can’t stop losing money
Chinese tech company LeEco has been busy over the past decade, producing everything from TVs to electric cars (or at least, trying to). But now, the conglomerate is in trouble: They are in a cash crunch and haven’t been able to raise enough money to…
Source: Engadget – Chinese tech giant LeEco can’t stop losing money
WEN hair loss scandal exposed dirty underbelly of personal care products
Enlarge (credit: Getty | PeopleImages)
The pharmacy in any corner drug store brims with carefully formulated, tested, and regulated drugs. But aisles packed with personal care products—shampoos, makeup, lotions—are a different story.
For the most part, these products aren’t regulated at all. The gels, creams, and concoctions we slather on our skin and massage into our heads on a daily basis clear no regulatory hurdles before strolling into neighborhood stores and medicine cabinets. The Food and Drug Administration only looks into these products when people voluntarily report problems. And people hardly ever report problems to the FDA—even when there are big ones. In a research letter this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, a trio of researchers argue that something has got to change.
A major motivation for their argument is the recent scandal involving WEN by Chaz Dean hair care products. (You’ve likely seen the celebrity-studded infomercials.) The FDA opened an investigation into WEN in 2014 after the agency received complaints that the brand’s Cleansing Conditioners were irritating scalps and causing hair to fall out. A whopping 127 complaints rolled in—that’s a lot for the FDA. In 2007, for instance, the agency received less than 200 complaints total, for all personal care products sold in the country.
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Source: Ars Technica – WEN hair loss scandal exposed dirty underbelly of personal care products
Whatever Works: Panasonic's Deodorizing Coat Hanger
This is Panasonic’s MS-DH100 ‘Nanoe X’ electronic deodorizing coat hanger scheduled for release in Japan this September. The $180 hanger uses negatively charged ions to remove odors like cigarette smoke or sweat from garments. Unfortunately, it takes a minimum of five hours to complete a cycle, making it impractical to use as a quick fix for a smelly shirt before a date. And that’s when you just douse yourself with cologne and hope for the best. *later, at dinner* What do you mean I smell like a Sephora store exploded?! Yeah well when you got in the car your legs rubbing on the vinyl seat made it sound like you farted. Haha — I was already thinking of nicknames! I’ll just pay and leave.
Thanks to vishal, who agrees there’s nothing more deodorizing than fire.
Source: Geekologie – Whatever Works: Panasonic’s Deodorizing Coat Hanger
Get Closer to Doing a Handstand in 12 Minutes
Do you dream of doing handstands? Me too. This video will not make you a handstand master, but it will help you stretch your wrists and come closer to finding your balance over your hands.
Source: LifeHacker – Get Closer to Doing a Handstand in 12 Minutes
Trump Accuses Amazon of Not Paying “Internet Taxes,” Which Aren't a Thing
In an apparent attempt to discredit The Washington Post the day after it published a report on fake Donald Trump Time magazine covers hanging up at his golf courses, the president posted one of his most confusing tweets since taking office.
Source: Gizmodo – Trump Accuses Amazon of Not Paying “Internet Taxes,” Which Aren’t a Thing
Why is Jeff Bezos building rocket engines in Alabama? He’s playing to win
Enlarge / Sen. Richard Shelby, right, welcomes Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson to Huntsville, Alabama, this week. (credit: Huntsville/Madison County Chamber)
This week the governor of Alabama announced that Blue Origin would build a factory in Huntsville, Alabama, for its new BE-4 rocket engine. “I must commend founder Jeff Bezos and company President Robert Meyerson for their vision to create this innovative company, and for choosing to make Alabama its home sweet home,” said Gov. Kay Ivey.
The decision has been widely hailed as largely a political one—Alabama has considerable influence in the US Congress over space policy, and, with its decision to build there, Blue Origin was aligning part of its future with the southern state—but that does not appear to be the sole rationale. Rather, a closer examination of the Alabama choice reveals that Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, whose business acumen pushed Amazon to the top, has brought the same shrewdness to the aerospace industry. He is playing to win.
A year-long process
The BE-4 rocket engine is the cornerstone of Blue Origin’s future as an orbital and deep-space rocket company. About 30 percent more powerful than the space shuttle’s main engine, seven of the BE-4 engines will power the company’s large New Glenn orbital rocket. It also is the front-runner to be selected by United Launch Alliance for its next-generation rocket, Vulcan. In other words, if the BE-4 engines work out, Blue Origin will need to build a lot of them.
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Source: Ars Technica – Why is Jeff Bezos building rocket engines in Alabama? He’s playing to win
Unreal Tournament Gives Another Excuse To RadeonSI Developers To "Game"
As it’s probably been one year or so since last trying out Epic Games’ new Unreal Tournament game in public alpha and with today’s update offering easier Linux access, I decided to try it out…
Source: Phoronix – Unreal Tournament Gives Another Excuse To RadeonSI Developers To “Game”
Screwing In This Lightbulb Turns Your Entire Desk Into a Touchscreen Smartphone
What if all those apps you rely on at work weren’t trapped on your smartphone’s tiny screen? They may not be for much longer. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group lab have come up with a novel way for your smartphone to spill out onto your desk while still letting you interact with apps…
Source: Gizmodo – Screwing In This Lightbulb Turns Your Entire Desk Into a Touchscreen Smartphone