Pandora has had a busy year so far and now, there are rumors circling around co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren. According to Recode, Westergren will be stepping down from his current role. There are currently no candidates to replace him, so he’ll li…
Source: Engadget – Pandora’s CEO might leave the company he founded
Monthly Archives: June 2017
Ringless voicemail spam won’t be exempt from anti-robocall rules
Enlarge / The FCC was asked to decide whether this ringless voicemail technology should be subject to anti-robocall rules. (credit: Stratics Networks)
A petition to exempt ringless voicemails from anti-robocall rules has been withdrawn after heavy opposition.
In March, a marketing company called All About the Message petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for a ruling that would prevent anti-robocall rules from applying to ringless voicemails. But the company withdrew its petition without explanation in a letter to the FCC last week, even though the commission hadn’t yet ruled on the matter.
As the name suggests, a ringless voicemail is the delivery of a voice message to a voicemail box without ringing the recipient’s phone. The now-withdrawn petition asked the FCC to declare that this type of message does not count as a “call” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which prohibits non-emergency calls made with auto-dialers, artificial voices, or prerecorded voices without the “prior express consent of the called party.”
Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Ringless voicemail spam won’t be exempt from anti-robocall rules
Nintendo Says SNES Classic Production Will Significantly Outpace NES Classic
If the thought of an SNES Classic has you salivating in anticipation of retro gaming goodness, we have some good news for you. Nintendo appears to have learned from its mistakes with the limited production of the NES Classic, and will instead make available “significantly more” quantities of the SNES Classic later this year. The Japanese gaming
Source: Hot Hardware – Nintendo Says SNES Classic Production Will Significantly Outpace NES Classic
Burger King Releases Froot Loop And Lucky Charm Shakes
Because I’m just going to assume it was opposite day when my doctor told me I need to lose weight, Burger King has just introduced two new milkshakes: Fruit Loop and Lucky Charms. A brief description of each while I pick all the marshmallows out my box of Lucky Charms and prepare for an enema. “Wait, what?” Nothing — nothing.
Introducing the FROOT LOOPS® Shake. Velvety Vanilla-flavored Soft Serve. FROOT LOOPS® Cereal pieces and sweet sauce are hand spun to perfection to create our twist on one of America’s classic breakfast cereals.
Velvety vanilla-flavored soft serve, LUCKY CHARMS® oat cereal with marshmallows, and sweet sauce are hand spun to perfection; to create our twist on one of America’s classic breakfast cereals.
So what exactly is this sweet sauce they’re talking about? “I’ve got some sweet sauce for you right here, GW.” I’m sure you do. And why does the Lucky Charms shake have pieces of the actual oat cereal in it? Nobody wants that. The Froot Loops shake is 720 calories, and the Lucky Charms shake 740, so they’re best left for your cheat day from the gym. Or for just admitting you’ve given up. I prefer the lying to myself thing though.
Thanks to Rani, who agrees the shake machine is just going to be broken every time you try to order one anyways, so why bother.
Source: Geekologie – Burger King Releases Froot Loop And Lucky Charm Shakes
HMD's Nokia 6 will arrive in the US next month for $229
Like so many European acts that tried to make it big in the US, Nokia never really managed to crack the market in its original form. But HMD Global, the company that produces smartphones using the Nokia brand, is hoping that will change with the arri…
Source: Engadget – HMD’s Nokia 6 will arrive in the US next month for 9
Super Nintendo Classic Coming in September
Rumors are true. Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The console will include 21 games when it launches September 29. A report adds: Among the big surprises: a never-before released Star Fox 2 is in the mix. Here’s the full list of games: Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, F-Zero, Super Metroid, Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Super Punch Out, Super Castlevania IV, Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Kirby Super Star, Final Fantasy III, Kirby’s Dream Course, Star Fox, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Secret of Mana, EarthBound, and Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. It will retail at a price point of $80.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Super Nintendo Classic Coming in September
Plug-and-play SNES Classic coming Sept. 29 for $80 with two controllers
Following on the recently discontinued NES Classic Edition, Nintendo has officially announced a long-rumored SNES Classic Edition follow-up will be available on September 29 in a $80 package that includes two wired controllers.
The highlight of the package is the first official release of Star Fox 2, which Nintendo’s announcement notes “was created during the Super NES era but never released … anywhere!” While an emulatable, leaked prototype version of Star Fox 2 has been floating around online for years, Creator Dylan Cuthbert confirmed in 2015 that development on a completely finished version of the game was completed just before the project was cancelled, reportedly to avoid competition with the coming Nintendo 64. The SNES Classic will be the first chance gamers have to try this full version of the title.
Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Plug-and-play SNES Classic coming Sept. 29 for with two controllers
Super Nintendo Classic Edition Arrives September 29th With 21 Games [Updated]
After the insanely successful NES Classic Edition completely sold out until Nintendo inexplicably stopped making it, the company is following up with a miniature version of the Super Nintendo that will come bundled with 21 classic 16-bit games including Super Mario World and F-Zero.
Source: Gizmodo – Super Nintendo Classic Edition Arrives September 29th With 21 Games [Updated]
P-State/CPUFreq Governor Tests With Linux 4.12 For OpenGL/Vulkan Games
For those wondering about the impact on gaming of the different CPUFreq vs. P-State CPU frequency scaling drivers and their different governors, here are some fresh tests using an Intel Skylake CPU with Radeon RX Polaris graphics when using the latest Linux 4.12 kernel and Mesa 17.2-dev.
Source: Phoronix – P-State/CPUFreq Governor Tests With Linux 4.12 For OpenGL/Vulkan Games
It's Back! Get 100 Velcro Cable Ties For $6 With Prime Shipping
Velcro cable ties can transform the rat king of cables behind your desk or home theater into something more manageable, and you can get 100 of them today on Amazon for just $6. Now, Amazon frequently lists these at $5, but as add-on items that only ship as part of a $25 order. Today, you’ll pay $1 more, but you can…
Source: Gizmodo – It’s Back! Get 100 Velcro Cable Ties For With Prime Shipping
What Sorcery Keeps This Giant Ball Floating on a Tiny Stream of Water?
We’ve all made a tiny ping-pong ball float on a hair dryer, but what YouTube’s Veritasium is demonstrating here—a giant styrofoam ball floating on the side of a thin stream of water—seems to contradict every scientific law governing our universe. But there is an explanation as to what’s happening.
Source: Gizmodo – What Sorcery Keeps This Giant Ball Floating on a Tiny Stream of Water?
The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29th for $80
The delicious rumors are true: Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Nintendo’s Twitter account, the system will be available on September…
Source: Engadget – The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29th for
Sorting 2 Metric Tons of Lego
Got two metric tons of Legos in your garage? I know there are some of our readers that just might as pointed out by this [H] Lego thread. (HardForum login and subscription required.) However this guy literally bought enough Lego bricks to fill his garage then had to figure out a way to sort all of those. It seems that fake Lego, discolored Lego, damaged Lego, and dirty Lego are issues during resale. So after I typed “dirty Lego” for this news post, I had to do a search. This link is NSFW.
By the time it was done a regular garage was stacked top-to-bottom with crates and boxes of Lego. Sorting this manually was never going to work, some trial bits were sorted and by my reckoning it would take several life times to get that all organized.
Computer skills to the rescue! A first proof of concept was built of – what else – Lego. This was hacked together with some python code and a bunch of hardware to handle the parts. After playing around with that for a while it appeared there were several basic problems that needed to be solved, some obvious, some not so obvious.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Sorting 2 Metric Tons of Lego
Valve Knuckles Controllers in Action
Valve has been working on a new controller to use for better VR gaming experiences, commonly referred to as the “Knuckles” controller. The idea here is to give you the ability to use each finger in VR for a more immersive game experience. I have to admit, seeing these in action is pretty damn cool. Zulubo Productions is the developer group responsible for the video below.
My demo scene for the new Knuckles SteamVR controllers. If you’re a developer, you can download this demo and the source for the interaction system at https://github.com/zulubo/knuckles.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Valve Knuckles Controllers in Action
Nintendo Announces SNES Classic, Which Comes With 21 Stellar Games [UPDATE]
Forget the NES Classic—this is the vintage system we’ve been waiting for. Nintendo today announced the Super Nintendo Classic, which will be out on September 29 for $80 and come with 21 games including the previously unreleased Star Fox 2.
Source: LifeHacker – Nintendo Announces SNES Classic, Which Comes With 21 Stellar Games [UPDATE]
Your little iPhone has a 75 pound footprint
That’s according to Brian Merchant’s new book “The One Device.”
Source: TreeHugger – Your little iPhone has a 75 pound footprint
The Amazon Echo Show Is the Best Dumb Smart Machine in My Home
The first night the Amazon Echo Show was in my bedroom I had to carefully lay it face down on my nightstand. The display, which was cycling through my upcoming meetings, most recent news, and the weather, was simply too bright. It was like having a little super informative sun shining in my face. The second night, as…
Source: Gizmodo – The Amazon Echo Show Is the Best Dumb Smart Machine in My Home
The High-Tech Jobs That Created India's Gilded Generation Are Disappearing
An anonymous reader shares a report: Information technology services account for 9.5 percent of the India’s gross domestic product, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), but now, after decades of boom, the future of the industry seems precarious. Since May, workers’ groups have reported unusually numerous layoffs. The Forum for IT Employees (FITE) estimates that 60,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past few months (syndicated source). “Employees are being rated as poor performers so companies can get rid of them,” said FITE’s Chennai coordinator, Vinod A.J. IT companies and some government officials say the numbers have been exaggerated, but industry experts say the country’s digital wunderkinds have much to fear. “For the first time, companies are touching middle management,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, chief of a recruitment firm called Head Hunters India. Bias against Indians abroad is also compounding workers’ fears of layoffs and downsizing at home. President Trump has stoked anxiety among Indian techies, who make up the majority of applicants for the H-1B visa program for highly skilled foreign workers. Trump has talked about sharply restricting H-1Bs, and this year the number of applications dropped a staggering 16 percent as companies prepared for Trump’s immigration cutbacks. Instead, Indian outsourcing companies such as Infosys started recruiting Americans, bowing to Trump’s calls for “America First.” On Monday, India’s Prime Minister Modi will meet Trump to talk about trade, visas and climate issues.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – The High-Tech Jobs That Created India’s Gilded Generation Are Disappearing
Amazon Echo Show review: Seeing is believing
Siri may have ushered in the era of the digital assistant, but Amazon’s Echo (with Alexa) really took that concept and put it in our homes. The Echo wasn’t an immediate, breakout hit — but having Alexa around to ask questions, manage smart-home devi…
Source: Engadget – Amazon Echo Show review: Seeing is believing
What's Your Favorite Kind of Salad?
Hello, and welcome back to What’s Cooking?, the weekly open thread where you get to share all of your brilliant thoughts, advice, recipes, and opinions on all things edible. This week I want to talk about that sometimes ridiculed but often delicious bowl of complementary flavors and textures: the salad.
Source: LifeHacker – What’s Your Favorite Kind of Salad?