All living whales are descended from terrestrial mammals, but how these aquatic creatures evolved into giant filter-feeders remains a biological mystery. New research shows that ancient whales had razor-sharp teeth similar to land-based carnivores—an observation that’s upsetting a prevailing idea that ancient whales…
Source: Gizmodo – Ancient, Sharp-Toothed Whales Are Upending Cetacean History
Just be very aware, I don’t know who you are. I don’t know why you would buy that. If you are looking for a reason to make me crazy, I can tell you I already do not posses sanity, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you throw the iPhone shaver in the trash now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.
Sunko Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo) announced on August 30, 2017 “Pocket shaving for iPhone” (model number: PSHVRE 3) , which will shave the iPhone simply by connecting to the Lightning terminal . The direct selling price is 980 yen including tax, already on sale.
Remember that guy you used to see where Google Glass all the time….and now you don’t any more?
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Stupid iPhone Product of the Day
Andy Rubin’s Essential Products is having a rough summer. After first revealing its phone to throbbing hype back in June, actual delivery of the device has been plagued with delay after delay. Shipping problems have become almost comically bad, and even as it appears a few phones have finally made their way into the…
Source: Gizmodo – Essential’s Shipping Issues Have Gone From Bad to Train Wreck
Tim Harford, a columnist for the Financial Times, uses the example of Rachael and Rick Deckard from Blade Runner to explain how we humans, when asked about how new inventions might shape the future, often tend to leap to technologies that are sophisticated beyond comprehension. Also spoiler of the Blade Runner plot is ahead. He writes: So sophisticated is Rachael that she is impossible to distinguish from a human without specialised equipment; she even believes herself to be human. Los Angeles police detective Rick Deckard knows otherwise; in Rachael, Deckard is faced with an artificial intelligence so beguiling, he finds himself falling in love. Yet when he wants to invite Rachael out for a drink, what does he do? He calls her up from a payphone. There is something revealing about the contrast between the two technologies — the biotech miracle that is Rachael, and the graffiti-scrawled videophone that Deckard uses to talk to her. It’s not simply that Blade Runner fumbled its futurism by failing to anticipate the smartphone. That’s a forgivable slip, and Blade Runner is hardly the only film to make it. It’s that, when asked to think about how new inventions might shape the future, our imaginations tend to leap to technologies that are sophisticated beyond comprehension. We readily imagine cracking the secrets of artificial life, and downloading and uploading a human mind. Yet when asked to picture how everyday life might look in a society sophisticated enough to build such biological androids, our imaginations falter. Blade Runner audiences found it perfectly plausible that LA would look much the same, beyond the acquisition of some hovercars and a touch of noir.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – What We Get Wrong About Technology
Enlarge / New America Foundation President Anne-Marie Slaughter. (credit: New America)
The New America Foundation, a prominent DC think tank that’s heavily funded by Google, has parted ways with one of its most influential scholars after he criticized Google’s growing monopoly power.
The scholar is Barry Lynn, founder of New America’s Open Markets program and a leading advocate of stricter enforcement of antitrust laws. Since the Reagan years, federal antitrust regulators have been more likely to approve mega-mergers and less likely to launch major antitrust lawsuits. Scholars at the Open Markets program have made the case that the US economy would benefit from a return to the more rigorous antitrust regime of the mid-20th century.
The Open Markets team has paid particular attention to technology giants, with Amazon being a favorite whipping boy. On Wednesday morning, the top three stories on the center’s home page were all focused on Amazon and its growing market power.
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Source: Ars Technica – Google-funded think tank fires prominent Google critic
Dropbox Paper originally seemed like a Google Docs clone built for the big businesses that have been an increasingly large focus for the cloud sync-and-share company. But two years since its initial introduction, Paper’s ability to embed and display…
Source: Engadget – Dropbox Paper’s newest features cater to designers
As the all-important holiday season approaches, companies want to make sure their products have a spot on your shopping list. So Samsung’s trio of wearables launching at IFA 2017 is timely, especially given how well wearables tend to sell ahead of fi…
Source: Engadget – Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro hands-on: Tiny changes, big improvements
Samsung may have just unveiled the Galaxy Note 8, but it’s not done with new devices just yet. Here at IFA 2017, the company unveiled a trio of wearables with a deeper focus on fitness — the Gear Sport smartwatch, Gear Fit 2 Pro fitness band and the…
Source: Engadget – Samsung Gear Sport hands-on: Promising but incomplete
The Gear Fit 2 Pro and Gear Sport aren’t the only products Samsung is unveiling at IFA 2017. Today, the company also introduced a revamped version of its Gear IconX wireless earbuds, which feature better battery life (up to five hours of streaming) a…
Source: Engadget – Samsung’s refined Gear IconX earbuds now talk to Bixby
Every man can attest to the debilitating pain that even the slightest glancing blow inflicts on our dangly bits, but fathers of young kids are particularly vulnerable. Those little limbs flailing at full speed—shudder. GQ has advice for staying on the offense when wearing a chest carrier. Their recommendation? A…
Source: LifeHacker – Dads, Protect Your Balls From Flailing Toddler Limbs
In 2004, Orbitz alumnus Steve Hafner co-founded Kayak and fixed the aggravating process of shopping for airplane tickets. As Kayak’s CEO, he managed the company through an IPO in 2012 and its $2.1B acquisition by The Priceline Group in 2013. We asked him how he gets his work done.
Source: LifeHacker – I’m Steve Hafner, Kayak CEO, and This Is How I Work
Source: Engadget – Watch Samsung’s IFA event at 12PM Eastern
Enlarge (credit: Getty | Steven Gottlieb )
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an investigation Tuesday into an ongoing outbreak of a rare subtype of Salmonella enterica linked to exposure to pet turtles.
So far, the outbreak involves 37 cases of Salmonella enterica serovar Agbenia infections across 13 states, which led to 16 people being hospitalized. Overall, 12 of the sickened people are children aged five or younger, an age group particularly vulnerable to the bacteria. No deaths have been reported.
With lab testing and epidemiological data, the CDC linked the outbreak to exposure to pet turtles or their habitats. The charmingly slow, half-shelled reptiles are known carriers of Salmonella. When infections jump to humans, they can cause diarrhea, fever, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, and urinary tract infections. Young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are particularly vulnerable. For these reasons, the CDC has warned of the dangers of owning pet turtles, particularly tiny ones that children like to handle, snuggle, and—in some cases—pop into their mouths.
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Source: Ars Technica – CDC investigating rare Salmonella outbreak across 13 states—linked to turtles
Aw yeah. Also, gross.
Source: Gizmodo – Celebrate the Best Incest on Game of Thrones With This Official T-Shirt
This is a video of Billy Buck Roscoe chugging a helmet full of beer in order to prevent a friend from drowning (although it’s pretty clear he could have drained the helmet from the bottom anytime he wanted). It’s called a trust chug, and they suggest not trying this at home. Of course college students will be trying it by this weekend because they don’t live at home anymore — they’re proud, independent idiots now. Hey mom could you transfer some money into my account? I need to buy some books.
Keep going for the video while I realize I don’t want to drink a beer that’s been soaking in a friend’s face.
Source: Geekologie – The Trust Chug: Chugging A Helmet Full Of Beer That’s About To Drown Your Friend
Tinder, the swipe-tastic dating app, just launched a new subscription tier called “Tinder Gold” for iOS. But what the heck is it? And how is it different from the already existent Tinder Plus?
Source: LifeHacker – What Are You Paying for With Tinder Plus and the New Tinder Gold?
The folks over at Bloomberg got their hands on some images of the next iPhone as well as some information from people familiar with the new model. Some of the features confirmed in their report were already known or at least heavily suspected, but th…
Source: Engadget – The iPhone 8 reportedly swaps the home button for gesture controls
Enlarge / A prototype screenshot from someone’s idea for Half-Life 3. You can do better than that, right?
All right, smart guy… you say you’re tired of waiting over 11 years now for Valve to release a promised new Half-Life installment? You say you’ve had it with the countless broken promises and vague hints that “Episode 3” still exists in some form? You say you know exactly what Valve needs to do to make the sequel everyone has been wanting for years?
Well, prove it. Now you can attempt to make your own version of Half Life 3, if you’re so danged smart.
Developer Laura Michet (Frog Fractions 2) and her Itch.io page will host the Epistle 3 Game Jam from now through the end of October. The premise is simple: “Marc Laidlaw has released a genderswapped Half Life 3 plot synopsis on his blog,” Michet writes. “Some say the dream is dead. WE SAY… THE OPPOSITE. Half Life 3 is finally free, where it belongs: out in the world, with us. Half Life 3 belongs to the people. LET’S MAKE IT.” There are no restrictions for submissions, only a requirement to use Laidlaw’s plot in whole or in part.
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Source: Ars Technica – Why don’t you make your own Half-Life 3 if you’re so smart?
Facebook has a status update: The social network will open a new office in Cambridge next year and plans to hire more than 500 employees, bringing the Boston-based staff to 650. From a report: The company, which founder Mark Zuckerberg launched at Harvard before decamping for the West Coast, established its first Boston-based team nearly four years ago with a small group of employees sharing a workspace. Today, that team has grown to more than 100 people in a Kendall Square office, and space is getting tight, said Ryan Mack, who leads the Facebook Boston office. “We serve 2 billion people on Facebook,” he said, “and we need to continue to scale.” The new offices will occupy the top three floors of 100 Binney St., a new building designed by Elkus Manfredi that is scheduled to open early next year. Facebook will share the space with 300 Bristol-Myers Squibb employees.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Facebook To Open New Office in Kendall Square, Adding Hundreds of Jobs
