It’s good to know that I am not an outlier.
Source: TreeHugger – Another study suggests plant-based diet lowers cholesterol
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Anyone Can Find Room In Their Suitcase For This Tiny, $17 Travel Router
We’ve posted travel router deals before, but this is one of the smallest and least expensive we’ve seen to date.
Source: Gizmodo – Anyone Can Find Room In Their Suitcase For This Tiny, Travel Router
Why MoviePass's Crazy Cheap Subscription Just Might Work
A few weeks ago, MoviePass dropped the price of its subscription service that allows you to go to the movies as much as you want for $9.95 per month, and its user numbers jumped through the roof. The collective reaction has boiled down to “How the hell is that supposed to work?” Well, it might not be as crazy as it…
Source: Gizmodo – Why MoviePass’s Crazy Cheap Subscription Just Might Work
All the Glorious New Star Wars: The Last Jedi Toys Revealed for Force Friday II (UPDATING)
There has been an awakening, Star Wars fans—one that threatens the structural integrity of your wallet far more than it does the galaxy far, far away. That’s right: it’s Force Friday II, meaning that from 12:01 am tonight, September 1, the very first toys from The Last Jedi are going on sale. Get a look at everything…
Source: Gizmodo – All the Glorious New Star Wars: The Last Jedi Toys Revealed for Force Friday II (UPDATING)
Struck by cow, contact with dagger: The oddest medical codes you’ll see
Enlarge / Watch out for that cow. (credit: Getty | Tim Graham)
The World Health Organization sets a list of medical conditions into well-used code called the “International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems,” or ICD for short. The official alphanumeric ciphers are used in medical records and insurance claims worldwide, noting the wide range of ailments and conditions a human may experience—everything from “tuberculosis” and “gastric ulcers” to “struck by orca” and “burn due to water skis on fire.”
The latter categories of unusual and puzzlingly specific conditions even inspired the 2014 book Struck by Orca: ICD-10 Illustrated.
But how often are these peculiar codes actually used? An insurance data company did the work to find out. The most bizarre ICD codes listed in the 2014 book, such as the title “struck by orca” were not used in the US in the last 12 months, which is both good and disappointing. But codes just slightly less bizarre were used—some quite a lot, such as W503: “accidental bite by another person.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Struck by cow, contact with dagger: The oddest medical codes you’ll see
More Than a Dozen New Cosmic Radio Bursts Detected From Deep Space
Scientists on the hunt for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence have detected 15 Fast Radio Bursts from a dwarf galaxy located three billion light-years away. Though likely not produced by aliens, the new observations could tell us more about these mysterious and powerful cosmic pulses.
Source: Gizmodo – More Than a Dozen New Cosmic Radio Bursts Detected From Deep Space
As Uber struggles, Lyft expands into 32 more states
Enlarge / A Lyft ride in San Francisco, California. (credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Lyft)
The ride-hailing app Lyft will make its biggest expansion yet in an attempt to grab customers from Uber, its much-larger rival.
A spokesperson said that Lyft’s expansion into 32 additional states means that the pink-mustached ride-hailing service will be available to 94 percent of the US population. That’s up from 79 percent before the expansion.
In all, Lyft now promises state-wide coverage in 40 states, That includes rural areas that are difficult to serve—and where providing services will likely come at a significant cost to Lyft, at least in the early stages. Uber controls about 70 percent of the US ride-hailing market and provides near-statewide coverage in nine states, according to The Associated Press.
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Source: Ars Technica – As Uber struggles, Lyft expands into 32 more states
Reporter Keeps His Promise To A Kid
This is a video of a KPRC 2 reporter keeping his promise to a young boy during a live news broadcast. Clearly, he takes his promise keeping seriously. Although I thought his announcement that the promise had been kept was a little tacky.
Keep going for the video but you might have to turn your volume up.
Source: Geekologie – Reporter Keeps His Promise To A Kid
BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition first look: More of the same
When the BlackBerry KEYone was officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress this year, we were excited for its marriage of modern Android software with an old school keyboard. It appears lots of other people were eager for the phone, too. TCL, the co…
Source: Engadget – BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition first look: More of the same
How to Handle a Job Rejection Gracefully
So you didn’t get the job—bummer. It stings but the process isn’t over yet. Before you move on to the next potential gig, do these three things.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Handle a Job Rejection Gracefully
New VR Dating Show Asks: What If The Sims Were Misshapen and Horny?
Your mouth doesn’t move when you talk and your slightly misshapen legs bend away from your body. But it’s a first date so you’re making the best of it. Mood lighting and romantic music come on, so you move in closer for a dance.
Source: Gizmodo – New VR Dating Show Asks: What If The Sims Were Misshapen and Horny?
Central Banks Can't Ignore the Cryptocurrency Boom
The boom in cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology is becoming too big for central banks, long the guardian of official money, to ignore. From a report: Until recently, officials at major central banks were happy to watch as pioneers in the field progressed by trial and error, safe in the knowledge that it was dwarfed by roughly $5 trillion circulating daily in conventional currency markets. But now as officials turn an eye toward the increasingly pervasive technology, the risk is that they’re reacting too late to both the pitfalls and the opportunities presented by digital coinage. “Central banks cannot afford to treat cyber currencies as toys to play with in a sand box,” said Andrew Sheng, chief adviser to the China Banking Regulatory Commission and Distinguished Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong. “It is time to realize that they are the real barbarians at the gate.” Bitcoin — the largest and best-known digital currency — and its peers pose a threat to the established money system by effectively circumventing it. Money as we know it depends on the authority of the state for credibility, with central banks typically managing its price and/or quantity. Cryptocurrencies skirt all that and instead rely on their supposedly unhackable technology to guarantee value.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Central Banks Can’t Ignore the Cryptocurrency Boom
Oxford tests different types of on-street electric vehicle charging
The stations that perform best in encouraging adoption will then be rolled out city-wide.
Source: TreeHugger – Oxford tests different types of on-street electric vehicle charging
Top 10 biggest global concerns, according to millennials
From climate change and destruction of nature to lack of education and employment, here’s what’s worrying the world’s young adults.
Source: TreeHugger – Top 10 biggest global concerns, according to millennials
Razer's Giant Laptop Gets Way Cheaper Version
Affordability and Razer are not, typically, words that go together. The PC peripheral company has developed a reputation in the last few years for making sharp looking laptops that are ultra thin and ultra pricey for the guts inside of them. But the new 1080p Razer Blade Pro, at $2300, is positively reasonable. No one…
Source: Gizmodo – Razer’s Giant Laptop Gets Way Cheaper Version
DJI Mavic Pro Platinum edition boasts longer battery life
DJI’s Mavic Pro drone already has fantastic battery life, but it’s still got nothing on its upgraded sibling. The dronemaker has revealed the Mavic Pro Platinum edition at this year’s IFA convention in Berlin, and it boasts 11 percent more battery li…
Source: Engadget – DJI Mavic Pro Platinum edition boasts longer battery life
Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition 4K 60 FPS PC Gameplay
NVIDIA has released a new video demonstrating how FFXV could look and run on PC. “Could” is worth emphasizing, as director Hajime Tabata suggests that even a GTX 1080 Ti SLI setup may have trouble rendering the game at native 4K and 60 frames per second.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition 4K 60 FPS PC Gameplay
SanDisk Sets New Record with 400GB MicroSD Card
Two years after introducing its record-breaking 200GB microSD card, Western Digital has doubled the capacity within the same tiny form factor: the new 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC card lets users store plenty of content and carries the A1 Application Performance rating, which means guaranteed 10MB/s writes, random read IOPS of 1,500, and write IOPS of 500. 1TB microSD when?
Western Digital achieved this capacity breakthrough by leveraging its proprietary memory technology and design and production processes that allow for more bits per die. Ideal for Android smartphone and tablet users, the world’s highest-capacity card can hold up to 40 hours of Full HD video and features superfast transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s to deliver premium performance. At this transfer speed, consumers can expect to move up to 1,200 photos per minute.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – SanDisk Sets New Record with 400GB MicroSD Card
GameStop: Forced Bundles Are for Customer Convenience
GameStop is defending its practice of requiring online purchasers of high-demand items to pay for additional merchandise: in an article concerning the SNES Classic and Xbox One X, GameStop senior director of merchandising Eric Bright told Rolling Stone’s Glixel that forced bundling is actually about customer service. Those who don’t want bundles can simply stop in at a local store.
“We really try to do a great job of paring up items with things customers like to buy,” Bright says. “In the case of the Switch, we know the customer is going to want a way to charge the Joycon (controllers), so we often throw in a charging device. We know the Switch has limited memory and customers like to download games, so we’ll add a memory stick. And then you need a game itself, because what good is a piece of hardware without a game to play with it? We make it more convenient.”
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – GameStop: Forced Bundles Are for Customer Convenience
Arris Modem Comes with Three Free Backdoors
For a limited time your brand new ARRIS modem model numbers NVG589 and NVG599 are being supplied to you with three hardcoded features that you will find in few others. These models allow root access through SSH, built-in webserver, hardcoded passwords that come attached to your modems serial number. BUT WAIT! There’s more. A bit of sneaky HTTP on port 49152 can get you exposed as well. So, don’t walk, but run to your ARRIS modem and get these things fixed.
Seriously, if you own an ARRIS modem, you will want to look into this and follow the fix it link above. HardOCP security experts tell us there are over 92,000 of these routers currently identified as being online currently, and another 40,000 worldwide. Tampa and Sarasota in Florida, and Plano, TX top the online list.
According to Nomotion, the flaws are found in both the standard Arris firmware, but also in the extra code added on top by OEMs. In their research, experts looked at an Arris modem installed on the network of AT&T.
Researchers said the flaws affect NVG589 and NVG599 modems. Both models aren’t available through the Arris website and appear to be discontinued products. Based on Censys and Shodan data, researchers believe there are at least 220,000 of these vulnerable modems connected online.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Arris Modem Comes with Three Free Backdoors