Regardless of what critics say, Microsoft has lived up to their promise of powerful hardware: while the right display is required, this author asserts that you’ll see an image that looks at least as good as one from a competent gaming PC, noting that the improvement in visuals from a standard Xbox One on a 1080p display to a (barely) sub-$1,000 4K display with HDR is “immediate and impressive.”
The PS4 has the exclusives, but the Xbox One X has the power. If there’s a game that’s out on Xbox One and PS4, I’m at the point where I’m much more likely to pick up the game on the Xbox One. Changing one’s default platform midway through a console generation is a big shift. The Xbox One X, with its price and power, seems to be targeting hardcore players, bringing them back to (or keeping them within) the Microsoft family.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – The Xbox One X Makes the PlayStation 4 Pro Feel like a Half-Measure
Monthly Archives: November 2017
System76 Will Begin Disabling Intel ME In Their Linux Laptops
Following the recent Intel Management Engine (ME) vulnerabilities combined with some engineering work the past few months on their end, System76 will begin disabling ME on their laptops…
Source: Phoronix – System76 Will Begin Disabling Intel ME In Their Linux Laptops
Wirecutter's best deals: Save $70 on a Dell 27-inch monitor
This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter, reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read their continuously updated list…
Source: Engadget – Wirecutter’s best deals: Save on a Dell 27-inch monitor
The Kinja Deals Gift Guide: 100 Genuinely Useful Stocking Stuffers For Under $20
The further you get down your holiday shopping list, the harder it is to find good gifts. But these stocking stuffer ideas are all around $20 or less, and would be actually useful gifts for nearly anyone.
Source: LifeHacker – The Kinja Deals Gift Guide: 100 Genuinely Useful Stocking Stuffers For Under
How to Book 'Secret' Flights with Your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Many people like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards for earning travel rewards, myself included. You can use the points you accumulate to purchase plane tickets through a ton of different airlines, but some of them won’t show up on their site. In those situations, here’s what you do.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Book ‘Secret’ Flights with Your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
It's 1900 in Germany. What will the world look like in 2000?
Another great set of cards that get a lot of things right
Source: TreeHugger – It’s 1900 in Germany. What will the world look like in 2000?
How to Control Your Fire TV With Alexa Voice Commands
Amazon is making it even easier to control your Fire TV without straining yourself with the use of a physical remote. After adding the ability the control your television through an Echo speaker over the summer, the company announced an update on Thursday that adds even more voice-based controls across even more…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Control Your Fire TV With Alexa Voice Commands
Cryptocurrencies Aren't 'Crypto'
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, writing for the Motherboard: Lately on the internet, people in the world of Bitcoin and other digital currencies are starting to use the word “crypto” as a catch-all term for the lightly regulated and burgeoning world of digital currencies in general, or for the word “cryptocurrency” — which probably shouldn’t even be called “currency,” by the way. For example, in response to the recent rise of Bitcoin’s price, the CEO of Shapeshift recently tweeted: “don’t go into debt to buy crypto at these prices.” “Crypto Stocks Rise,” read a headline on Tuesday from the trade publication Investor Business Daily. But the financial blog Seeking Alpha outdid them all by publishing a post titled “Tales From The Crypto.” Excuse me, “the crypto” what? As someone who has read and written about cryptography for a few years now, and who is a big fan of Crypto, the 2001 book by Steven Levy, this is a problem. “Crypto” does not mean cryptocurrency. The above are just three examples picked at random, but if you don’t believe me, just search “crypto” on Google News or Twitter. On the internet, “crypto” has always been used to refer to cryptography. Think, for example, the term “Crypto Wars,” which refer to government (originally the US government) efforts to undermine and slow down the adoption of unbreakable communications systems. By the way, the book Crypto isn’t about Bitcoin. It’s about cryptography, and more in particular, about the cryptographers who fought the government in the so-called Crypto Wars.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Cryptocurrencies Aren’t ‘Crypto’
Google caters to the DIY crowd with an AI camera kit for Raspberry Pi
Google created its AIY Projects initiative — “artificial intelligence yourself” — to encourage developers and DIY enthusiasts to learn about artificial intelligence. The first project in the series, the ready-to-assemble Raspberry Pi-based AIY Voic…
Source: Engadget – Google caters to the DIY crowd with an AI camera kit for Raspberry Pi
Fingers Of Fury: Guitarist Plays 1,000 Harmonics In 90 Seconds
This is a video of guitarist Alan Gogoll (previously: his video of watching guitar strings oscillate from inside a guitar) performing 1,000 harmonics (“a musical note played by preventing or amplifying vibration of certain overtones of a guitar string”) in just a shade under 90 seconds. Now those are some magic fingers. My fingers? My fingers are not magic, but I do have a green thumb if you want to grow herbs behind your parent’s house. “You mean weed.” Only if you do.
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Fingers Of Fury: Guitarist Plays 1,000 Harmonics In 90 Seconds
Haystacks Are The Easiest Two-Ingredient Confection You'll Make All Season
If there was ever an ever-present Christmas confection during my youth, it was the haystack. Neither candy nor cookie, this unassuming, almost too easy treat simply has no business being as addictive as it is.
Source: LifeHacker – Haystacks Are The Easiest Two-Ingredient Confection You’ll Make All Season
North Korea can hit all of US with its new ICBM. Deal with it.
Enlarge / Deal with it. (credit: Korean Central News Service / Sean Gallagher)
North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test demonstrates a number of things that are not good news for anyone hoping to prevent the country from becoming a global nuclear power. The missile, called the Hwasong-15, flew high enough (more than 4,400 kilometers, or 2,700 miles—more than 10 times the altitude of the International Space Station) and long enough (54 minutes) to demonstrate that it was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the United States.
The Hwasong-15 is essentially equivalent to the US’ Titan II. It is an immense, liquid-fueled missile, much larger than North Korea’s Hwasong-14 ICBM. The 15 appears to use two engines on its first stage as well as an enlarged second stage, according to Kim Dong-yub, an analyst at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. While it only flew about 960 kilometers (600 miles) over the ground, David Wright, a physicist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, estimated the Hwasong-15 would have a range of 8,100 miles (13,000 kilometers) in normal flight.
“We do not know how heavy a payload this missile carried, but given the increase in range, it seems likely that it carried a very light mock warhead,” Wright said in a UCS blog post. “If true, that means it would be incapable of carrying a nuclear warhead to this long distance, since such a warhead would be much heavier.”
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Source: Ars Technica – North Korea can hit all of US with its new ICBM. Deal with it.
Marriott wants guests to save and share their shower door doodles
Who doesn’t get their best ideas in the middle of a shower? The Marriott hotel chain is piloting a new addition to customer rooms that lets them jot down notes on their shower door — which can be digitally recorded and sent to guests later.
Source: Engadget – Marriott wants guests to save and share their shower door doodles
New study looks at the cause of recurring nightmares
Do you dream of falling, failing or being attacked night after night? New research sheds some light on nightmares.
Source: TreeHugger – New study looks at the cause of recurring nightmares
The Boring Company proposes 125-150mph “Loop” for Chicago express train request
Enlarge / An artist’s rendering of an electric skate. (credit: The Boring Company)
On Wednesday, the city of Chicago opened a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for an express train that would take passengers from the city’s O’Hare airport to downtown. The system would have to be completely privately funded—Chicago says no taxpayer money would be used for it.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company—a tunneling company that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO started last year—will respond to the request. Musk hopes to get to the second round when bidding will take place. On Wednesday evening, he tweeted that his company “will compete to fund, build & operate a high-speed Loop connecting Chicago O’Hare Airport to downtown.”
Musk’s reference to a “Loop” is explained more clearly on The Boring Company’s FAQ page: “Loop is a high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported on autonomous electric skates traveling at 125-150 miles per hour. Electric skates will carry between 8 and 16 passengers (mass transit), or a single passenger vehicle.” Unlike Musk’s idea for a Hyperloop, a Loop won’t draw a vacuum. “For shorter routes, there is no technical need to eliminate air friction,” The Boring Company states.
Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – The Boring Company proposes 125-150mph “Loop” for Chicago express train request
How to Make Your Holiday Gift Seem Expensive Even When It’s Not
Want to impress someone with your holiday gift but don’t have a ton of cash? Try buying something heavy.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Make Your Holiday Gift Seem Expensive Even When It’s Not
Nitro Concepts S300 Gaming Chair Review
Nitro Concepts is a new name in gaming chairs here in North America, but the company does have a somewhat of a good pedigree. Today we are reviewing the first Nitro Concepts chair available in USA, the S300. The S300 is a more cost conscious chair, but still carries with it a German engineered design.
Source: [H]ardOCP – Nitro Concepts S300 Gaming Chair Review
Google Finally Bans Apps That Include Shady Lock Screen Ads from the Play Store
The current advertising scourge is ad-infused lock screens, which have shown up in previously safe apps like ES File Explorer, Peel, and Hotspot Shield VPN. Google has finally listened to our pleading, as lock screen ads are no longer allowed in the Play Store.
An app that bills itself as a photo editor, VPN, or file explorer cannot also cram a new lock screen on your device that’s infested with ads. However, an app that is actually a lock screen can still monetize with ads. Presumably, you know what you’re getting when you install a lock screen app.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Google Finally Bans Apps That Include Shady Lock Screen Ads from the Play Store
Wi-Fi Network Named "Bomb on Board" Causes Flight to Be Diverted
A Turkish Airlines flight from Nairobi to Istanbul was diverted after the detection of a wi-fi network called “bomb on board” that alarmed the passengers. The flight made an emergency landing at the Khartoum airport in Sudan but was safely resumed after security inspections on all passengers and the aircraft.
“Experts said the wi-fi network in question was created on board. No irregularities were seen after security procedures were carried out, and passengers were brought back on the plane once boarding restarted,” Turkish Airlines said. Individuals can create personal wi-fi networks on devises such as mobile phones and name them what they want.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Wi-Fi Network Named “Bomb on Board” Causes Flight to Be Diverted
Best Buy claims Google Home Max will be on sale December 11th
Source: Engadget – Best Buy claims Google Home Max will be on sale December 11th