Less than a week ago, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was in a Thailand cave with a mini-submarine his team made that didn’t quite work out for the daring rescue of 12 boys and a soccer coach trapped inside. Now, he says he wants to help resolve Flint, Michigan’s water contamination crisis. Expectedly, this latest…
Source: Gizmodo – Where Flint Is At Today And What Elon Musk Can Really Do To Help
Microsoft seemed set to make a big deal out of Windows 10 S Mode after the spectacular failure of Windows 10 S as a standalone operating system. Microsoft confirmed in March of this year that Windows 10 S was confusing for users and instead decides to focus on S Mode. The same month Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore confirmed that Windows 10 S Mode
Source: Hot Hardware – Windows 10 S Mode Switch Vanishes In Latest Insider Preview Build
Delivered as a replacement for a burned-down cabin, this modular structure is now a haven for visitors.
Source: TreeHugger – Durable prefab becomes a modern shelter in remote ski town
Source: Engadget – Facebook employs five times more women than five years ago
What if, instead of a black and white X-ray picture, a doctor of a cancer patient had access to color images identifying the tissues being scanned? From a post: This is now a reality, thanks to a New-Zealand company that scanned, for the first time, a human body using a breakthrough color medical scanner based on the Medipix3 technology developed at CERN. Father and son scientists Professors Phil and Anthony Butler from Canterbury and Otago Universities spent a decade building and refining their product. Medipix is a family of read-out chips for particle imaging and detection. The original concept of Medipix is that it works like a camera, detecting and counting each individual particle hitting the pixels when its electronic shutter is open. This enables high-resolution, high-contrast, very reliable images, making it unique for imaging applications in particular in the medical field. Hybrid pixel-detector technology was initially developed to address the needs of particle tracking at the Large Hadron Collider, and successive generations of Medipix chips have demonstrated over 20 years the great potential of the technology outside of high-energy physics.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – First-Ever Color X-ray on a Human
These are two live streams (one more up close and personal, the other a wider shot) of brown bears at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska hunting for sockeye salmon as the fish attempt to make their way upstream to breed and die (it’s how I wanna go). It’s a live stream of a stream. Man, I wish I was one of those bears. They really look like they’re living the life. I mean, at least until they head back to their cottage at the end of the day and realize they’ve been home-invaded by some blonde girl with particular taste. Then what? “Guilt her into holding the camera while you film one of those buttcrumb-free Charmin toilet paper commercials.” Exactly.
Keep going for the live streams.
Source: Geekologie – It’s That Time Of The Year Again: Alaskan Brown Bears Hunting Salmon Live-Streams
Competitors at this year’s World Human Powered Speed Challenge are going to have to contend with this—a bullet-shaped bike designed by an artificially intelligent software program.
Source: Gizmodo – This is the Most Aerodynamic Bike, According to AI
Nominations for the 2018 Emmy Awards were just announced and Netflix, Hulu and Amazon all fared quite well. Netflix led the pack by far with a total of 112 nominations — beating out HBO for the top spot this year — while Hulu and Amazon Prime Video…
Source: Engadget – Netflix beats out HBO in total Emmy nominations for the first time
Enlarge / The 15-inch 2015 MacBook Pro. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)
Apple doesn’t waste time consolidating its product lineups—after announcing new MacBook Pro models today, the 2015 MacBook Pro has been removed from the Mac section of Apple’s website.
Beloved by many, the 2015 MacBook Pro had a number of features that have since been changed or have disappeared entirely from new MacBook Pro models. Arguably the most polarizing among these tweaks is the butterfly keyboard—the 2015 MacBook Pro predates that mechanism, making its traditional keyboard a preferred alternative for many users.
The newly announced MacBook Pros still have butterfly keyboards, but they’ve been updated. Ars’ Samuel Axon found that the keys are quieter than those on previous MacBook Pros, and they have a less click-y feel that nods to those pre-2016 models. However, the new models still use a butterfly keyboard, and those who find them uncomfortable to type on will likely be sad to learn of the retirement of the only non-butterfly MacBook Pro option.
Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Apple to stop selling 2015 MacBook Pro with old-style keyboard, legacy ports
A high-contrast, black-and-white image of your bones is an effective tool for spotting fractures or breaks. But after 120+ years, x-ray imaging is getting a remarkable update with 3D, full-color images that reveal far more than just the bones inside you. These images will improve what a doctor can diagnose without…
Source: Gizmodo – The World’s First Full-Color, 3D X-rays Are Freaking Me Out
If you’re using Chrome, you now have fewer reasons to worry about Spectre-style security threats. Google has revealed that Chrome 67 for desktop and the matching Chrome OS release enable a previously experimental Site Isolation feature that reduces…
Source: Engadget – Google Chrome prevents sites from launching Spectre-like attacks
Epic is giving Unreal asset creators on their Unreal Engine Marketplace a nice raise and backpay effective to the creation of the Marketplace in 2014. Thanks to the success of Fortnite they have decided to only take a 12 percent cut of any assets sold and the remaining 88 percent is going to the developers. It’s nice to see the company share the wealth like this and it can only result in more asset developers coming onboard.
“Thanks to both the Marketplace’s growth and the success of Fortnite, Epic now conducts a huge volume of digital commerce,” Sweeney explained. “The resulting economies of scale enable us to pass the savings along to the Unreal Engine Marketplace community, while also making a healthy profit for Epic.”
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Epic gives Unreal Asset Creators a Raise and Backpay
MGM has selected District 9 Director Neill Blomkamp to helm a new sequel to RoboCop called RoboCop Returns. This sequel is supposed to pick up the story line from the original and continue from there. Further, Mr. Blomkamp wants to make this movie about the human connection and it will probably have some sort of story relating to how Murphy is struggling with his returning memories. I just hope it doesn’t devolve into some sort of garbage diversity movie. However, if the new sequel has gratuitous violence, copious amounts of nudity, and snappy one-liners then I’d buy that for a dollar. Also, this movie needs to be so good it makes MGM delete all copies of the other two crap fests they made after the original.
“The original definitely had a massive effect on me as a kid,” Blomkamp told Deadline. “I loved it then and it remains a classic in the end of 20th Century sci-fi catalog, with real meaning under the surface. Hopefully that is something we can get closer to in making of a sequel. That is my goal here.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – District 9 Director to Helm new RoboCop Movie
Uber has announced a new update that will allow a user to add Venmo as a payment method when using Uber and Uber Eats. The feature will reportedly available in the upcoming weeks, though an official launch date hasn’t been given.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Use Venmo as Your Payment Method with Uber
Sony has introduced its new Xperia XA2 Plus ‘performance mainstream’ smartphone that is positioned above the rest of the Xperia XA2 series, but below the high-end XZ2 range. The new Xperia XA2 Plus is based on the same platform as other members of the family, the Snapdragon 630, yet it is outfitted with a large 6-inch 2160×1080 display featuring an 18:9 aspect ratio, and supports Sony’s high-resolution audio.
The Sony Xperia XA2 Plus comes in a symmetric chassis with rounded edges made of anodized aluminum that resembles enclosures used by two other members of the family, but with significant changes on the front to fit in a 6-inch 18:9 display with a 2160×1080 resolution, which is bigger than screens used on other SKUs. To make the phone a bit more rugged, the Xperia XA2 Plus features Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection, an upgrade when compared to other XA2 models. As for dimensions, the phone is a bit larger and heavier than the Xperia XA2, but is a slightly smaller and lighter than the Xperia XA2 Ultra.
When it comes to internals, the Xperia XA2 Plus is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 630 SoC that packs eight Arm Cortex-A53 cores along with an Adreno 508 graphics core. The same chip powers other Xperia XA2 handsets, so the XA2 Plus has the same performance and connectivity features as its brethren. Meanwhile the Xperia XA2 Plus will exist in two versions, one featuring 4 GB of LPDDR4 memory and 32 GB eMMC storage another outfitted with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB eMMC storage. In addition, there will be single SIM and dual SIM versions in select regions.
Imaging capabilities of the Xperia XA2 Plus are also similar to other members of the family: the handset features a 23 MP Exmor RS (f/2.0, 24mm, 1/2.3”) sensor with ISO 12800 on the back as well as an 8 MP 120-degree sensor on the front. As for audio, the phone supports Sony’s high-resolution audio and Sony’s digital sound enhancement engine (DSEE HX), a first for a mid-range handset. For those who care, the Xperia XA2 Plus also has a 3.5-mm audio output.
The smartphone is outfitted with a 3580 mAh battery that supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 as well as Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology. Sony does not disclose battery life of the phone, but it is probably comparable with the Xperia XA2 Ultra.
| Sony Xperia XA2 Family of Smartphones | ||||
| Xperia XA2 | Xperia XA2 Ultra | Xperia XA2 Plus | ||
| Display | Size | 5.2″ | 6″ | 6″ |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 (16:9) | 2160×1080 (18:9) | ||
| PPI | 424 PPI | 367 PPI | 402 PPI | |
| Cover | Gorilla Glass 4 | Gorilla Glass 5 | ||
| SoC | Snapdragon 630 8 × Cortex A53 @ 2.2 GHz |
|||
| GPU | Adreno 508 | |||
| RAM | 3 GB LPDDR4 | 4 GB LPDDR4 | 4 GB LPDDR4 6 GB LPDDR4 |
|
| Storage | 32 GB eMMC + microSD |
32 GB/64 GB eMMC + microSD |
32 GB eMMC 64 GB eMMC + microSD |
|
| Networks | GSM GPRS (2G), UMTS HSPA (3G), LTE (4G) CAT 13/12 | |||
| SIM Size | Nano SIM | Nano SIM | ||
| SIM Options | Single SIM | Dual SIM in select | ||
| Local Connectivity | Wi-Fi, BT 5.0, NFC, 3.5mm jack, USB Type-C |
|||
| Front Camera | 8 MP 120-degree (f/2.4, 1/4″), Exmor R, SteadyShot | 16 MP with OIS | 8 MP 120-degree (f/2.4, 1/4″), Exmor R, SteadyShot | |
| 8 MP 120-degree, SteadyShot | ||||
| Rear Camera | 23 MP Exmor RS (f/2.0, 24mm, 1/2.3″), Hybrid AP, 5x Clear Image Zoom, 0.6s Quick Launch, ISO 12800 | |||
| Battery | 3300 mAh | 3580 mAh | ||
| Dimensions | Height | 142 mm | 163 mm | 157 mm |
| Width | 70 mm | 80 mm | 75 mm | |
| Thickness | 9.7 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.6 mm | |
| Weight | 171 grams | 210 grams | 204 grams | |
| Launch OS | Android 8.0 Oreo | |||
Sony will ship its Xperia XA2 Plus in late August 2018, likely to coincide with IFA. Sony says that the handset will be available in silver, black, gold, and green versions. As for pricing, the Xperia XA2 Plus will be positioned above the Xperia XA2 Ultra, which is now available for $390.
Source: AnandTech – Sony Unveils Xperia XA2 Plus Mid-Range Phone: 6-Inch, 2160×1080, SD630
Back in March, we reviewed Dell’s XPS 15 2-in-1 convertible, which we raved about for its excellent overall performance (including gaming), relatively thin and lightweight frame, and its premium build quality. We’re now learning that the convertible could become even more enticing thanks to an incoming 32GB memory option.
The XPS 15 2-in-1
Source: Hot Hardware – Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 Convertible Scheduled To Receive 32GB RAM Option This Fall
When Apple launched the current MacBook Pro design in 2016, it kept the old 15-inch model around for those who insisted on the the earlier design. Now that the 2018 refresh is here, though, that holdover has gone away — the 2015 MacBook Pro is no l…
Source: Engadget – Apple drops the 2015 MacBook Pro from its lineup
NVIDIA developers today released the 396.24.10 driver, their latest beta driver for Linux focused on the latest Vulkan innovations and improvements and is joined by the Windows 398.58 driver…
Source: Phoronix – NVIDIA 396.24.10 Linux Driver Brings Vulkan 8-Bit / Renderpass2 / Conditional Render
Welcome to Slow Cooker Week, in which The Takeout uses its favorite cold-weather kitchen appliance in the dead of summer.
Source: LifeHacker – Make bourbon peach cobbler in a Crock Pot because peaches + booze + slow cooker = dessert
This is admittedly less exciting than it used to be, but if you haven’t gotten your hands on an SNES Classic yet (and you definitely should!), it’s back in stock for $80 at Amazon right now, with free shipping.
Source: Gizmodo – The SNES and NES Classics Are Both In Stock Right Now
