Any sport that’s physically tough is also mentally tough. Seven miles into your 10-mile long run, part of your brain will try to talk you into quitting. The only way to finish that run is to have a good answer for why and how to keep going. It’s the same when you need to add weight to the bar for your last set of…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Convince Yourself to Keep Going
This is a video of three tattoo artists trying to guess the price charged for a variety of different tattoos. I learned a lot by watching it. But mostly that the pirate ship tattoo I’m gonna get as soon as I turn eighteen is going to blow all of those out of the water. “Like a pirate cannon.” Exactly. “Wait — you’re not eighteen yet?” I mean, I feel like I should be, but the last time my parents threw me a birthday party their were only six candles on the cake.
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Three Tattoo Artists Try To Guess The Price Of Various Tattoos
It only took half a year, but Dish’s receivers are finally ready to work with Google Assistant. The satellite TV provider has started rolling out an update for Hoppers that lets you use the voice remote to check the weather, control your smart home…
Source: Engadget – Google Assistant finally comes to Dish’s receivers
Where did the Convenience Industrial Complex start? A 1960 classic tells all.
Source: TreeHugger – Vance Packard’s The Waste Makers: A late review
What happens when you put Lupita Nyong’o in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with a bunch of kids? A lot of swearing and a lot of blood on a bright yellow dress, apparently.
Source: io9 – In the New Trailer for Little Monsters, the Zombie Apocalypse Is a Gory Game of Tag
If you’re a Capital One customer, odds are good that you’re probably wrapped up in the company’s recent data breach—one that affected 106 million people (100 million in the U.S. and six million in Canada.) Here’s our question: Has Capital One actually told you if you’re affected?
Source: LifeHacker – Has Capital One Notified You About Its Data Breach?
Ethiopia’s ambitious national reforestation program seeks to plant 4 billion trees by October.
Source: TreeHugger – Ethiopia plants 350 million trees in a day, breaks world record
Collabora today announced a new open-source project that promises to enable Linux-based desktop environments and window managers to be aware of VR (virtual reality).
Source: LXer – Collabora Brings VR Support to Linux Desktop Environments, Sponsored by Valve
Netflix is tracking some users’ physical activity, but it isn’t exactly moving into Fitbit’s territory. Details of the test first emerged when a security researcher said the Netflix app on his Android device requested access to his physical activity…
Source: Engadget – Here’s why Netflix is tracking some Android users’ physical activity
This past week, the video game Monster Prom had its promotional art reused without permission by the band Papa Roach for a tour poster.
Source: Kotaku – Monster Prom Team Says Papa Roach Stole Game Art For Tour Poster
You’ve become the “go-to” person in your office for a slew of tasks that nobody else can (or will) do. Good news: You feel indispensable. Bad news: You can basically never take a vacation. Here’s how to get out of this mess—or, better yet, avoid it in the first place.
Source: LifeHacker – Stop Trying to Be the Office Superhero
The next season of Fortnite is going to start off with a bang. Epic Games just released a teaser trailer for Season 10 of Fortnite that features an explosion. Season 10, which starts August 1st, will also likely include callbacks to past seasons.
Epic Games posted a teaser trailer for Season 10 on Twitter that shows a glowing orb exploding
Source: Hot Hardware – Epic Teases Fortnite Season 10 As Mysterious Orb Explodes Spreading Chaos
No country on earth has benefited from President Trump’s trade fight with China more than Vietnam. From a report: The country’s factories have swelled with orders as American tariffs cause companies to reconsider making their products in China. Now, more big technology firms are looking to bulk up their manufacturing operations in Vietnam, lifting the ambitions of a nation already well on its way to becoming a powerhouse maker of smartphones and other high-end gadgets. First, though, Vietnam needs to get better at making the little plastic casings on your earbuds.
Vu Huu Thang’s company in the northern city of Bac Ninh, Bac Viet Technology, produces small plastic parts for Canon printers, Korg musical instruments, and Samsung cellphones and phone accessories, including earbuds. He said it would be hard for his firm to compete against Chinese suppliers as long as he had to buy 70 to 100 tons of imported plastic material every month, most of it made in China. “Vietnam cannot compare with China,” Mr. Thang said. “When we buy materials, it’s 5, 10 percent more expensive than China already.” And the Vietnamese market is too small, he said, to entice plastic producers to set up plants here.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Your Next iPhone Might Be Made in Vietnam. Thank the Trade War.
Fans of the meditative, mobile puzzle game Monument Valley will soon have more obstacles to tackle. British game developer Ustwo confirmed on Twitter today [via a job posting] that there will be a Monument Valley 3. It’s still early days, so there ar…
Source: Engadget – Ustwo confirms there will be a ‘Monument Valley 3’
If you recently booked a British Airways SEA-LHR award ticket through American Airlines, you may be eligible for a fuel surcharge refund.
Source: LifeHacker – You Might Be Entitled to an American Airlines Fuel Surcharge Refund
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) kills 500,000 people in the US and 100,000 in the UK annually, often because it’s not detected soon enough. Researchers want to use AI to change that. DeepMind, the Alphabet-owned AI company, partnered with the US Department…
Source: Engadget – DeepMind AI can predict kidney illness 48 hours before it occurs
Xiaomi has introduced a refined version of its Black Shark 2 gaming smartphone. The new Black Shark 2 Pro is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC and features a UFS 3.0 storage device. Besides the SoC uplift, Xiaomi has managed to reduce its input latency versus predecessor, providing a snappier gaming experience.
While the Black Shark 2 Pro is not a brand new handset, it does come in a new chassis designed to enable a very comfortable grip during gaming sessions and it is also compatible with Xiaomi’s Gamepad 2.0 Bluetooth add-on that adds 12 buttons, a physical joystick, and a touchpad. Just like the original version, the Black Shark 2 Pro comes with a 6.39-inch AMOLED display featuring a 2340×1080 resolution, a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 430 nits brightness, a 60,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 240 Hz touchscreen polling rate. In a bid to provide an even better gaming experience, the Black Shark 2 Pro features 34.7 ms input latency, down from 43.5 ms in case of the original one.
Another key feature of the Black Shark 2 Pro is Qualcomm’s top-of-the-range Snapdragon 855 Plus application processor that provides higher performance than the predecessor and which is cooled down using a new cooling system that uses a vapor chamber-like technology. The SoC is paired with 12 GB of LPDDR4X memory, as well as a 128 GB or 256 GB UFS 3.0 storage device. While the new smartphone uses new internals, it still comes with a 4000 mAh battery.
Imaging capabilities of the Black Shark 2Pro handset include main camera comprising of a 48 MP RGB sensor as well as a 12 MP telephoto sensor, which are accompanied by a dual-LED flash, as well as an HDR-enabled 20-MP sensor for selfies on the front.
| The Black Shark 2 Pro Smartphone | ||||
| Preliminary Specifications | ||||
| Display | AMOLED 6.39″ 2340×1080 Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
|||
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus Adreno 640 |
|||
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR4X | |||
| Storage | 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.0 NAND flash | |||
| Local Connectivity | Wi-Fi | 802.11ac Wi-Fi | ||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | |||
| Data/Charging | USB 2.0 Type-C | |||
| Audio | No 3.5-mm jack | |||
| NFC | Yes | |||
| LTE | X24 Modem | |||
| Navigation | dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS | |||
| Rear Camera | 48 MP, f/1.75, 1/2-inch 0.8µm pixels, Laser/PDAF |
12 MP, f/2.2, 54mm (telephoto), 1.0µm pixels, Laser/PDAF |
||
| Front Camera | 20 MP, f/2.0, 0.9µm | |||
| Battery | Capacity | 4000 mAh | ||
| Expected Life | ? | |||
| SIM Size | Nano SIM + Nano Sim | |||
| Sensors | accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass | |||
| Biometric Security | Fingerprint | in-screen | ||
| Facial Recognition | – | |||
| Dimensions | Height | 163.6 mm | 6.44 inches | ||
| Width | 75 mm | 2.95 inches | |||
| Thickness | 8.8 mm | 0.35 inches | |||
| Weight | 205 grams | 7.23 ounces | |||
| Colors | black, blue, silver, orange, purple | |||
| Protection | Drop | ? | ||
| OS | Google Android 9.0 | |||
| Launch Countries | China initially, NA/EU launch later | |||
| Price | $385+ | |||
Xiami will start shipments of the Black Shark 2 Pro smartphones in black, blue, silver, orange and purple colors. The 128 GB variant will cost CNY 2,999 ($385), whereas the 256 GB version will be priced at CNY 3,499 ($450).
Related Reading:
Sources: Liliputing, GSM Arena
Source: AnandTech – Xiaomi Unveils Black Shark 2 Pro: Snapdragon 855+, UFS 3.0 Storage
Will Shortz is the most prestigious name in crosswords. As editor of the daily New York Times crossword, he has worked on every puzzle since 1983. He’s also the founder of the World Puzzle Championship, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and owner of the Westchester Table Tennis Center.
Source: LifeHacker – I’m Will Shortz, New York Times Crossword Editor, and This Is How I Work
The oversupply of memory chips on the market right now is a bad thing for chipmakers like Samsung as its profits have been hit severely. One of the benefits of the oversupply of memory chips on the market right now for consumers is that prices on storage devices have come down significantly. A good example is the Samsung 2TB T5 portable SSD
Source: Hot Hardware – Samsung T5 Portable 2TB SSD Falls To Just 8 With This Smoking Hot Deal
It has been the better part of a decade since the last KernelShark article appeared here; in the
interim, the kernel-tracing visualization tool has undergone some major changes.
While the high-level appearance is largely similar, the underlying code
has switched from GTK+ 2.0 to Qt 5. On July 26,
maintainer Steven Rostedt announced
the release of KernelShark version 1.0, which makes it a good time to
take another peek.
Source: LWN.net – [$] KernelShark releases version 1.0