A team of researchers say they’ve found an effective way to block the most common source of cat allergies using the gene-editing technology CRISPR. Their findings also suggest that hypoallergenic cats can be just as healthy as the typical feline.
Source: Gizmodo – Scientists Are Inching Closer to Creating Truly Hypoallergenic Cats
We’ve seen a few Elden Ring speedruns already, with folks doing things like beating the game without dying a single time in the Lands Between, among other challenge runs. But someone who’s been setting world records for finishing FromSoftware’s latest Souls-like with the fastest time possible is back with a new high…
Source: Kotaku – Elden Ring Beaten In 20 Minutes With Ridiculous Teleporting Glitch
Enlarge / The new “booking page” UI. This is a URL you can create and send to anyone. (credit: Google)
Google Calendar’s latest update promises to take a lot of the back-and-forth out of booking appointments. Google announced Friday that users will soon be able to create a “booking page” UI they can send to anyone they want. You present the periods you’re willing to have a meeting, and the other user will be able to pick a time.
Workspace users will soon be able to pick the “Appointment Schedule” from the “create” appointment button. This will fire up a UI that can be used to create an appointment webpage. Workspace users highlight the times they would be willing to have a meeting, then enter the appointment duration and location (or a Google Meet room) and add a title and description.
Once everything is filled out, Calendar will generate a Google-hosted “booking page” website, and the creator can send the URL to someone else. The other person can then easily pick a time and add the meeting to a calendar. A similar time slot feature was previously available if both users were inside the same Workspace organization, but you can now show this time-slot UI to anyone you want, even users without a Google account.
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Source: Ars Technica – New Google Calendar feature takes the back-and-forth out of scheduling
It’s, uh, taken a rather surprisingly long time to get here, but if you’re one of the many, many people who find themselves under the strange circumstance of not living in the United States, you’re finally going to get the chance to read DC Comics in the way the publisher prefers. DC has announced its premium digital…
Source: Gizmodo – DC’s Comics App Finally Remembers Other Countries Exist
Even if you’re a peaceful person, you could get hit. And if you’ve never had self-defense training, experience with fighting, or even a fleeting thought about what you’d do in that moment, you can find yourself on your ass with no clue what to do next—and that could be an opportunity for your attacker to punch you more…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Take a Hit
Spotify has finally acted on its promise to add a COVID-19 content advisory label. As CNBCreports (and Engadget can confirm), you’ll now see a tab for a COVID-19 Guide when you visit podcasts and other content discussing the new coronavirus. Tap it and you’ll visit a section that points you to authoritative sources (such as the UK’s National Health Service and the World Health Organization) as well as trustworthy content, including podcast episodes from BBC News and The Guardian.
We’ve asked Spotify for comment. The advisory doesn’t appear to be available everywhere — we couldn’t see it in Canada as of this writing, for instance.
The section represents part of Spotify’s response to criticism of Joe Rogan’s podcast. The host has been accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation through the Joe Rogan Experience, including a December 2021 episode where Dr. Robert Malone falsely claimed a “psychosis” fooled people into believing vaccines were effective against the virus. Spotify answered the backlash with both a promise of the content advisory as well as public content guidelines, but the label was expected to arrive within days, not months.
The content warning might not do much to improve Spotify’s image. Numerous high-profile artists pulled or paused their work in protest over the misinformation existing in the first place, including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and author Brené Brown — a label isn’t likely to satisfy them and other critics who want Spotify to remove misinformation. While Spotify’s efforts have addressed the concerns of some creators, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, there still appears to be some lasting damage.
Source: Engadget – Spotify adds promised COVID-19 content advisory
This article will guide you to install the Spotify desktop client on Ubuntu, Debian, or other Debian-based distros such as Linux Mint, elementary OS, etc., in three easy-to-follow steps through the official Spotify package repository.
Source: LXer – How to Install Spotify on Ubuntu & Debian
Apple’s AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones released back in December 2020 still rank as the company’s most premium audio device, with a price tag to match—the MSRP (and going rate on Apple’s website) is $549. If you’ve been waiting for a meaningful price drop, now is the time to pounce because the earphones are heavily discounted on Amazon.
To
Source: Hot Hardware – Sweet Audio Deals Deliver Huge Savings Up To 5 Off Apple AirPods Max, Beats Studio And More
Apple refreshed the iPad Air at its “Peek Performance” event earlier this month, trading the tablet’s A-series processor for an M1 chip. With the iPad Air matching the Pro’s performance, purchasing the more expensive model seemed like a waste of money. Apple could soon give us a reason to buy it in the form of even…
Source: Gizmodo – Apple Is Making Us Want to Buy the iPad Pro Again
In early March, contractors working for Google to translate company text for the Russian market received an update from their client: Effectively immediately, the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine could no longer be referred to as a war but rather only vaguely as “extraordinary circumstances.” The internal email, obtained by The Intercept, was sent by management at a firm that translates corporate texts and app interfaces for Google and other clients. From the report: The email passed along instructions from Google with the new wording. The instructions also noted that the word “war” should continue to be used in other markets and that the policy change was intended to keep Google in compliance with a Russian censorship law enacted just after the invasion of Ukraine. Asked about the guidance, Google spokesperson Alex Krasov told The Intercept, “While we’ve paused Google ads and the vast majority of our commercial activities in Russia, we remain focused on the safety of our local employees. As has been widely reported, current laws restrict communications within Russia. This does not apply to our information services like Search and YouTube.” According to a translator who spoke to The Intercept, the orders apply to all Google products translated into Russian, including Google Maps, Gmail, AdWords, and Google’s policies and communications with users. (The translator asked for anonymity to avoid reprisal by their employer.) The internal memo helps explain why some Google web pages, including an advertising policy and video help document found by The Intercept, use euphemistic terms like “emergency in Ukraine” in their Russian version but âoewar in Ukraineâ in the English version.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google Ordered Russian Translators Not To Call War in Ukraine a War
Pointers are a fact of life for developers working in numerous languages.
It is often convenient to be able to associate a small
amount — a few bits at most — of ancillary information with a pointer.
This can often be done within the pointer value itself with some careful
masking and shifting. CPU manufacturers have been adding ways to support
the addition of this sort of “tag” to pointers; the most recent may be
AMD’s “upper address ignore” (UAI) feature, support for which was
recently posted
by Bharata B Rao. This feature has an uncertain future in Linux, though,
as the result of a fundamental design decision.
Source: LWN.net – [$] Pointer tagging for x86 systems
Earlier this month, a bunch of Destiny 2 YouTube videos, including some by high profile content makers and even Bungie themselves, were hit by rogue copyright takedown notices generated by fake Google accounts. Bungie is now trying to sue the people responsible, and has called out YouTube for getting tricked by…
Source: Kotaku – Destiny 2 Maker Blasts YouTube’s Takedown System In Wild Lawsuit
I was recently on a flight home from visiting some family, and the guy sitting in the aisle seat a few rows up from me refused to let anyone past him. He dozed in his seat and slumped into the aisle, preventing the drinks cart from moving through, and the flight attendants had to physically shove him upright to get…
Source: LifeHacker – What to Do (and Not Do) When You’re Seated Next to a Jerk on a Flight
The upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max may have a thicker camera bump, but there is a good reason for it. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, a notable Apple insider, this new thickness will be attributed to a new more powerful primary camera sensor.
In the world of smartphones, the battle for best smartphone camera is always up for debate. While
Source: Hot Hardware – Apple iPhone 14 Pro May Get A Bigger Camera Bump For A Huge Sensor Upgrade
The Oscars has long been struggling for relevance for a number of reasons, and this year their floundering seemed more like a cry for help than an actual attempt at importance. Amid a confusing year for cinema, the Academy decided that the best way to get people to tune into the broadcast was to conduct two Twitter…
Source: Gizmodo – No Justice at the Oscars, Just Justice League Memes
There are three inevitabilities in life: death, taxes, and software updates. Programs like Chrome can never be perfect, and security flaws will inevitability be discovered—the goal is just to squash those flaws with an update before bad actors can take advantage of them. Today, Chrome and Edge users find themselves in…
Source: LifeHacker – You Should Update Chrome and Edge ASAP
Microsoft’s new security chief Charlie Bell issued a call to arms to build protection from hackers and criminals in the emerging metaverse from the start of the new technology. From a report: “There’s going to be a lot of innovation and there will be a lot of struggling to figure out what has to be done,” Bell said in an interview. “But I think because of the speed, there will be fast innovation on the security side.”
The metaverse — a concept that promises to let users live, work and play within interconnected virtual worlds — will present some unique and more serious security challenges for technology and cybersecurity companies. As an example, hackers may be able to make avatars that look like a user’s trusted contacts, a twist on the traditional email phishing scheme that will be hard for users to resist, he said. The nature of the metaverse, which offers the possibility of less centralized control of content and users, also is a challenge for those trying to protect customers.
“Picture what phishing could look like in the metaverse — it won’t be a fake e-mail from your bank,” wrote Bell, Microsoft’s executive vice president, security, compliance, identity, and management, in a blog posted Monday on Microsoft’s web site. “It could be an avatar of a teller in a virtual bank lobby asking for your information. It could be an impersonation of your CEO inviting you to a meeting in a malicious virtual conference room.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Microsoft Security Chief Issues Call To Arms To Protect Metaverse
Amazon improved its Echo Buds in nearly every way when it came out with the second generation last year, and at $120, they’re a solid option for those who don’t want to spend a ton on ANC earbuds. Now, Amazon’s knocked 58 percent off the second-gen Echo Buds, bringing the models with the standard charging case down to only $50. That’s $20 cheaper than they were during the holiday shopping season last year.
The online retailer learned from the shortcomings of its original Echo Buds and rectified many of them when redesigning the latest models. The buds are 20 percent smaller than the previous models, a bit lighter too, and the entire design is IPX4 rated against water splashes. Sound quality has been massively improved: audio sounds less compressed and you’ll be able to hear the differences at low, medium and high volumes. In the Alexa companion app, you can mess around the the EQ if you wish while also customizing the settings for ANC mode, hands-free Alexa and Power Save mode.
Amazon switched from active noise reduction to true active noise cancelling on these buds and it made a world of difference. The buds block out surrounding noises and the Passthrough feature, which allows some environmental noise in, sounds more natural than that of other earbuds. Naturally, you’re also getting Alexa voice commands on these buds, and the assistant can do more than it could before, controlling music and podcast playback, finding specific shows on Amazon Music and making recommendations for other content you may want to listen to.
Battery life is pretty decent as well — you’ll get about five hours of listening time before the Echo Buds need more juice, and their case can give you two hours of listening time after only 15 minutes of charging. While call performance could be better, the second-gen Echo Buds are still a good option if you rely on Alexa for a lot of things or if you want a pair of ANC earbuds that won’t break the bank.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Source: Engadget – Amazon’s second-gen Echo Buds are down to only right now
Like Doctor Who’s Sonic screwdriver or Inspector Gadget’s entire body, multi-tools are designed to squeeze a tool box’s worth of functionality into a pocket-friendly accessory, and with the Volty Bit, Leatherman’s folding multi-tools gain another neat trick: the ability to test the voltage of batteries and other DC…
Source: Gizmodo – Clever Accessory Turns a Leatherman Multi-Tool Into a Battery-Testing Voltmeter
Opsgenie is a modern incident management platform that ensures critical incidents are never missed, and actions are taken by the right people in the shortest possible time.
Source: LXer – Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Atlassian Opsgenie
