Parenting can be a full-contact sport, from the early days of trying to prevent your toddler from falling off playground equipment to tending to your teenager’s busted elbow after they (unsuccessfully) attempt a new skateboard trick. As much as you try to keep your kids in one piece, there is going to be blood—and…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Treat Your Kid’s Cuts and Bruises Quickly, According to a Boxing Cutman
Lego has finally realized that the only thing adult collectors like more than building a detailed model is displaying it on a shelf and then standing back and admiring it from afar. So the latest addition to the toy maker’s Star Wars collection is a series of dioramas that are the perfect build and display models.
Source: Gizmodo – Lego’s Finally Doing Something It Should’ve Done With Star Wars Ages Ago
PlayStation has grown increasingly vocal about its live-service auspices. But the firm’s oeuvre of top-flight single-player games isn’t getting sidelined as a result, at least according to statements made by two PlayStation execs in a recent interview.
Source: Kotaku – Sony Assures It Won’t Forget Single-Player PlayStation Games Amid Online Push
Following a large-scale virtual health study, Google has submitted Fitbit’s passive heartrate monitoring algorithm for review by the US Food and Drug Administration. Approval would allow Google to market the Fitbit as a medical device.
The study, which went live in May 2020, was open to all US Fitbit users over the age of 22, and it was designed to test how accurately the device could detect atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm. The system used photoplethysmography to track the blood flow in a user’s wrist and determine if there are any concerning irregularities. Google said its algorithm correctly identified undiagnosed AFib 98 percent of the time in this study, and the company presented its results to the American Heart Association at its most recent meeting.
Fitbit’s Sense Smartwatch was approved by the FDA in 2020 for its ability to assess AFib using built-in electrocardiogram technology.
In addition to the Fitbit FDA news, Google is rolling out a few other healthcare-related tools. Google Search in the US will soon show available appointment slots with local doctors and clinics when looking for care, with an emphasis on the CVS MinuteClinic.
“While we’re still in the early stages of rolling this feature out, we’re working with partners, including MinuteClinic at CVS and other scheduling solution providers,” Google chief health officer Dr. Karen DeSalvo said. “We hope to expand features, functionality and our network of partners so we can make it easier for people to get the care they need.”
Google is also rolling out “health source information panels” and “health content shelves” on YouTube videos in Japan, Brazil and India this week, in an effort to highlight credible information from legitimate sources.
Source: Engadget – Google seeks FDA approval for Fitbit’s passive heart rate monitoring tech
Sierra founders Ken and Roberta Williams announced they are developing Colossal Cave 3D Adventure, a remake of the original game released way back in 1976. Not since the release of Thimbleweed Park have I been this excited for an upcoming video game. Sure, it’s not going to be the next Elden Ring or anything of the sort, but for nostalgic
Source: Hot Hardware – Sierra Founders Ken And Roberta Williams Are Remaking 1976’s Colossal Cave Adventure
The global umbrella organisation for securities regulators has warned that decentralised finance contains myriad hidden conflicts and risks, as authorities begin circling one of the fastest growing corners of cryptocurrency markets. From a report: Comparing the current rise of decentralised finance, or DeFi, to the dotcom bubble, Martin Moloney, secretary-general of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco), said its explosive growth warranted “closer attention by regulators.” Iosco on Thursday plans to publish a 43-page report on DeFi listing more than a dozen “key risks” it has identified in the market. Moloney said the group would gather feedback from market participants and consider drafting guidelines for regulating DeFi.
“Most DeFi protocols rely on centralisation in one or more areas, and there are protocols that have a hidden centralised authority and are decentralised in name only,” the board of Iosco wrote in the report, which was reviewed by the Financial Times. “What we’re seeing is a lot of conflicts of interest are emerging in this space, and a lot of them are not transparent,â Moloney told the FT in an interview. “A lot of the participants in this space are claiming to be doing one thing and actually doing another thing, or actually doing multiple things at the same time.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – DeFi Projects Rife With Hidden Risks, Global Regulatory Body Warns
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes Gearbox’s loot shooter series out for a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired spin. Does it work? Critics are split. The consensus appears to be that, for better and for worse, it’s more Borderlands. Shocking, I know! But it sounds like there are also enough new tricks to make Wonderlands a fun…
Source: Kotaku – Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Reviews Say D&D Trappings Don’t Change The Borderlands Core
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
The FBI’s latest counterintelligence operation against Russia is hardly secretive—you just have to be standing in the right place.
In the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the FBI has stepped up its recruiting efforts in the US, hoping to attract Russians who are dissatisfied or disillusioned with the war. People standing in close proximity to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, can see the ads, which appear in Russian, on Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
One ad appeared in a Washington Post reporter’s Facebook feed when he was standing on the sidewalk next to the embassy’s walls on Wisconsin Avenue NW, but none appeared in his feed when he crossed the street.
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Source: Ars Technica – FBI trolls Russian embassy with geotargeted ads for disgruntled spies
New evidence indicates that tiny bits of plastics can reach our bloodstream. A small study detected microplastics in about 80% of the people tested. For now, the health implications of this exposure are still unclear.
Source: Gizmodo – Scientists Found Microplastics in People’s Blood for the First Time
If you’re interested in spending more time in the yard this summer, but need to increase your shaded areas to make it more cool and comfortable, a shade sail might be for you. Unlike a roof, a shade sail is intended to let air circulate through it while providing a cooler spot. Shade sails are also removable, making…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Install a ‘Shade Sail’ in Your Backyard (and Why You Should)
Authorities are quickly cracking down on the Lapsus$ hacking group that allegedly compromised Microsoft and Okta. BBC Newsreports City of London Police have arrested seven people aged 16 to 21 over connections to Lapsus$. The police didn’t name the older people facing charges, but said they’d been released “under investigation.”
More details appear to have surfaced around one of the leaders. A 16-year-old Oxford boy known as “Breachbase” or “White” has supposedly made the equivalent of $14 million in Bitcoin up to this point, and was apparently outed after business partners doxxed him following a dispute. Researchers have been following him for almost a year, Bloombergadded. The teen made multiple mistakes that helped researches trail his activity across online accounts.
Lapsus$ claimed to have obtained 37GB in Microsoft source code for projects like Bing, Cortana and mobile apps. They also tried to compromise Okta’s customer support in January and posted images they said showed the company’s internal systems. Microsoft acknowledged that the hackers had limited access to its network, while Okta indicated there was no hostile action beyond the January incident.
The arrests won’t necessarily put a stop to Lapsus$ when the group is believed to call South America its home. They may chill the organization’s activity and rapidly growing buzz, though. Lapsus$ has quickly garnered attention due to major targets like Microsoft, and its Telegram channel now has 47,000 members — the busts won’t exactly encourage copycat attacks.
Source: Engadget – London police arrest seven people over Lapsus$ hacks
After launching an improved MDN earlier this month and teasing their “MDN Plus” subscription service, today that Mozilla Developer Network premium service is now available…
Source: Phoronix – Mozilla Formally Introduces MDN Plus As Its Developer Subscription Service
Notorious U.S. facial recognition technology from Clearview AI is now being used to identify deceased soldiers fallen on the battlefield.
Source: Gizmodo – Clearview AI’s Dystopian Face Rec Tech Now Being Used to Identify Dead Russian Troops
Enlarge / Yes, this 917 is wearing license plates. (credit: Icon Engineering)
The UK is known for plenty of things, but it’s not all fish and chips and dodgy Russian oligarch money. It’s also surprisingly permissive when it comes to registering vehicles for public roads. Thanks to a process called “Individual Vehicle Approval,” it’s possible to road-register cars that would likely be met with exasperated spluttering if you were to try the same thing in Germany, Japan, or most states in the US.
Take, for example, the Icon 917K, a street-legal replica of one of Porsche’s most famous racing cars. Yes, the UK will let you register a road-going replica of the car that dominated Le Mans (and the rest of sports car racing) from 1970 until the oil crisis kicked in. British journalist (and friend of Ars) Jonny Smith has driven it for the Late Brake Show:
The original Porsche 917 is one of the most famous examples of creative rule interpretation in racing. The organizers at Le Mans changed the rules for 1969, such that prototypes—purpose-built creations just for racing—were limited to engines of just 3 L of capacity. Larger, more powerful engines were still allowed as long as the manufacturer built at least 25 cars.
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Source: Ars Technica – You can now buy a road-legal replica of Porsche’s mighty 917K racer
Imagine a next-generation GeForce RTX graphics card built around a GPU manufactured by Intel. Sounds farfetched, right? It’s actually not. While nothing of the sort is imminent or on any current roadmap, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was surprisingly upfront about the possibility during a recent question and answer session.
“Our strategy is to
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA CEO Says He Would Consider Letting Rival Intel Build Its Next-Gen Chips
Nova, Nova, Nova. For years, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been asking the studio to bring in the cosmic superhero known as Nova. And now, it seems it’s finally happening.
Source: Gizmodo – Marvel Is Finally Taking on Nova, With Moon Knight’s Writer
Samsung’s new portable projector disappoints, multiple reviewers noted today. The Verge: The Freestyle could have been something really special. As Samsung’s first portable projector, it immediately stood out from all of the company’s other CES product announcements in January. What wasn’t to like? At under two pounds, the Freestyle was hyped as tiny in form but big on features and convenience. The device is compact enough to be packed in a bag for travel or bringing on camping trips. It’d be a cinch to set up The Freestyle in the backyard for movie night, and the projector can run off some portable USB-C battery packs for added flexibility. Want an easy way to entertain your kids on vacation? Here you go. You can point the 180-degree tilting projector in a wide range of directions — including at the ceiling. And since it has the same software as Samsung’s smart TVs, it comes with a vast selection of entertainment apps in tow.
What Samsung has shipped is a dim, flawed, and often sluggish projector that fails to realize its potential. For a company that’s been on a run of home theater hits with products like The Frame, this is an uncharacteristic misstep. It’s not a cheap one, either: The Freestyle costs $899.99. That awkward price can be seen as another illustration of the projector’s challenges. It’s far more expensive than many portable pico projectors from smaller brands such as Anker and Xgimi but nowhere near as pricey as top-shelf home projectors. The Freestyle is caught in a no man’s land: if the asking price had been higher, maybe Samsung could’ve gone more ambitious on specs — especially brightness, which I’ll get to later. And if it were cheaper, I might’ve been more forgiving of its underwhelming performance.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Samsung’s Freestyle Projector Doesn’t Live Up To Its 0 Price
NASA has announced plans to develop a second lunar lander for the upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. The space agency will solicit proposals from U.S. companies, with a target date for delivery within the next four to five years.
Source: Gizmodo – SpaceX Will Have Competition on the Moon, as NASA Seeks a Second Lunar Lander
With all the video game shows and films we’re expected to get in the near future, not many have the strange baggage that the TV adaptation of Halo does. Microsoft’s flagship shooter was first announced to be getting the TV treatment back in 2013, and has been in development for nearly a full decade—which is to say…
Source: Gizmodo – Halo Treats Xbox’s Sci-Fi Franchise Like the Space Opera It’s Always Been
Growing your own food is immensely satisfying—but only when you get a crop that’s delicious, plentiful, or definitely worth the effort. It’s a different story when you’ve spent all summer doting on a single eggplant that turns out to not even be that good. To know where to focus your gardening efforts, here are the…
Source: LifeHacker – 12 Easy Garden Plants That Are Actually Worth Growing
