Geek News

Today's update unveils Dota Plus, a new monthly subscription service designed to help you get the most out of every Dota 2 match you play. Dota Plus is an evolution of the Battle Pass. In the past we released two types of Battle Passes, ones that revolved around the Majors, and one around The International. As a result of the recent introduction of the Pro Circuit, we've replaced the Majors Battle Passes with a new type of service that doesn't depend on a specific start and end date, and one that we can continually add features and content to over time. This reimagining of the Majors Battle Pass will be an ongoing, uninterrupted service filled with features that provide both progression and opportunities for improvement. Hero Leveling offers you a way to make progress every match while earning Shards, a new currency that can be used to unlock rewards. Test your skills by completing hundreds of new Challenges of varying difficulties. Use the Plus Assistant to help you ...

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said today that the video platform has started limiting the number of hours its part-time content moderators can view disturbing videos to four hours per day. The news, announced during a Q&A session during Wojcicki’s South by Southwest Interactive talk here in Austin, comes as companies like YouTube are struggling to parse through the sheer volume of user-uploaded content and ensure it abides by its policies. Platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter have faced criticism for subjecting low-paid contractors to content that can be extremely disturbing. “This is a real issue and I myself have spent a lot of time looking at this content over the past year. It is really hard,” Wojcicki said about... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2p8JbFI"

VRFC Virtual Reality Football Club is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 30% off!* Take to the turf in VRFC, the world's only first-person VR football game. Whether you struggle to hit a cow's backside with a banjo, or your idea of dribbling is something babies do, none of that matters - now you can become a footballing legend in your own living room. *Offer ends March 20 at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2pcxwFM"

YouTube will add information from Wikipedia to videos about popular conspiracy theories to provide alternative viewpoints on controversial subjects, its CEO said today. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that these text boxes, which the company is calling “information cues,” would begin appearing on conspiracy-related videos within the next couple of weeks. Wojcicki, who spoke Tuesday evening at a panel at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, showed examples of information cues for videos about the moon landing and chemtrails. “When there are videos that are focused around something that’s a conspiracy — and we’re using a list of well-known internet conspiracies from Wikipedia — then we will show a companion unit of... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2DozKap"

Technology Worried about secret cameras or roommates stealing your food? Go full James Bond. Find secret recording devices, listen from afar, and see through walls! via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2FGxUUj"

Chinese reporter Liang Xiangyi eye-rolled during another reporter’s long-winded question at the National People’s Congress yesterday and the moment has gone viral. Many Chinese residents have created dozens of videos, GIFs, memes, and illustrations inspired by the scene, having identified with Liang’s frustration. (Since Liang dressed in blue and the other reporter dressed in red, the moment has also birthed blue and red memes.) Chinese state-run media has responded by censoring the videos of the incident. Internet censors have also blocked searches for Liang Xiangyi’s name. It’s an unusual moment, considering the Congress is typically dry and uneventful. During the National People’s Congress last night (Tuesday morning in Beijing time),... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2HvkXwU"

Health Its 5-day battery life and lightweight design makes it easy to see as an everyday life tracker. Fitbit released a new product that might finally get at what people really need: A (relatively) low-cost, wear-it-forever smartwatch that does more than count steps. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2tPeKd4"

It’s been more than a year since Amazon first tapped into Twitch’s customer base with perks to improve their experience. Now, the online giant will start offering free games from their archives for Prime customers to keep. Twitch announced Tuesday that, starting on Thursday, those customers would get a pair of free games, Superhot and Oxenfree . Starting on April 1st, new titles will be released, such as Tales from the Borderlands and SteamWorld Dig 2 . This is the first time Amazon and Twitch have used their partnership to hand out games on a regular basis. Just Announced! Free Games with Prime! Starting Thursday 3/15, we're upgrading your membership by giving you a collection of FREE GAMES EVERY MONTH! More info, including March and... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2Ir5krO"

Save 50% on TEKKEN 7 during this week's Midweek Madness*! Powered by Unreal Engine 4, the legendary fighting game franchise fights back with stunning story-driven cinematic battles and intense duels that can be enjoyed with friends and rivals. *Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2InDhcD"

Google Assistant’s routines are rolling out now. Google initially announced it was following the footsteps of Amazon and adding multistep smart home routines last October . They allow you to take several actions (toggling lights, changing the thermostat, etc.) with a single voice command. Google gave more details last month when it teased the approaching launch of routines in the US. Today, Google Assistant’s support page for the routines went live , revealing there would be six routines at first. To access routines, go to settings in the Google Home or Google Assistant app, and you’ll find them under Home Control, Music, and Shortcuts. It looks like the Good Morning routine is only one that’s live right now, as spotted by Android Police ,... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2p9LvND"

If you tried to share a New York Daily News article about police brutality on Facebook today, you may have run into trouble. The article was blocked from sharing on Facebook for much of the afternoon, with some users receiving a message that the content had been blocked because it “includes content that other people have reported as abusive.” The Verge confirmed the block shortly after noon ET. Facebook prevented the article from being scraped by the company’s link tools, and also stopped the URL from being shared. Other Daily News articles were unaffected. Our tests seemed to indicate spam issues, with the error message reading: “Posts that look like spam according to our community guidelines are blocked on Facebook and can’t be... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2tP4xNM"

Google and LG are set to present an 18-megapixel 4.3-inch OLED headset display with 1443 ppi and a higher refresh rate of 120Hz during the Display Week 2018 trade show in late May. The display will have a wide field of view and high acuity. The advanced program for the expo was spotted by Android Police via OLED-Info . Those specs make the forthcoming headset better than most of what’s on the market. Screens like the new HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Rift only boast total resolutions of 2880 x 1600 and 2160 x 1200, respectively. While the advanced program doesn’t reveal the panel’s resolution, we can speculate based on the pixel density and size that the screen’s resolution could be within the 5500 x 3000 range. The next step for virtual... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2pbNGzo"

The workout social network Strava is still attempting to respond to privacy oversights that led to the exposure of military bases around the world earlier this year. The company announced multiple changes to its heat map today, including the restriction of data viewing to anyone but registered users. The heat map also won’t display routes with little activity and will only populate once several different users have worked out in the area. The map will also refresh monthly to clear any data that might have been made private. None of these changes seem super helpful for avoiding the exposure of low-profile locations. Researchers can always register to view data, and assuming a group of people work out at a military base and run the same... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2IqFswa"

Environment Temperatures in the Arctic could help drive extreme weather in the United States. New research connects variable temperatures at the north pole to extreme weather in the United States. But the idea isn't without controversy. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2GtjQid"

Following Ikea’s acquisition of TaskRabbit last year, the furniture company is introducing an assembly service to some of its US stores. Ikea said Tuesday it will start lining up “taskers” from the contract labor service with customers who don’t want to assemble the company’s furniture (or want to preserve a little of their sanity after putting a bookcase together). When you purchase items in the store or online, Ikea will be able to book an appointment as soon as the next day. TaskRabbit has already partnered with Ikea in the UK, but the new services are now available at six stores in the Bay Area and tri-state area in New York: Brooklyn, Emeryville, East Palo Alto, Long Island, Paramus, and Elizabeth before expanding to other Ikea... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2tLdt6P"

Gadgets Figuring out what kind of storage you need for your phone, drone, or camera can be tricky. Decode the jumble of letters and numbers on the face of all those memory cards. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2FFPBD8"

Android Oreo 8.1 is now out on the Essential Phone , the company announced on Twitter today. Essential Phone users just have to check their phones and download the update. Android Oreo 8.1 had previously been out on beta for Essential beta testers . Essential has said that it was skipping a release of Android 8.0 because of “several stability issues.” The new version of Oreo includes a faster start up and sign in, smart text selection, instant apps, and the ability to play a windowed video while browsing other tabs. It also has Google Play Protect, which scans apps for malware before and after installation. We're excited to announce the full release of Android Oreo 8.1 on Essential Phone! Check your phone now for the update. p... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2FyzLyv"

Google is now adding captions to image results in an effort to give images more context. Image captions are set to roll out globally this week on the Google app on Android and iOS, and in mobile web browsers. There’s no word yet on whether the feature will roll out to desktop browsers, which have a slightly different look than mobile web browsers. Now when you Google search for images, each image will have a caption in bold. The captions will be the titles of the web page where each image is published. Google said in a press release, “This extra piece of information gives you more context so you can easily find out what the image is about.” Last year, Google added badges on certain search results and added websites’ domain URLs to show... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2FE8FSd"

The workout social network Strava is still attempting to respond to privacy oversights that led to the exposure of military bases around the world earlier this year. The company announced multiple changes to its heat map today, according to Reuters , including the restriction of data viewing to anyone but registered users. The heat map also won’t display routes with little activity and will only populate once several different users have worked out in the area. The map will also refresh monthly to clear any data that might have been made private. None of these changes seem super helpful for avoiding the exposure of low-profile locations. Researchers can always register to view data, and assuming a group of people work out at a military... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2pbM2xM"

The Raven Remastered is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!* London, 1964. An ancient ruby is stolen from the British Museum. At the crime scene: a raven feather. Is somebody trying to follow in the footsteps of The Raven, the legendary master thief who disappeared years before? *Offer ends March 20 at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2Hy2WhD"

SmartThings, the Samsung-owned home platform , has been down for nearly a full day, which is frustrating for those who have smart home appliances that rely on the service. The platform has just issued an announcement: “The issues impacting North American users have been largely addressed and we are seeing improvements to app loading and device control. Our teams are continuing to work on restoring full functionality and will provide an update when available.” At 2PM ET yesterday, SmartThings first acknowledged the outage . Today, SmartThings issued a statement through Twitter, saying the investigation is ongoing. Our teams are currently investigating the issues impacting users. We apologize for any inconvenience. In order to get the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2Dmqun7"

Magenta, Google’s research project that looks at how AI can help people be more creative, just released an open source experimental instrument called NSynth Super . NSynth Super utilizes Magenta’s NSynth, Google’s neural network that generates sounds, and directions for building your own NSynth Super are available on Github. The NSynth Super is a piece of hardware that brings the NSynth technology to life. As Douglas Eck, research scientist on the Google Brain team, says in the video above, NSynth doesn’t generate notes, but rather, the actual sound of an instrument. The NSynth algorithm learns the core qualities of what makes up an individual sound and then is able to combine sounds to create something completely new. The hardware Google... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2FN1BpZ"

The Council is Now Available on Steam! Experience a Narrative Adventure where your choices and character growth truly matter. As a member of a 1793 secret society, live a tale of intrigue and manipulation on the hunt for your missing mother. via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2pbFrn0"

I think most of us would agree that Samsung’s claim that the Galaxy S9 “reinvents” the smartphone camera is some major hyperbole. But for now the S9 stands alone as the only flagship with a variable aperture camera, so the new feature is getting a lot of interest. We already covered a teardown from iFixit, but another posted today by Jerry Rig Everything gives a much closer look at the mechanics of those aperture blades. Once Zack pries open the S9 and gets down to the camera unit, he finds the actual switch that controls the blades that allow Samsung’s latest smartphone to switch from its default f/2.4 aperture to a best-in-class f/1.5 in low-light conditions. The phone analyzes the scene, picks the best aperture for your situation,... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2p5nCqw"

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will be held in June this year. Apple is planning to return to San Jose again in 2018, between June 4th and June 8th this time around. Developers can apply for tickets now through March 22 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET through Apple’s WWDC site . Tickets will be issued randomly by March 23rd. Last year’s event was packed with announcements, including the HomePod, a new iMac Pro, iOS 11, a 10.5-inch iPad Pro, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4, and ARKit. This year we’re expecting to hear more on the future of macOS and iOS, and it’s possible we’ll see those cheaper iPads and MacBooks that have been rumored recently. Developing... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2p5nuHy"