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Equinox: Analemma over the Callanish Stones Does the Sun return to the same spot on the sky every day at the same time? No. A more visual answer to that question is an analemma , a composite image taken from the same spot at the same time over the course of a year. The featured analemma was composed from images taken every few days at 4 pm near the village of Callanish in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland , UK . In the foreground are the Callanish Stones , a stone circle built around 2700 BC during humanity's Bronze Age . It is not known if the placement of the Callanish Stones has or had astronomical significance. The ultimate causes for the figure-8 shape of this an all analemmas are the tilt of the Earth axis and the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit around the Sun . At the solstice s, the Sun will appear at the top or bottom of an analemma. Equinox es, however, correspo...

If you own one of Google's Pixel phones and it fell victim to Hurricane Florence , relief might be at hand. Google is partnering with uBreakiFix to offer free repairs for any Pixel phone damaged in the storm So long as you can visit one of uBreakiFix's locations in North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia, the repair shop will fix cracked screens and water damage at no cost. You don't need an appointment to take advantage of the offer. The campaign lasts through October 19th. There's certainly a publicity grab involved here, but this could be particularly valuable if the storm is already creating a financial burden. If you're unaffected but would like to help, please consider donating to Florence relief programs . Source: uBreakiFix via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2MVIvgT ...

There aren't many media keyboards devoted to smart TVs (they tend to be built for home theater PCs), but Logitech might have just given you another viable option. Its new K600 offers a compact keyboard-and-trackpad combo designed for modern smart TVs. You won't have to laboriously enter web addresses or search queries using just your remote. The K600 won't work with every model, but it covers popular LG, Samsung and Sony 4K sets from 2016 onward. You don't have to use the keyboard with a TV. It's an otherwise standard Bluetooth peripheral, so you can connect it to Android, iOS, Mac and Windows devices -- a quick switch button can change the pairing on the spot. It's available now for $70, which might make it feasible if you like the thought of big-screen web browsing. Source: Logitech (1) , (2) via Engadget...

You no longer have to go to a special screening (or track down bootlegs) to watch The Room . Tommy Wiseau has posted his so-bad-it's-good classic movie on YouTube for free in its entirety. If you've ever wanted to relive every "oh hi" moment or see Lisa tear Johnny apart one more time, you just have to fire up your web browser. The title hasn't been officially available online before, so this is likely your best chance to see what the fuss is about. If you're new to the movie, the appeal is simple: it's a beautiful mess. The Room revolves around the ostensibly simple concept of a fractured relationship as Johnny (Wiseau) finds out that his fiancée Lisa is seducing his best friend Mark. The execution, however, is everything. It's best-known for its stilted dialogue, but there are also unfinished subplots, unconnected events, and ...

Is President Trump looking at an executive order that would investigate internet companies over his accusations of political bias ? Not officially... although the government isn't strictly denying the claims, either. After Bloomberg reported the existence of a draft order, deputy White House press secretary Lindsey Walters issued a statement that the document was "not the result of an official policymaking process." It's not saying the story is wrong, as such -- it is, however, downplaying the prospect of such an order becoming a reality. The origins of the draft are mysterious as it is. Sources talking to the Washington Post corroborated the existence of the draft and that it had been distributed in the White House, but didn't know who wrote it or even where it came from. It didn't, however, stem from the National Economic Council (which w...

Authorities aren't wasting any time bringing Cody Wilson, the owner of 3D-printed gun maker Defense Distributed, back to the US. Taiwan officials deported Wilson to the US on September 22nd following his arrest a day earlier over his annulled legal status in the area. It wasn't clear where in the US Wilson was headed, although a Texas city is a possibility given the US arrest warrant issued for him in state over allegations he paid for sex with an underage girl. Wilson had flown to Taiwan shortly after police issued the warrant on September 19th, although it's not certain if he was traveling to avoid the warrant or for business. Taiwan doesn't have an extradition treaty in place with the US. The arrest and deportation come soon after Wilson vowed to defy a ruling banning him from publishing 3D-printed gun designs online, arguing that there was...

The fierce bidding battle over Sky has come to a close -- Comcast has successfully outbid 21st Century Fox to acquire the UK media giant for $39 billion. It clinched the deal following an unusual blind auction through the UK's Takeover Panel, which helps moderate these large scale acquisitions. Comcast had led the bidding for months (including a $34 billion offer in August), but had to go through the Panel after neither side made a final offer. It's a huge coup for Comcast. Sky has 23 million customers across Europe, and has backed the production of shows for Amazon, HBO and Showtime. It's also well-known for its sports broadcasting, such as its Premier League channel . Comcast will soon have a much larger international presence in these fields. It'll certainly help make up for losing Fox's entertainment assets to Disney in July. For ...

Apple has skewed toward safer fare for its upcoming streaming video service (with occasional exceptions ), and it now looks like that might be creating problems for a few shows. Wall Street Journal sources have claimed that Apple's push for more family-friendly material led it to replace the showrunner for the drama from Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon , which (along with Witherspoon's scheduling issues) led to delays. Apple wanted a "more upbeat" production and didn't like some of the humor, according to the tipsters. Reportedly, the company also swapped showrunners for Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories anthology series after finding the initial premise "a little dark." It thought a Dr. Dre show was too violent, as well. Apple had even discussed producing edgier shows at one point, including a Keanu Reeves show about a hi...

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NextVR provides access to immersive sports and entertainment broadcasts for a number of virtual reality headsets, but it had a huge Oculus-shaped gap in its compatibility list. Now, the platform has finally rolled out support for the Oculus Rift and even for its standalone sibling, the Oculus Go . NextVR chief David Cole said the VR community has been asking for the feature for a long time, and the company is merely answering the call. The platform has been broadcasting immersive live events and originals since its launch in 2009, mainly sports and entertainment programming. In 2017, it streamed an NYC music festival and even made an entire season of NBA games available to watch in VR for League Pass subscribers. Earlier this year, the company also teamed up with WWE for an immersive wrestling experience that put fans in the center of the action. Oculus users ca...

Google's 'G Suite' of apps and services has been applying machine learning everywhere over the last couple of years, and the latest update it's testing for Google Drive goes a bit further. Two years ago it launched the machine learning-enhanced Quick Access feature to put files it thinks users need right in front of them before they even start searching. Google said users have reported that feature saves about 50 percent of their time. The new feature, first mentioned during the Cloud Next 18 event earlier this year and in development pretty much since Quick Access launched, is Priority. It lives in the left-hand column for easy access to files and comments. It goes a step further and digs into activity, calendar events and notes made be everyone in an organization to figure out which files are the most important to deal with right now, or at a par...