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Showing posts from September 24, 2018

Ricoh adds a new lens and sensor to its lightweight GR III

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Richoh's GR series is notable for combining its small, lightweight frame with a large APS-C sensor that the company claims makes it "the ultimate street photography camera." However, after a GR II refresh in 2015 to add WiFi and NFC, some of its features have lagged behind the latest camera technology available. Today at the Photokina event we're meeting the GR III which adds a "newly designed lens, image sensor and imaging engine" to the mix that should keep it as a competitive option at sub-$1,000 prices. We only have a single picture to judge by, but the design doesn't appear to have changed from its previous model The sensor has been upgraded from 16 MP to 24.2 MP, it has a USB-C connection and there's a new software interface to make it easier to use. It will be available in early 2019, but so far there's no word on exactly

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Highlights of the North Autumn Sky

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Highlights of the North Autumn Sky What can you see in the night sky this season? The featured graphic gives a few highlights for Earth's northern hemisphere. Viewed as a clock face centered at the bottom, early (northern) autumn sky events fan out toward the left, while late autumn events are projected toward the right. Objects relatively close to Earth are illustrated, in general, as nearer to the cartoon figure with the telescope at the bottom center -- although almost everything pictured can be seen without a telescope . As happens during any season, constellations appear the same year to year, and, as usual, the Leonids meteor shower will peak in mid-November. Also as usual, the International Space Station (ISS) can be seen, at times, as a bright spot drifting across the sky after sunset. Planets visible after sunset this autumn include Jupiter and Mars , and during late a

AT&T and Harman bring connected features to your existing car

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AT&T is joining the ranks of carriers that can bring a whole suite of connected car technology to older passenger vehicles. It's launching the Harman Spark, an OBD-II dongle that adds diagnostics, tracking and LTE data to cars from 1996 and beyond. Unlike the old ZTE Mobley , this isn't just about internet access. It can alert you to car trouble (including theft), help you find and pay for roadside help and locate your vehicle. It could also be particularly helpful to watchful parents. You can create geofences that warn when the car leaves a certain area, and provide driving scores to teens who are a little too enthusiastic with the pedals. The Spark will be available on September 28th for $80, although what you'll pay for service will vary. You can spend $5 per month if you're not interested in a hotspot, or buy a data plan (either stan

Instagram founders reportedly resign from Facebook

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Just about six years after Facebook closed its $1 billion purchase of Instagram , both of the company's founders are resigning, according to a report from The New York Times . Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger served as the company's CEO and CTO, respectively, after pivoting the app from a Foursquare-style check-in service called Burbn to focus on photography in 2010. Less than two years after launching its iOS app Facebook announce d plans to purchase the company, which then had around 30 million users and has since grown to over 800 million. Developing... Source: New York Times via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2zqUNKH If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml , then send me

Telltale Games suggests more 'The Walking Dead' episodes could arrive

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On Friday Telltale Games abruptly shut down, laying off most of its employees without warning. The studio was in the midst of wrapping up the Final Season of its The Walking Dead series, and tomorrow will release the second of four scheduled episodes. Fans who may have already purchased a season pass for all of the episodes have no word if they'll ever see the light of day. Earlier today, in a statement to Polygon , Netflix confirmed rumors that Telltale is still finishing Minecraft: Story Mode , which accounts for the remaining employees. Tonight, the game company's Twitter account posted that things might not be over for The Walking Dead , and said that "Multiple potential partners have stepped forward to express interest in helping to see The Final Season through to completion. While we can't make any promises today, we are actively working towards a so

What's on TV: 'FIFA 19,' 'The Good Place' and 'Forza Horizon 4'

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Fall TV returns at full strength this week, with new seasons of shows we love like The Good Place and Chef's Table on Netflix. There are also new shows to look out for, including God Friended Me on CBS, the Magnum P.I. reboot and FX's criminal/magician show Mr. In Between . For gamers, Life is Strange 2 has its first episode ready to go, FIFA 19 drops at the end of the week and owners of the Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition can start racing a little early. On 4K Blu-ray there's Punisher War Zone , Solo: A Star Wars Story and Halloween. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed). Blu-ray & Games & Streaming Solo: A Star Wars Story (4K) The [REC] Collection Halloween (4K) The Punisher (4K) American Psycho (4K) Uncle Drew X

Walmart will use blockchain to ensure the safety of leafy greens

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Walmart is anxious about the safety of its food following bacterial outbreaks for lettuce and other food, and it's hoping technology will set shoppers' minds at ease. It's telling its leafy green suppliers to use a blockchain system (designed with IBM's help) to track the shipments of their produce. The secure, distributed ledger will help trace the vegetables' path from the farm to the store, revealing the source of any potential outbreak in seconds instead of days. This isn't just for Walmart's internal benefit, either. Eventually, you could scan a bag and use the blockchain to find out where your spinach came from. The company is asking suppliers to make the switch now, but it won't be so polite in the future. It expects suppliers to have the blockchain systems in place by "this time next year," or roughly by the end of

Twitter will help you prepare for election day

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As the US heads closer to November's midterm elections, a number of social platforms are making an effort to encourage their users to vote. The latest to join in is Twitter, which launched its #BeAVoter campaign today. Through the campaign, Twitter will connect users to TurboVote, a nonprofit that can help them register to vote, sign up for election reminders and apply for absentee ballots. The #BeAVoter effort will be featured in Twitter's top US trends and in a prompt in users' timelines. Have you registered to vote this U.S. election? Tap below to get started and #BeAVoter . ⬇️ — Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) September 24, 2018 Facebook expanded its US election reminders to include local elections last year. And Instagram launched its voter registration campaign -- also in partnership with TurboVote -- earlier this month. "

Addictive behavior could trace back to an ancient retrovirus in our DNA

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Health Understanding why some struggle more than others could help us find solutions. Human endogenous retroviruses are ancient retrovirus DNA that hangs around in our genes, passed from generation to generation as part of our genetic code. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2xAwZCM"

Former Facebook moderator sues over mental trauma

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Facebook's content moderators don't have an easy task. They often have to see the very worst of what people post, including graphic violence and sexual abuse. And while the social network has resources to help, at least one former worker doesn't believe that's enough. Ex-contractor Selena Scola has sued Facebook for allegedly "ignoring its duty" to protect moderators who deal with mental trauma aft er seeing disturbing imagery. Rather than create a safe environment, it's producing a "revolving door of contractors" who are permanently scarred by what they've seen, Scola's lawyer Korey Nelson said. In a statement to Engadget, Facebook said it was "reviewing" the lawsuit and took moderator support "incredibly seriously" and pointed to its existing assistance, including "in house" psychologica