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Showing posts from October 4, 2018

Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Last Days of Venus as the Evening Star

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The Last Days of Venus as the Evening Star That's not a young crescent Moon poised above the hills along the western horizon at sunset. It's Venus in a crescent phase . About 54 million kilometers away and less than 20 percent illuminated, it was captured by telescope and camera on September 30 near Bacau, Romania. The bright celestial beacon is now languishing in the evening twilight, its days as the Evening Star in 2018 coming to a close. But it also grows larger in apparent size and becomes an ever thinner crescent in telescopic views . Heading toward an inferior conjunction (non-judgmental), the inner planet will be positioned between Earth and Sun on October 26 and lost from view in the solar glare. At month's end a crescent Venus will reappear in the east though, rising just before the Sun as the brilliant Morning Star . October 05, 2018 via NASA https://ift.tt/2O8

The ‘all-natural’ label on your LaCroix is meaningless, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad for you

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Science Your LaCroix can’t kill cockroaches. Or you. A new lawsuit argues LaCroix is lying about what goes in its bubbly flavored water. It’s far from an airtight case. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2O3KHs2"

This AI can help spot biased websites and false news

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Technology We should take a lesson from it. MIT is working on an AI that can evaluate how biased websites are, and how factually accurate they are. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2zRRfkS"

US Indicts 7 Russian Intel Officers for Hacking Anti-Doping Organizations

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Netherlands expels four of the suspects trying to break into an organization investigating a chemical used in the recent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2y2HSgL If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

7 Steps to Start Your Risk Assessment

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Risk assessment can be complex, but it's vital for making good decisions about IT security. Here are steps to start you down the path toward a meaningful risk assessment process. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2y2SbRU If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

The best new features in the Fall 2018 Windows Update

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Technology Here's the new stuff your computer can do. Your computer will finally wait until you're not working to force a restart and update. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2yg0KZ6"

Report: In Huge Hack, Chinese Manufacturer Sneaks Backdoors Onto Motherboards

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If true, the attack using Supermicro motherboards could be the most comprehensive cyber breach in history. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2Pa03HP If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

Why NASA needs to flip Curiosity’s ‘brain’ over

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Space It's having memory issues. The past few months have been pretty rough on NASA’s Mars rovers. Opportunity is still not responding to NASA’s frequent missives. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2ydXyxa"

Weekend Deal - Total War: Warhammer Franchise, 25% to 75% Off

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In celebration of the upcoming Total War: WARHAMMER II - Curse of the Vampire Coast , save 25% to 75% off the Total War: WARHAMMER Franchise as part of this week's Weekend Deal*! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2RlFAl3"

Fitbit data helps police arrest another murder suspect

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Fitbit may have helped police solve the murder of one of its users, after investigators used heart rate data to determine the identity of the alleged killer. On September 8th, Anthony Aiello visited his 67-year-old stepdaughter Karen Navarra in San Jose. He claims he brought homemade pizza and biscotti for her, and she walked him to the door and gave him a couple of roses as a thank you. But data from Navarra's Fitbit Alta showed a different story, according to investigators. The data indicated that Navarra's heart rate "spiked significantly," then rapidly slowed and stopped -- all during the 15 minutes or so that Aiello, 90, was in her home, the New York Times reports . One of Navarra's coworkers found her body five days after Aiello's visit. Investigators used surveillance footage to determine that Aiello's car was parked in Navarra

Make you home greener—and more resilient

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Nexus Media News Storms cause flooding, but green infrastructure can help homeowners stay afloat. Green infrastructure protects public health and helps the environment in the face of extreme weather events. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2PbCBds"

Collaborative robot maker Rethink Robotics shuts down

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For a while, it looked like Rethink Robotics would shake up the world with its collaborative robots : rather than having to write code, workers could teach bots to perform tasks by guiding them through the process. However, the market doesn't appear to have shared its vision. Rethink has suddenly shut down after a potential buyer backed out of a deal. Sales of Baxter and Sawyer robots weren't meeting expectations, Rethink chief Scott Eckert said, leaving the company low on cash. It really needed this acquisition to go through, in other words. The move will leave 91 people without jobs, although they may find positions quickly given the thriving robotics industry . While Eckert didn't go into detail as to why sales were low, the Boston Globe attributes it to one main rival: Universal Robots. While many credit Rethink with breakthroughs in accessi

Fitbit's Charge 3 goes on sale October 7th for $150

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It's been over a month since Fitbit first announced the Charge 3 , seemingly a major improvement over the two-year-old Charge 2 that it'll replace. If you've been wanting to replace an aging fitness tracker with Fitbit's latest, we now know the Charge 3 will arrive in just a few days -- October 7th, to be specific. As with the previous Charge models, the new one will set you back $150, which still feels a little bit pricy compared to the $200 Versa watch, but there are a number of notable improvements here over the old model. Unlike its predecessor, the Charge 3 is properly water-resistant, which makes it the first Charge that swimmers can use to track workouts. Perhaps even more significantly, the Charge 3 has a proper touchscreen for the first time, as well. In our initial testing, this made for a huge usability improvement over previous models, which

Instagram uses Snapchat-like tags to make adding friends easier

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Instagram has yet another answer to Snapchat , but this time it's covering one of the basics: namely, adding friends. Months after it started testing , the social network has introduced "nametags" that make friend additions as simple as pointing your camera at a code, much like Snapcodes . Once you've created a nametag (complete with colors, emojis and selfies), your soon-to-be pal just has to launch the camera and hold down on the screen when the tag is in view. From there, they'll receive options to eithe r follow straight away or view the profile. You can share nametags with others through text messages or other social platforms if you're trying to build as wide an audience as possible. Nametags are available now on Android and iOS. That's not the only expansion taking place. Instagram is also testing a school communities fea

Weekend Deal - Dead Cells, 20% Off

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Save 20% on Dead Cells as part of this week's Weekend Deal*! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2PaiwEd"

Europe moves forward with content quotas for Netflix and Amazon

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The European Parliament has voted to approve new regulations that will place a European content quota on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video . Once the new rules are formally approved, 30 percent of video-on-demand platform content catalogs will have to be Eur opean -- a move aimed at supporting "the cultural diversity of the European audiovisual sector." Additionally, these companies will be asked to support the development of European productions either through direct investment or by paying into national funds, contributions that should be "proportional to their on-demand revenues in that country." While some companies, like Netflix, are already nearing that quota, they'll be required to maintain it going forward. Last month, Roberto Viola, head of the European Commission's communications networks, content and techno

Daily Deal - Renowned Explorers: International Society, 80% Off

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Today's Deal: Save 80% on Renowned Explorers: International Society !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2Pc4Eth"

Weekend Deal - The Crew™ 2, 45% Off

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Save 45% on The Crew™ 2 as part of this week's Weekend Deal*! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2P6atIp"

VanMoof's Electrified S2 is a seriously smart commuter bike

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VanMoof is almost ready to ship its next generation of electric bicycles. The Electrified S2 and X2 are vast improvements over their predecessors , with bigger batteries, nippier motors and smarter locking mechanisms. If you live in a city and fancy commuting on a bicycle, but fear conniving thieves and the potentially sweaty exercise required to reach the office, this could be your savior. During a two-hour test-ride in London, I was impressed with the S2's stylish frame, pedal-assisted power and integrated 'stealth lock.' It's not a cheap purchase, but few electric bicycles are at the moment. Pedalling around Covent Garden, I was struck by the Electrified S2's speed. Both the S2 and X2 (aside from the shape of the frame, they're exactly the same) come with a new 250-500W motor built into the front-wheel hub. On the highest power level, the S2