Geek News

Environment Nobody expects to see lightning while a blizzard is raging Thundersnow struck again during the bomb cyclone… via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2rjcsBJ"

DJI has sent out invitations for an “Adventure Unfolds” event next week on January 23rd. There’s not a lot of information included about to expect, just a teaser video with some dramatic music, drone shots, and what might be close-ups of a new drone. But according to DroneDJ , the Chinese drone company is rumored to be announcing a new “Mavic Air” drone, a possible successor to the company’s existing ultra portable Mavic Pro model that would be smaller, faster, and lighter. There’s also evidence to support the idea of a smaller Mavic, if you’re interested in reading too much into DJI’s teaser video. The voiceover in the video says “from seemingly insignificant size comes formidable strength and power.” From a more practical perspective,... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EO84wH"

This past December, Facebook investigated whether Russia had used the social network to influence the EU Referendum vote, or Brexit. At the time, the team found little evidence of UK-related activity from the "Internet Research Agency" in Russia. Now, in a letter from Facebook's UK policy director Simon Milner, the company promises to continue the investigation at the request of Damian Collins, the chair of the Digital Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons. Milner asserts that the work will need a "number of weeks" to complete, due to the detailed analysis of historic data required to be completed by the current security team, which is concurrently working on live security threats. The team will try and identify other clusters of coordinated activity around the Brexit referendum, similar to the one it investigated before. Milner also requests any information the UK government has that could help Facebook narrow its search. Via: The V...

Instagram is testing a new “Type” feature within Stories for users to share text-based messages as an alternative to photos or video, as reported by The Next Web . Though this was originally spotted last December among users in Japan, it’s now appearing for select groups in Europe, as well. The feature appears as a separate option at the bottom of the screen when within Stories, alongside the other usual options like Boomerang and Live. Once Type is selected, you can write and choose different options for the background and font. The feature is not very different from what can already be done in Instagram. In order to achieve the same thing now, just snap a pic, click on the pen tool at the top, select a color, and then press and hold on... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2mQ60NW"

As part of an announcement today , Apple said it would pay $38 billion in taxes to bring money held overseas back to the United States. Apple was a major winner of recent changes to the tax code, which significantly cut corporate payments. The company has about $250 billion in cash stored overseas, but under changes to tax law, companies can bring that money back to the US with lower penalties. Apple had already stored $36.3 billion to pay the bill and move the cash. The company also said in its announcement that it would look to create 20,000 jobs over the next five years, and that would it begin construction of a new campus . “We believe deeply in the power of American ingenuity, and we are focusing our investments in areas where we can... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2mPj861"

Apple is determined to show that it's investing in the US economy despite its tax moves and foreign manufacturing . The company has announced a slew of investments it claims will pump a total of $350 billion into the US economy, highlighted by its focus on (what else) jobs. It expects to spend $30 billion in capital expenses that will create more than 20,000 new positions over the next 5 years, both at its existing buildings and a new location (to be unveiled later in 2018) that will initially focus on tech support. It's also pouring more cash into domestic manufacturing. The company is swelling the size of its Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $1 billion to $5 billion, which should both help existing American suppliers and foreign firms looking to set up shop in the US. Apple also says it will back the next generation of students. It's expanding its current efforts to support coding and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs and adding new p...

YouTube has acquired the rights to Eminem-produced Bodied , a satirical film that takes place within the Oakland hip-hop scene. It's co-written and directed by Joseph Kahn -- director of 2004's Torque as well as music videos for everyone from Taylor Swift to Eminem -- and follows a grad student who decides to jump into the rap battle scene. The student, played by Calum Worthy ( Austin & Ally , American Vandal ), is successful, which doesn't sit well with others in Oakland's underground hip-hop world. Bodied premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and won the Grolsch People's Choice Midnight Madness award. YouTube now holds global rights to the film and will preview it at the Sundance Film Festival this month. Bodied will then see a theatrical release later this year and will be accessible on YouTube Red. This is a notable move for YouTube, especially since Amazon has been raking in festival films left and right. Last year, Amazon b...

Apple plans to open a new campus in the US for its technical support staff and to hire an additional 20,000 employees over the next five years, the company said today . The new location will be announced later this year, and Apple indicates that it could expand in the future to hold employees from other divisions of the company. Beyond that, the company hasn’t offered many further details. It’s not clear how large the campus will be nor whether Apple intends to make this a flagship campus, or just another of its many office locations around the globe. Apple already has a location in Austin, Texas primarily for tech support, employing around 6,000 people; but in Apple’s language, only the Apple Park — the giant, shiny circular building... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2mOwEXM"

Google’s upcoming Clips camera still doesn’t have a release date, or even a vague release window, but the device has cleared another major hurdle toward hitting stores by passing its FCC certification , according to a report from Variety . Google has been pretty quiet about its Clips camera. The company announced Clips at its hardware event back in October alongside higher-profile items like the Pixel 2, Pixelbook, and new Google Home products. Clips is meant to be an always-on camera that uses the power of Google’s AI to automatically shoot quick videos and stills of interesting moments in your life. The FCC filing doesn’t quite mention Clips by name, but Variety notes that the filing lists the model number as “G015A,” the same one that... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2B9C1VE"

Just a day after reports of users losing WiFi connections due to Google devices with the "Cast" feature, the company has responded. According to an entry on Google's support page , the company has identified the issue and will release a fix to roll out as a Google Play service update tomorrow January 18th. Google says the culprit is a bug on Android phones that sends too much network traffic, which then slows down your WiFi network. Depending on the router, you may see slowdowns or have your WiFi go down. Devices affected include any Chromecast built-in device, like Google Home or Chromecast . While TP-link has also issued a patch for its own affected router, it's good to see Google jumping on the issue so quickly. Via: Android Police Source: Google via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2DdIPU2"

The Olympics offer a unique technical challenge for TV broadcasters and cable companies every few years. With the 2018 Winter Olympics just a few weeks away, Comcast has announced its plans to offer a pretty huge variety of coverage for its Xfinity TV subscribers. That's a result of the fact that Comcast owns the exclusive US Olympics broadcaster, NBC, which means viewers who use different cable providers aren't going to get the same level of coverage. That's unfortunate, but those that do subscribe to Xfinity and are Olympics fans have a lot to look forward to. For starters, it's worth noting that the Winter Olympics take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea; thanks to the time difference, many events will take place in prime time here in the US. NBC will broadcast its nightly Olympics prime-time coverage live, with no tape delay , so it should be a lot easier than in years past to see your favorite sports live. Xfinity's Olympics Home will show viewers everything...

Full Metal Furies is Now Available on Steam! From the creators of Rogue Legacy comes a "true-cooperative" action RPG. FULL METAL FURIES puts an emphasis on team play with a unique combat system where everyone is important. Play on the couch, alone or with friends, or make it an online party for up to four players! via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2EPWEbB"

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