Geek News

That scrapped proposal for a goverment-run 5G network is triggering a political fallout. A senor official has confirmed to the Washington Post that the author of the memo pushing for the 5G network, Brigadier General Robert Spalding, has left his position as the National Security Council's senior director for strategic planning and returned to the Air Force. He wasn't fired, the insider claimed, and this wasn't prompted by the leak -- rather, the Council decided against renewing his position in part because his push for government 5G had "gone beyond his role." Brig. Gen. Spalding's last day in the White House was January 31st, or 3 days after the memo surfaced at Axios . He wasn't officially punished, according to the tipster, so he's free to take whatever job he's qualified to handle. The general isn't known to be responsible for the leak, but that apparently didn't matter. Reportedly, officials had already been worried that he wa...

A week after the fitness app Strava came under fire for exposing sensitive military locations through heat maps, some Strava users are complaining that one of the app’s popular features has been temporarily disabled. The app’s Segments feature, a popular tool that lets outdoor fitness enthusiasts create public segments of their workouts that others can search for and compete against, appears to be working intermittently. According to some users on Reddit , trying to create a new workout segment in the app leads them back to Strava’s main dashboard, rather than allowing them to create the segment. One user said they submitted a ticket to Strava’s customer support, and was told that the company was reviewing certain features to “ensure... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2GPfMs6"

Grandiose space images from NASA's Hubble telescope might be the last thing you'd expect see in an early 20th century French opera. However, Marco Brambilla, the artist behind epic video art installations and Kanye West's "moving painting" music video for Power , has done just that. He created the video backdrop for a new production of Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande , currently running at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp, Belgium. Pelléas et Mélisande , based on the "libretto" play by Maurice Maeterlinck, is Debussy's only opera and regarded as one of the greatest ever. The story depicts Prince Golaud, who discovers the mysterious Melisandé lost in forest, setting up a love triangle with Golaud's half-brother. The set design by Marina Abramović features a giant, crystal-covered convex mirror that merges into the floor and act like an eye with Brambilla's video backdrop as the "iris" at the center. Brambilla u...

Huawei’s new flagship phone, the Mate 10 Pro, is available for preorder starting today in the US, but its launch is already off to a rough start. The Chinese company took a hit in January when AT&T and Verizon pulled out of deals to carry the Mate 10 Pro in their stores, reportedly due to US government pressure . Major retailers and a crowd-shopping site are offering discounts on the flagship already. The Mate 10 Pro has a 6-inch display with a 2160 x 1080 OLED screen and an 18:9 aspect ratio, thin bezels, 4GB of RAM, and options for 64GB or 128GB SSD. The device is powered by a Kirin 970 CPU that was developed in-house, comes with a 4,000mAh battery. The phone also has dual rear-facing cameras: a 20-megapixel color sensor, and a... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2GPHWDn"

Space Astronaut poop could help create a weird yet nutritious bacterial Vegemite. Don’t panic. No one is suggesting that astronauts on long-term space missions should actually snack on their own bodily waste. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2nFyLxz"

The name Ryan Murphy may not ring a bell, but you've undoubtedly heard of the big-name TV shows he created. From Glee to American Horror Story , Nip/Tuck and others, Murphy has a solid track record when it comes to television. Deadline reports Netflix has snapped up the rights to the director/producer/writer's upcoming comedy series created alongside Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. Titled The Politican, the show will be the second from Murphy on Netflix with Ratched (focusing on Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ) already in the works . According to Deadline , the series landed on Netflix after a bidding war with rival streaming services Hulu and Amazon. While details are still scarce at this early phase, the hour-long comedy will star Tony winner Ben Platt. Deadline says Barbra Streisand and Gwyneth Paltrow are in talks to join the cast, but those deals haven't been finalized yet. The outlet also notes that Netflix has already ordered two seas...

Last week, Apple mysteriously removed secure messaging app Telegram and its more efficient counterpart, Telegram X, from the App Store for “inappropriate content,” a move that many users found curious as it came without any concrete explanation. Now, thanks to confirmation of the authenticity of an email exchange between a Telegram user and Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller courtesy of 9to5Mac , we know the “inappropriate content” was in fact child pornography being distributed via Telegram’s mobile apps. “The Telegram apps were taken down off the App Store because the App Store team was alerted to illegal content, specifically child pornography, in the apps,” Schiller wrote to the user. “After verifying the existence of the illegal... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2GS6Ou2"

We use lasers for a lot of things , from cutting metal to improving eyesight, but lasers have their limitations. One major holdup is that they can only emit certain types of light. Researchers have gotten around this particular limitation by using what are known as optical parametric oscillators, which allow regular laser light to be converted into other wavelengths of light that may be useful for certain areas of research. One example is studying how molecules behave. However, these gadgets have their limitations too. They typically have weak outputs and they require extreme stability and precision, making them hard to use outside of highly controlled lab environments. But researchers at Stanford may have found a way around this issue and their work could make these systems more efficient and easier to use. Here's how these oscillators work. Laser light is filtered through a crystal, which converts that light into those other wavelengths that researchers need. That light is th...

Mike Schultz was a professional snowmobile racer, and a damn good one at that. But in 2008, his life's course took a turn after a competition accident shattered his left knee and left him clinging to life. When his injuries began causing his kidneys to shut down, doctors decided to amputate the leg just above the knee. "I spent a total of 13 days in the hospital and was able to get back home on Christmas Eve to a whole new world of challenges," he told Engadget. "Later that spring, after learning how to walk on my everyday prosthetic leg, I realized pretty quickly that I needed a plan B to get back into sports and the fun activities that I wanted to do." That plan B turned out to be designing his own prosthetic leg -- one purpose-built to handle the rigors of extreme sports -- and starting a fabrication company, Biodapt, to produce it. Thus, the Moto Knee was created. Unlike the mechanical prosthetic that he relearned to walk on -- or even the powered, compu...

Today's Deal: Save 50% on Squad !* 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 Wednesday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2FMC6S5"

Lyft Line was built from the start to make daily ridesharing more affordable, but it really comes into its own if you can use a commuter benefits card. It lets you use pre-tax dollars to pay for a ride, cutting up to 35 percent of the price. It's a good thing, then, that you no longer have to worry about where those cards are available -- Lyft has expanded the use of commuter benefits to all 18 US cities where Line operates. Provided your employer offers the cards in the first place, you now have a low-cost way to commute to work without taking a bus or train. Your company will have to offer benefits from a handful of providers (Ameriflex, Benefit Resource, Benefit Solutions, Navia, WageWorks or Zenefits) for this to work. You're not guaranteed to get a discount just by living in a Lyft Line area. However, Lyft clearly hopes companies will embrace the idea -- it helps staff get to work quickly without pressuring them into buying a car. Yes, it's ultimately meant to boo...

You told us, and we listened — we’re taking Circuit Breaker Live, everyone’s favorite live gadget show, and bringing it to YouTube. It’ll be live on Tuesdays at 4PM ET, starting tomorrow. This week we’ll be playing with the DJI Mavic Air, the Polaroid POP camera, and... something else. I can’t tell you yet, but it’ll be cool. I promise. Click right here to open the show page on YouTube and hit that reminder button, so you won’t miss it. What is Circuit Breaker Live, you ask? It’s The Verge ’s live gadget show, where Ashley Carman, Paul Miller, Jake Kastrenakes, Chaim Gartenberg, and others from around The Verge put as many gadgets as we can on-screen. Mostly a lot of things break, but sometimes we are very pleasantly surprised. Other... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2BXJirY"

Google’s Pixel Visual Core, the hidden image-processing chip inside the Pixel 2 family of phones, is getting an update today that lets it work its machine learning magic in third-party apps. Already enabled via Android 8.1 for the Pixel 2’s main camera app, the Visual Core is now going to be operational within any other camera app that employs the relevant Google APIs. That means your Instagram photography and Snapchat Stories will get the benefit of the same improvements in processing speed and efficiency. I have been using a Google Pixel 2 XL since before the Android 8.1 update that initially flipped the Visual Core to being active, and I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge difference in the speed or operation of the camera. It was sterling... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nKPHSp"

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL include Pixel Visual Core , Google's first custom imaging chip that allows for HDR+ quality pictures in third-party apps like Instagram and Snapchat. But Pixel 2 users haven't been able to take advantage of those capabilities because the co-processor hasn't been enabled. Well, they'll be able to soon because Google announced today that it's turning on Pixel Visual Core, bringing the HDR+ technology that's been available through the Pixel 2's main camera app to other photography, social media or camera apps. Pixel Visual Core uses computational photography and machine learning to boost image quality in third-party apps that allow users to take photos. Now that it's enabled, Pixel 2 users can just take a pic in another app, and Pixel Visual Core will automatically make it brighter, more detailed and clearer. You can check out a before and after above. Google says the update that will switch on Pixel Visual Core is rolling ou...

Sony has yet another wireless PlayStation headset coming soon. Last year it was the misnomered $150 Platinum Wireless Headset , and this time it's a new Gold Wireless Headset . The refreshed cans take the basic form factor of the company's stereo headset and shoehorn virtual 7.1 surround sound into it, in addition to wireless capabilities and compatibility with PlayStation VR . There are also new ear-cups and a redesigned headband in addition to a pair of hidden noise-cancelling microphones. While it's compatible with PSVR via an included 3.5mm audio cable, unlike the $60 Turtle Beach Stealth 350VR headset , this doesn't feature an internal amp. Meaning, when you're using this pair of Sony cans with the company's VR helmet, sound is going to be much quieter because of the passive connection. It's really unfortunate that Sony releases a headset every year, alternating names, without adding much to them and without addressing bigger problems. The high pri...