Geek News

Science When men were men and sodas were cocaine-laced nerve tonics. From sodas like Coca Cola to cleaning products like Lysol, many of our favorite household objects owe their start to strange medical ideas. The most popular example is… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2E4IliH"

Remote-controlled cars can seem pretty boring now that we have personal, semi-autonomous drones. But RC vehicles that are stuck on the ground are a lot more interesting when they can tow up to 9,000 pounds behind them — and that’s what Trailer Valet’s RVR robot is capable of doing. The RVR, which recently started shipping, is a surprisingly compact remote-control vehicle that can attach to a trailer so that you can move, turn, and park it without hooking it up to a truck or something comparable in size. The RVR moves using a pair of treads, and Trailer Valet says it’s capable of moving over dirt and grass as well as paved roads. Now, look, is a trailer-moving robot the most exciting robot in the world? Definitely not. But I had no idea... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2uulY6S"

Following a report yesterday about his feelings toward Amazon, President Trump fired a tweet this morning aimed at the online retail giant. “I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election,” he wrote. “Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!” I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business! — Donald J. Trump... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2Gi5iVA"

Pinterest is introducing a big, but decidedly familiar new feature today: a feed, which will show recent pins from the people and boards you’re following. And mercifully, the feed will largely be shown in chronological order. The current Pinterest experience already revolves around a feed of pins, but it doesn’t take into account who you follow all that much. Over time, Pinterest says it found that the pins it algorithmically placed in the feed saw much higher engagement than pins from people that users chose to follow, so its main feed has grown to become almost entirely algorithmic, based around interests that users have selected and the things they’ve been pinning. That feed isn’t going to change. But Pinterest says it’s heard from... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2J6FERC"

Microsoft is announcing another big reorganization today, pushing the company’s Windows operating system in a different direction. Windows chief Terry Myerson, a 21-year Microsoft veteran, is departing the company as Microsoft seeks to unify its artificial intelligence and core Windows OS components into a single team. That new team will be headed by Scott Guthrie, who’s currently in charge of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. Microsoft’s AI work, headed up by Harry Shum, will also move into this single team. Microsoft is creating a separate division dubbed “Experiences & Devices” that will look after Windows client releases that you see on laptops and devices, first-party apps, Office 365, and Surface hardware. Rajesh Jha, previously an... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2IcmZlW"

Yesterday, Google launched a developer preview for Wear OS ( formerly Android Wear ) a few weeks after releasing the first Android P preview for smartphones . Just like that initial build, this software for the company’s wearables platform remains extremely unfinished, and Google flat out says it “is not for daily or consumer use” at this early stage. For now, it’s available exclusively for the Huawei Watch 2 Bluetooth and Huawei Watch 2 Classic Bluetooth, and the preview build must be flashed onto the device manually — another indicator that it’s meant strictly for developers and not your average tech enthusiast. The biggest changes in this first release are meant to preserve battery life. “To improve power, apps will no longer be allowed... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2ur65Ok"

7.12: ==== * Enabled Pangolier in Captain's Mode * Neutral Creep Stack bounty increased from 15% to 20% * Clarity: Mana Regeneration reduced from 3.2 to 3.0 * Heart of Tarrasque: Strength increased from 40 to 45 * Moon Shard: Attack Speed increased from 120 to 130 * Nullifier: Projectile speed decreased from 1200 to 900 * Refresher Orb: Mana regeneration increased from 3 to 5 * Satanic: Duration increased from 4.5 to 5 seconds * Silver Edge: Break duration decreased from 5 to 4 seconds * Silver Edge: Cooldown reduced from 24 to 22 * Skull Basher: Bash duration increased from 1.4 to 1.5 * Abyssal Blade: Bash duration increased from 1.4 to 1.5 * Spirit Vessel: Enemy current health based damage changed from 3% Direct HP modification to 4.5% Magical Damage * Anti-Mage: Mana Void damage increased from 0.6/0.85/1.1 to 0.8/0.95/1.1 * Arc Warden: Flux cooldown reduced from 18 to 16 * Arc Warden: Magnetic Field AoE increased from 275 to 300 * Axe: Battle Hu...

As long as I’ve been covering wearable tech, the category has always been on the cusp of something. But it’s also been hampered by a series of ifs that still make wearables impractical for a lot of people: i f battery life was better; if it was smarter; if it was more accurate; if it looked nicer; if it offered enough value to wear it on my wrist / body / face all the time. However, the upside of anything that feels not fully realized is that there’s always room for improvement, which means the companies that make wearable tech keep on trying. Like Fitbit: it starting selling wireless health trackers in 2009 (in the early days, they were basically techie pedometers), and more recently, it jumped on the smartwatch bandwagon. First, there... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2GVeyMi"

Amazon is in early discussions with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. to create something akin to checking accounts that will be aimed at teenagers, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg . While Amazon has been able to successfully market to millennials and older groups, those who are 18–24 have been elusive because they lack debit cards, tend to not have bank accounts, and choose to purchase items at physical stores, according to Bloomberg . Last year, the company introduced Amazon Cash , a way for customers without credit, debit, or bank cards shop online. A barcode is generated on the Amazon website, which can then be displayed on a mobile device or printed out, and brought to a retailer like CVS... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2GWwkz6"

A couple months ago, we got a chance to try out Aveine’s Smart Wine Aerator — a strange nozzle you can put on top of a wine bottle that exposes the wine to different amounts of air as you pour, depending on how much you want to open up the flavor. We got to test it on some extremely cheap and bad wine that was being handed out for free at a trade show, and the Aerator, to my surprise, actually worked. It turned an undrinkable wine into one that was, at least, drinkable. Now, Aveine has launched a campaign to crowdfund production of its Aerator on Indiegogo. The campaign launched yesterday and has already surpassed its $30,000 goal. Depending on how early you back, you’ll be able to get an Aerator for somewhere under $200; when the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2GTsV3V"

Apple announced it would be giving music videos their own section in Apple Music as part of the iOS 11.3 update, but today, it did so even before publicly releasing the new version of iOS. Music videos can be found under the main “browse” tab of the Music app. Apple Music has given subscribers access to music videos ever since the subscription service launched. The new section is meant to make give those videos more prominence, highlight new additions / exclusives, and serve up curated video playlists such as “Today’s Video Hits” and “The A-List: Pop Videos.” Apple says its ad-free, curated approach makes Apple Music the “best music video-watching experience available anywhere.” Is it enough to pull people off away from YouTube / Vevo... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2E4WhJt"

DIY Extend your t-shirt’s lifespan. If you’re tired of your shirts fading and workout clothes stretching into flimsy wrecks, here's how to tweak your laundry habits to give them longer lives. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2pOfpqS"

GoPro CEO Nick Woodman has promised for a few months now that a new entry-level camera was coming, and today, the company delivered. A new camera has been added to the GoPro lineup that’s simply called the Hero. It looks just like the Hero 5 and Hero 6, costs $199, and is available starting today. The main differences between the Hero and its more expensive counterparts are mostly on the performance side. It’s capped to a max resolution and frame rate of 1440p at 60 frames per second, so it can’t shoot 4K or super-slow-motion footage. It takes 10-megapixel photos, down from 12 megapixels, and it only has one burst shooting option (10 frames per second) and one-time lapse setting (0.5 seconds per shot). Unlike the Hero 6 Black, which has... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2J36ny8"

This week in Paris, I witnessed a subtle but profound moment of change in the mobile industry. It came when Huawei announced its next flagship phone, the P20 Pro , will cost €899 (more than $1,100), and no one in the audience blinked, winced, or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction. The company whose name was previously one half of a rhyming couplet with the words “who are they?” just came out with a super expensive device to rival the iPhone X and Galaxy S9, and everyone was perfectly fine with that. Not many phone makers are able to rise up into the premium market after starting out in the budget segment, but Huawei is doing it at speed and to great effect. At roughly the same time as Huawei’s triumphant launch on European soil, US... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2uwLZT2"

If you’re a big fan of the giant pink ball of cuteness that is Kirby, look no further than this Kirby-themed version of the Japanese Otamatone, a musical toy instrument, to add to your collection. The Kirby version is pink (of course), and it features Kirby’s eyes and a pair of blush marks. The humble Otamatone is a cute (or aggressively annoying... to each their own) instrument that makes digital synthesizer-like noises when you tap or slide your finger along the neck. The toy is essentially a long stick with a round globe attached at the bottom that features two dots to resemble a face. Sound comes out from the instrument’s slit, and you can squeeze the globe to change the pitch. The slit is designed to look like a mouth. There are... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2GnyVkp"

Science Let's nerd out about the physics of hitting a baseball as hard as you possibly can. If ever there were a sport to completely nerd out about, it’s baseball. Geeks across America have been crunching data for years on what makes certain players or teams so… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2IajNHx"