Day: January 6, 2017

“Neon” screenshots leak, showing off a refreshed Windows 10 look and feel

Enlarge / Neon introduces the use of transparency, such as on the left panel of Groove Music. (credit: MSPoweruser ) After reports last year that Microsoft was going to revise and update the design language used for Windows applications, some screenshots have leaked  to MSPoweruser giving an indication of how the appearance is going to change. Windows 10 presently uses a design language known as MDL2 (Microsoft Design Language 2), which is an evolved version of the Metro design first introduced with Windows Phone 7. Both Metro and MDL2 put an emphasis on clean lines, simple geometric shapes, attractive typography, photographic imagery, and minimal use of ornamentation. Both heavily borrow from responsive Web design concepts. Google’s Material design language builds on similar themes, adding transitions and animations to better show how pieces of information are related. The new Microsoft look is named Neon. It continues the evolution of Metro—it retains the emphasis on clean text and a generally flat appearance but adds certain elements of translucency (which the company is calling “acrylic”) and greater use of animation and movement. Additional new elements are “Conscious UI,” wherein an acrylic element might change depending on what’s behind the current app, and “Connected Animations.” The current preview of the Groove Music app, available to users of Windows Insider builds, already includes Connected Animations. Headers and pictures shrink as you scroll down the list of songs. As with Metro before it, much of this is already familiar and commonplace in Web design. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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“Neon” screenshots leak, showing off a refreshed Windows 10 look and feel

Watch Korea’s Real Gundam Take Its First Steps With A Human Pilot

It’s a little hard to believe at first sight, but Korea’s Hankook Mirae Technology company has released video of their human piloted mech walking. It’s called the Method-2, and the 13 foot 1.3 ton machine looks like something CG plucked out of a movie. Though untrue, this isn’t terribly wrong, since its lead designer, Vitaly Bulgarov, has a professional background in SFX. The Method-2 is being conceived of as an option for emergency response in dangerous conditions, but it’ll need a better power pack before it gets unleashed. In the meantime, it’s already handling well upright, both in forward and backward modes, and its arms function well too. Here’s the first video of the mega mech walking, posted to Facebook by Bulgarov. IS THIS THE REAL LIFE In this video Bulgarov himself enters and pilots the arms:  IS THIS JUST FANTASYYY At this point, it sounds like the team’s short term plan is to modify a legless version for faster response time in industrial settings. That sounds wise, but now that I’ve seen this awesome walker in action, I’ll be sitting on my (puny flesh) hands until we see more of it.

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Watch Korea’s Real Gundam Take Its First Steps With A Human Pilot

FBI says DNC wouldn’t give it direct access to hacked servers

The FBI has spent months trying to persuade people that Russia was behind the DNC hack , but we’re now learning that it didn’t get much help from the DNC itself. The bureau tells Buzzfeed News that the Democrats’ organization reportedly “rebuffed” multiple requests for physical access to the hacked servers, forcing investigators to depend on the findings of the third-party security firm CrowdStrike (which the DNC contacted after the hack). The FBI would have tackled the breach earlier if the DNC hadn’t “inhibited” the investigation, according to its statement. The claims directly contradict earlier claims from the DNC, which maintained that the FBI had never asked for access. The DNC says it handed over CrowdStrike info “without any limits, ” but that’s not very reassuring when the Committee wouldn’t let FBI agents skip the middleman. It doesn’t look good even if there were innocuous reasons. Does the FBI need direct access to the servers to scrutinize the information? Not necessarily. As The Verge observes after consulting with security firms, this arrangement is still business as usual for interactions with law enforcement: private firms conduct the initial study and clear the security threat, while official investigators focus on the actions they should take as a result. And so long as CrowdStrike can supply the raw server data, the FBI doesn’t need in-person access to double-check conclusions. Moreover, the FBI was already suspicious of Russian involvement well before CrowdStrike got involved, and had access to information that a private company wouldn’t see. This isn’t to let the FBI off the hook. It still has to trust that CrowdStrike is both accurate and divulging everything it can. Also, the bureau’s most recent report on the hack include mistakes (such as listing “malicious” internet addresses that include Tor exit nodes, which doesn’t really say anything). And while multiple intelligence agencies are pointing the finger at Russia , there’s no publicly available smoking gun that will sway you if you’re skeptical. One thing’s for sure: the he-said-she-said between the FBI and DNC will have to be addressed if both sides are going to remove doubt that Russia was to blame. LATEST: FBI says they asked DNC for servers, and DNC refused, “inhibited” the investigation. pic.twitter.com/AfkAPlJsYZ — Ali Watkins (@AliWatkins) January 5, 2017 Source: BuzzFeed News , The Verge , Ali Watkins (Twitter)

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FBI says DNC wouldn’t give it direct access to hacked servers

LG’s 14-inch ‘Gram’ laptop is the world’s lightest

LG’s big computing reveal for CES was a refreshed 14-inch “Gram” laptop . It’s said to be the lightest in its class, weighing in at only 2.13 pounds (that’s a sub-kilogram weigh-in). That, combined with the promise of between 21 and 24 hours of battery life sounds like an incredible combination. Unfortunately, it may be too good to be true. CNET notes that LG was using battery rundown tests from 2007, which assumed no WiFi use and was just generally less taxing than the sort of tests reviewers are likely to use today. That’s almost definitely how LG got such great runtime. That said, the laptop still packs a 60Wh battery that’s almost double the capacity of the company’s older 14-inch Gram laptop. (That’s also bigger than the 13-inch MacBook Pro’s battery.) LG says it saw 17 hours on a charge during more realistic (read: modern) rundown tests, which is still pretty damn impressive. Aside from that probably-overrated battery life, the Gram is a stylish ultraportable, albeit one made mostly of plastic. It’s not… terrible, but my preferences skew toward metal builds. They feel more reassuringly solid. Yes, the Gram is light, but that comes with some flimsiness. That said, despite some other super thin and light laptops, the laptop’s 14-inch IPS screen does still support touch. Under the hood, you get either an Intel Core i7 or i5 processor. There are also both USB 3.0 and USB-C ports, as well as HDMI-out if you’re looking to connect to projectors or bigger screens. Despite all those battery life statistics, LG isn’t offering a launch date or price, but judging by the cost of both the last-gen 14-inch Gram and the 15-inch version when they landed in the US, you could expect to pay over $1, 000 depending on the configuration. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

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LG’s 14-inch ‘Gram’ laptop is the world’s lightest

The Game Boy’s Being Brought Back From the Dead With Some Awesome Upgrades

Though there were several iterations and updates to Nintendo’s insanely popular handheld gaming system, the Game Boy was officially retired just over a decade ago. And while Nintendo has no plans to revive the portable console, a company called Retro-Bit is stepping up to bring the Game Boy back from the dead. Read more…

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The Game Boy’s Being Brought Back From the Dead With Some Awesome Upgrades

Mixing Liquids Under a Microscope Creates Wildly Colorful Worlds

Wenting Zhu mixed together paint, alcohol, water, soda, and ink remover in weird combinations, stuck them under a microscope, and ended up with awesomely mesmerizing effects. Sometimes it’s beautiful and feels like you’re watching a kaleidoscope take focus, or seeing a star burst in a distant galaxy. Other times it… Read more…

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Mixing Liquids Under a Microscope Creates Wildly Colorful Worlds