Category: reader

‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

An anonymous reader writes: A new not-for-profit app, Be My Eyes, aims to help the visually-impaired by connecting them with volunteer users who can support them in their daily lives via live video calls. Once downloaded, Be My Eyes asks the user to identify as blind or sighted, to see if you require help or are offering it. When a blind person requests assistance the app scans the system for an available volunteer. The blind user connects with the volunteer over a video call and points to the item they would like described. Be My Eyes was created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a visually-impaired entrepreneur, at a startup event. Wiberg teamed up with Robocat, the Danish software studio behind Haze and Thermo, to make his vision a reality. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

AT&T took a $10 billion hit, but it’s hoping you won’t notice

In an extra-special Friday-night-before-a-holiday-weekend news dump, AT&T just announced that its Q4 results will include about $10 billion in charges. That includes a $7.9 billion “related to actuarial gains and losses on pension and postemployment benefit plans”, plus a $2.1 billion charge for abandoning some copper lines it says it doesn’t need anymore. Of course, you’re probably already well into whatever your weekend plans are, so you’ll barely even notice this happened once you get back to work on Tuesday — which is just how AT&T hoped it would go. [Image credit: shutterstock] Filed under: HD , Mobile , AT&T Comments Via: Reuters Source: AT&T

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AT&T took a $10 billion hit, but it’s hoping you won’t notice

There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage  

There’s gold in them thar sewers —and silver and platinum and copper, too. A study by Arizona State University (ASU) researchers estimates there is $13 million worth of precious elements in the sewage produced by a million-person city every year. Never think of sewage as stinky worthless waste again. Read more…

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There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage  

Every X-Men member ever in one video timeline

Check out this detailed video timeline showing every single X-Men member that ever joined the team from September 1963, when Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “The King” Kirby debuted X-Men #1 with Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Grey, led by Professor X. Read more…

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Every X-Men member ever in one video timeline

19,000 French Websites Hit By DDoS, Defaced In Wake of Terror Attacks

An anonymous reader writes Since the three day terror attack that started in France on January 7 with the attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, 19, 000 websites of French-based companies have been targeted by cyber attackers. This unprecedented avalanche of cyber attacks targeted both government sites and that of big and small businesses. Most were low-level DDoS attacks, and some were web defacements. Several websites in a number of towns in the outskirts of Paris have been hacked and covered with an image of an ISIS flag. The front pages of the official municipality websites have been covered with the Jihadist militant group’s black flag. In a report, Radware researchers noted that Islamic hacker group AnonGhost has also launched a “digital jihad” against France. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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19,000 French Websites Hit By DDoS, Defaced In Wake of Terror Attacks

Impressive photo of the F-35 Lightning II with all its weaponry lined up

Lockheed Martin sent us this impressive shot by Matt Short of the F-35 Lightning II showing all the weaponry it can carry. Of course, it can’t carry everything you see at the same time. This is the stuff that has been certified so far. Read more…

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Impressive photo of the F-35 Lightning II with all its weaponry lined up

Engineer Combines Xbox One, PS4 Into Epic ‘PlayBox’ Laptop

MojoKid writes We can finally stop arguing over which is the superior game console, the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Quite frankly, it’s a pointless debate, and it took a self-taught engineer to put the argument to rest, which he did by combining both game systems into a 22-inch laptop. Meet the “PlayBox, ” a gaming laptop that’s equal parts Xbox One and PS4 rolled into one. The PlayBox wins the argument because it allows you to play games on either system, and when it comes down to it, the ability to play games is all that matters. Built for a “specific customer, ” the owner of this prototype system needn’t worry about exclusives since he now has a system that can play them all, and do it while taking up no more space than a single console. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Engineer Combines Xbox One, PS4 Into Epic ‘PlayBox’ Laptop

Google drops more Windows 0-days. Something’s gotta give

Google’s security researchers have published another pair of Windows security flaws that Microsoft hasn’t got a fix for, continuing the disagreement between the companies about when and how to disclose security bugs. The first bug affects Windows 7 only and results in minor information disclosure. Microsoft says, and Google agrees, that this does not meet the threshold for a fix. Windows 8 and up don’t suffer the same issue. The second bug is more significant. In certain situations, Windows doesn’t properly check the user identity when performing cryptographic operations, which results in certain shared data not being properly encrypted. Microsoft has developed a fix for this bug, and it was originally scheduled for release this past Tuesday. However, the company discovered a compatibility issue late in testing, and so the fix has been pushed to February. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Google drops more Windows 0-days. Something’s gotta give

Hatred gets Adults Only rating, making console, Steam release unlikely

Third person spree-killing simulator Hatred has been given an Adults only (AO) rating from ESRB, the video game ratings board in the US and Canada. The rating was disclosed by one of the game’s developers on its official forum , which expressed surprise that the title did not get the more lenient Mature (M) rating, writing “Well, I’m not quite convinced why Hatred got AO rating while it lacks any sexual content, but it’s still some kind of achievement to have the second game in history getting AO rating for violence and harsh language only.” Hatred is in fact the third game to receive an AO rating for violence alone, with both Thrill Kill and Manhunt 2 also receiving that evaluation. Thrill Kill , however, had its release cancelled after Electronic Arts bought its publisher and objected to its content. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Hatred gets Adults Only rating, making console, Steam release unlikely

Damn, Another Arm-Sized Bolt Fell Off London’s Cheesegrater Tower 

The Cheesegrater is a beautiful glass wedge of a building that rises over 700 feet into the London skyline. It unfortunately has some safety problems. This week, its owners revealed that a third bolt of high-strength steel snapped because of “hydrogen embrittlement”—an obscure term, but one that ” causes fear among engineers .” Read more…

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Damn, Another Arm-Sized Bolt Fell Off London’s Cheesegrater Tower