Tag: golf

Newly unveiled iOS 9 focuses on more proactive Siri, better multitasking

SAN FRANCISCO—As expected, Apple used its WWDC keynote today to take the wraps off iOS 9, the newest version of its operating system for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. While iOS 7 and iOS 8 ushered in big changes, iOS 9 will instead focus on speed and stability. In other words, iOS 9 will be to iOS 8 as OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was to OS X 10.5 . That said, Apple isn’t promoting iOS 9 using Snow Leopard’s “no new features” label. The new operating system harvests some of iOS 8’s lowest-hanging fruit and continues the work of opening the platform up to developers. It also tweaks the aesthetic introduced back in iOS 7. You fancy, WatchOS-like UI. 3 more images in gallery Among the highlighted updates for iOS 9, Apple VP Craig Federighi started by detailing an improved Siri. The assistant now has an updated UI to match WatchOS, but more importantly Siri has evolved into a more proactive assistant. For examples of this functionality, Federighi mentioned Siri can automatically play music you like from the lockscreen while on a run. iOS 9 Siri can add things to the calendar alongside a “time to leave” reminder that keeps traffic data in mind. And when unknown phone numbers reach out, the newly proactive Siri will scan your e-mail to try to identify who is getting in touch. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Newly unveiled iOS 9 focuses on more proactive Siri, better multitasking

County sheriff warrantlessly used stingray 500+ times, claims to have no records

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD), the largest law enforcement agency in California’s capital region, has operated a stingray at least 500 times without a warrant in the last decade. But if you asked SCSD directly, even recently they wouldn’t give you a definite figure. As part of an ongoing investigation into stingray use nationwide, Ars filed a public records request with the SCSD  this year. And at the end of April, the SCSD responded. The department claimed that “no responsive documents exist,” essentially saying that there are no  records  detailing how many times its stingray has been used. That seemed a bit odd because in 2013,  local Sacramento television station News 10  obtained a Homeland Security grant application written by the SCSD. The proposal aimed to upgrade  the department’s stingray capabilities, and as part of its justification, the SCSD claimed to know how successful its device has been: Read 23 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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County sheriff warrantlessly used stingray 500+ times, claims to have no records

Yes, you’ll be able to do clean installs of the free Windows 10 upgrade

Windows 10 will be offered as a free upgrade to most Windows 7 and 8 users for one year after its July 29 launch. This has led, inevitably, to a number of questions about what happens to those who want or need to reinstall their operating system. Microsoft’s Gabe Aul has provided some much-needed clarification on this issue. On Twitter he confirmed that once upgraded , Windows 10 users will be able to perform clean installs of the operating system at any time, even after the one-year free period has ended. Users won’t be required to install Windows 7 or 8 and then re-upgrade, and they won’t need the Windows 7 or 8 product key , with Aul confirming that clean installs from an ISO will be possible. There’s still some uncertainty about Microsoft’s promise to provide free updates to the operating system for the “supported lifetime” of the hardware it’s installed on, especially in regard to the impact that hardware upgrades will have on this. This question has always been a little awkward for Windows licenses; a newly built machine clearly needs a new license (which won’t be free ), but an old machine upgraded piece by piece to be a new machine will probably be able to keep its free license, especially if the upgrades are staggered so that the product activation threshold is never hit. What does this mean for the “supported lifetime”? Is it extended indefinitely? Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Yes, you’ll be able to do clean installs of the free Windows 10 upgrade

Comcast issuing $5 credits after Internet outage caused by DNS failure

Comcast customers on the West Coast will be able to get $5 credits due to a multihour Internet outage that happened Monday night. Though Internet service providers might offer refunds to customers who call and complain, they aren’t generally in the habit of proactively issuing refunds after outages. But Comcast, the country’s largest cable and broadband company, has been trying to improve its reputation for awful customer service . “We are directly reaching out to those who reported problems last night to offer our apologies and a credit for lost service,” Comcast Senior VP Mark Muehl wrote in a blog post yesterday. The credit will be $5,  USA Today  reported . Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Comcast issuing $5 credits after Internet outage caused by DNS failure

Could remnants of the earliest life be preserved in volcanic glass?

You might consider volcanic activity an efficient way of destroying living tissues, but volcanic glasses are often used to study early life. Certain microbial corrosion textures in volcanic glass and in Cenozoic seafloor basalts have been interpreted as evidence of a deep biosphere, dating back to the earliest periods of life on Earth. Similarly, textures found in volcanic glass from the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa and the Pilbara Craton in Australia also suggest the presence of a deep oceanic biosphere on Earth as early as 3.35 billion years ago. But a group of researchers had challenged the idea that these traces resulted from biological activity. Now, in a strong response, another group has defended the interpretation. We seem to have a genuine scientific controversy on our hands. Is this life? Volcanic glass from Cenozoic seafloor volcanics sometimes contain what are called “biotextures.” These typically take on two major forms, either microscopic spherical cavities or tubules that extend into the volcanic glass. Biogenicity, substances produced by life processes, is the most widely accepted explanation for these features. These textures can provide us with valuable information about the types of microorganisms that existed long ago, and shed light on biological processes and how those processes may have evolved over time. Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Could remnants of the earliest life be preserved in volcanic glass?

Bethesda counting down to an apparent Fallout announcement

We’re usually a bit reluctant to write about news that amounts to an announcement that an actual news announcement is coming soon. But when the announcement in question regards the much-loved  Fallout series, we’ll make a rare exception. So here we are, announcing that Bethesda has set up a countdown clock at fallout.bethesda.com letting us all watch the seconds tick by until… well, we’re not sure exactly. The only hints that we’re even expecting a Fallout announcement at all are that URL and the background “Indian head” test pattern familiar to anyone who has seen a recent Fallout loading screen. We’ll all find out what it means together when the countdown runs out at 10am EDT Wednesday morning, I guess. Bethesda recently announced that it would be hosting its first-ever pre-E3 press conference on June 14 , so it makes some sense that it would have big news to share for one of its biggest franchises. An teaser announcement of a new Fallout tomorrow could help soften the ground for a fuller reveal at that press conference. That would be similar to the extremely short Doom 4 teaser that came out last month, ahead of a promised longer trailer at the press conference. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Bethesda counting down to an apparent Fallout announcement

Nvidia announces G-Sync for laptops, reveals low-level tech details

The big news from Nvidia might be the release of the GTX 980 Ti , but the company has also announced some updates for G-Sync. The variable refresh rate technology, which synchronizes the refresh rate of a compatible monitor to the frame rate of a game, is finally making the jump from desktop to laptop. Upcoming laptops from Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, and Clevo are all set to support the technology, and will feature 75Hz panels from 1080p all the way up to UHD (4K). Desktop users aren’t being forgotten either: There are some new monitors—including a lust-worthy 34-inch 21:9 75Hz IPS Acer X34 panel—featuring an updated G-Sync module that finally contains more than just a single DisplayPort input. Interestingly, G-Sync for laptops makes use of the embedded DisplayPort (eDP) standard, a standardised interface for hooking up display panels directly to internal graphics cards. On the desktop, G-Sync can only be used with compatible monitors that contain Nvidia’s G-Sync module. Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Nvidia announces G-Sync for laptops, reveals low-level tech details

US airport screeners missed 95% of weapons, explosives in undercover tests

Transportation Security Administration screeners allowed banned weapons and mock explosives through airport security checkpoints 95 percent of the time, according to the agency’s own undercover testing. ABC News reported the results on Monday, but Ars could not independently confirm them. According to ABC News, a Homeland Security Inspector General report showed that agents failed to detect weapons and explosives in 67 out of 70 undercover operations . The report said: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was apparently so frustrated by the findings he sought a detailed briefing on them last week at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to sources. US officials insisted changes have already been made at airports to address vulnerabilities identified by the latest tests. It’s been a bad past two days when it comes to the government’s anti-terror strategy. The ABC News revelation came a day after a Senate impasse Sunday allowed parts of three terrorism-fighting aspects of the USA Patriot Act to expire, including the bulk telephone metadata program that Edward Snowden disclosed. Lawmakers are trying to broker a deal to the legislation that is needed, according to Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) because terrorists “want to kill us all.” Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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US airport screeners missed 95% of weapons, explosives in undercover tests

Apple reportedly plans paid streaming music service announcement at WWDC

Add “subscription-based streaming music service” to the list of things we’re expecting to hear Apple announce at next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The Wall Street Journal, citing those “familiar with the plan,” said that Apple will price the service at $10 per month and position itself in direct competition for customers’ ears with Spotify’s and Pandora’s paid options. Apple already offers its own free ad-supported streaming service, iTunes Radio, which it announced at WWDC in 2013 . However, the WSJ explains that the new paid streaming service will include human-curated and even human-hosted channels (reportedly including the likes of hip-hop musicians Q-Tip, Drake, and Dr. Dre). The paid streaming offering is not expected to include all of the songs and artists in the iTunes Store, since Apple’s existing deals with labels for selling music typically don’t include the rights to stream that music. The WSJ ’s sources indicate Apple is “rushing” to have the service ready and to get streaming deals signed in time for launch. The obvious goal for Apple would be to transform occasional purchasers from the iTunes store into sources of ongoing monthly revenue. To that end, the WSJ sources say Apple may prompt iTunes customers who spend $10 purchasing an album to give the new streaming service a try for the same cost. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Apple reportedly plans paid streaming music service announcement at WWDC

Verizon FiOS reps know what TV channels you watch

If you call Verizon FiOS and try to cancel or downgrade your TV package, you might find that the FiOS rep knows almost as much about your TV viewing habits as you do. Verizon’s Rep Guidance software tells Verizon representatives what channels you watch to help them make a more effective sales pitch. The system, which also shows them how much Internet data you use and which pieces of TV equipment you use most, was detailed by a Verizon executive in a public presentation hosted by Data Driven NYC. A Quartz reporter  wrote about the presentation yesterday . Verizon “is now closely tracking exactly what you watch, what devices you use, and how much data you consume,” Quartz wrote. “It knows whether your household spars over DVR conflicts and how many hours your kids spend binge-watching shows on HBO. What’s more, the company is listening in on phone calls to customer service in real-time, with supervisors poised to jump at the moment they sense a fight brewing or hear trigger words from an unhappy customer, such as ‘switching to Time Warner Cable.'” Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Verizon FiOS reps know what TV channels you watch