Microsoft is making a big splash with its latest gear, the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book. These pricey products are designed to compete directly with Apple’s traditional hegemony on premium gadgets. But just how well do these latest offerings measure up against Apple? Read more…
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Microsoft Surface Book vs. MacBook Pro: A Head-to-Head Comparison
It was exciting when Mark Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook was building a “Dislike” button . So many things not to like! However, the social network just started testing a new emoji reactions feature that is probably the real future of disliking stuff on Facebook. Read more…
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Facebook Is Testing Six New Reaction Emoji Instead of a Single "Dislike" Button
The Federal Aviation Authority comes down on hard on illegal drone flights — and now it’s issued its biggest ever fine for the offence, demanding $1.9 million from the aerial photography company SkyPan International. Read more…
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The FAA Issued a $1.9 Million Fine to a Company for Illegal Drone Flights
HughPickens.com writes: Many news organizations, facing competition from digital outlets, have sharply reduced the size of their newsrooms and their investment in news gathering but less than four-and-a-half years after launching its pay model the NY Times has increased coverage as it announced that the Times has passed one million digital-only subscribers, giving them far more than any other news organization in the world. The Times still employs as many reporters as it did 15 years ago — and its ranks now include graphics editors, developers, video journalists and other digital innovators. “It’s a tribute to the hard work and innovation of our marketing, product and technology teams and the continued excellence of our journalism, ” says CEO Mark Thompson. According to Ken Doctor the takeaway from the Times success is that readers reward elite global journalism. The Wall Street Journal is close behind the Times, at 900, 000, while the FT’s digital subscription number stands at 520, 000. “These solid numbers form bedrock for the future. For news companies, being national now means being global, and being global means enjoying unprecedented reach, ” says Doctor. “These audiences of a half-million and more portend more reader revenue to come.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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NY Times Passes 1M Digital Subscribers
(credit: Ron Amadeo) After a lengthy developer preview , the newest version of Google’s flagship operating system is finally ready for the masses. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the 23rd version of Google’s “mobile” operating system, though it can accurately be described as “mobile” only if you’re referring to how much it gets around. With all the areas in which Google now tinkers, Marshmallow is destined for smartphones, tablets, watches, televisions, and cars, among others. Google says that the new release has a “back to basics” motif with a focus on “polish and quality.” Marshmallow makes many long-requested features a reality with selectable app permissions, a data backup system that actually works, and the ability to format SD cards as Ext4, allowing the system to treat cards just like internal storage. Marshmallow is also prepared for the future with support for USB Type-C’s power delivery spec, a Fingerprint authentication API, and 4K display support. And, as with any Android release, there’s also lots of new Googley stuff—a slick new search interface and a contextual search mode called “Google Now on Tap,” for example. While this is a review of the final build of “Android 6.0,” we’re going to cover many of Google’s apps along with some other bits that aren’t technically exclusive to Marshmallow. Indeed, big chunks of “Android” don’t actually live in the operating system anymore. Google offloads as much of Android as possible to Google Play Services and to the Play Store for easier updating and backporting to older versions, and this structure allows the company to retain control over its open source platform. As such, consider this a look at the shipping Google Android software package rather than just the base operating system. “Review: New Android stuff Google has released recently” would be a more accurate title, though not as catchy. Read 156 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Android 6.0 Marshmallow, thoroughly reviewed
The photos taken by Farm Security Administration photographers in the 1930s are some of the most iconic images in American history. We’re all familiar with some of the snapshots of craggy-faced farmers, but unseen photos in government archives tell a more complex story of a struggling country. Yale just released a terrific database of 170, 000 of them. Read more…
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Yale Just Released 170,000 Incredible Photos of Depression-Era America
Radiation tends to strike fear in the hearts of the general populace, particularly the ionizing variety produced by X-rays and radioactive elements. But most have no idea what actual radiation looks like. Now a French organization c alled CloudyLabs has found a way to let us see the process in action using a simple cloud chamber. Read more…
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This is What Radiation from a Chunk of Uranium Looks Like
Deforestation downs 10 billion trees around the globe annually. Replanting trees by hand is slow, expensive, and barely puts a dent in reversing the damage. But one startup wants to use drones that can reforest our increasingly tree-strapped Earth, on a big enough scale to replace slow and expensive hired humans. Read more…
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This Startup Wants To Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones
MojoKid writes: By any metric, 8K is an incredibly high resolution. In fact, given that most HD content is still published in 1080p, the same could be said about 4K. 4K packs in four times the pixels of 1080p, while 8K takes that and multiplies it by four once again; we’re talking 33, 177, 600 pixels. We’ve become accustomed to our smartphones having super-high ppi (pixels-per-inch); 5.5-inch 1080p phones are 401 ppi, which is well past the point that humans are able to differentiate individual pixels. Understanding that highlights just how impressive Japan Display’s (JDI) monitor is, as it clocks in at 510 ppi in a 17-inch panel. Other specs include a 2000:1 contrast ratio, a brightness of 500cd/m2, and a 176 degree viewing angle. While the fact that the company achieved 8K resolution in such a small form-factor is impressive in itself, also impressive is the fact that it has a refresh rate of 120Hz. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Japan Display Squeezes 8K Resolution Into 17-inch LCD, Cracks 510 PPI At 120Hz
schwit1 writes: Anthony Silva, the mayor of Stockton, California, recently went to China for a mayor’s conference. On his return to San Francisco airport he was detained by Homeland Security, and then had his two laptops and his mobile phone confiscated. They refused to show him any sort of warrant (of course) and then refused to let him leave until he agreed to hand over his password. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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DHS Detains Mayor of Stockton, CA, Forces Him To Hand Over His Passwords