Innholdsfortegnelse for #304 i Techlife News

An upcoming update to Google’s Android software finally has a delectable name. The next version will be known as Oreo, extending Google’s tradition of naming each version after a sweet treat. Google anointed the software this week after spending the past few months referring to it as “Android O.” Oreo boasts several new features, including the ability to respond to notifications directly on a phone’s home screen and the ability to access apps without installing them on a device. The free software is scheduled to be released this fall, most likely after making its debut on a new Pixel phone that Google is expected to begin selling in October. The nicknames for earlier Android versions have included Nougat, Marshmallow, and Lollipop. Google and Oreo’s maker, Mondelez, referred to their deal…

Piracy is a long-running and even routine issue for Hollywood, whether it’s street vendors hawking bootleg DVDs on street corners or video uploaded to file-sharing sites like Pirate Bay. Now cybercriminals are also putting embarrassing chatter and other company secrets at risk. The reputational risk from leaked email is much more difficult to calculate than any financial risk from piracy. “In some ways, that risk can be higher because you have no way of knowing what’s in those emails,” said Erik Rasmussen of Kroll Cyber Security. The cataclysmal event in the back of everyone’s mind is the Sony hack in 2014. While unreleased movies were leaked, what’s remembered is the chaos unleashed amid a network shutdown and the disclosure of derisive comments about such well-known actors as Angelina Jolie and…

A businessman whose recreated “Star Trek” TV set is a major tourist draw in upstate New York is getting a financial boost with a donation from the former wife of a late heir to the Mars candy fortune. The Ticonderoga Revitalization Alliance, a local development agency, says a $300,000 gift from Deborah Clarke Ryan will enable James Cawley to buy the building in the village that houses his “Star Trek, Original Series Set Tour.” Clarke Ryan and Cawley are both Ticonderoga natives. She’s the former wife of Forrest Mars Jr., who died last year. While married the couple were major supporters of Fort Ticonderoga, where the education center is named after her. Cawley’s studio sets mimic those of the 1960s TV series. A three-day “Star Trek” convention starting Friday is…

Walmart is diving into voice-activated shopping. But unlike online leader Amazon, it’s not doing it alone. The world’s largest retailer said Wednesday it’s working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items from laundry detergent to Legos for voice shopping through Google Assistant. The capability will be available in late September. It’s Google’s biggest retail partnership - and the most personalized shopping experience it offers - as it tries to broaden the reach of its voice-powered assistant Home speaker. And it underscores Walmart’s drive to compete in an area dominated by Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo device. “Voice shopping is becoming a more important part of everyday shopping behavior,” said Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business. The voice-activated devices are becoming more mainstream as they become more accessible. Even…

Florida’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is reclaiming its status as home to the world’s strongest magnet. Lab officials said they tested a 41.4-tesla magnet. That beats the old mark for resistive magnets which was held by a 38.5 tesla magnet in China. A tesla is a measure of magnetic field strength. The push at the Florida State University facility to create a record magnet was called “Project 11.”That’s a reference to the comedy film “This is Spinal Tap” where a guitarist has an amp that goes to 11 instead of 10. Resistive magnets are a type of electromagnet used for research. Pulsed magnets can reach a higher field but can sustain that power for only a fraction of a second. Resistive magnets can run continuously.…

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” stole the weekend from the heist pic “Logan Lucky.” Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” opened to $21.4 million, easily topping the weekend which continued the downward spiral of the summer movie season compared to last year. The horror pic “Annabelle: Creation” took second place in its second weekend in theaters with $15.6 million, while director Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky,” starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and Daniel Craig, hobbled into third place in its first weekend in theaters with $7.6 million. Christopher Nolan’s WWII pic “Dunkirk” placed fourth with $6.6 million, bringing its domestic total to $165.4 million after 5 weeks in theaters, while “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” took fifth with $5.1 million. The top 20 movies at U.S. and…

A rare Prince music film, “Sign O’ the Times,” will air on Showtime beginning Sept. 16. Directed by Prince himself, the film was created as an in-theater companion to his 1987 double album of the same name. The movie features performances and other scenes shot mostly at his Minneapolis studio complex, Paisley Park, with some tour footage from concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium. The 84-minute film captures Prince at a critical period, just after he disbanded his band, The Revolution, but it didn’t perform well in U.S. theaters and his vision of a true live concert documentary was dashed by poor sound quality. Some critics have hailed “Sign O’ the Times” as one of the best concert films ever made.…

SpaceX has unveiled a sleek white spacesuit for astronauts on its crewed flights coming up next year. Chief executive Elon Musk made the big reveal via Instagram. He says it’s not him in the new suit, rather a SpaceX engineer. SpaceX is developing a crew version of its Dragon cargo capsule for NASA astronauts. Boeing is also working to get U.S. astronauts flying again from home soil. Boeing is going blue for spacesuits for its Starliner capsules. U.S. astronauts last rocketed away from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2011. They’ve since been riding Russian rockets to get to the International Space Station. Musk says the new SpaceX suit has been tested on Earth - and works. He says it was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function.…

NFL fans and gamers can play their way to the Super Bowl - if they’re good enough at the newest edition of “Madden NFL 18.” Electronic Arts and the NFL this week announced they’re teaming up to create an online tournament involving all 32 teams. It makes the NFL the first pro sports league in the U.S. to commit all of its teams to a competitive gaming program, and a massive esports competition. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell calls competitive gaming and esports “one of the most exciting ways to engage a larger, younger and digitally savvy NFL audience.” EA CEO Andrew Wilson says his company and the NFL are taking their partnership “to an unprecedented level.” Chris Halpin, the NFL’s chief strategy officer and senior vice president for consumer products,…

California raised more than $640 million this month auctioning off permits for businesses to emit greenhouse gases as part of a program aimed at fighting climate change, according to state data released Tuesday. Last week’s auction was the state’s first since lawmakers voted to extend California’s cap and trade program through 2030. It requires businesses, oil refineries and other polluters to obtain permits to be able to emit carbon, with the overall goal of drastically reducing emissions. Money raised through the auctions goes to projects such as high-speed rail, public transit and housing projects. Demand for the permits rebounded in this month’s auction after more than a year of flagging interest as businesses waited to see if the program would continue. Permits for near-term emissions sold for $14.75, while future…

Verizon is raising the price of its unlimited plan while introducing a slightly cheaper, more limited version as wireless carriers battle each other for customers. All major carriers now offer unlimited plans after years of steering people toward paying extra for using more data. Verizon, like its rivals, will start charging more for higher-quality video while hoping to attract cost-conscious customers with a cheaper plan. Verizon’s unlimited plan had cost $80 a month for one line for those who sign up for automatic payments with a checking account or debit card. Beginning Wednesday, it’ll cost $85 with high-definition video - capped at 720p for phones. Plans with DVD-quality streaming will cost $75. For a family of four, the higher-quality version costs $200 a month; the cheaper plan is $160. Existing…

It was a glam shot that got ugly. The wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dove headlong into a social media skirmish this week, blasting a critic of her Instagram post highlighting her high fashion choices. Calling the commenter “adorably out of touch,” Louise Linton suggested she and Mnuchin contributed more to the U.S. economy and paid more in taxes than did her critic. After a day of mounting criticism, the Scottish actress issued an apology Tuesday. But she had already assumed a starring role in the continuing story of the Trump administration’s enormous wealth. “I think spouses of political appointees are usually not fair game for critics, but with Trump, tensions are heightened,” said Republican political consultant Alex Conant. The drama began Monday when Linton posted a photo of…

When Apple accidentally leaked its HomePod firmware last month, it was good news for those who hate surprises. The firmware replicated code intended for the iPhone 8 meaning that it was to prove itself a goldmine for some key specifications and features of the upcoming device. Once it had been picked apart, that is. HOW THE D22 GLYPH WAS UNCOVERED The information was uncovered by iOS developer Guilherme Rambo who immediately noticed when mysterious software for a device named ‘AudioAccessory1, 1’ was released on Apple’s public OTA (Over the Air) update feed. Then, after noticing App developer Steve Troughton Smith’s tweet regarding the HomePod’s firmware and how he had discovered information about how the device works, Rambo decided to download the firmware to unpack it himself. Noticing that the version of iOS…

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is still a few months away from hitting theaters, but BB-8-happy fans are about to get a glimpse at a new character as a part of a three-day marketing rollout of toys and products inspired by the film. The Walt Disney Company said Thursday that the global event, dubbed Force Friday II, will feature an augmented reality treasure hunt called Find the Force. Using the Star Wars app in the 20,000 participating locations in 30 countries, fans can snap photos of the Find the Force symbol to find old favorites, like Admiral Ackbar, and discover a new character from “The Last Jedi” too. Augmented reality, which superimposes interactive images onto a person’s real-world surroundings using their smartphone or other device, became a sensation with the…

Baywatch When a dangerous crime wave threatens the beach, the legendary Mitch Buchannon leads his squad of lifeguards on a mission to prove that you don’t have to wear a badge to save the bay. Ditching the waves, they go undercover to take down a ruthless businesswoman whose plan threatens the future of the beach. FIVE FACTS: 1. At first, Pamela Anderson didn’t want to appear in the movie. 2. Zac Efron gave Dwayne Johnson all of the names to call him in the movie including “Bieber” and “One Direction.” 3. Paramount pushed the original release date back one week to May 26, 2017, to avoid competition with Alien: Covenant. 4. This is the second film starring both Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario. The two appeared together in San Andreas…

Jerry Lewis, the manic, rubber-faced showman who jumped and hollered to fame in a lucrative partnership with Dean Martin, settled down to become a self-conscious screen auteur and found an even greater following as the tireless, teary host of the annual muscular dystrophy telethons, has died. He was 91. Publicist Candi Cazau says Lewis died Sunday of natural causes in Las Vegas with his family by his side. Tributes from friends, co-stars and disciples poured in immediately. “That fool was no dummy. Jerry Lewis was an undeniable genius an unfathomable blessing, comedy’s absolute!” Jim Carrey wrote Sunday on Twitter. “I am because he was!” “The world has lost a true innovator & icon,” comedian Dane Cook wrote. Lewis’ career spanned the history of show business in the 20th century, beginning…

A Hollywood film yet again finds itself responding to a social-media outcry over the casting of a white actor in a role that was originally Asian-American. British actor Ed Skrein earlier this week joined the cast of the “Hellboy” reboot “Rise of the Blood Queen,” which is to be the third film in the comic adaptation franchise previously helmed by Guillermo del Toro. The character, Ben Daimio, is Japanese-American in Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy” comics and his heritage is central to his backstory. Daimio’s grandmother was a Japanese Imperial assassin in World War II. Many objected to the role not going to an Asian-American actor and called it another example of Hollywood “whitewashing” Asian characters. “I guess they want this to fail,” said actress Cindy Chu on Twitter. The film’s distributor,…

Andrew Ng has led teams at Google and Baidu that have gone on to create self-learning computer programs used by hundreds of millions of people, including email spam filters and touchscreen keyboards that make typing easier by predicting what you might want to say next. As a way to get machines to learn without supervision, he has trained them to recognize cats in YouTube videos without being told what cats were. And he revolutionized this field, known as artificial intelligence, by adopting graphics chips meant for video games. To push the boundaries of artificial intelligence further, one of the world’s most renowned researchers in the field says many more humans need to get involved. So his focus now is on teaching the next generation of AI specialists to teach the…

The UFC is turning to a high-tech platform that could enhance the way fans watch fights. The world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion has reached a partnership with Heed. The joint venture between WME-IMG and AGT International wants to change the way fans connect with sports at home or at a live event through sensor-measured data. WME-IMG bought the UFC last year for more than $4 billion. “Our goal is to revolutionize our sport, our events and ultimately enhance the fan experience,” UFC CFO Andrew Schleimer said. Heed also has struck deals with Professional Bull Riders and Euroleague basketball. The new format uses sensors that collect data on everything from fan and competitor emotion to real-time event tracking that could change how fights, bull rides or other events are scored.…

Drones soon will be used in Tanzania to deliver medicines to health facilities across the East African country, continuing a trend of African governments embracing drone networks to deliver critical services. Tanzania’s government is working with U.S. logistics company Zipline to launch what they call the world’s largest drone delivery service for emergency medical supplies. In the first quarter of 2018, Tanzania’s government will begin using drones to make up to 2,000 deliveries per day to more than 1,000 health facilities, Zipline said in a statement. The service will be crucial in times of unexpected demand or bad weather and for small but critical orders, said Laurean Bwanakunu, director-general of Tanzania’s national medical stores. Since October 2016, Zipline has been operating a similar drone delivery service in Rwanda for emergency…

Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is looking to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so President Donald Trump can’t use it. Wilson launched the fundraiser last week, tweeting: “If @Twitter executives won’t shut down Trump’s violence and hate, then it’s up to us. #BuyTwitter #BanTrump.”The GoFundMe page for the fundraiser says Trump’s tweets “damage the country and put people in harm’s way.” As of Wednesday morning, she had raised less than $6,000 of her $1 billion goal. In an emailed statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the low total shows that the American people like the Republican president’s use of Twitter. “Her ridiculous attempt to shut down his first amendment is the only clear violation and expression of hate and intolerance in this equation,” the…

Tech companies’ efforts to banish extremist groups and individuals are continuing as a social network popular with extremists disappeared from Google’s Android app store. Gab had already been unavailable in Apple’s store, though it remains accessible on the web. The banishments come in the wake of the deadly clash at a white-nationalist rally last weekend in Virginia. Civil rights advocates welcomed the moves, but say more needs to be done - and more should have been done earlier. Here is a look at some of the technology services that have banned hate groups or have otherwise come out against white supremacists and their supporters: AIRBNB Ahead of the rally, the housing booking service Airbnb barred rentals to people it believed were traveling to participate. The company said it used its…

The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness fell upon the land Monday as the U.S. witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I. Millions of Americans gazed in wonder at the cosmic spectacle, with the best seats along the so-called path of totality that raced 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina. “It was a very primal experience,” Julie Vigeland, of Portland, Oregon, said after she was moved to tears by the sight of the sun reduced to a silvery ring of light in Salem. It took 90 minutes for the shadow of the moon to travel across the country. Along that path, the…

Whole Foods shareholders voted Wednesday to bless a $13.7 billion union with Amazon that the organic grocery chain’s CEO had called “love at first sight.” That approval is one step required to close the deal, which is a bold move into physical stores for Amazon and has the possibility of making big changes to the supermarket industry and online grocery ordering. The deal also needs the go-ahead from government regulators. By buying Whole Foods, Amazon will get more than 460 stores and potentially very lucrative data about how shoppers behave offline. Rivals are scrambling to catch up with the e-commerce giant. Walmart, for example, is expanding its grocery delivery service with ride-hailing service Uber and announced Wednesday that it will join forces with Google to let shoppers order goods by…

To the Bone Steven Wilson Each of Wilson’s solo albums has been an exploration of different themes and his fifth, To the Bone, is no different. Undoubtedly, it is an exploration of ‘80s pop music with an opening track that sounds like Pink Floyd’s ‘Time’ before it submerges into a funky beat. After that, fans of Wilson will be in familiar territory with tracks like ‘Nowhere Now’ and ‘The Same Asylum as Before’ that stands as a reminder to some of Porcupine Tree’s earlier work. Although not as ambiguous or abstract as its predecessors, To the Bone still has the depth that we’ve come to expect from such a revered artist. FIVE FACTS: 1. Although he is currently a solo artist, Wilson became known as the founder, lead guitarist and…

Yes, Taylor Swift fans, Wednesday was a lucky one for you. The pop star who whipped her army of Swifties into a frenzy with video snippets of slithery snake parts on social media posted the title of her new album, “Reputation,” and announced online it will be out Nov. 10. The first single, she said in a series of posts, will drop Thursday night. And she threw in the album’s cover art for good measure: a black-and-white photo of herself - head and shoulders, in slouchy sweater, hair swept back - against a backdrop of newsprint reading, simply, “Taylor Swift” over and over again. Swift, who is followed by millions on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, wiped her feeds clean Friday and replaced the black void Monday with the first of…

Samsung is trying to move past last year’s disastrous Galaxy Note 7 launch with a successor sporting a dual-lens camera, animated messages, expanded note-taking - and lower battery capacity. The South Korean tech giant is no longer trying to squeeze more battery power into each phone. Last year’s Note 7 had to be recalled after dozens spontaneously caught fire because of defective batteries. Samsung responded by subjecting new phones to multiple inspections and giving the battery more physical protection, taking up room normally available for the charge. Although the success of this past spring’s Galaxy S8 phone suggests that Samsung has recovered from the Note 7 debacle, which included bans on airline flights, any further mistakes could prove fatal. “Here it is from the ashes, literally, a rebirth of this…

If you learned your DNA made you more susceptible to getting a disease, wouldn’t you work to stay healthy? You’d quit smoking, eat better, ramp up your exercise, or do whatever else it took to improve your odds of avoiding maladies like obesity, diabetes, heart disease or cancer, right? The scientific evidence says: Don’t bet on it. DNA testing for disease risk has recently expanded in the U.S. The company 23andMe recently started selling the nation’s first approved direct-to-consumer DNA tests that evaluate the buyer’s genetic risk for certain disease or conditions. That go-ahead came in April, about three years after it was told to stop selling such kits until it got the OK from regulators. The field also gained a new entrant in July, when a company called Helix…

Iran’s new telecommunications minister says Twitter is ready to talk about unblocking access to the microblogging site. The state-owned IRAN newspaper quoted Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on Tuesday as saying Twitter has “officially announced readiness to talk with Iran for resolving the problems.” San Francisco-based Twitter declined to comment. Iran blocked the site, along with Facebook and YouTube, after mass protests and violence over the 2009 re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, headed by current President Hassan Rouhani, officially is in charge of blocking websites. That council is overseen by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ahmadinejad, Rouhani and Khamenei all have Twitter accounts administered on their behalf. Others in Iran use virtual private networks to subvert the ban.…