The Rising STAR robot can run, flip, and crawl

A clever little robot made by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev can roll around, flip itself over, and even crawl like a turtle through rough terrain. The robot uses wheels, a set of star-shaped rollers, and cleverly-articulated arms to ride along at various speeds.

The robot, called Rising STAR, uses wheels and spoked “whegs” to roll around at about one meter per second and it can fold itself flat and pull itself forward when it finds mud or sand. It can also make itself very skinny to ride through tight spots and can even flip itself over if it falls.

A weighted “head” can keep the robot balanced as it tools along, allowing it to climb up and over steep surfaces and, the researchers say, even sneak through pipes or between tight walls.

Rising STAR is an updated version of the university’s Sprawl-Tuned Autonomous Robot that it displayed in 2013. This new version is far more capable and, thanks to its “whegs” and turtle-gait, far cooler.

Read Full Article

The 8 Best Video Game Documentaries and Where to Stream Them

The most logical way to indulge your insatiable appetite for playing video games is to, well, play some video games. However, there are other ways to feed your need for video games!

One of the more enlightening ways to scratch the itch is watching video game documentaries. A good video game documentary not only provides you with a solid hour or two of entertainment, but also teaches you something you didn’t previously know.

And there are lots of quality video game documentaries out there, with most of them available to stream online or through a movie rental service. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the best video game documentaries and where you can stream them!

1. King of Kong

King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters is probably the most famous video game documentary of them all. The film, which was directed by Seth Gordon, covers the story of Steve Wiebe as he tries to wrest the Donkey Kong high score from the previous record-holder Billy Mitchell.

The story was incredibly interesting when the film was made in 2007, but it’s even more enticing now with Billy Mitchell having all of his records stripped from him.

Where to Stream It: Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store

2. Double Fine Adventure

This is one of the most enthralling looks at what it takes to make a video game. The documentary came to be as part of Double Fine’s Kickstarter campaign for a new game. The game, which eventually became Broken Age, is a point-and-click adventure. And whether you like the genre or not this documentary is fascinating!

Double Fine Adventure is split up into 20 episodes. You can jump in and out without the same level of a commitment that a movie typically requires. However, your overall time commitment is going to be much longer, because each episode is between 30 and 40 minutes long.

So, kick back, relax, and get ready to watch the struggle of taking a video game from idea to reality while a dedicated community grows more and more impatient.

Where to Stream It: Direct, Steam

3. Free to Play: The Movie

This is my favorite documentary listed here, but as a dedicated player of Dota 2 I may be a little biased.

However, even if you’re not a Dota player, this documentary is still an entertaining look at what players at the highest levels go through to prepare for the most lucrative tournament in video games. It’s one of those documentaries where the subject matter isn’t that important—it’s a story about people.

Free to Play: The Movie follows the stories of three pro Dota 2 players as they get ready to compete for a $1 million prize pool (The international prize pools have grown substantially since then). If you’re curious to see behind the scenes of a major eSports event, this is definitely the documentary for you.

Where to Stream It: YouTube, Steam

4. Indie Game: The Movie

This movie gives us an incredible sneak peak into the world of independent game development. It follows the creation of Super Meat Boy, FEZ, and Braid, all of which went on to be incredibly successful titles. Of course, that success didn’t come easily, and Indie Game: The Movie documents that struggle.

Indie Game: The Movie has won its fair share of awards and received praise from both video game journalists and other developers for the very real way in which it shows the struggle of creating video games. Even though it was released in 2012, it’s still highly watchable.

Where to Stream It: Direct, Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, Microsoft Store

5. Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Documentary

Naughty Dog is responsible for some of the most beloved video game franchises of all time, including The Last of Us, Uncharted, and Crash Bandicoot. The company was making games for the Apple II, and the legacy runs deep.

So when you get the chance to go behind the curtain and see how things are done at such a prolific and beloved developer, you should take the opportunity.

The documentary plays like a trip down memory lane, celebrating some of the accomplishments of the beloved studio. Any hardcore gaming fan will love all the interviews and information in this film.

Most importantly, Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Documentary is entertaining while being informative, which is what truly separates a good documentary from a bad one.

Where to Stream It: YouTube

6. Minecraft: The Story of Mojang

Before Fortnite completely took over the world of video games, Minecraft captured the imagination of players of all ages. This interesting documentary covers the story of Mojang, the team behind Minecraft.

As you might expect, Markus “Notch” Persson, the well-known face of the company, is heavily featured in the film, and he’s quite the character.

The film starts just after Minecraft exploded onto the scene. You get the see the excitement of a developer realizing their creation is actually taking off in a big way. Not only does the documentary feature the creators of the game, but it actually shows the players too.

Plenty of popular Minecraft YouTubers are in the movie, so it hits on a rather diverse section of people.

Where to Stream It: Direct, iTunes

7. Atari: Game Over

Is there a name more important to the rise (and fall and rise again) of video games than Atari? The Atari 2600 console truly put home gaming on the map, but that success didn’t come without some pretty serious issues.

Atari: Game Over recounts the rise and fall of one of the household names of video games, and it’s quite tragic. The fact that one company could achieve such success and then almost completely kill games is quite shocking.

The lens through which the story is told makes this movie stand out. The tale of Atari is interwoven with the tale of a crew attempting to dig up the site where Atari is thought to have thrown out numerous copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Production values on this documentary are top notch, as it started out as an Xbox Originals film and moved onto other platforms later. Atari: Game Over is worth watching even if you know the end result, as the history lesson is fascinating.

Where to Stream It: iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft Store

8. Video Games: The Movie

Rounding out this list is a very broad movie. Instead of focusing in on one specific company or story, this documentary attempts to tell the overarching story of video games and how they got to this point.

The film tells the story of gaming rising from a niche hobby to a gigantic business that is one of the most beloved forms of entertainment.

Video Games the Movie comes from the the minds of executive producer Zach Braff and CliffyB (aka Cliff Bleszinski, the name behind Unreal and Gears of War) and they really do a great job with the wide-reaching subject matter.

If you have a family who just doesn’t seem to “get” your gaming hobby, sit down and watch this with them and see if it helps them understand why games are a big deal.

Where to Stream It: Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store

You Are Now a Video Game Expert

If you take the time to kick back, relax, and watch all of these documentaries, you’ll know more about video games than most people. Even the so-called experts.

You’ll learn about esports, retro games, indie games, AAA development, and just about every other aspect of gaming. However, be aware that video games are addicting and you should leave your house occasionally.

Read the full article: The 8 Best Video Game Documentaries and Where to Stream Them

Read Full Article

Facebook would make a martyr by banning Infowars

Alex Jones’ Infowars is a fake news-peddler. But Facebook deleting its Page could ignite a fire that consumes the network. Still, some critics are asking why it hasn’t done so already.

This week Facebook held an event with journalists to discuss how it combats fake news. The company’s recently appointed head of News Feed John Hegeman explained that, “I guess just for being false, that doesn’t violate the community standards. I think part of the fundamental thing here is that we created Facebook to be a place where different people can have a voice.”

In response, CNN’s Oliver Darcy tweeted: “I asked them why InfoWars is still allowed on the platform. I didn’t get a good answer.” BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel meanwhile wrote that allowing the Infowars Page to exist shows that “Facebook simply isn’t willing to make the hard choices necessary to tackle fake news.”

Facebook’s own Twitter account tried to rebuke Darcy by tweeting, “We see Pages on both the left and the right pumping out what they consider opinion or analysis – but others call fake news. We believe banning these Pages would be contrary to the basic principles of free speech.” But harm can be minimized without full-on censorship.

There is no doubt that Facebook hides behind political neutrality. It fears driving away conservative users for both business and stated mission reasons. That strategy is exploited by those like Jones who know that no matter how extreme and damaging their actions, they’ll benefit from equivocation that implies ‘both sides are guilty,’ with no regard for degree.

Instead of being banned from Facebook, Infowars and sites like it that constantly and purposely share dangerous hoaxes and conspiracy theories should be heavily down-ranked in the News Feed.

Effectively, they should be quarantined, so that when they or their followers share their links, no one else sees them.

“We don’t have a policy that stipulates that everything posted on Facebook must be true — you can imagine how hard that would be to enforce,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. “But there’s a very real tension here. We work hard to find the right balance between encouraging free expression and promoting a safe and authentic community, and we believe that down-ranking inauthentic content strikes that balance. In other words, we allow people to post it as a form of expression, but we’re not going to show it at the top of News Feed.”

Facebook already reduces the future views of posts by roughly 80 percent when they’re established as false by its third-party fact checkers like Politifact and the Associated Press. For repeat offenders, I think that reduction in visibility should be closer to 100 percent of News Feed views. What Facebook does do to those whose posts are frequently labeled as false by its checkers is “remove their monetization and advertising privileges to cut off financial incentives, and dramatically reduce the distribution of all of their Page-level or domain-level content on Facebook.”

The company wouldn’t comment directly about whether Infowars has already been hit with that penalty, noting “We can’t disclose whether specific Pages or domains are receiving such a demotion (it becomes a privacy issue).” For any story fact checked as false, it shows related articles from legitimate publications to provide other perspectives on the topic, and notifies people who have shared it or are about to.

But that doesn’t solve for the initial surge of traffic. Unfortunately, Facebook’s limited array of fact checking partners are strapped with so much work, they can only get to so many BS stories quickly. That’s a strong endorsement for more funding to be dedicated to these organizations like Snopes, preferably by even keeled non-profits, though the risks of governments or Facebook chipping in might be worth it.

Given that fact-checking will likely never scale to be instantly responsive to all fake news in all languages, Facebook needs a more drastic option to curtail the spread of this democracy-harming content on its platform. That might mean a full loss of News Feed posting privileges for a certain period of time. That might mean that links re-shared by the supporters or agents of these pages get zero distribution in the feed.

But it shouldn’t mean their posts or Pages are deleted, or that their links can’t be opened unless they clearly violate Facebook’s core content policies.

Why downranking and quarantine? Because banning would only stoke conspiratorial curiosity about these inaccurate outlets. Trolls will use the bans as a badge of honor, saying, “Facebook deleted us because it knows what we say is true.”

They’ll claim they’ve been unfairly removed from the proxy for public discourse that exists because of the size of Facebook’s private platform.

What we’ll have on our hands is “but her emails!” 2.0

People who swallowed the propaganda of “her emails”, much of which was pushed by Alex Jones himself, assumed that Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails must have contained evidence of some unspeakable wrongdoing — something so bad it outweighed anything done by her opponent, even when the accusations against him had evidence and witnesses aplenty.

If Facebook deleted the Pages of Infowars and their ilk, it would be used as a rallying cry that Jones’ claims were actually clairvoyance. That he must have had even worse truths to tell about his enemies and so he had to be cut down. It would turn him into a martyr.

Those who benefit from Infowars’ bluster would use Facebook’s removal of its Page as evidence that it’s massively biased against conservatives. They’d push their political allies to vindictively regulate Facebook beyond what’s actually necessary. They’d call for people to delete their Facebook accounts and decamp to some other network that’s much more of a filter bubble than what some consider Facebook to already be. That would further divide the country and the world.

When someone has a terrible, contagious disease, we don’t execute them. We quarantine them. That’s what should happen here. The exception should be for posts that cause physical harm offline. That will require tough judgement calls, but knowing inciting mob violence for example should not be tolerated. Some of Infowars posts, such as those about Pizzagate that led to a shooting, might qualify for deletion by that standard.

Facebook is already trying to grapple with this after rumors and fake news spread through forwarded WhatsApp messages have led to crowds lynching people in India and attacks in Myanmar. Peer-to-peer chat lacks the same centralized actors to ban, though WhatsApp is now at least marking messages as forwarded, and it will need to do more. But for less threatening yet still blatantly false news, quarantining may be sufficient. This also leaves room for counterspeech, where disagreeing commenters can refute posts or share their own rebuttals.

Few people regularly visit the Facebook Pages they follow. They wait for the content to come to them through the News Feed posts of the Page, and their friends. Eliminating that virality vector would severely limit this fake news’ ability to spread without requiring the posts or Pages to be deleted, or the links to be rendered unopenable.

If Facebook wants to uphold a base level of free speech, it may be prudent to let the liars have their voice. However, Facebook is under no obligation to amplify that speech, and the fakers have no entitlement for their speech to be amplified.

Image Credit: Getty – Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Flickr Sean P. Anderson CC

Read Full Article

Researchers find that filters don’t prevent porn

In a paper entitled Internet Filtering and Adolescent Exposure to Online Sexual Material, Oxford Internet Institute researchers Victoria Nash and Andrew Przybylski found that Internet filters rarely work to keep adolescents away from online porn.

“It’s important to consider the efficacy of Internet filtering,” said Dr, Nash. “Internet filtering tools are expensive to develop and maintain, and can easily ‘underblock’ due to the constant development of new ways of sharing content. Additionally, there are concerns about human rights violations – filtering can lead to ‘overblocking’, where young people are not able to access legitimate health and relationship information.”

This research follows the controversial news that the UK government was exploring a country-wide porn filter, a product that will most likely fail. The UK would join countries around the world who filter the public Internet for religious or political reasons.

The bottom line? Filters are expensive and they don’t work.

Given these substantial costs and limitations, it is noteworthy that there is little consistent evidence that filtering is effective at shielding young people from online sexual material. A pair of studies reporting on data collected in 2005, before the rise of smartphones and tablets, provides tentative evidence that Internet filtering might reduce the relative risk of young people countering sexual material. A more recent study, analyzing data collected a decade after these papers, provided strong evidence that caregivers’ use of Internet filtering technologies did not reduce children’s exposure to a range of aversive online experiences including, but not limited to, encountering sexual content that made them feel uncomfortable.21 Given studies on this topic are few in number and the findings are decidedly mixed, the evidence base supporting the widespread use of Internet filtering is currently weak.

The researchers “found that Internet filtering tools are ineffective and in most cases [and] were an insignificant factor in whether young people had seen explicit sexual content.”

The study’s most interesting finding was that between 17 and 77 households “would need to use Internet filtering tools in order to prevent a single young person from accessing sexual content” and even then a filter “showed no statistically or practically significant protective effects.”

The study looked at 9,352 male and 9,357 female subjects from the EU and the UK and found that almost 50 percent of the subjects had some sort of Internet filter at home. Regardless of the filters installed subjects still saw approximately the same amount of porn.

“Many caregivers and policy makers consider Internet filters a useful technology for keeping young people safe online. Although this position might make intuitive sense, there is little empirical evidence that Internet filters provide an effective means to limit children’s and adolescents’ exposure to online sexual material. There are nontrivial economic, informational, and human rights costs associated with filtering that need to be balanced against any observed benefits,” wrote the researchers. “Given this, it is critical to know possible benefits can be balanced against their costs. Our studies were conducted to test this proposition, and our findings indicated that filtering does not play a practically significant protective role.”

Given the popularity – and lucrative nature – of filtering software this news should encourage parents and caregivers to look more closely and how and why they are filtering their home Internet. Ultimately, they might find, supervision is more important than software.

Read Full Article

Why You’re Losing Twitter Followers

Twitter is having a bit of a spring clean, and purging millions of accounts. The good news is this will clear out some of the deadwood from Twitter. The bad news is this could have a significant impact on your follower count, especially if you’re popular.

Twitter Has a Spring Clean

Twitter currently has around 330 million active users. This is a solid number, but it pales in comparison to Facebook’s billions of users. And beyond the active users there are millions of inactive users who gave up on Twitter a long time ago.

In an effort to clean house, Twitter is currently purging millions of accounts. It recently suspended a reported 70 million accounts it believed to be bots or spammers. And now Twitter is removing locked accounts from follower counts.

Wave Goodbye to Locked Accounts

Locked accounts are those Twitter has previously locked for various reasons. They probably belong to actual people (rather than bots), but because of suspicious behavior were locked until Twitter could ensure there was no foul play (from hackers and the like).

In a blog post, Twitter explains that the reasons for locking an account include “tweeting a large volume of unsolicited replies or mentions, tweeting misleading links, or if a large number of accounts block the account after mentioning them.”

We are committed to building trust and encouraging healthy conversation on Twitter.

Follower counts should be meaningful and accurate. We are removing locked accounts from follower counts.

— Twitter (@Twitter) July 11, 2018

When it locks an account, Twitter contacts the owner and asks them to reset their password in order to regain access. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t happen, so these locked accounts remain inactive. Hence Twitter’s desire to remove them.

Twitter claims that most people will lose an average of four followers. However, the higher the follower count, the higher the number lost. Which means celebrities and politicians are likely to have thousands of followers wiped off their totals in an instant.

How to Up Your Twitter Game

The key thing to remember here is that these accounts weren’t doing anything anyway, so Twitter may as well purge them. Still, this is as good a time as any to share our tips on how to not be boring on Twitter. Which may earn you some new followers.

Image Credit: Andreas Eldh/Flickr

Read the full article: Why You’re Losing Twitter Followers

Read Full Article

The 10 Most Affordable Sites for Printing Digital Photos Online

Nobody seems to print photos anymore. Instead, we throw them up on social media and call it a day. Who needs printed photos taking up drawer space when you have unlimited online photo storage? Plus, online photo galleries are simply more convenient.

But some pictures are so beautiful or valuable that printing makes sense. Perhaps you want to carry them around in your wallet, or you want to print that perfect landscape shot you took so you can hang it over the mantel.

Where can you get such prints? These days, you can just hop online and use one of the many affordable photo printing services that’ll print and ship your photos straight to you. Here are some of the best online photo printing services available.

1. Shutterfly

Shutterfly can turn your digital photos into photo books, cards, stationery, poster prints, mugs, puzzles, mouse pads, pillows, and so much more. Seriously, the selection here is insane. Whatever the occasion, you’ll find something that fits.

In terms of price, it’s pretty good. “Thank You” cards start at $1.39, photo books start at $12.99, and canvas prints start at $69.99. For what you’re getting, these costs are quite affordable—especially when you consider how customized and personal they’ll be. Shutterfly delivers internationally to over 100 countries.

As of this writing, Shutterfly is offering 50 free prints and unlimited photo storage to new customers who sign up. On top of that, they run occasional campaigns that can save you up to 50 percent off your order. Keep an eye out for those deals and you’ll walk away a winner.

2. FreePrints

FreePrints is unique compared to the other services on this list. This one interfaces directly with the photos on your mobile device(s) by means of an app. It’s available for both Android and iOS. Extremely convenient and worth checking out.

How does it work? Whenever you take a photo, you can order free 4×6 prints of it through FreePrints. Not only that, the app can also order free prints of photos on your Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, or Picasa accounts. There are no subscription fees, but you do pay for shipping, which starts at $1.99 but never exceeds $9.99.

Each photo is limited to one free print. Also, you can only order free prints up to 85 photos per month and 1,000 photos per year. If you want prints in a size other than 4×6, those you will need to purchase them.

3. York Photo

York Photo offers photo books, calendars, cards, stationery, posters and panels, and a whole host of gift ideas to print your photos on: apparel, mugs, bags, pillows, home decor, etc.

A single 4×6 print starts at $0.09, posters start at $7.99, photo cards start at $14.99 for a pack of 20, photo books start at $9.99 for 4×6 prints, and everything else is reasonably priced. York Photo has some of the best printing quality of any online service.

All orders over $20 get free shipping, which is nice because the shipping fees aren’t cheap and can jack up the price of an order otherwise.

4. Walgreens Photo

Not just good for pharmacy and convenience items, the photo printing services at most Walgreens are noteworthy. In addition to photo prints, you can order photo books, premium cards, calendars, posters, canvas prints, decor, and more.

Pricing is reasonable but not the cheapest. While photo books start at $24.99 and “Thank You” cards start at $1.99, a small canvas print can be had for as little as $29.99. And the best part? Most prints are eligible for Same Day Pickup, which is fantastic if you have a Walgreens nearby.

5. Snapfish

Snapfish, which is a division of HP (Hewlett-Packard), is a highly affordable online printing service that’s enjoyed by over 90 million members. Not only does it offer digital printing, it’s a community where users can host and share their photos. It even has an online photo editing tool.

Photo books start at $11.99, regular cards start at $0.58, premium cards at $0.99, and canvas prints at $32.99. In addition, they offer “photo gifts” like blankets, pillows, stationery, posters, and more.

What’s cool about Snapfish is that it also specializes in Print-at-Home products. You can download these cards, calendars, etc. and print them yourself if you want. It’s pretty much the exact opposite of an online printing service, but I’ve included mention in case it appeals to you.

6. CVS Photo

Like Walgreens, you can walk into almost any brick-and-mortar CVS and find a photo printing station within. Also like Walgreens, unless you live way out in the middle of nowhere, there’s a good chance you have a CVS nearby.

That makes CVS a great choice for printing photos, because you can order for Same Day Pickup: print online, walk in, retrieve. Or have it delivered to your doorstep if you prefer.

Regular photo prints start as low as $0.33 each, “Thank You” cards can be had for as little as $0.75 each, and canvas prints start at $29.99. The quality of CVS’s photo printing isn’t bad either, so it’s a good balance between quality and price.

7. Walmart Photo

It should come as no surprise that Walmart’s photo printing service is easily the most affordable of them all. With regular photo prints starting at $0.09, “Thank You” cards starting at $0.28, and canvas prints starting at $19.96, Walmart blows its competition out of the water.

And while that undercutting in price does come with a small drop in overall printing quality, it’s still good enough for most uses. You’ll only notice the quality difference if you have an eye trained for photography, or if you’re printing something massive like a poster.

8. AdoramaPix

AdoramaPix is an affiliate of Adorama, the renowned company that acts as both a store for camera gear and an educational resource for learning photography. AdoramaPix is a complementary service for high-quality prints of digital photos.

They use top-of-the-line printers and state-of-the-art software to maximize printing quality all while keeping their prices competitive. For example, photo cards start at $2.95 for a single but can be made cheaper by buying in bulk, going as low as $0.99 each for a pack of 100.

The downside of this is that AdoramaPix doesn’t have a great selection of available products. Other than photo books, calendars, cards, and various kinds of prints, there isn’t much else—but if that’s all you need, AdoramaPix is a great service.

9. Fedex

You probably know Fedex as nothing more than a shipping company for packages and things you buy online, but what you probably didn’t know is that Fedex operates a few other services under its name, including a digital Print & Ship service that you can use online.

Simple posters start at $7.25, photo posters start at $27.99, and canvas prints start at $79.99. Fedex also offers cards, calendars, and even passport photos. Though slightly more expensive than its competitors, we’re not talking by much. Also, you’ll need to pay shipping on these unless your order exceeds $100.

10. Winkflash

If you can catch one of Winkflash’s regular deals, you might be able to grab prints at a price even lower than what’s offered by Walmart. We’ve seen photo prints as low as $0.08, “Thank You” cards as low as $0.36, and canvas prints as low as $9.

Note that the quality drop compared to better online photo printing services is noticeably worse for Winkflash than Walmart. So bad that you should avoid using the service? Not really. But definitely reserve using Winkflash for casual, personal prints and not for gifts or semi-professional work.

Get Your Photos Printed Online and Delivered

I’m a huge fan of digital photography, but I can’t deny that physical photos held in the hands do feel more personal. Want a photo to stand out? To really be set aside as special? Have it printed! You won’t regret it.

Image Credits: maigi/Shutterstock

Read the full article: The 10 Most Affordable Sites for Printing Digital Photos Online

Read Full Article

A Comparison Guide to Amazon Echo Devices: Which One Is Best for You?

Google’s Apigee teams up with Informatica to extend its API ecosystem

Google acquired API management service Apigee back in 2016 but it’s been pretty quiet around the service in recent years. Today, however, Apigee announced a number of smaller updates that introduce a few new integrations with the Google Cloud platform, as well as a major new partnership with cloud data management and integration firm Informatica that essentially makes Informatica the preferred integration partner for Google Cloud.

Like most partnerships in this space, the deal with Informatica involves some co-selling and marketing agreements, but that really wouldn’t be all that interesting. What makes this deal stand out is that Google is actually baking some of Informatica’s tools right into the Google Cloud dashboard. This will allow Apigee users to use Informatica’s wide range of integrations with third-party enterprise applications while Informatica users will be able to publish their APIs through Apigee and have that service manage them for them.

Some of Google’s competitors, including Microsoft, have built their own integration services. As Google Cloud director of product management Ed Anuff told me, that wasn’t really on Google’s roadmap. “It takes a lot of know-how to build a rich catalog of connectors,” he said. “You could go and build an integration platform but if you don’t have that, you can’t address your customers needs.” Instead, Google went to look for a partner who already has this large catalog and plenty of credibility in the enterprise space.

Similarly, Informatica’s senior VP and GM for big data, cloud and data integration Ronen Schwartz noted that many of his company’s customers are now looking to move into the cloud and this move will make it easier for Informatica’s customers to bring their services into Apigee and open them up for external applications. “With this partnership, we are bringing the best of breed of both worlds to our customers,” he said. “And we are doing it now and we are making it available in an integrated, optimized way.”

Read Full Article

Ransomware technique uses your real passwords to trick you

A few folks have reported a new ransomware technique that preys upon corporate inability to keep passwords safe. The notes – which are usually aimed at instilling fear – are simple: the hacker says “I know that your password is X. Give me a bitcoin and I won’t blackmail you.”

Programmer Can Duruk reported getting the email today.

Woah. This is cool. A Bitcoin ransom with using what I think is passwords from a big leak. Pretty neat since people would be legit scared when they see their password. The concealed part is actually an old password I used to use. pic.twitter.com/clEYiFqvHY

— can (@can) July 11, 2018

The email reads:

I’m aware that X is your password.

You don’t know me and you’re thinking why you received this e mail, right?

Well, I actually placed a malware on the porn website and guess what, you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching the video, your web browser acted as a RDP (Remote Desktop) and a keylogger which provided me access to your display screen and webcam. Right after that, my software gathered all your contacts from your Messenger, Facebook account, and email account.

What exactly did I do?

I made a split-screen video. First part recorded the video you were viewing (you’ve got a fine taste haha), and next part recorded your webcam (Yep! It’s you doing nasty things!).

What should you do?

Well, I believe, $1400 is a fair price for our little secret. You’ll make the payment via Bitcoin to the below address (if you don’t know this, search “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

BTC Address: 1Dvd7Wb72JBTbAcfTrxSJCZZuf4tsT8V72
(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it)

Important:

You have 24 hours in order to make the payment. (I have an unique pixel within this email message, and right now I know that you have read this email). If I don’t get the payment, I will send your video to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so forth. Nonetheless, if I do get paid, I will erase the video immidiately. If you want evidence, reply with “Yes!” and I will send your video recording to your 5 friends. This is a non-negotiable offer, so don’t waste my time and yours by replying to this email.

To be clear there is very little possibility that anyone has video of you cranking it unless, of course, you video yourself cranking it. Further, this is almost always a scam. That said, the fact that the hackers are able to supply your real passwords – most probably gleaned from the multiple corporate break-ins that have happened over the past few years – is a clever change to the traditional cyber-blackmail methodology.

Luckily, the hackers don’t have current passwords.

“However, all three recipients said the password was close to ten years old, and that none of the passwords cited in the sextortion email they received had been used anytime on their current computers,” wrote researcher Brian Krebs. In short, the password files the hackers have are very old and outdated.

To keep yourself safe, however, cover your webcam when not in use and change your passwords regularly. While difficult, there is nothing else that can keep you safer than you already are if you use two-factor authentication and secure logins.

Read Full Article

The Best Graphic Tablets and Graphics Programs for Digital Design

How to Create Your Own Minecraft Mod

What happens if you get bored of playing Minecraft? Modding is the answer! From cookies to rockets, mods alter anything and everything in the Minecraft game, but wouldn’t it be fun to create your own mod?

By following these simple steps, you can get started on your own path to creating custom Minecraft mods.

Getting Started With MCreator

Advertised as “The Best Minecraft Mod Maker Ever,” MCreator is a free tool for making your own Minecraft mods. You don’t have to write any code—although you can if you’d prefer to.

Get started by visiting the MCreator download page and downloading a version to match your current version of Minecraft.

The download page details which version of MCreator you need, but if you’re running Minecraft version 1.12.2, then you’ll need MCreator version 1.7.9.

Once you’ve chosen a version, go ahead and download MCreator for your operating system. The Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems are all supported.

If you’re running Windows, download and run the executable file (EXE). If you’re using Mac or Linux, the installation is a bit tougher, but the MCreator installation guide contains detailed install steps.

Once up and running, MCreator will need a bit of time to get things in order. It needs to download the Minecraft Forge Development Kit, and download dependencies and compile. This may take some time depending on your computer and internet speed, but once it’s completed for the first time, it won’t need to do it again.

Once configured, MCreator will ask if you’d like to sign in with your Pylo account. Go ahead and press Skip if you don’t have one.

Everything is now ready to go. The screen you see is the main menu for MCreator. You can import or export current settings, install mods developed by other people, or start writing your own mods.

Writing Your First Minecraft Mod

For this example mod, we’re going to produce a super diamond ore, which will produce a vast quantity of diamonds when mined, instead of the usual one or two.

To get started, you need a texture for your new block. This is an image which defines what your block looks like. This could be stone, wood, or any custom artwork. This example will use the diamond ore, but you can use any art you want.

From the top of the main menu, select Tools. Choose Create item/block texture. This will open the Texture Maker, where you can create your own texture, based on existing Minecraft artwork.

The texture maker contains contains four layer controls. These allow you to choose artwork and a color, which all get combined into your final texture.

Except for Layer 1, the layer controls contain the same three settings. From left to right, these are:

1. Artwork selector: Use the drop down menu or popout interface to select a piece of artwork.
2. Color picker: Select the three dots to choose a color for this layer.
3. Lock saturation and brightness: These limit the layer color brightness. Play around to see what you like.

Once you’ve designed your artwork, select Use at the bottom, and then Block for the texture type. Choose Exit to go back to the Workspace page. The workspace page will now list your texture.

From the left hand menu of the Workspace tab, select Mod Elements. This is where you will create your mod using your texture.

Select the New mod element button from the top left, which looks like a large plus.

This New mod element page may look overwhelming, but it’s a simple tool to use.

For Name of the element, enter a unique name. This isn’t seen in Minecraft, it’s used as an identifier in MCreator and the Minecraft code.

For the element type, you can choose what type your new element is. For this super diamond, the default of Block will do. If you’re working on a different mod, such as a mob, command, or tool, then select the appropriate type.

Select OK to go back to the Texture page. This is where you can assign your texture to the block, as well as configuring transparency, and the block dimensions.

On the left is the Block textures area. The six squares represent each side of your block. It’s possible to use a different texture for each side, but for this example, they will all use the same texture.

Click each square, choose your texture, and then press Ok. Leave all the other options at their defaults, and then choose Next.

There are various settings on this screen but start with Name in GUI. This is the name of the block in your inventory. Any name will do, but make sure it’s descriptive. For this block, “super diamond” is a suitable name.

If you’re not sure what a parameter does, select the small question mark next to the name. This will load the MCreator documentation.

To make this block drop a different block when mined, tick the box next to Doesn’t drop itself. Next to Block that drops, press the small rectangle. This will load the Block/item selector. Use this menu to search for and choose the block you want to be dropped.

Finally, change Drop amount to a suitable number. As we want the super diamond to yield a large number of diamonds, 10 is a good place to start.

Select Next to go to the Particle settings. This is where you can change the block animation. Feel free to experiment here, but this isn’t required for this super diamond mod.

Leave the Block’s inventory settings at their default, and choose Next. The Procedures page allows you to customize what happens when any event occurs involving this block. This isn’t required for this mod, so press the Next button.

Finally, the Block spawning/generation properties page allows you to configure when, where, and how often your new block spawns. If you’d like your modded block to spawn in the game, then tick Generate in world.

The other settings can stay at their default values, or you can customize them to make your modded block more or less common.

Exporting Your Minecraft Mod

Once you have produced your mod, you need to export it ready for Minecraft to use.

From the bottom left of the Workspace toolbar, choose the Export workspace into mod file button. This will bundle your mod up into its own package, ready for Minecraft to import. If you modified more than one block, then all will show up in your mod.

Note: If you’d like to work on several mods at the same time, switch to a different workspace from the main menu.

The Mod details menu provides options for packaging your mod. You can enter a name, a version, description, and creator details. Upload an image if you want to. The most important of these options is the File extension. Leave this on the default option of .JAR.

When you’re ready, press Recompile and export. This will package up your mod, but it may take some time depending on your computer, and the number of things you have changed.

You will need to agree to the terms of use, but once compiled, finish up by choosing a location on your file system to store your completed mod.

Importing Minecraft Mods With Minecraft Forge

Now that your mod is complete, all that’s left to do is import it into Minecraft.

To install this mod, or any other mod, you need to install Minecraft Forge. Forge provides a simple and easy way to install custom mods into Minecraft itself.

From the Forge home page, download an installer suitable for your operating system and Minecraft version. Run the installer, and when prompted, choose Install client.

Once installed, launch or restart Minecraft. From the Minecraft Launcher, press the up arrow to the right of the play button at the bottom. Select Forge. This will load Minecraft with Forge, so you will need to do this everytime you want to use your mod.

When in Minecraft, things will look different with Forge running. There’s some extra text at the bottom, along with a Mods button.

Choose the Mods button, and you’ll see that your mod is not visible. You need to install your mod into Forge/Minecraft. Installation involves copying and pasting your mod into the mods folder of Minecraft.

• On Windows, this is in AppData/.minecraft/
• On Mac, this is in Library/Application Support/minecraft/

You may need to restart Minecraft if you’ve pasted your mod while it is running. Enter the mods menu, and your mod will show up, complete with description, title, picture, and creator information. Well done!

For this example, the “super_diamond” is now visible alongside all the other blocks.

Where Will Your Minecraft Mods Take You?

Modding Minecraft is an excellent way to add some variety to the game, but it’s even better if you make the mod yourself. Once you have learned these basic building blocks, you can begin to make more complex mods.

If you’d like to customize Minecraft, but want something quicker and easier to change, take a look at how to create and install custom Minecraft textures.

If you’re up for a bigger challenge, follow our Minecraft Pi modding guide, which bridges the gap between Minecraft and the real world. Alternatively, these awesome Minecraft projects for kids are excellent and tons of fun.

Read the full article: How to Create Your Own Minecraft Mod

Read Full Article

Waymo-branded Jaguar I-Pace vehicles hit the streets of San Francisco

Waymo’s next phase in self-driving cars has begun.

The former Google self-driving project that spun out to become a business under Alphabet has received its first three all-electric I-Pace crossover sport utility produced by Jaguar Land Rover. These I-Pace EVS — the first on U.S. roads outside of JLR’s own fleet — can be seen driving around the San Francisco Bay Area.

These aren’t operating autonomously just yet. For now, Waymo is testing the vehicle’s performance on roads to generate self-driving system design requirements and develop durability tests, the company told TechCrunch.

Waymo announced in March a strategic partnership with Jaguar Land Rover to develop a self-driving electric I-Pace for a driverless transportation service. The plan is for the electric SUV to become part of Waymo’s driverless fleet beginning in 2020.

Ultimately, up to 20,000 modified I-Pace vehicles will join Waymo’s soon-to-be-launched driverless ride-hailing service in the first two years of operation.

The Jaguar I-Pace SUVs are a piece of Waymo’s larger plan to build a self-driving system to be used in ride-hailing, delivery and logistics such as trucking, connecting rides with public transit and licensing the technology with automakers for personally owned vehicles.

Read Full Article

The 10 Best Educational Apps for Kids on Every School Subject

Most parents know that kids shouldn’t spend too much time in front of a smartphone or tablet. Indeed, several studies have linked excessive screen time with expressive speech problems.

That’s why you need to limit your child’s screen time, and when they do have screen time, make sure they spend it in the best possible way.

So rather than playing purely entertaining games for hours on end, why not help your kid’s development by engaging them with some of these educational apps for kids instead?

1. Best Reading App for Kids: Hooked on Phonics

There’s no shortage of high-quality reading apps and websites for kids. With a bit of digging, you can find something that perfectly matches your child’s interests and abilities.

An excellent all-around app for young learners is Hooked on Phonics. It’s aimed at kids between the ages of three and seven. It uses interactive learn-to-read tools developed in conjunction with the US Children’s Reading Foundation.

The 200 songs, games, ebooks, and lessons correspond with federal reading proficiency standards, so you’ll be able to make sure your child is on track.

Download: Hooked on Phonics for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

2. Best Math App for Kids: DragonBox Algebra 5+

The ultimate goal of these apps is to teach a child new concepts without them realizing it. If an app is too educational, kids are likely to lose interest sooner.

DragonBox Algebra meets those requirements. It teaches kids aged five and older the basics of addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication.

The app makes players manipulate on-screen cards to complete puzzles. As the game progresses, the app slowly reveals the operators needed to isolate the board’s “Dragon Box.”

Download: DragonBox Algebra 5+ for Android | iOS ($5)

3. Best Science App for Kids: My Incredible Body

An educational app should be both informative and visually stunning. My Incredible Body meets these requirements.

You can take a rocket ride around the body to see how everything works. All videos and images are medically accurate. At any time, you can stop the ride and watch the body in action. For example, you can see a video of what happens to the lungs while breathing or how the heart functions while you’re exercising.

Questions on specific topics are available through in-app purchases, thus letting your kid test themselves on what they’ve learned. There are nine topics to choose from, including Brain and Nerves, Lungs and Air, Kidneys and Urine, and Puberty and Human Reproduction.

Download: My Incredible Body for Android | iOS ($25)

4. Best Music App for Kids: Easy Music

Designed by an Ear Training Professor, Easy Music aims to introduce children to music theory from a young age. It’s suitable for kids aged three and older.

Your child will learn about notes, pitch, rhythm, and melody through the use of virtual instruments, genres of music, and everyday objects.

The app offers two modes: Practice and Compose. Once the player has the basics of the theory nailed down, they can move into the compose mode and try to create their own musical masterpiece.

Download: Easy Music for Android | iOS ($4)

5. Best History App for Kids: Timeline Eons

Lots of history apps focus on specific eras such as the Roman Empire, Medieval Europe, or the two World Wars.

However, if you want an all-around app that deals with the entirety of history, grab Timeline Eons. It’s impossible to convey how much information is included—it deals with all natural and human history since the very beginning.

You can zoom in and out of the timeline for more detailed breakdowns of particular times. At its most zoomed in, the scrollable timeline is longer than the circumference of the Earth.

You can even use the data to create your own timelines; it’s useful if you’re trying to engage your kids with a specific topic or age.

Download: Timeline Eons for Android | iOS ($3)

6. Best Geography App for Kids: GeoBee Challenge

GeoBee Challenge is developed by the National Geographic Society and is based on its National Geographic Bee competition. The competition is open to kids in grades four to eight, but the questions are challenging for older kids too.

There are two rounds of gameplay: multiple-choice and map challenge. The app offers more than 1,300 multiple choice questions, all featured at some point in the National Geographic Bee. In the map round, kids need to identify locations.

Download: GeoBee Challenge for Android | iOS (Free)

7. Best Spanish App for Kids: Spanish School Bus

Spanish is arguably the most practical language for English-speaking westerners to learn. It’s the second most widely-spoken language in the world after Mandarin, and more than a sixth of the people in the United States are now fluent in it.

If you want to give your kid a head start, download Spanish School Bus. It uses the Montessori-based learning approach to introduce children to 300 common Spanish words across topics such as colors, animals, food, and travel.

There’s also a healthy dose of Spanish and Latin culture, with introductory information about historical figures, landmarks, music, and art.

Download: Spanish School Bus for Android | iOS (Free, premium version available)

If you want to learn alongside your child, check out our list of unusual ways to learn a foreign language using technology.

8. Best Art App for Kids: Art of Glow

For a drawing app that’s specifically geared towards kids, check out Art of Glow. It lets kids create brightly-colored neon artwork using finger swipes. You can also make art into a short video. Your kid’s creations will instantly come to life.

The moving, vivid colors on the black background are guaranteed to keep a child entertained for hours.

Download: Art of Glow for Android | iOS (Free)

For something more advanced, perhaps your child could learn to use drawing software such as Autodesk SketchBook.

9. Best Coding App for Kids: codeSpark Academy

In the technological age, all kids should have some rudimentary programming knowledge. In our opinion, it’s a disgrace that programming is still not part of the core curriculum.

codeSpark Academy is for children between the ages of four and nine. The app introduces kids to the fundamental principles of coding, then lets them practice what they’ve learned. The practice takes place across drag-and-drop games, puzzles, game design, creative projects, and even offline printables.

The entire app was developed in conjunction with experts from MIT, Princeton, and Carnegie Mellon, so you know you’re using a quality piece of software.

Download: codeSpark Academy for Android | iOS (Free trial, $8/month subscription required)

10. Best Finance App for Kids: FamZoo

Another glaring omission from the core curriculum is finance and money management. It’s never too early to establish the basics of saving with your kids, and you can introduce more complex financial principles as they get older.

FamZoo is the solution. It acts as a centralized, parent-run bank for kids. You can assign monetary values to chores, add pocket money to kids’ accounts, instigate financial penalties, and pay interest.

As your kid becomes older, you can add a pre-paid card to the account. You can load the money onto the card, then keep track of which stores your child is spending it in. You can even block certain stores and merchants.

Download: FamZoo for Android | iOS (Free trial, $6/month subscription required)

Other Apps, Games, and Resources for Kids

Mobile apps are just one part of a parent’s educational armory; you should not exclusively rely on them. Make sure you take your kids outdoors, into museums, and on trips—they’ll all help to give your child a balanced education.

And remember, you have many more techie ways of learning that aren’t necessarily app-based. You could play some educational Chrome games, 3D-printed educational toys, or even a selection of older educational game classics.

Image Credit: NatashaFedorova/Depositphotos

Read the full article: The 10 Best Educational Apps for Kids on Every School Subject

Read Full Article