Новости за 26.07.2017

A few weeks ago, when SoundCloud let go 173 employees, the internet banded together and created a “Hire a SoundClouder” Google doc to connect companies hiring with those affected by the layoffs. Now, WeTransfer has stepped in to also help the ex-SoundCloud workers by offering each of them $10,000.

Facebook reported its second quarter earnings today, and the results were predictably positive. The social network passed 2 billion monthly users earlier this summer, with over 1.3 billion using its software every day. The company parlayed that audience into $9.3 billion in revenue and $3.89 billion in net income. That’s a 71 percent higher profit than it reported for this same period last year.

On August 21st, a total solar eclipse will pass through the continental United States — traveling from the coasts of Oregon to South Carolina. It’s going to be an incredible sight, but the only way to watch it safely is to view the partially eclipsed Sun with special solar filter glasses that block out the majority of the Sun’s light. Only certain solar filter glasses sold online have been properly certified.

After previewing the devices earlier in July, Meizu has officially announced its next flagship Android devices, the Pro 7 and the Pro 7 Plus. But before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the specs, we need to talk about the most unique feature from the Pro 7 line — a second AMOLED display on the back of the device.

Walmart confirmed today that it will in fact be canceling all of those SNES Classic preorders it accidentally accepted last week when the product page was mistakenly put live. The company is notifying preorder holders via email — some of whom are game journalists who’ve posted the note to Twitter — saying, “We know that this is incredibly disappointing to you, and we’re truly sorry for this mistake.” Well, there you have it, folks: the SNES Classic preorder party is over, at least for now.

Last year, Rogue One marked a small, but significant departure within the larger Star Wars universe: Michael Giacchino, rather than legendary composer John Williams, was in charge of scoring the film. Now, Lucasfilm has announced that another new composer will take the reins for the next standalone film: John Powell, best known for his work on the Bourne and How to Train Your Dragon franchises.

The most thrilling scene in Luc Besson’s stupefyingly ambitious new science fiction opus Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets takes place inside a giant metaphor. Protagonists Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) have been tasked with retrieving a McGuffin from an alien junk dealer whose storefront happens to be located in an alternate dimension. Through the use of virtual reality-style gear and miniportals resembling old-school boomboxes, they’re able to reach through... Читать дальше...

Airbnb and the NAACP announced a partnership today to promote the rental service’s platform in communities of color. The move is a way to both boost the sharing economy as an income stream for black Americans and help increase the diversity of hosts to curb discrimination. Airbnb has grappled for years now with racism on its platform, with hosts discriminating against people of color and other minorities both in the US and abroad when deciding who they permit to rent their homes or apartments.

HBO’s Making Game of Thrones blog is a good homepage bookmark for the summer months. For one, it regularly posts solid behind-the-scenes tidbits from Game of Thrones, and for another, everything on it is purely fantasy and totally unrelated to the world around you. Last year, Making Game of Thrones shared an image of the prop letter Ramsay Bolton mailed Jon Snow just before the Battle of the Bastards.

A US judge ruled that Apple must pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison $506 million for infringing on its patent. This amount is more than double the amount originally decided on by a jury, according to Reuters. The ruling continues a two-year-old patent-infringement battle, which may not be over.

I’m sure there are plenty of serious, business-y applications for iOS 11’s ARKit framework, but bless humans, because it’s also being used for very important and practical things like space cats and little BB-8 sidekicks.

Greek police have arrested one of the central figures in the Bitcoin exchange BTC-e on suspicion of money laundering. Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece at the request of US law enforcement, according to a Reuters report. The report cites two sources close to BTC-e who describe Vinnik as “a key person behind the platform.”

Apple and hearing assistance company Cochlear have teamed up to launch the first iPhone-compatible cochlear implant sound processor. The processor will accompany an implant. (The processor isn't what’s implanted inside the body; it's what you see outside and what gathers audio to then send to the implant.)

Google is getting rid of its landmark Instant Search feature, which automatically populates search results as you type in a query, according to Search Engine Land. Instant Search was first introduced back in 2010 under the guidance of Marissa Mayer, then the company’s vice president of search and user experience. It was a pivotal change in not just how users experienced Google, but also how they used the internet to seek out knowledge. Google estimated at the time that it would collectively shave... Читать дальше...

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special-event releases. A version of this review originally ran on January 20, 2017, in conjunction with the film’s premiere at Sundance.

The Transportation Security Administration, the only line of defense between us and an influx of Satanic fidget spinners, just announced new airport screening policies that are designed to make your life a living hell.

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi launched two new gadgets today: the Mi 5X smartphone, and a new smart speaker called the Mi AI Speaker. While the smartphone is somewhat interesting, if only because it features a dual-camera system, the speaker is certainly the more intriguing announcement.

At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, audiences got their first look at two highly anticipated geek-culture properties. Stranger Things, Netflix’s ode to Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, got a second season trailer exploring the show’s expanding mythos, set to the iconic sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” And Spielberg himself took to Comic-Con’s Hall H stage to reveal a teaser for Ready Player One, his adaptation of Ernest Cline’s best-selling pop-culture treasure-hunt adventure.

Last year, one of the Star Wars Expanded Universe’s biggest fan-favorite characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn, was given new life. He appeared in the third season of Star Wars Rebels and was featured in his own novel. Last week at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Comics announced that the character would be the focus of a new comic miniseries.

Jellyfish are majestic creatures. When displayed with some colorful backlights, the animal’s translucent body and natural bioluminescence can be a visual delight, and they make for popular exhibits at various museums around the world. The folks at Cubic Aquarium know how cool jellyfish can look in your home, so they created a tank with built-in, color-changing LED lights to bring the best out of your new aquatic pets.

If you want to call it peak hipster, I won’t argue with that. I won’t argue and I won’t care. The Peak Design Everyday Backpack expresses an opinion that not everyone will agree with, but that’s why I like it so much. This backpack’s designers believe in a sort of stylish modularity that sacrifices maximum space efficiency for the sake of better access to your stuff and, in all honesty, sharper looks.

Russian pranksters pretending to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman fooled Energy Secretary Rick Perry into taking a hoax phone call.

In Luc Besson’s science-fiction fantasy Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, one of the major action sequences takes place in a space called the Big Market. It’s a sort of hyperdimensional mall where tourists show up in busses to strap on VR gear and wander around in a desert, while virtually experiencing a promised 1 million shops. Valerian’s Big Market has some technology that we aren’t likely to achieve anytime soon. It isn’t just virtual reality: the stores exist in a different dimension... Читать дальше...

Email by EasilyDo has been my favorite email application for iOS and Android for a while now, thanks to its lightning-fast speed, clean design, and useful features. Now it’s getting a few more nice additions.

Apple's ecosystem just got a little bit less sticky thanks to Google's location sharing app launching on iOS. Trusted Contacts was launched on Android in December, allowing friends and family to see and request your location — even when offline by showing your last known position. With its inclusion in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, now anyone in the smartphone duopoly can keep track of their loved ones.