Новости за 03.08.2017

Two years after its famous flyby of Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is zooming toward another space rock at the edge of the Solar System, and scientists now think they may know its shape. The object could resemble a rubber duck or it could be two space rocks very close together, according to new observations. The information is key to better prepare for New Horizons’ flyby of the object, which is currently scheduled for January 1st, 2019.

Uber is often described as “a dumpster fire,” thanks to its tendency to stumble from one self-inflicted crisis to the next. Now the embattled ride-hail company is having to deal with an actual fire after one of the recalled vehicles it rented to drivers in Singapore recently burst into flames, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The FCC is back to operating at full strength, with the Senate filling in two commissioner spots today that had sat open since January. The spots went to Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendon Carr.

The fact that Samsung is working on a rugged, Active-branded variant of its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone isn’t exactly a surprise. The device was rumored as early as April, and pictures and specifications for the upcoming smartphone have already throughly been leaked.

Earlier this summer, director Neill Blomkamp announced a new creative workshop called Oats Studios, and the filmmaker has just released its latest project. Kapture is a documentary-style CG short about a pair of weapons designers who test out their their latest creations, serving as a callback to a critical scene in Blomkamp’s debut District 9, while also highlighting the oddball sensibilities that have been a focal point of most of Oats Studios’ projects.

Paramount has set a release date for Ex Machina writer-director Alex Garland’s next film, Annihilation: February 23rd, 2018.

In its never-ending quest to connect you with other working professionals whom you will never again make contact with, LinkedIn’s product team has released some real head-scratchers in its storied, 14-year history. From the Microsoft-owned company’s recent Facebook-style news feed implementation to the long-standing encouragement that complete and total strangers “connect” as a way to inflate one’s networking skills, LinkedIn has become this kind of bizarro social network that everyone outside... Читать дальше...

In 1993, writer-artist Mike Mignola introduced comic book readers to Hellboy, a demon discovered and raised by American soldiers after World War II that ended up fighting against forces attempting to take over the Earth. It was an almost immediate hit, and Mignola went on to expand the world with an array of new characters and a related comic series.

Facebook’s latest diversity report, out today, comes with a genuine surprise: improvement in nearly every category. While most tech companies struggle to make their workplaces more diverse and less dominated by white and male employees, Facebook has managed to hire more women and minorities in the last year in almost every category it tracks.

Originally noticed by Artnet, photographer Cindy Sherman suddenly has a public Instagram account with hundreds of posts. For fans of the photographer, it’s kind of like a surprise show of new material.

Japan has a mascot for just about everything, and the newest addition is Kan-chan, an adorable pink penguin from Tokyo-based Ichijiku Pharmaceutical Co. If you’re having trouble trying to figure out what Kan-chan is, we’ll help you out: this perky, kawaii little creature is... an enema.

There’s a new app out from iTranslate that teases the idea of real-time, universal translation better than almost anything before it. It’s called iTranslate Converse, and it’s available on iOS today (and coming to Android this fall).

Amazon announced today that it’s updating its Alexa voice assistant with the ability to play back music from the Amazon Music library based on specific activities, like meditation or running.

The fight against President Trump’s border wall gained urgency this week when the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to fast-track construction. Photos are a particularly effective reminder of just what is at stake, and yesterday the American Society of Mammalogists tweeted pictures of species that the wall threatens.

Vector — a private spaceflight startup based out of Tucson, Arizona — just successfully pulled off another test flight of one of its micro-rockets, launching the 40-foot-tall vehicle this morning from a spaceport in Georgia. It’s the second flight of the vehicle: a full-scale prototype of one of the company’s rockets, the Vector-R. And though the vehicle didn’t reach orbit, it puts Vector one step closer to its goal of rapidly launching tiny satellites to space starting in 2018.

Google has been getting more aggressive at promoting good Android apps in the Play Store lately, mainly by demoting bad apps in its search rankings. The latest way that’s happening, as Google puts it, is that the company is “incorporating app quality signals in our ranking algorithms.”

Facebook Stories, one of several Facebook-made Snapchat clones, is coming to the desktop. TechCrunch says it’s confirmed with Facebook that a desktop version of Stories is currently in testing. But while it’s supposedly only a test for now, Facebook also said that it’s planning a wider rollout in the near future. So don’t be surprised if they pop up on the site soon.

The Chevy Bolt beat the Tesla Model S 75D by 15 miles in a new range test performed by Consumer Reports. GM’s all-electric crossover made it 250 miles before its battery was completely zapped, while the Tesla died out at 235 miles. It’s a shocking turn of events when you consider that the Model S 75D should have easily charged past the Chevy Bolt according to their EPA range estimates, which are 259 and 238 miles, respectively.

A pair of chatbots have been taken offline in China after failing to show enough patriotism, reports the Financial Times. The two bots were removed from the popular messaging app Tencent QQ after users shared screenshots of their conversations online.

The first season of Telltale’s Batman series let you create your own take on the Caped Crusader. Through the studio’s distinct brand of choice-based gameplay, players were able to shape the personality of both Bruce Wayne and Batman based on their in-game actions. If you chose to act like a jerk, then that’s exactly what Batman would be. That will continue with the soon-to-launch season 2, but with one important difference: you’ll also be able to mold Batman’s most iconic nemesis, the Joker. “We have a formative Joker... Читать дальше...

Tesla has started installing the first of its Solar Roofs, and Elon Musk is among the initial customers. The Tesla CEO said on a call with investors last night that he and JB Straubel, the company’s CTO, have both installed the solar power roofs on their homes. Musk even claims that two photos released in Tesla’s letter to investors (seen below) are of one of their houses (though the home looks a little small for Musk).

Since their invention in the 14th century, clocks have been a mainstay of figuring out the time and whether you’re late to your next meeting. And while we’ve no doubt made advances in horology since then to improve accuracy — quartz movements, digital clocks, and the like — for the most part, clocks have been working out pretty well in their traditional incarnation. You know, the “thing with numbers that tells you what time it is.”

After a rise in acid attacks in London, with some against food delivery riders last month, Deliveroo is now providing its workers with helmet-mounted cameras. Since the attacks, over 70 Deliveroo riders have said they do not want to complete a delivery because of safety fears, reports the BBC. The initial trial of helmet cameras will be offered in the Hackney area of East London, a trouble spot, and will allow riders to film evidence in case of future attacks. A new security feature allowing riders... Читать дальше...

Lenovo fumbles its flagship Moto Z with questionable design choices

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The Internet of Shit is a column about all the shitty things we try to connect to the internet, and what can be done about it. It’s from the anonymous creator of the Internet of Shit Twitter account.