Being locked up at home can drive people a little nuts. Several technology products have been particularly helpful while sheltering in place, making this semi-forced timeout feel less like a punishment and more like something I could endure. The Atmoph Window 2, for example, looks like a picture on your wall, but inside the frame is a connected 27-inch 4K display that is tied to remote cameras.
Women in Tech: 20 Trailblazers Share Their Journeys
Successful women in the tech trenches share their insights and tackle subjects ranging from how to search out a strong mentor to how to be one -- from how to advance in a large company to how to start your own firm.
This book is an excellent guide for students considering STEM courses, graduates pondering job choices, and career changers at any stage in life. It's also a useful tool for school and career counselors, recruiters, and HR pros eager to diversify their workplaces.
The Strange, Meandering Journey to Online Speech Regulation
There has been a lot of debate in the public sphere around the degree and kind of legal regulation a society should apply to online speech. While the dialogue has become more intense and urgent in the last few years, the effort to impose limits on Internet speech has been contentious from the start. At present, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is undergoing reconsideration.
PsychOS: A Crazy Cool Distro That Pushes Linux Limits
One of the great joys of constantly checking out new or obscure Linux operating systems is finding some insane innovations that stand out from the crowded collection of distros. The current release of PsychOS Linux, code-named "Insane," possibly might blow your mind.
New Flaws in Intel's CPU Software Guard Extensions Revealed
Two separate teams of academic researchers have published papers describing flaws in Intel's Software Guard Extensions. SGX enhances application security by letting developers partition sensitive information into enclaves with hardware-assisted enhanced security protection.
Apple plans to announce a new processor for its Mac computer line at its virtual World Wide Developers Conference later this month, according to a report. The company will begin using an ARM chip based on Apple's A14 processor, which will be featured in the next iPhone.
A browser that has received plaudits for privacy protection has been exposed for redirecting Web searches to make money. Brave, a browser with some 15 million monthly users, has been redirecting searches for cryptocurrency companies to links that produce revenue for the browser's owners through advertising affiliate programs.
Linux Foundation Offers Discount-Priced Cloud Engineer Bootcamp
The Linux Foundation is priming the pump to help software engineers get cloud technology-certified through a self-paced bootcamp and discount pricing, with its announcement of the Cloud Engineer Bootcamp, its first-ever training bootcamp.
In these trying times, kids have to deal with a lot of stuff they weren't prepared for: a significant loss of weeks of education, damaged GPAs, and no assurance they'll be going back to school in the fall. However, some schools were able to pivot because they already had implemented remote programs that were mature, easily implemented, and designed by teachers for teachers.
Some 50 editors working for Microsoft's news operation have learned their contracts won't be renewed and their jobs will be performed by artificial intelligence software, according to reports.
For many people stuck at home, Internet connectivity issues became more troublesome in recent months. Does flaky Internet connectivity have you scrounging for solutions? Here are some tips to improve your home WiFi.
If your contact center agents are working from home, download this Remote Agent Checklist to ensure they can provide exceptional customer experience, no matter where they're based.
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With no E3 this year, video game news is flowing steadily every day, and EA kicked off the week by revealing its 5v5 X-wing vs. TIE fighter shooter Star Wars: Squadrons. While space dogfighting sims of various scale have always been around, this one includes the hook of cross-platform play, which will include players using VR headsets on PC and PlayStation.
EA
I've gotten a little tired of the squad shooter format, but shootouts in space that work across platforms is enough to pull me back in, and that's before you add the Star Wars tie-in with a story that takes place after Return of the Jedi. Unfortunately the two-minute trailer we have now is more hat than cattle, as EA's saving a "full gameplay reveal" on June 18th.
— Richard
T-Mobile's outage finally ended after more than twelve hours
Even Ajit Pai was upset.
T-Mobile
From about noon ET on yesterday, T-Mobile customers across the US had trouble with their voice and text message services. The company blamed it on a routing problem, and CEO Mike Sievert wrote that "an IP traffic related issue that has created significant capacity issues in the network core throughout the day." The outage was so bad that Down Detector lit up hotspots in major cities, causing people to spread poorly sourced conspiracy theories about DDoS attacks from whatever enemy they could imagine.
If you're still wondering how a problem like this could be so bad and last for so long, then Cloudflare CEO and DDoS protection expert Matthew Prince has a thread explaining the "far more boring" reality of what happened. Continue reading.
Nintendo made a free 'jump rope' fitness game for the Switch
It's no Ring Fit Adventure.
Nintendo
I haven't been to the gym. You haven't, either. And you hate running. Same. So let your Switch act as some sort of calorie burner, for free. The company has launched a free jump rope challenge game that logs your efforts through the Joy-Cons. It supports up to two players if you have a competitive spirit, and hey, no rope to trip over. Nintendo says the limited run will last through the end of September. Continue reading.
Lego Super Mario is almost here
It's a charming attempt at real-life 'Mario Maker.'
Engadget
After a teaser months ago, Lego's latest gaming collaboration, this time with Nintendo, is here. The coolest part of the new Lego Super Mario kits has to be Mario. He's twice the size of a regular Lego character — and has tiny LCD screens where his eyes, mouth and chest should be. These components, combined with a loudspeaker positioned on the back of his head, allow Mario to blink, grin and deliver fully voiced lines, like "yahoo," "Lego Mario time" and "I'm-a-tired."
The kit lets you make your own courses, so we did exactly that. The Starter Course alone will cost $59.99 at launch later this summer. Continue reading.
The PS5's dashboard will have 'a whole new visual language'
It'll be 'more subtle than flashy.'
PlayStation's head of UX design says its user interface will look just as different as the PS5's outer shell. A new interface was always on the cards — something a quick demonstration of the start-up screen confirmed last week. But in a LinkedIn thread, Matt MacLaurin said the team has created a "100 percent overhaul of the PS4 UI and some very different new concepts." He added that the PS5 OS is "more subtle than flashy, but no pixel is untouched." Continue reading.
The Engadget guide to the best midrange smartphones
Who says greatness has to be expensive?
Engadget
Companies go to great lengths to sell you on the flashiest, most expensive phones, but the features they pioneer quickly trickle down to more reasonably priced devices. Big, beautiful screens? Multiple rear cameras? Huge batteries? These all used to be high-end hallmarks that are now readily available in devices under $500. And, in 2020, with the likes of the new iPhone SE, the OnePlus 7 Pro and the Pixel 3a, there are some truly good phones to get. Chris Velazco, who knows way too much about all these phones, breaks down what you need to know. Continue reading.
Philips Hue's latest smart bulb is blindingly bright
Its latest smart bulb is rated at 1,600 lumens.
Philips
Philips Hue has unveiled its brightest smart bulb yet, boasting an output of 1,600 lumens, which is the equivalent of a traditional 100W bulb. The brand says it's enough to light a kitchen or garage, and if it's ever a little too bright, you can dim the bulb wirelessly via the app. Each bulb will cost $19.99. Continue reading.
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It's a hard time to sell cosmetically different phones that are merely flagship devices, plus three months and a new colorway. But if anyone can do it, it's K-pop princes BTS.
Yep, they're teaming up with Samsung to launch a special edition Galaxy S20+ and a pair of companion Galaxy Buds+ featuring the band's logo and the purple hearts design that BTS is known for using. The phone is purple — real purple — and ships pre-installed with BTS-inspired themes and K-pop fan community platform, Weverse. Plus, fans are getting decorative stickers and photo cards of BTS members as a nice bonus.
Samsung
I might not be a member of The Army, but these purple-hued Galaxy Buds are, I'll admit, my kind of thing.
—Mat
Microsoft's latest Windows 10 updates come with nasty printer bugs
It's making certain printers unable to print.
The latest updates for Windows 10 give the platform's security a boost, but they unfortunately come with nasty bugs that make printing impossible. Microsoft released the buggy updates — KB4560960 and KB4557957 — on June 9th, and users started experiencing issues as soon as they installed them. User reports online show that the issue affects various HP, Canon, Panasonic, Brother and Ricoh printer models. Some users even reported being unable to print files as PDFs.
Microsoft has published a notice acknowledging that update KB4557957 may render certain printers unable to print. The tech giant warns users that the "[p]rint spooler may error or close unexpectedly when attempting to print and no output will come from the affected printer."
The company is still working on a fix and promises to provide more information when it rolls one out. For now, affected users will have to replace their printer's driver or uninstall Windows 10's June updates. Continue reading.
The 'Resident Evil' series has sold over 100 million copies
How many Jill sandwiches is that?
Capcom
Capcom has sold over 100 million copies of Resident Evil games since the franchise launched its schlocky version of horror in 1996. It didn't break down the sales by series but noted that RE7 by itself sold 7.5 million units. The Resident Evil 3 remake sold 2 million copies in its first five days. Capcom didn't note any sales figures for the more obscure spin-offs and online titles. (What about Code: Veronica?)
The franchise hasn't been in a stronger place. Off the back of the RE2 and RE3 remakes, it just announced Resident Evil: Village, which continues the story from the seventh entry. Zombies are still popular. Continue reading.
SpaceX has a month to prove Starlink is worthy of rural broadband funding
It believes it can easily beat the 100-millisecond funding cutoff.
Getty
The FCC said it has "serious doubts" that SpaceX will be able to deliver internet service from its satellite network with latency under 100 milliseconds (via Ars Technica). That would not only be bad for users, but means that SpaceX could be at a disadvantage in an auction to distribute $16 billion in federal funds to support rural broadband access.
The FCC admitted that Starlink and other LEO (low-Earth orbit) providers have advantages over geostationary satellites that operate at much higher altitudes. However, it's skeptical that orbital altitude alone can determine latency, saying "processing, routing and transporting traffic to its destination" can also affect it.
SpaceX argued that the FCC's doubts are unfounded and that Starlink will "easily clear the commission's 100-millisecond threshold for low-latency services, even including its "processing time" during unrealistic worst-case scenarios. The company currently has 480 satellites but no consumer services, and it has exactly a month to submit an application for the auction. Continue reading.
Tesla's US-made Model 3 now has standard wireless phone charging
It's one of the first real changes.
Tesla
Tesla hasn't changed many visible features on the Model 3 since its debut, but it just made one that you're bound to notice if you like to keep your phone topped up while you drive. An Electrek reader has confirmed that US-made versions of the Model 3 now come standard with wireless phone charging and USB-C ports. Until now, you had to buy either the Chinese Model 3 or a Model Y to get these creature comforts. Continue reading.
