Posts

However, some commercial cloud storage options such as Google Drive don’t support opening encrypted files. However, that might be changing soon. Earlier today, sleuths at XDA discovered that the Big G might be working on support for opening encrypted files on Drive. The publication discovered some new strings in version 2.20.441.06.40 of the Android app suggesting support for encrypted files. But the strings don’t shine a light on any other details....

This feature combines all things entertainment — videos, TV shows, movies, games, and books — under a new page. The new hub will live on the left side of the home screen that you can access just with a swipe. Once you sign into apps that you subscribe to, you’ll start seeing content in the Entertainment Space. This will allow you to search for stuff across the services — just like you can on a lot of smart TVs....

This would have led to all existing Nest integrations not working beyond that date. In addition, it would’ve forced existing Nest customers to migrate their accounts to Google accounts and use Google Assistant to control their smart home setups. Now in a bid to reassure Nest users and third-party device makers, Michele Turner, Director of Product and Smart Home Ecosystem for Google Nest, has addressed most of the concerns surrounding the transition by sharing an updated timeline of what exactly is set to happen after the cutoff date....

In an announcement, the company revealed it rewarded security researchers who found kinks in its defenses $6.5 million last year — that’s nearly twice the amount Google paid for bug bounties in 2018 which amounted to a total of $3.4 million. This brings the total amount of rewards given since 2010 to $21 million. “We paid out over $6.5 million in rewards, doubling what we’ve ever paid in a single year,” Google reps wrote....

These reports, called the COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, will contain trends of movement in terms of visiting places such as groceries, pharmacies, and workplaces. The company says it’ll contain data from the past several weeks up to until the last 48 to 72 hours. [Read: Facebook launches standalone Messenger desktop app] Google said these reports might help public health officials understand people’s habits of making essential trips outside their homes, for things like buying groceries and medicines — and recommend ideal operational hours for businesses accordingly: The search giant said that data is collected from folks who have turned on their location history in Google Maps....

This week, the Silicon Valley giant added another algorithmic screw-up to the list: misidentifying a software engineer as a serial killer. The victim of this latest botch was Hristo Georgiev, an engineer based in Switzerland. Georgiev discovered that a Google search of his name returned a photo of him linked to a Wikipedia entry on a notorious murderer. — Hristo Georgiev (@hggeorgievcom) June 24, 2021 “My first reaction was that somebody was trying to pull off some sort of an elaborate prank on me, but after opening the Wikipedia article itself, it turned out that there’s no photo of me there whatsoever,” said Georgiev in a blog post....

While workers everywhere take the Labor Day weekend for a little relaxation, consider this — how much labor would be stalled by dead batteries? From sucked-dry smartphones to lifeless laptops, everything seems to grind to a halt when that warning signal shifts from red to…nothing. It may not be a fate worse than death, but no battery life definitely isn’t great. To assure you never succumb to that horror, check out this trio of charging accessories discounted by TNW Deals....

Kinaret, a professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, examined the initial proposals. “I was not very impressed,” the 60-year-old tells TNW. “I thought they could find better ideas.” As it happened, Kinaret had an idea of his own: growing graphene. He decided to submit the topic for consideration. That proposal lay the foundation for the Graphene Flagship: the largest-ever European research program. Launched in 2013 with a €1 billion budget, the project aimed to bring the “wonder material” into the mainstream within 10 years....

So here’s a list of apps that kept us sane during this crazy 2020: Netflix Party/Tele Party (Ivan) The coronavirus pandemic meant that I had to be stuck home most of the time. So I dearly missed the movie and TV show binge sessions I used to have with my friends. Thankfully Netflix Party came to my rescue and I could watch a ton of shows while commenting on what’s going on....

Most deepfakes are made by showing a computer algorithm many images of a person, and then having it use what it saw to generate new face images. At the same time, their voice is synthesized, so it both looks and sounds like the person has said something new. Some of my research group’s earlier work allowed us to detect deepfake videos that did not include a person’s normal amount of eye blinking – but the latest generation of deepfakes has adapted, so our research has continued to advance....

Macs based on Apple Silicon It’s a Mac event, so we’ll see…new Macs. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s set to unveil three MacBooks powered by indigenous chips: two MacBook Pros and a MacBook Air. The report noted that the MacBook Pros will come in 13-inch and 16-inch sizes, while the new MacBook Air will be available in a 13-inch size. These machines will run a specially crafted version of A14 Bionic, the processor used in Apple’s latest series of iPhones....

At the time of writing this article, the first candidate was recently released on 11 August. Now, we’re anxiously waiting for the second release candidate which will probably be available from 14 September. So, you might be wondering what’s new in Python 3.9. Right? There are some significant changes that will dictate the way Python programs work. Most importantly, in this recent version, you will get a new parser that is based on Parsing Expression Grammar (PEG)....

QR codes are a handy tool to bridge the offline with the online. Whether it’s to redirect an offline advertising campaign’s audience to your online destination, or to track your conference’s visitors while they’re moving from stage to stage, QR codes can be used for a wide variety of tasks. But how do you actually create and store them in a simple way, even on a large scale? Well, look no further....

For one, Unix is written in C. Originally written in assembly, the Unix kernel was rewritten in C back in 1973. This made Unix a lot more portable across different machines, and helped make it popular. And without this, we wouldn’t have all the beautiful operating systems of today — think Linux, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, and whatever your router is running with. If you’ve ever worked with databases, you’ve definitely used C, too....

Spam detection is messy. The line between spam and non-spam messages is fuzzy, and the criteria change over time. From various efforts to automate spam detection, machine learning has so far proven to be the most effective and favored approach by email providers. Although we still see spammy emails, a quick look at the junk folder will show how much spam gets weeded out of our inboxes every day thanks to machine learning algorithms....

New air quality maps show that Copenhagen’s major access roads have nearly three times more ultrafine particles and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and five times higher black carbon levels than quieter residential areas. The insights have come out of a project with Google and Utrecht University, in collaboration with Aarhus University, to gather data via a Google Street View car fitted with advanced air quality measuring equipment. A statement from the City of Copenhagen said: “In general, air quality has improved in Copenhagen in recent years, but this trend does not seem to apply to motorways and major access roads, according to Google Street View car’s measurements of NO2....

Digital marketing, like the “analog” marketing that came before it, relies on word of mouth. Clicks, shares, pins and retweets are all part of the conversation. Even in the age of BuzzFeed and go-viral formulas (online quizzes involving yesteryear celebrities apparently back in style), many brands still engage traditional ad agencies and marketing consultants to craft their message. But a handful of companies go it alone, even after they achieve considerable success....

This week, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), the green arm of Forrest’s ​​Fortescue Metals Group, acquired UK company Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). To mark the purchase, WAE and Fortescue announced the development of a world-first, zero-emission “Infinity Train.” What the heck is an Infinity Train? It’s all about battery innovation. The Infinity Train project will use gravitational energy to fully recharge its battery-electric systems without any additional charging requirements for the return trip to reload....

Today we have moved on, right? But whenever we attempt to explain the under-representation of women in science, debunked myths seem to sneak back into the debate in different guises – no matter how often they are challenged. A century after the birth of Rosalind Franklin, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, it’s sadly time to once again shed light on the prejudices about women’s brains and abilities. The view that women are inferior to men has taken many different forms over the years....

During a case between two of Levandowski’s former employers, Google and Uber, Waymo lawyers allegedly painted the self-driving sensation out to be a troublesome and challenging employee, not the entrepreneurial and passionate engineer his past exploits suggest him to be. But how did Levandowski go from being one of the autonomous driving world’s most promising minds to being fired by Uber and declaring bankruptcy? [Read: Remembering the Nucleon, Ford’s 1958 nuclear-powered concept car that never was] Google and Uber are household names, but Levandowski has only risen to broad public notoriety as a result of various disputes between the two tech giants and himself....