March 24, 2016 – Peter's Quasi-Daily Blah-g

March 24, 2016

Google’s Nik Collection of Photo Editing Software Is Now Completely Free

Nik Collection, seven powerful photo editing desktop plug-ins from Google, has dropped its price from $150 to being completely free for everyone.

Cartoons from XKCD creator will appear in high school science textbooks

Teens will get chemistry, biology, and physics explainers from Munroeâ€™s latest book.

from Ars Technica http://ift.tt/1UHhVtf
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March 24, 2016

Wrong house gets torn down based on a Google Maps error

We’ve seen our share of GPS-guided mishaps, but what happened to the owners of a Texas duplex is particularly heartbreaking. Their house was torn down by mistake (no, this isn’t the first time that’s happened, it’s not even the first time in Texas) after it was damaged by a tornado, and the demolition company apparently blames Google Maps for the error. They lived at 7601 Calypso Dr., and as you can see below, on Google Maps it lists the same location for that address as it shows for 7601 Cousteau Dr. –the home a block away that was supposed to be demolished. (At the time of this writing, both Apple Maps and Mapquest have what appears to be the correct listing for 7601 Cousteau Dr.)

Homeowner Lindsey Diaz told KERA News that she had just applied for a builder’s permit to repair and rebuild, before getting a call from her neighbor about what had happened. An employee for Billy L. Nabors Demolition, the company behind the teardown, apparently sent her a screenshot showing what Google Maps displays, but so far no one from the company has apologized for the mistake.

Despite years of development and crowd-sourced editing, the usually-excellent Google Maps still has occasional blind spots, and this shows that the consequences can be a bit more devastating than a missed delivery, or having to loop around the block an extra time. Of course, while a tornado-damaged neighborhood might not have enough street signs and house numbers left to make verification easy, you’d think it would be prudent to double check the location before getting started on work like this.

Source: WFAA, KERA News

from Engadget http://ift.tt/1PsB1LJ
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March 24, 2016

Data Mining Reveals the Four Urban Conditions That Create Vibrant City Life

The lack of an evidence-based approach to city planning has ruined cities all over the world. But data-mining techniques are finally revealing the rules that make cities successful, vibrant places to live.

from New on MIT Technology Review http://ift.tt/1RBl918
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March 24, 2016

Amazon Has an Official Guide for Building Your Own Alexa Device with a Raspberry Pi

Weâ€™ve shown off one way to build your own Amazon Echo before
(or more accurately, Amazon Tap because the DIY version canâ€™t access the always-listening feature), but if youâ€™re looking for a different approach, the Amazon GitHub page has an incredibly detailed guide to getting the Alexa voice service up and running on a Raspberry Pi.