April 2018 – Page 14 – Peter's Quasi-Daily Blah-g

April 10, 2018

Upgrade Your Nintendo Switch With These Clever DIY Lego Accessories

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Upgrade Your Nintendo Switch With These Clever DIY Lego Accessories

Nintendo’s upcoming Labo accessory for its portable Switch console certainly looks like it introduces some unique gameplay mechanisms. But do you really want to pay $70 for some cardboard origami? Not when you can build similar accessories using all the Lego you never stopped buying once you grew up.

Vimal Patel created a short video showing a handful of genuinely useful Nintendo Switch hacks using Lego Technic pieces, including a vastly improved kickstand, a better approach to mounting the Switch’s Joy-Cons, and a pair of steering wheels for mastering Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

It’s important to note that these builds rely on one Lego piece you almost certainly don’t already have, because Lego has never made it. You’ll need a 3D-printed adapter that connects to the side rails the Switch’s Joy-Cons usually do, allowing Lego structures to be securely attached to the console. Further complicating things is the fact that you’ll have to modify existing Switch adapters to make them Lego Technic-friendly, and then find a place to 3D print them for you. On second thought, $70 for a stack of cardboard just sounds way easier.

[YouTube via Hackaday]

Tech

via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com

April 10, 2018 at 10:12AM

April 10, 2018

Fire-Detecting Wallpaper Turns Entire Rooms Into a Better Smoke Detector

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Fire-Detecting Wallpaper Turns Entire Rooms Into a Better Smoke Detector

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and that’s how most alarm systems are able to detect and warn of trouble. But Chinese researchers have developed a new kind of wallpaper, using ingredients found in bones and teeth, that sounds the alarm when heat and flames are detected, turning every wall in a room into a potential early warning system.

The problem with relying on smoke to detect a fire is that it’s not always the earliest sign of trouble. Other gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide are actually released first, but even before those emissions there’s heat and flames, and that’s where this wallpaper alternative could be a lifesaver.

Researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that by creating long nanowires of hydroxyapatite, a brittle material found in bone and teeth, it became highly flexible but strong enough to be used as the base for a new kind of wallpaper. The results are not only environmentally-friendly, they’re also highly heat and fire-resistant, actually helping to prevent the spread of flames.

But why stop there? As detailed in the paper “Fire Alarm Wallpaper Based on Fire-Resistant Hydroxyapatite Nanowire Inorganic Paper and Graphene Oxide Thermosensitive Sensor,” which was recently published in ACS Nano, the researchers also added thermosensitive sensors made from drops of a graphene oxide ink mixture. At room temperature, the ink works as an electrical insulator, preventing the flow of electricity. But when heat is introduced, it quickly becomes conductive, completing a circuit that sounds an alarm after about two seconds in the presence of a fire.

As with any product based on a new discovery, getting this wallpaper into the hands of consumers and safety-conscious interior designers is going to take some time. Creating those long hydroxyapatite nanowires isn’t a cost-effective process just yet, and developing a way to manufacture them en masse so that the wallpaper remains affordable will require further research. There’s also the issue that no one wants to decorate with wallpaper anymore because it’s such a giant pain to hang it straight, but the pain of installation might outweigh the jarring sound of your smoke detector going off in the middle of the night because its battery is dying.

[ACS Nano via Phys.org]

Tech

via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com

April 10, 2018 at 12:24PM

April 10, 2018

Oregon governor signs net neutrality bill into law

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It’s getting increasingly difficult for internet providers to take advantage of the FCC’s looming net neutrality repeal. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has signed the state’s recently passed net neutrality bill (HB 4155) into law, forcing ISPs to honor net neutrality if they want to secure government contracts. As with other states’ legislative campaigns (including Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin), the measure is a creative workaround that enshrines equal treatment of internet traffic without directly overriding the FCC’s order.

A slew of other states (such as Montana, New Jersey and New York) have implemented similar demands through their governors’ executive orders.

The Oregon law doesn’t represent bulletproof protection for consumers. It exempts companies when there’s only one fixed broadband option (and let’s face it, the US is full of regional telecom monopolies). And while it does prevent blocking or throttling outside of urgent situations, it does allow paid prioritization so long as there are "significant public interest benefits" and it doesn’t "harm the open nature" of the service. We’d expect telecoms to test the limits of these rules, and the USTelecom lobbying group (which represents carriers like AT&T and Verizon) have already threatened to sue local governments that pass net neutrality legislation.

All the same, the signing illustrates just how difficult it’s likely to be for the current FCC administration to achieve its anti-net neutrality goals. ISPs will typically have to act as if Tom Wheeler-era net neutrality protections are still in place, and any campaign to undo state measures will likely have to go through a protracted court battle. This doesn’t mean that net neutrality is safe — just that the battle over its fate will take a long while.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Oregon.gov

Tech

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

April 9, 2018 at 02:42PM

April 10, 2018

Web standard brings password-free sign-ins to virtually any site

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Tech companies have been trying to do away with web passwords for years, but now it looks like they’ve reached a key milestone. The FIDO Alliance and W3C have launched a Web Authentication standard that makes it easier to offer truly unique encryption credentials for each site. That, in turn, lets you access virtually any online service in a PC browser through password-free FIDO Authentication, not just specific services. You can continue to use familiar methods like fingerprint readers, cameras and USB keys, and it can serve both in place of and in addition to passwords.

It’s about more than convenience. That same uniqueness reduces the chances that a password compromised on one site can be used on another — intruders shouldn’t have free rein with your accounts even if they punch through a site’s defenses.

The functionality is useful right now in Mozilla’s Firefox browser, and should come to both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge in the "next few months." Opera has also publicly committed to the technology (there’s no mention of Apple bringing it to Safari). No, you can’t immediately forego all your passwords, but this could let you depend on biometric logins much more consistently than you have in the past.

Source: W3C

Tech

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

April 10, 2018 at 05:12AM

April 10, 2018

Check right now if Cambridge Analytica used your Facebook data

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In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, you’re probably wondering: Was I actually affected? After all, the company obtained data on 87 million users (that’s the current estimate, anyway.) Facebook has, thankfully, started sending News Feed notifications to explain whether users’ accounts were affected. If you’re still waiting for yours to come through, however, you can visit this page and find out immediately. In short, it explains if you or your friends ever logged into This Is Your Digital Life — the quiz app developed by university researcher Dr Aleksandr Kogan, which Cambridge Analytica used to profile and manipulate users.

It’s the latest attempt by Facebook to apologise for what happened and ensure similar data harvesting doesn’t happen again. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has promised to investigate "every app that has access to a large amount of information." The company has already suspended AggregateIQ and CubeYou for Cambridge Analytica-style tactics, and strengthened a bunch of data policies, which include disabling the ability to search for users by email address and phone number, and restricting the information accessible through its Events API. Zuckerberg, if you need a reminder, is scheduled to testify at a joint Senate hearing later today.

Via: Matt Navarra (Twitter)

Source: Facebook

Tech

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

April 10, 2018 at 07:06AM

April 10, 2018

Man Builds Hilariously Complex Rube Goldberg Style Cake Serving Machine [Video]

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An overly complex machine that serves cake. The thing took around 3 months to build, so let’s just encourage this guy and watch the whole thing: It’s hilarous.

[Joseph’s Machines]

The post Man Builds Hilariously Complex Rube Goldberg Style Cake Serving Machine [Video] appeared first on Geeks are Sexy Technology News.

Tech

via [Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News https://ift.tt/23BIq6h

April 9, 2018 at 03:50PM

April 9, 2018

The Best Time to Buy an International Plane Ticket, Based on 1 Million Airfares

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Last weekend we shared the results of CheapAir.com’s 2018 Airfare study. In the study it looked at 917 million different airfares and made some determinations on when the “right” time to buy is if you want to get a good deal.

Last week it released the results with some specifics for domestic flights, and this week it released the specialized results for international travel.

The number of airfares looked at for this study is significantly smaller than what the site used for the domestic results. While the whole study looked at 917 million fares, the site only had a million international fares to look at. That’s to say that while this info is probably a good resource, your mileage may vary a bit with these results.

The site also broke things down by where you’re flying for this one. The prime booking window changes depending on your country of choice (and remember they are giving you an average!), as does the cheapest and most expensive time to fly there.

Here’s a rundown of some of what they found, and you can check out the full study (with more destinations) here. For the purpose of this info, all flights are originating from the United States.

Canada

For Canada, the site recommends booking your travel 3 weeks to 5 months from departure, with the best time to buy averaging 66 days from your travel date. The cheapest month to travel to the country is in October and the most expensive time in July.

Mexico/Central America

If you want to go to Mexico, it’s best to book your tickets between 2 weeks and 6 months before your departure, with the “best” time to buy coming in at 70 days before your travel date. The cheapest month to fly to the area is September and the most expensive in December.

Caribbean

The best time to book a ticket to the Caribbean is 1 month to 11 months before your departure, with the sweet spot coming in at 207 (!!) days before your travel date. The cheapest month to travel is in January, and the most expensive is in December.

Europe

If you want to travel to Europe, the best time to book your ticket is between 1.5 month and 8 months from your travel date, with the “best” time coming in at 160 days before you want to fly. The cheapest month to travel is March, while the most expensive one is July.

Tech

via Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com

April 7, 2018 at 09:07AM