Best of Public Access Vol.9: So What’cha, What’cha Want?

Google is Alphabet now, in one of the more confusing rebrandings since Netflix thought that Qwikster would be a good idea. This week, in addition to trying to think of clever headlines about the Alphabet announcement, we heard back from the Def Con hacker conference, and electropop band Yacht ensured no one would ever see their album artwork when they released it via fax machine only… because there is nothing artists hate more than you actually looking at their work.

In other news, we’ve been running the grand experiment that is the Public Access channel for about two months now, producing over 180 stories on everything ranging from cutting out cable to refusing meeting requests. While we work on the back end to spruce up the PA home page, we’re wondering what you all think so far: How have you liked contributing to Public Access? What don’t you like about it? What’s working for you? Do you have suggestions on assignment topics you’d like to see other contributors write about? Do you have thoughts on what kinds of features or functionality you’d like to see on this page or in our CMS system? Talk to us in the comments or reach me on Twitter (I’m @Dameright) and let us know. The whole point of Public Access is to create a place where people want to hang out and write, and we can’t do that without your feedback!

The home page is coming soon! I swear! I saw the mock-ups yesterday and everything. In the meantime you can check out the latest from Public Access right here. If you’re not a member yet, you can apply here.

Recommended reading

“Some satellite TV providers offer gift cards or statement credits when you refer friends to their service. Take advantage of your social media networks, or use old-fashioned word-of-mouth, to refer friends to your favorite satellite TV provider and get paid for watching TV — or at least for talking about it.”

Read the rest of Satellite TV Subscriber? How to Get the Best Service for Less Money by Cosette Jarrett.

“Researchers had to collect water spiders and recorded videos of their movements, analysing the mechanics that permit them to jump on and skim the surface of the water. They discovered that a water spider’s legs have slightly curved tips which enable it to take off from the water’s surface by rotating their legs inward.”

Read the rest of Tiny Robot Can Leap On Water Without Making A Splash by Christopher ONeill Cabra.

“According to Gartner, by 2020, more than 7 billion people and businesses, and close to 35 billion devices, will be connected to the Internet. Whether [it’s] Amazon with DASH or any other connected device, success to market via the IoT is dependent on what happens after the DASH button or any other IoT user interface is activated.”

Read the rest of Behind the IoT: Success Hinges on Reliability, Scalability and Security by Chris Nguyen.

Your dose of inspiration

Mostly, this week we want to hear from you about your experiences contributing to Public Access — what you like and what you don’t, and any ideas that you have for the page. But if you’re just dying for a new topic to write about, tell us about the last time you used a fax machine and why.

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Tags: Alphabet, bestofpublicaccess, CableTv, community, def con, google, internet of things, publicaccess, Robots, satellite tv

BBC Three’s TV channel set to disappear on March 1st 2016

Under the BBC’s latest proposals, BBC Three will remain on TV for a little longer than expected: March 1st 2016, to be exact. The broadcaster’s original plan was to make the channel an online-only service this autumn, but back in April the move was delayed until “after Christmas.” The BBC Trust still wasn’t happy, however, and called for a “more carefully managed transition” back in June. Now, the BBC’s response to those concerns — released as part of a new consultation, although it appears to have been available online before now — has given us a fresh look at how the changeover will shake out.

The BBC’s current thinking is to publicise the channel’s closure and new online home from October this year. At the same time, the BBC will air repeats of BBC Three shows on BBC One and Two to indicate how the channel’s programming will survive on linear TV. Between January and March, the Beeb will then turn BBC Three into a “transitional channel” and publicly launch BBC Three Online. It’s unclear exactly how this almost-closed TV channel will work — the BBC has suggested that it could run 12 hours per week of “archive programming” late at night. On March 1st, the channel will then disappear completely.

It seems there’s no turning back. Despite petitioners’ efforts, the BBC is pushing ahead and has the provisional backing of the BBC Trust. Unless something drastic happens, the demise of BBC Three’s TV channel is just a matter of when and how.

[Image Credit: BBC Pictures/Rough Cut]

Filed under:
Home Entertainment

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Via:
TBI Vision

Source:
BBC

Tags: bbc, bbcthree, bbcthreeonline, channel, closed, closure, iplayer, tvchannel

NASA needs help designing a smartwatch app for ISS astronauts

NASA has launched a contest to design a smartwatch app interface for use by International Space Station (ISS) astronauts. Nobody will be entering it for the $1,500 prize money, but you’ll certainly get some pride and fame out of it. The app will be no less than “the general user interface for smart watch applications” aboard the ISS, according to NASA. As such, it’ll need a lot of different functions: A “Crew Timeline” app for astronauts’ agendas; a “Cautions and Warnings” app; another to check the communications status with Earth; and a timer “for procedures or until next activity.”

You’ll need to create the UI for a single app (as a JPEG or PNG) that covers all those functions, but not the apps themselves (NASA will presumably do that). Astronauts currently glean warnings and other info from laptops or iPads, so NASA is hoping that a smartwatch will give that info more quickly. It’s thus asking designers to “direct attention to the appropriate information for a task, provide appropriate feedback for actions, and be legible on the smaller Samsung Gear screen.” It added that “innovative representations (of) data displayed on a smartwatch is highly encouraged.”

Oddly, the hardware reference is Samsung’s Gear 2 smartwatch, rather than arguably superior models like the Sony Smartwatch 3 or Samsung’s Gear Live (we assume NASA ruled out the Apple Watch). Style-wise, the slabby design is certainly a giant leap down from the Omega Speedmaster models of the early Apollo program. As mentioned, if NASA chooses your UI, you’ll receive the princely sum of… $1,500? We knew that funding was getting tight, but that seems a bit chintzy for what sounds like a crucial app.

Filed under:
Wearables

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Via:
CNET

Source:
Freelancer

Tags: app, astronauts, contest, Freelancer, GalaxyGear2, ISS, NASA, smartwatch

Download Fallout Shelter for Android today

The day that Fallout fans on Android have been waiting for has finally come. No Fallout 4 is still 4 months away from release. I’m talking about being able to download Fallout Shelter from Google Play.

When Bethesda announced Fallout 4 at E3 earlier this year, they created a large amount of buzz by announcing that there would be a Pipboy smartphone case and a second screen Pipboy app and also that there would be a mobile app called Fallout Shelter. Android fans were immediately dejected upon learning that its initial release would be iOS only and an Android release would come at a later date.

In it’s initial 2 weeks on Apple’s App Store, Bethesda generated $5.1 million in revenue.

It wasn’t long until Pete Hines, Vice President of PR/Marketing at Bethesda tweeted that the Android version should be out in August.

@kolos_kovacs coming along nice. haven’t announced a date, but should be out next month. we’ll let you know when we have specifics

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) July 1, 2015

Needless to say, our green Android rage was satiated, at least, a little. Later in the month Bethesda took to Twitter to announce that Fallout Shelter would be available to Android users on August 13th this year.

Very excited for Android users to begin playing #FalloutShelter on August 13th. pic.twitter.com/FYXvyIzaAj

— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) July 24, 2015

Well, that day is today. Fallout Shelter is now available on Google Play for the extremely reasonable price of $0. There are in-app purchases if you wish to play faster, but they are not required. So what are you waiting for? Click the link below and get downloading.

The post Download Fallout Shelter for Android today appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Keep your device looking fresh with Zyden Wallpapers (App Review)

Finding the right wallpaper can be a real pain sometimes. You have to find just the right one to fit in with your widgets and icon pack. On top of that, you have to really find one that just grabs your attention and makes you want to look at it while interacting with your device.

We have covered various different types of wallpaper apps before in the past, but today, we are taking a look at one app that has just been updated. Zyden Wallpapers by Flax App Studios was just updated to version 4.0 on August 4th, and brings a whole ton of goodies with it.

The latest update to Zyden brings a Material Design overhaul. As with most apps nowadays, these updates are either hit or miss. Well, Zyden hit their rendition, right on the head. Not only do you get the influence of Material Design throughout the app, but there’s a minimal touch to it, so the apps not cluttered.

This change helps with the navigation of the various categories, so you aren’t confused on where to go, or where to look. Speaking of categories, there are currently 8 main categories, with sub-categories, organized beneath. These various categories are home to over 300 different, yet unique wallpapers.

Main Categories

• 3D
• Dark
• EarthView
• Googlish
• Material Design
• Photography
• Photography Remixed
• Simple

Now with most of these apps nowadays, the wallpapers aren’t contained within Zyden app. There are hosted on the cloud, and will be downloaded from the server. This helps keep open space on your phone, but a nice way to view a bunch of different wallpaper apps.

The folks at Flax App Studios also make note in the changelog about one specific bug. Stating “if the walls quality is too high, it will be black and white after you apply it.This bug is pretty cool because you don’t have to apply a filter anymore if you want it black and white.” Another known bug is, Zyden may not work with Shaker, but the developers are working on fixing that integration issue.

In the meanwhile, you can use Zyden in unison with Muzei, thanks to the built-in support. This will allow you to cycle through all the 300+ wallpapers that can be found within Zyden. While I’m not one to change my wallpapers THAT often, it’s a nice feature to have, so you can set it and forget it.

So if you’re in the market for some new wallpapers, be sure to check out Zyden Wallpapers from the fine folks at Flax App Studios. These guys are really on top of their stuff, and are VERY responsive to comments or questions. They are obviously doing something right with over 10,000 installs and a 4.4 rating in the Play Store.

You can grab Zyden Wallpapers via the Play Store widget below, for FREE. In the meantime, drop us a comment and show us your favorite wallpapers, maybe even a home screen or two if you’re feeling up to it.

[pb–app–box pname=‘com.zyden.activity’ name=‘Zyden Wallpapers’ theme=‘light’ lang=‘en’]

The post Keep your device looking fresh with Zyden Wallpapers (App Review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.