Barclays isn’t planning to support Android Pay in the UK

If UK bank Barclays hadn’t angered mobile customers enough over its delayed rollout of Apple Pay, a new announcement today looks take things up a notch. After Google declared that it will bring rival payment service Android Pay to the UK in the coming months, Barclays has gone on record to say it has no plans to support the platform. In a statement sent to Techradar, the company said: “At this stage we are not planning on participating in Android Pay in the UK.”

Instead, Barclays insists it will concentrate on the development of its own NFC payment technology, which is currently available inside the Barclaycard Android app. Google’s operating system allows third-party apps to interact with the NFC chip inside many of today’s Android flagships, which is something that Apple does not allow.

If you’re an iPhone or Apple Watch owner and are patiently waiting for Barclays to switch Apple Pay live, which was meant to happen by March 27th, there is some good news. In an email, Barclays CEO Ashok Vaswani confirmed to Barclays customer Chris Leonard that the bank plans to enable Apple Pay support “soon” but “for a variety of contractual reasons” a definite launch date can’t yet be confirmed.

If you’re an Apple fan, don’t fret, you won’t have to wait long, but if you’re of an Android persuasion, lady luck isn’t currently on your side.

@9to5mac @MacRumors @appleinsider Just received this email from the Barclays CEO. Regarding Apple Pay. Can’t wait pic.twitter.com/cxZDJ422XI

— Chris Leonard (@chrisleonard23) March 23, 2016

Via: TechRadar, Chris Leonard (Twitter)

You are now free to buy Xbox 360 games on your Xbox One

Yes, the Xbox 360 is officially old-school. Today’s Xbox One system update adds direct access to Xbox 360 games, making it easier to actually use the console’s backward compatibility function. Before the update, it was unnecessarily difficult to locate and download Xbox 360 titles, but now they’ll be available on the console just like current-generation games.

The update also brings Party Chat to Xbox One Twitch broadcasts, and it allows players to output Party Chat audio to speakers and a headset simultaneously. Party Chat supports up to 16 people now, so find some new friends stat. Game DVR gets an update, too, now allowing players to select recording lengths from 15 seconds to 5 minutes. We broke down the new features in our preview post at the beginning of the month.

On top of the previewed features, today’s update also improves the precision of the thumbsticks on the Xbox Elite controller, particularly as they’re moved diagonally.

Xbox One & Xbox App update avail today. Buy 360 games on Xbox One, 16-person party chat+more https://t.co/5cktiNwScI pic.twitter.com/q0mABSyIr7

— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) March 23, 2016

Microsoft’s Tay is an AI chat bot with ‘zero chill’

Got some time to kill? Microsoft wants you to kick back and chat with Tay, an artificial intelligence that’s supposedly super hip and down with the kids. Or at least, that’s what I gather from this official description: “A.I fam from the internet that’s got zero chill.” Geez, I must be getting old. To converse with Tay, you can either tweet or DM using the @tayandyou handle on Twitter, or add her as a contact on either Kik or GroupMe.

As the tweets below show, Tay isn’t afraid to crack some jokes and use millennial slang. She was created by Microsoft’s Technology and Research and Bing teams, using a mix of public data, artificial intelligence and eccentric staff contributions. “Public data that’s been anonymized is Tay’s primary data source,” Microsoft explains on the Tay website. “That data has been modeled, cleaned and filtered by the team developing Tay.”

A word of warning: Microsoft says Tay will use your conversations to “search on your behalf” and “create a simple profile” in order to personalize her responses. Your data and messages might also be kept for up to a year in order to improve Tay’s overall abilities. Sounds awfully similar to Her…

@steinekin @shannonloftis pic.twitter.com/m81gUECyX4

— TayTweets (@TayandYou) March 23, 2016

@ssuaglrac when u realize u wrong halfway through an argument.. pic.twitter.com/dJHR2DPrU4

— TayTweets (@TayandYou) March 23, 2016

Via: Business Insider

Source: Tay.ai

The massively multiplayer online role-playing orgy I never had

It was supposed to be my first orgy.

NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.

I’d had a handful of clumsy threesomes in college, but nothing compared to the wall-to-wall sex fest I had in mind. My encounters with role-playing games were similarly limited. I’d been party to a couple of rounds of D&D in high school because the dungeon master smoked us out and bought us beer, but 15-plus years later I couldn’t even begin to tell you what to do with a 12-sided die.

So when I heard about the Red Light Center, “the world’s only FREE Massively Multiplayer, Adult Virtual World,” I was cautiously optimistic.

I’d come across Red Light Center during my “first-hand quest for the future of sex.” The adult massively multiple online role-playing game is an interactive world akin to the SIMs that allows players to interact with each other using teledildonics. It’s been decades since I’ve played video games with any regularity, but a video game you can stick your dick in? I was sold.

Red Light Center boasts virtual worlds for furries, gays, public sex, BDSM, even high-class call girls. My imagination ran wild. I could and would have sex with all the people, maybe even that cat-woman hybrid thing I’d seen in the advertisement.

It may have been my first MMORPG orgy, but it wasn’t my first rodeo.

The site encourages users to “live your fantasies,” and that’s exactly what I would do if the software allowed. In order to connect to my teledildonic sex sleeve to the in-game experience, however, I’d have to use the new, limited RLC 2.0 beta. There would be no feline fuck-athon for me.

It may have been my first MMORPG orgy, but it wasn’t my first rodeo. In my previous experiences with teledildonics and virtual sex, I’d learned a certain level of patience is required. I charged my Kiiroo Onyx masturbator, read up on the virtual world I was about to enter, signed up for a VIP account and watched a tutorial on how to sync my toy to the in-game experience. After about two hours of prep, I assumed I was ready for any and all of the digital dicks. As I would come to find out, though, getting laid, even in a virtual fantasyland, isn’t as easy as just showing up.

After another couple hours of boner-killing login attempts and software crashes, I retired for the night. In the roughly four hours I wasted trying to get the game up and running, I could have signed on to Grindr, Tinder, Scruff or even walked 10 minutes to my local gay bar, picked up a flesh-and-blood human, done the deed, washed my ass and been in bed.

That night I fell asleep frustrated, but hopeful, chalking it up to human error. I’m not a gamer, much less an MMORPG player. Maybe there was a steeper learning curve than I’d expected. I spent much of the next day at work searching for hardware requirements, tutorials, FAQs — anything that could explain my experience. And then I found it: the key to my orgy misfortune. I’d been trying to run the program over WiFi. DUH!

The following night I hardwired my laptop, stripped down, whipped out the lube and turned my sex sleeve on. In minutes I was staring at a crude, 3D rendering of BuddyHudson, a name I gleaned from the copy of Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives sitting on the coffee table in front of me. I dressed him in a pair of butt-hugging blue jeans, a low-cut button down and some spotless white sneakers, gave him a long, luscious mane and slimmed his overbuilt body to match mine. Buddy was ready to bone.

And then I got stuck in a corner.

After the previous night’s failure, I entered the game’s “Welcome Tower,” a sort of outdoor nightclub, expecting to see piles of naked bodies writhing on top of each other, creating a sea of flesh and flailing appendages. Instead, I saw four white folks, dancing like white people do, on a Billie Jean-style light-up dance floor. The only fleshy writhing came from a naked couple, swaying back and forth like a pair of middle-aged swingers desperately bumping uglies on the dance floor at an off-season Hedonism.

But who was I to judge? I couldn’t even figure out how to start a private chat. I spent some time wandering around the rooftop lounge looking for orgy portals, and then I hit a wall. Literally. I’d turned into what appeared to be a virtual dressing room and — just like that — my first night in the land of pixelized excess had come to an end. I tried everything I could to back out of that corner on my own, but couldn’t muster the courage to ask for help in the main chat room. Just like in real life, I let intimidation get the best of me.

As it turned out, the only dick I’d see would be my own.

I considered throwing in the (as yet unsoiled) towel, but like Veruca Salt in the Chocolate Factory, I wouldn’t be satisfied until I got what I wanted. After a two-night hiatus, I returned the Red Light Center for one last try. I skipped the dance floor and found a neon sign beckoning me into what turned out to be a completely empty male strip club. As it turned out, the only dick I’d see would be my own. When the strip club came up short, I set out for a nearby brothel that felt like it shared an interior decorator with the hotel from the Shining. Once inside, I gravitated toward an empty bar. Seeing as I was alone, I stripped down to nothing and took a look around.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, a young blonde named lil_meg strolled up behind my bare ass. She invited me to her place to bone so I summoned the part of my Kinsey score that previously enabled late night makeout sessions with the opposite sex. If I couldn’t have all the digital dicks, one virtual vagina would have to do.

We disrobed, hopped into bed and filtered through a series of sex acts, the likes of which I’ve only ever seen on a blacklight poster. Just as I began to penetrate lil_meg, a button appeared, encouraging me to connect my sex sleeve to my computer. As meg sang the praises of BuddyHudson’s impressive member in a floating chat window, I hurried to connect my Onyx. After multiple failed connections, lil_meg was ready to blow. Once again, I’d come up short.

Despite the technical failures, I was encouraged by my encounter and returned to the “Welcome Tower” to see if I could find a willing member. I interrupted the relatively active open chat to ask if any of the men in the room liked to swing. … Crickets. As I waited for a response, the cold reality of rejection began to set in. Fear of STDs aside, trying to get laid in an MMORPG comes with a lot of the same baggage as it does in the real world.

My fantasies of a wild, open, no-strings orgy had turned into a clumsy, even humiliating, and desperate search for someone — anyone — to have sex with. I’m sorry to say, the only real advantage to virtual group sex may be the cleanup.

‘Minecraft’ gets its first live concert

Minecraft has had its share of real-world crossovers, but nothing quite like this. Norway’s annual The Gathering tech conference is hosting a live concert both in real life and in Minecraft tonight at 9PM local time (4PM Eastern), with volunteers mimicking the artists in Minecraft as they parade around the stage. And this isn’t a small production, either — AlunaGeorge, Broiler and Lemaitre are on deck, so you should be in for a good time whether you’re looking at the real artists or their blocky avatars.

No, it won’t come close to replicating the vibe of the real thing, but it might have a more personal feel than watching a run-of-the-mill video stream. Just be aware that this also means limited space. The organizers note that there should only be room for around 2,000 to 3,000 people, so you should probably hop on the Minecraft server ASAP (if you’re reading this in time) to have a chance of seeing what all the fuss is about.

Via: Fact, The Verge

Source: Heisholt, The Local, The Gathering

2017 Hyundai Ioniq triplets electrify New York

Hyundai’s electrified Ioniq might just be the green star of this year’s New York Auto Show, offering consumers hybrid, plug-in, and all-electric options.If you’re an American and want an affordably priced hybrid, plug-in, or full EV from a mainstream brand, get ready to meet the Hyundai Ioniq. The long-awaited rival to the Chevrolet Volt, Ford Focus Electric, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota Prius family heads to the 2016 New York Auto Show.

We already know quite a lot about all three flavors of the Ioniq from its international debut in Geneva. You can check out that report here. But there are some changes for the US market car, and the biggest is the US Ioniq’s electric range. Our original report indicated that the Ioniq Electric would cover 155 miles per charge, although we weren’t sure which range rating standard that was based on. According to Hyundai, the US model won’t be quite so impressive, scoring an estimated range of 110 miles. That fits the prediction of Autoblog boss Mike Austin, who suggested the Ioniq Electric would roughly match the 107-mile maximum of the Leaf.

The other change focuses on the range of the Ioniq Plug-in. That figure has fallen from 31 miles of all-electric range to 25. Both of these revised ratings aren’t necessarily down to changes in the cars themselves – the Electric still uses a 28-kilowatt-hour battery and the Plug-in has an 8.9-kWh unit, just like their European counterparts — but are simply differences in how range is measured.

Toyota’s Prius Prime plug-in hybrid touts 120MPG

Toyota’s Prius line has lost some of its luster in recent years. While it’s still synonymous with hybrid cars, its plug-in hybrid model is facing stiff competition that has an edge in terms of pure electric range. The auto giant isn’t standing still, though: it’s unveiling the Prius Prime as an answer to these pretenders to the throne. The PHEV’s electric-only range has been doubled to a (still modest) 22 miles, but it makes up for this with an equivalent efficiency of 120MPG. If the figure holds up, it makes the Prime the most fuel-efficient plug-in on the market. Toyota chalks it up to the combination of an upgraded hybrid system and a larger battery.

The vehicle is a technological showcase on the inside, too. If you want, you can have an 11.6-inch touchscreen that dominates the center stack Tesla-style. You’ll also have the usual raft of circa-2016 options, including a heads-up display, Qi wireless charging for smartphones, pedestrian detection, lane departure warnings and radar-based cruise control.

The Prius Prime should arrive in the fall, but Toyota isn’t discussing the price yet. That may be the true deciding factor here — if the Prime is too expensive next to the competition (or even regular Prius models), it may deter buyers who’d otherwise be sold. If it’s at least on par, though, it could reel in a lot of commuters eager to cut fuel costs without the shorter ranges that come with all-electric cars.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Toyota

Apple Music Partners With Vice to Launch Six-Episode Documentary Series ‘The Score’

Apple Music has partnered with cultural news network Vice to bring a new docu-series, “The Score,” to the streaming music platform (via The Hollywood Reporter). The series will be six episodes, with each installment focusing on a unique, local music scene around the world.

The first episode, titled “Reservation Rap,” [Direct Link] is split into two parts and focuses on an emerging Native American hip hop scene in Minnesota thanks to the Ojibwe tribe. The specifics were left hazy, but in the coming weeks the show will take viewers to music scenes in places like Brazil, Iceland and Vietnam.

Vice creative director Kelly Fulton says the series was inspired by Vice’s 2007 documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which explored the heavy metal subculture that thrived despite the Iraq War. “That doc sparked exactly what we wanted to do with this series, which is telling under reported and under represented stories around the world through the artists that are scoring those cultural climates,” says Fulton.

Taking advantage of the platform, The Score will launch a themed playlist alongside each weekly episode, with a focus on the specific artists and songs seen in the show. Reservation Rap can be streamed today, with the next five episodes launching over the coming weeks.

Apple has been expanding its streaming video content available on Apple Music over the past few months, starting off with an exclusive behind-the-scenes film centering around Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour, which launched in December. In February, news broke that the company plans to take the creative side of its music streaming service a step further, with original TV series Vital Signs that will be a “dark, semi-autobiographical drama” starring Dr. Dre.

Tag: Apple Music
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Chevrolet, Honda, Subaru, Hyundai, Kia, and VW Debut New CarPlay Vehicles at NY Auto Show

A number of new CarPlay-enabled vehicles are making their North American debuts ahead of the 2016 New York International Auto Show this week, including models from Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, and Volkswagen.

Chevrolet kickstarted the announcements last week when it introduced the 2017 Sonic as the first subcompact vehicle with CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. General Motors also introduced the 2017 Chevrolet Trax with CarPlay support last month. Both vehicles will reach dealerships by fall 2016.

Chevrolet’s new 2017 Sonic, left, and 2017 Trax feature CarPlay
Honda followed suit this week with the debut of its 2017 Civic Hatchback, available in fall 2016, and U.S. spec Clarity Fuel Cell Sedan, launching by the end of this year, both of which feature CarPlay and Android Auto. Honda already offers CarPlay in the 2016 Accord, 2016 Civic, and 2017 Ridgeline.

Hyundai today unveiled its 2017 Ioniq electric vehicle with CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, while its subsidiary Kia debuted the 2017 Cadenza with matching support for both in-dash software platforms. Hyundai did not provide a launch date for the Ioniq, while the new Cadenza will go on sale in late 2016.

Honda’s new Clarity Fuel Cell Sedan with CarPlay compatibility
New York’s auto show marks the arrival of Subaru’s first CarPlay vehicle in the all-new 2017 Impreza, while Volkswagen’s U.S. version of the 2017 Golf Alltrack also features CarPlay and Android Auto. The new Golf model goes on sale in fall 2016, while no launch date was provided yet for the Impreza.

CarPlay is available in over 100 vehicle models worldwide from over two dozen automakers, providing hands-free or eyes-free access to common iPhone apps such as Maps, Messages, Music, Phone, and Podcasts. Apple keeps a periodically updated list of available models on its website.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tags: Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru
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How to successfully fry anything without a deep fryer – CNET

Alina Bradford

Don’t have a deep fryer? You can still make homemade fries, hash browns and more with the same great taste. All you need is a pan and a stove top. There are several tricks to pan frying success, though. Here is a guide to get you started.

Tools for frying on the stove

Picking the pan or pot

First, you need to pick the right pan or pot. Ideally, it should have a heavy metal bottom to heat oil slowly, preventing scorching and allowing for a steady boil during frying.

Pots or pans should also be at least 5 inches deep. You’ll need at least 3 inches (4 to 6 cups) of oil to deep fry most items, so your pan should be able to accommodate that much oil and have plenty of room for the food you will add without spilling over. Deep 1.5 to 2 gallon (6 to 8 quart) pots or pans are ideal. Cast iron Dutch ovens are a good choice for frying on the stove because they are both heavy and deep.

Getting the heat

Next, you need a way to check the heat. The faster the food cooks, the less oil it absorbs and the speed at which food fries is directly due to temperature. Many deep fryers have thermometers, but since you are using a pan, you’ll need to use a thermometer to check the temperature of the oil before you can start frying. Meat or candy thermometers work great for frying.

Frying with accessories

Finally, you need the right accessories. Many deep fryers come with frying baskets, but you can get the same effect using a simple tool called a spider. Spiders are bamboo sticks with a netted scooping tool at the bottom that looks like a mini colander. Spiders are ideal for scooping up fried foods because the oil can drip though the wire net and can be found at most department stores in the cooking section for just a couple of bucks. Many people use tongs to grab foods from frying grease, but they tend to smash more delicate items. This is where spiders are particularly handy.

You will also need a cooling rack and a cookie sheet. After frying, laying foods on the rack will allow the food to shed any excess oil and the cookie sheet will catch the oil. I like to line my cookie sheet with wax paper for easy clean-up.

Frying step-by-step

Now that you have your tools assembled, you can get down to frying:

Set a cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet beside your frying pot.
Set your burner on medium and let your pan of oil heat for around 5 to 10 minutes.
Put the meat thermometer in the center of the oil to check the temperature. The oil should be between 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 Celsius) and 440 degrees Fahrenheit (225 Celsius). Thicker foods will need a lower temperature to cook all the way through while thinner items can be cooked at the higher end of the range.
If your oil doesn’t get hot enough after five minutes, raise the burner heat a little and check the temperature until you hit the sweet spot.
Add just enough food to the oil so that the oil level rises only about a ½ inch. You want the food to have plenty of room to float around without getting stuck together.
Leave the food in the oil until it becomes a golden brown.
Scoop the food out with either tongs or a spider and place it on the cooling rack until you are ready to serve.

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