Buy an LG G5 from Verizon and get another one for free
Looking to buy two high-end phones on Verizon? You’re in luck, as the carrier is running a deal on the LG G5 that allows you to get the second phone for free. The promotion is active for new as well as existing customers, and is valid until May 11.
To avail the promotion, head to Verizon’s website, and order two LG G5s on monthly plans ($26 monthly for 24 months). After the purchase, you’ll need to visit Verizon’s Rebate Center, enter your order details, and use the following promo code: G5-APRILPROMO. The price for the second LG G5 will be returned to you in the form of a Visa gift card, sent out within eight to ten weeks from the date of redemption.
If you’ve purchased the LG G5 within the last 15 days, you’re eligible for the offer. Just buy a second unit, and head to Verizon’s rebate site to claim the deal. The promotion is valid for a limited time, so if you’re interested, best get ordering from the link below.
See at Verizon
Verizon Rebate Center
LG G5
- LG G5 review
- LG 360 CAM review
- LG G5 complete specs
- LG’s G5 Friends modules are a neat idea, but they won’t matter
- LG G5 Hi-Fi Plus w/ B&O
- Join the LG G5 discussion
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Researchers say our thirst for information affects how we behave
Researchers say the desire to make sense of our lives and the world we live in is a powerful motive in how we live and the decisions we make. Behavioral economists from Carnegie Mellon And Warwick Business School have made a model that links our drive for information and understanding to various human qualities, including boredom, curiosity, aesthetics in art and science, compassion and the role of “the good life” — whatever that means — in making decisions. They reckon it can help offer explanations to behavior and actions that might seem illogical to others.
“The mind is a sense-making machine; we are informavores as much as we are omnivores,” said George Loewenstein, the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The model suggests that our drive for sense-making can intrude even direction our conscious attention, similar to how we eat when we’re hungry, or put on more clothes when we’re gold. The paper suggests that the theoretical model helps to explain the appeal of both religion and conspiracy theories. It also offers an explanation of core behavioral traits like confirmation bias: the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions — and one that leads to statistical errors.
“It is an attempt to make sense of our desire to make sense of the world.”
“We make a particular sense of our lives and of our world that allows us to process and retain information and to decide what to do,” said Nick Chater, professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School. “Our drive for sense-making can make us hostile to alternative points of view that might suggest that our world, and even our lives, makes less sense than we thought.”
The model could help explain why people choose to obtain information (or avoid it), and helps to explain emotionally charged beliefs relating to topics like climate change. “There is an irony to the paper,” Loewenstein adds. “It is an attempt to make sense of our desire to make sense of the world.”
Source: Carnegie Mellon
RHA T20 in-ear headphones review: A metal-clad looker that isn’t just a pretty face
In-ear headphones are aplenty out there. However, there are some that notably standout in the crowd. Don’t be fooled by their size, they can undergo some serious engineering.
RHA is one of those companies that does its own thing and sets its own high standard. Personally, its metal-clad earphone designs have always intrigued me.
We were given the chance to review the company’s latest flagship, the T20. RHA definitely takes a “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” approach, as the new model is a spitting image of the previous T10. Let’s check out what it brings.
Design
Before I get into the earphone design, I have to mention the T20’s sweet unboxing presentation. Everything is laid out in a premium fashion.
I always appreciate the attention to detail, especially when you’re paying top-dollar. Additionally, you’ll find a sizable zipper carrying case in the box.
As suggested, the T20 carries over RHA’s stapled metal construction. The earpieces are molded via metal injection (stainless steel, to be precise).
I think they look fantastic in person. There’s a brushed metal finish all about the chassis, and it feels as sturdy as it looks.
The earpiece design follows what is seen from other high-end earphone manufacturers, like Westone and Shure. This jellybean shape is favored because it routes the cable up and around your ear, instead of just falling straight down. The benefit is a more secure fit and much less microphonics (noise from the cable rubbing on you). You’ll also love this style if you use them to workout.
Also like other manufacturers, a memory wire clings the cable around your ear. It has a coiled texture (which I love) and isn’t too thick or stiff. Frankly, the whole presentation screams refinement.
At about 4.5″, the memory wire transitions to the primary cable and a LONG y-split. I don’t know why RHA made the length from this point to the y-splitter (which is also metal) about 1.5 ft. long. Fortunately, there’s a chin slider that keeps things tidy.
I appreciated how long the entire cable is, at about 4.4 ft. Additionally, I love the cable material. It’s supple (feels like silicone) and really lightweight. Its elastic/springy nature also makes it tangle resistant. The whole thing is an effortless quality.
Lastly, the 3.5mm headphone jack is met with metal coil (I imagine it provides some strain relief). The styling of the metal jack resembles what you’d see in professional audio equipment, and RHA makes that statement clear.
Usability
Ear tips are a super important factor with in-ears. If you don’t get a good seal, sound quality will be largely impacted (bass will be weak and sound will leak in and out). Therefore, I appreciate when manufacturers are generous with their included ear tips, and RHA did a great job in this respect.
You’ll get six pairs of dual density silicone tips, two pairs of double flange tips, and two pairs of foam tips. Most companies only include three sizes of silicone tips, so in comparison, RHA outdid themselves. And its great to have the option of foam tips, as they isolate sound much better than silicone.
If you’ve used this style/wear of earphones before, then donning the T20 will be familiar. I appreciated that the memory wire was not too invasive. It’s firm enough to stay in place, but not uncomfortable whatsoever. I much prefer it to how Shure handles it, which annoying springs back up when you press it down. RHA’s wire stays where you want it.
Many folks may question if the metal construction makes the T20 heavy. Don’t worry. The earpieces rest snugly/securely in your ear and the cable is extraordinarily light.
RHA threw in an additional feature to differentiate the T20 from the crowd – user changeable tuning filters. This one will probably appeal more to audiophiles, as most users don’t have a problem EQ’ing for their preferred sound signature. But if you care about accuracy, digital tuning is a no-no.
It’s simpler than it sounds. There are two options: more bass or more treble (the neutral filter comes installed). The filters are essentially the nozzles, which screw in. To change them, simply remove the ear tip, unscrew the installed filter, and screw the new one in.
The filters work by either holding back the higher frequencies or not. If you look in the bassy filter, you’ll notice a thick foam insert within, meant to recess the treble (the bass moves forward as a result). In contrast, there is no foam at all in the treble filter, allowing it to output fully. The neutral filter has a middle-ground (less dense foam).
One overlook is that if you’re an Android user, you won’t get in-line remote support. There’s a version of this headphone called the T20i with a remote/mic component, but it’s only made for Apple devices. Instead of creating a variant with a compatible Android remote, RHA simply made the T20, which just excludes the remote.
Sound
Don’t worry, RHA doesn’t just bring good looks. It makes it clear that the T20 packs the prowess to stand up with high-end competitors. Is that actually the case?
Indeed. This is the real deal. The best way to describe the T20’s sound is a balance between audiophile-grade reproduction and musical impact. What I mean by this is that all the frequency ranges across the spectrum show their fair share of detail, while the bass is emphasized for a pleasing punch. Most users love a relevant bass response, so the RHA will appeal a majority of the market. But from an audiophile perspective, it may be too much. Thankfully, this is where the interchangeability filter system really shines. We can correct these characteristics (although, one can argue that the neutral setting isn’t necessarily “netural”).
When you look into the technological details of the T20, you’ll see RHA throw around an approach called DualCoil. This pertains to how RHA engineered the T20’s dynamic driver to deliver a higher resolution sound. It essentially added an inner coil to the driver’s magnet, whereas traditional dynamic drivers only have an outer one. I won’t pretend that I know the science behind it, but I imagine that an extra coil allows for better control and more accurate response from the driver.
I sure believe in it, because my ears hear a highly detailed and smooth reproduction. My only gripe about the neutral setting is that the sound signature is slightly V-shaped (favoring bass/treble over mids). This isn’t uncommon, and I’ve heard more skewed spectrums, but I would’ve like a more balance. As a result, the mids sound a little confined compared to the prominent frequencies. Switching to the treble filters does help, but to an extent. The mids still sound slightly veiled to me. I’m nitpicking though, it’s not that bad.
The soundstage and imaging of elements within that space are both good. I wouldn’t call them exceptional (you will get a more expansive experience up the price chain), but they’re above average. Ultimately, sound-wise, the T20 are where they should be at their price-point. Actually, overall, I feel like they exceed their price.
Final Thoughts
I was impressed by the RHA T20. They showed a lot of promise and I feel like they exceeded my expectations. No doubt, if you have this kind of budget (they run for $239), you can’t go wrong here. And this is coming from someone who owns much pricier in-ears. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies to high-end in-ears, and the T20 kinda hits that limit of where you should reasonably stop. Job well done, RHA.
RHA T20 product page
App study reveals one in three of us aren’t getting enough sleep
If you get less than seven hours’ of sleep a night, you’re among the one in three Americans who aren’t getting enough zzz’s. A team of researchers from the University of Michigan used the data they gathered from an anti-jetlag app they released a few years ago to study the roles society and biology play in our sleep schedules. They got some pretty interesting information out of the app: for instance, people in the Netherlands seem to get the highest average sleep (8 hours and 12 minutes), while folks in Japan and Singapore get the lowest (7 hours, 24 minutes).
The researchers found that those who get more sunlight each day typically go to bed early and get more sleep every night, which is something to keep in mind if you usually have a hard time getting a shut-eye. Women aged 30 to 60 tend to turn in earlier and wake up a bit later, ultimately getting 30 minutes more sleep. Middle-aged men, on the other hand, get the least amount of sleep.
There are many factors why so many people are sleep deprived, including work and kids. Whatever the reason is, the study shows that a lot of adults are building up a sleep debt, affecting not just their performance at work, but also their health.
As Olivia Walch, one of the paper’s authors, explains:
It doesn’t take that many days of not getting enough sleep before you’re functionally drunk. Researchers have figured out that being overly tired can have that effect. And what’s terrifying at the same time is that people think they’re performing tasks way better than they are. Your performance drops off but your perception of your performance doesn’t.
Source: University of Michigan
SpaceX give you three looks at its rocket’s night landing
Last week SpaceX stuck a night landing on its droneship, and now (just after Blue Origin posted a ridealong view from its reusable rocket) we’ve got some video of the event. Three slightly different angles from the ship show the rocket coming down, a difficult event this time because it was the first landing after a “GTO-class” mission, meaning geostationary transfer orbit. Anyway, all’s well that ends well, and we have some incredible night footage to show for it — check it out below.
Source: SpaceX (YouTube)
The complete list of BlackBerry Priv keyboard shortcuts – CNET
The BlackBerry Priv makes good use of its keyboard by including plenty of shortcuts.
BlackBerry
Learning your phone’s keyboard and screen shortcuts is the best way to increase your phone’s efficiency and usefulness. The BlackBerry Priv has dozens of shortcuts that can make almost any action easier and faster.
Keyboard shortcuts within the BlackBerry Hub
There are several shortcuts you can use while in the BlackBerry Hub.
While you are in message lists, pressing these letters will also cause an action:
- C = Compose
- S = Search
- T= Move to Top
- B = Move to Bottom
- N = Next Date Header
- P = Previous Date Header
- U = Next Unread Message
Pressing these letters while in a message will also cause actions:
- C = Cancel Selection
- D = Delete Item
- W = Flag Item
- I = File Item
- S = Snooze Item
- R = Reply to Item
- L = Reply all
- F = Forward Item
- M = Mark as Read/Unread
Want to get to the hub fast? If you long-press the home key, BlackBerry Search, Google Now and BlackBerry Hub pop up. You don’t have to stick with those options, though. You can change the shortcut for the home key with these instructions.
Slider Interactions
Opening the slider within the home screen automatically launches the Device Search application. You can also create a slider shortcut to make answering calls with the Priv easier, too.
When you get a call, sliding the keyboard open can trigger a pre-set action. It will either accept the call, decline the call or reply with a text message. To set this up, go to settings > general settings > slider options for incoming calls and select the action you want.
Navigating lists with physical keyboard shortcuts
You can quickly navigate lists with shortcuts via the physical keyboard using these keys:
- T = jump to the top of a list
- B = jump to the bottom of a list
- Space = page down (move down one screen view)
- Shift + Space = page up (move up one screen view)
More about the BlackBerry Priv
- 10 time-saving shortcuts for the BlackBerry Priv
- How I learned to stop worrying and love the BlackBerry Priv
- How to update the BlackBerry Priv’s software
Set keyboard shortcuts for apps and actions
You can take keyboard shortcuts one step further by creating your own.
Here’s how to set up a long-press or short-press action for any key.
1. On the home screen, touch and hold an empty area of the screen, and then select Settings > Keyboard shortcuts from the pop-up menu.
2. Select Short press or Long press.
3. Tap your letter of choice on the keyboard.
4. Choose your action. To set a shortcut to open an app, select Open app; to set a shortcut to call a contact, select Speed dial; to set a shortcut to send an email or a text message to a contact, select Send message. To set a different shortcut, select All shortcuts.
Keyboard gestures
The keys on the physical keyboard are touch sensitive and can be used like a trackpad. Use these gestures to speed up your typing and scrolling:
- Swipe from right to left to delete the last word when composing a message.
- Swipe down when composing a message to access the various character input screens.
- Swipe up or down on the physical keyboard to scroll through lists in most applications.
- Swipe horizontally through application panes within the home screen.
Copy and paste shortcut
Instead of copying and pasting as you normally would, you can select and move text on-screen with your fingers. On the text, press your fingers to the screen, wait until the text is selected and then drag it to where you need it.
Samsung Level On Wireless Pro review – CNET
The Good The Samsung Level On Pro offers Bluetooth wireless streaming and active noise-cancellation in a fairly compact folding design that offers good sound quality for Bluetooth. The headphone supports Samsung’s proprietary audio format available in its latest smartphones. A carrying pouch is included and the free Level companion app for Android devices allows you to tweak the sound.
The Bad Samsung’s ultra high-quality audio has very little impact on sound quality and is only available on its devices; headphone doesn’t do quite enough to distinguish itself from competing models.
The Bottom Line Another good but not great headphone from Samsung, the wireless Samsung Level On Pro has enough merits to make it worth considering, particularly if you’re someone who owns one of Samsung’s latest smartphones phones.
Samsung jumped into the headphone game a few years back with its Level series, which includes on-ear, in-ear and over-ear models. They tend to be quite likable headphones — both in terms of their design and performance — but they don’t necessarily wow you.
The new-for-2016 Level On Wireless Pro Bluetooth headphone, which features active noise cancellation and and lists for $250 (£230, AU$400), falls into the same camp: a good but not great headphone for the money.
This successor to the standard (non-Pro) Level On includes support for Samsung’s proprietary Ultra High Quality Audio or UHQA Bluetooth streaming format, which is supposed to offer superior audio performance when streaming over Bluetooth. UHQA streaming is available only on Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S6 Edge and Edge+ (the standard S6 does not support UHQA), Note 5, and Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
While the Level On Pro is best paired with a Samsung phone — there’s a companion Level app for Android phones that allows you to tweak the sound with various preset sound profiles — this does work with any Bluetooth-enabled phone, including iPhones.
It’s fairly comfortable but as its name implies, this is an on-ear model, and isn’t quite as comfortable as a full sized around-the-ear headphone, though it is more compact. I liked how it folds up to fit in its included carrying pouch and it has an attractive, mostly plastic design, that seems pretty durable and is Samsung’s answer to Beats headphones.
The Samsung Level On Pro has touch controls and comes in two color options (black and bronze).
Sarah Tew/CNET
Like the Level On, this Pro version has touch controls on the outside of right earcup so you can tap the headphone to pause and play your music or swipe to raise and lower volume or skip tracks forward or back. I’m a fan of the touch controls, but not everybody feels the same way because you sometimes accidentally touch the earcup while adjusting the headphone on your head and end pausing your music, which is a little irritating.
The headphone worked well as a headset for making calls but if you’re looking for a headphone with heavy duty noise-cancellation this isn’t it. Although it does a reasonable job cutting noise, the NC is fairly light and it isn’t as effective as the noise cancellation found in Bose QC25 headphone. However, the lighter NC may appeal to those who are sensitive to the sensation of pressure that active noise cancellation can put on your ears.
Battery life is rated at 10 hours, which is good but not great.
Parrot Bebop Drone 2 review – CNET
The Good The Parrot Bebop Drone 2 is small enough to stick in your average backpack; sturdier than the original with about twice the battery life; its propellers stop the instant they’re obstructed; easy barrel rolls and flips and new banked turns capability makes it more fun to fly; stable flight indoors or outside; can be piloted with third-party Bluetooth controllers.
The Bad Pricey when bundled with the massive Skycontroller remote control. Video quality hasn’t improved much from the first-gen Bebop. In-app purchase required for features other drone makers include. Control range is dependent on your mobile device and flight conditions. Limited to 8GB of internal storage for photos and video.
The Bottom Line The Parrot Bebop 2 definitely improves on the original and remains a good choice for its portability and safer design, but stiffer competition and merely good image quality limit its overall appeal.
The Parrot Bebop 2 definitely improves on the original and remains a good choice for its portability and safer design, but stiffer competition and merely good image quality limit its overall appeal. Maybe it’s the design or its size and weight or that you’re just as likely to find it sold as a smartphone accessory as you are in a toy store or camera department of a big box retailer, but Parrot’s Bebop 2 is one of the least intimidating camera drone you’ll find. Even less so than most toy drones, since it takes off and lands on its own and has no trouble hovering in place indoors or outside.
The fact that it’s controlled with a smartphone or tablet certainly helps. Flying by touchscreen isn’t the best experience, but honestly handing someone a regular remote control for the first time arguably isn’t any better. Instead of sticks and switches and buttons, you’re tapping on a screen and sliding your thumbs around or simply tilting your phone in the direction you want it to fly. The mobile app is free, but you can make a $20 in-app purchase to unlock more advanced flight plan capabilities, letting you set waypoints for the Bebop 2 to follow among other things.
The quadcopter is small enough to slide into an average backpack and at just over a pound (500 grams), it’s easy to travel with. Aside from the propellers there are no moving parts, which helps its chances of surviving a crash. The ABS body is reinforced with glass fiber to toughen it up even more. It’s also one of the safest drones you’ll find with flexible plastic propellers that stop the second something hits them.
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The Bebop 2 is primarily flown with a smartphone or tablet.
Parrot
Because of these things, the Bebop 2 perhaps comes off as more of a toy and less of a serious camera drone like the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, which currently shares the Bebop 2’s $500 price tag. (The Bebop sells for AU$900 in Australia and £440 in the UK, while the DJI sells for AU$859 and £449.) And frankly, if high-quality aerial photos and video are what’s most important, you are better off with the Phantom 3 Standard. (Similar flight plan capabilities to the Bebop’s don’t cost more with the Standard, either.)
Consider the Bebop 2 if you want something more family-friendly. One that you won’t panic as much about when you turn over the controls to a friend for his or her first time flying. A camera drone that can get decent video and photos for sharing, but also survive crashes and do flips with a couple taps on screen.
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The Bebop 2 is piloted with a smartphone or tablet, but just how far depends on the conditions.
Joshua Goldman/CNET
I actually tested two different Bebop 2s. The first was a preproduction unit that, like the original Bebop I reviewed, occasionally dropped its wireless signal in flight. Not really something you want to have happen when it’s hundreds of feet in the air or out over a body of water. Parrot said this was a fault in the early models and not a typical experience.
To confirm this, I tested a second unit and, in fact, did not experience any dropouts while testing it. That may have been because of its newer firmware, or there was something actually wrong with the first drone, or maybe both. All I know is the second Bebop 2 I tested performed just fine.
Parrot claims it’s possible to fly the Bebop 2 up to 300 meters away (about 985 feet) using a mobile device. That’s an average, too, so it can potentially go even further or fall short of that mark. The distance is going to vary depending on everything from trees and buildings to other wireless signal traffic to the device you’re using. Even how you hold the device can determine signal quality.
That in mind, I tested using the latest firmware installed (version 3.2.0) with an iPad Air 2 in an open field surrounded by trees in a heavily populated area (i.e., a lot of wireless signals) and was able to get it out to more than 200 meters before the video cut out. Could it have flown farther? Probably, and I might have even gotten the video feed back. But I played it safe and called it back using the automatic Return to Home option. The point is, how far you’ll be able to fly the Bebop 2 is dependent on your environment and your device.
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Parrot’s Skycontroller increases the Bebop’s flight range, but also empties your wallet.
Joshua Goldman/CNET
For the best range and physical controls, you can spend a couple hundred dollars more for Parrot’s huge and awkward Skycontroller. It has full controls for the drone and an amplified Wi-Fi radio on top allowing you to fly up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers), assuming conditions are absolutely perfect. The FreeFlight mobile app is installed on it though, so you don’t need to pair it with a mobile device to fly. It also has a full-size HDMI output on the side lets you connect an external display to see what the camera sees and also supports headsets for completely immersing you for FPV (first-person-view) flight.
Facebook denies filtering conservative news stories
Even if your Facebook News Feed is full of family members dropping racist memes or links to factually inaccurate articles, you might not see such showing up in the “trending news” portion of the social network’s landing page. And there’s a reason for that: Workers “routinely suppressed” news stories that’d interest conservative users from the section, according to a report from Gizmodo. Those stories apparently include anything about the Conservative Political Action Conference, two-time Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and posts from conservative news outlet The Drudge Report.
More than that, it appears Facebook wouldn’t curate a story with conservative origin (Breitbart, for example) unless it was picked up by The New York Times or BBC first. While Facebook’s company line is that it “takes allegations of bias very seriously” in light of the Gizmodo report, claiming “rigorous guidelines” to ensure consistency and neutrality and that those guidelines don’t “permit the suppression of political perspectives,” the sources for these allegations were contract workers — not full-on employees themselves. These contractractors worked for Facebook from the middle of 2014 until December 2015.
What appears in the Trending News module isn’t exclusively determined by an algorithm of what its users are actively sharing, it’s curated much like how an editorial newsroom operates. One of Gizmodo’s sources — who leans politically conservative — says that what would populate the list was largely determined by who was working at the time. If that person happened to not subscribe to conservative points of view, a story would be blacklisted. More than that, if a particular story is trending on Twitter but not Facebook? It’s “injected” into the Trending News section. Specific instances of that include the Black Lives Matter conversation or the ongoing conflict in Syria.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has come under fire for this type of thing. In 2014 the company admitted that it controversially, and experimentally, altered the News Feed to measure your emotional responses.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Gizmodo
‘Final Fantasy X’ re-released again, this time on Steam
Final Fantasy XV finally launches this September, but publisher Square Enix wants you to take a look back in the vaults ahead of that. Final Fantasy X and its direct sequel X-2 got the HD remaster treatment on PlayStation 4 last year and now the double pack is headed to PCs by way of Steam. That means a remastered soundtrack, better-looking graphics and a few bits and bobs from the International Editions like a special boss fight mode for the first. No word on improved voice acting, though. However, there’s a quasi-Pokémon feature that allows for capturing and training enemy monsters to use as their own during battles — something first seen in the the second launch of FFX-2 in Japan. It’s confusing, okay?
Price hasn’t been announced just yet, but based on previous PC ports expect to pay between $12 and $20 come May 12th. You know, about how much the mobile ports cost.
Via: VG 24/7
Source: Steam
AIVAnet 