How I saved $150 a year on my cable bill without even trying – CNET
Tired of paying a small fortune every month for cable TV and Internet? Of course you are. Everybody is. The rates are ridiculous.
Enter BillFixers, a service that promises to negotiate those rates on your behalf. I took it for a test-drive last week and was pretty surprised by the outcome.
How it works
I pay around $135 per month for a basic cable-TV plan and high-speed Internet. It’s my single most hated monthly bill, in part because it’s always creeping up a few dollars (for no explicable reason), and in part because I don’t watch 93 percent of the channels I’m paying for.
So I wanted to see if BillFixers could lower my bill.
BillFixers claims to lower 95 percent of the bills it receives. Just be prepared to share 50 percent of the savings.
BillFixers
Here’s how it works with BillFixers: You give them your name, email address, phone number and at least one monthly bill from the company in question. Then, BillFixers will use their ways to lower your bill as much as possible. If they’re successful, they’ll take a 50% cut of the savings.
Interestingly — and a little annoyingly — uploading a bill on the website doesn’t result in the creation of a BillFixers account. You’re just kind of sending your info into the void, meaning there’s no way to follow up or track your progress.
I did receive a confirmation email about a day later, one that apologized for the delay and explained a “surge in signups.” And then… nothing.
The (bill)fix is in
One week later, right around the time I was going to send a follow-up “Ahem!” message, I received this email:
“We negotiated that Comcast bill down $25.41/mo for the next 12 months–you won’t be losing any services and there’s no new contract!”
Shut the front door! So in exchange for about two minutes of my time, BillFixers saved me $304.92 over the next year. To say that exceeded my expectations is a huge understatement.
The catch(es)
Now for the wrinkles. Other than the e-mail I received from BillFixers, I have no confirmation that my cable rate has been lowered. I checked my account that same day and found nothing to indicate any change.
A few days after that, however, it showed both a zero balance and a credit — one that’s slightly higher than the amount I’d normally be paying next month. (I’m guessing my negotiated discount was pro-rated to include the current month?)
Ultimately, I’ll have to wait until next month’s actual bill to see where things stand. In the meantime, time to pay the piper: There’s no cost up front, but BillFixers charges 50 percent of whatever it manages to save you — in my case $12.70 per month.
As I mentioned previously, there’s no account system in place, no credit card or other form of payment on file. Instead, BillFixers uses invoicing software Freshbooks to bill me either monthly or all at once. (I’m going monthly.)
Company co-founder Julian Kurland told me they’re working to get both dashboard and payment systems in place, but for now this is how they roll.
Why not just pick up the phone yourself?
Fifty percent?! Hey, why not just call the company yourself and keep all the savings? For starters, the BillFixers folks know what they’re doing. The last time I called Comcast to ask for a better rate, I was offered a lower tier of service — but no discount.
Plus, there’s time navigating menus, time on hold, time dealing with consumer-weary (or outright hostile) reps, time getting transferred to a retention department if I threaten to cancel, and so on.
No. Thank. You.
To me, it’s totally worth it to let someone else do this heavy lifting. As I said before, I invested about two minutes of my time, and in return I’ll be $12.70 richer every month. I feel 100 percent satisfied with my 50 percent savings.
I do think BillFixers needs that dashboard so users can track their accounts, payments, etc. The way it’s set up right now, it feels a little iffy — even though I have no qualms about recommending it.
Your thoughts?
Android 7.0: What are seamless updates and how do they work?
Seamless updates can keep your phone up-to-date without the headache of waiting and the downtime. But how do they work and what the heck are they?
One of the coolest features Google showed off at Google I/O 2016 that will be part of Android 7.0 Nougat are seamless updates. While it’s not going to be flashy or have much to show on the user-facing side, the details on how it’s done are interesting, and actually so simple you wonder why it took so long to happen.
Let’s have a look.
What are Seamless Updates?
The way Android updates work up to Marshmallow involves some user interaction and takes plenty of time. You get a notification that there’s an update waiting for you, and when you say OK it begins to download. Once you get everything downloaded, the one big file unpacks itself in the cache partition and the system checks the integrity of all the individual image files to make sure they are all signed with the correct key and came from the right place. You’re then prompted to reboot, but not into Android.
You end up in the device’s recovery software where the images are flashed to the correct places on your phone’s internal storage. This takes a fairly long time because of the way the files are copied and moved — it’s a bit-by-bit transfer. The files actually are moved to memory in chunks, erased from their original position and rewritten to the new position. This is the best way to make sure nothing gets corrupted while it’s being installed.
With Android N your phone can be updated like a Chromebook while you’re still using it
Once everything is in place, your phone reboots and you wait for the runtime component to look through the system and “upgrade” your apps to the latest version. What it’s doing is optimizing the apps for the specific version of the Android runtime. Android apps don’t run from the single file you download and install, and are pre-compiled into odex files. That way apps can load faster and the boot process (not counting the first boot after and update) will be much faster.
Then you get to use your phone again.
While most of the time for most people the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to upgrade your operating system doesn’t cause too much trouble, any way that can minimize downtime is a better way. Your phone should be available in case of an emergency whenever you need or want it to be available. Enter seamless updates.
With Android 7.0 Nougat, your phone can (not will — more on that later) update like Chrome OS updates. All the downloading and copying of files is done in the background while you’re using your phone, and once it’s finished you will be notified that your system will upgrade the next time you reboot your phone. And changes to the runtime compiler mean that you won’t have to sit through the process of updating all of your apps when you reboot.
That sounds cool — how does it work?
Seamless updates work by having two different system partitions on your phone. When using a phone that can perform seamless updates, all the unpacking and transferring is done while one system partition is running, and things are copied and moved into the second partition. The way Android is divided into individual partitions means the data portion — where all the information you’ve entered about an app, things like address books or settings or game save progress — are stored in a separate spot outside of the place where the actual system files live. This is good for system security (the data partition can have its own set of file and folder permissions) and it makes things pretty convenient for seamless updates.
Two system partitions means more space will be used.
Once all this is done, you can reboot and use the new system partition. This is done without moving the partitions or renaming them because they are numbered. A configuration file used during the boot process (equivalent to /etc/fstab for the Linux nerds in the house) is read that tells the kernel and boot process where each partition starts and stops. This file is changed to point to the new system partition instead of the current one. The next time you update, the other system partition will be wiped and used. They swap back and forth seamlessly.
This isn’t new. If you have the Chrome browser on your computer or have a Chromebook, this is exactly how those systems or apps update. But it’s new for Android and does two things. It keeps you from having too much downtime (and there are plenty of folks who will dismiss an upgrade notification because they don’t want to fool with the current process). And it is better for security because it can happen automatically when you reboot your phone.
Other important stuff to know
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Seamless updates aren’t a requirement for manufacturers. Your existing phone isn’t partitioned correctly and won’t be able to perform seamless updates. And you don’t want a future update to try and repartition it — the internal memory was designed to have its record (a map of where each partition lives) written once and never changed. That means the people who make your next phone might not use the seamless update feature because they don’t have to. We know that the 2016 Nexus phones will have it enabled, but nothing beyond that.
-
There should be some opt-out settings so the process isn’t automated if you don’t want it to be. I don’t have the full details but I was assured by Google that there will be a setting of some sort. This won’t be a Windows 10 style fiasco. We’ll find it and tell you where to look as soon as we have a phone that uses it in our hot little hands.
-
This will use more space on your phone’s internal storage. It uses a complete second system partition. Expect a couple of gigabytes to be used and reserved for it.
This is just one of the many great under-the-hood improvements that come with Android 7.0 Nougat. We’ll talk more about the changes and what to expect in future instalments of this series, and you can head into the forums to discuss it all.
Android Nougat
Android Nougat is the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!
- What’s new in Android Nougat
- Will my phone get Android Nougat?
- All Android Nougat news
- Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
- Join the Discussion
How to fix WiFi problems on your Galaxy S7
How can I fix Wi-Fi problems on my Galaxy S7?
The Samsung Galaxy S7 might be one of the best phones of the year, but it sometimes it suffers from Wi-Fi problems that mess with your experience.
If your Galaxy S7 is suffering from some Wi-Fi woes, here are a few things you can try to get reconnected.
- Turn Wi-Fi off/on
- Reset your router
- Forget and relearn the network
- Update your software
- Try another network
- Get closer
- Check your router settings
- Make sure Wi-Fi is always on
- Disable Power saving mode
- Change the encryption settings on your router
- Get a new router
- Range extenders/repeaters
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Yup, it sounds like I’m joking, but I’m not. Try turning off Wi-Fi, then turn off the phone. Turn your phone back on and then turn on Wi-Fi again.
Sometimes it just needs a quick kick in the but to get going again and turning it off and on might be the hoof it needs.
Reset your router
Sometimes your router may get a bit sluggish and it just needs a refresh. Unplug it or power it down for at least 30 seconds, then fire it back up again.
Forget and re-learn
Sometimes your Wi-Fi problem could be to do with how your Galaxy S7 connects to your network. Try forgetting the network, then reconnect to it.
Here’s how:
Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap Wi-Fi.
Tap the network you’re connected to.
Tap Forget.
Tap the network again to reconnect to it.
Enter the password if there is one.
Tap Connect.
Is your software up to date?
Sometimes, if you haven’t updated to the latest software version on both your Galaxy S7 and your router, you may have problems connecting.
Here’s how to make sure you’re up-to-date on your Galaxy S7:
Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap About device.
Tap Download updates manually. Your phone will then check for and download any updates.
Tap Later, Install overnight, or Install now to choose when you want the update installed.
Try another network
It could just be that the network you’re trying to connect to has rather poor coverage. Try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network and see if that makes a difference.
The best way to test this would be to try a network outside your home, just in case your router is the real problem.
Get closer
This is another obvious one, but here it is: get closer to the physical router. If you are experiencing connectivity issues, try moving closer to the router itself. This is especially true if you are connected on the 5Ghz frequency, since it travels shorter distances than the more ubiquitous (and more prone to interference) 2.4Ghz frequency.
Check your router settings
Sometimes it’s just a matter of switching to the other band on your dual band router. Try switching to 2.4GHz in your router’s software settings. It has a wider range and may connect better to your Galaxy S7.
Make sure Wi-Fi is always on
In the Wi-Fi settings on your Galaxy S7, you have three options that control when Wi-Fi is on. If your connection is spotty, you’ll want to make sure that Wi-Fi is always connected, even when your phone is asleep (i.e. the screen is off). Here’s how!
Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap Wi-Fi.
Tap More in the top right corner of your screen.
Tap Advanced.
Tap Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep.
Tap Always.
This will stop your Galaxy S7 from disconnecting from your Wi-Fi network every time the screen turns off.
Turn off Power Saving Mode
Power Saving Mode slows your Galaxy S7’s performance in order to conserve battery, which may be hindering your Wi-Fi connectivity.
Turn it off in the Notification Shade. If you have it on for a reason, then charge your phone and worry about Wi-Fi later!
Change the encryption settings on your router
We’re getting into more technical territory now and this should be one of the last things you try. Remove the encryption from your router (refer to your router’s instruction manual, since every brand will be different).
This will create an “open” network, which means you won’t need a password to connect. If this clears up your Wi-Fi issues, there may be a problem with your router’s software. While we always recommend maintaining strong encryption between your phone and your router, look into enabling a different protocol when you re-enable encryption. If you were using AES, try changing it to TKIP (though we strongly encourage you to stick with WPA2-PSK (AES) once the problems have been resolved).
Get a new router!
If you’re having no luck at all and you know your Galaxy S7 isn’t the problem, then you likely need to upgrade your router.
Go for something dual band that uses 802.11 ac. We recommend the ASUS-built Google OnHub.
If all else fails
If you have a new router and you know your Galaxy S7 isn’t the problem and everything’s tested properly with your internet service provider, then maybe your home just isn’t Wi-Fi friendly. It’s OK, many aren’t.
As a last-ditch effort, you might want to try a Wi-Fi range extender/repeater. These usually just plug into a power outlet somewhere in your home in a Barrel of Monkeys fashion in that they pick up the Wi-Fi signal and then broadcast it, adding more range to your signal.
If you find that Wi-Fi works great near the router but sucks elsewhere in your home, strategically place an extender and your problems may be solved. Some extenders even help you pinpoint dead spots.
There are many to choose from, so check out Window Central’s roundup to make sure you get what you need.
What’s your fix?
Have you run into Wi-Fi issues with your Galaxy S7 and fixed them in a way not mentioned here? Share in the comments below!
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Hey, Snapchat, enough is enough
I discovered Snapchat just a few months ago, and even though I’m much older than most of its users, I fell in love with it. Despite its obtuse interface and obscure controls, I was charmed by the whole idea of churning out quick-and-dirty ephemeral content. Because photos and videos only last 24 hours, I felt less pressure to post perfectly polished selfies and was more at ease with being myself. Plus, I liked the fun emojis, stickers and quirky selfie lenses. But Snapchat took it a step too far recently with a couple of camera filters that weren’t as funny as they were racist. This has prompted me to drop Snapchat entirely.
If you haven’t been paying attention, Snapchat recently released a new selfie lens that it says was “anime-inspired.” But it made your eyes look squinty and slanted. And if you had your mouth open, it would also appear as if you had buck teeth. In short, it turned you into a racist Asian caricature.
As an Asian myself, this hit me hard. As I said, I’d always liked those selfie lenses. I even defended them to some of my colleagues who thought they were dumb. They were fun, and I liked that you could trigger actions like surfing or explosions by opening your mouth or raising your eyebrows. So to have one of these selfie lenses glibly make fun of my facial features and my race was difficult to take.
.@Snapchat wanna tell me why u thought this yellowface was ok?? pic.twitter.com/sgpW4AFPsE
— grace (@tequilafunrise) Aug. 9, 2016
Also, the notion that the filter was supposed to make your face look like “anime” sounds like bullshit. No, it doesn’t. Anime is generally known for large, soulful eyes and tiny mouths, not slanted eyes and enlarged teeth.
The filter is no longer available, but it doesn’t appear that it was removed due to complaints. In a statement, the company said, “This anime-inspired lens has already expired, and won’t be put back into circulation. Lenses are meant to be playful and never to offend.” This struck me as an excuse rather than an apology.
This isn’t the first time the company has shown insensitivity. On April 20th, Snapchat featured a Bob Marley selfie lens that let its users superimpose the late singer’s face on their own. That basically let anyone put on digital blackface. Plus, many complained it was cultural appropriation and that it reduced the reggae legend to yet another stoner meme.
This also received plenty of backlash, but the company didn’t apologize for the insensitivity then either. Instead, it said it worked with the Marley estate to come up with the filter, as if that absolved it from any responsibility. Snapchat said in a statement, “The lens we launched today was created in partnership with the Bob Marley Estate, and gives people a new way to share their appreciation for Bob Marley and his music. Millions of Snapchatters have enjoyed Bob Marley’s music, and we respect his life and achievements.”
Though it wasn’t racist, Snapchat also had a “nerd” face filter earlier this year that hit a little too close to home. Thick-rimmed glasses and braces aren’t so funny when you actually have them in real life.
when you think you look funny with the nerd filter on snapchat but then you realize you are the nerd filter🙁🙁 pic.twitter.com/p3KfFeh8VW
— lindsee batler (@_llindseyy) July 1, 2016
Whether or not the lenses were intentionally offensive, what bothers me with these incidents is Snapchat’s response. There was no apology, no promise to do better and no acknowledgement at all that the lenses could be perceived as offensive. It makes me wonder if its face filters go through any kind of QA check and if there are any staffers who are people of color, who are probably more likely to spot such gaffes. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of other tech companies, Snapchat isn’t willing to reveal its diversity numbers, which is a problem in and of itself.
But even if Snapchat’s staff is 100 percent white, how did not a single one of them see this in action and think, “Hey, are we sure about this?” Could no one ask an Asian co-worker or simply show it to an Asian friend and ask if it was OK? Did no one think to show the Bob Marley filter to a few black people and ask them if it was appropriate? The tone deafness on display is astounding.
Plus, Snapchat actually has competition now. Instagram recently released its own Snapchat copycat with Stories, which also lets you post photos and videos that last for 24 hours. It doesn’t have the same stickers as Snapchat, but it does let you doodle and write over photos. I wasn’t too big a fan of Instagram Stories at first — mostly because my friends who use Snapchat aren’t on Instagram — but I’ve slowly come around to it. It taps into that same spirit of spontaneity that Snapchat does, but with a much larger and established following, at least for me.
And since Snapchat can’t seem to figure out that racist filters are not OK, I have zero reason to stick around. Goodbye, Snapchat. It’s been a fun few months, but I’m ready to let you expire, just like your filters.
Apogee’s new MiC 96k works with Windows for USB recording
Apogee has built a stellar reputation when it comes to audio gear. Back in 2014, the company debuted the MiC 96k: an updated version of its compact USB microphone that can handle up to 96kHz 24-bit analog-to-digital recording. That model only worked with iOS devices and Mac though, but now Apogee has a new MiC 96k that plays nice with Windows. The device carries the same name, design and features list, only now you can use it with your Surface or another Windows machine. The company focused on mobile for the first two MiCs, but now it’s making sure there’s a desktop option for everyone as well.
The best part? This new version of Apogee’s MiC costs less than its predecessor at $199. Sure, you’re giving up the iOS compatibility, but if you aren’t looking to employ the USB microphone with a mobile device, this new option will save you some coin. Heck, if you like to keep your options open, tacking on a $30 Lighting cable will ensure that you can use the MiC across Windows, Mac and your iPhone or iPad.
When it comes to USB microphones, Blue’s devices are perhaps the most popular options. Like Blue, Apogee also offers a line of audio gear for pros as well as consumers. The MiC is a solid choice for a compact recording option that you can easily store in your backpack without taking up much space. It can handle podcasting and other vocal duties as well as tracking acoustic instruments like guitars and more. This new MiC is actually the third installment of the device with the first debuting in 2011. Since then, Apogee has improved overall audio quality for the recording accessory (the first 96k model) that works with GarageBand, Ableton Live, Pro Tools and more.
Source: Apogee
Simit is a new language for more efficient programming
A team of researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Adobe, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Toronto, Texas A&M and the University of Texas have developed a brand new programming language that can speed up computer simulations significantly.
Meant to alleviate the frustration of having to swap between different types of tools and physical models, the new language is called Simit, and it requires only one-tenth as much code as older simulations.
Simit will require programmers to describe translations between a graphical depiction of a system as well as its matrix description, but where it speeds things up is the fact that it doesn’t have a need for translating graphics into matrices, etc. It can simply take instructions issued by the language of linear algebra and translate them into graphs, skipping over a very time-consuming step.
The language has applications outside simulations, and it’s even planned for it to augment machine learning, data analytics, optimization and robotics in addition to a version of Google’s PageRank algorithm as MIT grad student Fredrik Kjolstad plans to apply it. There’s even research in place with the code’s application in quantum chronodynamics.
The language is an impressive feat and should alleviate previous concerns caused by languages used prior to Simit’s creation, as researchers are happy to attest to.
Source: MIT News
Wirecutter’s best deals: 20 percent off a Sony DualShock 4 wireless controller
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
Anova Precision Cooker Wi-Fi
Street price: $200; MSRP: $200; Deal price: $150
The only worthwhile sale we’ve seen on this model this year. We’ve seen a couple of $130 and $140 sales on the Bluetooth model, but the Wi-fi model has been a bit more stubborn about going on sale. If you’ve got a Visa, you can use Visa Checkout as your payment method, which should apply an additional $10 off of $100+ coupon to your order, bringing it down to $140.
The Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI is our pick for the sous vide gear. Tim Barribeau and Nick Guy wrote, “The Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI is the best bet for most home cooks due to its low price, small size, and flexibility. It’s one of the cheapest ways to get into sous vide cooking, and thanks to an innovative adjustable attachment system, the Anova works with a much smaller volume of water than the earliest iteration did—so there’s now no need to heat up a gallon of water just to cook a couple of chicken breasts.”
Sony DualShock 4 Wireless Controller
Street price: $50; MSRP: $60; Deal price: $39 with code
Using the code BACKTOSCHOOL05, you can drop the price down to $38 to $39 depending on which color you choose. That matches the lowest price we’ve seen on the PS4 controller, and since the order is over $35, you’ll get free shipping. Some users have reported issues with the code so if it’s not working, try BACKTOSCHOOL06.
The Sony DualShock 4 Wireless Controller is our pick in the Best PC Gaming Controller. Kimber Streams wrote, “The Sony DualShock 4 Wireless Controller is the best PC gaming controller for most people because it’s the most comfortable for average-size hands; all of its analog sticks, buttons, and triggers work well, too, and it can work over Bluetooth or with a Micro-USB cable. Plus, its touchpad can simulate a mouse cursor, a feature no other good controller has. But the DualShock 4 requires a bit of effort to set up on Windows, it won’t work for most games on OS X, and it’s a bit small for large hands. If you need a controller that’s plug-and-play on Windows, ready to work with more games on OS X, and better for larger hands, skip ahead to our runner-up.”
Creative Draco HS880 Gaming Headset
Street price: $50; MSRP: $50; Deal price: $40
This is a good deal and a good drop in price on an already reasonably priced gaming headset. This deal saves you a few dollars more than the last time this headset went on sale, which was a few months ago, and brings the price down $10 under the street price.
The Creative Drasco HS880 Gaming Headset is our budget pick in the Best Gaming Headset guide. Dennis Burger wrote, “If the other headsets cost more than you’re willing or able to spend at the moment, all of our testers agreed that the Creative Draco HS880 Gaming Headset is an incredible value that easily trumps everything else in its price range.”
Patagonia Lightweight Tote
Street price: $80; MSRP: $80; Deal price: $58
This deal is part of REI’s grand opening sale on their REI Garage site. A few of our picks are their best prices to date, and that’s before you add the single-use code REIGARAGE, which takes another 20% off of the highest priced item in your cart. At $58, this tote is already $5 below the best price we’ve seen, and after the code, it drops down to $47. This particular deal is only available on the purple and blue colors though.
The Patagonia Lightweight Tote is our packable daypack pick in our travel gear guide. The WC staff wrote, “This Patagonia Tote works great as a tote but makes no compromises in backpack performance. It has all the padding and straps you’d expect on a normal daypack.”
They had a lot to say about the comfort, “Comfort is another of the Patagonia’s main advantages. Despite packing into a pocket the size of a 99-cent chip bag, it has all the straps and padding you’d expect from a non-packable backpack. Adjustable sternum and hip straps make this bag comfortable for long periods of comfortable wear; when not in use, the straps can be tucked away. A padded, reinforced bottom, overall construction from weather-resistant nylon ripstop, and high-quality, tight stitching gives the Patagonia tote structure and sturdiness lacking from the other bags we tried.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Crafting the algorithmic soundtrack of ‘No Man’s Sky’
While you’ve no doubt heard of No Man’s Sky, the game, chances are you can’t say the same of the band that scored its soundtrack. That’s fair. UK noise/drone rock group 65Daysofstatic (65DOS) has quietly been releasing records since 2001. Its songs regularly stretch past seven minutes, and if they feature vocals, the singing is buried so deep in the mix that it’s almost indistinguishable from the maelstrom surrounding it. All that is to say, the band doesn’t write the type of music that gets stuck in your head. Which makes multi-instrumentalist Paul Wolinski’s hopes for the score all the more surprising. “We wanted it to be hummable,” he told Engadget.
A good video game soundtrack isn’t just a handful of licensed songs thrown into a playlist — it has to ebb and flow with what’s happening onscreen. That means a lot of looped phrases and effects for a particular area, which may change at a moment’s notice if you jump into your starship and leave a planet.
To accomplish this, the band built its own logic system for the Ableton Live and Max for Live recording software. More than that, 65DOS created custom applications for software development tools like the Unity game engine and FMOD for sound effects. It was all part of an effort to approximate the algorithms No Man’s Sky uses to assemble not only the environments you’ll explore but the music accompanying those as well. Handing songwriting duties over to a piece of software and letting it assemble a soundscape from a bank of audio files is virgin territory for the band and, quite possibly, the industry in general.
No Man’s Sky’s creative mastermind Sean Murray is intimately familiar with the band’s work, which is why he contacted Wolinski and his bandmates in 2013 to license their song “Debutante” for the game’s debut trailer. The initial pitch was for 65DOS to make a new album and, from there, the development team would tear the songs down to their base pieces, remixing and rearranging them in-house.
The band wanted to be involved with the deconstruction part of the process too. “I think [Hello Games] kind of underestimated how geeky we are in terms of the computer side of things,” Wolinsky said. At its outset, the custom software was more humble than you might think — especially compared with how the game itself randomly assembles the 18 quintillion planets in its galaxy.
“On one level, it’s a glorified random audio file player,” Wolinski admitted. “It’s just pulling from different things. But we slowly re-created the logic that can make rules, so it would approximate what would, in theory, be happening in the final game.”
It was a long process that made songwriting into a sort of assembly line procedure. “We might need to record 50 guitar drones in E minor, but because of the kind of band we are, it wasn’t just hitting ‘render’ 50 times in some software. It was us in a room with lots of mics pointing at amps (below) turned up as loud as they could go, and wearing ear defenders eight hours a day.”
That might sound unpleasant, but not for Wolinski. “It was so much fun!” he said.
During previous writing sessions for other records, there were snippets of songs that’d be thrown out because of how a track evolved over time. Those would typically be scrapped — not because the band didn’t like them, but because what might have started as a piano ballad ended up being a “big kind of mess of beats and layers.” With the No Man’s Sky project, what ended up on the cutting room floor still had a purpose.
“Usually all the stuff that gets left out disappears forever,” he noted. Because the band was writing with an eye toward logic-assembled soundscapes, that wasn’t the case here: Everything had a use. “That all kind of came from working with [Hello Games audio lead] Paul Weir, and Hello Games being so supportive of us just getting more involved.”
The amps used to record all those drones.
The band then sent Weir a bunch of audio files and “reams of text” with notes on how to re-pitch and arrange certain musical phrases. But the ultimate goal for 65DOS was to not overstep their boundaries as musicians; they couldn’t tell Weir how to do his job. While the band handled the vast majority of the arrangement and deconstruction, Weir and Hello Games put the finishing touches on everything. Toward the end of the writing process, Weir had “friendly suggestions” for more music, but it was things like additional synthesizer arpeggios for when you’re flying around — not wholesale changes to songs.
No Man’s Sky had a profound impact on the band, not just for this album but for its plans to write music going forward. Prior to this, 65DOS created music for a sound installation that had 20 speakers in a room that could each play a specific sound at a given time. “That was really exciting for us, because, as a band, we’d been wanting to push into new forms. Not just albums, not just touring, but different ways of presenting music.”
Instead of simply writing another record and then going on the road to promote it, 65DOS was able to do something completely different. “The sound installation was more about writing for a specific place, rather than just chunks of time,” Wolinski said.
No Man’s Sky was the way to bring those ambitions for presentation and performance under one banner. Combined with the algorithmic approach to song-crafting, the game fundamentally altered how the band thinks about music. “Games are such a ripe vehicle to hang that kind of creativity on, so FMOD and Unity — us getting to grips with that — I think is going to be really useful in whatever we do next.”
Images: Amplifiers by Joe Balloons; Screenshots courtesy of Hello Games
Instagram Stories arrive on the web thanks to a Chrome extension
While we wait to see if Instagram will bring its new Snapchat-like Stories feature to the web, someone has already created a workaround. Thanks to Alec Garcia’s Chrome IG Story extension, you can view those posts from the comforts of your browser. Sure, you’ll have to use Google Chrome in order to make it happen, but once you activate the add-on, Instagram stories will appear atop your feed just like they do in the mobile app.
The functionality is slightly different that what you’ve likely seen on your phone. Clicking a profile picture brings up the Story for that user. From there, you can click or use the arrow keys to scroll through, but there’s no way to move on to the next post unless you exit out of what you’re viewing. Right clicking on a profile image will allow you to download the story. Instagram hasn’t always taken kindly to feed-reading apps and plug-ins that use its APIs, so this browser extension may not be around for long.
Since its introduction, Instagram has always taken a mobile-first approach. The app was available for a while before posts were viewable on the web. Even then, you couldn’t take a gander at your feed in a browser until a few months later. The social photography app has embraced web users to a certain degree though, redesigning profiles and adding both search and notifications over the last year. Only time will tell if Instagram will make stories available in your browser in an official capacity.
Via: The Next Web
Source: Chrome Store
Siri Offers Humorous Responses to Questions About Hit Game Pokémon Go
Apple’s virtual assistant Siri is known for offering up funny responses to a range of questions, and Apple’s Siri team often puts time and effort into providing Siri with answers and comments on current events. This summer, augmented reality game Pokémon Go has become a worldwide phenomenon, and as discovered on Reddit and by 9to5Mac, Siri will now answer questions about the hit game.
A question like “Siri, what’s your favorite Pokémon?” receives answers like “That yellow species with an electrostatic tail of variable lengths is rather cute” or “Polymaths prefer Poliwags.” Asking Siri if it likes Pokémon Go also results in humorous answers like “I like pocket monsters. Pocket assistants, too.”
Because Siri draws in information from sources like Wolfram Alpha, which has offered information about Pokémon since 2013, the personal assistant can also answer specific questions you ask about Pokémon. Data available includes Pokémon type, abilities, stats, evolutions, and more specific comparative questions about which Pokémon have the highest attack, fastest speed, and more.
While fervor over Pokémon Go has died down somewhat in recent days due to controversial feature changes and decisions made by Niantic Labs, Pokémon Go set an App Store record for the most ever downloads during its first week of availability.
It is considered the biggest mobile game in U.S. history and has been downloaded more than 100 million times. According to estimates, the game brings in more than $10 million in daily revenue across the iOS and Google Play app stores.
To find other questions Siri gives funny answers to, Siri.io, a new website that offers a comprehensive list of Siri commands is worth checking out.
Tags: Siri, Pokémon GO
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