Will your email get a reply? This tool will tell you – CNET
As Steve Martin put it: “Some people have a way with words, and other people, oh… not have way.”
Not sure where you fall in that spectrum? The creators of Boomerang — a great Gmail and Outlook plug-in that works like a snooze button for email — have added a writing asset called Respondable. Its goal: to help you write better messages; “better” in this case meaning “more likely to generate a response.”
Boomerang
How Respondable makes your emails better
Respondable relies on machine learning (let’s just call it artificial intelligence) to analyze your writing — starting with the email subject line — as it happens. You’ll see dynamically adjusted ratings based on subject length, word count, question count (too many questions can kill response rate — who knew?) and reading level.
Each of those four meters is color-coded based on Respondable’s algorithms; your goal is to keep them “in the green” as best you can. You can click the little question-mark alongside each for a description and recommendations. For example:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Personally, I’ve always strived to write above a third-grade level, but if I follow Respondable’s advice, I’m better off simplifying my language in order to improve my response rate.
Respondable offers Pro-level features as well: three additional meters focused on positivity, politeness and subjectivity. To access them, you’ll need a Boomerang Pro or Premium subscription, which cost $14.99 and $49.99 per month, respectively. (Unfortunately, $4.99/month Boomerang Personal doesn’t include the advanced features.)
On the plus side, you can read the recommendations for each without a Pro account — just click the question mark — but if you want live analysis, you’ll have to upgrade.
Although Respondable won’t do anything about bad grammar or punctuation (Grammarly, anyone?), it’s an interesting and potentially useful tool for anyone hoping to improve their communication skills — and, just as important — raise their response rates. Respondable (via the Boomerang plug-in) is available for all major browsers (except Edge) and Microsoft Outlook.
Protect your camera from rain and snow for less than $1 – CNET
Using expensive camera gear in the rain or snow is never advisable, but sometimes, its the only way to get the shots you need.
If you need to use a camera in inclement weather and you don’t have a rain cover, you can make one yourself with common items in just a few seconds. Best of all, it will cost you less than a buck.
What you’ll need
This makeshift rain cover comes from photographer Benjamin Jaworskyj. It won’t work with just any camera. It works best with those with interchangeable lenses – a dSLR or some mirrorless cameras.
You will also need a lens hood. Otherwise, the lens will be exposed to the falling rain or snow, which could damage it. Aside from that, you need just two things to make the rain cover: a small plastic bag, such as a 4 gallon (15 liter) trash bag, and a rubber band (or two).
How to make the rain cover
This hack is very straightforward. To put it together, first mount your camera on a tripod and install the lens hood on the end of the lens. Then:
- Take the plastic bag and pull the open end over the camera, lens side first.
- Stretch the rubber band over the lens and place it at the base of the lens hood.
- Make a hole in the plastic bag in front of the lens and pull it back towards the rubber band to move it out of frame.
As long as the bag is not torn or ripped in any way, your equipment should be relatively safe from water damage. From the open end of the bag, you can still access your camera viewfinder and controls.
With a bag made of translucent plastic, you can even see and use the controls without having to stick your entire head inside the open end.
A word of caution
Be aware, though, that this makeshift cover isn’t foolproof. Plastic bags can easily get holes in them, exposing your camera to water and ultimately damaging thousands of dollars of equipment.
Beyond that, you could try substituting the plastic bag with a thicker plastic, such as 6 Mil plastic sheets or even a clear plastic rain poncho, which would be less susceptible to tearing.
Also, take note of the water and dust resistance of both your camera and lenses before ever considering shooting in the rain. The camera Jaworskyj uses is already resistant to dust and water, and the lens shown in the video has an expensive flourine coating on the front element to further protect it. So even if there’s a puncture in the plastic coating, his gear isn’t left totally unprotected. A camera or lens without those extra protections can be subjected to irreparable damages if exposed to water.
Further, you can purchase far more durable rain covers for anywhere between $10 (£7.59 or AU$13.13) and $50 (£37.95 or AU$65.65). But this option is easy for protecting your camera in a pinch, as Jaworskyj notes, more comfortable to use than the bulkier protection.
Kenmore 69133 Dryer review – CNET
The Good The Kenmore 69133 dryer pulls moisture from wet laundry with astonishing speed and offers a large 8.8-cubic-foot capacity to process hefty laundry loads. The appliance’s control panel is simple to use and flaunts updated styling that’s both modern and attractive.
The Bad The Kenmore 69133 has relatively few specialty cycles, fewer than what other advanced dryers offer. The appliance’s controls are mounted along its back edge, which rules out stacking it above washers to save space. You can’t place the dryer on top of a pedestal accessory either to gain extra storage or put its door within easier reach.
The Bottom Line If you value raw clothes-drying horsepower above all, then Kenmore 69133 dryer’s excellent performance will have you hooked, but take a hard pass on this machine if you plan to stack your laundry machines vertically or drop them onto pedestals.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Top-loading washing machines and their similarly sculpted clothes-drying counterparts such as the $1,100 Kenmore 69133 dryer used to be the norm. This style of laundry appliance has been upstaged by flashier units of the front-loading variety. Fashionable and more convenient, you can stack them vertically in compact towers or sit them atop pedestal accessories to gain extra laundry room storage.
While the Kenmore 69133 dryer can’t perform any of those tricks, it does boast a few compelling abilities all its own, the most impressive of which are truly outstanding drying power and swift cycle speeds. Decked out in modern styling, this big 8.8-cubic-foot-capacity laundry machine is a real looker as well. However, if you have your heart set on a trendy front-loading model, the Kenmore 69133 won’t satisfy. In that case, the $1,099 Electrolux EFME617S Perfect Steam or $1,400 Kenmore Elite 81072 are better options. But big families and, frankly, anyone who’d like to spend less time doing laundry will love this appliance.
Kenmore’s spacious top-load style dryer serves…
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Design and features
Standing a full 42.9 inches tall, spanning 29 inches wide and reaching a depth of 32.2 inches, the Kenmore 69133 is one very big boy. A major contributor to the dryer’s large footprint is its huge drum, which provides 8.8 cubic feet of capacity. While not quite as accommodating as the Kenmore Elite 81072 (9-cubic-foot capacity), the dryer is spacious and certainly has enough room to process loads from its official washer counterpart, the Kenmore 29133. A monster in its own right, the front-loading washing machine offers 5.3 cubic feet of clothes cleaning capacity.
Made to match its companion aesthetically as well, the Kenmore 69133 mimics the washer’s classic front-load shape and has controls running along its back, topmost edge. Smartly curved, contoured and sporting a surface of glossy black, the control panel cuts a stylish profile.
The curved control panel is mounted on the back edge.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The panel’s capacitive buttons further heighten the dryer’s modern look. More like a smartphone than a typical home appliance, these keys activate with a mere featherlight touch. The contemporary product design continues with the machine’s sound alerts rendered in soft electronic chimes rather than shrill beeps or mechanical buzzes. All this adds up to an appliance that’s a breeze to use and fun to interact with.
I only have a few control-related complaints. First are the panel’s distinctive blue lights and indicators, which are small, faint and harder to see than the brighter LEDs on other dryers. Secondly, since this dryer’s control panel is back-mounted, you can’t stack it on top of another laundry unit such as a washer or vice versa.
This dryer uses capacitive buttons that activate at a light touch.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
These vertical configurations are a great way to save space or shoehorn bulky appliances into cramped laundry rooms. Additionally, the panel’s location rules out setting the dryer on a pedestal accessory. Pedestals ergonomically raise washer and dryer doors so you don’t have to bend over as much when opening or closing them, but this would make the controls hard to reach.
Compared to the seemingly endless cycle choices many fancy dryers have, the Kenmore 69133 has a relatively tame selection of seven sensor-driven modes (10 counting basic timed cycles). For example, you won’t find exotic options precisely labeled for reducing allergens or treating sportswear or towels. Instead, the machine provides traditional cycles for items generally classified as “Normal,” “Casual,” “Delicates” and “Heavy Duty.”
The panel’s small lights and labels are hard to see from a distance.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
LG G Pad X 8.0 review – CNET
The Good The LG G Pad X 8.0 only costs $50 with a two-year AT&T service contract. It has a lightweight and portable design, sharp screen and full-size USB port. The built-in IR blaster lets you use it as a remote control.
The Bad The $50 price tag is half the story. You still have to pay extra for monthly cellular service.
The Bottom Line Skip the LG G Pad X 8.0 if the thought of a tablet two-year contract seems ludicrous, but if you’re cool with a commitment, a $50 initial buy-in can’t really be beat.
Guess what! You can actually buy a decent tablet for only $50. Aside from the $50 Amazon Fire, there’s the LG G Pad X 8.0. The catch with the LG? It’s only offered for $50 with a two-year AT&T contract. Otherwise, it costs $250 retail, which, in my expert tablet-reviewer opinion, is way too much for such a simple tablet. But at $50? It’s a great deal. AT&T also offers monthly installment payments that end up costing you about $12.50 a month for 20 months.
LG’s G Pad X 8.0 is a steal for $50, but…
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Why buy the LG G Pad X 8.0 instead of the Amazon Fire? Because it has a full USB port to connect a flash drive, an IR blaster to use it as remote control, access to all of the apps in the Google Play store (Fire tablets have Amazon’s curated app store) and, in my opinion, it looks a lot better than the Amazon Fire. Unlike the Fire, it doesn’t feel like it’ll break in half if I sit on it, even though its design is attractively slimmer, and it has a sharper, brighter screen.
Perfectly portable for reading on a break.
Josh Miller/CNET
Most importantly, the LG G Pad X 8.0 has cellular service. This means you can access the internet on the go, just like your phone. With AT&T, adding a tablet to your plan costs you an extra $10 a month and it shares data with your phone. It’s important to note that although you’re only paying $50 for the tablet, a service contract means that you’re signing up to pay at least an extra $240 for the cellular service over the next two years. All tablets with cell service require you to, you know, pay for the cell service. So if you think you can get away with only paying $50 for the LG tablet, you’re wrong. If that’s what you want, the Wi-Fi-only Amazon Fire is your best alternative.
For $250, the LG G Pad X 8.0 is disappointing, but for $50, it’s impressive. It performs fine for casual use, like reading, rewatching “Stranger Things” and playing games. After two battery tests, the LG averaged 8 hours of battery life. Check back soon for the final result. It’s not as fast as the Asus ZenPad Z8, another great affordable tablet with 4G LTE, but that’s a more expensive model, starting at $149.
You can only buy the LG G Pad X 8.0 through AT&T with service, so if you’re not a customer, or unwilling to become one, you’re better off with the Fire. Otherwise, the G Pad X 8.0 is a hard deal to beat. Sure, it’s a rather vanilla tablet, but for $50, that’s the best you can hope for.
Specs:
- 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution 8-inch IPS screen
- Android 6.0.1
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 617
- 2GB of RAM
- Up to 32GB of internal storage
- MicroSD card slot expandable up to 128GB
- Micro-USB and full USB ports
Benchmarks compared
LG G Pad X 8.0
9,495
3,192
705
Amazon Fire
4,646
1,184
361
Asus ZenPad Z8
17,856
3,638
1,536
Apple iPad Mini 2
15,015
2,465
1,374
Legend:
3DMark Score (Ice Storm Unlimited)
Geekbench 3 Score (Multi-Core)
Geekbench 3 Score (Single-Core)
Note:
Longer bars indicate faster performance
Researchers are building a robotic Lionfish exterminator
We joke around a lot about bringing about a horrific robot apocalypse, but let’s get real: sometimes, building a killer robot is just the right thing to do. Well, at least when those robots are being used to cull invasive species. Researchers at Robots In Service of the Environment (RISE) are developing a robot to fight an invasive population of Lionfish that’s threatening ecosystems off the coast of Florida as well as in the Caribbean and Bermuda.
Creating a robot to exterminate a specific species sounds a bit harsh, but it’s an environmental issue: the Lionfish population in question isn’t native to Caribbean waters, and are don’t register as predators to the local wildlife. By decimating the area’s food supply, the voracious carnivores are killing coral reef systems and starving other species. Culling the Lionfish population is essential to protecting the local ecosystem. Unfortunately there are millions of Lionfish and only so many hunters. The solution? Build robot hunters.
This idea came to RISE founder and iRobot CEO Colin Angle after witnessing the issue first-hand in Bermuda. His group has since designed a concept robot capable of electrocuting Lionfish between a pair of telescoping electrodes. The concept is still in its early stages, but the team has been testing a prototype arm in reef waters to make sure the robot doesn’t scare the fish off before it has a chance to zap them. So far, so good: Lionfish don’t have many predators, and don’t seem scared of the deadly fish-zapper.
RISE says it’s testing out the actual shocking mechanic on Lionfish in aquariums before taking it out to sea, and is also developing a spear-based Lionfish hunter. It’ll be awhile before either unit is ready for action, too. Hopefully, the completed robots will be able to keep the population under control and help the natural ecosystem thrive. Still, it’s a little weird to think that under the right circumstances, killer robots can be a good thing.
Source: PBS, Nekton
Ubisoft delays ‘The Division’ DLC to fix the base game
Ubisoft’s survival shooter multiplayer title The Division had a successful launch back in March, but unpolished design choices erupted into outright game-breaking bugs in the free content additions released in the months thereafter. While the game’s DLC roadmap pegged its second paid expansion Survival to be the next out the door, the studio will push that back until later in 2017 and dedicate the upcoming October update to fixing the core game. That leaves the third planned release, Last Fall, delayed until sometime in 2018.
In a blog post, Ubisoft presented a laundry list of things the so-called Update 1.4 will address: fixing a ton of bugs in its Known Issues backlog, making loot drops more relevant, tweaking enemy difficulty, balancing gear and introductory adjustments to PvP and the Dark Zone. While admitting that there are too many issues to fix before you can release your shiny new expansion must be humbling, they’re going so far as offering weekly State of the Game updates for their fans. Hopefully this offers a better foundation before the Survival DLC is released so the company can avoid banning players for exploiting bugs, as happened after the first bonus content pack dropped in April.
Via: Destructoid
Source: Ubisoft blog
The Department of Defense needs help designing a biohazard suit
The Department of Defense is looking for a few good creators to help create a brand new biohazard suit to life.
The Chembio Suit Challenge is being held by the Chemical and Biological Defense division within the US military, and there’s a $250,000 prize hanging in the balance for ideas on how to create a better chembio suit.
The current suit, according to the contest, has hindrances in the form of weight and bulkiness that greatly restrict soldiers’ range of motion, agility and maneuverability. Those judging the contest will look for specifics like improvements in expedience, mobility and other areas. Basically, making the suit a more svelte and less totally cumbersome piece of equipment is key here.
In addition to figuring out the problem with bulkiness and frustration soldiers face in putting the current suits on, the Department of Defense is also looking for designs to help keep anyone wearing the suits cool. If you submit an idea for this you could win awards ranging from $5,000 to $150,000.
“The ultimate goal is to relieve any burdens and hazards to the warfighter and improve operational capabilities in combating chemical and biological wartime threats,” reads the official Chembio Challenge site.
Interested in taking on the challenge? Go give it a shot.
Via: Fast Co. Design
Apple Working on Special Version of iPhone for Japan, Will Include FeliCa Tap-to-Pay Chip
Apple is developing a version of the iPhone for Japan that includes one of Sony’s FeliCa chips to enable contactless transit payments, reports Bloomberg.
FeliCa is a tap-to-pay format developed by Sony and built into cards that are used to access Japan’s railway and bus system. FeliCa is faster than Apple Pay, allowing transactions to occur in a fraction of a second, which makes it suitable for use in a fast-paced transit environment. It’s also able to store e-money that can be used at vending machines and cafes across the country.
Apple plans to work with several transit card providers to create virtual versions of FeliCa transit cards that can be stored in the Wallet app on the iPhone and used in place of a physical card.
The FeliCa chip will let customers in Japan store their public bus and train passes on their iPhones. Users would then be able to tap their phones against the entrance scanners instead of using physical cards. While the FeliCa chip is the standard technology underlying the service, there are several different providers of transit payment cards based on the type of transit and areas within Japan.
The addition of a FeliCa chip to the iPhone will help Apple make inroads into the mobile payment market in Japan, which is dominated by the standard. 1.9 million payment terminals in the country have already adopted FeliCa and FeliCa terminals saw 4.6 trillion yen ($46 billion) in transactions in 2015.
The FeliCa payment feature could be available as soon as next month, built into the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that Apple plans to unveil in early September. Bloomberg warns, though, that Apple could potentially delay the feature’s launch until next year should discussions with Japanese payment networks fall through.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tags: Japan, FeliCa
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Apple to Eliminate Home Button in 2017 iPhone
The radically redesigned iPhone coming in 2017 will not feature a Home button, Bloomberg today confirmed in a wider report focusing on new mobile payment features coming to Japan.
Apple is already at work on a major redesign of the iPhone for 2017 that focuses more heavily on the display by removing the Home button, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to past rumors, the 2017 iPhone, which may be called the iPhone 8, will feature a complete design overhaul with an edge-to-edge flexible OLED display that does away with the top and bottom bezels where features like the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera are housed.
Instead, the functionality of the Home button, including Touch ID, may be built directly into the display. Apple design chief Jony Ive is said to have wanted to build an iPhone that looks like a single sheet of glass for several years, and 2017, the year that marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, is when it will happen.
The iPhone display may also feature edges that are curved on both sides, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and it is rumored to have a glass body, moving away from the aluminum that’s been used for iPhones since the iPhone 5. Other features that may be built into the 2017 iPhone include wireless charging, an enhanced Taptic engine, and new biometric capabilities like iris scanning or facial recognition.
Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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Malibu bottles get connected with NFC, because summer
Malibu is embracing NFC to make a limited number of its rum bottles connected, meaning you’ll be able to tap to interact, rather than just swigging the whole thing down.
The idea is to provide connectivity with your smartphone, so you can tap on the NFC tag and your phone will then open up a range of content for you to interact with, including the chance to win 7 nights in Barbados.
Malibu says that this will be the largest test of NFC-equipped bottles, with 40,000 connected rum bottles hitting the shelves of 1600 Tesco stores over the next few months.
While this is in many ways an experiment to see whether NFC bottles will work, it also presents the opportunity for customers to have plenty of fun.
Malibu
There will be a range of experiences offered via the NFC tag, including the chance to instantly win UE Boom speakers. Tying into Malibu’s “because summer” marketing campaign, you’ll also be encouraged to upload summer pictures to enter that Barbados prize draw, you’ll be able to access recipes for your Malibu, locate Malibu bars with a leaning toward alfresco drinking and get access to summer tunes too.
NFC offers an advantage over other connected offerings, because the tag tells your phone exactly what to do. Getting the NFC tags onto the bottle was also something of a technical feat, passing the bottles through a heat tunnel to apply the tags.
If nothing else, it’s a chance to drink rum and play with your phone and what’s not to like about that?
AIVAnet 