Robots can perform surgery inside your eyeballs
Doctors at Oxford University made medical history recently by successfully completing the first robot-assisted intraocular surgery. Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the university, and his team managed to gently peel off a 1/1000th millimeter membrane from the inside of a patient’s eye. To do so, the team relied on a cutting-edge medical device known as the Robotic Retinal Dissection Device, or R2D2.
The R2D2, developed by Dutch medical robotics firm Preceyes BV, is designed to perform keyhole surgery, entering and exiting the eyeball through a single, sub-millimeter hole. What’s more, it’s built to be exceedingly steady, especially given the tight tolerances within which it works. It employs a series of seven, independently computer controlled motors to navigate within the eye and can move as little as 1/1000th of a millimeter at a time. This is done to eliminate any semblance of tremors in the surgeon’s hands — including even the most minute tics like those generated by the doctor’s own heartbeat.
“Current technology with laser scanners and microscopes allows us to monitor retinal diseases at the microscopic level, but the things we see are beyond the physiological limit of what the human hand can operate on,” Dr. MacLauren told the BBC. “With a robotic system, we open up a whole new chapter of eye operations that currently cannot be performed.”
In this case, the surgical team was tasked with exorcising a tiny growth of membrane that had contracted around the patient’s retina and distorted his vision to resemble the hall-of-mirrors scene from Enter the Dragon. The existing method calls for doctors to time their movements between heartbeats but with the help of the joystick-controlled R2D2, that procedure can be completed in a fraction of the time.
For the record, this is not how it’s supposed to go.
The R2D2 is still undergoing clinical trials. In fact, this was the first of 12 such tests, each being more complex than the last. However, should the device gain government approval, it could become, as MacLauren states, “a vision of eye surgery in the future.”
Source: Oxford University
Sasha Weather Free: Simple is the name of the game
Developer: Sasha Lab
Category: Weather
Audience: Anyone who goes outside
The Beginning
I have reviewed a few Weather apps in the past. Storm and Amber Weather to name a couple. These apps were for the more hardcore weather fans out there. They had many options and settings that could be added or changed. Both are designed well and are really robust!
Sasha Weather Free is not robust.. at all actually. But what it is, is a really good, simple way to see the current temperature and the current 7-day forecast for your current location or a manual location that you pick.
The Middle
Let’s start with the permissions that are needed for this app. First, in order to automatically find the weather where you are, the app needs access to your location. It will work without allowing this but it’s nice to not worry about manually putting in your location every time you want to look at the forecast. The second is to allow the app to access photos,media, and files. This one is a little riskier as I am not sure why the app needs to be able to read and delete things from your phone. So use your own discretion before allowing this. (I did not allow it on my phone)
Location
Media
Once we get past the permissions it’s time to dive into the app. Remember this is a really 
simple app but it gets the job done. The first thing that CATches your eye is the cat theme. (See what I did there?) The first action I took was to change all the settings to things that made sense to me, Frarenhight, MPH, inches, those types of things. Just click the hamburger button on the top left then click units to change these.
Once you come out of the settings pane you will notice the big weather icon in the middle of the screen. This changes depending on the current weather. So if it’s sunny out you will have a big sun shining, at night you get a nice little moon and stars animation, if it’s partly cloudy there is the sun with some clouds over it, I think you get the picture. Scroll down just a little and you see the current temp and a message from Sasha the Cat.
Moving down the page we see today’s high and low, this box is clickable, clicking it give us the most info that we will see about today’s weather. There are the usual things here, hourly forecast, precipitation and some more details about what’s going on outside right now. And finally scrolling to the bottom give us the rest of the 7-day forecast. There is also an ad at the bottom of the page but does not seem to change and is for Sasha Lab’s other app.
The End
Overall this app provides the needed info to know whether you will need your rain coat or snow boots before going outside. It is not as robust as some others but gets the job done and looks pretty good while doing it. Sasha seemed to get my location before even the best apps, the temps seem just as or more accurate than Weather Bug. (which is my main weather app) They also give us two home screen widgets, the first is the Cat theme with all the currents and the second is a more “normal’ widget that gives the current and the rest of the 7-day forecast. It does not use the material design so that takes it down a notch or two in my book. The cat theme is a little strange to me but I won’t hold that against it. If you just need the basics and don’t want to mess with all the bells and whistles of some of the other weather apps out there then you should give Sasha Weather Free a try.
App Link: Sasha Weather Free
Researchers produce healthy mice without using fertilized eggs
A mammal needs fertilized egg cells to have children, right? Not so fast. University of Bath scientists report that they’re the first to successfully breed healthy mice without any fertilized eggs, instead relying on inactive embryos. The team first doused eggs in strontium chloride, which prevents them from going into a state of arrest while they’re turned into embryos — previous attempts to fool the eggs saw them die within a few days. Researchers then inserted sperm nuclei that reprogrammed the embryos, readying them for the wombs of their surrogate mothers.
The university isn’t sure exactly how the reprogramming works, so there’s still plenty to discover. Also, there’s no certainty that you’d see the same result in humans. It’s probable but not guaranteed, lead researcher Tony Perry explains to Gizmodo.
At a minimum, this is a breakthrough for our understanding of mammalian reproduction: it demonstrates that sperm don’t need an egg to mature and create a living child. However, it also has far-reaching implications for human reproduction. Gay men wanting children would only need women as surrogate mothers, and couples could sometimes overcome seemingly intractable infertility issues. Assuming technology permits this in humans in the first place, society may need to hold an ethical debate to decide whether or not it wants children conceived without conventional fertilization.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Nature
Latest ‘Guccifer 2.0’ leak drops Tim Kaine’s phone number
The hacker that pillaged the DNC’s computers known as “Guccifer 2.0” has released another collection of documents at a cybersecurity conference in London. While it doesn’t contain private emails this time around, it has what appears to be several members’ personal info, including the cellphone number of vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine. The collection also includes the amounts donated by the party’s donors, along with their phone numbers and addresses. Take note, though, that this latest cache was uploaded on a file-sharing service instead of on Guccifer 2.0’s website or on Wikileaks, and the documents haven’t been verified yet. Wikileaks’ Twitter account shared the link where you can download the 670MB file, though, along with its password.
Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile put the blame on the Russian government and its quest to influence the presidential elections in the US. According to Politico, she also said that if there’s anyone who’ll benefit from all these leaks, it’s Donald Trump, who has “embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin” and “publicly encouraged further Russian espionage to help his campaign.”
Guccifer 2.0 got his name from the original Guccifer, who broke into Hillary Clinton’s private email server to steal and distribute her digital missives, medical and financial information. Unlike the first Guccifer who was already sentenced to a little over four years in prison, we’re still not sure who 2.0 really is. Security experts believe, however, that the persona is just a front for Russian cyberspies carrying out government-sanctioned attacks.
678.4 MB of new “DNC documents” from @Guccifer_2https://t.co/zJhERxABiv
use 7zip to unpack
password: GuCCif3r_2.0— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 13, 2016
Source: NBC News, Politico, WikiLeaks (Twitter)
A cartoon frog is this week’s presidential campaign topic
If you were wondering what stage the 2016 Presidential Campaign had reached, the answer is politicized meme explanations. Social media and the internet have taken on a bigger role than ever in this race, and now the Clinton campaign posted an article breaking down the use of “Pepe” by the opposition. Featured in images reshared recently by Donald Trump and surrogates including his son, the cartoon frog has shifted from random 4chan symbol to an “alt-right” favorite.
http://mattfurie.tumblr.com/post/125974284172
The Daily Beast explored the growing link between Pepe and symbols of internet bigots back in May, citing a self-proclaimed white nationalist saying the movement wanted to reclaim it from the “normies.” Since its appearance in internet posts responding to Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment last week, Pepe and what it means has suddenly become a hot topic in political conversation. In an interview with The Atlantic, artist and Pepe creator Matt Furie called the current usage of the meme a “phase” and said he focuses on the positive aspects of its usage.
A scan of Trump’s tweets from today does not reveal any comment on this meme, the Clinton campaign post or any reference to Crying Jordan, dog avatars, anime avatars, Dat Boi, the This is (not) Fine dog or even a quick trollface. At this point, if Slender Man doesn’t come up as a debate question we’ll have to wonder if the moderators are even trying.
Source: Know Your Meme, The Atlantic
Buddy Pokemon: How far to walk every single one – CNET
A Lapras needs to walk 5km to find candy.
Screenshot by Alina Bradford / CNET
Each Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon Go has a different distance it must be walked before it will find a candy. Unfortunately, you have to swap them in and out as your buddy to see how far you need to walk them. If you’re already in the process of walking a buddy, then swapping will make you lose your progress.
Don’t do that.
I’ve rounded up the distances in this nice little reference guide. The Pokemon are listed in alphabetical order so they are easier to find:
- Abra- 3km
- Aerodactyl- 5km
- Alakazam- 3km
- Arbok- 3km
- Arcanine- 3km
- Articuno- Pokemon not released yet
- Beedrill- 1km
- Bellsprout- 3km
- Blastoise- 3km
- Bulbasaur- 3km
- Butterfree- 1km
- Caterpie- 1km
- Chansey- 5km
- Charizard- 3km
- Charmander-3km
- Charmeleon- 3km
- Clefable- 1km
- Clefairy- 1km
- Cloyster- 3km
- Cubone- 3km
- Dewgong- 3km
- Diglett- 3km
- Ditto- Pokemon not released yet
- Dodrio- 3km
- Doduo- 3km
- Dragonair- 5km
- Dragonite- 5km
- Dratini- 5km
- Drowzee- 3km
- Dugtrio- 3km
- Eevee- 5km
- Ekans- 3km
- Electabuzz- 5km
- Electrode- 3km
- Exeggcute- 3km
- Exeggutor- 3km
- Farfetch’d- 3km
- Fearow- 1km
- Flareon- 5km
- Gastly- 3km
- Gengar- 3km
- Geodude- 1km
- Gloom- 3km
- Golbat- 1km
- Goldeen- 3km
- Golduck- 3km
- Golem- 1km
- Graveler- 1km
- Grimer- 3km
- Growlithe- 3km
- Gyarados- 1km
- Haunter- 3km
- Hitmonchan- 5km
- Hitmonlee- 5km
- Horsea- 3km
- Hypno- 3km
- Ivysaur- 3km
- Jigglypuff- 1km
- Jolteon- 5km
- Jynx- 5km
- Kabuto- 5km
- Kabutops- 5km
- Kadabra- 3km
- Kakuna- 1km
- Kangaskhan- 3km
- Kingler- 3km
- Koffing- 3km
- Krabby- 3km
- Lapras- 5km
- Lickitung- 3km
- Machamp- 3km
- Machoke- 3km
- Machop- 3km
- Magikarp- 1km
- Magmar- 5km
- Magnemite- 3km
- Magneton- 3km
- Mankey- 3km
- Marowak- 3km
- Meowth- 3km
- Metapod- 1km
- Mew- Pokemon not released yet
- Mewtwo- Pokemon not released yet
- Moltres- Pokemon not released yet
- Mr. Mime- 5km
- Muk- 3km
- Nidoking- 3km
- Nidoqueen- 3km
- Nidoran (f)- 3km
- Nidoran (m)- 3km
- Nidorina- 3km
- Nidorino- 3km
- Ninetales- 3km
- Oddish- 3km
- ‘Omanyte- 5km
- Omastar- 5km
- Onix- 5km
- Paras- 3km
- Parasect- 3km
- Persian- 3km
- Pidgeot- 1km
- Pidgeotto- 1km
- Pidgey- 1km
- Pikachu- 1km
- Pinsir- 5km
- Poliwag- 3km
- Poliwhirl- 3km
- Poliwrath- 3km
- Ponyta- 3km
- Porygon- 3km
- Primeape- 3km
- Psyduck- 3km
- Raichu- 1km
- Rapidash- 3km
- Raticate- 1km
- Rattata- 1km
- Rhydon- 3km
- Rhyhorn- 3km
- Sandshrew- 3km
- Sandslash- 3km
- Scyther- 5km
- Seadra- 3km
- Seaking – 3km
- Seel- 3km
- Shellder- 3km
- Slowbro- 3km
- Slowpoke- 3km
- Snorlax- 5km
- Spearow- 1km
- Squirtle- 3km
- Starmie- 3km
- Staryu- 3km
- Tangela- 3km
- Tauros- 3km
- Tentacool- 3km
- Tentacruel- 3km
- Vaporeon- 5km
- Venomoth- 3km
- Venonat- 3km
- Venusaur- 3km
- Victreebel- 3km
- Vileplume- 3km
- Voltorb- 3km
- Vulpix- 3km
- Wartortle- 3km
- Weedle- 1km
- Weepinbell- 3km
- Weezing- 3km
- Wigglytuff- 1km
- Zapdos- Pokemon not released yet
- Zubat- 1km
A closer look at Nintendo’s Pokemon Go Plus
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How to unlock your Mac with the Apple Watch – CNET
Today, alongside the rocky iOS 10 rollout, Watch OS 3 was released. This new version of software brings a laundry list of new features to the Apple Watch, such as the new Application dock, Control Center replacing Glances, an SOS mode and much more.
Another standout feature found in Watch OS 3 is Auto Unlock, which unlocks your Mac when you’re close to it.
Requirements
A new-ish Mac. Auto Unlock only works with Macs from 2013 and newer. Earlier Macs lack Bluetooth 4.0, which is required for Auto Unlock to work. You will also need to have MacOS Sierra installed.
A Mac running macOS Sierra. The public release date for the Sierra update is September 20, but if you can’t wait until then, you can download the beta from beta.apple.com/profile. All it requires is a free developer account. It will give you a redemption code to use in the Mac App Store, where you can download and install the beta.
An Apple Watch running watchOS 3. Your Apple Watch will need to be updated to watchOS 3 and secured with a passcode. To setup a passcode, open the Watch app on iOS and select Passcode under My Watch. Tap Turn Passcode On and, on your Apple Watch, enter a four-digit code. Enter the same code once more to confirm.
Apple Watch Series 2 unwrapped at iPhone…
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How to turn on Auto Unlock
Enlarge Image
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
While the feature is very straightforward and works with practically zero effort, the setup isn’t quite so obvious.
(Searching through the Watch app on iOS won’t get you very far. There is no mention of Auto Unlock anywhere in the app. That’s because the feature has to be enabled from the Mac on which you want to use Auto Unlock.)
To enable it, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and tick the box to the left of Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac. You will be prompted to enter your Mac’s admin password. After you enter your password, you may also be prompted to enter the passcode on your Apple Watch. Once you do, the feature will be fully enabled.
How to use Auto Unlock
Enlarge Image
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
Now, whenever your Apple Watch is within a few feet — or about 1 meter — of your Mac, the Mac will automatically unlock, rather than waiting for you to type in your password. In my experience, this process takes 1 to 3 seconds.
If you happen to take off your Apple Watch, it will not unlock the Mac when you wake it from sleep. You will first need to put the Apple Watch back on your wrist, enter the passcode, then wake your Mac.
Also, Auto Unlock will not work after powering down or rebooting the Mac. After being shut down, you will need to manually enter your password on the computer, similar to having to enter your password or passcode on the iPhone before you can use Touch ID after a restart.
Finally, Auto Unlock will not automatically lock your Mac if you walk away like some third-party versions of this feature, such as MacID. Auto Unlock only works for unlocking your Mac.
Beddi Smart Alarm Clock review – CNET
The Good As alarm clocks go, Beddi looks terrific and comes jam-packed with handy features you won’t find elsewhere, including an impressive amount of smart-home integrations you can launch with the push of a button.
The Bad Those button-activated smart home integrations didn’t always work, and with HomeKit, you’ll need to keep the Beddi app open for them to work at all.
The Bottom Line Beddi is a likable bedside upgrade, and well worth considering if you’re a smart-home enthusiast.
The life of a smart-home guinea pig can be a fortuitous one. Case in point: about a month after my trusty alarm clock stopped working, I saw a pitch for an app-enabled, Kickstarter-funded one in need of review.
It’s called Beddi, and it’s basically the smart-home Swiss Army Knife of alarm clocks. Aside from telling the time and waking you up in the morning, Beddi syncs with Spotify, works with both Apple HomeKit and the Nest Learning Thermostat, and comes with three programmable smart buttons that can control your lights, trigger your IFTTT recipes, or even hail an Uber. It also features color-changing LEDs, a built-in wake-up light, two USB ports for charging your devices, and the ability to track your morning commute or read off the day’s weather forecast.
I took Beddi home, determined to discern whether or not those features were worth the relatively steep $99 asking price (about £75 in the UK, or roughly AU$130). Now, one week later, I’m giving serious consideration to buying the thing so I don’t have to send it back. It isn’t a must-have and it isn’t perfect, but it’s a deceptively cool little luxury, and an unexpected bright spot in the still-emerging smart home. It’d make an excellent gift for a groggy techie, or a justifiable splurge if, like me, you just really like the thing.
Geek joy for the smartest alarm clock ever
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Beddi makes a good first impression. It’s a simple, minimalist design that looks every bit the part of an alarm clock upgrade in both black and gray. Smarts aside, if I just wanted a bedside alarm clock that didn’t look cheap, Beddi would be on my list.
As alarm clocks go, Beddi is downright snazzy.
Ry Crist/CNET
Bring those smarts back into the equation and Beddi gets even more compelling. It syncs with your phone over Bluetooth, then lets you control everything on your Android or iOS device using an app that’s jam-packed with features. Aside from setting an alarm or two, you can control the way Beddi actually wakes you up, with options for things like alarm volume, music integration, wake-up lighting, and even the amount of minutes that come between snooze button bashes. It’s certainly superior to any alarm clock I’ve ever used.
But Beddi aspires to be more than just an alarm clock — it wants to be your smart home’s mastermind. Its secret weapon is a trio of programmable smart buttons on the top of the device. By default, the first two are set to toggle the rear-mounted wake-up light and the rainbow LEDs lining the bottom of the clock, respectively, but you can change both of them, as well as the third, to a whole host of additional magic functions. Here are just some of your options:
- Toggle your Philips Hue smart lights
- Toggle your Lifx smart lights
- Toggle your Belkin WeMo switches
- Trigger Apple HomeKit scenes
- Set your Nest thermostat
- Play a Spotify playlist
- Read the day’s weather forecast
- Play white noise
- Start a nap timer that wakes you up after a preset time
- Hail an Uber
You can sync Beddi with a variety of popular smart home gadgets and platforms.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
You can also assign functions to a long press or a double press of each button, giving you a total of nine potential smart triggers to activate right from your bedside.
Ry Crist/CNET
This is where Beddi gets into a bit of trouble, though. See, those smart buttons are awesome when they work as promised, and infuriating when they don’t. Sure enough, during my week of testing, there was more than one instance where an assigned function stopped working as expected, and I’d need to pull my phone out and set it up from scratch all over again.
‘Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Collection’ clambers to PS4, Xbox One
The rumors are true: To make up for a mainline Assassin’s Creed skipping this year, Ubisoft is putting the best entries in the series into one package. Again. Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection brings Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and the story’s finale, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this November 15th. A post on the Ubiblog says that these are the single player campaigns and add-on packs only — none of the multiplayer that started with Brotherhood will be present here. That’s because the developer-publisher believes the “most polished and fully featured version” of the mode already exists in the form of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag’s online offering, originally released in 2013.
Back in 2012, Ubisoft did something similar to this and sold the Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Trilogy as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. The difference now is it looks like we’re getting the PC versions of charming Italian assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze’s adventures running at maxed out settings, to take advantage of current-gen console hardware. That’s contrary to as-is ports of the games in a new box like last time.
The Ezio Collection isn’t a bad move, but hopefully there are some clear benefits to re-buying these games when the series absolute highpoint, 2009’s Assassin’s Creed 2, is backward compatible on Xbox One. Aside from a discounted movie ticket and a few videos that bookend the narrative, that is. Check out the video below to see if the improvements are worth your cash.
What’s most curious is that Ubisoft is repeating history and releasing the game the same day as one of its extremely high-profile titles. This time out it’s Watch Dogs 2. In 2011, the fantastic Rayman Origins was sent to die against Assassin’s Creed Revelations on a very familiar date: November 15th. Nothing like competing against yourself, huh, Ubisoft?
Source: Ubiblog
Nintendo made a special 3DS XL for Pokémon Sun and Moon
You probably already have a Nintendo 3Ds if you’re waiting for the new Pokémon to drop. But if you’re always on the lookout for special editions to add to your growing collection, you can get a Pokémon Sun and Moon-flavored New Nintendo 3DS XL on October 28th. This one’s definitely for those who want something much simpler than the colorful bundle released for the franchise’s 20th anniversary. It’s just a black console with minimalistic illustrations of Sun’s and Moon’s legendaries, Solgaleo and Lunala.
Like any other 3DS XL, this edition will set you back $200. However, it doesn’t come with the actual games. If you plan to buy both of them, you may want to take advantage of the Dual Pack promo. You can get both Sun and Moon, along with two 100-Pokeball packs for each, for $80 on November 18th.
Source: Nintendo
AIVAnet 