Google+ update adds new comment moderation, brings back events

Hey, Google+ is still a thing!

The pace of updates to Google+ has dwindled over the last year, but in a reminder that the platform is very much still alive Google has rolled out three solid updates. The changes, which will come via app and web updates in the next couple of weeks, center around handling comments, seeing more in your feed and bringing back events to the community.

First and perhaps most importantly for brands and people with large followings, Google+ will start automatically filtering out what it considers “lower quality” comments from your posts. You’ll be able to hit the overflow menu and tap “show low quality comments” to view what it selected, but chances are the new leaner view will be preferred.

Speaking of cleaner, Google+ is also giving us all a more compact feed to look at with less white space and more content. Google+ has tried a few different strategies on mobile, but a common theme up until now was you couldn’t even see a whole post without scrolling — this update will undoubtedly aim to change that. At the same time, photographers get a cool little feature allowing zooming in on photos.

Finally, Google+ is bringing back its “events” feature. Starting January 24, you’ll be able to create, manage and join events on Google+ (starting on the web) once again. Considering the strong use of communities on Google+, it only made sense to have events be a part of the experience as well.

Google+ revives one of its most useful features: Events

Google overhauled Google+ from top to bottom in late 2015 to shift the focus to communities. The company has been tweaking the social platform since that change and today its announcing the latest updates. First, events are back on Google+. Starting January 24th, one of the more handy features the social network had to offer will return. The means you will be able to create and join events on the web, but the tool won’t be part of G Suite right now.

Google+ will now hide “low-quality” comments by default. You will still be able to see them if you want to view all of the feedback on a post, but Google says hiding some allows you to focus on the ones that “matter most.” The company says it tweaked the app to more efficiently use screen size, too. This means you should notice less white space and more posts. There’s also a new zoom tool for Google+ on the web that will let you take a closer look at the finer details of an image.

While Google continues to keep Google+ afloat, it’s still adding features that seem really useful. Last week, the company revealed its RASIR image compression tool that replicates large photos using a quarter of the pixels. For now, that tech is only available inside Google+, but it should make its way to other apps in the future.

Lastly, if you’re still using the old Google+ on the web, you won’t be able to do so after January 24th. Google says it’s shuttering the old version of the platform on that date, but promises it’s still working on a shiny new one.

Source: Google

Apple Releases Supplemental Security Update for OS X El Capitan

Apple today released a new version of OS X El Capitan Security Update 2016-003, fixing an additional kernel issue that could cause Macs running the operating system to freeze up and become unresponsive.

The 2016-003 Security Update for OS X El Capitan was originally released on December 13 alongside macOS Sierra 10.12.2, but was today reissued with the fix.

Customers who have not downloaded the security update at all will get the new version when updating their machines, while customers who previously installed the security fix will receive a supplemental update to address the freezing problem.

The OS X El Capitan Security Update 2016-003 Supplemental Update fixes a kernel issue that may cause your Mac to occasionally become unresponsive.

Mac users who are still running OS X El Capitan can download the update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store, and direct download links are also available (Standard Update/Supplemental Update).

The original 2016-003 update fixed a number of security vulnerabilities in the OS X El Capitan operating system.
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Live video comes to Instagram Stories in the UK

While Facebook and Instagram are fundamentally different platforms, that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking inspiration from each other. About a month ago, Instagram adopted live video streaming, a feature that has been blowing up on Facebook, but it was only available to users in the US. Today, the feature is making its debut on this side of the Atlantic — as well as in Germany, France, Brazil, Canada and Japan — helping to build out Instagram’s burgeoning Stories platform.

Instead of just adding new photos and video to Stories, Brits can now swipe across into the camera and select “Live” mode. Real-time videos are designed to be ephemeral, which means they’ll disappear as soon as recording ends. Instagram says this is designed to make users “feel comfortable sharing what [they] want.” Comments can also be switched off, ensuring things stay fun.

Smart air freshener lets you select scents with your phone

Thanks to the internet of things, we have the ability to control our home’s lighting and temperature at the touch of a button. But what about the smell? For that, we’re left with shoving a Glade plug-in air freshener into a socket or opening a window. That’s set to change with the introduction of Moodo, a SensorWake-esque device that’s designed to customize your home’s scent at will.

Moodo is, essentially, a diffusion machine that’ll blow air through up to four capsules at a time, each one full of differently-scented crystals. The capsules will come in various flavors, such as “Precious Spices,” “Eucalyptus Nights” and “Sandal Wood.” Users will then be able to use the companion app to blend each of the scents to create a unique aroma. You can also buy pre-set scent families that set a specific mood, from cozy cottage (Cozzzy) through to a floral scene (Gardens of Isphahan).

Much like other smart home devices, like Philips’ Hue, Moodo comes with a variety of pre-set patterns for your ease of use. But if your custom concoction is good enough, you can share it with the community and receive other patterns back. In addition, you can set “fragrance playlists” that’ll change your room’s general pong across an evening should you be throwing a party.

Obviously, like any outlandish gadget, Moodoo is debuting on Indiegogo looking for your cash to begin production. Early birds looking to snag the gadget on the cheap can do so by throwing $139 for a box and four capsules, while two devices and 48 capsules will set you back $518 — rather than the $1,000 it’ll cost at retail. How much is a bottle of Febreze again?

Source: Indiegogo

Astronomers more accurately calculate the Milky Way’s mass

It’s impossible to arrive at an exact measurement for the billions of stars and other objects that make up the Milky Way. However, a group of astronomers say they have calculated the most accurate estimate to date. In a paper that will be published in The Astrophysics Journal, the scientists estimate the mass of the Milky Way to be 9.5 x 1041 kilograms or 95 followed by 40 zeros. For reference, that’s 4.8 x 1011 times the mass of the sun. Astronomers use the so-called “solar masses” as a standard unit of measure, comparing other objects and formations to the sun.

The scientists used some super complex math and stats calculations to arrive at that estimate. More specifically, the team employed a combination hierarchical Bayesian analysis along with direct measurements of the velocity of globular clusters. Astronomers can estimate the mass of the sun by observing its gravitational pull on the Earth. The same can be done for the Milky Way by measuring its gravitational pull on those globular clusters. This new estimate includes stars, planets, moons, dust, dark matter and more that make up the galaxy.

Researchers say the key to this calculation is that they include any uncertainties in the estimate. Gwendolyn M. Eadie, a doctoral candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, explained to The New York Times that the methods used here could have wider implications for future research. The methods have been employed in other fields before, but they’re becoming more useful to astronomers now that computers have enough processing power to handle the complex calculations.

Via: The New York Times

Source: Cornell University Library

Gravity wave ripples across Venus’ hellish atmosphere

It took the Japanese atmospheric probe Akatsuki a while, but once it got into orbit around Venus just over a year ago, it immediately spotted a large, bow-shaped disturbance. Researchers now believe the phenomenon was a gravity wave, or atmospheric formation caused by the topography below. The feature is nearly 6,000 miles wide and remained in nearly the same spot for four days, despite scalding surface winds that whip at 250 mph. The unusual nature of the wave led the scientists to conclude that atmospheric conditions on the surface of Venus may be different than previously thought.

The term “gravity wave” (not to be confused with the space-time distorting gravitational wave) is a bit confusing — in the atmosphere, it can be thought of as vertical wave. The most common way to trigger a vertical wave is by putting something in the way of surface winds, like a mountain. That forces it to rise, and if the surrounding air is stable enough, gravity will make it sink right back down, kicking off the wave cycle. On our planet, this can cause long, thin clouds to appear at high elevations over mountainous regions at the “peaks” of the gravity wave (as shown in the GIF below).

On Venus, it’s the same phenomenon, but in a much more extreme setting. The “morning star” is like Bizarro Earth, if every single person drove diesel Volkswagens for the next billion years or so. The planet’s sulfuric acid atmosphere is 90 times denser than ours, and those greenhouse gases produce surface temperatures of 850 degrees F, while winds constantly whip the planet at up to 250 mph. (Venus is about 72 percent of Earth’s distance to the Sun and nearly the same size.)

Using its UV and infrared cameras, the Akatsuki team examined temperature variances on the bow wave, with known topography from the planet overlaid (below). The center of the bow is located at the western slope of “Aphrodite Terra,” an Africa-sized highland region stretching up to 5 km (15,000 feet) high. Mission scientists figure that the winds whipped across these highlands, rapidly pushing a column of air into the upper reaches of the 65km thick atmosphere.

At a certain elevation, conditions were right to form a stable, bow-shaped gravity wave in the atmosphere, scientists believe. “It further shows that such stationary gravity waves can have a very large scale — perhaps the greatest ever observed in the solar system,” the team writes.

Simulations show such a feature should be theoretically possible, but it doesn’t fit known data about the planet’s surface weather, so climatologists may have to rethink what they know about Venus. “Winds in the deep atmosphere may be spatially or temporally more variable than we previously thought,” the team posits. That’s understandable, given that it’s not exactly easy to set a probe down on the planet’s metal-melting surface.

After several days of observation, Akatsuki crossed to the other side of the planet and when it returned a few months later, the structure was gone. As of yet, the probe has yet to spot a similar disturbance, so it may be a rare event and “beginner’s luck” for the mission. Either way, it could prove helpful to future experiments or be an aid if we ever decide to terraform our nearest neighbor.

Via: The Verge

Source: Nature

Roku revamps its mobile app with improved ease of use

Roku is giving its mobile app a bit of a makeover for the new year. A revamped navigation toolbar resides at screen’s bottom now, offering quick access to installed channels, app settings, tossing photos from your mobile device to your TV and remote control functionality. And speaking of the remote control, the company says that once you launch a channel the app will automatically go into remote control mode.

What’s more, said mode looks a bit more like the outfit’s physical remotes, which should make navigating things a bit more intuitive. Why the app doesn’t mirror the remote layout entirely is anyone’s guess. There are a few minor additions as well, like a new splash screen and the What’s On tab. Basic, quality of life stuff is the name of the game with this update, not sweeping changes.

Evernote aims for speed and simplicity with its new iOS app

How do you keep loyal users after quickly stepping back from a potentially intrusive new privacy policy? For Evernote, it’s by releasing a new app that focuses on the core features its users love. The company’s latest iOS app has been “rebuilt from the ground up” around simplicity. Gone are the many options from the last Evernote app; now you’re presented with your notebook immediately, and you can quickly add new notes by tapping on the plus button on the bottom of the screen. The goal, according to Evernote’s chief product officer Erik Wrobel, is to “spend less time navigating and more time getting stuff done.”

The app’s new design is reminiscent of Evernote’s web interface, which has featured a minimalist style for years. Expect more white space, and less of the company’s iconic green color throughout the app. Editing notes should be a lot simpler, as well. Now there are only four buttons at the bottom of every individual note screen (for adding photos, voice clips, drawings and other files). Before, there was also a button for adding reminders, as well as a drop down list for more options. If you want to hop between notebooks, you just need to tap on the top of the screen for an organized view of all of your content.

It might not seem very different to some, but the interface changes should make it easier to focus on your notes, rather than be distracted by options you never use. Additionally, you’ll finally be able to format the color and style of text in your notes. People who rely on Evernote for work will also have more separation between their personal and professional notes.

When it comes to privacy moving forward, both Wrobel and Evernote VP of design Nate Fortin say that they’ll start engaging with users earlier, so that they’ll know in advance if a change goes too far. They also hope to start working with the wider privacy and security community, though they didn’t list any specifics on how they’d approach that. Wroben and Fortin reiterated that Evernote is still committed to its Three Laws of Data Protection, which states that users own their data, and that their data is also protected and portable. Last year, before the uproar around its privacy changes, Evernote CEO Chris O’Neill told us user trust is his main concern.

I didn’t have a chance to try out the new iOS app, so I can’t say if Evernote’s claims actually hold true. But on paper, at least, it seems like a worthwhile upgrade for Evernote addicts like me. I hope the company doesn’t slow down with its app development, though. I’d love to see this refined aesthetic make its way to Evernote’s Mac and Windows apps, both of which feel far behind the company’s web interface.

Realtor.com uses augmented reality to help you find a new home

When it comes to looking for a new house, the process of browsing listings, visiting properties and more can become quite the chore. Realtor.com is looking to make things a bit easier on perspective home buyers with two new features for its Android app: Street Peek and Sign Snap. Street Peek uses augmented reality to display details about a home when you point your phone’s camera at it. Even if the house isn’t for sale, you’ll still see all the important details from the real estate website’s database.

Street Peek can also show you info on a group of houses at the same time. Expect to see details like listing or rental price, recently sold price, estimated value and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms for the houses you frame inside the app. What’s more, the AR tool will show you a map of what’s nearby when you tilt the screen. Unfortunately, Street Peek won’t be available until spring in the Realtor.com Android app.

The good news is you can use the other feature the company is announcing today immediately. Sign Snap employs image recognition and GPS to access information on a listing from the Realtor.com database. As the name suggests, all you have to do is take a picture of a “For Sale” or “For Rent” sign with your phone. From there, you can browse photos, property details, price data, open house dates and more. And yes, you will have the option of sharing your finds via email, text or your social channels.

Realtor.com says iOS users can expect to use Street Peek and Sign Snap after the former feature launches on Android in the coming months. For now, you can see both tools in action in the videos below.

Source: Realtor.com