Best wallpapers submitted by readers!

We’ve shown you a lot of wallpapers these last few months.

While there will never be enough time to show you all the wonderful wallpapers I come across, I believe in making the time to see and showcase the wallpapers that my readers show me. In that spirit, this week is the first of what I hope to be a periodic Wallpaper Weekly episode featuring reader wallpapers. All the wallpapers showcased today come from reader suggestions via social media and email.

A recurring theme in the wallpapers I’ve been sent is photos that the users took themselves. When you come across beauty in the world around you, it’s only natural to snap a pic with the stellar cameras many of our phones have built in. While landscapes and kids are obvious targets, this shot by Pseu 42 is both unique and beautiful. Being a lifelong Texan, I don’t often get to see snow or ice, and during our hellacious summers, a snowy wallpaper helps us stay cool, at least in spirit. We also have some excellent background colors thanks to the sunrise behind this frosty car window.

Snowy Sunrise by Pseu 42

This monochrome majesty was another reader photo, this one taken on a Google Pixel by Richard Colon. Lens flares are easy to get wrong, but this one is so right, and the tight focus on the chains in the foreground give the photo detail while allowing the background to blur and blend behind it.

Monochrome Chains by Richard Colon

IFTTT applets like these are awesome for mixing things up daily, but they put wallpaper searchers like me out of a job! That said, this one is too good not to feature, and Joey Riz knows it. This IFTTT applet puts NASA’s Image of the Day on your Android phone or tablet as a daily wallpaper. The images are gorgeous and the resolution is usually enough to make even a 4K home screen happy.

IFTTT NASA Wallpaper of the Day Applet

This coastline is picturesque — I’m just waiting for the castle to come into view just down the shoreline. The caption with it on Unsplash is also a wonderful reminder that we need to change up our perspective every now and again. Thanks to icon maker Kevin Aguilar for suggesting it!

Perspective Matters by Will van Wingerden

We’ll wrap up this week with another viewer photo that resonates with me. This photo was taken by Hugh Richardson the first time he reached the Pacific Ocean after getting out of the military. It’s a sunny wallpaper of hope, promise, and waves. It invites us to explore the horizon, it reminds us to cleanse ourselves in the water, it beckons us back to the shore and beyond.

Or in my case, it reminds me that it’s going to be awhile before I get to see the ocean again, but I can always dream.

Pacific Waves by Hugh Richardson

Want to be featured here?

If you want to be featured in the next ones, whenever they may be, feel free to contact me on email, Twitter, or Google+, sing out in the comments below, or in our theming forum!

Which Android phone does Donald Trump use?

POTUS’s ‘old, unsecure Android phone’ is probably a Samsung Galaxy S3.

The New York Times has reported that Donald Trump still tweets from the White House on his “old, unsecured Android phone, to the protests of some of his aides,” contradicting earlier reports that the president had turned in the handset in exchange for a “secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service.” It’s difficult to know with 100% certainty which Android device Trump currently uses to tweet (or whether it’s the off-the-shelf model he likely used during his campaign, or some secured variant.)

But we sure can offer you some informed speculation!

There are only a few photos out in the wild of Trump using his smartphone, usually reported to be a “Samsung Galaxy.” That doesn’t exactly narrow it down, and most of the photos available online are low-res, making the matter trickier still. What’s more, the device appears to be in a case, obscuring some identifying features. Of the two clearest images we have of Trump using his Android phone, one comes from a NYT report dated October 2015:

The back is pretty revealing, but you have to zoom in close to pick out identifying features. The two dead giveaways are the features flanking the camera bump — even in this low-res shot, Trump’s phone quite clearly has an LED flash on the left, and a less reflective marking in the same place over on the right. The only major Samsung phone released in the U.S. with these features is the Galaxy S3, launched way back in 2012. (A different angle of the same shot shows a device roughly the right size and shape to be a GS3, with the familiar LED – camera – speaker arrangement only found on this phone.)

You have to look really close to see exactly which Galaxy Trump is using.

The GS3 is very similar in appearance to 2013’s Galaxy S4, but the GS4’s LED is below the camera bulge, not to the side. Same deal with the Galaxy S5. And the headphone jack being situated on the top-left side (as you face the phone) eliminates the Galaxy S6 or anything newer.

In 2017, a GS3 certainly fits the description of an “old, unsecure Android phone.”

Further evidence comes from a more recent pic of Trump on his phone, dated February 2016. Here, Trump the candidate is using what appears to be the same Samsung phone — note the home button — in a similar case. But there’s another important clue in this pic — the bottom edge of the device, showing a USB port and no headphone jack. Again, this eliminates the GS6 and newer. The USB port is also too small for it to be a GS5, which used a weird double-width USB 3.0 port. Another important clue is the mic hole placement — to the right of the charging port here, like the GS3. The GS4 relocated the mic to the left of the USB port. (The irregular shape of the home key — larger at the top — also matches the GS3, but not the GS4.)

So there you go. Trump’s personal Android phone is more than likely a Samsung Galaxy S3, released in 2012, and which last received a software update in mid-2015, with firmware based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

As noted in the intro, we don’t know for sure that Trump is still using this specific Galaxy S3. The two NYT reports conflict on whether he turned it in, or is still using it to fire out tweets from the White House. But if he is, and it’s the same consumer GS3 model he was apparently using as of February 2016, it’s safe to say it’s a good three years out of step with the latest Android security updates. Many Android security scares have come and gone since the GS3 got its last update in August of 2015.

Naturally, there’s huge (YUGE!) interest in which smartphone — secured, or otherwise — the most powerful man in the world is using. (And understandable concern over how protected it is from digital threats.) We may never have an entirely clear answer. Nevertheless, in 2017, a GS3 certainly fits the description of an “old, unsecure Android phone.”

Google I/O 2017: Sticking with Shoreline is a smart move

I’m heartened that Google hasn’t given up on what was a good idea, imperfectly executed.

Google I/O will apparently return to Shoreline Amphitheater, a short walk from Google’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters, this May. It’ll be the second time Google has hired the concert venue for its developer conference, and that’s a significant development because last year’s event didn’t run entirely smoothly.

Ask developers who paid $900 of their own money to attend, and they’d complain of long lines, longer waits, lack of shade, inadequate seating for many sessions. Google’s intention was to create a more open, festival-like atmosphere, in contrast to the traditional event space of San Francisco’s Moscone West, where I/O was held in years past. Moscone is a purpose-built convention complex — air conditioned, with plentiful seating, and places to stand that aren’t in direct sunlight. The other side of that coin is it’s a relatively stuffy, nondescript place — the very opposite of Shoreline.

The fact that Google is willing to stick with this unconventional venue — for a dev conference, anyway — shows that it believes I/O ’16 wasn’t a total loss.

So it must’ve been tempting for Google to fall back on I/O’s old home territory, even if it meant losing some of the whimsical magic of Shoreline, and cutting back on attendee numbers. (The Moscone Expansion Project, which will expand the venue, won’t be completed until January 2018.) The fact that Google is willing to stick with this unconventional venue — for a dev conference, anyway — shows that it believes I/O ’16 wasn’t a total loss.

And I agree. At its core, an open, outdoor event where developers, enthusiasts and Googlers can mix — and where the company can show off all manner of crazy experiments, and bring devs face to face with things like Project Loon — is a great idea. The flaws with last year’s I/O stemmed from the execution, not the concept. With a little improvement to its crowd management, larger tents and shaded spaces (and perhaps a more realistic attitude towards the numbers it can accomodate under the sun in late May.)

It’s also heartening to see Google mostly eschewing the expensive swag bags for which earlier I/O events had become known. The money it would’ve spent handing out free toys to attendees surely contributed to it being able to invite more people, and secure a larger venue. (Google has deep pockets, but its events budget isn’t infinite.)

I’m expecting Google I/O 2017 to build on the genuinely enjoyable aspects of last year’s show, while ironing out logistical issues that left attendees baking in the California sun. It’s going to be a big year for Google, and we’ll be looking for the company to set out its vision for the future of Chromebooks, Assistant, Home, Android and much more!

Google killed a lot of horrible ads in 2016

Google killed twice as many bad ads in 2016 as they did in 2015.

Google makes most of its money from hosting ads. They use services like Android and Gmail to help determine what we like and can use this data to get plenty of companies interested in buying time and space to show their wares through them. Targeted ads produce more clicks and more money for Google’s customers.

But ads also suck. Especially the really bad ones that act shifty. Ads that do things like promote bad web sites or are hawking illegal products are forbidden under Google’s rules, and those rules keep expanding to include more and more things that make for a bad experience on the web.

We have a strict set of policies that govern the types of ads we do and don’t allow on Google in order to protect people from misleading, inappropriate, or harmful ads. And we have a team of engineers, policy experts, product managers and others who are waging a daily fight against bad actors. Over the years, this commitment has made the web a better place for you—and a worse place for those who seek to abuse advertising systems for their own gain.

According to their latest blog posting, Google says they took down 1.7 billion ads that were in violation of their rules in 2016. That’s double the number pulled in 2015. And that’s a lot of ads. Here are the stats.

• More than 5 million ads for payday loans were removed in 2016.
• 112 million “trick to click” (ads with virus warnings or other fake services) were removed in 2016.
• 68 million ads for illegal medicine or other healthcare violations were removed in 2016.
• 17 million ads promoting illegal gambling were removed in 2016.
• Over 80 million ads that were misleading were removed in 2016.
• 23,000 self-clicking mobile ads were removed in 2016.
• 7 million ads designed to game Google’s system were removed in 2016.
• 900,000 ads that contained malware were removed in 2016.

Google didn’t stop there, though. They also suspended a lot of accounts for violations and blacklisted sites that have shady practices. Google doesn’t like seeing fake news sites or ads for miracle cures any more than we do, and so creating or relying on ads with malware or ads that try trick you into installing things on both your phone and your PC are a good way to get your Adsense account terminated.

Bad ads and bad people who profit from them hurt Google’s bottom line. That means getting rid of them in high priority.

• 1,300 accounts were suspended for tabloid cloaking — showing an ad for news and current events but sending the user to a site that is trying to sell them something.
• 6,000 accounts were suspended for selling counterfeit goods.
• 8,000 sites were banned for promoting payday loans.
• 47,000 sites were banned for promoting weight-loss scams.
• Over 15,000 sites were banned for trying to trick you into installing software.
• 6,000 sites were banned for selling counterfeit goods.

In November of 2016, Google introduced a new Adsense misrepresentative content policy. This helps Google find out if website owners are misrepresenting who they are or try to deceive people with their content, then take appropriate action. In the first two months under this policy, 550 websites that were suspected of misrepresenting themselves or their content were reviewed. Actions were taken against 340 of those accounts and nearly 200 publishers were permanently banned from the Adsense service.

Google knows that everyone hates bad ads or ads for bad products. They also know that if they just let them run rampant people will be prone to stop clicking on them or take other measures. Blocking and banning ads that suck and the people who make them is good for everyone involved. Here’s hoping they remove even more in 2017.

Pentax KP mid-level DSLR goes big on resolution, small on size

KP might make you think about your favourite salty snacks, but now it can make you think about a brand new mid-level DSLR: the Pentax KP.

The KP has big features like weather-sealing and high resolution in its sights – but its smaller-than-usual scale is its big sell. The Japanese camera maker designed a completely new body for this model to ensure a slimmer profile than existing Pentax DSLR cameras. Oddly, however, Pentax didn’t release the exact dimensions in its press release.

The Pentax KP embodies a lot of the goodies you’ll find inside the company’s K-1 model. The KP, however, has what’s called an APS-C size sensor (which is smaller than the full-frame chip in the K-1) with a 24-megapixel resolution. The maximum sensitivity of ISO 819,200 means shooting in near-dark conditions ought to be feasible too.

There’s no anti-aliasing filter either for heightened sharpness. The KP counters for any potential issues this may cause in the same way as the K-1: its sensor can move (just ever, ever so slightly) by using its SRII image stabilisation system which can avoid potential moire in images.

Add a 27-point autofocus system (SAFOX 11 module; 25 of those points are cross-type for heightened sensitivity in both portrait and landscape orientation), tilt-angle LCD screen, near-100-per-cent field-of-view optical viewfinder and the Pentax KP has a whole host of decent features for this mid-range market.

There’s no 4K movie capture, though, which continues to see Pentax sat a step behind in this department (it can shoot 1080p max).

The Pentax KP will be available in black or silver finishes from the end of February, priced £1,100 body-only. That’s a price difference more than a couple of bags of KP nuts higher than the likes of the now-around-£850 Canon 80D or Nikon D7200.

Google took down nearly 2 billion ‘bad ads’ in 2016

Sketchy advertisers are all over the internet, and Google is doing everything it can to stop them from scamming users. According to a recent report on the matter, the search giant removed 1.7 billion ads from its advertising platform in 2016, more than double the amount compared to the year prior. The online housekeeping included 68 million ads for illegal pharmaceutical products, 80 million for content that misled and deceived consumers, as well as 112 million others that used trick-to-click methods.

Google says it also took down 6,000 sites and 6,000 accounts that advertised counterfeit goods, something that’s become a major issue on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Despite its efforts, though, the company knows scammers will continue to try taking advantage of people, so you should always beware of what you’re clicking on. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: Google

Gene-altered ants show how animal societies work

How much is societal behavior dictated by genetics? Scientists at Rockefeller University might just find out through ant colonies. They’ve modified the genes of clonal raider ants (not shown above) to see how the changes affect social behavior, both individually and on a grander scale. Knocking out genes for odorant receptors leads to “lone wolf” ants who wander by themselves for days, for example. The team keeps track of these exceptions by painting the ants in such a way that computers can track them all day, spotting even slight deviations from the norm.

The team also uses radioactively-labeled neurochemicals to see where signaling molecules take hold. They’ve noticed that differing levels of a key hormone determine the strength of an ant’s nurturing instinct, and that ants who don’t follow the colony’s overall reproductive cycle are summarily executed by “police” ants.

The genetic tweaking clearly sheds some light on how animal societies work on a basic level, but it should also be useful for studying many complex biological systems. An ant colony is really just a collective organism, when you think about it. The researchers believe they could get insights into human conditions with social elements, such as autism and depression, and understand why cancer cells ignore the usual cues to stop growth. In other words, these tiny creatures might lead to some serious breakthroughs.

Via: New York Times

Source: NCBI (1), (2), Cell

Trump’s most senior staff use a private email server

Donald Trump’s senior White House staff including Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon all use a private RNC email server, according to a Newsweek report published Wednesday. This is the same RNC email server that mysteriously disappeared 22 million messages during George W Bush’s administration and the one that US intelligence services believe was compromised by the Russians at the same time as the DNC’s, earlier this year.

Using the system, rnchq.org, is not technically illegal and is often employed so that an administration’s senior staff can segregate their in-party correspondence from their actual White House duties. The Office of Government Ethics does not explicitly prohibit the use of such accounts either. However any staffer that does employ one is subject to the “Disclosure Requirement For Official Business Conducted Using Electronic Messaging Accounts” law which demands that any correspondence on that server be copied and forwarded to the government within 20 days.

The George W Bush administration was actually sued in 2007 by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) after 22 million such private emails never made it to the government and simply disappeared. “They don’t want anyone ever to be able to come back and see what was going on behind the scenes,” CREW Director Melanie Sloan told Newsweek at the time. Failing to forward emails from the private server to an official White House address is also a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

Of course, given how hard the Trump campaign hammered Clinton of her own use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State, this is not a good look. Not only does this impact the White House’s ability to operate transparently, it leaves the administration vulnerable to further cyber-intrusions from foreign intelligence services. The Russians have already shown that getting in isn’t particularly difficult, it’s only a matter of time before they — and anybody else of a mind — will try again.

Source: Newsweek

This bag of Tostitos doesn’t want you to drink and drive

Super Bowl Sunday celebrations typically include two things: snacks and drinking. To discourage partygoers from drinking and driving after this year’s big game, Frito-Lay and ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners teamed up on a limited-edition Tostitos bag with some added features. The so-called Party Bag is equipped with sensors that can detect alcohol on your breath. This isn’t a breathalyzer that analyzes blood alcohol content and it will switch from green to red if you’ve had just one drink.

If you haven’t had anything to drink, the bag will show a green circle to indicate you’re completely safe to drive home. If the bag senses alcohol on your breath, it displays a red circle with the message “don’t drink and drive.” The Party Bag also has NFC tech so you can tap it with your phone to hail a ride from Uber. The ride-sharing company and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) will offer a $10 ride credit during the Super Bowl on February 5th. All you have to do to take advantage of the discount is enter the UPC code from one of the bags in the Uber app. Sure, the whole thing is a marketing tactic, but if it reminds people to get home safe, this is a pretty neat way to do so.

“Our goal is to remove 25,000 cars from the roads that Sunday evening,” Frito-Lay’s chief marketing officer Jennifer Saenz told AdWeek. “Whether watching the big game at a friend’s house or at a local bar, a safe ride home is just a few easy taps away.”

.@Tostitos’ new party bag knows when you’ve been drinking and will even call you an Uber: https://t.co/6YGXE5x3EO pic.twitter.com/Q0mO2bo22h

— Adweek (@Adweek) January 24, 2017

Via: The Verge

Source: AdWeek

Postmates’ latest service brings you alcohol in 25 minutes or less

Let’s be honest: It sucks to run out of alcohol at times you really need a drink. And heading to the closest liquor store or beer shop can be a headache when you have friends over. Thanks to a new option from Postmates, that frustration could be a thing of the past. The restaurant and store delivery service will now bring you alcohol in 25 minutes or less.

For now, the new service is only available in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but the company says it plans to expand to “our other markets” in the near future. The process is similar to the one you would use to order food. All you have to do is fire up the app, find the beverages you want and place the order. Yes, beer, wine and spirits are all among the available options. Postmates will then pick up the order form a nearby store and bring it to you — and check your ID.

If you’re a Postmates Unlimited subscriber, you will receive free delivery on any beverage order. Non-subscribers will have to pay a fee unless they order $30 or more worth of booze. Heck, in the near future, your order could be delivered by robots.

Source: Postmates (Medium)