Best Multiplayer Games for PlayStation VR

PlayStation VR’s library of games grows every week, and it continues to attract some gems. One thing about virtual reality, mostly due to the physical nature of the headset, is that it can be a bit of a solitary experience. If you’d like your gaming experience to entail meeting some new friends or duking it out against human intelligence, we’ve rounded up the best multiplayer games for PlayStation VR.

Read more at VR Heads!

Use 375,000 images from the Met however you want, for free

If you want to use images of paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, like Woman with a Parrot by Gustave Courbet (above), you no longer have to worry about rights. All of the Met’s approximately 375,000 public-domain artwork images are now available for free, unrestricted use. The new “Open Access” policy, based on Creative Commons Zero (CC0), means bloggers, schools and businesses alike can use them without even the need for attribution.

In 2014, the Met opened up 400,000 images for downloading, but only for scholarly, non-commercial use. Now, however, it wants them spread far and wide, as it also unveiled partnerships with Pinterest, Wikimedia, Artstor, the Digital Public Library of America and others. “Increasing access to the Museum’s collection and scholarship serves the interests and needs of our 21st-century audiences,” said Met CEO Thomas P. Campbell in a statement.

Van Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypresses” (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The images comprise the main body of the museum’s collection, apart from 65,000 artwork images not in the public domain for copyright and other reasons. The museum has 1.5 million works in total, including prints and engravings, many of which could also be digitized in the future.

Other institutions, including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, offer free, unlimited-use downloads, and you can find gigapixel-sized photos and Street View-style tours on Google. No other single site, however, has Met’s prodigious number of well-known works that range back over 6,000 years.

The museum worked closely with Creative Commons, and you can find images on the organization’s CCSearch beta or the main Met collection, and even create your own search using tools from the Met’s Github repository.

Via: The New York Times

Source: Met Museum

‘Nidhogg’ creators bring hypnotic platformer ‘Flywrench’ to PS4

Messhof, the team behind indie hit Nidhogg, today announced that it’s bringing critically acclaimed platformer Flywrench to PS4. Featuring the studio’s trademark lo-fi art style and an aural assault of glitchy breakbeats, this minimalist-looking action-puzzler will offer 199 levels of brightly-lit mayhem. After a well-received PC release in 2015, Flywrench will be making its console debut on February 14th, launching on PS4 for $6.99.

Interestingly, Flywrench has actually been around as a prototype since 2007, impressing our old colleagues at Indiecade 2008. Looking like the weird love child of Flappy Bird and Pong, Flywrench sees players flipping their ship’s polarity to match the colors around them as they bounce, fall and fly their way through each level. While it doesn’t feature traditional local multiplayer, Flywrench instead lets you create grudge matches with your friends through its online Time Trial mode. Thankfully, this late port isn’t all old content, with Flywrench’s PS4’s release also including 12 brand-new levels.

When Nidhogg came out in 2014, it was a breath of fresh air. Underneath its deceptively simplistic stick-man visuals lay a surprisingly complex and addictive local multiplayer game, something that has been in short supply this console generation. While it’s unlikely that Flywrench will have quite the same industry-shaking impact, for less than the price of a hot meal, it sure looks like a hell of a lot of fun.

The future of STEM education is cloudy under Betsy DeVos

This week the United States Senate confirmed Betsy Devos as the new Secretary of Education. Despite a shaky performance during her committee hearings, where she seemed to suggest guns belonged in schools to defend against grizzly bear attacks, DeVos managed to clear all the necessary hurdles to become part of Trump’s cabinet. But it wasn’t easy: Vice President Mike Pence had to be summoned to the Senate floor to break a 50-50 tie, after two senators from his own Republican party opposed her nomination

DeVos will be responsible for advising Trump on federal policies and programs related to the education sector, which includes having an impact on public school standards and the curriculums being developed. She’ll also direct, supervise and coordinate all activities of the US Department of Education, whose mission is to “ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence” across the country. In other words, DeVos is set to a lead a government agency designed to shape the nation’s future.

President Trump with Betsy DeVos (Getty Images)

Democrats have been outspoken against DeVos since Trump announced her nomination. They believe she’s not fit for the role because she never attended public school, nor did her billionaire husband Dick DeVos or any of their four children. Not being a product of the public school system isn’t a deal-breaker, though. Bigger concerns focus on the fact that DeVos has spent her career in Michigan as an advocator for using taxpayer dollars to fund voucher programs for families to spend on private and religious schools.

While DeVos has not specified how she plans to handle STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education on a federal level, there’s enough evidence to suggest religion may influence her decisions. In an interview from 2001, when asked about Christian schools relying on philanthropy, DeVos said, “There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the need in education… Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s kingdom.”

If she takes that same approach in her new position, DeVos could create an environment where accepted scientific theories, such as evolution, could be taught alongside faith-based pseudo science like intelligent design. You also have to wonder if she’ll continue Obama’s efforts in teaching kids how to code and other tech-forward skills. During his presidency, Obama created the “Computer Science for All” initiative, which included a $4 billion fund for states to develop K-12 curriculums with a hands-on approach to new technologies.

President Trump, meanwhile, is planning to repurpose $20 billion from the federal education budget to expand voucher programs. Even though low-income families could benefit from this “school choice” proposal, the institutions on the receiving end would be private or affiliated with a religion. The proposal will likely hit some roadblocks, though, since it has to get approved by Congress and it’s not certain that states are going to be interested in such grants.

Still, there could be major consequences if it does go through. David E. Kirkland, an English and Urban Education professor at New York University, says DeVos and Trump could promote educational policies that support “alternative facts” and “fund programs aimed at discrediting longstanding scientific knowledge and traditions.”

The situation is magnified when you consider Trump also recently tapped Jerry Falwell Jr. to lead a task force that will suggest higher education reforms. He’s the president of Liberty University, one of the country’s most vocal Christians and a young Earth creationist. According to The Washington Post, faculty members at Liberty University take pride “in teaching evolution alongside biblical creationism.” Sure, that doesn’t mean DeVos and Falwell Jr. will enforce these views under the new administration, but it could raise their profile and reignite the debate over how things like intelligent design are presented.

Kirkland says that if DeVos sees STEM education as promoting a liberal agenda, she (along with Falwell Jr.) could use the Department of Education to defund programs designed to educate students about topics such as global warming, climate change and pollution. Despite the influence of religion on her political views, though, a member of Trump’s transition team recently told Mother Jones that DeVos does believe “in the legal doctrine of the separation of church and state.”

Jerry Falwell Jr. at the Republican National Convention. (Getty Images)

Senators like Al Franken, who voted against DeVos, will try their best to ensure that this separation indeed exists and STEM education remains a priority for Trump’s team. “I’ve written legislation into law to strengthen STEM education and have continuously worked to ensure that our students are prepared for 21st century jobs,” he told Engadget. “Secretary DeVos, on the other hand, has a long history of dangerously anti-science views and has deep connections with anti-science organizations.”

Franken said he plans to hold DeVos accountable during her tenure, not just in her STEM efforts, but other areas as well. DeVos said during her first speech as Secretary of Education that she believes people should be more open to views other than their own, an advice that Democrats hope she follows herself. “We believe students deserve learning environments that foster innovation and curiosity, and are also free from harm,” she said.

DeVos added that she’s committed to working with all parties on the end goal: To always put students first. But that’s easier said than done, and we won’t know if that will actually be the case until she sets forth a clear strategy for educators and students.

Mobile app approved as an alternative contraceptive

For the first time, an app that monitors fertility via algorithms has been officially certified for contraception use. Germany’s Department of Health approved the mobile Natural Cycles app, meaning it can now be prescribed by doctors in Europe and the UK in lieu of the pill, condoms or IUDs. It works in a similar way to the “rhythm” method, telling women how fertile they are and therefore when they can have sex with little risk of getting pregnant.

The app costs £6.99 per month, has around 100,000 UK users and works on a fairly simple principal. During ovulation, higher progesterone levels increase a woman’s body temperature nearly a half degree Celcius (0.8 Fahrenheit).

Users measure their temperature daily using the included electronic thermometer, and the app compares the readings with its dataset. Days when unprotected sex is okay are marked as green, but if the calendar shows red, couples must use condoms, the pill or other protection. It can also be used in the opposite way, telling couples the optimal time to have sex if they want a child.

“We can now proudly say that Natural Cycles is an effective contraceptive, comparable with others like the pill, the IUD and condoms,” Natural Cycles co-founder Elina Berglund wrote on the company’s site. “It’s another option for women to choose from.”

It wasn’t quite a straight line to get there, though. In 2015, the company was barred from advertising the app as a contraceptive in its home country of Sweden. That pushed it to hire a team of researchers, who wrote a paper arguing it was nearly as effective as other methods. Last year, it turned that information over, along with all its company processes to Tüv Süd, the German firm that certified it. It should be worth the effort, though, as doctors across Europe can now recommend it.

It’s not for everyone, experts caution. “Any device that monitors the menstrual cycle is fallible as women don’t always ovulate predictably,” Dr. Adam Balen told The Telegraph. The UK’s National Health Service also points out that similar methods result in seven pregnancies per 100 women in a year (comparable to a condom), instead of one in 100 for techniques like the pill, implant or IUD.

Because of that, the company recommends it most for stable couples or women who have trouble with other contraception methods. “Our product is ideally suited for women in a relationship as well as women who feel bad from their currently used contraceptive,” co-founder Raoul Scherwitzl tells Wired.

Source: Natural Cycles

After 40 years, scientists discover first-ever white dwarf pulsar

After decades of speculation, students at Warwick University have now found the first ever white dwarf pulsar. Since 1967’s discovery of the first pulsar (a rotating star that emits electromagnetic radiation), scientists have only been able to find evidence of larger neutron stars as pulsars. For those of you who aren’t astronomers, a neutron star is the last stage a celestial body goes through after a supernova before collapsing into a black hole. While scientists had yet to find any proof, many argued that the smaller dying white dwarf star could also become a pulsar. Now 40 years later, that theory has become fact.

The discovery was made by Tom Marsh and Boris Gansicke from Warwick University’s Astrophysics Group alongside David Buckley from the South African Astronomical Observatory. The trio managed to spot a white dwarf pulsar 380 light years from Earth, located in the constellation of Scorpius. AR scorpii is the name they gave to the binary star that confirmed the aging hypothesis.

This historic binary star is made up of both a white dwarf around the size of Earth (but around 200,000 times denser) and a ‘nearby’ red star. With a distance only three times greater than that of the Earth and the Moon between them, the two celestial bodies are practically neighbors in galactic terms. Thanks to this relatively close proximity, the white dwarf pulsar bombards its poor red dwarf neighbor with all manner of electrical energy and particles during its two-minute rotational period. You can find more details about their historic findings here.

Via: CNET

Source: Nature

Facebook Launches New Weather Forecast Section in Mobile App

Facebook has come up with another way to convince users to stay within the social networking app, recently introducing a complete weather forecast section that uses GPS location to present a detailed 24-hour and 5-day forecast, powered by Weather.com (via TechCrunch). The feature is an expansion of the previous “weather greetings” that appeared on the Facebook mobile app beginning about a year ago, which include succinct time-of-day greetings along with a stock forecast message.

Now, users can tap on those greetings and jump into a full forecast of their area. Although the greetings link users to the forecast section, sometimes the prompts aren’t always there when the app is opened. To manually find the forecast: open Facebook > tap the hamburger “More” tab on the bottom right of the app > tap “See More” > scroll down and tap “Weather.”

The heading of the section includes doodles that change depending on the weather, alongside the current temperature, high and low estimates for the day, and a one-to-three sentence summation of the present forecast. Under that, users can scroll through the next 24 hours, and look ahead to the next 5 days.

If more information is required, the very bottom of Facebook’s forecast section has a “see more weather info” button that launches Weather.com. To see the weather for another location, the gear icon on the top right of the screen includes a search field to find more cities.

Weather greetings now launch into the new forecast section
According to Facebook, the goal of adding weather forecasts was to “connect people to the things they care about most.”

“We are doing this because our goal is to develop products that connect people to the things they care about most and create moments of joy in people’s day, like simply telling you that it’s going to rain later,” a spokesperson said.

Weather forecasts are now available to around 95 percent of Facebook users globally, on both mobile and desktop. The company is also testing a feature that lets users turn on push notifications in regards to weather forecasts, which should be available widely by the end of the month. Facebook is available to download for free on the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Facebook
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12.9-Inch iPad Pro in Short Supply Ahead of Rumored March Update

Just weeks before Apple is rumored to launch a trio of new iPads, 12.9-inch iPad Pro stock is drying up around the world.

A spot check of Apple’s online store reveals that most if not all 12.9-inch iPad Pro models are now estimated to ship in 2-3 weeks in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and elsewhere—that’s up from a shipping estimate of 1-2 weeks as recently as last weekend.

Apple’s in-store pickup tool lists most 12.9-inch iPad Pro models as available on March 3 to March 6 in locations ranging from New York and San Francisco to Toronto, Canada and London, England. Some models remain available for pickup as early as “today,” but stock has increasingly depleted based upon our checks.

12.9-inch iPad Pro models are also largely out of stock or backordered by several weeks at resellers such as Best Buy, AT&T, and Verizon in the United States. That’s in sharp contrast to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which remains well stocked and available to ship immediately on both Apple’s website and at resellers.

Lengthy shipping times can sometimes indicate that a product refresh is imminent, but in this case, the supply chain could be to blame.

In its latest earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company underestimated iPad demand this quarter and had an issue with one of its suppliers. Cook said he does not expect the shortage to be totally resolved this quarter, and that could reasonably explain why the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is increasingly hard to find.

Apple analyst Neil Cybart of Above Avalon said Apple has been experiencing “increasingly noticeable supply chain troubles,” as evidenced by long shipping estimates on products that launched months ago, such as Apple Watch Series 2 and AirPods. With a 2-3 week wait, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro can be added to that list.

Rumors suggest Apple will launch an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro with slimmer bezels as early as March—or as late as the second half of this year per hit-and-miss supply chain source DigiTimes. Apple is also expected to release updated 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with faster A10X processors.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara said the next-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro will feature a True Tone display like its current 9.7-inch counterpart, using advanced four-channel ambient light sensors to automatically adapt the color and intensity of the display to match the light in the surrounding environment.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro will also gain the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s same 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera and True Tone flash, and it will allegedly still have a 3.5mm headphone jack, according to the blog.

“We’ve got some exciting things coming on iPad and I’m optimistic about where things are headed,” added Cook.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tag: Apple retail
Buyer’s Guide: 12.9″ iPad Pro (Caution)
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Court indicts contractor who stole NSA’s hacking tools

A federal grand jury has indicted former NSA contractor Harold Thomas Martin for what could be the biggest theft of classified materials in the US. According to Reuters, the indictment alleges that Martin has been stealing from NSA, CIA and other intelligence agencies for 20 years as a private contractor with top security clearance. When he was arrested in October 2016, he was working for Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp, the same consulting firm that Edward Snowden worked for when he leaked top secret files to the press in 2013. The event forced the company to hire former FBI Director Robert Mueller to audit its security and personnel.

Martin’s indictment listed all the documents he was accused of stealing. One document contained “extremely sensitive US planning and operations regarding global terrorists,” another contained intelligence on other countries’ cyber issues and foreign cyber intrusion techniques. There’s also one that details US military operations. All in all, the DOJ believes he took 50 terabytes of classified data.

The investigators who sifted through all the pilfered data and documents discovered in a computer in his home found 75 percent of the hacking tools that NSA used for special operations, as well. Those tools found their way to the internet after a group called Shadow Brokers posted them online. However, Martin wasn’t indicted for sharing the info he stole. Authorities apparently couldn’t find evidence that he ever had plans to share or sell it, and it’s still unclear how Shadow Brokers got their hands on the NSA tools. Martin’s lawyers said their client didn’t steal from the intelligence agencies to commit espionage — he was merely a “compulsive hoarder.”

Source: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal

Comcast told not to claim it has ‘America’s fastest internet’

Comcast has agreed to stop advertising its Xfinity broadband service as “the fastest internet in America” after an ad industry group said the claim doesn’t jibe with the data. The company based the slogan on user Ookla tests, which the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) said were “not a good fit” for the fastest speed claims. After Verizon (the owner of AOL, Engadget’s parent) first challenged the ads back in August and won, NARB upheld the decision and recommended Comcast discontinue specific assertions.

The problem? For one, Comcast’s own Ookla data showed that Xfinity customers who participated in the tests were on the fastest Xfinity tiers, whereas Verizon’s FiOS users weren’t. And while the Ookla data (which NARB doesn’t dispute) shows a faster 104.56 Mbps Comcast download speed compared to 83.39 Mbps for Verizon, FiOS customers actually had better upload speeds. In addition, it found that Comcast didn’t provide adequate proof for its rather silly “fastest in-home WiFi” claims.

The panel noted that while it did not question the accuracy of Ookla’s data, it agreed with NAD that the Ookla data was not a good fit for an overall claim that an ISP delivers ‘America’s fastest internet.’

The watchdog wrote that it had no problem with advertising Ookla speeds, as long as it “clearly communicates what the data represents.” Comcast said that it would comply with the ruling, even though it “respectfully disagrees,” adding that it hopes the regulator will hold other firms to the same standard. The board did just that back in June though, making Verizon back down on claims that FiOS fiber “is rated number one in internet speed,” as Ars Technica notes.

Decisions of the review board, which is administered by the Better Business Bureau, aren’t legally binding. However, they could become increasingly important for consumers if, as expected, government regulators like the FCC and FTC take a more hands-off approach under the Trump administration. With a lesser threat of fines or other actions, however, businesses like Comcast (which leads the nation in terrible customer service) might start ignoring them.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: ASRC