Ben Heck’s Mystery Hack Theater

The Ben Heck Show team is changing how they work on projects: They’re now going to focus on polishing off one large project as a long-term build, with the goal of eventually bringing it to market. What better way to help determine which one to make than by critiquing past projects, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 style? Join Ben, Karen and Max as they revisit snippets from each episode and what it was like behind the scenes, including: the guitar controller mod, the teensy pinball portable, real-life Minecraft blocks, the all-seeing eye hat, the Hackmanji build and the great glue gun. Find out which project won based on the poll over at the element14 Community.

Are smartphones killing the art of face-to-face conversation? We ask the experts

Smartphones are everywhere now and for many of us they serve as a constant companion. They keep us continually connected, filling gaps in our day, entertaining us, and demanding our attention with a string of notifications. Because they offer a convenient alternative to face-to-face conversations, and at times they butt into our chats directly, there’s a growing realization that they may be killing the art of conversation.

Smartphones enable us to avoid direct conversations altogether. We can chat via text messages, or in real-time on social media, but there’s a danger that we’re missing out on some important aspects of communication when we do this.

More: Is smartphone addiction real? We ask the experts

“In a good conversation, the words we say are only one small part of the meaning that we convey, there’s also body language, tone of voice, facial expression,” Dr. James Roberts, Professor of Marketing at Baylor University and author of Too Much of a Good Thing: Are You Addicted to Your Smartphone? told Digital Trends.

“When we send a text or email, or we post or tweet, we lose all but what is being said and so there is a lot of misinformation, miscommunication, and hurt feelings, because we don’t have those other sources of information that help us imbue some kind of meaning into what somebody is saying.”

Phones are a useful barrier for avoiding small talk, but their influence is expanding well beyond the train or the bus stop. Stories about text message break-ups are common. People take to Facebook to notify their friends and families about weddings and funerals. Phones offer a convenient opt out for any potentially uncomfortable conversation.

“Every conversation we get a little bit better at reading people, at striking up a conversation, and at maintaining a conversation,” says Roberts. “Some people are becoming conversational cowards. They lack the willingness to have difficult face-to-face conversations, and they aren’t cultivating those skills.”

In this Bank of America survey, 29 percent of Americans chose text as their preferred method of conversing with others, compared to 40 percent of millennials. While 38 percent of Americans of all ages chose in person conversations as their top choice, compared to 33 percent of millennials.

“A lot of what used to be done face to face is now done via computer mediated communication and I think that’s sad because what we’ve lost is the humanness of contact and conversation,” suggests Roberts. “When we lose our ability to relate to people, to empathize with people, we care less about those people.”

It seems ironic that a device designed to enable communication could have a detrimental impact, but most of us are familiar with phubbing, even if we haven’t heard the term before – it’s a portmanteau of phone and snub.

“89 percent of Americans say that during their last social interaction, they took out a phone, and 82 percent said that it deteriorated the conversation they were in,” said MIT Professor, Sherry Turkle in an interview promoting her last book, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.

Most of us know someone who can’t seem to stop checking their phone, even when we’re talking to them directly. And if we’re honest, many of us are guilty of it ourselves. There’s even a Stop Phubbing campaign.

There’s clearly a generational divide in our attitudes towards smartphones.

“When some people start to feel insecure, they instantly look to their lifeline, their smartphone. They don’t realize that sometimes pregnant pauses and uncomfortable lulls in conversation are something to work through,” says Roberts.

“The mere presence of a phone undermines conversation quality.”

This 2012 study compared conversations between pairs of strangers. Some had a smartphone placed on a table top nearby, others a notebook. Asked about their conversation partner after the chat, the group with the phone were less positive, and felt their conversations had been less meaningful.

More: We literally cannot let go of our smartphones, new survey finds

The idea that the mere presence of a phone can make us feel less empathy for our conversational partner has been backed up in other research, like this 2014 study. Phubbing is also having a negative impact on relationship satisfaction, according to this 2016 study. Despite the wider recognition that phubbing is gaining as a problem, smartphone usage is still rising.

We’ve seen survey, after survey about the increase in smartphone usage, particularly among millennials. One survey found that 93 percent of millennials use their phones in bed, 80 percent use them in the restroom, and 43 percent use them while stopped at a red light. Another recent survey found that 66 percent of millennials check their phone as soon as they wake in the morning, and nearly 10 percent wake up during the night to check it. The average figures for older generations are lower.

There’s clearly a generational divide in our attitudes towards smartphones. What’s acceptable is changing, but we’re still figuring out the social rules, because this is still a relatively new technology. There’s a lot of hyperbole about the impact on millennials, but what about the next generation growing up with smartphones and the potential impact on parental relationships?

“For parents and kids there’s something very different about having conversation in person,” Dr. Jenny Radesky, child behavior expert and pediatrician, told Digital Trends. “Part of your interaction with kids is actually physical, they’re snuggling, the body-to-body contact actually regulates children’s and parent’s heart rates.”

Back in 2013, when Dr. Radesky was working at Boston Medical Center, she ran a study looking at mobile device use by parents and caregivers while they were having a fast food meal with their kids.

“We were amazed at how little interacting some of the families were doing, or how often the child was asking for something specific and the parents were not even looking up, and just pushing them some food without really responding.”

“The mere presence of a phone undermines conversation quality.”

She became interested in what was going on for those parents. Why were they so absorbed in their smartphones? Last year, at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital she conducted several in-depth interviews with parents and caregivers of kids under the age of eight.

“We kept hearing the same types of things. Cognitively, parents talked about having a really hard time switching between work brain and child brain,” she explains. “It’s dysphoric to feel a sudden interruption when you have flow in your reading.”

Because our smartphones serve up a varied menu of news about world events, work emails, and messages from friends and family, they can be hard to detach from. Some interviewees spoke about the difficulty of switching a smartphone off and controlling the internal reactions that some content would stir up in them.

Wavebreak Media Ltd/123RF

“Parenting can be exhausting and boring and repetitive, especially if you have a kid who is tough to handle,” says Radesky. “I’m really interested in how that might drive parents to seek their own emotional regulation through a device. It’s important that parents not feel they need to be exquisitely responsive to their children all waking hours of the day because there’s a point where that becomes intrusive.”

Every parent turns to their smartphone from time-to-time for entertainment, for themselves or for their child, and there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that.

“It’s possible that when you hand that difficult child a mobile device, parent stress goes down so you’re less likely to yell at them, and you reduce conflict in the moment, which could be a good thing,” explains Radesky.

“The question is — are we displacing some of the important parent-child moments and activities where children need to be taught social and emotional skills?”

To a certain degree humans are adapting to all this pervasive technology

There’s no easy answer to that. All children have a different set of needs and different temperaments. What they learn from face-to-face conversations is very important, but how much is enough isn’t clear.

When a group of preteens spent five days at a nature camp without access to screens, this study found that they were better at recognizing non-verbal emotional cues (facial expressions, body language, gestures) than they had been before the camp. Control groups with access to screens showed no change.

“My hypothesis is that some of those more difficult or poorly regulated kids, who may be at higher risk of behavior or developmental issues down the line, are handed devices more often,” suggests Radesky.

Research in this area is difficult because of confounding social and psychological factors with larger data sets. How much of what is observed is because of the device or the media on it, versus say the income level of the family, the mental well-being of the parent, or the child’s temperament?

“To a certain degree humans are adapting to all this pervasive technology and finding new ways to put it aside and filter it out,” says Radesky. “But perhaps we need a bit of a design change in the device so it’s not so effectively absorbing or attention grabbing.”

One answer could be to incentivize people to put their phones away, like the Pocket Points app, which is designed to reward students for not using their phones during class. Other apps, like BreakFree, can help us track our smartphone usage and gain some awareness.

“It really is an issue of self-control,” says Dr. Roberts. “Set aside smartphone-free zones and times. Draft social contracts that lay down the laws about what’s acceptable or unacceptable smartphone use and what the punishments and rewards for either keeping or breaking the contract should be.”

If you’re concerned, it’s easy to start taking steps. Put your phone in the trunk when you drive, so you can’t be distracted by it. Don’t allow phones at the dinner table. And the next time you’re chatting to someone and you feel that wee buzz on your leg, or hear an incoming alert, ignore it until you’re done talking – it’s probably not more important than the conversation you’re in.

Björk’s VR exhibition is coming to Los Angeles

Björk is infamous for her peculiar style, and now fans in the Los Angeles area can experience that otherworldly quirkiness in 360 degrees. Björk Digital, a VR exhibition based on her 2015 album Vulnicura, is making its West Coast debut later this year, according to Fact. The LA tour stop coincides with a live performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 30th. Both are part of the Reykjavík Festival, an event highlighting the artistic contributions of Iceland’s capital.

Björk kicked off the exhibition’s tour last year in Sydney, Australia. In an announcement on Facebook at the time, she explained why she chose to adapt Vulnicura in VR. “I feel the chronological narrative of the album is ideal for the private circus virtual reality is,” she wrote. “A theatre able to capture the emotional landscape of it.”

Engadget had a chance review the VR music video for the song “Stonemilker” and came away disappointed. “[It] is neither as strange nor as harrowing as I’d hoped it would be,” he wrote. “It was beautiful and intriguing, but it was also irreparably hindered by the inherent limitations of VR gear.” If you want to check it out for yourself, it’ll be at the Magic Box at The Reef in downtown Los Angeles from May 19-June 4, according to Fact.

Source: Fact

How a Home Button and Function Bar Could Work on the ‘iPhone 8’

The iconic home button has been a mainstay of Apple design ever since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. Even the buttons on the elevators at Apple Park are said to resemble it. The button’s tactile circularity promises an escape route to familiarity should users get lost or apps go wrong. However, its delicate components converge upon a recess in the phone’s bezel, an area that could otherwise provide extra space to fit a larger display within the same handset profile.

Rumors that the “iPhone 8” will replace the home button as we know it with an entirely virtual one can be traced back to April 2016. More recently, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple will introduce a functionally distinct area below the screen exclusively for displaying virtual buttons, with a rumor just yesterday seeming to suggest that such a “function bar” is behind conflicting reports over the display size of an upcoming OLED iPhone.

Before the “function bar” rumor first surfaced, MacRumors forum member deuxani shared concept images, reproduced below, that offer some context for imagining how the bar might work.

Framed within a 4.7-inch handset with minimal bezels, the virtual home button sits below the dock on the home screen in a separate dynamic space. Assuming Kuo’s claims that the 5.8-inch OLED display includes a function bar, the remaining 5.15-inch primary display area allows existing apps to run fullscreen in their existing 16:9 aspect ratio.

In the above example, only the home button is shown in the function area, but Apple could theoretically add options for additional virtual icons like Bluetooth, App Switcher, Camera, or Siri. The shot on the right shows how the adoption of OLED screen technology might also enable the home button and indeed other screen elements to remain visible when the rest of the display is turned off.

As with the Touch Bar on the 2016 MacBook Pro, native apps could be augmented with contextually adaptive virtual buttons, while third-party developers could code for additional UI elements alongside the home button, or bring frequently accessed functions into closer proximity with the user’s thumb, as these concept designs for Instagram and Twitter envision.

Other possibilities for virtual buttons could theoretically include: Moving the back button from the top-left of the status bar to the bottom-left of the screen, alongside the home button; a scrollable strip to access additional buttons; media playback and video scrubbing controls; in-app navigation buttons; or perhaps additional space for game controls.

“Soft” buttons on a smartphone are nothing new, but a “function area” on an iPhone could offer more flexibility by taking cues from the MacBook Pro’s OLED Touch Bar. Patents show Apple has explored extending Touch Bar functionality to other devices, while Jony Ive has said the interface is “just the beginning of a very interesting direction” for the company. However, adapting the technology for an iPhone display likely presents distinct challenges, such as how to integrate the various functions the home button has inherited over the years (Siri, Readability, exit Lock Screen, and so on), and how to avoid the presence of “dead space” where the Touch ID sensor would usually be located.

iPhone 8 concept by Thadeu Brandão
Indeed, ultimately the fate of a home button and “function bar” on an OLED iPhone may rest on Apple’s ability to integrate fingerprint recognition technology into the display itself. A report earlier this week suggests Apple has solved this problem, but questions still remain. Will the display have a recess for Touch ID? Will new fingerprint recognition technology function across a larger screen area? And what other bio-recognition features might Apple include that could help solve the authentication issue? Facial recognition, iris scanning, and ultrasound methods have all been proposed.

Rumors disagree over whether Apple will ramp up production earlier than usual for this year’s OLED iPhone, but we may see part leaks that shed light on the design fairly soon. Other rumored features for the “10th anniversary edition” device include an edge-to-edge display, a glass body, some form of wireless charging, and extended battery life. The iPhone 8 is expected to launch this September, alongside two more traditional “S” cycle iPhones with LCD displays.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Discuss this article in our forums

Tesla opens ‘Project Loveday’ contest for fan-made ads

Tesla has refused to do traditional advertising for its electric vehicles, instead relying on PR and its reputation for innovation. Some fans love the cars so much that they’ve gone ahead and made advertisements for the company, inspiring a letter from “green” fan Bria asking Elon Musk to run a contest looking for the best one. A few days ago the CEO promised he’d do it, and just like that, Project Loveday is on, seeking out 90-second YouTube submissions that relate to “Tesla, SolarCity, our products, or our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Thank you for the lovely letter. That sounds like a great idea. We’ll do it! https://t.co/ss2WmkOGyk

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2017

The contest is open through May 8th, so you have some time to figure out your pitch, however before diving into the production you may want to check the prize list. Matching Bria’s suggestion in her original letter, the top 10 submissions can expect to be featured on the company’s social media channels. The Grand Prize winner will get a trip to an unspecified Tesla Product launch in the future and…that appears to be it.

There were hints this could happen, however, as last year Musk said: ” I think I could see us doing advertising where that advertising is interesting, entertaining, and people don’t regret seeing it.” Apparently, Project Loveday fits the bill, and considering the rewards it’s probably even cheaper than juicing up the customer referral plan.

Just discovered a great Tesla ad made by 2 recent college grads. I love it! http://t.co/20dPRD9yrJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2014

Given that these are videos people were already making, it doesn’t seem like Tesla will need to do much more to drum up interest. Still, unless there’s a surprise twist then makers shouldn’t expect a free Model 3 (or P100D) coming their way. This work is going to have to be done for love/exposure — those interested should check out the official rules and entry form.

Project Loveday https://t.co/K1snXJN15u

— Tesla (@TeslaMotors) March 5, 2017

Source: Tesla

Lithium-ion creator helped develop a better battery technology

At 94 years old, John B. Goodenough isn’t done changing the landscape of battery technology. The University of Texas at Austin professor who’s widely credited for the invention of lithium-ion batteries has developed a better alternative. Goodenough, Cockrell School senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga and their team have created a low-cost solid state battery that’s safer than lithium-ion. It stores thrice as much energy, which means more miles for electric vehicles in between charges. When you do need to charge, it can be done minutes instead of hours. Plus, it can withstand a greater number of charge and discharge cycles.

The team’s technology uses glass electrolytes instead of liquid like lithium-ion does. By using solid glass, the new battery won’t form dendrites — whisker-like pieces of lithium that usually form in liquid electrolytes. They’re the reason lithium-ion batteries have the tendency to short circuit and explode or start a fire.

The glass electrolytes also make it possible for the battery to operate in subzero degree (up to around -20 degrees Celsius or -4 degrees Fahrenheit) weather. And since their use means the creators replaced lithium with low-cost sodium, the batteries can be manufactured with earth-friendly materials. Someday, the new technology could make EVs more common and change the way we use our gadgets. For now, Goodenough and his team are looking to pair up with battery makers who can test their creation in electric vehicles and energy storage devices.

Source: University of Texas at Austin

New York will offer $2,000 if you buy an electric car

Believe it or not, New York hasn’t offered a financial incentive to buy eco-friendly cars. While over three quarters of the US has some kind of state-level discount, New York has made you ‘settle’ for the federal tax credit. Officials are about to sweeten the pot, though: months after approval, New York is launching a rebate program on April 1st that gives you up to $2,000 if you buy an electric car or plug-in hybrid. If you can buy a car that also qualifies for the federal credit, you’re looking at nearly ten grand off the sticker price.

The initiative wasn’t exactly on the fast track. April 1st was the deadline for launching the program — the state clearly put this off until the last minute, and staff at New York’s Energy Research and Development Authority are still hashing out the details of the rebate. Still, it could be vital if it goes according to plan. New York represents one of the larger potential markets for electric cars outside of California, and the added incentive could be important for the Chevy Bolt, Tesla Model 3 and future EVs just affordable enough that even $2,000 could make a big difference. It’s particularly important for the Model 3, whose pre-orders are strong enough that you may not get a federal credit at all if you ordered relatively late.

Via: Electrek

Source: AP (US News)

Nikkei Now Agrees ‘iPhone 8’ Will Have Larger 5.8-Inch OLED Display

Apple will launch three new iPhone models in the fall, including one with a 5.8-inch OLED display and two with LCD displays, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

While this is a rumor we have heard several times already, the Japanese website previously said Apple would launch a 5-inch iPhone—not 5.8 inches—in 2017.

The relevant bit from today’s report:

The upcoming iPhone, to be launched this fall, will come in three configurations — two with liquid crystal displays and one with a 5.8-inch organic light-emitting diode display.

Here’s what it reported last October:

“Apple has tentatively decided that all the 5.5-inch, 5-inch and 4.7-inch models will have glass backs, departing from metal casings adopted by current iPhones, and Biel and Lens are likely to be providing all the glass backs for the new iPhones next year,” the source said.

5.8 inches is now the widely agreed upon screen size for Apple’s first iPhone with an OLED display, but there is likely a reasonable explanation as to why Nikkei and two other reports suggested the model would have a 5-inch display.

Namely, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said while the so-called “iPhone 8” will indeed have a 5.8-inch display, the primary area will actually be 5.15 inches, while the rest of the space will be reserved for a wide row of virtual buttons. Kuo also said the device’s physical dimensions will likely be similar to a 4.7-inch iPhone.

Given the size variation between the OLED panel, display area, and physical dimensions rumored, it remains unclear if Apple will officially categorize the “iPhone 8” as 5.1 inches, 5.2 inches, 5.8 inches, or a different size.

Apple is expected to remove the Home button to make room for the larger display without significantly increasing the device’s overall footprint. The bezels surrounding the display are also expected to be removed, although a very slim top bezel could remain to house the front-facing camera and earpiece cutout.

While some reports have suggested Touch ID may be entirely replaced with biometric technologies such as iris or facial recognition or even ultrasound, Apple has filed a patent for a fingerprint sensor embedded underneath a touchscreen. Apple also has a patent for integrating the ambient light sensor into the display.

The much-rumored 5.8-inch iPhone, which has also been coined the “iPhone Pro” or “iPhone X” in honor of the smartphone’s tenth anniversary this year, could cost upwards of $1,000 in the United States. It is expected to be announced in September alongside updated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: OLED, nikkei.com
Discuss this article in our forums

Facebook tries adding reactions to Messenger chats

Facebook’s reactions are thriving in your News Feed, and it now looks like the company wants to spread them to Messenger, too. The social network has confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing the ability to add reactions to individual messages, much as you would with stickers in Apple’s iMessage system or Slack’s team chats. The experiment has all the icons you’d expect from conventional Facebook posts (five emotions plus a thumbs-up), but also a thumbs-down — this is the closest you may get to that mythical Facebook “dislike” button. This would help tally up votes for a place to eat, for example, or share your response if you’re a little late to reply with text.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll see reactions any time soon. Facebook describes this as a “small test” and isn’t committing to a launch any time soon, assuming it goes forward. However, it’d make sense to beef up both Messenger and Workplace, Facebook’s Slack-alike.

Source: TechCrunch

Google reveals HP’s Chromebook for schools coming out in April

There’s another Chromebook option for schools looking to equip their students with Google’s laptops. Mountain View has revealed that HP will release a new rugged Chromebook for education in mid-April. It’s a 360-degree convertible that features USB-C charging and a rear/world-facing camera, just like the Chromebooks Asus and Acer debuted in January. The computer also works with an optional stylus. However, it’s unclear if it’s the same low-cost stylus based on the the #2 pencil that comes with the Asus and the Acer machines — Google didn’t exactly go into details about the product’s specs.

The company has announced model x360 11 G1 in a post that celebrate’s Chromebooks’ status as a top-selling device across laptops and tablets in Swedish schools last year. Google has also revealed in the post that Chromebook creative apps are out in Europe and that administrators can now approve Android app libraries and install them on select managed devices.

Via: The Verge

Source: The Keyword