What is Tinder Select and can anyone use it to date celebrities?

If you were ever hoping to swipe across a celebrity on Tinder, we’re sorry to break it to you, but that probably isn’t going to happen now.

Over the past couple decades, the internet has revolutionised dating. You no longer have to hit on people at bars or get rejected face-to-face. You can now carefully construct your virtual profile and load it with selfies taken at the perfect angle. You can also look for someone specific, maybe even a model or actor, if that’s your thing. But Tinder, a hugely popular dating app, adds something unique to the game: swipes.

• Top 20 GIFs on Tinder: Use these to woo and you’ll likely get a response

When looking for someone to ask out on Tinder, you swipe through an endless bucket of selfies that the app surfaces on your screen. But that doesn’t mean you might see newly single Brad Pitt pop up if you happen to be passing through Los Angeles or New York. Tinder apparently offers a secretive, invite-only tier that’s exclusive to “CEOs, super models, and other hyper-attractive/upwardly affluent types.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Tinder Select.

TechCrunch

What is Tinder?

Tinder is an iOS and Android app that facilitates communication between mutually interested users.

Users use a left or right swipes to choose photos of other users and potentially match with them. Chatting on Tinder is only available between two users who have swiped right on one another’s photos. Tinder is therefore commonly used as a dating service app. By 2014, Tinder was registering about one billion “swipes” per day and producing about twelve million matches per day.

Check out Pocket-lint’s Tinder guide for information about the app.

What is Tinder Select?

Tinder Select is a members-only version of the app. It’s meant for elite users, like “CEOs, super models, and other hyper-attractive/upwardly affluent types” or “celebrities and people who do really well on Tinder”, according to TechCrunch, which claimed to have obtained photos depicting the feature and how it works. It’s not a completely separate app, but rather a separate option found in Tinder.

How does Tinder Select work?

Get invited to join

Over the past six months, starting in late 2016, Tinder has been inviting people to use Tinder Select. Those people reportedly also have the ability to “nominate” others to join, though those who were nominated can’t nominate anyone else, because Tinder doesn’t want the members-only feature to spread uncontrollably. It’s unclear exactly how Tinder decides who gets an invite and who doesn’t.

Tinder Elo score

TechCrunch speculated that users’ Tinder Elo score, an algorithmic rating system across all Tinder users based on “thousands and thousands” of signals, helps Tinder identify attractive and high-profile users who may be eligible to join Tinder Select. Tinder CEO Sean Rad once said the rating is not a measure of attractiveness; it’s a measure of “desirability” and “very complicated” with “a lot of factors”.

Tinder does not reveal to users their own Tinder Elo score, nor does it reveal them to other users.

Switch to Tinder Select

TechCrunch said Tinder Select looks “way better than regular Tinder in terms of design” and features a gradient blue “S” at the top of the app, where normal users would typically see a flame. The app also has blue accenting rather than orange. To access Tinder Select, users simply toggle between Tinder and Tinder Select from the top bar.

That means the gorgeous people of the world can see all other gorgeous people in their area while on Tinder Select, but when they want to access a larger pool of trolls – excuse us, regular folk – they can switch back to regular Tinder.

Can anyone use Tinder Select?

Tinder Select has been around for at least six months. TechCrunch hinted that Tinder might never officially announce the feature – let alone roll it out to a larger group of users – because it’s currently being stealthy about the whole thing. So, for now, it seems like only high-profile, pretty people can use it to meet celebrities.

Sorry, you’ve just got no easy in right now.

CIA responds to WikiLeaks with an extra long ‘no comment’

A day after a WikiLeaks post claimed to reveal inside details of the CIA’s hacking apparatus, the agency has responded with a “no comment” and then some. In a statement posted by NBC News, the folks at Langley said: “We have no comment on the authenticity of purported intelligence documents released by WikiLeaks or on the status of any investigation into the source of the documents.”

Simple, right? But it didn’t stop there, as the agency went on to defend why (theoretically, of course) it might keep a catalog of exploitable vulnerabilities in smartphones, TVs and other devices without warning their manufacturers. The CIA confirmed its mission to “aggressively” collect foreign intelligence as the first line of American defense, highlighted that it’s legally prohibited from operating inside the US and said the American people should be “deeply troubled” by any attempt to damage the Intelligence Community.

JUST IN: CIA responds to new WikiLeaks release; claims such disclosures “jeopardize US personnel and operations” and “help our adversaries.” pic.twitter.com/Fu3MKxGnkF

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 8, 2017

While that didn’t really make us feel safer at all, unnamed officials have told CNN that the FBI and CIA are reviewing the matter. Reuters reports that intelligence committees in the US Senate and House have either opened or will open inquiries into the breach, citing anonymous sources claiming officials have been aware of it since late last year, with investigations focusing on employees of companies that do contract work for the CIA.

Source: NBC News (Twitter)

Burger-flipping robot has its first day on the job in California

The next time you place an order at a fast food joint, you could see a robot behind the counter. Flippy is an AI-driven kitchen assistant that can flip burgers and place them on buns, and it debuted today at a CaliBurger restaurant in Pasadena, California.

Flippy was developed by Miso Robotics and CaliBurger’s owner, Cali Group. It uses cameras, sensors and deep learning software to locate ingredients in a kitchen without needing to reconfigure existing equipment. Not only does it position and flip the patties, it tracks their temperature and cooking time too. When the burgers are done, it alerts a human cook, who applies the cheese and other toppings.

“Much like self-driving vehicles, our system continuously learns from its experiences to improve over time,” said David Zito, CEO of Miso Robotics, in a statement. Eventually, Zito said Flippy can be trained to help with other kitchen tasks, like frying chicken, cutting vegetables or plating.

Self-ordering kiosks are already replacing workers at fast food chains like McDonald’s and Wendys. But, Miso Robotics said Flippy is designed to work alongside human staff. Once its “probation” ends in Pasadena, it will roll out to more than 50 CaliBurger locations over the next two years. When that happens, some people could be reassigned to the dining room to engage more with customers, while others will be trained to operate their new assistant.

“Tasting food and creating recipes will always be the purview of a chef,” Zito recently told TechCrunch. “And restaurants are gathering places where we go to interact with each other. Humans will always play a very critical role in the hospitality side of the business given the social aspects of food. We just don’t know what the new roles will be yet in the industry.”

Via: Singularity Hub

Source: Miso Robotics (.PDF)

This anti-social robot’s only task is to avoid people

Robots are usually created to help us, but that’s not always the case. Last week, California’s Palm Desert was home to a machine that was different. ShyBot didn’t serve us at all, instead — as its name suggests — it had a reclusive mission: stay as far away from people as it could.

ShyBot was designed by Italian artist Norma Jeane and a team of engineers from Codame for the DesertX art exhibition, in collaboration with the San Francisco Italian Cultural Institute. In her artist statement, Jeane said the robot is “based on an algorithm designed precisely to evade the human perspective.” So, from February 27th to March 4th, the six-wheeler evaded as well as it could, roaming the Coachella Valley in an effort to hide from everybody. ShyBot was so anti-social that it even avoided the drones used to film its adventure if they got too close.

As the autonomous, solar-powered rover traversed the California desert, it was tracked in real time using GPS technology, curious viewers can revisit the whole journey here. While Shybot avoided being seen, it did have a camera that transmitted its point of view to San Francisco art gallery The Lab for an exhibition called “Norma Jeane: Scene with ShyBot.” We’re sure it hated the attention, even from afar.

The sad irony is, that we’ve never wanted to hug a robot more. Still, at least we don’t have to worry about this one eventually enslaving humanity in a merciless machine uprising.

Via: Motherboard

Source: Codame, DesertX, Istituto Italiano di Cultura San Francisco

‘Left 4 Dead’ character returns to haunt ‘Dead by Daylight’

Dead by Daylight, the hit survival-horror game that pits a team of four players against a dangerous killer, is getting a new character as part of the title’s free “Left Behind” DLC. Players of Valve’s successful Left 4 Dead series of zombie games will recognize Bill, the bearded, loyal-to-a-fault Vietnam vet as a new Dead by Daylight playable character.

Bill is more than just a visual update; he’ll inhabit Dead by Daylight as a full-on team member with his own special skills and abilities. According to Polygon, the new DLC is an unofficial nod to Left 4 Dead‘s own add-on, “The Sacrifice,” in which Bill gives his life trying to save the other survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

The grizzled veteran will have three perks that will help his Dead by Daylight teammates. Borrowed Time gives players extra protection if Bill rescues them from the killer’s meathook, while Unbreakable will let players recover faster when struck down. The Left Behind perk will help you repair generators faster when you’re the last person left alive. Using Bill in the most effective way adds another layer of strategic gameplay to the PC game.

The game’s producer, Mathieu Cote, told Polygon that the developer, Behaviour Interactive, worked with Valve to use the same character model for Bill as in the Left 4 Dead games, with some visual upgrades. The team also created replica outfits from other characters in the Valve game for Dead by Daylight survivors to wear. Players who patch the game will have access to all the outfits right away, too. It’s quite an homage to the classic game that clearly influenced this new title. Bill, and the Left Behind DLC, is available now.

Via: Polygon

Source: Dead by Daylight

Apple-Backed Didi Chuxing to Open Autonomous Driving Research Facility Near Cupertino

Didi Chuxing, the Chinese-hailing company that Apple invested $1 billion in, is opening an artificial intelligence lab in Mountain View, California, reports Recode. The lab will focus on intelligent driving systems and AI-based security for transportation, confirming Didi Chuxing’s interest in self-driving vehicles.

The facility, located less than 10 miles from Apple’s two Cupertino campuses, is one of Didi Chuxing’s first locations outside of China. Its location in Mountain View gives Didi Chuxing a better opportunity to recruit key autonomous driving talent, most of which is concentrated in the Bay Area. Google, Uber, Apple, and hundreds of other startups are nearby.

Apple CEO Tim Cook with Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu
Didi Chuxing has already poached two high-level employees from Uber and Google. Charlie Miller, the engineer who hacked and stopped a jeep remotely is joining Didi from Uber, while Jia Zhaoyin, a senior software engineer at Waymo, comes from Google.

Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing back in May 2016, and there has been speculation that the investment could lead to a deeper partnership between Didi Chuxing and Apple in the future as Apple is also working on self-driving technology.

Didi Chuxing is the largest ride-hailing company in China, having purchased Uber’s Chinese operations in July 2016.

Rumors originally suggested Apple would develop its own autonomous electric vehicle, but Apple shifted focus last summer and is now said to be aiming to create an autonomous driving system that would perhaps allow it to partner with car manufacturers or ride-hailing companies like Didi Chuxing in the future.

Tag: Didi Chuxing
Discuss this article in our forums

ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser review

With their latest refresh to the ZenFone lineup, ASUS is offering consumers several different options to choose from. We already reviewed the ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3, and have also covered the more recent and less traditional ZenFone 3 Zoom and ZenFone AR.

Now, we’re taking a look at ASUS’ entry-level ZenFone 3 Laser. So does the ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser bring enough to the table to stand out from competing options? Let’s find out with our comprehensive ASUS ZenFone 3 Laser review!

Design

What’s perhaps most interesting about the third generation of ZenFones is ASUS’ sudden departure from their past design language. When we thought about the ZenFone lineup previously, we thought of metallic plastic, ergonomic curves, and rear-facing volume buttons, features which were showcased excellently on the ZenFone 2 Laser.

Unlike its predecessor, the ZenFone 3 Laser is constructed of an aluminum body with plastic top and bottom caps, presumably to help with wireless reception. We’ve seen designs quite similar to this countless times in the past, but it remains difficult to ignore the high-quality in-hand feel of aluminum.

While the rear curve isn’t as dramatic nor ergonomic as it was in the past, we’re happy to see this bring the replacement of practically awkward slim side edges with larger curved side continuations of aluminum, which makes the phone easier to grip, especially with a single hand.

It’s not just the materials and shaping that make this a nice design, however, as other components like the satisfyingly tactile side buttons and seemingly engraved antenna lines are also quite nice. Of course, there are some minor compromises too, like the three capacitive navigation keys, which are ugly and do not illuminate. The rear camera hump can also be annoying when using the phone on a flat surface. Still, this design is well on par with what we expect to see from an entry-level device.

The Zenfone’s reader is in the form of a tall rectangular cutout

ASUS has placed a fingerprint reader on the back of the Zenfone 3 Laser, just below the camera module. Unlike traditional circular fingerprint readers, however, the Zenfone’s reader is in the form of a tall rectangular cutout. In fact, the Zenfone 3 lineup seems to be the first to feature this unique design. With that said, we didn’t notice a difference in speed nor accuracy when using the phone; overall, the reader performs well enough for the price.

Display

For the display, we’re looking at a respectable 5.5″ 1080P IPS panel coated in Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Color reproduction is great, viewing angles are decent, and the display is generally fairly good. It’s worth mentioning that you’ll be hard-pressed to find something significantly better at this price. With that said, we still have some notable criticisms.

Our biggest complaint has to do with maximum brightness, as it can be frustratingly difficult to use the phone outdoors. The auto brightness feature also tends towards lower settings, effectively requiring manual input for appropriate levels. ASUS has consistently failed to impress us in display brightness, and it’s a shame that the Zenfone 3 Laser continues that trend.

A much more insignificant issue, but surely a point of contention, is the black border around the display. Evidently, this grinds gears for people at varying levels, so we’ll keep this as objective as possible: the borders are reasonably small, unnoticeable day-to-day, but clearly don’t contribute to a stylish look. And with that, we’ll let you make your own judgements.

On a positive note, ASUS’ standard color customization options are included with the Zenfone 3 Laser. These options allow you to make adjustments to color temperature, enable a bluelight filter or “night mode,” or customize hue and saturation for a different look. These options are always nice to have, so we’re happy that ASUS has included them.

Performance

Although it’s not going to wow anyone with its benchmark scores, the Zenfone 3 Laser still performs well day-to-day. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 is, of course, an entry-level processor, but that hasn’t prevented ASUS from offering a well optimized experience. For example, some system animations have been sped up to give the illusion of a snappier device.

Unfortunately, the Zenfone 3 Laser is only available with 2 GB of RAM, which is a major bottleneck when attempting to multitask. Consider this situation: you’re listening to some music on Spotify and would like to do a quick Google search. Unlike virtually every device with more memory, the Zenfone 3 Laser will likely stop your music once you load a webpage.

We would have liked for ASUS to step up its game here

This can be quite frustrating, but it’s important to keep in mind that many competing options also skimp on memory. Still, we would have liked for ASUS to step up its game here, especially considering ASUS launched the very first smartphone with 4 GB of RAM just a couple of years ago.

All things considered, the Zenfone 3 Laser is quite tolerable to use in the real world. It’s far from the best out there, but if you manage your expectations and recognize the compromise, this should be absolutely fine day-to-day.

Hardware

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is an unlocked dual-SIM smartphone, meaning that you can use it with up to two different GSM carriers simultaneously. We rarely see this feature here in the U.S., so this could be a major selling point for some prospective buyers. Since it’s being sold officially, you can expect it to work with 4G LTE on both AT&T and T-Mobile, with support for band 12.

You can use the Zenfone with up to two different GSM carriers simultaneously

If you only plan on using one SIM card with the Zenfone 3 Laser, you can take advantage of the other slot’s microSD card expansion option, which supports cards up to 128 GB. For most users, however, the 32 GB of onboard storage should be enough.

Similar to many other options in this price range, the Zenfone 3 Laser does not include NFC, so you won’t be able to use tap-and-pay apps like Android Pay. Considering that over half of our readers polled said they used mobile payments at least occasionally, this is a pretty big omission. Combined with a lack of support for 802.11ac, it’s understandable how ASUS was able to keep the phone’s price down.

Don’t throw away your existing wired headphones just yet, as the Zenfone 3 Laser includes a 3.5mm headphone jack. This is still wonderful to have, and although the output volume is slightly low, many users will appreciate not having to make a transition to alternative options.

Sadly, we were very disappointed with the Zenfone 3 Laser’s speaker. I have personally reviewed over fifty (primarily entry-level) smartphones, and I can say with complete certainty that this is one of the worst I have ever heard. It’s not only relatively quiet and distorted, but also flat and tinny. Audio quite frankly sounds awful with the Zenfone 3 Laser, so you’ll definitely want to keep your headphones close.

Battery Life

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is packing a 3000mAh battery, which translated to excellent battery life during our testing. Even when using the phone for more than twenty-four hours, we were still able to achieve over four and a half hours of screen on time. When we used the phone more heavily, we were still able to achieve twelve hours of use with six and a half hours of screen on time.

Although the Snapdragon 430 can support Quick Charge 3.0, ASUS has failed to implement it, meaning that you’ll be stuck with some relatively slow charging speeds. The charging port is also a reminder that microUSB is still a thing, despite the newer USB Type-C standard largely taking over the Android smartphone market. We do understand that some users do not want to make the transition, so we’ll let you decide whether this is an advantage or drawback.

Camera

The Zenfone 3 Laser’s 13 MP f/2.0 camera captures images that are about average in terms of quality. Excellent cameras are pretty much unheard of at this price, so we can forgive many of the shortcomings here.

We can forgive many of the shortcomings here

ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser camera samples

As expected, you can get some fairly nice images when shooting in good lighting. For most of the time, dynamic range is decent and saturation levels are good. There are some glaring issues, however. Colors, for example, often appear muted (see the image of the bananas above), which results in images lacking in vibrancy and contrast. There’s also some excessive oversharpening and considerable barrel distortion.

ASUS claims that the laser autofocus offers focus in 30 milliseconds. While that estimate seemed to be pretty optimistic in our testing, the Zenfone 3 Laser does indeed focus quickly. However, the difference isn’t very noticeable in comparison to other smartphones, so you should avoid getting hung up on this particular feature.

Unfortunately, things really go downhill when shooting in low-light. The oversharpening issue is exacerbated while noise still appears largely unchecked. Colors are even worse, too. The built-in owl mode can certainly help here, but at the expense of resolution. It goes without saying that you really do get what you pay for here, so if you want higher quality low-light images you’ll want to consider increasing your budget.

The Zenfone 3 Laser’s camera app remains unchanged from previous models, but, as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” ASUS’ camera app offers a plethora of useful camera modes to choose from, while still providing an easy-to-use shooting experience. The phone’s manual mode is also one of the most comprehensive that we’ve used.

Software

Out of the box, the Zenfone 3 Laser runs ASUS’ ZenUI 3.0 skin over Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. It’s evident that ASUS puts a lot of effort into its software, which can’t always be said about phones sold at this price point. All things considered, you’re getting one of the better software experiences out there.

Compared to other user interfaces, ZenUI looks outdated

With that said, we feel that ZenUI is due for a design overhaul. We understand that this is very subjective, but, compared to other user interfaces, ZenUI looks outdated. The design team seems to have had a weird obsession with gaussian blurs, which have quite frankly gone out of style in favor of lower opacities.

ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser screenshots

Add in a unique but aging color scheme, harsh icons, and a general inability to instill feelings of empathy, and you end up with an arguably stale design. These criticisms are admittedly a bit nitpicky, considering how well everything works. However, we hope that ASUS will surprise us with a new design in the near future.

Some may also find the number of ASUS branded apps to be overwhelming, but we’re mostly okay with this since each app works so well. Besides, ASUS has improved on this in the past, so it’s likely that they’ll continue to do so in the future.

Given ASUS’ track record, we estimate that the probability of the Zenfone 3 Laser receiving an Android 7.0 Nougat update within the next few months to be highly likely. During our time with the phone, ASUS has also been very good at pushing out minor improvements as well as bug fixes fairly frequently. Plus, they seem to be keeping up with security patches.

Gallery

Price

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is on sale now for $200 in the United States. Since it is unlocked, you can purchase it from a retailer like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, or B&H Photo instead of going through your carrier.

Conclusion

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser is a good phone; for $200, you get a premium design, excellent battery life, and dual-SIM card support. With that said, there are also some significant drawbacks: the camera performance is just average, performance is bottlenecked by 2 GB of RAM, and the software design appears outdated.

Sadly, the Zenfone 3 Laser feels more like a downgrade compared to its predecessor. Some aspects like software and display quality remain unchanged, but many others have been downgraded. For example, the display is now coated in Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Gorilla Glass 4, the amount of RAM has been decreased from 3 to 2 GB, the speaker sounds worse, and the camera is not as sharp. Considering that both phones were released at the same price, we’re disappointed that ASUS didn’t pack in more with this iteration.

Also, compared to competing options from other manufacturers, the Zenfone 3 Laser doesn’t really stand out. You may be better off purchasing the Honor 6X or even the Nextbit Robin. If you’re willing to wait a bit, the Moto G5 lineup also might be worth considering.

Thank you for reading our written review of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser. We’d love to hear your thoughts regarding this device; would you buy it over competing options? Do let us know in the comment section below!

China ridesharing giant opens a self-driving car lab in the US

Didi’s ever-expanding ridesharing empire might be centered in China, but it’s still willing to head overseas to advance its goals. The company is opening an AI lab in Mountain View, California for the sake of its self-driving car ambitions. This doesn’t mean that Didi’s about to launch in the US (outside of its Lyft partnership), of course — rather, it’s to attract talent in a hotbed of autonomous driving research. And in at least one case, it appears to have scored a coup.

The company has hired Uber’s Charlie Miller, best known for his remote control Jeep hack (and plenty of Apple device hacks before that), to head up its safety and security work on self-driving cars. He’ll make sure that intruders can’t compromise your ride, to put it succinctly. Didi has also scored some engineers from Alphabet’s Waymo, one of which (Jia Zhaoyin) will be a principal engineer.

It wasn’t a secret that Didi was interested in driverless cars, but the creation of the lab makes it official. And setting up shop in the US is as much a declaration of its commitment to self-driving tech as it is a practical move. Didi maybe relatively late to the party, but it’s determined to catch up quickly.

Excited to announce I’m joining Didi Research America to lead the safety and security of their autonomous transportation systems.

— Charlie Miller (@0xcharlie) March 8, 2017

Source: Recode, Charlie Miller (Twitter)

Facebook refreshing server hardware to handle more video, boost neural networks

Why it matters to you

This hardware update is crucial, as Facebook’s servers store its users’ high-density visual data and keep its suite of platforms running.

Facebook is completely overhauling its server hardware in tandem with an expected increase in visual content on its suite of platforms. The company’s director of technology strategy, Vijay Rao, announced the upgrades at the Open Compute Project Summit on Wednesday.

Facebook claims that the 1.86 billion users on its flagship social network currently watch 100 million hours of video per day. Not to be left behind, its photo-sharing app Instagram sees more than 95 million photos and videos uploaded daily. Messenger is also piling the load on Facebook’s data centers via its video and voice chat services, which are now used by 400 million people every month.

Facebook’s Bryce Canyon server will provide storage for users’ photos, videos

To help handle this influx of visual content and real-time interactions, Facebook is making the move to a powerful storage server known as Bryce Canyon. Internally, the hardware contains 72 hard drive disks in four open rack units, which are kept cool using a combination of large fans and with air pulled through from beneath its chassis. Compared to its predecessor, the new server has 20 percent higher hard drive disk density and four times more memory.

More: AMD says Naples CPU will outperform high-priced Xeon E5-2699A v4

Aside from video, another major focus point for the tech giant is artificial intelligence. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently claimed that relying on machine learning systems to moderate the massive social platform has become a necessity. But, even beyond its News Feed, the company is employing neural networks to carry out tasks such as image-recognition. The complex tech requires training, usually through the consumption of vast amounts of visual data. That’s where Facebook’s servers come in.

Facebook’s Big Basin server will help train its image-recognition AI

The company revealed it is now adopting hardware that can train machine learning models that are 30 percent larger than the type its predecessor dealt with. Known as Big Basin, the GPU server brings with it a memory increase of 12 to 16GB. Inside of it are housed eight high-performance NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPU accelerators.

Facebook is already touting the success rate of the new server in relation to training AI. “In tests with popular image classification models like Resnet-50, we were able to reach almost 100 percent improvement in throughput compared with Big Sur, allowing us to experiment faster and work with more complex models than before,” said Arlene Murillo, technical program manager, Facebook.

Along with Bryce Canyon and Big Basin, Facebook is also adopting two new compute servers. Yosemite v2 packs a notable power design that allows it to continue operating even when its sled is pulled out of the chassis in order for components to be serviced. Tioga Pass is a compute server with dual-socket motherboards that provides more bandwidth to flash storage.

Extensive technical details about each piece of new equipment mentioned here can be found on the Facebook Code website.

As is increasingly becoming the norm for the company, its new hardware designs are all open-sourced and will be contributed to the Open Compute Project — a coalition of tech giants that share computing infrastructure to accelerate innovation and bring the benefits to the wider ecosystem.

Get the most out of your Xbox One with these tips

The Xbox One is a remarkably different system than it was when it originally launched in 2013. Its user interface has been completely overhauled, allowing users to quickly navigate its menus, but the console still comes with a bit of a learning curve for anyone not used to Microsoft’s ecosystem. What are these “Pins” and how are they different from what’s on Xbox 360? Where is the Settings menu? Can you really use the system optimally without Kinect?

The Xbox One might not be sentient (yet), but there is most definitely a process of learning to communicate with it. Even if you strip Kinect voice commands out — which is become standard now that it is no longer offered with most bundles — there is still a lot to figure out as you ring the various bells and blow the various whistles. You can muddle through on your own easily enough … but why do that when you can just keep reading for a rundown of simple tips and tricks that will improve your day one experience immeasurably?