Google News adds 200 articles in new ‘More Headlines’ section

Why it matters to you

If you find yourself without enough news to browse through on the Google News and Weather App, there should now be 200 more stories to read.

The Google News and Weather application for Android and iOS platforms now has 200 extra headlines to scroll through, offering users far more content in an easy-to-access manner. Located in a new “More Headlines,” section, the additional stories can be found at the base of the app’s home section.

Americans have been consuming their news online more than anywhere else for almost half a decade now and as Google looks to maintain its advertising dominance online, it’s looking to funnel its users to more of its own curated content. Traditionally its News and Weather app showed the top three stories from various sections, but now there’s much more that’s just a scroll away.

“We find that many people regularly hit the bottom of our Home page looking for more to read,” said Google product manager, Anand Paka in a blog post (via Venturebeat).

More: Google News will start marking topics with fact checking tag

The “browsable stream,” will contain more stories from various categories, though not necessarily just the biggest stories. They’ll come from Tech, Entertainment, Sports and Business, among others, with the most hard-hitting and popular stories ranked near the top of the list.

With more publishers using the Google-driven Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) standard, we’re told that the stories should load faster than ever and Google will continue to offer alternative sources and citations for different stories and topics.

Google is also making a point of maintaining its fact-checking tag, so you know whether a story has been confirmed by multiple sources.

Although this new feature is likely to be welcomed by Android and iOS users alike, Google has far more competition on the latter operating system. On Android, it’s been said that more than 100 million people regularly read through content on the app.

Do you like the idea of having a couple of hundred extra stories to scroll through?

Vaio’s new Phone A is a midrange handset bound for Japan

Why it matters to you

Vaio, the hardware company Sony spun off in 2014, is releasing a midrange Android phone for the Japanese market.

Sony’s Vaio line of laptops were some of the most impressive on the market. They were the first to use switchable graphics, meaning they could swap between a power-efficient, motherboard-bound integrated GPU and a discrete Nvidia graphics card at the press of a button. And they were the first to incorporate a Blu-ray disc burner. But times change, and as the PC market became increasingly competitive, Sony spun off its PC business as an independent company in 2014. Now, that company’s making smartphones.

On Wednesday, Vaio announced the Phone A, a midrange Android-powered phone. The name is not exactly attention-grabbing, and neither is the hardware — the Phone A features an aluminum unibody and a single rear-firing speaker, a 5.5-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) LCD screen, 13 MP rear camera, and dual SIM slots. Under the hood is an old-in-the-tooth Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor paired with 3GB of RAM, and a measly 16 GB of storage. And the handset’s powered by a smallish 2,800mAh battery.

More: Sony Xperia X series 2017 rumors and news

Otherwise, the Phone A boasts the usual accouterments. There’s a MicroSD card slot on board, and a 4G LTE radio that supports speeds up to 225 Mbps. If you happen to have service on one of the Japanese carriers with voice over LTE (VoLTE), it will tap into that, too.

Vaio has yet to announce pricing, but it’ll likely be in line with the Phone Biz — about $535.

The Phone A isn’t Vaio’s first phone, interestingly — the Sony spin-off launched the Phone Biz, a Windows Phone, in Japan last year. And Vaio also finds itself in the awkward position of competing with the Android-powered phones from its former parent company. Earlier this year, Sony announced the Xperia X and Xperia XA, two budget devices aimed at developing markets.

So far, though, the Phone A doesn’t seem likely to pose a threat. Sony’s smartphones are exceptionally popular in Japan, accounting for 12 percent of the mobile market (putting Sony in 2nd place behind Apple’s 47 percent). And Vaio isn’t mounting much of a marketing effort. As The Verge points out, Vaio hasn’t bothered to change the Phone A’s UI from Windows Phone in promotional shots.

More: Sony’s Xperia touch projector lets you interact with any surface

That’s good news for Sony’s embattled mobile division. Last year, the Japanese company posted a meager $4 million profit on sales of 3.1 million smartphones over a three-month period, down drastically from the previous mark of $7.2 million. It expects upcoming products — in particular the HDR-equipped, 4K Xperia XZ — to turn those figures around, but not until later this year, as most of the company’s new models are slated to launch in spring.

AI learns when people are using hate speech, even when they use code words

Why it matters to you

Racist trolls frequently use code words as slurs to get around keyword filters. This smart algorithm is designed to work out what they’re saying.

Anyone who has ever had a safe-for-work website blocked as not safe for work (NSFW) by their work internet filter (or has experienced the potentially embarrassing opposite) knows that programs designed to block out certain pieces of content can often run into problems.

One reason for this is that keyword searches can prove to be overly blunt tools for dealing with something as nuanced, complex, and constantly evolving as language.

This is particularly true when trying to find hateful keywords on social media. For example, last year Alphabet released an algorithm designed to filter out racist words online, only for trolls to start substituting the name of Google products for racial slurs. For a while, it totally outsmarted the software.

A new algorithm, developed by researchers at the University of Rochester, thinks it’s cracked the problem, however. Analyzing Twitter feeds, it can distinguish between phrases like “gas the Skypes” (a substitute for “Jews”) and “I hate Skype” (which hopefully just means Skype) with an impressive 80-percent accuracy.

More: New Yahoo algorithm can spot online abuse in context, not just content

“We have developed an intelligent data analytics algorithm to track the constantly evolving hate codes which are designed to evade detection,” Professor Jiebo Luo, co-author of the paper, told Digital Trends. “We start with a set of known hate codes, retrieve hate messages containing these codes, [and] build a language model using machine learning techniques to recognize hate messages. On the basis of that, we do two things: [firstly], using the language model to detect ongoing hate messages that may contain new hate codes, and [secondly] using detected hate messages to identify hate spreaders whose new messages are used to discover new hate codes.”

The smart insight is working out which words correlate with others, thereby discovering when a stand-in word is being used for something else by adding context. Sure, these can be changed as well, but there’s only so many words a troll can change before rendering their original statement totally unintelligible.

In all, it’s a very smart use of machine learning. Yes, the boundaries about what it’s OK to say online are still being drawn — and are best worked out by private individuals and companies, not algorithms. But when it comes to stopping people from being confronted with hateful rhetoric online, tools like this go way beyond simple keyword searches.

Next up for the project? “We hope to get more data to make our model more robust and accurate,” Luo continued. “Ultimately, we hope the leading social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and so on can adopt our technology, which is described in this paper, and likely will be further developed for higher accuracy to clean up social media. It is our ongoing effort to use data science for social good.”

AI learns when people are using hate speech, even when they use code words

Why it matters to you

Racist trolls frequently use code words as slurs to get around keyword filters. This smart algorithm is designed to work out what they’re saying.

Anyone who has ever had a safe-for-work website blocked as not safe for work (NSFW) by their work internet filter (or has experienced the potentially embarrassing opposite) knows that programs designed to block out certain pieces of content can often run into problems.

One reason for this is that keyword searches can prove to be overly blunt tools for dealing with something as nuanced, complex, and constantly evolving as language.

This is particularly true when trying to find hateful keywords on social media. For example, last year Alphabet released an algorithm designed to filter out racist words online, only for trolls to start substituting the name of Google products for racial slurs. For a while, it totally outsmarted the software.

A new algorithm, developed by researchers at the University of Rochester, thinks it’s cracked the problem, however. Analyzing Twitter feeds, it can distinguish between phrases like “gas the Skypes” (a substitute for “Jews”) and “I hate Skype” (which hopefully just means Skype) with an impressive 80-percent accuracy.

More: New Yahoo algorithm can spot online abuse in context, not just content

“We have developed an intelligent data analytics algorithm to track the constantly evolving hate codes which are designed to evade detection,” Professor Jiebo Luo, co-author of the paper, told Digital Trends. “We start with a set of known hate codes, retrieve hate messages containing these codes, [and] build a language model using machine learning techniques to recognize hate messages. On the basis of that, we do two things: [firstly], using the language model to detect ongoing hate messages that may contain new hate codes, and [secondly] using detected hate messages to identify hate spreaders whose new messages are used to discover new hate codes.”

The smart insight is working out which words correlate with others, thereby discovering when a stand-in word is being used for something else by adding context. Sure, these can be changed as well, but there’s only so many words a troll can change before rendering their original statement totally unintelligible.

In all, it’s a very smart use of machine learning. Yes, the boundaries about what it’s OK to say online are still being drawn — and are best worked out by private individuals and companies, not algorithms. But when it comes to stopping people from being confronted with hateful rhetoric online, tools like this go way beyond simple keyword searches.

Next up for the project? “We hope to get more data to make our model more robust and accurate,” Luo continued. “Ultimately, we hope the leading social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and so on can adopt our technology, which is described in this paper, and likely will be further developed for higher accuracy to clean up social media. It is our ongoing effort to use data science for social good.”

NASA’s origami-inspired robot can crouch, crawl, and climb serious inclines

Why it matters to you

PUFFER is intended to augment the exploration efforts of the next generation of rovers.

The great explorers Lewis and Clark knew the importance of team expeditions. Now, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California are developing a small scout robot called the Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) to accompany the next generation of Martian rovers in their outer space explorations.

Inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, PUFFER is designed to change shape in order to squeeze into small crevasses that are too tight for rovers to reach. So far the two-wheeled scout has been successfully tested in hostile and diverse terrains including the Mojave Desert and Antartica.

Though rovers themselves are built to last, they’re expensive and NASA engineers take care not to send them on overtly dangerous missions. A handful of PUFFERs are comparatively cheap and can be deployed in high-risk regions.

Dylan Taylor

NASA/JPL-Caltech

“They can do parallel science with a rover, so you can increase the amount you’re doing in a day,” Jaakko Karras, PUFFER’s project manager at JPL, said in a press release. “We can see these being used in hard-to-reach locations — squeezing under ledges, for example.”

More: This Valkyrie R5 humanoid robot is put to the test with Mars colonization on the horizon

Karras developed the PUFFER design by combining various origami techniques and biomimetic movements. The scout originated with four wheels but was eventually reduced to two with the addition of large treads that allow it to better grip and climb inclines. If PUFFER needs to recharge, it can simply flip over and collect sunlight through solar panels on its underside.

Now that PUFFER can roam, it needs to be fitted with Bluetooth so it can be controlled remotely and packed with scientific instruments that will enable it to take and evaluate water samples and study the chemical makeup of its environment. NASA also plans to scale it up slightly to the size of a breadbox in order to make it a bit more durable. 

Lethal Gif? Jury says seizure-inducing image sent to journalist is a deadly weapon

Why it matters to you

Animated GIFs are fun to send to friends and family, but sending them maliciously in this manner could land you in jail.

In a first-of-its-kind case, a Texas grand jury this week ruled that an animated GIF can be considered a deadly weapon. The decision stems from a December 2016 incident in which a GIF was sent via a tweet with the intention of causing a seizure in the recipient. The grand jury along with the U.S. Department of Justice issued a series of indictments against John Rayne Rivello, who is accused of sending a flashing image with the intention of inducing an epileptic seizure in Newsweek journalist Kurt Eichenwald.

Rivello allegedly was upset with Eichenwald’s critical coverage of President Donald Trump and sent the seizure-inducing image in a tweet with the message “You deserve a seizure for your post.”

FBI investigators believe Rivello created a fake Twitter account under the name Ari Goldstein to send the message to Eichenwald. According to the DOJ complaint, Rivello made it clear that his intention was to harm Eichenwald boasting in direct messages to friends that “I hope this sends him into a seizure” and “Spammed this at [Eichenwald] let’s see if he dies.”

More: Neuroscientists can tell if you knowingly committed a crime based on brain scans

This isn’t the first time an animated GIF has been used maliciously to trigger seizures, but it is the first time an individual has been charged. In 2008, hackers compromised the Epilepsy Foundation website, posting seizure-inducing images on the main page. Nobody was harmed in that incident, and no criminal charges were filed because the hacking group remained anonymous. The Eichenwald case is different because the image caused a seizure and the sending of it could be traced back to a single individual.

“I’m unaware of anybody being criminally prosecuted for this,” said defense attorney Tor Ekeland to NBC News. “If it’s not the first time, it’s one of the first times this has happened.”

Rivello is being charged under a federal cyberstalking law that makes it a crime to use electronic communication “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, [or] intimidate” a victim. It often is used in cases of revenge porn or emailed death threats, but this is the first time the law has been applied to a tweeted GIF. In the indictment, Rivello is accused of using a tweet, a GIF, an electronic device and his hands as a deadly weapon in an attempted assault on Eichenwald.

Some legal experts like Ekeland are concerned this case could set a dangerous precedent that could be applied in unexpected ways. “How do you know a photo can or can’t set off a medical condition? You can see the slippery slope here. Are they going to use it to ban art people don’t like because it upsets someone?” Ekeland said.

Samsung’s Unpacked 2017 app is ready to bring you the Galaxy S8

The Galaxy S8 countdown clock is now an official Samsung app.

Samsung’s Unpacked app for Android an iOS was updated this morning with all kinds of new Galaxy S8 goodies. If you’re lucky enough to go to the events in NYC or London, this app serves up a QR code so you can gain entry. For everyone else, this app will offer up a live stream of the events as they happen, and some additional information and videos surrounding the launch of this phone.

Samsung Galaxy S8: Everything we know so far

It may be unfair to say this phone has been leaked more than any phone in the history of phones, but it certainly feels like it sometimes. We’ve had videos from every quality of camera, not to mention screenshots and press leaks and just about anything else you can imagine. There’s little about the outside of this phone we’re not already incredibly familiar with, but the actual presentation is going to be about the big picture. Samsung is going to show us all how this phone is more than the sum of its parts, and if history is any indicator that will be quite the spectacle.

Just like last year, the app is free if you want it now, but it’s not going to do too much more than offer a countdown to the launch if you choose to install it today. If that’s all you need to have fun, though, knock yourself out!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

• Latest Galaxy S8 rumors!
• Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
• Galaxy S8 release date set for April 28
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

Finally catch yourself a Lapras in the new Pokémon Go event!

Put your fishing pole down and grab your PokéBalls. The Water Festival is here!

Pokémon Go will be launching its next big in-game event later today, focused on catching water-type critters everywhere. From the official post on the subject:

Starting today at 1 P.M. PDT, you’ll be more likely to encounter Magikarp, Squirtle, Totodile, and their evolutions all around the world. Additionally, when you’re out exploring areas where Water-type Pokémon more commonly appear, you’ll have a greater chance to encounter several of the Water-type Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region, and maybe… you might even encounter Lapras.

This event lines up well with an adjustment to the game’s 7-Day Streak mechanic, promising an evolution item drop every time you complete a streak instead of just a random chance. The event lasts exactly seven days, which means if you are an active player every day until the 29th you’ll not only have an arsenal of new water-type creatures to battle with but you’ll also have a decent chance of evolving one into something even better.

Now get out there and catch yourself a Lapras. You deserve it.

Pokémon Go

• Pokémon Go Game Guide!
• Pokémon Go Gen 2 FAQ
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• How to play without killing your battery
• Join our Pokémon Go forums!

10 Best Alexa Skills you can use right now

Your Amazon Echo only gets smarter from here.

Once you’ve become familiar with all of the commands that come included with your Amazon Echo, it’s time to make this little bundle of microphones even smarter by adding some Skills. These are like apps you can add to your Echo and control entirely with your voice, and there are thousands of them to choose from. To help narrow things down a bit and help get you started, I’ve assembled a list of some of my favorites.

Ordering from Amazon

This isn’t exactly a feature you have to add, but it’s a feature that grows on a regular basis. You can ask Alexa to order something new, repeat and order you’ve made before, and check on an order that hasn’t been delivered yet.

The best part of this? It includes Amazon Prime Now as long as you specify which Amazon you want to order from. That means instead of waiting until tomorrow for your Amazon order to arrive, you can ask for delivery from Prime Now and get it within two hours.

Call for a ride

Ride sharing apps can’t really get much more convenient when you’re out and about, but at home your Amazon Echo figured out how to make things extra awesome. You can grab a ride from Uber or Lyft by adding the Skill to your Amazon account and linking to the ride sharing app on your phone. That way, when you call for a car, Alexa can hand the request off to the right folks and you can keep your phone in your pocket.

Grab the Uber Skill

Grab the Lyft Skill

Send a text with your voice

My Amazon Echo is most useful when I’m in the kitchen and my hands are covered in something I don’t want on my phone, so being able to text through the Echo is a big deal. The SMS with Molly Skill lets you speak who you want to send a message to, turn your voice into text, and send that message without ever needing to touch a phone.

This Skill requires a little set up before you use it, so the app has access to your contacts, but once you get it set the way you want it this is a great tool to have.

Grab the SMS with Molly Skill

Control your television

Nobody likes fighting over the remote control, and sometimes kids think they’re slick and hide it so you can’t snatch it up and turn everything off from the other side of the room. Fortunately, Logitech and Amazon have your back with the Harmony Skill.

This Skill requires you to own a Logitech Harmony Hub, but if you make that investment you’ll be able to turn the television on and off with your voice whenever you want.

Grab the Harmony Skill

Grab a new recipe for dinner

I’m always looking for new things to try in the kitchen, and more often than not my searches land my on something from Allrecipes. The Alexa Skill for Allrecipes keeps my phone in my pocket, allowing me to ask for new recipes and get a step-by-step walkthrough of what I need to do when I pick something to make.

Grab the Allrecipes Skill

Ask the Mixologist for a new drink

Making the perfect drink for your mood is usually something for veteran bartenders to handle, but the Mixologist Skill is a nice fill-in for when you’re at home and need something tasty. This app will break down thousands of different recipes so anyone can make something fun, and if you’re truly not sure what to make you can call out for a random recipe and see where Alexa takes you.

Grab the Mixologist Skill

Jump into a quick workout

Guided audio workouts are nothing new, but the 7-Minute Workout Skill makes sure you’re able to quickly burn some calories no matter what time of day it is. This Skill runs you through the 7-Minute Workout without needing to turn on a television or prop up a phone, making is one of the best ways to quickly get your sweat on.

Grab the 7-Minute Workout Skill

See if your friend is cheating

I trusted you, Grandma…

That feeling of betrayal when you realize Grandma was just making rules up when you played Monopoly as a kid stays with you for a whole. Whether someone is cheating on purpose or stuck in a “family rules” loop, Board Game Answers will set everyone straight when you ask for the official rules in many different games.

I trusted you, Grandma…

Grab the Board Games Answers Skill

Make everyone laugh

Sometimes it’s fun to have Alexa entertain your guests, and the best way to do that is asking for a joke or trying to get your friends stuck in a puzzle. The Gollum Skill will ask everyone to participate in a game of riddles that doesn’t end in a twisted Stoorish Hobbit trying to eat you, and is great for a laugh. If all of your friends aren’t huge nerds, the Alternative Facts Skill will get a good laugh from everyone paying attention to the news nowadays.

Grab the Gollum Skill

Grab the Alternative Facts Skill

Fall fast asleep

Alexa is great for grabbing music from dozens of sources, but with the Sleep and Relaxation Sounds Skill you can ease that down to the sound of a babbling brook or a distant thunderstorm. It’s just enough to chill you out or put you to sleep, and will fade away into silence after playing for a while.

Grab the Sleep and Relaxation Sounds Skill

Amazon Echo

• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

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Boost Mode on PlayStation 4 Pro doesn’t do much for PSVR

VR is already great though PlayStation 4 Pro, so it’s not likely to improve much more.

The 4.5 update to PlayStation 4 Pro consoles added a Boost Mode feature, which was designed to offer more processing and GPU power to existing games that weren’t going to update to the more capable “enhanced” mode. For normal PS4 games, this Boost Mode offers a slight stability bump to make things look consistently good throughout the experience. There was some hope this new feature was going to offer a little something extra to PlayStation VR games as well, our research suggests that’s not going to happen.

Read more at VR Heads