Disqus wants to help rid the web of toxic commenters

In recent years, commenting services have come and go, but one has maintained a consistent presence on some of the world’s biggest websites: Disqus. It’s spent the past ten years helping brands and news media develop their own communities, while simultaneously amassing hundreds of millions of users of its own. The service is big enough that its commenting tools have been deployed on websites that host unsavory content, which it has, in turn, become associated with. Disqus has said it has no tolerance for hate speech but continues to host discussions on websites that promote toxicity. Now, it says, it wants to do more about it.

In a blog post, Disqus VP of People and Culture Kim Rohrer spelt out the steps the company will take. The first is the introduction of a feedback tool that allows users to highlight when a website is violating its Terms and Policies. Individual commenters can still be flagged, but if a community is exhibiting toxic language, harassment and hate as a whole then Disqus will decide whether they should be allowed to remain on its platform.

Ultimately, though, the onus will remain on publishers and moderators. Some publishers, including alt-right political sites like Breitbart, have no interest in moderating their discussion forums, but for those that want to promote free speech but eliminate trolls, Disqus says it’s developing new tools to discourage them. In the future, moderators will be given the ability to shadow ban users, making their comments invisible to everyone except that person, and allowed to give commenters timeouts.

Disqus believes it can automate some of these processes by flagging content through machine learning. Algorithms could detect repeat occurrences of certain words and phrases, helping publishers by bringing toxic comments to their attention. In a nod to recent incidents on YouTube, the company will also allow advertisers to choose where their assets appear, so they don’t run alongside discussions they don’t want to be associated with.

“If a publication is dedicated to toxic or hateful discourse, no software or product solutions will help to combat hate speech or toxicity,” Disqus said in statement. “In those cases where a site is determined to be in purposeful violation of our Terms of Service, we will assert our stance and enforce our policy.”

Via: FastCompany

Source: Disqus

Samsung to Declare Record Q1 Results, Bumper 2017 Predicted on S8 Profits

Samsung is on course to record a three and a half year high in first quarter profits this year, with analysts predicting record earnings for the rest of 2017 as the company gears up to start selling its Galaxy S8 smartphone (via Reuters).

Shares in the tech giant are nearing record highs after gaining nearly 17 percent since the beginning of Q1, coming on top of a 43 percent surge in 2016. The numbers are particularly impressive, given the costly discontinuation of its fire-prone Note7 in October and an ongoing corruption scandal involving the company’s chairman Jay Y Lee, who is currently on trial for bribery and other charges. Samsung will issue its earnings guidance early on Friday.

Its resilience is being put down to its dominance in the NAND flash memory market and a boom in memory chips spurred by demand from smartphones and servers. Estimates suggest its January-March operating profit from could hit 9.4 trillion won ($8.44 billion), with its chip division alone making up 5.8 trillion won of that figure, which would stand as the South Korean firm’s highest profit since Q3 2013.

Analysts expect tight supply conditions for memory chips to continue this year, particularly in NAND flash chips used for long-term data storage. Factor in uncertainty over the fate of Toshiba’s flash unit, which accounts for 20 percent of the market and is currently the subject of a bidding war, and that leaves Samsung’s mobile division as its key earnings variable.

Analysts are bullish about Samsung’s prospects, however. The Galaxy S8 has been praised following its March 29 launch, with sales expected to exceed the S7 and set a new record for the company.

“We think the S8 series will definitely be a strong flagship for Samsung and help it gain back market share,” Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang said.

“The launch of the fully revamped iPhone 8 will also be threatening. But there is also pent up demand for Samsung devices rolling over from last year due to the disappearance of the Note 7,” he said. “So those 2 factors will balance out.”

Samsung share prices have already benefitted from reports that the firm will be Apple’s sole provider of OLED displays for the highly anticipated “iPhone 8”. Earlier this week, reports indicated Apple has already placed orders for 70 million OLED panels for the phone, which is expected to feature a major design overhaul with an edge-to-edge display, glass body, and a premium price tag.

Tags: Samsung, Galaxy S8
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Ulysses 2.8 Update Brings Touch ID Text Library Support, New Filter Options

Popular writing platform Ulysses was updated to version 2.8 on Wednesday, bringing some notable new features and improvements including Touch ID and password support.

The release of the new version means iOS users can now protect their text library via Touch ID, while Mac users without access to fingerprint recognition, or who prefer not to use it, can alternatively rely on a personal password. The idle time after which the app locks itself can also be customized.

Beyond the new access protection, the update enhances Ulysses’ document management features, like groups and filters. Filters can now be used to narrow down the library content based on negative criteria. In other words, users can search for texts that don’t contain a specific word, phrase or keyword.

In addition, a number of new icons for labelling groups and filters have been added. Combined text statistics for groups and filters, so far limited to the Mac version of Ulysses, are now available on iPad and iPhone as well.

Elsewhere, update improves the support of x-callback-urls on both macOS and iOS, and adds a number of new x-callback-actions. X-callback is used by certain applications for automating action sequences, among others the iOS app Workflow which was recently acquired by Apple.

Lastly, the update adds support for VoiceOver to its Touch Bar controls, and adds a number of performance improvements and bug fixes.

Ulysses 2.8 is a free update for existing users on both iOS and macOS. Ulysses for Mac costs $44.99 on the Mac App Store, while the universal app for iPhone and iPad costs $24.99 on the App Store.

Tag: Ulysses
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New Report Suggests Apple Could Delay ‘iPhone 8’ Launch to October or November

Apple could delay its rumored high-end iPhone with a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED display until October or even November, according to a new report out on Wednesday.

In recent years, Apple has released its iPhone updates in September, but according to Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN), suppliers are encountering “technical issues” in the production of the upcoming “iPhone 8” because of differences in the display lamination process and challenges involved in integrating the 3D sensing front camera system.

The report tallies with a rumor that circulated last month suggesting the iPhone 8 may go on sale later than usual, due to the switch to an OLED display and the new technology needed. In such a scenario, the launch of an iPhone 7s and 7s Plus would go ahead in September as scheduled, with the higher-end iPhone 8 coming later in the year.

Such a staggered release would be highly untypical of Apple, and it’s hard to imagine the company holding a September launch event for “S” cycle iPhones with no mention of the highly rumored OLED device. However, it is possible the higher-end phone could be revealed at the same time but launched in limited quantities or at a later date. Barclays analysts recently claimed that Apple will launch its “10th anniversary iPhone” in the usual September timeframe, albeit in short supply until a full stock arrives in the fourth quarter.

Earlier this week it was reported that Apple has placed an order for 70 million OLED panels from Samsung, anticipating high demand. Samsung is preparing to be able to produce up to 95 million panels in 2017, said the sources.

Market watchers are said to be analyzing the pull-in of orders for passive components from the iPhone’s supply chain to see whether production of the new iPhone devices is on track, according to EDN. Apart from the edge-to-edge OLED display, the “iPhone 8” is expected to include wireless charging, no physical Home button, and perhaps 3D facial recognition and/or iris scanning. In addition, rumors suggest that Touch ID could be embedded in or under a True Tone display.

(Via DigiTimes.)

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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Apple Music 2.0 on Android: Here’s what your phone can do now

Apple has finally updated its Android Apple Music app, bringing its feature set to parity with the iOS 10 version.

Apple Music 2.0 has had a facelift and gains several new abilities, so Android phone owners now have a valid competitor to other big music streaming services, including Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and, of course, Google Music. It’s no longer hamstrung in comparison to the version for iPhone.

You can get a free three month trial of Apple Music if you’ve never signed up before, so worth giving it a go. After that, it’s £9.99 a month for full access, £14.99 a month for a family subscription with full experience for up to six different users, and £4.99 for a student membership.

Here’s what Apple Music 2.0 offers now:

Apple Music for Android new features

• New design to make it look like the iPhone equivalent.
• You can see song lyrics appear in Now Playing as the track continues.
• Library has been rejigged to include separate Downloaded Music option, to just show your offline tracks.
• A For You section shows recommendations for playlists, albums and more.
• A Browse section highlights new music and curated playlists.
• You can now also access Apple’s livestream radio stations, including Beats 1.

Like other streaming services, Apple Music has millions of songs available to stream online and download for offline listening. There are thousands of playlists in any musical genre that takes your fancy, curated by experts, and the app gives you recommendations for music based on your listening habits.

The service is now available in over 100 countries and can be downloaded from Google Play here. Alternatively, in countries where Google Play is not available, it can be downloaded from Apple.com.

Tablets for kids: How to setup an Amazon Fire tablet for children

Kids love tablets. They love the interactive games, they love having access to video to watch and they love all the apps. The big problem is that most adults have a tablet setup for themselves, meaning you’re only a few clicks away from content or buying temptations that you don’t want in the hands of your child.

One of the best tablets for kids is the Amazon Fire, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the price, secondly, Amazon has put a lot of effort into providing parents with controls to ensure that the Fire is a safe place for kids. 

Which Fire tablet should I buy?

Once you’ve accepted that children don’t need the latest and most powerful tech, there are few choices to be made. Amazon sells different versions of its Fire tablet and we’d heartily recommend the basic Fire model, as it’s ideal for children. 

All the Amazon Fire models run on the same user interface and offer the same software features, including all the controls you need to make it safe for your kids. This is an advantage over a regular Android tablet, which doesn’t, and it’s at least £290 cheaper than an Apple iPad, although if you’ve bought a lot of iTunes content or have iOS-specific apps in mind, that might be a barrier to your choices.

Amazon Fire

The regular Amazon Fire tablet is a 7-inch tablet, powered by a quad-core processor and offering Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB for charging and a microSD card slot for memory expansion. It’s a plastic build, but if you’re buying it for a child, you’ll want a case to provide all-round protection.

The Amazon Fire comes in 8GB or 16GB storage options, and with or without “special offers”. Special offers means lock screen advertising and if you really want to protect your kids, opt for no special offers, at £10 more. If you want more storage, that’s £10 more too. 

Buy the Amazon Fire on Amazon from £49.99

You’ll also want to put it in a case. There are lots of options on Amazon, but we’d recommend the MoKo Shockproof Defender (pictured above in pink).

Buy the MoKo Shockproof Defender on Amazon for £14.99 

Amazon Fire Kids Edition

However, there’s a special model specifically for kids and this is an Amazon Fire tablet that comes in a foam bumper cover. It’s the same spec as the Amazon Fire above, but comes with 16GB storage and no “special offers”, so the tablet itself with worth £69.99 and about £5 for the cover. It also comes with a 2-year no quibble guarantee if you/they break it (pictured above in blue).

The big kicker here is that you get a 1-year free subscription to Fire for Kids Unlimited. This is a subscription service that provides access to loads of content specifically for children. We’ll talk about it more below, but bear in mind that at the end of the year, you’ll have to pay, or lose the access it provides. 

Buy the Amazon Fire Kids Edition for £99.99 

How to setup your Amazon Fire for Kids 

Now to the specifics. When you buy an Amazon product, it needs to be registered to an Amazon account. With Amazon allowing Households, it’s best to have any child’s device (Fire or Kindle) on your account, setup with a child profile. 

This way you don’t have to create a new Amazon account for them, you don’t have register an email address for them or provide payment details for them, and Amazon knows that the user is a child and can create a space specifically for them on your Fire tablet.

Amazon Fire tablets – like the Kindle – can be split into two areas. The first area is the full interface with full controls, which you’ll have access to as an adult, with access to all your content. The second is Fire for Kids.

Pocket-lint

How to set-up Fire for Kids or FreeTime

Fire for Kids (called FreeTime in the US) is a safe area where you can control all the content, set time limits and daily goals, turn off the web browser, turn off the camera and gallery and so on. 

Here’s what you need to do:

Setup a child profile in your Amazon Household – you can find that in your Amazon Account settings, under Amazon Household
That child profile will appear on your Fire tablet, you can switch users by tapping the icons on the lock screen, or by swiping down from the top to change user.
In your (the adult’s) profile, click on the Fire for Kids icon on the home screen and pick the child profile you want to edit, by tapping the settings cog.
You’ll get the menu to change goals and time limits, manage content, remove content, turn off the web browser, turn off the camera, show or hide the profile and enable a password for the child.
Ensure you have a password on your own profile. 

As Fire for Kids is designed for children, it’s a safe place and instantly recognisable, turning the background blue, so you can see at a glance that they’re in the right zone. 

To exit Fire for Kids, they can opt to exit a profile, returning to the lock screen with all the user profile icons on it. This is why it’s essential that you have a password on all the adult accounts, to stop them then entering your area and getting full access again. 

Children don’t get to change settings themselves, so that all has to be handled from the adult profile. 

Importantly, when in Fire for Kids mode, there’s no access to purchasing from Amazon Apps at all. 

Note that you don’t have to have a separate Fire tablet to do this, you can use Fire for Kids on an existing Fire tablet you might have.

Pocket-lint

Adding apps to Fire for Kids

One of the things you’ll need to do in the regular Fire for Kids app is nominate the content that your children will have access to. This gives you complete vetting, as you’ll be responsible for allowing access to various apps and games – unless using Unlimited/FreeTime, which we’ll get to in a second.

It’s easy enough to add content, but you have to follow these steps: 

In the adult profile, head to Amazon Apps and find the app or game you want, download and install it.
Open the Fire for Kids app, and open the profile of the child you want to grant access to.
Tap “Add Content” and then pick the category, e.g., Games & Apps, and select the apps you want to allow the child to see.
Hit done at the bottom of the page.
Sign back into the child’s profile to access the app.

This can be repeated for books or video content that you’ve purchased from Amazon, but bear in mind that you’re responsible for the suitability of this content. You could, for example, grant access to a video app that has inappropriate content or books that are for adults.

Equally, you can assign games that have advertising or community features that you don’t know about, so make sure you check that everything is appropriate for the child you’re granting access to. Fortunately, Fire for Kids blocks in-app purchases.

What is Fire for Kids Unlimited? 

Unlimited is a label that Amazon applies to further subscription content. On Kindle there’s Kindle Unlimited and here there’s Fire for Kids Unlimited. As we’ve mentioned, this is a service that comes free for 1-year with the Fire Kids Edition tablet, but you can also subscribe to it separately, if you’d rather buy the £49.99 tablet.

It has tiered pricing: it’s £1.99 a month for Prime subscribers for 1 child, £4.99 a month for Prime subscribers up to 4 children. For non-Prime subscribers, it’s £3.99 a month for 1 child, £7.99 a month for up to 4 children. Amazon also offers a free 1-month trial, which you can sign-up for here, if you want to give it a go.

Fire for Kids Unlimited provides a couple of benefits over the regular Fire for Kids offering that comes with all Fire tablets. Amazon curates content and makes it available to children through the Fire tablet, so that they have access to age-appropriate books, apps, videos and web content.

Pocket-lint

This opens up the range of content that’s available to children, allowing them to make some additional selections, like accessing more books, without parental intervention. Unlike the content you might assign, this is all verified appropriate by Amazon. You retain the ability to add more content, as above, if you want to.

The Fire for Kids Unlimited content is broken down into different age ranges, something that you can nominate in the child’s profile and if you have older children who want more content, opting for Unlimited is a good way of knowing they have access to content without constant requests to buy or grant access to more stuff.

Whether you think that Fire for Kids Unlimited is worth it will very much come down to how much content you think your kids need, how much time they spend pestering you and whether you think the subscription will outweigh the amount you spend on buying fresh content for them.

It’s worth noting, however, that books that you download through Fire for Kids Unlimited don’t then appear on a Kindle linked to that child’s profile.

• How to setup an Amazon Kindle for children

Summing up

Of all the child-friendly devices out there, Amazon’s approach is one of the most comprehensive. There’s a range of sensible options for parental control, from setting time limits to options to grant or provide age-appropriate content.

Best of all, your child’s account remains under the umbrella of your Household and you are firmly in control, whether that’s through their own tablet, your tablet, or from your web browser.

Keep a closer eye on Tigger with this smartphone-controlled pet door

Why it matters to you

A smart pet door that you can control via a smartphone aims to give pet owners greater peace of mind.

If you’re never quite sure if your precious pet is in or out of the house and you’d really prefer to know, then SureFlap’s smartphone-controlled pet door can help you out.

The new Microchip Pet Door Connect technology is an expansion of SureFlap’s existing smart door that works with RFID-collared and microchipped pets to ensure it only opens for the right animal, TechCrunch reports. The new kit includes a custom-made smartphone app that lets you schedule curfews and remotely lock the door with a single tap, while notifications will let you know when your pet has left the building — or returned home.

The app will also collect and organize data on your animal’s movements in and out of your home, a feature designed to highlight any changes in their routine which could be a sign that all is not well with your furry friend.

In addition, if you’re away for a few days and have a pet sitter staying or dropping by, you can share access to the app and set permissions, too.

Designed for cats and small dogs, the flap itself is easy to install and works via the included Hub device, which acts as a link between the flap and the internet.

Commenting on the connected pet door, SureFlap boss Nick Hill said, “We saw an opportunity to bring something new, innovative and beneficial to pet owners. Our app-controlled pet door gives owners greater peace of mind by allowing them to check in on their pets when they’re away from home.”

Hill added that the technology is “non-intrusive and runs seamlessly in the background until it is needed.”

More: Pebby the robotic toy means you’ll never miss your pet when you’re out

The Microchip Pet Door Connect system is powered by four C batteries that should offer at least six months of use. Shipping is expected to begin this summer, with both the complete set — the door, the Hub, and the app — selling for £160 ($200).

Victory for parents! Amazon to refund $70M of in-app purchases made by kids

Why it matters to you

If your kids made in-app purchases on the Amazon app store between 2011 and 2016, you could be in for a payout.

There was a time, not so long ago, when kids could pretty easily rack up a hefty bill with unauthorized in-app purchases on their parents’ mobile devices, Mom and Dad only learning about it when they saw their credit card bill. Indeed, the ease with which such transactions could be made ended up getting several tech giants into big trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

While Apple and Google agreed to reimburse parents to the tune of millions of dollars several years ago, Amazon has been challenging the FTC’s demands to cough up. Until this week.

The FTC said on Tuesday that Amazon has finally agreed to refund affected customers for inappropriate purchases made via its app store between November 2011 and May 2016. Details of the refund program, which is reportedly worth a colossal $70 million, will be announced soon by the online retailer.

Last year a judge rejected Amazon’s request to refund the purchases in the form of gift cards or online credits, so customers can expect to receive payments direct to their credit or debit card.

“This case demonstrates what should be a bedrock principle for all companies — you must get customers’ consent before you charge them,” Thomas B. Pahl, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a release. “Consumers affected by Amazon’s practices can now be compensated for charges they didn’t expect or authorize.”

More: 18 major Kindle Fire problems, and how to fix them

This story began six years ago when Amazon started allowing in-app purchases, with 30 percent of each transaction going straight to the company.

In the early days there were no protections in place so that children, or anyone for that matter, could easily make in-app purchases without the permission of the account holder.

The FTC eventually went after Amazon — as well as Apple and Google — in an effort to get it to offer refunds to customers for any unauthorized purchases.

“Amazon’s in-app system allowed children to incur unlimited charges on their parents’ accounts without permission,” the FTC said in 2014, adding that “even Amazon’s own employees recognized the serious problem its process created.” However, the company insisted it was making refunds in relevant cases and was also rolling out safeguards to improve the operation of its app store.

In April 2016, the court examining the case agreed with the commission, describing Amazon’s system for informing customers about in-app charges as insufficient.

Whereas Amazon has until now been appealing against orders to refund customers, other tech giants settled some time ago. Apple agreed to refund more than $32 million to users of its App Store in 2014, while in the same year Google started paying back $19 million to affected Play Store customers.

All three companies have since overhauled their respective stores to make it much harder for unauthorized in-app purchases to take place.

DirecTV doubles its live 4K broadcasts for this year’s Masters

Last year DirecTV made history with the first live 4K broadcast — the PGA Masters Tournament. It was only one channel, sure, but up to that point anything we’d seen in UHD had been pre-recorded. For the outfit’s return trip to the 4K links, DirecTV is doubling the number of channels available. CBS is handling production duties for channels 105 and 106 from April 6th through the 9th. The former will feature views from Amen Corner, while the latter is dedicated to holes 15 and 16.

To catch all the ultra-detailed action you’ll need a Genie HD DVR model HR54 or newer, a 4K TV (of course) and the DirecTV Select package or higher. Still waiting to upgrade your display? You’ll have a channel dedicated to Amen Corner and holes 15 and 16 as well. An interactive leaderboard with scorecards and player bios will also be available.

And if you aren’t a golf fan, well, the boys of summer are back and in UHD via DirecTV, too. That’s in addition to the soccer (football to everyone else), basketball games and UFC matches the telco has offered previously. With DirecTV crowing that it’s the “established leader” in 4K sports programming, hopefully it won’t be long before we see other sports getting the UHD treatment here.

Watch @bubbawatson use his driver to skip the ball across the pond onto No. 16 green. #themasters pic.twitter.com/6l0nKeSidE

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 4, 2017

Source: AT&T

Watch a NASA simulation of Cassini’s upcoming Saturn crash

On April 26th, NASA’s Cassini probe will begin diving in and out of the gap between Saturn and its rings in what the agency calls its “Grand Finale.” The spacecraft will orbit the gas giant it’s been observing since 2004 22 more times before taking the final plunge into its atmosphere in mid-September. Since we won’t be able to get a front-row seat to that show, NASA has released a video simulating the probe’s last months, which you can watch below the fold. If that’s not enough, you also download the “Eyes on Cassini” app for Macs and PCs so you can virtually ride on board the spacecraft and experience its last orbits and final plunge yourself.

Thanks to Cassini’s work over the past 13 years, we now know more about Saturn, the structure of its rings and the nature of its atmosphere. It also sent back loads of data on its moons, telling us more about Titan’s methane seas and canyons, among other notable characteristics. We also have Cassini to thank for the closest photos we’ve ever seen of the planet and its natural satellites.

The probe’s final orbits are a full mission on their own. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said “what we learn from Cassini’s daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve. This is truly discovery in action to the very end.”

Source: NASA