Beacon Helmet uses laser markings to light the way for cyclists at night

Why it matters to you

Thousands of cyclists are injured on the road each year. Beacon is a new cycling helmet that hopes to help — and it’s using lasers to do it.

In 2013, 48,743 cyclists were injured on the road, some of them fatally. One reason for this is the lack of visibility cyclists have, particularly when they’re cycling at night. This is a major problem that a new cycling helmet called the Beacon hopes to address — and it’s turning to lasers and some other tech solutions to help do it.

The Beacon Helmet is designed to help tackle blind spot and overtaking accidents, two major sources of cyclist injury that involve other vehicles either failing to see them or else not respecting the minimum distance they should maintain. With that in mind, the Beacon projects a bicycle-shaped laser image up to 40 feet ahead of the cyclist, as well as bicycle lane markers at a safe distance to the right and left. It’s a bit like Michelin’s BikeSphere project, although in this case it’s already available to purchase.

The Beacon also includes a 100-lumen headlight, taillight, turn signals, a brake light activated via an onboard accelerometer, and in-built speaker system which syncs with a rider’s phone for music or navigation instructions.

“When I was a PhD student, I cycled exclusively to save money,” creator Jeff Zhang told Digital Trends. “But I had very bad experience with large heavy goods vehicles, and occasional accidents. A lot of cars overtook me at a very close distance, which didn’t make me feel safe. That made me think of tackling issues such as cyclist safety and blind-spot visibility, and come up with the Beacon Helmet idea. I wanted to use my international background and skills to create a startup, serving cyclists all over the world.”

But is it safe to be cycling while potentially shining laser lights into the eyes of other cyclists? “The lasers are limited to function only when your speed is above a programmable threshold,” Zhang explained. “When cycling at high speed, random head movement is both rare and quick, and therefore disturbance to oncoming drivers is very low. The 3R category laser is also certified to be safe.”

If you’re interested in getting hold of a Beacon Helmet, you can do so by placing a pre-order on Kickstarter, where Zhang is currently raising funds. The laser helmet starts at $238 for the first 100 orders, with other price points available. Shipping is set to take place in April 2018.

Pholio brings AI photo search tools offline and across multiple devices

Why it matters to you

Pholio means you don’t have to trust photos to the cloud to use cool search tools.

Cloud-based services like Google Photos and now even the new Lightroom CC can use artificial intelligence to search through your photos. But what if you don’t want to give the cloud access to all your photos? Pholio is a self-contained computer vision program that can classify, organize and search through photos and video without a cloud connection. Developed by a year-old startup called Pimloc, Pholio is designed to bring AI photo features even with images stored in multiple locations.

Pholio looks much like a modern external hard drive and it serves as one, with the option to save full resolution files as a back-up on the system or the option to save thumbnails for full function of the software but without the backup files. Pholio comes in two different versions, a 500 GB storage option and Pholio Pro with 2TB of storage.

Unlike a typical external hard drive, the Pholio comes with software for indexing photos. The program works much like Google Photos, with the ability to type in a keyword and find photos containing that object, as well as facial recognition to find people and event the ability to find specific landmarks. Unlike Google Photos, however, the entire Pholio system can be offline while still allowing for 20,000 search terms. If users choose to work online, those search terms expand, with the company saying that users can search for “anything.”

Users can also customize searches by adding specific labels within their own content. The feature, the company says, allows users to customize the system to their hobbies, like adding the ability to recognize specific breeds of fish for underwater photographers. If a keyword search turns up an incorrect result, Pholio, like web-based platforms, allows users to mark which results aren’t right for the system to learn from for the next search.

Along with specific searches, Pholio also has a Pinterest-like Discovery option that brings up similar images. Swiping one direction tells the software to show similar images, while swiping the opposite direction asks the system to show something different.

Within videos, Pholio can search frame by frame and suggest the best moment inside that footage.

Pholio, along with storing the actual photos, can also index images across multiple devices, including a smartphone, hard drive or a cloud service like iCloud and Google Photos.

Pholio does not necessarily handle tasks that other programs don’t offer — Google Photos has a similar search and GoPro QuikStories can also find the best moments inside of a video. But, most AI-powered computer recognition systems are so large, they are stored on a cloud system. Pholio runs without or without a cloud connection and can also double as a backup by switching from the default thumbnail saves to the full resolution files.

The London-based startup is taking to Kickstarter to raise the funds to manufacturer and ship Pholio. If funding and manufacturing are successful, early backers could get the Pholio for about $260, or the 2TB Pholio for about $520.

Pholio brings AI photo search tools offline and across multiple devices

Why it matters to you

Pholio means you don’t have to trust photos to the cloud to use cool search tools.

Cloud-based services like Google Photos and now even the new Lightroom CC can use artificial intelligence to search through your photos. But what if you don’t want to give the cloud access to all your photos? Pholio is a self-contained computer vision program that can classify, organize and search through photos and video without a cloud connection. Developed by a year-old startup called Pimloc, Pholio is designed to bring AI photo features even with images stored in multiple locations.

Pholio looks much like a modern external hard drive and it serves as one, with the option to save full resolution files as a back-up on the system or the option to save thumbnails for full function of the software but without the backup files. Pholio comes in two different versions, a 500 GB storage option and Pholio Pro with 2TB of storage.

Unlike a typical external hard drive, the Pholio comes with software for indexing photos. The program works much like Google Photos, with the ability to type in a keyword and find photos containing that object, as well as facial recognition to find people and event the ability to find specific landmarks. Unlike Google Photos, however, the entire Pholio system can be offline while still allowing for 20,000 search terms. If users choose to work online, those search terms expand, with the company saying that users can search for “anything.”

Users can also customize searches by adding specific labels within their own content. The feature, the company says, allows users to customize the system to their hobbies, like adding the ability to recognize specific breeds of fish for underwater photographers. If a keyword search turns up an incorrect result, Pholio, like web-based platforms, allows users to mark which results aren’t right for the system to learn from for the next search.

Along with specific searches, Pholio also has a Pinterest-like Discovery option that brings up similar images. Swiping one direction tells the software to show similar images, while swiping the opposite direction asks the system to show something different.

Within videos, Pholio can search frame by frame and suggest the best moment inside that footage.

Pholio, along with storing the actual photos, can also index images across multiple devices, including a smartphone, hard drive or a cloud service like iCloud and Google Photos.

Pholio does not necessarily handle tasks that other programs don’t offer — Google Photos has a similar search and GoPro QuikStories can also find the best moments inside of a video. But, most AI-powered computer recognition systems are so large, they are stored on a cloud system. Pholio runs without or without a cloud connection and can also double as a backup by switching from the default thumbnail saves to the full resolution files.

The London-based startup is taking to Kickstarter to raise the funds to manufacturer and ship Pholio. If funding and manufacturing are successful, early backers could get the Pholio for about $260, or the 2TB Pholio for about $520.

Here’s how to password protect a folder on Windows and MacOS

Everyone has their secrets. Whether you want to shield your Christmas present list from the prying eyes of nosy children, or merely keep your tax records hidden, limiting access to your digital data is understandable, and with a few steps, perfectly viable. In this guide, we’ll teach you how to password protect a folder, whether you’re running Windows or MacOS.

The only difficulty is that neither of these operating systems makes it as easy as it could be. Native password-protection is something that remains elusive in most standard builds, but with the right know-how, that’s not a problem. Whether you end up using third-party recommendations or a built-in utility, here’s how to protect your folders from prying eyes.

Note: If you ever need help remembering passwords, consider one of the best password managers.

Windows 10 Pro folder encryption

If you’re running Windows 10 Pro, there is a built-in protection system, though it’s not the most full-featured. Windows 10 Pro’s basic encryption offers file obfuscation that locks a file to your account. That way, if someone on another account or someone who copied your files away to another PC, tried to access your content, they’d need to know your account password — which better not be one of the most common passwords.

Anyone using your PC and account would have full access.

Step 1: Right-click on your chosen file and select “Properties” from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: Click “Advanced”.

Step 3: Tick the box next to “Encrypt contents to secure data” and click “OK.”

Step 4: Click “Apply” and when prompted, choose whether you want all folders within that directory to be encrypted, or merely the top-level one. When you’ve decided, click “OK.”

Depending on the size and contents of the folder, it may take a while to complete, but once it’s done, your data will be encrypted and protected from the prying eyes of anyone on another account or system. You can tell that it’s worked by the little padlock symbols now on each file within.

Password protecting Windows folders with 7Zip

While Windows 10 Pro might have some protections, most versions of Windows are utterly devoid of any folder-specific security. For most Windows users, adding a password to a folder requires a third-party archiving utility or some form of compression software. Options include 7-Zip, an open-source zip compression utility that’s readily available for free courtesy of Russian developer Igor Pavlov. It does a great job of password-protecting your more important data.

You’ll be required to decompress the folder before use, but that’s a small price to pay for security.

Step 1: Navigate to the 7-Zip download page and select the right download for you. Most users should opt for the “64-bit x64” Windows build. Once downloaded, install it as you would any other software and run it.

Step 2: Locate the folder you wish to password protect within the main 7-Zip interface and click the green addition sign in the upper-left corner of the application. Alternatively, drag and drop the folder anywhere within the main 7-Zip interface.

Step 3: Ignoring the bulk of presets in the resulting pop-up window, select “zip“ from the drop-down menu directly beside the Archive Format option to ensure the folder remains compatible on computers without 7-Zip installed. Then, enter and re-enter your desired password for the folder in the text fields located on the right-hand side of the window. Click the “OK” button when finished and allow the utility to create a compressed, encrypted duplicate of the folder you wish to password protect.

Step 4: Once the password-protected zip file has been created, test it to make sure that it’s working correctly by trying to access any of the content held within. Once you know it’s properly protected, delete the original folder so it can no longer be accessed. There’s no need to have two instances of the same data, especially since the original folder will remain unprotected.

Adding password protection to folders in MacOS

Like most versions of Windows, Apple’s MacOS lacks the native ability to add password protection to folders, but what you lose in convenience, you definitely gain in security — just don’t forget an antivirus. Adding a rudimentary password will require you to create an encrypted disk image through the operating system’s native “Disk Utility” — an application that comes pre-installed on nearly all Mac devices. Once created, you’ll be able to access the folder as a mounted virtual disk, which will allow you to edit, add, and delete content after entering a designated password. Any changes you make while the disk is mounted will automatically become both encrypted and password-protected upon dragging the disk to the Trash.

Step 1: Navigate to the MacOS Disk Utility within the Applications folder, or search for the application using “Spotlight.” When found, launch the program.

Step 2: Click “File” in the application toolbar, select “New” from the resulting drop-down menu, followed by “Disk Image from Folder.” Then, locate the folder you wish to password protect by perusing the resulting folder, highlighting it, and clicking the “Image” button in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Alternatively, search for the folder using the search bar in the upper-right corner and click the “Image” button in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Step 3: Once you’ve tagged and named the resulting files, select “read/write” from the drop-down menu directly right of the “Image Format” option, followed by “128-bit AES encryption“ from the drop-down menu directly right of the Encryption option. Afterward, choose your desired save location and click the “Save” button in the bottom-right corner when finished.

Step 4: When prompted, enter and re-enter your desired password in the text fields in the middle of the pop-up window. Afterward, uncheck the box directly left of “Remember password in my keychain” and click the “OK” button in the bottom-right of the window.

Step 5: Once the password-protected disk image has been created, make sure it works as intended by trying to access its content. Once it’s confirmed to be protected as intended, delete the original folder so it can no longer be accessed.

Update: Added Windows 10 Pro encryption and cleaned up the general wording.

Here’s our guide on how to show hidden files in Windows 10 and older

Knowing how to uncover a hidden file may sound like a contradiction of sorts, but it’s also the kind of basic computing knowledge everyone should have in their tool belt. Similar to encrypting and password protecting a folder, hiding important documents and data from prying eyes is a simple and viable way to ensure your private data stays that way: Private.

Still, hiding your stuff is one thing, but it can be beyond inconvenient when troubleshooting Windows errors or merely trying to delete the said folder to free up space on your hard drive. And though you can quickly hide a file or folder from within each item’s respective property settings, viewing them requires administrative privileges and access to Window’s main control panel.

Here’s our guide on how to show hidden files in Windows, whether you’re running the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system or an earlier incarnation. Also, check out our guide on how to password protect a folder.

Skip ahead to how to view hidden files in Windows 7 (and earlier).

Windows 10

The short way: Using File Explorer — This is the easiest way to show hidden files in Windows 10. Simply click on the file-based icon on the taskbar to open the File Explorer window. Next, click on “View” in the Quick Access Toolbar, and then make sure “Hidden items” is checked in the “Show/hide” section of the drop-down menu. That’s it.

For kicks, you can do the same for “File Name Extensions” if you want to see file types (EXE, JPG, INI, BAK, and so on).

The long way: Using the Control Panel — If you like taking the scenic route to your destination, there is the old-fashioned method of using the Control Panel. This access isn’t blatantly visible like File Explorer, so you need to type “Control Panel” into Cortana’s search field on the taskbar. Microsoft’s assistant will then provide the shortcut needed to access this buried desktop feature.

Step 2: Navigating the Control Panel — With this window open, you see “Appearance and Personalization” listed in the right column, which is where you need to go. Click on that, and the Control Panel will roll out four options spanning from the taskbar to fonts. You want to click on the “Show hidden files and folders” link under the “File Explorer Options” settings.

Step 3: Unhide those hidden files — A little window will appear after clicking on the “File Explorer Options” link. Here, you will see a bunch of settings to toggle on/off under “Advanced Settings > Files and Folders,” one of which is a section called “Hidden Files and Folders” with a mere two options: Show or don’t show hidden files.

Windows 8 / 8.1

Step 1: Navigate to the Folder settings — Swipe in from the right-hand side of the screen, or move your cursor to the upper-right corner of the screen, and click or tap “Search.” Afterward, type “Control Panel” in the search field, select it the from the results and click or tap the green “Appearance and Personalization” option located on the right-hand side prior to selecting the blue “Show hidden files and folders” option below the Folder Options section.

Step 2: Enable viewing of hidden folders — Click or tap the View tab at the top of the resulting window and check the bubble directly left of “Show hidden files, folders, and drives,” beneath the Hidden files and folders section. If desired, check the bubbles directly left of “Hide extensions for known file types” or “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” to view other hidden file and folder elements. When finished, click or tap the “Apply” button in the bottom-right corner.

Windows 7 (and earlier)

Step 1: Navigate to the Folder settings — Click the Start button in the Windows taskbar and select “Control Panel” from the right-hand side of the resulting drop-down menu. Afterward, click the green “Appearance and Personalization” option located on the right-hand side, followed by the blue “Show hidden files and folders” option beneath the Folders Options section.

Step 2: Enable viewing of hidden folders — Click the View tab at the top of the window and click the bubble directly to the left of “Show hidden files, folders and drives” within the Hidden files and folders section. If desired, check the bubbles directly to the left of “Hide extensions for known file types” or “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” to view other hidden file and folder elements. When finished, click or tap the “Apply” button in the bottom-right corner.

For addition guides for navigating Windows 10, check out these cool how-tos:

• How to set up dual monitors
• How to enable dark mode
• How to set up speech-to-text
• How to re-install Windows 10
• How to revert to an older version
• How to use File Explorer
• How to hide specific files and folders

The new-and-improved Mod-T 3D printer isn’t just better — it’s cheaper, too

Why it matters to you

Provided New Matter can deliver as promised, this could be the low-cost 3D printer you’ve been waiting for.

When we reviewed the original New Matter Mod-T 3D printer last year, we found a feature-packed machine at a reasonable sub-$500 price — which fell short of greatness because of the sometimes unreliability of its printing. “At the end of the day, we couldn’t hit ‘print’ on the Mod-T and walk away with complete confidence that the part would come out OK and until that changes, it’s hard to recommend this machine,” we begrudgingly wrote.

Well, jump forward 18 months and New Matter is back for another go-around with a new version of the Mod-T. While it looks very similar in design to its predecessors, it’s packing a few additions and an even lower price, which could finally set it on the path to greatness.

“While 3D printing use-cases vary wildly, making it tricky to satisfy everyone, there were some common themes in the feedback we received on the first generation model which we applied directly in designing the Mod-T, second gen,” New Matter CEO Steve Schell told Digital Trends. “Some of these are more obvious, like the speed improvement, while others are less noticeable, like doubling the Wi-Fi signal strength to improve connectivity, or adding an Ethernet port in case a hardwired network connection is preferred.”

The second-gen Mod-T builds on the positive elements of the original (such as its affordability, design, simplicity, and ease of use) with average print times that are reduced by 30 to45 percent, improvements to print quality, refinement of the user interface, and greater levels of reliability.

If New Matter has nailed all of these improvements, it could be onto a winner in the desktop 3D-printer ranks. That’s certainly something customers seem to be confident of — based on the fact that it has already racked up more than $40,000 of its $100,000 funding goal in its very first day on Kickstarter.

If you want to get your hands on a machine, you can get hold of one for $199, plus shipping. A higher priced bundle, including three spools of PLA filament and three print surface plates, will set you back $299. The second-gen Mod-T is set to make its way to users in May 2018.

How to uninstall Chrome extensions in just a few quick steps

Extensions can add a lot to the Chrome browser’s capabilities, letting you do everything from saving passwords to blocking ads. But if you grow out of needing them, or feel like there are a few too many, you need to know how to uninstall Chrome extensions. Fortunately, the process is as simple as installing them, and we’ll walk you through it, step by step.

There are a couple of different methods you can use when it comes to uninstalling extensions. Although the second one is more comprehensive, the first should work in the majority of cases and since it’s easier, that’s where we’ll start.

If you want to learn how to change Chrome’s language, we have a guide for that, too.

Uninstalling through Chrome

The quickest and easiest method to uninstall an extension is to go through Chrome’s extension manager. There you’ll be able to disable or entirely delete each extension through a single click of the mouse.

Step 1: Open the Chrome browser and click the three-dot menu in the top right-hand corner.

Step 2: Click “More tools,” and then “Extensions” in the resulting menu.

Step 3: The Extensions page shows you all of the extensions you currently have installed. You can disable any you just want to turn off by unticking the relevant box. Alternatively, if you want to remove the extension entirely, click the small trash can symbol.

When asked if you want to remove the extensions, click the blue “Remove” button.

Step 4: Restart Chrome and any extensions your disabled or removed will no longer be active.

Uninstalling through Windows folders

If for whatever reason the extension you want to uninstall isn’t found on the official list within Chrome, or you’d rather do things manually, you can also delete the extension yourself in its Windows folder. It’s a little more complicated and hands-on than the above method, but it’s still relatively quick.

Step 1: Close down all Chrome windows.

Step 2: Navigate to Chrome’s install location. For those running Windows 7 or later, that should be: “C:UsersusernameAppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault.”

Note: “Username” in the above address is your specific Windows account name.

Step 3: Open the “Extensions” folder.

Step 4: All of the folders within the “Extensions” folder represent individual extensions. Their names are hard to decipher, so to figure out which is which, you’ll need to open each folder up and then open the resulting version number folder. Images or file names within should give you an idea about which folder represents which extension.

In this case, this folder is for the Videostream extension.

Step 5: Find the extension you want to uninstall and simply delete the folder. To do so, either left-click the folder to select it and press the “delete” key on your keyboard, or right-click it and select “delete” from the resulting menu.

Step 6: Once finished deleting extensions, open Google Chrome and your extension list should be more to your liking.

Now that Chrome has all of the function you want, how about tweaking its style to fit your tastes, too?

Linux on Galaxy is Samsung’s most impressive DeX app yet

Alongside the Galaxy S8/S8+, Samsung also introduced DeX to the world this past February. DeX is Samsung’s vision for the future of desktop computing, and while it still has a way to go before it’s truly useful or practical for everyone, Linux on Galaxy is a new app that Samsung hopes will make DeX more appealing to developers.

Samsung announced Linux on Galaxy at its developer conference on October 18, and although the app is still in a trial phase, it already sounds pretty impressive.

Linux on Galaxy is a mobile app you’ll be able to download to your Samsung Galaxy device, and it’ll enable developers to code in their preferred Linux distribution while on the go. So, if you need to test a function for a bit of software that you’re working on and can’t do it within Android, Linux on Galaxy will allow you to run that program in an entirely native Linux operating system.

Linux on Galaxy lets you take Linux development with you wherever you go.

Developing software on a 6-inch screen isn’t something that most people would prefer, but then again, that really isn’t what Samsung is pushing here. By docking your Galaxy device into a DeX dock, you’ll be able to code away on a larger display like you would with any PC. However, when it’s time to head out of the house, you can pop your phone out of the dock and take your programs (and a full Linux OS) with you wherever you go.

A lot of our readers likely won’t ever touch Linux on Galaxy when it’s eventually released, but that’s okay. This is a sign that Samsung is trying to make DeX as accessible to as many different kinds of people as it can, and while Linux on Galaxy won’t revolutionize DeX on its own, apps like this are big steps in the right direction.

With that said, if you are a developer and are interested in using Galaxy on Linux as soon as possible, you can sign up for notifications about it here.

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• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
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• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Sony to publish indie games on Nintendo Switch and PC

The console wars are not over, but there are some signs that collaboration may yet win out. While Sony continues to opt out of the “Better Together” Minecraft initiative to bring cross-platform play to all platforms, it looks to be making games for non-Sony devices, including the Nintendo Switch. In a Japanese-language press release, the company just announced a new publishing label named Unties, which comes from the idea of unleashing the talents of game creators.

The idea is to find and distribute great indie games, says the press release, and help them find an audience, no matter the device it plays on. The debut title, Tiny Metal, will be a “full-scale strategy simulation game” from developer Area 35. It will release for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC on November 21st. Upcoming games include 3D action title Last Standard and tank-based battler Merkava Avalanche for PC (thus far). VR demo Deemo-Reborn is headed to PlayStation VR as well.

Ultimately, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing to have a company like Sony, known for quirky, masterful games like Flower and Journey, helping usher in new indie games to other platforms besides its own PlayStation 4 console, even if the company had to launch an entirely new publishing label to do so.

Via: Geek.com

Source: Sony

CNN gets the first FAA waiver to fly drones over crowds

The FAA finally passed a set of rules for commercial drone aviators back in August 2016, which included a formal restriction from flying over crowds of people. Given how valuable aerial footage from UAVs is, that’s been a difficult regulation for news outlets to stomach. But today, the agency granted CNN the first waiver to these rules, allowing it to fly its drones over people.

But they can’t just fly any drone over crowds. The waiver applies only to a specific micro-vehicle, the 1.37-pound Snap UAS, which is ‘deformable’ with enclosed rotors. In other words, should it suddenly drop out of the sky, it will do less damage to people than standard drones, as The Verge demonstrates in this video of a staffer headbutting the UAV safely.

By CNN’s account, the waiver wasn’t easy to get, requiring two years of research by the news organization and the Snap drone’s creator Vantage Robotics. The FAA had selected CNN in 2015 as one of the first three “Pathfinders” in the new industry to test out drone use, which required plenty of flying and pilot certification to prove that maneuvering over crowds wouldn’t endanger them.

Via: Bloomberg

Source: CNN