The guy who built his own Iron Man suit now has a Guinness record

Remember that guy who built a homemade Iron Man suit? Well, with the help of his arm-strapped, gas-powered turbine engines, he just earned himself a Guinness World Record title. As The Mirror reports, Richard Browning and Daedalus (the name of his suit) reached flying speeds of 32.02 mph and Guinness awarded the feat with a title for the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine power suit. If you’re wondering how many competitors there could possibly be in such a category, the answer is one. Browning is the first title holder.

When we first heard about Browning and his wild suit back in March, he said the suit cost him around $50,000 to build, though a couple of partnerships offset some of that cost. Since then, Browning and his company Gravity have garnered quite a bit of investment interest and they just wrapped up a funding round that raised an additional $650,000 on top of hundreds of thousands of dollars in earlier investment funding.

You can check out a video of Daedalus’ award-winning flight below.

Via: The Mirror

Source: Guinness World Records

Algorithm learns to predict the perp on ‘CSI’ by binge-watching episodes

How many episodes of forensics procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation do you think you would have to watch before you are able to guess the perpetrator correctly? A group of researchers at the U.K.’s University of Edinburgh decided to find out — only using an algorithm, rather than a person, to carry out the prediction.

To do this, they trained a neural network to solve the various “whodunnit” crimes on the show by getting it to binge-watch episodes of the series. The resulting model makes inferences about the identity of the perpetrator based on the information it encounters as each episode unfolds. This was achieved using a combination of image, audio, and the episode scripts, with the machine then asked to weigh each clue’s relative importance for solving the crime. The neural network watched 39 episodes of CSI in total, including 59 different cases.

“In the final part of the episode, at a point when the true perpetrator has presumably been revealed, our model correctly identifies mentions of the perpetrator 60 percent of the time,” Lea Frermann, a researcher on the project, told Digital Trends. “[By comparison], humans correctly identify perpetrator mentions 85 percent of the time. We show that access to information from multiple modalities, as well as the ability to keep a flexible record of what happened previously in the episode is important, helps the model to identify the perpetrator.”

Frermann points out that, while humans are significantly more accurate in identifying perpetrators, they also tend to be more cautious in their guesses and wait until later on to start making them. “Overall, there is still a large gap between model and human performance, but our initial results are encouraging,” she said.

Don’t expect the algorithm to be used as a real-life crime scene investigator anytime soon, though. Notwithstanding the fact that it is less accurate than humans at picking the right suspect, Frermann notes that real crimes aren’t quite as neat as the micro-worlds presented on TV.

“CSI episodes are 40 minutes long, the plot is completely self-enclosed, and the number of participants highly restricted,” she said. “Real scenarios are unequally more complex.”

Despite this, she pointed out that the work is an interesting testbed for future research on machine-learning models used for solving tasks which require complex reasoning, such as information retrieval or question answering. The team is also interested in seeing whether an A.I. trained on CSI can correctly guess the perpetrator on other procedural shows like Law & Order.

You can read a paper describing the work, “Whodunnit? Crime Drama as a Case for Natural Language Understanding,” here.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• ‘Twin Peaks’ explained, ‘Part 14:’ Such stuff as dreams are made of
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• The best Halloween-themed TV series episodes

Algorithm learns to predict the perp on ‘CSI’ by binge-watching episodes

How many episodes of forensics procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation do you think you would have to watch before you are able to guess the perpetrator correctly? A group of researchers at the U.K.’s University of Edinburgh decided to find out — only using an algorithm, rather than a person, to carry out the prediction.

To do this, they trained a neural network to solve the various “whodunnit” crimes on the show by getting it to binge-watch episodes of the series. The resulting model makes inferences about the identity of the perpetrator based on the information it encounters as each episode unfolds. This was achieved using a combination of image, audio, and the episode scripts, with the machine then asked to weigh each clue’s relative importance for solving the crime. The neural network watched 39 episodes of CSI in total, including 59 different cases.

“In the final part of the episode, at a point when the true perpetrator has presumably been revealed, our model correctly identifies mentions of the perpetrator 60 percent of the time,” Lea Frermann, a researcher on the project, told Digital Trends. “[By comparison], humans correctly identify perpetrator mentions 85 percent of the time. We show that access to information from multiple modalities, as well as the ability to keep a flexible record of what happened previously in the episode is important, helps the model to identify the perpetrator.”

Frermann points out that, while humans are significantly more accurate in identifying perpetrators, they also tend to be more cautious in their guesses and wait until later on to start making them. “Overall, there is still a large gap between model and human performance, but our initial results are encouraging,” she said.

Don’t expect the algorithm to be used as a real-life crime scene investigator anytime soon, though. Notwithstanding the fact that it is less accurate than humans at picking the right suspect, Frermann notes that real crimes aren’t quite as neat as the micro-worlds presented on TV.

“CSI episodes are 40 minutes long, the plot is completely self-enclosed, and the number of participants highly restricted,” she said. “Real scenarios are unequally more complex.”

Despite this, she pointed out that the work is an interesting testbed for future research on machine-learning models used for solving tasks which require complex reasoning, such as information retrieval or question answering. The team is also interested in seeing whether an A.I. trained on CSI can correctly guess the perpetrator on other procedural shows like Law & Order.

You can read a paper describing the work, “Whodunnit? Crime Drama as a Case for Natural Language Understanding,” here.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Who will be the last Jedi? Everything we know about ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’
• ‘Twin Peaks’ explained, ‘Part 14:’ Such stuff as dreams are made of
• Ambitious but not rubbish: Best ‘Top Gear’ episodes
• ‘The Lion and the Wolf’ shatters ‘Game of Thrones’ viewership record
• The best Halloween-themed TV series episodes

You’ll be flossing all your teeth at once with Blizzident’s customized 3D-Flosser

Although we’ve covered some pretty nifty tooth-cleaning gadgets before at Digital Trends, dental floss seems like one of those things you can’t really rethink in a big way. It’s been commercially available for well over 100 years and, in that time, hasn’t changed significantly in appearance. But that could be about to change — thanks to a dental technology company called Blizzident, and its invention of what it refers to as the 3D-Flosser.

The idea, essentially, is to use a 3D scan of a customer’s mouth to create a special flossing wireframe, onto which four rolls of dental floss are fed. The result is a device that, when a user closes their mouth over it, flosses every gap in their teeth with impressive precision. No effort required.

“Flossing is so extremely important,” Chris Martin, a spokesperson for Blizzident, told Digital Trends. “Dirt between teeth and in the “gingival sulcus,” the space between gums and teeth, cannot be reached and removed with brushes. If people don’t floss, dirt stays there for weeks and months, causing bad breath and cavities. Therefore, dentists recommend daily flossing. But only between five percent of people in Europe, and 20 percent of people in the U.S., do it because it is difficult and time consuming. You should also do it before sleeping, when people are usually too tired. Instead, people can now simply grip their tailored 3D-Flosser, bite into it, chew a little, and they are done with perfect flossing of their teeth within five seconds.”

It’s a concept that Martin is convinced is going to improve oral hygiene for us all. To get hold of one of Blizzident’s 3D-Flossers, you first need to get either a 3D scan or dental impression taken of your teeth. (Or, if you want best of both worlds, you can scan an existing dental impression.) You then send the information to Blizzident, which is based in Europe, and it will manufacture and mail out your custom flossing device for 199 euros ($232), plus postage.

“The 3D-Flosser lasts many years,” Martin continued. “The only thing that ever has to be replaced are the floss rolls, which cost four euros, after 500 usages.”

The only bad bit? Presumably explaining this odd-looking contraption to whoever spots it by your bathroom sink. Although, heck, you may just wind up convincing them that it’s a good idea for them to buy one, too.

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Hilarious A.I. bot fights email scammers by trolling them, wasting their time

Email scammers are the worst, aren’t they? At best, their emails are a big, fat waste of our time. At worst, they actually succeed at bilking some unsuspecting person out of their hard-earned cash, thereby making the whole sordid endeavor worth their while. Fortunately, a New Zealand cybersecurity company called Netsafe has come up with an ingenious way of turning the tables.

Called Re:scam, the company built an email chatbot which responds to suspect emails by sending long, drawn-out replies from a proxy email address. Simply forward your next scam message on to me@rescam.org, and Netsafe’s chatbot will do its absolute best to waste the time of whichever villainous, money-hungry creep is at the other end — in somewhat hilarious fashion.

“Re:scam was created to raise awareness about scams, and to give people a way to fight back against them,” Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker told Digital Trends. “The bot engages scammers in a never-ending conversation until the scammer stops replying. The replies sent by the bot have been crafted to appear natural and to be difficult to detect. It also replies with different time delays to appear more natural. If a scammer engages in a conversation, Re:scam will let you know, and you can view a summary of the conversation. Over the last three days since Re:scam launched, we’ve received tens of thousands of emails from New Zealand and around the world. [As a result], Re:scam is currently having simultaneous conversations with scammers all around the globe.”

Cocker said that the concept behind Re:scam came from the insight that it might be interesting to try and flip the conventional wisdom, which states that chatbots should be both helpful and efficient. By making one that is neither helpful nor efficient, it provides an original approach to addressing a massive problem. As Cocker makes clear, “Scamming is a global problem that has no borders. It’s a unique problem that needs to be addressed in innovative ways.”

If that way just happens to involve a scammer being cheated out of a few hours of their time, assuming they are speaking to a gullible mark who is on the verge of handing over their credit card details … well, we’re not going to lose any sleep about it.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Want to sue Equifax over the hack? Chatbot can help you do so for up to $25,000
• That’s ‘Professor Bot’ to you! How AI is changing education
• Netflix members, beware: Don’t get tricked by the latest email scam
• Kodak Moment’s chatbot suggests the best Facebook photos for printing
• Play ‘Exploding Kittens’ free when you challenge Microsoft’s Zo chatbot

Hilarious A.I. bot fights email scammers by trolling them, wasting their time

Email scammers are the worst, aren’t they? At best, their emails are a big, fat waste of our time. At worst, they actually succeed at bilking some unsuspecting person out of their hard-earned cash, thereby making the whole sordid endeavor worth their while. Fortunately, a New Zealand cybersecurity company called Netsafe has come up with an ingenious way of turning the tables.

Called Re:scam, the company built an email chatbot which responds to suspect emails by sending long, drawn-out replies from a proxy email address. Simply forward your next scam message on to me@rescam.org, and Netsafe’s chatbot will do its absolute best to waste the time of whichever villainous, money-hungry creep is at the other end — in somewhat hilarious fashion.

“Re:scam was created to raise awareness about scams, and to give people a way to fight back against them,” Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker told Digital Trends. “The bot engages scammers in a never-ending conversation until the scammer stops replying. The replies sent by the bot have been crafted to appear natural and to be difficult to detect. It also replies with different time delays to appear more natural. If a scammer engages in a conversation, Re:scam will let you know, and you can view a summary of the conversation. Over the last three days since Re:scam launched, we’ve received tens of thousands of emails from New Zealand and around the world. [As a result], Re:scam is currently having simultaneous conversations with scammers all around the globe.”

Cocker said that the concept behind Re:scam came from the insight that it might be interesting to try and flip the conventional wisdom, which states that chatbots should be both helpful and efficient. By making one that is neither helpful nor efficient, it provides an original approach to addressing a massive problem. As Cocker makes clear, “Scamming is a global problem that has no borders. It’s a unique problem that needs to be addressed in innovative ways.”

If that way just happens to involve a scammer being cheated out of a few hours of their time, assuming they are speaking to a gullible mark who is on the verge of handing over their credit card details … well, we’re not going to lose any sleep about it.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Want to sue Equifax over the hack? Chatbot can help you do so for up to $25,000
• That’s ‘Professor Bot’ to you! How AI is changing education
• Netflix members, beware: Don’t get tricked by the latest email scam
• Kodak Moment’s chatbot suggests the best Facebook photos for printing
• Play ‘Exploding Kittens’ free when you challenge Microsoft’s Zo chatbot

The best VR headset you can buy

Back in 2016, the world of consumer virtual reality changed forever with the launch of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR headsets. While both were solid options in their own rights, our favorite was the HTC Vive. With room-scale experiences, bundled motion controllers, and a pretty decent starting line up of launch titles, it provided a fulfilling experience right out of the box. When the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive were in the Digital Trends office, almost everyone preferred the latter, from first-time gamers to veterans.

But time, as with everything, changes things and the VR landscape is certainly much busier than it was. So which headset would we recommend to you now? Well, the HTC Vive is still at the top of our list, but it’s no longer the only VR headset that’s worth investing in. Here are our picks for the best VR headset you can buy.

Our pick

HTC Vive

Why you should buy this: It’s the best virtual reality system available.

Our Score

The Best VR Headset

HTC Vive

With two motion controllers and full room-scale tracking, the HTC Vive is the best overall VR package available now.

$799.99 from Amazon

$799.00 from Newegg

Who’s it for: Those happy to pay that bit extra for the full package.

How much will it cost: $600

Why we picked the HTC Vive

HTC and Valve’s virtual reality headset is, at least at the moment, the most complete and engaging VR experience available. It’s specifically built for room-scale experiences and  its library of games is massive, all of which capitalize on the the SteamVR platform’s power and openness in various ways.

The device also backs up that software support with powerful, well constructed hardware. The twin OLED displays tout a combined pixel resolution of 2,160 x 1,200, with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 720p camera for tracking and obstacle detection. The headset also includes a pair of motion controllers, two lighthouse trackers, and a pair of earbuds to go along with its $600 price tag.

Room-scale experiences are the HTC Vive’s biggest draw, though. The space starts at 5 x 6.5 feet, and reaches 16 x 16 feet with the two bundled sensors. You can walk around freely in the space, and even crouch down and lean around corners for a closer look at what’s around you. It’s incredibly immersive, and it also sidesteps many of the issues early headsets had with motion sickness.

For now, with the HTC’s Vive’s ability to reach out, grab, touch, and manipulate objects in a game, it makes a huge difference in regards to immersion — one that a traditional gamepad simply can’t match. The Vive’s motion controllers are incredibly intuitive as well, equipped with just a few buttons and powerful clicking touchpad that allows for precise movement and settings.

If there’s one thing that’s holding computer-based VR headsets back, it’s the price. That doesn’t just mean the $600 price tag affixed to the headset, but also the $600 or more you’ll need for a capable system. Both the Rift and Vive require at least an Intel Core i5-4590 or greater, along with a GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 (GTX 1060 and RX 480 in the current generation) for fully operational VR.

Should you wait: The HTC Vive is getting a little long in the tooth, but that just means the platform is fully mature. The second generation headset is at least a year away, so it’s not a bad time to buy.

Our full review

The best console VR

Playstation VR

Why you should buy this: You have a PS4 Pro, and you want to play VR games like Moss.

Our Score

Best Console VR

Sony PlayStation VR

If you don’t have a high-end gaming PC, the PSVR is the only console-based option for virtual reality, and includes motion controllers.

$399.99 from Amazon

$279.99 from Newegg.com

Who’s it for: Those who already own a PS4 and want to experience VR without buying a whole PC for it.

How much will it cost: $400

Why we picked the Sony PlayStation VR

Console VR setups have come a long way since the Nintendo Virtual Boy from 1995.  The first wave of modern VR headsets, like a lot of high-end hardware, were only available to the PC gaming side of things. But since the launch of PlayStation VR in 2016, serious console gaming in VR has finally become a reality.

Although significantly cheaper than the HTC Vive, the PSVR is a surprisingly effective headset. Its technical specifications (which are weaker than its contemporaries) demonstrate the difference in power between modern game consoles and desktop systems. The fact that it features more subpixels on its OLED display than the ones used both main competitors too, means better color reproduction and a more immersive experience.

If also offers great visuals and decent tracking with its camera system, but does fall behind in terms of controller input. Its Move Motion controllers are fine for broad strokes, but the older tracking technology can’t match the advanced systems offered by the Vive. Unfortunately, the PSVR also suffers from the screen door issue in the visuals even more so than the Rift or Vive.

The Sony PSVR has the hardware, competitive price, and the large user base to potentially become the first big mainstream VR solution for gaming, but purchasers should be aware that the Vive and the Rift still offer an overall better experience.

Should you wait: If you’ve recently upgraded to the PS4 Pro, and you’re not planning on picking up a gaming PC, the PSVR is an excellent addition to an excellent console.

Our full review

The best mobile VR

Samsung Gear VR

Why you should buy this: It gives you a good idea of what basic virtual reality is like.

The Best for Those on the Go

Samsung Gear VR (2016)

If you just want to dip your toes in virtual reality, the GearVR leverages the display and sensors already phone in Samsung smartphones.

$49.98 from Amazon.com

$105.75 from Newegg.com

Who’s it for: Those who have a new Samsung phone, or don’t want to pay through the nose for VR.

How much will it cost: $130

Why we picked the Samsung Gear VR

Don’t have a gaming PC of your own? Always on the go? There are a lot of smartphone virtual reality solutions out there right now, but the Samsung’s Gear VR is still the best of the bunch. Ready to run on a number of high-end Samsung smartphones, the Gear VR is the cheapest of the headsets we’ve covered here, at just $130 — or even free with some smartphone purchases.

There are a few issues with the Gear VR, however. Even the newest generation of Samsung devices don’t have anywhere near the graphical performance required to pull off high-end VR experiences, and the games, while vast in number, can often be underwhelming. You’ll also need to provide your own Bluetooth gamepad if you want to improve the experience, so make sure to consider that as part of the cost. However, many games don’t require a controller at all.

There is also a lack of positional tracking – the ability to translate through space, as well as rotate in it. In practice, that means turning and rotating is fine, but leaning won’t cause the headset to respond correctly. Missing that does somewhat take away from the Gear VR’s immersion.

While we wouldn’t suggest going out and buying a Samsung phone simply to use as a VR headset, it might be enough to swing you toward the brand if you’re already considering a new phone anyway. The Gear VR also massively outpaces the Google Cardboard in terms of performance, clarity, and software offerings and squares up pretty solidly against the Google Daydream View.

If you’re just looking to dip your toe in VR, something like Google Cardboard, or one of the $20 or so headsets that are out there may suffice as a stepping stone. Just don’t let it be your last one — there’s a whole virtual universe of VR content out there waiting for you to enjoy.

Should you wait: No, there’s no need to hang on for this one. Grab one now, especially if you’re buying a new phone.

Our hands-on impressions

The best VR value

Oculus Rift

Why you should buy this: Easily upgradeable in the future, cheapest PC solution.

Our Score

The Best Budget VR Headset

Oculus Rift

After a significant price cut, the Oculus Rift is the best VR headset you can get for $400.

$599.00 from Amazon

Who’s it for: You want a premium VR headset at a discounted cost.

How much will it cost: $400

Why we picked the Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift has definitely matured since its release. With the release of its Touch controllers and the complete revamp Oculus Home is getting, the Rift keeps getting more and more competitive. However, there’s one additional reason you should consider picking one up: It got a significant, permanent price drop.

After getting the price cut, the Oculus Rift — with Touch controllers included — will run you only $400.It still may not be dirt cheap, but it’s very inexpensive for a VR headset. It’s two hundred less than the HTC Vive, and the same price as the PSVR (for a much more robust VR experience). The Oculus Rift, paired with a powerful computer, is every bit as capable from a technical perspective as the HTC Vive. While we still like the Vive better for a number of reasons, including that the Oculus struggles in room-scale experiences, the price drop makes the Oculus Rift awfully tempting.

In terms of software, Oculus’ owner Facebook is really doubling down on the Oculus platform with a slew of software updates coming in 2018. For instance, among the updates coming to the Oculus platform in 2017 is a complete rework of its user interface. Called “RiftCore 2.0,” the new software update will radically alter the way users interact with applications and games.

Now, instead of using an external application to emulate a desktop environment, you’ll be able to access our applications right from the new Oculus Dashboard. You can open windows, re-arrange them, and even jump into the Dashboard right from your VR games. It’s just one of many changes coming to the Rift platform in the coming year, and these new features alongside the new pricing makes the Rift a very attractive VR platform for newcomers.

The last thing to consider is that Oculus will soon be releasing its standalone VR headset, the Oculus Go. It requires neither a smartphone or a PC and instead relies on its own internals for powering its VR experiences. While it probably won’t compare with the Rift on a technical level, it’ll give you access to all the Oculus software for just $200.

Should you wait: The Oculus Rift just got a price cut, and it’s only going to get better. Now is a great time to buy.

Our full review

Should you buy now, or wait?

There’s another question haunting this whole discussion, and it’s whether right now is the correct time to buy a premium VR headset at all. If you don’t already have a high-end gaming PC or PlayStation 4, the price is very high right now. Plan on spending $1,000 or more when all is said and done.

These are also all first-generation devices, and as such, there’s a strong likelihood the second wave will substantially overcome their technical limitations at a lower price.

How long will that be until they come out? It’s hard to say. Features like inside-out tracking, gesture control, and haptic feedback are on the way but won’t actually see widespread adoption until 2018. The Project Santa Cruz headset from Oculus brings a wireless experience to VR, alongside its standalone system the Oculus Go, but both of these are coming out in 2018 and they fill different niches than the full-sized VR headsets like the Rift, Vive, and PSVR.

There are also a host of Windows Mixed Reality headsets just around the corner, like the Dell Visor, the Samsung Odyssey. These are all going to be in the $350 to $500 range and offer similar experiences to what you’d get out of the Vive and Rift, but the jury’s still out on whether or not they’re really comparable. So if you’re curious about the future of VR, or you’re not quite sold on the above options, it might not be a bad idea to wait.

But, if you’re ready to take the plunge, there are enough games and experiences out there that you’ll have plenty to do — as long as you go with one of the established headsets like the Vive, Rift, Gear VR, or PSVR.

How we test

At this point, you might be wondering how we came to these conclusions. It’s a valid question, and one we try and be as transparent as possible about.

We start by learning everything we can about an HMD, often long before we have a chance to use it. Once we have it in our hands, we try to play as many titles as we can, and push the hardware into awkward situations to see how it responds.

After that, we put it in as many of our coworkers’ hands as possible. We give them free reign over the device, allowing them to choose demo titles and work with it freely. The less instruction we give, the more we see regular users finding hidden corner use cases that reveal the hardware’s mettle, and often points out issues like nausea and controller familiarity that wouldn’t be issues for reviewers.

Most importantly, we take the time to compare the headsets to other offerings on the market. That includes HMDs we’ve spent time with, and products that aren’t available yet, to determine whether each offering represents a good value.

This post was updated on November 10, 2017 by Jayce Wagner to reflect current best picks. The article was originally published on May 26, 2016.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive: Prices are lower, but our favorite remains the same
• Oculus Rift vs. Oculus Go — is it still better to be tethered to a PC?
• If you have a Gear VR headset, these are the apps and games you’ve got to try
• The ZephVR blows air in your face, which might actually make VR better
• The best headphones you can buy

50 is the new magic number for your Twitter handle

Twitter’s new 280-character limit not enough? Now, the social media platform supports longer display names too. On Friday, November 10, Twitter announced support for display names up to 50 characters in length, with the platform inviting users to add middle names or even emojis. The change, however, was met with mixed response from users that tweeted Twitter’s efforts would be better spent elsewhere, with ongoing efforts against online harassment, Russian political ads and the latest, updating the verification process after giving the badge to the organizer behind a white supremacist rally.

While the username (which starts with the @ symbol and is limited to 15 characters) identifies your URL, Twitter display names show up on your profile and before your tweets. The username can be edited inside of the profile options, making it easy for users that always wanted to include that Ph.D. and middle name and surname inside their display name to go in and add it with the expanded character limit.

Starting today, your Twitter display name can be up to 50 characters in length! Go ahead, add that middle name or even a few more emojis. https://t.co/QBxx9Hnn1j

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 10, 2017

The change comes just after Twitter officially doubled the character limit earlier this week. The added space to tweet those thoughts arrived after Twitter made more minor changes to the character limit by excluding attachments and links and, later, usernames when tweeting a reply.

While the expanded display name character count might be good news if you happen to have a name like Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea (A Dr. Seuss character that, by the way, is still only 29 characters), some are using the expanded feature instead to speak out on other changes the network could be making.

Some users are adding hashtags to their display names, including #WouldPreferThatYouBanNazis, in response to Twitter’s verification of Jason Kessler’s account earlier this week. Kessler is the organizer behind a white supremacist rally that left one person dead and injured 19 others in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier in 2017. The blue verification badge, Twitter says, “lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic.” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded saying that company realized the verification process needed to be updated some time ago, but will now work to correct the process faster. Until then, Twitter has temporarily suspended the process of verifying accounts.

We should’ve communicated faster on this (yesterday): our agents have been following our verification policy correctly, but we realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered. And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster. https://t.co/wVbfYJntHj

— jack (@jack) November 9, 2017

Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017

Other users took advantage of the longer display name to put their requests in for other platform features, like an edit button, while other users decided to turn their display names into entire sentences.

Twitter has long been a platform focused on brevity and microblogging, and both the updated character limit and longer usernames come as the social media platform continues refining standards after #WomenBoycottTwitter called attention to harassment issues on the platform. Twitter is also one of the social media platforms alongside Facebook that is working to update policies for political ads.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Twitter looks at expanding 140-character limit to encourage ‘expression’
• Two Twitter users find a way to post a 35,000-character tweet
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• Everything we know so far about ‘The Last of Us Part II’
• Facebook will soon make it easier to see who paid for political ads

Don’t sweat it: Scientists propose perspiration-based authentication

Thank god for sweat. Without it, our ancestors wouldn’t have been able to cool themselves down so easily while on the hunt for food, their brains may have never grown so big, and our species may have never settled down to create civilization, science, and air conditioning.

Nowadays, sweat is seen more often as a cause for social insecurity than an evolutionary advantage, but luckily some scientists have kept sweat on a pedestal. Now, a research team led by Jan Halámek, a chemist at the University at Albany, has proposed an unexpected use for sweat — as a biomarker to better secure our devices.

Much like fingerprints, sweat varies from person to person, both in amount and makeup. “Composition of sweat is complex but individualized,” Halámek told Digital Trends, “and sweat is present on the surface of skin, so analysis is non-invasive.”

Halámek’s method would first build a user’s profile (based on the number of amino acids present in his or her sweat) by monitoring sweat levels throughout the day and considering factors like age, sex, and physiological states. As sweat composition differs between teens and the elderly, early birds and night owls, this period would allow the tool to identify the specifics of a person’s perspiration.

“[An] electronic device — smartphone, smartwatch, etc. — would first have an ‘enrollment period’ in which it would, in certain intervals, measure an owner’s metabolite levels present in sweat, building a profile belonging to the owner,” Halámek said.

After the enrollment period, users would simply swipe their sweat on the device (for example, on the camera) which would analyze the sweat content and compare it to the profile before granting access to the device.

Halámek hopes this approach would boost security by adding another check to make sure the person accessing a device is the device owner.

But the method could go beyond securing devices — it could also help monitor a user’s health. “Many metabolites increase or decrease … for certain illnesses,” Halámek said. “This is what the clinical diagnostic field is dealing with every day.”

A research paper by Halámek and his team has been published in the journal ChemPhysChem.

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Huawei’s Mate 9 is down to just $400 for a limited time

This is a whole lot of phone for not a whole lot of money.

Is this deal for me?

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, Huawei’s Mate 9 may have crossed your radar. Right now you can pick one up for just $399.99 at Amazon and B&H Photo, which is a savings of $100 from its regular price. Being unlocked, you can buy this and pop in the SIM card of your choice (from a compatible GSM carrier) and be on your way with the phone. Unfortunately, it will not work on either Verizon or Sprint.

• Integrated with Alexa voice service. Just tap and ask Alexa to enjoy thousands of skills on the go, such as hearing the latest news, weather and traffic reports, check Sport scores, and much more.
• Enjoy revolutionary two-day battery life with a large 4000Mah battery and smart power-saving technology. Huawei supercharge technology safely charges the Device for a full day’s power in 20 minutes.
• Second-generation Leica Dual Camera with a 12MP RGB sensor and 20MP monochrome sensor renders images in unprecedented detail for exceptional results that take you from mere photography to artistry.
• 5.9 inch screen with 3-months Complimentary screen protection. Dual SIM (Primary Nano SIM + Micro SD, and secondary Nano SIM slot) to support 1334 carriers in 217 countries and Regions.
• Four noise-cancelling microphones with directional audio capture eliminate background noise and improve call quality. No support for Wi-Fi calling.

This is a new all-time low for this phone. You get a whole lot for the price, so don’t miss out! Be sure to also grab a case to help keep your new phone safe!

TL;DR

• What makes this deal worth considering? – This price drop brings a flagship-level phone down to near budget-level pricing. It’s the lowest we’ve seen it hit, and honestly, it’s going to be hard to find a better phone spec for spec (and performance wise) at $400.
• Things to know before you buy! – Amazon appears to have matched B&H’s price drop on this one. Amazon shipping may be faster for you, but B&H doesn’t charge sales tax at the time of purchase for those outside of NY and NJ. Either way, be sure you pick up a nice case to help keep your new phone safe!

See at Amazon