Stay on top of your goals with business Kindle books from $1

Today only, Amazon is offering a selection of top business Kindle books at great prices. Titles start at only $0.99. If you don’t have a Kindle, fear not; you can read these on your smartphone or computer using any one of Amazon’s free Kindle reading apps.

It never hurts to brush up on your business skills or gain a new perspective on things you think you already know. “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” promises to show you how to tackle what you most love, and how to face down what you most fear. It’s only $2.99 and normally sells for around $15.

Another fascinating read, “Algorithms to Live By”, is an exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives. Today you’ll pay $3.99 instead of the normal $18 price.

Make sure to check out this entire sale before the deals expire at the end of the day.

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Galaxy S8 in Canada getting Oreo on March 19, Note 8 to follow on March 28

The Galaxy S7/S7 Edge will be updated in the spring/summer.

Samsung’s global rollout of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 resumed on February 22 after a bug was found with the initial release, and now we have an exact date as to when that update will hit handsets in Canada.

First spotted by MobileSyrup, the Samsung Members app in Canada was recently updated with a message indicating when its existing hardware would be updated to Oreo. The highlights are the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, with the phones expected to get Oreo on March 19 and 28, respectively.

Following this, Samsung notes that the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, Galaxy A5, and Tab S3 will get the Oreo treatment in the “spring/summer.”

Lastly, “later in 2018” will see Samsung push Oreo to the Galaxy Xcover4, Galaxy A8, Galaxy J3 Prime, Tab A8, Tab Active 2, and the Tab A 10.1.

This is the first time we’ve heard Samsung comment on Oreo for the Galaxy Note 8, so hopefully its March 22 rollout in Canada is representative of when the rest of the world will see similar treatment.

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

Today’s best deals you won’t want to miss

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

Sure it’s the weekend, but that doesn’t mean the deals aren’t flowing. We’ve got great discounts on Amazon’s Echo hardware, Fire TV sticks, Anker Bluetooth headphones and more! Don’t pass these up.

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

Twitter purges accounts behind artificially viral tweets

If you’ve used Twitter for long enough, you’ve probably seen someone retweet a truism or obviously plagiarized quote from accounts that are clearly trying to force their tweets to go viral. You won’t have to put up with some of those accounts from now on, though. Twitter has suspended a horde of accounts notorious for mass-retweeting each other’s posts (some of which were stolen), including Common White Girl, Dory and Finah. The purge came weeks after Twitter removed the ability to retweet posts across multiple accounts in Tweetdeck, neutering the ability of these faux viral peddlers (known as “tweetdeckers”) to spread each others’ messages without resorting to third-party clients or asking for retweets.

It’s not certain if the suspensions are permanent. Twitter has so far declined to comment on individual suspensions, but Engadget has learned that the accounts were suspended for violating spam policies that forbid mass duplication and impersonation. Even if their accounts are restored, then, they couldn’t resume their behavior without facing a tougher penalty.

The move won’t completely eliminate this sort of behavior, which (as always) is fueled by money: customers pay for retweets knowing that legions of people will see them. The accounts targeted in this new crackdown have millions of followers, mind you, and their absences will be felt. That’s likely no coincidence. Twitter is under pressure to eliminate coordinated spamming of all kinds, whether it comes from Russian bots or tweetdeckers, and not just for political reasons. The social network is still struggling to add users despite turning its first profit, and junk accounts are part of the problem. You might be more likely to stick around if you see more genuine interactions instead of the same few accounts cluttering your timeline.

Source: BuzzFeed News

SpaceX aims to test its Mars rocket system in first half of 2019

You might not have to wait long to see SpaceX’s BFR rocket system in action… maybe. In a talk at SXSW, Elon Musk said he expected the spacecraft’s first “short up-and-down flights” by the first half of 2019. He was quick to hedge his claim, noting that his timelines tend to be “optimistic” (remember how Falcon Heavy was supposed to launch in 2013?), but this at least gives you a time frame. Test flights couldn’t place too much later when the goal is to send cargo missions to Mars by 2022.

BFR is considered the spiritual successor to Falcon Heavy, and in its current design would use a total of 37 Raptor engines (31 on the booster rocket, 6 on the spacecraft) that should deliver twice the boost of a Saturn V rocket. It’s meant to be completely reusable and would be SpaceX’s first vehicle designed for missions beyond Earth. While Mars missions are the ultimate goal, it should also be capable of return trips to the Moon (with in-space refueling) and space station resupply missions. It can carry about 150 tons, or five times as much cargo as Falcon Heavy.

It’s easy to be skeptical about the early 2019 target, and not just because of Musk’s historically overambitious schedules. This kind of interplanetary travel is ambitious even for NASA, and BFR’s nearly 348-foot height makes it much larger than Falcon Heavy (Saturn V, for comparison, was 363 feet tall). There’s a lot of brand new factors to consider. SpaceX has the benefit of much more experience than it did a few years ago, however, and it has a track record of successfully pushing the boundaries of spaceflight. It’s a question of whether SpaceX has learned enough lessons to meet its BFR targets.

Catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2018 right here.

Watch the best bits of Elon Musk’s SXSW talk

Elon Musk took the stage about 30 minutes late at the Moody Theater in downtown Austin, Texas, and when he finally appeared, the sold-out crowd cheered and jumped to their feet, smartphones glowing. His conversation at SXSW was a surprise, announced late the night before, and the talk itself was just as casual. Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan took pre-written questions from the audience and asked Musk for his thoughts on a vast array of topics, covering everything from colonizing Mars to the benefits of a carbon tax and the future of artificial intelligence.

Nolan’s phrase of the day was, “And how do we solve that?”

About an hour into the presentation, a third chair was brought on-stage and Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother and an entrepreneur in the food-access space, joined in — wearing a cowboy hat and with a guitar in tow. With his help (and the appearance of a second cowboy hat for Elon), the entire conversation closed out with a sing along. This is SXSW, after all.

Catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2018 right here.

Get Roku’s newest Streaming Stick for just $40

All of Roku’s content in a tiny, tiny package.

Roku’s media streaming device normally sells around $47, and $40 is a match for its all-time low. It’s a deal we’ve seen a couple times, we haven’t seen it drop to this price in more than a month now.

This is one of Roku’s newest streaming devices, a refresh of previous models. It just released in early October. Roku claims the processor in the new stick is 50% faster than last year’s model. The remote is also updated with voice control and a few extra buttons, including power and volume control.

It comes with two AA batteries, but you might consider adding some rechargeable batteries so you can just power them back up and keep on streaming when they get low.

If you want to upgrade to a 4K streaming device, DirecTV Now has a pretty easy way to save money on the 4K Apple TV or 4K Amazon Fire TV.

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Add an Alexa voice assistant to your home with a sale on Amazon’s Echo or Echo Dot this week only

Just don’t ask her to laugh.

Right now the Amazon Echo 2nd generation smart speaker is down to $84.99. That’s a drop from $100 and only the second deal we’ve seen this year. You can get this discount on a few color variations, including Charcoal, Heather Gray, and Sandstone.

The Echo Dot is also on sale for $39.99 from a street price of $50. Again, after Amazon went ham during the Black Friday shopping season we didn’t see a lot of Echo deals for a while. This price is a match for its lowest in 2018, and it’s good in Black or White.

These prices will disappear after March 17.

Both of these devices work with Alexa. Amazon has been working to make Alexa smarter each week by adding new features, skills, and functionality to it. From being able to control smart home accessories to being able to answer your questions, complete your searches, set reminders, and even make calls for you, these things do a whole lot for how little they cost.

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It’s time to say goodbye to the Nexus program for good

We don’t know what the P stands for just yet, but it means goodbye to the last Nexus phones.

We got our first look at Android P this past week. As expected, it’s an evolution of the formula Google is happy with and we won’t have our socks rocked off or anything when it shows in its final form because that’s what happens with all software; once it gets to the place the creators wanted it to be, it stops being “different” from version to version.

Sometimes it’s fun to have a phone that’s a mess just waiting for us to make better. Or worse.

That doesn’t mean it’s not some good stuff, though. Small changes up front have little to do with big changes in the back and Android P should do the things Android O does even better and give people who develop the software we love to use more and better tools to work magic with. That’s also how any software project works. Good software, anyways. But this is only a first peek, so there may be something to come that surprises us all.

But while I’m looking forward to what P has to bring us (besides the inevitable crude jokes that come with the “P” branding until we get a real name), I’m also a little sad because seeing Android P means it’s time to say goodbye to the Nexus program.

Pringles. Let it be Pringles.

It’s not like this was a surprise. The Nexus 6P and 5X are past the freshness date on the bottom of the carton. Unfortunately, phones don’t get the life we would like unless they come from Apple and the last two Nexus phones are soon to be officially end-of-life’d and sent to the place in the sky where the Wi-Fi is always free and fast. They may not have been the best phones ever, or even the best Nexus phones ever (everyone knows that was the Nexus S) but I think everyone who has or had one is sad to see them go. It means the end of a good thing and chances are we’ll never see another Nexus branded phone from Google.

We’ll still have the Pixel line, and here’s hoping the third one is great and has an awesome display and doesn’t have some stupid notch that serves as a tool for developers who need a solid phone with a stupid notch so they can write apps that work around a stupid notch. We all will never agree on bezels or aspect ratios, but a notch falls into the same category as a headphone jack and unifies us all. Stupid notch. But anyway, back to the Pixel line.

They’re good phones. Ignore the people who love them and the people who hate them, realize that a small percentage of them are bum units like every other model of phone ever made, and that’s what you’ll find. They are good, solid phones that also serve as a baseline for developers who need everything that’s supposed to work in a particular version of Android. Google has to make sure that’s provided every year if they want to keep developers happy and writing apps. It’s just that Pixel phones aren’t the same in plenty of ways, and I’ll miss being able to know I can have a phone that’s going to be cheap and easy to break and just as easy to fix. I like having a phone that’s polished and feels “finished” to use every day, but I also like having one to fiddle with. I don’t think I’m alone there.

I’m not sure that anyone misses the Nexus 9 or Nexus Player.

It’s also telling that I didn’t have any of these same thoughts when the Nexus 9 or Nexus Player reached their respective end of life. There’s a place for a good tablet or media box and I don’t think either type of product is destined to fail, but Google just wasn’t very good at either. Better products were available from partners, and the NVIDIA Shield TV or a Galaxy Tab was a smarter buy. I expect we’ll see future versions of both. I hope so because they’re both damn great products.

I’m probably going to fire the Nexus 6P back up and use it for a while, and my wife still uses her 5X no matter how many other phones I try and get her to use. And both will still keep working once Android P is released and they are left behind, even with security patches for a few more months afterward. But I know eventually they’ll both have to go back into their box over on the shelf and that I’ll probably not have to make room for another Nexus phone on it ever again.

Hashtag420rootit YOLO Nexus line. I’ll miss you.

AI reveals even more about Hollywood gender bias

Here’s what we know about how women are portrayed in Hollywood cinema: Male characters speak far more often than female ones. Men talk more about achievement, whereas women tend towards positive and emotional language. The majority of best picture winners at the Oscars since 1929 fail to pass the Bechdel test.

AI analysis of characters’ personalities from StoryFit tells us more: Women are portrayed as very agreeable — compassionate but not strong-willed. They’re low on neuroticism (making them cool-headed but not expressive) and openness (guarded and not a rule-breaker). And their personalities onscreen demonstrate less range than men.

The Austin-based company revealed research at SXSW that analyzed over 2,000 film scripts and 25,000 characters from between 1930 and 2018. Using machine learning, sentiment analysis and natural language processing, StoryFit’s approach demonstrates new ways to break apart narratives and character personality. The company says they ask over 10,000 queries of every script, focusing on what characters say and how they say it.

Analyzing the “Big 5” personality traits, they found that 80 percent of female characters measured scored over 85 percent on agreeableness, while only 27 percent of men scored that highly. Characters like Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, who score low on agreeableness, are outliers among female characters. Only six percent of women scored above 60 percent in openness compared to 54 percent of men.

StoryFit also analyzed the 2018 Oscar nominees. In only 4 percent of female-only scenes did women talk about something other than men. Women also ask more questions than men, apparently to set up men to take charge of the situation.

It’s a valuable analysis for SXSW. The festival is a center of gravity for media and entertainment worlds — both of which have been rocked by sexual assault scandals. In the shadow of #MeToo and #TimesUp, over 50 panels and events are about harassment or gender equality. It’s clear that gender biases — conscious or unconscious — exist in film and TV, and StoryFit hopes to increasingly bring their quantified analysis to consultations with the movie and publishing industries.

Catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2018 right here.