What’s on TV: ‘Westworld,’ ‘God of War’

While the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, the big events won’t arrive until this weekend. On Friday we’ll see the debut of God of War on PS4 and Nintendo Labo for Switch, before the season premiere of Westworld (no spoilers, please) on HBO Sunday night. Hulu streams The Looming Tower season finale and ABC calls it a wrap for Scandal. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• The Post (4K)
• The Commuter (4K)
• The Awful Truth
• Deep Blue Sea 2
• The Wedding Date
• MST3K (S11)
• The Awful Truth (Criterion)
• The Skulls
• Don’t Starve Mega Pack (PS4, Xbox One)
• Yakuza 6: the Song of Life (PS4)
• I, Hope (Xbox One, PS4)
• Nintendo Labo (Switch – 4/20)
• Assetto Corsa: Ultimate Edition (PS4 – 4/20)
• God of War (PS4 – 4/20)
• Phantom Trigger (PS4, Xbox One – 4/20)
• The Way Remastered (Switch – 4/20)
• Slyde (PS4 – 4/20)
• Atomic Heist (PS4, Xbox One – 4/20)

Monday

• I Am Evidence, HBO, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• American Idol, ABC, 8 PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8 PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 8 PM
• Supergirl (spring premiere), CW, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30 PM
• iZombie, CW, 9 PM
• The Resident, Fox, 9 PM
• The Terror, AMC, 9 PM
• Living Biblically, CBS, 9:30 PM
• The Crossing, ABC, 10 PM
• McMafia, AMC, 10 PM
• Good Girls, NBC, 10 PM
• Scorpion (season finale), CBS, 10 PM
• Final Space, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• The Honeymoon Stand-up Special, Netflix, 3 AM
• The Chalet (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Civilizations (series premiere), PBS, 8 PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Lethal Weapon, Fox, 8 PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8 PM
• The Flash, CW, 8 PM
• Alex, Inc., ABC, 8:30 PM
• New Girl, Fox, 9 PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9 PM
• Black Lightning (season finale), CW, 9 PM
• JDM Legends (series premiere), Velocity, 9 PM
• The Challenge (season finale), MTV, 9 PM
• LA to Vegas, Fox, 9 PM
• Rise, NBC, 9 PM
• Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9 PM
• Splitting Up Together, ABC, 9:30 PM
• Andre the Giant, HBO, 10 PM
• Legion, FX, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• For the People, ABC, 10 PM
• NCIS: NO, CBS, 10 PM
• Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., USA, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10 PM
• The Last O.G., TBS, 10:30 PM
• Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10:30 PM
• The Jim Jefferies Show, Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• The President Show, Comedy Central, 11 PM
• The Chris Gethard Show, TruTV, 11 PM

Wednesday

• The Looming Tower (series finale), Hulu, 3 AM
• Riverdale, CW, 8 PM
• Famous in Love, Freeform, 8 PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8 PM
• Empire, Fox, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Alex, Inc., ABC, 8:30 PM
• The Originals (season premiere), CW, 9 PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 9 PM
• Modern Family, ABC, 9 PM
• Criminal Minds (season finale), CBS, 9 PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9 PM
• Star, Fox, 9 PM
• Suits, USA, 9 PM
• I Am MLK Jr., Paramount, 9 PM
• American Housewife, ABC, 9:30 PM
• The Americans, FX, 10 PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10 PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 10 PM
• Krypton, Syfy, 10 PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10 PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• Take 5: The Shadow of Isis, Sundance Now, 3 AM
• Charité (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Gotham: A Dark Knight, Fox, 8 PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8 PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8 PM
• Jersey Shore Family Vacation, MTV, 8 PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8 PM
• Siren, Freeform, 8 PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8 PM
• A.P. Bio, NBC, 8:30 PM
• Young Sheldon, CBS, 8:30 PM
• Ex on the Beach (series premiere), MTV, 9 PM
• Station 19, ABC, 9 PM
• Showtime at the Apollo, Fox, 9 PM
• Arrow, CW, 9 PM
• Mom, CBS, 9 PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30 PM
• Champions, NBC, 9:30 PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10 PM
• Nobodies, Paramount, 10 PM
• S.W.A.T., CBS, 10 PM
• Atlanta, FX, 10 PM
• Scandal (series finale), ABC, 10 PM
• Black Card Revoked, BET, 10 PM
• Thursday Night Darts, BBC America, 10 PM
• Party Legends, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• The Rundown with Robin Thede (season finale), BET, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• Pass Over, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Dope (S2), Netflix, 3 AM
• Dude, Netflix, 3 AM
• Kodachrome, Netflix, 3 AM
• Aggretsuko (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• The Remix, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Spy Kids: Mission Critical (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Mercury 13, Netflix, 3 AM
• Vice, HBO, 7:30 PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8 PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8 PM
• Macgyver, CBS, 8 PM
• Dynasty, CW, 8 PM
• Jane the Virgin (season finale), CW, 9 PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9 PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9 PM
• Rellik, Cinemax, 10 P
• Blue Bloods, CBS, 10 PM
• Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, HBO, 11:30 PM
• Trevor Moore: The Story of Our Lives, Comedy Central, 12 AM

Saturday

• The Letdown, Netflix, 3 AM
• Ransom, CBS, 8 PM
• Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World (season finale), CNN, 10 PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3 AM
• The Joel McHale Show, Netflix, 3 AM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 7:30 PM
• Howard’s End, Starz, 8 PM
• American Idol ABC, 8 PM
• Killing Eve, BBC America, 8 PM
• Instinct, CBS, 8 PM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime, 8 PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8 PM
• The Untold Story of the 90s, History, 8 PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8:30 PM
• Westworld (season premiere), HBO, 9 PM
• Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, 9 PM
• Genius Junior, NBC, 9 PM
• Unsung: Lost Boyz, TV One, 9 PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 9 PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9 PM
• Ash vs. Evil Dead, Starz, 9 PM
• Unforgotten, PBS, 9 PM
• Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30 PM
• Silicon Valley, HBO, 10:15 PM
• Trust, FX, 10 PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10 PM
• Naked & Afraid, Discovery, 10 PM
• Deception, ABC, 10 Pm
• Timeless, NBC, 10 PM
• Barry, HBO, 10:45 PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 11:17 PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11:15 PM

[All times listed are in ET]

‘Omniphobic’ smartphone display coating repels it all, from water to peanut butter

Touchscreens are awesome. The thing that’s not awesome about them? The fact that our tendency to carry our smartphones everywhere means that the screen regularly becomes a target for grime. Things get even worse when there are kids around, thanks to their unerring ability to find the nearest sticky substance for your phone to come into contact with.

This problem is something that researchers at the University of Michigan may have come up with an answer to, however. They’ve created a clear “omniphobic” coating that can be painted or sprayed onto a surface to make it repel a wide range of materials — everything from water and oil to alcohol and even peanut butter will simply slide off the surface.

“We have developed a smooth omniphobic coating which is easily applied to a broad range of materials,” Mathew Boban, a materials science and engineering graduate researcher on the project, told Digital Trends. “The key challenge was to tune the amount of separation between a liquid-repellent molecule and a binder that sticks it to a surface, so that a very dense and smooth layer of these molecules is formed. Because the coating is smooth and entirely solid, it is more transparent, durable, and stable than many other liquid repellent surfaces, including those using rough textures to entrap tiny air pockets, liquid lubricants, or single layers of repellent molecules.”

University of Michigan

In addition to smartphones and other mobile devices, Boban suggested that the special coating could be usefully applied to other surfaces such as windows to allow them to stay clean for longer. Other applications might include use in refrigeration, power generation, and oil refining. That’s because all of these industries depend on the condensation of liquids, and this coating could increase their efficiency by letting them shrug off condensed water and chemicals more quickly. Finally, it could help improve microfluidic devices used for biomedical research and diagnostics.

“Using the separation-tuning approach, we aim to develop a range of omniphobic coatings using different combinations of binders and liquid-repellent molecules with varying chemistry,” he said. “This will allow us to optimize cost, safety, and performance, and scale up production.”

A paper describing the work, titled “Smooth, All-Solid, Low-Hysteresis, Omniphobic Surfaces with Enhanced Mechanical Durability,” was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

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The FDA approves special contact lenses which turn dark on sunny days

Photochromic sunglasses which can darken or lighten depending on how much ultraviolet radiation they come into contact with have been around for years. Until now, folks who wear contact lenses haven’t been quite so lucky, unfortunately. That is about to change, however, thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially giving its seal of approval to the first contact lenses which incorporate photochromic elements.

Thanks to a special additive, the lenses will automatically darken when they’re exposed to bright light while becoming clear again in normal or dark lighting conditions. As such, they offer vision correction that will continuously balance their tint to control the amount of light entering each eye. The upshot is that you get a bit of added protection from the sun, while also having the chance to scare the bejesus out of your co-workers with your reflective black shark eyes! (Although we’re assuming that, in reality, the effect is a little bit more subdued than that.)

“This contact lens is the first of its kind to incorporate the same technology that is used in eyeglasses that automatically darken in the sun,” Malvina Eydelman, who oversees the ophthalmic, and ear, nose and throat devices for the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

The Acuvue Oasys Contact Lenses with Transitions Light Intelligent Technology are produced by Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. The soft contact lenses are designed for daily use up to a maximum of 14 days for people who are both nearsighted and farsighted. They can additionally be used by folks with certain types of astigmatism, an abnormal curvature of the eye. In total, upward of 40 million Americans wear contact lenses, meaning that there is a potentially massive market for this technology.

The lenses are the result of more than a decade of product development and clinical trials involving more than 1,000 patients. According to current plans, they will be available to buy in the first half of 2019.

Other photochromic technology we’ve recently covered at Digital Trends include special windows developed by researchers at Stanford University which switch from dark to clear depending on an electric current.

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France creates secure chat app to keep its president off Telegram

Telegram is about to lose some more customers following the Russia ban, albeit for very different reasons. The French government is testing an encrypted messaging app that would keep officials’ data on servers inside the country. It’s worried about the “potential breaches” that could happen if data was encrypted in the US or Russia, and it’s easy to see why. Between Russia’s demand for Telegram encryption keys and Facebook’s data sharing scandal, France is concerned that sensitive chats could end up in the wrong hands.

Only 20 officials are trying the app right now, but it will ideally become mandatory for the government by the summer.

The switch was likely prompted by the messaging habits of France’s leadership. President Macron, his inner circle and other officials have been hooked on using Telegram to chat about work, to the point where Macron is reportedly online into the wee hours of the morning. It’s not necessarily a huge security risk between Telegram’s insistence on strong encryption and officials’ care to avoid discussing secret or strategic info (at least, according to a spokesperson talking to Bloomberg). However, this would still leave the discussions of high-level staff in the hands of a third-party service that France hasn’t vetted.

It’s not guaranteed that the app will help. The developers would have to be certain that hackers can’t compromise the encryption keys or otherwise intercept messages. If it does work as promised, though, it could set a precedent for countries using their own secure chat apps as a precautionary measure.

Source: Reuters

Google will pre-vet addiction treatment ads following scams

In September, following a Verge report detailing scams conducted through misleading drug and alcohol treatment advertising on Google, the company began pulling addiction treatment-related ads in the US. In January, Google did the same in the UK following a similar report from The Sunday Times and later, it extended the suspension of these sorts of ads globally as it worked out a strategy to ensure those advertising on its platform were legitimate. Now, Reuters reports, Google has established a way to vet addiction treatment facilities wanting to post ads.

In-person facilities, crisis hotlines and support groups will now have to be vetted by Oregon-based LegitScript before they can advertise on Google search pages or through the millions of apps and websites that use Google ads. LegitScript will assess addiction treatment providers based on 15 criteria, which include criminal background checks as well as license and insurance verifications. LegitScript told Reuters that these companies will also have to provide “written policies and procedures demonstrating a commitment to best practices, effective recovery and continuous improvement.” The company’s vetting service will cost $995 up front and $1,995 annually.

Last year’s Verge report described how companies were taking advantage of Google’s ad platform to scam those looking for treatment. Though some of those advertising were legitimate, others were collecting large commissions for referring customers to certain facilities, among other abuses.

Google will begin accepting ads from LegitScript-vetted US centers in July, but it doesn’t yet have a system in place for non-US treatment facilities or sober-living houses.

Via: Reuters

Hulu snags documentary series on the Fyre Festival fiasco

Last year’s ill-fated Fyre Festival (almost) took place in the Bahamas; it also ended up with seven fraud and negligence class-action lawsuits. Co-founder Billy McFarland (above), who co-created the festival with rapper Ja Rule, was also arrested and charged with wire fraud. He ultimately pled guilty to misleading investors. Now Hulu has picked up a multi-part documentary series about the debacle, which is being jointly developed by Billboard, Mic and production company The Cinemart.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will explore what exactly went wrong, the ongoing investigation into the failure and who, exactly, is to blame. It will also reportedly use in-depth interviews from local Bahamians, stranded music fans who paid to be there, vendors and investors. There will apparently also be hours of exclusive footage, along with leaked documents, emails and sound recordings. The Fyre Festival sold attendees on a glamorous experience that was promoted without disclosure by models like Kendall Jenner on Instagram, who were reportedly paid for their influence.

Via: The Verge

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

The updated Stylophone Gen X-1 synth comes to the US

The little Stylophone toy synth has made the rounds since it was first manufactured in 1968. David Bowie used one on “Space Oddity,” Kraftwork played one on “Pocket Calculator” and They Might Be Giants had one on The Else. An updated version of this cult classic, battery-powered synthesizer — the Stylophone Gen X-1— was announced last year, and is now available in the US for $70.

The new version of this tiny synth has a built-in speaker and a headphone jack, making it so you can connect it to recording systems or a PA. It’s iconic metallic keyboard/sound strip can be used with the included stylus, and a second one can be played with your fingertip. There are various dials and buttons that can shape the sound, including controls for LFO square and triangle waves, a low pass filter cutoff, sub octaves, envelope attack and delay, delay time and feedback and an X button pulse with modulation.

This is the second revival of the Stylophone; when the manufacturer Dubreq reopened in 2003, it released the Stylophone X2 and the Stylophone Beatbox. This new Gen X-1 is a bit smaller than those versions, with a new layout for a more compact form. If you’re interested in what little box can do, check out the video below.

Source: Dubreq

Google made an AR microscope that can help detect cancer

In a talk given today at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting, Google researchers described a prototype of an augmented reality microscope that could be used to help physicians diagnose patients. When pathologists are analyzing biological tissue to see if there are signs of cancer — and if so, how much and what kind — the process can be quite time-consuming. And it’s a practice that Google thinks could benefit from deep learning tools. But in many places, adopting AI technology isn’t feasible. The company, however, believes this microscope could allow groups with limited funds, such as small labs and clinics, or developing countries to benefit from these tools in a simple, easy-to-use manner. Google says the scope could “possibly help accelerate and democratize the adoption of deep learning tools for pathologists around the world.”

The microscope is an ordinary light microscope, the kind used by pathologists worldwide. Google just tweaked it a little in order to introduce AI technology and augmented reality. First, neural networks are trained to detect cancer cells in images of human tissue. Then, after a slide with human tissue is placed under the modified microscope, the same image a person sees through the scope’s eyepieces is fed into a computer. AI algorithms then detect cancer cells in the tissue, which the system then outlines in the image seen through the eyepieces (see image above). It’s all done in real time and works quickly enough that it’s still effective when a pathologist moves a slide to look at a new section of tissue.

So far, the Google team has demonstrated the scope’s abilities with breast and prostate cancers, showing the system is pretty accurate in its assessments. But Google says such a set up could be used to detect other cancers as well as infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. It could also be used to display other data or annotations into the view. “Of course, light microscopes have proven useful in many industries other than pathology, and we believe the Augmented Reality Microscope can be adapted for a broad range of applications across healthcare, life sciences research and material science,” says Google.

This proof of concept study is also described in a paper that’s currently still under review. Google says that a more in-depth study is required for more robust assessments of the system’s performance and shortcomings. It concluded, “We’re excited to continue to explore how the Augmented Reality Microscope can help accelerate the adoption of machine learning for positive impact around the world.”

Source: Google (1), (2)

Apple Maps Lane Guidance Expands to Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Poland

Introduced in iOS 11, lane guidance in Apple Maps is designed to let Maps users know which lane they should be in to avoid missing an upcoming turn or exit.

The lane guidance feature was initially limited to the United States and China when iOS 11 was first released in September, but Apple has been working to expand it to additional countries. Recently, the feature was introduced in Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, and Czech Republic.

With the addition of these five countries, lane guidance is available in a total of 19 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States.

The other major iOS 11 Maps feature, which adds speed limit information to the Maps app, remains limited to the United States and the UK at the current time.

A full list of Apple Maps feature availability by country can be found on Apple’s website.
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Facebook Outlines What Data it Collects From Other Apps and Websites

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress last week about the ongoing Cambridge Analytica scandal, he was asked a question about what kind of data Facebook collects from people when they use various apps and websites that have Facebook tools and integrations installed.

Zuckerberg promised to share more information on that topic at a later time, and today Facebook made good on that promise with a detailed article on what data Facebook gets from third-party apps and websites.

Facebook has several plug-ins and tools that allow Facebook to gather data on users even when they’re not using Facebook, including social plugins (Like and Share buttons), Facebook login (which lets you log in to services with a Facebook account), Facebook Analytics, and Facebook ads (allows apps and websites to show ads from Facebook advertisers, run ads on Facebook, and measure ad effectiveness).

Facebook says that whenever you use an app or a website that has one of these tools installed, the company receives information even if you’re logged out of Facebook or do not have a Facebook account.

According to Facebook, the information collected offline is used to “make [app and website] ads better,” with Facebook receiving data that includes IP address, browser, operating system, cookie information, and which app or website you’re using, all of which is common information collected when you use an app or a website.

Facebook provides detailed information on how the data collected from each of these tools is used:

• Social plugins and Facebook Login. We use your IP address, browser/operating system information, and the address of the website or app you’re using to make these features work. For example, knowing your IP address allows us to send the Like button to your browser and helps us show it in your language. Cookies and device identifiers help us determine whether you’re logged in, which makes it easier to share content or use Facebook to log into another app.
• Facebook Analytics. Facebook Analytics gives websites and apps data about how they are used. IP addresses help us list the countries where people are using an app. Browser and operating system information enable us to give developers information about the platforms people use to access their app. Cookies and other identifiers help us count the number of unique visitors. Cookies also help us recognize which visitors are Facebook users so we can provide aggregated demographic information, like age and gender, about the people using the app.
• Ads. Facebook Audience Network enables other websites and apps to show ads from Facebook advertisers. When we get a request to show an Audience Network ad, we need to know where to send it and the browser and operating system a person is using. Cookies and device identifiers help us determine whether the person uses Facebook. If they do, we can use the fact that they visited a business’s site or app to show them an ad from that business – or a similar one — back on Facebook. If they don’t, we can show an ad encouraging them to sign up for Facebook.
• Ad Measurement. An advertiser can choose to add the Facebook Pixel, some computer code, to their site. This allows us to give advertisers stats about how many people are responding to their ads — even if they saw the ad on a different device — without us sharing anyone’s personal information.

App and website usage habits are also used to determine the content and ads that are shown on Facebook. A person who visits a lot of sports related sites, for example, will see more sports-related news stories and ads.

To control what data Facebook is collecting, the company directs users to its News Feed preferences and Ad preferences to remove unwanted advertisers and opt out of certain types of ads. You can disable the feature that lets Facebook provide targeted ads based on your browsing habits, and you can disable the option that lets other apps and websites use your Facebook interests to provide ads.

Facebook says that it will address additional questions that were raised during Zuckerberg’s testimony in future posts.

Tag: Facebook
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