Police are responding to an active shooter at YouTube headquarters

Multiple social media reports, including from YouTube employees, have indicated there is an active shooter at the company’s northern California headquarters. The San Bruno Police have confirmed an active shooter at the address for the campus.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.

— Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

San Bruno city manager Connie Jackson told BuzzFeed News that the city received multiple emergency 911 calls about shots fired both inside the YouTube headquarters offices and from the surrounding area. The campus typically houses over 1,100 employees. CBS has live footage of the campus, and so does the news organization Circa (below):

BREAKING: Reports of active shooter at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, CA https://t.co/gPeLJT2ELB

— Circa (@Circa) April 3, 2018

Both the footage and at least one tweet showed employees evacuating the YouTube offices. A Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital spokesperson confirmed to NBC that it had taken in patients related to the shooting. Stanford Health Care told ABC that it is treating four to five patients.

Google’s official communication Twitter account posted that they are coordinating with authorities, but had nothing to announce yet.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.

— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

Developing…

‘Shadow of War’ will drop its in-game currency system on May 8th

The backlash against heavy-handed in-game purchasing systems is starting to spread to those games that weren’t directly caught up in the firestorm. Monolith is phasing out Middle-earth: Shadow of War’s Gold currency over the next few months — you’ll lose the option of buying Gold on May 8th, while any existing Gold, the Market and War Chests will cease to exist on July 17th. If you still have leftover Gold on that last date, it’ll be converted to in-game items. As Monolith describes it, the virtual currency was souring the experience of the game itself.

The option to buy Orcs in the Market may have given you a quick fix, Monolith said, but it perpetually “risked undermining the heart” of Shadow of War’s Nemesis system, which has you building up rivalries with villains. It not only compromised the stories the studio wanted to tell, it risked you missing out on your own stories. Just having that choice broke immersion, the company added.

At the same time, Monolith is promising to upgrade the defend-your-fort Shadow Wars section with new story elements and a “more cohesive” experience, while the Nemesis System, skill tree and progression systems will all get updates.

These changes aren’t going to have as much impact now as they would have in the fall of 2017, when the game was fresh. That they’re happening at all is notable, though. The teams behind Star Wars: Battlefront II and Destiny 2 may have suspended or scaled back the dependence on their in-game economies, but they’ve always intended to keep real-world purchases in place. Monolith, however, is dropping them entirely — it’s convinced the potential for extra profit hasn’t been worth the compromises to gameplay. You could argue that this is a cynical attempt to rekindle buzz for a game that fell off the radar, but it still suggests that opposition to loot boxes and pay-to-win systems is now considered a selling point.

Via: NeoGAF

Source: WB Games Community

California bill would force Twitter and Facebook to identify bots

Facebook and Twitter are plenty aware that Russian-backed actors have been using troll accounts to manipulate online discourse. Despite introducing transparency tools and purging lists of bots, California lawmakers don’t think the companies are doing enough to safeguard consumers. Legislators proposed a bill that would force social media platforms to identify automated accounts and deal with them within three days.

The bill would make it illegal for anyone to use an automated account to mislead California denizens or interact with them without disclosing that they’re a bot. If one is reported, the social platform should deal with the auto-account within 72 hours. Finally, the companies would be required to submit a bimonthly report to the state’s Attorney General detailing bot activity and corrective actions taken.

The legislation is slated to run through a pair of California committees later in April, according to Bloomberg. This follows a bill introduced by state assemblymember Marc Levine in January that aggressively sought to require bots on social platforms be linked to human accounts.

Via: Bloomberg

Source: California SB-1001 Bots: disclosure.

Apple Report Reveals Men Are Paid 5% More on Average Than Women in UK

Male employees who work for Apple in the United Kingdom earn five percent more on average than women, according to a UK Gender Pay Gap report released today by Apple [PDF]. The median hourly pay gap was two percent in favor of women, however.

According to Apple, the average pay gap is due to more men holding senior positions at the company, and when factoring in “similar roles, markets, and performance” it has achieved pay equity. Apple has more than 6,000 employees in the UK.

Apple believes strongly that equal work deserves equal pay. Every year, we examine the compensation employees receive and make adjustments where necessary to ensure we maintain pay equity. And we have achieved this in every country — women at our company earn the same as men when you factor in similar roles, markets and performance.

As part of our commitment to eliminating pay disparities from the first day at Apple, later this year we’ll also stop asking candidates about their salary history.

Apple says that 30 percent of its UK employees are women, and 36 percent of new employees last year were women. 40 percent of the companies “leaders under the age of 30” are also women.

92 percent of men received a bonus including vested stock, while 88 percent of women received the same bonus. Additional detail on the wage gap in the UK is available in Apple’s full report.

Apple published this information because of a new UK law that requires companies with more than 250 employees to publish the average total pay received by men relative to that received by women.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
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Drone pilot gets hefty fine after flying his machine over an Ed Sheeran concert

As Ed Sheeran launched into one of his many hit singles during an outdoor concert in Brisbane, Australia last month, a camera-toting drone flew overhead to catch a glimpse of the British singer-songwriter.

But the police were having none of it, and quickly tracked down the pilot outside the Suncorp Stadium where Sheeran was performing, the Brisbane Times reported.

In recent days, the unnamed perpetrator was hit with a fine of 1,050 Australian dollars ($805) for the reckless drone flight. A ticket to the show would have been a lot cheaper in comparison, at around $165 Australian dollars ($125), though admittedly the stadium seats wouldn’t have offered the elevated view that he was presumably going after with his drone camera.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the drone, likely a popular consumer quadcopter, was flown at night and within 30 meters of an area packed with people, in breach of local safety regulations. In addition, the unnamed pilot flew the drone beyond the line of sight, as he was outside the stadium when he sent his remotely controlled copter skyward. As in the U.S., drone pilots have to be able to see their flying machine at all times when it’s in the air.

It’s not known if Sheeran noticed the drone as he played in front of more than 50,000 fans, but he doesn’t appear to have been in any danger during the prohibited flyover.

The last time we heard about a performer coming too close to a drone was in 2015 when Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias reached out to grab a quadcopter during a show in Tijuana, Mexico. In that case, the drone had permission to be there, with the event’s organizers using it to capture crowd shots. When it flew by the stage, Iglesias somewhat foolishly reached out to grab it, slicing several of his fingers on the propellers in the process. Yes, there was blood, though Iglesias, ever the pro, plowed on with his set.

In the U.S., we don’t hear too many stories of drones flying over stadiums, though it certainly happens from time to time. A baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park last year, for example, saw an out-of-control quadcopter crash into an empty seat inside the stadium, narrowly missing spectators sitting close by.

Meanwhile, in an effort to demonstrate it’s not messing about when it comes to keeping the skies safe over major sporting events, the Federal Aviation Administration warned in 2016 that it would shoot down any rogue drones spotted inside the no-fly zone set up around Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California for the Super Bowl.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• A consumer drone crashed and burned, and then caused a wildfire
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• A drone and helicopter reportedly tangled in South Carolina. The helicopter lost.

Origin PC’s latest notebook packs Intel’s Core i7-8750H CPU, Nvidia Max-Q GPU

On Tuesday, April 3, Origin PC unveiled its new EVO15-S laptop for gamers sporting Intel’s just-announced eighth-generation Core i7-8750H “Coffee Lake-H” processor for notebooks. The launch also introduces a new Matte Display option featuring a screen with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. The EVO15-S laptop joins the company’s new-but-similar NT-15 model targeting professionals. 

Here are the shared hardware specifications: 

Screen size: 

15.6 inches 

Resolution: 

3,840 x 2,160
1,920 x 1,080 @ 144Hz (Matte Display)
1,920 x 1,080 (IPS display) 

Processor: 

Intel Core i7-8750H 

Graphics: 

Up to GTX 1070 Max-Q 

Memory: 

Up to 32GB DDR4 @ 2,666MHz (2x 16GB) 

Storage: 

Up to 1x 2TB M.2 PCIe SSD
Up to 1x 4TB HDD or SSD (2.5-inch) 

Sound: 

Sound BlasterX Pro-Gaming 360 

Connectivity: 

Wireless AC (2×2, MU-MIMO)
Bluetooth 5.0 

Ports: 

2x USB-C 3.1 Gen1
3x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
1x USB-A 2.0
1x SD card reader 

Battery: 

55WHr 

Dimensions: 

0.73 inches thick 

Weight: 

4.3 pounds 

Starting price: 

$1,733

 If you’re not familiar with Intel’s Core i7-8750H chip, it’s the newest addition to the company’s eighth-generation lineup and its first six-core, 12-thread chip for laptops. We saw this processor in early March sporting a base speed at 2.2GHz and a maximum speed at 4.1GHz. Leaked benchmarks showed the six-core chip scoring between the current four-core i7-8650U chip for laptops, and the six-core i7-8700 CPU for desktops. 

Also listed in the specifications is the term “Max-Q” regarding Nvidia’s GTX 1070 discrete graphics processor. Typically, high-performance discrete GPUs reside in bulky laptops sporting dual-fan designs. But last year Nvidia introduced low-power variants of its GTX 10 Series GPUs for the best performance in laptops measuring just 0.70 inches thin without the need for bulky blowers, hence the Max-Q label. 

Meanwhile, Nvidia’s “normal” high-performance GPUs for mobile are still installed in larger laptops. These chips typically outperform its Max-Q siblings because they are allowed to consume more power, hence the higher heat and bulky fan requirement. The Max-Q variants are supposedly only 10 percent slower in performance although some tests have shown up to 14 percent. Still, with Nvidia’s Max-Q design, you’re getting gaming-grade performance in a form factor measuring just under three-fourths of an inch thick. 

“It’s simply incredible that the thin and light EVO15-S laptop is less than one inch thick with a six-Core Intel Core i7-8750H processor inside of it!” Kevin Wasielewski, Origin PC CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “Combined with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q desktop-class graphics, our latest thin and light custom notebooks take gaming, content creation and streaming higher than ever before.” 

As the specifications show, the laptops can support up to two storage devices: One stick-shaped SSD and one 2.5-inch drive. The ideal configuration would be to have the primary SSD play host to the operating system and games that require every ounce of hardware performance. The secondary drive would serve as your local storage for movies, music, and other files along with your less-demanding games. 

Finally, the laptops ship with free lifetime 24/7 technical support and free lifetime labor for any future upgrades or service. You can configure the laptops now for a starting price of $1,733.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Lenovo’s updated ThinkPads include T480s with Nvidia MX150, affordable X-Series
• Dell rebrands Inspiron gaming laptops to G Series, serves up four new models
• Dell’s refreshed Latitude laptops get to work with 8th-gen Intel Core, 4G LTE
• Dell’s latest Inspiron notebook packs in AMD’s Ryzen APU with Vega graphics
• Intel’s Radeon-backed ‘Hades Canyon’ mini PC runs games at 1080p, Ultra graphics

The Vive Pro proves that HTC and Oculus need each other for VR to succeed

The Vive Pro has a lot riding on its tiny shoulders. Or strap, or whichever part of it is the shoulders. Anyway, it’s important for a couple reasons, not least of which because it’s the first second-generation virtual reality headset to hit the market. If the original Vive and the Oculus Rift were the proof of concept for modern VR, then the Vive Pro and upcoming Oculus headsets will be the foundation for the future. The thing is, with each passing month, Oculus and HTC have less and less become direct competitors. To make the VR revolution a reality and not just a passing fad, they need each other.

First, let’s talk about the Vive Pro. As we mentioned in our review, it’s a unique product for a unique market. It’s not really for most people, and that’s by design. It’s a high-end gadget that fills the same kind of niche that those giant TVs at Best Buy fill. You know the ones, the massive 4K HDR TVs that take up a whole wall with price tags north of a couple thousand bucks?

Think of the Vive Pro like that. It’s expensive, it requires a very powerful gaming PC (and a whole room set aside for VR) but it’s currently the best VR headset on the market. HTC, with its expensive accessories and hardware caters to the VR audience by promising unbelievable detail and high-fidelity graphics. Oculus is doing something entirely different, but no less important.

The Oculus Go and Santa Cruz headsets are not going to be competing with the Vive Pro. They’re not built for delivering the sharpest, richest, most detailed, high-def VR experience money can buy. They’re built to put VR into as many hands as possible, and not just OK VR like the Samsung Gear VR.

The Oculus Go, for instance, is a stand-alone device not unlike the Google Daydream or Gear VR, but by all accounts, it delivers a surprisingly robust VR experience. Using clever software tricks to dynamically change the resolution and detail so only objects you’re looking at are fully rendered, it can offer high-quality visuals without requiring any external graphical horsepower. It doesn’t require you tuck a phone into it, or plug it into a powerful gaming PC, it just works on its own, and it will hit the market at about $200. That us the important part.

The Oculus lineup will serve as the entry point to VR that the market needs. These technologies are hard to fully describe without the benefit of first-hand knowledge, and the Oculus Go will provide that. So, if that’s true, where does the Vive Pro come in? Right where it is, at the top-end. The Oculus Go is the entry point, it’s a game console. The Vive Pro on the other hand, it’s the big powerful — finicky and not always elegant — LED-bedazzled gaming PC.

In the long run, that’s a very good thing because if VR is going to survive and thrive, it’s going to need both.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Displaylink is ready to make wireless virtual reality setups, well, a reality
• HTC Vive Pro hands-on review
• Oculus Rift re-enters virtual space after bad software caused a global blackout
• Is the HTC Vive Pro too expensive, or the right price for the right hardware?
• Oculus Go and Santa Cruz will have a 72Hz mode for smoother mobile VR

Mozilla announces Firefox Reality, a browser for augmented and virtual reality

Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox web browser, has been invested in augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality, and virtual reality (VR) for some time now. Starting with Firefox 5.5, for example, Mozilla has officially supported WebVR, a growing standard that lets anyone experience VR with just a VR headset and a compatible browser. Now, Mozilla is expanding its involvement with a new browser that’s designed specifically for mixed reality and VR.

Dubbed Firefox Reality, the new browser is aimed directly at stand-alone AR (mixed reality) and VR headsets. According to Mozilla, the purpose of Firefox Reality is to extend support for mixed reality and VR beyond the smartphones, tablets, and PCs that currently drive the technology, and to make it more accessible as the web continues to grow and advance. The browser expands on Mozilla’s past work on supporting both WebVR and A-Frame, the web framework for building out AR and VR solutions on Vive, Rift, Daydream, GearVR, and desktop.

WebVR is a cross-platform standard for making VR available within any browser, and it works with WebGL to create powerful and efficient 3D experiences. Firefox’s support for WebVR positioned it as another viable VR publishing platform, and now Firefox Reality will catapult the availability of WebVR on stand-alone headsets.

In touting the new browser, Mozilla clearly sees some advantages. First, Firefox Reality will be the first cross-platform browser that’s specifically designed for mixed reality, and it will thus avoid the pitfalls of other closed, platform-specific mixed reality browsing solutions. Second, Firefox Reality will benefit from the speed advantages of Firefox Quantum. And third, Firefox Reality will leverage Mozilla’s commitment to privacy, which the organization concedes is not yet formalized in the mixed reality and VR mediums.

Clearly, Mozilla has work to do in getting Firefox Reality to the market, and the browser’s availability has not yet been established. The company will be providing more information on Twitter, including updates on availability on headsets. In the meantime, interested parties can visit Mozilla’s Mixed Reality Blog for more details and for a demo of Firefox Reality running on the HTC Vice Focus stand-alone VR headset.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Escape reality with the best augmented reality apps for Android and iOS
• Asus joins the Windows Mixed Reality party with its own official headset
• Virtual reality roller coaster ‘The Great Lego Race’ opens in Florida
• The 3DRudder makes your virtual reality experience a bit more hands-off
• Dip your toe into virtual reality with the best VR headset for the iPhone

Lightroom’s overhauled camera profiles make your RAW photos pop

Adobe is making it easier for photographers to get a consistent look by unburying and expanding a lesser known tool inside its RAW image processor: Camera Profiles. On Tuesday, April 3, Adobe launched updates to Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom CC, and Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) that replace the nearly 10-year-old Adobe Standard profile, add additional creative profiles, and put the feature front-and-center.

Before it can be displayed on your computer screen, a RAW file first needs to be rendered, converting the raw data into pixel information. Profiles dictate just how that conversion occurs, interpreting colors and lighting in the rendering process.

Unlike a Lightroom preset, applying a camera profile leaves all of the adjustment sliders untouched. It’s the initial step in the editing process, but a good profile is sometimes all an image needs. Camera manufacturers all have their own profiles to achieve specific looks, while Adobe-developed profiles are designed instead to create consistent looks across the multiple cameras supported by Lightroom and Camera RAW.

Camera profiles can be incredibly powerful, yet are a lesser-known tool inside Lightroom, something Adobe wants to change. In the previous version of Lightroom Classic, Adobe buried the profile options in the very last section of the Develop panel. Now, camera profiles are migrating up to the first panel, the Basic panel, in Lightroom Classic and inside Adobe Camera RAW. Lightroom CC didn’t previously have adjustable profiles and only used Adobe Standard by default, but the option is now similarly located at the top of the edit panel — an addition that Lightroom CC users have been asking for since the program’s release.

Adobe isn’t just making profiles easier to find, however. With Adobe Standard going on 10 years old, the company is rolling out a brand new default profile: Adobe Color. The new profile adds more contrast to RAW images from the start, and Adobe says warm tone rendering and color transitions are improved. Adobe Color will be automatically applied to all images uploaded after this update, but previous uploads won’t be impacted by the change — which is a good thing, as changing a profile on images you’ve already edited to your liking would simply negate all of your hard work.

While Adobe Color is designed to work on a majority of images, the company is also launching five other options for a range of different starting points. Adobe Monochrome is a new profile for black-and-white photos with more contrast than simply converting an Adobe Standard image. Adobe Portrait is designed for more control over skin tones, while Adobe Landscape plays up the greens and blues. Adobe Neutral offers a low contrast starting point, while Adobe Vivid is more saturated than Adobe Color.

Camera profiles aren’t limited to just those from Adobe or your camera’s manufacturer. The update also comes with new creative profiles in four new categories: artistic, black and white, modern, and vintage, all of which have adjustable intensity.

Many third-party profiles are already available from photographers and companies who have been producing Lightroom presets. Brian Matiash, Contrastly, DVLOP, Kevin Kubota, Matt Kloskowski, Nicolesy, and RNI all have new profiles available today.

Adobe also added a handful of smaller updates to both versions of Lightroom. Lightroom Classic users can now find the Dehaze tool inside the basic panel, along with a larger version of the tone curve tool. The desktop version of Lightroom CC gains network storage device support and a new option to filtering photos by sync status.

Adobe

On mobile devices, Lightroom for iOS gains a geometry tab with tools to straighten a crooked shot and correct perspective distortion.  Adobe also added layout optimization for iPhone X users and a left-handed mode on the iPad.

For Android and ChromeOS users, Lightroom CC’s mobile app gains a section for sharpening and noise reduction as well as a tool for adding noise. All three mobile versions also include enhanced Lightroom CC Web sharing and support for the latest cameras.

The updates are available across the Lightroom family today.

Editors’ Recommendations

• If Lightroom is still slow for you, Adobe promises help is on the way
• What’s the difference between Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic?
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Kickstarter: Gnarbox 2.0 offers automated media backups without a smartphone

The original Gnarbox launched with the simple idea of backing up media on location without the need for a laptop. The company has now officially announced a crowdfunding campaign for the Gnarbox 2.0, which takes the computer-free backup philosophy one step further: It doesn’t even require a smartphone. The Gnarbox 2.0 uses a LCD display for one-touch backups, while a new suite of mobile apps improve workflows. The crowd-funding campaign launched today, April 3, and was fully funded within five hours.

Still rugged, but faster hardware

With Gnarbox 2.0, insert an SD card or connect a camera directly via USB and a single touch of the right arrow button will start an automatic backup. Indicator lights will display the transfer status and the screen will confirm that all files were successfully backed up.

Besides cutting through workflow clutter, the Gnarbox 2.0 includes updated hardware for faster performance, with 4 gigabytes of RAM (2GB on some models), a quad-core Intel 2.4 GHz CPU, and a quad-core Intel HD Graphics GPU. Memory card backups are as fast as 100 megabytes per second (MBps), while the USB-C connection offers speeds up to 500MBps. Files can also be viewed on an esxternal monitor thanks to the micro HDMI port. Four storage options will be offered, at 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities.

Like the predecessor, the Gnarbox 2.0 retains the rugged exterior that makes it submersible for up to 30 minutes in 1 meter of water. The removable litium-ion battery provides up to 4 hours of use.

Gnarbox 2.0 is an app family

The Gnarbox app is now four individual apps, designed to streamline workflows for photographers and videographers and improve integration with other platforms.

The Safekeep app allows users to create custom settings for automatically organizing media captured via one-touch backup. Options include sorting by camera, date, or file type, with files trees displayed on the Gnarbox screen. Safekeep can also integrate with Dropbox, automatically backing up the files to the cloud service once an internet connection is available.

The Selects app is designed for culling photos in the field, with a star system. The app will save any starred or flagged data inside the image’s EXIF file, so when those files are uploaded to a computer program, all of the selects made in the app will sync to programs like Adobe Lightroom and Photo Mechanic. The app even offers some basic color correction tools.

For videographers, the Sequence app lets users trim clips, assemble a rough timeline, and even add color corrections. The timeline can then be rendered to an Apple ProRes file for streamlined import to a desktop video editor, like Final Cut Pro.

Finally, Showcase is the app that allows the Gnarbox to display media on other devices. Along with viewing full resolution files on a mobile device, the Gnarbox’s new HDMI port can stream photos and videos to a TV or field monitor without having to move the files off the backup drive first.

All of the new apps will also be available for owners of the first-generation Gnarbox.

Like the original Gnarbox, the company is turning to crowdfunding to get the second generation into stores. The Kickstarter campaign is aiming for $75,000 in funding, much lower than the $500,000-plus raised in the original campaign. If Gnarbox 2.0 is successful, early backers could get a discounted price along with an extra battery, custom wall plug, and USB-C cable. The company aims to begin shipping to backers in December, and final retail pricing will range from $399 for the 128GB version to $999 for the 1TB version.

Gnarbox is an established company with successful crowdfunding experience, but as always, contributing to crowdfunding project involves risk and does not guarantee you will receive the product.

Editors’ Recommendations

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