The Engadget Podcast Ep 15: Everything But the Truth
Senior editor Devindra Hardawar and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O’Brien to dig through the week’s biggest news. First they’ll talk about two of the biggest new products on the market: the Macbook Pro and the Surface Studio. Then they’ll try to figure out what posses a Ubisoft employee to hide a rather graphic image of a vagina in Watch Dogs 2. Lastly the panel will talk about the growing problem of fake news on the internet and what giants like Facebook can do to combat it.
Wins
Loses
Winning %
Christopher Trout
5
1
.833
Mona Lalwani
3
1
.750
Dana Wollman
10
6
.625
Devindra Hardawar
12
10
.545
Chris Velazco
3
3
.500
Cherlynn Low
7
9
.437
Nathan Ingraham
4
6
.400
Michael Gorman
1
5
.167
Relevant links:
- MacBook Pro review (2016): A step forward and a step back
- Sony suspends player who found a sex organ in ‘Watch Dogs 2’
- Microsoft’s Surface Studio proves desktops can still be cool
- Google is restricting AdSense ads on fake-news sites
- Google search for ‘final election numbers’ offers up fake news
- Facebook will also cut off fake news sites from ad money
- Facebook didn’t stop fake news because it’s afraid of conservatives
- Mark Zuckerberg: over 99 percent of Facebook content is authentic
- Facebook employees are unofficially trying to defeat fake news
- False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
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Google Live cases show trending topics on your Pixels’ screens
Google has launched two new Live case lines for its Pixel phones that come with their own live wallpapers, and one of them’s a lot more relaxing than the other. The Google Earth Live cases feature beaches, ice formations and other beautiful photos of our planet taken from the company’s satellite imagery. While each case matches a specific Google Earth photo, their live wallpaper changes everyday using a rotation of curated images from the program. You’ll also find a shortcut button on the home screen that you can tap to explore the specific location currently shown on your screen.
The Google Trends Live case’s wallpaper, on the other hand, might not always be as enjoyable to look at. Instead of satellite imagery, it displays the top trending Google Searches… which aren’t always pleasant. If reading current events, no matter how unsavory, doesn’t negatively affect you, you can double tap the screen to bring up more trending topics or tap on the wallpaper’s button to load the Search results for each particular topic.
Both Live case lines are now available in the US. You can get them from Best Buy and Verizon or directly from Google’s online store.
Source: Google
Google Play Newsstand now shows stories based on your interests
If you’re a heavy user of Google’s news reader, get ready to bear with some big changes: today, the company gave Newsstand a complete overhaul. The updated app takes a step back from the categorically organized feed the app is known for to focus on creating an experience specifically tailored to the interests of the user. The idea is to create a more personal experience that factors in local news, personal interests and the day’s major headlines.
Each story is accompanied by a footer explaining why it was shared with the user — calling out topics you’ve shown interest in that caused this story to appear in your feed. It’s a more curated system, but in a way it limits the options immediately available at the app’s launch. The news categories that once headlined the app’s main page have been moved to the ‘library’ section, where they co-exist among links to specific sources like CNN or The New York Times. The experience also looks wildly different than before, discarding most of Google’s material design standard in favor of new design that puts the focus on full-bleed photos and video presentation.
Google has also created an all-new web app for Newsstand, offering all of the same curated news features in a larger scale. For the most part, this works great, save for the fact that stories read in a web-browser are still formatted for a smartphone screen, and open in an appropriately small window. It’s not an unworkable problem, but it’s a little odd. Check it out for yourself at the source link below.
Source: Google, Google Newsstand
Full Fact wants to automate fact checking to fight fake news
“If we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems.” That’s President Obama speaking to the threat of outright fake and inaccurate news. In an effort to combat this, and ensure that people are well-informed, UK charity Full Fact is trying to make fact checking fully automated. So far it’s working on UK-focused stuff like what members of Parliament say during addresses, and claims made by trade groups in addition to print, online and broadcast media organizations, according to TechCrunch. But in the future, it plans to cross the Atlantic.
Full Fact staffers will keep checking a claim even after their initial report publishes, too, will address corrections and retractions from sources as well. The human touch is key, because sometimes analyzing what’s available requires context and judgment, according to project director Will Moy.
“Some types of claims can be handled as easily as spellcheck, including claims that were fact checked by human beings before,” he told TechCrunch. “But some claims will always require human judgment, for example, about what’s a fair and balanced way of expressing things, or what methods of analysis should be applied to answer a question about crime.”
The primary aim is giving journalists the tools needed to see if a statement made on out of date statistics, or patently wrong, but Full Fact wants its tools to help inform the people who read news in addition to writing it as well. The current plan is for mobile and web apps, and to help get there, Google’s Digital News Initiative (GDNI) has contributed some EURO 50,000 ($53,113) to help make that happen. Full Fact says that to guard against conflicts of interest, it’s limiting a single entity from donating more than 15 percent of its total funding.
From GDNI’s donation overview:
“FACTS will be the first fully automated factchecking tool: our original technology will recognise claims in political debates and online media and immediately alert journalists if they are inaccurate. FACTS will give journalists the killer question the moment they need it. It will save time, when journalists have never had less.
It will help stop misinformation spreading through the news. It will help journalism maintain the credibility that audiences demand. Our tool has two modes. One identifies claims we have factchecked before and provides a verdict.
The most innovative mode factchecks claims automatically using statistical analysis—something never done before.”
Source: Google Digital News Initiative, TechCrunch
Google goes after Pixel resellers by locking their accounts
Google has taken severe measures against Pixel buyers who violated its terms of service. Around 200 people purchased the phones via Project Fi and shipped them directly to a reseller in sales tax-free state New Hampshire, according to bargain-hunting site Dan’s Deals. The phones were then resold to others, and the small profit split with the buyers. However, Google’s terms dictate that buyers may not “commercially resell” any device and it locked their accounts, denying access to photos, emails and other personal data.
The dealer in question has been doing similar transactions since the original Nexus phone without any blowback from Google, according to Dan Eleff, the owner of Dan’s Deals. This time, however, Mountain View effectively gave users a “digital death penalty,” by issuing a straight-up ban with zero warning, he says. “I’m not defending those who violated the terms of the sale, but I do think it is heavy-handed for Google to block access to all of their services for doing so.”
Many users on Dan’s Deals’ forums weren’t very sympathetic to buyers, arguing that Google was within its rights to ban them. However, the move might put a chill down Google users’ spines when they realize how easily they could be cut off from their data. As Eleff points out, buyers could lose access to things like “gift cards, bills, travel confirmations and work documents,” throwing their lives into disarray.
I’m not defending those who violated the terms of the sale, but I do think it is heavy-handed for Google to block access to all of their services for doing so.
Other companies, including Amazon and Ubisoft have also banned users (for returning too many items and exploiting shoddy code), but most aren’t as big a part of people’s lives as Google. Mountain View has reportedly cancelled around 500 orders, but as yet, hasn’t restored the functionality of any users’ accounts. The dealer in question (who hasn’t been named) says he’s willing to return all the phones if Google agrees to give buyers their data back.
The lesson here, says Eleff, is “don’t mess with Google,” but another teaching moment might be about backups. As many forum users point out, you can use Google’s Takeout service to get a local backup of all your data, in case, God forbid, it shuts the door on you. We’ve reached out to Google for more information about the matter.
Via: The Guardian
Source: Dan’s Deals
Huawei’s MediaPad M3 is out now for $299
After launching in Europe this September, Huawei’s high-end Android tablet has finally made its way stateside. Available now to order on Amazon, the 8.4-inch MediaPad M3 ships on November 20th. Although Europe got 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions, complete with 4G and WiFi options, only the 32GB WiFi model has made it over to the US, priced at $299.
Announced at this year’s IFA, the MediaPad M3 is a tablet with an unsurprising focus on media. Huawei is aiming to court those who love watching movies on the go with the M3, as it boasts a 2,560 x 1,600 display, high resolution audio support, Harmon Kardon-certified speakers and a generous 5,100mAh battery. Additionally, Huawei says its 10.1-inch MediaPad M2, another tablet already available in Europe, will join the M3 in the US next month.
Source: Amazon
ICYMI: Virtually globetrot in Google Earth
Today on In Case You Missed It: Google Earth just released an update that supports virtual reality, letting users teleport all around the globe, easily. So far it’s free in Steam so anyone with an HTC Vive: Get going. Meanwhile Urban Aeronautics took its first pre-routed flight with a autonomous flying machine meant to be the air taxi first foretold in The Fifth Element.
The ‘ticking a GoPro on things’ video from Sam and Niko is here, ‘Quick, Draw!’ is here (and God have mercy on your self-esteem if you ever play it). As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
The Morning After: Thursday, November 17, 2016
We put the 4K-ready Chromecast to the test, saw increasingly less snow around the US, and gawp at the first hybrid Mini — as well as a whole bunch of new cars coming out of the LA Auto Show. There’s also the discovery of a “Watch Dogs 2” character that has fully rendered sex organs for no apparent reason whatsoever. Not just another Thursday.
Better video quality comes at a costReview: Chromecast Ultra
Yes, the Chromecast Ultra does exactly what it promises to do: reliably stream 4K HDR video to compatible TVs. But the (marginal) increase in quality, alongside a lack of 4K content, means the device is hardly a must-buy.
Well, it wasn’t the players’ faultGamer discovers female characters with fully rendered private parts in “Watch Dogs 2,” gets banned
“Watch Dogs 2” tried to keep things as realistic as it could when it tried to offer a hackable gaming world, but it took next to no advanced hacker skillz for one player to discover that at least one of the female character models in the game has a fully rendered vagina. Why? Ubisoft hasn’t said, but revealing the hidden creepy detail was enough to get NeoGAF forum member Goron2000 banned from the Sony Entertainment Network (including PSN). Fortunately, his account was later reinstated.
May contain traces of “courage”The new MacBook Pro (and the Touch Bar) gets the teardown treatment
An iFixit teardown of the 13-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pro reveals that there are even fewer replaceable parts than before. Its solid-state drive is embedded on the motherboard (even the non–Touch Bar model has a removable card), so whatever capacity you choose is what you’ll have for the life of the system. And that Touch Bar, as you might guess, isn’t exactly easy to replace.
All-wheel drive is split between gas and electric enginesThis is Mini’s first hybrid vehicle
Mini unveiled its hybrid all-wheel-drive Countryman S E at the LA Auto Show today. What’s intriguing is that, while it’s an AWD vehicle, the front wheels are powered by the gas engine while the rear ones are connected to an electric motor. The hybrid’s electric system is based on the platform used by parent company BMW’s all-electric eDrive system that powers the i3 and i8 vehicles. That pedigree will extend to an all-electric Mini that will launch in urban areas in 2019.
Studying is hard — even for artificial intelligenceJapanese AI fails to make the grade for Tokyo’s top university
A team of scientists from the National Institute of Informatics in Japan have given up on attempting to make their AI smart enough to get into the University of Tokyo. What exactly held it back? Team member Noriko Arai said AIs just aren’t “good at answering a type of question that requires the ability to grasp meaning in a broad spectrum.”
Google Earth is now available in VRThe entire planet, inside your VR headset
Google’s virtual Earth is now available in virtual reality. For the first time, users can walk through real city streets, fly through canyons and teleport to anywhere in the world. Earth VR covers the entire 196.9 million square miles of the planet, but for now you’ll need HTC’s Vive headset to explore. Google Earth VR will be coming to even more platforms (and presumably Google’s own Daydream VR) sometime next year.
But wait, there’s more…
- Tesla cars will get even quicker through a software update
- “White” Twitter bots can help curb racism
- US snow cover hits an all-time low for November
- Maven offers free birth control prescriptions via digital doctors
Google and India’s government will launch a toilet finder
Google has teamed up with India’s Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to develop a toilet locator tool within Maps. The country has a pretty infamous toilet problem, with around 70 percent of households not having access to their own. According to Public Radio International, 60 percent of the 1.2 billion people in the nation still defecate and urinate in the open, leading to serious sanitation issues. Google and MoUD aim to tackle that dilemma by giving people the power to search for toilets within Maps by typing relevant words in English or in their native language, like “toilet,” “lavatory,” “swachhata” and “shulabh.” Maps will then show available toilets in the same way it shows hotels, restaurants and other establishments.
A MoUD official told International Business Times that they’re relying on people to let other users know of a particular location’s condition. “The system being put in place relies heavily on crowdsourcing, with people’s feedback helping fuel it,” he said. If a toilet isn’t clean or if it’s already closed, “he or she can give it a bad review or rating.” The tool will be available in Delhi before November ends and will show not just public toilets, but also those in malls, gas stations, hospitals and other places anyone can go to. MoUD wants to expand the program to cover other urban areas, but that could take a while: the ministry doesn’t have a concrete plan or timeline yet.
Via: The Verge
Source: International Business Times
Chrome has at least two new extensions built to fight fake news
After serious anxieties that fake news proliferated on social media unchecked during the election cycle, internet titans have stepped up, with Google and Facebook both blocking ad money from going to hoax story sites. But to protect the people, individuals have released two Chrome extensions this week that warn users that they’re visiting sites known to peddle fake news.
The first, “B.S. Detector,” came out on Tuesday and flags articles from questionable sources while users browse Facebook. Creator Daniel Sieradski wrote on Product Hunt that he built the rough story scanner in an hour after reading Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg comment that it was difficult to identify fake news. The second extension, Fake News Alert, was created by New York magazine journalist Brian Feldman and was released today. It shows a pop-up or banner alerting users when they’re visiting a site that the extension has logged as a source of hoax stories.
Of course, both of these rely on the user to proactively install the extension and only flags known offenders from a finite list. Like antivirus software, new sites could pop up that aren’t in either tool’s database. And even if the most these extensions do is alert users to the prevalence of fake content on Facebook and in their Google searches, at least it might shock people into more vigilant habits.
Neither extension is complex enough to deduce the authenticity of individual stories, or articles from outside their databases. But they’re user-built solutions to problems that the internet giants have barely addressed. That kind of communal responsibility is growing: Days ago, anonymous employees within Facebook formed an unofficial committee to investigate what the social network can do to battle fake news.
Via: Mashable
Source: New York magazine
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