This Blackbird adjustable rig can morph into any car for film shoots

Ever see a car commercial with a small caption that warns something along the lines of “model shown may not match your vehicle exactly”? Well, thanks to the Blackbird, that might no longer be a thing.

We all know that getting cars for a movie production can be expensive. As for car commercials: they often features cars that haven’t yet been manufactured, so the car’s final details might not be finalised in time for the shoot (hence all those captions that warn about models shown being different than the actual products). On top of all that… paparazzi sometimes hunt out shoots to spot the final look of specific, hot cars.

Filming cars is therefore not only pricey, but also hectic and sometimes impossible. But a Visual Effect company called The Mill has developed a stand-in car that’ll change all that. It’s called Blackbird, and it can be used in both commercials and films. It’s a fully adjustable rig, meaning the chassis can match the length and width of almost any car. Then, using CGI, it can be edited to look like any car.

The Mills

Producers no longer need a physical vehicle for a shoot. They no longer need the finances for an exotic, high-performing car. They no longer have to shoot models that won’t match the final product their trying to sell. They no longer have to worry about paps leaking photos of a yet-to-be-released vehicles. Blackbird is a do-it-all-rig that eliminates all that hassle. It even has onboard 360-degree cameras.

Those cameras can be used to generate reflections and shadows when the real car body added in post production. Speaking of post production stuff, The Mill even created a bespoke AR application that allows producers to see the CGI vehicle on top of the rig in real time.

The Mill said its Blackbird rig took two years to build. Also, it was hand-built in the same hanger as the Blackbird SR-71 supersonic jet by technicians from JemFX.

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Russia set to pass bill requiring ISPs to eavesdrop on customer data

Most of the Russian government’s attempts to wrangle the internet sound like humorous tirades — for example, banning Wikipedia for an article on cannabis. But when they command Twitter and Facebook to store Russian users’ data inside the country, we’re reminded how much they want to keep tabs on their citizens and control their discourse. Yesterday, lawmakers took the first step in passing a measure into law that would require internet providers to give the government access to customer data.
Under the guise of “anti-terrorism”, the bill requires ISPs to store actual customer communications for up to six months, which state officials can requisition. They also have to keep metadata for a year, while telecoms have to keep it for three years. Both must provide backdoor access to encrypted messages, like those exchanged using WhatsApp and Telegram, to the FSB, the security agency that succeeded the KGB.

But the measure also included stricter controls for social media speech, increasing the prison time for incitement to terrorism to seven years. Most alarming is a brand new charge: Not informing authorities about a crime or terrorism is now itself a criminal offense that carries a sentence of up to a year in prison.

Yesterday’s vote on the bill only passed in the lower body of representatives, the Duma, with 277 for, 148 against and one abstaining. Now it goes to Russia’s Federal Council and the Kremlin, where it’s expected to sail into law, says The Daily Dot. If so, we could see it come into effect in three years. The debate to require encryption backdoors rages on in America, but we may see its effects on Russian civilians and companies before US legislators vote one way or another.

Source: The Daily Dot

Nevada gives its first license to a daily fantasy sports game

Nevada’s gaming board shut down daily fantasy games from DraftKings and FanDuel late last year for fairly obvious reasons: they’re gambling, and they need a license to operate in the state. Now for the first time, the board has issued a license to a daily fantasy operator called USFantasy. Unsurprisingly, the Vegas-approved fantasy game is planning to operate through the race and sports books of casinos, and won’t look much like other daily fantasy sports games.

Instead of a “salary cap” limited team, the games players choose athletes at a particular position and bet where they’ll rank at the position. Called a pari-mutuel system, it’s a lot more like horse racing than fantasy sports. In an interview with ESPN, president Vic Salerno said that for players “it feels like 80 to 90 percent will get some money back.” That’s different from current daily fantasy games, where much of the winnings go to a relatively small group of elite players.

The company claims it’s the first DFS license granted by any regulatory body in the US, and the big question is if others will follow. USFantasy appears to embrace its status as a form of gambling, and a game that’s not exactly the same as what we’ve seen before. On the other hand, the existing crop of games that have spun out from older rotisserie-style fantasy leagues insist they are games of skill, and won’t be so accepting of tight regulation.

Source: PRNewswire, Nevada Gaming Board

Best SD cards for your Chromebook

Expanding your Chromebook’s storage.

If you want to expand your Chromebook’s storage, you can use an SD or microSD card and boom, you’ve got more space.

Whether you use a full-size SD card, a microSD card, or a half-height SD card depends on your particular model of Chromebook.

• Full-size SD cards
• MicroSD cards
• Half-height SD cards

Full-size SD cards

Full-size SD cards are the largest SD cards in terms of physical size. Whether or not your Chromebook will fit a full-size SD card depends on the model and manufacturer.

Even then, a full-sized SD card may stick out of the SD card slot on your Chromebook and if this is the case, we don’t recommend that you use a full-sized SD card in your Chromebook all the time, since it could catch on something. Instead, insert it when you need to transfer files over or access files you’ve stored on it previously, then remove it again.

SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB SDXC

The highly-rated SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card is fast and has a large capacity, so it makes a good choice to expand the storage of your Chromebook.

It has data transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s, so you can transfer those Blu-ray movies you’ve got sitting on your Chromebook’s hard drive without a problem. Even games with gigabytes of data can be moved over with ease.

Additionally, this card features write protection, which prevents you from accidentally erasing or overwriting your important files. No more worrying about accidentally erasing those old family pictures.

If you’re looking for a fast, reliable SD card, this may be the one for you.

See at Amazon

Transcend 128GB SDXC

If you don’t want to spend close to $300 on an SD card, the Transcend 128GB SD card is bargain-priced and gives you close-to-premium performance.

While not the fastest SD card out there, you get a read/write speed of up to 30MB/s, and this card still has a decent capacity for storing your files.

If you want to save money but still want an SD card that performs well, this one is a great option.

See at Amazon

MicroSD cards

MicroSD cards are much smaller in physical size than their larger SD card cousins — about as large as a fingernail whereas SD cards are about the size of a postage stamp.

Their smaller size doesn’t mean that they have smaller capacities than their larger brethren, however; they simply have a smaller form factor, and that means they’re typically used in smaller devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

For the most part, if your Chromebook can fit an SD card, it’ll take a microSD card. You’d just need an adapter, such as the Raspberry PI Shortening MicroSD Adapter.

SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSDXC

The SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSD card is about as fast as they come, and with a 200GB capacity, it provides a lot of space for your files.

Transferring large files won’t be a problem with its 90MB/s transfer rate and with all of that space available, it can hold up to 20 hours of HD video. That’s right, 20 hours.

If you’re looking for an expandable storage option for your Chromebook that’s fast and has a large capacity, check out the SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSD card.

See at Amazon

Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC

Slightly slower than the SanDisk Ultra microSD card, Samsung’s EVO Plus 128GB is still fast enough for most uses and is correspondingly cheaper too.

While it doesn’t have as large a capacity as the SanDisk Ultra 200GB, the Samsung EVO Plus may have enough to suit your needs if you are looking for a bargain. Though it’s a little slower, you won’t notice much of a difference when transferring files or media.

If you want a fast microSD card, but you want to save a buck, choose this one.

See at Amazon

Half-height SD cards

Half-height SD cards, as the name implies, are SD cards that have a shorter form factor. They’re a great alternative if regular-height SD cards protrude from your Chromebook’s SD card slot and microSD cards aren’t compatible.

Transcend JetDrive Lite 330

The Transcend JetDrive Lite 330 comes in three capacities: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.

With a maximum read speed of up to 95MB/s and write speeds of up to 60MB/s, this half-height SD card is fast enough for downloading large files, and with its three capacity options, you can choose just the amount you need (and the price, too).

If you don’t want to or can’t use a microSD card, the Transcend JetDrive may be the card for you.

See at Amazon

We’ve told you which SD cards we prefer, but what about you? Let us know in the comments below!

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• Acer Chromebook 14 review
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Save $110 on the 16GB Moto X Pure Edition

Right now you can score the 16GB Moto X Pure Edition for just $239 at Amazon, which is $110 lower than its normal price. Being an unlocked phone you’ll be able to pop in a SIM card from any GSM carrier and begin using it right away. The Moto X Pure Edition features a 5.7-inch display, runs Marshmallow and much more.

If you are in need of more storage, you can also grab the 32GB model for $349 or jump up to the 64GB for $319 (if you can wait about two weeks to get it). If interested, be sure to get your order in quick as we don’t know how long these prices will last.

See at Amazon

Is this what Android N’s redesigned navigation keys will look like?

Google will apparently switch up the look of Android’s navigation keys, with the release of Android N later this summer, according to a new report that can’t share its primary source.

When you look at your Android device, you’ll notice software keys that work as navigation buttons. Those keys resemble a triangle, a circle, and a square. The last time they were aesthetically improved was with Android Lollipop, but now, Google is reportedly planning a new redesign for them. Android Police has published a recreated image of what the new keys in Android N might look like.

As you can see from the recreated image, which is available below, the new keys will have colours. The multi-coloured home button will even animate when long-pressed, causing the colours to expand in their “corresponding directions until they all file out horizontally”, Android Police has claimed. All the keys are also opaque. We can expect this new look to initially arrive for the next Nexus devices.

Android Police

Google’s Nexus devices are flagship phones that run the latest version of Android, but it’s not yet clear if all devices running Android N will get the new look for navigation keys. Android Police didn’t cite a source and couldn’t confirm whether the new keys will ever see the light of day. If they are exclusive to the latest Nexus devices, however, Google will essentially be giving those devices unique software features.

And with unique features, the next Nexus phones – rumoured to be codenamed Marlin and Sailfish – will certainly stand out from the crowd.

Samsung’s making a Galaxy S7 Olympic Edition – see leaked pic

There it is – in all its glory.

Samsung is known for making special editions of its flagship phones. It made a Batman edition of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, for instance, and in 2012, it made a limited edition of the Samsung Galaxy S III to celebrate the Olympic Games in London. It’s therefore no surprise to learn that the Korea-based company is working on another Olympic edition of its flagship device for the Olympic Games in Rio.

According to SamMobile, the device is now under development. Olympic apps are also being developed, along with some Olympic VR content. To corroborate this report, Evan Blass, a major leakster formerly known as @evleaks, posted a photo of the device. It is obviously a render, but you can still see the Olympic symbols stamped on the rear and appearing, presumably, as a restart message on the phone’s screen.

It also appears as though the phone’s buttons, cameras, and flash have been outlined with blue and yellow colours, and the speaker grille has been entirely coloured in too. But that’s all we got to go on… There is no release date yet. We should hear more from Samsung soon.

After all, the 2016 Olympics kick off 5 August.