Google’s most successful social network is going away
So long, Map Maker.
No, Google isn’t shutting down Google+ (unfortunately). Instead, the company has announced that Map Maker, its standalone tool for editing, updating, and peer-reviewing maps around the world, will be fully integrated into Google Maps by March, 2017.
The impetus for the change is fairly straightforward: the company wants to reduce the overhead necessary for keeping a separate product alive as it becomes more integrated into Maps proper. From Google:
This update will enable us to focus on providing the best editing and moderation experience within Google Maps on both desktop and on mobile. We’ll continue to roll out new features to make sure you’re able to do most of the things you’ve grown accustomed to doing in Map Maker – like edit roads – leading up to March 2017 and after.
Starting today, edits made on Google Maps will no longer be available for moderation on Map Maker. This will allow us to streamline our efforts, speeding up the time for an edit to get published. We will continue posting updates here on the Map Maker Help Forum and on LocalGuidesConnect.com as we bring more features into Google Maps.
Many people don’t know much about Google Map Maker, especially that it is one of the company’s most popular social networks of a sort, with thousands of people actively updating and editing cartographical information on a daily basis. But you may remember this particular story, of a location near Rawalpindi, Pakistan vandalized with an Android urinating on an Apple logo, forcing Google to shut down Map Maker for a short time while it revamped its permissions.
With great power comes great responsibility.
Apple now directly sells refurbished unlocked iPhones for first time
Apple has an online refurbished store for Macs and iPads – but it’s just been updated to include the iPhone.
At a time when smartphone sales are flatlining and Apple is expected to move fewer and fewer units than ever before, the company has begun offering customers a way to buy certified, official iPhones. This is a way for you to get a relatively new iPhone at a lower cost, and you’re buying it directly from Apple. Currently, the online store only offers the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus in different colours and capacities.
Prices for an entry-level 16GB iPhone 6S start at $449, while a 16GB iPhone 6S Plus costs $529. Keep in mind a new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6 Plus costs $549 and $649, respectively, for 32GB of storage space. All refurbished models are unlocked and SIM-free. You can therefore buy one online today and begin using it with any carrier as soon as it arrives on your door step. It even comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Pocket-lint
Apple has never before sold refurbished iPhones directly. All refurbished products purchased from Apple, including the iPhone, are tested, certified, and guaranteed. They also come with a new battery and outer casing, so the refurbished models should have no cosmetic flaws.
Update: The refurbished iPhone store doesn’t appear to be live in the UK. We’re contacting Apple to see if the store is US-only at launch.
An hour with ‘Meadow,’ the most-peaceful MMO ever
Meadow, the latest game from indie developers Might and Delight, has flown under the radar. Like the Shelter games the studio is famous for, Meadow has you controlling a animal, exploring a lo-fi wilderness. Unlike Shelter, Meadow is an MMO.
Starting life in Meadow is confusing. Having read nothing about the game, I dived into the European server. I was suddenly a small badger, in a field, alone. I quickly worked out the controls available to me: walk, run, jump, smell, speak, and emote — actually many, many emotes.
After five minutes or so of bounding around and chittering to myself, I heard an almost gutteral bleating coming from… somewhere. I called out again with the whiny chitter that only a badger could make. The deep bleat drew closer. I gently made my way down a cliff face toward a pair of antlers in the distance.
I wandered, cautiously, toward the figure, unsure if it was friend or foe (or even if the game has the concept of friends and foes). A circular emote appeared above its head — a smiling deer face. I returned a similarly happy symbol, and jumped up and down with excitement. The deer then began displaying a complex series of arrows, circles and dotted lines. I retorted with a steady supply of question marks.
Perhaps growing tired of my inexperience, the deer darted off, and I set chase, bouncing around her feet every time I caught up. After a while, I realized that I wasn’t chasing her — she was taking me somewhere. The deer led me up a hillside, toward a couple of small bundles of color, which when I passed over them made a noise that suggested they were collectable items. What exactly I was collecting, I was unsure.
After a hill climb and a brief stop while I got lost, my deer companion and I met with a huge group of animals. Bunnies, badgers, frogs, deer, lynx and even a bear cub, all sporting different coats and communicating through emotes. Was this my new tribe? Without warning, the pack set off, running at pace across rolling countryside, occasionally crossing a river. The deer and lynx were leading the procession: a pair at the front and a pair at the back, shepherding the smaller animals to various landmarks.
We climbed a mountain. We traversed rivers. We met what I can only assume was another tribe, and travelled as one, giant herd, maybe 30 animals in all, across the world. Every once in a while we’d stop, and the larger animals would break a strange obelisk into colorful pieces, the younglings gratefully lapping up these apparently collectable shards.
After a while, I was informed a skin had unlocked, and I put on my new fur coat, wearing it with pride. These colorful shards, an unlabeled menu had now informed me, were indeed collectable. You break apart the obelisks by having the right animals in your tribe, and amass the pieces within to unlock skins, emotes and animals.
I spent maybe another thirty minutes with the herd, unlocking another emote (a suspicious-looking side-eye), and a new animal — a frog. Approaching another mountain, the smaller animals spotted a cave. Buzzing with nervous excitement, we tentatively wandered over, occasionally looking back to the lynx and deer for approval.
As we entered the shallow grotto, one of the lynx joined us, and lit a fire. I searched my response list for “wide-eyed with wonder,” but couldn’t find an appropriate emote to express how surprised I was by the advent of fire to this world. I instead resorted to bounding up and down, exuding that same, shrill chitter that first charmed my deer mentor.
Rather than responding, the lynx simply sprawled out next to the fire. After some consternation — I kept on wandering over the fire while trying to work out how to lay down, which didn’t hurt but was rather embarrassing — my badger followed suit. Soon, a large part of the tribe was gathered in this tiny cave. And there were several fires. And it was peaceful. And then I logged off the server, and went back to work.
‘Meadow’ is available now on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux, priced at $2.99.
Facebook wants a piece of LinkedIn’s job recruiting features
After seeing businesses and employers post ad hoc job openings on their Facebook pages, the massive social network is finally experimenting with job recruitment tools in earnest. As TechCrunch reports today, Facebook is testing out a new “Jobs” tab for business pages alongside an “Apply Now” button for applicants that will start filling out a job application with information from the user’s Facebook profile.
That Jobs tab acts as a landing page where businesses can send potential new hires and interested folks rather than directing them to a jobs page on their own website or a third-party job board. Users looking to get their foot in the door at a specific company could also subscribed to that company’s Facebook page to get notified about future openings. Businesses will also be able to pay to post their openings in the News Feed for additional reach or laser-focused targeting to reach people with the right credentials.
From the job applicant’s side, the “Apply Now” button will save users the trouble of entering resumé details and job history information, similar to how other job board sites already use Facebook Connect. On the other hand, that feature might be less appealing to users who like to keep their professional and personal lives separate on social media. When a user does apply, the application is sent in to the business in the same way as a normal Facebook message, which could get a little messy for companies that handle a large volume of customer support requests through Facebook. With nearly four times as many users as LinkedIn, Facebook offers a much larger pool of potential applicants — many of whom might not even know their next job was out there looking for them.
Source: TechCrunch
Scientists think this is where your consciousness lives
You’re reading this right now. Yes, sure, your eyes are converting incoming photons into electrical impulses which travel up the optic nerve into your visual cortex, which in turn processes that information into coherent thought. But you — the active consciousness that constitutes your personality– are reading this. And now a team of Harvard scientists think they’ve figured out how that works.
Consciousness has traditionally been defined by two criteria: arousal and awareness. Arousal has already been traced to the brainstem, the primitive part of our brains which handles our most basic functions like breathing and regulating the sleep/wake cycle. Awareness on the other hand has been a bit trickier to pin down. Turns out, however, awareness resides there too.
The Harvard study examined 36 patients with similar brainstem lesions, 12 of which were comatose. The study sought to determine why that dozen of people lost consciousness while the other 24 retained theirs. The researchers quickly zeroed in on one region: the rostral dorsolateral pontine tegmentum. Ten of the twelve comatose patients suffered damage to this area, while only one of the conscious patients did.
So yeah, this is potentially the seat of human consciousness. But it isn’t solely responsible. The Harvard researchers then examined the connectome — basically, a map of the brain’s various regional connections — of a healthy patient. The team discovered a pair of regions in the frontal cortex that connect directly to the rostral dorsolateral pontine tegmentum: one in the left, ventral, anterior insula (AI), the other in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC). A separate fMRI survey of 45 healthy patients confirmed that this neural pathway was not an aberration.
That said, don’t go trying to extract human souls a la Marsellus Wallace just yet. The study results will need to be peer reviewed and tested against a larger population sample before being accepted. Still, this is an exciting development and could lead to meaningful new treatments for people in comas.
Via: Science Alert
Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Roland’s System-8 keyboard is all the synths you want in one case
There’s a reason professional keyboards and synths are filled with dials, buttons and levers. When a musician is getting ready for the next song, it’s quicker to turn a knob then sift through multiple sub-menus via the onboard computer. Roland’s System-8 synth has such a display, but nearly everything you need is at your fingertips, and that’s great.
The System-8 continues the company’s reputation for aggressively priced drum machines and keyboards modeled after vintage instruments. It even has the same design aesthetic as the Aira family of products that kicked off this nostalgia trend. But don’t let those cartoonish glowing green lights distract you from the fact that this is a synth with a ton of features at a great value.
The main draw of the $1,500 System-8 is Roland’s “Plug-Out” feature. With it, musicians can add the patches and sounds of old-school synths to the keyboard on the fly. And not just one instrument either — three additional Plug-Out synths can be added at a time for quick access via onboard buttons. The sequencer, which on other instruments is difficult to use, can be ready to record with just a tap. Sequencing a keyboard run is simple. Even when you have to use the onboard display to adjust features like the length of a sequence, it doesn’t require a 45-minute dive into the owner’s manual.
The synthesizer’s push-button “Performance” mode (aka keyboard split where the high and low-end of the keyboard are split between two different patches) is also just a button press away. Plus, it can have sounds from two separate Plug-Out synths on it. As a bonus, you can create a sequence for each of those patches. You can even throw in an arpeggiator for good measure, all with a few taps.
In fact, that’s the wonderful thing about the eight-voice polyphonic System-8: All the major features are just a tap, twist or slide away. No need to delve into menus and submenus. Touchscreens transformed computing. Without them we’d still be carrying music players with scroll wheels. But, in many instances, they’re not a good substitute for physical buttons. (I’m looking at you, automakers.)
Of course having all those features placed on the top of an instrument could be confusing mess. Yet Roland has been able to tame the forest of inputs with labeling and placement that make it a snap to change the wave of oscillator one while reducing the volume of oscillator two.
The layout is straightforward, with the arpeggiator on the far left; the oscillators, LFO and associated controls in the middle; and the sequencer and filters on the right. After about five minutes of playing I knew exactly where to place my hands to adjust the sounds. And if you’re worried about those noises, don’t be. While analog purists might be turned off by the digital System-8, they’ll be hard-pressed to detect the difference between the plug-out Jupiter 8 and the real thing without them playing side by side.
So with a clean, knob-and-button-friendly layout and audio that’ll impress even hard-core analog purists, the System-8 is a winner. But, it won’t be ideal for everyone. First off, the green-glowing lights are likely to be a turnoff for some. I own the Roland Aira TR8 so I’ve gotten used to it. Fortunately, during my tests I found that those jade-colored illuminations won’t blind you when the lights are down. The last thing you want on stage is something so bright, you can’t even see it. That is, if you feel comfortable dragging the System-8 to gigs.
Some might be wary of playing live with the System-8 because of its plastic case. If you plan on using this in your home or practice space it shouldn’t be an issue. But if you want to use it on stage and you play a lot of shows, it could be a problem. You can get a hard case for transportation, but Roland could have gone the extra mile to make the keyboard more robust if it was going to pack it full of features. I would gladly throw the company an extra $150 for a metal or wood case and I’m sure others would as well.
That’s not to say that a plastic case is a recipe for disaster, though. My band has been using a synth onstage with a plastic case for nearly six years without issue. Then again, when it was new it cost about a third of the price of the System-8.
Still, the System-8 is an incredible value at $1,500 — and it should remind other keyboard makers that it’s not just professional-grade products that could use some good old-fashioned knobs to make their instruments easier to use. If you’re looking to step up your at-home productions or you’re willing to be extra careful while gigging, it’ll be a great addition to your synth arsenal.
Source: Roland
Xbox Insider Program opens its previews to everyone
The Xbox Preview Program has been helpful for gamers who want to see the future of Microsoft’s console software before it’s finished, but Microsoft thinks it can do better. It’s renaming the offering to the Xbox Insider Program, and instituting key changes both to the software as well as availability. For most people, the biggest change is simply who can access the program — it’ll “soon” be open to anyone with an Xbox. Access to system updates is still limited to those already participating, but that won’t preclude you from getting sneak peeks for apps and games so long as you meet qualifications (such as your region or tenure in the program).
You should notice more than a few changes in the Preview Dashboard, too. There’s a new user interface (based on the current Xbox One UI) that helps you find info and provide more detailed feedback. Also, it’s much more personalized: you should see more relevant news and chances at early access. There’s an Insider profile card that highlights your efforts, and multiple users can finally offer feedback from one console. Finally, your roommate won’t be left out of the loop.
The Insider Program software changes start arriving today, although you’ll have to be one of the most active contributors to be part of the first wave. Everyone enrolled in the program should see the updates within the next few weeks.
Source: Xbox Wire
Apple starts selling refurb iPhones through its online store
If you’ve ever wanted to buy an iPhone straight from Apple but thought that brand new unlocked models were out of your reach, you’re in luck. Apple has started selling refurbished iPhones in its US online store, with hefty discounts depending on what you want to buy. An unlocked 16GB iPhone 6s is selling for $449, or $80 off the usual price; splurge on a 64GB iPhone 6s Plus and you’ll shell out $589, or $110 less than usual. The iPhone SE and iPhone 7 are absent, but that’s not surprising given that owners have only had them for several months at best.
This won’t be as big a bargain as you’d get by purchasing an iPhone through a used goods site, an auction or a friend. However, you’ll get both a year-long warranty and the knowledge that there won’t be any rude surprises when you open the box. In short: if the thought of shopping on eBay or Swappa makes you nervous, this is your best bet.
Via: MacRumors
Source: Apple
Snapchat adds animations for things that aren’t your face
One of the most fun things you can do with Snapchat is apply a wacky filter to your face and turn yourself into a licking pup or flower princess. But those effects have only worked for the front-facing camera and on faces it detects. The company’s latest update for both its iOS and Android apps brings a handful of these cool graphics to the rear-facing cam so those who don’t want to take selfies can enjoy adding weird stuff to the world around them.
The new feature, called World Lenses, are activated when you tap anywhere on the screen with the rear camera running. Right now, only seven new options are available, including three Election Day skins and a rainbow-puking clouds one.
You can also use existing face filters with the rear cam. That means you can now turn your buddy into a golden flower princess or a cute deer.
These AR-esque effects could potentially work great on the company’s upcoming Spectacles glasses, which let you record round video clips to share on the app. You could turn your head around and discover quirky characters in your environment, such as a cute seal we found by moving a phone around with the new snowflakes lens on. Want to start trying World Lenses out for yourself? Make sure you’ve got version 9.43.0.0 of the app, and you’re good to go.
Via: The Verge
Source: Snapchat on iOS, Snapchat on Google Play
Android’s latest update doesn’t patch major security flaw
The November Android security update is live and it fixes 15 critical vulnerabilities, but it doesn’t patch a major Linux kernel exploit that can give hackers quick and complete access to devices running on Google’s OS. Researcher Phil Oester discovered the flaw (CVE-2016-5195) in October, though he believes it’s existed since 2007. The exploit is known as “Dirty COW” because of its basis in copy-on-write systems (and maybe because that name is adorable).
With this month’s security update, Google did roll out a “supplemental” firmware fix for Dirty COW across Nexus and Pixel devices. Plus, Samsung released a patch for its devices this month, according to Threatpost. An official Android patch for the Dirty COW issue is expected to land in December.
Oester, the researcher who discovered the flaw, told V3 that it’s “trivial to execute, never fails and has probably been around for years.” Dirty COW is sophisticated, and Oester said he was only able to catch it because he had been “capturing all inbound HTTP traffic and was able to extract the exploit and test it out in a sandbox.”
“I would recommend this extra security measure to all admins,” Oester said.
Via: Threatpost, Ars Technica
Source: Android Security Bulletin
AIVAnet 