Ben Heck’s essentials series: Wireless communications

Karen is really wired, and this time we don’t just mean hyperactive. Ben, Karen and Felix get together to talk about the essentials of wireless technology. There are many different ways for electronics to communicate information, including WiFi, xBee, Bluetooth, mobile networks, RFID and NFC — and in this episode the team discusses them all. The gang appraises each technology, assessing the pros and cons, with an insight into their radio frequencies, as well as the bandwidth they use per FCC regulations. What projects or hardware do you wish were wireless? Or do you have an interest in Software Defined Radio or Amateur Ham? Let The Ben Heck Show team know over on the element14 Community.

3 perfect apps for editing photos on the go

These are the apps to use for a quick photo edit.

Whether you’re showing off your trip abroad to friends on social media or sharing photos with family members in a shared Google Photos album, you’ll want to make sure the pictures you’re sending off are dressed for success. You can doll them up, crop them, tweak them, and give them new life with these easy-to-use apps for editing photos on the go.

Pixlr – Free Photo Editor

Developed by Autodesk, this is one of the easiest photo editing apps available for Android. The app features over two million combinations of effects, overlays, and filters. You can use it to quickly crop a photo, do minor editing, and add a little sparkle to an otherwise dull pose. Pixlr is always updated with themed frames, too, in case you forgot to send out holiday cards and you’re desperate for a way to send a quick email.

Pixlr – Free Photo Editor (Free)

VSCO

VSCO is what I use when I want to fit in with everyone else on Instagram — which is always, clearly, because I pretty much use this app exclusively for turning my boring social snaps into dynamic pieces of the past. TAG IT ALL THE THINGS.

In all seriousness, VSCO is good for adding some character to your photo and making your cheap phone look like it produces some artful masterpieces. Seriously, did you guys even notice I was shooting with a Moto G half the time? I used VSCO before posting to make it seem like the low-resolution quality was intentional. You can download and purchase a variety of punchy filter packs, or tweak the photo in your own manner with a plethora granular controls. When you’re finished, you can upload to VSCO’s own social network or save to share elsewhere.

As an added bonus, filter purchases are tied to your Google Play account, so you can easily switch devices without worry of losing your investment.

VSCO(Free)

Snapseed

For when Google Photos just isn’t enough, there’s Google’s own Snapseed. The app features a ton of essential tools you’d find on a desktop photo editing app, like an on-screen histogram, lens corrector, healing brush — which works remarkably well — and an HDR tuner. There are also real, grown up frames and filters you can use to show off your smartphone photo-taking prowess. And if you’re really on the go — like, say, in transit to your next destination — Snapseed has both JPEG and RAW support so you can make major edits to your big camera photography. Just be sure to bring a mobile card reader with you on your trip.

Snapseed (Free)

Got an app you like to use to edit your photos before sharing them online? Let us know!

VW to pour $200 million more into an anti-pollution fund

Believe it or not, Volkswagen still isn’t done paying for its diesel emissions scandal. Reuters understands that the car maker has agreed to pay over $200 million extra into a US Environmental Protection Agency fund devoted to reducing pollution created by VW’s diesel emissions cheating. The company had already agreed to spend $2.7 billion over three years, but the extra money will cover the 80,000 3-liter diesels that violated emissions limits — previously, it was only accounting for 2-liter vehicles. Barring surprises, the deal could be made official as soon as the 19th.

It’s not certain what will happen to the cars themselves, although a judge has given a December 19th deadline. VW may end up buying back 20,000 of the 3-liter cars and fixing the emissions of the remaining 60,000.

These vehicles (which include Audi and Porsche models) don’t violate American emissions laws quite so egregiously as the 2-liter models. They “only” exceed the limits by up to nine times versus 40 times on the 2-liter machines. However, it’s clear that regulators want to account for every instance of emissions abuse, not just the most obvious examples.

Source: Reuters

Comcast teams with Hollywood to make movies ‘more immersive’

Who doesn’t love having movies explained to them in real time? Comcast announced on Friday that is is collaborating with a number of major Hollywood studios including Paramount, Universal, Lionsgate and Sony to create a new way to watch movies at home. The company’s forthcoming “Enhanced Extras” feature will enable viewers to “explore, connect and engage with a wide variety of online content” — while the film is playing.

The Enhanced Extras feature will be available for Comcast X1 customers. The company is launching a 10-day free trial that runs December 16th through 25th for digitally purchased films including Secret Life of Pets, Jason Bourne, Mockingjay Part 2, Star Trek Beyond, Hotel Transylvania 2, Underworld, Nerve and Warcraft. Comcast plans to expand it to more titles and studios throughout 2017.

The added content will include “games, maps, 360-degree maps and set tours” as well as photo galleries and video clips that will automatically update throughout the film. That way, rather than simply sit still for two hours and watch the film like you’re supposed to, you’ll be able to pause it every couple of minutes and dig through all these extraneous distractions instead. It’ll be like watching Resevoir Dogs with the director’s commentary turn on except that Quentin Tarantino is in charge of the remote and desperately needs to show you this one cool video on his phone real quick.

Source: Comcast