Technology news

A week after the mass shooting that left 49 patrons of a gay nightclub dead in Orlando, Florida, upcoming fan convention Flame Con is asking its attendees to drop the firearms from their costumes.
Flame Con, in its second year, is an LGBTQ-focused geek fandom convention that will be held in Brooklyn this August. Like most other fan events, it’s a popular place for cosplay. But where most conventions have some policies in place to stop people from arriving with genuinely dangerous or mislea

If you’re a sufficiently decent person, stop reading.
If you’re a terrible person, the kind of person who takes pleasure in the misery of others, you’d probably like spoiled.io.
Spoiled automatically sends text messages that reveal key elements of the GoT storyline to friends, enemies, or anyone else you don’t like. For $1, Spoiled will send the anonymous messages for the rest of the season.
The idea was inspired by this woman, who last month got internet famous for spoil

Remember how Sony launched the PS3 with "OtherOS" support, so you could install Linux or whatever other PowerPC-compatible OS you could finagle onto your shiny new next-gen gaming system? And then remember how just a couple years later Sony discontinued support for OtherOS, with a new system update that removed the functionality?
Well, some people never forgot. An on-and-off-again class action lawsuit, started back in 2010, is finally bearing fruit. Sony has agreed to a settlement with the litig

Legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Steve Jobs) is partnering with the online education platform MasterClass to offer a course on screenwriting that's being made available later this summer. Over the course of 25 video lessons spanning five hours, Sorkin is going to share "his rules of storytelling, dialogue, [and] character development," critique select student submissions, and work with real-world examples from the decades he's spent writing movies, TV shows, and

Fiat Chrysler says that it is moving up the schedule for updating software in around 1.1 million vehicles that use a confusing gear selector design that was first recalled in April. The design, which makes it unusually easy to accidentally place a vehicle in neutral instead of park, was present in the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that killed 27-year-old actor Anton Yelchin last weekend when it rolled down his driveway and pinned him against a mailbox.
Though the shift lever itself isn't replace

Artificial intelligence (AI) enterprise company AppZen closed a $2.9 million seed round today.
AppZen uses machine learning algorithms and natural language processing to automate and analyze expense reports for fraud. The company plans to extend into other back-office functions like accounting in the future, according to spokesperson Michelle O’Rourke.
An Association of Certified Fraud Examiners survey of 2,400 companies found that more than $6 billion is lost to expense fraud every y

Women who live in some Latin American countries where the Zika virus is spreading are increasingly seeking access to abortion — even though, in many instances, abortion is illegal or restricted. Since November 17th, 2015, when the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert about Zika, the number of requests for abortion medications has increased significantly, sometimes even doubling, scientists have found.
The Zika virus causes microcephaly, a condition in whi

Sales startup Outreach announced today that it scored $17.5 million for its latest funding round. Trinity Ventures led the investment, followed by Microsoft Ventures.
“Outreach is the first data-driven platform for business sales communication, helping sales teams to achieve a 3 [times] increase in lead to opportunity conversions,” the startup explained.
Trinity’s Karan Mehandru joined Outreach’s board as part of the deal.
Outreach has raised at least $30 million in funds

Three years ago, the design agency Critical Mass created a prototype of a high-top Converse Chuck Taylor with a built-in wah pedal called the . Now, in partnership with CuteCircuit, Converse has brought the shoe to life, and giving a pair to legendary guitarist J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. among others to use on stage.The All Wah works like a traditional wah pedal does, and can be connected to an amp and guitar using the dual plugs on the side of the shoes. It also connects to the wah box for t

Red Hat today announced that it’s acquiring 3scale, a company with software for managing the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) that companies can expose for other developers to use.
The deal is not material to Red Hat, although the publicly traded open source software vendor said that GAAP operating expenses will go up by $7 million in the 2017 fiscal year, according to a statement.
Red Hat intends to ship an on-premises version of 3scale in addition to the existing cloud se

As grand touring cars go, they don't get much more beautiful than the Vanquish Zagato that Aston Martin revealed as a concept several weeks ago. At the time, Aston didn't reveal any production plans — but it was pretty obvious that they wanted to make a few. (Who wouldn't?) Now, here we are: the British company says it's going to make 99 of the coachbuilt beauties "thanks to unprecedented customer interest." (Interestingly, Aston's "Project Nebula" hypercar that is being built in part

Congress has failed to pass an expansion of online surveillance powers for monitoring suspected terrorists — at least for now. In a vote today, the Senate fell just short of the 60 votes needed to adopt an amendment brought by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), mustering only 58 supporters. But the proposal could be up for reconsideration soon: as Reuters notes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) switched his vote to "No" in order to bring it up again, as soon as later this week.

Dear friends and loved ones,
This is my son Klav. As you can see, he is beautiful. Thank goodness, because I am emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted from delivering Klav into the world. It took forever, plus however long it takes to read "What is Code?"Have you ever heard the song "What Child is This?" It asks, "What child is this?" And the answer is "Klav." Haste, haste, to bring him laud. (Please do not bring Klav any frankincense or myrrh, as he has a strong aversion to organi

Google today announced the availability of a new widget with which people will be able to use the Google Domains service to find and buy a domain name while they’re using non-Google services, like Square and Big Cartel, to build websites.
The widget provides you with more than “200 domain name endings and Whois privacy at no additional cost, plus the safety, security, and support of Google,” as Google said in a blog post on the news.
This is a big move forward for Google Domain

Virtual agents and chatbots will be the top consumer applications of artificial intelligence over the next five years, according to a consensus poll released today by TechEmergence, a marketing research firm for AI and machine learning.
The emphasis on virtual agents and chatbots is in many ways not surprising. After all, the tech industry’s 800-pound gorillas have all made big bets: Apple with Siri, Amazon with Alexa, Facebook with M and Messenger, Google with Google A

Nest has taken another step to showcase its ability to be a platform by opening up its store to third-party products built off of its “Works with Nest” program. While there are more than 100 supported products, the Alphabet-owned company currently has plans to only sell the LIFX Color 1000, Philips Hue Starter Kit, Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, SkyBell HD WiFi Video Doorbell, and Wemo Switch directly.
Launched in 2014, Works with Nest is the company’s developer program aim

Democrats are in the middle of a sit-in protest on the floor of the US House of Representatives, but C-SPAN isn't allowed to turn its TV cameras on to film it. So it's turned to something else: Periscope and Facebook Live.
C-SPAN has been airing live video from representatives on the House floor; first using Periscope footage from Representative Scott Peters, a Democrat from California, and later using Facebook Live footage from an unnamed source.
It's a smart solution. Peters and other Dem

I want to hate these Zungle Panther sunglasses, which have bone conduction speakers built into them, but I kind of can’t resist them. They’re so unfashionable that maybe I’m into them? They’ve also already surpassed their Kickstarter goal of $50,000 with 23 days to go. Is this some kind of Kickstarter psychology where I like them because of all their internet monetary support? It's working. The sunglasses also come with a built-in mic and secret USB port. (They&rsquo

Pac-Man’s most notable mobile outing is making its way into your living room.
Publisher Bandai Namco launched Pac-Man 256 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam today for $5. The Hipster Whale-developed game’s conceit on the infamous glitch that occurs in the original Pac-Man when you reach map 256. This version of the endless maze runner adds a new four-player mode, something that’s not available in the mobile games.
It reached 5 million downloads in its first week aft

Medium format cameras are known for a few things. First and foremost, they produce excellent images that smaller format cameras can’t touch. Second, they are big and heavy and aren’t really designed to ever leave the studio. And finally, they are known for being really, really expensive. Hasselblad’s new X1D, announced earlier today, is a medium format camera that stays true to the first trend, bucks the second, and yeah, at nearly $9,000 for just the body, is still pretty expe

I am all for a world of brand mashups. Taco Bell's Doritos Loco Tacos had me racing to the drive-thru opening week, and the Sour Patch Kids-flavored Slurpee at 7-11 is...not my favorite, but I just like knowing that it exists.
For the latest edible remix, Burger King has tunneled deep into the American psyche and excavated something the people didn't even know they wanted: Cheetos powder-dusted mozzarella sticks filled with deep-fried macaroni and cheese.
Just $2.49 will get you a 5-piece order

Picture this: over happy hour suds in a generic Irish pub, a man wants a cheap laugh to endear himself to his colleagues. He unholsters his iPhone, opens LinkedIn, and types a two-word prompt.The app thinks for a moment, then uploads an ordinary profile page belonging to a middle-aged man. In his profile photo, the man sports shaved grey hair and a hoodie that matches. To the right hovers his name: Dick Monster.
Dick Monster lives in the Netherlands and works as a packaging scheduler for Mars &m

We’re happy to announce the GamesBeat 2016 developer contest. We’re going to pick five developers who will demo their games at our annual GamesBeat conference, August 1 to August 3 at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles. The submissions can be for any type of game.
Here’s the entry form.
Here’s why you should apply:
Get your name out there!
Showcase your game at GamesBeat 2016.
You’ll be in front of a number of the top executives and ventu

Google today announced the launch of AdSense Labs, a new part of AdSense where users can explore experimental features for the website advertising system.
Google has populated the new section of AdSense, which is under the Optimization tab, with two features to start — although in some cases certain experiments may not show up, depending on the nature of the website it’s working with.
The first one is interesting — you’ll be able to actually tell AdSense to display fewer

We’re far enough out from Caracal, the LP Disclosure released last September, to call it an unequivocal disappointment. It was bloated and gloomy, full of tracks that overstayed their welcome and squandered their talented guest vocalists. It wasted all of the momentum the Lawrence brothers earned with their 2013 debut Settle, an album that now stands as the defining product of this decade’s UK garage revival. It also suggested the duo’s greatest obstacle was their musical ambit

One of the most important games in shooter history is celebrating a big birthday.
Quake came out for DOS PCs on June 22, 1996, making the historic first-person shooter 20 years old. Quake came from Id Software, the company that pretty much invented the first-person shooter. Before Quake, Id worked on the Wolfenstein and Doom series, but Quake stood out because of its use of 3D graphics, which were revolutionary at the time. The franchise also helped kickstart competive gaming and convention

As the human race prepares to shed the tissue and fluids of its bodily form in exchange for oneness with the metaverse, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is promising that Net Neutrality will apply to online VR worlds like it does to the rest of the internet.
But FCC chairman Tom Wheeler acknowledges that VR and AR will introduce new problems, primarily to privacy, that his regulatory agency is already trying to learn more about.
Above: Jeremy Bailenson with his VR headset in Standford&

HBO's Vinyl, the high-profile rock drama executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, has been canceled. Deadline reports that HBO had opted to ax the series after a disappointing first season, even though the show had already been renewed in February.
"After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl," the network said in a statement. "Obviously, this was not an easy decision. We have enormous respect for the creative team and ca

As headphones go, Bose guaranteed itself a hit earlier this month when the company unveiled the Quiet Comfort 35s. These new $350 headphones feature Bose’s best-in-class noise cancelation and are capable of hushing busy streets and packed flights down to a whisper that vanishes completely once your music starts playing. And these are the first Bose headphones to offer that peace and on-demand isolation wirelessly. I’ve been using the QC35s for a couple weeks now, and that’s all

A team of 30 students have built the fastest-accelerating electric car in the world. Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) published a video today that shows "grimsel," its electric race car, accelerating from 0–60 miles per hour in just 1.513 seconds on a runway at Dübendorf Air Base in Switzerland.
That's fast. It's more than half a second faster than the world's fastest production cars (including Tesla and its "Ludicrous Speed" mode), and two-tenths of a second faster the previous

Is a meme still a meme when someone tries to sell it? I’ve been grappling with that question in this post-#tealizard world. Today, The Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham tweeted an image of buttons that he claims are being sold by venders at a Hillary Clinton rally in Raleigh, NC. A row of the accessories features the words "Delete your account," a meme that a member of Clinton’s social media team deployed on rival Donald Trump.
It’s far too difficult to truly tell from

Bonfyre, the company behind a private social network for employees, announced today that it closed a $4 million investment led by Arsenal Capital Management.
The funding round, the startup said, will fuel Bonfyre’s customer support and grow the sales team to expand its client list.
“This investment allows us to bring Bonfyre’s solution to more companies to further demonstrate the positive impact an engaged workforce can have on employees and business goals,” sai

Yesterday afternoon, Elon Musk announced that Tesla, a company he founded and currently runs, was offering to buy Solar City, another company he founded, and where he is currently chairman of the board. In a conference call with investors this morning, Musk rationalized the roughly $2.86 billion purchase like this: "When we’re selling someone the Powerwall very often, if not almost always, they are curious about solar," Musk said. "So then not being able to sell them solar directly at Tesl

In February, scientists at the LIGO observatory made history when they announced the first ever detection of gravitational waves. These ripples in the fabric of space-time came from two black holes that spun around each other several times per second before merging in a violent, energetic explosion. Now, researchers have calculated the likely origins of those black holes. A new study argues that they probably came from two massive suns that formed about 12 billion years ago — or two billio

Even dormant black holes warp space and time, scientists now say. The discovery came from a supermassive black hole that’s a few million Solar masses and is located at the center of a galaxy 3.8 billion light years away.
Black holes are so incredibly dense that nothing — not even light — can escape their gravitational pull. So we can’t really observe them directly. To study them, scientists detect the X-rays emitted by the nearby matter that accelerates and heats up as it

You know what I'm talking about. You see a laptop at Best Buy, and you think to yourself, "Hey, that's a laptop, I know about those." BUT. You gotta test it out first, to be sure about the quality. Laptop keyboards can be surprisingly terrible. Just astonishingly terrible. So you must type something. And you don't really want to think too hard about content just now, because you're trying to think about what your fingers are feeling, not about what you want to say.
Here's my go-to phra

Dropbox announced a handful of new features today, including a new scanner for its iOS app that can identify and remember printed text. Now, Dropbox's mobile app will let you snap a photo of any document containing text, and the software will automatically convert it into a file in your account. Using optical character recognition, the company says you can then search for words found within the document to resurface the image later. Dropbox did not give a concrete timeline for when the feature w

The biggest problem with business class air travel — the cheapest class of international air travel in which you aren't treated like livestock — is that it's still absurdly expensive. Odds are very good that you'll never have a chance to experience it, because it's reserved only for frequent travelers, executives with generous business travel policies, the wealthy, and those who know how to game the booking system in God Mode.
The second biggest problem, arguably, is that passengers

Waves Audio wants to turn your crappy headphones into fancy 3D audio machines, and it says it can do it with an app and a tiny Bluetooth head tracker. Waves Nx is the technology behind the 3D audio magic, and the company says it can deliver 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound through any stereo headphones, even if the content wasn't originally mixed for surround sound.The Nx head tracker clips onto your headphones — which means this will likely only work with over-the-ear headphones — and the

Music criticism has an existential crisis about once per week. Writers are too in love with classic rock; not friendly enough toward pop music. Then they're above classic rock, and exhibitionists about their love for pop — even when it's bad. Music writing has generational problems, gender problems, race problems, length problems, hype problems, prestige problems, and surprise-release-timing problems. What if, for one day, all those problems were gone?
That's what I love about the "she doe

Later this fall, Apple will release its latest desktop operating system to the world, but it won't be called OS X. Instead, it's now "macOS" and this one is codenamed "Sierra." Introducing it on stage at WWDC, Apple exec Craig Federighi said the name was "obvious," probably because it has some consonance with the headline feature: Siri.
Yes, having Siri on your Mac is nice and perhaps even a Big Deal — but to me, it's much less important than some other features that Apple is introducing w