Apple has a new iPad Pro, and it looks like a mash-up of its predecessor and the iPhone 11 thanks to Apple’s signature dual-camera array on the back. But the cameras go a step further; they use Lidar, a technology commonly seen in self-driving cars, to sense depth and to boost the iPad Pro’s augmented…
As of Wednesday, the nation of Taiwan had recorded 100 cases of Covid-19, a remarkably low number given the island’s proximity to China. Some 2.71 million mainland Chinese visited Taiwan in 2019, and as recently as January there were a dozen round trip flights between Wuhan and Taipei every week. But despite its obvious vulnerabilities,…
At the height of its powers, Necurs was one of the most disruptive forces on the internet. A sort of Swiss Army botnet, over the years it has harnessed more than 9 million computers unwittingly under its control to send spam, distribute ransomware, attack financial institutions, and more. Last week, Microsoft pulled its plug.Necurs has…
Whether you’re officially quarantined or simply self-isolating, you’re likely stuck at home with a fair amount of time on your hands—and desperate to be entertained. Let’s face it: Working from home means you need to fill the void of the office chatter you’d normally find tedious and distracting. In between your regular video chats with…
Covid-19 has brought the science of epidemiology into public discourse in ways that not even SARS or Ebola outbreaks did. The merits of hand washing are now unprecedentedly appreciated, and the citizen-science public has an increasingly strong handle on how Covid-19’s contagiousness and lethality influence our prospects. Our understanding of Covid’s contagiousness is best captured…
Before all the classes got canceled, Stephen Paul Wright, an art director in New York City, went to an OrangeTheory studio for a workout. The instructors have a habit of high-fiving everyone as they walk in, but this time, it was all elbow bumps. No one wanted to touch each other, even if they wanted…
I used to love virtual reality. Back in 2015, the hype train for VR was tearing down the tracks full steam ahead, and I had a first-class seat. Buckling on a bulky, janky developer headset I was giggling like a schoolgirl. I’d seen the demo videos and I was stoked to step into the virtual…
Triage entered the lexicon of the coronavirus era last Friday, when President Donald Trump claimed that Google is working on a tool to determine who’s eligible for testing. In this case, only people who display serious symptoms will be able to get a test for the novel coronavirus. But triage—or targeted—testing is the wrong approach…
The second developer preview of Android 11 is here and we’re just starting to dig into what it changes, including firstly a more obvious split for different sections of the notification tray. With Android 11 DP2, there’s now a large visible gap in between the “Conversations,” “Alerting,” and “Silent” sections of your notifications. Previously, Google…
As millions of people adapt to working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has decided to pause on adding new features to Chrome and Chrome OS in an effort to keep the essential software running as smoothly as possible. In a tweet today, the Chrome development team acknowledged that “adjusted work schedules”…
