Man arrested for ‘secretly filming female students for TikTok’

LARKANA: Police officials claimed to have arrested a man for filming female students of colleges and schools in Sindh’s Ratodero taluka for uploading it on TikTok, ARY News reported on Thursday. The police department has taken action against a man who was allegedly involved in secretly recording videos of female students going to their schools and colleges. Police said that the accused named Jansar Lashari used to edit and upload videos of the girls on TikTok without their consent. READ: LAHORE MODEL IFRAH KHAN ARRESTED UNDER BLACKMAILING CHARGES Following the arrest, the accused was released after he wrote apology letter to the families of the female students. Moreover, police officials have also deleted all videos from the mobile phone of the accused. On September 6, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Cell had arrested a ‘TikToker’ for allegedly blackmailing and harassing a girl to extort money. The FIA spokesperson had said in a statement that a ‘TikToker’ was arrested for blackmailing and harassing a girl. The accused used to demand money by threatening and blackmailing the girl. The spokesperson had said that the officials have also recovered objectionable content from two mobile phones of the accused. A case was registered under different sections of the cybercrime act against the accused.Facebook Notice for EU! You need to login to view and post FB Comments! The post Man arrested for ‘secretly filming female students for TikTok’ appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3uA0hOc https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Did you get the iPhone 13? If so, what’s your favorite feature so far?

It’s been a week since the release of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. With a tweaked design, better cameras, and improved battery life, what’s your favorite feature of the phone so far? more… The post Did you get the iPhone 13? If so, what’s your favorite feature so far? appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3iks4gu https://ift.tt/3unyu38
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Instagram teen research: Facebook releases two reports, the ‘WSJ’ shares four more

Facebook has attempted to defuse the controversy over its Instagram teen research by releasing two of the reports to the public, annotating them with what it says is important context. The social network also accuses the WSJ, which obtained copies of the reports, of “mischaracterizing” their conclusions. The paper has not yet directly responded to that accusation, but has instead shared four more reports that Facebook did not make public … more… The post Instagram teen research: Facebook releases two reports, the ‘WSJ’ shares four more appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/2WpoVUT https://ift.tt/3zTqIzq
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Apple TV+ continues streak of big-budget movie deals, lands film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt

Apple has landed yet another big-budget movie package for its Apple TV+ streaming service. Directed and written by Jon Watts, best known for directing the Spider-Man movies, the as-yet-untitled movie will star George Clooney and Brad Pitt. As reported by Deadline, the film will get a theatrical release before streaming on Apple TV+. The exact price of the package was not disclosed, but it was likely in the hundreds of millions given Apple’s bid faced off against interest from Netflix, Amazon, Sony, Lionsgate and other studios. more… The post Apple TV+ continues streak of big-budget movie deals, lands film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3us67B5 https://ift.tt/3okUoDf
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Apple TV+ Guide: Here are all the Apple TV shows and movies available now

Apple TV+ offers exclusive Apple original TV shows and movies in 4K HDR quality. You can watch across all of your screens and pick up where you left off on any device. Apple TV+ costs $4.99 per month. Here’s every Apple original television show and movie available now on Apple TV+, as well as the latest trailers … more… The post Apple TV+ Guide: Here are all the Apple TV shows and movies available now appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3EXKxJs https://ift.tt/34lS3dY
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iFixit’s iPad mini teardown goes in-depth on ‘jelly scrolling,’ lack of repairability [Video]

After tearing down the iPhone 13 Pro last week, the folks at iFixit are back with a teardown of Apple’s redesigned iPad mini. The teardown offers a deep dive into the so-called “jelly scrolling” affecting the iPad mini’s display, comparisons to the iPad Air, and more. more… The post iFixit’s iPad mini teardown goes in-depth on ‘jelly scrolling,’ lack of repairability [Video] appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/2Y9moiB https://ift.tt/2ZMSXn7
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Deals: Official iPhone 13 MagSafe cases from $41, AirPods Pro $150, WD storage, more

Wednesday has arrived and brought with it a fresh selection of discounts headlined by the very first price cuts on Apple’s official iPhone 13 MagSafe cases. That’s alongside a pair of 1-day discounts on AirPods Pro at $150 and WD storage at 20% off. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break. more… The post Deals: Official iPhone 13 MagSafe cases from $41, AirPods Pro $150, WD storage, more appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3kS5k9f https://ift.tt/39QXsP0
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China reveals drone concept similar to US-made Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie

China on Wednesday revealed a drone concept similar in mission – and appearance – to the US-made Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie as countries race to invest in “loyal wingman” drones to help protect pricier crewed fighter jets. The long-range FH-97 drone concept unveiled on Wednesday can carry different types of weapons, and has swarm and electronic warfare capabilities, said Wu Wei, a representative of China Aerospace Science Technology Corp’s (CASTC) Feihong product line. He did not provide specifics in his presentation at Airshow China in Zhuhai. The United States, Britain, Australia, India and Russia are among the countries developing “loyal wingman” drones, which are cheaper and more expendable than crewed fighters. CASTC did not provide technical details of the FH-97 concept, nor say whether it was planned for export, though many foreign observers watched the presentation. The FH-97’s appearance is nearly identical to the Kratos XQ-58A, which made its first flight in 2019. The XQ-58A has a maximum speed of Mach 0.85 and a range of about 2,200 nautical miles. Zhang Zhongyang, vice president of CASTC said the plan was to turn Feihong into an “international top-notch brand… and become a major player at the centre stage of the world arena.” China has exported military drones to countries including the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Serbia. “The chief customer is certainly the PLA, but in recent years the Chinese are also aggressively marketing these systems for exports,” said Collin Koh, a defence research fellow with Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies. China also used the country’s biggest air show to display the weapons capability of one of its most advanced stealth attack drone projects, the GJ-11. The Global Times reported that the GJ-11 on display at the show had its two weapons bays open for the first time. Inside each were four unidentified munitions that appeared to be precision air-to-ground glide bombs. Bradley Perrett, a specialist on Asian aerospace and defence, said the GJ-11 was designed to slip undetected through radar coverage and attack heavily defended targets. “In doing that, it would take the place of a much larger and more expensive fighter with a pilot,” he said. “Development won’t be easy, but when it’s complete the type will present a new threat to Taiwan and potentially Japan.” Chinese companies have 27 drone exhibits at the Zhuhai show. The post China reveals drone concept similar to US-made Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/2ZLt337 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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PSA: Here’s why you might see a new ‘5G UC’ icon in your iPhone status bar

It’s been a week since iOS 15 launched and it includes another tweak for 5G users. If you are a T-Mobile customer and see a new “5G UC” icon in your iPhone status bar, it’s good news for your iPhone 12 or newer, but it’s very confusing at the same time. more… The post PSA: Here’s why you might see a new ‘5G UC’ icon in your iPhone status bar appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3ofj9Rd https://ift.tt/3ArZP6J
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$75M AAPL stock options declared for Tim Cook at end of quarter

AAPL stock options have been declared for Tim Cook and five other Apple execs. The SEC filing shows that Cook is in line for more than half a million shares, worth $75M at current value. Four other execs stand to receive shares worth $20M each, while another is in line for $2.25M … more… The post $75M AAPL stock options declared for Tim Cook at end of quarter appeared first on 9to5Mac. from 9to5Mac https://ift.tt/3uoX3wB https://ift.tt/2Y9UjHV
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Skype reveals colorful redesign, new performance upgrades

Skype has some significant changes in the works. It offered a peek at what’s coming later this year, with a focus on speed, reliability and design, as well as other performance upgrades.  Microsoft announced the addition of the latest features to Skype via a blog post on September 27. The company said that the new plans bring an “improved, faster, reliable, and super modern-looking Skype.” The most important part of Skype, what Microsoft named the Call Stage is getting several upgrades. The grid that’s displayed during calls will soon include every attendee of the video call. The person starting the video call will have the option to include people who are sharing video in the grid and can disable the video stream. Audio-only participants can use one of the app’s background replacement images while on a call, instead of the standard grey background. Skype is also getting new colour themes and layouts to this view to allow customisation. Users can select speaker view, grid view, large gallery, Together Mode, and even a content view. To note, Skype already offers animated backgrounds, Together Mode, call recordings, and live subtitles. An improved side panel on mobile, fluent icons, and colourful themes are also on the way to Skype. These all will complement Name Your Call — a feature Skype introduced earlier that allows users to personalise their video calls down to the very last detail. Skype users can choose from many customised titles, emoticons, and background colours for their meeting titles. Skype is also updating the Meet Now feature that allows people to join calls without signing up or downloading and installing the Skype app. Skype said that they are redesigning the Meet Now lobby as well to meet people online. The invitation link on Skype is also getting an update. Soon, invitees will be able to see the name and avatar of your call. This will give confidence to the invitees when they join. Additionally, Skype confirmed that it will soon support all browsers as well. Office Lens on Skype will allow users to capture memories, create videos, or scan documents, whiteboards, and business cards easily. TwinCam, another new feature from Microsoft will let users add a video feed from a secondary device. The user needs to just scan a QR code with the iOS or Android device to add it to the call as another camera. The post Skype reveals colorful redesign, new performance upgrades appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/2Y6dJNK https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Mastercard rolls out new program

Mastercard unveiled on Tuesday a buy now, pay later (BNPL) program that will allow consumers to pay for online and in-store purchases through equal and interest-free installments. The Mastercard Installments program will be available in markets across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, the company said. Mastercard says its Installments program builds on Mastercard’s investments in open banking that help deliver a simple and convenient experience for consumers, merchants and lenders. As an elective option for lenders, with consumer consent, account-level transaction histories can be considered as part of the underwriting process, enabling credit to be safely extended to a greater number of shoppers. Open banking technology also facilitates the consumer’s preferred method of repayment, which may be their checking or savings account, a Mastercard debit card, or another payment product. Key benefits of Mastercard Installments include: * Consumers: The Mastercard Installments program enables consumers to choose how and when they pay for items from a brand they can trust. Consumers enjoy a seamless experience before and after checkout through options to access BNPL offers, or secure an offer at the time of checkout, from trusted lenders for use at a variety of merchants interest-free. As consumer protection is paramount at Mastercard, Mastercard Installments provides ubiquitous acceptance backed by zero liability fraud protection, not yet available through most current BNPL offerings. * Merchants & Acquiring Banks: The Mastercard Installments program helps merchants scale BNPL offerings to consumers to turn convenience into a competitive advantage. BNPL solutions have been shown to increase average sales by 45 percent and reduce cart abandonment by 35 percent post-implementation*. Mastercard Installments provides seamless merchant integration with a streamlined process for millions of merchants who already accept Mastercard. Meanwhile, acquiring banks can offer installments capabilities to their entire merchant base with minimal, simple integration. * Lenders: Through the Mastercard Installments Program, lenders can offer a flexible, seamless BNPL experience to both existing and new customers, expanding their lending opportunities in one of the fastest growing consumer segments. Mastercard Installments provides an expedited time to market and global expansion opportunities with a responsible lending approach. * Wallets and BNPL players: Digital wallets and BNPL players can easily integrate Mastercard Installments’ APIs and deploy the solution to consumers and already integrated merchants, extending reach beyond their existing footprint. Mastercard Installments is embedded in the core Mastercard network, which means there is no longer a need for wallets and BNPL players to build direct settlement arrangements with merchants or acquirers. BNPL providers can also supplement their existing networks with additional merchant acceptance. Fueled by changing consumer spending habits during the pandemic, BNPL adoption continues to accelerate globally. In addition to consumer demand, the momentum is being driven by issuer and merchant desire to deliver new, complementary ways for consumers to shop both in-store and online. The company also said it will work on the BNPL program with banks and fintech firms, including Barclays’s U.S. unit, Fifth Third Bancorp, Marqeta, and SoFi Technologies, in the United States, and Qantas Loyalty and Latitude in Australia.   The post Mastercard rolls out new program appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3ocPg4b https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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COVID-19 pill developers aim to top Merck, Pfizer efforts

As Merck and Pfizer prepare to report clinical trial results for experimental COVID-19 antiviral pills, rivals are lining up with what they hope will prove to be more potent and convenient oral treatments of their own. Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Pardes Biosciences, Japan’s Shionogi and Novartis said they have designed antivirals that specifically target the coronavirus while aiming to avoid potential shortcomings such as the need for multiple pills per day or known safety issues. Infectious disease experts stressed that preventing COVID-19 through wide use of vaccines remains the best way to control the pandemic. But they said the disease is here to stay and more convenient treatments are needed. “We need to have oral alternatives for suppression of this virus. We have people who aren’t vaccinated getting sick, people whose vaccine protection is waning, and people who can’t get vaccinated,” said Dr. Robert Schooley, an infectious diseases professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Pfizer and Merck, as well as partners Atea Pharmaceuticals and Roche AG have all said they could seek emergency approval for their COVID-19 antiviral pills this year. Rivals are at least a year behind. Pardes began an early-stage trial last month, Shionogi plans to start large-scale clinical trials by year-end, Enanta aims to start human trials early next year and Novartis is still testing its pill in animals. Enanta Chief Executive Jay Luly said re-purposing drugs originally developed for other viral infections is not an unreasonable approach. But it is not known how potent they will be against COVID-19 or how well they can target lung tissue, where the virus takes hold. The risk is “if it’s not a great effort …you’ll end up losing time,” Luly said. Antivirals are complex to develop because they must target the virus after it is already replicating inside human cells without damaging healthy cells. They also need to be given early to be most effective. Currently, intravenous and injected antibodies are the only approved treatments for non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. An effective, convenient COVID-19 treatment could reach annual sales of over $10 billion, according to a recent Jefferies & Co estimate. Merck has a contract with the U.S. government that implies a price of $700 for a course of treatment with its antiviral molnupiravir. SEARCH FOR AN EASY TREATMENT Several classes of antiviral drugs are being explored. Polymerase inhibitors such as Atea’s drug – first developed for hepatitis C – aim to disrupt the ability of the coronavirus to make copies of itself. There are also protease inhibitors, like Pfizer’s pill, which are designed to block an enzyme the virus needs in order to multiply earlier in its lifecycle. We are trying to halt the processes “that allow the virus to set up a replication factory,” said Uri Lopatin, CEO at Pardes, which is also developing a COVID-19 protease inhibitor. Merck’s molnupiravir, developed with Ridgeback Therapeutics, was at one point envisioned as a flu drug and works by introducing errors into the genetic code of the virus. “The broad spectrum activity of molnupiravir against RNA viruses, including other respiratory viruses, suggests that it should be a durable, useful molecule,” said Jay Grobler, who oversees infectious disease and vaccines at Merck. Merck said data shows the drug is not capable of inducing genetic changes in human cells, but men in its trials have to abstain from heterosexual intercourse or agree to use contraception. Until reproductive toxicology study results are available, “we don’t know if there’s any potential effect of drug on sperm,” said Merck research executive Nicholas Kartsonis. Both molnupiravir and Pfizer’s pill are taken every 12 hours for five days. Pfizer’s drug must be combined with older antiviral ritonavir, which boosts the activity of protease inhibitors but can cause gastrointestinal side effects and interfere with other medications. “It is a nuisance to add a drug you don’t need to have a drug you want to take be effective,” Schooley said. Pfizer said a low dose of ritonavir will help its protease inhibitor remain in the body longer and at higher concentrations. Enanta, which gets most of its revenue from a hepatitis C deal with AbbVie Inc, scanned its library of antiviral compounds early in 2020. It instead chose to design a new protease inhibitor that targets an enzyme vital to the ability of the coronavirus, and its variants, to replicate. The drug will be tested at once daily dosing with no ritonavir boosting, Luly said. Lopatin said Pardes is assessing once- and twice-a-day dosing and whether its drug needs to be combined with ritonavir. “We do not anticipate that we will need to use a booster,” he said. Pardes received funding from Gilead Sciences, which gave up on an inhaled version of its remdesivir, an intravenous polymerase inhibitor approved for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Gilead is still working an oral remdesivir, which was also first developed for hepatitis C and is currently the only antiviral approved for treating COVID-19. The post COVID-19 pill developers aim to top Merck, Pfizer efforts appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3CXUZyZ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Alibaba apps start offering WeChat Pay option

China’s Alibaba has begun offering payment services from Tencent’s WeChat on a number of its apps, after the government ordered major tech firms to stop blocking each other’s services and links. Local tech blog 36Kr reported on Tuesday that users of Alibaba’s food delivery app Ele.me, luxury goods app Kaola and e-book app Shuqi can now purchase goods via WeChat Pay, one of China’s most popular online payment options. Alibaba’s used-goods marketplace app Xianyu and supermarket app Freshippo have also applied for WeChat Pay integration, the tech blog said. Alibaba confirmed the contents of the report to Reuters. Previously, the main way users could make payments on those apps was via Alipay, from Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Group. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it had asked internet companies to end a long-standing practice of blocking each other’s links and services on their sites. Such practices prevented app users from seamlessly jumping to services between rival companies. Days later, Tencent’s WeChat messaging app started allowing users to access links to rival platforms. Previously, it had not allowed users to click on links sent via chat to, for instance, product listings from Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace. The changes come as authorities continue to tighten regulation in the internet sector. In April, antitrust regulators fined Alibaba a record $2.75 billion for anti-competitive behaviour.
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Google defends Android phone maker deals

Google on Tuesday said deals with Android phone makers that landed it a record 4.3-billion-euro ($5 billion) antitrust fine boosted competition and rejected EU charges they were a carrot-and-stick tactic that stifled rivals. Google was addressing the second day of a week-long hearing as it tries to get Europe’s second-highest court to annul the fine and a European Commission order to make it loosen its search engine grip on Android devices. Lawyers for Google and the EU competition executive clashed over the company’s Mobile Application Distribution Agreements (MADAs) that require phone makers (OEMs) to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser app in return for licensing Google Play for free. “This licensing model is what attracted OEMs to the Android platform, and what enabled those OEMs to offer a consistent and high-quality user experience at the lowest possible price,” Google’s lawyer Alfonso Lamadrid told the General Court. “People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to,” he said. Commission lawyer Carlos Urraca Caviedes rejected the argument, calling the deals and other restrictions Google’s carrot-and-stick policy towards phone makers. “These helped Google ensured its competitors would not achieve critical mass to challenge its dominance,” he told the court. He also said such deals were unnecessary in view of the market power of Google, the world’s most popular internet search engine, and its significant number of users. Urraca Caviedes said what Google did “goes beyond what is necessary to develop and maintain the Android platform”. A verdict may come next year. The case is T-604/18 Google vs European Commission.
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HP ZBook Studio G8 Review: Rock Solid Performance, Painful Price Tag

HP’s ZBook lineup — which encompasses the lightweight ZBook Firefly, the affordable ZBook Power, the powerful ZBook Fury, and the best-of-all-worlds ZBook Studio brands — doesn’t attract a lot of attention. As a mobile workstation-class device, the ZBook Studio is not as flashy as most gaming laptops or as affordable as most “creator” laptops, but in many ways, it’s better than both. In the parlance of the tech nerd, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is a “mobile workstation.” On the hardware side, that typically means that you’re getting a Xeon processor, error-correcting (ECC) RAM, and an A-series or Quadro graphics card, paired with some sort of reliability testing (MIL-SPEC or MIL-STD), software certifications from major developers like Adobe, and an extended warranty. All of this usually comes attached to a price so high you’ll get altitude sickness if you stare at it for too long. We don’t normally review mobile workstations on PetaPixel because the price increase associated with things like ECC memory and an enterprise GPU doesn’t translate into a measurable performance gain for photo and video editing, but HP did something interesting with the ZBook Studio G8: the company sort of split the difference. The Studio G8 doesn’t use ECC memory or an Intel Xeon CPU, and it can be configured with a normal GeForce RTX 30-series GPU, but it still comes with all the other workstation perks. In other words: it offers the same performance as a high-end gaming laptop and the same sleek, professional design as a high-end consumer laptop, with better build quality, guaranteed reliability, and a longer warranty than either of the other categories. As a result, it comes in a little cheaper than similar options from, say, the Dell Precision lineup. That’s not to say it’s cheap. The model HP sent us for review still costs an eye-watering $4,400: Even if you downgrade some of the components, you’re still going to spend a lot of money. We actually asked the folks at HP to send us “Good, Better, Best” configuration options that they would recommend, and the most affordable of the bunch will still run you almost $2,800: But that’s not to say that the price isn’t justified, or at least justifiable. From design to usability to raw performance, this laptop is fantastic. It’s just important to set expectations from the get-go: We’re not talking about a budget laptop today. We’re not even talking about a semi-affordable laptop. We’re talking about a mobile workstation that charges a substantial premium in exchange for professional-grade reliability and guaranteed performance. If paying a $1,000 premium for MIL-STD reliability testing, software certifications, and an extended warranty sounds crazy to you, then a mobile workstation is the wrong choice and there’s no reason to read on. However, if that sounds like a reasonable investment and you like the fact that HP isn’t forcing you to throw additional money away on certain enterprise-grade specs you don’t want or need, then read on, because the HP ZBook Studio G8 turns out to be an excellent laptop for creative professionals. Design and Build There are only a few laptops that can compete with the likes of Apple and Razer when it comes to chassis design, but the HP ZBook Studio G8 is right up there with the best. The magnesium-and-aluminum alloy chassis is as rigid as a tank, extremely thin, and carved into a sharp design language that I loved from the moment I set eyes on this laptop. Build quality really is top-notch. HP’s workstation-grade “Z” devices all undergo MIL-STD-810 testing, ensuring a level of reliability that surpasses anything you can expect from a standard consumer laptop. The MIL-STD-810 standard includes a suite of tests that check for resistance against vibration, dust, sand, humidity, altitude, drops, temperature shock, and even a “Freeze/Thaw” test. Adding to the laptop’s reliability quotient is a three-year warranty direct from the manufacturer, a perk that usually costs extra (if it’s available at all) when you buy a consumer laptop. Crack the ZBook Studio G8 open, and you’ll reveal an excellent keyboard that combines a satisfying click with a good amount of travel, zero mush, and per-key RGB lighting that gives the laptop just a little bit of gaming flare. The lighting is controlled by HP’s “OMEN” dashboard, and it’s a fun touch on an otherwise very professional-looking laptop. This is accompanied by a slick, glass-topped trackpad that provides a precise and extremely well-optimized experience that can compete with the best-of-the-best. Because the speaker grill is positioned above the keyboard, the trackpad isn’t quite as big as the ones you’ll find on the latest Apple and Dell computers, but it was plenty big enough for me. Port selection is solid, with only a little room for improvement. On the left side of the machine is an audio-combo jack, a USB Type-A port, and a Kensington lock; on the right side, you’ll find a sealable SD card slot, a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 port that’s connected directly to the GPU, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports that can carry 40Gbps of data, power, and a display signal. My gripes are minimal. Mainly, I was annoyed that the Thunderbolt 4 ports are connected directly to the iGPU with no way to re-route that signal in the BIOS (this is according to HP). As a result, anyone using a high-end 4K external display will want to use the Mini DisplayPort for true 10-bit color or high refresh-rate gaming. For that reason alone, I really wish that HP had included an HDMI 2.1 port in this configuration instead of the MiniDP port. None of the monitors I’ve ever reviewed came with a MiniDP to DP 1.4 cable in the box, wihch forces me to buy a new cable in order to get full performance out of the ASUS ProArt PA32UCG I was using when I reviewed this laptop and eliminates the option of using this as a “single-cable” setup with Thunderbolt providing data, display, and power. Fortunately, the included display is more than good enough to do professional creative work. The model we’re testing includes a touch-enabled 4K AMOLED screen that was able to hit well over 100% sRGB, 99.9% DCI-P3, and 91.6% Adobe RGB with an excellent Delta E of less than 2 and a maximum brightness of ~400 nits. If OLED isn’t your thing, the ZBook Studio G8 is also available with a 4K 120Hz “HP DreamColor” LCD display with an advertised peak brightness of 600 nits and 100% coverage of DCI-P3, or an even more affordable Full HD model that promises 100% coverage of sRGB. It’s nice to see a manufacturer offer both a 4K LCD and a 4K OLED option with identical gamut coverage, as well as a more affordable (but still acceptable) Full HD option. If you’re sold on the peace of mind of a mobile workstation but hate the price tag it carries, the lower-end screen option opens the door to get creative with your configuration, especially if you plan to use an external display much of the time. As for our 4K OLED unit, you can see the results from our DisplayCAL tests below: The HP ZBook G8 covers 99.9% of DCI-P3 (left) and well over 100% of sRGB (right). If there’s a big downside to the high-res screen on our model it’s probably battery performance, which is decidedly middle of the road. As with other high-performance notebooks, the ZBook Studio’s 83WHr battery can’t support the computer’s full 110W TDP (30W to the CPU, 80W to the GPU), and when you’re pushing the computer to its battery-powered performance limit, you can expect no more than about two hours of intense photo editing. In a more reasonable, battery saver or balanced mode, I was able to get about six hours of use for writing, occasional content consumption, and light photo editing, but don’t expect this laptop to compete with something that’s powered by AMD. Overall, I found a lot to love and very little to complain about when it comes to the design and build quality of the ZBook Studio G8. It’s an excellent laptop that felt like a little piece of military equipment with just enough design flare. The excellent keyboard and trackpad, the professional-grade display, and the dual Thunderbolt 4 ports all make it a solid contender for serious creative work. Photo Editing Performance Given the extremely thin design, I was skeptical that the HP would be able to squeeze every ounce of performance out of its Core i9-11950H and NVIDIA RTX 3070. I was only kind of right. In most of our benchmarks, the ZBook couldn’t quite out-perform the latest Razer Blade 15 Advanced, which technically uses an ever-so-slightly slower Core i9-11900H, but the thinner ZBook Studio was still able to churn out top-shelf performance numbers. Whether you’re running Photoshop, Lightroom, or Capture One, you can expect the Studio G8 to fly through most photo and video editing tasks with ease, all while staying remarkably quiet compared to some of the gaming laptops I’ve tested. For our comparisons today, we’re showing the results from the HP side-by-side with the same tests run on an M1 iMac, an AMD-powered ASUS Zephyrus G14, and the aforementioned Blade 15 Advanced. Full specs below: Lightroom Classic In our standard import and export tests, the ZBook clocked in a tiny bit slower than the Razer Blade, but faster than our other test machines. As a reminder, these tests consist of importing 110 61-megapixel Sony a7R IV and 150 100-megapixel PhaseOne XF RAW files, generating 1:1 (Lightroom Classic) or 2560px (Capture One Pro) previews, applying a custom-made preset with heavy global edits, and then exporting those same files as 100% JPEGs and 16-bit TIFFs. You can see the results for Lightroom Classic below: Capture One Pro The story is even better in Capture One, where the computer’s RTX 3070 finally gets to flex its muscle. As we’ve mentioned in several of our past reviews, Lightroom does not use any sort of GPU acceleration during import or export, relying exclusively on the performance of your CPU and RAM to generate the numbers you see above. However, Capture One does take advantage of the GPU, so when it comes time to export the heavily-edited Sony a7R IV and Phase One XF variants in C1, the HP ZBook Studio G8 was able to close the gap with the Blade and trade blows at the top of the pack. The results are essentially a wash between the three PCs, all of which benefit from NVIDIA RTX 30 series GPUs, with the M1 iMac falling way behind: Photoshop Finally, we ran our usual Photoshop test: Puget Systems‘ industry-standard PugetBench benchmark. PugetBench assigns an Overall and four Category scores after timing a wide variety of tasks including basic stuff like loading, saving, and resizing a large .psd, GPU-accelerated filters like Smart Sharpen and Field Blur, and heavily RAM-dependent tasks like Photo Merge. As we have in the past, we ran version 0.8 of this particular benchmark, because it was the last version to include a Photo Merge test. As you can see, the powerful GPU, 32GB of 3200MHz RAM, and the NVIDIA RTX 3070 GPU come together to put up impressive numbers in every category tested: Performance Takeaways There’s no questioning the HP ZBook Studio G8’s performance chops. Is it the most powerful laptop money can buy? Definitely not. HP’s own ZBook Fury lineup, the Alienware x17, and the Lenovo Legion 7i (to name a few) can all be configured with more powerful (and power-hungry) CPU/GPU combinations that would no-doubt outperform the ZBook Studio. However, it’s awesome to see this kind of performance across the board from such a thin device. This is seriously impressive photo editing performance packed inside of a chassis that’s thinner than we previously thought possible for an Intel-based workstation. Excellent Design, Great Performance, Painful Price Tag If you can stomach the price, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is a phenomenal laptop for photo and video editors who want great performance paired with guaranteed reliability. That latter point really matters to working pros, who often opt for high-end gaming laptops with less-than-ideal build quality and lower-quality displays in order to achieve this kind of performance. However, even when you understand the benefits, the Studio G8’s price is really hard to swallow. The variant I tested here costs about $1,000 more than you would spend on an (already expensive) Razer Blade 15 Advanced with basically the same core specs, a more powerful GPU, faster PCIe Gen 4 storage, and a next-gen OLED display that covers 100% of both DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB. You really have to value those un-sexy mobile workstation perks if you’re going to justify that kind of price hike. Pros * Excellent performance * Thin, light, rugged design * Fantastic trackpad and keyboard * Multiple color-accurate display options * Solid port selection with two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an SD card slot * MIL-STD-810 tested * 3-year warranty included Cons * No HDMI port * SSD is PCIe 3.0, not 4.0 * RAM is not upgradable * Sky high price I hate to spend so much time addressing a computer’s price since a lot more goes into judging the real-world value of a computer than the cost of its components, so in most cases, I’ll focus on performance and usability and leave the economic calculus to individual readers who have individual budgets and don’t give an individual damn whether I think a laptop is “reasonably priced.” However, “mobile workstations” like the ZBook Studio G8 exist in a different economic reality, and it’s important to understand the benefits and drawbacks of that reality before you either a) spend way too much on a laptop you don’t need, or b) ignore features and benefits that could make the laptop worth every last penny. For me, a well-built consumer laptop is reliable enough. I simply don’t use my computers hard enough to justify the price jump and there are some really fantastic options out there. But if you’re a professional photographer or video editor who needs a well-rounded, rock-solid machine that will go with you everywhere for the next three to five years, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is worth a very close look. It’s cheaper than many of its direct competitors in the workstation-class, gives you a wider variety of configurations to choose from, and it churns out better performance than we expected from something so sleek. Are There Alternatives? Several major laptop makers have a workstation brand that offers similar benefits to the ZBook Studio. The most popular are probably Lenovo’s ThinkPads and Dell’s Precision lineup. As I mentioned earlier, these laptops usually swap NVIDIA’s GeForce graphics for a mobile Quadro or A-series GPU, sometimes they use error-correcting “ECC” RAM, and often they include longer warranties, the aforementioned military-grade certifications, and displays that put an emphasis on color and/or battery life over speed and/or gaming performance. For photographers, we’d recommend avoiding anything with ECC memory, an Intel Xeon processor, or an A-series/Quadro card, simply because these upgrades tend to increase the price significantly without adding much to real-world photo and even video editing performance. An 11th-gen Core i7 or Core i9 CPU, DDR4 RAM and a GeForce RTX 30 series GPU is just fine. Instead, if you’re interested in a mobile workstation, focus more on features like a solid manufacturer warranty, standardized reliability testing, and a killer LCD or OLED display with close-to-100% coverage of either AdobeRGB or DCI-P3. Many of HP’s ZBook-branded laptops, Dell’s Precision laptops, and several of Lenovo’s ThinkPad models trade blows here in a variety of price brackets and configurations, depending on the kind of CPU, GPU, and display performance you need. If you’re not interested in a mobile workstation, you can find similar performance and solid build quality for a lot less money by purchasing a high-quality consumer or gaming laptop like the Dell XPS 15/17, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced and Razer Blade 17, or the ASUS Zephyrus G14/G15 (just to name a few). You’ll get a lot more performance-bang-for-your-buck by going with a “consumer” or “creator” laptop vs a proper “mobile workstation,” just be aware of what you’re giving up. Should You Buy It Yes. The caveats above apply, but other than a few minor gripes that I mention above, I cannot fault this laptop. For creatives, it’s a workhorse. The ZBook Studio G8 delivered a lot more “umph” than I expected from such a thin and light chassis while staying relatively quiet, it looks and feels great, and it offers a good variety of configuration options that help you dial in a ratio of price-to-performance that works for you. It’s ultimately up to you to decide if the un-glamorous benefits of a mobile workstation are worth the inflated price tag. But if they are, then I have no qualms recommending this laptop. from Reviews – PetaPixel https://ift.tt/39FJ0tl https://ift.tt/3EV8xNj
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Instagram hits pause on kids version of app

Instagram is pausing work on a version for children younger than 13, called “Instagram Kids”, the Facebook-owned photo sharing app said on Monday. Instagram Kids was touted to require parental permission to join, and provide ad-free, age-appropriate content, but US lawmakers and advocacy groups alike have urged the social media giant to drop its launch plans, citing safety concerns. “We won’t stop pressuring Facebook until they permanently pull the plug,” said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an advocacy group focused on kids. Instagram said in a blog post that building Instagram Kids was the right thing to do, but it was pausing the work and would continue building on its parental supervision tools. “The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today,” it said. The Wall Street Journal published a report earlier this month, focusing on data suggesting Instagram had a harmful effect on teenagers, particularly teen girls and that Facebook had made minimal efforts to address the issue. However, Facebook has said the report is inaccurate. The post Instagram hits pause on kids version of app appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3unYgoc https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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The social life of a vampire bat

When one thinks of vampire bats, friendship and cooperation may not be among the qualities that come to mind for these blood-feasting creatures of the night. But maybe they should. Scientists have provided a deeper understanding of social relationships among vampire bats, showing how those that have forged bonds akin to “friendships” with others will rendezvous with these buddies while foraging for a meal. Researchers attached small devices to 50 vampire bats to track nighttime foraging in Panama, when these flying mammals drink blood from wounds they inflict upon cattle in pastures. The study involved female bats, known to have stronger social relationships than males. Among the bats were 23 wild-born individuals that had been kept in captivity for about two years during related research into bat social behavior. Social bonds already had been observed among some of them. After being released back into the wild, the bats were found to often join a “friend” during foraging, possibly coordinating the hunt. “Each bat maintains its own network of close cooperative social bonds,” said behavioral ecologist Gerald Carter of the Ohio State University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, who led the research published in the journal PLoS Biology. Social bonds among vampire bats as they roost in trees include grooming one another and regurgitating blood meals for hungry pals. The study showed that the social bonds formed in roosts extended into the hunt. “This study opens up an exciting new window into the social lives of these animals,” Carter said. The researchers suspect that the bats, while almost never departing on foraging forays with their “friends,” link up with them during the hunt – perhaps even recognizing one another’s vocalizations – for mutual benefit. They hypothesize the bats might exchange information about prey location or access to an open wound for feeding. Vampire bats, which inhabit warmer regions of Latin America and boast wingspans of about 7 inches (18 cm), are the only mammals with a blood-only diet. They reside in colonies ranging from tens to thousands of individuals. “People’s first reaction to vampire bats is usually, ‘Uh, scary.’ But once you tell them about their complex social lives, they are quite surprised that we can find such behavior that is somewhat similar to what humans do – and which one would maybe expect in primates – in bats,” said study co-author Simon Ripperger, a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute post-doctoral researcher. Ripperger called them “amazing creatures” for several reasons. “Even besides their social lives, vampire bats are quite special: specializing in a diet of 100% blood is already quite rare among vertebrates,” Ripperger said. “They are amazing runners, which you wouldn’t expect in a bat. They have heat sensors in their snouts that help them find a spot to make a bite. They have a protein in their saliva that prevents blood from coagulation, which is actually being used in medical trials to help prevent blood clots in patients who suffered a stroke.” The bats attack prey from the ground, using their sharp teeth to open a wound, lapping up blood with their tongues. Carter said there is reason to fear vampire bats because they can transmit rabies to livestock and people. “But I do think they are beautiful and interesting animals in their own right,” Carter added. “In this way they are a bit like grizzly bears, sharks, rats and venomous snakes: animals that might not help people in any way and might even endanger them, but should still be appreciated for their own sake.”
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Study shows antibody growth from AstraZeneca, Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine mix

A small-scale clinical study of the combined use of the AstraZeneca and Sputnik Light vaccines against COVID-19 has shown strong antibody growth in a majority of the study’s participants, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said on Monday. The data was collected from 20 people who took part in a 100-person study in Azerbaijan that began in February. They first received the AstraZeneca shot followed by the one-dose Russian-made Sputnik Light shot 29 days later, RDIF said. “According to the results of the interim analysis, a fourfold or higher increase in neutralising antibodies to the spike protein (S-protein) of the SARS-CoV-2 was found in 85% of the volunteers on the 57th day of the study,” RDIF said. The post Study shows antibody growth from AstraZeneca, Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine mix appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3EStF6V https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Windows 11 gets an update for the better experience of Android users

Your Phone software by Microsoft, which serves as a bridge between Android devices and Windows 10, is all set to get a makeover for Windows 11. While things do not seem to have changed dramatically like new functionality is on the cards in the short term, we know a bit into the app at Microsoft’s recent Surface event as it still reminds us of its existence. Your Phone app, too, gets a new look as do the other apps updated for Windows 11, with softer set of colors and rounded corners. However, it’s in the interface where the real improvement lies. If you go into the app right now, you’ll see separate sections for Notifications, Messages, Calls. Also, Apps if you own a supported Samsung device or a Surface Duo. With the new version, XDA Developers spotted that notifications now feature along the left-hand side of the app, with can respond directly from your desktop or laptop. Other items to have been relocated are Messages, Photos, Apps and Calls that now appear at the top of the screen. The now little less cluttered look should make the app a bit more accessible to newcomers. Although, it can be a bit confusing to those who have got used to the current layout. From this brief glimpse it’s encouraging to see that the app hasn’t been forgotten about even if it doesn’t get so many changes, and while it’s understandably not as impressive as the synergy between iPhones and Macs (where things like iMessage and Photos are always in perfect sync), it’s still useful for those that spread their working life across form factors. And with Microsoft fully on board with Android, having waved the white flag on Windows Phone some time ago, a lot more people can benefit. Is it necessary? Many have reportedly said they installed the Your Phone software for Windows 10 upon release, but haven’t booted it up again since. Why? Because the stuff they thought they needed it for already has perfectly good systems in place. But for some it will prove invaluable, and that — combined with the upcoming Android app support for Windows 11 — makes Microsoft’s OS a natural home for Android users. Microsoft Windows 11 will be released on October 5 as a free upgrade to Windows 10, but the rollout is going to be staggered, so don’t expect to see it on your screen immediately unless you buy a new device — such as Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 8, Surface Pro X, Surface Go 3 or the innovative new Surface Laptop Studio.
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WhatsApp will stop working on some Android phones

Another year is about to end in the next three months, which means there is another cycle of WhatsApp’s end of support for some Android smartphones and iPhones. After November 1, 2021, the messaging app will not work on some of the Android versions.  WhatsApp is used to removing the support for specific Android versions. This is a common technique because developers always prefer to support the newest OS updates, and it’s hard to always support old versions. It’s the case of Android OS 4.0.4 and older versions: WhatsApp has announced that they will no longer support Android phones running those versions after a new WhatsApp beta for Android update. Read more: This WhatsApp feature lets users quickly access important messages What can you do to continue using WhatsApp on those versions? Unfortunately, you won’t be able to update WhatsApp after November 1, 2021, and your current WhatsApp update is going to expire after a certain date. You need to switch to a new Android device on a supported Android version if your device is old, so be sure to back up your chat history. Note that WhatsApp is also going to support chat history migration from Android to iOS in a future update if you’re interested to switch to iPhone. The post WhatsApp will stop working on some Android phones appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3uirKns https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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New tech to prevent Li-ion battery fires

Materials scientists from Nanyang Technological University Singapore have found a way to prevent internal short-circuits, the main cause of fires in Li-ion batteries. Billions of Li-ion batteries are produced annually for use in mobile phones, laptops, personal mobile devices, and the huge battery packs of electric vehicles and aircraft. This global battery demand is set to grow, with electric vehicles alone requiring up to 2,700 GWh worth of Li-ion batteries a year by 2030, equivalent to some 225 billion mobile phone batteries. Even with an estimated failure rate of less than one-in-a-million, in 2020 there were 26 power-assisted bicycle (PAB) fires and 42 cases of personal mobility device fires in Singapore. In most Li-ion battery fires, the cause is due to a build-up of lithium deposits known as dendrites (tiny wire-like tendrils) that cross the separator between the positive (cathode) and negative (anode) electrodes of the battery when it is being charged, causing a short-circuit leading to an uncontrolled chemical fire. To prevent such battery fires, NTU scientists invented a patent-pending “anti-short layer” that can be easily added inside a Li-ion battery, preventing any future short-circuits from occurring during the charging process. This concept is akin to adding a slice of cheese to a hamburger’s meat patty in between the buns, thus the new “anti-short layer” can be rapidly adopted in current battery manufacturing. The post New tech to prevent Li-ion battery fires appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3i3pzyT https://ift.tt/2XRW1ha
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Here’s how you can upgrade to Windows 11 early

Microsoft will begin rolling out Windows 11 on October 5.  However, the company has finalised the new version and released it to its Release Preview channel. You can switch to the Release Preview in Windows 10 and get the free Windows 11 upgrade early. Here’s how you can get the free Windows 11 upgrade: * First you need to see if your PC is compatible with Windows 11 using Microsoft’s PC Health App (download here). * If your PC is compatible, you will have to register as a Windows Insider at Microsoft’s site to get the upgrade early. * On the existing 10 PC, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program * Click the “Get Started” button and link the Microsoft account you used to sign up to be a Windows Insider * Select the Release Preview ring when asked to pick your Insider settings * Agree to Microsoft terms and then reboot your computer * Go to Settings > Update & Security, and you will see a new banner with the option update to Windows 11 * Download and install option and follow the prompts to get the new operating system early After upgrading to Windows 11, you can then go to Settings > Windows Update and select “Stop getting preview builds” to unenroll from the preview updates for Windows 11 and remain on the final version. The post Here’s how you can upgrade to Windows 11 early appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3o6gw49 https://ift.tt/3zG7xc0
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Upcoming PUBG game is being developed on Unreal Engine 5: report

The developers of the PUBG mobile survival gaming franchise are reportedly availing Unreal Engine 5 for its upcoming instalment. It is no secret that the sequel of the acclaimed is in development. The project rumoured to be titled PUBG 2, is expected to be released next year provided there are no obstacles in the team’s way. The company, as of this moment, has not announced the release date and title for the project. A Twitter user by the name of PlayerIGN has come up with rumours about the upcoming PlayerUnknown’s Battleground sequel. He shared a picture of the job opening advertisement in which PUBG Corporation is hiring a technical animator and a technical art director for an “announced project”. NEW UE5 PUBG game: PUBG Amsterdam's hiring to build a new AAA Unreal Engine 5 "UNANNOUNCED PROJECT" game. A PUBG2 project upgrading to UE5 was discussed a few months ago via internal sources. Also from diff recent leak at Nvidia, we know there's a WIP Krafton game called "X1." pic.twitter.com/oQKuyN3NQ1 — PlayerIGN (@PlayerIGN) September 22, 2021 Art Director, Game Director and Producers to execute a AAA realisation of the project with Unreal Engine 5,” the advertisement read. Read More: PUBG Mobile reports 1 billion accumulated downloads since launch The job advertisement is pretty much summing up that the PUBG Corporation will now be using Unreal Engine 5 instead of its predecessor. Krafton is yet to make it official. Unreal Engine will be allowing the developers to include better graphics, high-tech performances and allows the company to provide content that will make the player’s money and value worthwhile. The post Upcoming PUBG game is being developed on Unreal Engine 5: report appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3zEj9MP https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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How do you help someone with their leg bitten off by a shark?

How do you help someone with their leg bitten off by a shark? Groundbreaking research by an Australian medic-surfer has uncovered a simple way to stop bleeding and save lives. Find the middle point between the hip and the genitals, make a fist and push as hard as you can. Shark attacks are rare but on the increase Down Under, due in large part to more people being in the water. So surfer and Australian National University medical school dean Nicholas Taylor set out to discover how to reduce fatalities in the event of an attack. Many fatal shark bites occur around the legs, leaving the victim to bleed to death despite making it back to shore. In a study published by Emergency Medicine Australasia, Taylor found that a simple technique to compress the femoral artery was much more effective in stopping bleeding than traditionally-used tourniquets. His study showed that by making a fist and pressing down on the artery around 89.7% of blood flow was stopped, versus 43.8% using a surfboard leash as a make-shift tourniquet. The technique worked equally well with the patient wearing a wetsuit and without. “I knew from my background in emergency medicine if people have massive bleeding from their leg, you can push very hard on the femoral artery and you can pretty much cut the entire blood flow of the leg that way,” he said in a statement released by the university on Friday. “It is easy to do and easy to remember — push hard between the hip and the bits and you could save a life.” Taylor hopes the technique will become widely known among Australia’s roughly half a million surfers, for whom shark encounters are less uncommon. “I want posters at beaches. I want to get it out in the surf community. I want people to know that if someone gets bitten you can pull out the patient, push as hard as you can in this midpoint spot and it can stop almost all of the blood flow,” he said. The post How do you help someone with their leg bitten off by a shark? appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3CKBREi https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Twitter will allow people to tip their favorite content creators with bitcoin

Twitter will now allow people to tip their favorite content creators with bitcoin and will also launch a fund to pay some users who host audio chat rooms on its Spaces feature, the company said on Thursday. The company also said it will test new ways to help users have a safer experience on Twitter, such as warning when people are entering a “heated” conversation, or letting them leave tweet threads they no longer want to be part of. The product announcements are the latest in Twitter’s effort to compete with rival platforms like Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube for popular content creators with large followings, and turn around its image as a site where polarized discussions can fester online. Twitter users globally on iOS devices can now send and receive digital payments, which was previously limited to a small group of testers. “We believe we can continue to incentivize the types of conversations that people want to see,” said Esther Crawford, product lead for creator monetization at Twitter, in a briefing with reporters. The San Francisco-based company added it is exploring how to allow users to filter out certain words they do not want to see in the replies to their tweets, which could be used to stop name-calling or abusive speech. About Bitcoin Created following the 2008 global financial crisis, bitcoin initially promoted a libertarian ideal and aspired to overthrow traditional monetary and financial institutions such as central banks. The founding white paper, published on October 31, 2008, was penned by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym whose identity remains unknown. The eight-page document included the key goal of processing online payments between two parties without passing via a financial institution. A first block of 50 bitcoins was created in January 2009, which has risen to 18.8 million units currently in circulation. No more than 21 million can be created, helping bitcoin’s price to trade way above its rivals. Thousands of other cryptocurrencies have meanwhile since been created, led by the likes of ethereum, ripple and tether. There are two ways to get hold of bitcoin. Historically, individuals have “mined” for it by using computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles. But as bitcoin’s price soared, so did the number of miners, reducing the chances of accessing units this way. Mining also requires huge amounts of energy, meaning the cost of accessing a bitcoin can exceed the gain, not withstanding the environmental impact amid global efforts to tackle climate change. The alternative way is to buy a whole or fractions of bitcoin on an exchange platform using traditional currencies. Purchased funds are held in protected virtual wallets, but with hacks still possible, some investors have decided to hold portfolios offline. The post Twitter will allow people to tip their favorite content creators with bitcoin appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3i38Iwk https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Cyberpunk 2077 team hiring developer for upcoming project

The development team of Cyberpunk 2077 are hiring a developer to work on their upcoming untitled Computer Role Playing Game (CRPG). CD PROJEKT RED had posted the advertisement for the position of Open World Designer was posted on Game Jobs website. “CD PROJEKT RED is looking for an Open World Designer (Junior/Specialist) to join our Cracow team,” the advertisement read. “We are looking for candidates with boundless creativity to fill our game world with believable and exciting content consisting of communities and events that player will encounter.” Read More: CD Projekt reveals plans about Cyberpunk 2077 game The candidates will be required come up with design and organize events by availing a toolset. Moreover, they will also be asked to fixed glitches and maintain the open world content quality of the company. The employee will be responsible for handling the paperwork and coordinate with different teams. Read More: Cyberpunk 2077 maker says was hit by cyber attack The candidates need to have passion for gaming and have a knack to mod the games. They should have communication skills and creativity with an idea of visual effects. Strong critical and analytical thinking are a must and must be fluent in speaking English. CD PROJECT RED’s project Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person shooter that was released on platforms namely Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S. The game was met with positive reviews from fans and critics despite having delays to get its glitches resolved. The post Cyberpunk 2077 team hiring developer for upcoming project appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3u9D4Ci https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Battlefield 2042 beta version codes get leaked

The beta version of Battlefield 2042 is slated to be released next month and players reported receiving code right after pre-ordering it. According to a report, multiple Reddit users had claimed that they got the codes after they registered for the beta on Amazon. A series of posts regarding the code leaks were seen on the micro-blogging platform named Twitter as well. The leaks made the players believe as if the video gaming giant have already rolled out the codes ahead of the beta version’s release on October 8. An official gave a clarification on the issue. This was a simple store front error that incorrectly listed the pre-order offer for PS4. It's being updated now and you'll see the correct details shortly. To confirm: there have been no changes to the pre-order incentives for Battlefield 2042. https://t.co/2BYSV35d9i — Freeman (@PartWelsh) September 22, 2021 Thanks to those who helped alert it to myself and the gang – it’ll take a short while to update things but it’ll be sorted in good time — Freeman (@PartWelsh) September 22, 2021 Just had a quick check before I hit the hay – balance in the universe is indeed restored! pic.twitter.com/sxmQuY0xpm — Freeman (@PartWelsh) September 22, 2021 He stated that the company has not offered incentives for increasing the sales of beta version. Read More: Battlefield Mobile to make an entry in action-packed game series Earlier, Electronic Arts had announced that the game’s release has been pushed back from October 22 to November 19 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the development team. “With the ongoing conditions not allowing that to happen safely, and with all the hard work the teams are doing from home, we feel it is important to take the extra time to deliver on the vision of Battlefield 2042 for our players,” the company added. The game will be releasing on platforms namely PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X along with Xbox Series S, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. The post Battlefield 2042 beta version codes get leaked appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3ELOjpd https://ift.tt/3EI9atz
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ProGrade Versus Sony CFexpress Type A Cards: Is There a Difference?

ProGrade Digital just released the first CFexpress Type A cards that aren’t made by Sony and while they aren’t “cheap” by any stretch of the imagination, they are more affordable than Sony’s offering. But does that discount come at a performance cost? At the time of publication, CFexpress Type-A memory cards were only used by Sony in a few of its newer cameras like the Alpha 1. The format is much smaller than a CFexpress Type B card and while Type A cards will never be as fast, Sony chose them for its line of cameras because they have a secondary benefit: the small size lets them share a card slot that can also be used with legacy SD cards. SD cards are actually bigger than CFexpress cards, which let Sony build a slot in both its cameras and its CFexpress card reader that lets the one slot pull double duty. For photographers, this means that Sony could support faster read and write speeds to get the most out of its new cameras while also not forcing photographers to pick up all-new media. That choice is great because Sony’s CFexpress Type A cards are — at the time of publication — $400 for 160GB of capacity, a considerable investment. As you can see above, ProGrade elected to keep its two memory card reader slots separate. While the format isn’t widespread yet, ProGrade Digital believes it will become more popular in the future and as such has decided to join the party and just released its version of the media. What’s the Difference? Performance-wise, both Sony and ProGrade promise the same read and write speeds and physically both devices look almost identical — in fact, both cards note the country of origin as the same as well: Taiwan. The only real differences between them appear to be minor design choices on the back of the cards and a $70 price margin. The only real way to repeatedly test and determine if there is a difference between these two cards is to run them each through speed tests. Theoretically, I could fire a burst of photos on camera with each card and time how long it takes to clear the buffer, but there is no reason to believe that the speed tests here would provide a different result especially since — as I’ll explain below — I used two different card readers. Additionally, this method is much more repeatable and controlled. For this test, I have both the Sony and ProGrade CFexpress cards as well as the official card readers from both companies: the Sony MRW-G2 and the ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type A and SD Reader. I ran both cards through both of the readers in order to both see if there was any benefit to using a card reader and card from the same manufacturer, but also to assure that there was no unfair advantage that would appear by using a Sony card on a Sony reader, for example. I did not think one would exist, but it’s safer to be sure. I ran speed tests using the BlackMagic Speed Test application on an Apple MacBook Pro multiple times. Both card readers were connected via USB-C cables into the reader and into the laptop — I did not use the cable that converts the USB-C design to USB-A. Testing speeds on cards varies with each run that the card goes through and performance will vary slightly depending on individual cards and over time, but the screenshots below are good overall averages of what you can expect from the cards. Sony Versus ProGrade via ProGrade Card Reader First I want to show the results from running both cards through the ProGrade Digital combination CFexpress Type A and SD card reader:ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type A CardSony CFexpress Type A Card As you can see, both cards fell short of the promised “up to” 800 MB/s read spends and 700 MB/s write speeds. The ProGrade Digital card averaged around 679 MB/s write speeds and around 785 MB/s read speeds with the ProGrade reader. The Sony card performed pretty similarly, averaging around 683 MB/s write speeds and around 780 MB/s read speeds through the ProGrade reader. While it appears the ProGrade Digital card read data a bit faster than the Sony and the Sony wrote data a bit faster than the ProGrade, the difference here is within a tolerable margin of error of around 5 MB/s, which means that there is effectively no difference in performance between these cards with the ProGrade reader. Sony Versus ProGrade via Sony Card Reader Next, I ran both cards through the Sony combination CFexpress and SD card reader:ProGrade CFexpress Type A CardSony CFexpress Type A Card The Prograde CFexpress card averaged around 654 MB/s write speeds and 730 MB/s read speeds when tested through the Sony reader. The Sony card averaged around 651 MB/s write speeds and 731 MB/s read speeds through the Sony reader. The results here are much closer than when the cards were compared through the ProGrade card reader and are absolutely within the expected margin of error. As far as I am concerned, this confirms that the cards should effectively perform identically across mediums and cameras. Curiously, both the ProGrade card and the Sony card performed worse through Sony’s reader than through ProGrade’s reader by a factor of nearly 20 MB/s in both read and write, which is more than I feel comfortable attributing to just a margin of error. I am not familiar with the inner workings of card readers and what might make one perform better than the other, but in my testing, ProGrade does take the win here as far as media readers. Hunt the Best Price, Not the Brand If you were afraid that the $70 discount in price between the Sony and the ProGrade cards would result in worse performance for ProGrade, I have good news: both cards should perform pretty much exactly the same. One thing worth noting though is that as far as card readers go, ProGrade Digital’s CFexpress Type A and SD card combo reader appears to be a bit better than the Sony MRW-G2 Cfexpress Type A reader. Sony’s reader is also $120, while ProGrade’s is $80. So while I can comfortably recommend you can buy either the Sony or ProGrade card (whichever is on sale) and get the same performance, it appears the ProGrade card reader will give you better performance, albeit just a little. That said, ProGrade’s reader is made of mostly plastic while Sony’s is an all-metal housing. I haven’t ever encountered a situation where I needed my card reader to be tough as nails, but if that’s important to you, Sony is likely the better choice even if it’s just a hair slower. from Reviews – PetaPixel https://ift.tt/3lPv6KB https://ift.tt/3lMiqnQ
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In setback for Apple, EU plans one mobile charging port for all

The EU aims to have a common charging port for mobile phones, tablets and headphones under a European Commission proposal presented on Thursday in a world first, with the move impacting iPhone maker Apple more than its rivals. The move has been more than 10 years in the making, with the European Union executive touting environmental benefits and 250 million euros ($293 million) in annual savings for users. Under the Commission’s proposal, a USB-C connector will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles. Chargers will also be sold separately from electronic devices. The EU executive will revise its eco-design regulation in the near future so that the external power supply is interoperable, which is the last step for a common charge. The Commission said it was not targeting Apple and only acted because companies were not able to agree on a common solution despite a decade of talks, which have reduced the number of mobile phone chargers to three from 30. Apple pushed back against the proposal. “We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world,” the company said in a statement. It also voiced concerns about the 24-month transition period for companies to comply with the legislation once it is adopted. Commission industry chief Thierry Breton pointed to the ungainly sight of multiple charging cables. “My job is to kill off these sea snakes whenever I can,” he told a news conference. Breton also dismissed Apple’s comments as old refrains. “I have known these companies for years. Every time we put (forward) a proposal, they start to say ‘oh, it will be against innovation’. No, it’s not against innovation, it’s not against anyone. Like everything the Commission does, it’s for consumers,” he said. IPhone and Android users have long complained about having to use different chargers for their phones. The former is charged from a Lightning cable while Android-based devices are charged using USB-C connectors. Half the chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had a USB-C connector and 21% a Lightning connector, according to a 2019 Commission study. The proposal needs the green light from EU member states and EU lawmakers following which companies will have two years to adapt their devices. The post In setback for Apple, EU plans one mobile charging port for all appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3ACMQ1Z https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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This WhatsApp feature lets users quickly access important messages

The popular instant messaging app WhatsApp offers a feature that allows users to save important messages so they can access them later without any hassle. The feature called “Starred messages” lets users to bookmark messages they want to quickly refer back to later. Here’s how this feature works: Step 1: You first need to open any chat on WhatsApp and long press a message in order to save it. Step 2: There is a star icon on the top of the screen. You need to tap on it to save it as an important message on the app. You can also unstar a message in a similar manner. There is a section on WhatsApp that shows “Starred messages”. It is visible when you tap on the three-dotted button, present near the search bar icon. READ: WHATSAPP TO ALLOW USERS TO CONVERT IMAGES INTO STICKERS The drop-down menu will show a “Starred messages” option. If you want to unstar a message, you need to long-press on the message and then unstar that message by tapping on the star icon. Users can also remove all the saved messages in one go. A three-dotted icon on the top lets you do that. READ: YOUR WHATSAPP TO SOON LOSE SHORTCUT TO MESSENGER ROOMS There is also an alternate method that allows users to find a specific message if you don’t want to use the Starred message feature. The app has a “Search” option in individual chats and in the main window that allows you to type the message you want to search and WhatsApp will quickly show the messages related to your search. The post This WhatsApp feature lets users quickly access important messages appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/2ZoxjoV https://ift.tt/3kvEljQ
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iOS 15 includes features to improve Google applications use

Apple recently rolled out its latest operating system, iOS 15, and it will have new and improved features for improving the use of Google applications. The announcement was made by the technology company was made in a statement. A Focus mode is announced in which the feature will help in getting tasks finished within a given timeframe. They will be able to receive timely notifications. Read More: Apple releases video guide for iPhone 13 features Not only the feature will be handy in getting work done, but it will also be helpful in a different manner. For example, the tool will inform drivers if the road ahead is closed or quick turns have to be made. The latest feature named Google Home will let the users know if strangers are standing outside their homes. This will help take precautions and inform the police or authorities of any suspicious person. The tool will serve as a reminder regarding any work or house chore that needs to get done promptly. Read More: Here’s how you can download Apple iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 beta But the less important notifications will get transferred to the Notifications Centre. They can get accessed later. The statement mentioned that Google Photos and YouTube Music will release even larger versions of their widgets in the future for providing easy access to music and memories on iPads. Earlier, Spotlight was making it easy to find content from Google Drive. With the latest version, songs – which are searched – will start playing on YouTube Music. The post iOS 15 includes features to improve Google applications use appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/2Xyi5g4 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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FIA cyber crime cell restores ‘hacked’ Facebook page of Sindh minister

KARACHI: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Cell has restored the ‘hacked’ Facebook page of the Sindh Minister for Prisons Aijaz Jakhrani, ARY News reported on Tuesday. Following the complaint of the Sindh Prisons Minister Aijaz Jakhrani, the FIA cyber crime cell regained access to the social page having around 60,000 followers. According to the FIA spokesperson, the hackers had gained access to the social media page after sending a link. The hackers had shared obscene pictures on the Facebook page and retained access to the social media page for 12 days. FIA Additional Director Cyber Crime Cell Imran Riaz said in a statement that the intelligence agency was taking steps to arrest the hackers at the earliest. After getting back access to his social media page, Aijaz Jakhrani in a video message praised the FIA team for retrieving his Facebook page. He thanked FIA Director-General (DG) Sanaullah Abbasi, FIA Additional Director Imran Riaz and Deputy Director Kaleemullah Memon for taking immediate action to recover his social media page. Aijaz Jakhrani criticised his political opponents for playing dirty tricks to defame him by posting obscene pictures and stories after hacking his Facebook page. He added that the hackers will be arrested soon and their motives will be exposed. The post FIA cyber crime cell restores ‘hacked’ Facebook page of Sindh minister appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3tWavrO https://ift.tt/2XQQV4q
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Here are beta version details of Call of Duty: Vanguard

The much-anticipated World War II game, Call of Duty: Vanguard, is slated to be released on November 5. The details of its beta version have been announced. According to reports, the version was supposed to be brought down on September 20, but the date was extended by two days. The available maps in the beta version are Hotel Royal, Gavutu, Red Star and Eagle’s Nest. The modes include Champion Hill, Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed Patrol along with Search and Destroy. Earlier, the developers at Sledgehammer have made changes to resolve the visual complaints. As far as the sound tunings are concerned, the weapons and walking noise have seen changes. This results in players being able to listen to the footsteps of the enemies clearly. Read More: Call of Duty: Vanguard captures horrors of Second World War A new feature introduced in the game is Combat Pacing. It allows the players to choose the intensity of their matches. It has three types. * Tactical: It caters to franchise fans that are familiar with the timing. It is always played between teams of six players each. * Assault: Players will get enough breathing space along with many targets to kill. The number of players is between 20 to 28. * Blitz: It is the most intense level of the feature. The game will capture the horrors of World War II. The game will be published by Activision. It is a production of Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios. It will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S and Microsoft Windows. The post Here are beta version details of Call of Duty: Vanguard appeared first on ARY NEWS. from ScienceTechnology – ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3Cy7mkV https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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The next healthcare revolution will have AI at its center

Human life expectancy increased from 31 years in 1900 to 72 years in 2017. Today, we are on the cusp of another healthcare revolution driven by artificial intelligence.
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GM to replace battery modules in recalled Chevy Bolt EVs starting next month

General Motors said Monday it will replace battery modules in recalled Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV vehicles as soon as next month now that supplier LG Chem has restarted production of cells at two Michigan factories. Replacement modules, which are made up of lithium-ion battery cells, will begin shipping to dealers as soon as mid-October, […]
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Which VCs are set to make a killing in GitLab’s IPO

The GitLab debut is set to make a lot of funds material coin.
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India’s Cars24, a used-vehicle sales platform, raises $450M at a $1.84B valuation

The used car market is getting another major infusion of venture capital today, with one of the faster scaling startups out of India picking up a major round of financing to double down on growth: Cars24 — a site and app that sells users cars and used two-wheeled motorbikes — has raised $450 million, a […]
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