Free Republic

Monkeys may show off their physical flexibility as they clamber over tangled tree branches, but the animals also display impressive "cognitive flexibility," or the ability to quickly change how they think about, and work to solve, a problem. In the game, four squares appeared on screen during each trial: one striped, one spotted and two blank. In training sessions, players learned that clicking the striped square and then the spotted square would cause a blue triangle to pop up in place of one of the blank squares. Clicking the blue triangle produced a reward — in this case, an auditory...

Includes setting to turn ads off – stop hissing at the back, Google Alternative search engine DuckDuckGo has announced improvements to its search options and an enhanced dark theme, but its tiny market share shows that most people are content to stick with Google, despite privacy issues.DuckDuckGo says it offers search without any user profiling, in contrast to the trend towards personalisation and targeted advertising favoured by its competitors. Founder Gabriel Weinberg says that profiling and tracking is unnecessary since simply presenting ads based on the keywords you type is sufficient for a business model. "If you type in 'dishwasher',...

iOS users are spending anywhere from $$1,249 to $1,449 for Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro Max, but a new report has found it costs the tech giant less than half to make its sought after handset. A teardown of the smartphone has revealed that including parts and assembly, the Cupertino company is only paying $490.50 for a finished handset. However, the $490.50 price tag does not include shipping, wages of people who handle assemble and costs of services that are free with each iPhone such as AppleCare and iCloud syncing.

The wrong kind of intrusion protection Symantec has acknowledged an issue with an update to its Endpoint Protection Client that causes a Windows kernel exception after users this morning came down with a mild case of Blue Screen of Death.A Reg reader who got in touch about the problem confirmed "multiple" businesses running Symantec were getting hit with the BSOD stick.According to the support note TECH256643: When run LiveUpdate, Endpoint Protection Client gets a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) indicates IDSvix86.sys/IDSvia64.sys is the cause of the exception BAD_POOL_CALLER (c2) or KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION (13A). When BSOD happens, Intrusion Prevention signature version is...

Apple today released iOS 13.1.3 and iPadOS 13.1.3 for compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. iOS 13.1.3 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone. This update: Addresses an issue that could prevent a device from ringing or vibrating for an incoming call Fixes an issue that may prevent opening a meeting invite in Mail Resolves an issue where data in the Health app may not display correctly after daylight savings time adjusts Fixes an issue where Voice Memos recordings may not download after restoring from iCloud Backup Addresses an issue where apps might fail to download when restoring...

There is a privacy threat lurking on perhaps hundreds of millions of devices, that could enable potential attackers to track and profile users, by using information leaked via the Tor network, even if the users never intentionally installed Tor in the first place. In a session at the SecTor security conference in Toronto, Canada on October 10, researchers Adam Podgorski and Milind Bhargava from Deloitte Canada outlined and demonstrated previously undisclosed research into how they were able to determine that personally identifiable information (PII) is being leaked by millions of mobile users every day over Tor. The irony of the...

If you knew of a faithful Christian who was to obtain (intentionally limited) TV (using a Roku device), but could afford but one channel each of Sports, Weather, World News, National News, History, Nature, and Movies, and perhaps one other category, what existing channels might you advise he subscribe to for his household comprised of teens through elderly?

On Thursday, a Canadian law firm filed a notice requesting permission to launch a class-action lawsuit against Epic Games — makers of the incredibly popular video game “Fortnite” — on behalf of two parents in Quebec. One parent claims in the filing that their 10-year-old son has been playing the game almost daily for months and becomes “very frustrated and angry” whenever the parent tries to limit his playing time. The other parent says in the filing that their 15-year-old son “quickly developed an addiction to ‘Fortnite.'” The lawsuit goes on to note that some “Fortnite” players “don’t eat or...

So when I went to turn off my Windows7 machine last night, I got the warning not to turn it off because it was doing updates, so I left it going and went to sleep. In the morning, it took forever to start, but it did start. I looked at Dilbert and turned it off normally. Now I've come home and the startup didn't complete after ten minutes or so, so I turned it off and then turned it on again. The system suggested "Startup Repair" so I took that option and after a while, it asked if I wanted...

Is this the new de-facto logo of The National Basketball Association for the 2019-2020 season?

Hi, I am having trouble staying logged in to FR on my iPad. No problem with my phone. It is aggravating. Help!!!

Desperate users tinkering with compatibility system to get up and running again Windows 10 users have been complaining since the weekend that VMware Workstation no longer runs after a cumulative Windows 10 Update prevents it from starting.Only older versions of VMware Workstation are affected, but even users willing to pay for an upgrade may face other compatibility issues.The culprit seems to be KB4517211, which upgrades Windows 10 to build 18362.387. Although not mentioned in the knowledgebase, this update adds entries to the Windows Compatibility database, the result being that attempting to run VMware Workstation 14 or below gives the message...

My browser url for FR shows a not secure connection. Has FR let its Internet certificate expire or is it not using the https format? We users enjoy this site but want the security of https.

A refusal to grant a third waiver to Huawei, the world's largest telecom networking equipment manufacturer and second-largest smartphone maker, would be the right move for the United States. After all, why should President Trump allow our companies to help Beijing steal the world's data and remotely control devices connected to the internet? On Tuesday, China's Communist Party will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its coming to power. This is not a happy time for the communists, however, as their economy, the primary basis of their legitimacy, is crumbling. In addition, the thought of licensing technology from Huawei is...

There’s no way I can write about the return of Flight Simulator without sharing just a little bit of my own story for context,... ... Like many of its predecessors, the new simulator models the entire planet, including something like 40,000 airports worldwide. I used to brag in presentations about FSX that we started with 2 terabytes of scenery data, and then compressed that to fit onto a couple of DVDs in a box. The world in the new version consists of 2 petabytes of data — yes, that’s one thousand times bigger. The scenery is built on Bing satellite...

George Gilder | Life After Google

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A Colorado physicist is putting his scientific expertise to a practical purpose -- using a 3D printer to build a Lamborghini with his 11-year-old son. Erie resident Sterling Backus and his son, Xander, 11, started work on their full-size, working model of an Italian supercar -- specifically the Lamborghini Aventador -- when the boy asked his father if it was possible. "One day I said to him, hey can we build one of those?" Xander Backus told WCNC-TV. Sterling Backus said his background as a "gear head" has thus far been more helpful than his training...

Today, we're proud to announce that Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to PC on November 5th, with special bonuses available to players who pre-purchase through the Rockstar Games Launcher starting October 9th. We also want to say thank you to the millions of people who have already downloaded the Rockstar Games Launcher and received their free copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For those yet to download the Rockstar Games Launcher, be sure to download by Tuesday October 8th to get Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for free. Read on for more details about the long-awaited launch of...

An iPhone user is suing Apple after claiming an app on his phone turned him gay. The plaintiff, identified only as D Razumilov, argues he became "mired in same-sex relationships" this summer after getting involved in a cryptocurrency app. He is seeking one million rubles (£12,459) in damages, the Moscow Times reported. In a complaint published on Wednesday, Razumilov says he received 69 GayCoins on a cryptocurrency payment app he downloaded onto his iPhone in 2017. The unknown sender of the coins reportedly wrote a message in English for Razumilov which he interpreted as "don't judge without trying". Razumilov said...

Here's the 'problem': I inherited at work a Windows 10 computer to use from another worker who has gone on to better job somewhere else. The problem is the Outlook Email still has HIS contacts list, both work and personal, and I cannot get rid of any of them. I go to the 'PEOPLE' section and go through the right clicks on the OLD CONTACTS, but the 'DELETE' function is grayed out and will not do anything. It won't let me edit any either. Anyone else have this problem? And if so, how do you fix it?............................ Thanks in advance,...