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Drop-tests are always fun to watch, but I’ve always felt that the reliability of most of them is suspect simply because there are so many variables.Most involve someone dropping a phone by hand, and the distance is often as imprecisely measured as ‘waist height’ or ‘head height,’ making it hard to be sure both phones experienced exactly the same force. Dropping a phone from a hand can result in differences in initial angles, and releasing one side of the phone a fraction of a second before the other can impart a rotation to the device. In short, most drop-tests are more entertainment than science. But the...

Female chief executive officers earn more money on average than their male counterparts for the second year in a row according to a new survey. Researchers looked at the pay and benefits packages for male and female business leaders for 2014 and 2015. The data showed that the median pay for a female CEO was almost $18 million last year, while their male counterparts were worth on average a mere $10.5 million. Also, the packages received by women increased in value by around 13 percent last year, compared to a moderate three percent rise for the men. …

Maybe they use the '80s flick "War Games" as a training film, too. The U.S. Defense Department is still using — after several decades — 8-inch floppy disks in a computer system that coordinates the operational functions of the nation's nuclear forces, a jaw-dropping new report reveals. The Defense Department's 1970s-era IBM Series/1 Computer and long-outdated floppy disks handle functions related to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers and tanker support aircraft, according to the new Government Accountability Office report.

SpaceEngine - a free space simulation program that lets you explore the universe in three dimensions, from planet Earth to the most distant galaxies. Areas of the known universe are represented using actual astronomical data, while regions uncharted by astronomy are generated procedurally. Millions of galaxies, trillions of stars, countless planets - all available for exploration. You can land any planet, moon or asteroid and watch alien landscapes and celestial phenomena. You can even pilot starships and atmospheric shuttles.

MONTREAL, May 23 (UPI) -- A Quebec man took "drone warfare" to a new low-tech extreme by showing his method for using a quadcopter to snatch another drone out of the sky. Drone enthusiast David Freiheit, who previously used drones to herd sheep and (unsuccessfully) make tea for his wife, posted a video to YouTube showing his low-tech method for using a drone to capture another drone in mid-flight. Freiheit explains in the video that he pulled off the "Internet first" by using four strings attached to the skids of the attacking drone. The attacking drone then flies above its...

Rise of the robots: 60,000 workers culled from just one factory as China’s struggling electronics hub turns to artificial intelligence Kunshan, in Jiangsu province, undergoes makeover as 600 companies look to trim their headcount The manufacturing hub for the electronics industry, Kunshan, in Jiangsu province, is seeking a drastic reduction in labour costs as it undergoes a makeover after an industrial explosion killed 146 people in 2014.The county, one-seventh the size of neighbouring Shanghai and the mainland’s first county to achieve US$4,000 per capita income, was adjudged the best county for its economic performance by Forbes for seven years in...

The company is taking a $950 million charge to unwind the last vestiges of the Nokia deal. div class="c-entry-content"> Microsoft is further scaling back its flagging phone business, exiting the consumer market and cutting another 1,850 jobs.As part of the move announced Wednesday, Microsoft will take a $950 million charge and cut what little remained of its Finland-based phone hardware business, unwinding the last of its disastrous $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia's phone unit. Last week, Microsoft announced separately that it was selling what was left of its low-end "feature phone" business.The company has been scaling back its phone ambitions...

Apple's Tim Cook saw an iPhone in 350-year-old paintingThe Apple chief executive joked saying he thought he knew when and where the iPhone was invented. Apparently the iPhone was invented nearly 350 years ago, according to Apple boss Tim Cook's interpretation of a painting. During a chat at the Start-up Fest event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, Cook spoke to former European Commissioner Neelie Kroes about topics ranging from health to the future of TV. But the pair shared an anecdote from the night before when Kroes took Cook to Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. "Do you happen to know Tim, where and when...

About six months ago I downloaded SNAPFISH thinking it was something I wantedI soon learned it was not and went into my programs, uninstalled and everything was OK until todayI am getting a constant annoying popup saying, "We are unable to authenticate your acct." etc I've been everywhere I know and can't find this annoyance to remove ithelpW7 w/chrome

My Pine64 Media Center Several months back, I participated in a Kickstarter campaign for the PINE A64, First $15 64-Bit Single Board Super Computer. The campaign started in December of 2015, and was designed to fund the production of a 64-bit computer on a card for the masses priced at $15. Initial estimated delivery was January or February. Their initial estimates on shipping were somewhat optimistic, as I just received mine the other day (5/21/2016). Reading through some of the comments on the project, some people were rather bent out of shape about the shipping delays, which is something I...

One of Silicon Valley’s best-known investors has been footing a former wrestler’s legal bills in lawsuits against a shared enemy. Peter Thiel, a PayPal cofounder and one of the earliest backers of Facebook FB +1.50%, has been secretly covering the expenses for Hulk Hogan’s lawsuits against online news organization Gawker Media. According to people familiar with the situation who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, Thiel, a cofounder and partner at Founders Fund, has played a lead role in bankrolling the cases Terry Bollea, a.k.a. Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker. Hogan is being represented by Charles Harder, a...

Apple has been hit by one of the more shocking patent lawsuits in recent memory.A company that seemingly does nothing but license patents or, if necessary, sue other companies to get royalties, has taken aim at Apple But here’s the kicker: the lawsuit alleges that Apple’s last several iPhones and iPads violate a slew of patents related to seemingly standard features, including the ability to place calls as well as sending and receiving emails. A total of six patent infringement claims were brought against Apple by Corydoras Technologies on May 20, according to Apple-tracking site Patently Apple, which obtained...

Taiwan’s Apple (AAPL) supply chain manufacturers soared, with the TAIEX Index closing 2.6% higher after media reports that Apple is asking its suppliers to prepare for much higher-than-expected iPhone 7 production for 2016. Taiwan’s Economic Daily said Apple had asked its suppliers to produce 72 to 78 million new iPhones by the end of the year, the highest production target in about two years. The street had expected only 65 million iPhone 7s to be produced this year. According to the Taiwan newspaper, Hon Hai Precision Technology (2317.Taiwan) will remain the key assembler for iPhone 7 and Pegatron Corp. (4938.Taiwan)...

UAE is an incubator of innovation and future technology: MohammedHis Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, stated that the UAE has emerged as one of the major incubators of innovation and future technology in the world today, and its focused initiatives to shape the future have become global models that can be emulated in all sectors. "We implement what we plan, and we pursue actions not theories. The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of development, for history does not recognize our plans but...

A University of Texas at Dallas researcher has made a discovery that could open the door to cellphone and car batteries that last five times longer than current ones. Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of materials science and engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, has discovered new catalyst materials for lithium-air batteries that jumpstart efforts at expanding battery capacity. The research was published in Nature Energy. "There's huge promise in lithium-air batteries. However, despite the aggressive research being done by groups all over the world, those promises are not being delivered in real life," Cho said....

This week Facebook made nice with conservatives who were worried about reports about it censoring its trending-news section to reflect the liberal bias of those who work for the social-media company. But maybe the conservative activists and media figures were worried about the wrong Internet giant. Yesterday, anyone who clicked on the Google home page saw a curious “doodle” honoring someone who most users had probably never heard of. But rather than the usual anodyne historical figure or celebrity, yesterday’s honoree was a woman that Google identified as “one of the most overlooked and dogged civil rights activists of our...

Cybercrooks have put together a new scam that falls halfway between ransomware and old school browser lockup ruses. The new class of “tech support lockers” rely on tricking users into installing either a fake PC optimiser or bogus Adobe Flash update. Once loaded the malware mimicks ransomware and locks users out of their computers. Unlike Locky, CryptoWall and their ilk it doesn’t actually encrypt files on compromised Windows PCs, however. Jérôme Segura, a senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, said “tech support lockers" represent a class of malware more advanced than browser locks and fake anti-virus alerts of the pre-ransomware past....

Why does WIN-10 not connect with my home WIfi on start-up

The legendary 49ers linebacker, who retired in 2015, is now a khaki pants-wearing, 9-to-5 office worker at Open Source Storage, a tech startup in Campbell. Willis currently serves as the executive vice president of partnerships and is on the Open Source Storage advisory board. And, according to a profile in Mashable, those aren't just empty titles; Willis puts on his button-down and shows up to work every day. "Monday through Friday, Willis commutes to work at a Silicon Valley office park," writes Mashable. "He's got a list of favorite lunch spots nearby. Sometimes he takes video calls from home, or...

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