Academia Pushes A New Kind of Peer Review For Research With ‘Sessions’

For several years, Richard Price has had a quixotic dream to make cutting-edge academic research universally available to everyone. “I want a world where a 19-year-old kid in China can access a paper he’s interested in about lithium ion batteries on his phone on the subway and it’s validated by others and it’s in his own language,” Price said. It’s been a… Read More

The Evolving Landscape Of Recommendation Systems

Everyday decisions, from which products to buy, movies to watch and restaurants to try, are more and more being put in the hands of a new source: recommendation systems. Recommendation systems are changing the very ways we make up our minds, guiding us through a new digital reality whose evolution is bringing us closer to exactly what it is that we want — even if we ourselves… Read More

Toshiba Satellite C55-B5240X 15.6-Inch Laptop Review

Toshiba Satellite C55-B5240X This is my review of the Toshiba Satellite C55-B5240X laptop. I break down what all of these confusing specifications and features means so you can make a more informed and confident decision. Intel Celeron N2840 2.16 GHz 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM 500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive 15.6-Inch Screen, Mobile Intel HD graphics Windows 10

Asus X555LA-SI50203H 15.6" Laptop Review

Asus X555LA-SI50203H: http://amzn.to/1gJVBNP This is my review of the Asus X555LA-SI50203H2 laptop. I break down what all of these confusing specifications and features means so you can make a more informed and confident decision. 5th Gen Intel Core i5-4210U mobile processor UMA graphics 6GB DDR3 memory 1TB hard drive 15.6" high-definition display DVD±RW/CD-RW drive Built-in VGA webcam Windows 8.1 64-bit 802.11b/g/n WLAN Bluetooth interface

Marines give Google’s latest robot a tryout as “working dog”

Spot on point: the Boston Dynamics robot prepares to enter a structure as a scout for Marines in an urban combat drill.

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In a series of drills this week, the Marine Corps tested whether a new four-legged companion had what it takes to work with infantrymen in a variety of situations. The subject of the tests was Boston Dynamics' Spot robot, a 160-pound, hydraulicly actuated quadruped robot first revealed by the Google (soon to be Alpahbet) subsidiary in February.

Spot was brought to the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, home of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, by a team from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA has tested a number of previous robots from Boston Dynamics, including the BigDog quadruped robot, with the Marine Corps. Ben Swilling, a roboticist with DARPA who accompanied Spot for the tests, said "I think a robot like Spot has tons of opportunities we could use it for, like scouting or load carriage."

The Corps has also tested autonomous vehicles, such as the GUSS from TORC Robotics, and other robotic systems for support of infantry in the field. But Spot is both lighter and quieter than most of the other systems that have been tested, and can handle terrain that autonomous vehicles or even the pack mule-like BigDog can't.

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XcodeGhost: a new malware infecting many popular iOS apps

A few dozen iPhone and iPad applications, most of them developed for China, have been infected with XcodeGhost, a malware that collects information on the devices and uploads that data to remote servers.

Among them is WeChat, one of the most popular instant messaging applications in the world.

Rather than exploit an iOS vulnerability, the malware in question sneaks its way into apps indirectly, by targeting Apple’s official compilers used to create legitimate apps. The malware was found to inject its malicious code into a Mach-O object file that was repackaged into some versions of Xcode, Apple’s official tool for developing iOS and OS X apps.

These Trojanized Xcode installers were then uploaded to Baidu’s cloud file sharing service used by Chinese app developers, explains Palo Alto Networks. The malicious code then inserts itself into any iOS app compiled with the infected Xcode without the developers’ knowledge.

It’s not Apple’s fault, really: this would have never happened had these developers downloaded Xcode files directly from Apple. Baidu has since removed all of the infected files from its servers and some of the infected apps have since removed the malware code in their latest builds.... Read the rest of this post here

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"XcodeGhost: a new malware infecting many popular iOS apps" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com.
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How to only show the days you completed dedicated workouts with Activity app

Folks who track their workouts with the Apple Watch or a third-party fitness accessory tend to analyze their logged history in the iPhone’s Activity app in order to gain a valuable insight into when they have—and more importantly, have not—met their personal goals.

Realizing you’re consistently failing to hit your set workout goal on weekends, for example, is the first step toward changing your routine, working out more and leading a healthier life overall.

Though largely unchanged from its iOS 8 counterpart, Activity on iOS 9 has gained a useful, somewhat hidden toggle for switching between displaying Move, Exercise and Stand rings and highlighting the days you completed dedicated workouts.... Read the rest of this post here

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"How to only show the days you completed dedicated workouts with Activity app" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com.
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Inside iOS 9: Under-the-Hood Improvements for Battery Life, Security, and More

In iOS 9, some of the best features are the ones that aren't readily visible. iOS 9 has several under-the-hood updates that boost battery life, improve security, and cut down on the amount of storage space iOS updates and apps use on iPhones and iPads.

Even disregarding all of the consumer facing features, these quiet improvements make the upgrade to iOS 9 from iOS 8 or iOS 7 well worth it on all supported devices: the iPhone 4s and up, the iPad 2 and up, and all iPad mini models.

Battery Life

With operating system optimizations, Apple is able to eke out an additional hour of battery life on iPhones under normal usage conditions. One of these improvements, for example, pertains to the iPhone's ambient light and proximity sensor. When the iPhone is placed facedown, it now detects that the screen isn't visible, so an incoming notification does not light up the screen.


There's also a new Low Power Mode on the iPhone that can add another three hours of battery life by cutting down on battery-draining features. Low Power Mode turns off automatic Mail fetch, disables background app refresh, disables motion effects, and disables animated wallpapers.

Low Power mode also throttles the performance of the iPhone so it drains less power. Benchmark testing suggests Low Power mode reduces an iPhone's performance by about 40 percent to cut down on power usage.

Security

iOS 9 prompts users to create 6-digit passcodes instead of 4-digit passcodes for additional security. It's still possible to create a 4-digit passcode, but Apple recommends a 6-digit code because it adds one million possible combinations instead of 10,000, making a passcode harder to crack. Two-factor authentication support is also enhanced in iOS 9.

Installation Size

With iOS 9, Apple's cut way down on the installation size, so far less free space is required to download the new update. While iOS required 4.58 GB of space to install, iOS 9 requires only 1.3 GB of space to install, making it more accessible to users who have 16 GB iOS devices.


For devices that still don't have enough space to install the iOS 9 update, Apple has a new auto app delete/reinstall feature. When attempting to install iOS 9 on a device with insufficient space, there's a popup that offers to temporarily delete some apps in order to make room for the update. Apps that are deleted are then reinstalled and replaced after the operating system update is completed.

App Thinning

Apps from third-party developers also require less installation space thanks to a feature called App Thinning. With App Thinning, apps can be optimized for specific devices, allowing them to take up less space on iOS devices.

An app for the iPhone doesn't need all of the iPad assets, so those won't be downloaded. That means faster installs, faster launch times, and more storage space left for other apps and content.

App Thinning also includes on-demand resources like image and sound files, which can be downloaded only when needed. The imagery for later levels in a game, for example, might not be downloaded until it's necessary.

Metal

Apps in iOS 9 take advantage of Metal, making more efficient use of the CPU and GPU for faster scrolling, smoother animations, and better performance. Email, messages, web pages, and PDFs all render faster.

Surface Pro 4 Rumor Roundup: What?s Coming on Microsoft?s Next Tablet

With its recent announcement of a Windows 10 Devices event on October 6, Microsoft has all but confirmed that its next-generation Surface Pro will make an appearance soon. What we don’t know, howeve...

Why John McAfee believes he should be president

Read full story for latest details.

Hands On With The New Apple Watch Options

Amongst this morning’s torrential blast of Apple news were a handful of new options for would-be Apple Watch buyers, from new finishes to fancy new watch bands. The Watch Sport now comes in a pinkish “rose” gold and a more traditional gold. Meanwhile, they’ve introduced a bunch of new colors for the plastic Sports band, adding pinks, brown, red, and a few blues to… Read More