I was in the middle of my second Red Dead Redemption 2 playthrough when I was setting down my water. Given that I was looking at the game, I missed the coaster and set it down right on the corner of my table. It toppled right over into my hands and purse, with my phone only narrowly avoiding a dousing. I tried to keep the controller working by drying it off (before anyone asks, no I didn’t have a bag of dry rice to dunk it into), and it gamely lasted for another few minute, before it started randomly switching on the share menu....

Simply put there’s never been a better time than right now for potential jobseekers to get in on what, arguably, could be the greatest technological revolution since the advent of the internet. But what if you don’t have a PhD in physics or a background in quantum research? Fret not. The world of quantum technologies will require a lot more than just project managers and theoretical physicists over the next few decades and beyond....

One particular problem that has long-faced scientists who study the origin of life is the source of the elusive element, phosphorus. Phosphorus is an important element for basic cell structures and functions. For example, it forms the backbone of the double helix structure of DNA and the related molecule RNA. Though the element was widespread, almost all phosphorus on the early Earth – around 4 billion years ago – was trapped in minerals that were essentially insoluble and unreactive....

It was a day, really, like many other days in my part of the world. The sky was grey. Drizzle coated the outdoors. And the postperson was tired with having to deliver me more shit. For weeks, a thought had been rolling around my mind: maybe the time is nigh for an external drive to enter my life. In my late teens and early twenties, I pretty much always had portable storage in my backpack....

Mosseri will appear as part of a series of hearings about online safety for kids, The New York Times reports. The hearing will be led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, who heads the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection. “After bombshell reports about Instagram’s toxic impacts, we want to hear straight from the company’s leadership why it uses powerful algorithms that push poisonous content to children driving them down rabbit holes to dark places, and what it will do to make its platform safer,” Blumenthal said in a statement....

Scientists from the University of Liverpool used machine learning to predict which mammals could be sources for new strains of the virus. They detected a number of species implicated in previous outbreaks, including horseshoe bats, and pangolins — as well as some new candidates. [Read: How Polestar is using blockchain to increase transparency] The study also predicted that hedgehogs, rabbits, and domestic cats could host SARS-CoV-2, as well as numerous other coronaviruses:...

A new AI tool provides a surprisingly simple way of spotting them: looking at the light reflected in the eyes. The system was created by computer scientists from the University at Buffalo. In tests on portrait-style photos, the tool was 94% effective at detecting Deepfake images. [Read: How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners] The system exposes the fakes by analyzing the corneas, which have a mirror-like surface that generates reflective patterns when illuminated by light....

Sixth Street Partners and Silver Lake — the two funds who signed Airbnb’s loan announced just days ago — are returning investors, the latter “one of the biggest players” of the new deal, according to Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter. The other private equity firms reportedly funding the deal are Apollo Global Management, Oaktree Capital Management, and Owl Rock. The travel startup secured the new five-year loan at an interest rate of around 9%, reports CNBC....

According to a statement issued by the Paraná state government, state police shut down the unnamed operation and arrested nine people. A four-month investigation revealed 500 people from across six states — Paraná, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Maranhão, and Amapá — had fallen victim to the Bitcoin investment scam, but it is estimated the figure could rise to 5,000 people. “It became apparent that the operation was a scam when the victims received a message from the company, telling them that for six months the investors wouldn’t be able to withdraw their funds,” the statement reads....

Since its launch in 2007, EPUB has been poised to become the ebook format file of choice, with The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) — a US trade group that aims to streamline publishing — declaring EPUB should be the sector’s standard. Well, it’s all about consumer choice and freedom. There are plenty of other places you can buy ebooks beyond the Kindle store. This not only includes other large retailers like Kobo and Barnes & Noble, but also purchasing them directly from publishers themselves....

It’s designed to compete with the likes of the Sonos Play:5, Google Home Max, and Apple HomePod, but clearly beats them in one area: price. It’s up for pre-order today for $200 and will begin to ship November 7. That’s $100 cheaper than Apple and Google’s offerings, and a full $300 cheaper than Sonos’. These prices aren’t worth much without direct sound comparisons, but on paper, the Studio has a lot to show....

Cops in Lucknow, the capital city in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), aim to install an AI-based camera system on 200 crime hotspots that will alert the police force’s control room if the system detects distress on the women’s face. Not only is the premise of this solution deeply problematic, but there are also numerous concerns and reasons why this is basically the worst crime-fighting idea ever. Let’s get into it....

The company said in an advisory, that the system has two vulnerabilities that can be exploited to install malicious software through Remote Code Execution (RCE): As ArsTechnica noted, the “Adobe Type Manager Library” is a system file often used to manage and render fonts published by Adobe in documents. Two remote code execution vulnerabilities exist in Microsoft Windows when the Windows Adobe Type Manager Library improperly handles a specially-crafted multi-master font – Adobe Type 1 PostScript format....

During the presentation there was a moment that caught my attention: Apple claimed the new Macs with M1 chips will start instantly from sleep. That’s right: if you have a brand new Mac, Apple expects you’ll be able to open the screen and it’ll flick immediately into life. This ‘start instantly from sleep’ feature was announced while company was discussing the crossover between the new chip, macOS Big Sur, and the new notebooks....

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) October 6, 2020 Yes, it turns out that rumored date was correct. It also matches up with the info leaked in August that suggested the Apple Watch and iPad would be revealed in September ahead of an October iPhone reveal. We don’t know much about the iPhone 12 so far, but the rumor is that we could see up to four new phones at the event....

This comes after a report from Bloomberg last week saying Apple has obtained tariff waiver for 10 out of 15 parts it had requested the exemption for. The Cupertino-based firm’s CEO, Tim Cook, said the company is proud to be building the Mac Pro in Austin: Apple had reportedly planned to make its new high-end computers earlier in China while seeking relief from import tariff. However, in July President Donald Trump tweeted there will be no waiver from tariffs for parts that are made in China....

The other day, I sat down for a meeting with an entrepreneur looking for a marketer and content writer. A mutual friend had put us in touch, and before our session, I had provided him with a clear breakdown of my fees and estimates. We met up at a cafe and shared some coffee to discuss his project. He gave a long pitch about his startup and how it was both synergistic and disruptive....

Will this decision actually change the behavior of the big tech companies? The answer will depend on the size of the penalty awarded in response to the misconduct. Read more: ACCC ‘world first’: Australia’s Federal Court found Google misled users about personal location data In theory, the penalty is A$1.1 million per contravention. There is a contravention each time a reasonable person in the relevant class is misled. So the total award could, in theory, amount to many millions of dollars....

If you’re currently unemployed and looking to join an industry surging while so many others are struggling, look no further than the cloud. With the crush of remote workers and greater decentralization than ever before, cloud-based services are growing at an even faster pace now than the already breakneck growth rate happening before COVID-19. With the training in The 2020 Ultimate AWS Certification Training Bundle, you can earn the baseline knowledge to get hired in this exploding job sector and seriously advance your cloud-based career....

— The Mandalorian (@themandalorian) September 2, 2020 The first season came out in a weekly format, with each new episode getting an individual premiere, rather than the whole series just appearing on the site, ready for binge-watching. One presumes it’ll be the same for Season 2. Here’s hoping the trailer drops soon. I don’t know about you, but three-quarters of the way through one of the worst years in recent memory, I just want to see my beloved little green son, Baby Yoda (or as the show refers to him, the Child)....