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NASCAR driver ‘rage quits’ esports race

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With real-life race events canceled, drivers have taken their talents to esports and unsurprisingly, the usual conflicts have followed. On Sunday during the Food City Showdown from Bristol Motor Speedway in a race that was airing on Fox, Bubba Wallace and Clint Bowyer got together on lap 11, spinning Bowyer out and putting Wallace’s car in the wall.

Wallace was so frustrated that he quit the race on the spot — not an entirely unusual response even in real-life racing, Kyle Busch ended a race early last year during the playoffs — and later tweeted “I ruined so many peoples day by quiting (sic)..a video game.. Bahaha. A video game. Damn quarantine life is rough.”



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Google Fit redesign focuses on your step count

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Google Fit has received another redesign, and this time the focus is on a favorite aspect of fitness tracking: step counts. The Android, iOS and Wear OS versions of Fit have shunted the Move Minutes goal to the side in place of the step count and Heart Points. In theory, this caters to the step-obsessed while ensuring that you’re still getting in the more intense exercise needed for a truly active lifestyle.

The redesign also brings bolder, easier-to-glimpse visuals and progress cards that surface when you’re close to reaching a goal. On Wear OS, new Tiles can start workouts and provide at-a-glance updates on your progress for daily and weekly goals.

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Self-driving shuttles are ferrying COVID-19 tests at a Florida clinic

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In this article:

Self-driving car, self-driving, autonomous, navya, Covid-19, coronavirus, Health, Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Florida, beep, news, gear

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Pixel 4 adds an ‘eyes open’ check for using face unlock

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It took several months, but you can finally enable face unlock on your Pixel 4 without worrying that someone will access your phone while you’re sleeping. Google has rolled out an April security update that adds the promised “require eyes to be open” optional setting. Enable it in the Face Unlock menu and you’ll have to be awake and vaguely attentive to get into your phone. We can see this causing problems if you tend to squint, but it should provide some peace of mind if you use the feature to start with.

The update also fixes a pair of annoying Bluetooth problems, including dropped audio and a memory leak that prevented additional Bluetooth Low Energy connections. This isn’t just your ordinary security patch, then, and you may want to grab it soon if you haven’t already.

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Facebook and Carnegie Mellon launch survey to track Covid-19

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Results of the survey “will be used to generate new insights on how to respond to the crisis, including heat maps of self-reported symptoms.” Symptom-tracking could be especially helpful to researchers given the lack of readily-available testing in many areas.

Facebook is working with Carnegie Mellon to survey users about coronavirus symptoms.

Facebook

Facebook notes it’s taking steps to protect the identities of those who opt to participate in the survey. The company won’t be able to view results of the surveys, and will also hide individual participants’ identities from the researchers.

The survey will only be available in the United States for now, but the company says it may expand to other countries “if the results are helpful.”

The move is part of a larger effort by the company to make more of its data available to researchers studying Covid-19. Facebook is also expanding researchers’ access to its location information — in anonymized form — to better help scientists understand how  coronavirus infections may spread in different areas of the country.

By studying trends such as whether or not people are staying at home, as well as data about users’ relationships, health experts may be able to find disease “hotspots” earlier, Facebook says.

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Serato Studio’s latest update includes a limited free version

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Those already using this beat-making software get the addition of Auto Chord Mode, which lets you create 2 – 7 note chords from a single note, no previous knowledge of music theory required. There are also improvements to the song view, quantized cue points and the Serato DJ library view. However, this update seems primarily geared towards providing inquiring minds the opportunity to use the software for free, with only some of the full edition’s features disabled.

Users taking advantage of the free version will be limited to four decks, four scenes, a single audio track and can only export MP3 files. You can’t automate filters either, so let’s just say it’s a chance to practice that live set where you actually have to perform in the moment. The single audio track — where you can import an entire song for editing — lets you work on DJ edits for your set, but you won’t be able to stack a variety of full tunes together for more complex results.

Serato Studio 1.4.4 is available today, with a 14-day full-feature trial and an always-free option with reduced features. If you’d like to get the full version, it’s available as a $10/month subscription or $200 outright purchase.

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Headspace offers free mindfulness exercises to help with stress

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That said, you don’t have to live in New York to take advantage of the resources; they’re available to everyone going through this difficult time.

“From Buffalo to Long Island, Albany to the Lower East Side, this special NY collection of meditation, sleep, and movement exercises are here to support you through stressful and challenging times,” Headspace says on the website. “Helping you — and your fellow New Yorkers — stay strong and be kind to yourselves, with a New York state of mind.”

The initiative is the latest effort by Headspace to help during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, the company made its premium Headspace Plus subscription free to US healthcare professionals through the end of 2020.

Besides Headspace, Engadget recently detailed some of the ways in which you can access online help if you’re feeling anxious amid everything that’s going on at the moment.

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Call of Duty League resumes April 10th with online-only format

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“No one wants to be in this situation, but we are, and we’re thankful that Call of Duty League can forge ahead and deliver live competition to fans when it’s probably needed most,” commissioner Johanna Faries said in a statement. The Home Series schedule extends through July 26th and details about the championship weekend will be revealed later.

While many sports have been impacted by stadium and arena closures, several top-level esports events have carried on in online-only formats. Athletes and racing drivers are even continuing to compete in virtual versions of their sports, with broadcast and cable networks airing some showdowns.



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Swarm finally gets full regulatory approval to launch its satellites

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In 2017, the FCC denied Swarm’s application to launch its satellites, saying they could pose a safety hazard to other spacecraft. But Swarm went ahead and launched four cubesats without obtaining the necessary approvals. The FCC was obviously not happy about that, and it took Swarm to court. In a settlement, Swarm agreed to pay $900,000 and submit to extended FCC oversight.

Ultimately, Swarm hopes to deploy an affordable satellite data network that can be used for IoT applications. Swarm now has ground stations in the US, UK, Antarctica, New Zealand and the Azores, and it expects to have more than 30 ground stations installed by the end of the summer, which will give it one of the largest ground station networks deployed for a satellite communications company. According to TechCrunch, it is also approved to use the wireless spectrum required to transmit from its satellites to Earth.

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‘Saints Row: The Third Remastered’ will be out on May 22nd

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It’s been almost seven years since the last true entry in the bombastic Saints Row series, and a new one probably won’t be coming anytime soon — publisher THQ mentioned that a new game was in development as of last year, but has yet to reveal more details. However, fans won’t have to wait long for a hold-over: A remaster of Saints Row: The Third is coming next month. The game will hit PS4, Xbox One and PC on May 22, and will feature a variety of visual improvements, according to PC Gamer. Volition, the game’s developer, has added HDR and “physically based rendering” to the remaster, which creates more realistic lighting effects. The company also remodeled many of the game’s assets at a higher polygon count, meaning in-game objects will be more detailed. All of the original game’s DLC will be included in the remaster, so the title comes with plenty of gameplay.

According to PC Gamer, the developers chose to apply a fresh coat of paint to the third game in the series rather than the first two due to technical reasons. The more recent code is likely easier to work with and update. It’s certainly not a bad choice, though — Saints Row: The Third is a fan-favorite. Hopefully this will tide gamers over until THQ reveals more about the next game in the series.

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