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Apple Arcade’s latest additions include ‘Fallen Knight’ and ‘Yaga’

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Tales of Memo by Tendays Studio is all about memory puzzles, while Hogwash by Bossa Studios is a game set in a farm where you can choose to play the farmhand struggling to keep things clean or one of the pigs flinging mud all over the place. Finally, Yaga The Roleplaying Folktale by Breadcrumbs is an action role-playing game based on Slavic mythology where you play a one-handed blacksmith named Ivan. Yaga is also making its way to PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One in November. But if you’d rather play all five and Apple Arcade’s other games, you can sign up for the service’s month-long free trial before paying $5 a month for continued access.

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Trump administration may blacklist Chinese firms that routinely copy tech

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Navarro called the apparent leak “fake news” in response, but the Post maintained that multiple insiders had seen hard copies of the potential order.

If an order like this did go ahead, it would raise numerous concerns about potential abuses of power. It’s not clear what level of violations would be needed to reach the entity list. If the threshold was too low, the American government and companies could secure politically-motivated bans over minor or hotly disputed offenses. The move might also let the federal government effectively decide meaning of a given IP case. Copyright and patent abusers often avoid admitting wrongdoing in settlements, but the US might decide that they’re still guilty and count the settlements toward a potential blacklisting.

There’s also ramifications for expansion of power and the possibility of retaliation. The entity list is meant to address security threats, not economic ones, and the US government may have to contort itself to justify this strategy, if it can. China, meanwhile, might not react well. Although there has reportedly been progress on protections for American technology, the Chinese government could retaliate if it believed the blacklisting was too harsh. And while some companies might alter their tech to reach American audiences, others might just ignore the US market and sell violating products elsewhere.

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Recommended Reading: How memes became political weapons

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How memes got weaponized: A short history
Joan Donovan,
MIT Technology Review

Memes are entertaining, but they’ve also become key weapons in politics and the spread of misinformation. This piece starts with just one of many insane stories: “In October 2016, a friend of mine learned that one of his wedding photos had made its way into a post on a right-wing message board,” Donovan writes. “The picture had been doctored to look like an ad for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and appeared to endorse the idea of drafting women into the military.”

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Windows 10X leak reveals a mix of desktop and mobile interfaces

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The otherwise familiar taskbar will include at least one icon for recently launched apps (akin to iPadOS), while the quick settings have two stages of detail (like what you might get from Android’s status bar). And when you wake your machine, you’ll go straight to authentication instead of a lock “curtain.”

The documents also suggest that Windows 10X won’t be strictly aimed at tablet users. There are different “levers” that can provide a more traditional experience with a left-aligned taskbar, more taskbar icons and similar changes. That might be necessary when devices like the Surface Neo will have a laptop-style mode, but it also suggests that Microsoft will be open to a wide variety of form factors that could benefit from what 10X has to offer.

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The Morning After: Using computer modeling to make better barbecue

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Using technology to make better brisket.How a Harvard class project changed barbecue

Michel Maalouly and Yinka Ogunbiyi spent hours in the cold every weekend attempting to perfect a grill design as part of an engineering course at Harvard in 2015. Between algorithms, computer models and apps they’ve gone from “amateurs, smoking a brisket every week in the cold Boston snow,” to working with Kamado Joe, one of the biggest names in charcoal and ceramic grills. And they don’t plan to stop there.

Azure vs. AWS.DoD’s $10 billion ‘Jedi’ cloud contract goes to Microsoft over Amazon

Dubbed the Jedi Cloud contract, the plan awarded Friday could be worth $10 billion over the next ten years as the Department of Defense replaces legacy systems. After two years of wrangling Microsoft beat Amazon, the only other remaining competitor after others were weeded out or, in the case of Google, dropped out, citing its commitment to “AI principles.”

These new models are about more than just clean software and good cameras.Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL review: A slightly flawed taste of the future

The Pixel 4 series, on the whole, packs enough new tricks and advances to excite even wary Pixel fans. It’s fast, thoughtful and benefits from additions like a big 90Hz screen and the ambitious Motion Sense system — when it works correctly, that is. Beyond all that, though, the Pixel 4 XL’s real draw is its bigger battery. Conversely, the standard Pixel 4’s battery life is a major concern. If you’re enthusiastic about Google’s new additions and don’t mind a bigger phone, the Pixel 4 XL is clearly the model to invest in.

Just do it.How and why to buy a projector in 2019

You may think of projectors as either expensive, dim or janky, but with the latest technology, that’s all changed. It’s possible nowadays to find reasonably bright 4K HDR projectors with near theater-quality images for $1,500 or less. Before you start running to the store for popcorn, it’s important to learn a few things and beware of the pitfalls, so we’re here to help.

Also holds tacos.TCL’s tri-fold prototype phone folds in thirds like an accordion

This one CNET played around with starts as a ten-inch tablet and has dual hinges that fold in opposite directions like an accordion. A few things to note first: It doesn’t yet have a name, projected release date or even a working screen.

Congratulations! What does that mean?Google says it’s achieved quantum supremacy

Google is standing by its claim that it’s achieved quantum supremacy — marking a major milestone in computing research. Word of the breakthrough leaked in September, and despite dispute from some competitors, scientific journal Nature has now published Google’s research paper.

The paper explains how its 53-bit quantum computer — named Sycamore — took just 200 seconds to perform a calculation that would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years. According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, “We can think about today’s news in the context of building the first rocket that successfully left Earth’s gravity to touch the edge of space.” The only problem? Whether you think it qualifies for the title or not, the feat has no practical use — yet.

Experience an animated welcome.The Pixel 4 box is hiding an AR Easter egg

If you were one of the first people to scoop up a Google Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL, you might want to try pointing Google Lens at the rear of the box when you receive your phone.

But wait, there’s more…

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NASA’s VIPER rover will look for water ice on the Moon

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VIPER project manager Daniel Andrews said:

“The key to living on the Moon is water — the same as here on Earth. Since the confirmation of lunar water-ice ten years ago, the question now is if the Moon could really contain the amount of resources we need to live off-world. This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use.”

NASA crashed a rocket into the Moon’s south pole back in 2009 and was able to detect the presence of water ice. VIPER’s mission is to help us zero in on the water’s location and understand its nature, so we can make plans on how to access and harness it in the future.

The rover will roam several miles to find wet areas below the surface using an instrument called Neutron Spectrometer System. Whenever it does find one, it will deploy its drill called The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain or TRIDENT to dig for samples. Its other two instrument — the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations or MSolo and the Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer System — will then analyze the samples to figure out their composition and concentration of water ice or other resources we can potentially harness.

While there’s no exact launch date yet, NASA is planning to deliver the rover to the lunar surface in December 2022.

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Rats can drive tiny cars, and they find it relaxing, scientists say

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Psychology professor Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist who led the study, told New Scientist that rats have previously been shown to be able to recognize objects, press bars and find their way around mazes. But she and her colleagues wanted to see whether rats were able to learn the more sophisticated task of operating a moving vehicle.

‘They learned to navigate the car in unique ways and engaged in steering patterns they had never used to eventually arrive at the reward,” Lambert told the publication.

Lest you think this is merely a stunt destined for the late-night TV talk show circuit, there is an important finding here: Learning to drive seemed to have a relaxing effect on the vermin, as measured by their levels of corticosterone, a hormone that spikes in stressful situations, and dehydroepiandrosterone, which counteracts stress. The ratio of the two hormones was flipped in the rats and increased the more they drove.

The rats that lived in a complex and stimulating environment learned how to drive much faster than the rats who lived in a dreary laboratory, Lambert told Business Insider.

Lambert has apparently done previous work that found that rats experience a reduction in stress after they master difficult tasks, like digging up buried food, suggesting they may experience the same kind of satisfaction people feel after perfecting a new skill. The team also found that the rats that drove themselves were less stressed than rats that were driven around as passengers in remote-controlled cars.

The practical takeaway from all of this is that researchers could substitute driving tests like this one for more traditional maze tests to study things like the effects of Parkinson’s disease on motor skills and spatial awareness.

Next up are follow-up experiments to try and understand how rats learn to drive and why it seems to reduce stress. We can’t help but wonder whether that might include introducing the scourge known as traffic to the equation.

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Leaked audio captures Sundar Pichai discussing leaks at Google

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Tonight the Washington Post has published audio from a Google all-hands meeting that took place on Thursday, as execs responded to employee questions about a number of issues. Those include the hiring of a former Department of Homeland Security staffer who publicly defended a later version of the administration’s “travel ban” on citizens of several predominantly Muslim nations, as well as a recent Chrome extension for employees it rolled out that staffers considered a “spy tool.”

While Pichai called trust “one the most foundational things for the company,” he called out the trouble with “transparency at scale, how to do it. Especially at a time when everything we do, doesn’t stay within the walls.” While Google has had some pride in a culture it considered open and freewheeling, internal discussions have been leaked for use against the company and some of its employees. At the same time, Google employees who led a protest walkout have left the company since, claiming they faced retaliation for their efforts.

A number of employees believed that the recent Chrome extension — that automatically reported any staffer creating a meeting event with more than 10 rooms or 100 participants — arrived specifically to tamp down that kind of dissent, even as managers claimed it was about reducing potential calendar spam. Buzzfeed News previously reported on details of the call concerning recent hire Miles Taylor, as execs claimed reporting about his background contained inaccuracies.

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New Disney+ talk show will be hosted by a Jim Henson alien puppet

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Disney+ unscripted originals VR Dan Silver said:

“Disney has a long history of giving audiences a glimpse at faraway lands and bringing new talent into the spotlight. We believe Ned is next in line. We’re lucky to have the talents of the Jim Henson Co. and the folks at Marwar Junction Productions helping Ned, Cornelius, BETI and the Clods to execute and fully realize their vision. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Ned for promising to entertain us, rather than destroy us all.”

Aside from Ned and Cornelius, the show, which is broadcast from the bridge of their alien ship, will also feature their artificial intelligence BETI and an army of cloned living objects of destruction or CLODS. Disney originally planned a Muppets reboot for its streaming service until the company shelved it following creative differences with the artists involved. This isn’t the Muppets, but hey, it sounds fun. Earth to Ned doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but Disney+ itself will be available starting on November 12th.

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Positive Grid’s Spark amp helps you learn and jam to your favorite songs

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When paired with your smartphone or tablet, the 40-watt Spark analyzes your playing style and generates a backing drumbeat and bassline accompaniment. It probably won’t keep up with mixolydian prog riffage, but if you just need some support for your strumming, the virtual drummer will stay on tempo and the bass player won’t hog the spotlight. If you want to be more specific over the what the virtual instruments play, you can use voice commands and ask Spark to play a slow blues track to which you can follow along, for example.

Similar to Fender Songs, which analyzes audio from Apple music and generates chord charts, The Spark app can pick apart tracks from YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify so you can play along with just about any song. The app also lets you slow down or loop passages so you can practice chord changes at your own pace.

On its control panel, the Spark has the typical EQ array of bass, middle and treble knobs (no presence knob though); gain and master volume pots (so you can control how clean or dirty the signal sounds without bothering the neighbors); modulation, delay and reverb levels; a tap-tempo button; an on-board tuner and a preset selector. Positive Grid uses the same modeling engine in the $299 Spark as it does in its flagship $1,299 BIAS amplifiers. That means tons of amp and effects modeling options and 10,000 presets from artists, producers and the Positive Grid user community.

Positive Grid has been making waves in the digital guitar amplifier world, providing affordable alternatives to impulse response modelers like the Kemper Profiler or the Fractal Axe FX, which can run over $2,000. These units are more expensive than standard modelling amps because their specialized software listens to the tonal qualities of a given amp and creates a surprisingly accurate digital recreation, which it saves as a preset. In other words, you can have a very close approximations to the sparkling cleans of a Fender Twin and the distorted wall-of-sound of a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier in the same amp

The Spark launches in December starting at $299, but guitarists who pre-order can get $120 off the sticker price.

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