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Amazon plans to build its tallest skyscraper in Bellevue, WA

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The company has special plans for Bellevue, where it plans to bring an estimated 6,500 jobs over the next few years. Amazon is planning on relocating its entire worldwide operations team from Seattle to Bellevue over the next few years. In addition to the new Bellevue tower, Amazon has secured half a dozen leases of planned or currently existing office space in the city, according to the Times.

The reason for Amazon’s return to Bellevue — where founder Jeff Bezos started the company out of his garage in 1994 — isn’t purely nostalgic. After Amazon’s plans to build a part of its “HQ2” in New York City fell apart, the company was forced to look at other options, including in its own Washington State. Bellevue hasn’t formally been declared HQ2, but will likely absorb at least some of the remaining jobs intended for the scrapped NYC office.

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US Cyber Command warns of nation-state hackers exploiting Outlook

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ZDNet noted that a known Iran-backed hacking team, APT33, had used the same vulnerability in December to install back doors on servers and promptly push the flaw to Outlook users. Chronicle Security’s Brandon Levene also found that Cyber Command’s code samples appeared related to APT33’s disk-wiping Shamoon malware. Symantec had also warned of increased activity from the group in recent months.

If it’s Iran and not a more familiar perpetrator like Russia, it suggests that political tensions are translating directly to the digital realm. The US is believed to have knocked out Iranian missile and rocket systems with a cyberattack in late June, for instance. Although this Outlook campaign isn’t necessarily direct retaliation for the missile effort, it’s hard to imagine Iran doing nothing in response.



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Epic will cover refunds for unhappy ‘Shenmue 3’ backers

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If you do pick the PC version, you’ll have the option of getting a Steam key on top of the EGS release.

You should see a similar approach for other titles going forward. Tim Sweeney has promised that Epic will either ensure refunds for crowdfunded games that go EGS-exclusive or “coordinate” with people at rival stores to lock in key availability. It’s not certain if this will always lead to Epic paying out of pocket.

This move won’t address the core complaint — namely, that backers who were expecting Steam releases are suddenly forced to either hold their noses and use EGS or give up on a game they’d wanted for years. It might ease some of the pain, though, and any direct compensation could ensure that games still reach the market. This might also help Epic gauge the effect of wooing developers of crowd-supported games. It would just have to look at refund numbers know if there was a serious backlash.



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The Bentley Bentayga Hybrid is a stately but uninspiring ride

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The infotainment system is no less impressive. The primary monitor is an 8-inch touchscreen with a 60GB HDD, CD player, satellite and terrestrial radio. It offers GPS Navigation and voice control with text-to-speech as well. The backs of the front headrests have their own touch screens mounted to them for the rear seat passengers. To ensure that everybody remains entertained throughout the trip, regardless of how many people are riding along, the Bentayga offers the first commercially available tri-SIM LTE connection. Originally developed for military applications, this connectivity splits the data link into three separate streams so that the various connected devices in use aren’t stepping on each other’s toes.

“It allows us to seamlessly transmit into the vehicle at very high data rates,” Bentley’s head of marketing strategy, Marcus Abbot, told reporters ahead of the drive, “so that customers in the car can use multiple devices, and experience media interaction at speed, which is almost impossible to do today, with today’s in car Wi-Fi offers.”

We tried this feature during the test drive but given that we were riding around in the european versions (which were not built for use on American LTE networks) we were only able to squeeze a paltry 0.85 Mbps from the connection. Bentley reps assured me that the connectivity speeds would be very much improved on the US production models.

The driving experience itself was unfortunately not as impressive as the entertainment options and build quality. I got the feeling that the Bentayga hybrid doesn’t quite know what it’s supposed to be. It was very clear that the hybrid model was simply adapted from the existing platform, which you can see it in the odd dual-fuel gauges — one for the gas tank, the other for the battery. Similarly, the speedometer dials were all listed in KPH while the holographic HUD showed speeds in MPH. This is likely due to us riding in models intended for UK consumption and won’t be the case once the Bentayga arrives in the US but it was still disconcerting. I couldn’t decide if the Bentayga is meant to be a chauffeured experience like a Rolls-Royce or a BMW-esque “ultimate driving machine.” It’s a bit of both and I’m not sure if that really works.

The handling was smooth, like a stately Sherman tank, as the vehicle’s suspension floated over potholes and speed bumps. Yet, despite the all-time 4WD, the vehicle is so large that I did not feel comfortable slaloming down the twisting roads of Highway 1 — regardless of whether it was in Sport, Bentley, Comfort or Custom driving modes. I certainly would think twice before trying to take it to Santa Cruz via the claustrophobic confines of Highway 17. And for a vehicle that is so luxurious and focuses so heavily on the driving experience, I was amazed by how deeply the various driver assist features like lane keeping and blind spot detection were buried in the infotainment system’s menus.

Perhaps the oddest bit of this driving experience is not with the vehicle itself but its smartphone app. MyBentley, available for both iOS and Android, is part remote control (ie remote battery charging and vehicle status reports), part maintenance scheduler and part social media hub. The network, as Bentley calls the social aspects of the app, offers “exclusive services, exclusive events” to the company’s 12,000 customers.

“If we could get all of our customers onto the network would be at about 100,000 high net worth individuals, which makes it a really, really very powerful community of people,” Abbot explained. Users create their own content, he continued, and are not managed in any way by the company.

“We get a lot of insights from it as well, we’ve started to do some research directly with customers through the app on this as well,” he said. “And we see this peer-to-peer relationship when they get through the network is really, really valuable to them as well.”

Wildest of all, the app also serves as a hub for Bentley On Demand, which is exactly as bougie as it sounds. If you, a high net worth individual, are travelling to Los Angeles, Miami or New York and don’t want to demean yourself by riding in a limo or town car like some plebeian, Bentley will lend you a one of its vehicles while you’re there. Company reps did not disclose how much this added service would cost beyond it being “a very reasonable rate” but if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

The Bentayga Hybrid is slated for release in the UK by the end of this year and in the US by 2020. The model will make it to the Chinese market within a few years as well.

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The Room’s Tommy Wiseau stars in new animated sci-fi series

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In SpaceWorld, Wiseau plays TX, a starship captain who more or less is an animated stand-in for himself. In other words, TX is inept, often says things that don’t make any real sense and is constantly headed towards disaster. The poor, unfortunate souls tasked with assisting TX are a robot called “Computer Person” and a shark in a spacesuit who serves as the ship’s attorney. Sestero plays Dorgol, a monster robot bounty hunter and TX’s rival.

Wiseau’s quixotic persona seems genetically engineered for the world of sci-fi cartoons, which is perhaps why the pilot of SpaceWorld works. The first episode is funny and absurd, and liberally pokes fun at Wiseau without being mean-spirited. Fans of YouTube’s Dallas and Robo, another quirky space cartoon with improbably lead characters, will surely find a lot to like about SpaceWorld. There are no details on whether SpaceWorld will be approved for a full series, but that’s likely based on the success of the pilot.

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Here’s how multiplayer works in ‘Dr. Mario World’

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As you’d expect, the game will make it easy to find friends on Facebook or Line. You’ll be able to see their progress, send them hearts, and most importantly, challenge them to a battle. The matches will take place in real-time, and as you eliminate viruses, you’ll fill your attack meter. When it’s full, you can sabotage opponents by sending the viruses to them. How many viruses you send will depend on your doctor’s attack power. You can hone other skills like speed and defense, too.

The free-to-play game will be available on Android and iOS. Like the ’90s version for NES, SNES and Game Boy, Dr. Mario World offers a Tetris-like experience. It may have to compete with other mobile revivals of classics, like Tetris Royale, which is also in development.

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Tesla delivered a record 95,000 cars this spring

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The company didn’t directly explain the surge, but the Model 3’s availability in the UK may have helped along with continued interest from mainland Europe and China. The Model 3 was undoubtedly the star of the show with over 77,550 deliveries compared to 17,650 for the Model S and Model X combined.

These figures don’t say whether or not Tesla turned a profit thanks to the higher production, but the company touted streamlined logistics and deliveries that helped it fulfill demand while keeping costs in check. This might represent a return to form, which is no mean feat when Tesla doesn’t have the benefit of tax incentives like it did in 2018.

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Lime expands scooter reservations to the US

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Do be prepared to pay, though. Lime notes that the rate to reserve a scooter is the same as the per-minute rate for riding, so it could cost you a tidy sum if you’re determined to finish your moccaccino before setting off. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. It could discourage people from tying up scooters they’re not sure they’re going to use — you should still have a chance at grabbing a vehicle right away.

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Instagram’s latest Stories sticker is a direct link to group chats

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Instagram is introducing a new feature that will let users start private group messages around specific Stories. The company announced the change on Twitter today. Users will soon be able to add a “join chat” sticker to their Stories. If followers tap the sticker, they’ll be added to a private group chat — though the author will have the ability to approve or deny requests.



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Researchers create eye-tracking glasses that auto-focus where you look

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The authors note that, over time, our ability to refocus at near distances worsens as the lenses in our eyes stiffen. The condition, called presbyopia, typically kicks in at around age 45 and it affects more than a billion people. It’s a key factor as to why many of us need to start wearing reading glasses, progressive lenses or monovision glasses in middle age.

But those types of lenses aren’t ideal. For one thing, they might require you to carry out unnatural head movements, such as to crane your neck to look at side mirrors while driving, because progressive lenses might not offer effective enough peripheral focus. The researchers, who said that people who wear those lenses are also at higher risk of injury from falls, suggest their autofocals might prove a better answer.

Stanford University autofocal glasses

Their glasses take a cue from how eye lenses work; the autofocal lenses are filled with fluid that expand and contract as your field of vision shifts. As you’d expect, there are eye-tracking sensors to figure out what you’re looking at. The lenses and trackers already existed, and the researchers created software that pulls in eye-tracking data to make sure the lenses properly focus on the right thing.

A group of 56 people with presbyopia tried out the autofocals and found them to be more effective than progressive lenses for reading. They generally preferred them to progressive lenses.

That sounds great, but it’s probably going to be quite some time before you can pick up a pair from your optometrist. The study participants weren’t fans of the size and weight of the autofocal system, which looks more like a virtual reality headset than a pair of designer frames.

The researchers hope to make the technology small enough that autofocals will be comfortable to wear all day. Stanford electrical engineer Gordon Wetzstein reckons it’ll take a few years before we see autofocal glasses that are energy efficient, lightweight and, perhaps most importantly for something we have on our faces all the time, stylish. If companies can pack smart glasses tech into normal-looking frames, it certainly seems likely autofocals will be a snazzy enough option down the line.

A single pair of autofocals might also be enough to last for decades even as your prescription changes. “This technology could affect billions of people’s lives in a meaningful way that most techno-gadgets never will,” Wetzstein said.

GIF: Robert Konrad

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