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Microsoft unveils Minecraft Earth, the new AR hotness

May17
by on May 17, 2019 at 6:44 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, augmented reality, gaming


In celebration of Minecraft‘s tenth anniversary, Microsoft played its Pokemon GO card and released an augmented reality phone app that shows the game pasted over the real world, called Minecraft Earth. This is perhaps the most novel way of incorporating AR into a game since the original Pokemon GO, but it just makes sense, doesn’t it? Minecraft is an exaggerated version of our world, so it doesn’t look too jarring when pasted over our daily environs. According to Microsoft, players will be able to gather resources, collaborate with other players on builds, and encounter mobs of creatures — some of which will be hostile and must be fought, which reminds…

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Cheap: This Ecovacs Deebot 601 robot vacuum cleaner is 50% off

May17
by on May 17, 2019 at 5:41 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Plugged


Nobody likes vacuuming. Nobody. Thankfully, it’s 2019, and for the price of a cheap netbook, you can get yourself a robot servant to do it for you. The Ecovacs Deebot 601 is a great example of this, and is currently on sale on Amazon for $189.99 – that’s a full 50 percent off the usual list price of $379.99. So, what do you get for your (not quite) two Benjamin Franklins? Well, it fulfills the main function of a robot vacuum, traversing thorough your house, consuming as much dust, lint and debris as it possibly can in the process. But…

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Why this geneticist says we should stop human evolution

May17
by on May 17, 2019 at 3:57 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication, world


Measles cases in the US have hit a 25-year high, with 78 new infections in the past week alone. In a sign of the times, a cruise ship with hundreds of Scientologists on board was quarantined in St Lucia after one passenger was diagnosed with the disease. It’s the sort of news you can expect when parents stop vaccinating their children, which many did from the 1990s onwards for fear that scientists were foisting remedies on them that were more dangerous than the diseases themselves. As society has become ever more convenient, hygienic and wrapped in cling film, many hark…

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Here’s how we can change the Earth’s orbit to escape the expanding sun

May17
by on May 17, 2019 at 3:17 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Space, syndication, world


In the Chinese science fiction film The Wandering Earth, recently released on Netflix, humanity attempts to change the Earth’s orbit using enormous thrusters in order to escape the expanding sun – and prevent a collision with Jupiter. The scenario may one day come true. In five billion years, the sun will run out of fuel and expand, most likely engulfing the Earth. A more immediate threat is a global warming apocalypse. Moving the Earth to a wider orbit could be a solution – and it is possible in theory. But how could we go about it and what are the…

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Facebook tweaks News Feed to favor close friends and ‘worthwhile’ content

May17
by on May 17, 2019 at 1:28 pm
Posted In: Around the Web


Facebook’s biggest money-spinner is its News Feed, and the company has announced yet another key change to the algorithm. In a fresh announcement, the social network said that it’s leveraging new signals such as user surveys to prioritize posts from close friends and content you might find worthwhile. The shift marks Facebook’s continued evolution from a public platform to a more closed-off, personal space. By focusing on meaningful interactions between people, the social media company seeks to distance from a string of issues – polarization, fake news, hate speech and extremist content – that have eroded public’s trust in it over the…

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