Following in the footsteps of Snapchat, it seems like just about every social media service is adding a stickers feature to their photo-sharing capabilities, regardless if it’s something users are asking for or not. Apple’s revamped Messages app in iOS 10 is getting stickers (along with a bunch of other annoying visual effects), and now Twitter is jumping on bandwagon. … Continue reading
With little warning, Tumblr has announced that advertisements are coming to all user blogs — starting today. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, seeing as how Yahoo has struggled to turn a profit from its $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr back in 2013, and it comes just after the announcement that Verizon will purchase Yahoo for $4.8 billion. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
Hyperloop One has announced that it’s opening its first manufacturing plant to build the future of high-speed transportation. Metalworks is a 105,000 square foot facility in the city of North Las Vegas where components for DevLoop, the first testbed…
After announcing its intentions late last month, Twitter has finally jumped on the sticker bandwagon. The company announced it has completed the rollout of its “visual spin on hashtags,” allowing you to furnish your photos with strategically-placed e…
The other day a report from Eurogamer revealed some potential details about the upcoming Nintendo NX, and now thanks to a follow-up report, additional details about Nintendo’s console have been revealed, along with a mock-up of what the console could look like based on information from Eurogamer’s sources.
We should note that the rendering you see above is not the actual design of the Nintendo NX. Instead this is a mock-up created by Eurogamer based on information that they have been given, meaning that while it is possible the console could look similar to the drawings, it might not necessarily be 100% the same.
Interestingly enough we have to say that we are reminded strongly of the Nintendo 3DS, or at least the lower half of the 3DS. In case you missed the earlier report, Eurogamer had revealed that the NX will primarily be a handheld console, but there will also be a dock that allows gamers to use it on a big screen.
The console is also said to have controls on each side that can be detached, thus allowing gamers to play on the go or in the comfort of their own home. Safe to say that this should be taken with a grain of salt, but in the meantime what do you guys make of the mock-up? Is this something you could get behind on?
This Is What The Nintendo NX Could Look Like , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
With so many projects being launched and funded on Kickstarter, it would be hard to keep up with what was funded and what hasn’t. Sure, you could trawl Kickstarter’s website, but Amazon has decided to make your life a bit easier by creating a dedicated storefront in partnership with Kickstarter that is aimed at displaying Kickstarter products.
Basically this dedicated Kickstarter store is an extension of Amazon’s Launchpad platform, which in case you aren’t familiar used to be Amazon’s way of promoting products from startups, which we guess is almost like Kickstarter in nature. According Jim Adkins, Vice President of Amazon, “We created the Amazon Launchpad program a year ago to serve creators, inventors, and startups. Our goal is to enable them to reach Amazon’s hundreds of millions of customers and to overcome one of the biggest challenges any startup faces – bringing their product to market successfully.”
Yancey Strickler, CEO and Co-Founder of Kickstarter adds, “Kickstarter helps independent creators find the resources, courage, and community they need to bring their creative projects to life. We’re thrilled to collaborate with Amazon Launchpad on creating a new path for those projects to be discovered, experienced, and loved.”
The portal does list some pretty interesting products from Kickstarter and if you’re so inclined, you can check it out by hitting up Amazon’s website.
Amazon Creates A Store Specifically For Kickstarter Products , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Peace of mind — how much of a price are you willing to pay to have that in your heart? While traveling is fine and dandy for many of us, we too, would like to know whether our homes are safe and secure whenever we are not around. You also do not want to look too paranoid with too many obvious security cameras fitted all over the place, which is why the perfect balance might be the $229.95 Light Socket Powered WiFi Security Camera.
This happens to be an easy-to-install home security system which will retrofit a motion-sensing WiFi camera to an outdoor porch or garage light. Best of all is, there is no need for any kind of wiring at all, where the included smart light bulb adapter can be screwed into the current light socket in order to provide power to the wall-mounted wireless HD video camera thanks to a short cord. The camera’s infrared sensor can also detect as to when someone approaches and automatically sends a notification to your paired WiFi device through a free app. The camera will be able to stream and record video, allowing you to check on your home regardless of where you are at the moment — even across multiple time zones.
It will also come with an integrated microphone and speaker for voice chatting with visitors, while homeowners can turn the light on and off remotely or at pre-scheduled times, as well as play pre-recorded outgoing messages upon motion activation, or even sound off a 100db alarm to scare away potential intruders (and neighboring pets). The weatherproof camera will be able to hold its own against moisture, heat, and cold, where it attaches to any exterior surface with the included mounting plate. This certainly makes it sound to be a doozy of a device to have in your home, right?
[ Light Socket Powered WiFi Security Camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Most of us in our “instant gratification isn’t enough” society assume that the potential fallout from transmitting sensitive information via text, fax or email is outweighed by the convenience of getting something where it needs to be fast. After all, becoming the victim of an identity-related crime isn’t the end of the world, right?
Define “End of the World”
While it’s not technically the end of the world, you may find yourself wishing for it. Dealing with the aftermath of an identity-related crime can feel like a close second to getting eaten slowly by a half-hearted shark–especially if you believe that you have done everything right.
There is nothing quite like that maddening feeling you get while reading a notice from a collection agency informing you that you owe money for goods or services that you never purchased.
The next order of business is where people tend to really lose it: Getting a credit report riddled with identity theft-related errors. If you are lucky, whoever used your information to make the purchases that eventually hit your mailbox in the form of a collection notice only perpetrated that one incursion on your financial reality. That said, look closely at your credit report(s) because indices of identity-related fraud can be similar to spotting a cockroach — for every one you see, there may be more you don’t. (You can pull your credit reports for free each year via AnnualCreditReport.com and view a free credit report summary, updated each month, for free on Credit.com.)
Whether your identity has been ransacked or cherry-picked, that collection notice is often the starting gun for a marathon of annoyance and emotional turmoil that can take months or even years to finish. The mess left behind by an identity thief is like a home burglary, minus the physical clutter. Someone has invaded your private space, in this case the parts associated with finance, and committed crimes using what they found. And, while identity theft is a third certainty in life, you can make it harder for fraudsters to get ahold of your personal information.
Don’t Make It Easy
So, you are about to send some sensitive piece of information — something that can be used to steal your identity — by way of email, text, voicemail or fax. It needs to get there, and your only other option is to go in person, or try to get someone on the phone.
Can you send it? Of course you can, but understand the risk: You don’t know what’s happening on the other end with your information. Who has access to the mail that comes in, the voicemail, the fax machine, the email (include in here hackers who have successfully phished malware onto the computer on the receiving end)?
Let’s make it more nerve-wracking: When you call to provide that information, who are you talking to?
Always ask yourself these questions.
While it may sound simplistic, when you’re on the phone with a representative of a large organization and you know the number that you called is correct, you’ve done pretty much everything you can to be careful. Increasingly, large organizations are practicing safer information storage and have a number of procedures in place to protect you from fraud. These practices are not fail-safe, but they are as much as you can expect.
But let’s say you’re sending that information to your general practitioner, an M.D. who works solo or in a small group. And let’s not pick on your doctor. There are countless professionals, organizations and small businesses out there who have enough of our personally identifiable information to open us up to the risk of identity theft.
A short list would include: your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, your accountant, your children’s school, your church, your favorite charities, your gym, your alma mater, and many of the services and people you hire to make life easier.
How do you know that they are practicing good information security? The answer: You don’t. That’s why it’s a good idea to be stingy with your sensitive personal information.
Things You Should Not Send
1. Social Security number. This is the skeleton key to your financial life. It can be used to open accounts, steal tax refunds and commit many other kinds of fraud.
2. Your credit card information. There is too much malware out there for this to be a safe practice. Don’t send this information via email or any other electronic means that is not secure (look for https:// and the Padlock on websites before hitting submit).
3. A copy of your driver’s license. Remember, fraudsters are not big on in-person transactions, but they are very good at talking their way around security protocols. If they have your Social Security number already (this can often be found online through shady websites), and they have enough other pieces of your personal information to convince you they are an official organization, they can dupe you into sending your photo ID — or steal it from someplace you do business — they can do a lot of damage.
4. Your PIN codes or passwords. These should never be shared, period, but if you are sharing that information in a pinch to someone close to you, do it on the phone . Malware is too prevalent to risk communicating that information electronically.
While all of this may sound like common sense, the myriad mistakes people make on a daily basis is beyond the ken of understanding. The key to staying safe is staying vigilant. Always practice the Three Ms: Minimize your exposure, monitor your accounts and manage the damage the minute you discover a problem.
While there is no preventing identity-related crime, you can avoid becoming an unwitting volunteer.
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The doctors behind the most extensive face transplant operation ever performed are out with a new report on the remarkable 26-hour procedure and how it has transformed the life of Patrick Hardison, a former firefighter horribly disfigured by burns sustained in the line of duty.
(Warning: Photos below are graphic.)
The report, published in the July issue of the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, gives a detailed look at the risky surgery, which took place last August at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
It includes a graphic educational video of the procedure and previously unreleased photos of Hardison and the face donor, including some images that the doctors deemed too gruesome for widespread release ― like this one and this one.
There’s also a blow-by-blow of the surgical techniques used by the team of more than 100 doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff, as well as details on how Hardison, a 42-year-old father of five from Senatobia, Mississippi, has fared since the surgery.
The doctors’ aim in preparing the report was to help improve outcomes for all face transplant patients ― especially those with extensive face and scalp burns like Hardison’s.
“Being an academic surgeon, I think it is important that we publish,” Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, the lead surgeon and co-author of the report, told The Huffington Post. “And our experience ― the approach and the basic science ― can help other teams outline how to go about performing these types of operations.”
Rodriguez said he was pleased by the results of the surgery ― believed to be the 37th face transplant ever performed and the only one that involved transplanting the eyelids, ears and scalp, as well as the face ― and the fact that Hardison’s immune system hasn’t rejected the transplanted tissue.
Tissue rejection is a problem for many transplant patients, including another high-profile face transplant recipient, Charla Nash, a Connecticut woman who got a new face in 2011 after being mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009.
Rodriguez is also gratified by the improvement in Hardison’s quality of life.
“We’ve seen that Patrick is integrating into society again,” he said, adding that Hardison no longer must depend on help from his mother and that he has even been able to “jump into the pool,” something he hadn’t been able to do since his injury.
Not surprisingly, Hardison too is pleased at how things have turned out.
“Even though I understood the risk of undergoing a face transplant, I never once doubted that it was something I needed to do,” Hardison told HuffPost in an email. “For instance, before the surgery, I couldn’t drive and didn’t sleep well since I couldn’t close my eyelids. Now I am able to do both of these things, which has really enhanced my quality of life. “
In addition to enjoying better mobility and sleep, Hardison is now able to speak, breathe and eat with less difficulty. His appearance is also vastly improved, as you can see in the before and after photos above.
Hardison was burned on Sept. 5, 2001, while fighting a house fire in Senatobia, losing his eyelids, ears, lips, most of his nose and all his facial hair. He spent 63 days in the hospital and underwent scores of surgical procedures to repair damaged tissue and restore lost function.
But the loss of tissue and scarring were so extensive that little could be done about his appearance. As a result, Hardison began hiding behind sunglasses and a baseball cap when he ventured out in public.
Hardison lived that way for almost a decade and a half. Then, on the evening of Aug. 12, 2015, he learned in a phone call from New York City that a donor face was available. He flew to New York City the next day. One day later the NYU doctors cut away his badly scarred face and replaced it with the unblemished face of David Rodebaugh, a 26-year-old who had been declared brain-dead after a bicycle accident.
(Doctors covered Rodebaugh’s denuded face with a lifelike silicone mask created from a mold made after death but before the removal of his face and scalp ― to protect Rodebaugh’s family from needless distress.)
Hardison spent more than two months in the hospital after the transplant and then another month or so in an apartment near the hospital before returning to Mississippi, hospital officials said. In the months since then, he has returned to New York on a regular basis for follow-up care.
Hardison’s life isn’t the same as it was before his injury, of course. And the threat of rejection and other medical problems is ever present. But Hardison recognizes his good fortune in getting a new face ― and is quick to express his gratitude.
As he told HuffPost, “I am eternally grateful to David and his family for giving me this precious gift.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
OBAMA MAKES THE CASE FOR HOPE IN HILLARY “President Barack Obama on Wednesday night told Americans they face a stark choice in November — an unusual election that has raised ‘fundamental’ questions ‘about who we are as a people,’ and pitted one of the most qualified candidates in history, Hillary Clinton, against an untrustworthy con man, Donald Trump.” Don’t miss Vice President Joe Biden’s speech either. Take a look at why The New York Times argues this year’s DNC was made for TV, while the RNC was made for Twitter. And here’s what towatch for today. [Jonathan Cohn, HuffPost]
TRUMP: ‘I HOPE’ RUSSIA HACKED CLINTON’S EMAIL SERVERS Republican leaders and Russian experts are horrified by the GOP nominee’s statements, with some arguing it endangers national security and others tossing out the word treason. And here’s a chart mapping out the trail of stolen emails, from Russia to WikiLeaks. [Christina Wilkie, HuffPost]
MORE BAD NEWS ABOUT LOCAL ZIKA TRANSMISSION POTENTIAL IN THE U.S. Two more cases are being investigated in South Florida. [Reuters]
THE CAPTAIN OF MISSING FLIGHT MH370 HAD PROGRAMMED A ROUTE IN A HOME FLIGHT SIMULATOR That ended in the Indian Ocean. [CNN]
U.S. SECURES INTELLIGENCE WINDFALL ON ISIS “The United States is poring over a vast trove of new intelligence about Islamic State fighters who have flowed into Syria and Iraq and some who then returned to their home countries, information that American officials say could help fight militants on the battlefield and prevent potential plotters from slipping into Europe.” [NYT]
GARY JOHNSON COULD BE A THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE FOR THE AGES According to HuffPost Pollster, he’s averaging 9 percent nationally. [Janie Valencia and Natalie Jackson, HuffPost]
RONALD REAGAN’S WOULD-BE ASSASSIN IS HEADED HOME “John Hinckley Jr., who wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three other people in a 1981 assassination attempt prompted by his mental illness, should be freed after 35 years and released to live with his mother, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.” For a look back at how close Reagan came to dying, take a look at The Washingtonian masterpiece from 1981. And here’s what his daughter had to say about Hinckley’s release. [Reuters]
For more video news from The Huffington Post, check out this morning’s newsbrief.
WE WON’T LIE, WE TEARED UP At the first “Gilmore Girls” revival trailer. Now the countdown begins — just 119 days to go. [HuffPost]
SOMETHING’S UP AT STARBUCKS Buzzfeed investigates why the lines have gotten so long this summer. [Buzzfeed]
INSIDE FACEBOOK’S VIRTUAL REALITY PLAN “The spread of video has taken thrilling and sometimes shocking turns, and VR will likely build on that in ways we don’t yet understand: Imagine Facebook Live at a riot, but in fully immersive form.” [Bloomberg]
IT’S TOTALLY NORMAL TO HAVE AN IN-HOME GUILLOTINE If you’re Jared Leto. [HuffPost]
IN HOLLYWOOD IS AGEIST NEWS Ellen Pompeo says she stuck around on “Grey’s Anatomy” as she knew she was too old in her 30s to hit it big in Hollywood. [HuffPost]
NOT TO GET YOUR HOPES UP But a season five of “Arrested Development” is looking more and more likely. [Entertainment Weekly]
~ Turkey has shut down several media outlets.
~ All charges have been dropped for the remaining officers in the Freddie Gray case.
~ The American Red Cross is facing a nationwide blood shortage — here’s what you can do to help.
~ As The Washington Post puts it, here’s “how many people are getting high near you.”
~ The internet basically melted down over this picture of Jay Z taking Beyonce’s photo.
~ Try not to fall in love with these grandparents, who did a photoshoot to celebrate being married 63 years.
~ Here’s where to check out the Delta Aquarid meteor shower tonight.
~ We can’t get over the magic of lipstick production (nor have we ever really figured out how to apply it without getting it on our teeth, but that’s a problem for another day).
~ Is this the key to why bees keep disappearing?
~ The internet is convinced this YouTube star is being held hostage.
Send tips/quips/quotes/stories/photos/events/scoops to Lauren Weber lauren.weber@huffingtonpost.com.
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