Hasta La Gadget!

Thanks to the leaked documents uploaded onto the internet by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, the way we look at privacy has forever been changed. What was shocking was how governments have been spying on its citizens, which in turn has led tech companies to be more transparent about how often they are approached to share user data with government bodies.

Unfortunately if you were hoping that these requests might have been tempered following these revelations, you’d be mistaken. In fact there seems to be an increase in these requests, at least that’s according to Google’s latest transparency report (via Recode). According to Google, the number of requests that they’ve gotten at the end of 2016 is at 45,550. This is versus 2015 where it was at 40,677.

However the good news is that it seems that while the number of requests are on the rise, Google has been responding to less of them. In 2016, Google only responded to 60% of these requests, versus 2015 where they responded to 64%. The peak was towards the end of 2010 where Google responded and produced data on 76% of requests.

According to Google’s general counsel Kent Walker, “In many ways, this shouldn’t be surprising. As more people use more of our services, and as we offer new ones, it is natural that we are seeing an increase in government requests. For example, Gmail had around 425 million active users in 2012 and more than one billion by 2016.”

Google Seeing An Increase In Government Data Requests , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Image credit – Patrick O’Leary, University of Minnesota

A heart attack is a scary thing and it can go either way, although usually after the first attack things are never really quite the same. However in the future healing the heart after a heart attack could be a relatively simple procedure of applying a 3D printed patch that has the ability to heal scarred heart tissue.

This is thanks to the work of researchers at the University of Minnesota (via Engadget) where they created a 3D printed patch that can help in these situations. The 3D printed patch will fit stem cells that are based on adult human heart cells to a matrix that is developed around a 3D scan of the heart’s tissues native proteins.

So far based on their experiments, the matrix managed to successfully replicate the structures of regular heart tissue down to 1 micron, and also managed to beat in sync with the heart. However it should be noted that the tests were conducted on mice which means that scaling it up to work on a larger human heart will be much more complicated.

However their tests have shown that the mouse’s heart showed a significant increase in functional capacity in 4 weeks, so we guess that’s promising at least. According to Brenda Ogle, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota, “This is a significant step forward in treating the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. We feel that we could scale this up to repair hearts of larger animals and possibly even humans within the next several years.”

3D Printed Patches Could Help Patients Recover From Heart Attacks , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

With the Samsung Gear VR, Samsung already has a VR headset created for their lineup of phones. However if you’re looking for more options, you might be interested to learn that Sennheiser has recently announced that they will be partnering up with Samsung to create smart headsets for Android devices.

These will come in the form of Ambeo headsets which actually aren’t that new, but it will be a first for Samsung. Speaking to The Korea Herald, Sennheiser’s Andreas Sennheiser said, “We are working with Samsung on the AMBEO smart headset to make it available for Android devices because a dominant layer of the smartphone market is Android-based phones.”

For those who are unfamiliar with Sennheiser’s Ambeo platform, basically this uses 3D audio technology via a proprietary algorithm that makes games and movies sound more realistic. Note that these won’t be VR headsets like the Gear VR, but if you’re after something that could help make your games or videos sound better, then they could be worth checking out.

There’s no word on when we will be able to expect these headsets, but given that this information was revealed at the IFA Global Press Conference, maybe we can expect to see something at the event which will be kicking off in September.

Sennheiser To Develop Smart Headsets For Samsung Phones , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Sean Hannity is the latest Fox News star to be accused of sexual harassment.

In an interview with the Pat Campbell Show on Friday, former Fox News contributor Debbie Schlussel claimed that Hannity had invited her to his hotel room — twice — when they appeared together for one of his programs. But when she rebuffed him, Schlussel said that she was never asked back on the show.

Schlussel claimed the “awkward” incident began when Hannity invited her to a store where he was signing books. While there, she said Hannity asked her: “Why don’t you come back with me to my hotel?” Schlussel said she responded: “No, I have to get ready for the show.”

Schlussel said Hannity pressed her again to come to his hotel room after the show taping, which did not go well. She refused.

“I wasn’t booked on his show again, and he called me and yelled at me,” Schlussel said. “It was made clear to me that I didn’t go back to his hotel with him after. I got a very weird feeling about the whole thing, and I kind of knew I wouldn’t be back on his show.”

She added: “This kind of stuff is all over the place at Fox News and anything that has to do with Sean Hannity.”

Her comments were aired just days after Bill O’Reilly’s ouster by Fox News in the wake of revelations that he and the company had paid out some $13 million to women who accused him of sexual harassment.

Fox News provided a statement to The Huffington Post from Hannity who said that Schlussel’s claims were “100 percent false and a complete fabrication.” He called her a “serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade,” and threatened to sue her using a “team of some of the finest and toughest lawyers in the country.”

Hannity also characterized Schlussel’s comments as part of a “coordinated effort afoot to now silence those with conservative views.”

Schlussel, however, is a conservative. One sign of her politics was her repeated — and false — claim beginning in 2006 that President Barack Obama was a Muslim, insisting: “Once a Muslim, always a Muslim.”

But Schlussel has also clashed with Hannity, whom she referred to as “Vannity.” In 2007, she accused him of plagiarizing one of her columns. Three years later, she said the Freedom Alliance, a charity linked to Hannity, was involved in questionable practices, which the charity vehemently denied.

“This is not the first time Debbie Schlussel has lied about Sean Hannity,” Fox News stated. A point-by-point refutation of Schlussel’s attacks on the charity was also included.

Fox’s track record on sexual harassment, on the other hand, is abysmal. Before the most recent controversy over O’Reilly, several women had accused former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, which ultimately resulted in millions of dollars in payoffs. Former Fox News host Alisyn Camerota just revealed on Sunday that Ailes made inappropriate sexual comments to her and told her she’d have to meet him in a hotel if she wanted more opportunities at the network. 

Ailes was eventually forced out of the company with a $40 million golden parachute. O’Reilly received a $25 million settlement as part of his deal to leave.

Over the weekend, Hannity posted a Twitter rant after he was named by The New York Times as one of President Donald Trump’s private advisers. He called the story “total fake news speculation,” then wondered if the Times had found out whom he talks to because perhaps he’s being “surveilled and unmasked by the NSA.”

He then went after Katie Nolan, host of “Garbage Time” on Fox Sports 1, when she tweeted: 

Hannity, in turn, admonished Nolan and told her to do some research.

type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=58f67b3ee4b05b9d613e1c86,58f7ca94e4b091e58f380f75,58e2976ee4b0d0b7e1639421

— 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.

Announced at CES 2017 earlier, if you’re looking for a new smartwatch to wear that will complement your outdoor activities, then you will be pleased to learn that the Casio Pro Trek smartwatch is now available for purchase about 3 months after it was initially unveiled at the exhibition.

For those who missed the original announcement, the Casio WSD-F20 is the company’s latest attempt at a smartwatch. The wearable will come with Android Wear as its platform of choice and seems to be aimed more at users who do outdoor activities, as opposed to those who might use wearables at the gym. This is thanks to features like low-power GPS and that can also be used offline, which is great for tracking things like your hike or run.

It also comes with data from Mapbox where you can download maps in advance for places that you’ll be headed to that might not have cell coverage. The WSF-F20 also comes with a Location Memory feature that can instantly read your current location to mark spots on the map, like an ideal fishing spot, somewhere scenic for photographs, and so on.

The Casio WSD-F20 is now available for purchase via Casio’s website where it is priced at $500. It is more expensive than many smartwatches out there in the market today, but if you value features like the ones mentioned above and a rugged build, it might be of interest to you.

Casio Pro Trek Smartwatch Now Available For Purchase , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.