Aladdin Magic Carpet Rug Flies into Your Wallet and Grabs $70

If you have kids or a fondness for Disney films you probably know that a live-action version of Aladdin is coming later this year. That means kids will be wanting to fly around on magic carpets, and who can blame them. Now they can have a rug that looks just like the magic carpet from the original animated film.

The rug measures 39″ x 70″ and is made from 100% polyester. It has 4-inch yarn tassels on each corner, certain to get slurped up by your vacuum.

The Aladdin Magic Carpet Rug is available to purchase right now at ThinkGeek. It’s not cheap at $69.99, and you should know it doesn’t fly unless your UPS driver goes really fast on his way to deliver it.

More Than 42,000 Immigration Hearings Canceled Amid Shutdown, Report Estimates

That number could rise dramatically if the standoff over the border wall continues.

Hands-on with Ledger’s Bluetooth crypto hardware wallet

French startup Ledger unveiled a new hardware wallet at CES this week. While the device isn’t going to ship until March, the company let me play with a prototype version of the device. The Ledger Nano X feels just like using the Nano S, but on mobile.

When the company’s previous hardware wallet first came out, that was before the cryptocurrency boom, before Ledger raised $75 million. And the user experience wasn’t great.

You had to install multiple Chrome apps to manage multiple cryptocurrencies, switch between each app when you wanted to access your balance and manage your crypto assets. But things got much better when the company released Ledger Live on macOS, Windows and Linux.

With this new app, you could finally view your portfolio balance and manage multiple crypto assets from the same desktop app. The logical next step was mobile. And you have to get a new hardware wallet for that.

The Ledger Nano X looks more or less like the Ledger Nano S, but slightly bigger. It’s shaped like a USB key and it has a tiny screen to confirm transactions on the device. There’s a tiny 100 mAh battery in it and a slightly bigger screen. The battery should last a couple of months when you’re not using the wallet, and around 8 hours of active use. The microUSB port has been replaced by a USB-C port. The buttons are now on each side of the screen instead of on the side of the device.

After you pair the device with your phone, you can control everything from your iOS or Android phone. You can install apps on the Ledger Nano X, access your wallets and send cryptocurrencies. On iOS, you can lock the app using a password and optionally Face ID or Touch ID.

When you need to validate a transaction on your Ledger Nano X, your phone will pair with your Ledger device over Bluetooth. You can then view transaction information on your Ledger device and approve the transaction on the device itself.

What makes Ledger so secure is that your private keys never leave your Ledger device. Transactions are signed directly on the device. Your private keys are never sent over Bluetooth and your cryptocurrencies remain safe even if your smartphone is compromised.

Ledger now uses an ST33 secure element, which is slightly more secure than the previous version ST31. Now, there’s only a single chip, connected directly to the screen and buttons, which reduces the risk of having someone compromise the information on your screen.

The screen is now twice as tall, which lets you view full public addresses without a scrolling view. You can now install up to 100 different cryptocurrency apps. You can still plug the device into a computer and use the desktop app, as well. The device costs $120/€120.

Disclosure: I own small amounts of various cryptocurrencies.

CES 2019 coverage - TechCrunch

iPhone XR price cuts in China are far from over, says analyst

Even Apple itself practically admitted that troubles are brewing at Cupertino. It warned investors that it earnings might be lower than expected. A lot lower, in fact. Although the company won’t say it, analysts believe that it has a lot to do with the weaker than anticipated sales of the 2018 iPhones, especially the iPhone XR. And at least one … Continue reading

Bonkers Post Making Up Stuff About Female Microsoft Developer Advocate Backfires Big Time

The tables turned big time on a supposed software developer posting under the identity “Tee Medlin” on Friday after he sent an Instagram post accusing Microsoft senior cloud developer advocate Chloe Condon of stalking him at a conference—something that never occurred—and other social media users quickly discovered…

Read more…

Ajit Pai refused to discuss carrier tracking scandal with lawmakers

Lawmakers want to know why the FCC still allows mobile carriers to share their subscribers’ location data with aggregators, but they won’t be getting answers from its chairman anytime soon. Ajit Pai has refused to attend an emergency briefing request…

UMindSleep mini EEG sleep monitor

It is not only imperative that one obtains the right amount of sleep each night, but also one that is of good quality. CES 2019 saw EEGSmart reveal their very first Mini Electroencephalogram (EEG) Sleep Monitor, known as UMindSleep. With Artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of healthcare making waves this year, the UMindSleep carries the distinction of bringing together both hardware and software in a Brain-Machine Interface system which will help collect EEG data in real-time, while working behind the scenes to analyze people’s mental states via its AI technology.

The UMindSleep has certainly picked up its fair share of admirers, sporting a wearable sleep tracer and monitor which will be able to keep track of relevant sleep data such as EEG, heart rate, blood oxygen, forehead temperature, body movement, position, and snoring, all the while being able to quantify people’s sleep processes accurately. This comprises of analyzing sleep disorders and symptoms, which will in turn be able to provide far more practical and effective methods to improve users’ sleep quality. The EEG analysis results will be available at the user’s fingertips courtesy of professional sleep-monitoring standards that do qualify for use by medical institutions and health management agencies.

According to an expert in sleep medicine after testing out the UMindSleep, “The real-time signal waveforms produced by EEGSmart are very impressive, and the comprehensive analysis results are also very professional.” If you feel that you need to have a little something extra in the bedroom that will help you eke out additional performance in other areas of your life during your waking hours, then making sure that your sleep quality is beneficial using the UMindSleep would make plenty of sense. Not only does the UMindSleep work great, it also does not look out of place with its clean design and aesthetically pleasing look.

Press Release
[ UMindSleep mini EEG sleep monitor copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Aladdin Magic Carpet Rug Flies into Your Wallet and Grabs $70

If you have kids or a fondness for Disney films you probably know that a live-action version of Aladdin is coming later this year. That means kids will be wanting to fly around on magic carpets, and who can blame them. Now they can have a rug that looks just like the magic carpet from the original animated film.

The rug measures 39″ x 70″ and is made from 100% polyester. It has 4-inch yarn tassels on each corner, certain to get slurped up by your vacuum.

The Aladdin Magic Carpet Rug is available to purchase right now at ThinkGeek. It’s not cheap at $69.99, and you should know it doesn’t fly unless your UPS driver goes really fast on his way to deliver it.

Hands-on with Ledger’s Bluetooth crypto hardware wallet

French startup Ledger unveiled a new hardware wallet at CES this week. While the device isn’t going to ship until March, the company let me play with a prototype version of the device. The Ledger Nano X feels just like using the Nano S, but on mobile.

When the company’s previous hardware wallet first came out, that was before the cryptocurrency boom, before Ledger raised $75 million. And the user experience wasn’t great.

You had to install multiple Chrome apps to manage multiple cryptocurrencies, switch between each app when you wanted to access your balance and manage your crypto assets. But things got much better when the company released Ledger Live on macOS, Windows and Linux.

With this new app, you could finally view your portfolio balance and manage multiple crypto assets from the same desktop app. The logical next step was mobile. And you have to get a new hardware wallet for that.

The Ledger Nano X looks more or less like the Ledger Nano S, but slightly bigger. It’s shaped like a USB key and it has a tiny screen to confirm transactions on the device. There’s a tiny 100 mAh battery in it and a slightly bigger screen. The battery should last a couple of months when you’re not using the wallet, and around 8 hours of active use. The microUSB port has been replaced by a USB-C port. The buttons are now on each side of the screen instead of on the side of the device.

After you pair the device with your phone, you can control everything from your iOS or Android phone. You can install apps on the Ledger Nano X, access your wallets and send cryptocurrencies. On iOS, you can lock the app using a password and optionally Face ID or Touch ID.

When you need to validate a transaction on your Ledger Nano X, your phone will pair with your Ledger device over Bluetooth. You can then view transaction information on your Ledger device and approve the transaction on the device itself.

What makes Ledger so secure is that your private keys never leave your Ledger device. Transactions are signed directly on the device. Your private keys are never sent over Bluetooth and your cryptocurrencies remain safe even if your smartphone is compromised.

Ledger now uses an ST33 secure element, which is slightly more secure than the previous version ST31. Now, there’s only a single chip, connected directly to the screen and buttons, which reduces the risk of having someone compromise the information on your screen.

The screen is now twice as tall, which lets you view full public addresses without a scrolling view. You can now install up to 100 different cryptocurrency apps. You can still plug the device into a computer and use the desktop app, as well. The device costs $120/€120.

Disclosure: I own small amounts of various cryptocurrencies.

CES 2019 coverage - TechCrunch

iPod touch 7th gen, USB-C iPhones coming very soon

Apple might finally be learning how to give oldies but goodies some love. Late last year, it finally updated the Mac mini, turning the little computer that could into a “mini PC” to reckon with. This year, if not the next, it might be giving the venerable iPod touch a refresh as well. That’s according to supply chain sources who … Continue reading