Western Digital is a common name in the world of computer storage, making many of the hard drives inside computers and other devices today. The company has announced a new architecture called OptiNAND that meshes traditional hard drives with flash storage capability to deliver performance and increased areal density. OptiNAND drives are essentially a combination of a traditional hard drive … Continue reading
One of the biggest keys to recovery for stroke victims is early and quick treatment. If the blood clot that caused the stroke can be treated quickly enough, it’s possible to restore full functionality to the patient in many instances. The goal is to diagnose and treat patients within the first hour of having a stroke to give them the … Continue reading
Starting today, you’ll be able to link your Philips Hue smart lights with your Spotify account. You can already make Hue lights dance to the music you’re playing through the Hue Sync tool for PC, which can capture anything you’re listening to and translate it into a light script. This new feature, however, promises deeper integration and a “unique immersive” experience that you can activate through your mobile device.
Upon linking your accounts, the Philips Hue app will extract the metadata from the song played through Spotify no matter the device. It will then use that information to create an advanced light script, which instructs your lights not just to dance to the beat of the song, but also to react based on its genre and mood. If you want to personalize the experience further, though, you can adjust the lights’ brightness, intensity and color palette.
The Spotify integration feature is rolling out globally, but it’s still only in its early access phase. You’ll need to go to Explore in the Philips Hue mobile app version 4.0 and tap the button in the Philips Hue + Spotify card to enable the new Sync tab. After that, simply follow the instructions on how to link your Spotify account. If you want to give it a try, take note that the feature will only work with color-capable Hue lights connected to a square-shaped, second-gen Hue Bridge.
A 24-year-old woman from Illinois was arrested on Sunday while trying to enter Hawaii with a fake covid-19 vaccination record card. How did authorities know it was fake? For starters, the counterfeit card said the woman had received the “Maderna” vaccine rather than the Moderna vaccine.
McCarthy threatened telecom and tech firms in an attempt to keep them from complying with the Jan. 6 investigation.
Amazon has rolled out a new feature for Alexa that can make sure you hear what the voice assistant says even while the TV’s on or while people are talking. According to The Verge, the new feature called Adaptive Volume will make Alexa speak louder if it detects a lot of ambient noise. The goal, the company told the publication, is for you to be able to hear the voice assistant’s responses over the noise in your home or office. If you’re outside the US, though, you won’t be able to give it a try just yet — The Verge says it’s only available for US customers at the moment.
The publication tested the feature using an Echo Dot that’s right next to a desktop PC with a spinning fan and found its performance inconsistent. Alexa responded in a louder than usual voice at times, but other times it replied in its usual volume. It’s possible that the company is still fine-tuning the feature before making it available in other regions. The Verge has also noted that Amazon didn’t say whether Adaptive Volume can also make the voice assistant respond in a quieter voice if it detects almost no ambient noise. Alexa has long had a “whisper mode,” however, which can make it respond in a softer voice when you whisper commands to it.
If you’re in the US and want to give Adaptive Volume a try, simply activate it by saying “Alexa, turn on adaptive volume.”
Smart lights are the cheapest, easiest way to get started with a smart home. Philips Hue, one of the most popular smart light markers, just took the wraps off a whole new lineup of smart lighting for various rooms in your house, along with built-in Spotify integration within the Hue app to make it all sing and light…
There were fights outside the meeting, but what happened inside was even more bizarre.
“Britney Spears will not be extorted,” the filing says.
Twitch streamers are planning to step away from the platform on September 1st for a day of protest, the Washington Post has reported. The #DayOffTwitch action aims to bring attention to a recent burst of harassment in the form of “hate raids” directed toward marginalized creators.
The day long walkout was spearheaded by Twitch streamers including RekitRaven, ShineyPen and Lucia Everblack. Those creators, who came up with the #TwitchDoBetter hashtag, were protesting Twitch’s slow reaction to sexist, racist, transphobic and other forms of harassing messages. The abuse was often generated by bots, and had the effect of overwhelming chats to the point that creators had to cut off streams.
Streamers were particularly upset by Twitch expanding its list to include around 350 tags classified by “gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ability, mental health, and more.” While it may have helped creators better connect to fans, it made it easier for abusive users to harass creators. That often came in the form of “raids” that would flood a channel with racist slurs and abusive language.
A note about #ADayOffTwitch from the cast & crew of our streamed show.
Please read & remember not everyone is free to take tomorrow off, no matter the level of support they have for the event. pic.twitter.com/Pu6lE8CucQ
— Mother LandsRPG: Season 3! (@MotherlandsRPG) August 31, 2021
“I’m just tired of it,” RekItRaven (who declined to share their full name) told the Washington Post. “I’m tired of feeling like I’m not allowed to exist based off of circumstances that are out of my control, and I know other people are too.”
Streamers are left to their own devices with only community-developed resources to combat the issues. That includes things like a “panic button” that takes chat into a limited mode and limits the ability of new users with abusive names to join.
Twitch has promised to take action. “We support our streamers’ rights to express themselves and bring attention to important issues across our service. No one should have to experience malicious and hateful attacks based on who they are or what they stand for, and we are working hard on improved channel-level ban evasion detection and additional account improvements to help make Twitch a safer place for creators,” the company told The Verge.
Creators are also protesting Twitch’s revenue-sharing scheme, which allows it to take half the platform’s revenue — but not for all creators. “We’re all very loudly aware that there are many who are getting 70/30 cuts, but there’s no criteria, no conversation, no goals, nothing,” black streamer Vanessa (PleasantlyTwstd) told the Washington Post.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
