John Herrman, who writes about the internet, is using many of the same tech tools as a decade ago — but the conversation around how we use them has changed. The Tools for Covering Tech Are the Same as in 2009
Source: NY Times Tech

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

As Wednesday’s night’s Democratic debate came to a close, Joe Biden somehow confused and combined his campaign website and a text message short code in his closing statement.

“Go to JOE 30330 and help me in this fight,” Biden said in his debate night send-off, apparently asking voters to text the number to receive updates from his campaign. But according to a later tweet from Biden’s staff, you weren’t even supposed to text the word “JOE,” but rather “JOIN” to that now viral number.

“With so much happening on the campaign, we want to make sure you’re up-to-date on…

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Someone explain to Joe Biden the difference between a website and a text message short code
Source: New feed

Varun Mishra / Counterpoint Research:

Analysis: in Q2 2019, global smartphone shipments declined 1% YoY, making it the 7th consecutive quarter of declining shipments; Samsung shipments grew 7.1% YoY  —  Overall smartphone shipment declined 1% in Q2 2019, making it the seventh consecutive quarter of declining shipments.

Dear Democrats,

Look, I know being a politician means you mostly don’t live online (with the possible exception of Andrew Yang and #Yanggang). I just wanted to let you know: I have a Google.

Also, if Google search for some reason should fail, there’s Bing. There’s DuckDuckGo. If I am remotely interested you, I’ve learned how to spell your name — though the truth is, I probably don’t even need to do that correctly because these search engines are good enough that they can guess what I am doing.

So: You really do not need to say “WEBSITE DOT COM” in your statements. Just send us to your website! I mean, points to Kamala Harris for originality (she’s got a dot org) but seriously, I am perfectly capable of a Google search…

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Dear Democratic candidates: Yes, I have a Google
Source: New feed

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

After 6 months of fact-checking for Facebook, Full Fact published 96 fact-checks, was paid ~$171k, wants Facebook to share more data with fact-checkers  —  In December 2016, Facebook enlisted a handful of U.S.-based news organizations (ABC News, Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, and the AP) …

Clorox the Oval Office! Plus, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris go at it. And at it. Plus, what’s the opposite of Donald Trump? Democratic debate memes, night 2: Joe Biden beatdown, no malarkey! And the 'Asian man who likes math' – CNET
Source: CNet

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez / The San Francisco Examiner:

Lyft has made its 1,000 e-bikes in San Francisco “unavailable to riders” following two reports of bikes catching fire  —  The flames appear to have originated from the battery  —  The battery of an electric Lyft bicycle appeared to catch fire Wednesday in the Lower Haight.

After Miley Cyrus, Lumineers, Jay-Z, Santana and more drop out, the organizers pull the plug. Woodstock 50 music festival officially cancelled – CNET
Source: CNet

It is a common situation in electronics to have a control loop, that is some sort of feedback that drives the input to a system such as a motor or a heater based upon a sensor to measure something like position or temperature. You’ll have a set point — whatever you want the sensor to read — and your job is to adjust the driving thing to make the sensor read the set point value. This seems easy, right? It does seem that way, but in realitythere’s a lot of nuance to doing it well and that usually involves at least some part of a PID (proportional, integral, derivative) controller. You can bog down in math trying to understand the PID but [Electronoobs] recent video shows a very simple test setup that clearly demonstrates what’s going on with an Arduino, a motor, a distance sensor, and a ping-pong ball. You can see the video below.

Imagine for a moment heating a tank of water as an example. The simple approach would be to turn on the heater and when the water reaches the setpoint, turn the heater off. The problem there is though that you will probably overshoot the target. The proportional part of a PID controller will only turn the heater fully on when the water is way under the target temperature. As the water gets closer to the right temperature, the controller will turn down the input — in this case using PWM. The closer the sensor reads to the setpoint, the lower the system will turn the heater.

For some applications, this is enough. But what if there are very small errors? Perhaps the set point is 90 degrees and you are 89.8. That won’t correct quickly in a proportional-only control loop because the heater won’t be on very much due to the small error. The integral part of the loop will react to small errors over time, adding a small bit each time the system isn’t in the right state. The derivative part is the opposite. It affects the output in reaction to sudden changes such as an ice cube landing in the tank.

The example rig is a seesaw-like balance beam and uses a lot of 3D printed parts and some plywood. The input driver to the system is an RC servo that can tip the seesaw to a different angle. An IR sensor determines how far the ping-pong ball is from the edge of the beam. With everything wired to the Arduino, you have a pretty good testbed for a controller.

If is common to “tune” a PID by setting Kp, Ki, and Kd constants that determine the “strength” of each action. With the beam, you can watch how tuning affects the system. By setting a constant to zero you can turn off that part of the algorithm, and it is very instructive to see what each part of the equation does to the ping-pong ball.

Even if you have used PID before, you will enjoy seeing this illustrative demo. It would be great in the classroom.  If you want to see a temperature example, we’ve seen that done with an Arduino, too. PID is integral — sorry — to flight control systems and self-balancing robots, too.

Ping-Pong Ball Makes Great PID Example
Source: HackADay

The Iron Throne was melted by accident. No, really. Game of Thrones' finale script explains why Drogon melted the Iron Throne – CNET
Source: CNet

A study has shone a light on how many gamers have experienced harassment and hate while playing online games — and it’s a staggeringly high number. Still, it’s encouraging to see the nastiness has been balanced (at least to a degree) by positive interactions, such as burgeoning friendships and finding accepting communities. The study, which was published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and conducted with help from Newzoo, is based on survey responses from over 1,000 adults. It explores “the social interactions and experiences of video game players across America and details their attitudes and behaviors in a rapidly growing social…

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Study: Majority of online gamers have experienced both harassment and friendship
Source: The Next Web

Liam Tung / ZDNet:

Google to let G Suite admins select users for the Advanced Protection Program, designed to prevent cyberattacks against high-profile users, in the coming days  —  You might never need to change your password again if you’re part of the G Suite Advanced Protection Program.

Two of the company’s rentable electric bikes appear to have burst into flames in the past week. Lyft yanks e-bikes from San Francisco after possible battery fires – CNET
Source: CNet

Neville Ray wants to see a 5G coverage map from the rival carrier. T-Mobile tech chief throws shade at Verizon's 5G network – CNET
Source: CNet

VanMoof makes some of the best electric bikes in the world — including this one, the S2, which we had to pry out of Callum’s hands when he was done reviewing it. But what truly sets the Dutch company apart is its focus on security. The S2, for example, comes with a hidden wheel lock, an “earsplitting” alarm, and a headlight that flashes S-O-S in Morse code. If that weren’t enough, the company even employs a team of “bike hunters” that head out into the wild unknown in search of your bike using a SIM-enabled GSM tracking system. For a…

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Security expert steals a ,000 ‘theft-proof’ bike in 60 seconds
Source: The Next Web

It’s no secret that Android tablets are in an awkward position. While Apple’s iPad remains an important part of its product line-up, even Google has given up on making an equivalent. But Samsung hasn’t given up on Android tablets just yet. Today it announced the Galaxy Tab S6. It’s clear the tablet has taken some inspiration from the new iPad Pro, but it has a few tricks of its own too. First, the specs: 10.5″ Super AMOLED Display 6GB + 128 GB or 8GB + 128GB RAM and storage configurations Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9610 7,040 mAh battery (15 hours battery life claimed) 8MP…

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Or just read more coverage about: Samsung

The Galaxy Tab S6 shows Samsung isn’t giving up the tablet fight
Source: The Next Web

The e-commerce giant wants to cut down on waste and shipping costs. Amazon may start fining sellers for using ridiculously huge boxes – CNET
Source: CNet

Former financier and alleged sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is an apparent transhumanist who hoped to seed the world with his DNA and have his head and penis cryonically preserved. According to a report from the New York Times, Epstein spent decades cultivating connections within the science and technology communities. He rubbed elbows with Nobel laureates, big tech executives, and researchers from all over academia and hosted parties and dinners where scientific elites held discourse with him in hopes of scoring funding. But his interests allegedly lay outside the realms of normal scientific endeavor and in pseudoscience. Reportedly, the accused rapist planned…

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Report: Jeffrey Epstein wants to freeze his head and penis, seed the world with his DNA
Source: The Next Web

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Lyft is pulling its pink electric bicycles from the streets of San Francisco, just two months after deploying them, because some of these bikes caught fire while in use.

The bikes, officially labeled Lyft bikes and accessible under the newly rebranded Bay Wheels platform (formerly Ford GoBike), are one of the ride-hailing company’s new dockless mobility options, all operated by the Lyft-owned bikeshare company Motivate. Lyft previously pulled its electric bikes off city streets nationwide back in April after a braking malfunction proved extremely dangerous to riders.

Lyft has spent months working on redeploying the fleet so that it could support both docked, non-electric bikes and dockless electric ones. (The electric ones are similar…

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Lyft pulls its electric bike fleet from San Francisco streets after some catch fire
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Welcome to the world of dog filters, Mr. Biden. Joe Biden joins Snapchat ahead of Wednesday's Democratic debate – CNET
Source: CNet

You can grab the phone for $130. Samsung's budget Galaxy A20 phone now on Boost Mobile – CNET
Source: CNet

The FAA’s updated app now has useful flying zone info available on an interactive map. Drone app now shows where you're allowed to fly – CNET
Source: CNet

New York Times:

Cisco to pay $8.6M to settle government claims for selling video surveillance tech with a security flaw, reported in 2008, to government agencies until 2013  —  WASHINGTON — Cisco Systems agreed on Wednesday to pay $8.6 million to settle claims that it sold video surveillance technology …

Siberia is burning and the smoke is spreading beyond Russia. The Arctic is on fire, and these images from space show the choking smoke – CNET
Source: CNet

Apple and Microsoft have a storied history of duking it out on TV, often cleverly sniping at each other in a series of iconic Mac vs. PC ads. But Microsoft’s latest campaign is a rather low blow — it apparently found a guy named Mackenzie Book (Mac Book, get it?) to testify that the Surface Laptop 2 is a better buy than a MacBook.

Imagine the audacity of combing the world for a single actor with the right name, just so you can arrive at the punchline “Mac Book says get a Surface Laptop” without an army of lawyers breathing down your throat.

Would Apple stoop to finding a “Mike Rosoft” to tout a new iPad? I think not. It’s still too busy deciding whether the iPad Pro is a computer or no! Which Microsoft has an opinion on, too.

In the…

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Microsoft’s new Mac vs. PC ad gets a guy named ‘Mac Book’ to diss Apple
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