Joe Burns / FinLedger:

Mercury, which offers banking services to startups, raises $120M Series B, including a $5M allotment for crowdfunding, led by Coatue at a $1.62B valuation  —  Mercury, a company which offers software and banking services for scaling startups, announced raising a $120 million Series B led by Coatue, according to a company blog post.

Those readers whose interests don’t lie in the world of amateur radio might have missed one of its firsts, for the last year or two amateurs have had their own geostationary satellite transponder. Called Es’hail-2 / AMSAT Phase 4-A / Qatar-OSCAR 100, it lies in the geostationary orbit at 25.9° East and has a transponder with a 2.4 GHz uplink and a 10.489 GHz downlink. Receiving the downlink is possible with an LNB designed for satellite TV, but for many hams the uplink presents a problem. Along comes [PY1SAN] from Brazil with a practical and surprisingly simple solution using a mixture of odd the shelf modules and a few hand-soldered parts.

An upconverter follows a simple enough principle, the radio signal is created at a lower frequency (in this case by a 435 MHz transmitter) and mixed with a signal from a local oscillator. A filter then picks out the mixer product — the sum of the two — and amplifies it for transmission. [PY1SAN]’s upconverter takes the output from the transmitter and feeds it through an attenuator to a MiniCircuits mixer module which takes its local oscillator via an amplifier from a signal generator module. The mixer output goes through a PCB stripline filter through another amplifier module to a power amplifier brick, and thence via a co-ax feeder to a dish-mounted helical antenna.

The whole thing is a series of modules joined by short SMA cables, and could probably be largely sourced from a single AliExpress order without too much in the way of expenditure. It’s by no means easy to get on air via Es’hail-2, but at least now it need not be impossibly expensive. Even the antenna can be made without breaking the bank.

We covered Es’hail-2 when it first appeared. May it long provide radio amateurs with the chance to operate worldwide with homebrew microwave equipment!

A Satellite Upconverter Need Not Be Impossible To Make
Source: HackADay

Rashi Shrivastava / Forbes:

Rey, which uses VR-based tools powered by OxfordVR to provide on-demand mental health care services, raises $26M Series A, three months after launching  —  Technology can, and should, play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the burgeoning demand for mental health services and limited supply …

Molly Wood / The Atlantic:

Microsoft is avoiding antitrust scrutiny by rebranding itself as nice and boring, even as it reverts to some of the behaviors that led to prosecution the ’90s  —  How has Microsoft escaped the scrutiny of reinvigorated antitrust regulators?  —  About the author: Molly Wood is the host …

If we have a television in 2021 the chances are that it will be a large LCD model, flat and widescreen, able to display HD images in stunning clarity. Before that we’d have had a CRT colour TV, them maybe our parents grew up with a monochrome model. Before those though came the first TVs of all, which were mechanical devices that relied on a spinning disk to both acquire and display the image. The BBC Archive recently shared a vintage clip from 1970 in which two of the assistants of [John Logie Baird], the inventor of the first demonstrable television system, demonstrated its various parts and revealed its inner workings.

We’ve covered the Nipkow scanning disk in a previous article, with its characteristic spiral of holes. We see the original Baird Televisor, but the interesting part comes as we move to the studio. Using the original equipment they show a dot of light traversing the presenter’s face to scan a picture before taking us to a mock-up of the original studio. Here there’s a surprise, because instead of the camera we’d expect today there is a Nipkow disk projector which traverses the subject sitting in the dark. A bank of photocells above the projector senses the reflected light, and returns a video signal.

The resulting low-resolution pictures had a low enough bandwidth to be broadcast over an AM radio transmitter, and for a tiny 30-line picture in the glowing pink of a neon light they provide a surprising amount of detail. With such a straightforward principle it’s not surprising that they’ve appeared in a few projects on these pages, including an Arduino driven colour video monitor, and a POV clock. Take a look at the video below the break.

#OnThisDay 1930: The first, experimental TV play was transmitted from John Logie Baird's studio.

40 years later, two of Baird's assistants – Tony Bridgewater and D.R. Campbell – demonstrated how mechanical television worked, on Review.

Fascinating stuff! pic.twitter.com/F6YFDAOAUg

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) July 14, 2021

Retrotechtacular: Mechanical TV From The People Who Made It Happen
Source: HackADay

Microsoft just released the first public and stable beta for Windows 11, but not everyone will be able to install it. Even though Windows 11 appears to be more of a visual overhaul than a dramatic reinvention of the OS, Microsoft has made some key changes that make it exclusive to newer hardware. Even some of the company’s own Surface devices won’t be able to run Windows 11, so here’s how to find out if your PC will. What are the minimum specs? These are the official minimum specs for Windows 11: Processor: 1 GHz or faster with 2 or more…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Windows

Can your PC handle Windows 11? Here’s how to find out
Source: The Next Web

Tatum Hunter / Washington Post:

Many viewers are experiencing the Olympics primarily through TikTok, with some of the most-watched videos coming not from NBC but from athletes themselves  —  The Olympics through the lens of TikTok look widely different than TV  —  When NBC’s “Today Show” told viewers that gymnast Simone Biles …

Email accounts were breached at nearly 30 US Attorneys’ offices, the DOJ says, as it provides new details of an attack revealed last December. SolarWinds hackers nailed federal prosecutors' offices, Department of Justice says – CNET
Source: CNet

Earlier this week during Apple’s earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that the iPad had experienced its most successful June quarter in nearly a decade. And now IDC is out with its latest worldwide shipment figures that underline Apple’s commanding lead over the tablet competition. After refreshing the iPad Air in 2020 and launching an upgraded iPad Pro earlier this year, Apple is next expected to update the iPad Mini.

IDC estimates that Apple shipped 12.9 million iPads in the second quarter. Its nearest competition is Samsung, which hit 8 million shipments. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 tablets offer fantastic hardware and punchy OLED screens, but they remain hamstrung by Android’s less-than-stellar selection of tablet apps. Lenovo, which…

Continue reading…

Latest IDC numbers reiterate Apple’s dominance of tablet market
Source: New feed

Level up your travel and dining experiences with the right travel rewards credit card. Best travel credit cards for August 2021 – CNET
Source: CNet

When fate lands a very high quality lens in front of you, what do you do with it? If you are [Tim Hamilton], the solution is obvious. Use it in a huge large-format camera.

The lens came from a newspaper magnifier made redundant by digitalisation and used as a paperweight. It’s an extremely high quality piece of optical equipment so seeing it wasted in this way was a source of distress. So after characterising it an enormous scaled-up box and bellows was constructed, and set upon a suitably substantial wheeled tripod.

Instead of a huge piece of film or some unobtainable giant electronic sensor, the image is projected onto a large screen at the rear of the camera. A modern digital camera is mounted inside the box just beneath the lens and photographs the screen, resulting in the feel of the largest of large format cameras with the convenience of a digital format. The resulting images have a special quality to them that recalls pictures from the past, and definitely makes the camera a special if slightly inconvenient device.

This may be one of the larger cameras we’ve featured, but it’s not the first that uses a similar technique.

One Of The Largest Large Format Cameras You Will Ever Have Seen
Source: HackADay

Josh Centers / TidBITS:

How Apple became an “antifragile” company, by building a diverse portfolio of products and performing even stronger during the pandemic than it did before  —  For over two decades, “APPLE IS DOOMED” was a common refrain in Internet discussions.  Originally, it was meant in a literal sense …

It’s like an Airbnb-style for swimming pools. Your visit may or may not include a giant unicorn floatie. Swimply lets you swim in a stranger's pool. It's less weird than you think – CNET
Source: CNet

Rom-com Resort to Love is out now. Netflix: 40 best movies to see tonight – CNET
Source: CNet

Season 4 of supernatural Western Wynonna Earp is out now. Netflix: The 40 best TV shows to watch tonight – CNET
Source: CNet

Google has recently been selling a combo-package of the Stadia Controller and 2020 Chromecast as a limited-time promotion. But as spotted by 9to5Google, the company has now made the pair a permanent bundle that it’s calling the “play and watch” package.

For $99.99, you get both the controller and streaming dongle. That’s a savings of $19 compared to buying both products separately. Google is also promoting the Chromecast ethernet adapter as a recommended accessory; if you want the absolute best Stadia experience, it’s probably a smart buy — and it’s a mere $9.99 ($10 off) when purchased alongside the bundle.

In an effort to clear out inventory of the old, puck-shaped Chromecast Ultra, Google is discounting its Stadia Premiere Edition…

Continue reading…

Google pairs Stadia Controller and Chromecast as 0 ‘play and watch’ bundle
Source: New feed

Jaime Llinares Taboada / MarketWatch:

UK’s CMA launches an inquiry into Facebook’s acquisition of Kustomer, investigating whether the deal violates the UK’s Enterprise Act 2002  —  The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it has started a merger investigation into the acquisition by Facebook Inc. of Kustomer Inc.

The official video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” has surpassed 1 billion plays on YouTube. The song became a lasting part of internet culture thanks to the Rickroll meme and reached the impressive milestone a couple days ago. Astley took to the video’s comments to share his gratitude, saying “amazing, crazy, wonderful!” In a video posted to Instagram, he added “the world is a wonderful and beautiful place, and I am very lucky.”

With some songs having crossed as many as 7 billion views in recent years, the 1 billion club isn’t quite as prestigious as it once was. But the achievement goes to show the staying power of the Rickroll prank. The video hit daily views of 2.3 million on April Fools Day, according to B…

Continue reading…

Thanks to the Rickroll, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ hits 1 billion YouTube plays
Source: New feed

{$inline_image}

An increasing fact of life over the coming years will be the decarbonisation of our transport networks, for which a variety of competing solutions are being touted. Railways, trucks, cars, and planes will all be affected by this move away from fossil fuels, and while sectors such as passenger cars are making great strides towards electric drive, there remain some technical hurdles elsewhere such as with heavy road freight. To help inform the future of road transport policy in the UK then, the British government are financing a series of trials for transportation modes that don’t use internal combustion. These will include a battery-electric fleet for the National Health Service and a hydrogen-powered fleet in Scotland, as well as a trial of the same overhead-wire system previously given an outing in Germany, that will result in the electrification of a 12.4 mile section of the M180 motorway in Lincolnshire.

We’ve written about the overhead electrification project in Germany in the past and subjected it to a back-of-envelope calculation that suggested the total costs for a country such as the UK might be surprisingly affordable. The M180 is something of a backwater in the UK motorway network though, so it will be interesting to see how they approach the problem of finding real-world loads for their tests that ply such a short and isolated route. We’d expect the final picture to include all three technologies in some form, which can only be a good thing if it increases the available electric and hydrogen infrastructure. We’ll follow this story, though sadly we may not be able to blag a cab ride on the M180 in one of the trucks.

British Big Rigs Are About To Go Green
Source: HackADay

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:

A look at the debate over Spotify’s Discovery Mode, whereby artists are prioritized for reduced royalties, a key way for Spotify to improve margins  —  Executives complain new Discovery Mode is ‘payola’ but one Texas frontman sees it as the future  —  The Josh Abbott Band …

Whether you live in an older home, or just appreciate them (and can lose hours scrolling through the Cheap Old Houses Instagram account), you may have looked at a house and wondered about its history: How old it is, who lived and died there, and what other events took place there over the years.

Read more…

How to Research the History of Your Home
Source: Life Hacker

Get out from under that oppressive annual percentage interest rate. Best balance transfer credit cards for August 2021 – CNET
Source: CNet

Whether you’re content with keeping your side hustle on the side or want to turn it into your full-time job, you need customers and a strategy. And you know where the customers are: Scrolling Instagram and sending TikToks to their friends TikToks. But how do you get their attention on social media?

Read more…

How to Get Better at Promoting Your Small Business on Social Media
Source: Life Hacker

If you like your lighting to be on the adventurous side, rest assured that Nanoleaf’s canvas light panels aren’t made to be subtle. The touch-sensitive squares are flashy and versatile, with the ability to display more than 16 million colors and a modular design that lets you place them in a variety of patterns. The bright LED panels also work with all the major smart home platforms, and can cycle through a number of preset colors or respond to sound when in “Rhythm Mode,” a feature that’s just as suited for the ambient noise outside your bedroom as your favorite record. Right now, Costco members can purchase Nanoleaf’s Canvas Light Panel smarter pack with nine panels and everything needed to get started for $50, one of the better prices…

Continue reading…

A starter pack of Nanoleaf’s stunning canvas panels is off at Costco today
Source: New feed

Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:

Apple removes Unjected, a social app for “unvaxxed friendly”, citing COVID-19 misinfo; Unjected removed social feed from its Android app after a Google warning  —  Anti-Vax App Squares Off With Google, Apple Over Misinformation Jackie Davalos31 July 2021, 15:00 CEST …