Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. Instagram today revealed it’s rolling out the ability to pin comments to all users around the world. That means you can pluck up to three comments you most want to
Read MoreIllustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, the electrical engineering and computer science division of the esteemed German research organization, on Tuesday announced VVC, a new video codec standard that promises to bring around 50 percent efficiency gains in streaming video compression. The codec’s full name is H.266/Versatile Video Coding,
Read MoreMark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s top executives, engaged in “spin” during a meeting over hate speech, civil rights groups said. Facebook Fails to Appease Organizers of Ad Boycott Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreThe new H.266 video codec is a pretty big deal. You can’t play with it yet—tempted as you might be to go install Handbrake and bask in video encodes that are half the size of your already-optimized H.265 videos—but its very existence will speed up the eventual transition to 8K HDR video. And that’s a
Read MoreA team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has come up with a way to combine iPhone videos to create 4D visualizations. The results allow the viewer to see action from myriad angles, erase people from the scene to see what’s behind them and remove objects that block lines of sight. Research Enables iPhone Videos
Read MoreWith the pandemic having caused massive upset within the travel industry, some have envisioned a future in which you’ll need to prove you’ve had a COVID-19 immunization before you can travel. Of course, such a vaccine doesn’t exist yet, let alone any regulations requiring you to get one. But for true world travelers,… Read more…
Read MoreAn historically Black university in South Carolina has set up a partnership with Zoom Video. The arrangement between Claflin University and Zoom encompasses internships, scholarships and curricula development. HBCU Claflin U Signs First-Ever Zoom University Partnership Source: Campus Technology
Read MoreMarathons and meets are canceled, so runners are using tech to stay connected and compete. With Pandemic Keeping Them Apart, Runners Embrace Virtual Races Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreWatch an army of Spot and Pepper robots root, root, root for their Japanese home team. Boston Dynamics robots do a rump-shaking dance to cheer on baseball team – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreWhen you start a new job, you’ll probably be instructed to go to Human Resources (HR) if you ever experience any sort of harassment at work—but this path hasn’t always been the most useful for employees. In fact, according to a new survey from Zenefits, one out of five workers do not trust their HR
Read MoreComparing yourself to others can be a dangerous thing, but it’s also motivating if you choose your comparisons carefully. I keep seeing people, especially new runners, complain that they’re “slow” or wonder how far away they are from the “average” runner. Read more… Look Up Past Race Results to Compete With People in Your Age
Read MoreAn expected upcoming change means you’d be able to automatically play Spotify or Pandora with a voice command on your Apple smart speaker, without needing to ask for the service. HomePod update could let you set a default service for your music needs – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreYou don’t have to pay $80 to get Apple’s wireless charging case. Here are three cheaper alternatives. Upgrade your AirPods to wireless charging for as little as – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreThe technology had previously been used only in emergency situations. Alphabet's Loon internet balloons launch in Kenya in first commercial deployment – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreIt’s official: Taxes are due next week. Back in March, the government pushed the filing deadline to July 15, and the Treasury Department recently confirmed they won’t be moving it again. If you have been putting it off, now is the time to file your tax return and pay what you owe. Read more… What
Read MoreThe ZoneTech Parking Assist has dual lasers for a two-car garage, plus motion sensors that turn it on and off automatically. Park perfectly in your garage with this laser-assist parking guide – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreIllustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Over the past few weeks, dozens of people connected to the game industry have shared stories of abuse on Twitter. One company, in particular, Ubisoft, has had multiple allegations leveled against high-ranking employees, including executives Tommy François and Maxime Béland. In a story from Kotaku, Ethan Gach reports
Read MoreAs the city grapples with new restrictions on online speech, American tech giants are on the front line of a clash between China and the United States over the internet’s future. Hong Kong Security Law Sets Stage for Global Internet Fight Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreImages: eSkootr A group of Formula One and Formula E drivers is starting a new racing series that will pit competitors against each other on ultra-fast custom-built electric scooters. The series — dubbed “Electric Scooter Championship,” or “eSkootr” — is set to launch in 2021, and the launch video shows riders whizzing through city streets
Read MoreAn insult takes a dizzying trip through rap, men’s rights, misogyny and TikTok. What Does Simp Mean? Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreThis week on The Vergecast interview series, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to founder and CEO of Luta Security Katie Moussouris. Moussouris has a long history in computer security, working at Microsoft and the Department of Defense creating their first bug bounty programs to incentivize catching and reporting security bugs and vulnerabilities in software systems.
Read MoreA new report suggests that Apple is, yet again, merely the second most valuable brand in the world. Microsoft, however, slides past Google to reach third place. Apple loses out to Amazon as world's most valuable brand Source: ZDNet Microsoft
Read MoreMicrosoft is hiring Android engineering and design experts who have been working at Finnish mobile development specialist Movial to its ranks. Microsoft hires Android mobile engineering and design experts from Movial Source: ZDNet Microsoft
Read More{$inline_image} An artistic rendering of astronauts on the Moon, mining resources. | Image: NASA House appropriators don’t intend to substantially increase NASA’s budget, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s plans of sending astronauts back to the Moon by 2024. Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its latest funding bill for fiscal year 2021, detailing the budgets for
Read MoreThe classic shooter will be included as part of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Halo 3 lets PC players finish the fight on July 14 – CNET Source: CNet
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