January 13th, 2017: If you haven't heard a song before then this comic won't be much good to you, but hey: something to look forward to, huh? Also: maybe try out songs sometime. A few of them are actually pretty good!
I won't be surprised when this turns out to be prophetic.
NEW YORK—Describing the ornately decorated 3,000-square-foot space as “the height of luxury,” President-elect Donald Trump officially unveiled a new Double Platinum–Level White House press room Thursday, which he said will be made available to only a select few journalists. “Located mere steps from the West Wing, this magnificent, invitation-only press suite will cater to the every need of a hand-selected group of the most esteemed reporters as they cover my presidency,” said Trump, adding that individual Italian oak writing desks, ambient light from overhead chandeliers, and a bank of 12 plush seats providing unimpeded views of the lectern would help make journalists feel comfortable and relaxed while they report on the executive branch. “Not only will the members of this prestigious group enjoy complimentary sparkling wine and valet parking, but they will also receive private access to my administration that no one else in the press corps ...
Netflix has unveiled a new original film with a pretty ludicrous tech angle. iBoy (yep) stars Maisie Williams and is set to arrive on the streaming service January 27th. The plot, unfortunately, reads like a "Toast parody of a Black Mirror episode,"...
Nice! This will go well with my Lumos LED lit helmet.
Cyclists have to be wary of everything in big cities, even robotic cars. To help its sharing-service users, Citi Bike in New York is outfitting 250 bicycles with "Laserlight" safety lights from UK company Blaze. They project a bright green bicycle ou...
We might soon be able to buy actual foldable phones after years of looking at one concept after another. According to The Korea Herald, Samsung and LG are planning to launch bendable phones later this year. Samsung reportedly began working on a phone...
Enlarge / NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 10: Robert Kennedy Jr., heads up to a meeting at Trump Tower on January 10, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings at his New York residence to fill the remaining positions in his administration. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (credit: Getty Images)
Today, President-elect Donald Trump met with a backer of the false idea that vaccines may be behind the rise in autism diagnoses. The result seems to be a worst-case scenario: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has accepted a position within the Trump administration, where he will chair a group evaluating vaccine safety and scientific integrity.
Trump has a history, on Twitter and in debates, of questioning the well-established science behind the US' vaccination program. He has insinuated that vaccines cause autism and has suggested that the current vaccination schedule is overly aggressive. There is absolutely no evidence for either of those positions. Numerous studies have debunked any connection between either vaccination or any specific components of vaccines and diagnoses of autism. And the vaccine schedule is based on a combination of medical risks and exposure probabilities; changing it would alter infants' risks.
It wasn't clear whether Trump's positions would lead to any policy decisions. But a worrying sign came when Trump met with Andrew Wakefield this fall. Wakefield helped establish fears of a vaccine-autism connection by publishing a paper, now retracted, that suggested a connection between the two. He has since had his medical license pulled due to misconduct during the preparation of that paper.
As Republican lawmakers eagerly prepare to scrap President Obama’s signature healthcare legislation, the Affordable Care Act, they’ve announced that while doing so, they'll also strip funding from Planned Parenthood.
In a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) confirmed that “Planned Parenthood legislation would be in our reconciliation bill” when asked about potential defunding. The reconciliation bill is the budgetary tool that Republicans plan to use to dismantle the ACA with a simple majority and without the potential for a filibuster. A straight repeal would require a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, which the Republicans don’t have. A straight repeal would also open the possibility of a filibuster. (For more on how that process would work, check out Ars’ previous coverage on this matter.)
Republicans have long railed against Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. A 2015 reconciliation bill, put forth by Tom Price (R-Ga.), President-elect Trump’s nominee for the secretary of health and human services, also defunded Planned Parenthood. That legislation made it through the House and Senate, but it was vetoed by President Obama.
With December behind us, we could all probably do with a hiatus from the pub.
But in preparation for our inevitable return to the bar, the world’s first wearable alcohol device, Proof, could not have come at a better time.
We’ve all witnessed the infamous “I’ll just come for one drink” that quickly snowballs into eating a donor kebab on the night bus.
PROOF
But with this technology, you have the equivalent of a nagging partner by your side all night long.
The technology uses enzyme-based electrochemical sensors inside disposable cartridges that measure the level of alcohol in your sweat over a 12-hour period.
So you’re covered even if you’re settling in for a marathon session.
The sensors don’t just give you a blood alcohol content figure, but a personalised reading about what those numbers means for you in terms of how drunk you’re about to get and when you’ll be sober again.
Not only that but you can set yourself a limit, that when reached, sends an alert to the android or IOS app.
At which point you can make your excuses and leave.
PROOF
Not only that but the battery life is capable of measuring four days continuously, which you should probably not consider a target.
One feature we definitely won’t be using though, is the friend feature that allows you to privately share your results with family and friends.
Meaning that your mum knows exactly how drunk you were when you were meant to be staying late to do more work.
HOUSTON—Attracting the attention of adjacent motorists and nearby pedestrians who turned their heads to see where the booming noise was coming from, a 2006 Ford Focus is said to have rolled up to a local stoplight Friday blaring Google Maps directions. “Head northeast on Crawford Street toward Commerce Street,” an automated voice reverberating from the car’s sound system reportedly stated, causing the vehicle’s windows to rattle as the driver nodded along with the thunderous instructions to drive half a mile and keep right at the fork. “Follow signs for U.S. 59 North. Use the middle lane to merge onto I-69/U.S. 59 North.” At press time, onlookers reported hearing a deafening chorus of “make a U-turn” after the car appeared to drive down an unmarked side street.
Enlarge / Probably not in President Obama's Social Media Archive: this fake-selfie moment.
In one of the weirder political coincidences in recent memory, digital archives for President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump launched within hours of each other on Thursday.
The Obama Social Media Archive, launched officially by Obama’s administration and developed by ArchiveSocial, serves as the first-ever culling of an administration's full online presence. It contains every post from every social media channel made by everyone within the Obama White House, from the president to the first lady and all the way down to various staffers who posted in one way or another on the White House's behalf.
This fully searchable archive lets users type in all kinds of search terms, then refine results based on poster, social media platform, and other search criteria. (For example, a lot of White House staffers spoke about pizza.) While image-based social media (e.g. Instagram) is also included, search terms do not include terms for visual tags (meaning, if an image doesn't have a descriptive caption, you'll have to find certain images in more granular ways).
T-Mobile is fond of using CES to shake things up, and that's certainly true this year. The carrier is making a few moves that will ideally simplify your experience and lower your real-world costs... or at least, tell you the truth. It's introducing a...
This would've come in handy once or twice for us in Vietnam...
Keeping an motorcycle upright at high speeds is simple. Mostly you just have to hang on. Yet, when a bike is slowly cruising through a parking lot, in traffic, or at a stop, balance is handled by the rider. That can be difficult on larger, heavier cy...
Just to be clear, this is exactly what you think it is: a backpack with a hole cut in it, and an e-paper display wedged inside. And yes, that e-paper display has my face on it. Normally, this is the time where I'd start talking about hitting peak CES...
Oh come on! It's not like a ferry ever has to take evasive maneuvers or needs split second decision making to operate!
Enlarge / Mark Radan was on board the Washington State Ferry Kitsap (pictured) when he fired the laser in October 2015.
A United States Coast Guard Hearing Officer has issued a final $9,500 civil penalty against a Washington man who fired a blue laser at a state ferry in October 2015. The fine marks a notable reduction from the preliminary penalty of $100,000 issued in April 2016.
According to a Tuesday statement by the Coast Guard, Mark Raden of Freeland, Washington, was on board the Washington State Ferry Kitsap, traveling between Mukilteo and Clinton, when he fired a laser at the adjacent WSF Tokitae. The vessel’s master and chief mate were hit in the eyes, which reportedly endangered all 106 passengers.
"Originally there were multiple charges that brought the maximum amount to $100,000 [as] referenced in the original release," Petty Officer 2nd Class Ali Flockerzi, a USCG spokeswoman, told Ars. "Ultimately the hearing officer has the final say and chose to only pursue the one charge for 'interfering with the safe operation of a vessel' and assessed a fine of $9,500."
The Iranian government has been censoring internet for years to keep its citizens from exposing themselves to content it deems inappropriate or radical. Now the people have been saved from another toxic scourge: The mobile game Clash of Clans. The co...
Hahah this is totally Lauren. She's saving the world!
GENEVA—Explaining that global warming trends were close to passing a dangerous and irreversible tipping point, a report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that humanity’s sole hope for saving the planet now lies with people who save napkins from their takeout orders. “According to our research, our only chance of averting a worldwide catastrophe rests entirely in the hands of individuals who keep the stacks of napkins that come in their takeout bag alongside their burrito or Thai food orders,” said IPCC researcher Ellen Chen, who explained that by stockpiling these loose napkins instead of throwing them out, these people offered the lone remaining path to avoiding devastating superstorms, pan-continental droughts, and increases in global sea levels that pose an existential threat to human life. “We can only pray that these key men and women continue holding on to their extra takeout napkins and ...
Netflix has unveiled a new original film with a pretty ludicrous tech angle. iBoy (yep) stars Maisie Williams and is set to arrive on the streaming service January 27th. The plot, unfortunately, reads like a "Toast parody of a Black Mirror episode,"...
Cyclists have to be wary of everything in big cities, even robotic cars. To help its sharing-service users, Citi Bike in New York is outfitting 250 bicycles with "Laserlight" safety lights from UK company Blaze. They project a bright green bicycle ou...
We might soon be able to buy actual foldable phones after years of looking at one concept after another. According to The Korea Herald, Samsung and LG are planning to launch bendable phones later this year. Samsung reportedly began working on a phone...
Sentinels of a Northern Sky 
T-Mobile is fond of using CES to shake things up, and that's certainly true this year. The carrier is making a few moves that will ideally simplify your experience and lower your real-world costs... or at least, tell you the truth. It's introducing a...
Keeping an motorcycle upright at high speeds is simple. Mostly you just have to hang on. Yet, when a bike is slowly cruising through a parking lot, in traffic, or at a stop, balance is handled by the rider. That can be difficult on larger, heavier cy...
Just to be clear, this is exactly what you think it is: a backpack with a hole cut in it, and an e-paper display wedged inside. And yes, that e-paper display has my face on it. Normally, this is the time where I'd start talking about hitting peak CES...
The Iranian government has been censoring internet for years to keep its citizens from exposing themselves to content it deems inappropriate or radical. Now the people have been saved from another toxic scourge: The mobile game Clash of Clans. The co...
