by Claire Lower on Skillet, shared by Andy Orin to Lifehacker
You’re probably familiar with what rancid oil is, but you might be less familiar with what it smells like. When checking oils of fatty foods for rancidity, sniff for metallic, bitter, or soapy aromas.
Still not sure? Touch the bottle. Sticky residue is a sign of advanced rancidity, and could indicate the contents inside are starting to turn on you. You can also pour out a little oil between your fingers and check for tackiness, if it feels sticky, toss it.
Click the link below for a more complete explanation of the process, but enzymes, oxygen, and heat all play a role in driving rancidity, and technically any fat-containing food can go rancid. Vegetable and olive oils are particularly susceptible, and you need to be even more watchful with those that have already seen some heat, like toasted sesame, so keep those in the fridge for extra protection. Fats that are solids at room temperature are more chemically stable, and less likely to go rancid, but I’d give ‘em a sniff every once in a while to be sure.
An unnamed shipping company had its unpatched content management system hacked by sea-pirates, who then sorted the ships at sea by the value of their cargo to help prioritize attacks to maximize the take.
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Right now, 16 private teams from around the world are in a race to the moon. They’re in a $30 million competition called the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), which challenges teams to design and build a rover, land it on the surface of the moon, drive it 500 meters across the lunar landscape, and send HD video and imagery back to Earth by the end of 2017. And soon, you’ll be able to learn their stories in a new digital documentary series from Google, Academy Award®-nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel, Executive Producer J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and Epic Digital.
The GLXP competition, which started in 2007, aims to kick off a new era of space exploration by enabling low-cost and efficient access to the moon. Not only is the moon our closest neighbor in space, it’s also the gateway to exploring the rest of the universe—and provides opportunities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, and human habitation.
The teams in the competition come from all walks of life, from Silicon Valley tech experts, to hackers in Germany, to IT specialists in India, to a father and son working out of their their Vancouver apartment. In a series of 9 digital documentaries, Moon Shot goes behind the scenes with each team, bringing to life their challenges, sacrifices, quirks, and most importantly, the reasons why they’re making the 238,900 mile journey to the moon.
The series will be available for free on Google Play on March 15 and on YouTube on March 17. Subscribe to the Google Lunar XPRIZE YouTube Channel to be one of the first to see it, and for more information, visit lunar.xprize.org.
Posted by Yasemin Denari Southworth, Marketing Manager, Google Brand Marketing https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wvBUsGac_VY/VtnXIcM82RI/AAAAAAAAR-I/0Blorgn6L90/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-03-04%2Bat%2B10.03.58%2BAM.png Yasemin Denari Southworth Marketing Manager Google Brand Marketing
Apple has launched a Twitter account dedicated to providing customer support. The account went live 8AM ET this morning, and within about 20 minutes started responding to customers' requests for help. It's already fielding questions about Apple Music, Apple IDs, and enabling smart quotes (the “curly” quotation marks, rather than the "straight" marks). It'll also be tweeting out tips on how to use Apple products. By and large, it looks like a pretty standard customer service account.
Jeffrey Martin writes, "Here is the largest photo ever made of NYC (more than 200,000 pixels wide). Shot handheld from the top of the Empire State Building with a 135mm lens and a 50MP fullframe SLR."
When Amazon first unveiled the Echo, its smart speaker with the Alexa virtual assistant, most people didn't know what to do or expect from the thing. And not surprisingly: Amazon had given no hints or advance notice that it was even releasing the tubular speaker.
In the time since, the Echo has become a sleeper hit, and for those who own it, has stealthily taken the pole position in controlling a connected home. But despite its quiet success, the next steps for the Echo were obvious: many users wanted portability, it needed to also be available as a standalone, battery-powered Bluetooth Speaker.
And now it is, in the form of the $129.99 Amazon Echo Tap. Preorders start today, and availability begins at the end of the month. (Unlike...
Google Photos has received a substantial update, redesigning the interface and making it easier to find different features like Assistant and Albums. Rather than hiding these sections away in a sidebar, Assistant, Albums, and Photos can now be found in a bar at the bottom of the screen.
In addition to their new placement, both Albums and Assistant have been redesigned. Albums now offers easier access to all of your personal and shared albums, and makes it easier to find photos of specific people and places. Assistant now sports large buttons at the top of the screen to help you perform popular actions quickly. You can create a new album, collage, animation, or movie, all with a single tap.
Naturally, this update is currently rolling out, so it may be a little while before you see it. You can grab Google Photos on the Google Play Store now.
UK culture secretary John Whittingdale gave a speech at the Oxford Media Convention where he compared adblocking to piracy and vowed "to set up a round table involving major publishers, social media groups and adblocking companies in the coming weeks to do something about the problem."
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We interrupt your morning (it's morning here in Seattle at least) to bring you an important public service announcement. If you live in the UK or Ireland and own one of Amazon's affordable 7in tablets, then you need to request a new charger. Amazon has noted that a small quantity of the chargers bundled with these devices have had their housing detach when being removed from the wall, creating a risk of electric shock (no, they are not a fire hazard).
Google is rolling out a pilot program today that introduces a new way to pay cashiers — and it involves leaving your phone in your pocket. It’s called Hands Free, and it’s a way to basically connect your phone with a point of sales system using the sensors on your phone. The end result is that a point of sale device is already aware of your phone’s presence, and when… Read More
The Maserati Quattroporte is a large sports saloon that can accommodate and transport four people in sumptuous luxury. To do that, it needs a big and powerful V8 engine. You know what doesn't need a 4.7-liter V8? A motorcycle. But for Ludovic Lazareth, designer of the Lazareth LM847, need is not an important consideration. His new four-wheeled bike is literally built around Maseratti's Quattroporte engine, and the only reason for it is that he just liked the look of the engine. Just because you can, thinks this brazen Frenchman, absolutely means you should.
Hello! My name is Dieter Bohn and I have problems. My main problem is that I look around at my fellow humans and see them dealing with little problems that shouldn't be problems. I see tangled cables, messy computer interfaces, and wildly confusing living room TV setups. For whatever reason, I really enjoy solving these small problems and then stare agog when I see people just living with them. Then I run up and tell them I can fix it and, well, they stare back at me in confusion. "Okay Dieter. You're weird." Yes, I am — so you don't have to be.
But I know I'm not alone in enjoying fixing this stuff. So we're going to make some videos about these little fixes. This isn't a "Getting Things Done" system. I don't believe that people should...
This morning Spotify rolled out another way for users to discover new music. It's called Fresh Finds, and it's the official launch of a feature that has actually been on the platform since last year, but wasn't heavily promoted or prominently featured until today.
Fresh finds is a weekly playlist of tracks that Spotify's algorithms have identified as rising stars, songs which are trending upwards in popularity but have not yet found mainstream success. The songs are identified using natural language processing algorithms that crawl the web, reading blogs and reviews, as well as analyzing the listening patterns of Spotify users the service has identified as trendsetters. The technology was developed by Echo's Nest, a Boston startup...
YouTube is launching a global production program and partnering with the United Nations in an effort to highlight and support women's voices across the platform. The video networks will invest in videos created by female filmmakers through the global YouTube Spaces program, which puts women in front of and behind the camera. And the year-long UN partnership will see a group of female creators advocating for gender equality as the first "change ambassadors" for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Action campaign.
Over the past few months, YouTube has invited a select group of women to serve as creative directors and mentor other female creators at its production facilities known as YouTube Spaces across the globe. Six YouTubers —...
Back in December, Mozilla called it a day with its failed Firefox OS for mobile business, and said it would pivot the technology into a new Internet of Things strategy. Amid a good dose of skepticism that a platform (and organization) that failed in one area can succeed in another that is arguably even more complex, Mozilla has laid out the first projects in its IoT shortlist. Get ready for… Read More
How hot is the HTC Vive? According to HTC's Shen Ye (yes, the brains behind our Futurology series) tweeted Monday that more than 15,000 units of the virtual reality system were sold in less than 10 minutes on Day 1 of preorders. That's in the neighborhood of 25 Vives sold every second.
And if you've gotten to go through a Vive Demo — it blew Russell's mind, and Phil's, too — you understand the excitement. It's simply the most immersive VR experience you can get.
Google has a brand-new website for content policy on the Play Store that it unveiled today, and that's nice, but nestled away in that news was a far more interesting story regarding ad blockers. Google has long enforced a de facto ban on ad blockers on the Play Store, citing section 4.4 of the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement, going all the way back to 2013.
This involved a rather convoluted interpretation of a vague policy forbidding apps from interfering with third-party apps or services, but it's the official justification Google has used to date.
Entrepreneur, celebrity of the extreme sporting world, and generally insane madman Ken Block has developed a reputation for creating the most entertaining car videos on the planet with his Gymkhana series. This is not an overstatement: you may recall that in his last outing, the dude literally drifted underneath a lowrider mid-hop.
Now we're onto his latest, Gymkhana Eight. It is indescribable. Actually, there's no point in even attempting to describe what this man is doing in Dubai with an endlessly modified 650-horsepower Fiesta; you're better off just watching it for yourself.
The BRITs is undoubtedly the biggest event on the UK music calendar. Some of the greatest British acts have launched their global careers on its stages, and each year features unforgettable performances from both homegrown acts and international talent. From Adele to Justin Bieber to Coldplay and more, this year’s show did not disappoint.
As the official audio and download parter of the 2016 BRIT Awards, the Google Play Music team is thrilled to be part of this landmark event. Thanks to the support of artists, managers, labels, publishers and societies, we made participating performances available as downloads and streams available only on Google Play Music, with proceeds going to charity. Download or stream the performances for free until Wed, March 2 (we’re picking up the cost), after which all the content will be available on Play Music for purchase until March 24.
Every penny raised from both the downloads and streams on Google Play Music will go to Nordoff Robbins which provides music therapy services to adults and children, and The BRIT Trust which supports performing arts in the UK. Last year, the amount we raised went above all previous BRIT Award charitable records, and with your help we hope to do so again.
Streams and downloads of tracks by participating artists include: Adele, Justin Bieber, The David Bowie Band featuring Lorde (a tribute to David Bowie), Coldplay, The Weeknd, Little Mix, James Bay and Jess Glynne.* We hope you enjoy all of these performances and help us make a difference in the lives of many by supporting two great causes.
Posted by Azi Eftekhari, Head of EMEA Music Partner Management, Google Play Music
*Please note that performance availability varies by country.
Everyone with a smartphone needs a good set of headphones. Our phones make noise, and usually it's when we want them to make noise — watching a video, listening to music, playing a game or even talking on the phone are sounds we want to hear, but everyone around us probably doesn't. Luckily, there are plenty of companies out there that have just what we need and are happy to sell headphones of one type or another to us.
For some of us, the headphones that came in the box or a pair we picked up from a big-box store are fine. And that's OK. Nobody here thinks we all should spend time and stress over headphones unless you're having fun while doing it. But if you want to try and find the best headphones for you, we have a few tips that can help.
This isn't an article that's going to tell you which set of headphones you should buy. Instead we're going to talk about what you should look for when you wade through the thousands and thousands of different headphones you can buy so you can make the right choice the first time. Knowledge is power and all that jazz.
What type of headphones do you want?
There are several different styles of headphone to choose from, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. The first thing you need to consider is what you want to do with them. If you only want headphones for consuming media, you can skip looking for models with a mic. A mic is pretty handy to have if you think you'll need to take a call while you're listening to music on the bus, but good headphones with a mic are usually a little more expensive than good headphones without.
And we're not going to talk about Bluetooth in this article. That's another subject that deserves its own discussion, and we'll have it. For now, we're only talking about headphones that you plug into your phone or tablet or whatever else makes noises you want to hear.
Earbuds: A lot of people love earbuds. They are small and easy to carry around, discreet, and can sound pretty good if you pick the right ones. As a bonus, most times they are a good bit cheaper than other types of headphones. Some of the drawbacks are issues staying in place if you're moving around a lot, they can be uncomfortable and oftentimes they can't deliver big loud bass.
On-Ear headphones: These can be a good middle ground between earbuds and big over-ear DJ models. They can bring much bigger sound, there are plenty of affordable models, and they aren't too big to fit into a bag or purse. They aren't very discreet, so not the best choice if you don't want anyone to know you're on your phone.
Over-Ear headphones: These are for people who want the most sound, and don't even care how they look. They are big and bold, so hiding them is usually out of the question and you'll need to lug them around. You can find over-ear headphones in open back models so you can have a little awareness of what's going on around you, or closed back models that are almost noise-cancelling. In either case, over-ear headphones will deliver the biggest sound possible while on the go.
What to look for
Once you've decided what type of headphones you need, you need to know what to look for to pick the best set for you.
There are a lot of factors here, and if you ask 10 people to recommend a brand of headphones, you'll should (hopefully) get 10 different answers. Don't fall into the trap of buying the headphones that are popular right now and everyone is talking about. Chances are they bought them just because someone else told them to buy them. Take the time to find the pair that works best for you.
Sound "profile": This is the single most important thing to consider if you're going to use your headphones mostly to listen to music. Headphone drivers can (and are) designed and built in different ways that can accentuate certain sound frequencies over others. "Audiophile" headphones will have what's called a "flat" profile. All the sounds, from low-frequency bass to high-frequency trebles are delivered pretty much equally.
Most headphones have been tuned so that the ends of the scale — the lows and the highs — are going to be more pronounced than the middle. You will notice a big difference between the two. Flat-profile headphones usually have words like "studio" or "monitor" in their description, and "sweetened" — that's the term for adjustments to the sound profile — headphones will use words like "Extra Bass." Premium headphones should be tuned so that the high and the low stand out, without the middle sounding bad.
Price: Price is usually the most important option of all. Some people are willing spend $3,500 on a pair of headphones, and there are headphones out there for them (and they sound incredible). For the rest of us, you need to remember that you usually get what you pay for. You can buy a set of earbuds for $3.99 in the checkout line at the supermarket, but you'll probably be immediately unhappy with them. You can also spend too much because of the name on the box. Generally, stick to names you recognize as having a good track record for electronics, pick a model in your price range and then search for user reviews.
Impedance: This is an electrical term, but you'll see it when you look for a good set of headphones. To explain how it matters for headphones is a little technical — you want to match the output impedance of the source to the input impedance of the electrical load to maximize power transfer and minimize signal loss. Don't worry if that doesn't make sense just yet, we're going to figure it out.
Your phone has a certain "level" of power output through the headphone jack. You need to make sure the headphones you buy are designed to work well with that "level" of power. This is easier than you think, thanks to modern packaging and advertisements. If your phone isn't recognized as having any type of "Hi-Fi" audio, you want to find a set of headphones designed specifically for smartphones or music players. That means look for something that says it's designed for an iPod if you don't want to wade through all the specs. That's cheating, but it will work.
If your phone does have a premium DAC and headphone amp, your safe spot is around 60 Ohms, but you'll really need to wade through those specs if you want to try and match the right cans to your phone. The Internet is your best friend in this situation.
Frequency response: This is a measurement of what sounds a pair of headphones can produce. The wider the range, the more sounds can be played. Look for headphones that range from 10 Hz to 20 kHz at a minimum if you're going the premium route.
There are more things that can be considered, like sensitivity or driver size if you really want to geek out over a set of headphones. I encourage you to geek out at will, but as long as you consider the basics above you'll be able to pick out a set of headphones that work for you. And, if you have the option, try out the headphones you're considering before buying. All of the reviews and tech specs in the world mean nothing if you don't like the way the headphones sound.
My headphones
These aren't recommendations — they're more of a starting point if you want to find the perfect pair of cans for you. Here's what I use (and why) as well as what I'm saving up to buy.
I rarely use earbuds. I find them uncomfortable, and none ever seem to want to stay put in my ears. But I do have a pair that I use sometimes and carry in my bag: Samsung Level In-Ear headphones.
I like them because they are tuned well, have a long tangle-free cord, offer inline controls and a mic (I do talk on the phone a good bit) and have plenty of choice when it comes to cushioned tips. They stay in my ears a lot better than any other earbuds I've tried, and they sound decent for earbuds.
The best headphones in my price range, that fit my taste, are the Sony MDR7506 over-ear model.
The biggest reason is that they have a fairly flat response, and you can buy them for less than $100. They're big and the heavy coiled-cord can be a struggle to wrangle. But they are comfortable and sound really nice to me. These cans and my V10 go with me anytime I think I'll be listening to music. I really like them, and I really like knowing that if I lose or break them I'm only out $80.
I have a friend who has a pair of Oppo PM-3 closed-back headphones. After borrowing them for a while, I'm saving up to get a pair of my own. They aren't outrageously priced ($400), but they aren't exactly an impulse buy — especially when I have a pair that I already like. I've spent plenty of time testing headphones at places like Crutchfield and Musician's Friend (I apologize to everyone for being that guy who is just looking) and I think these Oppos sound perfect — for me.
Remember — getting opinions from other folks is all well and good, but don't rush out and buy anything without doing a little research. If you like lots of bass, you'll hate the headphones I love. But if you consider these tips while you're shopping, you can find the perfect pair of headphones for you.
The official site for Google I/O 2016 is now live, and Google will begin accepting registrations for the event on March 8. If you are interested in the event, be sure to check out the new site, and be ready to register on March 8. In the past few years, tickets for the event have gone extremely quick, so you will want to make sure that you have your credit card handy all day to get your spot.
As for the event itself, it takes place May 18 - 20 in Mountain View, California. Google I/O is the company's annual developer conference in which it details some of the new features that are making their way to Android that year, and gives developers lots of hands-on time and seminars to learn.
If you stepped away from video games for a decade, would you recognize them when you returned?
Over the weekend, I received an email from Murali Ramanujam, who hasn't played video games in earnest since 2007. Returning to the medium after nine years, he feels lost.
As he puts it:
I simply cannot understand many of the games being released nowadays. When I gamed last time, there was [the first] Assassins Creed, which was a fun single player game. It had a good story and good graphics. Then there was Counter Strike, which had no story whatsoever and people just shooting each other in various maps.
Now we have Destiny, several Tom Clancy games which I cannot tell apart, GTA Online, and so many new online games that reviewers talk...
by Kristin Wong on Two Cents, shared by Andy Orin to Lifehacker
February’s challenge wasn’t an easy one, but many who joined saved hundreds, and a few even saved thousands! That’s why we started this in the first place: to take action and actually save (and earn) some cash. We’ve shared a lot of advice on how to curb impulse spending. Now let’s take some action.
March’s money challenge is all about mindful spending. In a nutshell, mindful spending means using your money purposely, sticking to a budget, and not giving in to the urge to spend impulsively, whether it’s on clothes, gadgets, or restaurants. So here’s the challenge: curb your impulse spending. Here’s how.
Identify your biggest impulse spending area: what do you waste the most money on each month?
Create a plan of attack: how will you resist the urge to spend impulsively?
And here’s a big ol’ post dedicated to programming your mind to stop buying crap you don’t need in general. We recommend using a shopping ban savings account and actually saving the money you don’t spend. Every time you want to spend money on something and you resist the urge, transfer that money to your savings account instead.
At the same time, don’t forget: you need some breathing room in your budget. You don’t want to deprive yourself just to binge-shop next month. It’s okay to make room for some fun in your budget. The goal here is to cut back on the impulsive, mindless spending.
So if you’re in, tell us: what’s your biggest spending weakness, and how do you plan to attack it this month?
Despite a trio of parliamentary committees criticizing the UK government’s draft surveillance legislation — and some committee members even calling for a complete rethink — the government is rushing ahead anyway… Read More
Tidal has let go of its CFO Chris Hart and COO Nils Juell, the company confirmed to The Verge. The news of their terminations was originally reported by the Swedish news site Breakit and Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv. Breakit reports that Hart was let go after a dispute about how Tidal shares its streaming data.
For its part, Tidal says it has moved its operations and accounting divisions from Oslo, Norway to New York where owner Jay Z maintains an office, but notes its tech team will remain in Norway. "Tidal has terminated CFO Chris Hart and COO Nils Juell," Tidal said in a statement to The Verge. "As Tidal has grown into a global operation serving 46 countries we have moved our accounting and operations team to New York while...
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
What's up, British people... and Welsh people, and Scots, and Irish people who live in Northern Ireland but not the other parts of Ireland. (Did I miss anyone?) You probably watch the British Broadcasting Company's news or television shows, even if it's only in passing. And some of those shows probably feature some live music. If you like the music on those BBC shows, there's an app where you can watch and/or listen to it.
Virtual reality is suddenly a big deal again. It's like the early 90s, but with devices you might actually want to buy. Google is ramping up its Cardboard VR promotion with a dedicated VR area of the Google Store. Featured for sale are the View-Master and C1-Glass VR viewers.
The page includes basic information about what Cardboard is and includes links to several viewers for sale. One is the same old cardboard Google Cardboard viewer they've had for a while.
We interrupt your morning (it's morning here in Seattle at least) to bring you an important public service announcement. If you live in the UK or Ireland and own one of Amazon's affordable 7in tablets, then you need to request a new charger. Amazon has noted that a small quantity of the chargers bundled with these devices have had their housing detach when being removed from the wall, creating a risk of electric shock (no, they are not a fire hazard).
Google is rolling out a pilot program today that introduces a new way to pay cashiers — and it involves leaving your phone in your pocket. It’s called Hands Free, and it’s a way to basically connect your phone with a point of sales system using the sensors on your phone. The end result is that a point of sale device is already aware of your phone’s presence, and when… Read More
Back in December, Mozilla called it a day with its failed Firefox OS for mobile business, and said it would pivot the technology into a new Internet of Things strategy. Amid a good dose of skepticism that a platform (and organization) that failed in one area can succeed in another that is arguably even more complex, Mozilla has laid out the first projects in its IoT shortlist. Get ready for… Read More
These are the ones on my wishlist
Despite a trio of parliamentary committees criticizing the UK government’s draft surveillance legislation — and some committee members even calling for a complete rethink — the government is rushing ahead anyway… Read More
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
What's up, British people... and Welsh people, and Scots, and Irish people who live in Northern Ireland but not the other parts of Ireland. (Did I miss anyone?) You probably watch the British Broadcasting Company's news or television shows, even if it's only in passing. And some of those shows probably feature some live music. If you like the music on those BBC shows, there's an app where you can watch and/or listen to it.
