Those of you who follow the Twitter feed know that a couple of days ago, just before we left for San Diego, in fact, Athena and her boyfriend Hunter found a small, defenseless kitten mewing helplessly in the field near our house. Well, they’re suckers for helpless kittens that come bounding up to them wanting to be rescued, so they rescued it. It’s spent the last couple of days at our mother-in-law’s (with a side trip to the vet), and now it’s back here, and specifically in my office.
It’s adorable, and rambunctious, and a he, or so the vet tells us, and otherwise tells us it’s in fine health. I was sort of hoping my mother-in-law would want to keep it, but she’s decided that she’s tapped out with two shih tzus, which is fair. We’ll check around to see if anyone around us wants a delightful, playful kitten (and indeed, if you are local-ish and do want a kitten, please email me). But if not, well, I guess we’ll have a new kitten. I’m sure the other cats will be thrilled.
by Patrick Lucas Austin on Gizmodo, shared by Virginia K. Smith to Lifehacker
Bose’s newest gadget for you ear is designed to help you do one thing: sleep. And after trying Bose’s “sleepbuds,” available today for $250, I think the noise-masking earbuds might make restless nights a more seldom occasion. Also, it means you can stop sleeping with uncomfortable earbuds jammed into your skull.
by Beth Skwarecki on Vitals, shared by Beth Skwarecki to Lifehacker
Germs, like you and I, enjoy the warm and slightly moist embrace of a bath towel. (Hey, if it’s not moist when you first put it on, it gets moist.) But these germs are just here to cuddle; normal use of a bath towel is not likely to make you sick.
When characters are fighting to the death in a shallow pool of water perched on the edge of a cliff that’s halfway down the side of a towering canyon where a waterfall normally gushes... it’s safe to assume there’s some Hollywood magic at work. But as Scanline VFX reveals in this behind-the-scenes look at the making…
Ever since he blew onto the scene in 2000, Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden has helped to redefine what we think of when we think of urban fantasy. Where would the genre be without the reluctant wizard private investigator from Chicago?
For eighteen years, Butcher has delighted fans with the exploits of his snarky, technology-phobic wizard, filling the 15 novels (and two short story collections) to date with a stable full to bursting with memorable villains and introducing us to side characters cool enough to become archetypes themselves. From Mouse, the big dog, to Bob the sarcastic skull, these are… people (?) whom you won’t soon forget.
I’ve read this series since it began. At the start, I’d routinely spend my lunch money on the latest release; later, I’d crunch the numbers while at my university’s Barnes & Noble, trying to figure out how I could grab the next volume and still pay for my textbooks. The Dresden Files were my introduction to urban fantasy and for that I will always be grateful. The genre has become a mainstay of SFF, and in part, we have a snarky wizard in a duster with a broken down VW Beetle to thank for that.
In honor of today’s release of the latest Dresden Files short story collection, Brief Cases, and to keep myself busy while I wait in earnest for Harry’s 16th case (work on the long-delayed novel is said to be underway!), I’ve wracked my brain and poured over every novel so far to come up with rankings of each book. Eighteen years of my life well spent! With a tip of my hat to Harry’s favorite saying (“Hell’s Bells!”) the books are ranked from least best to best, and graded on a scale of 1 to 5 bells, with 5 being perfect. (And before you get too up in arms, remember: I recommend every volume of this series wholeheartedly, and grade them only in comparison to one another.)
Book 12:Changes Unpopular opinion alert: plenty of fans rank this with the best of the series, but it’s on the bottom for me. With a title like that, you know something big is afoot. But the changes, when they come, aren’t quite as impactful as you might think. The reintroduction of Harry’s old girlfriend, who brings with her a surprise for him, have the bubbly scent of soap opera drama, and distract from the character journey Butcher has spent so many books building. This is the second book in the series that feels like a potential speed bump (we’ll get to the first in a minute), but readers would be missing out if they don’t get by it and head on to book 13. While it is full of “heck yeah” fist-pumping action and the promise of some big changes to the status quo, the ending is a bucket of cold water in the face, a shock that might leave some readers feeling betrayed. 1 out of 5 bells
Book 13:Ghost Story Harry Dresden is just a little bit dead at the moment, felled by an unknown assassin’s bullet. Stripped of all his tricks, Harry must solve the case of his own murder and find a way back into the land of the living before it’s too late. This book moves slowly as Dresden comes to grips with his new reality. It’s heavy on the flashbacks and (a bit understandably) suffers from character inertia. Murphy refuses to investigate Dresden’s death, making his work from the other side harder than it needs to be. However, in Harry’s absence, we meet new characters with tons of promise—just the breath of fresh air the novel needed. 2 out of 5 bells
Book 6:Blood Rites This is a rough one, mainly because it can be rather cringy. Chicago’s only wizard PI accepts a plea for help from a vampire friend and soon finds himself on a porn set, of all things, trying to find out how so many of the actresses are dying. There is a vampire subplot that makes things feel a bit overstuffed as well, like maybe Butcher stuck two books together to save time. Despite that, it contains one of the biggest turning points yet in the series. 3 out of 5 bells
Book 11:Turn Coat Here, the format starts to work against Dresden. The series relied on a predictable format, volume after volume, and this is the first one where that feels like a hindrance. The plot is a little predictable, and while the magic isn’t gone, it was definitely clear the series needed to grow to prevent itself from getting stale. I expected fireworks, considering it concludes a rivalry that has dogged Harry since the very beginning. Unfortunately, it never quite crackles like I’d hoped. 2 out of 5 bells
Book 3:Grave Peril I always felt like this book could be a stumbling block for new readers. There’s a lot of plot, and\ much happens off stage, as it were. It’s all connected to a mystery Harry and Murphy previously solved in the months before the events of this book, a decision that always felt disjointed to me (on first read, it can feel like you missed a book in-between). It’s just a brief downshift before the awesomeness that is book four, but still worth reading—who doesn’t love a good ghost story? 2 out of 5 bells
Book 14:Cold Days Harry is (mostly) back to being alive, thanks to Queen Mab of the Faeries, who sends him on an impossible mission to pay her back for the favor. He has 24 hours to kill an immortal. Sure, why not? That should be a cake walk for the likes of Harry Dresden. Harry is still chewing on some of the deep thoughts that come with coming back from the dead, and is trying to sort out how to deal with Mab’s meddling. His new job as her Winter Knight messes with his emotions, making him angry, and (slightly worryingly) obsessed with sex, a slightly bizarre digression that detracts from some of the cooler parts of the book. Either way, we’re in another upswing. The series has bite again. 3 out of 5 bells
Book 5:Death Masks This novel is a bridge builder, introducing new factions into the series and setting up new and major complications for our favorite Chicago wizard. Consequently, while still a fast-paced romp, it ends with more of a whisper than a bang. Meeting the new players is worth the price of admission, though. We learn more about the wizards and their rules, and how Dresden has broken them time and time again. 3 out of 5 bells
Book 10:Small Favor
The faeries are back! Man, Butcher writes some great faeries. Dresden has really come into his own now, and this novel feels like a building crescendo—like everything is swaying and threatening to topple right over. This is a story about the bonds the wizard has built over 10 books, and it sees Harry reliant on his friends and allies more than ever. When his back is against the wall, he learns he has people he can truly count on. He isn’t alone anymore. Harry is also much more assured of his powers, and feels like he’s leveled up from his earlier adventures. Yet at some point, something’s got to give. 3 out of 5 bells
Book 1:Storm Front The book that started it all. Storm Front is our introduction to the world of Harry Dresden, Chicago wizard and private eye. It’s a fun novel, laying down a lot of what will become tropes in urban fantasy. It introduces us to many of the characters we will grow to love, such as Bob the skull and homicide detective Karrin Murphy. It’s aged a little poorly with time, but it’s still a crackerjack start to one of the most iconic urban fantasy series of the modern era. 3 out of 5 bells
Book 9:White Knight Here, the Dresden Files is really hitting its stride, to the point that this truly ripping good adventure can almost be excused as just another solid entry in what has become an iconic series. Butcher keeps upping the stakes, pitting Harry against enemies ]new and old while trying to maintain a delicate web of alliances. It’s a hard balancing act, but somehow he’s managing it. For now. This book follows the now tried and true Dresden Files pattern: there’s a crime, Dresden goes to investigate, and shenanigans ensue. This volume offers several long-in-coming payoffs, with various long-running plot lines reaching resolutions. 4 out of 5 bells
Book 15:Skin Game The most recent volume brought the series back with a bang. Harry is drawn into a heist plot with some of his biggest enemies, and must learn to work with them if he wants to get out of his adventure alive. It’s a return to form for the series, full of Butcher’s patented humor and magic. Harry, while deeply unhappy with his current gig as Winter Knight, seems to be back to his old tricks and making it work. It’s a fun outing that delivers the action of the first few volumes. The only bad part is that we’ve been waiting for the followup for three years now. (Fun fact: This volume was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.) 4 out of 5 bells
Book 2:Fool Moon Who doesn’t love werewolves? I mean, apart from Harry Dresden, who has to solve a murder in which all signs point to a shapeshifter as the culprit. Butcher builds on his first novel, setting up the formula and cementing his characters. We get some tantalizing hints about Harry’s backstory, and strap in for intriguing worldbuilding. All in all, a very solid sophomore novel. 4 out of 5 bells.
Book 8: Proven Guilty Harry grows a lot in this book. We’re swiftly learning there’s no true good or bad in this world: “good” organizations do terrible things in the name of righteousness, and the “bad guys” are sometimes helpful and kind. Dresden turns away from the wizard council, trying to find ferret out a black magic user before they do. The council’s barbaric treatment of anyone who even puts a toe out of line turns Harry’s stomach. The morality of the series becomes more interesting as Butcher blends in new shades of gray. 4 out of 5 bells
Book 7:Dead Beat And who doesn’t love necromancers? I mean (again), apart from Harry Dresden. Who can blame him, when they are out to thoroughly ruin the life of his best friend, Karrin Murphy? This is a book about consequences. For seven books, Harry has run around as if nothing he does has any larger ripples outside of his little world. This is when his sins and demons come back to bite him. His friends and allies are starting to wonder about his motives and his sanity. Murphy, swept up in the supernatural and the occult, is swiftly learning that a friendship with Dresden is a liability. It’s a real shift in the series, and clear hint that it’s going to get darker before the dawn. Also, Harry gets to ride a dinosaur. 4 out of 5 bells
Book 4:Summer Knight I’ve always been a vampire girl. I can’t say no to a good (or bad) vampire book. Yet somehow, I love Butcher’s faeries even more then his vampires. There’s an cool maliciousness to them that I find irresistible. In this novel, Harry is tasked by the Winter Queen of Faerie to find out who killed her right-hand man, the Summer Knight. Harry is loathe to do this, considering his checkered history with the fae. Secrets are revealed, Dresden gets the stuffing kicked out of him. All in all, a fantastic time, and my pick for the best book in the series (so far anyway). 5 out of 5 bells
What do you think of our rankings? Let us know below.
by Kate Bernot on The Takeout, shared by Virginia K. Smith to Lifehacker
What can’t you put aioli on, really? Sandwiches, fries (which are subsequently elevated to “frites”), burgers, fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried anything really. It’s a versatile but simple condiment, essentially just a kicked-up, garlickified mayo that got itself a bougier name.
How many times have you gone to share an interesting story (or comic) with a friend—a pretty standard process—only to find that the short URL you thought you were copying and pasting is actually one giant, messy paragraph of text. You can thank all the services and sites that append a ton of extra junk to URLs so they…
Android har haft stöd för att låsa upp systemet genom ansiktsigenkänning sedan Ice Cream Sandwich år 2011. Autentiseringen var inledningsvis enkel att lura med hjälp av ett vanligt utskrivet fotografi.
Även om Google förbättrade säkerheten efterhand, genom att exempelvis kunna kräva blinkningar, är tekniken fortfarande betydligt mindre säker än lösenord, fingeravtryck, eller PIN. OnePlus har senaste halvåret puffat för sin egna, snabba implementering av ansiktsigenkänning.
Ur en säkerhetsaspekt spelar det dock förstås ingen roll hur snabb upplåsningen är om den inte är säker. Ett problem med ansiktsigenkänningen i Androidmobiler är att den inte registrerar användares ansikten i 3D (bortsett från nya Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition) och därmed inte kan känna av djup.
Enligt en Twitter-användare går det att lura ansiktsigenkänningen i OnePlus 6 med just ett fotografi. Längre ned i tråden påstås även ett svartvitt fotografi kunna lura autentiseringen. OnePlus påpekar att ansiktsigenkänningen är mindre säker än andra alternativ men puffar samtidigt för funktionen, vilket kanske är beklagligt med tanke på den till synes bristande säkerheten.
Android har förstås alltid givit användare kontroll över vibrationer, men vissa vibrationer i systemet har i regel hängt kvar – oavsett inställning. Några exempel är vibrationen när fingeravtrycksläsaren registrerar giltigt avtryck, samt vibrationen för Active Edge i Googles senaste Pixel-telefoner.
Dessa vibrationer försvinner bara när strömspararläget aktiveras. Kommande Android P som släpps skarpt i början av hösten erbjuder ökad kontroll över vibrationerna i systemet. För de som föredrar att deras mobiler inte skakar alls innebär det en välkommen förbättring, då samtliga vibrationer kan stängas av.
Utöver att stänga av vibrationerna går det även att ställa in hur starka de ska vara (svag, medium, kraftig) för samtal och aviseringar, och för tryck. Det inkluderar samtliga tryck, inklusive tryck på Active Edge i Pixel 2 och på fingeravtrycksläsaren.
De nya vibrationsalternativen återfinns i tillgänglighetskategorin bland inställningarna.
On my 11-hour flight from London to San Francisco last week I was seated next to a father and son that were both over six feet tall. At 5’6” my knees were tapping the back of the chair in front of me. They didn’t stand a chance.
Break out the celebratory lasagna—The Expanse has been saved! The show will move over to Amazon’s streaming service after its third season ends on Syfy. Jeff Bezos made the announcement himself last night, after a panel at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference, which featured three of the show’s stars, Steven Strait, Wes Chatham, and Cas Anvar, along with showrunner Naren Shankar.
Anvar, who has been especially vocal in the #SaveTheExpanse campaign, filmed the announcement and posted it on Twitter.
The Expanse premiered on Syfy in 2015, in a slightly unusual deal that gave Syfy only first run rights, with Amazon securing the streaming rights. As the show was expensive to produce, and received fairly low ratings, Syfy finally decided to drop it despite its status as one of the best examples of true SF on television right now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bezos, a huge fan of the James S.A. Corey’s series, was already “livid” that he lost the show to Syfy initially.
Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, the co-founders of Alcon Entertainment, gave an announcement that stressed the work of the fans to revive the show:
“We couldn’t be more excited that The Expanse is going to continue on Amazon Prime! We are deeply grateful that Jeff Bezos, Jen Salke, and their team at Amazon have shown such faith in our show…we also want to thank Laura Lancaster, head of Alcon Television for her tireless efforts. We are fully aware that this wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the staggering outpouring of support from the most creative, hardest working sci-fi fans around the world. From reddit campaigns to airplanes, we say thank you. It worked!”
by Ed Cara on Gizmodo, shared by Virginia K. Smith to Lifehacker
A poisoning outbreak traced to synthetic cannabinoids sickened at least 52 people in Utah and sent 31 to the emergency room this past winter, reveals a new report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But unlike other recent outbreaks, the victims weren’t trying to buy synthetic weed:…
Corgi owners ‘round the world are very excited about the Royal wedding. They are dressing up their stumpy pups to look their fanciest. Not every corgi is enthusiastic about their adorned accoutrements. But I think part of the human/corgi partnership is an unspoken competition of who can be most annoying.
There has even been a corgi Royal wedding reenactment. Although it happened before the wedding so maybe it is a pre-enactment.
And this corgi community event would not be complete without some questionable photoshops.
It looks so real!
I know people have varying opinions about the Royals and their shenanigans. But I do wish them both happiness in their romantic journey.
OnePlus 6 har alldeles nyss introducerats under ett evenemang i Copper Box Arena i London. Efter en uppsjö rykten kastar vi oss direkt över alla de officiella specifikationerna för tillverkarens åttonde telefon, sedan debuten för fyra år sedan.
Något som var känt sedan tidigare är att OnePlus 6 har det smått kontroversiella sensorjacket, vilket vi nu vet sitter i en 6,28-tums AMOLED-skärm med bildförhållandet 19:9 och 1080 x 2280 pixlar. Panelen skyddas av Gorilla Glass 5 och likaså glasbakstycket.
Sensorjacket maskeras automatiskt när videor spelas, så det inte skymmer en del av innehållet. Användare kommer i framtiden få möjligheten att maskera sensorjacket även i övriga gränssnittet. Vi går vidare på specifikationsbladet och telefonen har förstås fått Qualcomms i nuläget snabbaste chipp, Snapdragon 845, vilket samverkar med antingen 6GB eller 8GB RAM (LPDDR4)
OnePlus säljs i versioner med antingen 64, 128 eller 256GB UFS 2.1-lagring. Chassit rymmer vidare ett 3300mAh-batteri, Bluetooth 5.0, dubbla SIM-kortsplatser, en USB-C-port, ett 3,5mm-jack, samt stöd för GPS+GLONASS+BeiDou+Galileo.
På bakstycket sitter två kameror med 16MP (Sony IMX519) respektive 20MP (Sony IMX376K). Båda har bländartalet f1,7, men endast 16MP-sensorn erbjuder optisk och elektronisk bildstabilisering. På framsidan har en 16MP-sensor med bländartalet f2,0 placerats.
Glaskonstruktionen har yttermåtten 155,7 x 75,4 x 7,75 millimeter och väger 177 gram. Det fysiska aviseringsreglaget finns kvar men har flyttats från vänstersidan till högerkanten, strax ovanför strömknappen. Fingeravtrycksläsaren sitter på bakstycket, precis som i OnePlus 5T. Enheten tål regn, stänk och andra lättare former av väta men saknar uttalad IP-klassning.
Mjukvaran består av Android 8.1 med OnePlus egna tillskott, som exempelvis en Iphone X-liknande gestnavigering.
Pris och tillgänglighet
OnePlus 6 blir tillgänglig att beställa om fem dagar, enligt företagets hemsida. Priset ligger på 5295 kronor för modellen med 6GB RAM och 64GB lagring och klättrar upp till 6395 kronor för upplagan med 8GB RAM och 256GB lagringsutrymme.
Uppdatering: Enligt företagets svenska pressmeddelande blir telefonen tillgänglig 22 maj hos Halebop, Telia och Webhallen, samt på officiella hemsidan. Den vita specialupplagan blir tillgänglig 5 juni.
by Tom McKay on Gizmodo, shared by Jill Pantozzi to io9
Streaming giant Netflix, which has been aggressively pursuing an original content strategy at the same time it’s lost a great deal of its licensed content, says it is on track to have created over 1,000 original shows and movies by the end of the year.
We all like to complain about how awful air travel is, but it can quickly get much, much worse if you don’t take the intense safety procedures seriously.
Valve har kort meddelat att Steam-användare snart kommer att kunna strömma sina spel till både Android- och IOS-enheter. Det är möjligt tack vare en ny app kallad Steam Link vilken släpps veckan som inleds 21 maj.
För att det ska fungera behöver användaren vara uppkopplad mot ett 5GHz-nätverk och lösningen kräver en Mac eller PC. Steam Link stödjer bland annat Steam-kontrollen och MFI-kontroller. Valve nämner att det kommer gå att strömma spelen till telefoner, surfplattor och TV-apparater som kör Googles system.
Androidappen kommer inledningsvis att vara en beta.
Ever since he blew onto the scene in 2000, Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden has helped to redefine what we think of when we think of urban fantasy. Where would the genre be without the reluctant wizard private investigator from Chicago?
