The Next Flagship iPhone Will Support Apple Pencil and 512GB Flash Storage, Says Rep Slashdotby BeauHD on iphone at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at August 15, 2018, 11:34 pm)

Next month, Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhones, each with differing specs/features. According to analyst firm Trendforce, the large 6.5-inch "flagship" model will support up to 512GB of onboard flash storage. Apple Pencil support will also be "offered as an option," although the company didn't specify which models will support the stylus. Apple Insider reports: The company expects that the the 6.1-inch LCD version will come with Face ID, Dual-SIM technology. The firm expects it to retail for between $699 and $749. The 5.8-inch OLED iPhone will be priced at $899 to $949. The 6.5-inch device will come in storage capacities up to 512GB, with one variant of the size potentially having dual-SIM support and expected to be "limited within $1,000 threshold as to encourage purchasing from consumers," according to Trendforce. Both the 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED models are expected to have 4GB of RAM. The 6.1-inch LED devices will have 3GB of RAM, the same as the iPhone X. The analyst firm believes that all three models are expected to ship in September and October.

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Separated by the war, Koreans to meet in rare family reunion AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 11:30 pm)

Separated by Korean War decades ago, selected families get chance to meet for the first, and perhaps one final, time.
India: Death toll in devastating Kerala floods jumps to 67 AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 11:30 pm)

Officials say at least 25 people were killed in the southern tourist hotspot of Kerala Wednesday, taking the toll to 67.
ANC chair backs land expropriation without compensation AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 11:30 pm)

Gwede Mantashe, a close ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, says land ownership should be limited to 12,000 hectares.
Valve Seems To Be Working On Tools To Get Windows Games Running On Linux Slashdotby BeauHD on os at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at August 15, 2018, 11:05 pm)

"Valve appears to be working on a set of 'compatibility tools,' called Steam Play, that would allow at least some Windows-based titles to run on Linux-based SteamOS systems," writes Kyle Orland from Ars Technica. From the report: Yesterday, Reddit users noticed that Steam's GUI files (as captured by SteamDB's Steam Tracker) include a hidden section with unused text related to the unannounced Steam Play system. According to that text, "Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems." Other unused text in the that GUI file suggests Steam Play will offer official compatibility with "supported tiles" while also letting users test compatibility for "games in your library that have not been verified with a supported compatibility tool." That latter use comes with a warning that "this may not work as expected, and can cause issues with your games, including crashes and breaking save games."

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Engineers Say They've Created Way To Detect Weapons Using Wi-Fi Slashdotby BeauHD on communications at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at August 15, 2018, 10:35 pm)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: The researchers, which include engineers from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and Binghamton University, published a study this month detailing a method in which common wifi can be used to easily and efficiently identify weapons, bombs, and explosive chemicals in public spaces that don't typically have affordable screening options. The researchers' system uses channel state information (CSI) from run-of-the-mill wifi. It can first identify whether there are dangerous objects in baggage without having to physically rifle through it. It then determines what the material is and what the risk level is. The researchers tested the detection system using 15 different objects across three categories -- metal, liquid, and non-dangerous -- as well as with six bags and boxes across three categories -- backpack or handbag, cardboard box, and a thick plastic bag. The findings were pretty impressive. According to the researchers, their system is 99 percent accurate when it comes to identifying dangerous and non-dangerous objects. It is 97 percent accurate when determining whether the dangerous object is metal or liquid, the study says. When it comes to detecting suspicious objects in various bags, the system was over 95 percent accurate. The researchers state in the paper that their detection system only needs a wifi device with two to three antennas, and can run on existing networks.

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Can the Afghan army defeat the Taliban? AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 10:30 pm)

The Taliban has made huge gains in the southeastern city of Ghazni, about 150km from the capital, Kabul.
[no title] Scripting News(cached at August 15, 2018, 10:03 pm)

Yesterday I asked about bike-mounted speakers, and got lots of great advice. For some reason a search on Amazon yielded nothing but crap, but if you know what you're looking for you get some pretty nice stuff. Rex Hammock recommended JBL Flip. And Jason Gilman recommended Clearon. Roland Tanglao said he loves his UE Roll 2, and I have one of those, but it didn't occur to me it could be bike-mounted. The bungee that's built in works fine on a bike, and I took it for a spin just now and it's perfect. Great sound. Totally loud enough to be heard over NYC street noise, with great frequency range and thumpin base to keep the wheels turning. A really great answer. Davey's a happy cyclist. Thanks everyone for the great advice. I want to try all of these speakers.
[no title] Scripting News(cached at August 15, 2018, 9:33 pm)

If you want to read feeds of any kind in a Node app, my feedRead package is the easiest way to get something up and running super quick. Simple example code for reading a feed over the web or from a local file. I use it in River5 so it's been extensively burned in with all manner of feeds.
Red tide: Toxic algae bloom plagues Florida's coastline AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 9:30 pm)

What's killing sea-life and hurting tourism along the coastlines of Florida and the Caribbean?
Children 'At Risk of Robot Influence' Slashdotby msmash on robot at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at August 15, 2018, 9:04 pm)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Forget peer pressure, future generations are more likely to be influenced by robots, a study suggests. The research, conducted at the University of Plymouth, found that while adults were not swayed by robots, children were. The fact that children tended to trust robots without question raised ethical issues as the machines became more pervasive, said researchers. They called for the robotics community to build in safeguards for children. Those taking part in the study completed a simple test, known as the Asch paradigm, which involved finding two lines that matched in length. Known as the conformity experiment, the test has historically found that people tend to agree with their peers even if individually they have given a different answer. In this case, the peers were robots. When children aged seven to nine were alone in the room, they scored an average of 87% on the test. But when the robots joined them, their scores dropped to 75% on average. Of the wrong answers, 74% matched those of the robots.

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Qatari emir vows $15bn investment in Turkey after Erdogan meeting AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 8:30 pm)

Qatar pledges to make direct investment in Turkey, currently hit by currency crisis amid a diplomatic stand-off with US.
Turkish court orders release of Amnesty's Taner Kilic AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at August 15, 2018, 8:30 pm)

A court previously ordered Taner Kilic's release in January but reversed the decision a day later.
A Look at Facebook's Presence in Myanmar Where Despite Public Outcries, Facebook is Slashdotby msmash on facebook at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at August 15, 2018, 8:04 pm)

More than 1,000 anti-Rohingya posts featuring calls for their murder among other hate speech were live on Facebook last week, Reuters reported Wednesday. A probe by the news agency indicates that the network is still being used to encourage violence against the Muslim group in Myanmar despite the tech firm promising to tackle the issue. Reuters reports some of the material had been online for six years. Facebook's rules prohibit "violent or dehumanizing" attacks on ethnic groups. However, the US-based firm mostly relies on users to flag related offending posts rather than hunting them out itself, in part because its software has not had enough training to reliably interpret Burmese text. Vice reports that Facebook has hired an outside company to look into its role in spreading hate speech and enabling ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.

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Star Trek saga casts new Spock actor Ethan Peck BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition(cached at August 15, 2018, 8:00 pm)

How will Ethan Peck compare to Leonard Nimoy and other actors who've played the pointy-eared science officer?