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Saturday, September 28, 2019
Geek Trivia: The First Steam Engine Was Known As What?
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Elon Musk says Starship should reach orbit within six months – and could even fly with a crew next year
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk delivered an update about Starship, the company’s nest generation spacecraft, which is being designed for full, “rapid reusability.” Musk discussed the technology behind the design of Starship, which has evolved somewhat through testing and development after its original introduction in 2017.
Among the updates detailed, Musk articulated how Starship will be used to make humans interplanetary, including its use of in-space refilling of propellant, by docking with tanker Starships already in orbit to transfer fuel. This is necessary for the spacecraft to get enough propellant on board post-launch to make the trip to the Moon or Mars from Earth – especially since it’ll be carrying as much as 100 tons of cargo on board to deliver to these other space-based bodies.
These will include supplies for building bases on planetary surfaces, as well as up to 100 passengers on long-haul planet-to-planet flights.
Those are still very long-term goals, however, and Musk also went into detail about development of the current generation of Starship prototypes, as well as the planned future Starships that will go to orbit, and carry their first passengers.
The Starship Mk1, Mk2 and the forthcoming Mk3 and Mk4 orbital testers will all feature a fin design that will orient the vehicles so they can re-enter Earth’s atmosphere flat on their ‘bellies,’ coming in horizontal to increase drag and reduce velocity before performing a sort of flip maneuver to swing past vertical and then pendulum back to vertical for touch-down. In simulation, as shown at the event, it looks like it’ll be incredible to watch, since it looks more unwieldy than the current landing process for Falcon boosters, even if it’s still just as controlled.
The front fins on the Starship prototype will help orient it for re-entry, a key component of reuse.
Musk also shared a look at the design planned for Super Heavy, the booster that will be used to propel Starship to orbit. This liquid-oxygen powered rocket, which is about 1.5 times the height of the Starship itself, will have 37 Raptor engines on board (the Starship will have only six) and will also feature six landing legs and deployable grid fins for its own return trip back to Earth.
In terms of testing and development timelines, Musk said that the Starship Mk1 he presented the plan in front of at Boca Chica should have its first test flight in just one to two months. That will be a flight to a sub-orbital altitude of just under 70,000 feet. The prototype spacecraft is already equipped with the three Raptor engines it will use for that flight.
Next, Starship Mk2, which is currently being built in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at another SpaceX facility, will attempt a similar high altitude test. Musk explained that both these families will continue to compete with each other internally and build Starship prototypes and rockets simultaneously. Mk3 will begin construction at Boca Chica beginning next month, and Mk4 will follow in Florida soon after. Musk said that the next Starship test flight after the sub-orbital trip for Mk1 might be an orbital launch with the full Super Heavy booster and Mk3.
Musk said that SpaceX will be “building both ships and boosters here [at Boca Chica] and a the Cape as fast as we can,” and that they’ve already been improving both the design and the manufacture of the sections for the spacecraft “exponentially” as a result of the competition.
The Mk1 features welded panels to make up the rings you can see in the detail photograph of the prototype below, for instance, but Mk3 and Mk4 will use full sheets of stainless steel that cover the whole diameter of the spacecraft, welded with a single weld. There was one such ring on site at the event, which indicates SpaceX is already well on its way to making this work.
This rapid prototyping will enable SpaceX to build and fly Mk2 in two months, Mk3 in three months, Mk4 in four months and so on. Musk added that either Mk3 or Mk5 will be that orbital test, and that they want to be able to get that done in less than six months. He added that eventually, crewed missions aboard Starship will take place from both Boca Chica and the Cape, and that the facilities will be focused only on producing Starships until Mk4 is complete, at which point they’ll begin developing the Super Heavy booster.
In total, Musk said that SpaceX will need 100 of its Raptor rocket engines between now and its first orbital flight. At its current pace, he said, SpaceX is producing one every eight days – but they should increase that output to one every two days within a few months, and are targeting production of one per day for early in Q1 2019.
Because of their aggressive construction and testing cycle, and because, Musk said, the intent is to achieve rapid reusability to the point where you could “fly the booster 20 times a day” and “fly the [starship] three or four times a day,” the company should theoretically be able to prove viability very quickly. Musk said he’s optimistic that they could be flying people on test flights of Starship as early as next year as a result.
Part of its rapid reusability comes from the heat shield design that SpaceX has devised for Starship, which includes a stainless steel finish on one half of the spacecraft, with ceramic tiles used on the bottom where the heat is most intense during re-entry. Musk said that both of these are highly resistant to the stresses of reentry and conducive to frequent reuse, without incurring tremendous cost – unlike their initial concept, which used carbon fibre in place of stainless steel.
Musk is known for suggesting timelines that don’t quite match up with reality, but Starship’s early tests haven’t been so far behind his predictions thus far.
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Ring cameras, while helping to reduce crimes, also normalize constant property monitoring, and make people fearful of living in their own communities (Louise Matsakis/Wired)
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Ring cameras, while helping to reduce crimes, also normalize constant property monitoring, and make people fearful of living in their own communities — Consumer surveillance cameras are everywhere now, and they're capturing moments we otherwise would never know have happened.
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Take a peek at the future of media and entertainment at Disrupt SF
Where does tech end and media begin? It can be hard to find the dividing line, particularly as tech companies move into the media business, and as big Hollywood blockbusters are increasingly created on computers.
So even though TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF event (happening next week!!) is ostensibly a tech conference, we’ll have plenty of big names from the worlds of media and entertainment onstage to discuss the changing landscape.
On day one, those names include Joseph Gordon Levitt, who you may know as an actor in films like “Inception” and “500 Days of Summer,” but who also founded the creative collaboration platform HitRecord, which raised a $6.4 million Series A earlier this year.
We’ll also be joined by actor Will Smith and director Ang Lee to discuss their new movie “Gemini Man,” in which Lee utilized cutting-edge computer effects to create a younger version of his star.
From the tech industry, we’ll have Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube, who can discuss the video platform’s ongoing challenges, and how YouTube can balance its commitment to openness with growing pressure to battle hate speech and misinformation.
And while 5G will probably the main focus of our interview with Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan, we here at TechCrunch (which is owned by Verizon Media) are certainly interested in hearing about the company’s digital media plans.
Meanwhile, if you’re more interested in the nitty gritty of developing a media strategy, we’ll have a panel on that very subject on our Extra Crunch stage, with speakers including MakeLoveNotPorn’s Cindy Gallop and Brooke Hammerling of Brew PR.
Then on day two, we’ll turn our attention to one of the fastest-growing media categories, esports. 100 Thieves is a big player in this space — combining streaming content, competitive esports and apparel — and we’ll talk to the company’s founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag (a pro gamer himself), along with co-owner Scooter Braun (who also manages Justin Bieber and Arianna Grande).
Our Extra Crunch programming on that day will also include a session that’s all about future of digital media, which will be sponsored by publisher engagement company Spot.im.
Finally, on day three, we’ll be joined by YouTube star and “Queen of Shitty Robots” Simone Giertz. While the conversation will likely focus on her latest robotic and hardware creations (including her crowdfunded Every Day Calendar), Giertz is a remarkable case study in how someone can build an enormous following and business on digital media platforms.
We’ll also have an Extra Crunch session about brand-building — Brooke Hammerling will be sharing more of her knowledge, and she’ll be joined by Bumble VP of Marketing Chelsea Cain Maclin and Character co-founder/creative director Ben Pham.
Disrupt SF will take place from October 2 to 4 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Browse the full agenda and buy your tickets.
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How to become a VC, Amazon’s voice play, Peloton stock, Facebook’s new VR environment and more
EC Editorial Announcements
TechCrunch Disrupt SF is this week: join us on the Extra Crunch stage
TechCrunch’s biggest event of the year is happening this coming week at the brand-new Moscone North convention center in SF. We have wall-to-wall programming on our inaugural Extra Crunch stage, where audience members can ask questions to our panelists on topics as diverse as growth marketing, recruiting, fundraising, legal quandaries, and more.
If you want to join but haven’t bought your ticket, remember that all Extra Crunch annual subscribers get 20% off our tickets by emailing extracrunch@techcrunch.com. And if you can’t join, we will have synopses of some of the EC panels coming out in the following weeks.
Transfer your Extra Crunch Brex Reward points to JetBlue
A while back, we added an Extra Crunch member benefit where all EC members can receive 100,000 Brex Rewards points if they sign up for a new Brex account. Now, those points can also be transferred to JetBlue, perhaps for those fancy Mint seats between New York and SF. We are going to continue to add new member benefits, so do let us know if you have any interesting ideas or want to partner with us.
Follow our new @extracrunch Twitter handle
Finally, we now have a new Twitter handle for Extra Crunch: @extracrunch. We will be retweeting all EC articles on the handle, and later on, will be exploring other ways to engage with members through Twitter. Follow us!
Inside the venture capital recruiting process
Top venture capital partner recruiter (among other verticals) Dan Miller of True Search describes what it takes to become an investor these days at a VC firm:
If you are interviewing for operating roles in companies in parallel to interviewing with VC firms, you will get multiple offers (probably quite good ones) in the former category before you’ve made it far in the latter. It is exceedingly common in the VC Partner searches I run to find out that an excellent candidate has multiple strong offers in Product roles from big tech companies and hot startups, for example, before they’ve made it halfway through a VC interview process.
This Week in Apps: AltStore, acquisitions and Google Play Pass
TechCrunch’s apps maven Sarah Perez is starting a new, occasional series on the most important developments in the app world along with her analysis of what’s taking place. This week, she explores AltStore, a new type of app store, iOS 13 adoption trends, an App Annie acquisition, and five or so other stories:
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Watch lives as Elon Musk deliver an update on SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft
SpaceX is all set to deliver an update on the status of its Starship program, courtesy of CEO Elon Musk. Musk will provide new info about “the design and development of Starship” at 7 PM CDT (8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT) tonight, live from the company’s Boca Chica rocket assembly facility in South Texas.
The likely backdrop for the update will be the Starship Mk1 orbital prototype, the second flight-testing vehicle SpaceX has produced in its development of Starship. The first, Starhopper, accomplished its mission of testing two low-altitude, limited duration flights – a key step that sets the stage for longer, high-altitude sub-orbital testing by this Mk1 prototype. The Mk1 will use three Raptor engines initially (and up to six eventually) while the snub-nosed Starhopper used only one.
So far, we know based on past SpaceX presentations that the company is aiming to use Starship and its forthcoming Super Heavy launcher to delivery fully reusable space transportation, capable of bringing cargo and crew to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starting at 7 PM CDT, we’ll find out what’s next for the company on the path toward that long-term goal.
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Q&A with computer scientist Stephanie Wehner, who is leading the Quantum Internet Alliance, an EU effort to build a network for transmitting quantum information (Natalie Wolchover/Quanta Magazine)
Natalie Wolchover / Quanta Magazine:
Q&A with computer scientist Stephanie Wehner, who is leading the Quantum Internet Alliance, an EU effort to build a network for transmitting quantum information — Fifty years after the current internet was born, the physicist and computer scientist Stephanie Wehner is planning and designing the next internet — a quantum one.
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Original Content podcast: ‘Between Two Ferns: The Movie’ is fun but forgettable
“Between Two Ferns: The Movie” is based on the comically confrontational web interview series starring Zach Galifianakis. In fact, some of us assumed that the film might be nothing more than one interview after another.
The movie does indeed have plenty of celebrity interviews, but they’re connected by a loose narrative thread in which Galifianakis and his crew have been dispatched by their corporate overlord Will Ferrell to crisscross the country, trying to film 10 interviews in two weeks.
If that sounds like a pretty thin story for a feature-length film, you’re not wrong — as we discuss in the latest episode of the Original Content podcast. Galifianakis and the actors playing his crew make some inspired jokes, but they can’t entirely dodge the sense that they’re filling time between interviews.
As for the interviews themselves, it’s still a delight to see Galifianakis toss off one belittling question after another. However, it can get a little one-note when the interviewees are rarely asked to do anything more than sputter angrily — which may be why some of the interviews have been cut down to just one or two questions.
To be clear, we all enjoyed watching “Between Two Ferns: The Movie,” but the real highlight turned out to be the interview outtakes that play over the end credits, and the extended interviews that have been posted on YouTube.
In addition to reviewing the film, we also discuss the Emmy Awards, covering the winners we liked (“When They See Us”) and the ones we didn’t (“Bandersnatch”).
You can listen in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You can also send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies for us to review!)
If you’d like to skip ahead, here’s how the episode breaks down:
0:00 Intro
0:31 “Terrace House” listener response
2:42 Emmy Awards discussion
16:55 “Between Two Ferns: The Movie” review (extremely mild spoilers)
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This Week in Apps: AltStore, acquisitions and Google Play Pass
The app industry shows no signs of slowing down, with 194 billion downloads in 2018 and over $100 billion in consumer spending. People spend 90% of their mobile time in apps and more time using their mobile devices than watching TV. In other words, apps aren’t just a way to spend idle hours — they’re a big business. And one that often seems to change overnight. In this new Extra Crunch series, we’ll help you keep up with the latest news from the world of apps — including everything from the OS’s to the apps that run upon them, as well as the money that flows through it all.
This week, alternatives to the traditional app store is a big theme. Not only has a new, jailbreak-free iOS marketplace called AltStore just popped up, we’ve also got both Apple and Google ramping up their own subscription-based collections of premium apps and games.
Meanwhile, the way brands and publishers want to track their apps’ success is changing, too. And App Annie — the company that was the first to start selling pickaxes for the App Store gold rush — is responding with an acquisition that will help app publishers better understand the return on investment for their app businesses.
Headlines
AltStore is an alternative App Store that doesn’t need a jailbreak
An interesting alternative app marketplace has appeared on the scene, allowing a way for developers to distribute iOS apps outside the official App Store, reports Engadget — without jailbreaking, which can be difficult and has various security implications. Instead, the new store works by tricking your device into thinking you’re a developer sideloading apps. And it uses a companion app on your Mac or PC to re-sign the apps every 7 days via iTunes WiFi syncing protocol. Already, it’s offering a Nintendo emulator and other games, says The Verge. And Apple is probably already working on a way to shut this down. For now, it’s live at Altstore.io.
Very excited to officially announce AltStore: an alternative app store for iOS — no jailbreak required. Launching this Saturday, September 28, but you can download the preview TODAY https://t.co/M7nULBV28p
— Riles
(@rileytestut) September 25, 2019
For the third time in a month, Google mass-deleted Android apps from a big Chinese developer.
Does Google Play have a malicious app problem? That appears to be the case as Google has booted some 46 apps from major Chinese mobile developer iHandy out of its app store, BuzzFeed reported. And it isn’t saying why. The move follows Google’s ban of two other major Chinese app developers, DO Global and CooTek, who had 1 billion total downloads.
Google Firebase gets new tools
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Everything you can learn about mobility at Disrupt SF
Cars might still reign supreme, but things they are a changin’. And companies are lining up to provide new ways — and some recycled ones — for people to get from Point A to Point B.
The past several years have seen an explosion in startups, automakers and tech companies launching and testing products from scooters and electric bike share to ride-hailing, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and even flying taxis. Or heck, even space travel.
Even as more mobility startups pop up, the shine of these new new things is starting to fade and companies are facing big technical challenges, regulatory hurdles, hiring and economic headwinds.
TechCrunch is at the center of this mobility storm and we’re bringing some of the industry’s leaders on stage at Disrupt SF, including Bird founder and CEO Travis VanderZanden, Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun and Zoox CEO Aicha Evans, to hear firsthand how these companies are trying to change how people and packages move in the world and the challenges that lie ahead.
There are talks related to mobility on every stage, including the main stage and EC stage.
Disrupt kicks off October 2 with a 10:05 a.m. talk with Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith, who intends to return the U.S. to crewed spaceflight. Expect TechCrunch to ask Smith for details on what a ticket for a trip might cost, once it begins taking on paying customers.
Once this wraps up, head over to the ExtraCrunch stage for a 10:45 a.m. sponsored talk by mapping company TomTom to hear about its new partnerships with technology companies.
Back at the main stage, check out a space, autonomy, investment and defense-related talk with Lockheed Martin’s Marilyn Hewson at the main stage.
And for those interested in subscription-based businesses, which if you haven’t noticed are becoming more prevalent in the mobility world, be sure to check out the 3:45 p.m. talk on the ExtracCrunch stage with Alex Friedman from Lola, Eurie Kim with Forerunner Ventures, and Sandra Oh Lin of KiwiCo.
October 2 is filled with mobility-related talks, including a morning chat with David Krane, CEO and managing partner at Gain Insights, a firm known for its bold bets on companies like Lime, Impossible Foods, Uber and Slack.
Don’t miss the mid-morning interview with Sebastian Thrun, an educator, inventor and serial entrepreneur, about the future of flight and Kitty Hawk Corporation, the urban air mobility company he leads. If you’ve ever seen Thrun before, you know not to miss this.
As Thrun walks off stage, VanderZanden of Bird walks on to talk about how the company is faring in scooter wars and it’s is doing to improve its unit economics.
Day 2 ends with an interview on the main stage with Zoox CEO Aicha Evans, who will talk about the self-driving car company and how it plans to work with cities to change how people live and work in these urban areas.
Don’t miss Day 3, because well Simone Giertz is going to be on the main stage. For the unfamiliar, Giertz has amassed a major YouTube following courtesy of her “sh*** robots” and other highly entertaining projects. One of her most recent projects was turning a Tesla sedan into a pickup.
And finally, in the mobility world packages matter too. Finish the day off with an interview on the main stage with Postmates co-founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann, who will talk about the on-demand delivery company’s uncertain future and how robotics will change the landscape of the on-demand world.
Get passes to Disrupt to put the pedal to the metal on everything happening in mobility.
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Startups Weekly: Alpha Medical wants to rebuild women’s healthcare
Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy news pertaining to startups and venture capital. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. I’ve been on a bit of startup profile kick as of late. Last week, I wrote a little bit about Landline, a bus network backed by Upfront Ventures. Before that, I profiled an e-commerce startup called Part & Parcel.
Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on Twitter @KateClarkTweets. If you don’t subscribe to Startups Weekly yet, you can do that here.
Startup Spotlight
I’ve made a habit of highlighting one startup per week in this newsletter, so why stop now? This week, I want to talk about Alpha Medical, an early-stage healthtech startup on a “mission to rebuild women’s healthcare,” founder and CEO Gloria Lau tells TechCrunch.
The early-stage telemedicine business, which focuses on providing reproductive and dermatological care online, launched its membership program this week and expanded into three new states: Georgia, Washington and Virginia.
Alpha Medical co-founders Dr. J (left) and Gloria Lau.
The company, now active in nine states, has raised $11 million to date from DCVC and AV8, among others, including a recent $10 million Series A. It’s certainly not as well-financed as some of the top telemedicine businesses, like Hims, Ro and Nurx. But Alpha has had something special from the get-go: medical expertise. The company is led by a techie in Lau but its secret weapon is Dr. J. Co-founder and chief medical officer Mary Jacobson, or Dr. J, is an obstetrician, gynecologist and minimally invasive surgeon with extensive experience in clinical care, medical education, hospital operations and research.
There have been and will continue to be many “health tech” companies backed with millions by venture capitalists. But many of these are really just consumer brands with health buzzwords stamped on top. The real winners, I think, will be startups with true medical expertise coupled with tech know-how.
“We are female founders — women building this for women,” says Lau. “We understand the pain point so well.”
IP-woes
WeWork’s eccentric CEO/founder Adam Neumann stepped down this week amid pressure from board members (SoftBank) to exit the C-suite. Wall Street doesn’t think Neumann is fit to be CEO of a public company and if you don’t know why, read this WSJ piece. For more details, listen to this episode of Equity we recorded earlier this week.
Peloton, the fitness tech company that sells really expensive stationary bikes and treadmills, debuted on the NASDAQ on Thursday. They raised more than a billion dollars in the process, so that’s good, but their stock is already struggling. For one, it opened at below its initial price of $29 and closed at about $25, or 11% down. That makes us a bit nervous for the company moving forward. Still, they are well-financed and have plenty of money to put to work.
VC deals
- Once dubbed ‘America’s most hated startup,’ Bodega has quietly raised millions
- Beyond Pricing raises $42M to tell you what to charge on Airbnb
- Mercury banks $20M for its banking service aimed at startups
- With $20M in funding, electronic stethoscope startup Eko wants to research your beating heart
- Terminal nabs $17M to source and build remote teams of engineers
- Gatsby raises $15M Series A for modern web development platform
- India’s Darwinbox raises $15M to bring its HR tech platform to more Asian markets
- Using AI to improve dentistry, VideaHealth gets a $5.4M polish
What else?
This was the biggest news week in history. Fortunately, I only need to tell you about startup news… Still, there was a lot of that too. Here are just a few other things I’ll highlight that might have slipped through the cracks.
- DoorDash confirmed a massive data breach. Here’s what you need to know: It impacted 4.9 million customers, workers and merchants who were using the platform prior to April 5, 2018. The company is blaming the breach on a “third-party service provider,” but the third-party was not named…
- All the scooters are coming back to San Francisco. Here’s what you need to know: JUMP, Lime, Scoot and Spin were all granted permits to operate their respective services in SF beginning Oct. 15 as part of the city’s longer-term permitting program for electric scooters. If you remember, Lime was previously denied a permit, while Skip was given the green light. This time around, Skip got the boot and Lime was given the go ahead. Oh how times have changed!
- Uber launched an incubator. Here’s what you need to know: Uber wants to make sure some of its best, most entrepreneurial employees are happy and their tech is at its best. To do this, it’s created an incubator open to employees and those outside the organization to develop products and services on top of Uber’s platform.
TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco, our flagship event, is right around the corner. Next week, October 2 through 4th, the entire TechCrunch staff will gather from all corners of the world to interview leaders in technology and venture capital. From Snap CEO Evan Spiegel to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, actor and founder of HitRecord, to a16z’s crypto expert Chris Dixon, we’ll have something for everyone.
Newsletter readers can get 20% off tickets by using this link. Hope to see you all there.
Finally, listen to Equity
We recorded not one but two Equity episodes this week because, well, the news just wouldn’t stop. The first was a guide on the WeMess. You can listen to that one here. In the second episode, we tried to hit on everything else that happened this week, from Peloton’s listing, to Vox & NYMag’s merger, to Bodega’s quiet funding and Kapwing’s $11 million Series A. Listen to that one here.
Equity drops every Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
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Netflix is experimenting in India with making the first episode of its latest Indian original series available to non-subscribers, amid growing competition (Vikas SN/The Economic Times)
Vikas SN / The Economic Times:
Netflix is experimenting in India with making the first episode of its latest Indian original series available to non-subscribers, amid growing competition — Netflix is making available the first episode of its latest India original series ‘Bard Of Blood’ to non-members in the country for a limited time …
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Source: US-UK treaty, to be signed soon, will compel US-based platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to share users' encrypted messages with British police (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg:
Source: US-UK treaty, to be signed soon, will compel US-based platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to share users' encrypted messages with British police — - Information will be shared in serious criminal investigations — Social media firms to provide data under U.S. treaty with U.K.
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2019 Defcon Voting Village findings reveal detailed vulnerabilities related to six models of voting machines, most of which are still in use (Lily Hay Newman/Wired)
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
2019 Defcon Voting Village findings reveal detailed vulnerabilities related to six models of voting machines, most of which are still in use — The results of the 2019 Defcon Voting Village are in—and they paint an ugly picture for voting machine security.
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Don’t Believe Instagram: The Downsides of Constant Travel
Instagram paints a pretty picture of longterm travel, but it’s not accurate. I’ve spent the last four years traveling pretty much non-stop and, while it’s certainly great and I love doing it, there are serious downsides. It’s not for everyone.
Since I finished college back home in Ireland in 2015, I’ve been traveling. I started writing in my sophomore year, and by the time I graduated, I was earning enough to do it full time. And the best bit was because I was writing for newspapers, magazines, and websites all over the world, nobody cared where I was as long as the work got done. I’ve used that freedom to spend months skiing in France, to live on tropical islands in Asia, to road trip around Mexico, to get the train from coast-to-coast in the U.S., to sail in the Mediterranean, and to generally see the world.
Sounds incredible, right? And it is. I’ve loved traveling like this, but the longer I do it, the more I can see the downsides. There are a lot of “digital nomads,” “#vanlife”-ers, and the like posting a distorted, overly-positive view of constant travel on Instagram. If you follow them, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s all beach days and coconuts. There’s a lot more to it than that—not all of it good.
You Lose Your Life at Home
In the four years I’ve been gone, life at home in Ireland has moved on without me. My friends have built careers, entered serious relationships, fought, fallen out, and just generally got on with their lives. When I go back for a few months every year, things are not the same.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love my childhood friends—they’re some of my best friends in the world—but their lives haven’t been on pause while I’ve been gone. They’ve changed a lot, and I’ve changed a lot.
After a few years traveling, it’s gotten increasingly hard to spend time at home. I’ve been left behind a bit. If I moved back permanently, I’m sure things would gradually find a new normal, but as things stand, I’m an outsider.
You Miss a Lot
And as things change at home, you miss a lot. I was best man at a wedding earlier this year, and it cost me several thousand dollars to be there. I can’t afford that for anything but the biggest events. Early on, I missed reasonably mundane things like 27th birthday parties. In the past few years, though, I’ve started to miss bigger events.
This year alone I’ve missed a different wedding and two of my best friends’ thirtieths. By sheer chance I was at home when my elderly dog died, so I was able to say goodbye, but I doubt I’ll be so lucky with the next one. I say goodbye to him every time I leave now.
If I keep traveling, I’m only going to miss more events like this. Births and birthdays, weddings and funerals. They’re all going to keep happening whether I’m there or not.
Relationships Are Hard to Build
Read the remaining 18 paragraphs
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The Best Home Theater A/V Receivers for Under $500
Do you find yourself wishing you could get a more immersive, theater-like experience in the home? Is your soundbar just not enough anymore? One of these audio/visual (A/V) receivers can take your sound to the next level!
What to Look For in a Surround Sound Receiver
A/V receivers have been improving for decades. The feature list feels endless with high-end models that can reach into the several thousands of dollars territory. While most of us can’t afford the ultra-premium units, those same features are trickling down into more reasonably-priced models. Here is a list of essential features that allow a mainstream-class receiver to produce great sound in most environments.
- Surround Channels: The most basic A/V receivers include five channels of main audio (left front, center, right front, left rear, and right rear) plus a single subwoofer for a 5.1 surround sound configuration. This works just fine for smaller theater rooms. For larger rooms, an additional two audio channels (surround left and surround right) round out a 7.1 surround sound configuration. The two other channels increase sound location fidelity for a more immersive experience. Some systems also have an additional subwoofer channel to provide a fuller, more balanced bass experience in the room for a 5.2 or 7.2 channel configuration. To this, some systems add support for two or four ceiling speakers or upward-firing speakers that reflect sound off the ceiling adding still more three dimensional sound depth. This is represented by a 5.1.2, 5.2.2, 7.1.2, or 7.2.2 channel configuration.
- Max Power / Channel Power: Every surround receiver includes an amplifier to drive the surround speakers. More surround channels require more total power to achieve desired volume levels. It is important to understand how much power per channel is provided so that speakers can be appropriately matched to the receiver to produce good sound from the system. Power per channel is directly related to speaker ohms. Higher ohms means more resistance so that the receiver can provide less power. Lower ohms means less resistance so that the receiver can provide more power. When looking at receiver power ratings, if the manufacturer is presenting wattage at lower ohms like four or six, then they might be gaming the system a bit to make numbers look better.
- Surround Sound Encoding Support: At a minimum, all modern receivers will likely support Dolby Digital and Digital Theater System (DTS) formats for 5.1 or 5.2 configurations. They may also support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD for 7.1 or 7.2 configurations. Finally, if you are looking to add ceiling speakers in a 7.1.2, 7.2.2, 7.1.4, or 7.2.4, you will be looking for Dolby Atmos or DTS:X format support. There are several other similar formats you might encounter, but these are the most common encountered with streaming, gaming, and broadcast video sources.
- Automatic Calibration: It takes a lot of knowledge to properly configure the multiple sound settings in a surround sound receiver for a particular room. Many receivers can listen to the sound in the room and automatically calibrate themselves!
- Wireless Audio: Most receivers include support for Bluetooth audio, but several also support audio casting over Wi-Fi or even AirPlay/AirPlay 2. A few also support Chromecast Audio.
- Streaming Audio: With the ever-growing popularity of Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and others, some receivers are supporting these streaming services directly without depending on additional source devices.
- Video Support: When an A/V receiver is deployed, it becomes the hub for every audio and video device in the home theater. All HDMI video devices should be connected to the receiver so that you only need to select the receiver input source, causing both audio and video to switch together. This built-in HDMI switch should support HDCP 2.2/2.3, HDR, Dolby Vision, as well as full 4K/60p Ultra HD and Digital 3D video. It should also support ARC and HEC over HDMI to make it easier to control the receiver with your TV remote control.
The list could go on and on. But our roundup of surround sound receivers does a great job of implementing most of the features above to provide the best experience for most people.
Best Overall Receiver: Denon AVR-S750H
Denon has been making high-fidelity audio components since the early 1970s, and it has been engineering some of the best surround sound receivers for decades. It’s known for incredible audio quality and for supporting cutting-edge features. The AVR-S750H follows this tradition while also coming in at a very reasonable price point.
The AVR-S750H is a 7.2 or 5.2.2 channel receiver that drives an immersive, three-dimensional sound field with 75 watts per channel into 8-ohm speakers or 110-watts per channel into 6-ohm speakers across all seven channels. It can generate a clean sound with more volume than most theater rooms will ever need. Once you pick a channel configuration, the Denon Audyssey speaker calibration and optimization system can dial in the speaker configuration settings for you.
The Denon supports most of the typical encoding formats including Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization, and DTS Virtual:X. It also provides Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ to ensure that volume levels are evened out, ensuring that dialog is clear even at low volume levels.
Denon’s Home Entertainment Operating System (HEOS) technology provides integration between the receiver, HEOS enabled wireless speakers, and streaming content providers. It also lets you use your smartphone to seamless control the whole system. Streaming music providers such as Spotify, TuneIn, Pandora, Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, Soundcloud, Tidal and more can provide an audio source to the primary surround speakers or HEOS enabled wireless speakers deployed in any room. The AVR-S750H also supports Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2, and high-fidelity digital music files via local USB storage.
With so many audio sources and destination speaker options, you might think it is difficult to control the system, but that is not the case. The HEOS app (iOS, Android) on your mobile device makes it easy. The Denon also supports Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Josh.AI. Once configured, you can just tell your favorite virtual assistant what you want to hear and where you want to hear it, and the Denon will start your audio experience.
Connections are plentiful on the Denon with six HDMI inputs, including one on the front panel, which makes it easy to connect a laptop, video camera, or mobile device. It supports HDCP 2.3, 4K Ultra HD, HDR, and Dolby Vision as well as eARC and HEC over the HDMI connection. The AVR-S750H does not forsake vinyl lovers with a dedicated phono input for your turntable. It also includes both WiFi and Ethernet support for network connectivity.
Best Overall Receiver
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