Новости за 21.10.2018

Slack is a relatively simple chat application with a powerfully complex set of capabilities. Case in point: Bertrand Fan’s “Slack on a SNES” project, in which the Slack engineer figured out how to load messages from a custom channel into a 1995 Nintendo game by way of a spoofed satellite transmission.

The New York City Police Department has been working for years to test and outfit its entire force with body cameras, with a goal of having one for every officer by next year. That plan appears to have hit a snag: a camera worn by an officer in Staten Island last night began smoking and “burst into flames,” prompting the NYPD to pull them from use while it investigates.

John Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic science fiction horror film that has scared audiences for decades. But the film was inspired by an earlier story published in the 1930s, “Who Goes There?” by noted editor John W. Campbell Jr., and it turns out that that there’s more to that story. A researcher recently discovered an unpublished, novel-length manuscript of the story, and a small press is using Kickstarter to publish it.

In September, Audi revealed the final production version of its forthcoming electric SUV, the E-tron, which is due out sometime next year. The wait for the car looks as although it’ll take a little longer: Reuters reports that Audi is delaying the vehicle’s release by four weeks due to a software issue.

There are a ton of podcasts out there, but finding the right one can be difficult. In our column Pod Hunters, we cover what we’ve been listening to that we can’t stop thinking about.

The scooter craze sweeping the nation is now over a year old, which means its been around long enough to start producing its own distinct subcultures. There’s the subculture of scooter “juicers,” people who gather up the devices in the evening to charge them for the next day’s riders. There’s the teenagers who love riding scooters despite the rules prohibiting it. And then there’s the emerging subculture of scooter riders that I like to call “lazy geniuses.”

It sounds like something out of a filthy fairy tale: the mountain tree shrew visits certain species of pitcher plant to grab a bite of nectar, and poop into the plant’s commode-shaped cup. These plants appear to have evolved so that their openings fit perfectly under the tree shrew’s behind, and they’re sturdy enough to support the animal’s weight.

It sounds like something out of a filthy fairy tale: the mountain tree shrew visits certain species of pitcher plant to grab a bite of nectar, and poop into the plant’s commode-shaped cup. These plants appear to have evolved so that their openings fit perfectly under the tree shrew’s behind, and they’re sturdy enough to support the animal’s weight.

Amazon’s lineup of Fire tablets for kids is up to $40 off until the beginning of November. Compared to its standard tablet offering, which is cheaper upfront, each Kids Edition tablet ships with a colorful case that protects it from general wear and tear, plus a two-year “no questions asked” warranty that lets you replace it for any reason. You also get a year-long subscription to FreeTime Unlimited, Amazon’s all-in-one service that combines a selection of kid-appropriate games, apps, ebooks, and TV shows / movies. Читать дальше...