My Science School

You control a white ball or "The Vessel", as it's called as it rolls along a blue road that twists and turns. But this is no ordinary "road" - it's more of a downward spiral. Your only defence against certain death is your ability to manoeuvre The Vessel at insane speeds by pressing on the left or right of the screen. True to its name, the track is just about impossible to navigate with crazy turns, jumps and other obstacles. Free for iOS.

The player is tasked with keeping a white ball (called "The Vessel") on the road for as long as possible without falling off. The road has procedurally generated twists, turns and dives and is endless. The player controls the ball by tapping (with two fingers) left or right on the screen. Each time the player passes a numbered checkpoint line, the player gains a point (several if they missed some checkpoints in between). The player can "cheat" and fall off the road and land on a road section further on the road. When the player dies (after several seconds of free fall), the player is presented with the option to play again. The player can see how many checkpoint lines they crossed and how many they skipped.

A later update allowed the player to select a color scheme (theme) and have more accurate 3D Touch controls.

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SanDisk recently unveiled the SanDisk 1TB SDXC Card at the Photokina conference in Cologne, Germany. The world's largest SD card, it's only a prototype at this point, so there's no word on price or availability.

ust six months after announcing its largest ever 200GB MicroSD card for the consumer market, the storage technology company has broken yet another world record by creating a 1 Terabyte (TB) SD card. 

In just 16 years, SanDisk has gone from its first 64MB SD card to more than 1,000 times that amount of storage capacity. Not bad for a card you can stick in the side of any point and shoot camera. To put that in perspective, most laptops these days don’t even come with half a terabyte of storage. While the 1TB card is not yet available for consumers, it will be shown off at upcoming conferences including the Photokina 2016 by Western Digital.

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Google Drive offers a base storage of 15GB for storing files online and syncing them across devices. But if you're running low on storage, here's what you can do: First, delete the biggest files that are hogging space. Google Drive lets you sort by file size so you can see large files first and delete them if you don't need them anymore. However, they get sent to Trash where they accumulate and use up storage. Just click Trash in the sidebar of Google Drive for desktop, select the files you want to delete and hit 'Delete' to rid of them for good. Hold down the Shift key to select multiple items or Ctrl+A to select all items for deletion.

Google Drive is a key component of Google Workspace, Google's monthly subscription offering for businesses and organizations that operated as G Suite until October 2020. As part of select Google Workspace plans, Drive offers unlimited storage, advanced file audit reporting, enhanced administration controls, and greater collaboration tools for teams.

Following the launch of the service, Google Drive's privacy policy was heavily criticized by some members of the media. Google has one set of Terms of Service and Privacy Policy agreements that cover all of its services, meaning that the language in the agreements grants the company broad rights to reproduce, use, and create derivative works from content stored on Google Drive. While the policies also confirm that users retain intellectual property rights, privacy advocates raised concerns that the licenses grant Google the right to use the information and data to customize the advertising and other services Google provides. In contrast, other members of the media noted that the agreements were no worse than those of competing cloud storage services, but that the competition uses "more artful language" in the agreements, and also stated that Google needs the rights in order to "move files around on its servers, cache your data, or make image thumbnails".

As of July 2018, Google Drive had over one billion active users, and as of September 2015, it had over one million organizational paying users. As of May 2017, there were over two trillion files stored on the service.

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Google's free iOS-exclusive app, Motion Stills, converts your iPhone's Live Photos into easily shareable GIFs or movie files. You can even share the movies - complete with sound straight to Instagram, which otherwise doesn't support Live Photos. The app can also stabilize the camera movement of a Live Photo, resulting in less visible shakiness and a steadier shot. Once downloaded, the app works without the need for the internet. By combining your Motion Stills together, the app also allows users to create short movies.

The app can take two different types of shots. The first, which Google calls a “motion still,” is just a three second video loop. It’s kind of puzzling, because it seems like this is meant to be an alternative to Live Photos — it even records the same length of footage. But there’s not actually a photo involved. Which is weird, because the feature is called “motion still,” but there is only motion, and no still.

The second type of shot is called a “fast forward,” and this one is a little more interesting. It’s basically a Google-made alternative to Instagram’s Hyperlapse app, which has never been brought to Android. Like Hyperlapse, Google’s fast forward mode lets you record a video, then automatically stabilizes that video and can speed it up from twice to eight times the original speed. In a nice touch, you can keep changing the fast forward speed even after the video is shot and saved, whereas Instagram’s app only gives you one chance to choose a video’s speed.

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Human Inc's wireless smart headphones, dubbed Sound, are designed to totally encapsulate the ear and offer personal surround sound. These uniquely shaped devices strike the perfect balance between earbuds and their over-ear counterparts. Besides tactile control for volume adjustment and track selection, they also feature ambient noise control, so you can decide the level of exterior sound cancellation. When off your ears, the headphones can work together as a single portable speaker. They also feature onboard translation software, biometric monitoring and 12 hours of life.

Acting as an extension of your body, Sound’s features transcend the everyday headphone. Securely attaching themselves to your ear, Sound has no buttons, instead the device is all about a natural movement. It also has swiping gestures that assist in controlling the entire listening experience. Other features include being able to store the device easily by magnetically combining the two earphones together. Also being able to turn on the device and play audio by pulling the earphones apart and placing them on their ears, and audio automatically pauses by removing the device from the listeners’ ears and reuniting the earphones. Our favorite feature is that you are able to play music, pause tracks, skip forward, adjust volume, answer phone calls, and pair with your preferred Bluetooth device by simply touching the outer surface of the earphone.

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Instagram released a new feature called "You're All Caught Up". A relief for those with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), the notification lets you know when you've seen all of the posts that have been shared on your feed in the last 48 hours. All of the posts that appear after the message are posts that you've already seen, and posts that are more than two days old.

What's more, this new feature will help to make it more obvious when a post was shared. We've all been in that awkward situation where we like a picture that's in our feed, only to find out that said mysterious algorithm hid the fact that the picture was days old. Then it looks like we were scrolling through that user's page rather than our own feed. And if you're shy about that kind of stuff, you'll be happy to know that it will be clear as day if the picture is recent or days old.

The feature will roll out over the next few days, and you'll know you have it when you hit the end of your recent posts and the message shows up. You might also notice that while you're scrolling through your feed, a little "New Posts" message will appear at the top of the screen to let you know that since you've been scrolling, new photos have been posted. You can either tap the message to immediately view the new posts, or check them out later. So while this new feature might sound pretty minor, it actually provides a lot of clarity. If you spend a lot of time scrolling through your feed, it can get a little disorienting. Now you'll know what posts are new, what posts are old and what's being added in real time. You'll also notice that you're getting a lot more content than you did before. With the algorithm adjusted, you might notice posts from accounts that you don't typically see in your feed. Aka, Instagram has just given another reason to spend even more time on the app than we already do. Goodbye workflow, hello feed flow.

Credit : Bustle

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The tech giant has submitted a proposal to the Unicode Consortium to expand its suite of emojis with 13 new accessibility related emojis, including a prosthetic arm/leg, a man/ woman walking with a cane, an ear with a hearing aid, a man/woman signing that they are deaf. Apple said: "The current selection of emoji provides a wide array of representations of people, activities, and objects meaningful to the general public, but very few speak to the life experiences of those with disabilities."

The emojis have been in the works for a while. Apple proposed the designs last fall to the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit that sets the standards for emojis.

The announcement has been praised by many on social media as an important moment for inclusion for people with disabilities.

“Representation matters and for those living with MS, some of whom have visible disabilities, this is an important way for them to feel included and seen,” said Cyndi Zagieboylo, president and CEO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Sharron Rush, the executive director of Knowbility, a nonprofit that works to make technology more inclusive for people with disabilities, praised Apple's decision, calling the company "a leader among tech companies in considering the needs of people with disabilities." Rush said she hopes Apple uses to the disability-themed emojis as a "new foundation" on which to build technology that works and represents those living with disabilities.

The National Organization on Disability (NOD), a nonprofit that focuses on employment issues for people with disabilities, agrees, but added their organization is hoping for more than keyboard representation.

Credit : NBC news 

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Reconnect with nature with Namoo Wonders of Plant Life, available for iOS and Android. This educational app gives users an in-depth overview of how different plants function. Using illustrations, 3D simulations, and Apple's ARKit (for those using an iPhone), the app takes users through nine different chapters about nature. Discover how leaves make food, experiment with underground root systems and different environmental conditions, or play with the parts of a plant cell. Each chapter offers its own type of interaction. Turn day into night, provide water to roots or send pollen into the air. As you interact, more details surrounding the topic appear. Namoo hopes to help students gain a deeper understanding of the science at work.

There are labels explaining every single part of the plant anatomy. Namoo excels not just in getting kids to become familiar with the components of a plant’s anatomy. It has a naturally engaging way to explain the consequences of various actions through interactive material.

That’s what makes it such great learning material. You can switch the slider to see how certain conditions affect plant growth and observe what happens in various parts of a plant during different times of the day. You can spread pollen and see how it helps in fertilizing the flower and so on.

As you interact with the elements you dive deeper into more concepts and can easily get lost in the amazing world of plant life.

Credit : The App Times

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Checkboxes are handy for all types of situations, even for data you add to a spreadsheet. In Google Sheets, you can add checkboxes for things like project tasks, answers to questions, or selecting product attributes.

The nice thing about using a checkbox in Google Sheets is that you can also use data validation to assign custom values. So if you want to use conditional formatting, for example, you can use the checked or unchecked value to set up your rule.

Log into Google Drive and open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets. Select the cells you want to have checkboxes in. You can also create a list first and then insert checkboxes by selecting the adjoining empty column of cells. From the menu, click Insert > Tick box.

To remove checkboxes, select the checkboxes you want to remove and press Delete. You can increase/decrease the checkbox size by changing the font size.

Credit : How to geek

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Facebook is considering hiding the numbers of likes a post receives to people other than the person who created the post, similar to an experiment it's doing with company-owned Instagram. The idea is to take away the "popularity contest" of posting, which makes people feel bad when their post doesn't perform with big numbers. According to Psychology Today, rejection in digital form (not getting many. likes) can sting just as much as in the analog world. Among younger users on Instagram, posting becomes a contest to see who gets the most likes. Instagram that is testing non-visible likes told users, "We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get."

You’ll now be able to toggle an option to hide all like counts on all posts in your feed on both Instagram and Facebook today. A separate option will let you hide your own like counts to others. You can also hide like counts on a per-post basis on Instagram, so there’s a little more flexibility to allow people to focus on the content of posts rather than the like counts. Facebook will get these same per-post controls in the next few weeks.

Facebook first started testing hidden like counts in September 2019 as an experiment to see if the change would improve the experience of using the platform. Instagram has also been testing a variety of ways to hide like counts in recent years, with a test for this same optional feature just last month.

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What's in a Christmas tree, you wonder. Well, not all Christmas trees are the usual kind you see. There are Christmas trees around the world crafted out of creativity, technology and more... You'll want to check them out!

Kids will love this tree...

Is there a kid who doesn't love messing about with LEGO blocks? Well, guess what you can create with 245,000 dark green forest blocks? At Legoland in California, there is a 30 foot Christmas tree made entirely out of LEGO blocks. It's just not the tree, f course. The tree comes with a reindeer, sleigh and even a jolly Santa! It's every kid's dream come true in the form of a mammoth tree!

Hi, Sandi!

Meet Sandi, the largest Christmas tree in the world made entirely of... you guessed it... sand! This tree weighs 600 tonnes and has been hand-sculpted by the famous Team Sandtastic, a group of experts who know how to tame sand into shapes. You can find this delightful tree in West Palm Beach Waterfront in Florida. It's so popular that the tree boasts of its own Twitter account.

Traffic lights can delight you

In 1998, a French sculptor decided to make people traffic lights forever... or at least make them less annoying. He used them to design an elaborate traffic light tree that stands 26 feet tall and consists of 75 different computer operated traffic lights. Now if people had to stare at this tree instead of the mundane landscape, it does make waiting in the traffic much easier!

Human tree

What happens when dozens of students dress up in green, brown and red hats and shirts? They help create a human Christmas tree, of course. And as a feather in the cap, it has won itself a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. Thanks to 4,030 participants (most of them enthusiastic school children), it was possible to set a record while welcoming Christmas.

Skis make trees

When metal artist Anton Viditz-Ward of Colorado came up with an inspiration for a fantastic Christmas tree, all he had to do was collect dozens of skis and arrange them here, there, one more above that... voila! This ski tree is for those who love the spirit of Christmas and the fun of skiing on snowy slopes. All skis used to make the tree were donated. The icing on the cake is the 'starburst made of ski poles on the top!

It's a tree... or is it?

In December 2013, this special tree was installed in Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. But this tree doesn't weigh much because it's only a hologram! Towering 24 feet tall, played continuously on a loop, placed high above visitors' heads, rotating and changing colours oh, what fun this tree, had! Best of all, there is no worry about this Christmas tree ever drying out. Three cheers to this evergreen hi-tech tree!

A rolling good idea!

Rolling tumbleweed was a common sight many years ago in Arizona, but a tumbleweed Christmas tree is a sight to behold, indeed! Around 1,000 tumbleweeds are gathered to fit over a 25-foot-tall wire frame. And once the painstaking efforts of assembling all the tumbleweed are achieved, the tree is sprayed with paint, flame retardant and glitter and loads of Christmas lights!

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DNA profiling, also called DNA fingerprinting, is a test to identify a person’s DNA characteristics. The DNA test is called a ‘fingerprint’, because just as it is very unlikely that any two people would have the exact, same physical fingerprint, it is also very unlikely that any two people would have exactly the same DNA information.

Only a small sample of cells is needed for DNA fingerprinting. A drop of blood or strands of hair contain enough genetic material for DNA testing. The test is used to determine whether a family relationship exists between two people. It is also used to identify organisms causing a disease. It is also a forensic technique in criminal investigations and is an important and decisive component of solving crimes. For example, DNA isolated from dried blood, saliva or hair found at a crime scene can be compared to a DNA sample collected from someone suspected of a crime, to prove his or her innocence or guilt.

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Google Meet’s ‘Green Room’ feature lets you preview how you’ll appear and sound to others in a meeting. Before you join a meeting, click on the “Check your audio and video” button below the video. A pop-up window will not only show your video image, but allow you to see (and change) which microphone, speaker and camera is currently live. Click the “Next” button to record a 6-second video sample to see and hear you call quality. Your mic, speaker, camera and connection are checked and get green checkmarks if they are working. Select “Tips and Tricks” for help fixing an audio or video issue. When you’re done, click the ‘X’ in the upper-right of the window to close the Green Room, then click “Join now” to join the meeting.

This feature is available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter/ Standard/ Business Plus customers, Enterprise Essentials/ Standard/ Plus customers, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Non-profit customers.

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A cross between a whiteboard and a notebook, the Mini Wipebook Scan is meant for brainstorming, jotting down ideas, working out equations, doodling, and more. Each of its 20 double-sided pages is coated in a hypergloss film for easy erasing, offering all the functionality of a traditional notebook without the paper waste. Using the free Wipebook Scan app, you can scan and upload your work to your favourite cloud service – Google Drive, Evernote or Dropebox – before wiping the page clean. It comes with a Staedtler Lumocolor correctable marker.

Each Mini Wipebook comes packing 20 glossy-surfaced A5 sized pages, including 10 ruled lined pages and 10 graph pages. Then, using a dry erase or correctible ink pen like the included Staedtler 305F-9 Pen, simply go to work visualizing your thoughts in your own unique way.  

With the Wipebook Scan, you can fill up page after page with brilliance, file it with a click, then have a completely empty notebook to start the process all over again. And it's all with the same sense of tactile pen-and-ink work many grew up learning.

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It is an established fact that human beings observe what and where something is happening around them using their sense of hearing. Humans, however, have a limited range of hearing and can perceive only certain sound frequencies - generally stated to lie between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz.

A new audio technique, developed by researchers at Aalto University, Finland, will now allow people to hear ultrasonic sources that generate sounds of frequencies over 20,000 Hz. The results, which were published in Scientific Reports early in June, also state that the technique would also allow for perception of the direction from which the sound is coming.

Listening to bats

Bats in their natural habitats were employed as the source of ultrasonic sound in this study.

Using their technique, the researchers were able to hear the direction of arrival of bat sounds, effectively allowing them to track the bats in flight as well as hear them.

While previous devices have allowed humans to listen to bats, the fact that this allows us to locate them as well is novel. They achieved this by recording the sound using an array of microphones that were mounted uniformly on a small sphere, performing a sound-field analysis and obtaining the most prominent direction from which the sound originates. Additionally, a parameter also indicates if the sound comes from a single source.

The signal thus produced is then pitch-shifted to audible frequencies and a sound is played in headphones immediately, allowing the listener to perceive the sound and the source based on the direction from which it was analysed to arrive. While the pitch-shifting was performed in a computer during the research, scientists believe that this could be achieved using electronics mounted on headphones as well.

Detect pipe leaks

Apart from the general appeal that it has for humans in the fact that it allows us to hear sounds that we normally can't, researchers also suggest practical applications. Minor pipe leaks and sometimes even damaged electrical equipment produce ultrasonic sounds that we can't hear with our ears. Their device would enable quickly detecting the location of such faulty equipment, saving valuable time.

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