DASH cams are the fastest growing car accessory with new models released every month fitted with more and more features offering you peace of mind in an accident.

The market is now so big, theres a choice of dash cam to suit every budget from entry level models that do basic recording through to wifi-enabled top-of-the-range cameras.

Crash for cash incidents are big business and fraudulent claims cost insurers millions each year. Having a dash cam can help insurers identify what happened and determine who was at fault.

Thats why some policies will offer discounts if you have a dash cam fitted. So you can pay up front for a cam and reap the yearly rewards.

And some police forces are now even using footage from owners dash cams to cut down on reckless drivers.

Dash cams attach to your windscreen and film whats going on ahead.

Whats clever is that instead of needing huge memory cards to store videos, itll automatically delete the oldest footage on a rolling cycle.

If youve had an accident, though, the dash cam sensors will recognise it and automatically lock the clip and save it so it can be viewed later.

Most cameras will have an on-bard memory card that you can plug into your computer to download footage while newer models will offer wireless uploading.

No. While many newer, more expensive models have a decent-sized screen for playback this must be switched off while youre driving many will turn off automatically.

The law states motorists must not be able to view video-playing devices while driving.

Theres an exception for parking cameras but this doesnt apply to dash cams.

Most dash cams run off the 12V socket so youll need to wire it around the headlining to avoid draping wires.

If youve got a sat nav or regularly charge a mobile phone through the 12V socket then pick up a multi-socket adaptor.

Alternatively you can get a hard-wiring kit to run off a cars battery. Some retailers, like Halfords, will also install the dash cam for you.

The camera needs to be forward facing with a good view of the whole road ahead.

It should intrude no more than 40mm into the swept area of your windscreen wipers and cant be mounted above the steering wheel.

Wed recommend slotting it next to the rear-view mirror.

There are several key players in the dash cam market including Nextbase and Garmin and each manufacturer offers something for all budgets.

Pricier models have higher quality video and more advanced functions like wifi and cloud storage.

Sun Motors has rounded up the latest models on sale from leading manufacturers to help you buy the right one for you.

Latest prices

At the top of the range is the Nextbase 512GW which records in 1440p HD across 140-degrees and with built-in wifi you can upload footage straight to your smartphone or tablet.

At the other end of the spectrum is the 112. The viewing angle is just 120-degrees and recording is done in 720p. But for around 100 less, its a great entry-level value product.

Somewhere in the middle is the 312GW combining price and features.

Latest prices

Better known for sat navs, Garmin has entered the dash cam market and to good success.

One option is the35 which offers HD recording and a three-inch display. Its a driver aid, too, offering forward collision warning alerts and red light/speed camera detection. If thats too pricey, consider the 30 with its 1.4-inch display that does away with driver alerts.

At the higher end of the marketare the 55 and 65W the latter with a 180-degree viewing angleand a Go driver alert.

Latest prices

Mios range of MiVue dash cams have been around for several years with latest models featuring an innovative touchscreen.

The range-topping MiVue 658 WIFI has ultra-HD recording, integrated wifi, a 140-degree viewing angle and a parking mode to collect footage when you leave your vehicle.

If you want an eye-witness at the back of your car and have the cash to spend, then the MiVue 698 makes sense, recording in full HD both front and rear.

Theres safety camera warnings, too, and a parking mode but youll have to plug into your PC to review footage.

The cheaper 618 is a very impressive entry level option although its still pricier than some rivals.

Latest prices

Headlight specialist Philips has two dash cam options available. Both the ADR610 and ADR810 offer full HD recording, automatic collision detection and a fatigue index.

Theres an instant replay function to clarify responsibility on the spot of an accident with proof-stamped evidence to support insurance claims.

The pricier ADR810 adds night view and a wider viewing angle.

Latest prices

Transcend was one of the first companies to market with dash cams and excels in compact designs.

Its DrivePro series features just one the 520 that comes with a screen and front and rear facing cameras. Its got wifi, 1080p recording and a night mode making it a good if pricey all-rounder.

Its most basic model is the DrivePro 50 that does away with all extras except 1080p recording at a 130-degree angle with app streaming.

The middle of the range the DrivePro 220 is probably the best combination of gadgets plus price.

Latest prices

Another headlight specialist delving into the dash cam market, Ring operates at the cheaper end of the market.

Even its range-topping RBGDC200 which offers a full HD 140-degree angle is sub-100. However it does away with a lot of the clever tech like parking modes and driver alerts found on pricier rival models.

Rings range goes right the way down to the mini 1.5-inch RBGDC15 which is a real budget-buster.

Latest prices

Breakdown provider RAC also dabbles in dash cams with two models in its range the 210 and 205.

The pricier 210 has 1080p recording quality, speed camera alert notification and built in wifi to connect directly to a smartphone app.

The cheaper 205 does without alerts and wifi but still offers full-HD recording and a 140-degree viewing angle.

For in-depth product reviews visit our sister site Driving.co.uk.

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What are the best dash cams in 2017? Buying guide, reviews and all you need to know - The Sun

You ask the spectator to pick a number from 0 to 9 in his/her head. Later on after some steps they pick another number from 0 to 9. After one more step they tell you the answer and you can tell them the two numbers they picked in the same order!

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Ask them to pick a number in their mind from 0 to 9. ( Let's say 2 ).

2

Tell them to double the number. ( 2+2=4 ).

3

Tell them to add five to the new number. ( 4+5=9 ).

4

Tell them to multiply the answer by five. ( 9*5=45 ).

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Now tell them to remember the answer. ( 45 ).

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Ask them to pick another number from 0 to 9. ( in this case 4 )

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Ask them to add this number to their answer. ( 45+4=49 ).

8

Ask them to tell you the answer. ( 49 ).

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Listen to it carefully and then in your mind subtract 25 from the total. ( 49-25=24 )

10

The first digit of the answer YOU get in your mind after subtracting 25 ( 24 ) is the first number they picked ( 2 ) and the second digit is the second number they picked ( 4 ).

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Star Wars Battlefront 2 is one of the industrys most anticipated upcoming games, period. Theres no caveat to that. The previous game from EA and DICE was an excellent multiplayer-only shooter that captured the sights and sounds of a galaxy far, far away like never before. Now this sequel ups the production values, increases the content, and finally reintroduces a single player campaign thats set to deliver on big thrills and narrative excitement.

But what about VR?

Okay so we dont know that Battlefront 2 is going to have VR support, but we know it will. The evidence is piling up really fast and E3 isnt even here yet. For starters, the developers that created the fantastic X-Wing VR Mission from the first Battlefront took to Twitter to let fans know theyre working on something awesome in Battlefront II. That statement wasnt limited to just VR content, mind you, but its a fair assumption given the context. Check.

Then in an interview with Eurogamer, a developer said he wasnt willing to talk about VR in Battlefront II in that interview simply because thats a story for anotherday which is about as cryptic as you can get without denying something. Check.

Then the real kicker is when PlayStation itself (the previous X-Wing VR Mission was a PSVR-exclusive) sent out an email to its Danish fans that has the PSVR logo specifically listed on the product image. Woops. Sony eventually came out and said the email was incorrect and that nothing has been announced for PSVR support in Battlefront II. Again, not denying it. Check.

Now at E3 2017 the ball is in EA and Sonys court. The game is already confirmed to be playable at the EA Play event (well be going hands-on with the non-VR version this coming weekend) and it follows that perhaps if there is VR support this time around it will be playable at some point during E3 as well. Sony is having another big showcase this year (similar to its showcase of content last year) and the game could very well show up in its VR form at that event on Monday.

We also expect it to be talked about during Sonys press conference since it will likely be an exclusive again, although this time perhaps only timed like Batman Arkham VR and Resident Evil 7: BIohazard. We wont have to wait long to find out.

That covers whats likely, now lets dip our toes into the unlikely (but nice-to-haves.) My bold prediction for Battlefront II at E3 2017 is that instead of just being a single mission well get much deeper VR support. I dont think the entire game will be playable in VR, but perhaps a handful of missions and flight challenge maps. If were really lucky it might even get multiplayer VR support for some of the upcoming space battles. That would be excellent.

What do you think is going on with Battlefront IIs (non-confirmed) VR support? Regardless of how its implemented, Battlefront II is a game that absolutely needs VR support. Let us know down in the comments below!

Tagged with: e3, E3 2017, PSVR, Star Wars: Battlefront 2

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E3 Spotlight: Star Wars Battlefront 2 - UploadVR

Steps Method 1 Practicing Positivity

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How can I control negative thoughts?

wikiHow Contributor

Try to remember a good moment in your life. Recall how you felt then and compare it to how you feel now. Try to summon that feeling from your memory. Think of it as though you have just experienced it again.

Is prayer a type of meditation?

wikiHow Contributor

Yes it is. Meditation is basically focusing your brain on a certain thing. If you focus yourself on God/the universe/a higher consciousness/peace, etc., while saying your prayers, then you are meditating,

What are the benefits of controlling the unconscious mind?

wikiHow Contributor

If you control your subconsious mind, you can easily identify your feelings and take control of your life.

How do I start at the beginning?

wikiHow Contributor

Don't think how to start. Simply start in the most comfortable way you feel.

After a relationship breakup, how can I control my thoughts subconsciously to stop thinking about past events, let go of attachments, and avoid going into a negative emotional state?

wikiHow Contributor

The past is gone, the future has not come yet. Live the present moment. Focus on what's going on right now, and engage in activities you enjoy to help distract yourself from negative thought patterns.

Why do I forget my dreams sometimes?

wikiHow Contributor

It is no different than forgetting other new things like musical instruments, new dance forms or new languages. You can train your brain to remember better and make sure that you record your dreams first thing after waking up.

Can these exercises also enhance mental and physical performance?

wikiHow Contributor

They can do, yes. You are creating a belief system that will help you to progress towards your goals. Thus, if your goal is to improve something involving physical or mental performance, the exercises may take you there.

How do I identify positive thoughts?

wikiHow Contributor

Think of the things that stress you out/make you feel unhappy. Then think the opposite of those thoughts, like "I can do it" or " I will succeed".

What are the mental and physical effects of dreams or nightmares?

wikiHow Contributor

Dreams and nightmares are thought to have a number of benefits for the mind and brain. Bad dreams are a way for your brain to practice dealing with difficult and emotional situations so that you are better prepared to face problems and challenges in real life. You will always have some of these, whether you remember them or not. However, the more stressed, afraid, or otherwise agitated you are, the more likely they are to increase in frequency and intensity. They should help keep you strong mentally. Good dreams, meanwhile, have benefits similar to daydreaming - they make you feel good and they enhance creativity/imagination. Dreams don't have any physical effects beyond helping keep your brain chemistry in check. If you find that, for example, you look or feel worse when you have nightmares, it's not caused by the nightmares - it's more likely that you're just in a poor mental and/or physical state, which is causing both the nightmares and the physical symptoms.

Why do I sometimes have negative thoughts about the future?

wikiHow Contributor

It's natural to have worries and fears about the future. Just don't let them control you or stop you from pursuing your goals.

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If I couldnt get into Tekken even in its mid-90s heyday, theres little chance the seventh entry in the main series was going to grab me either. When the game was announced for consoles in late 2015 developer/publisher Namco Bandai had my apathy. When the company announced a VR mode, it had my curiosity. Now Tekken 7s available, it has my attention.

Or at least it did for about five seconds.

Calling Tekken 7s VR mode half-baked is an insult to anyone thats ever got halfway through the baking process. There was plenty of potential for something interesting here; maybe not the first-person spin-off mode that immediately springs to mind, but instead to create a new kind of spectatorship for the Iron Fist tournament. Imagine if you will the Smash Bros-like setup in which a crowd cheers as if watching from afar. With Tekken 7s VR support we could have actually been in the crowd.

Sadly, all thats here is an extremely basic training mode set on one stage in which you can practice moves against an opponent that wont fight back. The games entire roster is available to choose from and you can slow the action down to appreciate the animations and techniques displayed by the fighters, but there really isnt all that much to talk about here.

Even with this bare bones integration Tekken 7s PSVR support manages to cause the stomach to stir. The camera will latch onto your character, following them back and forth. Occasionally theyll get off-center when executing a grab move, and then the screen lurches to catch back up with them upon completion. Why not just set the camera at a suitable position on the map to allow you to see all of it with the twist of your head?

I did have a little fun pretending to be some sort of fighting photographer and walking right up to my camera for a close-up of the action at least.

Also included in the underwhelming package is a 3D character viewer, which is about as exciting as it sounds. It was a little intimidating to stand in front of Street Fighter guest star Akuma as if he were really there (how does Ryu ever stand up to that guy?), but I had no interest in cycling through each character just to say Huh, cool.

Im honestly a little surprised given Tekken producer Katsuhiro Haradas fondness of the technology. Hes behind the elusive Summer Lesson, released on PSVR only in Asian territories, and Id have thought hed have plenty of ideas about how to implement it in Tekken 7. Maybe this is just a case of running up against the technical limitations of the PS4 and having to settle for something much less satisfying, or maybe the development team just forgot it had promised VR support until the last second.

Tekken 7s PSVR support was a golden opportunity to attract a new wave of fans to the long-established fighting series, and set the standards for a genre largely unexplored in the realms of VR. Instead its the single biggest example of unnecessarily tacking on VR support weve seen so far. Maybe next time.

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To Be a Machine: Adventures among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death Mark O'Connell Granta 242 pages ISBN: 978-1-78378-196-6 12.99

"We built ingenious devices and we destroyed things." These words are easy to imagine carved on the tombstone of the human race. In To Be a Machine, where these words appear after an alarming session with people working on artificial intelligence, they're just one of the many possible futures that Dublin journalist Mark O'Connell visits. None seem to appeal to him much.

A friend once observed that anyone who had ever watched a baby could see how limited AI really is. Here, O'Connell's new baby son helpfully provides him with a grounding biological balance as he ponders the work of people who, in one way or another, all want to transcend biology.

Many of the ideas O'Connell explores, and some of the people he interviews, will be familiar to those who who've read prior efforts, beginning with Ed Regis's Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition. It's probably a mark of some kind of social change that Regis, writing 26 years ago, couldn't avoid -- or rather, embraced -- a certain, "Oh, my God, are these people nuts or what?" tone, while O'Connell, writing now, can be more soberly reflective. The Singularity, mind uploading, cryonics, whole-brain emulation, real-life 'cyborgs', and escaping the surly bonds of Earth to colonise distant planets and save the future of humanity may be no closer to reality than they were in 1991, but the ideas are more familiar: twenty-five years of Wired magazine and Silicon Valley hegemony have had their effect.

Today, when Nick Bostrom predicts (in his book Superintelligence) that an AI might turn all the Earth's resources to making paper clips he may still seem crazy -- but he's an Oxford University professor and director of the Future of Humanity Institute. Colonizing space to save the human race may be a fringe notion -- but it's also been embraced by the physicist Stephen Hawking.

To embrace biology, O'Connell is told during his study of cryonics, is to buy into "deathist ideology". I sympathize here: visiting the leading cryonics company, Alcor, and learning the details of cryopreservation can make death seem almost cuddly. Cryonicists themselves admit that revival is a very long shot -- but it's the only non-zero option.

The one overtly comic section of To Be a Machine, therefore, is the one that's most embodied: O'Connell watches as robots try to complete DARPA's 2015 challenge -- there's a collection of the best pratfalls at Popular Mechanics. The hardest things to automate are the things humans learn earliest: the 2015 state of the art, after millions of dollars and millions of hours of human engineering, couldn't climb stairs or open doors as well as a two-year-old. So in that area, at least, we can feel smug.

Given that the technology industry famously loves disruption, it should be no surprise that it attracts people who favour disrupting life itself. In the end, however, O'Connell favours blood and bone.

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To Be a Machine, book review: Disrupting life itself - ZDNet

We have experienced that sinking feeling on the day were about to resume work after a fantastic two-week vacation. We dread to switch on the laptop and witness the flooded mailbox. We repeatedly go through pictures and daydream about being there again.

Its normal to suffer from vacation withdrawal. It would take few days to come back to the routine, and you eventually will. Here are eleven ways you can combat the vacation withdrawal.

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Take a days break after landing because unpacking would obviously take time. Joining immediately a day after will make your vacation withdrawal worst.

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Gather all your vacation pictures and videos and put them on a big screen. Call your friends, family (people you went on a vacation with) and watch it with them.

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Pictures on Facebook are fine, but remember that people dont want to see ten pictures of you sipping coffee at London Starbucks.

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Nobody wants to hear about your skydiving in New Zealand for more than five minutes. Telling each and everybody you meet about the taste of the burger you ate at an eatery in London is not going to interest them because they werent there to experience. Thus, cutting it short to it was amayyyyzinggg would do the trick.

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Youre no more holidaying in Ibiza. Youre back to the grind and youve got to accept it. Tell your friend to slap you everytime you start zoning out to your favourite place during the vacation.

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Remember this you cant pay rent by daydreaming and ranting about how the routine sucks. So, youve got to come back to reality and do what youve got to do.

theatlantic

Your mailbox would be flooded with mails in your absence. The best way to deal with them is to let the entire mailbox load and then start replying to the oldest mail first.

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Since we travel to return with a fresh perspective and newfound energy, document all good things that the vacation made you realise. Whether it was a nice hour or two of mountain climbing or a tasty meal at a restaurant, write about it and be thankful that you were able to experience it.

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Let your vacation be a source of inspiration for you. Derive positivity and put it in your routine, it will ensure there wont be a dull moment for you.

global

All that useful information about your itinerary should be passed on to others who would be taking a vacation at the same place too.

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To fight the vacation blues, start planning your next vacation. Fix the destination; start reading on it, and book tickets way ahead for good deals.

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11 Ways To Get Back To Routine After Having A Mind-Blowing Vacation - Indiatimes.com

Leave it to a Muppet to get things done in Washington. The small-screen arrival of JuliaSesame Streets first Muppet with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)broke new ground in April for the long-running childrens series. But her presence is moving much more than just the TV dial. Earlier this spring, in conjunction with the US Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Julia helped deliver findings from a Georgetown University study that measured the effectiveness of digital videos and eBooks in empowering ASD kids and parents. And gaining a better grasp on autism has never been more important, given that one in 68 kids in the US (and 1% of UK children) has a form of ASDand is five times more likely to be bullied because of it.

With the rise in diagnoses and misconceptions, content creators have had the heavy task of portraying autism appropriately, while effectively reaching those with the disorder, and simultaneously educating those without it. And technology, in all respects, has been a game-changer in making it all come to fruition.

The original strategy for Julia was to create her as a digital Muppet with online videos and eBooks, because we knew kids with autism used mobile and tablet devices a great deal, says Sherrie Westin, EVP of global impact and philanthropy at Sesame Workshop. After Julias initial October 2015 digital launch evolved into four billion online impressions, Sesame Workshop brought her to life on the broadcast side. She made her US TV debut on April 10 on HBO, PBS and YouTube.

Sesame Workshop debuted autistic Muppet, Julia, digitally first

There is a saying in the community, If youve seen one child with autism, then youve seen one child with autism. Theres not one typical portrait, and each child is unique, says Westin. With assistance from 14 autism associations, Julia was developed to portray kids on the mid-range of the spectrum, so she doesnt always look people in the eye, often repeats words, may not be responsive right away, and doesnt like loud noises.

These traits were highlighted in Sesame Workshops See Amazing in All Children website that features narrated videos, an electronic storybook and eight daily routine card sets. According to Georgetown Universitys quantitative and qualitative study on the website, which surveyed 330 parents of kids with ASD, as well as nearly 700 parents of kids not affected by it, 70% agreed that they had a better understanding of the disorder after using these digital tools.

Dr. Bruno Anthony, deputy director at Georgetowns Center for Child and Human Development and the studys lead researcher, says sites like See Amazing in All Children boost awareness and understanding, which in turn translate to increased empathy and inclusion. What hit home the most for parents of kids without autism were the videos that showed autistic kids interacting in various situations, Anthony says. Based on comments, parents understood things better once they saw these kids in everyday scenarios. They may be behaving differently, but its all very positive. We compare this to educating people about mental health and reducing stigma and attitudes toward it.

Anthony says the prevalence of autism has increased markedly in the last decade, partly because there is a greater awareness of those on the higher functioning end of the spectrum. As such, there is a larger emphasis on identifying those kids earlier and developing interventions that can be implemented in schools. There have also been more moves among those in the medical community to diagnose ASD among adolescents, and not just very young children.

Still, digital tools aimed at reaching kids tend to skew younger. Research is being conducted right now on iPad skill sets. And these games have to be based on good research. I worry sometimes that there are activities aimed at kids with autism that havent been well-researched, Anthony says. The best games need to be flexible enough to adapt to the varying interests of a child.

Hopsters new Sense playroom features calming textures, sights and sounds, with interactivity thrown into the mix

An adaptable environment is the very premise behind Hopsters brand-new Sense playroom. The UK-based SVOD app launched the in-app hub in March as a way for kids, particularly those on the autism spectrum, to develop sensory processing skills. Along with the new features, Hopster also rolled in original content focused on accepting and tolerating differences.

Sense aims to both relax kids and let them play. It includes nine screens with various textures, sights and sounds that can be ignited by the touch of a finger. It is also designed to help develop fine-motor skills, especially when it comes to rotation and positioning, and a section of the app includes calm and meditative animations using water and bubbles.

Given its atypical nature compared to Hopsters entertainment-based fare, the company opted for extensive user testing and consultations. We learned that autistic kids can get really engaged. Tech offers them that one-on-one interactivity that gives control and independent exploration, says Lelia Ingram, head of learning at Hopster. We made sure there were no flashing lights or voiceovers, and the music is relaxing. TV can often be an assault on the senses. But handheld devices represent ownership.

So far, the elements have added up for Sense, which was played more than 370,000 times four weeks into its March launch. Hopster has therefore decided to keep it as a permanent in-app feature, with more activitiesor Sense screens, as theyre calledadded regularly.

Having spoken to many parents and teachers, they say there are a lot of apps out there designed for kids with autism and heightened sensory issues. But we wanted it to be inclusive of all kids with special needs. So that everyone, not just autistic kids, can enjoy it, Ingram says. Its important for kids to diversify their experiences and educate themselves. Everyone has some form of sensory difficulty; even the sound of a hairdryer can bother people. So Sense helps to paint a greater picture.

Apps that promote emotional recognition are also picking up momentum in the space. A recent University of Bristol study confirmed that young people with autism have difficulty recognizing and distinguishing between varying facial expressions, which led the institution to collaborate on an educational iPad app entitled About face to coincide with its findings. The game has similar characteristics to FindMe, an app developed in 2012 by University of Edinburgh professor Dr. Sue Fletcher-Watson that encourages eye contact among autistic children.

According to Maggi Laurie, a PhD researcher with Dr. Fletcher-Watson at DART (Development, Autism, Research, Technology) lab, digital games are powerful tools in unlocking social skills for ASD kids. The medical community says those with autism arent adhering to social norms due to deficit and disability, but there is a grassroots model that asks, Well, what if theyre just not interested in doing these things? says Laurie, who is studying the social implications of tech on autism. Perhaps there is no eye contact because these children dont see rewards from social interaction. Since kids with autism are so interested in tech, it can open up more opportunities for social behaviors.

Laurie says tech can encourage spontaneous social behaviors in autistic kids that may not be seen in non-digital activities. For example, a child may be shy with his or her peers in the classroom, but will be a highly skilled leader in an MMORPG. This is because tech may add structure to an environment, or remove overwhelming elements like noise.

I hope that digital creators are going to pick up on these opportunities to help kids develop social skills. Like encouraging pretend play that they arent getting elsewhere, Laurie says. Its unfair to think autistic kids will only like tech designed for them. Toca Boca games have opened up opportunities for collaboration between autistic kids and parents. They take turns doing actions that have elements of pretending. You dont have to design something specifically for autistic kids for it to resonate with them.

The same goes for kids not affected by ASD. For Grainne McGuinness, creative director at Irelands Paper Owl Films, the hope for her new CBeebies series Pablo is to reach and educate a widespread, mainstream audience.

The co-pro with Kavaleer Productions, which will launch this fall at MIPCOM, is written from the point-of-view of kids with autism. It features an autistic boy (both in live action and 2D animation) as he faces a challenge thats magnified by the lens of his condition. All of the shows voice actors have autism, and its animated characters express traits like flapping and sensitivity to sounds. The shows corresponding digital games, developed with Manchester-based D3T, are based on the personality of each character.

The most important things we saw in developing the games are that instructions have to be clear, there are no levels, and you can choose where to go at any time, says McGuinness. And most of all, it has to be fun. Kids with autism want to have fun, too. Tech can be a useful tool to occupy a mind while in overload. Or exercise a part of the mind thats highly developed.

Rain Man associations aside, there is something to be said about addressing many autistic childrens propensities for numbers. And Craig Smiths Code For Life initiative is among those up for the task.

The Australian teacher has found great success in using tech to reach his autistic students at Aspect Hunter School in Newcastle, Australia. And last December, he launched Coding for Life as a global online Hour of Code course meant for those on the spectrum. Coding just became part of Australias national curriculum. While not all of my students are going to be app developers or engineers, they will learn some of the foundations around logic, sequence and problem-solving. These are very particular concepts that can teach life skills, says Smith. The goal of Code For Life is to encourage independence through the order of daily events, such as a childs morning routine.

Smith says digital programs like Code For Life are a way to inspire kids through a conduit with which theyre already familiar. And big-name mainstream platforms like Minecraft are just as crucial. For example, Smith recently tapped Microsofts open-ended game to educate his class about Australias national Anzac Day.

Its a holiday to remember our involvement in World War One. But autistic kids may not be interested or have the same historical understanding. So we used Minecraft, which they have a common love for, Smith says. We took landscapes from countries that Australia fought in and had our students recreate the spaces on the platform to understand where our soldiers went. They also made images based on original historical photographers, all within Minecraft. It was our canvas to explore the subject matter.

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Joanna Allhands: It's simple. If you don't want a photo copied and shared, don't upload it on social media.

A photo from Mayor John Giles' Facebook page that was used by an unknown person on an online-dating profile.(Photo: John Giles/Special for The Republic)

Consider this a teaching moment.

Photos from Mesa Mayor John Giles'Facebook page were used in an apparent catfishing schemeon match.com.

A woman who had been chatting with a"man" from Vancouver, British Columbia, became suspicious about his identity and asked for additional photos. He sent her a picture of Giles with U.S. Sen. John McCain, which set off even more red flags.

She did a quick Internet search, realized the photos were actually of Gilesand emailed hismayoral office. The Republic'sJessica Boehm learned of the schemeduring a routine public-records search.

It's easy to see how all of this happened. Giles' Facebook pagecontainstons of photos that are shared publicly. Most are official-looking, mayoral-duty kinds of pics: Giles delivering his annual State of the City speech, speaking with the governor, breaking ground on a new car dealership.

But there are more personal photos in there, including one ata family dinner and another of the grandkids posing with Santa. None of them are inappropriate. In fact, they're probably just like the photos you upload to Facebook.

I'm not faulting Giles for posting them and allowing the public to view them.They give constituents a valuableview into an elected official's life and public work.

But theyalsooffer an important social-media lesson. Anything you share -- and yes, we mean anything -- can potentially be found, saved and used by people with less than honorable intentions.

Marking photos public makes it easier for would-be thieves to find them. But even those you share only with friends can be saved by those friends and potentially redistributed.

In other words, use caution before you put a photo out there. Know your privacy settings and how to change them. As Facebook's official FAQ notes: "Remember, when you post to another person's Timeline, that person controls what audience can view the post. Additionally, anyone who gets tagged in a post may see it, along with their friends."

In other words, you have some control over who sees your stuff. But not ultimate control. So post with that in mind.

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Allhands: Could Mesa mayor have avoided this catfishing scheme? - AZCentral.com

Computers and brains already talk to each other daily in high-tech labs and they do it better and better. For example, disabled people can now learn to govern robotic limbs by the sheer power of their mind. The hope is that we may one day be able to operate spaceships with our thoughts, upload our brains to computers and, ultimately, create cyborgs.

Now Elon Musk is joining the race. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has acquired Neuralink, a company aiming to establish a direct link between the mind and the computer. Musk has already shown how expensive space technology can be run as a private enterprise. But just how feasible is his latest endeavour?

Neurotechnology was born in the 1970s when Jaques Vidal proposed that electroencephalography (EEG), which tracks and records brain-wave patterns via sensors placed on the scalp (electrodes), could be used to create systems that allow people to control external devices directly with their mind. The idea was to use computer algorithms to transform the recorded EEG signals into commands. Since then, interest in the idea has been growing rapidly.

Indeed, these brain-computer interfaces have driven a revolution in the area of assistive technologies letting people with quadriplegia feed themselves and even walk again. In the past few years, major investments in brain research from the US (the BRAIN initiative) and the EU (the Human Brain project) have further advanced research on them. This has pushed applications of this technology into the area of human augmentation using the technology to improve our cognition and other abilities.

The combination of humans and technology could be more powerful than artificial intelligence. For example, when we make decisions based on a combination of perception and reasoning, neurotechnologies could be used to augment our perception. This could help us in situations such when seeing a very blurry image from a security camera and having to decide whether to intervene or not.

Despite investments, the transition from using the technology in research labs to everyday life is still slow. The EEG hardware is totally safe for the user, but records very noisy signals. Also, research labs have been mainly focused on using it to understand the brain and to propose innovative applications without any follow-up in commercial products. Other very promising initiatives, such as using commercial EEG systems to let people drive a car with their thoughts, have remained isolated.

To try to overcome some of these limitations, several major companies have recently announced investments in research into brain-computer interfaces. Bryan Johnson from human intelligence company Kernel recently acquired the MIT spin-off firm KRS, which is promising to make a data-driven revolution in understanding neurodegenerative diseases. Facebook is hiring a brain-computer interface engineer to work in its secretive hardware division, Building 8.

Musks company is the latest. Its neural lace technology involves implanting electrodes in the brain to measure signals. This would allow getting neural signals of much better quality than EEG but it requires surgery. The project is still quite mysterious, although Musk has promised more details about it soon. Last year he stated that brain-computer interfaces are needed to confirm humans supremacy over artificial intelligence.

The project might seem ambitious, considering the limits of current technology. BCI spellers, which allow people to spell out words by looking at letters on a screen, are still much slower than traditional communication means, which Musk has already defined as incredibly slow. Similar speed limitations apply when using the brain to control a video game.

What we really need to make the technology reliable is more accurate, non-invasive techniques to measure brain activity. We also need to improve our understanding of the brain processes and how to decode them. Indeed, the idea of uploading or downloading our thoughts to or from a computer is simply impossible with our current knowledge of the human brain. Many processes related to memory are still not understood by neuroscientists. The most optimistic forecasts say it will be at least 20 years before brain-computer interfaces will become technologies that we use in our daily lives.

But that doesnt make Musks initiative useless. The neural lace could initially be used to study the brain mechanisms and treat disorders such as epilepsy or major depression. Together with electrodes for reading the brain activity, we could also implant electrodes for stimulating the brain making it possible to detect and halt epileptic seizures.

Brain-computer interfaces also face major ethical issues, especially those based on sensors surgically implanted in the brain. Most people are unlikely to want to have brain surgery or be fit to have it unless vital for their health. This could significantly limit the number of potential users of Musks neural lace. Kernels original idea when acquiring the company KRS was also to implant electrodes in peoples brain, but the company changed its plans six months later due to difficulties related to invasive technologies.

Its easy for billionaires like Musk to be optimistic about the development of brain-computer interfaces. But, rather than dismissing them, lets remember that these visions are nevertheless crucial. They push the boundaries and help researchers set long-term goals.

Theres every reason to be optimistic. Neurotechnology started only started a few years after man first set foot on the moon perhaps reflecting the need for a new big challenge after such a giant leap for mankind. And the brain-computer interfaces were indeed pure science fiction at the time.

In 1965, the Sunday comic strip Our New Age stated: "By 2016, mans intelligence and intellect will be able to be increased by drugs and by linking human brains directly to computers!"

We are not there yet, but together we can win the challenge.

Davide Valerianiis a post-doctoral researcher in Brain-Computer Interfaces at theUniversity of Essex

This article was originally published on The Conversation(theconversation.com). Read the original article

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Is it possible to fly spaceships with our minds? - The Independent

'Death Comes to the Banquet Table' (detail) by Giovanni Martinelli (1635)

BY: Joseph Bottum April 8, 2017 4:58 am

Here's a new book about how wonderful the next stages of the cyber-revolution are going to be: Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence by Richard Yonck, a contributing editor to TheFuturist magazine. And here's another: The Digital Mind: How Science Is Redefining Humanity by Arlindo Oliveira, president of the Instituto Superior Tcnico in Lisbon.

Recent months have also brought us Thinking Machines: The Quest for Artificial Intelligenceand Where It's Taking Us by the widely published technology writer Luke Dormehl. And What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing by Arizona State University professor Ed Finn. In case that's not enough, you can always go for Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, a history professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and self-designated cheerleader for modern atheism. And if you get bored with that, you can add in the more worried Data for the People by Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist at Amazon, and The Art of Invisibility by Kevin Mitnick, the convicted-felon hacker, freefrom prison and wondering where computers are taking us.

Or you can just skip them. The moral reasoning in these books rarely rises above a freshman-level ethics class, and the metaphysical analysisis more like a late-night bull session in the dorm after those freshmen have had a few beers: But, like, Turing said that if you can't tell if you're talking to a computer, then it's a mind, you know? Each of these authors issmart, for certain values of the word smart, especially Oliveira, Dormehl, and Weigend. But even the professional writers among them have a prose that clatters, connecting thoughts like train cars being slammed together. And they all have the kind of intelligence that imagines it can fly because it is so completely ungrounded.

I gave up on Harari, the anti-religion activist, around the point he informedhis readers that the name Eve derives from the Hebrew word for snake and thus, you know, Judaism is basically nothing more than a harvest-festival cult. I gave up on Yonck after he insisted that proof of the coming of emotional machines is found in the fact that cavemen had tools before they had language. I gave up on Finn once he found himself incapable of explaining the agency, the final causation, that he ascribes to bits of computer code ashe speaks of what algorithms want. In truth, these books are far more interesting in general than they are in particular, and the bulk of them suggests far more compelling thoughts than any one of them manages on its own.

Although the authors tend toward the happy-happy end of futurismSoon we will live like George Jetson!they begin in outrage. It's outrageous that our bones break and our cells fail. It's outrageous that we have such flimsy bodies. It's especially outrageous that we die. The indignation here is metaphysical, a fury at the human condition, and it has its root down in Francis Bacon's modernity-defining claim that science is born in rejection of the world as unchangeable.

Unfortunately, the new futurists' panangelicum is not Bacon's seventeenth-century New Atlantis, much less Thomas More's sixteenth-century Utopia. Instead of plowing ahead on the path that early modern thinkers pointed out, seeking to ameliorate the shocks that flesh is heir to, the new generations of computer-enamored writers seem to have taken a detourand found themselves looping back to recreate, all unknowingly, the old hatred of the material world taught bythe gnostics of late antiquity. If it's outrageous that our bodies fail us, then we should try to eliminate the body. If it's outrageous that we die, then we must become immortal. If it's outrageous that human existence is so sloppy and fragile, then the human parts of us will simply have to go.

So let us become computer programs, you and I. Let us upload our consciousness into the cloud. Let us turn insubstantial, immaterial. Let us be pure spirit, just as the old gnostics wanted. What could possibly go wrong? Not just self-improvement is involved here. Soon robots will be human, fully self-conscious and aware. So we must computerize ourselves in self-defense.

Part of these writers' ungroundedness is their inability to believe that rational thinkers could possibly disagree. Back in 1624, John Donne suggested that "affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it." It's not enough that the new futurists imagine Donne is mistaken. For these modern gnosticsespecially the religion-hating futurist Yuval Noah Hararipeople like Donne must be either idiots or hypocrites. Only rank stupidity or evil motives could produce a thought so manifestly wrong.

And thus, human sympathy soon follows the human condition down the drain. Richard Yonck, for example, begins with love for the promise of emotional machinesand he ends by insisting that those who are bothered by the idea of robot sex are the exact equivalent of the racist opponents of miscegenation. Luke Dormehl starts with great optimism about humans in the cyber future. "Barring some catastrophic risk," he writes, artificial intelligence "will represent an overall net positive for humanity when it comes to employment." But by the conclusion of Thinking Machines, he suggests that the intellectual advantages of neural nets will compel us to cede them rightsgiving them our jobs and forcing us to upload ourselves into computer code.

The other worrisome part of these books is their certainty that the gnostic transformation will happen soon. Years ago, teaching logic to young engineers, I had a student who insisted he could simply take the time to keep following an infinite regress. When I suggested that, if nothing else, death convinces us of our finitude, he had an answer. "I'm not going to die," he explained, "because by the time I get old enough to die, medical science is going to have cured whatever it is that I was going to die of."

I think about that student from time to time, wondering what happened to him when he learned about mortality. The new futurists are all older than my student was, but even in their adulthood they seem to share his sophomoric conviction that never-endingness lies just around the corner. Yuval Noah Harari is already an angry man, but what will the ebullient Richard Yonck dowhat rage will possess himwhen he discovers that he is born to die? How will Luke Dormehl and Ed Finn take the news? For them that think death's honesty / Won't fall upon them naturally, / Life sometimes must get lonely.

We seem to have some weakness that lures us to think fundamental change is barreling down upon us. As it happens, the utopians and dystopians do share one thing in common: For centuries now, neither group has been much more successful at predicting the future than the gypsy lady who reads palms down on 18th Street. But still we imagine that this time, it's going to be different. This time, the world will change.

The current futuriststend toward happy visions of the world to come,but along the way totheir utopias they take our susceptibility for the new and divert it to the old, old belief that there's something ugly and vile, something outrageous, about life in a fragile material body. Why should the new gnostics differ much from the old? Each of them longsto be an animal, a tree, a stone, an angel, a machineanything but a human being.

Excerpt from:

The Machine of Life - Washington Free Beacon

Blogs | Apr. 2, 2017

Do transhumanists believe in the soul, or in materialistic reductionism? Or could it be both at the same time?

The Cartesian idea of the spirit or soul as a disembodied presence merely using or occupying a body, rather than the two being integrally connected, is a cardinal principle in transhumanism, the ultimate goal of which is to transcend the limitations of corporeal existence through technology.

So I wrote in my recent review of the transhumanist fantasy Ghost in the Shell, starring Scarlett Johansson. In the combox a longtime reader who goes by Pachyderminator challenged this:

Modern transhumanists tend to hold a scientific materialist worldview, which is often concerned specifically to refute Cartesian dualism and replace it with physical reductionism, which holds that any system can in principle be modeled without loss solely with reference to its lowest-level parts.

This is quite true of many (not all) transhumanists a point I would have noted myselfin a piece on transhumanism. Since I didnt, I thank Pachyderminator for highlighting this point.

This is precisely what makes it so odd that, juxtaposed with this penchant for reductionistic materialism, transhumanist imagination also embraces, at least in its more quasi-religious or existential forms, a Cartesian notion of the self as not bound or defined by the material reality supporting the self a ghost in a shell, as the Japanese franchise, unambiguously an expression of transhumanist imagination, proposes.

The reductionist side of transhumanist thought lies in the notion that the mind, and more fundamentally the self, comprises a system that can be fully replicated, thus becoming equivalent to the original system.

The Cartesian side of transhumanist thought lies in the aspirational hope that replicating the mind and uploading ones memories, thought patterns, etc. can preserve ones identity or self that the me currently residing in my body can be transferred into a completely different form, and this too will be me, continuous with the me I have always been.

Only last week this fantasy was given imaginative expression in an article on transhumanism in the Guardian:

You are lying on an operating table, fully conscious, but rendered otherwise insensible, otherwise incapable of movement. A humanoid machine appears at your side, bowing to its task with ceremonial formality. With a brisk sequence of motions, the machine removes a large panel of bone from the rear of your cranium, before carefully laying its fingers, fine and delicate as a spiders legs, on the viscid surface of your brain. You may be experiencing some misgivings about the procedure at this point. Put them aside, if you can.

Youre in pretty deep with this thing; theres no backing out now. With their high-resolution microscopic receptors, the machine fingers scan the chemical structure of your brain, transferring the data to a powerful computer on the other side of the operating table. They are sinking further into your cerebral matter now, these fingers, scanning deeper and deeper layers of neurons, building a three-dimensional map of their endlessly complex interrelations, all the while creating code to model this activity in the computers hardware. As the work proceeds, another mechanical appendage less delicate, less careful removes the scanned material to a biological waste container for later disposal. This is material you will no longer be needing.

At some point, you become aware that you are no longer present in your body. You observe with sadness, or horror, or detached curiosity the diminishing spasms of that body on the operating table, the last useless convulsions of a discontinued meat.

The animal life is over now. The machine life has begun.

You see how this is imagined to work? The piece posits continuity of consciousness (a first-person experience of self, addressed here in the second person) between you that submits to the operation and the you that at some pointbecome[s] aware that you now exist in another form, leaving behind only discontinued meat. Pure Cartesian imagination.

Crucially, bolstering this mental sleight of hand, the scanning and the consciousness of ones self in the new form is imagined to be simultaneous with a process of destroying what is scanned. If we were to adjust the imaginative scenario so that the scanning process is conceived as non-invasive and non-destructive, you would still have the (imagined) phenomenon of a conscious awareness in a new form but you would also continue to be conscious and aware in your own body.

This alteration reveals that the consciousness we imagine in the machine is in fact a copy of the consciousness in our minds; if I can continue to exist as me in my own body, side by side with the version of me imagined to be in the computer, then I have not escaped or transcended death at all. In this scenario, I would continue to exist in my body for my natural lifespan and then die like anyone else, and the copy of me in the computer would be like a clone with implanted memories, a new self or consciousness based on me, but not me.

As an aside, Christopher Nolans The Prestige explores these implications (in a non-transhumanist cultural context) with his customary ruthlessness. To enjoy Star Trek, on the other hand, we are obliged to ignore the reality that if a viable transporter were ever invented, it wouldnt really transport a person from one place to another; it would kill the original person and create a copy in another location. (The Next Generation comes perilously close to admitting this in the episode where Commander Riker is inadvertently duplicated in a transporter accident, with one version stranded on a deserted planet for years and another version going on to a successful Starfleet career.)

To be sure, there are hard-headed transhumanists who will admit all this, at least in principle. The frankest will admit that, on their own reductionist principles, the notion of a continuous self is an illusion; there is no continuous underlying reality uniting what I call me today and what called itself me yesterday or will call itself me tomorrow. In fact, there is no I or self at all; selfhood itself is a chimera.

On this model, memory fools us all. I have inherited the memories of past iterations of me, which, they say, tricks me into feeling as if or believing that some underlying, continuous reality has had all of these experiences. But this is all unreal. There is no survival of the self from death, but then there is no survival from day to day either, or even from hour to hour.

So they say. Yet they generally believe, for example, in keeping their promises, i.e., promises of which they have inherited memories, though presumably they would not feel bound by promises remembered by what they knew or believed to be false, implanted memories.

Even if they were real promises made by someone else and then copied technologically or telepathically into their minds, they would hold the original promise makers, not themselves, responsible for them. Yet on their own principles its not obvious how the inherited memory of a promise transmitted organically differs from one transmitted from one mind to another.

For that matter, its not clear how much sense the notion of a promise makes at all. A promise creates what we conceive as an obligation for who? Not for me, for by hypothesis I dont exist at all, and certainly I wont exist at the future date when the obligation is held to apply. That will be some other iteration of me, with memories of what I have done to be sure, but the me that made those promises no longer exists, and its far from clear why the me that inherits those memories should be obliged by them.

If artificially transmitted promises dont count, then a consciousness into which all my memories and thought patterns had been poured would be no more bound by my promises than a mind that received them via artificial or telepathic means. But thats another way of saying that the copy of me isnt really me at least, as long as they hold that I am bound by my own promises.

At any rate, such hardheaded materialistic reductionism hardly seems to comport with quasi-religious zeal for achieving immortality through mind uploading. Yet this zeal for immortality is not only often found among those who theoretically acknowledge the illusionary nature of the self, it seems to be an important motive, perhaps even the motive, driving much of the enthusiasm for the transhumanist project in all its forms, technological, biological, cyborganic, etc.

Like a ghost in a shell, a Cartesian notion of the self as an actual, intangible thing lurking inside the biological machines of our bodies, a valuable presence that can be saved from organic frailty and given digital eternal life, coexists anomalously with a reductionistmaterialist view of our cerebral hardware as nothing more than the sum of its parts.

Transhumanists may or may not say out loud that we have no souls, but this doesnt stop them from hoping for the salvation of their souls in a way fundamentally convergent with believers in conventional religions. The main difference isnature of the deity and the hoped-for eschaton.

See also Ghost inthe Shell (review)

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Ghosts and Shells: Is Transhumanism Cartesian? - National Catholic Register (blog)

The idea that neuroscience is rediscovering the soul is, to most scientists and philosophers, nothing short of outrageous. Of course it is not.

But the widespread, adverse, knee-jerk attitude presupposes the old-fashioned definition of the soul the ethereal, immaterial entity that somehow encapsulates your essence. Surely, this kind of supernatural mumbo-jumbo has no place in modern science. And I agree. The Cartesian separation of body and soul, the res extensa (matter stuff) vs. res cogitans (mind stuff) has long been discarded as untenable in a strictly materialistic description of natural phenomena.

After all, how would something immaterial interact with something material without any exchange of energy? And how would something immaterial whatever that means somehow maintain the essence of who you are beyond your bodily existence?

So, this kind of immaterial soul really presents problems for science, although, as pointed out here recently by Adam Frank, the scientific understanding of matter is not without its challenges.

But what if we revisit the definition of soul, abandoning its canonical meaning as the "spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal" for something more modern? What if we consider your soul as the sum total of your neurocognitive essence, your very specific brain signature, the unique neuronal connections, synapses, and flow of neurotransmitters that makes you you?

Just as we have unique fingerprints, our brains, their "connectome," are also unique. Surely, all brains are made of the same stuff, but wired in very individual ways. Recall that our brains are plastic, and mold themselves according to environmental and emotional inputs the stories of our lives. To this, we must add our bodies and their relation to our brains. For the mind is embodied, the self not an isolated property of what's inside your cranium but an emergent property of your whole mind-body integration as mapped through the complex highways of nerves interlocking all of you.

Consider, then, the modern soul as the unique neuronal-synaptic signature integrating brain and body through a complex electrochemical flow of neurotransmitters. Each person has one, and they are all different. That is, or can be considered, your essence from a materialist perspective.

Once we have this definition of the soul, the next question is inevitable. Can all this be reduced to information, such as to be replicated or uploaded into other-than-you substrates? That is, can we obtain sufficient information about this brain-body map so as to replicate it in other devices, be they machines or cloned biological replicas of your body? This would be, if technologically possible, the scientific equivalent of reincarnation, or of the long-sought redemption from the flesh an idea that is at least as old as organized religions in the East and West (as Mark O'Donnell remarked in his book To Be a Machine, reviewed here).

Well, depending on who you talk to, this final transcendence of human into information is either around the corner a logical step in our evolution or an impossibility a mad dream of people who can't accept the inevitability of death, the transhumanist crowd.

Silicon Valley is taking very seriously the possibility that aging is a technological problem that can be hacked. For example, the website of Google's company Calico states right upfront that its mission is to tackle "aging, one of life's greatest mysteries." The company's approach is more one of prolonging life than of uploading yourself somewhere else, but in the end the key word that unites the different approaches is information. If life is a code written genetically, it can be dealt with, including the instructions for aging. Another Google company, DeepMind, is bent on cracking AI: "Solve intelligence to make the world a better place." Google is approaching the problem of death from both a genetic and a computational perspective. They clearly complement one another. Google is not alone, of course. There are many other companies working on similar projects and research. The race is on.

What to make of this? It's inevitable that science will be at the forefront of the quest to prolong or upload life. This is not a bad thing, per se, given that the knowledge this research will surely produce will open new pathways to healthier, longer lives. Accepting death is a hard pill to swallow, the hardest. As I wrote elsewhere, referring to my family in this context: "Every day I have to love them is one less day I have to love them."

However, the possibility of extending life indefinitely also raises all sorts of moral and social questions, and possibly a lot of pain and loss. The curse of the immortal is to lose everyone he loves. Unless everyone jumps in. But how reasonable is this assumption? Who will benefit from these technologies? The very wealthy? The select few that have access to them? What of the rest of society? Would we end up creating a dual species of beings, humans and transhuman demi-gods? Would there be mutual tolerance and respect? I can imagine all sorts of sci-fi scenarios unfolding, utopic and dystopic.

Meanwhile, while the quest for immortality continues, what we can do is eat well, exercise, and try to live a life of meaning, leaving the world a better place than how we found it. Or, perhaps, for some in the future, never leaving it at all.

Marcelo Gleiser is a theoretical physicist and writer and a professor of natural philosophy, physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. He is the director of the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth, co-founder of 13.7 and an active promoter of science to the general public. His latest book is The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected: A Natural Philosopher's Quest for Trout and the Meaning of Everything. You can keep up with Marcelo on Facebook and Twitter: @mgleiser

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Is neuroscience rediscovering the soul? - Minnesota Public Radio News

I dont know about you, but Ive had just about enough of space and I havent even been there yet. Ive been on one too many virtual walks around the ISS, and spent more than my fair share of time floating in zero gravity. If youre going to take me back to the dark abyss, then youll need a really good reason to bring me there. Fortunately, Interkosmos has just that.

This upcomingHTC Vive title from indie developer Ovid Works isnt about escaping some giant, Gravity-esque set piece, nor is it about going for yet another spin around the Earths orbit. Instead, this is a memory puzzle game of sorts that mixes a splash of comedy with a dab of simulation and then sprinkles on some arcade influences to boot. All of that and its set in one of the most detailed, convincing VR environments Ive seen in some time. Not bad for a debut effort.

Interkosmos takes place inside a 70s-inspired Soviet re-entry capsule thats been lavishly assembled with help from the European Space Agency. Though the teams Yashar Dehaghani never uses the term simulator as we chat, its not far from the mind as I explore a maze of buttons, switches and levers, each of which can be pressed, flicked or pulled. Youll need them at specific times, because Interkosmos wants to give you an authentic feeling of attempting to land safely on Earth, though it doesnt take itself as seriously as Apollo 13.

When you start up the game a thick Russian accent comes on the radio, barking instructions at you. Eventually your comrade will entangle himself in an argument with Americans that also gain access to the craft and try to convince you to steer your vessel towards the USA. The game has two branching paths and Ovid wants to encourage multiple playthroughs, especially as players first few attempts will likely result in death.

Getting home is easier said than done. For the purposes of the demo, switches I need are highlighted at the right time Id have been lost without them but when the game is available for everyone to take at their own pace players will also have a mode that expects them to memorize the entire layout of the cockpit, which I suspect is where the real fun comes from.

Even with the guidance though, Interkosmos can be a frantic thrill. Youll need to keep tabs on your oxygen and other meters as you busy yourself with other tasks; let them fall too low and youll die. Fill them up too much and, guess what, youll probably die. Or just start a fire, in which case youll very likely die a bit later. The game is rightly punishing in that regard, as it wants to push you, though I do wonder if everyone will take to the insistence on memorization very well. It could come off as a bit of a chore.

The capsule takes full advantage of VR, as youre never really sure where to look and which of the many screens is the one you should be reading. At one point Im using a lever to steer the capsule towards Earth, while the next Im trying to put out a small fire thats broken about because Ive been neglecting other duties.

With a successful playthrough said to take around 30 minutes, Im going to be interested to see how people take to Interkosmos unforgiving brand of survival. I had a great time scrambling around my cockpit desperately looking for the right buttons to push, and I hope that hardcore element resonates with the VR community.

Ovid is planning to launch Interkosmos on the HTC Vive towards the end of April for approximately 4.99.

Tagged with: Interkosmos, Ovid Works

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Interkosmos Is A Clever, But Harrowing, Astronaut Adventure For HTC Vive - UploadVR

If you pulled on your Vive on April Fools day and booted it up, chances are you found yourself in your normal home space and didnt think much of it. However, if youre a bit of a Star Wars fan enough to decorate your space after The Empire Strikes Back then you may have been in for a shock.

Last year Kent Sunde created one of the better Star Wars VR tributes; a Vive home space set inside the iconic Cloud City from the series most celebrated chapter. The space authentically recreates the wind-swept cat walk scene where a certain Dark Lord relieves a certain son of a certain hand. Thousands of tiny lights surround you, seemingly stretching on forever both above and below. You can stand on the edge of the catwalk and imagine dropping all the way to the bottom like a desperate Luke Skywalker did, or walk to the end and picture Darth Vader urging you to join him and rule the galaxy. Sunde did an excellent job of making a space thats fun to simply exist in.

But on April 1st he had other ideas.

Even knowing what was to come I still jumped out of my skin. As the screen flickers to life youll find a huge, monstrous set of claws just inches away from your face. Its enough to make you scramble backwards in surprise, convinced for a brief few seconds that youve fallen into a nightmare. If you dare allow yourself to turn your head to the left a little, youll find what the hand is attached to: the Rancor from Return of the Jedi.

Im kind of a VR evangelist, and the idea for the Rancor had come from one of my common rants about how VR will revolutionize game playing once we get past this wave based shooter phase, Sunde tells me when I catch up with him following the brilliantly cruel prank. As a 3D artist passionate about VR, Sunde wants to focus on two things within the medium.

The first is the sense of scale VR provides, which is actually why hed made the Cloud City environment in the first place. He also loves experiences that really root the player in the virtual space theyre standing in.

Weve all gotten that sense of scale and presence with the whale encounter [theBlu], which is the first thing I show people who havent tried VR yet, Sunde says. When the whale comes up to the user I quite regularly see them back up to give that whale space as it enters the players area and that to me is presence, and something right now that game designers really need to play with in a narrative sense.

Sunde, who now teaches modelling and texturing at Capilano University, was working on his portfolio with these thoughts in mind. He wants to create something large and introduce it into an environment in which the user was contained. Obviously, hed already done the leg work on one of those ideas, and 20,000 people already had it installed.

I thought why not go dark side and play an April Fools prank? he says. First, it was a fantastic excuse to fix up some of the lighting and texturing in that scene. However I almost didnt go through with it because I thought the Rancor would be too big, and it wouldnt make sense, but after blocking him in and prototyping I thought its a joke too and hes fitting in okay

So he set about sculpting, posing and painting the beast all within the space of two days. By the end, he had to make some optimizations to the scene itself to fit it in there.

I think the goals of the project were achieved by watching my students and other colleagues going into the environment, he explains. Given the fact I dare not touch the Rancor even knowing it wouldnt move, Id say he did a pretty good job too.

April Fools day usually means an amusing, if throwaway, prank story or product render mock-up. Sunde, however, used VR in a brilliant way to play one of the best tricks on people Ive seen in years.

Tagged with: april fools, htc vive, Kent Sunde, Star Wars

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A Rancor In Cloud City: Behind VR's Best April Fools' Prank Yet - UploadVR

CRSSD Festival Spring has kicked off festival season proper, relive the weekend with these epic livesets now!

San Diegos premierhouse and techno festival, CRSSD Festival Spring, has come and gone, but that doesnt mean we cant still enjoy the sick beats and amazing vibes that came with the sets over the weekend! Bringing yet another stacked lineup for this edition, it was hard to catch each act that we wanted to see and decisions had to be made as to who we should miss. With that in mind, we are glad to see some fans, sponsors, and artists themselves upload their sets from the festival. More will be added as soon as they released, so make sure to bookmark the page and check in at a later date!

Check out our full review of CRSSD Festival Spring from the eyes of MyStro HERE!

What was your experience like at the festival this year? Let us know in the comments or our Facebook Group!

SoundCloud | Mixcloud | YouTube

SoundCloud | Mixcloud | YouTube

SoundCloud | Mixcloud | YouTube

SoundCloud | Mixcloud | YouTube (36 Minutes)

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Featured Photo Credit: Fixation Photography

Grant has been listening to electronic dance music since the early 2000s. Actively involved in the EDM community, Grant is an admin for the EDC & Coachella subreddits and their Facebook groups. Previously he has been part of several EDM startups and promotion companies such as Shamele55, Electric State of Mind and Q-Dance. Originally listening to trance artists such as ATB, Armin Van Buuren and Paul Oakenfold, Grant has expanded his listening experience to include a full set of genres ranging from hardstyle to deep house and has been regularly attending both festivals and club events since 2010.

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CRSSD Festival Spring 2017 || Livesets - EDM Identity (blog)

The countdown is on to register your pet. Failure to do so will have consequences.

If you live in Omaha or Sarpy County and don't register your pet by Wednesday, March 15, you're in violation and you can face a late fee.

Your pet has to have a current rabies vaccination in order to obtain his license. However don't avoid licensing if your pet is due and you can't get in to see your veterinarian before Wednesday. You can license him this week and avoid the penalty. You'll then have 30 days to get your rabies vaccination.

Simply send in your license payment and information through the mail, postmarked by March 15. Or bring it to the shelter, or renew on line just as you would if his vaccination was current.

To license online, grab your licensing statement. It shows your animal's ID number and license number. Go to the Humane Societys website. Once you plug the numbers in, you can pay by credit card and you're done. It's easy, you'll have immediate confirmation and you don't have to stand in line.

If you are licensing a pet for the first time you can do that online too. Just follow the cues for a new license no matter how you license your payment will be processed on time and your information will be updated, you just won't get your permanent license satus until you provide proof of rabies. Then, once your pet is vaccinated, your vet can send the records or you can bring them in to the shelter.

Remember a license is one of the best ways to ensure that if your dog or cat gets out, you can get him back. Licenses can be tracked across county and state lines.

And by uploading your license yearly you update your contact information so you can be reached if your animal ends up a stray. It's smart, it's peace of mind, and it's the law.

Read the rest here:

The clock is ticking on getting your pet licensed - WOWT

[This post has been updated to reflect Paytms roll back decision]

Paytmhas rolled back its decision to charge the 2 percent fee. In a latest blog post it said, We are suspending the 2 percent charge on credit cards for adding money to wallet keeping users convenience inmind.With an intent to prevent the misuse of transfer to bank facility at 0 percent, we had applied a refundable fee of 2 percent on add-money through credit cards. At the same time, we are conscious that this move caused inconvenience to a large segment of our users, including those who are using their credit card for genuine transactions.]

A day before the roll back, digital payments platform Paytm has announced that they will charge users a 2 percent fee whenever their mobile wallet is recharged using credit cards. The reason stated in Paytms blog is that, misusing the free option earlier, many users funded the Paytm wallet with credit cards and later transferred that money to the bank - all for free.

They were not only getting free loyalty points, which effectively is free cash, but also getting access to free credit, the blog says.

According to government regulations, all e-commerce platforms. including Paytm,have to pay banks (or card networks) whenever the customer pays them online.Paytm also pays hefty charges when the customer uses credit cards to recharge their wallet, to card networks and issuing banks.

However, when a user adds money and transfers it to a bank, Paytm ends up losing money. Our revenue model requires users to spend money within our network, and we make money from the margins available to us on various products/services we offer, Paytm explains in the blog. It has specified that there will be no fee when users shop on Paytm, and using payment options other than credit cards remains free.

Although they will charge a 2 percent fee (inclusive of taxes) for adding money to the wallet using credit cards, this can be reversed in the form of a gift voucher for amounts of Rs 250 and above. It will be issued within 24 hours of adding the money using a credit card.

Taking on their biggest rival, online payment platform MobiKwik also released a press statement today, declaring that it will continue to offer free uploading of money into their wallet for all users, including credit card users.

MobiKwiks Founder and CEO, Bipin Preet Singh, has said in the statement, In order to popularise the governments vision of a cashless society, we at MobiKwik have decided not to charge 2 percent on credit card recharges so that more people can transact online without having to worry about additional charges. Mobikwik has more than 55 million users, while Paytm recently crossed 200 million wallet users.

Link:

Paytm rolls back decision to charge fee on credit card usage to recharge wallet - YourStory.com

Uh oh. Of all the mistakes to make when moving your site from insecure HTTP to totally safe HTTPS, forgetting to upload your disavow file is one of the biggest.

Whys that, exactly? Well, if you forget to upload your disavow file to the new HTTPS site, all those bad links you already disavowed will transfer over. Youre basically taking all the hard work you put in and flushing it down the drain. All because of one teensy little file.

We at SEO Inc. have inspected hundreds, if not thousands of backlink profiles over the years. Weve seen mistakes for just about every problem under the sun. But what is it about the disavow file that makes it so easy to get lost in the HTTP-to-HTTPS shuffle?

Join us in taking a long, hard look at why the disavow file is so often overlooked, and why overlooking it is so darn irresponsible.

Forgetting to upload your disavow file is astounding to us because of how important it is to your websites success.

Your disavow file is a critical part of link detox. Detoxifying your link profile rids your site of unwanted links spammy, artificial, or low quality. Its a painstaking process, and one we have performed hundreds of times, removing 21 manual penalties and countless algorithmic penalties. Clients who have benefited from our link detox services have seen their rankings return.

Ultimately, thats what a link detox is designed to do: restore your rankings. Think about it you get a bunch of crummy links pointing at your site, and Google slaps you with a penalty. Obviously, you dont want your site to be associated with a bunch of spam, so you start thinking about disavowing them.

(Warning!! Indiscriminately disavowing links without doing the full required work could be damaging to your site! Make absolutely certain youre disavowing the worst illegitimate links. In a worst case scenario, contact a professional.)

Webcast, March 15th: How to Scale Upmarket with Enterprise Field Sales

But if you dont add your disavow file to your shiny new HTTPS site in Google Search Console, there is no layer of protection between you and all those crummy links you had already disavowed. All of the linking signals, both good and bad, will eventually transfer over to the HTTPS site.

When you forget to upload your disavow file, youre making a lot more work for yourself during a site move by having to find your most recent disavow file and import it to the new property. But whats even worse is that all those toxic links are now pointing to your new site.

So, yeah forgetting to upload your disavow file is a big deal.

The next question we need to answer is: why does it happen? How do we keep making such a gigantic mistake?

Too much on your mind thats what it all comes down to. When moving from HTTP to HTTPS, you have to juggle many different tasks to make the transition smooth, and lets face it the disavow area in Google Search Console isnt the most accessible section.

Google offers a thorough guide on how to prepare your new site for a move, but wed like to share some specific mistakes weve seen that have led to some bumpy website moves.

Preserving your links is a high priority when moving your site to HTTPS. If you neglect this, you could end up with a bunch of broken links that will not only frustrate users but will sever valuable sources of precious link juice. 301 redirects ensure that your old links send users (and search engines) toward the right places.

Heres how to use 301 redirects in the best way for SEO.

Google Analytics is one of the most powerful tools a webmaster can wield. But if you dont update it for your HTTPS property, youll miss out on all the data for your new site. When ROI is on the line, thats a mistake you cant afford to make.

Old links pointing to the HTTP page that are then redirected to the HTTPS version will lose some link juice or pagerank. Make sure to link to the correct versions.

The irony is that all the things weve mentioned above are usually kept front-of-mind over the disavow file. Is it any wonder that, with so many critical pieces to include, something even as important as the disavow file gets forgotten?

To help you out, here are a few reminders when moving your site over.

Our advice: Know your domains. Big blogging sites like WordPress and Blogspot that link back to you should be judged on a page-by-page or subdomain basis. Dive into the links you find and see if the sites actually link back to you legitimately or if they deserve to get disavowed.

Mistakes happen. Theyre unavoidable especially when youre attempting a huge, multi-step process like moving a site from HTTP to HTTPS. But failing to upload your disavow fail should not be one of them. Not anymore. Theres simply too much at stake to forget.

Add a reminder to your smartphone calendar. Write DISAVOW FILE on a sticky note and slap it onto your monitor. Heck, print up this blog post and read it every day. Do whatever it takes to remember, so long as you remember.

Just do not forget to upload your disavow file. When your new HTTPS site is flourishing with nothing but healthy, carefully curated links, youll thank us later.

John Caiozzo is a SEO, PPC, and WordPress expert based in Carlsbad, CA. John provides companies with custom tailored digital marketing strategies to drive more traffic and conversions to their websites. When he's not working or blogging about internet marketing you can find him hiking, biking, and skiing in Southern Viewfullprofile

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Forgetting to Upload Your Disavow File - Business 2 Community

By IANS|Mar 11, 2017 08:12 am

New Delhi: Doing a quick U-turn in about 24 hours, digital payments firm Paytm on Friday suspended the two per cent charge it announced for adding money using credit cards. We are suspending the two per cent charge on credit cards for adding money to wallet, keeping users convenience in mind. We will introduce new features to prevent credit card misuse in adding money, Paytm said in a blog post here on Friday.

With an intent to prevent the misuse of transfer to bank facility at 0 per cent, Paytm had earlier applied a refundable fee of two per cent on add-money through credit cards.

At the same time, we are conscious that this move caused inconvenience to a large segment of our users, including those who are using their credit card for genuine transactions, it said, reports IANS.

The withdrawal of the two per cent charge apparently came in view of losing out to competition after mobile wallet major MobiKwik on Thursday announced that it would continue to offer free uploading of money.

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Paytm to continue free uploading of money - Free Press Journal