Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. A few more Americans now know H.R. McMaster, who resembles an aging Mr. Clean with horn-rimmed glasses. But they don’t know him nearly as well as Tom Ricks. His journalism experience reveals a distinct reason to doubt McMaster’s defense of […]
Instagram just copied the last iconic Snapchat feature, introducing “face filters” that allow users to spice up their selfies with augmented reality elements. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have been playing a copycat game for a while now as Facebook gradually “borrowed” more Snapchat features and added them to its own services. The new Instagram selfie filters are like the cherry on top, crowning all other copied elements […]
British IT expert Marcus Hutchins who has been branded a hero for slowing down the WannaCry global cyber attack, during an interview in Ilfracombe, England, Monday, May 15, 2017. Hutchins thwarted the virus that took computer files hostage around the world, including the British National Health computer network, telling The Associated Press he doesn’t consider himself a hero but fights malware because “it’s the right thing to […]
Private dining in the UAE is no longer the exclusive domain of the rich and famous. Heeding requests from customers with a desire for closed-door rooms and secluded enclaves for entertaining, restaurants in the country are increasingly providing spaces where patrons can host private get-togethers. While some packages can cost thousands of dirhams, if your tastes are gourmet or your group exceeds 30, there are deals to […]
A schism appears to exist at the heart of The Lightning Seeds, a disconnect between joyous 1990s pop hits such as Pure, Perfect, Marvellous and Lucky You and the dour-faced man who wrote them. Ian Broudie is often photographed in moody black and white, wearing sunglasses and looking absently off into the distance. “I’ve always written by melody, and I think the melodies are very uplifting – […]
Donald Trump’s promise of the biggest tax reforms since the Reagan era has cast minds back to the go-go years of postwar Manhattan, when cocktail glasses brimmed, steaks bulged and meal bills soared. The generous treatment of business meal expenses fuelled a phenomenon called the “three martini lunch”. As good for networking as it was bad for afternoon acuity, the more money diners spent on liquor, the […]
If you are yet to encounter a freakshake, you soon will. These monster-sized milkshakes are the latest food craze popping up on menus across the country. Taking the shake to a whole new level, these calorie bombs are fully stacked with guilt-laden, belt-busting extras such as biscuits, cakes, chocolate bars – and more besides. Reportedly created at Pattisez, a cafe in Canberra in 2015, the massive, augmented […]
Loads of these guys have awesome Instagram accounts.Image: Paul Buck/Epa/REX/Shutterstock By Sam Haysom2017-05-06 08:30:00 UTC Warning: Contains spoilers for all seasons of Game of Thrones. We’ve still got far, far too much time to kill before Game of Thrones Season 7 kicks off, so what better way to fill the gaps between promos than with some good old fashioned Instagram stalking? Gone are the days when an […]
Ben Wilson from Pacific Crest thinks it’s unlikely that a new device will replace the smartphone for most purposes. Instead, it will be supplemented by AI-based services such as Amazon’s Alexa. The smartphone is just another iteration of the everyday experience that computers have been getting smaller and smaller for the past 60 years. We’ve already moved from mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, and handhelds to […]
Viktor Medvedchuk has an unusually powerful godfather to his daughter: Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. The Ukrainian is also under US sanctions for “threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity” of his country. So why is Mr Medvedchuk involved in negotiations over the future of separatist-held east Ukraine — on Kiev’s side? Mr Medvedchuk, 62, has long been one of Ukraine’s most divisive and enigmatic […]
Each technology rises, and then falls and finds a niche. Soon it will be the turn of the smartphone. The arrival of the original iPhone back in 2007 heralded a revolution in how we use computing power, transforming it from something that sat on a desk in a PC that got used nine-to-five, to something that we carried in our pockets and accessed all the […]
After sitting through a course in table manners last week, I’m confident I have previously ruined many chances to impress at formal dinners simply because I did not sit down properly or forgot to place my napkin to the left of the plate when I was ready to leave the table. Participants at the Dining Like A Diplomat workshop, organised by the Protocol School of Washington in […]
© Seb Jarnot I arrive at La Méditerranée, a traditional fish restaurant in a literary quarter of the Left Bank, Paris, at 7pm to find its blue doors firmly bolted. Charlotte Rampling has just confirmed our reservation, but our dining slot appears to have fallen foul of that particularly French timetable that decrees that no civilised person would ever want to eat before 8pm. In a panic, […]
In a lab deep within Tata Consultancy Services’ landscaped campus in the western Indian city of Pune, 16 recent graduates are experimenting with new technologies that are shaking up a flagship national industry. TCS, the largest of India’s powerful IT services companies, set up the lab 18 months ago to enable new starters to work on the “internet of things”, the field of connected machines and appliances that […]
The Samsung Galaxy S8, top, and S8 Plus are displayed, Monday, April 17, 2017, in New York. The 5.8-inch S8 and the 6.2-inch S8 Plus both have nearly 15 percent more display space than last year’s comparable models. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 phone is stunning. But its $100 price hike is hard to swallow. That’s how much extra you’ll shell out for the S8, […]
ODG’s new R-7 HL goggles. Osterhout Design Group (ODG) announced a new pair of wearable googles aimed at hazmat workers. Dubbed the R-7 HL, ODG says the googles are a ruggedized enhancement of the its existing R-7 glasses built to withstand “Hazardous Location” certifications. The ruggedness certifications include drop, shock, vibration, splash, dust and temperature extremes, as well as safeguards for potential explosive environments. The R-7 HL’s […]
Imagination Technologies lost more than half its market value in a single day this week when the chip designer revealed that Apple, its largest customer, was developing its own version of the graphical processing units in which the UK-based group has specialised. Apple’s initiative to make a GPU, however, should not have come as such as surprise to investors. It follows several months of intensive recruitment by […]
By Clement Uwiringiyimana | KIGALI KIGALI Inmates protesting living conditions at Gasabo prison in the Rwandan capital of Kigali hurled stones over the prison’s walls on Monday, damaging nearby houses and disrupting traffic, residents and officials said. Rioting began on Friday when the prison, which houses at least 5,000 inmates, caught fire, according to residents living near the prison. Police used tear gas to stop the protest. […]
By Ulf Laessing | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Sitting in a wheelchair and wearing sunglasses, pensioner Abdelraziq Abdelkarim enjoys the afternoon sun outside his house in Mosul after a day of rain. He does not flinch when a mortar opens fire just around the corner. His home is on the busiest frontline in the northern Iraqi city just 200 m (yards) from Islamic State positions. Outside his […]
Apple and Facebook are gearing up to challenge start-up Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens in the race to create a pair of augmented reality glasses that could one day replace the smartphone as consumers’ primary computing device. Apple is stepping up its efforts in AR eyewear, according to people with knowledge of its efforts, while Facebook is also researching the technology that can make what chief executive […]
The paper dispensers have reduced waste by 70 percent since they were brought to Temple of Heaven over the weekend, according to the firm behind the device A years-long crime spree by Chinese toilet paper thieves may have reached the end of its roll after park officials in southern Beijing installed facial recognition technology to flush out bathroom bandits. Park managers at the Temple of Heaven, an […]
Augmented reality will soon be part of everyday life, if we are to believe Tim Cook. Cook, Apple’s CEO, is excited about the future of augmented reality and Apple together. He is psyched that the company is exerting its technological resources to research, develop, and apply AR technology on Apple products, particularly its flagship iPhone. If that happens, then AR can be Apple‘s “next big thing.” While […]
From smartphones, smartwatches, and smart home devices, these gadgets assist in daily activities from the mundane to the truly incredible feats. Smartwatches, however, are starting to be the norm as one of the most popular wearable devices today, each with its unique capabilities that set it apart from the competition. While more well-known brands boast advanced OS, and others sleek designs, one smartwatch in particular boasts its capability of […]
Microsoft’s Surface Book wowed many with its sleek and unique design. However, it may have found its competition in the ultra-stylish laptop department with Porsche Design’s 2-in-1 Book One laptop. Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress last February, Porsche Design’s Windows-powered laptop grabbed many people’s attention with its ultra-stylish design that’s reminiscent of the Surface Book. It does, however, have its own unique style that may just […]
