Tuesday, July 28

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How to secure your home surveillance cameras
TECH

How to secure your home surveillance cameras

The easiest way for a hacker to gain access to something is to guess the username and password of the device’s administrative account Hackers are breaking into home security cameras, and the process isn’t always as difficult as you may think. In December, there were reports of hackers gaining access to Ring security cameras in Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Texas. And cybersecurity experts say incidents like these aren’t very complex to execute because people often use passwords that are easily guessed. “The easiest way for a hacker to gain access to something is to guess the username and password of the device’s administrative account,” said Brian Vecci, chief technology officer at the data protection company Varonis. “That’s the most common way to get hacked.” He said bad acto...
All Out Talent War Set Off By Video Gaming YouTuber
VIDEO GAMES

All Out Talent War Set Off By Video Gaming YouTuber

Tyler Blevins switched from video site Twitch to Mixer and by doing so shocked the $152bn video-game industry. On Aug. 1, a rail-thin 28-year-old with hair dyed red, white and blue altered the course of video gaming with three words: “The next chapter.” That tweet introduced a video in which Tyler Blevins, known to his fans as Ninja, announced he was moving from Twitch, a video site owned by Amazon.com Inc., to Mixer, a rival site owned by Microsoft Corp. “This is a really good chance to get back in touch with my roots,” Blevins said in the video, a mock press conference in which he answered questions from a talking bush and a cooler filled with the energy drink Red Bull. Blevins’s defection shocked the $152 billion video-game industry. Twitch is the most popu...
Fortnite’s black hole teases the future of entertainment
VIDEO GAMES

Fortnite’s black hole teases the future of entertainment

As audiences have embraced on-demand video services, algorithmic feeds, and an ever-growing number of digital “things to do,” our collective attentions have become hyper-fragmented. Yet we know that audiences actually love shared live experiences. Jeopardy is more fun watched with others. Movies are funnier in a packed theater. It’s hard to enjoy sporting events that happened hours earlier The durability of this appeal spans generations: Boomers watched the moon landing together, Generation X witnessed the end of M*A*S*H, and millennials recently collectively viewed (and complained about) the ending to Game of Thrones. Each generation might prefer different content, but we all love to watch it together and live. There’s no better proof of these two points than the recent #FortniteBlackout...
What you should know if your smart TV makes you feel dumb
TECH

What you should know if your smart TV makes you feel dumb

If it seems as though televisions have gotten very complicated very fast, it’s not just you. Sometimes smart technology can make us feel, well, dumb. You must contend with a number of abbreviations — LCD, OLED, HDR, HDMI and more — and widely varying price points. What does it all mean, and why can’t we just go buy a TV? To break it down, we talked to technology experts, a deals guru and an interior design expert — because you shouldn’t need a degree in TV to binge-watch “Stranger Things.” LCD vs. OLED Despite the letters that swim before your eyes at the big-box stores, there are basically only two options for TVs: LCD (liquid crystal display) and OLED (organic light-emitting diode). LCDs (sometimes called “QLED” or “LED LCD”), which illuminate pixels using a central lamp, are generall...
TECH

Black Friday just came early for the smart Instant Pot with Wi-Fi and Alexa

Well what do we have here, bargain hunters!? If you’ve been toying with the idea of getting an Instant Pot or you have an old model in desperate need of an upgrade, today is definitely your lucky day. The Instant Pot Smart Wifi 6 Quart Multi-use Electric Pressure Cooker is pretty much the cream of the crop, offering all the cooking modes you love as well as Wi-Fi connectivity so you can control it with an app on your smartphone or even with Alexa. It’s worth every penny and more at its normal price of $150, but it just got the biggest discount we’ve ever seen! Here’s the key info from the product page: REPLACES UP TO 8 KITCHEN APPLIANCES: Combines 8 kitchen appliances in 1 with 13 smart programs to save you space, including: pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice/porridge cooker, yogurt ma...
TECH

Xiaomi Black Shark 2 review: An affordable flagship gaming phone

Gaming phones are an ancient idea. Nokia released the N-Gage, which was like a phone built into a game controller, in 2003. And it didn’t do very well. But the concept has made a resurgence recently thanks to devices from Razer, Asus, and Xiaomi. Now, Xiaomi has launched its second-generation gaming phone called the Black Shark 2. The Black Shark 2 has a suite of features that make it a great way to play games on the go. It’s also affordable, starting at $420 for the version with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. But I’m less convinced than ever that anyone really needs a gaming phone even if this a great example of the form. What you’ll like Nice design for smartphone gaming I used the Black Shark 2 to play a variety of games, and it was comfortable relative to other smartphones. And a...
What to look for in a wireless speaker
TECH

What to look for in a wireless speaker

Wi-Fi speakers connect to your home network; they usually run on AC power, so they require an outlet. Bluetooth speakers are paired directly with a device like a phone or a laptop. Wireless speakers come in all shapes, sizes, styles and strengths. The trick is to muddle through the many product options and discern the right wireless speakers to purchase. First, however, is information regarding distinction between the wireless routes: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Consumer Reports explained the difference in its “Choosing the Best Wireless and Bluetooth Speaker” report: “Wi-Fi speakers connect to your home network; they usually run on AC power, so they require an outlet. Bluetooth speakers are paired directly with a device like a phone or a laptop.” Planetwifi.org in December offered Bluetooth sp...
Fun new tabletop games for families, couples
GAMES

Fun new tabletop games for families, couples

Five new tabletop games that are both fun and have a broad appeal to players of all ages and interests. Last century I made my living writing for and designing tabletop games, and Gen Con was the center of my professional life. As I moved into developing video games, I stopped going, so I haven’t been to the self-proclaimed “Best Four Days in Gaming” in over 20 years. Since then it’s moved from Milwaukee to Indianapolis and more than tripled in size. This year saw 70,000 gamers come together and play thousands upon thousands of games. It was a joyous sight to behold. Gen Con has become a prime stage for publishers to show off new and forthcoming games, and for players to demo them before they buy. I spent a lot of time in the First Exposure hall, where developers were playtesting ga...
VIDEO GAMES

Spend the extra to go online with ‘Mario Maker 2’

The original “Super Mario Maker” was praised as one of the best games on Nintendo’s previous console, the late Wii U. The game was so interesting, it almost made me want to buy a Wii U myself, but like most people who play games, I didn’t. At last, more than two years later, “Super Mario Maker 2″ is here, and the tens of millions of us who skipped the Wii U (the Switch has already more than doubled its predecessor’s lifetime sales) have our chance to make our own “Mario” levels. It’s great! It’s also a lot! Creating your own levels and sharing them with your friends (and the world) is the core appeal for “Mario Maker 2,” which expands on the first game’s many features. If you’re the kind of player who wants to spend from 10 minutes to 10 or more hours crafting a bespoke platformer experie...
GAMES

4 games to look forward to this year

Every year video game publishers come together in Los Angeles for the biggest press event in the industry: the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. Well, it’s supposed to be the biggest. This year Sony and its PlayStation decided to skip the show, and in general there were fewer exhibitors and fewer exciting announcements than in previous years. The 2019 showcase offered some exciting games, but with new consoles coming from PlayStation and Xbox next year, I got the sense that a lot of the more interesting titles were held back for the next generation of these platforms. There are still at least four titles coming out this year that I’m excited for, most of which gave a good show at E3. ‒ For me the next six months of gaming begin and end with fast-paced, exciting and very gory shoote...