Apple might have disabled bilateral wireless charging on its new iPhones

Reliable sources are saying iPhone 11 and 11 Pro do include the hardware for bilateral charging, but that it is software disabled. Uncertain whether this was removed prior to final production run.— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) September 13, 2019Ahead of Tuesday's launch, bilateral charging was one of the things that seemed a sure addition to the…

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Consensual phishing: How to crack your half-forgotten crypto password

Cryptocurrency security relies on hashing algorithms that transform a traditional password, such as "banana$123," into a unique string of numbers and letters, called a hash. To get specific, Ethereum wallets use a password-based key derivation function, meaning users input a unique password they can (theoretically) remember, and in return, they receive a key that serves…

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LG’s new 4K UHD CineBeam projector is way more affordable

LG has debuted a new 4K UHD CineBeam projector along with its short-throw model at CEDIA 2019. It's not capable of delivering crisp images at just 7.2 inches away from the wall like its short throw pal, but it also doesn't cost $6,000. (That is, however, pretty inexpensive for a short throw model.) In fact,…

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MIT scientists accidentally create the blackest material ever

The researchers had actually been experimenting with ways to grow CNTs on electrically conductive materials -- such as aluminium -- to boost their electrical and thermal properties. The color of the resulting material surprised the team, and they only realized what they had invented after they measured its optical reflectance.The discovery is currently being showcased…

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National Security Is in Trump’s Hands

It was another tumultuous week for US national security. Democrats are once again questioning President Donald Trump’s fitness as commander in chief, while most Republicans shrugged off the criticisms and went about business as usual in Trumpland.The week began with revelations, first reported by CNN, that US intelligence agencies had pulled a high-level spy who…

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How Tech Firms Like Uber Hide Behind the ‘Platform Defense’

The state of California is set to pounce, so—big surprise!—Uber is playing Silicon Valley’s favorite get out of jail card: the "platform defense.” As in, “Judge, I couldn’t have committed the crime, I was a platform at the time.”In the process, however, Uber may have helped energize critics who insist that Big Tech companies be…

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Super Planetary-Motion Smackdown: Kepler v. Newton

Science is always an unfinished project. That’s what makes it so much fun. The process—collecting data, building models to explain how the world works, and then dethroning them with new models—is full of spills and thrills. But perhaps the very best stories come from astronomy. So let’s look at part of that tale, the chapter…

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The Danger of Thinking We’re All ‘Addicted’ to Tech

Does repeating a falsehood make it true? It seems so, at least when it comes to the myth that technology is addicting us all. While a reassessment of the role our gadgets play in our lives is healthy, many people are buying into a self-defeating fallacy that ironically makes it harder to dial back.Not only…

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