Talk to the hand? Amazon reportedly wants you to pay with it.

Talk to the hand? Amazon reportedly wants you to pay with it.

Apple and Google make it easy to leave your wallet be when it’s time to pay at the register, but now there are murmurs about factoring out your smartphone as well.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon shops and other merchants could offer a hand-based payment system. Your credit card or account info would be linked to your palms, so when checking out you’d just put out your hand. Scan it and you’re set.

The terminals could be used at any store, not just Amazon-owned ones. Early talks with financial institutions suggest the powers-that-be are mulling connecting customer payment info to the hand-readers. Read more…

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Help your résumé stand out with these IT certification courses

Help your résumé stand out with these IT certification courses

TL;DR: Add something impressive to your résumé with The Essential Cloud and Networking Certification Training Bundle for $39.99, a 97% savings. 


While slapping a certification on your résumé won’t get you hired all by itself, there’s no doubt that it will give you a leg up on your competition. While there’s a lot of grey area for recruiters to navigate  on any given CV (what does proficient in Microsoft Word actually mean?), certifications are more black and white and signal to recruiters you, in fact, have a level of authority in your chosen field. 

If you’re looking to advance in the IT world, where salaries are lucrative and the jobs are competitive, you’ll definitely want an accreditation or two under your skills section. And The Essential Cloud and Networking Certification Training Bundle can help you get there by prepping you for a number of top network and cloud certification exams.  Read more…

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There are so many good tweets about the U.S. Space Force uniform

There are so many good tweets about the U.S. Space Force uniform

The newest branch of the United States military, the U.S. Space Force, gave the internet a first look at its utility uniform on Friday. Joking ensued.

Now the real purpose of the tweet was to highlight the embroidered nametape that identifies the new military branch in blue stitching. But the nametape in question is affixed to a standard uniform of the sort already in use among other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the
Pentagon. @EsperDoD @SecAFOfficial @SpaceForceCSO @GenDaveGoldfein @DeptofDefense@usairforce pic.twitter.com/Jvzt5bvNl7

— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) January 18, 2020 Read more…

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A facial recognition company dug up billions of photos from Facebook and beyond

A facial recognition company dug up billions of photos from Facebook and beyond

A Facebook photo from the end of college could come back to haunt you. 

A New York Times deep-dive into a facial recognition AI tool sold to law enforcement agencies uncovered that the company has amassed more than three billion images. Those images are scraped from all corners of the internet from social media sites to companies’ “About Us” pages.  That’s way more than the typical police or even FBI database. 

As the Saturday feature explained, Clearview AI, a small startup with initial funding from Facebook board member Peter Thiel, is bolstering its facial recognition database for police departments and others through Facebook, YouTube, Venmo, and more, despite prohibitions against this exact type of thing. Read more…

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Queen Elizabeth II officially blesses Harry and Meghan’s royal exit

Queen Elizabeth II officially blesses Harry and Meghan's royal exit

They’ll still be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but Harry and Meghan got what they wanted: They’re free.

Queen Elizabeth II delivered formal confirmation that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be permitted to follow through on their plans to step back from their roles as British royals. The Saturday statement asserts that the couple, along with their son Archie, will remain “much loved members of my family.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on

“I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life,” the statement continues. It doesn’t get into specifics beyond that, but the mention of “challenges” and “intense scrutiny” is likely a veiled reference to what some have described as the “structural racism” the royal couple has faced. Read more…

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Instagram noticed you never hit the IGTV button, so it’s going away

Instagram noticed you never hit the IGTV button, so it's going away

Back in 2018, Instagram launched its longform video brand IGTV. We’re less than a month into 2020 and maybe the most prominent way to access IGTV is going away.

TechCrunch reported Saturday that Instagram would remove the IGTV button that appears at the top right corner of users’ home screens in the main Instagram app. The reason? Nobody was voluntarily tapping that button, an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch.

If you didn't know it was there in the first place, congratulations!

If you didn’t know it was there in the first place, congratulations!

Image: alex perry / mashable

Of course, that doesn’t mean IGTV is going away or even being scaled back in any meaningful way. Not now, anyway. That button was just one pathway into the illustrious world of IGTV. You can still find it in previews on your news feed, an entire IGTV page in the Explore tab, and on the profile page of any user who has made IGTV videos. Read more…

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Babu Frik’s breakout Star Wars debut is finally online for all to enjoy

Babu Frik's breakout Star Wars debut is finally online for all to enjoy

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been out in theaters for almost a month, and you can watch the best part at home.

The adorable alien known as Babu Frik made a big debut in the movie and it’s finally available to watch online, courtesy of Disney. Early on in Rise of Skywalker, our heroes Rey, Finn, and Poe take series mainstay C-3PO to the planet Kimiji for some plot-important maintenance. The internet’s favorite little guy is the best droid mechanic in town, as you can see in this clip.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now. Read more…

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Uber vending machines didn’t work, so now your ride is a moving billboard

Uber vending machines didn’t work, so now your ride is a moving billboard

The convenience of grabbing a pair of earbuds or a late-night bag of chips from within your Uber ride has worn off. 

In-car vending machines — as the snack boxes from companies like Cargo and Vendy were called — in your Uber or Lyft have either moved onto the next idea or stalled out. Uber drivers with Cargo boxes filled with snacks, water, and other goods, like phone chargers, recently received an email that the vending machines were done. No more depending on your rideshare for post-bar crawl chocolate bar and condom purchases.

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Vendy the miami based #startup is starting to create some noise. With more and more drivers signing up, Vendy is able to provide #brands with direct exposure to consumers. Check out our latest video!

A post shared by Vendy (@getvendy) on Read more…

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The problem with the outrage around ‘The Simpsons’ Hank Azaria and Apu

The problem with the outrage around 'The Simpsons' Hank Azaria and Apu

Hank Azaria’s done with Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and there’s a lesson in the inevitable backlash that followed his announcement.

The veteran actor behind many of the popular characters on The Simpsons confirmed that he’s no longer voicing Apu during an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour on Friday. It’s not clear what that means for the character – Fox has no comment at the moment – but Azaria was clear about how his own role will change.

“What they’re going to do with the character is their call,” he said, according to /Film. “It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore.” During the same appearance, Azaria also said this was a “mutual decision” that “we all agreed on.” Read more…

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Apple is testing a feature to let iPhone 11 owners totally turn off location tracking

Apple is testing a feature to let iPhone 11 owners totally turn off location tracking

Apple raised eyebrows in the tech world late in 2019 with some small privacy problems in the new iPhone 11 line, but it looks like the issue will be fixed in the near future.

The latest beta for iOS 13.3.1 features a new toggle in the system settings to turn off Ultra Wideband features. This is important because, shortly after the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro launched, users found out the phone would periodically track their location even after they turned off location services for every single app on their phones, in compliance with Ultra Wideband regulations.

YouTube creator and journalist Brandon Butch tweeted a screenshot of the new toggle in action: Read more…

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