Chris Kraft, who conceived NASA's Mission Control, passed away on July 22, 2019 at the age of 95. The space agency's first flight director, he oversaw manned space missions from Mercury to the early Space Shuttle launches and developed many of the basic procedures and organizations still used today.
.. Continue Reading Chris Kraft, the man who created NASA Mission Control, dies at age 95
Hope you have a 2019 model, though.
LG tonight announced that it'll start pushing an update to its 2019 line of televisions that will enable Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit capabilities. The firmware is coming to this year's OLED, NanoCell and UHD TVs that have the ThinQ AI on board.
The addition of AirPlay 2 will allow owners to easily send content — video, audio, pictures and whatever else is supported — from their iPhones, iPads and Macs to supported televisions. Previously, you'd have to have an Apple TV box connected to your TV to do that sort of thing.
Adding HomeKit essentially turns the TV into a giant portal for Siri, as well as the plethora of HomeKit-enabled devices. And instead of needing a separate piece of hardware (again, we're looking at you, Apple TV), you'll be able to do everything through your LG TV's remote control.
Along with LG, Samsung and Vizio (which is currently beta-testing its new firmware) have committed to adding HomeKit and AirPlay 2,
Control TV and Connected Smart Devices with Voice
SEOUL, July 24, 2019 — LG Electronics (LG) today announced that Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit are available starting July 25 on its 2019 AI TV lineup, making LG the first global TV manufacturer to support HomeKit. These Apple features will be available through a firmware update for 2019 LG OLED TVs, NanoCell TVs and UHD TVs with ThinQ AI capability.
With AirPlay 2, LG 2019 AI TV owners can effortlessly stream content — including Dolby Vision titles — from iPhone, iPad and Mac straight to their TV sets. Users can stream their favorite movies and television shows from the Apple TV app and other video apps as well as view photos directly on their LG AI TVs. Users can also play Apple Podcasts, Apple Music and music from their library or other streaming services through their LG AI TV and other AirPlay 2-compatible speakers in their home at the same time — all in sync.
HomeKit enables users to conveniently control their smart home with the Home app or via Siri on their Apple devices. LG AI TVs can be easily added to the Home app, from which users can access basic TV functions such as power, volume and source. LG AI TVs can also be added to scenes or automations along with other HomeKit accessories.
"LG remains at the forefront of TV technological innovation because of our never-ending quest to deliver the best home viewing experience," said Brian Kwon, president LG Mobile Communications and Home Entertainment companies. "With Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support, we are demonstrating our commitment to offering consumer benefits that go beyond just best-in-class picture quality."
Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit will begin rolling out to owners of LG OLED and NanoCell TVs in more than 140 countries starting this week, with the update continuing over the weeks to follow.
For several years researchers have suspected a relationship between the gut microbiome and the onset of childhood asthma and allergies. New research, led by scientists from UC San Francisco, is describing for the first time how a specific compound produced by gut bacteria can directly influence the immune system and drive the development of allergies and asthma in infants.
.. Continue Reading Molecule produced by gut bacteria increases childhood allergy and asthma risk
Team Rocket has blasted off and their introduction to Pokémon GO is live right now.
With trainer battles, trading, and other features, Pokémon GO is starting to resemble the outlines of the mainline Pokémon games more and more every day. The newest addition of Team Rocket has added to the feeling of Pokémon GO being a full-fledged title like never before.
In this incarnation, Team Rocket is called Team GO Rocket, and instead of stealing Pokémon, they're....corrupting PokeStops! Info is still scarce, as not everyone has had a chance to fight, but here's everything we know so far:
As of right now, the Team GO Rocket is on hold. It seems that it introduced a bug that made the Rocket Pokéstops only appear at each Pokéstop once. So if you were unlucky enough to be 5 minutes behind a person playing you wouldn't be able to ever see them spawn. Not ideal at all.
Professor Willow has noticed that sightings of discolored PokéStops and Pokémon enshrouded in a shadowy aura have...suddenly stopped? 🤔 🔍 Hmm... This phenomenon keeps getting more troubling the more we investigate it. 😨
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 23, 2019
No timespan on this current outage but hopefully it won't take them long to put everything back up. When you introduce a big change to a living game, bad things can happen. I'm sure Niantic is working hard to fix this as soon as possible.
Team GO Rocket Invasions is a new feature in Pokémon GO that, for the first time, allows you to effectively battle an NPC trainer in-game and receive a reward. At the moment, not many confirmed details are known, but some excellent Reddit people who have the event have been providing details.
Team GO Rocket use your normal Pokéstops but change them to be easily identifiable. They have a unique blue cube floating above it and as you get nearer the Pokéstop it turns in to a dark gray version with a red R hovering above it. As you get closer one of the members of team rocket will appear and tapping on them will initiate the battle!
When you tap on the member of Team GO Rocket — called a Grunt in-game, making me think that there may be a raid battle with the heads of Team GO Rocket — you enter a trainer battle like the ones you are used to seeing against friends. These battles normally have two different Pokémon of the same type, so make sure you have a selection of battle parties with different types to counteract this.
You also get to use the new special attack system where you try to collect the tokens as they fall through the frame. This powers up your attack making it more potent. The Pokémon that you fight have been corrupted by Team GO Rocket and appear with a dark cloud around it and scary glowing eyes! Once you defeat them in combat you will get a chance to catch one.
You get Raid Pokéballs based on your performance so you can catch the Shadow Pokémon, and if you are lucky enough to defeat it you get to keep it in your Pokédex as a unique Pokémon. So if you are a collector like me, you will need to keep at least one of each of these new Pokémon instead of evolving them up or purifying them out.
Purifying your Pokémon changes them from their shadow state and teaches them a new attack called Return. It also increases their IV score slightly and increases their level to 25. If you use your Pokémon in a lot of combat then purifying them seems like the way to go.
Purifying does cost candy and Stardust though so it may not be cost-effective if you play casually, plus, the Shadow Pokémon look so cool! You can also make purified and Shadow Pokémon lucky by trading them, though do count as a special trade if the other person doesn't have one.
The Team GO Rocket invasion is live now, and you should start seeing the funny colored Pokéstops in local area soon!
You should be getting free fixes for your Nintendo Joy-Cons soon, according to documents seen by VICE.
Stick drift is a big problem. It essentially means that the sticks on the controller have begun to "drift" in a particular direction. At best, it can be irritating - at worst, it makes games completely unplayable. Over the last couple of weeks, many Nintendo Switch users have been reporting issues with their Joy-Cons experiencing stick drift. Nintendo has been charging repair fees in order to fix these problems.
According to VICE, that will no longer be the case. VICE claims to have seen an internal customer service memo document which states that "customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs." The document also states that "additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair... confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund."
VICE claims that they received the memo from a source at Nintendo, who they will not name for purposes of anonymity. This is great news and if you've already paid for a repair, don't worry - per VICE, Nintendo will now be issuing refunds for any repairs made. Hopefully this will put everyone's fears to rest and the issues can now be sorted in a somewhat simple fashion.
In the meanwhile, if you're looking at getting some new Joy-Cons anyways, Nintendo recently announced two more color combos for players to enjoy.
Play without wires.
The Nintendo Joy-Cons are the mainstay way of playing on the Nintendo Switch. They can be hooked up in a variety of ways, used for motion controls and have HD Rumble.
