Category: Article

Americans are shocked: Apple has released the card with cashback

Russian users are only grinning, cashback is not new for them

Reading time 4 minutes

Apple has presented its own virtual credit card – Apple Card. When paying by credit card, the company instantly returns 2% of the total purchase amount. It is easy to order a card: just spent a few minutes in the Apple Wallet app. To use the service you need only the iPhone.

At the presentation, the card was given not so much time as the rest of Apple’s new products, but presented in sufficient details. The company showed its physical carrier – a titanium card without a number, a term and a CVV code. All necessary data will be stored on the phone without which it is impossible to use the card.

You can see the history of recent transactions easily in an application that enables you to keep statistics. At the presentation, the user-friendly interface caused delight and loud applause from the audience. The fact that the Apple card has interested users is also confirmed by media statistics. The chief editor of The Verge, Nilay Patel, said that the article about the Apple Card was the most viewed material about apple products. The Russian Internet publication TJ declared exactly the same.

Apple Card application design

In Russia, such a rush around Apple’s card was viewed with irony. The fact is that Russian users have been familiar with cashback and high-quality online applications. These services have been provided by «Sberbank» , «Tinkoff Bank» and «Rocketbank» for many years.

And this is really the case when the States are in no hurry to keep up with progress. In Russia the flowering of IT technologies in the banking sector began in the 2010s. One of the first innovative banks was «Tinkoff» in 2011, and later – «Rocketbank» in 2013. Therefore, the presence of mobile banking and the return of interest on purchases of a Russian user is no longer surprising.

Russia is one of the leaders among countries that use Apple Pay

According to experts, the Apple Card will not immediately become the market leader. However, it is expected that the card will push for changes stagnant US banking sphere.

How to recognize «date rape drug»

Nail рolish allows you to determine the content of a dangerous substance in the drink

Reading time 5 minutes

Going on a date with a stranger, the girls need to be very careful: a glass of wine or even a сup of coffee can be fatal if they are mixed with drugs or sleeping pills.

Date rape drug

Drugs that rapists add to the drink to the victim, are dangerous because they do not have taste, color and smell, so  is almost impossible to feel them. Such substances are referred to drug rape, these include:

  • Rohypnol is the most common drug in the United States that has become associated with date rape. When used with alcohol causes muscle relaxation and memory lapses. Thus, the victim can not resist, and after the rape does not remember the details of what happened.
  • Ketamine – used for anesthesia, but it provokes confusion, causing hallucinations and nightmares, so the victim suffers both physically and mentally.
  • Xanax is a tranquilizer several times weaker than ketamine, but at excessive doses it has the same strong effect.
  • Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) – acts in the same way as rohypnol, but is a more dangerous drug. It is rarely found in its pure form. Overdoses in most cases lead to death, since it is impossible to neutralize the action of GHB.

The company Drink safe Technologies has created a nail polish that reacts to the above substances: if something is mixed in the drink, the color of the nail polish will change from pink to black. To conduct such a rapid test, it is enough to dip your finger in a drink or drop a little liquid on the nail.

Reaction to drugs

The creators of nail polish – are the students of the faculty of materials science and engineering at the University of North Carolina (USA). They  decided ti launch thus project, because each of them was personally acquainted with the victims of rape on a date, they reported in an interview. According to them, such cases are not uncommon in the United States, especially often it happens in dormitories, so the students decided to take up the problem.

The creators of the nail polish: Tyler Confry-Maloney, Stephen Gray, Ankes Maidan and Tasso von Windheim

Mass production of the nail polish detector has not yet been launched, but the inventors regularly notify all those interested in how the work is progressing. Last year, the project was among the semi-finalists of the startup competition K50, this year it took first place in the State competition of private entrepreneurs.

The project is called «Undercover colors»,  users can donate funds for the research on the official website. Students themselves believe that their invention will help girls feel more protected, and in case of danger – to take action. They write about it on the project page in Facebook.

The logo of the project

Previously, Drink Safe Technologies was engaged in the development of stands for glasses, which also contained a reagent that reacts to the drug. However, this method of checking the drink is too obvious and can provoke a rapist. Therefore, drug detector stands were not in demand.

Stunning masterpieces of miniature art

Tiny creations of Salavat Fidai, Edward Kazaryan and Hasan Kale

Reading time 4 minutes

Pencils are familiar to everyone from childhood; we draw or write something with them. But Salavat Fidai found another use for this writing instrument.

The artist created this work from the 4th time. The photo is published in the official Instagram account.

Salavat Fidai has long been interested in miniature art, performing reproductions of famous paintings on a variety of surfaces: matchboxes, pumpkin seeds and rice grains.

Some of the reproductions of Salavat went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

In 2014, he discovered another material for his little masterpieces – pencil lead. His works became popular, and Salavat Fidai, with the help of his fans, released an illustrated album in 2016. Some parts of this book can be found in the public domain.

Backgammon from black obsidian and gold in rice grain. Edward Kazaryan.

Edward Kazaryan is a famous Soviet microminiature mechanic. He became famous for his ability to work with the smallest details. His works were kept by Stalin, Khrushchev, Queen Elizabeth. Among the miniature masterpieces of Kazaryan you can find a poppy seed, which depicts a scene with Gulliver in the country of Lilliputians, figurines of football players from black obsidian inside a polished human hair, a real violin and a bow inside a needle ear. Some of his works are moving: Charlie Chaplin is twisting a cane. Ten works of the miniaturist are listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

There have been tragic incidents in his work. Once, a pigeon pecked up a drying grain of rice, on which the master, by request of the Louvre, painted a copy of Aivazovsky’s painting The Ninth Wave. So three months of hard work and one million dollars were spent – that was the price of the order.

Edward Kazaryan was a professional musician. He played a concert together with the Yerevan Symphony Orchestra with the help of one of his miniature violins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hasan Kale chose food as a canvas for his masterpieces. The artist draws mosques and landscapes on chocolate drops, nuts, sugar and raw pasta.

With such an original bouquet, the miniaturist artist congratulated all the women on his Facebook page.
With such an original bouquet, the miniaturist artist congratulated all the women on his Facebook page.

Hasan Kale is an active user of Facebook and puts his work on public display.

A miniature created using a sugar cube.

Turn the screen into black and white mode

How to overcome the dependence on the smartphone without getting rid of it

Reading time 4 minutes

Dependence on smartphones is a disease, and users themselves began to understand it. According to Google statistics, the query “smartphone addiction” and similar became very popular last year.

Analysts attribute this to the desire of people to cope with dependence on smartphones. Recently, as SKY News reported, sales of push-button phones without Internet access have increased in the world. According to the data presented on the website, sales increased by 5%.

However, there is another way to deal with smartphone addiction. American psychologist Martin Sinclair, the author of the bestseller “Care for busy people” proposed to transfer smartphones in monochrome. All application icons and their interface will become black and white. According to him, looking at the screen without colorful pictures and notifications can block emotional attachment – a key element of addiction.

It’s not a secret that app and website developers deliberately use techniques that cause addiction. Bright colors and colorful pictures – one of them. This was told by Tristan Harris, former head of design ethics at Google. He is the founder of the non-profit organisation Time Well Spent, where users are told about manipulation of their attention and how not to fall for the tricks of developers.

Instruction for use

If the smartphone has already become an integral part of the hand, and life without it seems impossible, it’s time to ask yourself: have I become addicted? The positive answer is an excuse to put your phone in monochrome mode. This can be done in a few clicks.

For Android

  1. Go to system settings and select the category «about phone»;
  2. Several times in a row click on the build number, it will open access to advanced editing;
  3. In the system find window «for developers»;
  4. In the section «hardware visualization acceleration» find the item «Simulate anomaly» and choose the monochrome mode.

For iOS

  1. Go to basic settings;
  2. Find the «Quick access» section and select «Filters»;
  3. After that, a triple press on the «Home» button will allow you to quickly change modes from black and white to color.

And the main recommendation: remember that the world around is much brighter than the screen of your smartphone!

Nazarbayev has left. What will be with the Kazakh Internet?

Kazakhstan was blocking up to nine thousand sites per year

Reading time 4 minutes

The first and the only president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced his resignation. Over 28 years of his reign many sites were blocked in the country. Among them are «Medusa», Ozon, «Pikabu», Reddit, Giphy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev in the office of IT-company Chocofamily

Terrorism, extremism, propaganda of suicide and violence – this are reasons why the authorities banned sites. The history of blocking sites began in the mid-2000s. Opposition editions which criticized the government were immediately blocked. However, the problem could easily be solved with a VPN.

In July 2009, the law was passed in Kazakhstan, according to which all Internet resources are equal to the media. After that, courts could prohibit any sites if they contained information inconvenient to the authorities.

In the following years, the largest social networks and instant messengers were disconnected periodically in the country. Among them were YouTube and Facebook. In June 2016, there was a terrorist attack in the city of Aktobe. Then the Internet and mobile communications stopped working at the same time. A panic arose in the city: Aktobe residents could not contact their relatives to find out about their condition.

Information about the permanent blocking of YouTube on the ping-admin site

Popular Russian Internet resources also came under the distribution. The first banned platform in Kazakhstan was LiveJournal. In 2011, the site was accused of propaganda of terrorism and religious extremism. In 2014, due to the material about local separatists, the online edition «Medusa» which was just launched, was also blocked.

2017 was the most memorable year in the history of the kaznet. Then Pikabu, Ozon. Book24 and Labirint were blocked. Resources posted books which were banned in Kazakhstan. Among them are the «Strike of the Russian Gods», «Islamic Akida», «Al-Fawaid».

In the same year about nine thousand sites were banned. Resources, according to the authorities, engaged in the propaganda of terrorism, extremism, violence and suicide. There is no official list of blocked sites in Kazakhstan, but the Kazbt project is existing. On this platform, you can check whether the site is available in the country.

Spotify enters Russian music market

Competitors are tense but feel confident

Reading time 4 minutes

Spotify is an online streaming audio service that allows you to listen to music tracks legally and for free. Now the service successfully operates in 70 countries. Daniel Ek, CEO of the service, said that the company is preparing to start work in Russia in the summer of 2019.

The development team believes that there is a strong potential in the streaming service to conquer the market of music services.

A subscription to a service for USA residents costs $ 10. The cost in Russia is currently unknown.
A subscription to a service for USA residents costs $ 10. The cost in Russia is currently unknown.

“We now have more than 159 million active users in 65 countries, 71 million premium subscribers, more than 3,500 employees worldwide and more than 35 million tracks. But we’re just starting… Spotify has a lot more prospects than you thought.”

The service functions as a cloud base and allows the user to select a composition from an extensive media library. Currently, Spotify provides access to over 30 million tracks. Users can search by artist, album, genre. All users have access to many major independent labels. You can also create your own playlists or listen to the radio. You can use the resource with advertising and some restrictions for free. If you pay a subscription, all restrictions are automatically removed.

In Russia, users have long been waiting for Spotify. The service planned to start work here in 2014 and even registered the legal brand LLC Spotify in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. However, the introduction of the Register was not a guarantee of launch. According to some sources, there were several obstacles to entering the market: the economic crisis, changes at the legislative level, requirements for the storage of users’ personal data, conflicts and disagreements with certain organizations and individuals.

Sberbank CIB analysts have already warned that Spotify will have a significant impact on the Russian music market. But his direct competitors (Yandex.Music and VKontakte (together with BOOM)) noted that they are not afraid of the appearance of a new player on the market and see their competitive advantages over Spotify.

Not only Yandex.Music and VKontakte become competitors. Do not forget about Apple Music and Google Music.
Not only Yandex.Music and VKontakte become competitors. Do not forget about Apple Music and Google Music.

“The growth of the market of legal audio services will be 20–30% per year, Spotify will make a significant contribution to this growth if it starts working in Russia,” said Alexandra Nosach, head of the licensing department for music and video content at Black Star Inc.

James Gunn returns to the director’s chair for «Guardians of the Galaxy 3»

The director gets rehired after being fired for his scandalous tweets

Reading time 4 minutes

According to the report from Deadline, the company decided to reemploy Gunn several months ago. Alan Horn, the Walt Disney Studios president, was meeting with James and Marvel representatives in order to discuss the project. Gunn publicly apologized for his controversial  statements in Twitter. Consequently, Horn let him to film the third part of «Guardians of the Galaxy».

Съемки фильма должны были начаться в начале 2019 года. Однако из-за увольнения Джеймса Ганна с поста режиссера проект заморозили
Shootings were to start in the beginning of 2019. However, when the director was fired, the project got frozen

It all started in July 2018. At that time James Gunn was accused of his offensive tweets that he had been publishing from 2008 to 2011. The director joked about AIDS, violence and pedophilia. Gunn wrote that he was laughing at sick people, because laugh is the greatest remedy. In addition, he said that he did not mind violence and cannibalism when someone is really hungry. Then, Disney announced that James’s views were contrary to the values of the studio. That is how tha company broke all ties with the director.

Подборка оскорбительных твитов Джеймса Ганна
Some of Gunn’s offensive tweets

But how did it occur that the last tweet of that kind he had written in 2011, and got caught only in 2018? It’s pretty simple: Gunn’s account was full of not only jokes, but also criticism. Through Twitter, he judged Ben Shapiro, an editor of a conservative political website Breitbart. It got noticed by The Daily Caller website, where its representatives did not like Gunn’s comments. They decided to dig deeper and read the director’s old tweets. There the dirt got revealed.

James Gunn accepted his suspension with understanding and admitted his mistakes. First of all, the director had deleted all tweets with offensive jokes. And then, he blocked his account, however, it got reactivated soon. Gunn confessed that he had been trying to maintain the image of provocator through his statements. He also declared that had changed since then.

«Guardians of the Galaxy» decided to support the director as well. Gunn’s fans signed the petition, which called for permission for the director to return to work on the film.

Открытое письмо
Signatures of the cast in the open letter in the director’s defence

It all ended where it had started: the director confirmed the news of his return in Twitter. He will film the third part of the blockbuster after the shooting of «Suicide Squad 2». It was impossible to find a replacement for him, despite all the attempts. The third part of «Guardians of the Galaxy» will be filmed by the same director who had shot the first two — James Gunn.

Джеймс Ганн с кастом «Стражей Галактики»
James Gunn with the cast of «Guardians of the Galaxy»

Swedish truant was nominated for the Nobel Prize

Greta Thunberg's sitting pickets gave impetus to the environmental protest children's movement

Reading time 5 minutes

School strikes for climate, Fridays for the Future, Youth for Climate, Youth Strike 4 Climate – variations of movements of teenagers who want to prevent climatic and environmental disasters. They organize school strikes, trying to convey the idea that knowledge makes no sense if there is no world in which they can be applied.

Members of the School Strikes 4 Climate.
Members of the School Strikes 4 Climate.

The movement started in 2015, when an independent group of pupils and students urged students around the world to skip classes on the first day of COP 21, the Climate Conference, which was held in Paris. Over fifty thousand students from more than a hundred countries took part in the strike on November 30. The movement had three basic requirements: the ubiquitous transition to clean energy, the non-withdrawal of minerals from the earth, the assistance to climate refugees.

Greta Thunberg.
Greta Thunberg.

In 2018, instead of studying, Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg began a single picket in front of the Swedish parliament. She sat in silence, and next was a banner with a slogan, which later became one of the names of the activist movement – “Skolstrejk för klimatet” or “School strikes for climate” in the English version. Its main requirement for the government was a gradual decrease in the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere.

In the interview, Greta said that the idea of ​​strikes for climate came to her after talking about skipping classes because of shooting in US schools. After that, the journalists had a question: can it be possible to skip classes to draw attention to climate problems? She found this idea viable, and she began to implement it. At first, no one responded to her proposal, but after a couple of days, someone kept her company, someone began to bring food to her. She attracted the attention of the media and some members of parliament.

Later, Greta still forced to return to classes. But on Fridays, she still continued to sit in front of Parliament with the same banner. The rumor about her actions went beyond Sweden. Soon, schoolchildren and students all over the world followed her example.

“I do it because no one else takes it. It is my duty to do what I can,” said Greta. “If several children can get into the headlines all over the world just skipping school, just imagine what people can do if they combine their efforts”.

In November 2018, three months after the start of the strike, she was invited to become one of the speakers at TEDxStockholm. At the conference, she spoke about the inconsistency of modern consumer culture, about ignorance, about silence and about the possibility of people starting to change the world for the better. March 14, 2019, Greta was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Members of the School Strikes 4 Climate.
Members of the School Strikes 4 Climate.

On the next Friday, March 15, students and schoolchildren organized an international strike. Tens of thousands of teenagers in different countries appealed to governments and large companies to take a more responsible attitude towards the environment. Young people called it the beginning of active actions to preserve the world in which they are to live.

Greta Tunberg talks about protest marches around the world on her Twitter account.

 

Cardboard reality in the big game

Nintendo Switch will get VR support, but that's not what you think

Reading time 5 minutes

Since the announcement of Nintendo Switch in the network there is information that the console will receive support for virtual reality . The idea seemed crazy, but now it is known that VR will appear on the Nintendo console. Well, almost reliably…

Do it yourself!

New information about «VR from Nintendo» appeared like a bolt from the blue. Nintendo of America in his Twitter-account announced a new set of a series of cardboard designers Lego — Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. The set will give you the opportunity to assemble from cardboard VR-accessories for Nintendo Switch, as well as provide players with related games.

Two new Labo VR kits: Starter (left) and Full (right)
Two new Labo VR kits: Starter (left) and Full (right)

The method of implementing Nintendo picked up from Google Cardboard, which is also a cardboard mask with lenses. In this case, the Nintendo Switch is used as the screen, the image of which is divided for each eye, creating the illusion of immersion and volume.

This time there are several options for buying cardboard peripherals: «Starter kit» with glasses and «Blaster» for $39 (~2800 rubles.) with the possibility of separate purchase of other accessories and «Full set», which also contains «Camera», «Elephant», «Bird» and «air pedal» for $79 (~5600 rubles).

If you do not want to buy everything at once, it is possible to purchase only interesting Toy-Cons
If you do not want to buy everything at once, it is possible to purchase only interesting Toy-Cons

Not my VR

However, the announcement of the cartons from Nintendo was ambiguous. Many age-old fans of “big N” were not very happy that beyond the designers of Labo, focused on children, VR will not apply.

One of the problems associated with Labo products is the lack of tangible depth of built-in games, and Toy-Con themselves are no more than interactive toys.

But there is still hope for a bright future. For example, some of the previous designers received support in the «serious» games of the company. In particular, it is worth noting the «Motorcycle», which can be used to control the Mario Kart 8: Deluxe.

Promotional art collaborations Nintendo Land and Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
Promotional art collaborations Nintendo Land and Mario Kart 8: Deluxe

For the first time rumors about Nintendo’s entry into the virtual reality market appeared with the discovery of the company’s patent, vaguely reminiscent of VR-glasses.

This interesting patent has been discovered for the first time in 2016. He gave rise to further speculation about the VR Switch on the Nintendo.
This interesting patent has been discovered for the first time in 2016. He gave rise to further speculation about the VR Switch on the Nintendo.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first attempt of «big N» to enter the VR market. Back in 1995, the company released the Virtual Boy console, which is a helmet similar to modern «head displays». The experiment was not successful: after prolonged use, the helmet could cause headaches and pain in the eyes, and the project itself is still considered one of the biggest failures of the company.

In the United States found amazing concrete fortifications

Concrete under the prison yard in Alcatraz was found when cement in America was not created

Reading time 4 minutes

Researchers have discovered tunnels and buildings from the time of the American Civil War, buried under the famous prison of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, California.

под тюремным двором Алькатраса ученые обнаружили крепость, которая долго считалась разрушенной
Under the prison court of Alcatraz, scientists discovered a fortress that was long considered ruined.

Historians have long suspected that a federal prison was erected on the site of military fortifications built in the 1800s. The publication of the journal Near Surface Geophysics, describes the complex, found under the prison yard.

 

The study of the territory of the national park was conducted using ground penetrating radar and ground scanning. Under the recreation yard of the prison, researchers found traces of completely buried buildings, ammunition depots and tunnels. “These ruins are well preserved and are located close to the surface,” said Timothy de Smet, an archaeologist at Binghamton University. He added that these artifacts are right under their feet. Armed with new evidence, researchers plan to continue to study the remnants of old structures.

Учёные записывают подземные показания на Алькатрасе
Scientists are recording underground testimony on Alcatraz

Archaeologists began exploring most of the 19th century fortress buried under existing prison buildings in 2014. During work on the territory of Alcatraz, scientists were surprised by the concrete reinforcement of some earthen tunnels, despite the fact that concrete was not used in construction at that time.

“It is interesting that at that time they did not even produce cement in the United States,” said Tanya Vattenburg Comas from California State University Chico. “It was probably cement brought in barrels from Europe. Finding it on a mid-19th century battery was a big surprise.”

1868 году
Fort Alcatraz (1868)

During the American Civil War, Alcatraz Island served as a military base that backed supporters of the West Coast Confederation. The defenses were built in the mid-1850s and included barracks and gun batteries. While most of the country was drawn into a bloody battle, Alcatraz’s fortress remained calm.

In addition, Fort Alcatraz was used as the official military prison of the west coast. The first prisoners from the federal penitentiary system began arriving in the 1930s, and the last were evicted in 1963. On an island with a high level of security, famous prisoners were serving sentences: Al Capone, George “machine gunner” Kelly, Whitey Bulger.