How to Stream Video to Xbox One from Mac OS X or Windows http://revealedtech.com/tips-solution/how-to-stream-video-to-xbox-one-from-mac-os-x-or-windows/

If you have an Xbox One gaming console in the household, you may be pleased to discover that it’s really quite easy to stream video and audio from a local Mac or Windows PC to play directly on the Xbox One. This offers a nice wireless method to play movies from any Mac or PC onto a TV without having to use an HDMI connection, and the Xbox One Media Player app supports a huge range of popular file types, so you’ll be able to play just about any mp4, mov, avi, divx, mkv, wmv, mp4, m4a, or nearly any other popular movie or audio file. Yes, you can stream your iTunes Library to the Xbox this way. Setup is easy and there’s very little configuration required, we’ll run through the whole process from start to finish and you’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.

To stream from the computer, we’re going to use the free Plex Media Server for streaming movies and audio files to the Xbox One, Plex Server runs on OS X, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD, so you’ll be able to do this from just about any computer you have. If you leave Plex Media Serverrunning on the computer, it will sit unassuming in the background and function as a media server that is accessible by the Xbox One at anytime. On the Xbox One side of things, we’re going to use the free Xbox One Media Player app to browse the media files to stream and play video and audio.

Requirements for streaming media to an Xbox One from a Mac or PC are as follows:

• Any Mac OS X computer, Windows PC, or Linux PC, with a folder that contains media files


• Xbox One gaming console with Media Player app installed – if you haven’t done so yet, download and install available Xbox One updates and be sure the Xbox One has Media Player app installed, this is necessary to play the video and/or audio – if the Xbox One doesn’t have Media Player app yet you can find and download it quickly from the apps section of the console, it’s about 45mb


• A TV connected to the Xbox One


• Go to Plex.tv and download Plex Media Server onto the computer and install it, it’s free, you do not need to sign up for anything if you don’t want to


• The Mac or PC and Xbox One must be on the same local network (wi-fi or ethernet)

Assuming you have met the fairly basic requirements, you’re ready to configure and setup streaming from Plex Media Server to the Xbox One and the TV.

How to Stream Any Video, Audio, or Movie to Xbox One from Mac OS X or Windows with Plex Server

Now that you have the Plex app on a computer and the Xbox One up and running, the rest is really easy:

1. Launch Plex Media Server on the computer, this will open a new web browser window where you can configure the media server







2. In Plex app, choose “Add Library”







3. Still in Plex, now choose “Add Folders”, navigating to the directory on the Mac (or PC) where the media you want to stream is stored (you can add multiple folders if you want to, including your iTunes Library from ~/Music/)







4. Now from the Xbox One start screen, go to “My Apps and Games” and find and open “Media Player” from the apps menu (if you haven’t done so yet, you can download it quickly as shown below)







5. Wait a moment or two and Media Player will discover the Plex Media Server app running on the computer and the video / audio library will show up on Xbox One, it’s easily identified and will show the name of the computer running the server







6. Use the Xbox One controller to navigate the media library in Plex







7. Select and play videos which will stream from the computer by hitting the A button on the Xbox One controller

The selected video will start playing immediately on the Xbox One and TV, while the Plex Media Server runs in the background on the computer:

You can play, pause, stop, fast forward, rewind, and scrub any movie or audio file that is streaming, the whole experience is easy and relatively seamless.

You’ll obviously need to have Plex Media Server open on the computer to have this work, as Media Player on Xbox One will not be able to find media content on the Mac or PC without it.

Another particularly great aspect of using this setup is that if a friend or coworker has a movie, video, photo, or music on their Mac that they want to play on the same TV and Xbox One, all they need to do is download and run Plex Media Server to make their media content accessible for streaming too.

Supported File Formats for Xbox One Streaming and Xbox One Media Player

Plex will play nearly any type of audio or video file on the computer, so your limitation is mostly on the Xbox One side of things, which is also very generous with it’s compatibility and support of a myriad of audio, image, and video file formats and types. Directly from Microsoft, here’s the full supported file format list for Media Player on the Xbox One console:

• 3GP audio


• 3GP video


• 3GP2


• AAC


• ADTS


• animated GIF


• .asf


• AVI DivX


• DV AVI


• AVI uncompressed


• AVI Xvid


• BMP


• JPEG


• GIF


• H.264 AVCHD


• M-JPEG


• .mkv


• .mov


• MP3


• MPEG-PS


• MPEG-2 MPEG-2 HD


• MPEG-2 TS


• H.264/MPEG-4 AVC


• MPEG-4 SP


• PNG


• TIFF


• WAV


• WMA


• WMA Lossless


• WMA Pro


• WMA Voice


• WMV


• WMV HD

With such a diverse option of media types supported, you’re sure to have no problems playing whatever video you want from the computer to the Xbox One, though if you have a more obscure file format, you could always convert it first on the computer into a compatible file format.

By the way, if you want to, you can also download the Plex app on Xbox one, but it’s not necessary and we’re not covering that here, but the Plex app works very well to interact with the Plex Media Server. Of course, another option is copying videos, movies, music, and photos to a USB thumb drive on the Mac or PC, then connecting that to the Xbox One and playing video directly from the USB drive through Xbox One Media Player, but that’s obviously not going to be a wireless streaming experience.

So, even if you don’t have an Apple TV to mirror video from a Mac with AirPlay to, you can still easily stream video wirelessly from a Mac to the TV and an Xbox, and it works flawlessly, how great is that? And who said that Apple and Microsoft don’t get along well!?

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/osxdaily/~3/-FYOHpbc49M/ http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/stream-video-to-xbox-one-from-mac-610x303.jpg
How to Stream Video to Xbox One from Mac OS X or Windows

Apple Music in Taylor Swift backdown http://revealedtech.com/breaking-news/apple-music-in-taylor-swift-backdown/

Taylor Swift: "Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

Apple Music has reversed its payment policy, a day after the singer Taylor Swift said she was refusing to allow the company to stream her album 1989.

In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers.

Now Apple says it will pay artists for music streamed during trial periods.

"We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple," tweeted executive Eddy @Cue.

Swift had said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost.

"I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company," the 25-year-old said, describing Apple as one of her "best partners in selling music".

"Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing.

"We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

Apple Music launches on 30 June. It will cost $9.99 (£6.30) per month in the US for one person or $14.99 for families.

The singer is due to start the UK leg of her world tour on 23 June

After hearing news of the company's decision on Sunday night Swift tweeted: "I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.''

Mr Cue said he did not know if the Shake It Off singer would now make her album available on Apple Music - but he praised her for taking a stand.

"When I woke up this morning and I saw Taylor's note that she had written, it really solidified that we needed to make a change," he told Associated Press.

The music industry has generally supported the company bringing its vast music library to paid streaming, and the firm said it would pay 73% of the music subscription revenue to music owners.

Eddy Cue called Swift in Amsterdam to tell her they had made the change

Speaking to Billboard magazine Cue said they had already been been hearing "a lot of concern from indie artists about not getting paid during the three-month trial period" before Swift spoke out. But he said "we never looked at it as not paying them".

"We had originally negotiated these deals based on paying them a higher royalty rate on an ongoing basis to compensate for this brief time", he said.

They will now pay artists during the trial period and "also keep the royalty rate at the higher rate."

He said he spoke to Swift himself to let her know they were making the changes and "she was thrilled and very thankful".

It is not the first time Swift has spoken out against streaming music - she pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify last November and had refused to offer 1989 on streaming services, saying the business had "shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically".

She explained to Yahoo Music why she pulled her music from Spotify: "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music."

If you find a Swift song now on Spotify it will only be from a compilation album.

1989 went on to become one of the biggest-selling albums of 2014 and has sold more than 4.9 million copies in the US alone.

Last week, UK-based independent record label Beggars echoed Swift's comments, saying it struggled "to see why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple's customer acquisition costs".

It said it did not have an agreement with Apple that would allow it to participate in the new service but hoped the "obstacles to agreement can be removed" in the coming days.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33220189#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/83768163_83767391.jpg
Apple Music in Taylor Swift backdown

Rule change for broadband migration http://revealedtech.com/breaking-news/rule-change-for-broadband-migration/

The changes are designed to make it easier to change broadband suppliers

Britons can now start the process of switching broadband supplier with one phone call.

The simpler rules replace the previous "confusing" set-up, under which different systems were used for some services and suppliers.

The changed regime may not end up being faster because of a 10-day notification period built in to the process.

And, say critics, the changes might mean more attempts to switch people without their permission.

Drafted by regulator Ofcom, the new rules apply to both broadband and landline services from BT, EE, Sky and TalkTalk, which use the Openreach network.

The new rules came into force on 20 June and mean anyone who wants to change broadband supplier now only has to notify the company they wish to move to. That supplier should then handle every aspect of the change.

Ofcom boss Sharon White said the change would help people "take advantage of very strong competition in the landline and broadband markets".

Net confusion

In its guidance about the changes, Ofcom warned people that they may face early termination charges if they tried to switch before a minimum service period or contract period had expired.

ISPs must keep records of migration requests to help spot cases of so-called "slamming", in which people are moved to new suppliers without their consent. Critics have suggested that the new system could be more open to abuse and mistakes.

Before now, swapping supplier meant people had to first contact their existing supplier, cancel their contract and get a MAC code, which they then gave to their new provider to start the migration process.

Ofcom said this process could be "confusing and time consuming" because suppliers ran different systems to handle migration requests.

The "one-touch" migration system is already used for moves to and from fully unbundled services - for example, when customers migrate from TalkTalk to Sky.

Sebastien Lahtinen, from broadband site ThinkBroadband, said the updated rules removed some confusion from the whole process but might not end up being quicker because they did away with the faster MAC migration options some ISPs offered.

"We don't feel this change is going to substantially increase migrations per se," he told the BBC "although as the new system stops a losing provider from offering a retention deal after they receive a migration request, this may increase migration rates slightly."

Mr Lahtinen said anyone contemplating moving would be wise to ring their existing supplier before starting the migration process to see if they could offer a better deal.

The changes do not apply to migration to or from ISPs offering broadband via cable, fixed wireless, satellite or through fibre to the home.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33223724#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/83779005_3664.jpg
Rule change for broadband migration

Police team to hunt IS web accounts http://revealedtech.com/breaking-news/police-team-to-hunt-is-web-accounts/

Direct recruitment for IS often takes place on Skype, one expert on jihadis said

A Europe-wide police team is being formed to track and block social media accounts linked to Islamic State (IS).

A recent US study found there were at least 46,000 accounts on Twitter linked to the militant group, many of which help to recruit new IS members.

The European police agency Europol will now work with unnamed social media companies to track the accounts.

They aim to get new accounts closed down within two hours of them being set up.

Europol believes up to 5,000 EU citizens, including people from the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have travelled to territories controlled by IS.

Rob Wainwright, Europol's director, told the BBC that the new team, which starts its work on 1 July, "would be an effective way of combating the problem".

But, he said, tracking all IS-linked social media accounts was too big a task.

"We will have to combine what we see online, with our own intelligence and that that is shared with us by European police services, so we can be a bit more targeted and identify who the key user accounts are... and concentrate on closing them down."

Analysis - Dominic Casciani, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Islamic State's propaganda machine is a child of the internet age - always available somewhere, always being shared by someone, always online.

IS uses "official" accounts controlled and operated from within Syria and Iraq and a huge network of supporters and propagandists further afield. Every tweet, video and sermon is shared and magnified in a way that is exceptionally difficult to track and stop.

Can this material be taken down? All the evidence, so far, says no. Some IS supporters dodge law enforcement deliberately, deleting their own accounts and creating new ones before police can catch up.

Some social media services don't have the capacity to respond - although critics say the biggest services are failing to at least try harder to remove extremist material.

So the question is this - if you want to stop IS online, can it be done without changing the nature of the net?

Listen: Islamic State's Social Media Machine

The number of IS-linked Twitter accounts could be as high as 90,000, according to a paper by the Brooking Institution in Washington.

Aaron Zelin, an expert on jihadist groups at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says Twitter is generally used to draw in potential new recruits, not to directly hire them.

The more direct recruitment conversations take place on forums such as Skype, WhatsApp and Kik, he said.

Rita Katz, a director of the jihadi monitoring group Site, said IS militants regularly boasted online of ways in which to circumvent being blocked on social media.

In an article written in April, Ms Katz called for better security by social media firms and said simply blocking accounts was not enough.

She wrote: "It's time to stop shooting in the dark and recognize IS and its followers on Twitter are determined and dangerously adaptive - not because they enjoy tweeting, but because Twitter itself is among the most crucial tools to their growth and existence."

Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33220037#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/83773157_a2bf5fba-2139-422c-a7e3-1731b8c27ca1.jpg
Police team to hunt IS web accounts

Computer hack grounds Polish planes http://revealedtech.com/breaking-news/computer-hack-grounds-polish-planes/

More than 1,400 people were affected by the cancellations, LOT said

Some flights operated by Poland's national airline, LOT, were grounded on Sunday after hackers attacked its computer system.

The hacking attack targeted computers issuing flight plans at Warsaw's Okecie airport.

More than 1,400 passengers were affected, with 10 flights cancelled and another 12 delayed.

Services were getting back to normal on Sunday evening. The attack is now being investigated by airline authorities.

Flights to Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Copenhagen and Polish cities were affected, although LOT stressed that the glitch did not affect the airport or aeroplanes that were already in the air.

"We're using state-of-the-art computer systems, so this could potentially be a threat to others in the industry," said LOT spokesman Adrian Kubicki.

The source of the hack is not yet known.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33219276#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/83772476_83772475.jpg
Computer hack grounds Polish planes

Online reviews 'used as blackmail' http://revealedtech.com/breaking-news/online-reviews-used-as-blackmail/

Businesses are ambushing rivals with fake reviews and customers are using the threat of online criticism to win discounts, research has found.

Allegations have been made of people "blackmailing" firms with poor reviews to get money off, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

Review sites may leave negative commentary unpublished to allow firms to resolve complaints, the CMA added.

Consumers could be unaware that some endorsements in blogs were paid for.

The CMA has now launched an investigation into various companies, as the use of paid-for endorsements without a clear admission of payment may be unlawful.

"We are committed to ensuring that consumers' trust in these important information tools is maintained, and will take enforcement action where necessary to tackle unlawful practices," said Nisha Arora, senior director at the CMA.

"We have opened an investigation into businesses that may be paying for endorsements in blogs and other online articles where the payment may not have been made clear to readers."

'Valuable' service

Holidaymakers' hotel choices are often influenced by online reviews

The CMA found that 54% of UK adults used online reviews, and many found them valuable.

These were found on websites ranging from specialist review sites such as Tripadvisor and trusted trader schemes such as Checkatrade, to booking agents such as Expedia and retailers such as Amazon.

The competition authority estimated that £23bn a year of consumer spending was potentially influenced by online reviews.

However, it discovered cases which have been known as "astroturfing" - the practice of creating fake grass root reviews.

Among the potentially misleading cases, on unnamed sites, were:

• Businesses writing fake reviews of themselves to boost their ratings on review sites compared with rivals


• Firms writing or commissioning fake negative reviews to undermine rivals, for malicious reasons, or for personal gain


• Review sites cherry-picking positive reviews


• Sites allowing businesses to remedy negative reviews, that go unpublished, meaning a complete picture is not clear to review site users

Impartiality could be compromised by review sites' need to make money through subscriptions, click-throughs, or selling reputation management services to businesses.

"A review site may want to maximise its own commercial revenues from subscriptions, and may jeopardise this if it upsets business clients by publishing negative reviews," the CMA report said.

The authority also heard allegations of consumers using reviews to get money off.

"Consumers may be using the threat of a poor review to 'blackmail' businesses into providing some concession, such as a price discount," the report said.

'Despicable'

A BBC investigation has revealed the global market for fake review writers, and the use of stolen identities to post reviews.

Ashley Booth Griffin, from New York, supposedly posted a positive review for a loan website, but in fact she was killed in a car crash seven years ago. The photo used in the review came from her memorial website.

"I think it is despicable," said her father Greg Booth. "They are simply attempting to dupe the public, to cheat and to lie."

The BBC also spoke to a student in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who was paid $5 (£3.15) to write a fake review.

Endorsements

Bloggers may make endorsements to make money from their posts

The CMA also researched the trade in endorsements on blogs and online publications which are paid for by businesses.

"We have seen examples of suppliers paying bloggers sums of between £100 and £500 in return for a blog post about a product or service, and up to £50 for a pair of tweets," the report said.

"We have also heard of payment in the form of gifts, vouchers, tickets to events and, or, hospitality."

In some cases, the payment was made clear in the blog, but in others it was not. An investigation had now been launched into these cases.

Although the CMA did not name any of the companies under the spotlight, many review sites have been defending their processes.

Holiday review site, Trip Advisor said that it had automated, and individual, checks in place to spot suspicious patterns of behaviour. This tackled businesses aiming to boost their own rating, vandalise others, or optimise their position on the site.

"Trip Advisor has been developing and refining its fraud detection process for more than 15 years," the company said.

"We fight fraud aggressively and our systems and processes are extremely effective in protecting consumers from the small minority of people who try to cheat our system."

Kevin Byrne, from Checkatrade.com, told the BBC that most of their reviews came in handwritten.

He also said that reviewers "are vetted by sending a confirmation email" - so supplying a fake email when submitting an online review would not work.

A spokesman for consumer group Which? said: "The CMA was right to launch this investigation as consumers rely on reviews to make decisions, so it is critical that they are genuine.

"Retailers should be vigilant and try to root out bad practice on their sites, and consumers should check a number of difference sources, including genuinely independent experts like Which?."

Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33184207#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Online reviews 'used as blackmail'

Apple Reverses Course, Will Pay Artists During Apple Music Free Trial http://revealedtech.com/apple/apple-reverses-course-will-pay-artists-during-apple-music-free-trial/

Great for artists.

By the way, this is the shortest MacRumors article I've seen in years. Short and to the point. I like it.

Source Article from http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/21/apple-will-pay-artists-free-trial/
Apple Reverses Course, Will Pay Artists During Apple Music Free Trial

Taylor Swift Criticizes Apple Music's Free Trial in Open Letter http://revealedtech.com/apple/taylor-swift-criticizes-apple-musics-free-trial-in-open-letter-2/

A couple days ago BuzzFeed reported that Taylor Swift's new album, "1989", would not be available to stream on Apple Music, denying the service of one of the best-selling albums of the last two years. Today, Swift penned an open letter to the Cupertino company explaining her decision.

I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.

Swift, who calls Apple one of her best partners in selling her music, says that while she is able to take care of herself and her band, crew and management with money from live shows, indie artists do not have the same luxury. She explains that her sentiments about the three-month free trial are echoed by "every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much."

She goes on to say that she understands Apple is working toward a goal of paid streaming and that Apple Music could be the first streaming service that "gets it right" in her eyes in regards to artist compensation. However, she also points out that Apple is "astronomically successful" and could afford to pay artists, writers and producers during the three-month free trial. She closes the open letter asking Apple to reconsider its policy.

But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.

This isn't the first time Apple has received criticism for not paying labels and artists royalties during the 3-month free trial. Last week, indie labels from the United Kingdom who housed artists like Adele argued that the trial period would "put people out of business". Singer-songwriter Anton Newcombe also spoke out about the policy, claiming the Cupertino company threatened to ban his music from iTunes if he did not accept no royalties during the 3-month free trial. Apple denied the claim.

Apple Music will launch in just under 10 days, going live on June 30 as part of an upcoming iOS 8.4 update. After the service's free three-month trial it will cost $9.99 per month for individuals and $14.99 a month for families up to 6.

Source Article from http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/21/taylor-swift-apple-music/ http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/06/taylorswift.png
Taylor Swift Criticizes Apple Music's Free Trial in Open Letter

High Road Universal Car Organizer for $7 + free shipping http://revealedtech.com/car-techonology/high-road-universal-car-organizer-for-7-free-shipping/

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High Road Universal Car Organizer for $7 + free shipping

Advance Auto Parts coupon: 33% off $50+ + free shipping w/ $75 http://revealedtech.com/car-techonology/advance-auto-parts-coupon-33-off-50-free-shipping-w-75/

Best tech deals en español

Looking for a discount and hablas español?

Stop snipping coupons. CNET en Español has rounded up the best discounts, promotions, and offers just for you.

HAZ CLIC AQUÍ

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Advance Auto Parts coupon: 33% off $50+ + free shipping w/ $75

Automotive Laser Anti-Collision Warning Light for $3 + free shipping http://revealedtech.com/car-techonology/automotive-laser-anti-collision-warning-light-for-3-free-shipping/

Best tech deals en español

Looking for a discount and hablas español?

Stop snipping coupons. CNET en Español has rounded up the best discounts, promotions, and offers just for you.

HAZ CLIC AQUÍ

Source Article from http://www.cnet.com/deals/automotive-laser-anti-collision-warning-light-for-3-free-shipping-1379211/#ftag=CAD3440c1f http://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/05/20/c5755bbc-5e26-4368-a225-98a80f5c2e8d/thumbnail/370x208/08a700d05ed8a89efdeadfd226bc18d3/pebblesteel3583385713.jpg
Automotive Laser Anti-Collision Warning Light for $3 + free shipping

Taylor Swift Criticizes Apple Music's Free Trial in Open Letter http://revealedtech.com/apple/mac/taylor-swift-criticizes-apple-musics-free-trial-in-open-letter/

A couple days ago BuzzFeed reported that Taylor Swift's new album, "1989", would not be available to stream on Apple Music, denying the service of one of the best-selling albums of the last two years. Today, Swift penned an open letter to the Cupertino company explaining her decision.

I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.

Swift, who calls Apple one of her best partners in selling her music, says that while she is able to take care of herself and her band, crew and management with money from live shows, indie artists do not have the same luxury. She explains that her sentiments about the three-month free trial are echoed by "every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much."

She goes on to say that she understands Apple is working toward a goal of paid streaming and that Apple Music could be the first streaming service that "gets it right" in her eyes in regards to artist compensation. However, she also points out that Apple is "astronomically successful" and could afford to pay artists, writers and producers during the three-month free trial. She closes the open letter asking Apple to reconsider its policy.

But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.

This isn't the first time Apple has received criticism for not paying labels and artists royalties during the 3-month free trial. Last week, indie labels from the United Kingdom who housed artists like Adele argued that the trial period would "put people out of business". Singer-songwriter Anton Newcombe also spoke out about the policy, claiming the Cupertino company threatened to ban his music from iTunes if he did not accept no royalties during the 3-month free trial. Apple denied the claim.

Apple Music will launch in just under 10 days, going live on June 30 as part of an upcoming iOS 8.4 update. After the service's free three-month trial it will cost $9.99 per month for individuals and $14.99 a month for families up to 6.

Source Article from http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/21/taylor-swift-apple-music/ http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/taylorswift.png
Taylor Swift Criticizes Apple Music's Free Trial in Open Letter

Mac Setup: Arm Mounted 27″ iMac with a Beautifully Tidy Desk http://revealedtech.com/tips-solution/mac-setup-arm-mounted-27%e2%80%b3-imac-with-a-beautifully-tidy-desk/

This weeks featured Mac workstation is the snazzy custom setup of Axel D., who has a swivel-arm mounted iMac and some great audio gear to round out a beautiful and clean desk. Let’s jump right in to learn more:

What hardware makes up your Mac setup?

• iMac 27″ (late 2013) – 3.2GHZ Core i5 CPU, 32GB RAM, 1.5TB Fusion Drive, mounted on an adjustable arm


• Sound routed via toslink cable through a Sony HAP-S1 Hi Resolution Audio Player system powering KEF C1 speakers mounted on stands I made myself from galvanized pipe


• LG DVD Burner


• Logitech Bluetooth K811 Keyboard


• Apple Magic trackpad


• Anker USB 3.0 4 port hub


• Epson Artisan 730 printer


• B&W P3 Headphones


• Audio Technica USB microphone


• iPhone 6 Plus with dock and ePure handset


• iPad mini (1st gen)

Under the desk:

• Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500 


• Synology 213j server


• TP Link TP508 Switch


• APC UPS ES 550

Why did you choose this particular setup?

I wanted the big monitor, and I like all in one computers, they help keep things neat. I like that this computer is virtually silent as well. 

What do you use your Apple gear for?

• Photography 


• Video editing


• internet browsing, posting, email, banking, shopping, etc 


• Skype and Facetime 


• Music


• Document Scanning


• Updating various devices

What apps do you use most often? Is there a particular app you can’t do without?

• Safari and Mail


• Skype and Facetime


• Photos


• iTunes


• Scansnap


• Maps


• Automator


• Hazel


• Dropbox

I could not live without Skype, I use it to communicate with friends and family around the world. I depend on it on my mac, iPhone, and even my TV has a Skype app. 

Do you have any tips to share with OSXDaily readers?

If you are buying an iMac, the fusion drive is good, but I suggest maxing out the RAM right away, I waited a year, and when I did it was only then that I saw how responsive the iMac is with the full amount of RAM. Another tip is a Blue Lounge USB port extender to make a USB port available on the front without having to turn around the entire computer. 

–

Let’s see your Mac setup! Take a few high quality pictures and answer some questions about how you use your Apple gear, and send it on in – go here to get started. If you’re not ready to share your workstation yet, you can always browse through our prior featured Mac setups too, there are a lot of great desks to be inspired by out there!

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/osxdaily/~3/ZorlnQFPGeA/ http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/adjustable-arm-mounted-imac-desk-610x500.jpg
Mac Setup: Arm Mounted 27″ iMac with a Beautifully Tidy Desk

AMD denies rumor that it’s mulling breakup or spinoff http://revealedtech.com/computer-system/amd-denies-rumor-that-its-mulling-breakup-or-spinoff/

Rumors about AMD’s breakup or acquisition by various companies are common, but they don’t often come from the likes of Reuters. According to the news agency, AMD is once-again mulling a breakup or spinoff. This latest review was reportedly sparked by Su’s stepping up to the CEO position and the company has reportedly been revisiting the topic.

We say “reportedly,” because according to AMD’s own spokesperson Sarah Youngbauer told ExtremeTech the following: “While we normally would not comment on such a matter, we can confirm that we have no such project in the works at this time. We remain committed to the long-term strategy we laid out for the company in May at our Financial Analyst Day.”

AMD might or might not admit to exploring such ideas, but there’s a bigger structural problem with attempting to break up the company. It’s difficult to imagine how to split AMD in a way that would preserve necessary cross-license arrangements with companies like Intel while simultaneously creating two viable businesses.

The AMD paradox

AMD is an the unenviable position of competing in markets where most agree it’s played a key role in keeping prices low, while simultaneously having competitors that few other companies would want to match. AMD’s x86 license is tied to the continued existence of the company, meaning that the x86 agreement with Intel only exists so long as AMD itself remains an independent entity. Spinning the company off into its original CPU and GPU components, however, seems unlikely.

AMD’s earnings projections for 2015 / 2016 don’t show a clean split

Buying ATI was one of the smartest things AMD ever did, even if it grossly overpaid for the Canadian company. Graphics have moved on-die, SoCs and integrated performance are the future, and AMD needs access to the GPU side of the business to continue advancing its own designs. At the same time, spinning GPUs off into an independent company would leave the newly-minted ATI fighting against a primary competitor with vastly more resources. It’s also unclear how revenues from sales of the PS4 and Xbox One would be split by the new company, or how cross-licensing on GPU tech would work when the CPU side of AMD wouldn’t be able to offer the GPU side any form of CPU licensing.

A clean spin-off, therefore, seems extremely unlikely. The two companies could breakup, but again, this would effectively cleave the CPU side of the business off completely (AMD’s graphics earnings are in overall better shape). AMD has pushed ahead with designs for new APUs, including Zen, and attempting to separate the CPU and GPU sides of the house now would only make sense if AMD had new server chips ready to roll.

Others have pointed out that AMD has done these types of splits before, but there’s a key difference between then and now. When AMD spun off GlobalFoundries, the principle concern was how it would get out of the restrictive x86 license clauses that had previously forbidden this kind of deal and who would step forward to fund the creation of a new foundry. It’s incredibly difficult to see how a spinoff now would serve any of AMD’s interests or create long-term stable revenue lines for either of the resulting firms.

Source Article from http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/208659-reuters-claims-amd-mulling-breakup-or-spinoff-company-denies-rumors http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/AMDMarkham-640x315.jpg
AMD denies rumor that it’s mulling breakup or spinoff

Stock awards on top of pay, bonuses boost CEO compensation http://revealedtech.com/microsoft/stock-awards-on-top-of-pay-bonuses-boost-ceo-compensation-2/

When ranked by total pay in 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn’t just come in first among 113 public-company CEOs in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

He also lapped them.

Microsoft’s board of directors last year awarded its new CEO a compensation package that added up to $84.3 million in stock, cash and benefits, according to the company’s proxy filing.

1   SATYA NADELLA

MICROSOFT

2014 total pay: $84.3 million

Cash pay: $4.5 million

Equity pay: $79.7 million

Market cap (12/31): $387.1 billion

Profit FY 2014: $22 billion

Number of employees: 128,000

Nadella’s reported compensation package was nearly four times larger than the Northwest’s second-highest-paid public company CEO, Howard Schultz of Starbucks. The value of Nadella’s package even exceeded the individual annual sales for 21 Northwest public companies during fiscal year 2014.

But Nadella’s reported 2014 pay is also overstated because of accounting and disclosure requirements.

Nearly 95 percent of Nadella’s compensation consisted of stock valued at $79.7 million, and he won’t be eligible for his first stock payout for five years, disclosure filings show. Also, whether Nadella gets the full payout will depend on his ability to get the company to hit various performance targets.

Microsoft’s board opted for the phased-in stock award because, as a large shareholder, Nadella would benefit, along with investors, from the company’s long-term success.

Nadella’s two predecessors, co-founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, were also among Microsoft’s largest shareholders when they ran the company.

Microsoft’s pay package illustrates the complexity and nuance of executive compensation, as well as the heightened transparency of executive pay at public companies because of federal regulations.

Nadella’s example also underscores how CEOs are paid differently from other workers, with much of their compensation coming as stock in the company.

Putting a value on stock awards is always a challenge. Corporate boards increasingly peg stock awards to whether the company hits performance targets under the CEO’s watch.

Also, nobody can predict the market value of the stock when executives exercise their payouts, often years in the future.

2   HOWARD SCHULTZ

STARBUCKS

2014 total pay: $21.4 million

Cash pay: $4.4 million

Equity pay: $16.5 million

Market cap (12/31): $61.5 billion

Profit FY 2014: $2 billion

Number of employees: 191,000

Schultz, the chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks and the region’s second-highest-paid public-company executive, received a 2014 compensation package valued at $21.4 million.

Seventy-seven percent of his compensation consisted of stock and option awards worth an estimated $16.5 million.

3    JOHN LEGERE

T-MOBILE US

2014 total pay: $18.5 million

Cash pay: $7.9 million

Equity pay: $10.6 million

Market cap (12/31): $21.7 billion

Profit FY 2014: $247 million

Number of employees: 45,000

Schultz is a regular on the list of highest-paid, public-company executives in the Northwest. He’s been in the top five every year for the last five years.

No. 3 was John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile US. Shares in the company accounted for about 57 percent of his total pay, which added up to $18.5 million.

4    MARK PARKER

NIKE

2014 total pay: $14.6 million

Cash pay: $8 million

Equity pay: $5.9 million

Market cap (12/31): $83 billion

Profit FY 2014:$2.6 billion

Number of employees: 56,500

Another regular of the top five is Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike. He’s back this year at No. 4, with a total pay package of $14.6 million. About 40 percent of his pay consisted of stock awards.

Coming in at No. 5 was Mark Durcan, CEO of Micron Technology. Nearly 70 percent of his $11.4 million pay package last year was company stock.

5   MARK DURCAN

MICRON TECHNOLOGY

2014 total pay: $11.4 million

Cash pay: $3.4 million

Equity pay: $8 million

Market cap (12/31): $37.6 billion

Profit FY 2014: $3 billion

Number of employees: 30,400

“What people a lot of times forget is that most CEO compensation is predominantly equity based,” said Peter Gleason, president of the National Association of Corporate Directors in Washington, D.C.

More corporate boards in the last 12 years have been paying their CEOs with either time-vested or performance-based stock awards on top of base salaries, research shows.

Among Northwest public companies, 82 percent paid their CEOs with stock in 2014, according to data gathered by Equilar for The Seattle Times.

Thirty-seven percent of the Northwest’s public-company CEOs got the majority of their pay in the form of stock.

The prevalence of stock awards has contributed to rising CEO pay, with the bull market, now 6 years old, driving up the value of awarded shares, Gleason said.

In the last 12 months, shareholders of Micron Technology, Nike and T-Mobile overwhelmingly approved their companies’ executive pay with nonbinding, “say-on-pay” votes.

At Starbucks, 85 percent of the company’s shareholders in March approved of its pay package.

Microsoft investors were not as supportive. In December, 72.6 percent of Microsoft shareholders said they approved of the company’s compensation plan.

A 70 percent “yes” vote would be considered a landslide in a civic election. But among public companies, say-on-pay votes with less than 80 percent approval are cause for concern.

At that point, Gleason said, companies need to reach out to shareholders and find out what’s troubling them.

Source Article from http://www.seattletimes.com/business/stock-awards-on-top-of-pay-bonuses-boost-ceo-compensation/
Stock awards on top of pay, bonuses boost CEO compensation

Stock awards on top of pay, bonuses boost CEO compensation http://revealedtech.com/microsoft/stock-awards-on-top-of-pay-bonuses-boost-ceo-compensation/

When ranked by total pay in 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn’t just come in first among 113 public-company CEOs in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

He also lapped them.

Microsoft’s board of directors last year awarded its new CEO a compensation package that added up to $84.3 million in stock, cash and benefits, according to the company’s proxy filing.

1   SATYA NADELLA

MICROSOFT

2014 total pay: $84.3 million

Cash pay: $4.5 million

Equity pay: $79.7 million

Market cap (12/31): $387.1 billion

Profit FY 2014: $22 billion

Number of employees: 128,000

Nadella’s reported compensation package was nearly four times larger than the Northwest’s second-highest-paid public company CEO, Howard Schultz of Starbucks. The value of Nadella’s package even exceeded the individual annual sales for 21 Northwest public companies during fiscal year 2014.

But Nadella’s reported 2014 pay is also overstated because of accounting and disclosure requirements.

Nearly 95 percent of Nadella’s compensation consisted of stock valued at $79.7 million, and he won’t be eligible for his first stock payout for five years, disclosure filings show. Also, whether Nadella gets the full payout will depend on his ability to get the company to hit various performance targets.

Microsoft’s board opted for the phased-in stock award because, as a large shareholder, Nadella would benefit, along with investors, from the company’s long-term success.

Nadella’s two predecessors, co-founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, were also among Microsoft’s largest shareholders when they ran the company.

Microsoft’s pay package illustrates the complexity and nuance of executive compensation, as well as the heightened transparency of executive pay at public companies because of federal regulations.

Nadella’s example also underscores how CEOs are paid differently from other workers, with much of their compensation coming as stock in the company.

Putting a value on stock awards is always a challenge. Corporate boards increasingly peg stock awards to whether the company hits performance targets under the CEO’s watch.

Also, nobody can predict the market value of the stock when executives exercise their payouts, often years in the future.

2   HOWARD SCHULTZ

STARBUCKS

2014 total pay: $21.4 million

Cash pay: $4.4 million

Equity pay: $16.5 million

Market cap (12/31): $61.5 billion

Profit FY 2014: $2 billion

Number of employees: 191,000

Schultz, the chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks and the region’s second-highest-paid public-company executive, received a 2014 compensation package valued at $21.4 million.

Seventy-seven percent of his compensation consisted of stock and option awards worth an estimated $16.5 million.

3    JOHN LEGERE

T-MOBILE US

2014 total pay: $18.5 million

Cash pay: $7.9 million

Equity pay: $10.6 million

Market cap (12/31): $21.7 billion

Profit FY 2014: $247 million

Number of employees: 45,000

Schultz is a regular on the list of highest-paid, public-company executives in the Northwest. He’s been in the top five every year for the last five years.

No. 3 was John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile US. Shares in the company accounted for about 57 percent of his total pay, which added up to $18.5 million.

4    MARK PARKER

NIKE

2014 total pay: $14.6 million

Cash pay: $8 million

Equity pay: $5.9 million

Market cap (12/31): $83 billion

Profit FY 2014:$2.6 billion

Number of employees: 56,500

Another regular of the top five is Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike. He’s back this year at No. 4, with a total pay package of $14.6 million. About 40 percent of his pay consisted of stock awards.

Coming in at No. 5 was Mark Durcan, CEO of Micron Technology. Nearly 70 percent of his $11.4 million pay package last year was company stock.

5   MARK DURCAN

MICRON TECHNOLOGY

2014 total pay: $11.4 million

Cash pay: $3.4 million

Equity pay: $8 million

Market cap (12/31): $37.6 billion

Profit FY 2014: $3 billion

Number of employees: 30,400

“What people a lot of times forget is that most CEO compensation is predominantly equity based,” said Peter Gleason, president of the National Association of Corporate Directors in Washington, D.C.

More corporate boards in the last 12 years have been paying their CEOs with either time-vested or performance-based stock awards on top of base salaries, research shows.

Among Northwest public companies, 82 percent paid their CEOs with stock in 2014, according to data gathered by Equilar for The Seattle Times.

Thirty-seven percent of the Northwest’s public-company CEOs got the majority of their pay in the form of stock.

The prevalence of stock awards has contributed to rising CEO pay, with the bull market, now 6 years old, driving up the value of awarded shares, Gleason said.

In the last 12 months, shareholders of Micron Technology, Nike and T-Mobile overwhelmingly approved their companies’ executive pay with nonbinding, “say-on-pay” votes.

At Starbucks, 85 percent of the company’s shareholders in March approved of its pay package.

Microsoft investors were not as supportive. In December, 72.6 percent of Microsoft shareholders said they approved of the company’s compensation plan.

A 70 percent “yes” vote would be considered a landslide in a civic election. But among public companies, say-on-pay votes with less than 80 percent approval are cause for concern.

At that point, Gleason said, companies need to reach out to shareholders and find out what’s troubling them.

Source Article from http://www.seattletimes.com/business/stock-awards-on-top-of-pay-bonuses-boost-ceo-compensation/
Stock awards on top of pay, bonuses boost CEO compensation

2 Ways to Copy Files to iCloud Drive from Mac OS X Finder http://revealedtech.com/tips-solution/2-ways-to-copy-files-to-icloud-drive-from-mac-os-x-finder/

iCloud Drive supports direct file transfers from the Mac, meaning you can take just about any file, folder, document, or item stored in OS X, and copy it over to iCloud Drive, where it will be stored and accessible by your other Macs and iOS devices using the same Apple ID. Using iCloud Drive this way is kind of similar to how many users store files on other services like DropBox, OneDrive, and Google Drive, except it has the distinct advantage of being built directly into modern versions of OS X and not requiring any third party downloads or logins.

It’s important to note that copying files to iCloud Drive as described here is different from moving files to iCloud Drive, the latter of which is the default behavior, and what happens if you simply are dragging and dropping a file into the iCloud Drive folders – it will actually move that file or folder to iCloud from local storage. Rather than moving the files to iCloud, we’re going to show you two ways to copy them to iCloud Drive instead, meaning the original file will stay on the origin Mac in it’s original location, in addition to uploading it to the iCloud Drive service.

We’ll demonstrate two ways to copy files to iCloud Drive from a Mac, this works with just about any conceivable file type, but we’re going to use two particularly obvious looking files in this demonstration.

Copying Files to iCloud Drive with Option Drag Drop

As mentioned, if you simply drag and drop a file from Finder into iCloud Drive, it will upload the file there and remove it from the local location, effectively moving it to iCloud. That’s not what we want to do in this example though, so instead we can tell the Finder to copy the file to iCloud Drive by using a simple variation of the standard drag and drop trick in the Mac finder:

1. Select the file(s) or folder(s) as usual in the Finder of OS X


2. Open a new Finder window and choose ‘iCloud Drive’ from the sidebar


3. While dragging the selected file to iCloud Drive start to hold down the Option key


4. Drop the file into the destination on iCloud Drive as usual, releasing the Option key afterwards

You’ll find the files appear in iCloud Drive with a ‘Syncing’ indicator below them and a progress bar on the icons themselves, when those are gone the file has completed uploading and has been successfully copied to iCloud Drive from the Mac.

For the unfamiliar, the Option + Drop key modifier actually works to copy files between anywhere in Mac OS X, even folders or the same folder.

Copying Files & Folders to iCloud Drive with Copy & Paste Keyboard Shortcuts

Much like the ability to cut and paste files elsewhere in OS X Finder, you can use that same function to copy a file or folder to iCloud Drive:

From the Mac Finder:

1. Select the file(s) or folder you wish to copy to iCloud Drive, then hit Command+C to copy it to the clipboard


2. Navigate to iCloud Drive and the desired location, then hit Command + V to paste the copied item and upload it to iCloud Drive

You can also use the Copy & Paste menu items, as shown in this brief demo video demonstrating uploading a few copied files to iCloud Drive this way:

Just like the drag & drop trick, you’ll see the ‘syncing’ progress bar indicating the file is being uploaded, this can take a short amount of time or quite a while, depending on the size of the file(s) and the speed of the internet connection.

Being able to directly interact with iCloud Drive and files like this is quite different from when iCloud first debuted, which would only allow saving to iCloud from an app which supported iCloud saving, and iCloud file management was very clunky, indirect, and not particularly obvious, whereas now the feature behaves a bit like DropBox. The modern incarnations of iCloud Drive are much more useful as a result, particularly if you pay for an upgraded iCloud Storage plan from Apple. This is even more useful in the latest versions of OS X (Yosemite & El Capitan) and iOS (iOS 9 in particular), as direct access to these files becomes easier.

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/osxdaily/~3/W-36gPJJOCc/ http://revealedtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/copy-files-from-mac-to-icloud-drive-drag-drop-610x406.jpg
2 Ways to Copy Files to iCloud Drive from Mac OS X Finder

Graphene-sheathed copper wires could dramatically speed future processors, cut power consumption http://revealedtech.com/computer-system/graphene-sheathed-copper-wires-could-dramatically-speed-future-processors-cut-power-consumption/

Ever since it was discovered, scientists have dreamed of using graphene as a key semiconductor component. These efforts have generally been stymied thanks to the difficulty of growing graphene in large quantities and its lack of a band gap — with graphene, the challenge is making it stop conducting to turn a circuit off. New research at Stanford, however, suggests an interesting application for the material that doesn’t rely on adapting it to change some of its most fundamental characteristics. Graphene-coated copper wires have significantly better performance than standard copper wire sheathed in tantalum nitride, and the performance boost actually increases as the wires get smaller.

The perverse mechanics of wire scaling

When the semiconductor industry talks about process nodes, it’s generally assumed that moving to a new, smaller process geometry is a good thing. This continues to hold true even today — companies like Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries are required to do much more work to ensure positive results when moving to new geometries, but the net effect is still positive by certain metrics. This general trend does not hold true for copper wires.

The problem is this: Making a wire smaller means you’re reducing the amount of metal that’s available for electrons to flow through. Imagine two pipes — one with a one foot diameter, and one with a 10 foot diameter. At any flow rate (measured in gallons per minute), you have to move water through the smaller pipe at a higher velocity compared to the larger. This increases both friction within the pipe and the turbulence of the water flowing through it. In a wire, pushing the same amount of current a small wire increases the resistance (and the excess heat) compared to a larger wire. (Thanks to reader Sean T for sharpening my original water flow analogy).

Here’s where Stanford’s research comes in. The reason the copper wires are traditionally wrapped in tantalum nitride is to ensure that copper doesn’t migrate into the surrounding area of the chip. One of the team’s findings was that the tantalum nitride layer is roughly 8x thicker than an equivalent layer of graphene that performs the same function. That’s important in and of itself, as it allows wires to be made thinner overall without actually changing the amount of copper (think of this as making a water pipe thinner by reducing the exterior diameter but leaving the interior diameter unchanged.

The second and arguably more important reason is that the graphene effectively acts as a secondary conduction path for the copper itself. Today, the effect is relatively modest — sheathing copper wires in graphene boosts speeds by 4-17% depending on the length of the wire. In future chips, however, the benefits could be more significant — wires might be up to 30% faster while still scaling to smaller sizes. Because wire delays have become one of the most significant performance limiters in modern semiconductor designs, increasing copper wire speeds could improve multiple aspects of chip design and power consumption.

I’m more optimistic about this use of graphene as compared to its use in semiconductors. Using graphene in semiconductors requires changing some of the fundamental properties of the material or changing everything about how we build semiconductors. The one fly in the ointment will be volume production. The researchers talk about growing the graphene layers directly around the wire, but graphene has proven extremely difficult to create in volume. Until we crack that particular problem, we won’t be building anything with graphene in significant quantities.

Source Article from http://www.extremetech.com/computing/208618-graphene-sheathed-copper-wires-could-dramatically-speed-future-processors-cut-power-consumption http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Copphene-640x353.jpg
Graphene-sheathed copper wires could dramatically speed future processors, cut power consumption

Pig-snails in the sky: How Google is exploring the essence of artificial neural networks http://revealedtech.com/computer-system/pig-snails-in-the-sky-how-google-is-exploring-the-essence-of-artificial-neural-networks/

Google is deep into artificial neural network research, but it’s also not afraid to admit there still a great deal of uncertainty over how these collections of synthetic neurons work. Neural networks have made great strides in image and speech recognition, with some models being better at certain tasks than others. To help find out why that is, Google Research is pulling apart the layers of neural networks, feeding in data at different points, and even running the whole thing in reverse. In addition to teasing out the mathematical intricacies of neural networks, it also creates some very cool images.

Most neural networks consist of 10-30 layers of artificial neurons, each with a different task. So if you’re trying to design a network that recognizes objects in an image, you might start with a layer that looks for edges, then another layer that finds basic shapes or colors. The final layers use the data points provided by all the previous ones to search for more abstract things — a building, a face, or whatever else might be in the image.

One way to test these networks is to run things backwards. Instead of giving it an image and asking for an interpretation, you give it an interpretation and ask for an image. In the example above, researchers asked a neural network to take the image of random noise and create a banana. The system had been shown bananas before, so it knows what sort of colors, edges, and shapes to look for. So what you’re looking at is a computer’s idea of the essence of a banana, which can be important in tweaking the design and training of the network to recognize things more effectively. There are some more examples of the same process that are pretty neat too.

It’s also possible to feed in images without indicating the feature the network is supposed to be amplifying. Then by selecting the enhanced output of different layers, you can see how they work independent of the others. For example, the lower layers that deal with basic shapes and edges generate simple, ornament-like patterns on the image.

If you isolate the higher layers that deal with complicated objects, you get really bizarre stuff. If researchers ask for an enhancement of a basic image (like the clouds below), the layer basically gets in a feedback loop of enhancing the image over and over to make existing features look more like what the network thinks it should see. In this way, a neural network can over-interpret entire objects that aren’t there. The network in the example below is trained to identify animals, so it has created several weird hybrids of animals out of the random shapes in the sky.

 

This same process of relentless enhancement can also be applied iteratively on its own outputs, so you basically end up with images created completely by the bias of a network (at the top of this post). This process provides researchers with clues about how different models “think” and recognize patterns. It’s also strangely beautiful.

Source Article from http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/208595-pig-snails-in-the-sky-how-google-is-exploring-the-essence-of-artificial-neural-networks http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AI-dreams-640x353.jpg
Pig-snails in the sky: How Google is exploring the essence of artificial neural networks

How to Use Your iPhone With HomeKit-Enabled Devices [iOS Blog] http://revealedtech.com/apple/how-to-use-your-iphone-with-homekit-enabled-devices-ios-blog/

Now that HomeKit-enabled accessories are hitting the market, you may be wondering what you can do with your new connected devices. Whether you are controlling the temperature, turning off lights, or locking the front door, you will be able to use your iPhone to take care of various activities around the house.

If you are away from home, you’ll even be able to use Apple TV (third-generation or newer running Apple TV OS 7.0 or later) to control some functions while away from home. We've got a tutorial for getting your HomeKit-enabled accessories ready for use.

Insteon's app for HomeKit-enabled lights

Download the App

HomeKit is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch running iOS 8.1 or later. When you get your device, be sure to download the compatible app from the App Store and pair your device using the special code that comes with your new HomeKit accessory.

Setup

Once paired, use Siri to take control of your electronics. You can tell the virtual assistant to set the temperature or turn off the lights in the kitchen. There are some commands that will require you to unlock your iPhone before Siri will comply. For example, you won’t be able to unlock your door until you unlock your iPhone.

Some apps allow you to group multiple accessories together, letting them be controlled with a single Siri command. Groupings need to be set up in third-party accessory apps, and the settings may be called "homes, rooms, or scenes." Third-party apps that offer HomeKit groupings can often incorporate HomeKit devices they're not even designed to control. Lutron's app, for example, can also control a Nest thermostat.

Lutron's HomeKit app


Not all apps have a grouping option, but for those that do, once the accessories are grouped, they can be controlled together. You might be able to tell Siri to "Get ready for bed," for example, a command that would turn off the lights and turn down the temperature.

If you want to reset the system and begin anew, open the Settings app on your iPhone and select Privacy. Then, select HomeKit and tap "Reset HomeKit Configuration."

Shared Connections

Multiple iOS users within the same household will be able to use the connected devices. However, one person will be designated the administrator. Add new users from the settings section of the company's app for the system you use.

Using Apple TV

If you are away from home, you will be able to set up your Apple TV to do the work while you are gone. All you have to do is make sure your iPhone and Apple TV are signed in with the same Apple ID account. Then, you can use Siri commands to remotely control your accessories, like turning on the lights while you are away. With iOS 9 later this year, remote access to HomeKit devices will get even easier via iCloud.

Lost or Stolen iPhone

If, against your desires, you no longer have your iOS device in your possession, use Find My iPhone to turn on Lost Mode so no one can use it to remotely activate your HomeKit accessories. You can also erase the contents of the device (only use this feature if you are sure you won't be getting the device back).

You can use another iOS device that is signed into the same Apple ID to control your HomeKit-enabled accessories. Just download the compatible app and follow the steps above.

If you don't have another iOS device, you will have to manually reset your accessories by following the manufacturers' instructions. When you replace your device, you will be able to pair it with your HomeKit-enabled accessories again.

Each system's app will have a slightly different user interface. However, HomeKit supported devices will all be able to work with Siri so you can control your home from your iPhone by activating the virtual personal assistant. When iOS 9 and watchOS 2 launch in the fall, you will be able to use Apple Watch to control HomeKit-enabled devices and you'll be able to access them remotely without an Apple TV.

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How to Use Your iPhone With HomeKit-Enabled Devices [iOS Blog]

Review: SchuttenWorks 'Wave' is a Compact, Elegant Apple Watch Charging Stand [iOS Blog] http://revealedtech.com/apple/review-schuttenworks-wave-is-a-compact-elegant-apple-watch-charging-stand-ios-blog/

Most of the Apple Watch stands and docks that we've reviewed so far have been from major manufacturers, but the Wave Apple Watch Charging Stand from SchuttenWorks is made by a small team in Oregon. Available in several different woods, the Wave is named for its shape, which resembles the crest of a breaking ocean wave.

Visually clean and simple, the Wave uses a clever split design and magnet system to hide away the Apple Watch cable and lock the charger in place. It's more expensive than most Apple Watch stands at $75, but it's also arguably more elegant and certainly an aesthetic that some Apple Watch owners will love.

The Wave comes in two pieces, which snap together with a series of magnets and wooden pegs. Each side has cutouts for the Apple Watch charger and cable, which is routed through the middle of the stand and out the back. Setup is super simple -- just pull the two pieces apart, nestle the charger at the top, snap the cable in place, and put the two pieces back together again.

All of the cutouts in the wood are perfect and the two pieces of the Wave are flush with almost no visible seam. Snapped together, it looks like a single piece of wood that was designed around the charger. At the top, the Apple Watch charger is held in place with micro suction tape, but even without the tape, the fit is tight enough that it the cable would stay firmly in place.




The stainless steel Apple Watch charger (which I have) is nearly level with the edges of the Wave, so the Apple Watch always gets a secure fit. There's no rubber padding here like there is with some other watch stands, but the wood isn't likely to cause damage to the bottom of the watch.

The Apple Watch Sport charger is thicker than the charger that ships with the stainless steel Apple Watch, so it protrudes slightly from the Wave, but this shouldn't affect function for Apple Watch Sport owners.

Image via an Etsy reviewer


A lot of Apple Watch stands have large bases to keep them stable, but the Wave is able to use a smaller footprint because it has two additional strips of micro suction tape on the bottom. This tape adheres firmly to any flat surface where the Wave is placed, keeping it from moving. It sticks so well to surfaces that I was worried it might damage my desk, but I've been using it for nearly two weeks now and I haven't had problems.

Compared to other Apple Watch stands, the Wave takes up a lot less space on my desk, which I appreciate, and it's versatile. The Apple Watch fits on the Wave in any position, closed or open band. With a closed-loop band like the Milanese, or with a Sport Band snapped closed, the Apple Watch sits sideways on the stand. With the band open, the Apple Watch drapes over the Wave.

My only concern regarding the Wave is its angle. Stands from manufacturers like Griffin and Twelve South are angled slightly so the Apple Watch screen can be viewed easily on a nightstand with a quick glance, but the Wave is flat, which means it's going to be harder to see the watch's display at night. That might not be a big deal for some people, but it may be a limiting factor for those who use the Apple Watch to check the time in the night. It's also not going to work with the upcoming Nightstand mode that's being introduced in watchOS 2.

The Wave stand in the pictures is made from monkey wood, but stands are also available in lighter and darker woods, like cherry, curly maple, mahogany, oregon walnut, and plain walnut. There's also a pitch black, which is, as the name suggests, a solid black color.

Wave creator Rindert Schutten told me that Wave stands are manufactured in small batches, with the sanding and polishing done by hand. "Each stand gets individualized attention which allows for in-process quality control," he said. The ultimate goal with the Wave, according to Schutten, was to come up with a solution that would hide the cable, allow the charger to be installed easily, support all Apple Watches and bands, and offer one-handed docking and undocking.

Bottom Line

With its relatively high price tag, the Wave isn't going to appeal to everyone, but there are a lot of people out there who appreciate carefully crafted wood accessories and are willing to pay a bit more for them. The Wave has a clean, simple look that's going to match most decor, from bedroom to office, and it's a nice, compact size.

If you like the wood aesthetic and the juxtaposition of the high-tech Apple Watch next to a classic wood stand, the Wave is a solid choice.

How to Buy

The Wave Apple Watch stand can be purchased from the Shuttenworks website for $75.

Our Other Apple Watch Dock Reviews

- Mophie Watch Dock


- Duet Two-in-One Apple Watch Stand


- Twelve South HiRise for Apple Watch


- Griffin WatchStand

Note: MacRumors received no compensation for this review.

Source Article from http://www.macrumors.com/review/shuttenworks-wave-apple-watch-charging-stand/ http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/06/wavemainimage-800x533.jpg
Review: SchuttenWorks 'Wave' is a Compact, Elegant Apple Watch Charging Stand [iOS Blog]