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BetaNews.Com (7 non lus)

Google will eliminate accidental mobile ad clicks

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 10:23pm CEST par Mark Wilson

Ads are part and parcel of being online, but they can be particularly annoying for mobile users. When playing games on a phone or tablet, it's all too easy to accidentally tap an ad you have absolutely no interest in, pulling you out of the game you were playing or the site you were reading. If you've cursed when this happened to you, Google hears you.

The company is taking steps to make the "user experience" of ads a little better. It recognizes that advertisements that get clicked accidentally don't benefit anybody. They end up irritating the clicker, and are unlikely to be of value to the company that placed the ad. With around half of ad clicks being made by mistake, Google is now taking steps to stop this from happening -- great news for users and advertisers alike.

In all, Google is making three key changes to ads that appear on smartphones and tablets, starting off by adding an unclickable border to the outer edges of advertisements. This should help to eliminate clicks that are made by mistake when trying to scroll through a page or click something else near an ad. To ensure that a tap was made on purpose, it needs to be made nearer the center of it.

Some ads can appear on screen unexpectedly -- perhaps on a popup screen. To prevent these from being accidentally clicked, Google is introducing a time delay so that ads are inactive and unclickable for a short time after they first appear.

The final changes tackles problems with in-app popup ads for other apps and games. In the past such an ad feature a clickable app icon which led to the relevant Google Play entry. Unfortunately the "close ad" cross button was part of this icon, making it incredibly easy to interact with the ad when trying to close it. From now on, the app icon will be inactive and a separate button will need to be hit to grab a copy.

Introducing the changes, Google says:

These latest click quality enhancements improve the user experience by keeping them within their desired website or app and not involuntarily taking them to another page. They also benefit advertisers by reducing costs from accidental clicks and improving conversion rates. To date, we’ve seen a 15% average conversion rate lift on display ads by driving more qualified clicks with these updates.

Photo credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock
Anti-trolling site aims to stamp out online abuse, sexism, and homophobia

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 5:55pm CEST par Mark Wilson

The day after the US Supreme Court voted to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states, the self-explanatorily named Stop Abuse Online website has launched. While the site has been set up with the intention of combating online abuse and trolling in general, female and LGBT victims are a particular focus.

The aim of Stop Abuse Online is to offer advice to those who find themselves falling victim to abuse -- be it online harassment, stalking revenge porn, or blackmail -- complete with legal tips about how to deal with different circumstances. The site is run by seven voluntary organizations in the UK and looks to bring the same protection to the web that people expect in the real world.

The unstoppable growth in popularity of social networks has served to increase the problem of online abuse as it is now easier than ever to connect with other. It's a problem that affects Twitter and the site recently tripled the size of its own online abuse-tackling team; Google also expanded its Right to Be Forgotten program so that people could request that links to revenge porn be removed from search results.

The Stop Abuse Online's front page explains:

An online life is something many of us take for granted. Smartphones, email, social networking, online dating, chat rooms, blogs, online gaming, Facebook and Twitter – most of us spend part of everyday interacting with others in this online world.

This has vastly increased our ability to share information and views with people around the world. But sometimes these online interactions become abusive and harmful.

Whilst online abuse can affect anyone, women and LGBT people often experience abuse as a result of their sex, gender identity or sexual orientation - or may be targeted for these reasons. The aim of this website is to provide support and guidance to people who are experiencing this type of online abuse.

The site is packed with practical tips about how to deal with online abuse, and stresses that there is a need to strike a balance between freedom of speech and individual human rights. "One person’s right to expression is limited by a balance with another person’s right not to be threatened or abused".

Check out the site which is seeking feedback about how it is doing.

Photo credit: YuryZap / Shutterstock
OneDrive adds Chromecast support to its Android app

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 5:39pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Since debuting Chromecast has continued to gain wider support, with new services being added regularly. Now Microsoft, which has a history of supporting Android with apps and updates, is getting in a bit deeper.

The company has added support for Chromecast in it's latest update. Version 3.2 of the app allows customers to "cast" photos and videos right from their phone or tablet and display them on the big screen.

Microsoft's description of the app reads "OneDrive is the one place for everything in your work and personal life. It gives you free online storage for all your personal files so you can get to them from your Android device, computer (PC or Mac), and any other devices you use. With OneDrive for Business, you also get storage for your work files so you can share and collaborate on them with other people at your work or school. The OneDrive app for Android lets you easily work with your personal and work files when you’re on the go".

The app is free, and of course, OneDrive can be used for free, plus there are options for paid plans with more storage, though also ways to get that space without forking over the cash. If you already have the cloud storage service installed then you should receive the update. If not, head over to Google Play to grab it.
Find similar audio files with MediaPurge

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 4:03pm CEST par Mike Williams

Building a media collection is much more fun than organising it, and no matter how good your intentions, it’s all too easy to end up having to navigate a scattered mess of audio and video files.

MediaPurge is a freeware Windows application which provides several ways to restore order, including finding audio duplicates, tagging, renaming or sorting files into a new folder structure.

The most interesting tool is probably the duplicate file finder. As well as locating duplicates by file information (size, tags) or content, it can also use acoustic fingerprinting to match similar files, for example two different rips of the same song.

The latter option worked well for us, and runs reasonably quickly considering the work involved, processing around 10 songs a second on our test PC.

MediaPurge can also bring order to a cluttered "Music" folder, building new folders based on file names or tags and sorting your files accordingly.

There are automated tag management tools to edit, copy or remove ID3 tags, rename a file based on its tags, or generate and assign tags from its file name.

MediaPurge also includes a sync tool for comparing two media collections, finding and ignoring duplicates and synchronising everything else.

There are some interface oddities, particularly with the English language translation (the original German is visible in several places). MediaPurge is still very usable, though, and its acoustic fingerprinting abilities are enough to justify the download all on their own.
Bill Cosby and Wikipedia: Legal intimidation or fear?

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 9:28am CEST par Mark Raby

There have now been nearly 50 women who have publicly accused venerable comedian Bill Cosby of inappropriate sexual conduct throughout his entire career, but what will you find on his public Wikipedia page?

In his introductory Wikipedia paragraph, visitors will see nothing but the glowing commendations Cosby has earned over the years. Only in the deeply buried sections of his online encyclopedia entry will anyone eventually find a brief description of the ongoing sexual allegations and lawsuits. Visitors to the page are also greeted with a warning that "the neutrality of this article's introduction is disputed".

Bill Cosby has been the subject of at least three independent police investigations spanning 15 years, as well as civil lawsuits that include six named victims and a total of more than a dozen women including Jane Doe witnesses. In addition to that, a total of more than 40 women have come forward accusing Cosby of inappropriate conduct, ranging from dubious former felons to high-profile Hollywood executives.

Yet his Wikipedia page spends only four paragraphs talking about the myriad allegations, compared to more than 40 other paragraphs discussing his achievements in TV, film, and academia. Anyone attempting to create a specific Wikipedia article about the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations will be rebuffed by the website for creating an article that only exists to defame or damage the reputation of someone -- no matter how many New York Times or Associated Press references accompany the article.

And yet, many other former celebrities have their own allegations detailed in specific Wikipedia pages, like Jimmy Savile, Kobe Bryant, and Jerry Sandusky.

Any time someone attempts to further expose the sexual assault allegations to Bill Cosby's Wikipedia page -- which may arguably define the comedian's overall legacy -- they are questioned. Even earlier this month, an attempt to add additional sexual assault allegations to Cosby's Wikipedia page were removed, with the following comment: "We don't know for certain, and we can't express that in Wikipedia's voice as if it was a fact".

The Bill Cosby Wikipedia page has been placed into "semi-protected mode", meaning that only verified Wikipedia users may attempt to edit the page. And even then, anyone attempting to add negative information about the comedian is thrown against the wall.

Even though there are more allegations of inappropriate conduct for Cosby than nearly any other American performer in history, the revision history of Cosby's Wikipedia page history includes the assertion that it "was agreed to not be up to the level of importance for the intro," meaning the allegations will not be incorporated into the introductory section of Cosby's Wikipedia page.

Given that Wikipedia is supposed to be the most open and transparent source of information on the Internet, it makes one wonder why Cosby continues to be so insulated. Is it fear of ramification from Cosby's legal team? Is it because of the power of Cosby loyalists who do not want to see his name tarnished?

Whatever the cause, it seems like an injustice for a source as powerful as Wikipedia to appear to be willfully ignorant of the continued allegations against such a powerful and venerated pop culture icon.

Meanwhile, Cosby currently faces three ongoing lawsuits: a class-action suit from three women who claim Cosby unfairly branded them as "liars" for speaking out, a separate lawsuit from former model Janice Dickinson over similar claims, and a sexual battery lawsuit from yet another victim who alleges Cosby sexually assaulted her at the age of 15.

Isn't that enough to deserve at least one sentence in a celebrity Wikipedia introductory paragraph? Apparently not.

P.S. Bill Cosby has denied any wrongdoing and has never been criminally charged.
Biggest healthcare technology advancements in 2015

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 9:19am CEST par Brooke Chaplan

According to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, "constant change is the new normal" for healthcare technology professions. Every year there are many impressive advances with medical equipment which allow medical professionals to manage diseases and improve the quality of lives for their patients.

Below we explain some of the most amazing hospital equipment technological advances of this year and what you can expect to see in your local clinics in future.

Additive Technology

The World Economic Forum lists additive manufacturing as one of the top emerging technologies of this year. Normal manufacturing work by breaking down larger material. However, additive manufacturing starts with loose material, such as powders or liquids, and creates a final product through digital technology. These 3D products are highly customized and have surprising medical uses. For example, 3D printing can copy human cells and be inserted into patients to provide drug screens. Bio-printing is currently being used to create bone, skin and heart tissue. Already there have been successful tests and experiments done. Learn more about this fascinating technology here.

Foam Technology

A student at Florida State University has invented a new, high performance foam that has amazing health benefits. This new auxetic foam actually becomes thicker and is superior to traditional foam, which normally shrinks after use. This foam technology has many applications with medical device bracing for patients with prosthetic needs. This new technology provides a comfortable, individualized fit, which can help improve the quality of lives for amputees. This is important because many patients with prosthetics suffer discomfort, skin irritation, and fatigue from poorly fitting prosthetics. In fact, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs is still working on a long term, multi-million dollar project to study this technology.

Radiology Technology

Radiology technology plays a critical role in diagnosing different medical diseases and conditions. New radiology technology offers expanded functions and convenience for both patient and qualified technicians with a radiology bachelor’s degree. For example, digital medical imaging allows the healthcare professional to examine unmovable patients at their bedside through the use of wireless technology. Remote viewing technology makes it possible to view the current and past images outside of the radiology dept. In fact, the patient can also easily view their own radiology medical records online.

There are different medical equipment advances currently improving the quality of lives for patients and adding to the ability of medical professionals to provide care for patients. These include additive, foam, and radiology technology and there will certainly be more to come in future with all the advancement being made today. New technologies will be able to spread to countries all over the world and give them more effective and focused tools. Improved health means improved lives and as our technology increases, so will the population of communities all over the world. These are just a few examples of how it is being used in the world today.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: lenetstan/Shutterstock
AppleCare+ now covers batteries that drop to 80%

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 12:20am CEST par Mark Wilson

For anyone concerned about their new Apple device, AppleCare+ protection can sound appealing -- even if it might seem expensive in some instances. Today Apple has updated the terms of AppleCare+ for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch giving a better deal for people worried about their batteries.

Previously, the extended warranty only covered batteries that would hold 50 percent charge or less. Now this has been updated so that you can request a free replacement within the coverage period if your device's battery is only able to hold 80 percent of full charge. The new terms do not apply to everyone -- it all depends on when you bought your Apple device.

If you bought your iPhone, iPad, iPod or Apple Watch before April 10 2015, you're stuck with the old terms. The only way you're going to get a free battery from apple is if it deteriorates to the point that it is only holding half of its charge. If you bought your device after April 9 2015, you're in luck -- the new 80 percent rule applies to you.

The updated terms read:

If during the Plan Term, you submit a valid claim by notifying Apple that (i) a defect in materials and workmanship has arisen in the Covered Equipment, or (ii) the capacity of the Covered Equipment’s battery to hold an electrical charge is less than eighty percent (80%) of its original specifications, Apple will either (a) repair the defect at no charge, using new parts or parts that are equivalent to new in performance and reliability, or (b) exchange the Covered Equipment, with a replacement product that is new or equivalent to new in performance and reliability. All replacement products provided under this Plan will at a minimum be functionally equivalent to the original product. If Apple exchanges the Covered Equipment, the original product becomes Apple’s property and the replacement product is your property, with coverage for the remaining period of the Plan.

Does this make you more inclined to shell out for extra protection, or are you happy to run the risk?