If it takes a few transit methods to get from a party to your front door, Google Maps didn’t used to be much help. But, as announced Tuesday, the navigation app can now give transit directions that include different modes.
“Mixed modes” will soon show up on the transit tab and will include ride-sharing and cycling options within the public transit directions. Instead of you having to manually piece together a trip, the app puts together different options for you.
You can get detailed information about ride-sharing, like the cost of either an Uber or Lyft and the different types of rides, like a carpool or SUV and how long it’ll take to get to you. The app will give info about the train or bus you’re catching and how much traffic to expect on the way. But you still have to book an Uber or Lyft in its respective app. Read more…
More about Google Maps, Navigation Apps, Tech, Big Tech Companies, and Transportation See the Original Article
If you’re driving in San Francisco one week and then New York City the next, you’re probably not paying attention to the small differences in rules when it comes to sharing bikes lanes, passing school buses, and turning right on red.
If you’re in a self-driving car, those state-by-state distinctions aren’t just a nuisance (and potential ticket since ignorance isn’t a legal defense), but rules the self-driving companies don’t want to overlook, no matter how tedious. The software controlling the car needs to have those slight variations in traffic law programmed in, especially since companies don’t want negative media attention or a blemished record showing it broke the law. Read more…
More about Aurora, Autonomous Vehicles, Self Driving Cars, Tech, and Transportation See the Original Article
In June, Apple recalled the 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, sold between September 2015 and February 2017, because the battery “may pose a fire safety risk,” and the FAA soon reminded airlines not to carry those laptops with defective batteries on board. But some airlines are now banning Apple laptops whether they’ve got a bad battery or not, as reported by Bloomberg. Virgin Australia isn’t taking any chances: it’s banning every single MacBook from being carried in checked baggage. In a notice on its “Dangerous Goods” page, the company doesn’t differentiate by shape, screen size, or the year it was made: all “Apple MacBooks” can only be brought onto planes in carry-on baggage. That may sound extreme, as the large majority of Apple laptops have not been recalled. The policy does make it sound like you can still use your laptops once on the flight, though. Lots of MacBooks are being banned that weren’t part of the recall But if you’re flying Qantas Airways with a 15-inch MacBook Pro, that last part may not be true. Not only is the carrier banning every single 15-inch MacBook Pro from checked baggage, it won’t let you use them in flight. “Until further notice, all 15-inch Apple MacBook Pros must be carried in cabin baggage and switched off for flight following a recall notice issued by Apple,” a Qantas spokesperson told ZDNet. While it’s understandable that Quantas might not be able to easily tell whether a 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro has one of the recalled batteries or not — that’d require looking up a serial number online — it’d be nice if they exempted the 2016-and-later MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which has several pretty easily distinguishable visual characteristics and hasn’t had a battery recall that we know of. If you have an affected 15-inch MacBook Pro, Apple says it will replace your battery for free, but you’ll have to send your laptop to an Apple repair center. You can check if your unit is eligible for a replacement here.
Social media is increasingly being overrun by scammers.
A whopping 53 percent of all social media login attempts are made by malicious actors, according to a new report by security firm Arkose Labs. In addition, a quarter of all new social media signups are connected to scammers.
For its Q3 Fraud and Abuse Report, Arkose Labs says it analyzed more than 1.2 billion new registrations, logins, and payments in financial services, ecommerce, gaming, entertainment, travel, and social media. The report found that one in 10 transactions are fraudulent.
SEE ALSO: Don’t make calls with Siri or Google or you could get scammed Read more…
More about Social Media, Fraud, Password, Scammers, and Tech See the Original Article
Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Telegram’s cryptocurrency— the Gram — may be going public after all. The encrypted messaging app company plans to deliver “the first batches” of the coin in the next two months, according to a report at The New York Times. The last time we reported on the Gram, it was to note that Telegram was canceling its initial coin offering (ICO), so the news may come as a bit of a surprise unless you’ve been following Telegram and cryptocurrency closely. But if you have, you’ve probably heard a rumor that Telegram has a hard deadline to make it happen: if it doesn’t deliver by October 31st, it legally forfeits the $1.7 billion it raised to make those coins a reality. That October 31st deadline is real, according to legal documents reviewed by the Times, so the company’s trying to make those coins real, too, and as quickly as possible. Users will apparently store them in a Gram digital wallet, one that Telegram plans to offer to all its 200 million users around the world, according to three anonymous investors who spoke to the publication. It’s not quite clear how regulators might deal with a new Telegram cryptocurrency, seeing how Telegram itself is a decentralized messaging operation that’s happily tangled with governments in the past. Facebook’s Libra is the closest parallel, but one based in the United States, and it’s already encountered quite a bit of early scrutiny.
Nintendo’s long-awaited and delayed Mario Kart smartphone game is almost here. Mario Kart Tour will be released on September 25th, according to a tweet from the company. The release date presumably applies to both iOS and Android devices, although the game’s beta program was Android-only. That beta revealed Mario Kart Tour’s overwrought free-to-play monetization model, involving lots of microtransactions and cool-down timers. None of it should be a surprise for anyone who’s seen Nintendo’s other mobile games, like Fire Emblem Heroes and Dr. Mario World, but it’s possible the company might have tweaked the balance following feedback from the beta. Pre-registration for Mario Kart Tour is available now.
Pre-registration for Mario Kart Tour is now available! For more details, please click here: https://t.co/loB3wf6eOv#MarioKartTour will be available on 9/25. We hope you’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel of this new game! pic.twitter.com/afPFp94iNi— Mario Kart Tour (@mariokarttourEN) August 27, 2019
