Author: Jacob Yothment

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First black hole picture released

Discover what makes this picture so special.

Is it the Eye of Sauron? Is it some marmalade someone spilled on the carpet? Nope, this is actually the first-ever image of a black hole.

It might not look as exciting as what a Christopher Nolan movie or Soundgarden song might depict. However, it is, without a doubt, a monumental achievement in space exploration.

The image was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope with the help of NASA scientists and spacecraft. This black hole currently sits about 55 million light-years away in galaxy M87. It is more than six times bigger than the sun.

Members of the scientific community have taken to social media to express their joy at the milestone.

“Having spent about twenty years helping to visualize the high energy universe, and I am seeing this silhouette of a black hole. That it happened in my lifetime is incredible,” says visualization and emerging tech lead for the Chandra Observatory Kim Kowal Arcand. https://t.co/ObW5sitpWu

— Kim Kowal Arcand (@kimberlykowal) April 10, 2019

“History books will be divided into the time before the image and after the image,” said Michael Kramer from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

As for us, we’re just sad that Opportunity didn’t live to see this day.

NASA’s heartbreaking final words to the Mars rover Opportunity

Get ready to wipe away your tears ►

The shadow of the black hole is in the center of the image. The bright red and yellow color is actually light being sucked into the black hole.

The Event Horizon Telescope does not look like any sort of traditional telescope you are picturing. The “telescope” is the size of the Earth.

The team takes measurements to collect data with satellite dishes. The dishes are located in North America, South America, Europe, and Antarctica. This technique is called radio observation.

“This is an amazing accomplishment by the EHT team,” said NASA’s director of the astrophysics division Paul Hertz “Years ago, we thought we would have to build a very large space telescope to image a black hole. By getting radio telescopes around the world to work in concert like one instrument, the EHT team achieved this, decades ahead of time.”

If the data is collected at the same time, scientists can use it to produce an image. The data for this black hole came in two years ago, and scientists have been forming it into a clear image since then. If that sounds confusing, just remember that scientists initially thought this was impossible.

The image is the first step in more research toward massive black holes, event horizons, and gravity itself.

“We have achieved something presumed to be impossible just a generation ago,” said EHT project director Sheperd S. Doeleman. “Breakthroughs in technology, connections between the world’s best radio observatories, and innovative algorithms all came together to open an entirely new window on black holes and the event horizon.”

New Lion King trailer shows Scar, Timon, Pumbaa

Disney’s new trailer for Lion King shows that Simba is gonna be a mighty king.

“Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

Disney released the first full-length trailer for the upcoming Lion King remake coming out in July of this year.

We got to see the first shots of Scar, Timon, and Pumbaa. Aside from James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa, the film has an entirely different voice cast from the original.

Taking the reins from Jeremy Irons, Chiwetel Ejiofor takes on the role of Scar. Ejiofor gets a few lines in the trailer, and his chilling tone sent shivers down our spines. You may recognize Ejiofor from movies like “12 Years a Slave” and “Four Brothers.”

Our favorite bug-eating duo also made an appearance. Voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, Timon and Pumba sing their hearts out to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

Eichner was made famous by “Parks and Recreation,” and he also has a popular YouTube channel. You probably know Rogen from his movies “Knocked Up” or “Sausage Party.”

We have yet to hear Beyoncé voice Nala or Donald Glover voice Simba. However, we have full confidence that Beyoncé will have a performance that will inspire all the single ladies. Also, Glover is bound to give us a performance that is anything but childish.

China cracks down on Bitcoin mining

Will this radically change the industry or is this just a sign of things to come?

China’s economic planning agency announced that they are looking to ban Bitcoin mining. They announced it in a report (written in Mandarin) that you can see here. Click below if you need a translation app.

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According to an article from Reuters, China’s National Development and Reform Commission is seeking public opinions on a revised list of industries it wants to encourage, restrict or eliminate.

Of the new entries to that list, cryptocurrency mining was included. According to the NDRC, Bitcoin was hazardous to the country in several ways. It did not abide by regulations, was unsafe, wasted resources, and polluted the environment.

Bitcoin mining requires an incredible amount of electricity. As many of these mining operations are secret and unregulated, the electricity is often stolen.

The public has until May 7 to submit their opinion on whether or not Bitcoin will be eliminated. After that, Bitcoin’s fate is China will be decided.

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China’s battle with Bitcoin farms

China is home to about 70% of the world’s Bitcoin mining operations, known as “farms.” To put in perspective how much China has dominated this market, the next closest is India who operates about 4% of the world’s farms.

Last year, Chinese police officers seized about 600 mining computers. To help combat issues with electricity consumption, the Chinese government also called for Bitcoin miners to exit the industry. As a result, more than half a million Bitcoin miners are out of business.

What happens next?

Bitcoin mining operations started off small when they began popping up in China in 2015. As a result, they flew under the government’s radar. However, as Bitcoin value rose so did the government’s attention toward Bitcoin.

Most likely, China is not going to try to eliminate its Bitcoin industry altogether. As Bitcoin values haven’t suffered a major loss either, it seems like most everyone agrees.

The Chinese government likely realizes that their actions won’t stop some people from mining Bitcoin. However, that doesn’t mean that the country won’t do more to regulate the industry. By doing so, the country can tax it and the environment can be protected.

Bitcoin has been around for about a decade, but people have only paid close attention in the last few years. In that time, the industry has exploded and has gone through rapid changes.

Trickbot malware rising

Find out how to stop this virus from stealing money from your tax return.

Trickbot scams have reached a high point leading up to Tax Day.

The virus has been stealing tax information and is sending fraudulent reports to steal peoples’ tax returns.

What is Trickbot and what is it doing?

Trickbot is a trojan virus that has been around since 2016. It affects Windows computers

It typically comes from opening a maliciously crafted email. The emails typically impersonate a payroll provider and look like this:

Trickbot sifts through your computer looking for password and login information typically related to your banking. The virus then sends the information back to the attacker.

Trickbot has evolved throughout the years to target more and more financial information. Now, Trickbot has the ability to even steal cryptocurrency.

Trickbot is especially concerning for businesses. The virus just needs to trick one unlucky person, and then it can potentially access all of a company’s financial information.

The solution

The solution is simple: frequent virus scans with an app like Malwarebytes.

Malwarebytes Download now ►

To further protect yourself, Malwarebytes also recommends the following actions.

Identify the infected machine(s)
Disconnect the infected machines from the network
Patch for EternalBlue
Disable administrative shares
Remove the Trickbot trojan
Change account credentials

For a bit of extra caution, check the charges on your credit cards for suspicious activity.

Malwarebytes scans your device in its entirety, showing you the problematic items found once complete. From there, you decide what to remove, and what to keep.

Trickbot does not have symptoms visible to the average user. However, according to the Malwarebytes website, a network admin will likely see changes in traffic or attempts to reach out to blacklisted IPs and domains.

Trickbot is, well, tricky. You should run a virus scan daily to ensure that you aren’t at risk, and that you won’t have your hard-earned money stolen.

New Endgame clip details plan to defeat Thanos

The Avengers plan to resurrect friends with the Infinity Stones in Endgame clip.

A new clip which originally aired on “Good Morning America” shows The Avengers’ plan to defeat Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame.”

You can watch the clip followed by the trailer below:

Were the fan theories right? Are the Avengers going to do some crazy antics to bring back their friends? Will we see time travel and/or dimension hopping? Well, you can read about theories like that below, but this clip has a cut-and-dry plan. The Avengers’ plan is to find Thanos and use the Infinity Stones to resurrect their friends.

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Although the clip goes along with the previous trailers we watched, we are still a bit skeptical. The directors of the film have said that they want to preserve the surprise for the story. In fact, some shots in the trailers have been intentionally fake.

The trailer begins with Black Widow announcing that Thanos used the Infinity Stones again. Whether that means that Thanos committed another atrocity is unknown. Since it doesn’t look like the cast went from being halved to quartered, we doubt he snapped his fingers again.

The remaining Avengers debate whether or not going after Thanos is in their best interest. Captain Marvel has a cocky attitude, saying the Avengers has a better shot with her onboard. Bruce Banner and War Machine are a bit skeptical and worry that Thanos will only make matters worse.

We learned a lot from “Captain Marvel,” but we have yet to see if the character is strong enough to tango with the mad titan.

We are closing in on the release for “Avengers: Endgame.” Speculation and theories are at their highest, and we want to hear all of yours. Tell us in the comments below how you think the story will unfold, and who will be left standing when the dust un-settles.

Elder Scrolls: Blades surpasses 1 million downloads, but is it good?

In a world where more PC/console games move to mobile, does Elder Scrolls: Blades sink or swim?

I used to be a gamer like you, but then I took a microtransaction to the knee.

Bethesda’s director and executive producer Todd Howard said, “Blades, at its heart, is a true Elder Scrolls game.” Immediately after he said this, we were all still skeptical. Watch the full reveal for Elder Scrolls: Blades and Howard’s pitch to gamers below:

There aren’t many success stories about a popular PC or console game getting a counterpart for mobile devices. When Blizzard announced a new Diablo game exclusively for mobile, they were nearly booed off the stage.

In its first week of early access, Elder Scrolls: Blades reached more than 1 million downloads. The number is impressive, but there are still outlying problems with the game.

Does it feel like an Elder Scrolls game?

Let’s travel back to when another game series made its journey to our smartphones: Pokémon. In its first week, Pokémon Go reached an astronomical 10 million downloads. It was the first mobile game to reach that milestone that quickly.

Pokémon GO Download Free ►

There was one thing clear about Pokémon Go that fans realized immediately; it wasn’t a traditional Pokémon game. There were no random encounters, traditional gym battles, trades (at the time it was released), or a storyline. However, Nintendo never said it was going to be a traditional Pokémon experience. As the game edges closer and closer to 1 billion downloads, Nintendo proved that the jump to mobile can work.

Howard said that Blades feels like an Elder Scrolls game, and it does… sometimes. When you’re fighting off baddies, and looking for the best weapons for your inventory, the game has the same feel as if you were doing the same on a console.

As the evidence shows, Blades doesn’t have to be a traditional Elder Scrolls experience in order to be fun. The game can be fun at times, but it loses its luster when the developer takes our phone out of our hands and replaces it with our credit cards.

Lootboxes put fun on hold

Throughout the game, you are going to come across chests containing items to help you on your journey. In a previous Elder Scrolls game like Skyrim, all you need to do is break our your lock pick. A little turn here, a slow turn of the joystick there. Bing, bang, boom. Done.

In this game, you have to wait until a timer runs out on a chest before you open it. However, if you spend real-world money on in-game currency, you can pay to open the chest sooner. As the chests can take hours to open, players with nothing else to do in the game don’t have another option.

Microtransactions are common in free mobile games. The developers need to make their money somehow. A strategy many games take is to only have items such as new skins available for purchase.

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Pay to win

Elder Scrolls: Blades has an unfortunate truth: you either buy the good weapons, or you die over and over again with the free weapons. Blades has currently made more than $500,000 from microtransactions, proving that players are slowly catching on.

Players have even taken the discussion to Reddit to ask what weapons work best. There are cases of players finding rare legendary weapons dropped from a fallen enemy only to find out that it pales in comparison to something you can just buy for $10.

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Should you play it?

The game does have an intriguing, flowing story. It features the Blades from previous Elder Scrolls titles on a new adventure.

The game also has many RPG qualities such as customizing your character and upgrading them via EXP.

The story and combat are both enticing, but players need to realize prior to downloading that the game is not “free.” You don’t need to spend $60 like a normal new release for PC or console, but you will have to spend around $10 for decent weapons. You might also few bucks here and there if you want to skip waiting for chests to open.

If you’re looking for the next Skyrim, you can give this game a hard pass. However, if you want something small to hold you over until Elder Scrolls 6 drops, this might be your answer.

Beats by Dre to launch first wireless earphones

The extra grip of the Powerbeats Pro might make the new earphones the gym rat’s best friend.

Beats by Dre just announced the company’s first wireless earphones.

The Powerbeats Pro have up to nine hours of battery life, are waterproof, and have adjustable ear-hooks to secure onto your ears.

Beats has yet to announce a release date for the new earphones, but they won’t come cheap. The Powerbeats Pro will cost $250. You can buy Air Pods for $100 cheaper on Amazon.

Like Air Pods, the Powerbeats Pro come with a small, portable charging case. Hopefully, the Powerbeats Pro won’t have issues with exploding on users.

Gym rat friendly

The Powerbeats Pro are marketed toward fitness junkies who don’t want their headphones falling off while working out.

According to the Beats by Dre website, the headphones are, “designed to keep up with your toughest workouts.”

If you’re in a hurry, the earphones have a five-minute quick-charge feature. After a five-minute charge, the earphones will have 90 minutes of listening time.

The earphones are available in four colors: ivory, black, moss, and navy.

FCC commissioner warns of location data threats

Your location data is being sold for hundreds of dollars; what should the FCC do?

Little did we know, every move we make is being sold for hundreds of dollars.

FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks wrote in an op-ed piece for the New York Times that wireless companies sell users’ location data, and that the FCC should stop them.

.@nytopinion published my first op-ed today. I argue it is downright dangerous for our wireless carriers to sell our location data to facilitate pay-to-track schemes. And I point out that the FCC’s time to hold wrongdoers accountable may be running out. https://t.co/0wh9MxcxMJ

— Geoffrey Starks (@GeoffreyStarks) April 2, 2019

Who is using our location data?

Last year, the New York Times broke a story about a sheriff using location data to monitor the locations of people in his jurisdiction. Whether or not he had the best intentions, his methods were, at best, against FCC regulations and at worst, immoral.

Although the sheriff was reprimanded for his actions, the question still looms, “Who has access to our locations, and how are they getting it?”

As Starks wrote, even bounty hunters have been using location data to find and locate their targets. “A bounty hunter was able to pay to track a user’s location on a map accurate to within a few feet,” Starks writes.

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How are they getting it?

Our cellphone service providers take location data directly from our phones throughout the day so that we can be contacted. That location data is only supposed to be divulged by our service provider for emergency situations.

We can opt to allow apps like GrubHub or Waze to use our location in order to use their services, but they have to get permission. They also aren’t allowed to sell our personal location data.

Unlike an app, we can’t opt out of allowing our service provider to have access to our location data.

This is an FCC issue

Make no mistake, it is the FCC’s responsibility to handle this problem.

As Starks wrote, “It is unquestionably the FCC’s job to protect consumers and address risks to public safety. Our location information isn’t supposed to be used without our knowledge and consent and no chain of handoffs or contracts can eliminate the wireless company’s obligations.”

The FCC has been investigating this issue, but they have not taken action.

“The FCC must use its authority to protect consumers and promote public safety, and act swiftly and decisively to stop illegal and dangerous pay-to-track practices once and for all,” Starks writes.

Starks went on to say that as a commissioner, he can call for action on this problem. However, he can only do so if the FCC chairman first adds the issue to the FCC’s agenda.

What happens next?

Starks took the right step by writing the piece for the New York Times. His story has only been online for two days, but it already been shared thousands of times across social media. Only time will tell as to how the FCC will respond to the article and the public outcry.

Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ gets first trailer

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker offers a fresh take of the classic character.

After several films with mixed results, the DC cinematic universe looks like it might just get the last laugh.

Today, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for “Joker,” the new standalone film for the clown-prince of crime. The film is set to be released on Oct. 4 this year, but you can watch the trailer now:

The character

Thankfully, Joaquin Phoenix appears to be giving the Joker his own unique identity. He isn’t copying Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger’s characters. He is also not taking something completely out-of-left-field like Jared Leto.

This Joker has an element of tragedy to his character, coupled with the growing negativity oozing from Gotham City.

For the first time since Tim Burton’s 1989 film “Batman,” the Joker will be getting a backstory on the silver screen. His true identity in this film will be a failing comedian named Arthur Fleck.

Fans may be turned off by adding a backstory to the character (shrouding him in mystery is the usual treatment). However, the Joker himself gave a bit of insight into his character in the graphic novel “Batman: The Killing Joke.”

“Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.”

Basically, you should accept the film as one interpretation of how the Joker went mad, rather than the universal truth.

The story

The beginning of the movie looks like it’s gonna be pretty bleak for the Joker. From being harassed at work to being beaten on the subway, it’s not hard to see why the harlequin eventually takes his rage out on Gotham.

Along with beatings from criminals of Gotham, we get several other ideas of what might lead to Joker’s breaking point.

A scene featuring Joker washing his mother’s hair in a bath shows that he has a very close relationship with her. His mother doesn’t appear to be the only woman in his life, as Joker also has a female therapist and a female friend/love-interest.

In one iteration of the Joker, a contributing factor to his insanity was the untimely death of his wife. Though the trailer doesn’t hint at an ill fate for the women in Joker’s life, one bad day for them might be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

As Joker said in “Killing Joke,” “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.”

Along with seeing a therapist, Joker appears to make an attempt to maintain his sanity. In one shot, we can see Joker walking towards Arkham Asylum.

The asylum is infamous for making the criminally insane even more insane. If you don’t believe us, there are several video games about the asylum’s impact on Gotham. We love them so much that the games topped our list for the best superhero games ever.

We didn’t get to see any footage of the Joker committing crimes. We did get a hint to the fact that the Joker will attract a following. This is shown in one scene where several Gotham citizens parade the streets in clown masks.

Want to get into comics? Here’s where to start

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What we hope to see

DC has recently struggled with dark storytelling. The dark tones the writers hope to capture have not fit the plot or characters in the films. The Rotten Tomatoes scores for “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” are evidence of that.

We hope that “Joker” finds the balance that DC has been hoping to capture. The trailer has shown that Joaquin Phoenix definitely has the ability to command the screen in every shot. We just hope that the writers make the story into the circus the Joker deserves.

Borderlands 3 gets release date, pre-order bonuses

We are only five months away from Borderlands 3.

We waited seven years already; five months is nothing.

Gearbox Games released the newest trailer for Borderlands 3 today. The trailer showed a few more details for the storyline, and set Sept. 13, 2019, as the official release date. You can see these new details yourself below:

New characters

The four new playable vault hunters finally have names. The swashbuckling-looking female with the helmet is called “Moze.” The brutish, heavy, tanky character is named “Fl4k.” The character who appears to be the series’ newest Siren is “Amara.” The grizzled-looking older male character is named “Zane.”

We also got clues as to why each characters’ Action Skills might be. Moze appears to summon a mech-warrior to fight enemies. Fl4k has a Skag who looks hungry for Psychos. Amara grows several limbs to pummel enemies. Zane deploys a small drone-like bot onto the battlefield.

New villains

The final major detail you trailer gave us was the identity for the new main villains. The new male and female counterparts are called the Calypso Twins. Frames from last week’s reveal trailer showed signs saying “Children of the Vault.” Today’s trailer has confirmed that these Children of the Vault are brother and sister.

We don’t have any more details on what their impact has been to Pandora, or what they have planned. A hidden message from the initial teaser trailer saying, “Count the Sirens,” might give us a clue for the motive of the new baddies. You can read about all the hidden messages in the trailer, and watch the trailer in the article below.

Borderlands teaser trailer shows secret skin codes

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Pre-order details

Borderlands 3 is now available for pre-order. If you pre-order the game, you get trinkets and skins for all your in-game guns.

The season pass will include four additional campaigns and the Butt Stallion pack. Named after our favorite diamond-pony, the pack includes weapon skins, a weapon trinket, and a grenade mod.

Two different deluxe editions are also available. Each contains additional packs with skins, mods, etc. Finally, there is a collector’s edition valued at $250. The collector’s edition includes the game, the season pass, everything available in the deluxe editions, and figurines of characters, among other baubles.

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