:Syslog.gr: - a Site about Computers, Open Source, Security, SysAdmins and more ...

Lightroom profiles offer new color editing and styling options, and now you can create your own profiles for the photo editing and cataloging software. …read more

Source:: CNet

Google’s Gmail major rewrite introduces many new, useful features. Here’s how to use the Gmail improvements, which are ready now. …read more

Source:: ZDNet

Earlier today, Google pushed out the biggest revamp of Gmail in years. In addition to a new material design look, there are quick links to other Google services, such as Calendar, Tasks, and Keep, as well as a new “confidential mode” designed to protect users against certain attacks by having the email(s) automatically expire at a time of the sender’s choosing. Long-time Slashdot reader Lauren Weinstein shares their initial impressions of Google’s new Gmail UI: Google launched general access to their first significant Gmail user interface (UI) redesign in many years today. It’s rolling out gradually — when it hits your account you’ll see a “Try the new Gmail” choice under the settings (“gear”) icon on the upper right of the page (you can also revert to the “classic” interface for now, via the same menu). But you probably won’t need to revert. Google clearly didn’t want to screw up Gmail, and my initial impression is that they’ve succeeded by avoiding radical changes in the UI. I’ll bet that some casual Gmail users might not even immediately notice the differences.

The new Gmail UI is what we could call a “minimally disruptive” redesign of the now “classic” version. The overall design is not altered in major respects. So far I haven’t found any notable missing features, options, or settings. My impression is that the back end systems serving Gmail are largely unchanged. Additionally, there are a number of new features (some of which are familiar in design from Google’s “Inbox” email interface) that are now surfaced for the new Gmail. Crucially, overall readability and usability (including contrast, font choices, UI selection elements, etc.) seem so close to classic Gmail (at least in my limited testing so far) as to make any differences essentially inconsequential. And it’s still possible to select a dark theme from settings if you wish, which results in even higher contrast. Have you tried the new Gmail? If so, how do you like the new interface?

of this story at Slashdot.

…read more

Source:: Slashdot

The maker of wireless speakers could have a market value of $3 billion after going public, The Wall Street Journal reports. …read more

Source:: CNet

Web scrubber accused of ignoring obligation to mitigate misuse of its code

Netsweeper, a maker of online-content-filtering software in Canada, has been called out for allowing its tools to aid internet censorship.…

…read more

Source:: TheRegister

We’re all slowly getting used to the idea of wearable technology, fabulous flops like the creepy Google Glass notwithstanding. But the big problem with tiny tech is in finding the real estate for user interfaces. Sure, we can make it tiny, but human fingers aren’t getting any smaller, and eyeballs can only resolve so much fine detail.

So how do we make wearables more usable? According to Carnegie-Mellon researcher [Chris Harrison], one way is to turn the wearer into the display and the input device (PDF link). More specifically, his LumiWatch projects a touch-responsive display onto the forearm of the wearer. The video below is pretty slick with some obvious CGI “artist’s rendition” displays up front. But even the somewhat limited displays shown later in the video are pretty impressive. The watch can claim up to 40-cm² of the user’s forearm for display, even at the shallow projection angle offered by a watch bezel only slightly above the arm — quite a feat given the irregular surface of the skin. It accomplishes this with a “pico-projector” consisting of red, blue, and green lasers and a pair of MEMS mirrors. The projector can adjust the linearity and brightness of the display to provide a consistent image across the uneven surface. An array of 10 time-of-flight sensors takes care of watching the display area for touch input gestures. It’s a fascinating project with a lot of potential, but we wonder how the variability of the human body might confound the display. Not to mention the need for short sleeves year round.

Need some basics on the micro-electrical mechanic systems (MEMS) behind the pico-projector in this watch? We’ve got a great primer on these microscopic machines.

…read more

Source:: Hackaday

New submitter genfail shares a report from Reuters: President Donald Trump met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday to discuss trade issues as the technology industry grapples with a U.S. spat over import tariffs with China, a manufacturing hub for the iPhone maker and other companies. Apple, the world’s largest technology company, and other hardware makers have deep ties with China, where many of their products are built for export around the world. Cook urged an easing of U.S.-China tensions and called for more open trade after the trade dispute flared last month between the world’s two largest economies. Trump announced about $50 billion in planned tariffs on certain Chinese imports, China retaliated with proposed tariffs on some American goods and Trump responded that the United States could counter with $100 billion in additional levies. U.S. and Chinese officials have been working to resolve the dispute.

of this story at Slashdot.

…read more

Source:: Slashdot

lod123 shares a report from Threatpost: A leaky Mongo database exposed personal information, including scanned passports and driver’s licenses, of 25,000 investors and potential investors tied to the Bezop cryptocurrency, according to researchers. Kromtech Security said that it found the unprotected data on March 30, adding that it included a treasure-trove of information ranging from “full names, (street) addresses, email addresses, encrypted passwords, wallet information, along with links to scanned passports, driver’s licenses and other IDs,” according to the researchers. Kromtech researchers, in their overview of the results of its investigation, said that Bezop.io, the organization behind the currency, immediately secured the data after being notified. Bezop is one of over 1,000 cryptocurrencies in a crowded playing field vying for investor attention. According to Kromtech, the list of 25,000 people included both current and prospective investors promised Bezop cryptocurrency in exchange for promoting the cryptocurrency on social media.

of this story at Slashdot.

…read more

Source:: Slashdot

The company sees a reversal of losses from a year ago, with a strong number of new prepaid customers. And its DirecTV Now service is gaining momentum. Earnings, however, missed expectations. …read more

Source:: CNet

An anonymous reader quotes a report from PBS: Medicare will require hospitals to post their standard prices online and make electronic medical records more readily available to patients, officials said Tuesday. The program is also starting a comprehensive review of how it will pay for costly new forms of immunotherapy to battle cancer. Hospitals are required to disclose prices publicly, but the latest change would put that information online in machine-readable format that can be easily processed by computers. It may still prove to be confusing to consumers, since standard rates are like list prices and don’t reflect what insurers and government programs pay.

Likewise, many health care providers already make computerized records available to patients, but starting in 2021 Medicare would base part of a hospital’s payments on how good a job they do. Using electronic medical records remains a cumbersome task, and the Trump administration has invited technology companies to design secure apps that would let patients access their records from all their providers instead of having to go to different portals. Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also announced Medicare is starting a comprehensive review of how it will pay for a costly new form of immunotherapy called CAR-T. It’s an expensive gene therapy that turbocharges a patient’s own immune system cells to attack cancer. The cost for such a procedure can exceed $370,000 per patient.

of this story at Slashdot.

…read more

Source:: Slashdot