Life and Stuff: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Omni touts crime drama to woo Mandarin, Cantonese viewers

Homegrown show joins lineup of 'ethnocultural programming'

Star and La Presse divvy up Olive Media’s sales services

International ad network will be folded, but programmatic sales continue

ComScore, Rentrak bring together digital and TV measurement

Dynamic Outdoor launches new audience measurement system

Dynamic Ai is a 'complete game-changer' says president Brandon Newman

Irrational humans need engineers, not economists

Civil society needs more engineers, according to biomedical engineer and author Guru Madhavan.

By: Guru Madhavan,

This company is designing the future of office furniture

Steelcase is the world’s biggest office-furniture maker. WIRED goes behind the scenes at its R&D labs.

By: Nick Compton,

Google's 5P and 6X are the future of Nexus

Google has announced two Nexus phones, the 5X and the 6P.

By: Michael Rundle,

Mac OS X El Capitan review: the Mac's future, or Apple's past?

The announcement of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro earlier this year was the clearest sign yet that while Apple remains outwardly committed to the Mac, it also knows iOS has a future beyond mobile phones, watches and smallish tablets.

By: Michael Rundle,

How to make your own monitor mount

Monitors can take up a lot of desk space. This DIY guide explains how to build a strong, durable cheap and flexible mount.

By: Jeremy Cook,

This shape-shifting material is inspired by cuttlefish

Engineers at MIT are trying to create a composite material that can change its structure in an instant

By: Gian Volpicelli,

Meet the neurosurgeon who uses a 3D printer before operating

Ed Smith, a paediatric neurosurgeon at Boston Children's Hospital, uses 3D printed models to get a feel for brains.

By: Clive Thompson,

Omega-3 can now be made from algae, not overfished sardines

Omega-3 can now be made from CO2 plus the Sun -- instead of overfished sardines.

By: Sophia Epstein,

How Hollywood is helping to design the perfect TV

Paradox of colour: how Hollywood is trying to design a perfect TV

By: Michael Rundle,

Alan Moore: 'Electricomics' is groundbreaking, but print is still superior

Author of some of the most widely celebrated works the comics industry has ever seen, Alan Moore's career is defined by reimagining classic characters and creating scores of originals. His latest work sees the celebrated writer experimenting with an entirely new medium, and seeing where digital comics can lead.

With digital anthology Electricomics now available, Moore speaks to WIRED about the genesis of the project, what inspired his own contribution to the collection, and how print comics remain a superior technology.

By: Matt Kamen,

Cyberattacks have created an invisible but vast war zone

Every month, it seems, a mammoth cyberattack sponsored by a nation state comes to light. With nations the world over bolstering their cyber arsenals, WIRED looks at those that have garnered the most headlines.

By: Kim Zetter,

First UK patient receives stem cell treatment for sight loss

A patient has become the first in the UK to receive pioneering new stem cell treatment to save her sight.

By: Becca Caddy,

This bridge is 180 metres high, 300 metres long and made of glass

The newly-opened glass foot bridge in China's Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a record-breaker.

By: K.G Orphanides,

Virgin Media launches 200Mbps broadband

Virgin cable users across the UK will be invited to upgrade from 1 October, but there will be price increases for some.

By: K.G Orphanides,

Two comets collided to form Comet 67P's 'duck' shape

3D modelling and analysis of the strata of the comet's lobes show that they were originally two separate objects.

By: K.G Orphanides,

First trailer for 'X-Files' 2016 return is mysterious (and familiar)

The truth is technically still out there, one presumes, and with Mulder and Scully set to return to TV screens with a six-part X-Files series in January, we're closer than ever to actually finding it.

By: Michael Rundle,

Sonos TruePlay tunes your speakers to suit your room

Sonos has announced a new software feature that'll turn anyone into an acoustic engineer.

By: Becca Caddy,

Apple's new privacy site explains exactly how it uses your data

Apple has launched a new privacy policy website to explain in exacting detail how it users customers' data.

By: Michael Rundle,

WIRED Awake: 10 must-read articles for 29 September

Shell's exploratory Polar Pioneer oil drilling rig

Your WIRED.co.uk daily briefing. Today, Google is upgrading its quantum computer, Shell ends Arctic oil exploration, there's (probably) water on Mars and more.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

Canada Post celebrates e-tail innovators

Frank & Oak, Best Buy Canada, Shopify and Well.ca among this year's winners

ESLint: The Next-Generation JavaScript Linter

It was the summer of 2013 and I was working on a project for my employer, Box. I had just finished wiring up JSDoc as a nightly build using a plugin to detect T3 patterns in our code and document them automatically. It occurred to me that these patterns might be easy to get wrong, and I started looking for a way to automatically detect incorrect patterns. I immediately turned to JSHint because we were already using it and I thought it could support plugins. Unfortunately, it could not.

Still, I couldn’t get the idea of a linter with pluggable runtime rules out of my head. I had just spent a bunch of time learning about Esprima and abstract syntax trees (ASTs), and I thought to myself, “It can’t be all that hard to create a pluggable JavaScript linter using an AST.” It was from those initial thoughts that ESLint was born.

The post ESLint: The Next-Generation JavaScript Linter appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Hudson’s Bay announces layoffs

Cuts felt in retailer's corporate offices in Toronto and New York

Yop praises teen humanitarians in new effort

'Yop Fuels' marks the first effort from General Mills since product's rebranding

Rethink tops winners at Extra Awards

Agency wins three awards in show honouring newspaper creative

Walmart’s dog-friendly food truck

Retailer promotes new premium pet food brand at Woofstock

IKEA expands pick-up and order service

New St. Catharines, Ont. location part of global test pilot

Shopify, Chango honoured at new startup awards gala

Spotlight Awards wants to draw attention to Canada's tech renaissance

Google’s Big Ad Week Reveal: Email list targeting for search

Customer Match lets search advertisers target offline customers in AdWords

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

35% of Canada’s programmatic spend goes to private markets

Index Exchange data confirms more brands working with agencies in programmatic

StackAdapt tries to marry pre- and post-click metrics

DSP offers new tools to marry metrics and connect branded content to direct response

Most Custom PS4 Bundles Are Ugly, But The Gamepads Are Great [Updated]

Most of Sony's PlayStation 4 custom bundles look awful, but the custom gamepads look great. What gives?

Giant Magellan Telescope To Image Nearby Rocky Exoplanets; Detect Cosmos' First Stars

In this era of telescopic behemoths, what will the Giant Magellan telescope (GMT) offer to exceed its forthcoming ground-based rivals?

What Cars Need In Order To Drive Themselves

As we think about the idealized ethical decision-making we want built into self-driving cars, we should understand the limitations inherent in the real algorithms and sensors used to build them.

Dagne Dover's Fast-Success Founders Detail Real Digital Victory

The three founders of a fast-growing online retail brand have shared some immensely sensible tips for success.

Alternative thinking on agricultural technology, Janet Yellen’s impact on hedge fund returns, and how Jimmy Clausen should retire from the NFL

Here's Today's Alternative Thinking on Capital Flight, Agricultural Technology, Janet Yellen’s Impact on Hedge Fund Returns, a Busy Q4 IPO Schedule, and How Jimmy Clausen Should Retire from the NFL.

You could help find the next generation of antibiotics

A new biology kit could allow anyone to get involved with the discovery of the next generation of antibiotics. Post/Biotics, created by entrepreneur Vidhi Mehta, will use a combination of citizen science and crowdsourcing to discover new materials with antibiotic properties in a bid to crack the growing issue of drug resistance.

By: Sammy Maine,

Win tickets to the Rugby World Cup with Tissot

WIRED readers could win tickets to the Australia versus Wales rugby match on October 10 thanks to Tissot.

By: Wired UK Staff,

Liquid water probably exists on Mars, Nasa reveals

Nasa has announced the strongest evidence yet that flowing water exists on the surface of Mars. The space agency stopped short of saying the announcement represented final proof of the discovery but said it was increasingly likely that very salty water did exist on the surface during warmer months.

By: Sammy Maine,

Monkeys are also fooled by optical illusions

Research conducted at Georgia State university has found that monkeys and humans perceive -- and misperceive -- visual illusions in the same way. Reflecting resemblances in the species' perceptual systems and their interpretation of their physical worlds, the research was carried out using capuchin and rhesus monkeys, with the Delbouef illusion used as the visual aspect of the testing.

Collaborators for this project include Michael Beran, associate professor in Georgia State's Department of Psychology and associate director of the Language Research Center, and Sarah Brosnan, associate professor in Georgia State's Department of Psychology, Department of Philosophy, Neuroscience Institute and Language Research Center.

By: Sammy Maine,

30 Under 30: The best project I ever worked on…

30 Under 30 alumni share highlights from their brilliant careers

Social media has made us all lonely, according to the Pope

Social media has made everyone lonely, Pope Francis said in a sermon on the last day of his American tour.

By: Cara McGoogan,

H&M-owned retail brand COS comes to Canada

Toronto and Montreal ideal launch cities due to their 'strong international standing'

How To Run A Side Project: Screenings Case Study

Did you know you have a superpower? No, I’m not talking about super-strength, sticking to walls or pushing metal claws out of your forearms (although you might have those as well, for all I know).

If you work on the web — which I assume you do if you’re reading this — your superpower is side projects. Unlike your regular job, where you have to listen to your boss or please your client, a side project lets you take on an alternate identity, one of which you’re in charge and no one can stop you.

The post How To Run A Side Project: Screenings Case Study appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Review: 'The Martian' is just the movie space travel needs

You get the impression that Ridley Scott read Andy Weir's 2011 hit sci-fi survival novel The Martian -- with its detailed descriptions of chemical reactions, planetary orbits and zero gravity mechanics -- and came to the same conclusion that protagonist Mark Watney does: "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this."

By: Oliver Franklin-Wallis,

Dairy Farmers campaign puts Canadian cheese in the spotlight

Creative from DDB Canada features two small Canadian cheese-making communities

Freebie: World Landmark Icons (AI, EPS, PDF, PNG and PSD)

Today we’re happy to release a new Smashing freebie: 18 lovely world landmark icons such as the London Eye, the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building. The icons are detailed enough to show architectural elegance but without adding chaos. They're designed to work best in both digital and print media.

The post Freebie: World Landmark Icons (AI, EPS, PDF, PNG and PSD) appeared first on Smashing Magazine.