AMD's 7th Generation APU Brings Many Performance Tweaks And The Last Hurrah Before Zen

Advanced Micro Devices has already told us that 2016 was going to be the year of graphics, but the reality is that they also have a lot going on in their CPU and APU division as well. In fact, in addition to Advanced Micro Devices's newly announced 7th Generation APUs in 2016, the company is also expected to launch their new Zen CPU cores which are being eagerly awaited by many in the industry. Zen won't be in high-volume until 2017, so tweaks to the current generation is important. AMD's 7th generation APUs show that even though we are constantly paying attention to architectural improvements when it comes to CPUs, there are still plenty of platform improvements and tweaks that can be made to squeeze additional performance out of it. It may not get the headlines, but it drives revenue, something the company needs now.

¡Vamos! Break Out Of The Box With SmashingConf Barcelona 2016

You can't be extraordinary in every project, but knowing how and when to break out of the box can go a long way. The upcoming SmashingConf Barcelona, taking place on October 25–26, will be packed with smart solutions ranging from front-end to visual design to UX - and a few delightful surprises along the way. To the early-bird-tickets.

How do we avoid common traps in UX and front-end development? How do we break out of the predictable, generic, boxy layout? How do we solve complex problems more efficiently? With the second conference in magnificent Barcelona, we'll explore practical techniques and design patterns from real projects.

The post ¡Vamos! Break Out Of The Box With SmashingConf Barcelona 2016 appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Nvidia's new GTX 1070 freezes out Fury, trashes Titan X

The GTX 1070 launched recently, and it's easily the upper-midrange performance leader. Not only does it beat the Titan X, which launched barely a year ago, it demolishes every card from its own price point and previous generation, as well as the Fury products from AMD.

How millennials are reshaping the retail industry

KPMG offers data to paint a picture of key demographic

Telus introduces #TheGivingEffect

Telecom hopes to inspire Canadians to give back with feel-good campaign

Smart Responsive Design Patterns, Or When Off-Canvas Isn't Good Enough

Design patterns often have a bad reputation. They are often considered to be quick, lazy, off-the-shelf solutions that are applied blindly without consideration of the context of a problem. Solutions such as the almighty off-canvas navigation, the floating label pattern or carousels for featured products are some of the prominent ones.

This article isn't about these patterns, though. This article features some of the slightly more obscure design patterns, such as responsive car-builder interfaces, mega dropdown navigation, content grids, maps and charts, as well as responsive art direction. Please note that this article isn't technical; it explores interesting UX patterns out in the wild, rather than code samples. Beware: You will not be able to unsee what you are about to see, and that's probably a good thing.

The post Smart Responsive Design Patterns, Or When Off-Canvas Isn't Good Enough appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

A Summer Science Book Round-Up

A round-up of some new science titles for summer reading.

Tesla Bull And Bear Cases

This is a summary of three Bull and Bear cases for Tesla?s stock.

Breitling Watches Demonstrates Trump-like View Of Women

First a response to Kirsty Russell, of Fawkham in the United Kingdom. I'm not surprised you've heard nothing from officials with Breitling, after you complained about the inappropriate sex-toy-like display at a Breitling shop in your neighborhood.

Netflix will soon be the only place to find Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel movies

Netflix has announced it'll be the future home of all releases from Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel, but the company's brief blurb leaves much to be answered -- including exactly which properties and titles they'll be debuting.

Alternative thinking on hedge fund assets, climate change and why Trump will win

“A world in which banks don't lend, young people cannot find jobs, overcapacity is not the cause for prices to fall, is not a world which can long survive.”

McDonald's gets personal with new ad campaign

Cossette creates a series of on-the-fly commercials in the back of a Whitby location

HTC Vive review - high maintenance, but worth the hassle

HTC Vive promises the best option for virtual reality - but with a high price, power-hungry processing needs, and confusing set-up needs, can it live up to its own hype?

By: Matt Kamen,

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Web Development Reading List #139: jQuery 3, Web Payment API, And ES6 Tricks

Finding our passion is a big challenge for all of us as human beings. At some point in life, we try to figure out what our purpose in this world is, what our future will look like. And for some of us, the answers we find to these questions are constantly changing.

The constant search to find answers lets us stay curious, creative, vital - and if that's missing, we need to find our passion again by exploring what things we like in our world, what makes us happy. Searching takes time, and we should invest that time - maybe by cutting down watching TV by an hour a week.

The post Web Development Reading List #139: jQuery 3, Web Payment API, And ES6 Tricks appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Quebec broadcasters take aim at CBC over 'ferocious competition'

CBC accused of using government funds to 'outpace' private counterparts

Developer claims PS4K upgrade 'absolutely' necessary for VR, slams PS4's performance

Sony is rumored to have made backwards compatibility mandatory on the PS4, but comments from an anonymous developer may indicate otherwise. If the PS4K is necessary for good VR performance, it's going to double the cost of buying into Sony's VR technology.

Leveraging Social Media Can Seriously Boost Your Business

Jason Lippman

• Your Business

I've been in the electrical trade for over 17 years. I've worked as a helper, a journeyman, a service manager and a marketing director. While a lot has changed since I first picked up a screwdriver on one of my step-dad's side jobs, one thing has stayed the same: the way that electrical contractors market their business.

Alternative thinking on Chinese banks, and their debt and accounting challenges

“Given that the economy is still relatively closed, it should be within the power of policymakers to maintain a monopolistic environment for the banks to earn their way out.”

Hospital pays ransomware, but doesn't get files decrypted

After receiving the ransom, the extortionists demanded more before unlocking the hospital's files.

Netflix is testing a virtual reality 'rental store'

Netflix's latest virtual reality experiment recreates the video rental store experience of the 1980s inside an HTC Vive.

By: Matt Kamen,

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BIM's Future Continues to Look Up

William Atkinson

• Your Business

A report published in April by Allied Market Research, titled "World Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015–2022," forecasts that the world BIM market will generate revenues of $11.7 billion by 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6 percent during 2016–2022.
According to the report, BIM is forecast to gain increasing adoption across various sectors, especially commercial and infrastructure construction, which have been seeing increasing demand for the automation of technical drawings and databases in recent years.

Raptors' game 4 sets ratings record for TSN

More than one-third of GTA residents watched Monday's game

Alternative thinking on chinese banks… chinese debt… and chinese accounting challenges

“Given that the economy is still relatively closed, it should be within the power of policymakers to maintain a monopolistic environment for the banks to earn their way out.” 

That's Red Cliff Asset Management.

William Lee's hedge fund is taking the other side of the standard bearish stance on Chinese banks shared by the likes of Kyle Bass and George Soros…

Why the contrarian stance? 

Vice Canada launching Quebec division

Company also opening a Canadian office of its in-house creative agency Virtue

Floating hospital campaigns for support

Mercy Ships Canada launches its first-ever agency-led awareness and fundraising effort

CBC unveils 2016-2017 broadcast and digital lineups

Public broadcaster adds an animated series, a daytime talk show and more

Google reportedly working on bringing Android to the Raspberry Pi 3

Google may bring Android to the Raspberry Pi 3, vastly expanding the range and capability of the diminutive device. The latest version of the RBP is significantly more powerful than earlier products -- within range of a lower-end smartphone.

Standardizing Energy-Efficiency Projects Helps to Ensure Cost Effectiveness

William Atkinson

• Green Building

According to Matt Golden, a senior energy finance consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in discussing the challenges associated with energy efficiency projects in a May 4 article on the Utility Dive website, noted, "These projects are very complicated and are unique by nature. This results in very expensive, time consuming, and complicated due diligence by every market actor. It is one of the major barriers to getting these projects completed, whether it is a building owner or an investor looking at a prospective investment."

Why 'Chewbacca Mask Mom' Is The Most Famous Haul Video To Date

When Candace Payne, aka the “Chewbacca Mask Mom,” sat in her car last Thursday filming her new Hasbro toy, an electronic Chewbacca Mask from Kohl's, she inadvertently made history -- not just for Facebook Live as its most popular video, but for the entire haul and unboxing video genre.

Developing Dependency Awareness

I'm sure you've heard the proverb, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” probably many times. Its written origin dates back to the 18th century, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was much, much older. And though the work we do has little to do with actual chains, this proverb is every bit as relevant to us.

Remember when Azer Koçulu unpublished more than 250 of his modules from npm (Node Package Manager)? If that name doesn't ring a bell, perhaps this function name will: left-pad. In case you're still scratching your head wondering what the heck I'm talking about, Azer removed a bunch of functions from the canonical library of reusable Node.js code and, in doing so, brought thousands of projects to their knees, including high-profile ones like Babel and React.

The post Developing Dependency Awareness appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Dell unveils 43-inch 4K monitor that can split into four independent 1080p panels

Ever wanted a 4K monitor that could also connect to four separate desktops simultaneously? Dell has you covered with its new 43 Multi-Client Monitor, aka the Dell P4317Q.

Fruit Ninja is being turned into a live-action movie

Hot on the heels of The Angry Birds Movie,  another app is going to be made into a movie: Fruit Ninja

 

By: Matt Burgess,

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SiriusXM founder and futurist Martine Rothblatt on creativity

Dr. Martine Rothblatt has a message for would-be creatives and entrepreneurs alike: Don't give up.

Porn blocks, inside co-living: Podcast 268

Coming up today, why online pornography ended up in the Queen's speech, how Iraq shut down the internet to stop students cheating at exams and we go inside the weird world of co-living.

By: WIRED.co.uk,

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Future Flash: How Domino's became an innovation company

The restaurant chain's AOR reveals its eight-step approach to creative thinking

Moog Music reintroduces the classic Minimoog Model D synthesizer

Moog Music announced it's reintroducing the classic Minimoog Model D synthesizer with a pilot production run at Moogfest 2016.

IBM Watson amps up Moogfest 2016 with AI-infused programming

IBM Watson came to Moogfest, but there were no Jeopardy questions this time -- it's moved far beyond that.

Alternative Thinking on Lending Club's Crash, Mickelson's Slice and Hedge Fund Lobbying

“The SEC said that Walters called and then sent text messages to Mickelson, who ultimately bought a $2.4 million position in three accounts he controlled.”

First, it was Martha Stewart. Now, it's looking like Phil Mickelson is in hot water for alleged insider trading. Whose next? Frank Stallone? No, don't take Frank Stallone away from me.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai Confirms 'Area 120' Corporate Incubator

In an interview, Pichai says the program

The synthetic human genome could be around the corner

Will the next Human Genome Project be the Human Genome Synthesis Project? It's possible this could be a bridge too far.

Star Wars: Battlefront didn't have single-player because of Force Awakens

When Star Wars Battlefront launched at the end of 2015, one of the biggest criticisms it faced was the absence of a single player campaign. Now, we know why - it's all The Force Awakens' fault.

By: Matt Kamen,

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Lasers and nanoparticles combine to allow metalic 3D printing in midair

A new method of 3D printing could allow for custom printing of metal components for electronics, medical devices, and more.

The social media choice every marketer must make

An expert's guide to Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and more

DOOM: 3 Amazing Things And 1 Awful Oversight (VIDEO REVIEW)

'DOOM' has an absolutely fantastic single-player campaign, but the multiplayer is holding it back. Forbes contributor Todd Kenreck reviews the long-awaited next iteration of the video gaming classic.

Blizzard will give anyone who sees the World of Warcraft movie a free copy of WoW

Blizzard is handing out free copies of WoW to people who see the film in participating theaters. Are we seeing a new era in video game / Hollywood collaboration -- preferably one that doesn't depend on terrible licensed content and lousy gameplay?

The Impact of the Electric Grid "Investment Gap" on the Nation's Competitiveness

William Atkinson

• Your Business

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes "The Report Card for America's Infrastructure," which grades the current state of the nation's infrastructure segments on a scale of A through F. The average grade for all infrastructures in the most recent report (2013), according to the ASCE, is about a D. The next edition will be published in 2017.
In addition to the report card, the ASCE also publishes a series of "Failure to Act" reports, which are designed to answer questions in light of the grades that the infrastructure segments receive.

Microsoft's Windows 10 Anniversary Update doubles up on Start Menu advertising

Microsoft is going to increase the number of recommended apps it shows by default in Windows 10 -- but will this spark increased Windows Store usage?

Designing A Dementia-Friendly Website

Some well-established web design basics: minimize the number of choices that someone has to make; create self-explanatory navigation tools; help people get to what they're looking for as quickly as possible. Sounds simple enough? Now consider this…

An ever growing number of web users around the world are living with dementia. They have very varied levels of computer literacy and may be experiencing some of the following issues: memory loss, confusion, issues with vision and perception, difficulties sequencing and processing information, reduced problem-solving abilities, or problems with language.

The post Designing A Dementia-Friendly Website appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Addition Elle throws out rulebook for bikini season

Digital campaign shows plus-size fashion rules can be broken

Magic mushrooms could help treat severe depression

Psilocybin, the psychedelic component of magic mushrooms, has been found in a small-scale trial to improve symptoms of severe depression.

The trial, which was conducted on 12 people and has been published in The Lancet, found that the compound even worked on so called "treatment-resistant" depression. 

 

By: Emily Reynolds,

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Microsoft's Windows 10 Anniversary Update doubles up on Start Menu advertising

Microsoft is going to increase the number of recommended apps it shows by default in Windows 10 -- but will this spark increased Windows Store usage?

New Tencent TGP Box is an Intel-powered console running Windows 10

A Chinese tech behemoth has announced a new game console powered by Intel and running Windows 10. It's Intel's first step into consoles since the original Xbox, though price and availability have not yet been announced.