Menu
  • Home
  • /
  • Technology
  • /
  • Prince remembered as innovator, advocate for Black youth

Technology

TECH NOW: How to find shows, sports without cable

In Part Two of her four-part cable cord-cutting series, contributor Jennifer Jolly tells you how to find entertainment to stream. Can I Stream It lets you see a wide range of sites that offer downloads or streaming links for content.(Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY)Story Highlights'Can I Stream It?" tells you when shows are available onlineAereo antenna lets you watch network TV onlineMLB, NBA offer streaming packagesIf you're dipping your toe into online entertainment, either to supplement or replace cable television, you have so many options, you might be overwhelmed and at a loss for where to start. We're here to walk you through your choices and help you find favorite shows, movies, sports and other events with the least amount of hassle.TRY A STREAMING SEARCH ENGINE While searching on Bing, Google, or other search engines for your favorite television shows can be hit or miss, try Can I Stream.It[1]?, which lets you see a bunch of different sites that stream or offer digital downloads of content. Can I Stream It isn't perfect; sometimes, it tells you shows are available online when they're not, and vice versa — but it's better than searching individual websites for content. FIND CONTENT ON NETWORK SITES, APPSNo matter which streaming services they work with, every broadcast network — and a lot of cable networks — offer some programming on their websites for free. While the selection and setup will vary depending on the network, you'll typically find a network's popular shows online shortly after they've aired, as well as a few older episodes. If you have a favorite show or network, it's worth looking up its website to see what's available. MORE: Part 1 - How to cut the cable cord[2]The downside? This content is only available on your computer screen, though if your…
Read more...

Review: 'NCAA Football 14' steps up its game

For 'NCAA Football 14,' tech reporter Jason Hidalgo says EA Sports has made enough changes to make the game interesting for fans and easy to understand for new players. Navy battles Army in a scene from 'NCAA Football 14.'(Photo: Electronic Arts)It appears Electronic Arts' college football franchise has recovered from last year's on-field stumbles.The latest installment, NCAA Football 14, represents a major upgrade from its predecessor, delivering a more realistic game of football while maintaining its depth.NCAA Football has always had an inconsistent run on this generation of home video game consoles. After several rough seasons, the franchise finally seemed to turn it around with 2010's NCAA Football 11 and the follow-up in 2011. However, last year's title failed to introduce major changes and neglected to address bugs leading to player frustration and accidental comedy (such as replays starring only the football and invisible players).INTERACTIVE: How the 'NCAA Football' franchise has evolved[1]NCAA Football 14 fixes most of this with an overhaul of action on the gridiron, modeled in part by EA's pro football equivalent, Madden NFL. It starts with simple gestures, such as watching ballcarriers naturally shift directions trying to elude defenders with simple moves of the left thumbstick. When a ballcarrier trips, he'll fight to regain balance or lunge forward for the extra yard or two.The intelligence of computer-controlled team on both sides of the ball has improved, too. Throw in double coverage and the secondary will make players pay through turnovers. Offenses will try to keep players off balance by running without huddles, or smartly mixing up play calls.The most exciting change is the use of option offenses, which now seem easier to execute. When running a Read Option, Spread Option or other variation, players will see an icon that shows whether the defender is gunning for the…
Read more...

Canon's new 70D SLR keeps video in focus on the go

Jefferson Graham offers a sneak peek of Canon's new 70D DSLR, which promises to shoot video like a camcorder. The camera will be in stores in September. The new Canon 70D.(Photo: Canon)Story HighlightsCanon's 70D has continuous autofocus for videoWill be in stores in SeptemberImproved "dual pixel" image sensor has twice the number of pixelsLOS ANGELES — What if you could shoot a DSLR still camera like a camcorder, keeping the image in focus as you moved across the room and zoomed in and out?That's something that many photographers have wished for, and a feature Canon plans to push heavily in the fall when it releases the new EOS 70D, ($1,349 with lens, $1,199 body only).USA TODAY got a sneak peak at the 70D, which Canon just announced. It replaces the current 60D (on sale now online for around $599, body only). Some specs: 20-megapixel image sensor (up from 18 MP for the 60D) and the ability to shoot as many as 7 frames a second (up from 5.3). But the big news is the continuous autofocus. As anyone with a DSLR knows, most models won't stay in autofocus once a recording has started. So if you pan a sports field to get video of your son playing baseball, you could start in focus on the home plate and end up with a fuzzy image when he gets to first base. With the 70D, the idea is that you'd remain in focus all the way through. RELATED: Get the latest camera reviews from all major brands[1]Canon touts the 70D as keeping 80% of the focus area sharp. It pulled it off with what it calls a "revolutionary" new method of pixel management. Traditional image sensors only capture light with the pixels; the 70D uses a "dual pixel" sensor that both focuses…
Read more...

Storytelling science illuminates climate views

President Obama removes his jacket during a speech about climate change in June.(Photo: White House)Story HighlightsA study sorted 2,005 people by political views and asked them to read climate science news storiesThe climate facts were the same in the stories, but heroes and villains were swappedStories with reader's politically favored heroes led to better categorizing of informationWho's your hero? Superman? Batman? The Environmental Protection Agency?The answer may say something about how you read news stories about climate change, suggests a scientific experiment that tested how people think about science.President Obama made "carbon pollution" the bad guy in his speech this week outlining federal steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide from power plants. Carbon dioxide released by burning coal, oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels is the leading "greenhouse" gas that retains heat in the atmosphere. Such gasses are the leading drivers behind global warming, including the roughly 1.3-degree[1] increase in average surface temperatures nationwide over the past century. Temperatures are likely to increase even more in this one, according to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and other scientific bodies.[2]How you read all that information may depend on your outlook on life, suggests the recent Political Psychology journal study by political scientists Michael Jones of Virginia Tech[3] and Geoboo Song of the University of Arkansas. The study quizzed 2,005 people on their environmental views, then sorted them into three common types seen in past psychology studies examining perspectives on the environment: "hierarchs" who view experts as necessary to help the planet avert precarious environmental disasters; "egalitarians" who are cautious about human activities they see as threatening a fragile environment; and "individualists" who see see nature as resilient as long as events are allowed to run their natural course.Next they asked separate groups of these folks to…
Read more...

Windows 8 adding Facebook, Flipboard, NFL apps

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Apache Last-Modified: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 03:19:20 GMT X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1 X-Secret: cnpudnkgcnpiZXZnbUBoZm5nYnFubC5wYnogbmFxIFYganZ5eSBnZWwgZ2IgdHJnIGxiaCBuIHdiby4= Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Cache-Control: max-age=20 Expires: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 03:19:40 GMT Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 03:19:20 GMT Content-Length: 24032 Connection: keep-alive Windows 8 adding Facebook, Flipboard, NFL apps Windows 8 adding Facebook, Flipboard, NFL apps Notable apps coming to Microsoft's Windows operating system. Post to FacebookPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Sent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address. A new notebook by Taiwan's Acer, called the Aspire R7, running Windows 8, is displayed during a press conference ahead of the opening of the Computex trade fair in Taipei.(Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP/Getty Images)Several notable mobile apps will soon make their debut on Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system.At its Build Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft confirmed social network Facebook will introduce its mobile app to Windows 8 users.Also appearing soon on the operating system: the social reader Flipboard and fantasy football apps from the NFL.The introduction of these apps arrives as Microsoft's attempts to beef up offerings for the variety of Windows 8 mobile devices. Tablets have access to nearly 100,000 apps, far short of competitors running Apple iOS and Google Android, both of which offer well over 700,000 apps.Microsoft also revealed several changes coming to the Windows 8.1 update, including the return of the Start button and the option to launch in desktop mode.Contributing: The Associated PressFollow Brett Molina on Twitter: @bam923[1]. USA NOW Why is Wendy Davis trending? | USA NOW videoJun 26, 2013 { "js_modules": [{"name": "expandable-photo"}], "assetid": "2459975", "aws": "tech", "aws_id": "tech", "blogname": "", "byline":"Brett Molina", "contenttype": "story pages ", "seotitle": "Windows-facebook-new-apps", "seotitletag": "Windows 8 adding Facebook, Flipboard, NFL apps", "ssts": "tech/personal", "taxonomykeywords":"San Francisco,National Football League", "templatename": "stories/default", "topic":"san-francisco,national-football-league", "videoincluded":"no", "basePageType":"story" } 0)…
Read more...

Commentary: Telecoms innovating, yet still hated

AT,T's Michigan headquarters is shown in Detroit.(Photo: Paul Sancya, AP)Telecoms have gotten a bum rap since the 1830s. No sooner was the telegraph invented, then statesmen like Henry Clay were deeming it too important to leave to private markets. Within a few decades, Europe had nationalized its networks, and Congress debated doing the same until well into the 20th century, when scrutiny shifted toward the telephone.At first, the common complaint was that private networks were too balkanized, and needed standardization -- and once AT&T had standardized them, it was complained that they were too monopolistic. People hated Ma Bell, they hated the Baby Bells, and today, they hate the cellular providers that slap them with overage fees and $.05 texts. The only thing that seems to have changed is that now we can download HD videos from space.AT&T and Verizon Communications currently rule the roost, controlling two-thirds of the US mobile market. Their subscriber bases are growing, and the companies are routinely accused of trying to bring back the good old days of the Bell era. The Obama administration has announced its intention to auction off portions of the radio spectrum previously reserved for the federal government, and since AT&T and Verizon are expected to walk off with the lion's share, the two big carriers are coming under increasingly vitriolic attacks. Several weeks ago, The New York Times called them an oligopoly, and lobbyists for local and regional networks have been making the same argument in Washington. They cite the FCC, which has been "unable to find 'effective competition' in the wireless industry in… its last three annual competition reports."Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile own the third- and fourth-largest networks in the U.S. Both are bleeding subscribers, which would be hard to explain if not for "effective competition." T-Mobile is trying…
Read more...
Subscribe to this RSS feed