PSA: It’s the last day to get a Nexus 5X for $299—that’s $80 off

The Nexus 5X.

It's Cyber Monday, which means there are a ton of deals out there if you're willing to hunt around. If you know someone who needs to upgrade his or her smartphone, one of our favorites, the Nexus 5X, is on sale at the Google Store for $80 off. That makes it a nice, even $299.

Thanks to stock Android, a fantastic camera, a great price, and quick updates directly from Google, the new Nexus devices are the best Android phones you can buy. They're also the most secure, due to Google's monthly security update program. The device is compatible with Google's Project Fi Internet service, which may or may not be cheaper than your usual cell service, depending on your usage pattern. $80 off makes the already great price irresistible.

The Google Store is also shipping any two Chromecasts for $50, which works out to a $20 savings. You can mix and match the audio and video Chromecasts in whatever combination you want.

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Toddler loses eyeball after errant drone slices it in half

(credit: Don McCullough)

A British toddler recently had his right eye sliced in half by a neighbor’s drone, which resulted in the removal of his eyeball. He will eventually be fitted with a prosthetic.

According to BBC Watchdog, Oscar Webb was just 16 months old at the time of the accident. He was out playing in front of his home in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire when a neighbor’s drone hit him in the face. Pilot Simon Evans, a next-door neighbor of the Webb family, flew the drone in front of his house, where it clipped a tree and "spun out of control" for a moment before colliding with the young boy. (The BBC described Evans as an "experienced" drone operator.)

"It was up for about 60 seconds," Evans said. "As I brought it back down to land, it just clipped the tree and span round. The next thing I know I've just heard my friend shriek and say, 'Oh God no' and I turned around and just saw blood and his baby on the floor crying."

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PS4 developers can now access more of the system’s CPU power

Enlarge / A shot of the PS4's main processor, courtesy of a teardown from Wired. (credit: Wired)

In terms of raw power, console hardware doesn't really change over time; the PS4 you buy today will essentially have the same pixel-pushing components as one you buy in 2020. But through software updates, the current generation of game consoles is managing to give developers access to more of that raw hardware power as time goes on.

Sony's PlayStation 4 is the latest beneficiary of this trend. The system's eight-core CPU used to devote two entire cores to managing the underlying operating system, leaving just six available for developers to use for games. So it was a bit surprising when the release notes for a recent version of FMOD Studio's middleware platform noted that the API had "added FMOD_THREAD_CORE6 to allow access to the newly unlocked 7th core."

Digital Foundry confirmed with its development sources that Sony has indeed unlocked a seventh CPU core for direct access by developers. Those same sources suggest that the core may still be partly used for system-related tasks at points, so it's not exactly a one-sixth improvement in available CPU time. Still, every little bit helps when trying to process complex scenes or bits of game logic.

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1Wamp, An Open Hardware Guitar Amplifier

The folks at [ElectroSmash] recently released 1Wamp – a one watt, open hardware, Guitar amplifier packed with features. It consists of a JFET based pre-amplifier, a Big Muff Pi a.k.a BMP based Tone control and an LM386 power amplifier. The dual JFET pre-amp provides tube-like sound, the BMP provides a nice tonal range while the LM386 can drive various types of output’s ranging from headphones to speaker cabinets.

1Wamp had controls for Tone, Volume and Gain, a Speaker/Cabinet output, a headphone output with an integrated attenuator switch and an aux. input. The aux. input is handy as it adds any line level input signal to the guitar sound, allowing you to practice with metronome or MP3 backing tracks or drum bases. It runs off either a 9V battery or can be powered via an external power source. [ElectroSmash] have released all the native KiCad design files. If you’d like a quick look at the design, check out the Schematic PDF and the Bill of Materials. There’s also a handy assembly manual [PDF] that shows how to build it in five easy steps.

Their blog post provides extremely detailed circuit analysis of every part of the design, starting from the power supply filter to remove mains “hum” all the way through to PCB layout considerations for noise reduction. Oscilloscope screen shots provide signal analysis showing bias points and signal levels throughout the circuit. The choice of value for every component is explained, along with the consequences of changing those values. This makes it easy to customise the 1Wamp to suit individual tastes. We also noticed SPICE models for the recommended and alternative JFET transistors, in case you need to customise the design by changing component values.

There’s also a lot of audio amplifier trivia, references and links shared in their post. This includes a detailed analysis of the LM386 op-amp. Want to add some bling to your 1Wamp build? There are a lot of handy tips on how to add cool LED lighting to the amplifier if it is mounted in a standard metal enclosure. However, the PCB has some really nice graphics, so an acrylic-sandwich-type enclosures look best. Check out the video that walks through the features of the 1Wamp and shows off its performance. And while on the subject of Audio electronics, here’s one of their earlier projects – an open source Arduino guitar pedal.

Documentation to this level proves several things, most notably a love for this design and deep consideration for those who will use and modify this amplifier. It’s a great pattern to follow with your own Open Source designs.

Filed under: musical hacks

The worldwide effort to disarm Metal Gear Solid V’s nuclear weapons

This "hidden" cutscene will only officially unlock once MGSV players manage to disarm all of their nuclear weapons.

The Metal Gear Solid series has always carried a strong undertone about the threat of nuclear proliferation. Metal Gear Solid V is taking that message to a new level by integrating an in-game metagame that will unlock a new story cutscene once all players have disarmed their in-game nuclear arsenals.

Nuclear weapons are a powerful force in MGSV's Forward Operating Base side-game, which lets players build up a personal army and arsenal that can be used to invade and plunder fellow players online. The nuclear bombs act as deterrents to invasion from other players, unless the invading force also has a nuclear weapon or has achieved Hero status through tireless do-gooding.

The nature of that in-game arms race led to tens of thousands of in-game nukes being deployed across the game's servers as of November 1, according to Konami's official count. But players also have reason to try to reverse that trend. As Konami recently officially announced, a "secret nuclear disarmament event" will be triggered for all players only when "All nuclear weapons on the regional server corresponding to your console or platform must have been dismantled. In other words, the amount of nukes on your platform's server must be equal to 0."

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Scientist says huge clumps of dark matter may lie just beyond the Moon

This illustration shows Earth surrounded by filaments of dark matter called "hairs." (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

There are few fields like theoretical astrophysics, where public perception so radically departs from reality. Society generally considers its practitioners—scientists like Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne—to be among the most brilliant people in the world. They are the great sages to whom we turn with the universe’s deepest questions. Yet in reality, astrophysicists are mired in ignorance.

When a theoretical astrophysicist looks up at the nighttime sky, he or she will see the stars shining overhead. But what concerns the physicist is not what he or she sees but rather what is unseen. Based upon different kinds of observations, such as how galaxies rotate and how they are flying apart from one another, scientists know that 95 percent of the of the universe is made of up stuff we cannot see. Of that, 27 percent is dark matter, and 68 percent is dark energy. And researchers have no idea what this stuff is or where to find it.

Yet a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has now provided a clue about where dark matter—and lots of it—might be found. In a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal, Gary Prézeau has proposed that Earth and other planets and stars in the Milky Way galaxy are surrounded by theoretical filaments of dark matter called "hairs.” By finding the roots of these hairs, he reports, physicists could uncover a trove of dark matter.

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Bugatti is back in 2016 with the 1500hp Chiron

(credit: Bugatti)

One of the biggest thrillers being written in the car industry right now is what Volkswagen does to recover from its cheating diesel scandal. Estimates of the cost to VW Group vary widely, but most agree $10 billion is probably on the low end. That's a lot of cash, even for one of the world's largest auto manufacturers; questions abound over which projects, new cars, or even brands might find themselves in for the corporate axe. The latest plot twist will take many by surprise: VW-owned Bugatti will indeed build a replacement for the Veyron.

In October we learned that the new Phaeton—a technological flagship sedan that no one bought—would survive as an electric vehicle. R&D spending would be cut too; VW had has spending ~$12.6 billion a year on research, more than any of its competitors. The Bugatti Chiron was thought to be a goner for sure. VW Group is thought to have lost almost $5 million on every Veyron it sold and continuing to build ornate rocketships for plutocrats could seem at odds with a sober corporate rehabilitation strategy. But more than 100 orders were already on the books and the car will debut in 2016, the company announced today.

How does one top a Veyron? According to Bugatti boss Wolfgang Dürheimer, "the Chiron will set new standards in every respect. We will continue to produce the world’s most powerful, fastest, most luxurious and most exclusive production super sports car. This is the claim of Bugatti and our customers." The new car will still use a turbocharged 8L W16 engine and all-wheel drive, but power is rumored to be up 50 percent at almost 1500hp (1100kW). Expect a mighty price tag too.

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