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5 Virtual Reality Headsets That Are Available Now for Under $100

In recent years, Virtual Reality has begun to dominate the tech and entertainment industry. For example, Oculus Rift has become a household name when it comes to VR, but it won’t hit shelves until next year. For those who can’t wait, there are cheaper and more accessible VR headsets. Here are a few.
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Price: $79

Specifications: Virtual Reality VR Headset for 360 viewing and gaming, farsightedness and nearsightedness settings, optical settings adjustment 3D glasses, heavy duty design and compatible with most phones.

Why You Should Buy: The Homido Virtual Reality Headset is the most expensive headset on the list, mainly because it has the highest quality of design and durability. This headset comes with its own app made by the manufacturer, and has adjustable features that control the lenses. The great thing about this particular VR headset is that it can work with all other apps. Also, the high quality design has ventilation holes to help cool down your phone if overheated. For those who want a nice bridge to the Oculus Rift, the Homido Virtual Reality Headset is a great intermediary.

 

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Can Pinterest’s New Initiative Really Tackle the Diversity Issue That Plagues the Tech Industry?

The lack of diversity in the tech industry has come front and center as Silicon Valley and new start-ups gain more notoriety. This elephant in the room becomes more noticeable as small companies grow and their pool of applicants remain the same.

The social media site, Pinterest, wants to change this by addressing their lack of diversity. The company’s leadership team invited the start-up, Paradigm, to launch the Inclusion Labs Initiative. The company will host an array of workshops and programs that will accumulate diverse workers and their humongous staff for a better working environment.

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Paradigm CEO Joelle Emerson and Pinterest founder and CEO Ben Silbermann have come together to tackle this problem head on. Emerson’s company will conduct research and gather the appropriate data to see what needs to be addressed.

According to Martin Blanc of Bidnessetc.com, “The abolishment of the compulsory ‘white boarding’ interview process shows how Pinterest has received constructive criticism from the start-up firm which highlighted the issues that most women may face during interview processes in which they ‘underperform specifically’.”

For the past several months, the two companies have been working together. One of the new approaches Pinterest has tried was a Blacks in Tech event in the last week of July. Back in June, the company also hosted a Future Female Founders event in an attempt to grow the company’s network.

“Paradigm is training Pinterest managers on how to write unbiased performance reviews, and we are training promotion committee members to identify potential areas of bias in promotion decisions,” says Emerson.

The Inclusion Labs Initiative will launch this fall.

 

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Google Apologizes for Racist Auto-Tag in Photo App

Google’s new photo app introduced in May has rubbed many users the wrong way with a defective auto-tag system.

After the app tagged two Black users “gorillas,” Google has been in a mad dash to make things right. This is how Twitter user Jacky Alcine responded to the app:

Yonatan Zunger, the chief architect of social at Google, contacted the young lady thanking her for addressing the issue and pointing out the problem. “Zunger says that Google has had similar issues with facial recognition due to inadequate analysis of skin tones and lighting, ” reports Loren Grush for The Verge.

However, this racist use of labels has been a problem in other Google products like Google Maps.

“Earlier this year, searches for ‘ni**er house’ globally and searches for ‘ni**er king’ in Washington, D.C. turned up results for the White House, the residence of U.S. President Barack Obama. Both at that time and earlier this week, Google apologized and said that it was working to fix the issue,” according to Jana Kasperkevic for The Guardian.

As the issue of race becomes a dominant issue to the public, technology should not be part of the discussions and debates.

At this moment the “gorilla” label has been removed from the app.

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6 Incredible Bionic Animals That Researchers Have Already Created

Many people know there are robotic dogs and T.rexes on the toy shelves right now. However, more bionic animals, used for various activities, have been developed globally. Here are six different types of robots being made in labs that are currently being used:

 

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Origami Snake Robots

Harvard researchers have designed a paper snake robot that runs on nothing but air. Their flexible bodies allow them to move into areas hard robots can’t. According to the research team led by George Whitesides, the “soft” robots are also able to lift 100 times their weight. They are pretty much a real life Baymax from Big Hero 6.

robotinsect05_adi_webInsects, Grasshoppers, Butterflies

There are a variety of insect-based robots. In 2012, insect robots were introduced at a TED Talks conference. These tiny robots could swarm, maneuver like flies and even play music.

There is a grasshopper robot that was developed at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom that can leap and walk on all terrains. The robot was developed by Rhodri Armour, a graduate student at the university.

The robotic butterflies were developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Their goal is to learn more about the behavioral patterns of butterflies.

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5 ‘Must Go’ Tech Conference Happening This Year

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The Strange Loop

The Strange Loop conference will meet in St. Louis on Sept. 24-26. The goal is to make connections with the creators and users of the coding languages, libraries, tools and techniques at the forefront of the Web industry. The prices for the conference start at $150 to $600 depending on the type of service you want.

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4 Apps To Vastly Increase Your Child’s Black History Knowledge

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‘Black Inventors Match Game’

Available on: Android and iOS

This app, for younger children around ages 7-12, features the characters Myles and Ayesha as interactive teachers. They will help kids learn about Black inventors and their inventions, such as the doorknob, traffic light, lemon squeezer and many more. Then users can test their knowledge with a matching game. This app is only 99 cents.

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8 Futuristic Features We Can’t Wait For Every Car To Have in a Matter of Years

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Self-Parking

Parallel parking is difficult for a lot of people. In a few years, this feature will be offered in many cars. A feature like this could possibly solve urban parking issues. Self-parking cars may prevent traffic jams, allow the cars to park in smaller spaces and making parallel parking faster.

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Medical Emergency Detection

In a few years, cars will have sensors that produce injury reports when car accidents occur. These reports will help doctors diagnose symptoms much quicker.

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