Is Loki dead?

Oh Loki. Looks are never what they seem as the
trickster god continues to delight and deceive.
The numerous shock deaths and losses throughout
Infinity War have set fans racing for theories,
rumours and reports as they try to work out who is
gone for good and who will be somehow brought
back in Avengers 4.
A startling new theory about Loki has reignited
speculation and ties in with some very tantalising
leaks from the set of Avengers 4.
Obviously, do not read beyond this point if you have
not see Avengers 3 or do not wish to see any
spoilers.

A fantastically daring theory was tweetd by one fan
who is convinced that Loki did not die because he
had already used his magic to take the form of
another character.
Don't forget how many times he has already used
illusions to portray his own death in previous
movies, or impersonate numerous others including
his adoptive father Odin.
Josh L Dickey's tweet, picked up by Screen Rant,
said: "Loki's dagger sneak attack on Thanos was
feeble. He knew it wouldn't work. Heimdall also
knows Banner can probably survive anything
Thanos throws at him in the short-term. On Earth,
Banner is acting loopy. Can't hulk out. Deception
more useful now than force. Banner is Loki."

— Josh L. Dickey

The Mind-Bending Mathematics Behind Quantum Computers

Quantum computing is a lot to wrap your mind around. To put things very simply (as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did recently, with surprising eloquence) regular computers are made up of bits—ones and zeros—which are fed into logic gates and come out the other side either transformed or the same, as another one or zero. Computers get faster as you make these gates smaller and fit more into one place. But in quantum computing, this entire process goes out the window.
For a slightly more in-depth explanation, you can try this new video from the excellent PBS Infinite Series YouTube channel, that digs into the crazy math behind quantum computers. As the host, Kelsey Houston-Edwards, is quick to point out, quantum computers don't actually exist yet, but math backs up the possibility of building them in the future.

Quantum mechanics allows for particles to exist between two states, in what's called a superposition. These particles only settle into one state or the other when measured—think of Schrödinger's cat. Quantum computers apply this to bits, which in this case are called qubits. In one of these theoretical computers, a qubit fed through a logic gate (in quantum computing, a quantum gate) exists in a superposition, meaning it is neither one nor zero before it's measured.
When we collapse the superposition of a qubit enough times, we find an equation that describes its superposition, the probability that it will result in a zero or one. Why does this matter? Because when we run a function on a string of zeros and ones in a classic computer, we can only change the states of each bit in one way at a time. In quantum computers, because the qubits are held in superpositions where they are in infinitely many states at once, the computer is able to hold an insane amount of information without us ever needing to see it until we want a final answer. We can work with the probabilities given to us by superpositions without dealing with the dozens of digits-long numbers that those equations represent.

For example, the number of states possible in a string of six bits is two (the number of possible states for each bit) to the sixth power, or 64 in total. This means that to figure out all the possible states of the bits with a regular computer, it would take up to 64 steps. But when we use superpositions of qubits to find the probability of different answers to this function, we don't figure out the actual state of each qubit, just the probability of them existing in each state, and getting to the final equation only requires four steps. If you imagine this applied to much, much longer strings of zeros and ones, you can begin to see how much quantum computing may be able to speed processing speeds.

There's plenty more to it than just that of course, and Houston-Edwards gets into the mathematics that allow all of this to function, which requires imagining hyper-dimensional spheres and all kinds of other wacky stuff. It's a lot of fun to think about the possibilities here—we'd just recommend drinking a cup of coffee, or three, first.

Source: PBS Infinite Series

You Locked Yourself Out of Your Phone, Now What?

The lock screen on your phone is designed to keep unwelcome visitors from taking a peek at your texts, social networks, or mobile gaming high scores, but the same security measures can sometimes lock you out of your own phone. Don't panic, because there are ways to regain access: here's what you need to do.

What to do right away

If there's anything important you need your phone for right away—a phone call, an email, directions to a job interview—then you need to find alternative options as quickly as you can. That could mean anything from logging into your email on a computer to borrowing a friend's cell phone, depending on what you need.

There's no 'quick fix' for getting into a locked phone

That's because there's no 'quick fix' for getting into a locked phone, otherwise the lock wouldn't be much use in the first place. If there was some kind of magic keypress combination then anyone who stole or picked up your phone would be able to use it too.

That doesn't mean all hope is lost, but before you attempt to recover your phone think about the information you've got on there, because it is likely going to have to be wiped. If you need to do anything first, like remove a memory card and back up your photos, do it now.

While you may find online guides on ways to break into a locked phone, be wary of them—they usually apply to older versions of Android or iOS, referring to loopholes that have since been removed, or are talking about different scenarios altogether.

What to do after that

If your phone has locked you out, the truth is that without the aid of military-grade forensics software, you're going go to have to wipe the phone and reset it back to its original factory settings, clearing all your apps and data along the way. Your phone will be back in the state it was when you first bought it.

You'll probably have to wipe your whole phone.

Depending on how diligent you've been with your backups, that might not necessarily be a disaster. If you've got all your emails in Gmail, all your photos in iCloud or Google Photos, and all your music in Spotify, you can be up and running very quickly.

If not, tough luck—though you might get a reprieve if you've got a Samsung device, as we'll explain.

The easiest way to reset your phone is to grab your laptop and use Android Device Manager or Find my iPhone through your browser to locate your handset. Both the Google and Apple services let you wipe your phone remotely with a couple of clicks.

Samsung's own version of the Android Device Manager, which you can find here, actually includes an Unlock my screen option, so if you're using a Samsung handset and it's been set up with the remote access service, you can bypass the screen lock without having to reset your phone.

If these services haven't been set up on your phone or don't work for whatever reason, you need to take a more hands-on approach.

On stock Android and many variants, you'll need to turn off your phone, then press and hold the Volume down and Power buttons simultaneously, which boots your phone into a special diagnostics mode. Tap Volume down to highlight the Recovery mode option, then Power to select it. When you see the robot, press and hold the Power button and tap Volume up.

Make sure the Wipe data/factory reset option is highlighted (use Volume down to select it if not), then press Power to confirm your choice. Press Volume down to choose the Yes option to confirm you're happy to wipe all user data, then press Power again. Once the phone has been wiped, press Power to reboot the phone.

The process varies slightly between Android phone manufacturers so if you get stuck check with the support options offered by the maker of your phone.

If you've got an iPhone, connect it to a laptop running iTunes, then choose to Restore iPhone from the Summary screen in iTunes. If you are met with another passcode screen, or you've never set up the iPhone with iTunes, connect it to a computer then force recovery mode by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake and Volume down buttons—swap Volume down for Home if you're using anything except an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. You'll then be able to set up the phone from scratch, once iTunes has been downloaded.

Explaining how to restore a backup is a whole other can of worms but if you need help both Google and Apple have official guides. Alternatively embrace the opportunity to start with a fresh new phone and try and keep it less cluttered than it was before.

What to do in the future

Don't be put off protecting your phone with a PIN or pattern in the future — it's all that's standing between your personal data and apps and someone who might pick up your phone after you've dropped it on the street.

Just don't forget it in future, and make sure you backup to the cloud in case the same thing happens again, or worse.

If your phone has the option, switch to a biometric alternative, like a fingerprint or face scan, which you can't forget. You can set up Touch ID in the Touch ID & Passcode section of Settings on iOS, and the equivalent option is under Security in Settings on Android.

Android also features a useful feature called "Smart Lock", which you can find under the same Security menu in Settings. You can have the PIN code (or fingerprint requirement) disabled when your phone is in a trusted location (like home) or connected to a trusted Bluetooth device (like your Amazon Echo).

The most recent versions of Android have added on-body detection, so your device isn't locked when it's on you (based on its movement), and voice detection, so you can unlock your phone by talking to it. Some of these Smart Lock options could give you an alternative option to unlock your phone in a pinch, but they could also mean you'll be typing in your PIN less and making you more liable to forget it.

So maybe write it down, too.

EXTRACTED FROM: http://www.popularmechanics.com

These Clever Electronic Blocks Bring Your Legos to Life

There are plenty of ways to get started with electronics, from littleBits to messing around with Arduinos, but the new Circuit Cubes might be the simplest, most clever way to get started yet. Designed to work with the Legos you already have—each cube has a four-by-four base and is two standard blocks tall—Circuit Cubes can bring light and motion to all kinds of contraptions with a literal snap.

Each cube is made of a plastic outer casing, much like a normal Lego block, but also some and electric component like an LED or a motor, as well as exposed electrodes for forming circuits. When you snap the blocks on top of each other—the motor block on top of the battery block, for instance—the circuit completes the blocks start going. For additional structural options, they can also be connected side by side, or with included wires, so they don't even need to be next to each other.

The Circuit Cubes are functional on their own, but their ability to mobilize Lego contraptions with ease is probably their most compelling and kid-friendly feature. The "Wacky Wheels" kit comes with a motor cube, an LED cube, and a battery cube, as well as enough Lego components to build several functional cars, though of course the instructions are just the jumping off point.

For now, the collection of cubes is limited to a motor, an LED, and a battery, all of which come as part of the "Wacky Wheels" kit, and Circuit Cubes has plans to introduce other cubes as times goes on.

EXTRACTED FROM: http://www.popularmechanics.com

Scientists discover new ways to utilise hydrogen as renewable energy source

Scientists in Germany have activated a device that can generate up to 10,000 times the amount of solar radiation that hits the surface of the Earth.
The machine, called the Synlight, may be able to help researchers discover new ways to utilise hydrogen as a renewable source of energy.
The device is located in a facility in Juelich, Germany, and being manned by researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The device, also called “the world’s largest artificial sun,” is composed of 149 spotlights.

Bernhard Hoffschmidt, the director of DLR’s Institute of Solar Research, said this technology can help pave way for more useful ways to utilise hydrogen as a renewable energy. For instance, companies can make environment-friendly kerosene by combining hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
However, finding a sustainable source of hydrogen has been difficult for scientists. This is because while hydrogen is abundant in the universe, it is a rare element on Earth.

Flybrix Review: This Lego Drone Makes Failure Fantastically Fun Crashing has never been such a joy.

My first drone flew for maybe five seconds, lifting off slowly from the table before leaning hard to the left, careening for the wall. I froze in a panic, only realizing I could steer the dang thing right at the moment of impact. Its frame exploded into a spectacular shower of Legos. It was right then, after that first fantastic crash, that I knew I was hooked.

Designed by MIT, Caltech, and UW Madison alumni, Flybrix is a kit of Lego pieces, wired propellers, a battery, and circuit board that when assembled well (or poorly), can take you from jumble of plastic to DIY drone flight in about five minutes. And then from flight to a bunch of Legos on the floor after another five seconds.

The process of building the drone is ridiculously simple, with just a little bit of setup. Connect the controller board, which serves as the drone's body and brain, to a tiny battery pack. Then, build a Lego body around the board, attach the propellers, and plug them into the board with jumper cables. Once you've connected the drone to the Flybrix smartphone app (or paired with the Flybrix controller, but I found my phone to work just fine), it is just a matter of turning up the throttle and seeing what happens. In my case, usually a gnarly crash.

Building a balanced, sturdy airframe out of Lego is not particularly easy. If you're not into the trial and error of trying, Flybrix has instructions for three different models that can be built with the included parts: a quadcopter, a hexacopter, and an octocopter, depending on how involved you want to get and your level of piloting skill. I spent a little time messing around with these designs, following the instructions just like I used to as a kid. But, in my experience, these didn't fly all that much better than my freeform creations. Or at the very least, I was not any better at flying them. So I usually wound up veering off and building my own monstrosities, each one popping up for a few brief seconds of flight before coming back in for an extremely hard landing. I loved every second of carnage.

If it sounds like I am fixated on the crashing as opposed to the flying, that is because I am. Crashes are just good, clean fun that turn failure into a sort of success. Yes, I crashed, but what a good crash! Anyone who has ever rolled a Lego car down the stairs knows what I am talking about. But crashing is also what I spent the majority of my non-building time doing. Over the course of several hours, I probably spent roughly 90 percent of my time building, eight percent of my time crashing, and maybe two percent in actual flight.

Flying a drone is hard in general, and building it out of Legos only complicates matters. If you're building your own design, it might be unbalanced, which is going to make it very hard for even a skilled pilot to fly. This isn't necessarily bad—constructing designs that are evenly balanced, light, and relatively reinforced is a fun challenge. But if you want to actually learn to fly, these challenges only get in the way because every time you crash, it means you have to rebuild at least some of the drone before you try flying again.

If you're in it to build (and crash), that is fine. Great even! There is an all-you-can-build buffet of problems to solve. But that's a tough ratio if you just want to fly. This makes Flybrix a much better toy for aspiring engineers than it is for aspiring pilots, who might do better cutting their teeth on a cheap drone that doesn't fall apart after every crash.

And speaking of engineering, a little bit of technical know-how is required. The chip that serves as your drone's brain doesn't have its own internet connection, so updating it with new and improved firmware involves plugging it into the computer and utilizing tools that are usually the domain of electronics tinkerers. It's not hard, and Flybrix has instructions to walk you through the process, but it could prove a little unnerving for less tech-savvy pilots (or their less tech-savvy parents).

Those minor caveats aside, Flybrix is a bundle of fun unlike any other drone or pile of Legos I've ever had the pleasure of playing with. I cannot overstate the sheer glee of turning up the throttle and watching your own awkward creation take to the sky. That is, so long as you also don't mind seeing it come down. Hard.

HOW TO MAKE A TABLE CHARGER

Here's a drawer in my apartment that holds a rat's nest of micro USB and Lightning cables, the ugly life force for my devices. Every night I dig out the right cable and plug, then feel behind the nightstand until the prongs find the outlet. I drape the kinked, discolored wire across an otherwise attractive nightstand, and plug it in so my phone has enough juice for the morning commute. I thought there was nothing I could do to avoid this, until I discovered inductive charging.

It's simple to use. Just place your phone on a charging base, and your battery percentage climbs. No fishing for the right cable, no finding an outlet. The most ubiquitous version of this technology is called Qi (pronounced "chi," like the harmony feng shui decorators talk about), and it's built into phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5, S6, and S7 and the Google Nexus 6. If you have an iPhone or Google Pixel, you have to slip a $40 aftermarket charger behind your phone's case. The idea goes back to Nikola Tesla: Generate a fluctuating magnetic field, usually with a coil wrapped around an iron core, and it sends energy short distances. Unlike microwave energy, it's not harmful to humans. You see it in devices such as electric toothbrushes, which can charge with minimal contact with the base.

In exchange for the convenience, you lose charging efficiency—in our tests, inductive charging is about half as fast as plugging in. But for a top-off, or an overnight charge, Qi charging is simpler and more elegant than slapping a fraying cable across the table. The only problem with it is that the charging bases aren't that attractive. Ikea makes its own version of a charging table, but we wanted something more seamless and subtle. Since Ikea tables are hollow and inexpensive, however, they do make for perfect prototype material. If you have something against Swedish housewares, you can do this with any piece of furniture. If the top isn't hollow, you'll just need a router (keep the amount of wood between the charger and the phone as thin as possible). And a lot more patience.

MATERIALS LIST

• Ikea Lack side table ($10)

• Mophie Charge Force Wireless Charging Base ($40)

• Scrap wood

• Peel-and-stick bumpers

INSTRUCTIONS

1. On one side of the tabletop, mark an opening for the charging base, around six inches long, and peel off the laminate with a utility knife. Set it aside for later.

2. Using an oscillating multi-tool or a jigsaw, cut the opening for the charger. Be sure to cut the opening slightly smaller than the piece of laminate you removed, so that there is a surface to glue it to. If you use a jigsaw, you'll first need to bore a starting hole. Be careful to keep the top and bottom laminate layers intact.

3. Remove the cardboard from the inside cavity.

4. Cut strips of scrap wood to a height that will hold the charger tightly against the underside of the laminate, but not enough to bulge it up.

5. Set the charging base on the scrap-wood strip and slide it into the cavity of the table.

6. With the charging base plugged into the wall, slowly move your phone over the table above the base until the phone beeps to indicate that it's charging. Be patient. The phone can be finicky. Lightly mark the outline of the phone with a pencil on the table.

7. Place peel-and-stick bumpers at the center of the side borders of the outline to indicate where to set your phone, then erase the outline.

8. Take the laminate strip you removed and cut a small notch in it to allow the cord to pass through. Glue it back to the table, and you have a nearly seamless finish.

 

 Source: www.popularmechanics.com

WELCOME NOTE

Happy new year,
Welcome to another year of greatness. With all happiness, I introduce this new blog to you. Enemigino is a medium of knowledge whereby creative, educational and innovative facts would be passed down to viewers.
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The critics of viewer would be allowed in order to enable the fast growth of this blog.
Again, I wish you a happy new year.
Thank you and God bless'


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