It was the 70s. Apollo 13 has made its remarkable return home, the Beatles have broken up and the Cold War is in full swing. An American nuclear submarine was on patrol, searching for their Russian counterparts in a clandestine game of cat and mouse when suddenly, without warning, something attacked. Their radar and microphones were destroyed beyond repair leaving the Americans blind in the water. Fear struck at…
Earlier this week, western Europe was ravaged by the worst floods ever to hit the region, causing huge loss of life and property. Among the numerous houses that were damaged by the floods was an obscure garage housing millions of dollars worth of supercars.
When water levels rose across the region, the garage had a Ferrari 812 Superfast, Ferrari 575 Superamerica and a McLaren SLR 722. There was one more rare hypercar in the garage that bore the brunt of the floods. See that yellow Bugatti EB110 SS at the start of the video? It was once owned by F1 legend Michael Schumacher.
A Tiktok video posted by Justin Kluck reveals the extent of the damage.
@jstnklck Einfach Millionen von Euros weg, ich weine mit dem Mann #fyp#viral#rich
Chassis no. 39020, was built in 1994. It was the only EB110 SS to get the full-luxury interior of the EB110 GT. It’s said that Schumacher rarely used the car while it was in his possession. It later swapped hands and was put up for sale in 2010 with 2875 miles on the odometer.
The Bugatti EB110 SS was powered by a 3.5-liter, quad-turbocharged V12 engine that was tuned to 603 hp @ 8250 rpm and 479 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm. It was capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 3.14 seconds and had a top speed of 221 mph.
Webflow allows websites to be coded visually, managing all the code behind the scenes. This paves the way for design-led websites that are 100% flexible and can be rapidly built and updated.
Building a website is not as simple as it may sound, it’s not just grabbing pictures and paragraphs of information and dumping it into an empty canvas hoping for the best. Having to know how to use HTML and other languages and making sure it all comes together in the end to work in both mobile and non-mobile mediums, different browsers (Google Chrome, Safari, Etc.), as well as iOS and Android is no easy task.
The current web design and development landscape provides many ways to build a website, ranging from very technical to some less technical and more visual. If we were to start in the more technical part of the spectrum, we would find that some developers can build a website without special software and tools. Then, as we move more towards the slightly less technical, there are special platforms to design and build websites in more visual ways. However, these tools such as WordPress or SquareSpace have little flexibility and many times still require a fair amount of coding expertise in order to customize them the way you would like. This can be time consuming and expensive. This is where Webflow comes in.
Just like WordPress and SquareSpace, Webflow is a website development tool. However, it isn’t just “another tool”.
Webflow allows websites to be coded visually, managing all the code behind the scenes. This paves the way for design-led websites that are 100% flexible and can be rapidly built and updated. Another key feature that Webflow offers is a fully integrated content management system (CMS). The Webflow CMS allows for an even more streamlined website and blog development by adopting a ‘content first’ approach — bridging the design-content gap.
Unlike Webflow, WordPress sites are big and slow with very little help with SEO, unless you really have the time and resources to invest in learning how to optimize WordPress using plugins, it really isn’t worth it.
There are many aspects to Webflow that provide a more advantageous platform from which to base our website development. Starting with simplicity. Having a simple platform that allows even less experienced developers to create a website with minimal code knowledge is definitely a plus. Some team members admitted having had a tough time with other platforms such as WordPress in previous roles. These tools can have a big impact on your performance depending on your knowledge and level of coding, many times they would have to wait for the developer to show up in order to fully be able to optimize what they needed. This can also lead to a slower development of the website as well as frustrations from many key stakeholders.
Webflow can also lead to faster development of a website since it allows for the prototyping and development to be done simultaneously. Having this feature is definitely something that will not only help in the delivery of the website to the client, but also in their trust in us to get the job done fast, smart, with high quality, and to their specifications and visions.
Webflow is a visual platform, allowing the designer to do what a designer does best… design! Many times designers hand off their designs and are left waiting for developers to code, with little to no co-collaboration. However, with Webflow that has all gone and now we have a seamless execution from the designer who can comfortably build complex websites with the familiar tools of the Webflow platform. As we are designing real HTML and CSS, if features outside the scope of Webflow are required, with one click we can export a clean, semantic version of the design that’s already been coded visually by a designer. This all contributes to a smaller gap between our designer and our development team, allowing for a rapid website and app creation service for our clients.
Adding to the visual development, Webflow also allows for a fully customized website, something other tools do not fully have. Of course there are some templates to choose from but in the end, you can fully customize any website to meet the needs of the client. Some of the things that we were not able to fully do before moving to this new platform. All in all, a client wouldn’t want a website that looks just like many others that have used the same template, they want a fully custom one that not only shows their brand essence and vision, but that runs to their specifications and their needs.
This tool has helped Mäd to fully back each client with unique websites… Because let’s face it, every client is different and our focus is our clients. Makes sense right?
On the contrary, Webflow is by no means perfect. As the Webflow team keep adding new and awesome features, we can also start implementing those to our clients. But just like any tool, it will keep evolving and we will keep evolving with it.
We all know how fast technology moves, at Mäd, we strive to move faster.
These are the three main points which you have to focus on when looking at Webflow.
Simple in the way it works, Webflow shows that a complex website can be built in simple terms.
Visual for designers, because Webflow allows one to focus on the “how does this look?” rather than “can we do this?” or “let us ask the developer”. Which also cuts down on lead time.
Moreover, it is fully integrated with all the major components and applications needed to run a successful website.
You can convert your figma design to a webflow website, and even adobe illustrator designs. Hire a professional today, and start enjoying the benefit of amazing webflow platforms
Elon Musk is changing the world again. The man who upended the entire automobile industry, the crypto markets, and is giving NASA a run for its money, is edging closer to completing a brain chip implant that will transform normal people into cyborgs. Will this enhance or save humankind or is Musk and team opening Pandora’s Box that will lead to our demise?
A Bugatti Chiron parked inside a garage in Miami was supposedly set ablaze on purpose. The car is owned by recording artist @elalfaeljefe.
Videos posted by @supercar.fails reveal the full extent of the damage.
While the exact circumstances surrounding this incident are not known, it is believed that someone purposely set fire to the car. It almost looks like someone threw a Molotov cocktail on it. Only the front and the driver-side door panel appears to have been damaged. Either way, it’s going to cost a bomb to repair it.
As you can see, the Chiron is finished in a striking dual-tone of red and black. The fire seems to have burned through the carbon fiber, almost melting it. The car will require a new set of wheels as well.
A few days with Panic’s crank-powered handheld
By Andrew Webster Jul 22, 2021, 1:00 pm EDT
if things go as expected, four new dedicated video game handhelds will launch this year. And each is primed to offer something different. The next Switch has a brighter, more vibrant YOU ARE screen; Valve’s Stream Deck is a gaming PC in your hands, and Analogue’s Pocket handheld recreates the original Game Boy hardware while adding modern upgrades like a better LCD display and the option to connect to an HDTV.
And then there’s the Playdate from Panic. Whereas the aforementioned handhelds are almost uniformly technological upgrades, the Playdate offers something much weirder. It looks kind of like a Game Boy that comes from an alien world. There are familiar elements, like a D-pad and face buttons, but many of its games are controlled by a crank that slots into the side. And those games are only available in black and white, and they’ll eventually be released as part of weekly mystery drops.
It sounds strange and fascinating, and I had the chance to head into PlayDate’s parallel universe over the last few days with a near-final version of the device. It definitely is weird — but that’s also what makes it exciting.
The most striking thing about the Playdate is its electric yellow color scheme. It stands out in a world of smartphones that are mostly black slabs. It’s also a square, measuring 76 x 74mm, as opposed to the more common rectangle, and it’s only 9mm thick. Basically, it’s tiny. About half the front is taken up by a glossy 400 × 240 display, with a shiny D-pad and A and B buttons below, much like on an original Game Boy. There’s also a home/menu button on the top right corner, a lock button on the right shoulder, and a headphone jack and USB-C port on the bottom. A tiny, yet surprisingly loud, speaker runs down the right side of the display. So far, nothing too strange, until you see the silver crank jutting out the side. The PlayDate’s crank is about an inch long, and when not in using its handle slots nicely into the side of the device.
The company says that the version I played with is the final hardware (the software is still being tweaked) and it’s a great device to hold. The body of the Playdate has a nice matte texture that’s both comfortable and doesn’t smudge, while the buttons — and particularly the D-pad — are satisfyingly clicky. If you have big hands it might be a little cramped, as the pad and buttons are very close together, but I found it comfortable enough for long sessions. Most importantly, it’s fun and playful. This is clearly a device meant for playing video games.
The display is similarly, uh, distinct. It’s crisp, yet is entirely black and white and has no backlight. It’s kind of like playing games on a high-end Kindle. It’s not reflective, as opposed to, say, a Switch. I had no problems playing games outside in the sun, even with games where the graphics were dark. In a nice touch, when the handheld goes to sleep, its display turns to a simple analog clock. No backlight is a bummer, but it at least means the Playdate has great battery life; Panic promises eight hours of continuous gameplay, and that proved about right during my short time with the device.
THE GAMES WERE ALL DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER
My preview unit had four games included, and they were all drastically different from each other. Probably the most notable is Crankin Presents: Time Travel Adventure, from Katamari creator Keita Takahashi. It’s essentially a platform game about a guy who is constantly late for a date. In order to get there on time, he has to avoid floating butterflies, literal hurdles, and charging pigs. The twist is that you don’t control the titular Crankin directly. Instead, you move him back and forth through time. The game is controlled entirely with the crank, which you can use to either fast forward or rewind his actions, which are independent of the obstacles. So if a butterfly floats by, for instance, you’ll want to fast-forward Crankin to a point where he’s bent over smelling a flower, so the bug passes by safely. It took me a little while to figure out what to do, but once I grasped the concept the game became a lot of fun.
Elsewhere is Lost Your Marbles, a mashup of a visual novel and a puzzle game. In it, you follow a young girl named Prota who works at some kind of scientific facility that’s researching memory. I won’t pretend to understand it, but for some reason, Prota is able to access certain memories by playing a classic ball-in-maze puzzle. It’s weird, but the crank is well-suited for it, as you rotate it to move the maze around the ball in search of a memory. Lost Your Marbles also looks great, with big, bold character portraits that make the most out of the hardware’s limited capabilities, buoyed by some really silly and hilarious writing. It’s a fun, quirky remix of genres that feels right at home on the Playdate.
The most surprising game I played was Saturday Edition. It was surprising because of how straightforward it is. It’s a classic point-and-click style adventure and it doesn’t utilize the crank at all (at least from what I played); instead, you use the D-pad and buttons to wander around a city, collecting clues and solving puzzles. It’s been stripped down just enough so that it feels comfortable to play with only two buttons, and the grainy visuals make it feel like a long-lost PC game. If nothing else, Saturday Edition is a good indication that the Playdate will be home to more than just silly crank-controlled games. It works well enough for more traditional titles as well.
Rounding out the quartet is Whitewater Wipeout, an arcade-style surfing game that I can’t say much about because I could not figure out the controls. From what I can tell, you’re supposed to use the crank to spin the board and ride a wave, but no matter how much I tried I couldn’t stay afloat for more than a few seconds at a time. It’s entirely possible this is a “me” problem, but it does show that the unique nature of the crank controls could lead to some steeper than usual learning curves.
The one thing I wasn’t able to experience with my Playdate is actually one of the most important aspects of the device: surprise. When the handheld finally launches, new games will be released in “seasons.” Essentially, over the course of each season, a new mystery game will appear on your Playdate once a week. The release will be the same for everyone, making for a kind of unique appointment viewing-style experience. The full breadth of what the Playdate has to offer will rely a lot on what these games are like, as well as the communal discovery process. But a few days with the handheld has made me excited for what mysteries are in store.
Preorders for the Playdate open on July 29th, with the first batch of units expected to start shipping “towards the end of this year.”
Apple makes all kinds of products these days that go beyond its traditional computer business, like phones, headphones, watches and even tracking devices. It’s long been rumoured that the company is even developing an Apple Car.
Here’s a list of other, exciting new products that Apple might release in the future!
Hub Max, a USB-C hub with 5 more USB-C ports ($129.95)
Apple knows that some of its laptop users are irritated that the latest M1 laptops only have two USB-C…
With normal life resuming in many parts of the country, the path out of this pandemic in the US is clear: reach herd immunity through COVID vaccines. However, many people in the US are refusing to get vaccinated, leading to a slowing vaccination rate across the country.
Rates have declined from a high of 2.7 million partial and 2.4 million fully vaccinated people per day in April to a low of 360k partial and 260k fully vaccinated people as of July. This is despite the US being nowhere near the level required for herd immunity, especially given the spread of the more contagious delta variant.
Slowing vaccination rates, especially given his focus on getting Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible, may have led to Biden’s comments about Facebook causing deaths due to COVID misinformation on its platform.
Facebook shot back by saying they have saved lives, citing the number of people viewing facts about the pandemic, including where to get a vaccine, on its platform. They also cited the steps they have taken to reduce misinformation.
This response is completely meaningless. Given Facebook’s penetration in the US (about 70% of US adults are on the platform and 70% use it daily) there will naturally be a large number of people who view correct information about vaccines and COVID. But this says nothing about the amount of misinformation on the platform.
Furthermore, the people viewing this correct information are likely not the vaccine skeptics that are keeping the vaccination rate low. Facebook could be doing way more to ensure these individuals that regularly engage in vaccine skepticism see more approved content that could sway them. They could work with researchers to develop content that promotes the effectiveness of vaccines in stopping the pandemic, but Facebook has not done much of this. Rather, they just lash out at the White House claiming the problem lies with them.
Even some doctors agree that Facebook is causing deaths due to misinformation on the platform, and research suggests that the majority of vaccine misinformation comes from only a few accounts, which Facebook could easily reduce the spread of.
Casually using Facebook’s platforms shows it is clear that they could do way more to prevent the spread of misinformation.
Facebook has taken some minimal steps. Today, when you search on Facebook for things like “Covid vaccines unsafe”, you see a banner at the top that highlights Facebook’s COVID information center which provides fact based information about COVID-19. However, it provides nothing related to vaccines and their efficacy in preventing transmission or severity of symptoms.
This is quite lazy. Rather than matching the type of information to the query being searched for, Facebook provides a generic response that is irrelevant to what is being searched.
Anyone searching this would clearly just try to find information another way, especially since there is no readily found information about vaccines. Facebook missed an opportunity to provide credible, relevant results.
In addition, searching on Instagram for things like “vaccines” and “covid vaccines” returns accounts of vaccine skeptics such as “vaccine_transparency”, “covid_ 19_vaccine_nt”, and “the_covidvaccine_informer” in the top search results.
Here is an example of what the results for “covid vaccines” look like:
And here are what posts by the search result “covid_ 19_vaccine_nt” look like. They are clearly questioning the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine:
On the contrary, searching for “covid vaccines unsafe” produced no results except for the WHO instagram page.
But again this demonstrates sheer laziness in the response by Facebook to combating misinformation. How hard is it for Facebook to curate all search results containing the word “vaccine” to only return approved results from scientific organizations? (Not to completely pick on Facebook, doing similar things on Youtube produced similarly troublesome results).
Another social media company has done exactly this.
Searches for these things on Pinterest return a much better response (full disclosure I currently work at Pinterest, but it is clear their response to misinformation is much better).
All vaccine related posts contain a declaration at the top that highlights how these queries often have misinformation and therefore only return results from trusted organizations. Facebook could easily implement something like this.
Facebook is such a large platform that it generates what economists call externalities. These are additional benefits and costs that are not priced in by the people who use Facebook or by Facebook itself in the free market.
Specifically, in the context of vaccines, people who view misinformation on Facebook and become less likely to get vaccinated do not just affect themselves but also negatively harm the people around them. Not getting vaccinated raises the likelihood that they transmit the virus, get hospitalized and impose costs on others, or allow room for the virus to mutate into new, more dangerous variants like the delta variant.
Facebook is not incentivized to correct this failure because it does not directly affect its business. The firm could view this problem as their social responsibility, but the changes they have implemented, as seen above, and their antagonistic response to the White House show they have abdicated responsibility for this negative externality.
Clearly, Facebook cannot be entrusted with the influence generated by its dominant position. This is another data point that suggests Facebook is too big for its own good.
At its current size Facebook generates negative externalities that it is not willing to correct, even if they only require simple fixes that other companies are implementing. Worse yet the COVID misinformation saga is just one of many. If Facebook was broken up, the firm would be easier to regulate and also face different incentives to potentially correct these issues on its own.
Lamborghini is celebrating the 50 years of the Countach and to mark this occasion, a rally has been organized in Monterey, CA.
The Countach Rally will take place over 6 days, starting with a Welcoming Party at Half Moon Bay on August 10. The next day, all participants will drive to the Monterey Car Week. On August 14, the cars will head to Laguna Seca for a track session. The rally will culminate on August 15 at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Entry to the rally is restricted to just 30 participants and we’ve heard that besides the Countach, there will be a few Diablos as well.
Meanwhile, Lamborghini is likely to reveal a special edition Countach Homage at this year’s event. Sources have told us that the car is based on the Sian and could use the same 6.5-liter V12 mild-hybrid powertrain with a slight bump in output.
The Countach tribute is expected to cost around €3 million and only 112 examples are likely to be built.
Source: Lamborghini Registry
? Amazon se encuentra en la búsqueda de alguien que lidere el equipo que se adentrará al mundo de las monedas digitales y Blockchain. Curiosamente, al tratarse de una tecnología emergente, buscan a alguien que combine conocimientos para resolver problemas aún si definir.
? Según la descripción del puesto, a Amazon le intersa una persona pro-activa, auto-gestionada, curiosa e innovadora, apasionada por las monedas digitales. Un rol que tiene como misión desafiar el sistema financiero y el modelo de pagos electrónicos a nivel empresarial y mundial.
“The Payments Acceptance & Experience team is seeking an experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap” — Anunció el equipo de Amazon.
? La vacante deja también ver que Amazon está trazando una ruta para los próximos años con respecto al uso de Blockchain; el libro contable público, distribuido y transparente más grande jamás creado. También, de cierto modo, es un impulso para el precio de las criptomonedas.
Quien aspire al puesto debe combinar muchos conocimientos y especialidades. Todas se pueden aprender desde casa ?. Buscan a una persona que:
El producto final podría ser un monedero digital de Amazon que haga uso de su propia moneda. Si juegan bien sus cartas, la persona contratada podría estar presenciando el inicio de algo realmente histórico.
¿Tienes todo lo que se necesita para afrontar un reto que requiera de múltiples campos de conocimientos? Si todavía sientes que no estás ahí, te invito a nunca parar de aprender. Quizás más pronto de lo que creas estarás ahí.
