Major Media Outlets Think Climate Change Isn't Important

In recent disturbing (but not entirely surprising), it turns out that major media outlets don’t mention climate change. Over a two-week period from late June to early July, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired a combined 127 segments or weathercasts that discussed this summer’s heat wave. But only CBS mentioned climate change as a contributing factor.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence that human-induced climate change is exacerbating both the frequency and intensity of heat waves. Heat domes like the one that caused this recent heat wave are becoming more intense and more common, scientists have found. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, who has studied extreme weather patterns in California, said recent heat in California was unusual.

Can an Algorithm do Land Surveying?

If an algorithm draws lines on a map, is that the same thing as land surveying? A Mississippi court is trying to answer this very question, thanks to a startup called Vizaline.

Since 2014, Vizaline, a startup based in Madison, Mississippi, has provided this very specific service to local banks: drawing polygons on satellite photos. Why would banks want this? Many banks lend money to facilitate real-estate acquisition, and, in this way, the bank can gain a better sense of precisely where this land is in relation to other property.

But Mississippi’s Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors says that it should be the state entity solely responsible for land surveying.

Apple Drops Texture Monthly Subscription Price to $9.99

Apple just dropped the subscription price for Texture Premium from US$14.99 to $9.99 per month. Texture the digital magazine subscription service Apple bought earlier this year. The price change is automatic so subscribers don’t need to do anything with their account to make it kick in. Apple told subscribers about the price drop via email, and Harry McCracken shared the news on Twitter.

DOJ Files Appeal to Block AT&T Time-Warner Merger

The US Department of Justice isn’t hip on the idea of AT&T and Time-Warner merging, so it’s contesting the government’s approval of the deal. The DOJ filed an appeal to overturn the merger approval over concerns it will reduce competition in the pay television market. Experts, however, don’t think there’s much hope for the appeal. CNBC said,

Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson told CNBC’s “Fast Money” that given how decisive [Judge] Leon’s ruling was, there aren’t a lot of obvious arguments the government can make for its appeal. He said, however, that the Justice Department may try push back on the idea that AT&T wouldn’t take into consideration it is an integrated company when it is negotiating programming agreements.

Of course, AT&T and Time-Warner say the merger won’t stifle competition. If the court moves ahead with the appeal and grants a stay that’ll put the whole deal on hold, so it’s a safe bet AT&T is going to fight this in a big way.

Last Chance to Pay What You Want 2018 Super Mac Bundle

We have a new Pay What You Want deal called the 2018 Super Mac Bundle. The bundle has 10 Mac apps, including a WhiteSmoke Premium subscription, Disk Drill PRO 3, Aurora HDR 2018 Express, MacX DVD Ripper Pro, Yummy FTP Pro 2, and more. Here’s how the deal work. Pay anything, even a penny, and you’ll get two of the apps. Beat the average price (currently $13.84), and you’ll get all 10 apps.

Do Photos of an Event Improve Memory of it? Apparently Not

We take a lot of photos. We upload them. But a study from UC Santa Cruz shows that photographs don’t actually present the truth of the moment: they actually distort it. The effect is called “cognitive offloading.” The linked article explains. “It turns out that photographing gives the photographer significantly less need to encode (i.e. we tend to put more mental stock, if you will, into the photograph that we just took rather than actually encoding the memory ourselves).” Sounds like vacationers need to spend more time gazing and less time photographing.