Category: technology

Posted on

An 8-Year-Old Boy With a Multi-Million Dollar Income Was Named the Highest-Earning YouTuber of 2019

Well, this is depressing…

How much money did you make in 2019? This 8-year-old kid on YouTube probably out-earned you.

In fact, he out-earned almost everyone.

Ryan Kaji earned a stunning $26 million on YouTube in 2019, making him the highest-earning YouTuber in the world. Ryan started his channel, Ryan’s World (formerly Ryan ToysReview), when he was just 3 years old. It consists of toy reviews, science experiments, educational videos, playing games, and more.

This is the second year in a row that Ryan has been the highest-earning YouTuber, beating other popular YouTube celebrities like PewDiePie and Jeffree Star. His income last year was $22 million.

Ryan’s YouTube fame has also evolved into other, more traditional show business deals, like a preschool-aimed series on Nickelodeon and a deal with Hulu.

Unsurprisingly, Ryan’s impressive year is causing a lot of jealousy on social media.

“I hate my life,” one person wrote.

“I need a YouTube channel,” another said.

“I might fuck around and start reviewing toys,” another joked.

Life isn’t quite that simple for this 8-year-old millionaire, though. Earlier this year, Ryan’s channel was the subject of a complaint filed to the Federal Trade Commission. A nonprofit called Truth In Advertising (TINA) claimed that the channel “deceptively promotes a multitude of products to millions of preschool-aged children in violation of FTC law.”

“When a YouTube video directed to children under the age of 5 mixes advertising with program content, as Ryan ToysReview videos frequently do, the preschool audience is unable to understand or even identify the difference between marketing material and organic content, even when there is a verbal indicator that attempts to identify the marketing content,” TINA Executive Director Bonnie Patten and Legal Director Laura Smith wrote in their complaint.

Ryan’s dad says their family strictly adheres to YouTube’s terms of service and cares about their viewers’ safety.

Something else to consider: Ryan is eight. So does he understand?

Who knows?

The post An 8-Year-Old Boy With a Multi-Million Dollar Income Was Named the Highest-Earning YouTuber of 2019 appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Stars Are Disappearing and Scientists Aren’t Ruling out Aliens as a Cause

There have been a few stories lately when scientists and other suit-and-tie types have been unwilling to say aliens aren’t behind one thing or another – which I guess is the safest course, because no one likes to be proven wrong.

I mean, if a situation actually arose in which aliens were discovered, I doubt people would be running around pointing fingers at all of the folks who said aliens were a fantasy. But what do I know.

…But back to the story at hand, and the hundred-plus stars that have disappeared from the map.

View this post on Instagram

なんとか見れる形に現像できただろうか？ その2 . . .•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟ•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟ やっぱり星空撮っている時間好きだなぁと改めて思う. . . •*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟ•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟ なんかとんでもなく忙しい… 明日無事に仕事が納められるるのか… とりあえず…あと10分寝よう? . . . #岡山県 #井原市 #美星町 #美星天文台 #岡山へ行こう #星活 #星空撮影 #星景ら部 #天の川 #milkyway #nightphotography #nightsky #night_gram #night_shots #japan_night_view #best_moments_night #stars #setouchigram92 #colore_de_saison #瀬戸内カメラ部 #star_hunter_jp #team_jp_西 #Lovers_Nippon #photo_shorttrip #eosm3 #サムヤン12mmf2 #キリトリセカイ #その瞬間に物語を #ダレカニミセタイソラ

A post shared by どむどむ (@ddom_cat) on

Yes, it turns out that the night sky, which has remained static enough to guide seamen and pirates and explorers for eons, is changing.

The Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations Project (VASCO) compares 70-year-old surveys with recent images of the night sky to document what has changed, and after years of painstaking work (there are a lot of stars, after all), they’ve published their results in the Astronomical Journal.

The 100-odd stars that were documented to have disappeared could represent short-lived flashes in the night, or they could be actual stars that disappeared.

The researchers hope their results, and results to come, will be relevant to astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

“VASCO is a project that is both a SETI project and a conventional astrophysics project,” explained Beatriz Villarroel, a researcher at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics and one of the report’s coauthor. “Even if we do SETI and have SETI questions, we are also interested in publishing other results that we find along the way.”

The disappeared pinpricks of light are curious because when stars die, their last burst of glory is usually hard to miss – people saw and wrote about them long before there were telescopes – so if they can also just wink out without fanfare, well, we want to know why.

And to that end, some of the researchers don’t think we should rule out something like another advanced civilization blocking stars with their solar panels to gather energy.

For her part, Villarroel is on board.

“If we should look for aliens, maybe we should actually look for something that would be truly absurd to find.”

The research is being conducted by a team of 20 astronomers and astrophysicists who have compared 70 years worth of sky images taken by the US Naval Observatory and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System.

They used software to analyze 600 million light sources that should have appeared in the earliest and most recent sets of data. At first,  the number of potential missing stars numbered around 150,000, but was winnowed down to 24,000 after some additional cross-referencing.

In the end, Villarroel is confident the 100 stars they presented are, indeed, missing.

“We have done the best work to remove anything that resembles any artifacts.”

If they are – or were – brief flashes that just happened to show up on the old US Navy surveys, they were likely red dwarf flares, variable stars that dimmed, or the afterglow of a gamma ray burst.

If they really were enduring light sources that disappeared without fanfare, Villarroel – and others – would be much more excited. SETI enthusiasts have speculated about how alien civilizations with advanced engineering power could shield a star from view.”You would have to exclude all-natural things, and then there might also be new natural phenomena that we don’t know about can be more exciting.”

If this is totally blowing your skirt up, the scientists at VASCO plan to implement a citizen science project that lets civilians help search through the rest of the 150,000 candidates.

You know you want to be the one who discovers the spot where technologically advanced aliens are hiding….

The post Stars Are Disappearing and Scientists Aren’t Ruling out Aliens as a Cause appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

You Might Need This ‘Nap Desk’ in Your Life If You Want to Be More Productive

George Constanza was right…about napping during working hours, that is.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to hit the wall in the middle of the workday. I have a TON of energy from about 8 A.M. to about 2 P.M. and then…uh oh…this guy gets a little sleepy, and it’s time for a 30-minute snoozer. Well, it turns out I’m not alone, and maybe I shouldn’t even feel guilty about that mid-day nap!

That’s why you might want to consider picking up this nap desk that allows you to slumber peacefully below your desk so you don’t have to go far to get those ZZZZZZZs in.

The desk comes to us from folks at the architecture and design firm Studio NL in Greece, and it is pretty impressive. The sleeping quarters are snuggled conveniently underneath the desk where a worker slaves away, so you’d be able to just kick off your shoes, put on your sleeping mask, and start counting sheep.

Although we have a hard-working attitude here in the U.S. for which downtime is frowned upon by many, relaxing and refueling are very important to well-being.

But if you’re one of the naysayers who think that napping is bad or counterproductive, many studies have shown that naps can actually make you more productive: they can “increase alertness in the period directly following the nap and may extend alertness a few hours later in the day.”

Sign me up! I’m ready for this! How about you?

The post You Might Need This ‘Nap Desk’ in Your Life If You Want to Be More Productive appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Samuel L. Jackson’s Voice Has Arrived on Alexa. With Profanity and All…

I live in an Alexa household, even though we’re well aware we’ve invited the government and big business and probably more eyes and ears into our homes. It just makes it so easy to add things to the grocery list, turn the lights off and on (because who wants to stand up?), play music, and on and on.

Even so, I’ll be the first person to say that Alexa’s voice can quickly go from pleasant to annoying, depending on one’s mood.

Do you know whose melodious voice is always welcome, though?

One Samuel L. Jackson.

And now, he can be the voice turning your lights on and adding stuff to your shopping list.

The Guardian is reporting that Amazon has confirmed they will be using neural text-to-speech technology to mimic Jackson’s voice, so it won’t just be pre-recorded phrases – Jackson can do anything from read you the weather to sing you Happy Birthday.

He won’t be able to help with your shopping, reminders, lists, or other Alexa Skills. Womp-womp.

This is all with Samuel L. Jackson’s approval, of course, and you’re certainly aware that the award-winning actor is as famous for his blue language as his performance skills – which is why Alexa is going to allow you to set your device to allow him to swear appropriately in his responses.

Which you know, is just a win for everyone involved, really.

You’ll be able to download the technology for just $.99 to start, but if you want to keep it forever, eventually you’ll have to pay $4.99.

If you’re someone like my sister, who gets prissy about profanity, don’t worry – Amazon promises that deals with other celebrities are in the works, and before long “Alexa” could be just about anyone you like.

Which is a little terrifying.

The post Samuel L. Jackson’s Voice Has Arrived on Alexa. With Profanity and All… appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This Is Why Dice Are a Lot Better Than Computers at Generating Truly Random Numbers

We have a lot of ways to do things at random: roll a die, flip a coin, pick a number – but one thing that actually doesn’t work so well: computers. Computers struggle to truly be random, even when they’re programmed to do exactly that.

You’ve probably noticed that even if you have thousands of songs on your phone, your shuffle function will “randomly” choose some songs more often than others.

The reason? Your computer follows an algorithm, which is essentially a list of instructions they use to carry out a task. They don’t know how to deviate from the set path (when they figure that out, the robot revolution will be upon us).

So, while engineers have come up with some ways to write algorithms that help computers pretend to generate random numbers, when it comes down to it, they really can’t be truly random because they are following instructions that lead them to their outcome.

The best we can do is a pseudo-random number generator, which honestly, is good enough to fool anyone who isn’t a computer programmer. But if you had the coding skills, you could, say, figure out the randomness behind an online poker program and make some serious cash.

True random number generators use physical phenomena akin to rolling a die – things like radioactive decay, background noise, or even the amount of time between your keystrokes. But again, we can’t even really call them truly random, since they’re still following an algorithm that has the physical phenomenon at its root.

View this post on Instagram

??: Takže, generátor randomných čísel mi vybral 5 čísel aby som z nich vytvorila nejaké líčenie! Potiahnite doľava pre výsledok! ❤ Čo si myslíte? . . ??: So random number generator picked me 5 random numbers to create some makeup look from it! Swipe to the left to see results! ❤ What do u think?? . . . ?PRODUCTS: @nyxcosmetics_czsk Honey dew me up primer @makeuprevolutionczsk Conceal & Define full coverage foundation – F1 @makeuprevolutionczsk Conceal & Define full coverage conceal and contour @catrice.cosmetics Nude illusion loose powder @makeuprevolutionczsk Hyaluronic fix hydrating & plumping makeup fixing spray @morphebrushes Palette by @jamescharles @makeuprevolution Roxi contour and highlight palette @makeuprevolution Brow pomade – medium brown @makeuprevolution Soph x highlighter palette by @soph @catrice.cosmetics Calligraph pro precise matt liner waterproof @misssporty Studio lash 3D volumythic mascara @dermacol_cz_sk Matte Mania liquid lip colour 15 Lashes from aliexpress . . . #nyxcosmetics #nyx #makeuprevolution #revolution #revolutionbrows #morphe #morphebrushes #morphebabe #catrice #catricecosmetics #catricemakeup #misssporty #misssportyczsk #dermacol #dermacoloriginal #dermacol_cz_sk #dermacolmattemania #jamescharles #soph #roxxsaurus #makeup #makeupartist #makeuptutorial #makeuplover #randomnumbergenerator #randommakeup #makeuplook

A post shared by ???? (@makeupsimy) on

Which means I’m going to just keep rolling a dice for my numbers.

Not that I often need truly random numbers anyway…

The post This Is Why Dice Are a Lot Better Than Computers at Generating Truly Random Numbers appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

These Are the 20 Worst Passwords You Can Choose

You’ve probably realized that having strong passwords is one of the best things you can do to protect your identity, your money, and your privacy in general (if you have trouble remembering a lot of different passwords, get a password manager).

Or at least, I hope you have – because there are still a disturbing number of people using “password” as their password like, everywhere.

Yeah, even at their banks and stuff.

Along with that one, here are 20 of the easiest-to-guess, least secure passwords you could choose.

So…don’t.

20. welcome

Yes, welcome to my credit card.

19. 7777777

Random number, they’ll never guess seven!

18. lovely

This is just random.

17. 555555

Another number over and over, yes, secure.

16. 654321

Oooh backwards counting!

15. qwertyuiop

This made me giggle.

14. admin

Talk about phoning it in.

13. 1q2w3e4r

I mean, at least you pretended to try.

12. qwerty123

They’ll never try a combination!

11. abc123

Aw, look at you being all tricksy like.

10. 123123

Who do you think you’re kidding?

9. 111111

They’ll never guess this one!!

8. iloveyou

That’s sweet. Let me take all of your money.

7. 12345

Isn’t 6 characters like some kind of minimum?

6. 12345678

You guys, please stop.

5. 1234567

No seriously, stop.

4. password

Yep, still on the list. I told you.

3. qwerty

This one makes me laugh. People are dumb.

2. 123456789

At least it’s long?

1. 123456

Yes, really.

 

I’m guilty of using variations of the same passwords for years on end, but none nearly as bad as these! Yeesh!

Are you guilty? Go ahead and out yourself in the comments!

The post These Are the 20 Worst Passwords You Can Choose appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Hybrid Pig-Monkeys Could Be in Our (Near) Future Thanks to Chinese Genetic Experiments

There’s a classic episode of Seinfeld where Kramer is convinced that he’s seen a “pig man” at the hospital – a result of a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong…or right, I suppose.

And while there’s no pig man in the episode, if scientists have their way, the show is probably going to be seen as prophetic one day.

In yet another show of disregard for ethics in experimental genetics, Chinese researchers have brought pig-monkey chimeras to term.

In science (as opposed to mythology), a chimera is an organism derived from two or more zygotes. At the Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology in China, piglets were injected with monkey stem cells when they were fetuses and, for the first time in any lab ever, were brought successfully to term.

They look like regular pigs, for the record, and scientists claim they exist to further the research into growing human organs inside of animals.

The embryonic monkey stem cells came from cynomolgus monkeys, a type of macaque commonly bred for biomedical research. The cells were modified to produce a protein called GFP that would allow researchers to track the cells after injection.

Pigs, for their part, are often used as hosts because of their biological similarities to humans.

The team implanted the cells into more than 4,000 pig embryos, but only 2 of the 10 altered babies were born with monkey stem cells showing up in their heart, liver, spleen, lung, and skin.

Every one of the litter of 10 died within a week of birth from an unknown cause, but as both chimera and typical pigs perished, researchers believe it had to do with the IVF process and not the altered stem cells.

“We believe this work will facilitate future developments in xenogeneic organogenesis, bringing us one step closer to producing tissue-specific functional cells and organs in a large animal model through interspecies blastocyst complementation,” write the authors.

Xenogenesis is the process by which scientists believe we’ll one day be able to generate human organs inside other mammals to be used for transplantation, and it has been moderately successful in mice thus far. Studies on pigs and other more advanced mammals have been halted in Western medicine due to ethical concerns.

Scientists in China aren’t deterred, though, and say they will continue to attempt to create healthy animals with a higher proportion of monkey cells, then continue to creating pigs with organs comprised of almost all primate cells, if they’re successful.

It’s a brave new world. At least the pigs are going first.

The post Hybrid Pig-Monkeys Could Be in Our (Near) Future Thanks to Chinese Genetic Experiments appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

10 Interesting Facts to Get You Thinking

We’re almost at the end of the year, and it has been a loooooooong twelve months.

But I’m gonna power through, and I know that you can, too!

So put aside all the worry, turn that frown upside down, and enjoy these 10 wonderful facts that we’ve selected out of our extensive archive.

Let’s see those pearly whites!

1. Kindness for a hero.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

2. A case of the Mondays.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

3. A great idea!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

4. That makes sense.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

5. This is amazing.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

6. Stressed out.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1

7. And they never forgot about it…

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

8. Put on your dancing shoes!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

9. An end to slavery.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

10. The seas are rising.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Have a great day, happy holidays, and keep SMILING!

The post 10 Interesting Facts to Get You Thinking appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

5 Gifts Under $15 That Are Perfect Stocking Stuffers for This Year

(Quick note: This is a sponsored post, but we never write about stuff that we don’t love. So yes, somebody paid us to write this post, but they didn’t tell us what to write or how to write it. Click here to learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners.)

Whether it’s at work, or with friends or even with family… gift exchanges are absolutely competitions. Because if you don’t think people are judging what you’ve brought to the table, well, you’re not playing the game that everybody else is playing.

So without further ado, we present 7 super useful gifts that you absolutely want to check out this gift exchange season.

#1. Bug Bite Thing

Photo Credit: Bug Bite Thing

It’s simple, it’s reusable, it works AND it’s cheap.

Four out of four!

The Bug Bite Thing is a chemical-free, kid-friendly way to alleviate the pain and itching from bug bites and stings in less than 10 minutes.

View this post on Instagram

?We LOVE it! ? #bugbitething

A post shared by Bug Bite Thing (@bugbitething) on

Check out this video of how it works.

Who would have thought a simple device that used suction could be so effective?

They’re just $9.99 apiece, so click here and grab a couple today at their website or click here to pick one up on Amazon!

#2. Pooch Selfie

Just in time for the holidays comes a product that every dog lover can get behind.

View this post on Instagram

If your a fan of Color, Creativity and Character, you’ve got to follow @jennapilant. Thanks for the Cyber Monday shout out Jenna! #Repost @jennapilant ・・・ ? CAPTION THIS PLEASE! ? • I have to be honest ? I’ve been a terrible Thanksgiving weekend shopper . . . which will definitely make Mr. @dwpilant very HaPpY indeed ? I did find out HOWEVER that my absolute favorite pet accessory out there = the @poochselfie is currently discounted for CYBER MONDAY ?? so I thought I should hop on here at let you color-loving, dog parents know that as well ? it is seriously the BEST tool out there to get a great photo with your beloved dog ? all four of ours love it and look at the camera every time! • ? DIRECT LINK IN MY IG PROFILE ? • #poochselfie #cybermondaydogdeals #notsponsored #livecolorfully

A post shared by Pooch Selfie | SHARK TANK (@poochselfie) on

And this is another simple, fun idea. Put a ball on top of a phone so your best pal will look at it while you take a picture with them.

Best part? Once you’re done taking the photo, the ball comes off and you can play fetch!

The Pooch Selfie is only $9.99, and is available now on Amazon, so click here and grabs yours.

#3. Solemates Blister Blocker

Anybody getting new shoes in your family this holiday season? Then they need some products from Solemates, stat!

View this post on Instagram

RG @millenastark ・・・ ??Do your shoes hurt your feet? Do you get blisters when wearing heels, flats, sneakers – or breaking in any new shoes? ??? @thesolemates all-natural balm prevents blister and protects and nourishes feet. ? The blister blocker has saved my life, is not greasy and does not leave you feeling as though you have any strange residue on your feet. It has moisturizing elements though, so it actually nourishes your feet while you are wearing your favorite shoes. ? Click the link in my bio to learn more about Solemates Blister Blocker! ✨✨ #hbtblisterblocker #hbtsp #wellheeled #blisterblocker #solemates #hjsiky #ngposts #sunday #picoftheday . . #wellheeled #blisterblocker #thisworks #naturalproducts #veganproducts #crueltyfreebeauty #crueltyfree #crueltyfreeproducts #builtbygirls

A post shared by Solemates ???? (@thesolemates) on

Specifically Solemate’s Blister Blocker product, which ensures that the friction you get from those new stilettos won’t rub you raw.

They even have some for the athletes in your life! Because those teenies can leave a mark too!

Also, Blister Blocker is The product is natural, unscented, hypoallergenic and cruelty free!

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s a list of athletes that have used Blister Blocker and swear by it.

NBA Athletes:

  • Miye Oni
  • Duncan Robinson
  • Dedric Lawson
  • Al Horford
  • Jrue Holiday
  • Cameron Payne
  • Devin a Robinson

US National Team:

  • Alex Morgan
  • Ibtihaj Muhammad
  • Ali Krieger
  • Ashlyn Harris

Buy it on Amazon today! Grab a Sport version or Regular version.

#4. Subsafe: The Ultimate Sandwich Protector

How can you take sandwiches (and a lot of other stuff) with you and make sure it doesn’t get wet or worse?

Enter the Subsafe, a product that was featured on Shark Tank recently…

Posted by SubSafe on Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Each kit costs just $15 (for a limited time only) and includes three pieces so you can keep a 6 inch or 12 inch sub sandwich safe and sound!

Photo Credit: SubSafe

If you’ve got friends who love to spend time out on the water, this is a perfect holiday gift.

Pick a SubSafe up at their website today!

#5. Did You Know 2020 Desk Calendar

Do you like to learn ONE new thing a day? Of course you do. And so does everybody else.

That’s why you need a Did You Know 2020 Desk Calendar.

Photo Credit: Did You Know

Because you need to know that you should NEVER drink 70 cups of coffee in a short period of time.

Photo Credit: Did You Know

Also, stay away from ghost peppers. Yikes!

Photo Credit: Did You Know

All this and 363 more amazing facts await!

Click here and grab a Did You Know? 2020 Desk Calendar today!

The post 5 Gifts Under $15 That Are Perfect Stocking Stuffers for This Year appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

These Jokes Would Have Made Absolutely No Sense at the Beginning of the 2010s

We’ve come a long way in the past ten years. It’s hard to keep up with all the technology flying at us. Heck, I’m still trying to figure out the appeal of Twitter.

So, in the spirit of laughing at our ignorant past selves, scroll through these 10 jokes that would have made no sense at all in 2009.

1. We are getting into cars with strangers and asking for rides. In the olden days, this was called hitchhiking and our parents would ground us for doing it.

2. Girls roll out of bed in sweatshirts, pull on short shorts and put their hair in a scrunchie to go out for the day. In the olden days, this is how girls got ready for bed.

3. We are all wearing cool in-ear speakers. In the olden days, we attached entire stereos to our clothing and got tangled up in the wires.

Photo Credit: Memes Monkey

4. Alexa takes care of us. In the olden days, we had to do our own things.

5. “Millennials have ruined the society we’ve worked so hard to build.” In the olden days: “Millennial babies are so cute. They’re our future.”

6. We cannot agree on anything now. ANYTHING. In the olden days, WE WERE PERFECT.

7. We get ready for the day on social media. In the olden days, we got ready for the day in the bathroom. With the door closed.

8. Our watches are computers. In the olden days, our watches told us what time it was.

9. We don’t need to see each other to have a relationship. In the olden days, we went on dates. Together.

10. We spend a la-oht of money on our phones. In the olden days, we counted our money.

Do you feel old now? Or, are you wondering how we crawled out of our mud holes into these modern times? Discuss.

The post These Jokes Would Have Made Absolutely No Sense at the Beginning of the 2010s appeared first on UberFacts.