Month: May 2019

Two years in, “Today at Apple” is outgrowing the Apple Retail Stores

CompuScoop Staff May 23, 2019 0

“It’s impossible to talk about Apple retail in 2019 without mentioning Today at Apple,” Michael Steeber writes for 9to5Mac. “The program of creative sessions has become a primary force driving the philosophy, architecture, and organization of all Apple Stores since it was rolled out globally two years ago this week.”

“Those two years have been marked by a maturing session curriculum that has sharpened Today at Apple’s focus and expanded its reach,” Steeber writes. “The program has evolved so much, in fact, that it is beginning to outgrow the stores [for which] it was designed.”

“From the smallest mall stores to the largest global flagship locations, Apple attempts to offer a nearly identical regular program of sessions. As Today at Apple grows, this puts a strain on the store layout,” Steeber writes. “In mall stores — still the vast majority of Apple’s fleet — the Forum ends up being repurposed as a lounge for support appointments, even when sessions are going on. Customer frustrations around seating, noise, and crowding often stem from these two store functions colliding.”

“Standard mall stores simply can’t accommodate the layout needed for support and sessions to coexist peacefully,” Steeber writes. “It’s clear that Today at Apple doesn’t require a physical building to fulfill its purpose. The people, ideas, and interactions behind the sessions matter most. As Today at Apple enters year three, it will need to take a creative approach to reach its full potential — just like the program encourages others to do.”

Star Trek: Picard trailer is here! Watch it below

Dan Uff May 23, 2019 0

It's here, now. Watch it below:

NASA to Land in Mars, Pennsylvania to Celebrate Red Planet with STEAM

NASA Gov May 23, 2019 2

NASA returns to Mars, Pennsylvania Friday, May 31 to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. Returning to the Moon with NASA’s Artemis program will play an important role in preparing for future crewed missions to the Red Planet.

At the invitation of the borough of Mars, NASA will provide exhibits, activities and speakers Friday through Sunday, June 2.

To kick off the Martian extravaganza, media are invited to join NASA and local officials for opening remarks and a question-and-answer session at 5 p.m. EDT Friday in front of the town's flying saucer sculpture, located at 100 Pittsburgh Street.

Participants include:

Honorable Gregg Hartung, mayor of Mars
Douglas Terrier, NASA chief technologist
Missy Gralish, spokesperson for Mars Exploration Celebration event

Terrier will be available for interviews from 11:30 a.m. to noon Saturday to talk about NASA’s Moon to Mars plans, as well as how technology developed for space exploration often finds other purposes here on Earth – including in Mars, Pennsylvania.

Media should contact Clare Skelly at 202-358-4273 or clare.a.skelly@nasa.gov to attend the media availability on Friday and reserve a one-on-one interview with Terrier on Saturday.

This is NASA’s third time participating in the Mars celebration with science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) activities. Through events like this, the agency aims to inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in these fields and join NASA’s mission to the Moon and Mars.

Highlights this year include:

A half-scale model of NASA’s InSight lander, the most recent mission to land on Mars
A mini robotic rover named ROV-E, used to engage students in STEAM
An augmented reality experience of Gale Crater, created with real data from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover
A model of NASA’s Mars Helicopter, a vehicle that will accompany the next rover when it lands on the Red Planet in 2020
A “make your own quake” jump station

For a complete list of activities planned for the Mars Exploration Celebration in Pennsylvania, visit:

http://www.marsnewyear.com

For more information about NASA’s Artemis program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moon2mars/#artemis

-end-

Can’t wait for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3? Try THIS oldie but goodie now on Netflix

Dan Uff May 23, 2019 0

Last year, while I was waiting for Star Trek: Discovery season 2 to begin, I had an urge to watch some Sci-Fi but didn't want to re-watch season 1, or some other Star Trek.

So I went on Netflix. Sure, there are a lot of choices on there. But I wanted something familiar, something that I already knew what the characters were. That's when I came across an old TV show with a new cast - Lost In Space.

As with the original, Lost In Space follows the Robinson family that gets chosen to fly in space for a mission. During that time, something goes wrong with their spaceship and then they get Lost In Space.

Crash landing on an unknown planet, they have to find a way to survive the earth-like atmosphere with unknown dangers.

In my opinion, this is a good fill-in until Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3 comes flying back to CBS All Access sometime in 2020.