Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Starlink Engineer/Spokeswoman Confirms Optical Backhaul Operational on Two Satellites
September 3rd, 2020Wow. I thought that this capability was years away, even for testing. Nope. Via: CNBC: Tice also said that the company recently conducted a test to see if it can connect two satellites in orbit with what SpaceX calls “space lasers.” Also known as intersatellite links, the space lasers would imporve the Starlink network by […]
Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel Building “Reverse Gigafactory” to Recycle Used Batteries
September 3rd, 2020Via: Electrive: So far there has been much speculation, but little official information about Redwood Materials, the recycling start-up founded by ex-Tesla CTO JB Straubel. Now Straubel has given more details about the plans of Redwood Materials in an interview. Straubel told the Wall Street Journal that the company’s goal is a “reverse gigafactory”. In […]
Mass Surveillance Program Exposed by Snowden Was Illegal
September 3rd, 2020Via: Reuters: Seven years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the mass surveillance of Americans’ telephone records, an appeals court has found the program was unlawful – and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth. In a ruling handed down on Wednesday, […]
Amazon Drivers Are Hanging Smartphones in Trees to Get More Work [???]
September 1st, 2020Via: Bloomberg: A strange phenomenon has emerged near Amazon.com Inc. delivery stations and Whole Foods stores in the Chicago suburbs: smartphones dangling from trees. Contract delivery drivers are putting them there to get a jump on rivals seeking orders, according to people familiar with the matter. Someone places several devices in a tree located close […]
Police Across Canada Are Using Predictive Policing Algorithms
September 1st, 2020Via: Vice: Police across Canada are increasingly using controversial algorithms to predict where crimes could occur, who might go missing, and to help them determine where they should patrol, despite fundamental human rights concerns, a new report has found. To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada is the result […]
Amazon’s Drone Delivery Fleet Hits Milestone with FAA Clearance
August 31st, 2020Via: Bloomberg: The Federal Aviation Administration designated Amazon Prime Air an “air carrier,” the company said Monday. That allows Amazon to begin its first commercial deliveries in the U.S. under a trial program, using the high-tech devices it unveiled for that purpose last year. Amazon and its competitors must still clear some imposing regulatory and […]
Neuralink Progress Update
August 28th, 2020Nobody said it was going to be easy. Via: Neuralink:
The Potentially Revolutionary Celera 500L Aircraft Officially Breaks Cover
August 28th, 2020Via: The Warzone: Otto Aviation’s Celera 500L has officially come out of the shadows and the company has now outlined its vision for the potentially revolutionary high-efficiency aircraft, including possible unmanned variants and military versions configured for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. … The press release did not provide specific details about the aircraft’s first […]
California: Tell Your Senators That Ill-Conceived “Immunity Passports” Won’t Help Us
August 26th, 2020The crazy is coming very fast now. Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: Californians should not be forced to present their smartphones to enter public places. But that’s exactly what A.B. 2004 would do, by directing the state to set up a blockchain-based system for “immunity passports”: a verified health credential that shows the results of someone’s […]
SpaceX Veterans Pass Milestone in Self-Flying Plane Race
August 26th, 2020Via: Bloomberg: Silicon Valley has been hard at work on the vexing challenge of autonomous cars. Now veterans of SpaceX and Tesla Inc. are announcing what they’ve been up to: a new startup working on self-flying planes for cargo. Reliable Robotics isn’t trying to invent a new kind of aircraft. The idea is to bring […]
