Archive for the 'Technology' Category
A Researcher Needed Three Hours to Identify Me From My DNA
April 12th, 2019Via: Bloomberg: Using just my DNA, a genealogist was able to identify me in three and a half hours. It wasn’t hard. I’d previously sent a DNA sample to the genetic testing company 23andMe Inc. and then uploaded my data anonymously to a genealogy website. Researcher Michelle Trostler was able to access my data from […]
Reaction Engines Testing Successfully Proves Precooler Capability at Supersonic Heat Conditions
April 11th, 2019Via: Reaction Engines: A key element of the revolutionary SABRE™ air-breathing rocket engine successfully passes the first phase of high-temperature testing. Precooler technology will enable a wide variety of high-speed flight and advanced propulsion systems. Reaction Engines’ precooler heat exchanger successfully achieved all test objectives in the first phase of high-temperature testing designed to directly […]
Austria Considering Requiring User Identities for Online Platforms
April 11th, 2019Via: The Local: Austria said Wednesday it was considering a law to make it mandatory for big internet platforms to register their users and deprive those behind hate posts of anonymity. “Unfortunately there have been an increasing number of clear violations, denigrations and humiliations online in the past under the cover of anonymity. That’s why […]
Tesla and Panasonic Freeze Spending on $4.5 Billion Gigafactory
April 11th, 2019Via: Nikkei: Tesla and Panasonic are freezing plans to expand the capacity of their Gigafactory 1, the world’s largest EV battery plant, as concerns mount on Wall Street about weakening demand at Elon Musk’s car company. The partners had planned to raise capacity by 50% by next year, but financial problems have forced a rethink, […]
Amazon Workers Listening to the Inane Ramblings of Alexa Users to Train AI
April 10th, 2019Via: Bloomberg: One worker in Boston said he mined accumulated voice data for specific utterances such as “Taylor Swift” and annotated them to indicate the searcher meant the musical artist. Occasionally the listeners pick up things Echo owners likely would rather stay private: a woman singing badly off key in the shower, say, or a […]
Walmart Is Rolling Out the Robots
April 10th, 2019Via: Wall Street Journal: Walmart Inc. is expanding its use of robots in stores to help monitor inventory, clean floors and unload trucks, part of the retail giant’s efforts to control labor costs as it spends more to raise wages and offer new services like online grocery delivery.
Internet Censorship Could Create “Splinternet”
April 10th, 2019Via: AFP: Increasingly, moves by governments to filter and restrict content are threatening to fragment the system created with the promise of connecting the world with a largely unified body of content.
California: Wealthy Obtain Medical Exemptions for Children to Avoid Vaccinations
April 9th, 2019Roughly the same people who don’t allow or severely restrict screentime for their children are also not vaccinating them. Now there’s a problem with, “Unethical physicians,” who are granting these exemptions. Fascinating. Look to Australia to see where this winds up: Vaccine Skepticism In Australia Now Punishable by 10 Years in Jail. Via: California Healthline: […]
United States Supply Chain Strategy for Electric Vehicles
April 8th, 2019Via: Reuters: U.S. government officials plan to meet with executives from automakers and lithium miners in early May as part of a first-of-its-kind effort to launch a national electric vehicle supply chain strategy, according to three sources familiar with the matter. While Volkswagen AG, Tesla Inc and other electric-focused automakers and battery manufacturers are expanding […]
In Trade Wars of 200 Years Ago, the Pirates Were Americans
April 7th, 2019Intellectual property theft!? *pfft* Look into some of the early American fortunes and you’ll find a different sort of piracy. See, Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips: Although later generations have taken a glossier view, the Revolution was another grand intermingling of public purpose and private profit—and as […]
