Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Homeland Security Says Americans Who Don’t Want Faces Scanned on International Flights “Shouldn’t Travel”
July 15th, 2017Via: ZDnet: Homeland Security’s advice for the millions of Americans traveling overseas who don’t want to end up in its facial biometric database is simply not to travel. That’s according to the agency’s own assessment document published earlier this year of a new so-called traveler verification project to “capture facial images of travelers” leaving the […]
SolarEdge Launching First PV Inverter-Integrated Electric Vehicle Charger
July 11th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — There it is. Finally. Sure, the freaks have been doing it with Arduino and duct tape for years, but it’s great to finally see a real product from a top manufacturer. Via: SolarEdge PR: At Intersolar North America, SolarEdge Technologies, Inc., a global leader in […]
Tesla Starting to Build Charging Stations That Handle 40 Vehicles at Once
July 11th, 2017Via: Electrek: Electrek has obtained the project plans of a new Supercharger station to be built in Kettleman City, California. It’s located along the highway 5 roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, where there are high concentrations of Tesla vehicles and therefore, one of the most popular routes for long distance travel. Tesla […]
Wind and Solar So Cheap the U.S. Will Meet Paris Commitments Even if Trump Withdraws
July 11th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Quartz: Research analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that renewable energy like solar and wind power are hurtling towards a level of ubiquity where not even politics can hinder them. Renewable energy is simply becoming the cheapest option, fast. Basic economics, the analysts say, suggest […]
DARPA Wants Bidirectional Brain Implants, 1 Million Neuron Resolution a “Starting Point”
July 11th, 2017Via: IEEE: DARPA is known for issuing big challenges. Still, the mission statement for its new Neural Engineering Systems Design program is a doozy: Make neural implants that can record high-fidelity signals from 1 million neurons. Today’s best brain implants, like the experimental system that a paralyzed man used to control a robotic arm, record […]
China Tells Carriers to Block Access to Personal VPNs
July 11th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: China’s government has told telecommunications carriers to block individuals’ access to virtual private networks by Feb. 1, people familiar with the matter said, thereby shutting a major window to the global internet. Beijing has ordered state-run telecommunications firms, which include China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, to bar people from using VPNs, […]
NZ: Solar Tax Stands
July 10th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Oh, just wait. They’re just getting started. A little bird told me that odious legislation is coming with regard to energy storage here in New Zealand. The retail electricity cartel knows that solar + storage spells certain doom for them. Now, get this (I couldn’t […]
VW: Auto Industry Needs 40 Giga Factories by 2025
July 10th, 2017Via: Automotive News Europe: A massive shortage of lithium ion battery cells could plague the global car industry in the coming decade if capacity equivalent to 40 Tesla gigafactories is not added by 2025, according to estimates from Volkswagen Group. Ulrich Eichhorn, head of r&d for the world’s largest carmaker, increased projections made just 13 […]
Genetically-Modified Cyborg Dragonfly Drone
July 10th, 2017Via: Popular Mechanics: DragonflEye was created by genetically modifying regular dragonflies with “steering neurons” in the insect’s spinal cord, which are light sensitive. Tiny, fiber-optic-like structures in the dragonfly’s eyes send pulses of light to their brains, functionally controlling where the insect flies via remote control. The dragonfly also carries a miniature “backpack” with sensors […]
Cryptocurrency Miners Wipe Out Supplies of Graphics Cards in U.S. and Europe
July 10th, 2017I’m trying to understand the logic of people trying to mine Ether with GTX 1070s costing between $500 and $600 or more right now!? These cards launched with a retail price of $349 for the commodity models. (Fancy factory overclocked or water cooled models would cost more.) The situation is even worse on AMD RX […]
