Archive for the 'Technology' Category
MIT: Gravity Assisted Flow Battery
May 27th, 2016Definitely not coming soon, but very interesting. Via: MIT News: A new approach to the design of a liquid battery, using a passive, gravity-fed arrangement similar to an old-fashioned hourglass, could offer great advantages due to the system’s low cost and the simplicity of its design and operation, says a team of MIT researchers who […]
The Fusioneers
May 26th, 2016Via: Washington Post: At first glance, the outbuilding attached to Richard Hull’s Richmond home looks like any lean-to built by a retiree with time on his hands: a slap-dash affair with wood that appears salvaged from home projects gone wrong. But instead of storing a lawnmower and old paint cans, the shed holds a monstrous […]
Secret Text in Senate Bill Would Give FBI Warrantless Access to Email Records
May 26th, 2016Just skip the parallel construction. Via: The Intercept: A provision snuck into the still-secret text of the Senate’s annual intelligence authorization would give the FBI the ability to demand individuals’ email data and possibly web-surfing history from their service providers without a warrant and in complete secrecy. If passed, the change would expand the reach […]
Trump Outlines ‘America First’ Energy Plan: Coal, Oil, Gas
May 26th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Ok. Well. Here we go. Solar and wind are already cheaper in some markets than coal and they are just getting started. Even in a place like New Zealand, with maximum hostility toward solar, the number of installations keep doubling. The same sort of doubling […]
U.S. Military Uses 8-Inch Floppy Disks to Coordinate Nuclear Force Operations
May 25th, 2016Yes! haha Read data from the 8″ floppies and feed it to the W.O.P.R. at 110 baud: Trying to ignore the comedy gold for a moment: Reliability of floppies can vary widely. I’ve seen everything from disks being defective out of the box to lasting over a decade or more. Yes, I know that there […]
Apple Explores Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles
May 25th, 2016Via: Reuters: Apple Inc is investigating how to charge electric cars, talking to charging station companies and hiring engineers with expertise in the area, according to people familiar with the matter and a review of LinkedIn profiles. For more than a year, Silicon Valley has been buzzing about Apple’s plan to build an electric car. […]
Foxconn Replaces 60,000 Factory Workers with Robots
May 25th, 2016Via: BBC: Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots. One factory has “reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots”, a government official told the South China Morning Post. Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan region, added: “More companies are likely to […]
Magic 8-Ball Future Crime Predictor Influencing Decisions About Prison Sentences
May 24th, 2016Via: ProPublica: Scores like this — known as risk assessments — are increasingly common in courtrooms across the nation. They are used to inform decisions about who can be set free at every stage of the criminal justice system, from assigning bond amounts — as is the case in Fort Lauderdale — to even more […]
Robot Ranchers Monitor Animals on Giant Australian Farms
May 24th, 2016Via: New Scientist: A two-year trial, which starts next month, will train a “farmbot” to herd livestock, keep an eye on their health, and check they have enough pasture to graze on. Sick and injured animals will be identified using thermal and vision sensors that detect changes in body temperature and walking gait, says Salah […]
How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds – from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist
May 20th, 2016Via: Medium: Western Culture is built around ideals of individual choice and freedom. Millions of us fiercely defend our right to make “free” choices, while we ignore how we’re manipulated upstream by limited menus we didn’t choose. This is exactly what magicians do. They give people the illusion of free choice while architecting the menu […]
