Archive for the 'Outsourced' Category
The World’s First 3D-Printed Neighborhood Now Has Its First Houses
December 13th, 2019Via: FastCompany: A giant 3D printer is currently squeezing out new homes in rural Mexico. Each one takes 24 hours and lets local families upgrade from a shack to a two-bedroom house. Could this be part of the global housing solution?
A Self-Driving Freight Truck Just Drove Across the Country to Deliver Butter
December 12th, 2019Autonomous freight transportation? Yes, now/soon/regulatory barriers. Autonomous robotaxis? Don’t hold your breath. Automakers Are Rethinking the Timetable for Fully Autonomous Cars: My guess is that, if it happens, it will happen in the freight market first. Freight is a walk in the park compared to the robotaxi concept that Musk is talking about. With freight, […]
The Afghanistan Papers
December 11th, 2019Via: Washington Post: A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable. Related, 2007: The War in […]
White House Veterans Helped UAE Build Secret Surveillance Unit
December 11th, 2019Via: Reuters: In the years after 9/11, former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke warned Congress that the country needed more expansive spying powers to prevent another catastrophe. Five years after leaving government, he shopped the same idea to an enthusiastic partner: an Arab monarchy with deep pockets. In 2008, Clarke went to work as a […]
U.S. Army Will Fund Rare Earths Processing Facilities
December 11th, 2019Via: Reuters: The U.S. Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities, part of an urgent push by Washington to secure domestic supply of the minerals used to make military weapons and electronics, according to a government document seen by Reuters. … The Army said it will fund up to two-thirds of a […]
Los Angeles Is Spending Over $1 Billion To House the Homeless. It’s Failing.
December 7th, 2019Via: Reason: The city initially ballparked the permanent units at a median cost of $350,000 a piece. Three years later, the estimated cost rose to more than half a million per unit. Some units are approaching $700,000 each. Andy Bales says he saw it coming. “I was a critic 10 years ago of this plan […]
In the Age of AI
December 7th, 2019Here’s one line from the film that sums up the situation: “I’m pretty confident that we are never again going to have this large, stable, prosperous middle class doing routine work.” Via: Frontline PBS: A documentary exploring how artificial intelligence is changing life as we know it — from jobs to privacy to a growing […]
Cloud Kitchens: Facilities That Prepare Food Only for Delivery
December 6th, 2019Via: Food Corridor: Introducing cloud kitchens, commercial facilities purpose-built to produce food specifically for delivery. These commissary kitchens are sometimes also known as ghost kitchens, shared kitchens, or virtual kitchens with the delivery-only food brands operating within them called virtual restaurants. Maybe you’re thinking: “this is nothing new” and in a way, you are right. […]
New York: FedEx Receives Cease-and-Desist Order Over Robot Delivery Marketing Stunt
November 27th, 2019Via: Fast Company: The tech industry’s perennial fantasy of replacing delivery workers with cutesy robots hasn’t quite panned out yet, but that didn’t stop FedEx from coming out with its own autonomous delivery machine and plopping one on a busy Manhattan sidewalk last week. The robot’s New York City debut was just a marketing stunt, […]
Massachusetts State Police Tested Out Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog
November 26th, 2019Via: WBUR: Cops have long had dogs, and robots, to help them do their jobs. And now, they have a robot dog. Massachusetts State Police is the first law enforcement agency in the country to use Boston Dynamics’ dog-like robot, called Spot. While the use of robotic technology is not new for state police, the […]
