Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Inside Silicon Valley’s Robot Pizzeria
June 24th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: In the back kitchen of Mountain View’s newest pizzeria, Marta works tirelessly, spreading marinara sauce on uncooked pies. She doesn’t complain, takes no breaks, and has never needed a sick day. She works for free. Marta is one of two robots working at Zume Pizza, a secretive food delivery startup trying to make […]
Britain Has Voted to Leave the European Union
June 23rd, 2016Update: Nikkei 225 Down 7.92% Via: TheStreet: As the yen surged, the Japanese stock markets tumbled. The Nikkei 225 plunged 7.92% to close at 14,952.02–the lowest level in 20 months and the largest decline since April 17, 2000. — Update: Gold: Two Year High Via: Reuters: Gold soared as much as 8 percent to its […]
Europe’s Robots Would Become ‘Electronic Persons’ Under Draft Plan
June 22nd, 2016Good luck with that. What about the rest of the world, where automation is rolling out without restriction? Chinese corporations will shit themselves laughing at this one as tens of thousands of human workers are being replaced by robots. My guess is that the controllers have two options as we head into the automated machine […]
Advanced GPS Tracking Possible for Auckland Tolling
June 22nd, 2016The system would track positions of all cars, and could enforce traffic laws. Have a nice day. Via: New Zealand Herald: The Government says GPS tracking may be used to charge drivers for using Auckland’s roads – a move which experts say is the most advanced in the world but also raises concerns about “Big […]
Tesla Offers $2.8 Billion for SolarCity
June 22nd, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. — Via: Reuters: Elon Musk on Tuesday sought to build a clean energy powerhouse as his electric car maker, Tesla Motors Inc, made an offer to buy his solar installation firm SolarCity Corp in a stock deal worth as much as $2.8 billion. Tesla shares plunged more […]
Brazil’s Rio State Declares Financial Disaster Before Olympics
June 17th, 2016Via: AP: The acting governor of Rio de Janeiro state has declared a state of financial disaster so he has more leeway to manage the state’s scarce resources less than two months Brazil hosts the Olympic Games. Francisco Dornelles announced the decision on Friday. It will allow Rio’s state government to change its budgetary priorities […]
British MP Murdered
June 16th, 2016Fascinating: Poll Reveals 10-Point Swing Towards Brexit With A Week To Go And then… Cue lone nut. I’ll be very surprised if the Brexit is allowed to happen. My guess is that anything and everything would be done to prevent it. Via: Guardian: The grieving husband of Jo Cox, the Labour MP shot and stabbed […]
Wal-Mart Experimenting With Robotic Shopping Cart for Stores
June 16th, 2016Alternate headline: Americans Too Obese to Push Their Chinese Crap Around Walmart and Out to Their Cars. Via: Bloomberg: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working with a robotics company to develop a shopping cart that helps customers find items on their lists and saves them from pushing a heavy cart through a sprawling store and parking […]
Computer Crash Wipes Out Years of Air Force Investigation Records
June 15th, 2016Via: Government Executive: The U.S. Air Force has lost records concerning 100,000 investigations into everything from workplace disputes to fraud. A database that hosts files from the Air Force’s inspector general and legislative liaison divisions became corrupted last month, destroying data created between 2004 and now, service officials said. Neither the Air Force nor Lockheed […]
Judge Finds Merck Lied in Patent Trial
June 9th, 2016Via: Los Angeles Times: The public doesn’t have a very high opinion of drug manufacturers for various reasons, and now federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman of San Jose has provided another one. Finding that Merck & Co. lied to a business partner and to the court itself, Freeman this week threw out a patent infringement […]
