Archive for April, 2017
The Lilium Jet: Maiden Flight of All-Electric VTOL Aircraft
April 20th, 2017300km range? That’s what they’re claiming. Hint: If you have any aviation enthusiast children, call them over to your screen, don’t tell them what they’re about to watch and hit play. I wish I had a picture of my nine-year-old’s face when he saw this. But when I said he’d have to let the computer […]
Facebook Envisions Using Brain Waves to Control Mobile Phones, Input Data at 100 Words Per Minute
April 20th, 2017I already watch what I say around my mobile phone, so how about a brain computer interface from Facebook? This is so far down the no-fucking-way path for me that it’s almost hilarious. Even if people were willing to use such a thing, it’s not coming anytime soon. Here’s why: Long ago, I worked for […]
New Apple Headquarters: That’s No Roof
April 19th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Make sure to watch this in fullscreen mode and at the highest resolution your display supports. At first I thought, haha whatever roofing material they’re using looks like solar panels. *squint at screen* “That’s not… Can’t be. Is it?” Yep. It is. Aesthetically, I get […]
A Cosmic Burst Repeats, Deepening a Mystery
April 18th, 2017Via: Quanta: To nearly everybody’s surprise, as reported in January in the journal Nature, the bursts originated in a small “dwarf irregular” galaxy, one about a gigaparsec (just over 3 billion light years) away. This made the strength of the signal and its frequent repetitions even more astonishing. “If you’re detecting a bright flash from […]
Courts Are Using AI to Sentence Criminals
April 18th, 2017Via: Wired: Algorithms pervade our lives today, from music recommendations to credit scores to now, bail and sentencing decisions. But there is little oversight and transparency regarding how they work. Nowhere is this lack of oversight more stark than in the criminal justice system. Without proper safeguards, these tools risk eroding the rule of law […]
World’s First All-Female Special Forces Unit: Norway’s Jegertroppen
April 17th, 2017Via: NBC: This firefight is just a drill, but the soldiers taking part are battling to break down one of the final barriers to women serving in the armed forces. They are training to become part of Norway’s Jegertroppen or “Hunter Troops” — the world’s first all-female military special forces unit.
New Zealand: Ongoing Dairy Pollution of Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve
April 17th, 2017Disclosure: I am involved with the effort to bring attention to the pollution and water take issues at Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve. — Intensive dairy farming is destroying freshwater resources around New Zealand. It turns out the crown jewel of them all, a national treasure and a globally unique ecosystem is now threatened. How does […]
Apple Receives Permit in California to Test Self-Driving Cars
April 15th, 2017Via: Reuters: Apple Inc has secured a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California, fuelling speculation that it is working on self-driving car technology in a crowded arena of companies hoping to offer those cars to the masses. The permit allows it to conduct test drives in three vehicles with six drivers, the state Department […]
U.S. Electricity Demand Peaked in 2007
April 13th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — There are many likely small components of this, such as efficiency gains, small scale solar masking loads behind the meter (might explain 1% of demand decline), and high prices for electricity in some areas. But… Via: Bloomberg: Part of the reason is that a grim […]
Burger King Trolls Google Home Devices
April 13th, 2017Update: Amazon’s Alexa Could Soon Recognize Users by Their Voices If Amazon is working on it, the rest of them probably are. Via: Ars Technica: Amazon’s Alexa may be about to get smarter. According to a report from Time, the online retailer is working on voice identification software for Alexa that would allow the service […]
