Honda didn’t just unveil a slick-looking EV coupe concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. It also had a robot… though it’s definitely not the kind of robot you’d expect from the company. Its RoboCas Concept is a super-cute cargo bot that can follow you…
Source: Engadget – Honda’s cutesy robot cooler keeps drinks within reach
Monthly Archives: October 2017
Impressive Nightmare Before Christmas 'This Is Halloween' House Light Show
This is a video of Tracy, California music teacher (hence the guitar and keyboard) Tom BetGeorge’s ‘This Is Halloween’ house light and music show. The Halloween spectacular contains tens of thousands of lights, and I only wish was it was in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, people in my neighborhood don’t decorate for Halloween because it’s scary enough already. If you see a zombie on somebody’s porch it’s 100% probably an actual corpse.
Keep going for the video, it really is amazingly choreographed and the spiral effects are nuts.
Source: Geekologie – Impressive Nightmare Before Christmas ‘This Is Halloween’ House Light Show
Why You Shouldn’t Get Amazon Key Right Now
This week, Amazon announced Amazon Key, a new option that allows for delivery when you’re not home by giving drivers a special digital key. With the help of a compatible smart lock and security camera, delivery drivers will be able to unlock your front door and walk inside to deliver your package, all while you watch…
Source: LifeHacker – Why You Shouldn’t Get Amazon Key Right Now
Alphabet's Waymo Will Test Self-Driving Cars In Snowy Detroit
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Alphabet’s Waymo, the vehicle arm of Google’s parent, announced on Thursday that it will start testing its autonomous Chrysler minivans on roads in the greater Detroit area. Michigan will be the sixth state where Waymo has run its vehicles on public roads. But the region is the first with a winter dominated by snow and ice, the kind of inclement conditions that pose hurdles for vehicle sensors. “Having lived through fourteen Michigan winters, I’m confident that there are few better places that will prepare our self-driving cars for winter conditions,” John Krafcik, Waymo’s chief executive officer and a former Ford executive, said in a statement. Waymo opened a testing facility in suburban Detroit last year. The hometown automakers are already there. Ford has tested self-driving cars in the state (including some for pizza delivery). General Motors’ Cruise Automation is experimenting there as well.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Alphabet’s Waymo Will Test Self-Driving Cars In Snowy Detroit
The 10 Best Deals of October 27, 2017
We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.
Source: LifeHacker – The 10 Best Deals of October 27, 2017
GIGABYTE X399 Designare EX Threadripper Motherboard
I have been waiting to get my hands on this new X399 Designare EX Threadripper motherboard from GIGABYTE and it has just hit stock at Newegg. Hopefully we will get ours in for testing quickly.
This new generation of IR digital power controllers and PowIRstage ICs feature Isense technology, which provide more precise current sensing accuracy. This helps evenly distribute the thermal loading between the PowIRstage ICs, preventing the overheating of each individual PowIRstage, resulting in longer lifespan and better reliability.
GIGABYTE X399 motherboards feature Server Level Chokes. Server level reliability – High current capacity – New design reduces heat created by power loss and provides efficient power delivery to CPU VRM area.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – GIGABYTE X399 Designare EX Threadripper Motherboard
Bad Rabbit Ransomware Uses Leaked 'EternalRomance' NSA Exploit to Spread
I guess the NSA is the gift that keeps on giving. It appears that the Bad Rabbit ransomware that hit over 200 major organizations this week, primarily in Russia and the Ukraine does indeed use the EternalRomance exploit that leaked out of the NSA. Disable your WMI service to prevent the malware from spreading over your network and continue to practice good hygiene when it comes to apps, ads, and emails. Thanks, NSA.
Bad Rabbit was reportedly distributed via drive-by download attacks via compromised Russian media sites, using fake Adobe Flash players installer to lure victims’ into install malware unwittingly and demanding 0.05 bitcoin (~ $285) from victims to unlock their systems.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Bad Rabbit Ransomware Uses Leaked ‘EternalRomance’ NSA Exploit to Spread
DOJ: Billionaire pharma owner fueled the opioid epidemic with bribery scheme
Enlarge (credit: Getty | Media for Medical)
The billionaire founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics was arrested Thursday on racketeering and fraud charges for an alleged nationwide scheme to push an extremely potent opioid drug containing fentanyl onto patients.
According to the Department of Justice, John Kapoor, 74, of Phoenix, Arizona, used bribes, kickbacks, and other fraudulent practices to get doctors to overprescribe the fentanyl drug, called Subsys. Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine. As such, Subsys is only intended to treat severe pain in cancer patients. But according to the DOJ, many patients receiving Subsys didn’t have cancer.
The DOJ alleges that Kapoor, along with six former executives at Insys, paid doctors and pain clinics in various states to write “large numbers of prescriptions.” The department also alleges that Insys used fraudulent means to get health insurance providers to cover the harmful prescriptions.
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Source: Ars Technica – DOJ: Billionaire pharma owner fueled the opioid epidemic with bribery scheme
Senator wants more details on Russian Twitter and Facebook accounts
As Twitter and Facebook prepare to attend Senate hearings about Russian interference in the 2016 election, they’re hit with yet more investigative queries. This time, the queries come from California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is demanding both co…
Source: Engadget – Senator wants more details on Russian Twitter and Facebook accounts
Gallery: We ex-box one Xbox One X
The Xbox One X has arrived at Ars Technica’s Orbiting HQ, and we can’t wait to dive in to see just how Microsoft’s console looks in 4K (once all the games we’re testing finish downloading, that is). For now, we’re allowed to show and tell you about how the system looks, feels, and smells out of the box (it smells like plastic).
The most striking thing about the physical machine itself is just how dense it is. Despite being much smaller in volume than the 2013 edition of the Xbox One, the system is noticeably heavier: roughly eight pounds by our reckoning, compared to seven pounds for the original Xbox One and about six pounds for the One S. This isn’t likely to be a major issue if the system is just sitting in your entertainment center, but it speaks to just how much hardware is being crammed into that box.
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Source: Ars Technica – Gallery: We ex-box one Xbox One X
Time To Move on from DevOps and Continuous Delivery, Says Google Advocate
A reader shares a report: Continuous improvement and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and DevOps may be on many peoples’ minds these days, but there’s nothing particularly new about the concept — software shops should have put these concepts into action years ago. Instead, technology leaders should be now worrying about the futures of their businesses. That’s the view of Kelsey Hightower, staff developer advocate at Google Cloud Platform, who says too many IT leaders are debating how to manage IT operations and workflows, when their businesses are being hit with unprecedented disruption. “CI/CD is a done deal — like 10 years ago it was a done deal,” he said in a recent podcast with CTO Advisor’s Keith Townsend. “There is nothing to figure out in that domain. A lot of people talk about DevOps, and there may be some culture changes, in number of people who can do it or are allowed to do it. For me, that is the table stakes. CI/CD, DevOps; we have to say, listen, figure it out, or go work with another team outside this company to figure it out.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Time To Move on from DevOps and Continuous Delivery, Says Google Advocate
WhatsApp lets you delete your embarrassing texts, if you're quick
Have you ever accidentally sent a message on WhatsApp that you wish you hadn’t? Well, starting today, you can delete it — as long as you catch it within the first seven minutes. If you do, however, your recipient will instead see a “This message w…
Source: Engadget – WhatsApp lets you delete your embarrassing texts, if you’re quick
Real Products That Exist: The Cat Butt Tissue Dispenser
This is the $30 ‘Funny Orange Tabby Cat Tissue Holder’ designed and sold by WhatOnEarth (valid question). It covers a regular square-sized box of tissues, which you can then pull from the cat’s ass. Obviously, it’s perfect for the friend who wants me to immediately regret coming over to visit.
Keep going for a video of the cat in action. And for the record, yes, I did just buy a couple to keep in the closet and give as gifts when I forget people’s birthdays.
Source: Geekologie – Real Products That Exist: The Cat Butt Tissue Dispenser
How to Pluralize Your Last Name on Holiday Cards
It’s almost Halloween, which means you are already late on your holiday cards. If you’ll be writing your end-of-year letter on behalf of yourself, your partner, and maybe your kids, start thinking about your return address.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Pluralize Your Last Name on Holiday Cards
That Viral Story of an 'Awakened' Vegetative Patient Serves as a Cautionary Tale
Medicine is perfect for heartwarming stories. Some close relative is facing the most hopeless prognosis, such as being in a vegetative state. Someone tries a wild treatment, and boom, people are crying, the relative is awake, and the headlines go viral. But science doesn’t really work this way.
Source: Gizmodo – That Viral Story of an ‘Awakened’ Vegetative Patient Serves as a Cautionary Tale
'Stranger Things' invades 'Minecraft' with new skin packs
Minecraft players who love the upside down of Stranger Things have a new skin pack to acquire. It’s available now in concert with the new season of the hit retro-horror show on Netflix. It looks like the whole cast is represented as a Minecraft chara…
Source: Engadget – ‘Stranger Things’ invades ‘Minecraft’ with new skin packs
Spotify Will Now Make You a Custom Stranger Things Playlist
After marketing stunts that’ve included a Netflix countdown clock and “Strange Mode” themed Lyft rides, one more charming Stranger Things gimmick to add to the mix: tied to today’s season two release, Spotify has rolled out custom playlists themed to different characters on the show, and will analyze your listening…
Source: LifeHacker – Spotify Will Now Make You a Custom Stranger Things Playlist
Is X > 8? Solving Apple’s iPhone sales equation
Enlarge / The display dominates the iPhone X.
The iPhone 8 saw Apple’s weakest new phone sales in years, while iPhone X demand outstripped supply within minutes of the start of pre-orders last night. It would be easy to conclude that an underwhelming iPhone 8 has been ignored by consumers in favor of a much more exciting iPhone X, but it’s actually not that simple.
Apple’s online store now shows new pre-orders of all iPhone X SKUs shipping in 5-6 weeks in the US—more than a month after launch day. Generally, iPhone 8 pre-order shipments didn’t get backed up that far. Apple also said consumer demand for the X was “off the charts” in a statement after launch day units sold out within 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners told The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus only accounted for 16 percent of iPhone sales in the September quarter, compared to 43 percent for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus last year. The iPhone 8 models constituted 2.4 percent of iPhones in use one month after shipments began—predecessors managed more than twice that share in the same time period. A survey of carrier stores showed the cheaper iPhone 7 outselling the iPhone 8 in the US and UK, though customers who shop at carrier stores may generally have different preferences than those who buy their phones directly from Apple or from other types of retailers.
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Source: Ars Technica – Is X > 8? Solving Apple’s iPhone sales equation
Artificial intelligence Smart Enough to Fool Captcha Security Check
Computer scientists have developed artificial intelligence that can outsmart the Captcha website security check system. AI capability continues to accelerate at a break-neck pace as far as I’m concerned. With this development it appears that Captcha is going the way of the dodo. What’s Google going to do now? Read about the research here.
“We’re not seeing attacks on Captcha at the moment, but within three or four months, whatever the researchers have developed will become mainstream, so Captcha’s days are numbered,” Simon Edwards, a cyber-security architect for data cyber-security firm Trend Micro Europe, told the BBC.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Artificial intelligence Smart Enough to Fool Captcha Security Check
Amazon Gains Wholesale Pharmacy Licenses in Multiple States
According to information gathered by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (WARNING auto play video) Amazon has gained approval to become a wholesale distributor from a number of state pharmaceutical boards. Speculation about this is that Amazon plans to enter the prescription drug delivery business. Is there a market Amazon won’t try to dominate? Of course this speculation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch might be because their home town Express Scripts is running scared.
Throughout the past year, and without much fanfare, Amazon.com Inc. has gained approval to become a wholesale distributor from a number of state pharmaceutical boards, according to a review of public records.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Amazon Gains Wholesale Pharmacy Licenses in Multiple States