Waymo has stopped developing features that required drivers to take control in dangerous situations, as autopilot reliance left users prone to distractions and ill-prepared to maneuver. The decision followed experiments of the technology in Silicon Valley that showed test users napping, putting on makeup, and fiddling with their phones as the vehicles traveled up to 56 mph. Waymo has also debuted driverless vans that hint at autonomous ride-hailing services.
The company decided to focus solely on technology that didn’t require human intervention a couple of days after the napping incident, said Krafcik, who joined as CEO in 2015. It has also since argued against allowing “handoffs” between automated driving systems and people. “Our technology takes care of all of the driving, allowing passengers to stay passengers,” the company said in report this month.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Google Ditches Autopilot Driving Feature after Users Caught Napping behind the Wheel
Monthly Archives: October 2017
DOCSIS 3.1 Brings 10 Gbps Downstream, 1 Gbps Upstream to Cable Modems
CableLabs, the research and development company behind the evolving DOCSIS standard, announced it has completed its Full Duplex DOCSIS 3.1 specification, which significantly increases upstream capacity. The updated spec enables a theoretical peak upload speed of 10Gbps, matching the 10Gbps download capability of the DOCSIS 3.1 spec. More importantly, the update paves the way for symmetric multi-gigabit services over existing hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology.
“In the United States, more than 90 percent of households are connected to an HFC network, and consumers typically have higher download speeds than upload speeds,” said Phil McKinney, president and chief executive officer of CableLabs. “By enabling Full Duplex DOCSIS, the upstream and downstream traffic can flow at up to 10 Gigabits concurrently, doubling the efficiency of spectrum use.” In current DOCSIS networks, spectrum is typically split between the upstream and downstream, or spectrum is shared between upstream and downstream traffic.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – DOCSIS 3.1 Brings 10 Gbps Downstream, 1 Gbps Upstream to Cable Modems
Best Buy Stops Selling Overpriced iPhone X Models After People Complain
You don’t want to spend $100 more to pay upfront for the latest iPhone models? Fine, we wont sell you the iPhone. How about them apples?
Source: Gizmodo – Best Buy Stops Selling Overpriced iPhone X Models After People Complain
Apple releases macOS 10.13.1 and iOS 11.1 with a KRACK fix and new emoji
Today, Apple released iOS 11.1 and macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, which bring a notable security update, bug fixes, and a handful of other changes to modern iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macs.
Critically, both software updates address the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability. It is a serious vulnerability in the WPA2 Wi-Fi security standard that allowed hostile actors to perform a key reinstallation and listen to Wi-Fi traffic for passwords and other personal data, among other things.
Both also introduce numerous new Unicode 10.0 emoji. As previously reported, they include the “I love you” hand sign, a wizard, a takeout food box, gender-neutral characters, and much more. Here are a few of the emoji that have been added.
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Source: Ars Technica – Apple releases macOS 10.13.1 and iOS 11.1 with a KRACK fix and new emoji
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds gets XB1 release date, PC “1.0” launch window
Enlarge (credit: PUBG Corp./Microsoft)
The landing date for Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One is now official: December 12. The white-hot PC shooter game will land on all Xbox One consoles that day in the paid “Xbox Game Preview” program—which is Xbox’s “Early Access” equivalent and therefore indicative of an unfinished product.
That should sound familiar to players of PUBG‘s current PC version, which has leaned on its Early Access status there while suffering from its share of bugs. Yet today’s news has a silver lining for that platform as well: a simultaneous announcement of the PC edition’s “1.0” version coming “in late December,” according to the CEO of PUBG Corp., Chang Han Kim.
The announcement, made at this week’s Paris Games Show during an Xbox event, is sadly scant on some key details for both platforms. In the Xbox One’s case, Kim was not forthcoming about the console version’s price [Update: because Microsoft already announced it at $29.99], nor whether the Xbox Game Preview price would be different from the console version’s final cost (whenever it’s “completed,” that is). Kim also didn’t go into detail about what enhancements owners of the upcoming Xbox One X should expect for PUBG. (And there certainly wasn’t any mention of the game coming to other consoles any time soon.)
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Source: Ars Technica – Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds gets XB1 release date, PC “1.0” launch window
Razer Launches Core v2 TB3 eGFX Enclosure: Dual TB3 Controllers
Razer has launched a new version of its Thunderbolt 3 external graphics enclosure for video cards, the Core v2. The new Core v2 chassis uses dual Thunderbolt 3 controllers and a USB-C/USB PD controller for easier routing of traffic to/from GPU and other components located in the box. In addition, the Core v2 can support larger graphics adapters than the Core v1, according to the company. As for the price, it remained the same as in the case of the first-gen Razer Core.
The new Razer Core v2 looks exactly the same as the predecessor from the outside: it has the same design, dimensions, two zone RGB Chroma lighting, the same card mounting mechanism, one Thunderbolt 3 input, four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a GbE connector and so on. Meanwhile, the internal architecture of the Razer Core v2 has been revamped to include two TB3 controllers in order to “ensure fluid gameplay”, as Razer puts it. While two TB3 controllers and one TB3 connector seem a little odd, the two Intel DSL6540 controller chips actually make sense in case of this box.
Every Thunderbolt 3 controller has one or two input/output ports used to connect to external device(s) as well as four PCIe 3.0 x1 input/output lanes to connect to the host and/or to other devices. Each TB3 controller is paired with a USB Type-C and Power Delivery (PD) controller that detects cable orientation, negotiates USB PD, and configures alternate mode settings for internal and external multiplexers, and virtually all eGFX enclosures use Texas Instruments TPS65982 or TPS65983 controllers for this. (The TI controllers are slightly different, with varying Mac compatibility depending on which one is used given macOS does not officially support eGFX at the moment, but this is an entirely different conversation).
In the first generation of the Razer Core the company used one Intel DSL6540 controller coupled with one TI TPS65982 to connect the PCIe GPU slot, a GbE controller, and a USB controller/hub to the external TB3 output (multiplexing all the clients across the PCIe lanes). When all three were used at the same time (when a mouse and a keyboard are plugged to USB Type-A ports and the GbE is used instead of Wi-Fi), they naturally fought for bandwidth and latency, which affected real-world performance, Razer says.
With its second generation Razer Core, the company uses two dual-port Intel DSL6540 ICs coupled with the newer TI TPS65983 controllers. The primary TB3 controller now uses all four PCIe lanes to connect the GPU to the host PC. The secondary TB3 controller is connected to the primary one using the downstream TB3 port of the primary DSL6540 (essentially creating an internal daisy chain) and uses its PCIe lanes for the GbE and the USB controllers (basically, the DSL6540 is used like a PCIe switch). In this scenario, the GPU always gets a priority and the traffic from the other clients is always routed properly. As a bonus, the Core v2 does not have compatibility problems because they now use the newer TI TPS65983 controller.
| Razer Core v2 Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Chassis Specifications | |||
| Max Video Card Size | Double-Wide, 12.2″ Long (312 x 145 x 43 mm) |
||
| Max Video Card Power | 375W | ||
| Connectivity | 4x USB 3.0 1x Gigabit Ethernet Laptop Charging via Thunderbolt 3 |
||
| Chassis Size | 4.13 x 13.9 x 8.66 inches (105 x 353 x 220mm) |
||
| Internal PSU | 500W | ||
| System Requirements | Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Certified PC Thunderbolt 3 w/Active Cable Windows 10 |
||
| Compatible Graphics Cads | AMD Radeon RX-series and later NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10-series and later |
||
| Shipping Date | Q4 2017 | ||
| Price | $499 | ||
When it comes to compatibility with video cards, the Razer Core v2 supports all graphics adapters that consume no more than 375 W and have appropriate driver support. Razer claims that the optimized internal designs now allows installation of larger adapters with custom PCBs, but the difference with the v1 is not that significant.*
| Comparison of Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Chassis | ||||||||
| ASUS ROG XG Station 2 | AKiTiO Node |
PowerColor Devil Box |
Razer Core |
Razer Core V2 | ||||
| Chassis Dimensions | Length | 45.6 cm 17.95 in |
42.8 cm 16.85 in |
40 cm 15.748 in |
34 cm 13.38 in |
|||
| Height | 27.8 cm 10.94 in |
22.7 cm 8.94 in |
24.2 cm 9.52 in |
21.84 cm 8.6 in |
||||
| Width | 15.8 cm 6.22 in |
14.5 cm 5.71 in |
17.2 cm 6.77 in |
10.5 cm 4.13 in |
||||
| Max Dimension of Compatible Graphics Card | Length | 31.2 cm 12.2 in |
||||||
| Height (PCB+Cables) |
over 14 cm over 5.51″ |
17 cm 6.7 in |
14 cm 5.51 in |
13 cm 5.12 in |
14.5 cm 5.71 in |
|||
| Width | 4.4 cm 1.73 in |
5 cm 1.96 in |
4.3 cm 1.69 in |
|||||
| Maximum GPU Power | 500 W (?) | 300 W (?) | 375 W | |||||
| PSU | Wattage | 600 W | 400 W | 500 W | ||||
| Form-Factor | internal proprietary | SFX | internal proprietary | |||||
| Cooling Fans (mm) | 3 × 80 | 120 | unknown | 3 × 80 | 3 × 80 (?) | |||
| Connectivity | Thunderbolt | 1 × TB3 | 1 × TB3 | 1 × TB3 | ||||
| Ethernet | 1 × GbE | – | 1 × GbE | |||||
| USB | 4 × USB 3.0 1 × USB-B |
– | 4 × USB 3.0 | |||||
| SATA | 1×SATA 6Gb/s | – | 1×SATA 6Gb/s | – | ||||
| DisplayPort | – | – | – | |||||
| Availability | 1/2017 | 12/2016 | 10/2016 | 4/2016 | Q4 2017 | |||
| Price | $? | $299 | $379 | $499 | ||||
Razer intends to ship the Core v2 Thunderbolt 3 eGFX enclosure in the coming weeks in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany. The MSRP of one unit for the U.S. market is $499.
*Note that at some point Razer has changed internal specs of the Core v1 compared to the originally declared.
Related Reading
- Razer Core Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Chassis: $499/$399, AMD & NVIDIA, Shipping In April
- Razer’s Blade Stealth 13.3” Laptop Updated With Quad-Core Intel Core i7-8550U CPU
- ZOTAC Readies External GPU Enclosure: TB3, 400 W PSU, Due in Q2 2017
- ASUS ROG XG Station 2 eGFX Enclosure with Thunderbolt 3 Launched
- AKiTiO Introduces Node: Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Box for $299
- PowerColor Announces Devil Box: Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Enclosure
- Razer Updates The Razer Blade Stealth: More Screen, Less Bezel, New Color Option
- Razer Updates The Razer Blade And Razer Blade Stealth At PAX
- The Razer Blade Stealth Review: Razer Takes On The Ultrabook
Source: AnandTech – Razer Launches Core v2 TB3 eGFX Enclosure: Dual TB3 Controllers
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' arrives on Xbox One December 12th
For Xbox One owners, the wait to play PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) will end December 12th. The battle royale game consistently racks up 2 million daily players on Steam, and in just over a month it will transition to the Xbox Game Preview pro…
Source: Engadget – ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ arrives on Xbox One December 12th
Schlage Sense now unlocks itself with an Alexa voice command
You can already unlock Schlage’s Sense smart deadbolt with your voice through Siri, but you now have another choice if you’re not a fan of Apple devices. The smart lock is now compatible with Amazon Alexa, so you can lock/unlock it or check out its s…
Source: Engadget – Schlage Sense now unlocks itself with an Alexa voice command
How to Get iOS 11.2, Which Brings iPhone X Wallpapers to Older iPhones
Apple just released iOS 11.1, but it’s already testing out the next big software update (3:22 pm – updated to reflect the public release of iOS 11.1). The first developer preview for iOS 11.2 arrived this week, bringing some small but exciting improvements to the operating system.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Get iOS 11.2, Which Brings iPhone X Wallpapers to Older iPhones
Senators Push for Law to Make US Voting Machines Less Hackable
Two US senators on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan bill that seeks to enhance security around state election systems in an attempt to stave off foreign interference.
Source: Gizmodo – Senators Push for Law to Make US Voting Machines Less Hackable
Why we need to talk about reusable menstrual products
The period taboo has gone on long enough. Now it’s time we taught young girls about the safer, reusable options that exist for them.
Source: TreeHugger – Why we need to talk about reusable menstrual products
Tell Alexa or Google Assistant to Make Your House Spooky on Halloween
Maybe you’ve spent the past month spreading faux cobwebs over your fireplace, creating the perfect Halloween playlist, and counting down the days to the most wonderful holiday of the year. Or maybe you woke up this morning, realized it’s October 31st, and thought, ‘Oh, perhaps I should be festive?’ If you have Google…
Source: LifeHacker – Tell Alexa or Google Assistant to Make Your House Spooky on Halloween
Battery-free toothbrush is powered with a twist
Battery-powered toothbrushes are convenient if you don’t like brushing your teeth the old-fashioned way, but they have a catch: batteries. Typically, you either need to dock your brush (and remember to carry a charger with you on long trips) or toss…
Source: Engadget – Battery-free toothbrush is powered with a twist
The Future of Work Might Not Be So Bleak
From a report, shared by readers: That said, technology can also favor standard salaried employment. The economists George Baker and Thomas Hubbard, for example, have noted how onboard computers could change U.S. trucking. By monitoring behavior, they would solve a moral hazard problem: Drivers have little incentive to be as careful with company trucks as they would with their own. As a result, more drivers could become employees of companies that buy and maintain fleets, rather than going it alone. They wouldn’t have to invest in their own vehicles, which makes them vulnerable to recessions by putting their savings in the same sector as their labor; and they wouldn’t be out of pocket and out of work when their trucks broke down. More generally, conventional jobs have a lot of advantages. First, a single worker or group of workers might lack the capital needed to set up a business, or prefer to avoid the stress and risk of running one (consider doctors or dentists who choose to be employees of a medical clinic). Second, business owners might not want their employees to have other bosses — particularly if the work involves confidential information or team projects that require undivided time and attention. Third, reputations based on ratings might not be reliable: The economist Diane Coyle has shown that the quality of individual consultants can be hard to monitor, at least immediately, whereas a traditional consultancy may be more efficient at “guaranteeing” quality. In short, I believe that salaried employment will not disappear, although it might become less prevalent over time.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – The Future of Work Might Not Be So Bleak
Trump's Nominee for Consumer Protection Is a Big Defender of Dangerous Products
Donald Trump is still president and he’s still nominating vile people to lead the agencies that they personally want to destroy. The latest nominee in this horror show is Dana Baiocco, an attorney who built a career defending companies with unsafe products, to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC).…
Source: Gizmodo – Trump’s Nominee for Consumer Protection Is a Big Defender of Dangerous Products
WatchOS 4.1 brings Wi-Fi toggle, Apple Music, and Radio streaming
The latest software update for the Apple Watch, watchOS 4.1, is now available for all users to download. The update brings a slew of promised features to the new Series 3 Watch, including Apple Music and Radio streaming support, GymKit compatibility, and a Wi-Fi toggle option in the Control Center.
The Apple Watch Series 3 has been available since mid-September, but a couple of major features did not accompany the device at launch. Series 3 devices with LTE service will be able to stream content from Apple Music and Radio with this update, as well as content from the user’s iCloud Music Library. Previously, Apple Watch models could only sync selected playlists from iTunes for playback through connected wireless earbuds. Now, those with an LTE-supported device can use that data service or Wi-Fi to stream content no matter where they are (as long as the wireless connection is decent) and without the paired iPhone present. The update also brings a new Radio app that lets users stream radio stations like Beats1 and stations accessible via Apple Music subscriptions.
WatchOS 4.1 brings GymKit to the Series 3, allowing the device to connect to compatible exercise equipment to share data. This means users will be able to pair the Series 3 with a capable treadmill, elliptical, or other gym machine to display data like heart rate directly on the machine. Compatible gym equipment will also share data like distance with the Series 3 so it can capture more accurate in-gym workout data.
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Source: Ars Technica – WatchOS 4.1 brings Wi-Fi toggle, Apple Music, and Radio streaming
Wine 2.20 Continues Work On Direct3D, Preloader For ARM64
Arriving a bit off schedule due to this past weekend’s WineConf 2017 where Wine 3.0 and future roadmap items were discussed, Wine 2.20 is now available for testing today…
Source: Phoronix – Wine 2.20 Continues Work On Direct3D, Preloader For ARM64
Man Selling $5-Million Arizona Ranch Due To 'Constant Alien Attacks'
John Edmonds, owner owner of the 6.97-acre Stardust Ranch (aka ‘Alien Ranch’ — which has been featured on numerous alien-related television shows due to being an alleged hotbed of alien activity) in Rainbow Valley, Arizona, has listed the property for sale for $5-million, citing that constant alien attacks and a recent abduction attempt of his wife has led him to be fed up with the property. The absolutely amazing highlights:
Edmonds claims he has slain 19 aliens with samurai swords and he and his wife have endured abduction attempts.
“They actually levitated her out of the bed in the master chamber and carried her into the parking lot and tried to draw her up into the craft,” he told NBC-affiliate KPNX.
Under one image of what appears to be dried blood and a katana, he described the method of destroying the “greys.”
“Unless you cut the head off and disconnect the antennae, so to speak, they instantly ‘phone home.’ Even with a razor-sharp sword, it is nearly impossible to decapitate them with one swing,” he wrote.
Edmonds warns prospective buyers to be prepared to live on the ranch.
“It’s not something for a traditional family, but it holds a lot of secrets and what I believe are future opportunities to understand forces that are in the universe,” he said. “Please be very well grounded because the energy here has the tendency to manifest with whatever is going on with you.”
I included a screenshot of his bloody katana from Facebook and the conversation he had with interested parties that followed, which is fantastic and I highly recommend checking out. Then, let’s all pool our money and buy the ranch. Think of it as an investment. There’s no telling how many billions of dollars of advanced space technology we’ll be able to beat out of these little grey turds. Also, just what the hell did John really hack to death on his carport, because that definitely doesn’t look like alien blood to me.
Keep going for the Facebook conversation while I contact Mulder and Scully.
Source: Geekologie – Man Selling -Million Arizona Ranch Due To ‘Constant Alien Attacks’
Many viruses activate a single RNA to enable successful infections
Enlarge / Zika virus. (credit: Getty | BSIP)
A gene is a DNA sequence that encodes the instructions for when and where to make a particular protein. But most of the DNA in our genome—well over ninety percent—is not composed of genes.
The argument over the role of this seemingly extraneous DNA has swung back and forth. In the 1970s, it was thought to be generally useless junk. But in 2012, the ENCODE consortium (the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements—cute, right?) posited that most of the DNA had some sort of activity. Earlier this year, a new analysis insisted again that it’s just junk.
Even as that debate was raging among researchers, viruses have used some of the noncoding DNA for their own purposes: to hijack our cellular metabolism and promote their own replication. Results are reported in Science.
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Source: Ars Technica – Many viruses activate a single RNA to enable successful infections
If Your Vibrator Is Hacked, Is It a Sex Crime?
On a recent trip to Berlin, Alex Lomas’ acquaintance posed him a challenge: Can you find a Bluetooth-enabled butt plug in the wild, and can you turn it on without its owner’s help? Lomas, a penetration tester with the British cybersecurity firm Pen Test Partners, pulled out his phone, consulted the detection app…
Source: LifeHacker – If Your Vibrator Is Hacked, Is It a Sex Crime?