Day: October 9, 2018

Posted on

Students build 600-hp Honda Civic with a hybrid powertrain

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/10/09/students-build-600-hp-honda-civic-hybrid/


Graduate students at Clemson University just completed what looks to be the coolest school project ever: a 600-horsepower

Honda Civic

. The students got to build this monstrous

Civic

with

Honda’s

sponsorship and blessing too. Called Deep Orange 9, this project took 19 students two years to complete at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research.

They started with the current

Honda Civic

sedan body and went from there. Extremely high performance and a reduction of emissions were the two main goals for the student engineers. It’s supposed to be as fast as current

rallycross

cars, and this Civic certainly doesn’t disappoint there. Zero to 60 mph arrives in 2 seconds through the help of a

hybrid

powertrain, according to the students. Specs for the engine and electric motor weren’t published, but we’ll let you know if we find out. The rear axle handles the power from the engine, while the front axle gets turned courtesy of an electric motor. The engine sits in the middle of the car, so it looks like the students could have been inspired by the new

Acura NSX

.

Regenerative brakes help keep the battery juiced up throughout races. As a whole,

fuel economy

is improved 30 percent due to the hybrid powertrain, but it’s still a race car. Good fuel economy and 600 horsepower usually don’t mix well, but this was a cool effort to bring a greener powertrain to racing.

The suspension is billed as semi-active, such that it easily adapts to the changing surfaces seen in rallycross. A four-wheel steering system was developed to help cars pivot better in the extremely tight turns often seen in rallycross. This electric system is also capable of capturing energy lost through the wheels, reducing emissions even further.

We have to admit, this thing looks pretty sweet. Student projects like these are the kind of thing we need more of.

Related video:

via Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com

October 9, 2018 at 01:21PM

Posted on

Google is shutting down Google+ following massive data exposure

https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/08/google-shutting-down-google-plus/



Erik Khalitov

Following a massive data breach first reported on by The Wall Street Journal, Google announced today that it is shutting down its social network Google+ for consumers. The company finally admitted that Google+ never received the broad adoption or engagement with users that it had hoped for — according to a blog post, 90 percent of Google+ user sessions last for less than five seconds. In light of these newly revealed security concerns with Google+’s API, the company has opted to put it out of its misery rather than try and make the social network more secure.

The company discovered a bug in one of Google+’s People APIs that allowed apps access to data from Google+ profiles that weren’t marked as public. It included static data fields such as name, email, occupation, gender and age. It did not include information from Google+ posts. The bug was patched in March 2018, but Google didn’t inform users at that point. “We made Google+ with privacy in mind and therefore keep this API’s log data for only two weeks,” the company said in a blog post. “That means we cannot confirm which users were impacted by this bug.”

However, Google+ will continue as a product for Enterprise users. It’s by far the most popular use of the social network. Therefore, the company has made the decision that Google+ is better suited as an internal social network for companies, rather than a consumer product. Google will announce new Enterprise-focused products for Google+ in the near future.

The decision is a part of Project Strobe, which is Google’s internal investigation into third-party developer account access to Google and Android products. It takes a close look at security controls, as well as low user engagement that are likely due to privacy concerns. The goal is to identify areas where privacy controls should be tightened.

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

October 8, 2018 at 12:42PM

Posted on

Google limits third-party access to Gmail and other account data

https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/08/google-limits-third-party-access-to-accounts/



Google

Google isn’t just shutting down the consumer version of Google+ as a response to privacy concerns. The company is gradually rolling out a change to its developer tools that will give users much more control over privacy permissions for their account data. Much like permissions in recent Android versions, you’ll get permission requests one at a time for various services. You could grant access to Drive, for instance, but turn down Gmail or Calendar permissions.

The changes will start reaching new users in October, and should extend to existing users in early 2019.

While Google didn’t say as much, the clampdown appears to be a reaction to word that its previous policies let third-party apps scan Gmail inboxes without much clarity for users. This change should make it clear what apps really want. Google is also using the fine-grained control as a way to promote better explanations to users. While it’s not mandating elaborate descriptions, it’s hoping the item-by-item permissions will encourage clearer dialog and prevent any rude surprises.

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

October 8, 2018 at 12:54PM