March 4, 2019 – Peter's Quasi-Daily Blah-g

We all have a few shows that we love. When that show is one with seven or eight seasons then choosing which episode to rewatch on a Saturday afternoon can be a bit of a challenge. For me, that typically means watching the same five or six episodes over and over again, but there’s something to be said for giving some…

Report: China’s Social Credit System Has Blocked Tens of Millions of Plane and Train Tickets

https://gizmodo.com/report-chinas-social-credit-system-has-blocked-tens-of-1833010772

China’s dystopian “social credit” system—which penalizes citizens found to have engaged in some type of misconduct by imposing a number of restrictions on their activities—has already resulted in tens of millions of rejected attempts to purchase plane or train tickets, the Guardian reported on Friday.

MIT’s New Mini Cheetah Robot Can Perform Backflips, Ruin Your Day

https://geekologie.com/2019/03/mits-new-mini-cheetah-robot-can-perform.php

This is a video demonstration of MIT’s new Mini Cheetah headless quadruped robot: a smaller, 20-pound version of their non-mini Cheetah robot previously seen HERE and HERE . What can it do? KILL. Plus trot over rugged terrain at twice the average human’s walking speed, sidestep, walk diagonally and in spirals, and do backflips so it can flip over your head and attack from the rear. It can also swivel its legs to either walk right-side up OR upside-down, so if you thought flipping it on its back like a Koopa Troopa was going to save you, you were wrong and you are dead now. *stamps F on forehead* This concludes your robot apocalypse survival simulation. It’ll be another $80 to take the test again, but you will receive a holographic sticker if you pass. Keep going for the video demonstration, the very end of which is a bunch of crash and burns.

Thanks again to Ochre, who agrees it’s time to ice the cake and wrap up this human party.

via Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome https://geekologie.com/

March 4, 2019 at 10:29AM

March 4, 2019

USB4 will support Thunderbolt and double the speed of USB 3.2

https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/04/usb4-thunderbolt-3-40gbps/

It was just last week when we heard that the 20Gbps USB 3.2 connectivity may show up on new devices later this year, but today, Intel is already talking about an even speedier USB4. At a Taipei event earlier today, the company revealed that this next-gen spec will once again utilize dual channels to achieve 40Gbps speeds, even on existing 40Gbps-certified USB-C cables.

Better yet, thanks to Intel finally offering Thunderbolt 3 to manufacturers with open licensing, USB4 will be integrating this tech and thus effectively becoming the "new" Thunderbolt 3. In other words, USB4 will pretty much be the mother of all wired connectivity options, and will be ready for more powerful PCIe plus DisplayPort devices.

Thunderbolt 3 chart

This is great news for consumers, as this means 40Gbps is the new baseline for all future USB ports, and this in turn will likely be deployed across products much quicker than Thunderbolt 3 did. To date, there are only 463 devices certified with Thunderbolt 3.

It’s still early days for USB4 though, as the USB Promoter Group won’t be sharing detailed specs until around mid-2019. Furthermore, there’s no word on USB4’s compatibility with future versions of Thunderbolt; but Intel did clarify that it will continue promoting the Thunderbolt brand alongside USB4. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this development, which will likely get an official announcement around the time of Computex Taipei.

Via: Engadget Chinese

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

March 4, 2019 at 08:12AM

March 4, 2019

Google Maps Can Now Find a Lime Scooter or eBike in 80+ Cities Across the Globe

https://www.droid-life.com/2019/03/04/lime-google-maps/

Originally available in only 13 cities, you can now find a Lime scooter or e-bike in more than 80 cities across the globe using Google Maps. When you need to only travel a short distance, Google will recommend Lime as a quick transit option, how far away the Lime is, plus an estimate in how much the trip will cost you.

Here’s the full list of US cities where you’ll find support for this.

Arizona (Mesa, Scottsdale), Arkansas (Little Rock), California (Monterey, Mountain View, San Marcos, Santa Barbara), Colorado (Denver), Florida (Miami, Orlando), Georgia (Atlanta, Statesboro), Idaho (Boise), Indiana (Bloomington, South Bend), Kentucky (Louisville), Massachusetts (Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Needham, Newton, Revere, Waltham, Watertown, Winthrop), Michigan (Lansing), Nevada (Reno), Missouri (St. Louis), New Jersey (Keyport, Metuchen, Plainsfield), New York (Ithaca, Queens, Rockaways), North Carolina (Charlotte, Charlottesville, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Raleigh/Durham), Ohio (Columbus, Oxford), Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Tulsa), Rhode Island (Providence), Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville), Texas (Corpus Christi, Lubbock), Utah (Salt Lake City), Virginia (Harrisonburg), Washington (Tacoma), Washington DC.

For the list of international cities, follow the link below.

// Google

via Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog https://ift.tt/2dLq79c

March 4, 2019 at 12:04PM

March 4, 2019

Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1467813

Outside of Germany, there's nowhere you can legally drive this car at its top speed anyway. — Enlarge /

Outside of Germany, there’s nowhere you can legally drive this car at its top speed anyway.

Few automakers have staked the reputation of their brands on safety quite the way Volvo has. Several years ago, Volvo’s President Håkan Samuelsson announced that the company was enacting a plan called Vision 2020—building cars so safe that by 2020 no one is killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo. On Monday, the company revealed the latest part of this plan. From next year, all new Volvos (beginning with the 2021 model year) will be limited to 112mph (180km/h).

“Because of our research we know where the problem areas are when it comes to ending serious injuries and fatalities in our cars. And while a speed limitation is not a cure-all, it’s worth doing if we can even save one life,” Samuelsson said in a press release. “We want to start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver’s behaviour, to tackle things like speeding, intoxication or distraction. We don’t have a firm answer to this question, but believe we should take leadership in the discussion and be a pioneer.”

It’s certainly a bold move—and the antithesis of the perennial horsepower war that rages between German luxury carmakers, or even the recent move by Tesla to increase the speed of the Model 3 Performance to 162mph via a software update. But it’s also not unheard of; in fact, most Japanese OEMs have restricted their domestic market vehicles to 112mph for decades.

via Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com

March 4, 2019 at 10:21AM

March 4, 2019