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November 21, 2016

Feds ‘tightening the straitjacket’ around Wells Fargo

Feds 'tightening the straitjacket' around Wells Fargo - Nov. 21, 2016

All of a sudden, U.S. authorities are taking a tougher stance on scandal-ridden Wells Fargo.

A key Wells Fargo (WFC) regulator has quietly placed new restrictions on the bank that allows the government to reject the hiring of senior executives, ban the payments of “golden parachutes” to managers who leave, and also closely review any branch openings and closures.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates the nation’s banks, did not explain in its 5:30 p.m. ET announcement last Friday why it decided to clamp down specifically on Wells Fargo.

The move represents a reversal by the OCC, which previously granted Wells Fargo a waiver from these restrictions. That free pass was given as part of the September 8 settlement over the bank’s creation of as many as 2 million fake accounts.

The timing of the OCC decision is quite unusual and raising eyebrows. Veteran bank analyst Mike Mayo of CSLA called the situation a “headscratcher.”

“It looks like the regulators are tightening the straitjacket around Wells Fargo,” Mayo told CNNMoney.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said it will “comply” with the new restrictions.

“This will not inhibit our ability to execute our strategy, rebuild trust, serve customers and continue to operate the company,” the bank said.

Still, Wells Fargo seems to have been caught off guard by the government’s action.

A person familiar with the matter said it was a “surprise” to Wells Fargo — and the bank was only notified of the news on Friday.

The OCC move renews concern that another shoe may drop in the fake account scandal that has rocked Wells Fargo. The company’s stock price declined 1% on Monday, making it the worst performing bank in the S&P 500.

Wells Fargo sought to ease these worries. Tim Sloan, the bank’s new CEO, told employees in a Saturday memo that the “updated requirements are not a result of any new event or issue.”

Yet regulators do seem to be taking a tougher stance against Wells Fargo. The settlement between Wells Fargo and the OCC gave the bank relief from needing to update regulators on personnel decisions.

The OCC said on Friday it is revoking that free pass. Under the new restrictions, Wells Fargo must give the OCC a 90-day heads up before hiring senior executives or even changing their responsibilities. Wells Fargo now needs to give similar notice before adding or replacing member to Wells Fargo Bank N.A., the national banking subsidiary owned by the holding company.

Regulators can disapprove of those hiring decisions based on the individual’s “competence, experience, character or integrity,” according to OCC rules.

Likewise, the OCC can now limit future severance payments known as “golden parachutes” to executives who have left the bank.

Compensation has been a controversial topic given the $130 million former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf walked away with when he abruptly retired last month. However, Stumpf’s fortune was amassed over many years at the bank, not due to one-time severance payments.

Decisions such as opening and closing branches may no longer simply get rubber stamped by regulators. The OCC said Wells Fargo’s already-required applications for such activities will no longer receive “expedited treatment.” In other words, they will take more time — and could get extra scrutiny.

It’s possible the OCC is trying to ease criticism over its handling of the Wells Fargo scandal, especially given new allegations that have emerged since the initial settlement.

For instance, former Wells Fargo employees have told CNNMoney that the opening of fake accounts began long before the 2011 period cited by regulators. Even more alarming, several whistleblowers told CNNMoney they were fired after calling Wells Fargo’s ethics hotline about illegal activity.

“We suspect the agency changed direction because it does not want to be seen as being soft on Wells Fargo,” Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen & Co., wrote in a note.

No matter the cause, Seiberg said the OCC move “should be a warning to the bank that its troubles with the regulators are not over.”

CNNMoney (New York) First published November 21, 2016: 12:08 PM ET

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November 21, 2016

Koenigsegg’s FreeValve engine tech is finally working – in China

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Koenigsegg,Emerging Technologies,Technology

Qoros has an engineering development vehicle up and running with its QamFree engine, which uses FreeValve’s camless technology.

Continue reading Koenigsegg’s FreeValve engine tech is finally working – in China

Koenigsegg’s FreeValve engine tech is finally working – in China originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Nov 2016 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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November 17, 2016

Adidas’ New Biodegradable Sneakers Are Made From Ultra-Strong Artificial Silk Fibers

Of all the things you wear on a daily basis, shoes endure the most wear and tear, and thus rarely survive for more than a few years. Your options are usually limited to tossing the work out kicks in the trash. Now Adidas has created a new pair of sneakers that will completely biodegrade when youâ€™re done with them.

NASA realizes SLS and Orion are too expensive, opens door to competitors

Enlarge /

Artist concept of the Space Launch System.

NASA/MSFC

WithÂ a new presidential administration promising to review its human spaceflight activities, NASAÂ on Thursday continued to signal a willingness to consider alternatives to its exploration systemsâ€”the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, and related ground systems developed at Kennedy Space Center to support their launch later this decade and in the 2020s.

In its latest request for information (RFI) released Thursday afternoon, NASA seeks solutions from industry and academia to maximize “the long term efficiency and sustainability” of its of exploration systems programs.Â Essentially, NASA wants ideas on how best to cutÂ the production and operations costs for its SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, which presently consume more than $3 billion annually in development costs. However, the RFI also offers respondents the opportunity to submit ideas about rockets and spacecraft that might compete with NASA’s own vehicles for exploration funds.

Specifically, the document requests responses about: “Competing exploration services in the mid-2020s timeframe and beyond if the market demonstrates such services are available, reliable, and consistent with NASA architectural needs.” Ars understands this to mean that if private competitors such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, or other companies produce less expensive rockets and spacecraft withinÂ the next five to seven years, NASA will consider using them in lieu of SLS and Orion.

Fixed costs

NASA’s preference would be to fly the rocket and spacecraft it is developing under an agreement reached by President Obama and the US Congress in 2011. This plan called for development of a large rocket, based upon space shuttle engines, and a capsule larger than the Apollo spacecraft that carried astronauts to the Moon. However, these vehicles (managed by NASA and built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, respectively) have proved costly. NASA has very little money left over to use for actual exploration.

In an interview this summer, the engineer who oversees the development of SLS and Orion for NASA, Bill Hill, acknowledged that the vehicles were too costly now to be practical.Â â€œWeâ€™re just way too expensive today,â€ Hill told Ars. â€œItâ€™s going to take some different thinking and maybe a little bit more risk taking than what weâ€™re wanting to do today.â€

NASA hopes to reach a flight rate of one SLS and Orion launch per year by the year 2023. As it moves into this operational phase, Hill has set an annual target for these “production and operations” costs to build, test, and fly the vehicles.Â â€œMy top number for Orion, SLS, and the ground systems that support it is $2 billion or less,â€ Hill said. â€œI mean thatâ€™s my real ultimate goal. We were running at about three-plus, $3.6 billion during the latter days of space shuttle. Of course, there again, we were flying six or seven missions. I think weâ€™re actually going to have to get to less than that.â€

Cutting costs

RFIs are a common method used by the government to solicit public input. They do not seek specific proposals, but rather the ideas received may be used to inform future acquisition strategies. The new RFI from the space agency, which requires a response from interested parties by Dec. 23, seeks replies across a broad number of areas to get costs down. For example, it welcomes ideas on new contracting methods, such as fixed-price contracts, block buys of materials or systems, and suggestions for changing government requirements that unduly raise costs.

NASA’sÂ RFI also lays out a “baseline” of missions the agency expects to fly in the coming decade or so, from Exploration Mission-1 in 2018 through EM-10 in 2030. Nearly all of these missions will take place in the “proving ground,” an area of deep space near the Moon where NASA believes it can safely test rockets, spacecraft, and habitation modules for eventual human missions to Mars in the 2030s.

Ostensibly, the RFI seeks replies for how it can make its SLS and Orion production more efficient, and it may simply be a tactic to pressure the agency’s primary contractors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to reduce costs.Â Yet, as Ars exclusively reported last week, NASA officials are open to new ideas from competitors of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. â€œThis is NASA taking a breath and looking at alternatives,â€ one source told Ars at the time. â€œPart of why they also did it is they are signaling to the next administration that they may be willing to look at alternatives.â€

Alternatives

Indeed, there are hints of this openness to alternatives in the new RFI. Not only does it solicit “competing exploration services” in the mid-2020s, it also seeks “synergies between current (SLS, Orion, and/or EGS) and future systems that can reduce total exploration costs.” This indicates a willingness to augment NASA’s exploration fleet with private vehiclesâ€”if those rockets and spacecraft are available and will cut costs.

For example, both SpaceX and Blue Origin (with the Falcon Heavy and New Glenn boosters, respectively) are deep into development of heavy lift rockets in the same class as the SLS launcher. United Launch Alliance is also developing the Vulcan rocket with an upper stage being optimized for use in NASA’s “proving ground” between the Earth and Moon. These are all expected to cost significantly less to flyÂ than the SLS.

NASA envisions evolving its SLS rocket to the powerful Block 2 variant by 2029. Note the solid rocket boosters on the side.

NASA

The RFI allows for other possibilities too, such as using private components to lower the cost of NASA’s vehicles. Presently the SLS relies on large solid rocket boosters manufactured by Orbital ATK to give the rocket a powerful kick off the launch pad. However, there are no other uses for these boosters, so if NASA wants to use them for the SLS it must pay a few hundred million dollars each year just to keep the production line open. A company like SpaceX might offer its Falcon 9 rocket as an alternative, strap-on booster. Since the rocket is already being used commercially, NASA would not have to pay any fixed costs for its use.

It’s difficult to read too much into the document, which seems like a product of its times. Yes, NASA is acknowledging that it is spending too much on SLS and Orion. Yes, the agency is concerned about the Trump administration and the desires of some members of its transition team to further privatize NASA and push the agency toward lower cost, reusable rockets.Â If America’s new president considers himself a negotiator, it seems that NASA is now saying it is willing to negotiate, too.

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November 17, 2016

SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

SpaceX has detailed ambitious plans to bring fast Internet access to the entire world with a new satellite system that offers greater speeds and lower latency than existing satellite networks.

The private spacecraft company founded by CEO Elon Musk filed an applicationÂ Tuesday for satellite space station authorizations with the US Federal Communications Commission. SpaceX recently saidÂ that its satellite serviceâ€™s commercial availability date has not yet been determined, but the applicationâ€™s technical descriptionÂ mentioned 2019 as a possible time for launching satellites into orbit.

SpaceX wants to launch 4,425 satellites into low-Earth orbits, with altitudes ranging from 715 miles to 823 miles. By contrast, the existing HughesNet satellite network has an altitude of 22,000 miles.

SpaceXâ€™s plan for low orbits would greatly reduce latency. As weâ€™ve previously written, current satellite Internet systems suffer from high latency, meaning that data packets must travel great distances between Earth and satellites, resulting in noticeable delays for Internet users.

SpaceX expects its own latencies to be between 25 and 35ms, similar to the latencies measured for wired Internet services. Current satellite ISPs have latencies of 600ms or more, according to FCC measurements.

Satellite Internet service is also made less useful today by low data caps. SpaceX promises that its satellites will boast impressiveÂ bandwidth, the amount of data that can be delivered each second. That could potentially reduce or eliminate the need to impose strict limitsÂ on consumers.

â€œOnce fully optimized through the Final Deployment, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1Gbps per user), low-latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the US and globally,â€ SpaceX told the FCC. â€œSubject to additional development work, SpaceX plans to design and manufacture its own satellites, gateway earth stations, and user terminals.â€Â Home Internet customers would receive a “low-profile user terminal that is easy to mount and operate on walls or roofs.”

Each satellite will provide aggregate downlink capacity of 17 to 23Gbps, the application said. â€œWith deployment of the first 800 satellites, the system will be able to provide US and international broadband connectivity; when fully deployed, the system will add capacity and availability at the equator and poles for truly global coverage,â€ SpaceX said.

SpaceX said per-satellite bandwidth should increase periodically as the company deploys improvements. â€œThe system leverages phased array technology to dynamically steer a large pool of beams to focus capacity where it is needed,â€ the company said. â€œOptical inter-satellite links permit flexible routing of traffic on-orbit. Further, the constellation ensures that frequencies can be reused effectively across different satellites to enhance the flexibility and capacity and robustness of the overall system.â€

SpaceX will use frequencies between 10GHz and 30GHz, in the Ku and Ka bands. The company said it’s designing everything “from the ground up” with the goals of cost-effectiveness and reliability.

Thereâ€™s a long way to go before SpaceX connects any Internet customers. But if the company achieves its goals, it could be a boon for consumers in rural areas who lack fast connectivity and customers anywhere else who want more competition.Â Musk has been working on the satellite Internet project forÂ at least two years, and SpaceXÂ received $1 billionÂ inÂ fundingÂ from Google and Fidelity InvestmentsÂ in January 2015 to support satellite manufacturing and space transport.

SpaceX supported its argument that the FCC should approve its application in part by pointing to increasing demand for data services and shortcomings in the broadband market that have left many US consumers with poor Internet access.

If you want more detail, here are links to SpaceX’s application, technical description, and request for approval.

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November 17, 2016

This DIY Electric Skateboard Is Powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero

If youâ€™re looking for a fun weekend project and have a Pi Zero lying around, consider making your own electric, powered skateboard like this one from The Raspberry Pi Guy. Controlled with an old Wiimote and capable of 30 km/h (about 19 mph), itâ€™s not a bad way to get around town.

The components required here are pretty simple actuallyâ€”youâ€™ll need a skateboard, a battery to power the whole setup, the motor and a mount for it, a motor controller, the Wiimote youâ€™ll hold (and connects to the Pi via Bluetooth,) and the Pi Zero to act as the â€œbrainsâ€ of the whole thing. Best of all, if youâ€™re not sure where to get everythingâ€”or even the code required to run on the Pi to make it all work togetherâ€”The Raspberry Pi Guy has all of it in the video description at YouTube, linked below, even the skateboard and trucks he used for this specific build.

Hit play for the step by stepâ€”the video is only about three minutes, and well worth the watch.

DIY 30km/h Electric Skateboard – Raspberry Pi Powered | The Raspberry Pi Guy (YouTube) via Hackaday

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November 17, 2016

The Best Free Alternatives to Expensive Software

If youâ€™re paying for premium software, chances are thereâ€™s a free alternative out there you could use instead, with features just as good as the ones youâ€™ve become accustomed to. Whether you fancy a change from your usual application-of-choice, or youâ€™re just on a tight budget, these are the free software apps you need to know about.

Use GIMP instead of Adobe Photoshop

GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is widely accepted as the best free alternative to Photoshop and itâ€™s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. It lacks some of the professional workflow features of Adobeâ€™s package but is otherwise packed with similar tools and options (from brushes to layers) to take your image editing to the next level.

Admittedly the applicationâ€™s slightly unusual layout takes some getting used to, and you canâ€™t really jump from Photoshop to GIMP in a snap, but invest some time and effort in the software and you can get end results that are pretty much as impressive thanks to the filters, tools, image enhancements, picture controls and export options available.

Other things GIMP has in its favor are the regular update schedule and the wealth of third-party plug-ins and customization tools you can get hold of (if thereâ€™s something you need that isnâ€™t out there, you could try writing your own). GIMPâ€™s been around for more than 20 years now, and it shows in the maturity of its toolset and editing features.

Also consider: Pixlr Editor is essentially a stripped-down version of Photoshop in a browser, while Paint.NET is a much-loved Windows image editor for more casual users.

Use LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office

With more development hours now apparently being poured into LibreOffice, it makes sense to opt for this open source office suite than the OpenOffice package it sprang from, but thereâ€™s not a whole lot to choose between the two. Both match Microsoft Officeâ€™s word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation bundle of tools, but are completely free to use.

As with GIMP, it works across Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, and can even open up your Microsoft Office files without much trouble (from those days when you were still paying for software). Itâ€™s not quite as slick as the suite from Redmond in terms of looks or operation but chances are if you need a particular feature then LibreOffice will have it.

Change tracking, templates, image and layout support, advanced export options, itâ€™s all in LibreOffice, alongside a database program to match up against Access. The only area where you might struggle switching is if youâ€™re an advanced Excel user with a bunch of macros set up, but apart from that youâ€™ll find LibreOffice meets your needs very nicely.

Also consider: Google Drive has lightweight office apps you can use for free and access from any machine over the web, and Zoho Docs is a similar suite free for personal use.

Use Lightworks or DaVinci Resolve instead of Adobe Premiere Pro

Lightworks is a genuinely professional-level package available in a limited free version. Its main drawback is a rather confusing interface, at least for casual users and beginners, but if you can devote the time to it, thereâ€™s no doubt itâ€™s a powerful piece of software that is great for editing video clips together. Lightworks is currently available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

DaVinci Resolve is a program that started out as a color grading tool but is now morphing into a very capable editor too, available for Windows and Mac. As with Lightworks, the interface is going to come across as a little daunting, but because of the history of the software itâ€™s arguably less well-suited to the basics of video editing.

Both Lightworks and DaVinci Resolve are undoubtedly more powerful than your average free software package, but neither have an easy drag-and-drop approach. If thatâ€™s more your style then VideoPad Video Editor (for Windows) is basic but easy to use and WeVideo (web) is fine for smaller projects. Thereâ€™s even a simple video editor built into YouTube.

Also consider: Windows Movie Maker sadly hasnâ€™t been updated in a few years but you can still download it, while iMovie is free to install and use if you buy a new Mac computer.

Use LMMS instead of premium music-editing software

LMMS (originally Linux MultiMedia Studio) is a fantastic, open source, cross-platform, GarageBand-esque music production application you can download for free for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Compose tunes, mix tracks, add effects, and much more besides: itâ€™s one of the best pieces of production software full stop, irrespective of it being free to use.

As with some of the other applications listed in this post, the interface isnâ€™t always the easiest to get along with unless you already know the ropes, but all the key features youâ€™re going to need are here, including support for VST plug-ins, full MIDI compatibility, a beat and bassline editor, track-based automation options and native SoundFont support.

Spend a few minutes messing around with LMMS, even if youâ€™re a complete beginner, and youâ€™ll soon realize the scale and potential of the application. Unlike some free software packages, it can work seamlessly with industry standard apps and devices on both the input and output side, so thereâ€™s really no limit to where your music making can take you.

Also consider: GarageBand is free, as long as youâ€™ve bought a new Mac recently, while for track-by-track audio editing Audacity is one of the stand-out tools in the freeware world.

The best of the rest

With Microsoft and Apple (and Google) now doling out so much free bundled software, the need for high-quality, zero-cost alternatives isnâ€™t as great as it once was, but there are still some iconic freeware apps out there that weâ€™d like to direct your attention towards.

VLC Media Player (Windows, Mac, Linux) continues to be a solid, speedy, flexible media player that can take just about every format you want to throw at it. Itâ€™s helped us out time and time again when native apps refuse to load up a video. Itâ€™s packed with more features than you might realize and its now got mobile versions for iOS and Android too.

TeamViewer (Windows, Mac, Linux) is primarily a commercial product but itâ€™s free for personal use and so it gets a mention here. Itâ€™s a simple, intuitive way of getting at someone elseâ€™s PC (with their approval) or accessing your own machine remotely from the home or office. Chrome Remote Desktop is a more basic option but works in the browser.

Handbrake (Windows, Mac, Linux) is a freeware gem for anyone who needs to do anything to do with video conversions. It can convert from pretty much any known format to pretty much any other known format, get your videos into shape for mobile devices, run conversions as a batch, enable tweaks to video and audio channels, and more besides.

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