Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Might not need? (Score 1) 153

by sys64764 (#50650597) Attached to: Volkswagen Diesel Scandal Logistics Imply Sizable Conspiracy

Might not need vs does not have is a stretch. I would think all the information to determine if it's being tested or not would just be accessible by some main controller engine API. It seems the sensors needed to tell if it's being tested or not were really basic stuff like finding out if it's moving or not vs how fast it was being driven which could be required by the hand breaking system or a sensor to tell if the steering wheel is moving or not which could be required to turn headlights in the direction the steering wheel is turned etc. Excluding these build-in hardware sensors from a car that does not have extra options payed for by the owner might not be cost-effective when mass producing and reusing much of the same parts / wiring. Not paying for one of those options does not mean the sensors are not in place.
Some of the extra options you select when buying a car are software driven things with an extra switch in the console to turn it on/off. Not paying for it does not necessarily mean none of the hardware is installed or that none of the signals are available in the API.

Submission + - The abandoned college campuses of Second Life (fusion.net)

Submitted by drkim
drkim writes: "In the year 2007, people were really excited about Second Life... Many universities set up their own private islands to engage students; some even held classes within Second Life.
Most of these virtual universities are gone... ...but it turns out a handful remain as ghost towns..."

Submission + - How BitTorrent could let lone DDoS attackers bring down big sites (arstechnica.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Some of the most widely used BitTorrent applications, including uTorrent, Mainline, and Vuze are also the most vulnerable to a newly discovered form of denial of service attack that makes it easy for a single person to bring down large sites.

Submission + - Is Shooting 4K Video for Youtube Worth It? (lensvid.com)

Submitted by Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth writes: Linus Sebastian (from LinusTechTips) decided to see how much of a real world difference is there between shooting 1080p and shooting 4K if your end goal is uploading your content to Youtube as well as watching video in 4K that was upscaled to 4K from 1080p.

More and more content is being shot in 4K these days, especially when there are so many inexpensive cameras with 4K capabilities on the market — but can you really tell the difference between native 4K and upscaled 1080p? the answer seems to be pretty surprising (and a bit complicated and maybe even controversial).

Even if you are not a content creator and just watch stuff on youtube — Linus' video has some interesting bottom line for you in terms of setting your Youtube quality level to the max (if your bandwidth can handle that).

What is your experience — and do you see the differences that Linus was talking about (we couldn't — but we didn't use a 4K screen...).

Submission + - Singularity 1on1: Humanity's make or break period! (singularityweblog.com)

Submitted by sys64764
sys64764 writes: "Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."

Skynet won't have a hard time crushing Mankind after all, it could just take over all car... If you like what Marshall Brain does (Manna, HowStuffWorks,...) you can watch Nikola Danaylov (Singularity Weblog) pick his brain about singularity. Grab a beer, get comfortable, go fullscreen and watch Brian explain his take on humanity's make or break moment.

Submission + - Breathing Beijing's Air is The Equivalent of Smoking Almost 40 Cigarettes a Day (economist.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the economist: "Pollution is sky-high everywhere in China. Some 83% of Chinese are exposed to air that, in America, would be deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency either to be unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups. Almost half the population of China experiences levels of PM2.5 that are above America’s highest threshold. That is even worse than the satellite data had suggested."

They go on to say "Berkeley Earth’s scientific director, Richard Muller, says breathing Beijing’s air is the equivalent of smoking almost 40 cigarettes a day and calculates that air pollution causes 1.6m deaths a year in China, or 17% of the total. A previous estimate, based on a study of pollution in the Huai river basin (which lies between the Yellow and Yangzi rivers), put the toll at 1.2m deaths a year—still high."

Slashdot Top Deals

"If I do not want others to quote me, I do not speak." -- Phil Wayne

Close