Comment Details details (Score 1) 248
Okay, but what happens when you add in the part about people getting back home?
Submission + - California Legislation May Allow FIrst Responders to Shoot Down Drones
Required Snark writes: During the recent North Fire that burned vehicles on I-15 in California, firefighters had to suspend aerial operations because of the presence of drone aircraft according to CNN
Five such "unmanned aircraft systems" prevented California firefighters from dispatching helicopters with water buckets for up to 20 minutes over a wildfire that roared Friday onto a Los Angeles area freeway that leads to Las Vegas.
Helicopters couldn't drop water because five drones hovered over the blaze, creating hazards in smoky winds for a deadly midair disaster, officials said.
In response, legislation has been introduced that would allow first responders to disable drones in emergency situations. A second bill would allow jail time and fines for drone users that interfere with firefighting efforts.
Senate Bill 168, introduced by Gatto and Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado, would grant “immunity to any emergency responder who damages an unmanned aircraft in the course of firefighting, air ambulance, or search-and-rescue operations.”
Los Angeles County fire Inspector David Dantic declined to comment on the specific legislation, but said his agency’s aircraft cannot operate safely if a drone is in the same airspace.
Gatto and Gaines also teamed up on companion legislation: SB 167, which would increase fines and introduce the possibility of jail time for drone use that interferes with firefighting efforts.
Submission + - Australian Feliks Zemdegs takes title at Rubik's Cube World Championship (abc.net.au)
johnsnails writes: Australian Feliks Zemdegs has taken the Rubik's Cube world title for the second straight time at the 2015 World Championship finals, which reunited the world's meanest "speedcubers" in Sao Paulo.
The 19-year-old completed the traditional 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube with a staggering average of 7.56 seconds and best score of 5.695 seconds, narrowly missing the world record of 5.25 seconds held by American Collin Burns.
Read more here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
The 19-year-old completed the traditional 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube with a staggering average of 7.56 seconds and best score of 5.695 seconds, narrowly missing the world record of 5.25 seconds held by American Collin Burns.
Read more here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
Comment Re:Missing ingredient: consumers (Score 1) 391
So there's no in-between stage; it just pops into place? I don't know what you are getting at. We'd probably have to establish tons of working sub-definitions before we try to iron this out, it seems like.
Also I'm considering this from the USA's perspective to simplify the discussion. The political and economic systems vary widely per country.
Note that Rome faced a similar problem as slaves did and could do most of the "grunt work". There were more citizens than jobs. It's one of the reasons for building coliseums: giving citizens something to do so that they didn't riot or mill around inebriated.
Bringing Back the Magic In Metamaterials 83
Charliemopps writes: Though it's 30 years late, transparent aluminum, as predicted in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, may finally be here. There have been many attempts to create transparent metals in the past few years, and some have been somewhat successful, if only for a few femtoseconds. But now, by modifying metals like silver and aluminum at the subwavelength scale, researchers are developing "Meta-Materials" that cause light to interact with these metals in new and interesting ways. One of their more promising goals is to create a "perfect lens" which would allow an everyday person to view things as small as a virus with the naked eye.
Elon Musk: Faulty Strut May Have Led To Falcon 9 Launch Failure 220
garyisabusyguy writes: This Forbes article provides the best analysis of the loss of the last Falcon 9 mission based on information released by Elon Musk to reporters. Highlights include:
- 1. Sound triangulation led them to identify a strut holding helium tank as root cause where the falling helium tank pinched a line causing overpressure in the LOX tank.
- 2. The failure occurred at 2,000 pounds of force, and the struts were rated at 10,000 pounds of force. They initially dismissed this as a cause until sounds triangulation pointed back to the strut
- 3. Further testing of struts in stock found one that failed at 2,000 pounds of force, with further analysis identifying poor grain structure in the metal, which caused weakness
- 4. It will be months before the next launch while SpaceX goes over procurement and QA processes all struts and bolts, and re-assesses any "near misses" with Air Force and NASA
- 5. Next launch will include failure mode software, which will allow recovery of the Dragon module during loss of the launch vehicle since they determined that it could have saved the Dragon module in this lost mission
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Grooveshark Co-founder Josh Greenberg Dead At 28 173
alphadogg writes: The tech startup world has been shaken today by news that 28-year-old Josh Greenberg, co-founder of recently defunct music sharing service Grooveshark, was found dead on Sunday in the Florida apartment he shared with his girlfriend. No foul play is suspected, but the local medical examiner is conducting an autopsy, according to the Gainesville Sun. Grooveshark was shut down in April after the company was threatened with legal action and possibly hundreds of millions in damages by several big music labels.
Comment Re:Missing ingredient: consumers (Score 1) 391
Fine, but you are NOT addressing levels in between.
Comment Re:At least it wasn't Beta (Score 1) 75
If it were Beta, we wouldn't know the difference.
Bitcoin Exempt From VAT Says European Court of Justice 72
An anonymous reader writes: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) proposes that Bitcoin should be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT). This news has been positively received by the Bitcoin community in the EU, as member states are not likely going to apply VAT to purchases and sales of Bitcoin. A clear cut argument brought up by Advocate General Juliane Kokott, was that VAT is commonly applied to goods and services which have an end consumer. Bitcoin is neither a good, nor a service and has no end consumer, as Bitcoins are eternally transferable just like normal currency. Bitcoin exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, and Bitfinex will all benefit from this ruling, which may lead to other countries across the globe to follow a similar approach.
Emotionally Aware Apps That Respond To Feelings Are On the Horizon 49
bigwophh writes: Machine learning has helped a multitude of different technologies become a reality, including emotion-detection. Most examples to date have been rather simple, such as being able to detect a smile or a frown. But with today's super-fast computers, and even mobile devices, we're now able to detect emotion with far greater accuracy and nuance. Facial recognition expert Rana el Kaliouby recently gave a talk at TED to highlight just how accurate emotion-detection has become, and depending on your perspective, the result is either amazing, or downright scary. To accurately detect someone's emotion, Rana's software detects eight different factors, which include frowning, showing disgust, engaged, and raised eyebrows, among other things. Through research with this software, a couple of interesting factoids are revealed. In the United States, women are 40% more likely to smile than men. But the technology is ultimately destined for software that will detect the user's emotion and react accordingly.
Apple Patents Bank Account Balance Snooping Tech 133
An anonymous reader writes: Apple's latest patent filings shows that the company is looking into displaying advertising based on your available bank balance. If Apple moves forward with this type of technology it would be a complete 360 on its previous direction to not monetize everything they know about customers. Tim Cook has even said multiple times that companies are targeting consumers on multiple fronts and that he's completely against using customer information in this manner and it's not the kind of company he wants Apple to be.
Submission + - South Africa's first drone pilot's licence awarded (htxt.co.za)
An anonymous reader writes: Regulations for piloting UAVs in South Africa came into force at the start of this month, and included the terms for commercial pilot's licences governing who can and can't fly them. Apparently the first licence was awarded on 10th July to a 23 year old employee of SACAA, Nicole Swart.
Spurious Drones Buzzing Around Spanish Royal Palace 49
jones_supa writes: A series of unmanned aircraft have been spotted in the restricted airspace above the residence of Spain's royal family. Staff at the Zarzuela Palace has reported seeing the drones flying over several nights, promoting concerns from the Royal Guard, the security force in charge of protecting Spain's royal family. The aircraft have been spotted in restricted airspace over the Palace where King Felipe and Queen Letizia live with their two daughters. The Royal Guard has not yet been able to identify the drones' controllers or their motivation. The timing of these flights consistently occurs after dark.
UK Pilots Want Lithium Battery Powered Devices In the Cabin 69
AmiMoJo writes: The professional association and trade union of UK pilots The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), has asked airlines to require travelers to carry devices that run on lithium-based batteries with them in the passenger cabin instead of in checked luggage. The union hoping to address what it considers a significant potential safety risk, baggage fires going unnoticed in the hold. BALPA explains, "when they short circuit, [they] have a tendency to burst into high intensity fires, which are difficult to extinguish." They further point out, "lithium battery fires have caused at least three cargo aircraft crashes and the UN safety regulator has banned a specific type of lithium battery (lithium metal) from being carried as cargo on passenger aircraft."
