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Bug

Tesla Model S Has Bizarre 'Vampire-Like' Thirst For Electricity At Night 424

cartechboy writes "The Tesla Model S, for all its technical and design wizardry, has a dirty little secret: Its a vampire. The car has an odd and substantial appetite for kilowatt-hours even when turned off and parked. This phenomenon has been dubbed the 'vampire' draw, and Tesla promised long ago to fix this issue with a software update. Well, a few software updates have come and gone since then, and the Model S is still a vampire sucking down energy when it's shut down. While this is a concern for many Model S owners and would be owners, the larger question becomes: After nine months, and multiple software updates,why can't Tesla fix this known issue? Tesla has recognized the issue and said a fix would come, yet the latest fix is only a tiny improvement — and the problem remains unsolved. Is Tesla stumped? Can the issue be fixed?"
The Military

Military Robots Expected To Outnumber Troops By 2023 177

Lucas123 writes "Autonomous robots programmed to scan city streets with thermal imaging and robotic equipment carriers created to aid in transporting ammunition and other supplies will likely outnumber U.S. troops in 10 years, according to robotic researchers and U.S. military officials. 5D Robotics, Northrop Grumman Corp., QinetiQ, HDT Robotics and other companies demonstrated a wide array of autonomous robots during a display at Ft. Benning in Georgia last month. The companies are already gaining traction in the military. For example, British military forces, use QinetiQ's 10-pound Dragon Runner robot, which can be carried in a backpack and then tossed into a building or a cave to capture and relay surveillance video. 'Robots allow [soldiers] to be more lethal and engaged in their surroundings,' said Lt. Col. Willie Smith, chief of Unmanned Ground Vehicles at Fort Benning, Ga. 'I think there's more work to be done but I'm expecting we'll get there.'"

Comment Re:Mountain bike in the city, for my safety's sake (Score 1) 356

I encourage everyone to ride a mountain bike if you plan on bike on a road with a lot of traffic and potholes!

I read the thread of replies about where you live. Anywhere with that many potholes--and/or if you like to take off-road excursions on a whim--it sounds like a mountain bike is just great for you! On the other hand, for anyone who rides on roads with a lot of traffic (or not) with relatively good road surfaces, I would strongly discourage them from riding a mountain bike. Get a bike that's designed for what you're doing. Mountain bikes are designed for rough- and off-road conditions. They have fat, knobby tires and low gearing, and

  • 1. Fat, low-pressure tires make for a much harder (more difficult) ride--if you're in it purely for the workout, that's great. Otherwise, you're liable to get discouraged and think biking's not for you because it just takes too much effort to get to work and back. (on the other hand, it may result in a more comfortable ride if you don't care about effort).
  • 2. As mentioned elsewhere, knobby tires provide less traction (and probably more rolling friction) on normal road surfaces--more dangerous when you need to brake in a hurry, as you often do in [sub]urban environments.
  • 3. Low gearing means your legs have to spin around a lot faster to go the same speed as a comparable road bike.

I'm not saying the average rider needs a race bike. Au contraire... if you're riding as a commuter or just "around town", getting a (generally expensive) road bike is just as naïve as getting a mountain bike that you'll never take off-road. For the average commuter in relatively flat [sub]urban environment, I recommend a 3- to 8-speed bike (gearing in the rear hub; eliminates all the complication and maintenance of a derailleur setup) with relatively narrow tires... and a comfortable seat. Myself, my normal commuter bike is an old (~1980) Viscount, single-speed (not a fixie, thanks!) with high-gearing (52/16) because I like to go relatively fast. When I'm riding with my family, I ride an old Schwinn 10-speed.

Communications

Mini Drone Detects Breathing and Motion 86

garymortimer writes "The Phoenix 40-A mini-UAV system is capable of performing dual functions as a motion detector as well as probing for breathing of a hiding person in a compound. The mini-UAV can be remotely controlled at long standoff distances from ground or an airborne asset. In addition to the programmed, GPS-guided multi-waypoint visits, the integrated video cameras allow for day and night landing and monitoring of a premises under surveillance for enhanced situational awareness."
Graphics

64-Bit Flash Player For Linux Finally In Alpha 172

Luchio writes "Finally, a little bit of respect from Adobe with this alpha release of the Adobe Flash Player 10 that was made available for all Linux 64-bit enthusiasts! As noted, 'this is a prerelease version,' so handle with care. Just remove any existing Flash player and extract the new .so file in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins (or /usr/lib/opera/plugins)."
Television

Submission + - Comcast rebranded as Xfinity (boston.com)

artemis writes: Comcast is making efforts to repair and restore its former glory by the act of transformation. step 1: changing brand name to Xfinity. I hope the step 2,which is the actual change process...as in quality and customer service-wise,happens soon.

Submission + - Adobe trys to slow down HTML5 3

Dupple writes: Whilst publicly supporting HTML5 and 'canvas', Adobe has put a block in place with the W3C...

Anything to keep Flash alive. A clear indication (if another was needed) that Adobe cares little for open standards (apart from psd) or user experiance.

http://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1265967771&count=1

Submission + - Why We Need Ogg Theora, Not H.264 for HTML 5 (kulbertis.org)

benkulbertis writes: We need to use Ogg as the web standard, if we do we will end up being a lot better off in the future. The priority for the web should be the open and free exchange of information, not XBox support. Using H.264 is a step sideways, not forward.
Communications

Yale Switching To Gmail, Not Without Opposition 439

PwnSnake writes "While it makes sense for small (and large) corporations to move to Gmail, something seems amiss when a top private university decides to hand everything over to Google. Although most in that community seem to welcome the change, several organizations on campus have joined forces to call for a transparent process and get students and faculty thinking about the downsides of the switch. The problem is choice (users can already forward mail to Gmail; it doesn't make sense to force that option and not have a backup or opt-out mail server)."

Comment Article is wrong: Japanese DID attack US mainland (Score 5, Informative) 239

Although they may be talking specifically about this class of submarine and sub-launched aircraft, the Japanese did attack the US mainland, both with sub-mounted artillery, and sub-launched aircraft.

And yes the aircraft were recoverable by the sub crew: they were seaplanes, and would be picked up by a crane aboard the sub.

You can read a summary of US-mainland attacks here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on_United_States_territory_in_North_America_during_World_War_II#Japanese_assaults

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