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Submission + - Elon Musk's Growing Empire Fueled by Government Subsidies

theodp writes: By the Los Angeles Times' reckoning, Elon Musk's Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support. The figure compiled by The Times, explains reporter Jerry Hirsch, comprises a variety of government incentives, including grants, tax breaks, factory construction, discounted loans and environmental credits that Tesla can sell. It also includes tax credits and rebates to buyers of solar panels and electric cars. "He definitely goes where there is government money," said an equity research analyst. "Musk and his companies' investors enjoy most of the financial upside of the government support, while taxpayers shoulder the cost," Hirsch adds. "The payoff for the public would come in the form of major pollution reductions, but only if solar panels and electric cars break through as viable mass-market products. For now, both remain niche products for mostly well-heeled customers." And as Musk moves into a new industry — battery-based home energy storage — Hirsch notes Tesla has already secured a commitment of $126 million in California subsidies to companies developing energy storage technology.

Submission + - Scientists Study Crime in Progress in a VR Simulated Environment

HughPickens.com writes: Claire Nee writes in the NYT that for psychologists, it’s best to observe actual behavior, in real time, and afterward interview research participants. Yet for obvious ethical and safety reasons, it’s almost never possible to observe a crime as it happens. Now psychologists have devised a simulated environment that can be navigated using a mouse or a game controller. and had willing, experienced ex-burglars to commit a mock burglary in it. Ex-burglars approached the task in a dramatically different way from a comparison group of postgraduate students, of a similar age as our experienced ex-burglars. Burglars entered and exited the house at the rear, while students, unaware of the cover that the side and rear of the house afforded, entered at the exposed front. Burglars spent significantly more time in areas of the house with high-value items and navigated it much more systematically than the students did. They also showed greater discernment, by stealing fewer but more valuable items. Most important, all participants burgled the real and the simulated houses almost identically (PDF). We concluded that using simulations can be a robust way to study crime, and in studying it this way, we will not be limited to just burglary. "A better understanding of criminal behavior will help us reduce opportunities for crime in our neighborhoods," concludes Nee. "By knowing what the burglar is looking for — what signals wealth, occupancy, ease of access and security in properties — we can make adjustments in awareness and protection."

Submission + - _STARCODER: the first mmo game teaching kids how to code (kickstarter.com) 3

jdnyc___ writes: Coding is one of the most valuable job skills a student can learn. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to develop: too often, computer programming is taught in a highly theoretical and (frankly) boring manner. Educators like us are always trying to create innovative new approaches to the topic.

That’s why we created _STARCODER: the first massively multiplayer online game that teaches kids to code.

When students log in to the game, they immediately see their friends' space ships moving around in the digital world and the cool ways that they have been customized with their own code.

We have had some of our students start to play competitively with each other online using _STARCODER and they really loved the experience.

Students craft creative JavaScript codes on the fly to increase the power of their space ships and get advantages over the other team.

We are in the process of setting up leagues in major cities which will start next school year.

_STARCODER is currently in beta and we are asking for your support to:

1. Upgrade to a more powerful server to enhance the students' game play experience

2. Complete a tablet version of the game which is more appealing to elementary students

The campaign is over 53% funded with 17 days left to go.

Would you help support the project to make the competitive coding leagues a huge success next year?

Even $1 helps us out by pushing us up in the campaign-metric algorithms and helping other parents and schools around the world find us!

It would be a huge help if you could share the kickstarter link with your facebook network or like our facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Winto...

It would be an honor if you could join us as we put this plan into action!

Sincere thanks,

Jon

Businesses

Steve Albini: The Music Industry Is a Parasite -- and Copyright Is Dead 189

journovampire sends word of another thought-provoking rant from Steve Albini (mentioned here last a few years back for his paean to the beauty of analog tape for recording): The veteran producer addressed an audience in Barcelona on Saturday: "The old copyright model – the person who creates something owns it and anyone else that wants to use it or see it has to pay them – has expired."

Comment what I use portable usb power for (Score 1) 133

I have a rechargeable battery bank, a bank that uses 4xAA drycells, and a few 12v-powered usb sources. The drycell one stays in my globebox with some AAs, as it can be "recharged" on short notice with a trip to any store. The rechargeable one is in my center console, to be grabbed if I need to recharge my phone. That one also has a simple little bright white LED light on it and makes a nice impromptu flashlight. (IMHO every battery bank should have this feature, look for it if you are shopping around, it also has a charge level indicator and can be switched off without unplugging the device, but alas only one USB port)

On the floor is one 7 port power station, that can supply two 2amp and 5 1amp ports off the truck's 12v power, good for rapid-charging high-demand things like tablets or other banks. Its daily duty is to power my GPS, a pair of USB speakers on my dash, and keep my iphone charged. Most of the "high power usb chargers" are garbage and a waste of money. This one's actually designed for it and speced to do the job. (http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Hubs/7-Port-Dedicated-USB-Charging-Station~ST7CU35122)

I know several people that have those cheap usb-personal-fans and use a bank to run them, they keep them in their purse and pull them out when they're somewhere hot and want to cool off.

I'm also ordering two DC-DC converters shortly, one that steps down and one that steps up. It occurs to me that I can use the step-up to generate 12v etc from a 5v USB source, which may come in handy.

Submission + - Windows 10 RTM in 6 weeks (arstechnica.com)

Billly Gates writes: Arstechnica has the scoop on a new build with less flat icons and a confirmation of a mid July release date. While Microsoft is in a hurry to fix the damage by the Windows 8 versions of its operating system the question next is if it is ready for prime time? On Neowin a list of problems are already mentioned by MS and its users with this latest release including wifi and sound not working without a reboot and users complaining about tiles and apps not working in the new start menu. Also the new Microsoft browser EDGE/aka Spartan will be shipping without plugin support at RTM which could damage its reputation as an IE killer as one of the disadvantages of IE compared to Firefox or Chrome was the lack of real browser extensions. Also this new build takes away color from the titlebars similiar to Office 2013 which bothers some users as well. What is not known is if Microsoft plans to have OEMs sell new computers with Windows 10 in the middle of July? Or will this mean OEM's will get the official version for testing and deployment in the middle of July too while Microsoft fixes the bugs for the next 1 — 3 months before it comes standard on all new pcs?

Comment Re:Go for it (Score 1) 43

It's not an "idea", it is genetics that you are intolerant of. And the bigotry is based on intolerance against specific genetics. And boo on you if you don't like it, that's just the way it is. Analysis and reason is fruitless when confronted with tribalism and instinct. Just not worth my time. Besides, I am more easily humored by watching you play dumb.

The unintentional hilarity of YOUR shiny, new, fascist tribalism is its nihilistic inability to perpetuate hooey, but not the tribe itself.
I denounce myself afresh as the bad guy for upholding the notion that Form Follows Function; Flees Foolishness; Flames Falsehood.

Google

Google Calendar Ends SMS Notifications 101

LuserOnFire writes: Google has sent out an email this morning that says in part: "Starting on June 27th, 2015, SMS notifications from Google Calendar will no longer be sent. SMS notifications launched before smartphones were available. Now, in a world with smartphones and notifications, you can get richer, more reliable experience on your mobile device, even offline." You can find the announcement on Google's support pages as well. "Richer" may be accurate, but I'm not sure that "more reliable" describes web-based notifications; that may be why the announcement linked does not apply for Google's "Work, Education and Government customers."

Submission + - Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerization? (npr.org)

turkeydance writes: What job is hardest for a robot to do? Mental health and substance abuse social workers (found under community and social services). This job has a 0.3 percent chance of being automated. That's because it's ranked high in cleverness, negotiation, and helping others. The job most likely to be done by a robot? Telemarketers. No surprise; it's already happening.

The researchers admit that these estimates are rough and likely to be wrong. But consider this a snapshot of what some smart people think the future might look like. If it says your job will likely be replaced by a machine, you've been warned.

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