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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 12 declined, 12 accepted (24 total, 50.00% accepted)

Submission + - SPAM: Scientists Find First Solid Evidence Of The Ozone Hole 'Healing'

kheldan writes: Researchers say they have found the first clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal.

The scientists said that in September 2015 the hole was around 4 million sq km smaller than it was in the year 2000 — an area roughly the size of India.

The gains have been credited to the long term phasing out of ozone-destroying chemicals.

Link to Original Source

Submission + - Robot Pizza Is About To Become A Thing (bloomberg.com)

kheldan writes: Do you want robots making your pizza? Alex Garden, co-founder and executive chairman of Mountain View startup Zume, is betting you will. Garden, the former president of Zynga Studios, was previously a general manager of Microsoft's Xbox Live. Garden launched Zume in stealth mode last June, when he began quietly recruiting engineers under a pseudonym and building his patented trucks in an unmarked Mountain View garage. In September, he brought on Julia Collins, a 37-year-old restaurant veteran. She became chief executive officer and a co-founder. Collins was previously the vice president and CEO of Harlem Jazz Enterprises, the holding company for Minton's, a historic Harlem eatery.

Submission + - Passenger-carrying drone gets symbolic approval for test flights in Nevada (theverge.com)

kheldan writes:

Chinese company Ehang caught our eye at CES earlier year, with the firm unveiling an autonomous quadcopter prototype it said was capable of ferrying human passengers without a pilot. We were wary of these unproven claims, but Ehang is obviously forging ahead with the vehicle. The company recently reached an agreement with Nevada's governor's office to develop the Ehang 184 at the state's FAA-approved UAV test site. However, this news should be taken with a pinch of salt: the Ehang 184 still isn't approved for testing by the FAA itself, and the company has yet to show a fully working prototype.

Submitter Kheldan adds this commentary:

This should put you drone advocates' and self-driving car advocates' faith in your ideals to the test: Would you step into one of these and let it fly you away somewhere? I wouldn't!


Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Why Do You Want A 'Smart TV'?

kheldan writes: Yesterday We read about how Samsung is planning on 'upgrading' the firmware in their smart TVs so they will inject ads into your video streams. This raises the question yet again: Why do you even need a 'smart TV' in the first place? We live in an age where media-center computers and DVRs are ubiquitos, and all your TV really needs to be is a high-def monitor to connect to these devices. Even many smartphones have HDMI connectivity, and a Raspberry Pi is inexpensive and can play 1080 content at full framerate. None of these devices are terribly expensive anymore, and the price jump from a non-smart TV to a smart TV makes it difficult to justify the expense. Also, remember previous articles posted on the subject of surveillance many of these smart TVs have been found guilty of. So I put it to you, denizens of Slashdot: Why does anyone really want a 'smart TV'?

Submission + - New Bill Would Let Judges Order Tech Companies To Break Encryption (consumerist.com)

kheldan writes: Senators Richard Burr (NC) and Dianne Feinstein (CA) are expected to introduce a bill regarding phone encryption as soon as this week, according to Reuters. The draft text will give judges authority to order tech companies to help law enforcement when asked to — basically, it would be a newer piece of law to fall back on than the All Writs Act of 1789, which is the one that usually sees use for this sort of thing.

However, sources tell Reuters that the bill “does not spell out what companies might have to do or the circumstances under which they could be ordered to help,” and therefore really doesn’t necessarily change the underlying discussions at play, both in the tech world and in government. Nor does the bill specify penalties for failing to comply.

Submission + - AAA: 75% Of Drivers Say They Wouldn't Feel Safe In An Autonomous Vehicle

kheldan writes:

AAA's survey of 1,800 drivers found that 75% of drivers say they wouldn’t feel safe in a driverless vehicle. But it’s worthing nothing that 60% said they would like access to some kind of self-driving feature, like self-parking, lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, and other options the next time they buy a new car.

Read the full story at The Consumerist

Submission + - Surveillance Culture Brought To The Masses, Courtesy Of Verizon (consumerist.com)

kheldan writes: Verizon is now offering a way to secretly track your family members whereabouts and driving habits with your smartphone.

Do you have a teen driver in your household and want to know every time they get a little overzealous with the accelerator? Or maybe you’re pretty sure your spouse’s frequent trips to “the office” are not so innocent? If so, then an upcoming update for Verizon’s “hum” in-car smart device might be just what you’re looking for.

The new 'features' added will allow you to receive alerts if the target vehicle leaves a predetermined area, drives faster than a preset level, it's location, and keeps a history of all the above for later review.

Submission + - Senate Passes Bill Making Internet Tax Ban Permanent (consumerist.com)

kheldan writes: Nearly two decades ago, Congress passed the first Internet Tax Freedom Act, establishing that — with a handful of grandfathered exceptions — local, state, and federal governments couldn’t impose taxes on Internet access. Problem is, that law has had to be renewed over and over, each time with an expiration date. But today, the U.S. Senate finally passed a piece of legislation that would make the tax ban permanent.

Submission + - DMV Releases Draft Requirements for Public Deployment of Autonomous Vehicles

kheldan writes: The California DMV will be allowing so-called 'autonomous cars' on the roads — with some restrictions. Namely: There must be a licensed driver behind the wheel at all times, alert and ready to take over on a moments notice, who additionally will be requried to obtain special training in the operation of the 'autonomous' vehicle they'll be driving; there must be extensive certification of the vehicle itself, subject to a three-year 'deployment permit', and re-evaluation of the vehicles' performance after that time; and there must be proof from the manufacturer that the vehicle is safe from cyber-attack. Those are the highlights; the full text of the press release is here, on the Calfornia DMV website, and the DMV is encouraging the public to attend workshops in January to discuss the draft regulations.

Submission + - "Do Not Track" Bill Hopes To Let Consumers Just Say No To Online Tracking (consumerist.com) 1

kheldan writes: A newly introduced piece of federal legislation aims to give consumers more choices about when their browsing behavior is being tracked. Today, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Ed Markey (MA) are introducing the Do Not Track Online Act of 2015 [PDF file], which would direct the Federal Trade Commission to create new regulations “regarding the collection and use of personal information obtained by tracking the online activity of an individual.”

Submission + - FDA Approves Beginning Of Zombie Salmon Apocalypse (consumerist.com)

kheldan writes: Today in a historic decision, the FDA approved the marketing of genetically-engineered salmon for sale to to the general public, without any sort of labeling to indicate to consumers they've been genetically altered.

Though the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) gives the FDA the authority to require mandatory labeling of foods if there is a material difference between a GE product and its conventional counterpart, the agency says it is not requiring labeling of these GE fish “Because the data and information evaluated show that AquAdvantage Salmon is not materially different from other Atlantic salmon.”In this case, the GE salmon use an rDNA construct composed of the growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon under the control of a promoter from another type of fish called an “ocean pout.” According to the FDA, this tweak to the DNA allows the salmon to grow to market size faster than non-GE farm-raised salmon.

No word whether Umbrella Corporation plans on acquiring AquAdvantage in the near future or not.

Submission + - USEPA To Overhaul Emissions Testing In The Wake Of The Volkswagen Scandal (consumerist.com)

kheldan writes: From The Consumerist:

A week after ordering Volkswagen to recall 500,000 vehicles that contain “defeat devices” designed to cheat emissions tests, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would overhaul its compliance processes to ensure vehicles meet standards not only in controlled environments but in real-world driving conditions.

What may be the story-behind-the-story here, are the two Elephants in the Room: One, how many other automakers in the world have been 'gaming' the system like German automakers apparently have been all along, and Two, are these changes to the certification process at the USEPA going to 'trickle down' to the state and local levels, affecting routine emissions testing of individual vehicles?

Questions peripheral to these may include: How much is this going to affect new vehicle prices in the future, and how much is this going to affect the fair market value of used vehicles?

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