Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 598
June 11, 2021
New Yorkers needing affordable internet will have to wait , Bryan Menegus
Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesInternet access is, according to New York’s Eastern District Judge Dennis R. Hurley, a “modern necessity.” Unfortunately, Judge Hurley wrote those words in an injunction, filed today, to stall a piece of progressive legislation which would have mandated affordable internet availability to all living in New York State — and which would have come into effect early next week.
The bill, known as the Affordable Broadband Act, would have required ISPs serving more than 20,000 households to offer two low-cost plans: one offering speeds of 25 Mbps down for no more than $15 per month, and another offering 200 Mbps down at no more than $20 monthly. It was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Cuomo back in April, and would have…
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Larry Page’s air taxi startup is buying former DJI rival 3D Robotics, Sean O’Kane
Image: 3D RoboticsKitty Hawk, the air taxi company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, is buying what’s left of one-time DJI competitor 3D Robotics. As part of the acquisition, 3D Robotics co-founder Chris Anderson will become Kitty Hawk’s chief operating officer.
The acquisition was first reported by Forbes, which published a detailed look at the current state of Kitty Hawk and its new focus on developing a remote-piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on Friday.
Anderson will serve under CEO Sebastian Thrun, a former Google executive who founded the company’s self-driving car project (before it became standalone company Waymo) and launched its famous “X” moonshot division.
Kitty Hawk is shifting its focus after recent…The post Larry Page’s air taxi startup is buying former DJI rival 3D Robotics, Sean O’Kane appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.
iOS 15 and macOS 12 take a small but significant step towards a password-less future, Jon Porter
In the future you’ll be able to sign up for a service without needing to create a password at all. | Image: AppleApple’s upcoming iOS 15 and macOS Monterey will preview a new feature called “Passkeys in iCloud Keychain,” which is an attempt to help replace passwords with a more secure login process. Instead of logging into an app or website using string of text, a WWDC presentation showed how you could instead use Face ID, Touch ID, or a security key, to gain access. The Passkeys are then synced across your Apple devices using iCloud.
Although passwords are currently the most popular way to secure accounts, they’re plagued with a host of problems. Passwords can be phished, forgotten, and they’re insecure if not used properly (think about the number of times you’ve been tempted to re-use one across multiple accounts). But Apple thinks its new…
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The podcasting hype house from hell, Ashley Carman
How China’s biggest audio platform funded one man’s frat boy dreams
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Elon Musk demos Cyberpunk 2077 on new Tesla infotainment system with ‘PS5-level performance’, Tom Warren
Elon Musk teased that Tesla’s new Model S Plaid would be capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 earlier this year, and he’s now demonstrated the car’s “PS5-level performance.” The refreshed Model S includes a new Tesla infotainment system, powered by AMD’s Ryzen processor and a discrete AMD RDNA 2 GPU.
“There’s never been a car that has state of the art computing technology, state of the art infotainment where this is literally at the level of a PlayStation 5,” said Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a demo event last night. “This is actual PlayStation 5-level performance… yes it can run Cyberpunk. It’s high frame rate, it will do 60fps with state of the art games.”
AMD revealed last week that it’s powering this new infotainment system in both the…
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The red PS5 controller is a different red to the red Xbox Series X controller, Sam Byford
While the PS5’s divisive two-tone design has led some to swap out large pieces of plastic for a more unified look, this month did at least see Sony release some official new color options for the excellent DualSense controller. There are now “cosmic red” and “midnight black” models that might appeal to you more than the black and white default.
The black controller doesn’t seem all that interesting, but as a fan of red objects I ordered the red one in to see how it looks in person. The color is actually quite unusual — Sony’s marketing info places the controller in front of a bright red nebula, in keeping with the “cosmic red” name, and it’s a pretty good match.
Basically, it’s a little pinker than you might expect, falling somewhere…
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Cyberpunk 2077 developer says its hacked data is circulating online,
Hacked data stolen from CD Projekt is circulating online, the company says. The studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 says it can not confirm the exact contents of the data being circulated, but believes it relates to its games, contractors, and both current and former employees. It also warned that the data may have been manipulated or tampered with.
The disclosure comes four months after the studio first announced that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack. It initially said hackers had managed to access “certain data” from the company. CD Projekt posted the ransom note it received in which the hackers claimed to have access to source code from its games including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and Gwent. The note also said the hacked data included details relating to its HR, accounting, and other internal operations.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Read more: https://t.co/qd6sc5VF3I pic.twitter.com/kKi1GkIaLO
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED)
The company said it would not give in to the hackers’ demands, and days later the attackers claimed to have sold the data online. However the nature of the sale, in which the hackers claimed to have found a buyer outside of a hacking forum auction, raised questions about whether they were able to find a buyer at all. Writing in a blog post, Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow said he thought it was “likely” that the hackers were just claiming to have found a buyer to “save face” after having failed to monetize the hack.
CD Projekt has previously admitted that hackers were able to encrypt some of its employee data on its network. But the company said its investigation had found no evidence that the data had been transferred out of the company’s systems.
The hack followed the troubled launch of the studio’s latest blockbuster title, Cyberpunk 2077. Although it sold well and was initially well-received by critics, players quickly discovered that the game was riddled with bugs, and almost unplayable on older consoles. The situation was so bad that the game was pulled from the PlayStation Store. As of this writing, it is yet to return.
CD Projekt says it’s continuing to work with law enforcement and outside experts as it responds to the hack, and said it is “committed and prepared” to take action against anyone sharing the stolen data.
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Cyberpunk 2077 developer says its hacked data is circulating online, Jon Porter
Image: CD Projekt RedHacked data stolen from CD Projekt is circulating online, the company says. The studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 says it can not confirm the exact contents of the data being circulated, but believes it relates to its games, contractors, and both current and former employees. It also warned that the data may have been manipulated or tampered with.
The disclosure comes four months after the studio first announced that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack. It initially said hackers had managed to access “certain data” from the company. CD Projekt posted the ransom note it received in which the hackers claimed to have access to source code from its games including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and Gwent. The note also…
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June 10, 2021
Tesla delivers the first 25 Model S Plaid sedans,
A lucky 25 customers received Tesla’s redesigned Model S “Plaid” at an event hosted by CEO Elon Musk in Fremont, California on Thursday night.
The Silicon Valley automaker has billed this new $130,000 version of the Model S — first announced in January and originally slated to ship in March — as the “quickest production vehicle ever made,” with the ability to go from 0-60mph in under 2 seconds. Its name is a reference to the unthinkable speed beyond “Ludicrous” in the comedy classic Spaceballs. It’s also expected to get around 390 miles of range. (Tesla is selling a less powerful version of the redesigned Model S with more range — 412 miles — that starts at just a hair under $80,000. Deliveries of those start later this year.)
Why so fast? “We’ve got to show that an electric car is the best car, hands down,” Musk said at Thursday night’s event. “It’s got to be clear [that] sustainable energy cars can be the fastest cars, the safest cars, [and] can be the most kick-ass cars in every way.”
“This car crushes,” he said.
On June 6, Musk announced Tesla had canceled the most expensive version of the new Model S, which was called Plaid Plus. That version, which had a starting price of around $150,000, was supposed to go 520 miles on a full battery. It was also supposed to be powered by the new 4680 lithium-ion battery cells that Tesla is developing. A redesigned Model X was also announced in January, but deliveries of that new SUV have been pushed back months, and Musk didn’t mention the updated SUV Thursday night.
Musk once shot down rumors of a Model S and Model X redesign in 2019, saying there was “no ‘refreshed’ Model X or Model S coming.” Instead, Musk said Tesla was always making minor improvements to both vehicles. But sales of both vehicles have stagnated in recent years as Tesla focused on the more affordable Model 3 sedan and Model Y compact SUV. The redesigned versions are a chance to boost sales of these older cars. The company seems confident enough in the new Model S Plaid that it raised the starting price by $10,000 earlier today.
Musk got deep into the weeds about Tesla’s “practically alien” engineering, but he was also light on details about execution. Musk said that Tesla plans to deliver “several hundred [Model S Plaids] per week soon,” and will “probably” ramp up to around 1,000 per week next quarter. But he made almost no mention of the Model X Plaid, the dual-motor “long range” Model S, and he didn’t expand on his reasoning for canceling the 520-mile Plaid Plus. Earlier this week, he simply told Electrek that “more range doesn’t really matter.”
“There are essentially zero trips above 400 miles where the driver doesn’t need to stop for restroom, food, coffee, etc. anyway,” he said.
The new Model S is the first major overhaul for the sedan since it launched in 2012 and set Tesla on its path to its current status as the world’s top electric vehicle company. The exterior design is largely unchanged (though it has a super low drag coefficient of 0.208) and the interior has received a big facelift.
The Model S now has a horizontal touchscreen like the one found in the Model 3 and Model Y, but with a bigger 17-inch version with smaller bezels. Unlike the Model 3 and Model Y, there’s a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. A third screen is found behind the center console for rear passengers. Tesla showed off a new UI for the screens on Thursday night, which features drag-and-drop elements and other refinements. Musk even capitulated to shouts from the crowd of fans at one point and agreed to finally add a waypoint feature to Tesla’s navigation system.
There are other upgrades, too, such as more room for rear passengers, as well as rear-seat wireless phone chargers. “The current Model S, the backseat is not amazing. But the new one — it’s actually a legit backseat,” Musk said.
The Model S Plaid has extremely powerful processing that can run AAA games on the car’s screens at 60 frames per second, in addition to powering all of the other services Tesla allows, such as Netflix, Spotify. “Really, it’s like a home theater experience,” Musk said.
Tesla has also changed a lot under the proverbial hood. The Model S Plaid is powered by a new tri-motor drivetrain that Tesla originally started developing for the forthcoming second-generation Roadster. (The company tested the Plaid powertrain in a Model S sedan at famous racetracks: Laguna Seca and the Nurburgring.) Those three motors collectively put down around 1,000 horsepower, and the car can reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour — though only when outfitted certain wheels and tires that won’t be available until later this year. “It hits you right in the limbic system,” Musk said.
Earlier Model S sedans weren’t exactly slow, but the new one will be more capable of repeating that performance thanks to some new tech Tesla developed. The company has been working on new heat pumps starting with the Model Y, and in the Model S Plaid Tesla says the pump improves cold-weather range by 30 percent and reduces the energy consumption of running the HVAC system by 50 percent. The radiator is also much bigger in order to help cool the battery pack during demanding drives. Tesla even developed new carbon-wrapped rotors in the electric motors that power the Plaid system in order to keep them from breaking apart at high RPM.
Repeating high performance runs was a tricky prospect in older Model S sedans, so much so that Porsche made sure to market the Taycan’s ability to make lots of fast runs without losing performance when that EV launched. All of those changes should help Tesla answer Porsche. Musk claims the new Model S will be safer than most other cars on the road based on Tesla’s internal data. The car has not yet been tested by safety regulators.
One possible hiccup in safety: the striking, U-shaped “yoke” steering wheel. It was reportedly a surprise to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. When Musk was asked by Joe Rogan in February whether he thought the new steering wheel was legal, the CEO said “they use a yoke in Formula One.”
“Yeah, but you’re not on the highway in a Formula One car,” Rogan responded. Musk answered that he believed Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system “is getting good enough that you won’t need to drive most of the time.”
Tesla not only changed up the steering wheel design, but it also got rid of all of the stalks on the steering column. There will be an option on the touchscreen to select drive modes, but Tesla sees that as a backup. Instead, the car will default to automatically shifting between park, reverse, and drive.
“I think, generally, all input is error,” Musk said Thursday night.
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Tesla delivers the first 25 Model S Plaid sedans, Sean O’Kane
A lucky 25 customers received Tesla’s redesigned Model S “Plaid” at an event hosted by CEO Elon Musk in Fremont, California on Thursday night.
The Silicon Valley automaker has billed this new $130,000 version of the Model S — first announced in January and originally slated to ship in March — as the “quickest production vehicle ever made,” with the ability to go from 0-60mph in under 2 seconds. Its name is a reference to the unthinkable speed beyond “Ludicrous” in the comedy classic Spaceballs. It’s also expected to get around 390 miles of range. (Tesla is selling a less powerful version of the redesigned Model S with more range — 412 miles — that starts at just a hair under $80,000. Deliveries of those start later this year.)
Why so…
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