DMV Allows Driverless Cars on Public Roads

Fully driverless cars will begin testing on California's public roads after the state approved rules allowing the operation of vehicles without humans at the wheel. Before the regulations approved Monday by the state's Office of Administrative Law, autonomous cars still needed an approved human at the wheel for testing. “This is a major step forward for autonomous technology in California,” California Department of Motor Vehicles Director Jean Shiomoto said in a statement.

The rules go live on April 2, allowing the state's DMV to begin issuing permits needed for fully driverless testing. But before in-development vehicles can test on the roads sans humans, carmarkers must meet a few requirements. Among them: Companies must inform local authorities in an area about any fully driverless testing, verify a process for law enforcement to communicate with vehicles and provide a "law enforcement interaction plan" for police and the autonomous rides. Collision reports must be submitted to the DMV within 10 days, too, the department said. Fifty carmakers currently hold permits to test autonomous vehicles in the state with approved drivers still inside the car. Those permits will still be offered, alongside driverless testing and deployment permits.



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Russia Hacks Olympics

Russian military spies hacked several hundred computers used by authorities at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, according to U.S. intelligence. They did so while trying to make it appear as though the intrusion was conducted by North Korea, what is known as a “false-flag” operation, said two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.


Officials in PyeongChang acknowledged that the Games were hit by a cyberattack during the Feb. 9 Opening Ceremonies but had refused to confirm whether Russia was responsible. That evening there were disruptions to the Internet, broadcast systems and the Olympics website. Many attendees were unable to print their tickets for the ceremony, resulting in empty seats. Analysts surmise the disruption was retaliation against the International Olympic Committee for banning the Russian team from the Winter Games due to doping violations.

Click here for the video.

Credits:
https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/25/russia-hacked-olympics-and-tried-to-frame-north-korea/

Pyeongchang Olympics The Most Tech Ever

Spectators at the Pyeongchang Olympics aren't just getting to watch the ultimate showdown in winter sports. They're also witnessing the most high-tech Olympic Games in history. Major companies like Samsung and Intel are showing off their technology, including self-driving cars, virtual-reality viewing stations and super-fast video streaming. At the helm of it all is 5G, the wireless network technology that mobile carriers around the world have been racing to adopt.

Intel is hoping to dazzle fans with the technology by offering new ways of watching Olympic athletes. It's set up 5G stations to track cross-country skiers, deployed dozens of cameras inside an ice arena, and made this the first Winter Olympics to be broadcast live in virtual reality. "We're getting closer and closer to the athletes," said Rob Topol, general manager of Intel's 5G business. "Viewers can control the time, target, even the angle of what they're viewing." The frustration of watching a delayed live-stream should be gone, too. 5G networks are still being developed, but the technology is expected to eventually be at least 10 times faster than 4G.

Pyeongchang is the most high-tech Olympics we've seen yet from CNBC.


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Something or Nothing: Calorie Counting Fork

Anyone who has struggled to be healthy is intimately familiar with the counting game. They've counted calories, carbs, Weight Watchers points, their heart rate, steps and miles. Now a new smart eating utensil called the HapiFork will help them count bites during meals, and maybe shame them into eating slower and potentially losing weight. Technology has made it easier to track the minutiae of everyday life, with smartphones, pedometers and small sensors that can fit in wearable devices such as wrist bands. The self-tracking hobby has blossomed into the quantified-self movement, which reaches far beyond the health conscious.

In the case of the HapiFork, what can be improved is how fast people eat. It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it is full and that it's time to stop eating, putting speedy eaters at risk for being overeaters. The HapiFork team says there are many potential health benefits to eating slower, including decreasing acid reflux, obesity and diabetes. The fork can be used to passively track eating habits and automatically sync that information, including duration of meals and frequency of forkfuls, with a smartphone. The HapiFork mobile app will also include a coaching program and tools to connect with friends and family.



Credits:
https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/tech/innovation/hapifork-smart-fork/index.html

Robo Dog Opens Doors for its Robo Friend

Today Boston Dynamics posted a video of its SpotMini quadruped robot extending an arm out of its head to turn a handle. With the dexterity of a tray-carrying butler, it uses its foot to prop the door ajar, then elbows it all the way open for its (armless) SpotMini friend to walk through. At face value, it's a pretty incredible feat. But it's also an interesting twist in the quest to make robots that get along with a world built by and for humans. Maybe the Darpa Robotics Challenge had it wrong with humanoids after all, and the best robots for rescue operations will look nothing like humans—or any other animal, for that matter.

At the moment, humanoids are great at two things: Looking like humans and falling on their faces, as the Robotics Challenge showed so well. (Though one particular humanoid, Cassie, does much better in part because it doesn't yet have an upper body to worry about yet.) Walking on two legs is a monumental challenge; that’s why Chimp, a vaguely humanoid machine that rolled on treads instead of lumbering on two legs, did so well. And also why SpotMini has such promise. Humanoids should be inherently well-equipped to explore environments built for humans, what with all the stairs and such. But SpotMini has a leg up (sorry) here because four limbs are inherently more stable than two. Not to mention that it’s more energy efficient if you don’t have to constantly balance your machine to not fall on its face.



Credits:
https://www.wired.com/story/watch-boston-dynamics-spotmini-robot-open-a-door/

Skiing Robots at the Olympics

It is not only human athletes who have been aiming to go “Faster, Higher, Stronger” in South Korea. Alongside the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the nation has hosted a very different skiing competition – for robots. The Welli Hilli ski resort in Hoenseong, an hour’s drive west of Pyeongchang, was the location for the Ski Robot Challenge. There was a US $10,000 prize on offer to the eight teams competing from universities, institutes and private companies.

While their human counterparts were suffering the frustration of seeing events cancelled in Pyeongchang because of adverse weather, their mechanical counterparts had no such problem. “I heard the Alpine skiing has been postponed again due to wind conditions. That’s a pity,” said Lee Sok-min, a member of the winning TAEKWAN-V team. “Robots are doing fine here.” The rules of the contest stipulated that the robots had to be more than 50cm in height, be able to stand on their own two legs, have independent power systems, use skis and poles, and have joints that allowed them to bend their knees and elbows. Sensors enabled the robots to detect the position of flags on the course, which they had to steer themselves through. Points were awarded for the number of flagpoles avoided, and the fastest time to the finish line. Not that all of the robots reached it.

Credits:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/13/robot-skiers-tackle-olympic-challenge-in-south-korea

"Digital Fireworks" or Drones Dazzle Olympic Ceremonies

Imagine fireworks that you can control through the air. That's the basic idea of Intel's Shooting Star drones, which are starting to change the game when it comes to spectacular light shows. For their latest outing, the diminutive aircraft were shown forming airborne snowboarders and iconic rings for the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Intel's Shooting Star drones first arrived on the scene in early 2016, and since then they've gone from strength to strength. After initially claiming a Guinness World Record for the most drones in flight simultaneously with a fleet of 100, Intel soon followed that with a 500-strong effort and took its high-flying robots to Disney World for some Christmas-themed spectacles.

There is a little public relations trickery at play here, with Intel not making it all that clear that the flight shown during the televised opening ceremony actually took place in December. And broadcasters like NBC are playing along and Intel itself is celebrating the feat on Twitter. Timing aside, the flight really is quite incredible, and is the most impressive example yet of how the Shooting Star drones can provide event organizers with new means of creating awe-inspiring sky shows. Equipped with LEDs, they weigh only 700 g (24.7 oz) apiece, and as we can see in the following video, can be programmed to follow intricate flight paths to form tight-knit and incredible shifting patterns in the sky.



Credits:
https://newatlas.com/intel-winter-olympics-drones/53355/

1000 Danes Charged with Child Pornography

In Denmark, two 15 year old engaged in sexual activity. A video was made of that event, and another teenage boy acquired that video. This boy tried to blackmail the girl video by requesting a naked photo of the girl or he'd release the video publicly. The girl refused and the blackmailer then shared the video with others using Facebook messenger. Facebook investigators discovered the video and the age of the teenagers. Facebook contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who in turn contacted Danish officials. Danish National Police notified 1,004 individuals that they face preliminary charges of child pornography. According to Danish police, “Many had no intention to distribute child pornography, but objectively speaking, that’s what they’ve done.” All but eight of the accused are under the age of 25, and 80% of them are male.

With the cell phone cameras being ubiquitous, teens "sexting" has become a bigger problem. A high school senior in North Carolina was facing adult felony child pornography for texting images of his girlfriend. 100 high school students in Colorado were charged, but not prosecuted for sharing inappropriate images of teenagers. Denmark has attempted to address this issue by creating a campaign against cyberbullying and discussing the ramifications of sharing sexual images without consent. A prosecutor in this case said, “Four years ago, I would have felt sorry for them. Back then you could have argued that they were not aware of that it was illegal, but today they know.” A different official said, "It’s sad that they become hostages in this, but at the same time they’ve committed a crime with a heavy impact on the victims.”

Credits:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/world/europe/denmark-child-pornography-video.html

Elon Musk Launches his Car Into Space

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful launch system on Earth, roared into the sky on Tuesday afternoon atop a pillar of smoke. The rocket's three reusable boosters lifted the vehicle skyward, ultimately helping send Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster on a journey toward Mars orbit. Musk, SpaceX's founder, was worried that his experimental 23-story rocket might explode with the force of 4 million pounds' worth of TNT. But Falcon Heavy did not meet that fate and successfully cleared Launchpad 39A here at Kennedy Space Center.

The rocket's two side boosters landed safely on the ground after launch on Tuesday. The central booster was supposed to land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, but it instead missed the ship and hit the water at a speed of 300 mph, Musk told reporters during a press conference after the launch. The booster didn't have enough propellant, he said, and its crash took out two propellers on the drone ship while showering the deck with shrapnel. After the launch, Musk said in a tweet that the upper stage — the part of the rocket carrying the car and its dummy driver, called Starman — successfully completed its burn to swing between Mars and Earth. "Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt," Musk said, posting a photo of the orbital with his tweet.


Credits:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/06/technology/future/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-mainbar/index.html

Intel's version of Google Glass

The most important parts of Intel’s new Vaunt smart glasses are the pieces that were left out. There is no camera to creep people out, no button to push, no gesture area to swipe, no glowing LCD screen, no weird arm floating in front of the lens, no speaker, and no microphone (for now). From the outside, the Vaunt glasses look just like eyeglasses. When you’re wearing them, you see a stream of information on what looks like a screen — but it’s actually being projected onto your retina. The prototypes are virtually indistinguishable from regular glasses. They come in several styles, work with prescriptions, and can be worn comfortably all day. Apart from a tiny red glimmer that’s occasionally visible on the right lens, people around you might not even know you’re wearing smart glasses.

Like Google Glass did five years ago, Vaunt will launch an “early access program” for developers later this year. But Intel’s goals are different than Google’s. Instead of trying to convince us we could change our lives for a head-worn display, Intel is trying to change the head-worn display to fit our lives. Google Glass gave head-worn displays a bad reputation. HoloLens is aiming for a full, high-end AR experience that literally puts a Windows PC on your head. Magic Leap puts an entire computer on your hip, plus its headset is a set of goggles that look like they belong in a Vin Diesel movie. We live in a world where our watches have LTE and our phones can turn our faces into bouncing cartoon characters in real time. You’d expect a successful pair of smart glasses to provide similar wonders.

Credits:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16966530/intel-vaunt-smart-glasses-announced-ar-video

High Tech Door Peep Hole

A new product from security camera maker Ezviz will get to know your friends and family. The Lookout Smart Door Viewer costs $230. Ezviz makes affordable home security products. We first tested the Ezviz Mini, a $70 720-pixel HD camera with night vision, motion detection and local and cloud storage. At the time, the Mini was one of the most budget-friendly HD cameras we had seen.

What makes the system more interesting than the usual smart entry solution is how it takes advantage of facial recognition. Using the EZVIZ app, homeowners can opt to create a gallery of trusted people who can gain access to the home. It does this by utilizing facial recognition technology to identify the person at the door automatically, allowing the homeowner to act as they see fit to allow entry. However, the system does not include any smart lock component – meaning you’ll still have to answer the door yourself. It’s more about allowing you to see who’s at the door, then respond. But the Lookout Smart Door Viewer does offer an adjustable microphone, loudspeaker and chime to make it a smart video doorbell.



Credits:
https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/09/ezvizs-lookout-smart-door-viewer-turns-a-peephole-into-a-smart-video-doorbell/