The last mile issue has plagued ISPs since the advent of the Internet. While projects like Google Fiber can deliver massive bandwidth to your door, they require the installation of an entirely new network infrastructure. Not so with the new G.fast standard. It delivers fiber optic speeds over existing telephone lines. Read more…
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The Next Generation of DSL Can Pump 1Gbps Through Copper Phone Lines
cartechboy writes “The state of California will give Tesla Motors a $34.7 million tax break to expand the company’s production capacity for electric cars, state officials announced yesterday. Basically, Tesla won’t have to pay sales taxes on new manufacturing equipment worth up to $415 million. The added equipment will help Tesla more than double the number of Model S sedans it builds, as well as assemble more electric powertrains for other car makers. In addition to continued Model S production, Tesla plans to introduce the Model X electric crossover in late 2014, as well as a sub-$40, 000 car — tentatively called Model E — that could debut as soon as the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. It turns out California is one of the few states to tax the purchase of manufacturing equipment — but the state grants exemptions for ‘clean-tech’ companies.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Tesla Gets $34 Million Tax Break, Adds Capacity For 35,000 More Cars
Looks like Jeff Bezos’s new toy, The Washington Post, is the latest victim in the hacker war on newspapers . Company officials announced Wednesday that hackers had gained access to employees’ usernames and passwords, though it’s unclear how much data the company lost. Read more…
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Hackers Broke into the Washington Post for "a Few Days"
LG has just revealed its new flagship curved OLED screen—the largest one in existence—ahead of next January’s CES convention. Because why wouldn’t you you want 105 inches of curved OLED goodness? Oh right, you can’t afford it. Read more…
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LG’s 105-Inch Curved OLED Is Just Bonkers
JoeyRox writes “Target experienced a system-wide breach of credit card numbers over the Black Friday holiday shopping season. What’s unique about this massive breach is that it didn’t involve compromising a centralized data center or website but instead represented a distributed attack at individual Target stores across the country. Investigators believe customer account numbers were lifted via software installed on card readers at checkout.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Target Has Major Credit Card Breach
Apple has just announced that its new Mac Pro computer , featuring that signature ‘Darth Vader’ design, will be available for sale starting tomorrow, Thursday Dec. 19 beginning at $2,999. There’s another version with better specs for $3,999, and a number of custom order options that will vary the prices upwards from there. Orders kick off tomorrow online through Apple’s official web-based store, as well as in retail stores and at authorized resellers, according to Apple’s official announcement, so conceivably we could see the first customers actually take theirs home tomorrow, though it’s much more likely that orders will kick off first with stock arriving at locations gradually over the next few days. The $2,999 configuration of the Mac Pro features a 3.7GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, not one but two AMD FirePro D500 workstation GPUs with 2GB of dedicated RAM per unit, 12GB of system RAM and a 256 flash storage module. The $3,999 version boosts the processor to a 3.5GHz six-core version, provides 3GB of dedicated RAM to each of those workstation GPUs, 16GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. Custom configurations allow for 8- or 12-core processors, AMD FirePro D700 GPUs with 6GB of RAM, a maximum of 64GB of system memory and up to 1TB of flash storage. Apple first revealed the new Mac Pro back in June at its annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference. The sleek black cylindrical unity is assembled in the U.S., and features a design that maximizes cooling through a jet turbine-like system that funnels air through the top opening. It features an all-black aluminum enclosure, and comes in at under 10 inches tall. It dramatically reduces its size versus the previous version, and to do that, moves the modularity outside of the case thanks to six Thunderbolt 2 ports, as well as four USB 3.0 connections on the back. It can power up to three 4k displays, too, and also features two Gigabit Ethernet jacks and an HDMI 1.4 UltraHD out. At Apple’s special event in October, we got the chance to go hands-on with the new Mac Pro , and found it to be incredibly silent while working, despite the amount of power contained under the hood. It features a number of impressive details like the back panel that automatically lights up when it detects the computer is being moved to help you see which ports are which, especially handy if you’re working in a darkened studio. IMG_0117 IMG_0116 IMG_0115 IMG_0114 IMG_0126 IMG_0125 IMG_0124 IMG_0123 IMG_0122 IMG_0121 IMG_0120 IMG_0119 IMG_0118 IMG_0079 IMG_0077 IMG_0075 IMG_0074 IMG_0073 View Slideshow Previous Next Exit The price range of this new Mac Pro means that as its name implies, it’ll likely be most sought after by working pros who’ve been clinging to their aging silver aluminum models and holding out for something more, but it’s a device that shows Apple is still invested in its longtime bedrock of creative professionals. It’s also a demonstration device in terms of showcasing Apple’s hardware engineering, and a way for Apple to highlight its efforts to bring at least part of its manufacturing and assembly chain back home to the U.S. It’s definitely a machine we’re eager to test more extensively, and we’ll report back once we do.
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Apple’s New Mac Pro Goes On Sale Dec. 19 Online And In Retail Starting At $2,999
Remember that super-realistic telemarketing chatbot who denies she’s a robot ? Turns out “Samantha West” may not a robot after all — but the real story is just as bizarre. Read more…
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Robot-denying telemarketing robot may not actually be a robot
Well, you had to see this coming right? Someone was bound to connect an electronic cigarette sooner or later. Smokio’s bring its e-cigarette to market along with apps for iOS and Android, so you can track smoking, check the battery and regulate the amount of vapor you’re getting with each puff. Heck, you can even map all the places you’ve been smoking with the thing, and if you need some positive reinforcement, the app’ll show you the equivalent number of analog cigarettes you’d have smoked, had you not switched. Smokio is currently listed as “coming soon” on the company’s site, with no word on pricing. Apparently it’ll start shipping next month, after the completion of an upcoming Kickstarter campaign. There’s also a video below, if you can stand to hear someone use the term “vape” over and over again in a short period of time. Now if only would could figure out how bad those smartphones are . Filed under: Misc Comments Source: Smokio
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Smokio electronic cigarette may be the first time ‘smart’ and ‘smoking’ have been used in the same sentence
Well-sited wind power is cheaper than coal, but the good sites aren’t evenly distributed throughout the US. NREL/DOE Although there are some reasonable questions about the value of making long-term projections about energy use, doing so is one of the duties of the US’ Energy Information Agency. On Monday, the EIA released an overview of a report in which it attempts to track the trends in the energy economy of the US out to 2040. The report contains some eye-popping predictions, including a huge (but brief) boom in domestic oil production, a near balance between energy imports and exports, and a peak in carbon emissions that’s already in our past. Energy predictions are fraught with uncertainty, but this report contains more than most, since it’s predicated on having the entire period out to 2040 covered by legislation and rules that are already on the books. At the moment, that would include the expiration of a tax credit that promotes the installation of renewable power facilities, something that Congress has already renewed several times. Perhaps more significantly, the EPA’s rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from existing facilities are still being formulated but are likely to be in effect for most of the period under consideration. This probably explains why the EIA predicts that the slice of domestic energy production that comes from renewables only increases from 11 to 12 percent over the next 30 years. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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US report predicts CO2 emissions have peaked, energy independence near
An anonymous reader writes with news of the latest major fluctuation in the price people are willing to pay for Bitcoins. From the article: “China’s ban on its financial institutions handling bitcoin causes world’s largest exchange to cease trading, halving the value of the currency from $1, 000 to less than $500 in a matter of days. The country’s central bank took a hard line on Bitcoin in early December when it banned financial institutions from handling the decentralized crypto-currency, and as a result BTC China, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, has stopped accepting deposits from its users.” Just watch that line trend downward. Read more of this story at Slashdot.