Tag: technology

‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

An anonymous reader writes: A new not-for-profit app, Be My Eyes, aims to help the visually-impaired by connecting them with volunteer users who can support them in their daily lives via live video calls. Once downloaded, Be My Eyes asks the user to identify as blind or sighted, to see if you require help or are offering it. When a blind person requests assistance the app scans the system for an available volunteer. The blind user connects with the volunteer over a video call and points to the item they would like described. Be My Eyes was created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a visually-impaired entrepreneur, at a startup event. Wiberg teamed up with Robocat, the Danish software studio behind Haze and Thermo, to make his vision a reality. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage  

There’s gold in them thar sewers —and silver and platinum and copper, too. A study by Arizona State University (ASU) researchers estimates there is $13 million worth of precious elements in the sewage produced by a million-person city every year. Never think of sewage as stinky worthless waste again. Read more…

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There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage  

Engineer Combines Xbox One, PS4 Into Epic ‘PlayBox’ Laptop

MojoKid writes We can finally stop arguing over which is the superior game console, the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Quite frankly, it’s a pointless debate, and it took a self-taught engineer to put the argument to rest, which he did by combining both game systems into a 22-inch laptop. Meet the “PlayBox, ” a gaming laptop that’s equal parts Xbox One and PS4 rolled into one. The PlayBox wins the argument because it allows you to play games on either system, and when it comes down to it, the ability to play games is all that matters. Built for a “specific customer, ” the owner of this prototype system needn’t worry about exclusives since he now has a system that can play them all, and do it while taking up no more space than a single console. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Engineer Combines Xbox One, PS4 Into Epic ‘PlayBox’ Laptop

Tiny Fanless Mini-PC Runs Linux Or Windows On Quad-core AMD SoC

DeviceGuru writes CompuLab has unveiled a tiny ‘Fitlet’ mini-PC that runs Linux or Windows on a dual- or quad-core 64-bit AMD x86 SoC (with integrated Radeon R3 or R2 GPU), clocked at up to 1.6GHz, and offering extensive I/O, along with modular internal expansion options. The rugged, reconfigurable 4.25 x 3.25 x 0.95 in. system will also form the basis of a pre-configured ‘MintBox Mini’ model, available in Q2 in partnership with the Linux Mint project. To put things in perspective, CompuLab says the Fitlet is three times smaller than the Celeron Intel NUC. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tiny Fanless Mini-PC Runs Linux Or Windows On Quad-core AMD SoC

Chilling Effects DMCA Archive Censors Itself

An anonymous reader sends this report from TorrentFreak: The much-praised Chilling Effects DMCA archive has taken an unprecedented step by censoring its own website. Facing criticism from copyright holders, the organization decided to wipe its presence from all popular search engines. A telling example of how pressure from rightsholders causes a chilling effect on free speech. … “After much internal discussion the Chilling Effects project recently made the decision to remove the site’s notice pages from search engines, ” Berkman Center project coordinator Adam Holland informs TF. “Our recent relaunch of the site has brought it a lot more attention, and as a result, we’re currently thinking through ways to better balance making this information available for valuable study, research, and journalism, while still addressing the concerns of people whose information appears in the database.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Chilling Effects DMCA Archive Censors Itself

3D Cameras Are About To Go Mainstream

An anonymous reader writes: Vox’s Timothy B. Lee reports that everyday imaging is about to take a big step forward as 3D photography finally makes it to prime time. Technological advances in 3D processing algorithms have accelerated at the same time the equipment for taking these shots has become significantly cheaper. Those facts combined mean that we’re going to be seeing 3D cameras become much more prevalent very quickly. “If things go according to Intel’s plan, within a few years all of our tablets and laptops, and perhaps even our smartphones, will have fancy 3D cameras instead of boring old 2D ones.” Throw in the fledgling industries of commercial camera drones and autonomous vehicles, and you have a lot of major companies throwing huge amounts of research money into making cheap 3D cameras work. “The result will be a proliferation of devices, from tablets to self-driving cars, that understand and interact with the world around them.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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3D Cameras Are About To Go Mainstream

USB 3.1 and Type-C: The only stuff at CES that everyone is going to use

I have a USB Type-C cable—yeah, the reversible one . I can’t connect it to anything I own yet, but it’s a real thing that’s in production and shipping to companies. Most of CES amounts to so much smoke and mirrors and vague hand-waving about the Future, but I can say with confidence that this little port is a thing that everyone reading this will start using in the next couple of years. I got the cable from the USB Implementers Forum as part of a general update on the state of both USB 3.1 and the new reversible Type-C connector. There wasn’t much information about either spec that we haven’t already heard, but the difference is that the connector and spec update are very close to being in our hands. Early adopters, and where we’ll see Type-C connectors Products using either the Type-C connector, the USB 3.1 spec, or both are already floating around CES—there’s the Nokia N1 Android tablet on the mobile side, and MSI’s new USB 3.1 laptop and motherboard on the PC side. By the end of the year, we expect to see more mainstream products taking up the standard as well. Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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USB 3.1 and Type-C: The only stuff at CES that everyone is going to use

TrackingPoint shows off the “Mile Maker,” a rifle with 1,800-yard range

LAS VEGAS, NEV.—In what’s becoming a yearly tradition for Ars, we met up with Austin-based TrackingPoint at CES to see what was new in the world of “Precision Guided Firearms”—the term the company uses to refer to its Linux-powered rifles. Last year, TrackingPoint had just taken the wraps off of its AR-15 PGF (which we got to shoot a few months later ), and this year we got to take a peek at a new prototype weapon that can accurately put rounds on targets up to a mile away—targets that can be moving up to 30 miles per hour. Dubbed the “Mile Maker,” the prototype was described by TrackingPoint representative Anson Gordon as “mostly” representative of the final product. The weapon at least for now is built around an enormous, enormously heavy, custom-milled steel barrel, which fires what TrackingPoint is calling “338TP”—a round somewhat similar to .338 Lapua Magnum but with some customized attributes. The company decided to continue on with their own cartridges for the longer-range rifle instead of moving up to a bigger round (like .50 BMG) because of the superior ballistics of the .338 bullet over the bigger .50 round. Lee Hutchinson TrackingPoint’s “Mile Maker” prototype. 7 more images in gallery Previously the longest range TrackingPoint’s weapons could accurately hit was about 1,200 yards with the company’s XM1 bolt-action rifle; the “Mile Maker” adds 600 effective yards onto the range of the XM1 by using different rounds, a longer barrel, and most importantly, updated software in the computerized tracking scope. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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TrackingPoint shows off the “Mile Maker,” a rifle with 1,800-yard range

Intel’s “Compute Stick” is a full Windows or Linux PC in an HDMI dongle

Andrew Cunningham The Intel Compute Stick is a full PC in an HDMI dongle. 3 more images in gallery LAS VEGAS, NEVADA—Set-top boxes and streaming sticks are decent, cost-effective ways to turn the TV you already have into a “smart TV,” but Intel has an intriguing new option for those of you who want something a little more versatile. The Intel Compute Stick is a full Bay Trail PC complete with a USB port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a micro SD expansion slot, and you’ll be able to get them with both Windows 8.1 and Linux. We got a chance to see and hold the stick at CES this week. It’s just a bit bigger and bulkier than simple sticks like the Chromecast or the Fire TV stick, but they’re all basically comparable in size. The stick is big enough to block one or more neighboring HDMI ports depending on how your TV or monitor is laid out, but Intel says it will bundle a short extension cable you can use to keep this from happening. The stick has a number of potential applications—in a business, you could hook it up to any HDMI monitor and create a makeshift all-in-one PC, or hook it up to a TV for use as a digital signage kiosk. At home, plugging it into your TV would give you something less than a full HTPC, but something much more capable than a basic streaming stick or even most streaming set-top boxes. The biggest problem for now is that the stick cannot be powered over HDMI—you’ll need a powered USB port or a USB power adapter if you want to be able to turn the thing on. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Intel’s “Compute Stick” is a full Windows or Linux PC in an HDMI dongle

Ford Touts Self-driving Car, Launches Global Mobility Experiments

An anonymous reader writes in with news about Ford’s latest automobile technology unveiled at CES. “Ford showcased the semi-autonomous vehicles it has on the road at CES and gave attendees a glimpse into fully autonomous vehicles now in development. The carmaker also announced a series of experiments with drivers around the globe to test its vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity, autonomous cars and the use of big data collected from vehicles. The company said a fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle is undergoing road testing now. The vehicle relies on the same semi-autonomous technology used in Ford vehicles today, while adding four LiDAR (light, radar) sensors to generate a real-time 3D map of the surrounding environment.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ford Touts Self-driving Car, Launches Global Mobility Experiments