Of the seven cities chosen as finalists for the US Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge, Columbus, Ohio may have seemed like the underdog. (It was the only finalist that has no rail system whatsoever.) But today, USDOT announced Columbus as the winner of over $50 million in cash that will transform its transportation system into one of the most forward-looking in the country. Read more…
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Why Columbus Just Won $140 Million to Become the Transportation City of the Future
An anonymous reader writes: Rolls-Royce has unveiled its first driverless vehicle dubbed The Vision Next 100. It is an autonomous vehicle aimed at “the most discerning and powerful patrons in the world.” There’s no steering wheel but there is a silk “throne” where passengers can sit and stare out the window. Rolls-Royce said the zero-emission model, codenamed 103EX, showed the company “rejects the notion of anonymous, utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility.” The owner will be “encircled by the most modern handcrafted fine-line Macassar wood panelling” as they gaze at a “generous” high-definition television display. In addition to the “finest one-off deep-pile ivory wool carpet, ” the vehicle features a virtual assistant named Eleanor, inspired after the actor Eleanor Thornton. It will be able to remind users about meetings; it will even bring the car around to the front of the owner’s house at the start of a journey. “As the Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 gracefully comes to a halt, something magnificent occurs, ” the company said. The glass roof rises to allow the occupant to stand, while a step emerges from below the running board and a red light is projected, “carpet-like” to announce their arrival. Rolls-Royce did not say how the vehicle would be powered or how much it costs, but it did say it’s due to hit the streets in the 2040s. You can watch a 360-degree video of the 103EX the company posted on YouTube. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Rolls-Royce Unveils First Driverless Car Complete With Silk ‘Throne’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: An unknown number of Lexus automobiles have seen their infotainment and navigation head units broken by a bug in an over-the-air software update from Lexus. The glitch, which was confirmed by a Lexus spokesperson, was delivered in a routine software update. In affected cars, it can cause the dashboard screen to spontaneously reset itself and, as a result, both the radio and navigation system can be unusable. It affects cars equipped with Lexus’ Enform system with navigation. Lexus social media channels have been flooded by frustrated owners, but the company has been unable to give any estimates for when the problem will be resolved. The company also couldn’t say whether customers will see the problem fix itself with another software update or if they will need to head into dealers to get it fixed. Some users on Twitter have reported success with disconnecting their battery for a few moments to force a reset of the system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Many Lexus Navigation Systems Bricked By Over-The-Air Software Update
The latest version of Android just hit a big, big milestone. Google’s early June developer stats have revealed that Marshmallow is now on just over 10 percent of Android devices, representing a huge jump from just 2.3 percent in March . Notably, only some of that surge can be credited to people upgrading from Lollipop. While the not-quite-current version’s adoption did go down (to 35.4 percent), the biggest declines in usage were for Jelly Bean and KitKat. In essence: many of those moving to Marshmallow may well have been replacing devices that were 3 or more years old. The timing isn’t coincidental, as you might have gathered. In the three months since we last looked back, numerous smartphone makers have delivered Marshmallow phones in force. The Galaxy S7 is the big kahuna, but you can also point to phones like the HTC 10 , LG G5 and Sony’s newer Xperias as factors. If you bought a brand new device this spring, especially if it was reasonably high-end, it might have been hard to avoid Marshmallow. To us, the big unknown is how well Marshmallow will fare by the time its successor rolls around in a few months, around Marshmallow’s first anniversary. Lollipop took a year and a half to become the dominant Android flavor. Although Marshmallow isn’t necessarily going to repeat history, its year-one figures should give you a good idea as to whether or not it’s doing as well as its predecessor. Source: Android Developers
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Marshmallow is now on 10 percent of Android devices
ComiXology, Amazon’s online comic book service, unveiled a new unlimited content subscription option on Tuesday. The $6 per month ComiXology Unlimited plan gives subscribers unfettered access to the service’s entire archive, which includes titles from Image, Dark Horse, IDW and a bunch more — basically every notable publisher outside of Marvel and DC. ComiXology will continue to sell individual issues from the Big Two, it just won’t offer them on the unlimited plan. Via: Android Central Source: Comixology
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ComiXology Unlimited offers all of the comics for $6 a month
As part of the social network’s wider push into live video , Facebook is expanding beyond on-the-ground journalism and in-car Star Wars toy reviews . TechCrunch reports Facebook Live will now also allow for 24-hour, nonstop streaming broadcasts. The new feature is an upgrade from the 90-minute limit previously imposed on streams using Facebook’s Live API , but it comes with the drawback of not allowing for archiving or rewind streams to play back later. Which is unfortunate, considering the Facebook Live team just rolled out a feature to jump to the best bits based on reactions and comments. For now, however, the endless feeds seem to be mostly taking the place of the once-ubiquitous livecams like Explore.org’s Eagle Cam . On top of the continuous streaming capability, Facebook also debuted a Live Video feature which TechCrunch calls “geogating” that allows producers to make a video available to users in a specific location — which could come in handy for sporting events with limited broadcasting rights. And speaking of sports-friendly features, Facebook recently rolled out multi-camera support and the ability to add on-screen graphics, so it’s only a matter of time before someone creates the first Facebook-only 24-hour live news channel.
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Facebook Live adds nonstop, 24-hour video
An astute PC technician is supposed to report any illegal content they see while fixing a machine, but one employee of Best Buy’s Geek Squad might have gone too far. The defense in a child pornography case alleges that the FBI paid Geek Squad agent Justin Meade to search customers’ computers for illegal material, bypassing the warrant the FBI would need to conduct its own searches. A secret informant file supposedly shows that Meade was considered a source for child porn investigations between 2009 and 2012, leading to the bust in question. Attorneys for the accused, Dr. Mark Rettenmaier, want the evidence tossed out as a result. Both the FBI and Meade deny that there were any orders to conduct searches. The agent says he was only following Geek Squad’s reporting policy, which also forbids payments from law enforcement. However, the FBI also acknowledges that it paid Meade $500 for an unmentioned reason — the question is whether or not this was an after-the-fact reward or an incentive. It’s far from certain that the accusation will stick. The defense could have valid concerns that the FBI violated a constitutional right… or it could be blowing smoke to distract from damning evidence. Either way, this isn’t going to quiet fears (however overblown) that law enforcement might use device repair shops as fishing nets for crooks. Source: LA Times
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Geek Squad employee allegedly searched PCs for the FBI
An anonymous reader writes:Certified ethical hackers at Offensi.com identified a bug allowing remote code execution on one of United Airlines’ sites, and submitted their findings to the airline’s “bug bounty” program. After a fix was placed into production, their team was awarded 1, 000, 000 Mileage Plus air miles, which they say was accompanied by an email informing them that the IRS would consider their award as $20, 000 of taxable income. “If after evaluating the taxable amount you choose not to accept your award, you are also able to donate your award to charity, ” the e-mail explained. The hackers ultimately chose to distribute their air miles among three charities — the Ronald McDonald house, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Casa de Esperanza de los Ninos Organization. Another security researcher complained in November that United failed to close a serious vulnerability he’d identified for almost six months. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Ethical Hackers Donate 1,000,000 Air Miles To Charity
When doctors draw blood for analysis, it’s vital that the sample either be immediately examined or refrigerated. That’s because the proteins which indicate various diseases will either be destroyed by enzymes in the blood or deformed by ambient heat. Either way, the sample quickly becomes useless if you leave it sitting out. However a team of researchers from Tufts University have developed a new way to store samples without having to put them on ice by using silkworm cocoons . The system works in a manner similar to conventional dried blood spot collection — wherein a drop of blood is deposited onto a piece of cardboard and allowed to dry. The Tufts method, however, relies on powdered silk and a separate silk-based solution. Mixing these two items with a sample of blood and allowing the result to dry preserved more viable blood proteins than both the normal drying or refrigeration methods. The team published its findings in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. The technology itself is still very much in its preliminary development stages and won’t be showing up in your doctor’s office in the foreseeable future. Source: STAT News
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Researchers are using silk cocoons to store blood samples
Back in March, Microsoft started testing a version of its new Edge browser on Windows 10 with support for extensions. Now, one of the most-requested features is covered with the introduction of AdBlock and AdBlock Plus extensions for Edge. The feature list appears to be mostly intact from its Chrome and Firefox iterations, with the ability to block varying levels of ads or whitelist certain sites (like… Engadget.com for example). AdBlock for Edge https://t.co/9VC1sGE3bk Adblock Plus for Edge https://t.co/MRSvQZoxlW — WalkingCat (@h0x0d) May 6, 2016 Not everyone uses extensions for their browsing experience, but for those of us who rely on them every day, it’s impossible to consider switching to a browser without a healthy library of optional add-ons. You’ll need to be in the preview program to test out the extension-enabled browser, and if you are, just check the video below to find out how to install them. Via: Walking Cat (Twitter) Source: AdBlock (Windows Store) , AdBlock Plus (Windows Store)
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AdBlock and AdBlock Plus are available for Microsoft Edge