Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

BMW Further Embraces Making Basic Features A Costly Subscription Service – now it’s remote starting

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last year BMW took ample heat for its plans to turn heated seats into a costly $18 per month subscription in numerous countries. As we noted at the time, BMW is already including the hardware in new cars and adjusting the sale price accordingly. So it’s effectively charging users a new, recurring fee to enable Read more about BMW Further Embraces Making Basic Features A Costly Subscription Service – now it’s remote starting[…]

Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value”, Pfizer-BioNTech thinks so too

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Moderna is considering raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent—from $26 per dose to between $110 and $130 per dose—according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Ars has reached out to Moderna for comment but has not yet received a response. The plan, if realized, would match the previously Read more about Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value”, Pfizer-BioNTech thinks so too[…]

Kids Are Being Exposed to Lead From Aircraft at Airports using AVGAS

Posted on by Robin Edgar

People living near airports that service piston-engine aircraft are disproportionately exposed to lead, a dangerous neurotoxin. A study published this week in PNAS Nexus found that children living near the Reid-Hillview Airport in Santa Clara County, California, had elevated blood lead levels. They’ve pinpointed piston-engine aircrafts at airports like the one in California as a Read more about Kids Are Being Exposed to Lead From Aircraft at Airports using AVGAS[…]

Corrupt NOTAM database file and backup led to the FAA ground stoppage.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Officials are still trying to figure out exactly what led to the Federal Aviation Administration system outage on Wednesday but have traced it to a corrupt file, which was first reported by CNN. In a statement late Wednesday, the FAA said it was continuing to investigate the outage and “take all needed steps to prevent Read more about Corrupt NOTAM database file and backup led to the FAA ground stoppage.[…]

3 Native Americans ask Apache foundation to change name, hope to cancel a culture bigger than Native Americans have ever been

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Natives in Tech, a US-based non-profit organization, has called upon the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) to change its name, out of respect for indigenous American peoples and to live up to its own code of conduct. In a blog post, Natives in Tech members Adam Recvlohe, Holly Grimm, and Desiree Kane have accused the ASF Read more about 3 Native Americans ask Apache foundation to change name, hope to cancel a culture bigger than Native Americans have ever been[…]

CNET Is Quietly Publishing Articles Generated By AI, curated by journalists

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] CNET, a massively popular tech news outlet, has been quietly employing the help of “automation technology” — a stylistic euphemism for AI — on a new wave of financial explainer articles, seemingly starting around November of last year. In the absence of any formal announcement or coverage, it appears that this was first spotted Read more about CNET Is Quietly Publishing Articles Generated By AI, curated by journalists[…]

Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audi

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Thursday, Microsoft researchers announced a new text-to-speech AI model called VALL-E that can closely simulate a person’s voice when given a three-second audio sample. Once it learns a specific voice, VALL-E can synthesize audio of that person saying anything—and do it in a way that attempts to preserve the speaker’s emotional tone. Further Reading Read more about Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audi[…]

Astronomers Find the Edge of Our Galaxy, 1.04m light years away

Posted on by Robin Edgar

(Andromeda Galaxy) In the quest to find the outer limits of our galaxy, astronomers have discovered over 200 stars that form the Milky Way’s edge, the most distant of which is over one million light-years away—nearly halfway to the Andromeda galaxy. The 208 stars the researchers identified are known as RR Lyrae stars, which are Read more about Astronomers Find the Edge of Our Galaxy, 1.04m light years away[…]

Hydrogen masers (jets at 500 km/s) reveal new secrets of a massive star

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While using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the masers around oddball star MWC 349A scientists discovered something unexpected: a previously unseen jet of material launching from the star’s gas disk at impossibly high speeds. What’s more, they believe the jet is caused by strong magnetic forces surrounding the star. The discovery could Read more about Hydrogen masers (jets at 500 km/s) reveal new secrets of a massive star[…]

Citizen’s volunteer ‘safety’ app accidentally doxxes singer Billie Eilish

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Citizen, the provocative crime-reporting app formerly known as Vigilante, is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. On Thursday evening, it doxxed singer Billie Eilish, publishing her address to thousands of people after an alleged burglary at her home. Shortly after the break-in, the app notified users of a break-in in Los Angeles’ Read more about Citizen’s volunteer ‘safety’ app accidentally doxxes singer Billie Eilish[…]

Google will pay $9.5 million to settle Washington DC AG’s location-tracking lawsuit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google has agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused the company earlier this year of “deceiving users and invading their privacy.” Google has also agreed to change some of its practices, primarily concerning how it informs users about collecting, storing and using their Read more about Google will pay $9.5 million to settle Washington DC AG’s location-tracking lawsuit[…]

Spy Tech Palantir’s Covid-era UK health contract extended without public consultation or competition

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NHS England has extended its contract with US spy-tech biz Palantir for the system built at the height of the pandemic to give it time to resolve the twice-delayed procurement of a data platform to support health service reorganization and tackle the massive care backlog. The contract has already been subject to the threat of Read more about Spy Tech Palantir’s Covid-era UK health contract extended without public consultation or competition[…]

LG allows you to choose picture mode by comparing pictures

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Setting up a new TV? Ask any videophile or home theater nerd and they’ll probably tell you to set your picture mode to the movie/cinema option (or whatever’s closest on your particular TV) and leave it there. Traditionally, this has been the most color accurate option and leans toward a pleasant, warm white balance instead Read more about LG allows you to choose picture mode by comparing pictures[…]

Apple Faces French $8.5M Fine For Illegal Data Harvesting

Posted on by Robin Edgar

France’s data protection authority, CNIL, fined Apple €8 million (about $8.5 million) Wednesday for illegally harvesting iPhone owners’ data for targeted ads without proper consent. […] The French fine, though, is the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that Apple may not be the privacy guardian angel it makes itself out to be. Read more about Apple Faces French $8.5M Fine For Illegal Data Harvesting[…]

Asus brings glasses-free 3D to OLED laptops | Ars Technica

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Asus announced an upcoming feature that allows users to view and work with content in 3D without wearing 3D glasses. Similar technology has been used in a small number of laptops and displays before, but Asus is incorporating the feature for the first time in OLED laptop screens. Combined with high refresh rates, unique input Read more about Asus brings glasses-free 3D to OLED laptops | Ars Technica[…]

US Moves To Bar Noncompete Agreements in Labor Contracts

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In a far-reaching move that could raise wages and increase competition among businesses, the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday unveiled a rule that would block companies from limiting their employees’ ability to work for a rival. From a report: The proposed rule would ban provisions of labor contracts known as noncompete agreements, which prevent workers Read more about US Moves To Bar Noncompete Agreements in Labor Contracts[…]

200 Million Twitter Users’ Data for Sale on the Dark Web for $2

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[…] The short version of the latest drama is this: data stolen from Twitter more than a year ago found its way onto a major dark web marketplace this week. The asking price? The crypto equivalent of $2. In other words, it’s basically being given away for free. The hacker who posted the data haul, Read more about 200 Million Twitter Users’ Data for Sale on the Dark Web for $2[…]

Californian law forces salary disclosure for companies > 15 people – fair and inclusive

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The law affects every company with more than 15 employees looking to fill a job that could be performed from the state of California. It covers hourly and temporary work, all the way up to openings for highly paid technology executives. That means it’s now possible to know the salaries top tech companies pay their Read more about Californian law forces salary disclosure for companies > 15 people – fair and inclusive[…]

Connected car security is very poor – fortunately they do actually take it seriously, fix bugs quickly

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Multiple bugs affecting millions of vehicles from almost all major car brands could allow miscreants to perform any manner of mischief — in some cases including full takeovers —  by exploiting vulnerabilities in the vehicles’ telematic systems, automotive APIs and supporting infrastructure, according to security researchers. Specifically, the vulnerabilities affect Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Read more about Connected car security is very poor – fortunately they do actually take it seriously, fix bugs quickly[…]

We Found Subscription Menus in Our BMW Test Car. And other models have different subscriptions. WTF BMW?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] We were recently playing in the menus of a 2023 BMW X1 when we came across a group of screens offering exactly that sort of subscription. BMW TeleService and Remote Software Upgrade showed a message that read Activated, while BMW Drive Recorder had options to subscribe for one month, one year, three years, or Read more about We Found Subscription Menus in Our BMW Test Car. And other models have different subscriptions. WTF BMW?[…]

John Deere signs right to repair agreement

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In what looks like a victory for farmers in the United States, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has struck a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with equipment vendor John Deere regarding the repairability of its machines. As farming has become more technology-driven, Deere has increasingly injected software into its products with all of its tractors Read more about John Deere signs right to repair agreement[…]

DoNotPay Offers $1M for Its AI to Argue Before Supreme Court

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[…] “DoNotPay will pay any lawyer or person $1,000,000 with an upcoming case in front of the United States Supreme Court to wear AirPods and let our robot lawyer argue the case by repeating exactly what it says,” Browder wrote on Twitter on Sunday night. “[W]e are making this serious offer, contingent on us coming Read more about DoNotPay Offers $1M for Its AI to Argue Before Supreme Court[…]

Meet GPTZero: The AI-Powered AI Plagiarism detection Program

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Edward Tian, a college student studying computer science and journalism at Princeton University, recently created an app called GPTZero to help detect whether the text was written by AI or a human. The motivation behind the app was to help combat increasing AI plagiarism. […] To analyze text, GPTZero uses metrics such as perplexity Read more about Meet GPTZero: The AI-Powered AI Plagiarism detection Program[…]

LastPass is being sued following major cyberattack

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[…] According to the class action complaint filed in a Massachusetts court, names, usernames, billing addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and even the IP addresses used to access the service were all made available to wrongdoers. The final straw in the hat could have been the leak of customers’ unencrypted vault data, which includes all Read more about LastPass is being sued following major cyberattack[…]

Startup Claims It’s Sending Sulfur Into the Atmosphere to Fight Climate Change

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A startup says it has begun releasing sulfur particles into Earth’s atmosphere, in a controversial attempt to combat climate change by deflecting sunlight. Make Sunsets, a company that sells carbon offset “cooling credits” for $10 each, is banking on solar geoengineering to cool down the planet and fill its coffers. The startup claims it has Read more about Startup Claims It’s Sending Sulfur Into the Atmosphere to Fight Climate Change[…]