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In a move to counter rival space-faring company SpaceX, Blue Origin has announced it’s plan to have tourists in space “within 18 months,” according to a statement sent out by the company.
by Eben Griger In a move to counter rival space-faring company SpaceX, Blue Origin has announced it’s plan to have tourists in space “within 18 months,” according to a statement sent out by the company. It followed up by specifying that the people sent to space will in fact be everyday citizens, not trained astronauts. Whether that means true space flight or not (Blue Origin’s specialty is low-orbit, near weightless flight) remains to be seen. This announcement came from Thursday’s meeting of the National Space Council, an organizations reinstated by Trump after 20 years of inactivity. Blue Origin was started and is currently backed by Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who funnels roughly $1 billion into the company a year, Reuters reports. While this plan (assuming it’s the low-orbit flight) isn’t as ambitious as SpaceX’s plan to colonize Mars by 2024, it still marks an interesting shift to more extraterrestrial developments. Sources: Reuters, CNN, Futurism, Inverse Image: NASA, Space Flight Insider
When it comes to farming, the names you associate with it probably aren’t Arkelstorp, Mastholmen or Uppfatta, but thanks to a successful test run at the London Design Festival, they might be soon.
Since 2006, developers have been able to publish their games on Xbox consoles through the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace. Between 2006 and 2013 (when the development tool was retired), over 3,300 games have been published, from the Minecraft-esque Fortresscraft to Avatar Golf, the most popular in the lineup of games using the player’s avatar as a playable character.
Non-Americans looking to enter the United States may be handing over their social media passwords to US officials at the border, because the Department of Homeland Security is planning to actively monitor yet another aspect of their lives.
Earlier this week we reported that Verizon will be cutting 8,500 rural customers from its service in October. Verizon has now backed off that promise, in very small, specific cases.
The album that thrust the grunge movement into the spotlight, Nevermind, came out 26 years ago this week. Along with the Live in New York performance, Nevermind stands as one of Nirvana’s most popular albums, giving us tracks like “Come as You Are” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
by Eben Griger The album that thrust the grunge movement into the spotlight, Nevermind, came out 26 years ago this week. Along with the Live in New York performance, Nevermind stands as one of Nirvana’s most popular albums, giving us tracks like "Come as You Are" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Along with albums like Pearl Jam’s Ten and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger (which both released in 91; it was a good year), Nevermind helped shape 90s culture into what we all think of today. The flannel, the long hair, the boots that are so expensive there’s no way anyone in a garage band could afford them - you know the look. While Nirvana didn’t exactly start the grunge scene (we have bands like Mudhoney and the Melvins to thank for that), Nevermind is regarded by many as “the album that killed hair metal,” and a similar move hasn’t been seen in the music industry since. Imagine a new album coming out and within the week anyone who liked Taylor Swift is considered out of touch (she’s #1 on iTunes; shut up. I know what kids are in to these days). Other releases in 1991 were Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, and 2Pac’s debut album 2Pacalypse Now. If you ever wanted to pick out a year where the trend changed from “one, maybe two big genres” to “everyone has their own taste,” this is it. Image: Creative Commons
In October, Verizon will be ending the cell service of almost 8,500 customers across 13 states (including Indiana), according to corporate communications director Kelly Crummey. Verizon cites customers using too much data, making their accounts unprofitable which, while horrible for those affected, is within the rights of the company to do. But here’s the kicker: some of these customers had unlimited data plans.
by Eben Griger In October, Verizon will be ending the cell service of almost 8,500 customers across 13 states (including Indiana), according to corporate communications director Kelly Crummey. Verizon cites customers using too much data, making their accounts unprofitable which, while horrible for those affected, is within the rights of the company to do. But here's the kicker: some of these customers had unlimited data plans. So we have people paying to have all the data they could need getting cut off for using too much data. They weren't exactly told nicely either. “During a recent review of customer accounts, we discovered you are using a significant amount of data while roaming off the Verizon Wireless network… While we appreciate you choosing Verizon, after October 17th, 2017, we will no longer offer service for the numbers listed above since your primary place of use is outside the Verizon service area.” According to Verizon, some customers were using over a terabyte a month (a pretty common cut-off for “unlimited” data plans). When one family looked into it though, they found they were using just 50 gigabytes across four lines. As of now, no other company has come out in favor of or against Verizon for this move. If it continues, it sets a precedent for businesses to act in interest of profit rather than the consumers. Source: Gizmodo, ars Technica Image: Creative Commons
by Eben Griger Plans for the future of Apple iPhones got released a bit ahead of schedule and were probably a bit more in-depth than the tech-giant would have wanted. Certain blogs found code for the new Apple operating system, “iOS 11,” digging into the OS’s files and doing some serious detective work to figure out what consumers should be expecting in Apple’s reveal this week. Here’s what we know: iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are coming. Both support a faster processor, wireless charging, and a glass-backed body rather than a metal one. The 8 Plus sports a processor a bit faster than its little brother, 3 gigabytes of RAM as opposed to the 8’s 2 gb. The biggest reveal takes a page from Microsoft’s playbook, calling itself the iPhone X (still waiting on the Zune X announcement, any day now). Like the 8 Plus, the X has 3gb of RAM, edge-to-edge OLED display and facial recognition software. The X is also reported to have a six-core processor, four high-performance cores, and two low-power cores. For reference, the 7 and 7 Plus had four cores, two high-performance and two low-power. The icing on this powerful cake is the new “Animoji” feature. Using the facial recognition, you will be able to create “custom animated messages that use your voice and facial expressions” according to one of the blogs. This level of information doesn’t bode well for Apple or its employees. CEO Tim Cook promised secrecy to be a priority back in 2012 when he took the position. Apple went so far as to hire former NSA employees to help stop and catch leakers. As for the employees, those who found the OS code were tipped off by a source within Apple, the BBC confirmed. The OS had previously been hidden behind “long, unguessable URLs on Apple’s servers.” Sources: ars Technica, BBC Image: Creative Commons
The United Nations has called for all drones worldwide to be entered into a database. This registry was originally thought up by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the organization in charge of all the UN's aviation legislature. Ideally, they want this database to help format some sort of rules for civilian unmanned aircraft as well as let any country access the list of who's got drones in case of an emergency.
by Eben Griger The United Nations has called for all drones worldwide to be entered into a database. This registry was originally thought up by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the organization in charge of all the UN’s aviation legislature. Ideally, they want this database to help format some sort of rules for civilian unmanned aircraft as well as let any country access the list of who’s got drones in case of an emergency. This database won’t come easy. In the US alone, drone enthusiasts put up such a fight against the Federal Aviation Admission that the FAA eventually repealed it’s law requiring drones to be entered in a national registry, after only a year and a half. In addition, while the ICAO sponsored the registry idea, they didn’t explicitly say who would be running it. It would make sense for the ICAO to take on the responsibility, but the UN hasn’t officially tasked anyone with it. These issues aside, the UN is still faced with one big problem in implementing the database: they don’t have the power to enforce it. While countries tend to agree with things sponsored by the UN (like it’s declaration of human rights or economic sanctions), there’s nothing to stop countries from completely ignoring the things they don’t like. So is a worldwide drone database likely? Not really. The amount of backlash in the US alone would probably kill it. But between the FAA regulations, China’s drone registration process, and the EU-backed European Aviation Safety Agency, the skies seem to be pretty safe for now. Source(s): Engadget Image(s): Smartdrone
by Eben Griger Apple has been infamously tough when it comes to repairs for their devices. User repairs often void the warranty or in extreme cases, brick the device. There’s seemingly been no rhyme or reason to the issues Apple’s “Geniuses” choose to fix. Until now. Sources at Business Insider have gotten their hands on Apple’s “Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide,” a 22-page document detailing just what can and cannot be fixed under warranty. So far, nothing unearthed is illegal, but it’s not exactly pro-consumer either. Under Apple’s warranty service, they will fix front camera misalignment, dead pixels, and cracks, the last two having some pretty significant asterisks with them. Dead pixels and under-screen debris will only fall under warranty if you report them as the issue. Genius sees it while performing a different repair? Tough luck, they have no obligation to fix it. For cracks, as long as it is a single, hairline crack, then it’ll be fixed (because iPhones never crack badly, right?). Things like spider web cracks, liquid damage, and issues with the speakers fall under the “Out-Of-Warranty” service, meaning they’ll fix it, but it won’t be cheap.What Apple won’t service is pretty par-for-the-course. Intentional tampering, third-party batteries, and devices being “forcibly separated into multiple pieces” are all going to result in a new device if anything happens. Overall, this leak isn’t shocking and most likely won’t cause Apple to dramatically change their policies, on the off chance even a slight change is made. Who it does help is the consumers, giving them the information to make better decisions when it comes to repairs and phone choice. Sources: Engadget, Mashable, Apple Images: Apple, Engadget
by Eben Griger Uber announced this week that they will be ending their practice of tracking your phone after your ride ends. So in other news, Uber was tracking you after your ride ends. Okay, so this wasn’t exactly a secret. The story originally debuted in 2016, but aside from privacy advocates it never really gained much traction. Also you’re only tracked for five minutes, which isn’t huge for an app that already has your end destination. But it’s the principle of the tracking that’s important here. The app doesn’t ask you to opt in to what they call “post trip collection,” and the only way to opt out is to turn off location services (which kind of defeats the purpose of Uber). That, paired with Uber’s below-average track record of handling that data puts users in a pretty startling situation. Unlike with AccuWeather, there is no record of this data being sold, but that doesn’t mean it’s not being shared. Uber gives the data to Google, who gives it to Hotbox, who now knows where a bunch of college student are going to be and start passing out flyers there to drum up some business. This is purely hypothetical and relatively harmless, but it’s done without the users’ knowledge and done so automatically. So without getting too Orwellian (more than this already is), this issue really falls on the users. Do we want more convenience at the cost of privacy or safety at the cost of what makes many apps run so smoothly? Sources: cnet, TechCrunch, ZDNet Image: TechCrunch
Internet. According to the United Nations, it’s a human right. ISPs (Internet Service Providers), however, don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get access out to everyone. According to the FCC, about 19 million people in the United States do not have access to broadband internet. Places like Kentucky and Maryland have stopped waiting for ISPs to give them access and have started taking matters into their own hands.
by Eben Griger Internet. According to the United Nations, it’s a human right. ISPs (Internet Service Providers), however, don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get access out to everyone. According to the FCC, about 19 million people in the United States do not have access to broadband internet. Places like Kentucky and Maryland have stopped waiting for ISPs to give them access and have started taking matters into their own hands. In Kentucky plans to lay down fiberoptic cables across rural communities coupled with antennas that would provide wireless internet hubs are in the works, dubbed “Phase One” by planners. An application for a $1.5 million grant has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Community Connect program. In Maryland, residents are taking a different approach. While the mountains and trees of Appalachia prohibit a lot of construction, TV signals in the area go through almost uninhibited. Back in 2010 the prospect of converting unused channels to Wi-Fi signals was brought to the FCC, and now Maryland is looking to make use of that very concept. This method becomes particularly useful in mountainous regions, because TV waveforms do not need direct line-of-sight between tower and receiver to offer a signal. These new developments in internet access could mark a departure from traditional ISP service to a more free market, open access form of providing internet access. While providers like Comcast or Time Warner Cable might not be eager to fund the expansion of their services, start-ups and citizens are more than happy to fill in the gaps. Sources: Motherboard, The Verge, FCC, USDA, New York Times Image: Brooke Telecom
