Hasta La Gadget!

Without proper care batteries can wither and die like a delicate tulip roasting in the bright sun from an unseasonably warm spring day — a fact made exponentially worse when the battery in your $60k vehicle no longer functions properly.

With that in mind, Tesla just unveiled an impressive new warranty for the Model S battery pack. With the notable exception of a vehicle accident or a curious owner opening the battery pack, under this new plan, Tesla will replace the battery pack for any reason including user error and improper maintenance.

Best of all, users do not have to worry about servicing the vehicle on a regular basis. Annual checkups are now completely optional, meaning the warranty will still be valid if the owner never takes the vehicle in for service.

Tesla states in a blog post today that the company took great pains in developing a proper battery and therefore if something goes wrong, it’s on them, not the owner.

If needed, the battery will be replaced with a factory reconditioned unit with an energy capacity equal to or better than the original pack before the failure occurred.

Sounds like a fair deal for the pricey Model S.

Better yet, Tesla also announced a service loaner program in which if an owner’s Model S needs to go in for service, the company will deliver a fully decked out Model S as a loaner until the original is repaired. Take a shine to the fancy loaner? No worries, Tesla will let you keep the loaner and pay a price that is lower by 1% per month of age and $1 per mile. As Tesla notes in the announcement, this practice will ensure the loaner fleet is constantly refreshed with new vehicles rather than becoming the equivalent of a rental car fleet.

If nothing else, Tesla and its billionaire founder are becoming very good at playing the media game. This announcement comes just weeks after the company rolled out a new payment plan (complete with a very shady marketing plan) to make the Model S more affordable. And let’s not forget Musk just not-so-quietly put up $50k of his own cash to speed up construction on LA’s 405 freeway. Why pay for press when you can get it for free?

We’ve already seen a couple of teardowns of Samsung’s new GALAXY S 4, but that didn’t stop the folks at iFixit from dissecting the phone either. What they find on the inside isn’t too surprising: some plastic, some silicon, and a bit of electronics. However, the teardown reveals that Samsung made the GALAXY S 4 an easy repair.

The outside isn’t too different from the Galaxy S III, so we’re certainly curious as to what changed on the inside. The back cover pops off easily, allowing you to replace the battery with ease. Further done, though, are the main guys of the phone, which are separated with 11 screws that come right off.

The only real part that takes some difficulty is the display, which is glued into the frame, and the glass and LCD are fused together. Other than that, all of the internal components are modular, which means they can be replaced individually rather than having to replace the entire unit if one thing breaks.

iFixit gave the GALAXY S 4 a repairability score of 8 out of 10, which is pretty good for a flagship handset these days. They did note that while most of the parts are modular, they’re glued in place, which means you’ll need some tools in order to dig them out, but the only real concern with the phone was the fused-in display, which requires a complete disassembly to replace.

Samsung GALAXY S 4 innards spilled in iFixit teardown is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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The verdict’s still out on whether or not androids dream of electric sheep. But their ability to feel? Well, that’s about to approach levels of human sensitivity. We’re of course talking about the sense of touch, not emotions. And thanks to work out of Georgia Tech, tactile sensitivity for robotics, more secure e-signatures and general human-machine interaction is about to get a great ‘ol boost. Through the use of thousands of piezotronic transistors (i.e., grouped vertical zinc oxide nanowires) known as “taxels,” a three-person team led by Prof. Zhong Lin Wang has devised a way to translate motion into electronic signals. In other words, you’re looking at a future in which robotic hands interpret the nuances of a surface or gripped object akin to a human fingertip and artificial skin senses touch similar to the way tiny hairs on an arm do.

What’s more, the tech has use outside of robotics and can even be levereged for more secure e-signature verification based on speed and pressure of a user’s handwriting. And the best part? These sensors can be manufactured on transparent and flexible substrates like the one pictured above, which allows for various real-world applications — just use your imagination. Pretty soon, even robots will have the pleasure of enjoying the touch… the feel of cotton and maybe even hum that jingle to themselves, too.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: MIT Technology Review

Source: Georgia Tech, Science

(Credit: White House Tumblr)

The first post on the White House’s official new Tumblr boldly tackles a topic sure to inspire as much debate in certain circles as immigration reform, tax cuts, and gun control — the pronunciation of “GIF.”

I, being the softie that I am, have always pronounced the acronym for Graphical Interchange Format “jif” (it sounds more French), but the White House informs me I am wrong and may be declared an enemy of the state. “Hard G,” it declares on a graphic (or is that jraffic?) previewing the kinds of content we should expect to see on the new Tumblr — everything from behind-the-scenes photos to updates on policy and First Dog Bo (and, presumably, Bo’s take on policy updates).

And because a Tumblr without them wouldn’t be worth its weight in dancing cats, “yes, of course there will be GIFs,” it says.

While other Tumblr accounts, such as Organizing for Action, already rally the digital troops in favor of White House policy, this Tumblr will officially Tumble for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“We want to see what you have to share: Questions you have for the White House, stories of what a policy like immigration reform means … [Read more]

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This is a teen-written article from our friends at Teenink.com.

By Anonymous, Westport, CT

I liked being a mess. The desk that should have been clear so I could do my homework was always besieged with bowls of cereal and spoiled milk, old magazines, and Post-it notes I had forgotten to remember. My floor was a vacuum in itself, eating anything entering my room. It consumed sweaters, stuffed animals, socks, shoes. When I occasionally did laundry, I would dig up clothes I couldn’t even recall purchasing. My shelves overflowed with containers of little odds and ends: hair bands, chapstick, matches, loose mints, coins, earring backings. I couldn’t always see these things, but I knew that they were safe, nestled somewhere on a shelf. Like old friends in a phone book, I figured that someday I would find all the loose strings and tie them together.

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