May 22
Ford wants this creepy robot to bring its autonomous deliveries to your door
Posted in: Today's Chili
May 22
May 22
Facial recognition is kind of at an awkward phase right now. While there is no doubt a lot of use for the technology, such as identifying criminals who are on the run, not many are receptive to the idea that they might be walking around and being recognized by security cameras without their consent or knowledge.
After all, even if one has nothing to hide, we should all be afforded some modicum of privacy, right? This is one of the reasons why the state of California’s Senate is considering a legislation that would ban the use of facial recognition software used by body cams by the police. This is because it has been found that the current iteration of the software has been quite inaccurate at identifying suspects, potentially leading to false arrests.
For example, when the software was tested, the system “falsely identified 28 sitting members of Congress as people in a mug shot database, with members of color disproportionately misidentified.” It has also been criticized for not identifying women and younger people properly.
According to Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco who introduced the measure earlier this year, “Without my bill, face recognition technology can subject law-abiding citizens to perpetual police line-ups, as their every movement is tracked without consent. Its use, if left unchecked, undermines public trust in government institutions and unduly intrudes on one’s constitutional right to privacy.”
In the meantime, there was an incident over in London where a man was arrested while trying to avoid facial recognition cameras.
California Considers Facial Recognition Ban On Police Body Cams , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 22
Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy Home smart speaker. However, it wasn’t too long after the launch that we heard that Samsung could actually have another smart speaker in the works, a smaller version of the Galaxy Home known as the Galaxy Home Mini. Given that Amazon and Google have smaller versions of their speakers, such as the Echo Dot and the Home Mini, this news hardly came as a surprise.
It turns out that the rumors could be true because, in a report from CNET, they have discovered that there is an FCC filing for a device known as the Galaxy Home Mini. Described as an “AI speaker”, the filing also reveals that it is compatible on Wi-Fi b/g/n networks and also uses Bluetooth 4.2.
Unfortunately, apart from the listing, not much else is known about the speaker. However, if we had to venture a guess, chances are it will be largely similar to the Galaxy Home, except smaller. The smaller nature of the speaker also means that it will probably be used mostly for its digital assistant services.
As we said, we’ve seen this approach by Amazon and Google, and even Apple was rumored to launch a HomePod Mini, so chances of us being surprised are a bit low. In any case, we’ll have to wait and see when the device will be launched, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information.
Samsung Galaxy Home Mini Revealed In FCC Filing , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 22
Chevrolet’s New Safety Feature Stops Teens From Driving Until Their Seat Belts Are Worn
Posted in: Today's ChiliOne of the things that they teach in driving school is that whenever you get into the car, one of the first things you should do is wear your seat belt. However, all of us are probably guilty of not doing that at some point during our driving careers, but Chevrolet is hoping to crack down on such bad habits.
Dubbed the “Buckle to Drive” system, this is one of the new safety features that Chevrolet will be introducing to its cars as part of its Teen Driver mode. This means that the car will not let its driver shift the gear from Park to Drive until their seat belts have been worn. Given that this is part of the Teen Driver mode, this is mostly aimed at teens, although this doesn’t mean that adults should act recklessly either.
This feature is expected to be a standard feature that will be part of the company’s 2020 Chevrolet Traverse, Malibu and Colorado cars. According to Tricia Morrow, Chevrolet safety engineer, “Buckle to Drive is Chevrolet’s latest feature designed to encourage young drivers to develop safe driving habits right from the start. Buckle to Drive is embedded in Chevrolet’s Teen Driver system and is aimed at helping remind teens to buckle up every time they get behind the wheel.”
Chevrolet also shared some statistics to backup its new feature, such as how motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the US, and how in 2017 alone, 14,955 lives were estimated to have been saved thanks to the use of seat belts.
Chevrolet’s New Safety Feature Stops Teens From Driving Until Their Seat Belts Are Worn , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 22
The delivery of our mail and packages have come a long way from back in the day, and while the logistics used by delivery companies has improved leaps and bounds, they are still mostly reliant on humans to do the driving and the delivery. However, USPS is hoping to improve on their efficiency and have announced plans to test self-driving mail trucks.
This will be done in partnership with a company called TuSimple that specializes in self-driving trucks. According to the announcement, the test will involve a series of self-driving trucks that will be driving for 22 hours each, which includes overnight driving. The routes covered are the I-10, I-20 and I-30 corridors and will make their way through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
TuSimple’s founder and president, Dr. Xiaodi Hou, said, “It is exciting to think that before many people will ride in a robo-taxi, their mail and packages may be carried in a self-driving truck. Performing for the USPS on this pilot in this particular commercial corridor gives us specific use cases to help us validate our system, and expedite the technological development and commercialization progress.”
USPS isn’t alone in exploring new ways of delivery. Previously, we had heard how UPS was exploring the use of electric trucks and also the use of drones. Whether or not the use of self-driving trucks will help improve the overall efficiency of USPS remains to be seen.
USPS Looking To Test Self-Driving Mail Trucks , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 22
There are many music streaming services available at the moment, but if Pandora is your platform of choice, or if it is one of the services you’re subscribed to, then you’ll be pleased to learn that the company has announced the launch of a standalone desktop app where you’ll be able to stream songs on your computer.
Now, streaming Pandora to your computer has long been available, but it was done through your browser. We understand that some users might prefer a native desktop app versus a web app, and in this regard, Pandora has delivered. Unfortunately, for now it seems that Pandora’s desktop app is only for Mac users.
The company has stated that they will be launching a Windows version in the future, so stay tuned for that if you’re a Windows user. Until then, Windows users will have to keep using the browser version of Pandora, which if you were already familiar with, then it shouldn’t really pose any issue.
Pandora does not state when the Windows version of the desktop app will be made available, so we’ll just have to remain patient until then. The app is free for download and if you’re a Mac user running macOS 10.10 and above, head on over to Pandora’s website for the download.
Pandora Launches A Standalone Desktop App For Music Streaming , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 22
Honor has just unveiled its 2019 entry into the smartphone race and while the company has been known to put out flagship-level phones with affordable prices, the Honor 20 Pro took things to a new level. It is, so far, the first Honor phone to almost reach the highest score on DxOMark, hinting at its photography chops. Naturally, that has … Continue reading
May 22
Reagan Slams Border Fence, Bush Defends Undocumented ‘Good People’ In 1980 Clip
Posted in: Today's ChiliOld footage of the two future presidents offers a stark contrast to the GOP of today.
May 22
New tariffs are already leading to higher prices for holiday lights and decorations and more increases could follow.
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