Dec 07
Trump’s Blood Oxygen Level Was ‘Dangerously Low’ With COVID, Mark Meadows Says In Book
Posted in: Today's ChiliTrump’s former chief of staff said he told the ailing president to go to the hospital on his own or on a gurney.
Dec 07
Tesla will replace the Autopilot cameras in the front fenders of some its electric vehicles for free, according to CNBC. While Tesla has yet to issue a recall, the news organization has seen internal documents distributed to authorized service providers in late November, asking them to replace faulty repeater cameras at no cost to owners. Apparently, the cameras on some Model S, X and 3 vehicles manufactured by the company at its Fremont, California plant have faulty printed circuit boards.
Those cameras capture the car’s blind spots, and Autopilot wouldn’t work without them. If they’re not working as intended, drivers typically only see a block box on their main display and may get alerts that their Autopilot has limited function. CNBC says Tesla may have to replace cameras for at least several hundred vehicles as a result of the faulty PCBs it used.
A Tesla sales manager told the publication that internal service notices are sometimes followed by voluntary recalls, but the automaker has yet to issue a statement. Tesla recalled vehicles several times in the past over various issues. In October, it recalled nearly 3,000 Model 3 and Y vehicles, because their front suspension lateral link fasteners may loosen. The company also recalled 11,704 Tesla EVs from 2017 and later in November after they became prone to false-positive braking following a buggy Full Self-Driving beta update.
Dec 07
That’s a digital Keanu and, yes, Epic Games’ interactive demo ties into The Matrix Resurrections feature film landing later this month. On December 9th, The Matrix Awakens will be available on your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S console ahead of its debut at The Game Awards.
Epic Games
It appears to be a slick technical demo of Unreal Engine 5, showing what the next-generation engine is capable of, with some help from Neo et al. For most, this will be the first chance to see UE5 in action. Epic previewed the engine partway through last year with a stunning PS5 demo, but has been largely quiet since. The Game Awards, this Thursday, sounds like a good time to show off.
— Mat Smith
Samsung’s major shake-up
It’s replaced all its CEOs.
Samsung has merged its mobile business, the company’s biggest moneymaker, with its consumer electronics division in a major restructuring meant to “strengthen its business competitiveness.” The tech giant has also replaced all of its CEOs and shuffled many around.
Jong-Hee Han, head of its TV business, has been named as Vice Chairman and co-CEO of the newly merged mobile and consumer electronics divisions. Han won’t be leaving his duties as Head of Visual Display, though, and will instead lead both businesses. Han reportedly has no experience in mobile, but Samsung credits him with playing a key role in the company dominating global TV sales over the past 15 years.
The SEC is investigating Tesla over defective solar panels
The probe stems from a 2019 whistleblower complaint.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Tesla after a whistleblower complaint alleging the company failed to disclose a variety of safety risks associated with its rooftop solar panels. According to a Reuters report, the agency acknowledged the probe in a Freedom of Information Act request made by Steven Henkes (pictured above), a former Tesla employee.
The investigation follows several years of reports of safety concerns with Tesla’s solar panels. In 2019, Walmart sued the company after its solar panels led to seven store fires. While the two companies eventually settled, the retailer claimed at the time that Tesla regularly sent inspectors who “lacked basic solar training and knowledge.” That same year, Tesla solar panels at an Amazon warehouse in California reportedly caught fire as well.
Concept hydrogen-powered plane could fly halfway around the world without refueling
But the main word is concept, for now.
Aerospace Technology Institute
Electric planes won’t be feasible until batteries become more powerful and lightweight, but hydrogen-powered flight is another possible way to reduce the flight industry’s carbon emissions.
The FlyZero project, led by the Aerospace Technology Institute and funded by the UK government, came up with a concept for a liquid hydrogen-powered midsize aircraft. It said the plane would be able to fly 279 passengers non-stop from London to San Francisco or from London to Auckland, New Zealand, with one stop for refueling.
We’re years away from commercial hydrogen aircrafts, with refueling infrastructure non-existent and hydrogen more expensive and difficult to store than standard kerosene fuel. The FlyZero project plans to publish more detailed findings early next year.
Instagram launches Take a Break and other safety features for teens
Just in time for Adam Mosseri’s Senate testimony.
Instagram has launched a number of new and experimental features meant to make its app a safer place for teens ahead of Instagram head Adam Mosseri’s Senate testimony. The previously announced Take a Break feature has now launched in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Now, when a user — teens, in particular — scolls through Instagram for a long while, the app will ask them to take a break and to set reminders for the future.
In March, Instagram will be launching tools for parents and guardians to give them a way to view how much time their kids are spending on the app and to set time limits.
Adam Mosseri is set to testify this week as part of a series of hearings about protecting kids online. Instagram and Facebook have come under fire in recent months after whistleblower Frances Haugen told Congress about the social networks’ effect on teens based on Meta’s own research. Haugen revealed that “engagement-based ranking on Instagram can lead children from very innocuous topics like healthy recipes… to anorexia-promoting content over a very short period of time.”
The biggest news stories you might have missed
William Shatner’s space voyage is becoming an Amazon documentary
Toshiba’s flagship Fire TV set has hands-free Alexa
Firefox 95 enhances the browser’s protection against malicious code
DoorDash tests 15-minute grocery deliveries in New York City
Google Pixel update delivers time-saving improvements on new and older models
YouTube says most disputed copyright claims are resolved in the uploader’s favor
Dec 07
Billie Eilish, Jason Kelce, cheugy and omicron all appear on this year’s list compiled by the U.S. Captioning Company.
Dec 07
Marc Short was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and accompanied Pence as he fled his post and hid from rioters who were calling for his hanging.
Dec 07
Two years ago, BMW delivered its 500,000th electrified vehicle (including EVs and hybrids), promising to deliver one million units in two years. Now, the company has announced that it’s met that goal by delivering its one millionth electrified vehicle, an iX xDrive40 SUV (shown above), to a customer in Europe. It’s also promising to double that tally to two million by next year, while delivering two million fully electric EVs by 2025.
BMW was a pioneer in the pure electric category with the i3 and i8 EVs, but has been slow to ramp up its offerings since then. As such, the majority of its electrified sales have been hybrid, rather than pure EVs. (The term “electrified” generally encompasses both PHEVs, mild hybrids and EVs.) Between January and September of 2021, BMW reportedly sold 59,688 EVs and 171,887 plug-in hybrid vehicles worldwide, according to CleanTechnica. In 2020, it sold 192,646 plug-in vehicles, including PHEVs and EVs, InsideEVs reported.
This year, the company launched the i4 sedan and iX SUV pure electric models into the US market, but they only went on sale last month. It also offers four PHEVs, including versions of the 7, X5, 3 and 5 models. Over the next year, BMW will add the fully electric BMW 7 series and X1, plus the high-volume BMW 5 series by 2023. It plans to have “about ten million fully-electric vehicles on the road” by 2031 or so.
Dec 07
MyCryptoWallet, an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange that allowed users to buy and sell coins like ether and bitcoin, has collapsed and left users without access to funds, according to multiple reports. The company called in a firm called SV Partners on Friday to liquidate what remains of the exchange and deal…
Dec 07
The longtime Trump ally also reportedly dinged the former president with gags about Melania Trump and reading during a closed-door event.
Dec 07
Colbert Shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene’s New COVID Argument With A Basic Truth
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe “Late Show” comedian also had some choice words for GOP Sen. Ron Johnson following his attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Dec 07
“Devin Nunes, CEO & LOL,” former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara tweeted about the California Republican’s move to lead Donald Trump’s tech startup.
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