https://inktank.fi/rake-news-how-social-media-trolled-trump-about-raking-finnish-forests/ This weekend Donald Trump visited wildfire-devastated California and said that California should do more ‘raking like Finland.’ Nobody rakes forests in Finland. Needless to say, Finns on social media had a field day with Trump’s “rake news. →
I ordered this cheap (around $10-15) 5.1 channel USB sound card from China few years ago. The device does not have markings on the box so hard to day which exact model it it was. It seems that there are several similar looking cards available at dx.com and banggood.com even today. CM6206-LX based USB Sound →
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwjd4w/im-possibly-alive-because-it-exists-why-sleep-apnea-patients-rely-on-a-cpap-machine-hacker?utm_campaign=sharebutton An Australian hacker has spent thousands of hours hacking the DRM that medical device manufacturers put on CPAP machines to create a free tool that lets patients modify their treatment. →
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46143399 Soon kilogram might not be exactly what it used to be. Scientists plan to change the way the kilogram is defined. Currently, it is defined by the weight of an aging platinum-based ingot called “Le Grand K” located in Paris. Many scientists favour of defining a kilogram in terms of an electric current, but →
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/new-product-raspberry-pi-3-model-a/ With the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ you can now get the 1.4GHz clock speed, 5GHz wireless networking and improved thermals of Raspberry Pi 3B+ in a smaller form factor. By halving the RAM to 256MB, and removing the USB hub and Ethernet controller, the board could be made cheaper and smaller. For →
https://www.foundry.com/industries/virtual-reality/vr-mr-ar-confused Since the beginning of time, most new and emerging technology has nurtured an unhealthy attachment to acronyms, and virtual reality is no different. This article tells the basics of VR, AR and MR. →
In many busy junctions there are pedestrian crossing buttons. Does pressing the pedestrian crossing button actually do anything? The short answer is – it depends. Ask CityLab: Do “WALK” Buttons Actually Do Anything? article also tells that it depends on where you are. I happened to come across a broken (most probably crushed by some →
https://medium.com/helloitsmagic/why-most-blockchain-projects-are-bullshit-2e3918439270 And How to Spot the Ones That Aren’t This is a good overview to blockchains and mountains of bullshit talk circulating around it: “The key to separating uses with promise from bullshit projects is asking what can onlybe done with the specific features blockchains provide, and whether those things are worth doing or having. →
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4437117/The-computer-virus-is-born–November-10–1983 On this day in technology history, a graduate student’s self-replicating code that could gain control of a system inspired the term “computer virus”. In his 1983 paper “Computer Viruses – Theory and Experiments,” Cohen defined a computer virus as “a program that can infect other programs by modifying them to include a possibly evolved →
https://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/transportation/advanced-cars/new-auto-safety-technologies-pushing-repair-bills-upwards There is little debate over whether advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) could reduce both the number and severity of vehicle crashes. A collision-mitigation system alone can increase the cost of a new vehicle by US $1,500 or more and vehicles equipped with advanced safety features “can cost twice as much to repair following a →