Why you need to be excited about the Google Pixel 8a | Digital Trends

April 18, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

This is going to be a busy year for Google Pixel devices. In less than a month, Google is expected to launch its first new Pixel of the year with the Google Pixel 8a. Following that, we’re expecting a Google Pixel Fold 2, possibly another Pixel Tablet, the Pixel 9 series, and a Pixel Watch 3 later in the fall.

There’s plenty to look forward to with all of those Pixels, but if you ask me, I think the Pixel 8a is the most promising of the bunch. In a year when Google has exciting upgrades planned for its flagship and foldable phones, Google’s budget-focused omodel is what’s really on my mind.

Jamie Dimon: Bank boss warns US interest rates could rise to 8% | BBC

April 11, 2024April 9, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The boss of one of the world’s biggest banks has warned US interest rates could climb to 8%.

Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, said his bank has prepared for interest rates to jump because of “persistent inflationary pressures”.

Central banks around the world have been busy raising rates in a bid to dampen rising prices.

But with US inflation gradually easing, the overwhelming expectation is for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year.

Markets are pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts in 2024.

Tesla: Elon Musk’s EV maker to settle over fatal Autopilot crash | BBC

April 11, 2024April 9, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Electric car giant Tesla has agreed to settle a lawsuit over a crash in 2018 which killed Apple engineer Walter Huang after his Model X, operating on Autopilot, collided with a highway barrier.

The case, brought by Mr Huang’s family, was scheduled to begin in the California Superior Court this week.

If the trial had gone ahead, it would have brought increased scrutiny of the firm’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technology.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed and reports have said the deal still needs to be approved by a judge. Tesla did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

Before the settlement, Tesla argued that Mr Huang had misused the system because he was playing a video game just before the accident.

The Internet Archive Just Backed Up an Entire Caribbean Island | WIRED

April 9, 2024April 8, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Aruba has long been a special place for Stacy Argondizzo. For years, her family has vacationed on the tiny Caribbean Island every July. More recently it’s been more than just a place to take a break from her work as a digital archivist—becoming wholly a part of that work.

A project Argondizzo galvanized comes to full fruition this week. The Internet Archive is now home to the Aruba Collection, which hosts digitized versions of Aruba’s National Library, National Archives, and other institutions including an archaeology museum and the University of Aruba. The collection comprises 101,376 items so far—roughly one for each person who lives on the Island—including 40,000 documents, 60,000 images, and seven 3D objects.

Elon Musk: Tesla Robotaxi Is Arriving in August | Entrepreneur

April 8, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amid news of Tesla’s first year-over-year sales decline since 2020, the electric car company is setting the scene for a unique product launch.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the company will unveil its first robotaxi on August 8. However, the unveiling date does not mean that’s when deliveries will begin — the first deliveries of another Tesla product, the Cybertruck, arrived years after its unveiling.

Tesla’s first autonomous taxi will join a market that already features offerings from competitors such as Waymo, an independent company that started as Google’s self-driving car project, and Cruise, General Motors’ company.

New York closes bridges for its marathon. Runners should pay for the unpaid tolls, the MTA demands | CNN Business

April 4, 2024April 3, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Metropolitan Transit Authority says it wants the organizers of New York City’s marathon to pay $750,000 a year, citing the steep loss of bridge toll revenues for closing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Staten Island-Brooklyn connection that has served as the starting point for the race for decades.

“New Yorkers love Marathon Sunday, but taxpayers cannot be expected to subsidize a wealthy non-government organization like the New York Road Runners to the tune of $750,000,” MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan said in a statement. “The MTA is prepared to continue working towards a final agreement with the NYRR, provided it leads, over time, to full reimbursement for the lost revenue.”

With about 50,000 runners expected to participate in the marathon on the first Sunday in November, the $750,000 the MTA demands works out to $15 per runner. The Verrazano E-ZPass toll is $7.

April 8 solar eclipse: What time does totality start in every state? | Live Science

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The solar eclipse on April 8 will bring eerie darkness to a long swath of the United States, Canada and Mexico during totality — the few moments when the moon covers the sun’s face completely, thereby blocking its light.

Totality is a completely different experience from 99% eclipse coverage. First and foremost, totality is the only safe time to look directly at the sun without solar eclipse glasses or other certified eye protection. But viewers within the path of totality will also have the chance to view a host of unique eclipse phenomena.

Only during totality do the skies turn twilight-dark, and only during totality is the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, visible as wispy projections of light emanating from behind the moon. Being inside the path of totality is also the only way to see eclipse features such as Baily’s beads, which are the last rays of light sneaking past the mountains on the moon.

Egg prices remain high during Easter holiday due to avian bird flu and inflation | Fast Company

March 29, 2024March 28, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Egg prices are at near-historic highs in many parts of the world as the spring holidays approach, reflecting a market scrambled by disease, high demand, and growing costs for farmers.

It’s the second year in a row consumers have faced sticker shock ahead of Easter and Passover, both occasions in which eggs play prominent roles.

While global prices are lower than they were at this time last year, they remain elevated, said Nan-Dirk Mulder, a senior global specialist with Dutch financial firm RaboBank’s RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness division. Mulder doesn’t expect them to return to 2021 levels.