Robots, as we currently understand them, tend to run on electricity. Only in the fantastical world of Futurama do robots seek out alcohol as both a source of fuel and recreation. That is, until [Les Wright] and his beer seeking robot came along. (YouTube, video after the break.) A Raspberry Pi 3 provides the brains, with an
Read MoreIf you’ve watched recent movies about apocalyptic conditions wiping humans off the face of the earth, you’ve probably come across characters building underground bunkers they can burrow into in order to survive. These bunkers are often shown to be fitted with sensors (usually fictional ones) to detect different kinds of danger – an earthquake, an
Read MoreNathan Halverson / Reveal: Unsealed documents show Facebook orchestrated a multi-year effort that duped children who played video games into spending their parents’ money — Facebook orchestrated a multi-year effort that duped children and their parents out of money, in some cases hundreds or even thousands of dollars … Unsealed documents show Facebook orchestrated a
Read MoreMechanical watches are great in that they never need batteries, but they are simultaneously less than great in that they will lose time if not worn or otherwise regularly agitated. The ridiculous solution to this is the watch winder, which automatically rotates your mechanical watches for you, while you’re not wearing them. This is probably
Read MoreNatasha Singer / New York Times: Amazon’s Rekognition mistakes women as men 19% of the time, and darker-skinned women as men 31% of the time, more than similar services from IBM and Microsoft — In new tests, Amazon’s system had more difficulty identifying the gender of female and darker-skinned faces than similar services from IBM
Read MoreBing is back online after reportedly being blocked due to an accidental technical error. Microsoft Bing is back online in China Source: ZDNet Microsoft
Read MoreAAA says the various names are confusing to drivers and car shoppers. Driver-assistance systems have too many different names, AAA study says – Roadshow Source: CNet
Read MoreStarship Technologies has partnered with George Mason University and deployed 25 autonomous delivery robots across campus. This self-driving robot delivers food to George Mason students Source: Washington Post Tech
Read MoreTom Krazit / GeekWire: Microsoft acquires Citus Data, which develops an open-source extension for PostgreSQL that turns it into a distributed database — Databases continue to be one of the most competitive areas of cloud computing, and Microsoft strengthened its database story Thursday with the acquisition of Citus Data. Microsoft acquires Citus Data, which develops
Read MoreIn an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the Facebook CEO has tried to allay users’ fears about advertising on the social network. Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook's ad model: 'We don't sell people's data' – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreIf you are writing a hello world program, you probably aren’t too concerned about how the compiler translates your source code to machine code. However, if your code runs on something that people’s lives depend on, you will want to be a bit pickier and use something like the COMPCERT compiler. It’s a formally verified
Read MoreThe company urged the National Labor Relations Board to rethink a precedent regarding employee use of email to organize protests, says a Bloomberg report. Google reportedly asked US to scale back protection for activist workers – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreJuli Clover / MacRumors: Strategy Analytics: Apple shipped an estimated 34.2M iPhones in China in 2018, down from 36.7M in 2017, and was the number five smartphone vendor in the country — Apple shipped an estimated 34.2 million iPhones in China in 2018, down from 36.7 million in 2017, according to new data shared today
Read MoreImmersive theater? Karaoke with digital puppets? Synesthetic VR food fests? The tech-driven show lets artists test their limits. At Sundance's New Frontier, VR and AR are poised to go epic and weird – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreIn new tests, Amazon’s system had more difficulty identifying the gender of female and darker-skinned faces than similar services from IBM and Microsoft. Amazon Is Pushing Facial Technology That a Study Says Could Be Biased Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreSince Brian Krzanich, who was chief executive for five years, was forced out in June, the chip maker has been looking for a new boss. Intel Searches (and Searches) for a New C.E.O. Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreMicrosoft’s latest Windows 10 19H1 (1903) test build is light on new features, and heavy on fixes — which is expected as it rolls toward completion. Microsoft's new Windows 10 19H1 test build is taxiing toward the finish line Source: ZDNet Microsoft
Read MoreThe auction raised more than $700 million in gross bids. FCC wraps up its first 5G auction with nearly 3,000 licenses won – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreThe Dude abides, but is a sequel to the 1998 cult classic on its way? Or maybe just an ad? Jeff Bridges hints at Big Lebowski news coming during Super Bowl – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreThe bliss of turning off all notifications on your phone doesn’t have to come with the anxiety of potentially missing an important call or text. Here’s how you can have it all. How to Use ‘Do Not Disturb’ on Your Phone (While Still Letting Important Calls Through) Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreJust what the doctor ordered. Spider-Man spin-off Morbius adds Doctor Who's Matt Smith – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreNatasha Singer / New York Times: As the number of US students studying computer science doubled to over 106,000 from 2013 to 2017, the supply of professors is struggling to keep up — Lured by the prospect of high-salary, high-status jobs, college students are rushing in record numbers to study computer science. As the number
Read MoreWhen you think about all the forces that have to be balanced to keep a drone stable, it’s a wonder that the contraptions stay in the air at all. And when the only option for producing those forces is blowing around more or less air it’s natural to start looking for other, perhaps better ways
Read MoreIBM recently debuted its System One quantum computer. It’s not the biggest or most powerful computer the company makes. But IBM thinks it’s the one that’ll end up in a museum 50 years from now, and it’s hard not to agree. TNW talked to IBM‘s CTO, Quantum Computing, Bob Wisnieff about what it was like
Read MoreRyan Whitwam / ExtremeTech: DeepMind introduces AlphaStar AI, which won 10-1 in a series of StarCraft II matches against professional players — Humans tend to think we’re adept at the games we create, but computers have proven time and time again that we’re just not fast enough to stay on top. DeepMind introduces AlphaStar AI,
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