Category Archives: #Tech Business

General Motors acquires OSVehicle to build EDIT, a new modular self-driving car, in white-label

Not sure how I feel about this.

Today, OSVehicle is announcing its acquisition by General Motors Company. GM already bought another Y Combinator backed company Cruise Automation in March last year to focus on key long-term technologies such as autonomous driving technology and vehicle safety.

GM will now utilize OSVehicle’s open source hardware expertise to develop EDIT, a self-driving car, based on modular version of Chevy Bolt M1 platform. This modular technology was developed jointly with OSVehicle, to enable the easy replacement of key components such as electric motor and battery pack, which will allow vehicles to last 10X longer than traditional cars.

Modularity also allows the hardware upgrade of hardware stacks for self-driving and connected-cars, helping services like ride sharing. This is another strategic move made by GM towards “mobility as-a-service” after investing 500M $ in Lyft and launching Maven, GM’s own car sharing service in January 2016.

 

[via osvehicle]

How to Become Relevant when a Robot Takes Your Job | Pablos Holman | TEDxLA

The Future Doesn’t Need You – How to Become Relevant when a Robot Takes Your Job
In this talk, Pablos dares you to imagine the possibilities in what once seemed impossible: a harmonious co-existence of humans and robots: Robots taking over your jobs and why they should; how this can trigger fear in humans and why it shouldn’t; redefining happiness; solving world problems like eliminating disease; a personal narrative of parenting that will bring you to your knees; and the responsibility of humans in all of this.

Cassie – Next Gen bipedal robotics…

Since then, robots have fascinated the minds of sci-fi writers and engineers alike. Which brings us to Cassie – the next generation of bipedal robots devised by Oregon State University’s Agility Robotics. Cassie originates from its predecessor ATRIAS. The problem that researchers kept stumbling over when developing ATRIAS was that it contained motors which worked against each other. As a result, this left the robot in being completely inefficient. Cassie, on the other hand, contains steering, feet, and a sealed system, allowing it be both agile and robust.

[via serious wonder]

3D-Printed Embedded Electronics Make this Drone Ready to Fly Straight out of the Printer

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, have created a 3D-printed drone that is almost completely flight-ready straight out of the 3D printer by using printed embedded electronics.


[via allaboutcircuits ]

EU is looking into the need to give robots/AI person hood in the eye of the law…

Robot headMEPs have called for the adoption of comprehensive rules for how humans will interact with artificial intelligence and robots.

The report makes it clear that it believes the world is on the cusp of a “new industrial” robot revolution.

It looks at whether to give robots legal status as “electronic persons”.

Designers should make sure any robots have a kill switch, which would allow functions to be shut down if necessary, the report recommends.

Meanwhile users should be able to use robots “without risk or fear of physical or psychological harm”, it states.

Lorna Brazell, a partner at law firm Osborne Clarke, was surprised by how far-reaching the rules were.

But questioned the need to give future robots legal status.

robot[via BBC]

Padsa Information: Linux Founder Linus Torvalds: “I Don’t Really Love Other People. I Love Computers”

Linus is my spirit engineer.

“I’m actually not a people person. I don’t really love other people. I love computers,” the legendary software engineer Linus Torvalds said in an interview with Chris Anderson at the TED conference.

[Via Padsainformation  ]

Need to have your computer fixed ?

People hear that I am technology consultant, and ask me to fix their computers.  This is my questionnaire from now on.

  • Is it running windows XP ? Get a new computer
  • Is it more than 5 years old ? Get a new computer
  • Is it less than 4 years ago ?  Google the problem. It’s what I am going to do anyway.
  • Did you buy it less than a year ago ? Contact the vendor once you still have the original receipt
  • Is it a Mac ? You have to get new computer

 

Which brings up to the big question….

  • Will I fix your computer ? No.
  • Why ?
    • Because computers as of recent are designed to fail after their warranty. It is called planned obsolescence. Google it.
    • The time that it would take to determine the problem and fix it, would make it cost prohibitive.
    • And the most important reason, once I touch it, you will want me to fix every thing on it. At a discount.

 

To repeat ……

 

Want to blame someone ?

  • Predatory capitalism
  • Planned Obsolesce