Forget battery swapping: Tesla aims to charge electric cars in five minutes

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/516876/forget-battery-swapping-tesla-aims-to-charge-electric-cars-in-five-minutes/ / electric vehicle EV charge recharge LiIon lithium ion Tesla Model S typical home public charging station more practical Tesla Motors reduce reduced reducing charging times network supercharging stations designed exclusively future electric vehicles charge battery cell halfway 30 minutes half charge 20 minutes Tesla’s chief technology officer JB Straubel company eventually cut time fully charge battery just five minutes not much longer than it takes to fill a gas tank petrol gas gasolene battery swap technology Tesla recently unveiled take takes out depleted battery replace replaces fully charged one MIT Technology Review 120 kilowatts electricity deliver well under 10 kilowatts competition supercharging technology Japanese Chademo standard 50 kilowatt 50-kilowatt charging SAE International brand-new fast-charging standard adopted by major automakers General Motors GM 100 kilowatts kilowatt battery packs store three times the energy competition competitor electric-car batteries car Arindam Maitra, a senior project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute cooling system for the battery wall socket on-board chargers AC power from the wall convert DC regulate power delivered deliver battery AC-to-DC conversion challenge heat cool overheat damage damaging communicate electronics monitor state volt voltage temperature adjust charging rates charging system interface electrical grid supercharging station wind turbine solar panels batteries power grid /

Panasonic announces the Lumix DMC-FZ70

Credit: Panasonic/ The Gadgeteer

Canon has a 50x super-zoom, Panasonic is preparing to one-up them with 60x. Perhaps not surprisingly, they've abandoned the across-the-range f 2.8 aperture of the FZ200, but then, they've reduced the minimum focal length to 20mm (35mm equivalent) & more than doubled the zoom range. Win some, lose some.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/07/19/panasonic-announces-the-lumix-dmc-fz70/ / photograph image digital tighter shot close enough good quality picture wide angle zoom 20mm wide 1200mm telephoto f/2.8-5.9 stabilized optical zoom lens Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 ultra wide angle 20mm f/2.8 super-zoom Panasonic’s most versatile bridge camera newly announced 16.1MP megapixel mega pixel Panasonic Lumix FZ70 super-zoom mini-SLR SLR 60x O.I.S. optical image stabilization zoom previous FZ60 zoom range 24x FZ70 improved image stabilization long end of the zoom reducing reduced minimizing camera shake induced by exceptional 1200mm zoom length telephoto range new 16.1MP CMOS sensor promises improved noise levels higher film speed ISOs smoother low-light performance added ability to shoot raw photos For audio video enthusiasts shoot 1080i60 HD video auto focus new special sealed Wind Shield Zoom Microphone reduce extraneous wind noise staggering 70% improved features work in real life appear to us on paper articulated articulating LCD improved electronic viewfinder EVF specs camera vs. Panasonic’s current flagship DMC-FZ200 super-zoom due out September, 2013 expected price approximately $400.00 /

Human nature may not be so warlike after all

Credit: Douglas Fry/ Wired

Though the view is widespread that human beings are a warlike species, 2 anthropologists, Douglas Fry & Patrik Soderberg, have written a paper suggesting that individuals banding together to make war on another group is a relatively recent phenomenon.

This is not to say that human beings are not violent. One-on-one killings occur in almost all species, including ours, & have for a very long time. Examination of the behaviour of other primates, including chimpanzees, shows that war (group-on-group violence) occurs. However, say Fry & Soderberg, group-on-group violence is a relatively recent phenomenon amongst human beings.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/to-war-is-human-perhaps-not/ / Longstreet awful history violence between groups of people humans predisposed to war new study of violence modern hunter-gatherer hunter gatherer societies may hold clues prehistoric human life warlike behavior relatively recent phenomenon humans violent researchers say most killing results flared tempers personal feuds rather group conflicts findings contradict notion humans evolved tendency form coalitions kill members neighboring groups wrote anthropologists Douglas Fry Patrik Soderberg July 18 2013 Science paper vast majority assume war is ancient part and parcel human nature perceptions very strong influences current day current-day society hope illuminate era stretching roughly 10,000 years ago metal tools appear archaeological record about 2.5 million years ago stone tool use became widespread period looms anthropological self regard self-regard humanity’s adolescence evolutionary crucible shape our species view reinforced studies conflict chimpanzees scattered archaeological evidence violent deaths prehistoric humans group on group group-on-group violence common constant reflecting influencing human nature research researcher researching researchers view unjustifiably dark scientific version original sin collective human violence aberration basic feature of life 2007 Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace argued archaeological evidence prehistoric warfare misinterpreted modern hunter-gatherer violence exaggerated vast majority assume war ancient part human nature most foraging societies lethal aggression infrequent archaeological record violence regular group on group group-on-group character relatively recently people settled down ever larger ever-larger more complex hierarchical societies new paper looked at ethnographic histories 21 nomadic forager societies compiling database well documented well-documented incidence lethal aggression could be found reputable accounts spanning last two centuries counted 148 incidents more than half involved a single person killing another 22 percent involved multiple aggressors multiple victims one-third involved conflicts between groups behavior killings were motivated sexual jealousy revenge previous murder insults other interpersonal quarrels collectively between-group between group violence exceptional exception weight evidence suggests humanity humanity’s origins peaceful warlike foraging groups co-operation cooperation homicide homicides generally people get along very well humans have a capacity for warfar central part of human nature history of conflict /

New Intel CEO reiterates: $300 laptops on the way

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57594245-92/new-intel-ceo-reiterates-$300-laptops-on-the-way/ / Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Atom processors processor mobile products low-cost laptop company CEO Intel's second-quarter second quarter earnings conference low power battery mobile Atom chips equal partner mainstream PC processors push Atom sub $300 sub-$300 laptops convertibles $150 tablets CEO Brian Krzanich effort Atom major new Atom product launch Krzanich Bay Trail redesigned Atom mainstream Intel Core i series chips chip performance market markets touch enabled touch-enabled clam shell laptops coming $300 range convertible tablet tablet-laptop hybrid sub sub-$400 range $150 Stacy Smith Intel's chief financial officer Intel tablet volume fourth quarter /

Computers are now as smart as four-year-olds

http://www.dvice.com/2013-7-16/computers-are-now-smart-four-year-olds / world smartest computers intelligence test measure IQ computer ConceptNet 4 A. I. system pretty darn non-breathing form of intelligence scored four-year-old four year old interesting benchmark lead author Robert Sloan some irregularities in the data child scores varied symptom something wrong particular area learning A.I. A. I artificial intelligence faltered reasoning factually describe situation know why that situation had occurred instance irrelevant finding particular interest another group of scientists across the pond currently testing if robots are evil robots evil constructing horde super-strong potentially mentally-unbalanced mentally unbalanced four-year-olds four year olds bad idea /

Language matters: Framing the copyright monopoly so we can keep our liberties

http://torrentfreak.com/language-matters-framing-the-copyright-monopoly-so-we-can-keep-our-liberties-130714/ / liberty George Orwell most overlooked points most important language defines our reality what problems we perceive communicate solve theft of intellectual property sharing culture knowledge war of words 1984 George Orwell book increasingly define our society mixed dash of Aldous Huxley’s Huxley Brave New World central theme 1984 concept of Newspeak language Newspeak book pervasive throughout storyline concept Newspeak simple taking away expressions free thinking challenging authority language people in power would remove people other people’s ability conceptualize thoughts thus ensure obedience passage in the book translators Oldspeak into Newspeak trouble translating Declaration of Independence into Newspeak no way express says Newspeak Orwell comments appendix language has words rebellion freedom of thought dissent society will eventually throw off any tyrant matters because words define the society definition decides what problems need solved how nerds geeks tend not bother subtleties nuances communication except technically precise express all words have values some negative positive double meaning meanings evoke feelings happiness sadness discomfort aware discuss net liberty culture t paramount discussion side wins definitions wins long term long-term war coincidence deceptive term Intellectual Property relentlessly used copyright industry trying make it define the copyright monopoly make people think of their monopoly in terms of property positive word follow-up-defines follow up defines define violation monopolies stealing violation of property rights is stealing fall for using this term spread framing world correct others use of language use our own language consistently persistently tenaciously relentlessly our language defines world net generation give influence to the copyright industry repeat term adversary world view help them take away your rights terms that define our worldview help the net generation retain civil liberties people will copy your terms subconsciously happy when rude sample words conscious copyright industry use this consistently instead of record industry and/or and/or film industry highlights middlemen incumbents monopolistic parasites aren’t necessary cultural ecosystem having industrialized lobbying monopoly monopolies cashing in sharing knowledge culture this instead file-sharing file sharing term too technical doesn’t appropriately convey the usefulness of the act sharing knowledge and culture fundamentally positive technically correct people who share knowledge and culture never punished rewarded copyright monopoly copyright alone reinforce right right to freedom of speech reality monopoly use language patent monopoly Industrial Protectionism IP term some property self-defeating Industrial Protectionism value word protectionism sharply negative Manufacturing copies try avoiding downloading copies something implies taking leads down wrong line of thought manufacturing copies using their own raw materials copyright monopoly trying restrain legitimate activity when people are manufacturing their own copies of knowledge and culture highlight the process sharing knowledge and culture Digital Restriction Mechanisms DRM comment necessary Digital Restriction Mechanisms Management language defines and shapes problem problems discussion discussed discuss /

PayPal credits $92 quadrillion to man by accident

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/07/paypal-credits-92-quadrillion-to-man-by-accident/ / Carlos Slim, Bill Gates Warren Buffet scratched their heads Delaware County resident Chris Reynolds, temporarily richest man on the earth $92 quadrillion PayPal account balance $92,233,720,368,547,800 56-year old 56 year old million bucks debit credit owned owed quadrillions big surprise PayPal customer purchase sell items eBay vintage car parts spend donated $30 Democratic slate Delaware County Council email from PayPal depicted that amount account volunteered pay national debt down purchasing Phillies PayPal account 17 digits $92 quadrillion richer 15 minutes of fame /