Your jeans just had a birthday

Credit: Art of Style

A patent was granted to a Reno tailor named Jacob Davis (inventor) & Levi Strauss in San Francisco (who financed the patent application) for riveted work pants on 20 May 1873.

So say happy birthday to your jeans :)

https://timeline.com/blue-jean-birthday-32bfc4fb6a26#.6zgtd6qhz

Official “History of the Levi’s® 501® Jeans” at http://www.levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/History-of-Levis-501-Jeans.pdf / blue jean birthday pockets Levi’s Levis were born today 1872 Reno tailor named Jacob Davis Levi Strauss San Francisco modification invented make work pants stronger apply for the asked Strauss willing to provide the funds Strauss agreed patent for Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings granted May 20, 1873 20 May 1873 modern blue jeans were born waist overalls modification that made all the difference small metal rivets fasten pocket seams in place find them on your jeans today invention Pacific Rural Press simple device seems quite effective manufacture overalls popular amongst our working men overalls are made and cut style best custom made pants nothing looks more slouchy workman pockets ripped open hanging down clothing apt to be torn ripped pockets Levi’s new work pants featuring rivets called XX reference 9 oz. XX denim make the pants rebranded as 501’s top-selling work pant for men United States of America patent public in 1890 other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon blue jeans became a staple of American fashion /

New MacGyver series in the works (video)

Credit: CBS/insidethemagic.net

This new series with have Lucas Till in the title role. No sign of Richard Dean Anderson, but, as can be seen from the image above, the Swiss Army Knife is making a re-appearance.



https://bgr.com/2015/10/05/macgyver-2015-tv-series-reboot/

https://bgr.com/2016/05/20/2016-macgyver-trailer-release-date/

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2016/05/cbs-retools-macgyver-in-new-series-this-fall/

And then there was this pilot, which had as its central character, the nephew of the character played by Richard Dean Anderson
/ MacGyver from your childhood you’ve been waiting for finally happening trailer new MacGyver TV series remember MacGyver 80’s TV show featured bright know-it-all dude knew how to make the most of any dire situation figure out a way to get out of it new MacGyver series in the works MacGyver episode first trailer new MacGyver show character Lucas Till MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson starring Addison Timlin Michelle Krusiec George Eads action movie takes place in our present young MacGyver secret organization many talents will be put to good use secret agent unlike any other MacGyver escapes perilous situations paper clip his trusty knife his wit CBS character movie air Fridays 8:00PM starting this fall /

Drone counter-measures in the works – update

DroneDefender from Battelle
Credit: gamesareasocial.com

Drones pose a number of threats. Fortunately, counter measures are in development.

DroneDefender, shown above, has two emitter aerials, one of which can transmit signals to disrupt control signals from the operator. The second aerial can transmit signals to disrupt GPS or GLONASS for drones in self-navigation mode.

Dronebuster operates similarly, but has the advantage of being smaller & lighter than DroneDefender, which can weigh up to 15 pounds (6.8 kilogrammes).


Dronebuster from Flex Force
Credit: Ars Techica

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/dronebuster-will-let-you-point-and-shoot-command-hacks-at-pesky-drones/

DroneDefender Web site
http://www.battelle.org/our-work/national-security/tactical-systems/battelle-dronedefender

Or this low-tech approach may still bear fruit:
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/in-netherlands-police-are-training.html / Dronebuster point and shoot command hacks pesky drones jammer gun exploits library drone control protocols anti-drone technology public safety military organizations drunken federal employee crashed a drone White House lawn Navy League Sea Air Space Exposition two slightly different approaches problem anti-drone device deployed in the hands of federal law enforcement military street legal version coming soon drone killer Sea Air Space DroneDefender system developed researchers nonprofit research and development organization Battelle DroneDefender two-pronged drone jammer disrupt command-and-control signals from a remote operator disrupt automatic GPS GLONASS guidance two triggers powered by a small backpack DroneDefender radio-frequency targeted simple optical sight range of about 400 meters Battelledirected RF energy weapon sends jamming signal Industrial Scientific Medical ISM bands global positioning bands 30-degree cone point of aim Department of Defense counter-drone gun Dronebuster CTO chief technology officer Flex Force Dronebuster drones interfered with firefighters California first-responders local law enforcement version Dronebuster federal government customers device broadband jamming DroneDefender much smaller DroneDefender aimed optical sights integrated radio frequency power meter signal analyzer trained device distinguish what kind of signal is being emitted from the drone telemetry remote video streaming control jamming technology illegal to use in the US new version developed Flex Force operates completely within FCC regulations drone targeted new device FCC license jamming C&C Dronebuster exploits weaknesses drone communications protocols Dronebuster's operator trigger fly home command drones land command cycling through command sets various drone systems GPS GLONASS jamming add-on card available only to federal customers pending FCC approval Dronebuster customers /

Storing energy with an electric rail car & a hill

electric rail car + rocks + hill = electric energy storage system
Credit: ARES/Wired

Electrical energy can be stored using pumped hydro. I.e. use electricity to pump water uphill in times of oversupply, run it down through a hydro-electric system in times of shortage.

Anything at the top of a hill contains a store of potential energy, which can be released by running it down the hill. Case in point, a company called ARES (Advanced Rail Energy Storage) plans to have a rail energy storage system in Pahrump, Nevada by 2019. Electrical energy can be stored in the system by powering the electric motors to drive the rail car up a hill. Energy capacity of the system can be increased by increasing the mass of the rail car. Among the cheapest ways is loading the rail car with rocks.

Energy stored in the system can be released by running the rail car back down the hill, using the electric motors to generate electricity. Same principle as regenerative braking in an electric car.

ARES’ pilot system is planned to have a capacity of 12.5 megaWatt-hours.

https://www.wired.com/2016/05/forget-elons-batteries-fix-grid-rock-filled-train-hill/?mbid=nl_51616

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/First-Grid-Scale-Rail-Energy-Storage-Project-Gets-Environmental-Approval-Fr / natural resource gravity local utility surplus electricity power electric motors 9,600 tons of rock concrete filled railcars up 2,000-foot hill railcar generate electricity regenerative braking energy used to move the train up the hill stored when it comes back down ARES pilot project demonstration track in California Pahrump $55 million energy storage system utility companies relatively minor adjustments electricity output input Nevada project power capacity 50 megawatts produce 12.5 megawatt-hours electricity energy electrical energy relatively large battery storage projects Fifty megawatts economies of scale ARES CEO James Kelly more efficient larger ARES rocks gravity low-tech cheap project on-the-ground electronics telecommunications equipment railcars specifications IHS Emerging Energy Research kiloWatt hour energy storage analyst GTM Research new technology simplicity ARES different scenario safety weight future of energy storage /

Hard disk drives – what’s most reliable?

If you are looking at buying a hard disk drive, it’s easy to compare speed of rotation, size of buffer, read & write speeds, but what isn’t usually available is good information on reliability.

Problem solved – Cloud backup provider, Backblaze, has recently published the results of its experience with over a billion hours of aggregate drive usage.


Credit: Backblaze/Ars Technica

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/one-billion-hours-on-and-hgst-still-rules-the-roost-for-hard-disk-reliability/
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“HGST, Inc. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital that sells hard disk drives, solid-state drives, & external storage products & services.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HGST / one billion hours HGST rules the roost hard disk reliability five-year-old disks still going strong Cloud backup provider Backblaze latest data accumulated reliability hard drives passed more than a billion hours of aggregate drive usage started tracking reliability in April 2013 HGST drives disc drive disk drive most reliable trend continues failure rate remarkably low three years in service 3TB and 4TB units annualized annualised failure rates 2TB units on average more than 5 years old small increase in failure rate extraordinary reliability bad experiences with certain models annualized annualised failure rates approaching 30 percent Seagate's performance Backblaze most common disk type 4TB Seagate unit nearly 35,000 of the drives in use demonstrating a failure rate of 2.90 percent Seagate 4TB units worse failure rates better pricing availability Backblaze typically orders disks 5,000 to 10,000 at a time suppliers of Seagate Western Digital-owned HGST Western Digital Toshiba disks 4TB 6TB 8TB units pricing cost-effective bulk availability uses a mixture of different disks Vaults individual Storage Pods older storage pods holding 45 drives standardizes standardises standardize standardise on a particular type Backblaze buy 1,200 disks deploy disks at scale /

Rage Against the Machine predicted Donald Trump’s presidential campaign 16 years ago

Frame from Rage Against the Machine's, "Sleep Now in the Fire" music video
Credit: Rage Against the Machine/consequenceofsound.net

Hey guys – it was a warning – not a suggestion!

This is the video in question – image at the top of this post appears momentarily around the 1 minute mark


The Simpsons depicted the situation after a Trump presidency


http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/10/rage-against-the-machine-predicted-and-mocked-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign-16-years-ago/ / Rage Against the Machine predicted mocked Donald Trump presidential campaign 16 years ago political rise The Donald band's video Sleep Now in the Fire ridiculously accurate memes Donald Trump’s so-called hair viral Vine clips incredibly easy to mock businessman turned kind of politican long before Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign officially began band predicted the massive shitstorm headed our way Rage Against the Machine Billboard alt rockers’ 1999 music video Sleep Now in the Fire proudly holding up Donald Trump for President sign RATM apocalyptic campaign deride the hell out of it clip ever-political outspoken Michael Moore greedy dystopian society despicable people Trump a real shot at winning the White House hats off to RATM The Donald RATM The Simpsons predicted trashed Trump’s political career 2000 episode Bart to the Future /

Real-time translation that fits in your ear

Waverly Labs Pilot in-ear translator will come in three colours
Credit: 3.i.baomoi.xdn.vn/Waverly Labs

Real time translation? Hasn’t that been done?

Yes. It’s probably available on your phone. But Pilot adds two new claims:

● compresses the hardware into something that fits in your ear, so that it is less intrusive on the conversation

● translation is done in the device itself – no data connection required¹

More:
http://www.gizmag.com/waverly-labs-pilot-in-ear-translator-translation/43359/

Waverly Labs Web site – enter the draw for a free pair
http://www.waverlylabs.com/launch/

Hat tip to Glenn for this item
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¹ Waverly Labs: “10. Does it work offline? Yes it is designed to work offline for overseas use.” – http://www.waverlylabs.com/2016/05/faqs-about-early-bird-and-launch-date/ / Pilot earpiece language barriers live conversation translation Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Babel fish Star Trek universal translator science fiction break down intergalactic language barriers New York startup Waverly Labs Pilot earpiece in your ear provide near real-time translations of multilingual conversations technology science fiction reality Babel fish from Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy translate any language in real time Manhattan-based company called Waverly Labs commercializing commercialising electronic device Pilot earpiece listens in to a conversation communicates your smartphone close-to-real time translation several potential weak-link systems clear signal built-in in-built microphone converting signal from speech into text both speakers' languages good effective translation online translation engine Google Microsoft translating each language spoken chatty form convert translation text to speech earbud do all these tasks concurrently if the other person keeps talking all these systems are already out there up and running none are perfect glitchy and inaccurate steadily improving Waverly Labs launch with European Latin and Germanic languages handled far better by online translators Euro-to-Asian language translations Google Translate Microsoft's Skype Translator real-time conversation translation mobile desktop applications Pilot key innovation wearable device whispers the translation into the listener's ear works out in practice inevitable delay translation system the conversation the other party received the translation of the last thing you said super quick Waverly Labs launch the Pilot system pre-orders via Indiegogo deliveries launch a mobile app translation experience on your smartphone pair of earpieces foreign friend communicate real-time translation technology suggest that the language barrier may finally be broken /