Ars Technica – Why did the flywheel hybrid system never catch on for road cars?

Feb 152021
 

Enlarge / Why did the flywheel hybrid never catch on for road cars? (credit: GKN/Jonathan Gitlin)
When a Speed network television crew interviewed Margo T. Oge, then-director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, during the 10-hour-long 2010 Petit Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta, Porsche’s experimental 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car held down a top-20 position in the 45-car field.
The broadcast crew took every opportunity to call attention to the presence of the new Porsche. Hybrid street cars were becoming mainstream, and “road relevance” was repeatedly cited by Oge along with energy independence and low carbon emissions as EPA imperatives.
But, like its similarly new Formula One hybrid race car…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741928

 2021-02-15  Comments Off on Ars Technica – Why did the flywheel hybrid system never catch on for road cars?

Hackaday – Truck Bed Liners Improve 3D Prints

Feb 152021
 

There are at least two kinds of 3D printer operators: those who work hard to make their prints look better after they come off the bed and those who settle for whatever comes off the printer. If you are in the latter camp, you probably envy people who have smooth prints with no visible layer lines. But the sanding and priming and multiple coats of paint can put you off.
[Teaching Tech] has a few tricks that might change your mind. He shares his technique for using different coatings for 3D prints that provide good quality with a lot less effort. The coatings in question are polyurethane used for coating pickup truck beds and bitumen rubber used…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2021/02/14/truck-bed-liners-improve-3d-prints/

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TorrentFreak – Cox Appeals $1 Billion Piracy Damages Verdict, Doesn’t Have to Pay Yet

Feb 142021
 

Two years ago Internet provider Cox Communications lost its legal battle against a group of major record labels.
Following a two-week trial, a Virginia jury held Cox liable for pirating subscribers which it failed to disconnect, ordering the company to pay $1 billion in damages.
Heavily disappointed by the decision, Cox asked the court to set the jury verdict aside and decide the issue directly. In addition, the ISP asked to lower the “shockingly excessive” damages or allow a new trial. All these efforts failed.
The court was initially open to lowering the amount because there were several overlapping copyrights at play. However, it later backtracked and confirmed the jury’s $1 billion judgment.
Cox Appeals
That was another setback for…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://torrentfreak.com/cox-appeals-1-billion-piracy-damages-verdict-doesnt-have-to-pay-yet-210213/

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World Socialist Web Site (en) – CDC pushes US schools to reopen “at any level of community transmission”

Feb 132021
 

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released unscientific, politically motivated guidelines intended to justify school reopenings everywhere.

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/13/scho-f13.html

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Deeplinks – Virginians Deserve Better Than This Empty Privacy Law

Feb 132021
 

A very weak consumer data privacy bill is sailing through the Virginia legislature with backing from Microsoft and Amazon, which have both testified in support of the bill. The bill, SB 1392 and its companion HB 2307, are based on a Washington privacy law backed by tech giants that has threatened for two years to lower the bar for state privacy bills. If you’re a Virginia resident who cares about privacy, please submit a comment to the House Committee on Technology, Communications, and Innovation before it meets on Monday, Feb. 15.
EFF has long advocated for strong privacy legislation. Consumer privacy has been a growing priority for legislatures across the country since California in 2018 passed the…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/virginians-deserve-better-empty-privacy-law

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Boing Boing – Charges dropped against cops who shoved elderly man over and cracked his skull

Feb 132021
 

Martin Gugino spent nearly a month in hospital after a Buffalo cop pushed him over, cracked his head on the pavement and left him to bleed there with a fractured skull. Though charged after the incident, officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski are off the hook: the charges have now been dropped. — Read the rest

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2021/02/12/charges-dropped-against-cops-who-shoved-elderly-mans-head-and-cracked-his-skull.html

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PopularResistance.Org – Border Agents Can Search Phones Freely Under New Circuit Court Ruling

Feb 132021
 

A US appeals court has ruled that Customs and Border Protection agents can conduct in-depth searches of phones and laptops, overturning an earlier legal victory for civil liberties groups. First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch declared that both basic and “advanced” searches, which include reviewing and copying data without a warrant, fall within “permissible constitutional grounds” at the American border.

Lynch ruled against a group of US citizens and residents objecting to invasive searches of their electronic devices. The group includes Sidd Bikkannavar, a NASA scientist who was detained and pressured to unlock a secure government-issued phone.

The post Border Agents Can Search Phones Freely Under New Circuit Court Ruling appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

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Ars Technica – Report: NASA’s only realistic path for humans on Mars is nuclear propulsion

Feb 132021
 

Enlarge / NASA originally studied nuclear thermal propulsion in the 1960s. Here is concept art for the Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program. (credit: NASA)
Getting humans to Mars and back is rather hard. Insanely difficult, in fact. Many challenges confront NASA and other would-be Mars pioneers when planning missions to the red planet, but chief among them is the amount of propellant needed.
During the Apollo program 50 years ago, humans went to the Moon using chemical propulsion, which is to say rocket engines that burned liquid oxygen and hydrogen in a combustion chamber. This has its advantages, such as giving NASA the ability to start and stop an engine quickly, and the technology…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741878

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Ballot Access News – Federal Election Commission Asks U.S. Supreme Court Not to Hear Presidential Debates Case

Feb 132021
 

On February 12, the Federal Election Commission filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Level the Playing Field v FEC, 20-649. This is the lawsuit over who can be included in general election presidential debates. … Continue reading →

External feed Read More at the Source: http://ballot-access.org/2021/02/12/federal-election-commission-asks-u-s-supreme-court-not-to-hear-presidential-debates-case/

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Streetsblog.org – Bill Would Help Americans Buy E-Bikes

Feb 122021
 

As President Biden gears up to give electric car buyers a federally subsidized discount, advocates are urging Congress not to forget the other electric vehicle that can do far more to save the planet: the humble electric bicycle. Congressional Bike Caucus Chairman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) are pushing the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment (E-BIKE) Act, which would offer Americans of all income levels a refundable 30-percent tax credit for purchasing a pedal-assist bicycle. Notably, the credit would be renewable every three years, and married people who wanted to each buy their own e-bike would both be able to take advantage of the program. The bill was applauded by advocates who think…

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Internet Archive Blogs – Mythbusting Controlled Digital Lending: Community Rallies to Fight Misinformation About the Library Practice

Feb 122021
 

Academics, legal experts, and authors explained the thoughtful reasoning and compelling need for libraries to engage in Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) at a webinar hosted by the Internet Archive and Library Futures on February 11. A recording of the session is now available. The panel dispelled myths about CDL, the digital lending model in which a library lends a digital version of a print book it owns. Emphasizing the limited and controlled aspect of the practice, the speakers said CDL allows libraries to fulfill their mission of serving the public in the digital age. The global pandemic only underscores the importance of providing flexibility in how people can access information. Isn’t CDL digital piracy?…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://blog.archive.org/2021/02/11/mythbusting-controlled-digital-lending-community-rallies-to-fight-misinformation-about-the-library-practice/

 2021-02-12  Comments Off on Internet Archive Blogs – Mythbusting Controlled Digital Lending: Community Rallies to Fight Misinformation About the Library Practice

jwz – XScreenSaver alpha testers sought

Feb 122021
 

Greetings Programs,Some extensive XScreenSaver changes are coming, and I could use some volunteers willing to compile and test it on X11 systems. If you can help out, please email me.Beyond the usual, some things that are of particular interest, for test coverage: Unixen that are not Linux. Linuxen that are not Debian or Fedora. Multi-monitor setups, with vigorous hot-swapping. HiDPI monitors. PBP monitors (“two HDMI one cup”). Exotic PAM authentication methods, such as USB or Bluetooth fobs or fingerprint readers. Any PAM setup that prompts for more than one input. Exotic input devices: do you have a controller that does not present as key-press or mouse-motion? Interactions…

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 2021-02-12  Comments Off on jwz – XScreenSaver alpha testers sought

Hackaday – a Hair-Raising Twist on Infinity Mirrors

Feb 112021
 

Just when we thought we’d seen it all in the infinity mirror department, [FieldCrafting] blazed a tiny, shiny new trail with their electroplated infinity mirror hair pin. We’d sure like to stick this in our French twist. Fortunately, [FieldCrafting] provided step-by-step instructions for everything from the 3D printing to the copper electroplating to the mirror film and circuitry application.
And what tiny circuitry it is! This pin is powered by a coin cell and even has a micro slider switch to conserve it. The stick parts are a pair of knitting needles, which is a great idea — they’re pointy enough to get through hair, but not so pointy that they hurt.
[FieldCrafting] was planning to solder 1206…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2021/02/10/a-hair-raising-twist-on-infinity-mirrors/

 2021-02-11  Comments Off on Hackaday – a Hair-Raising Twist on Infinity Mirrors

Boing Boing – Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher and First Amendment activist, has died

Feb 112021
 

Larry Flynt, the pornographer who launched Hustler magazine in 1974 and became a fierce First Amendment activist, has died of heart failure. He was 78. Hustler was far more explicit than the likes of Playboy and one infamous issue featured an illustration of a woman going through a meat grinder. — Read the rest

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2021/02/10/larry-flynt-hustler-publisher-and-first-amendment-activist-rip.html

 2021-02-11  Comments Off on Boing Boing – Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher and First Amendment activist, has died

Ballot Access News – Massive Ballot Access Defeat in New York

Feb 112021
 

On February 10, the Second Circuit refused to enjoin the new New York definition of a qualified political party. SAM Party of New York v Kosinski, 20-3047. Here is the twenty-page opinion, which was written by Judge Michael H. Park, a Trump appointee. It is also signed by Judge Robert D. Sack, a Clinton appointee, and Steven J. Menashi, a Trump appointee.
The new definition requires a party to poll 2% of the presidential vote to retain its qualified status. The decision says there are two state interests in the new, more difficult requirement: (1) to improve the chances that the winner will get a majority of the popular vote; (2) to save money, because the state…

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The Register – Apple, Microsoft, PayPal among 35 organizations compromised by evil twin dependencies attack

Feb 102021
 

Security researcher finds it’s easy to confuse build systems with malicious versions of private software libraries

Bug hunter Alex Birsan last year managed to compromise the software supply chain of 35 companies by exploiting packaging mechanisms used by JavaScript, Python, and Ruby developers.…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/02/10/library_dependencies_attack/

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Hackaday – The Modding, Restoration, and Demise of a $3M Analog Computer

Feb 102021
 

How do you rapidly record the output from your three million dollar analog computer in the 1940s when the results are only available on analog meters? The team responsible for the Westinghouse 1947 AC Network Calculator at Georgia Tech was faced with just this problem and came up with a nifty solution — hack the control panel and wire in a special-purpose drafting table.
What Is It?
What is this beast of a computer? Machines of this type were developed during and after World War 2, and strictly speaking, belong in the category of scale models rather than true computers. Although these machines were very flexible, they were primarily designed to simulate power distribution grids. There is a…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2021/02/09/the-modding-restoration-and-demise-of-a-3m-analog-computer/

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World Socialist Web Site (en) – Facebook’s “depoliticization” aimed at censorship of left-wing and socialist organizations

Feb 102021
 

The recent announcement by Facebook that it would “reduce the amount of political content” on its platform is part of the drive by the US ruling establishment to block the spread of progressive, left-wing and socialist ideas on social media.

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/10/poli-f10.html

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