93655683
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
- The chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday âoeoperational limitationsâ in the Tesla Model S played a âoemajor roleâ in a May 2016 crash that killed a driver using the vehicleâ(TM)s semi-autonomous âoeAutopilotâ system.
Reuters reported on Monday that the NTSB is expected to find that the system was a contributing factor because it allows drivers to avoid steering or watching the road for lengthy periods of time.
The NTSB is also expected to find that Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) could have taken additional steps to prevent the systemâ(TM)s misuse and will fault the driver for not paying attention.
âoeTodayâ(TM)s automation systems augment, rather than replace human drivers. Drivers must always be prepared to take the wheel or apply the brakes,â NTSB Chairman Robert Sumalt said.
The system could not reliably detect cross traffic and âoedid little to constrain the use of autopilot to roadways for which it was designed,â the board said.
Monitoring driver attention by measuring the driverâ(TM)s touching of the steering wheel âoewas a poor surrogate for monitored driving engagement.â
89187107
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Mr D from 63 writes:
About 188,000 residents near Oroville, Calif., were ordered to evacuate Sunday after a hole in an emergency spillway in the Oroville Dam threatened to flood the surrounding area. Thousands clogged highways leading out of the area headed south, north and west, and arteries major and minor remained jammed as midnight approached on the West Coast — though by early Monday, Lake Oroville’s water level had dropped to a point at which water was no longer spilling over.
The lake level reached its peak of 902.59 feet at about 3 a.m. Sunday and dropped to 898 feet by 4 a.m. Monday, according to the Sacramento Bee. Water flows over the emergency spillway at 901 feet.
“The drop in the lake level was early evidence that the Department of Water Resources’ desperate attempt to prevent a catastrophic failure of the dam’s emergency spillway appeared to be paying dividends,” the Bee reported Monday.
86904197
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
The tie-up of AT&T Inc and Time Warner Inc, bringing together one of the country's largest wireless and pay TV providers and cable networks like HBO, CNN and TBS, could kick off a new round of industry consolidation amid massive changes in how people watch TV.
Media content companies are having an increasingly difficult time as standalone entities, creating an opportunity for telecom, satellite and cable providers to make acquisitions, analysts say.
Media firms face pressure to access distribution as more younger viewers cut their cable cords and watch their favorite shows on mobile devices. Distribution companies, meanwhile, see acquiring content as a way to diversify revenue.
Of course, Time Warner and AT&T reps claim this is necessary just to compete. Regulatory scrutiny may not see it that way.
82948337
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Mr D from 63 writes:
FTA
The general idea (of "big data") is to find datasets so enormous that they can reveal patterns invisible to conventional inquiry. The data are often generated by millions of real-world user actions, such as tweets or credit-card purchases, and they can take thousands of computers to collect, store, and analyze. To many companies and researchers, though, the investment is worth it because the patterns can unlock information about anything from genetic disorders to tomorrow’s stock prices.
But there’s a problem: It’s tempting to think that with such an incredible volume of data behind them, studies relying on big data couldn’t be wrong. But the bigness of the data can imbue the results with a false sense of certainty. Many of them are probably bogus—and the reasons why should give us pause about any research that blindly trusts big data.
So rather than succumb to “big data hubris,” the rest of us would do well to keep our skeptic hats on—even when someone points to billions of words.
74138047
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
In a tax ruling issued in early June, the city of Chicago expanded its amusement tax to include amusements such as TV shows, movies, videos, music and online games, if they are delivered by electronic means to customers in the city. The ruling became effective July 1.
The initial tax rate is 9% on streaming content. Sales of movies and music and the rest is not taxable, and the tax must be paid whether a customer is paying a subscription charge, a per event fee or some other variation. Chicago expects to collect $12 million a year as a result of the new tax ruling.
Amusement Tax Ruling;
The amusement tax applies to charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in an amusement. This includes not only charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in amusements in person but also charges paid for the privilege to witness, view or participate in amusements that are delivered electronically. Thus:
a) charges paid for the privilege of watching electronically delivered television shows, movies or videos are subject to the amusement tax, if the shows, movies or videos are delivered to a patron (i.e., customer) in the City (see paragraph 13 below);
b) charges paid for the privilege of listening to electronically delivered music are subject to the amusement tax, if the music is delivered to a customer in the City;
c) and charges paid for the privilege of participating in games, on-line or otherwise, are subject to the amusement tax if the games are delivered to a customer in the City.
72327467
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Mr D from 63 writes:
The lawsuit comes after Verizon unveiled new bundles that allow customers to choose specific packages of channels that can be swapped every 30 days.
ESPN claims this offer is not in compliance with their agreements with Verizon. In the US, ESPN depends heavily on viewership during the football season, then basketball, I suppose they don't want to lose large swaths of subscribers during the spring and summer.
71799463
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
A mysterious “warm blob” in the Pacific Ocean could be the reason why US West coast states like California are experiencing their worst ever drought, a new study says.
70511073
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Mr D from 63 writes:
From the article; For years, parents of babies who seem likely to develop a peanut allergy have gone to extremes to keep them away from peanut-based foods. Now a major study suggests that is exactly the wrong thing to do.
Its interesting how this peanut allergy fear is a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. I believe its driven by a complete mus-perception of risk by many parents, and it doesn't stop at peanuts. What do you think, is there a bigger underlying problem here?
65937751
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Mr D from 63 writes:
Time Warner Cable’s results have been buoyed recently by higher subscriber numbers for broadband Internet service. In the latest period, however, Time Warner Cable lost 18,000 overall residential customer relationships.
The addition of 92,000 residential high-speed data customers was offset by 184,000 fewer residential video customers in the quarter. Triple play customers fell by 24,000, while residential voice additions were 14,000.
65417885
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
From the article; "A higher-resolution, 4K stream from Netflix (NFLX) will cost more. The company has boosted its monthly price for streaming ultrahigh-definition television and movies to $11.99 per month, citing the higher expenses associated with that content. In May, Netflix announced that its original series, such as House of Cards, would be available to stream in the 4K format, which offers roughly four times the resolution of current high-def TVs."
59944729
submission
Mr D from 63 writes:
On Saturday, May 10, 2014, at 2 p.m. local time (10 p.m. Friday EDT), the hybrid remotely operated vehicle Nereus was confirmed lost at 9,990 meters (6.2 miles) depth in the Kermadec Trench northeast of New Zealand. The unmanned vehicle was working as part of a mission to explore the ocean’s hadal region from 6,000 to nearly 11,000 meters deep. Scientists say a portion of it likely imploded under pressure as great as 16,000 pounds per square inch.
