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Submission + - UK Drivers warned new speed cameras can fine them for more than just speeding (yahoo.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Drivers have been warned new AI powered speed cameras will be able to catch them using mobile phones while driving or not wearing seatbelts.

Unlike traditional speed cameras that only monitor speed, the new cameras are smart devices that aim to crack down on distractions behind the wheel.

Drivers caught by these new cameras could face major fines.

Using a mobile phone while driving comes with a £200 fine and six penalty points on your license.

And if you are taken to court, the cost could rise to £1,000 or even £2,500 for a lorry or bus driver.

While not wearing a seatbelt comes with a £100 fine, which could increase to £500 if prosecuted in court.

Motoring experts from car repair financing firm Bumper said: “The system uses a multi-camera setup to capture different views of the driver and passengers, with artificial intelligence analysing the footage to detect speed-related offences.

“However, any violations flagged by AI must still be reviewed and verified by police officers before fines are issued.

“Initial results suggest the technology is effective — within just a few weeks, the trial cameras caught 590 drivers without seatbelts and 40 using their phones.

Cash register justice.

Submission + - If the AI Bubble Pops, It Could Now Take the Entire Economy With It (futurism.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes:

AI companies are pouring so much money into AI, experts are starting to warn that it may be propping up the entire US economy.

As investor Paul Kedrosky told the Wall Street Journal , spending on AI infrastructure has already eclipsed spending on telecom and internet infrastructure during the dot-com crisis over two decades ago, raising the specter of a massive bubble.

I'm not sure that's the doomsday warning it's intended to be, as the 2000 dot-com bubble really wasn’t the end of the world for the rest of the economy: “A Nasdaq sell-off in March 2000 marked the end of the dot-com bubble. The recession that followed was relatively shallow for the broader economy but devastating for the tech industry. The Bay Area in California, home to tech-heavy Silicon Valley, experienced a sharp rise in unemployment.” But unemployment throughout the US remained quite low in 2000 and 2001, prior to 9/11.

Submission + - Apollo 13 moon mission leader James Lovell has died (apnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.

Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois, NASA said in a statement on Friday.

“Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount,” NASA said. “We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements.”

One of NASA’s most traveled astronauts in the agency’s first decade, Lovell flew four times — Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 — with the two Apollo flights riveting the folks back on Earth.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 crew of Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders was the first to leave Earth’s orbit and the first to fly to and circle the moon. They could not land, but they put the U.S. ahead of the Soviets in the space race. Letter writers told the crew that their stunning pale blue dot photo of Earth from the moon, a world first, and the crew’s Christmas Eve reading from Genesis saved America from a tumultuous 1968.

Submission + - Disney settles wrongful termination lawsuit with Gina Carano (foxbusiness.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm @disney @Lucasfilm which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved. I hope this brings some healing to the force I hope to make you proud. I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me," Carano said in a statement.

Carano, 43, was fired from her role as Cara Dune in the "Mandalorian" in February 2021, after Disney objected to a controversial social media post she wrote. The actress maintained that she had lost her job for her conservative views, and was wrongfully discriminated against.

The former MMA star has been vocal about her conservative views on social media, voicing her opposition to Black Lives Matter, COVID lockdowns and transgender dogma. Carano came under fire after she posted a picture of a Jewish woman beaten savagely in the city of Lwow while it was occupied by the Germans during World War II, and compared the hatred conservatives in the U.S. were experiencing at that time to that experienced by the Jews during the Holocaust.

Submission + - China's Solar Industry Quietly Fired A Third Of Its Workers (zerohedge.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: China's biggest solar firms fired nearly one-third of their workforces last year, a Reuters analysis of company filings shows, as one of the industries hand-picked by Beijing to drive economic growth grapples with falling prices and steep losses. Longi Green Energy, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, JA Solar, and Tongwei collectively shed some 87,000 staff, or 31% of their workforces on average last year, according to a Reuters review of employment figures in public filings.

The job cuts illustrate the pain from the vicious price wars being fought across Chinese industries, including solar and electric vehicles, as China grapples with massive overcapacity and dismal demand (which has prompted China to dump its exports into any country that will accept them). As a frame of reference, the world produces twice as many solar panels each year as it uses, with most of them manufactured in China.

So to summarize: 5 years ago China unleashed a historic stimulus ramp to build up as much solar capacity as it could. Now, drowning in overcapacity, it is unleashing an even more historic ramp to reverse everything it did.

Submission + - China's War On Starlink: From Laser Attacks To Supply-Chain Sabotage (eurasiantimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Chinese military scientists are relentlessly working on a new project — how to neutralize the Starlink advantage of its adversaries in the case of a war.

And, Beijing is debating everything from stealth submarines fitted with space-shooting lasers, supply-chain sabotage, custom-built attack satellites to kill Starlink satellites, to diplomacy and co-opting Elon Musk, the influential owner of Starlink and recent friend-turned-foe of US President Donald Trump.

In fact, Chinese scientists and researchers have published not one or two but dozens of papers in peer-reviewed journals debating the most efficient way of killing the thousands of Starlink satellites in the Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO).

Worried that these satellites could be used against China, for reconnaissance purposes during peacetime, and for targeting Chinese assets during a war situation, Chinese researchers have been discussing ways to counter this threat.

Submission + - Bioethicists Want to Infect People With Disease That Makes You Allergic to Meat. (hotair.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: You would think that the development of a discipline called "bioethics" would be a good thing, but you would be wrong.

The history of science and medicine is filled with appalling instances of scientists and doctors cruelly abusing people and animals--forced sterilizations, lobotomies, experiments on unwitting victims...the list goes on.

The problem, though, is that the people doing the bioethics are the same people, in many cases, who dream up these nightmares. Their goal is not to "do no harm," but to justify it.

Comment We need to get rid of the income tax (Score 1) 150

by schwit1 (#65560540) Attached to: IRS Chief Says Agency Plans To End Free Filing Program

Go to a consumption tax. No more 1040 forms, no more April 15, no more deductions from your paycheck and biggest of all, no more having the government know how you earned every penny.

Before someone one-note-nelly's that the consumption tax is regressive, so is an income tax. They fixed the income tax, they can fix the consumption tax.

Replacing the income tax with a consumption tax would also allow major cuts at the IRS since they would only need to focus on businesses.

Comment They want to eliminate the anonymous internet (Score 3, Interesting) 54

by schwit1 (#65559094) Attached to: US Senators Introduce New Pirate Site Blocking Bill: Block BEARD

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2Fvisegrad24%2Fstatu...

The UK Minister for Technology has urged citizens to stop using VPNs, to help them circumvent the new Online Safety Act.

Peter Kyle said that providing personal data to the state would keep save children in the UK.

Submission + - For Sale: 1990 Airstream NASA 025 Command Vehicle (hemmings.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Imagine pulling into Burning Man driving this?

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own your own NASA vehicle this is the NASA 025 command vehicle. NASA 025 was designed to land crewed missions at Edwards Air Force Base. It is the one and only of its kind ever built. Has only 8240 miles on it as driven from Ohio to California then around the Edwards base

As Edwards AFB is a massive dry lake bed space missions (both public and secret) would often land in remote areas of the base miles from the tower. This vehicle would be the onsite command center complete with communications and atmospheric monitoring.

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