Keep Car Safe from Theft
Lock your doors, install a steel anti-theft shield, install an alarm system, and Install an immobilizer
Read the full blog post at Menswear Style here
Article by Menswear Style
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Lock your doors, install a steel anti-theft shield, install an alarm system, and Install an immobilizer
Read the full blog post at Menswear Style here
Article by Menswear Style
First shown at Gamescom 2022, BMW’s Mini brand has announced the Mini Aceman, a compact car filled with lights, screens, gaming features, and a pikachu-inspired interface. Designed to “promote a playful mindset,” the Mini Aceman features a lot of high-tech features, including the capability for you to plug your consoles into it. And, much like pikachu, the vehicle is entirely electric, making the partnership all the more fitting.
On the BMW blog, the company shared additional information about the partnership as well as the features of the Mini Aceman. Upon opening the car, you will be greeted by Pokemon-inspired puddle lights and the vehicle’s “Experience Mode,” which gives pikachu control over the car’s many interfaces and screens. The screens then displays Ash’s loyal companion as well as Poke Balls and bolts of lightning, adding a bit of fun to the car’s futuristic design.
In addition to its internal screens, the Mini Aceman also features the ability to project the screens on to a wall, allowing drivers to create their own drive-thru movie experience. Oliver Heilmer, head of Mini Design, confirmed you can connect your gaming console to the car, though there was no clarification on what consoles are compatible. In addition, the company did not state whether or not all these features will be disabled while driving. Considering just how many screens and features are packed into the compact hatchback, it doesn’t seem a stretch to presume it could be distracting to drivers.
As part of the Compute Team, Zhang designed and tested circuit boards to analyze sensor data, and he was given access to Apple’s secure and confidential internal databases. In April 2018, Zhang left Apple for Chinese startup XMotors, and shortly after, Apple found that he had stolen sensitive Apple Car development data and hardware.
In July 2018, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation charged Zhang with theft of trade secrets, and he was arrested shortly after for attempting to leave the country. Zhang this week took a plea bargain, which is under seal with the U.S. government.
Along with up to 10 years in prison, Zhang could have to pay up to $250,000 in fines. Sentencing is scheduled for November 14.
This article, “Former Apple Engineer Pleads Guilty to Stealing Apple Car Secrets” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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Xiaolang Zhang has pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from Apple, where he worked on a self-driving car project from 2015 to 2018 (via CNBC). When he quit his job at Apple, he told his supervisor that he was going to work for Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology, a Chinese EV startup also known as Xpeng.
During an investigation, which you can read more about here, Apple determined that he had transferred around 24GB of “highly problematic” data to his wife’s laptop via AirDrop, and had also taken circuit boards and a server from the company’s autonomous vehicle lab.
The terms of Zhang’s plea agreement aren’t publicly available, but according to a court document uploaded by CNBC (pdf), Zhang pled guilty to the single theft of trade…
SCIENTISTS have found a formula to help parents avoid tantrums by kids on a long car journey.
The average child throws a wobbly after an hour and ten minutes.
Scientists have found a formula to help parents avoid tantrums by kids on a long car journey[/caption]
Each extra sibling in the car accelerates paddies by ten minutes.
But parents can buy another 15 minutes of peace with snacks.
And keeping children entertained also helps.
Researcher Dr James Hind, of Nottingham Trent University, said: “If you have only one child and you can keep them entertained and occasionally bribe them with food, you could manage two hours of tantrum-free driving.
“Unfortunately, two children with no entertainment and no snacks can brew up a tantrum in just 40 minutes!
“Snacks are important but there is a limit to how much they can help, so keep them to two an hour max.
“Entertainment is key but even that fails with really long journey times.
“Taking breaks to reset the clock is important for preventing tantrums as well as making sure you are not tired while driving.”
A video on CNN explains that “the fully autonomous vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals,” emphasizing that it’s a “concept car” — a show piece. (“It’s not set for production and won’t be sold to customers.”) But yes, it’s an electric car that replaces the steering wheel with what Lincoln is calling a “chess piece controller,” a hand-held, car-shaped piece of crystal that sits on a table in the center of the car. Drivers “grab it and move it around and move the actual vehicle,” Kemal Curic, Global Design Director for Lincoln Motor Company, tells the Drive. (The table-top surface apparently functions like a kind of map, with the hand-held piece acting as an avatar.) Or as the Drive puts it, “Remember being a kid and pushing a toy car around on a city rug? Lincoln designers do.”
The site ultimately concludes that the designs “really speak to one’s natural instinct of movement. As humans, whenever we want to move something we just pick it up and move it; so why should our cars be any different…? [C]oncept cars don’t have to make sense. They just need to be a cool representation of our wildest ideas.”
In addition, CNN explains, “Because the car drives itself, the front row seats can be turned to face the rear passengers.”
There’s other futuristic features. CNN’s video shows what Lincoln is calling “smart wheel covers” which fully encase the tires while offering a decorative electric light show (which doubles as a battery indicator). Even the floor is a massive digital screen, and there’s also a full-length hinged glass roof — an upper canopy which according to Engadget “can project realistic animated scenes onto the floor and ceiling.”
“Unfortunately many of the ideas presented here will inevitably be cut, going the way of Mercedes’ awesome, Avatar-inspired trunk hatch wigglers.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.