Canadian tuner Mountain Pass Performance has designed and built a series of bolt-on performance parts that turn the Model 3 into a serious performance car.
Source: CNET
The classic Mustang had a less than successful go of driving itself up Lord March’s notoriously tricky driveway.
Source: CNET
It probably sings better than you, too.
Source: CNET
It might not be the most obvious use for a wearable. But several Reddit and Twitter users say the devices help them slow down.
Source: CNET
The current world speed record for riding a bike down a straight, flat road was set in 2012 by a Dutch team, but the Swiss have a plan to topple their rivals — with a little help from machine learning. An algorithm trained on aerodynamics could streamline their bike, perhaps cutting air resistance by enough to set a new record.
Currently the record is held by Sebastiaan Bowier, who in 2012 set a record of 133.78 km/h, or just over 83 mph. It’s hard to imagine how his bike, which looked more like a tiny landbound rocket than any kind of bicycle, could be significantly improved on.
But every little bit counts when records are measured down a hundredth of a unit, and anyway, who knows but that some strange new shape might totally change the game?
To pursue this, researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne’s Computer Vision Laboratory developed a machine learning algorithm that, trained on 3D shapes and their aerodynamic qualities, “learns to develop an intuition about the laws of physics,” as the university’s Pierre Baqué said.
“The standard machine learning algorithms we use to work with in our lab take images as input,” he explained in an EPFL video. “An image is a very well-structured signal that is very easy to handle by a machine-learning algorithm. However, for engineers working in this domain, they use what we call a mesh. A mesh is a very large graph with a lot of nodes that is not very convenient to handle.”
Nevertheless, the team managed to design a convolutional neural network that can sort through countless shapes and automatically determine which should (in theory) provide the very best aerodynamic profile.
“Our program results in designs that are sometimes 5-20 percent more aerodynamic than conventional methods,” Baqué said. “But even more importantly, it can be used in certain situations that conventional methods can’t. The shapes used in training the program can be very different from the standard shapes for a given object. That gives it a great deal of flexibility.”
That means that the algorithm isn’t just limited to slight variations on established designs, but it also is flexible enough to take on other fluid dynamics problems like wing shapes, windmill blades or cars.
The tech has been spun out into a separate company, Neural Concept, of which Baqué is the CEO. It was presented today at the International Conference on Machine Learning in Stockholm.
A team from the Annecy University Institute of Technology will attempt to apply the computer-honed model in person at the World Human Powered Speed Challenge in Nevada this September — after all, no matter how much computer assistance there is, as the name says, it’s still powered by a human.
Source: TechCrunch
Sticky keys will likely continue to be a problem for owners looking to purchase Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pro. While the laptop comes with a quieter keyboard, Apple did not provide an engineering fix to address problems with unresponsive keys.
The post Apple’s sticky key problem isn’t going away on the 2018 MacBook Pro appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends
Switching between multiple Gmail accounts is quick and easy once you know how to do it. We’ll walk you through the process of logging in to multiple Gmail accounts on your phone and computer.
The post How how to easily log in to multiple Gmail accounts at once appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends
The team at Octi says it’s building a crucial piece of the augmented reality puzzle — the ability to understand the human body and its movement.
Co-founder and CEO Justin Fuisz told me that most existing AR technologies (including Apple’s ARKit) tend to be “plane-based” — in other words, while they can make something cool appear against a real-world background, it’s usually on a flat surface, like a table or the floor.
Octi, on the other hand, recognizes where people are in-camera, and it can use that understanding to apply a variety of different effects.
For example, Fuisz and his team showed me how they could dance around their office while bright, squiggly lines overlaid their bodies — and then they erased their bodies entirely. They also showed me how effects could be tied to different gestures, like how a “make it rain” motion could result in dollar bills flying out of their hands.
To do this, Octi says it’s built sophisticated machine learning and computer vision technology. For starters, it looks at a human being and detects key points, like eyes, nose, hips and elbows, then uses those points to construct a model of a skeleton.
Fuisz suggested that the technology could be applied to a number of different industries, including fashion, fitness, entertainment and gaming. In fact, the company is announcing a partnership and strategic investment from the OneTeam Collective, the accelerator of the NFL Players Association. As a result, Octi plans to create and distribute avatars of more than 2,000 NFL players.
In addition, Octi is announcing that it has raised $7.5 million in seed funding from Shasta Ventures, I2BF Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, Day One Ventures, Human Ventures Live Nation and AB InBev, plus individuals, including former Pandora and Snap executive Tom Conrad, WeWork Chief Product Officer of Technology Shiva Rajaraman, Adobe Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky, A&D Networks Chairman Abbe Raven and Joshua Kushner.
If you want to try this out for yourself, the startup has its own iOS app — Fuisz described the app as a technology showcase for potential partners, but he added, “The app is available to the public and is totally awesome.”
Source: TechCrunch
Google updated its “Ad Settings,” and now you can get rid of personalized ads that are targeted just for you. The process is fast and simple, leaving you with a sense of relief that Google won’t know everything about you.
The post How to turn off targeted ads in Google appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends
Netflix has broken HBO’s 17-year streak as the most nominated network at the Emmy Awards.
In the nominations released this afternoon, Netflix came out slightly ahead, with 112 nominations compared to HBO’s 108. Those include Best Comedy nods for GLOW and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, as well as Best Drama nominations for The Crown and Stranger Things.
Other Netflix shows got some love as well. Jordan Crook, my co-host on the Original Content podcast, will be glad to know that Jason Bateman was nominated for his work as both actor and director on Ozark. Meanwhile, Black Mirror‘s “USS Callister” episode was nominated for Best Television Movie.
The other big streaming services had good news, too. Hulu received 27 nominations, with last year’s Best Drama winner The Handmaid’s Tale up for the big award again. Handmaid’s Tale was one of the most-nominated shows overall, although its 20 nominations were just shy of Westworld‘s 21 and Game of Thrones’ 22. (These are nominations for GoT’s seventh season, which aired last summer.)
Meanwhile, Amazon’s shows received 22 nominations, including a Best Comedy nod for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The winners will be announced in a ceremony hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che on Sept. 17.
Source: TechCrunch