Saturday, October 28, 2017

Things I learned lately - 28 Oct


  • Folks are working on a project that will train crows to pick up and dispose of cigarette butts in exchange for food.
  • Shell gas stations in the UK are rolling out electric 50kW fast charging capability.
  • As part of the new Amazon Key program, Amazon will now allow deliveries inside your home when no one's there. Only for Amazon Prime members who buy a compatible smart lock and security camera, which sell for $250 per kit. It starts November 8 in 37 cities and regions with more to come. Amazon Key can also allow access to your home for other services besides delivery, like the cleaning service Merry Maids. The Amazon Key app will let customers watch their delivery, lock or unlock their door, or watch a clip of the delivery.
  • In September 2017, after the biggest consumer-data breach in American history, the credit-rating agency Equifax tried to briefly fool customers into giving up their right to sue the company. The company designed it so that people who tried to gain access to Equifax's site to check whether their information was stolen would agree — knowingly or, more likely, not — to settle any grievances through arbitration rather than through a class-action lawsuit.
  • Uber has a robot performing parking lot security at their main offices. The K5 Robot, made by Knightscope, features a 360-degree view and facial recognition abilities. It can scan up to 1,500 license plates per minute, and will notify the authorities automatically if it finds a license place registered to a suspected criminal. K5 uses lasers and GPS systems to roll around and avoid obstacles. If K5 spots any potential criminal activity, it will sound an alarm and record what it's seeing for evidence, but has to contact an human to confront the criminal.


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