Sensing self

Never let it be said that Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck lacks a flamboyant streak. Although his Electron launch vehicle is one of the smallest orbital rockets in the world, Beck gleans every bit of performance from the booster he can. On just the rocket's second launch, in January 2018, he added a disco-ball like geodesic sphere called "Humanity Star" to give humans a small and bright shining object to, however briefly, gaze upon in the night sky. "The whole point of the program is to get everybody looking up at the star, but also past the star into the Universe, and reflect about the fact that we’re one species, on one planet," he said at the time. In interviews since then Beck has made no secret of his love for humanity's next-closest world, Venus. The surface of that hell-planet is a miasma of carbon dioxide, crushing pressures, and fiery temperatures. But scientists believe that high above that terrible surface, in the clouds of Venus, there are air pressures not dissimilar … [Read more...] about Rocket Lab will self-fund a mission to search for life in the clouds of Venus

When a federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a libel suit brought against Techdirt's Mike Masnick, the decision was a victory of sorts for the First Amendment. And it may be short-lived. Even so, the ruling , which followed two-plus decades of legal precedent, brings to mind how lawsuits like this can be used as a weapon to stifle the First Amendment and extract huge settlements to make the issue disappear. Masnick fought the allegations that he defamed Shiva Ayyadurai, the man who claims to have invented e-mail. Ayyadurai sought $15 million in a lawsuit against Masnick and Techdirt parent company Floor64 over blog posts that labeled Ayyadurai a "fraud" and a "liar" surrounding Ayyadurai's "fake" claims to have invented e-mail in 1978 as a teenager in New Jersey. As strange as it may sound, however, Gawker paid out $750,000 to settle a similar lawsuit from Ayyadurai. He sued Gawker for ridiculing him with headlines that said Ayyadurai has "pretended to invent Email" and "The … [Read more...] about 1st Amendment wins in self-proclaimed e-mail inventor’s Techdirt libel suit

She-Hulk herself isn’t a telepath, but Disney Plus’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law knows exactly what you were thinking when you first saw its statuesque heroine in all her uncanny VFX glory , and it appreciates all the feedback . While She-Hulk ’s frequent forays into the uncanny valley feel like an undeniable sign of the less than ideal conditions its visual effects were produced under, the show as a whole is a surprisingly refreshing spin on Marvel’s small screen character studies — one that feels like the precursor to something new yet very familiar. After multiple Phases full of hero origin series like Daredevil and Moon Knight that gradually teased out how their titular vigilantes became super, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law switches things up by immediately dropping you into the deep end of Jennifer Walters’ (Tatiana Maslany) life with little warning. Much like her counterpart in the comics, She-Hulk ’s Jen is an exceedingly talented but pathologically sheepish … [Read more...] about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is peak uncanny valley, but it works

A senior Eurocrat has called for a “Civil Protection Force” directly under the control of Brussels to be established to fight the impact of climate change. EU crisis management tsar has called for the creation of a “Civil Protection Force” directly under Brussels control for the ostensive purpose of fighting the impact of climate change. The suggestion has prompted one MEP to accuse Brussels of “using any excuse to grab more power”, with the union’s green agenda policy having already resulted in chaotic scenes in the likes of the Netherlands. According to a report by POLITICO , crisis management chief Janez Lenarcic has claimed that the impact climate change is having on EU member states is increasing, something which he believes now mandates intervention from Brussels. ‘EU Absolutely Wants Its Own Army,’ Says Farage https://t.co/kNX0OIRnAp — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 24, 2021 “…we have a growing sense that more Europe is needed in civil … [Read more...] about EU Wants New Centralised ‘Civil Protection Force’ to Fight Climate Change

Sennheiser just announced the latest addition to its Momentum lineup of premium, noise-canceling headphones. Priced at $349.95, the new Momentum 4 Wireless headphones look much different than past models, with the company trading its signature retro aesthetic for a more lightweight, comfortable design . Sennheiser says the Momentum 4s offer “exceptional comfort” and superior active noise cancellation compared to the Momentum 3 Wireless. They’ll be up for preorder on August 9th and will be in stores as of August 23rd. Aside from the revamped style, the other big selling point seems to be battery life. Sennheiser claims the Momentum 4s can achieve up to 60 hours of playback time on a single charge, far beyond the 20 to 30 hours promised by competitors like Sony’s WH-1000XM5, Bose’s QuietComfort 45, and Apple’s AirPods Max. The already terrific sound quality of the third-generation cans seems mostly unchanged: both use 42-millimeter drivers that are tuned for “brilliant … [Read more...] about Sennheiser announces Momentum 4 headphones with new design and 60-hour battery life

Urbanista is following up its solar-powered over-ear headphones from last year with a pair of solar-powered true wireless earbuds called the Phoenix, the company officially announced today. Like the headphones, Phoenix uses Powerfoyle solar panels produced by Exeger to extend their battery life with power from the sun’s rays. But unlike the Los Angeles headphones that have solar panels built into the headband, the panels aren’t included on the Phoenix earbuds themselves. Instead, they’re built into the Phoenix charging case. The decision to shift the solar-charging tech to the charging case makes sense given the small size of the earbuds. But it’s likely to mean that users will have to make an effort to keep the solar panels directed at the sun. A headphone band on top of your head is going to be ideally placed to pick up the sun’s rays whenever you’re using them outside, for example, but most people tend to keep their earbuds’ charging case in their pocket or bag while … [Read more...] about Urbanista brings solar-powered headphone tech to true wireless earbuds

6.0 Frontier home internet Edit See at Frontier See All Providers Like Equipment rental included in the price Unlimited data Fast fiber speeds Don't Like Spotty DSL speeds Poor, but improving, customer satisfaction record Contract required to get signup bonuses In this article Frontier internet availability and coverage ​ Frontier internet plans and pricing ​ How does Frontier internet compare? ​ Frontier internet customer satisfaction reports ​ Recap of Frontier internet ​ Frontier internet FAQ ​ When considering Frontier internet for your home, start by finding out if your address is eligible for fiber or DSL service. With any provider, Frontier included, fiber-optic is preferred to DSL for its speeds, reliability and overall value. But with Frontier, the disparity between the two internet service types feels much more pronounced, which makes … [Read more...] about Frontier Home Internet Review: Check Out Fiber, Pass on DSL