Geneva motor show: EVs, autonomous tech, and the end of GM in Europe

More car makers than ever are taking EVs and self-driving features into the mainstream.

Electric powertrains and driver-assist features have been the cutting edge in automotive technology for a while now, and at this year's Geneva International Motor Show both were more in evidence than ever.

There were the obligatory supercars, of course, from Ferrari's 812 Superfast and Lamborghini's Huracan Performante to McLaren's 720S, with styling that was less than universally loved. Aston Martin's Adrian Newey-masterminded AM-RB 001 now sported the name Valkyrie and showed off a profile so slender it seems hard to imagine a 6.5-litre V12 and a driver will both fit inside. There were also debuts for the production version of Techrules' Ren turbine-powered range-extender EV and the (Williams-engineered) Vanda Dendrobium prototype from Singapore, which may make limited production. Even Tata got in on the performance car act, with the Racemo sports car powered by a 187bhp (140kW) 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo engine.

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Techrules Ren: Chinesischer Supersportwagen hat sechs E-Motoren

Gasturbine als Range Extender: Das chinesische Unternehmen Techrules stellt auf der Automesse in Genf einen Supersportwagen mit Elektroantrieb vor. Das Besondere an dem Techrules Ren ist sein Antrieb – vor allem die Zahl der Motoren. (Elektroauto, Tech…

Gasturbine als Range Extender: Das chinesische Unternehmen Techrules stellt auf der Automesse in Genf einen Supersportwagen mit Elektroantrieb vor. Das Besondere an dem Techrules Ren ist sein Antrieb - vor allem die Zahl der Motoren. (Elektroauto, Technologie)

Decrypted: The Expanse: “The truth is never what you expect it to be”

This week our guest is Nick Farmer, the linguist who’s creating Belter creole for the show.

Enlarge / Two of our favorite Belters, Drummer (played by Cara Gee) and Anderson Dawes (played by Jared Harris). (credit: Shane Mahood/Syfy)

Welcome to week six of Decrypted: The Expanse. This week's episode began with a rather tranquil-looking scene of red snowflakes settling in the weak gravity of one of Jupiter's moons. But looks are deceiving; that "snow" is actually a fine spray of blood leaking from Bobbie Draper's power armor. With one of Ganymede's orbital mirrors out of commission and heavy damage to some of the domes, the breadbasket of the outer planets is in real trouble. But here's a question for the scientists: Would a fine spray of blood really form little red snowflakes in the cold vacuum of space?

Draper is all that's left of her team, and the only remaining eyewitness to the battle on Ganymede. With the aid of memory-enhancing drugs she's able to reconstruct the chain of events, but the Martian brass don't seem interested in hearing about the seventh man she saw before passing out.

On Earth, Errinwright is still spoiling for a fight with Mars, but Avasarala has the upper hand. Rather than a solar system-wide war, she proposes a peace summit. The crew of the Roci is helping out with refugees on Tycho Station, but Amos is rattled when he realizes the rest of the crew have something he can't find—a sense of empathy. He goes to find Cortazar, the Protogen scientist, who gives him a psychopathic pep talk.

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Google: Neue Business-Funktionen von Hangouts sind verfügbar

Google hat den angekündigten Umbau von Hangouts von einem Consumer-Chat zu einer Firmenkommunikationslösung weiter vorangetrieben: Mit Hangouts Meet und Hangouts Chat stehen G-Suite-Kunden neue Möglichkeiten für Video- und Textchats zur Verfügung. (Google, Videotelefonie)

Google hat den angekündigten Umbau von Hangouts von einem Consumer-Chat zu einer Firmenkommunikationslösung weiter vorangetrieben: Mit Hangouts Meet und Hangouts Chat stehen G-Suite-Kunden neue Möglichkeiten für Video- und Textchats zur Verfügung. (Google, Videotelefonie)

TV-Kabelnetz: Schnelle Node Splits und zusätzlich 20 GBit/s im Kabelnetz

Giax hat Technik entwickelt, die Glasfaserleistung auf bestehende Koaxialkabel-Infrastruktur bringen soll. Mit der GigaHFC-Technik sollen sich in nur wenigen Tagen Netzsegmentierungen (Node Splits) machen lassen. Dies bringt den Nutzern schnell höhere Datenraten. (Technologie, Telekommunikation)

Giax hat Technik entwickelt, die Glasfaserleistung auf bestehende Koaxialkabel-Infrastruktur bringen soll. Mit der GigaHFC-Technik sollen sich in nur wenigen Tagen Netzsegmentierungen (Node Splits) machen lassen. Dies bringt den Nutzern schnell höhere Datenraten. (Technologie, Telekommunikation)

Ed Sheeran Tells Musician Fan He’ll “Sort Out” Facebook Copyright Ban

When musician Charlotte Campbell posted a 15-second video of herself singing an Ed Sheeran track, she never expected Warner would step in and have her banned from Facebook for copyright infringement. She was even more surprised when Ed Sheeran called by, promising to sort out the mess.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

For millions of people around the globe, Facebook is the platform of choice for keeping in contact with family and friends. For artists and other creators, it’s a great way of raising a profile and reaching out more personally to fans.

With two crowd-sourced albums under her belt, UK-based full-time busker Charlotte Campbell is regularly in touch with the public through performances on the London Underground. She also uses Facebook to keep up with fans, but a few days ago her entire experience came to an abrupt halt after she was banned from the platform.

Charlotte’s crime was to post a 15-second snippet of her cover of Ed Sheeran’s song Castle On The Hill, together with a link to the full track on her YouTube channel.

“I love Ed Sheeran’s music and always cover his songs for my busking repertoire,” Charlotte informs TorrentFreak. “I find them easy to learn because I play them on repeat at home so I know all the lyrics by heart.”

However, the musician’s tribute would land her in hot water after being flagged as copyright infringement by Sheeran’s record label Atlantic/Warner. Charlotte was informed that she’d been banned from her own Facebook page for the next three days. If she did it again, she’d be banned forever, Facebook warned.

“I had no prior warning or previous offences to my knowledge. Doesn’t sound like much but for an independent musician making my living from music, Facebook is my primary promotional tool and I’m already struggling to get heard, it was quite deflating,” Charlotte adds.

Charlotte says that it’s taken her months of daily work on Facebook and YouTube to get her videos seen by a regular 10,000 people, so the three-day ban felt like a lifetime to her.

“I’m heartbroken, it’s just so frustrating. I’m a tiny artist, I’m tiny, she says.

But while Charlotte’s reach is currently pretty modest by Sheeran’s standards, something magical happened yesterday afternoon. It could raise the singer’s profile in a way she could never have predicted.

After Charlotte was banned from Facebook, some of her fans took to Ed Sheeran fansites to complain that after paying tribute to the star, Charlotte’s reward was to lose her voice online. Amazingly, word reached Sheeran himself, who dropped in on Charlotte’s Facebook page to give his support.

“Just seen your video, [the ban] definitely has nothing to do with me. I bloody love seeing people cover my songs. One of the best things I get out of this job is seeing other people find enjoyment too,” Sheeran wrote.

“I asked what’s gone on and apparently it’s a bot that Warner have that works on some weird algorithm (I have no idea what that means) but it’s just bad luck that it was your video,” he explained.

While popping by to offer support is great, Sheeran went a step further, promising to sort out the problem with those concerned.

“I’ve had a word, and i’ll get it sorted. Sorry again. Keep doing what you do, tis ace,” he said.

That Sheeran took the time to get involved in this issue came as a big but welcome surprise to Charlotte.

“I’m not sure I’ve really processed it, to be honest, I still feel like I’m dreaming!” she tells TF.

“I felt so relieved that it wasn’t Ed Sheeran who had personally rejected my cover! And it really restored my faith in humanity and in Ed himself.”

While it’s commendable that Sheeran got involved, people shouldn’t be too surprised. The artist is on record saying that copyright infringement helped shoot him to stardom, so a cover version won’t be of any concern to him.

“Illegal file sharing was what made me. It was students in England going to university, sharing my songs with each other,” he recently told CBS.

Of course, it’s disappointing that Charlotte has had to suffer at the hands of Warner’s cruel copyright bots. Ironically, though, this whole episode is now set to raise her profile, hopefully by a lot.

“I really had no idea that Ed would see my video about this so I couldn’t have dreamed that anything would come of it. Now I guess I hope that I’ll be on Ed Sheeran’s radar and next time he’s looking for a support act I’ll pop into his mind. Or at the least he’ll pop by my busking spot one day and join me for a duet!” Charlotte concludes.

If the rumors are correct, Sheeran may well be headlining the Glastonbury Festival this summer and that Pyramid Stage is awfully big for just one person. We know someone who’s probably free that day…..

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Heads up to kaiju fans: You must watch (five minutes of) Kong: Skull Island

Review: Montages, utter lack of chemistry tank most of the film. But then…

Enlarge / You wouldn't like Kong when he's angry.

Let's start with the good stuff, and by that, I mean the final, thrilling action sequence in new movie Kong: Skull Island. The titular ape has been discovered on a remote South Pacific island, and humans have spent about 100 minutes arguing over whether to kill the beast or kinda-sorta fall in love with it. A few native denizens explain that Kong has kept a strange peace on his home island as he has protected his human neighbors from a species of, er, skeletal lizard-raptors.

Locals keep on mentioning that the ske-liz-raps are ruled by a "big one." The big one, conveniently enough, appears at the film's climax.

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