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Fires rage in Fort McMurray, Alberta, on May 1. (credit: jasonwoodhead23)

Right now, wildfires are raging in Canada, forcing the evacuation of Fort McMurray, the nation's largest northern city. More than 80,000 people have fled Fort McMurray as the rest of the world watched horrific videos of long lines of cars struggling through thick smoke while threatened by encroaching walls of fire. What we don't see in the video feeds is how emergency responders are using a range of technologies to contain the situation. But the core theme in emergency response isn’t having the latest tools or the coolest toy. It's about using what works for the greatest number of people, often on a shoestring budget.

NASA

Burn scars, smoke, and active fires in Fort McMurray, Alberta on May 5, 2016.

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Assessing the scene

When disaster strikes—fire, flood, storms, or quakes—first responders are dispatched to go places most people are fleeing. The locations of key infrastructure like fire hydrants are all mapped in advance, but instead of relying on bulky hardcopy binders from the Fire Marshall’s office, modern responders often check custom maps on their smartphones to see where to hook into local infrastructure or digital databases to identify hazards.

Even while firefighters charge into a burning building, someone on their team is hanging back to call in to disaster centers with an update on front-line conditions. A major part of effective disaster response is getting a verified assessment of the scene from a skilled professional, so the people responsible for making decisions can figure out what to do next. Today, a simple smartphone loaded with basic consumer apps like Periscope or Skype can show the office exactly what responders are facing.

What's left of the Model S after a teenager crashed and then rolled it into a field. (credit: Sabine Hermsdorf)

Do you have a teenage child that likes to borrow your car and then destroy it in a spectacular crash? We sincerely hope the answer to that question is a resounding "no," but in the off chance that you do, you may want to consider changing your current vehicle for a Tesla Model S. Last week in Germany, the joyriding daughter of a Tesla owner discovered first-hand just how safe the electric vehicle is, after losing control at high speed and rolling into a field.

According to German newspaper Merkur, the 18-year old and four of her friends were messing around in her father's Model S before losing control. The car flew more than 80 feet (25m) into a field before rolling once and coming to a halt. Although three of the occupants had to be helicoptered to hospitals in Munich for treatment, none of their injuries were life-threatening, a testament to the safety of Tesla's skateboard chassis.

The skateboard chassis used by the Model S and Model X is extremely safe, with crumple zones that are unconcerned with engines that can transfer kinetic energy into the passengers during a frontal collision. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Unlike a conventionally powered car, the Model S (and Model X) have no large engine up front to intrude into the passenger compartment during a collision. This means the front and rear crumple zones can effectively dissipate the kinetic energy of a crash, as seen to good effect in the photographs taken after the accident.

Sebastian Anthony

The Elizabeth line platforms are massive. This photo wasn't even taken from the end of the platform!

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I'll let you in on a secret: I love big things. Big holes, big houses, big bridges, big cars. I suspect it has something to do with being very large myself. After spending most of my formative years living in old, low-ceilinged British houses, and developing a hunchback, I now find expansive spaces rather comforting. Which is why I recently paid a visit to the new Elizabeth line (née Crossrail) tunnels near Bond Street, London.

It's funny. If you've ever been on the London Underground, I doubt you'd ever describe it with words like "spacious" or "airy." More like "claustrophobic" and "ooh, look at that big rat!"

As the elevator juddered its way down the giant access hole at the new Bond Street station on London's Hanover Square, though, the only word that came to mind was "whoa." The Elizabeth line ticket halls, walkways, and train tunnels are really quite big.

Enlarge / The Amplifi router/Wi-Fi base station. (credit: Ubiquiti Labs)

I’ve been pretty happy with my switch to Ubiquiti Unifi enterprise (or "enterprise lite," depending on whom you ask) networking gear at my home. But, as explained at length in our review of the system, the Unifi UAP line isn’t necessarily the easiest thing for a home user to buy and set up. The kit requires a separate router and separate management software, and it includes a lot of advanced features that less-technical home users might not care about.

However, this morning Ubiquiti announced a new product line targeted squarely at home users who want the reliability of higher-end business Wi-Fi without the setup and admin hassle: Amplifi. Designed to compete directly against "set it and forget it" mesh Wi-Fi products like eero, Amplifi kits will include a router/AP base station with a touch screen for configuration and four gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as two pre-paired Wi-Fi extenders that can be placed wherever you’d like in your house or apartment. Unlike the business-oriented Unifi gear, the Amplifi router doesn’t require you to run a separate management station application or use a Ubiquiti Cloud Key.

An adjustable Amplifi Wi-Fi extender. (credit: Ubiquiti Labs)

There will be four different Amplifi kits available: the base Amplifi bundle for $199, the Amplifi LR for $299, and the Amplifi HD for $349. There are a few big differentiators across the lines—maximum transmission power, supported Wi-Fi standards, MIMO configuration, and subsequent maximum speed. For the entry-level model, the max TX power of the base station is 24dBm, and the extenders can do 22dBm. The LR pushes the base station to 26dBm and the extenders to 24dBm. With the HD kit, both the base station and extenders can hit a max of 26dBm.

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

No one knew what to make of the Amazon Echo when it first debuted. Originally described as a Siri-like, tube-shaped home assistant, how could this glorified speaker be more useful than similar phone features? But in its year-plus of existence, the Echo has been quietly taking over households everywhere. Amazon hasn't released official sales information, but we can deduce the device has experienced some success based on more than Alec Baldwin's endorsement. According to Slice Intelligence, the Echo's sales grew an average of 342 percent during Q3 and Q4 of 2015. And a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that 3 million Echos have been purchased in the US since 2014.

Clearly, Amazon isn't going to let the Echo go anywhere any time soon. The company even recently expanded the Echo family with Dot and Tap, giving customers more affordable hardware options for Alexa access. While often compared to Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google Now's nameless voice assistant, using Alexa feels fundamentally different. And after just a few weeks living with the Amazon Echo, I can see how—and in what capacity—I could be convinced to use a virtual assistant.