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Enlarge / A SpaceX Starlink user terminal/satellite dish. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX, Charter, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier, Cox, and about 500 other companies are seeking government funding to provide broadband in rural areas. The Federal Communications Commission yesterday released a list of applicants for the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which is set to pay up to $16 billion to Internet service providers over 10 years.

SpaceX would be the first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider to get FCC rural-broadband funding. The RDOF and predecessor programs generally fund expansion of wired or terrestrial wireless services by paying ISPs to expand their networks into rural areas where they would not otherwise have built.

As a satellite provider, SpaceX won't need to install wires or wireless towers in any particular area. But traditional satellite providers have obtained FCC funding before despite already offering service throughout the United States. For example, the FCC's Connect America Fund last year awarded $87.1 million to satellite operator Viasat on condition that it provide service in specific parts of 17 states at lower prices and with higher data caps "than it typically provides in areas where it is not receiving Connect America Fund support."

Enlarge / Left to right: Swift 3 14" model, Swift 5 14" model, Swift 3 13.5" model. All three models feature Intel Tiger Lake CPUs, HD displays, and promise long battery life. (credit: Acer)

Acer is launching three new laptop models in coordination with today's Intel Tiger Lake CPU launch event. The three models are the Swift 3 SF313-53, Swift 3 SF314-59, and Swift 5 SF514-55; all feature the upcoming Tiger Lake CPUs with integrated Intel Xe graphics and Intel Wi-Fi 6.

Recently, we thoroughly tested and reviewed Acer's Ryzen 7 4700u-powered Swift 3 SF314-42, and we liked it a lot. Many reviewers dinged the SF314-42 for its lower-than-average display brightness—although we found it more than adequate for indoor use, even in harsh lighting. Two of the three new models promise much brighter displays, if that's your sticking point—the 13.5" Swift 3 is rated at a whopping 400 nits, while the Swift 5 comes in at 340 nits.

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  The Swift 5, a slightly more upscale model, offers a shallow keyboard -elevation angle from the hinge when opened. [credit: Acer ]

All three models feature thin, lightweight metal chassis with (so far unspecified) i5 and i7 Tiger Lake CPUs and up to 16GiB of RAM. Acer hasn't specified whether the laptops are upgradeable, but we suspect the Swift 3 models at least will not be, judging by their thin (16mm) design. The laptops are all part of Intel's "Project Athena" innovation program, with the Swift 5 already boasting Intel Evo platform verification and both Swift 3 models targeting the same verification pending possible further tuning.

Enlarge / Shiva Ayyadurai, seen here in January 2017. (credit: Boston Globe / Getty Images News)

Shiva Ayyadurai may be best known for his dubious claim to have invented email and for filing defamation lawsuits against online publications that debunked his claim. On Tuesday, Ayyadurai added to his list of non-accomplishments when Massachusetts voters denied him the Republican nomination for US Senate.

Attorney Kevin O'Connor beat Ayyadurai by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent.

This is Ayyadurai's second failed campaign for US Senate. In 2018, he ran as an independent against Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Warren and came in third place with 3.4 percent of the vote.

Enlarge / Disney's new key art for The Mandalorian season two. (credit: The Walt Disney Company)

Disney took to its Disney+ and The Mandalorian Twitter accounts this morning to announce the premiere date for the second season of the live-action Star Wars TV series: October 30.

The show was a huge part of Disney+'s early success in driving subscriptions, as it gained a large following, a lot of buzz, and generally positive critical response. However, when or if a second season would be coming was not clear, given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The previous season ended its run on December 27 of last year. The final episode of season one resolved most of that season's story arcs but laid the groundwork for a new story for season two. That said, it's not yet clear exactly what form the new season will take.

Enlarge (credit: Jae Young Ju/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Ars took a look at how Houston handles hurricanes, particularly in light of the city's botched response to Hurricane Rita in 2005. Back then, millions of Houstonians poured onto the roads to escape the storm's grasp only to find impenetrable traffic. Senior Technology Editor Lee Hutchinson was one of them, describing a "stupid fucking shambolic evacuation" that crept along at an average of 6.7mph (10.8km/h) for nearly an entire day and night in brutal Texan heat and humidity. Many just ran out of fuel on the road, a consequence of idling bumper to bumper for hours and hours with the AC running.

In the comments, a reader asked a question that provoked a long discussion in the Ars office that morning—what does this mean for electric vehicles?

Don’t sweat it

As it happens, sitting in stationary or walking-pace traffic for 20 hours is the kind of thing at which an EV excels. Unlike a car with an idling engine, an EV's battery only has to energize the electric motor when motion is actually called for. Add in regenerative braking that recovers some of that energy instead of wasting it as heat, as friction brakes do, and it's advantage EV.