Self-driving cars in Germany will not discriminate when it comes to deciding between two possible crash victims. Newly published guidelines say the vehicles must simply aim to minimize harm. What happens in a potential crash is a longstanding ethical issue that has come back to prominence with autonomous vehicles. Among human drivers (and hypothetical train […]
Nostalgic Quebecers hoping to buy the SNES Classic are out of luck. Nintendo has reportedly decided not to sell the console in the province thanks to language regulations. Local laws protect and promote the use of French, which is the official language of Quebec and must be used in several areas such as advertising and […]
A new sensor tracks and photographs every car that drives past your house. It appears to be legal but has raised privacy questions. The BBC reports that the gadget from Flock costs $50 a year to use and the company says it will only make it available to “neighborhood leaders” with an emphasis on fighting […]
10 years ago today, a Twitter user posted a hashtag for the first time. That means a decade of a useful feature, many years of annoying advertising and several years of annoying spoken redundancy. The idea of hashtags came more than a year after the site’s launch and was suggested by user Chris Messina who […]
Robotics experts have asked the United Nations to act to restrict the use of robots in warfare. More than 100 people have signed an open letter warning of the dangers of “lethal autonomous weapons.” The letter is aimed at those involved in the UN’s “Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons”, an agreement that’s been in place […]
China has sent a quantum-based wireless message that it says cannot be intercepted without detection. It used satellites to overcome distance restrictions that would apply on the ground. The signal included an encryption key made up entangled photons: in effect light particles which are dependent on one another. Trying to read any of the signal […]
Facebook is to host original video content in a new section of your newsfeed. Don’t expect any blockbusters though: it isn’t paying anything up front for content. The new Watch tab on the site and app will host short form shows as well as the occasional live sporting event. The content will all be free […]
Disney is to start its own streaming services and pull its movies from Netflix. But there’s some question over whether Marvel content will be part of the move. The plan is for two standalone services. One would be an ESPN sports service and the other would carry movies and TV shows, based largely or wholly […]