The technology thread

[Bada-Bing!]

Tiny proportion of e-scooter injuries appear in official UK data

Study warns that lack of reporting may mask the dangers of still-mostly-illegal scooters on roads and pavements

www.theguardian.com

Not surprising really unless the rider injures someone else. This Government not willing to regulate and legalise them yet so pushing it to the next Government to deal with.

 

[Al Bangor]

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The Inquiry - Has Toyota solved the electric car battery problem? - BBC Sounds

Toyota has unveiled a revolutionary electric car battery.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

So not only should Tesla drivers have their own charger at home but ideally a garage to keep the car/battery warm in sub freezing temps.

One good thing about my ebike battery is I can remove it and charge indoors.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

And precondition the battery before charging it in cold weather. Applies to all EVs with a Li-Ion battery.

Why are Teslas’ batteries dying in the cold?

Freezing temperatures across central US have cut electric vehicles’ range and left drivers facing long waits at charging stations

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Airport scanner delay will prolong 100ml liquid ban

Some UK airports will not have all the technology in place by 1 June to do away with carry-on limits.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Virgin Media most-complained about broadband provider

The company says the latest data from regulator Ofcom "falls far short of our expectations".

www.bbc.co.uk

Not surprised. They billed me again this January despite me calling them 2 weeks ago and them assuring me they would not, as my contract and notice period ended last month. I called them this morning and was told I had actually overpaid and would receive the credit back next week, which would offset what they deducted . Weird way of doing it why not just pay me the net credit back?

Plus i will be disconnected by end of the month and will need to send back the box and Wi-Fi max (which was ****). But they refuse to remove the lengthy cable and take that off of my property.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Fitbit denies Charge 5 update made devices unusable

More than 100 users say new software is causing Fitbits to malfunction or stop working altogether.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[RedruthRFC]

Fitbit denies Charge 5 update made devices unusable

More than 100 users say new software is causing Fitbits to malfunction or stop working altogether.

www.bbc.co.uk

On checking, it appears that mine is sufficiently old that it hasn't had an update in more than a year, but the battery life seems to have fallen off a cliff in the past couple of months. Maybe it's just that it's too old, but I do wonder if the phone app is doing something different that is draining the battery quicker.

Either way, it's Garmin all the way for me when I finally get around to replacing it. I'll be leaving this kind of BS behind, won't be asked to pay a subscription to access all my watch's features and will get an altimeter.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted wireless brain chip

The company intends for such chips to eventually help tackle complex medical conditions.

www.bbc.co.uk

Do you think he tried it on himself?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Elon Musk: Judge blocks 'unfathomable' $56bn Tesla pay deal

The lawsuit was filed by a shareholder who argued that it was an inappropriate overpayment.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Got a spare £3.5k plus VAT? Then don't open or use it and sell it in 10 years time for 10x the amount as an unused mint condition first edition.

 

[dullonien]

Got a spare £3.5k plus VAT? Then don't open or use it and sell it in 10 years time for 10x the amount as an unused mint condition first edition.

Really interesting. I've been using VR headsets on ans off for a number of years in work (Oculus Rift 2) and whilst they're uaeful and fun in a lot of ways, they're still too bulky, and cumbersome, and uncomfortable over long periods to use regularly for day to day tasks.

Some of the features of that Apple Vision Pro certainly take things in the right direction, screen quality, passthrough, but then you'd hope so for a unit that literally costs 8 times the price.

There is certainly a future for AR/VR, but in reality we need twchnology to improve quite a bit until I can see me using one daily. It needs to become much, much more lightweight and slender for one.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The other thing is worth it for any app developers out there especially as there are currently only 600 apps out there. But yeh the straps thing is a bit off putting and pressure on the eyes for long period especially if the back band is worn. Still want to try one but not fork out for it.

Apple can afford this first edition to be a failure until they can produce a cost effective consumer model or one where you can spread the cost over a contract.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Make used electric cars cheaper and tackle battery fears, peers tell ministers

Grants needed towards buying EVs as well as a battery health testing standard to reassure consumers

www.theguardian.com

35m cars of which only 650k are electric. Hella
Of a long way to go then and that is not factoring in the need to upgrade the grid and charging points. And we've seen Li-ion batteries don't like extremes of temperature

Non plug in Hybrids, drive less especially local journeys or public transport, walking, cycling in the mean time.

 

[Saintjay]

Make used electric cars cheaper and tackle battery fears, peers tell ministers

Grants needed towards buying EVs as well as a battery health testing standard to reassure consumers

www.theguardian.com

35m cars of which only 650k are electric. Hella
Of a long way to go then and that is not factoring in the need to upgrade the grid and charging points. And we've seen Li-ion batteries don't like extremes of temperature

Non plug in Hybrids, drive less especially local journeys or public transport, walking, cycling in the mean time.

Problem is the infrastructure simply isn't there even where i live. North Wales etc it's even worse.

The cuts to public transport and lack of it an issue. Even before you take into account the costs of EV's. Most low income people simply can't afford them.

Also the Government need to address the steady loss of revenues from fuel sales at the pump. At some point i fully expect those costs to be passed on to EV drivers at some point. Bit like EV's no longer being VEL exempt

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Problem is the infrastructure simply isn't there even where i live. North Wales etc it's even worse.

The cuts to public transport and lack of it an issue. Even before you take into account the costs of EV's. Most low income people simply can't afford them.

Also the Government need to address the steady loss of revenues from fuel sales at the pump. At some point i fully expect those costs to be passed on to EV drivers at some point. Bit like EV's no longer being VEL exempt

Sure it's going to be a massive challenge. Even if they do make second hand EVs cheaper. As you said the infrastructure just isn't there plus unlikely given we have 35m vehicles on the road. It's just not feasible to turn each of those into fully EVs And not everyone has access to their own charging point at home Or has a garage for when temperatures plummet below zero.

I am keeping hold of my ICE vehicle for the foreseeable future and walking/cycling the rest of the time. Mostly because of the petrol prices. But I would be happy to share a vehicle Once I get rid of it.

I've always thought they will have to bring in some kind of road usage charging model to replace the revenue lost from petrol/diesel Regardless of what vehicle.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

And not everyone has access to their own charging point at home

This is the big one for me - what if you live in a flat, or a terraced house?
Every time you want to charge your car you've got to go off to a petrol station/supermarket/whatever and sit there for 4-8hrs (apparently that's the average time range for a full charge) because you can't do it over night?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

This is the big one for me - what if you live in a flat, or a terraced house?

The ones I have seen feed a long cable through their fence or their window to their EV parked on the street. Pretty unsightly and inconvenient. And yes, what happens if you live in a multi-storey block of flats? I think any with underground parking, especially the new builds will have to have many public charging points.

Every time you want to charge your car you've got to go off to a petrol station/supermarket/whatever and sit there for 4-8hrs (apparently that's the average time range for a full charge) because you can't do it over night?

Range anxiety is the biggest issue for most and yes, the fast charging infrastructure isn't there (Tesla have apparently opened up theirs to other EVs to use but there are not enough of them) let alone enough public charging points.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The ones I have seen feed a long cable through their fence or their window to their EV parked on the street. Pretty unsightly and inconvenient.

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen - someone tripping over a cable and breaking a hip

I've seen people say that streetlamps have enough juice in them to run EV chargers and with a lot of them using LED bulbs these days (and therefore requiring a lot less power) these could be converted, not sure if that's an actual viable option or just pie in the sky thinking