2021 has brought a deadly avalanche season. “We’re only halfway through the season and we’re 3/4 of the way to the number of fatalities we’d see in a typical year. The dangerous, record-breaking year keeps avalanche forecasters up at night,” one expert said. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/avalanches-2021-united-states-how-to-survive…
Tag: backpack
Bouncing backpack is easier to carry and generates electricity
A backpack fitted with shock absorbers that react to the wearer’s movement makes it feel easier to carry while also generating enough electricity to power LEDs Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266518-bouncing-backpack-is-easier-to-carry-and-generates-electricity/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Many Amazon Returns Are Just Destroyed or Sent to Landfills
What happens when we return items to Amazon? “Perfectly good items are being liquidated by the truckload — and even destroyed or sent to landfill,” according to Marketplace, an investigative consumer program on Canada’s public TV:
Experts say hundreds of thousands of returns don’t end up back on the e-commerce giant’s website for resale, as customers might think. Marketplace journalists posing as…
Beetle is fitted with a tiny camera backpack
Scientists have come up with a miniature camera that is so small it can be attached to the back of an insect. Over the years, action cameras have been… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/338213/beetle-is-fitted-with-a-tiny-camera-backpack…
Beetles carrying tiny backpack cameras stream footage to a smartphone
Ultralight cameras affixed to the backs of beetles can wirelessly livestream to a smartphone, which can also direct the camera to rotate and get footage from different directions Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2249102-beetles-carrying-tiny-backpack-cameras-stream-footage-to-a-smartphone/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Why Did a Tech Executive Install 1,000 Security Cameras Around San Francisco?
The New York Times explains why Chris Larsen installed over a thousand surveillance cameras around San Francisco to monitor 135 city blocks:
It sounds sinister. A soft-spoken cryptocurrency mogul is paying for a private network of high-definition security cameras around the city. Zoom in and you can see the finest details: the sticker on a cellphone, the make of a backpack,…
Meet the Man Being Sued By the FTC Over His Kickstarter Campaign for a High-Tech Backpack
The Verge takes a 5,000-word look at a Kickstarter campaign “that raised more than half a million dollars, only to never ship and leave behind thousands of angry backers.” “The difference in this story, however, is that for only the second time, the Federal Trade Commission is coming for the creator.”
The agency claims Doug Monahan took his backpack funds and spent…
Would Social Media Have Made Life Worse For Richard Jewell?
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: Clint Eastwood’s new movie Richard Jewell recounts the incredible tale of the security guard. Jewell was later [erroneously] considered a suspect after being hailed by the media for saving many from injury or death by discovering a backpack containing three pipe bombs in Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics and helping to evacuate the…
Free Software Foundation Offers Benefits and Merchandise In Its Annual Fundraiser
An anonymous reader writes:
The Free Software Foundation is holding its annual fundraiser, with a goal of attracting 600 new members by the end of December. (New members so far: 112.) “We are still fighting the oppressive nature of proprietary software,” explains the campaign’s web page. “We have made solid inroads, and the community is as passionate as ever.” As a 501(c)(3)…
‘The 2018 MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy’
Ryan Bigg: I recently upgraded from a 2015 MacBook Pro to a 2018 MacBook Pro. So I’ve been using this computer as a work computer for almost 3 months now and, my god, the keyboard drives me mental. Even writing this blog post now on the train and there’s: duplicated “o’s” that I’ve had to go back and fix, or missing…