Lee Kun-hee, Who Built Samsung Into a Global Giant, Dies At 78

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Lee Kun-hee, who built Samsung into a global giant of smartphones, televisions and computer chips but was twice convicted — and, in a pattern that has become typical in South Korea, twice pardoned — for white-collar crimes committed along the way, died on Sunday in Seoul, the South Korean capital….

Huawei Announces Last Major Phone Before US Ban Forces Rethink

Huawei introduced the Mate 40 smartphone series on Thursday, potentially its last major release powered by its self-designed Kirin chips. From a report: China’s biggest tech company by sales has been stockpiling chips to get its signature device out in time to compete with Apple’s iPhone 12 over the holidays. Huawei will have to overhaul its smartphone lineup after Trump administration…

Google Locks In Search Monopoly With $1 Billion To Carriers

Google doled out more than $1 billion last year to U.S. mobile carriers to distribute its search engine, according to the landmark antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department. From a report: The DOJ suit, filed Tuesday, details several methods Google uses to make its search the default service on browsers, smartphones and other devices. That includes deals with Apple and Android…

Here Comes the Internet of Plastic Things, No Batteries Or Electronics Required

An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: When technologists talk about the “Internet of Things” (IoT), they often gloss over the fact that all these interconnected things need batteries and electronics to carry out the job of collecting and processing data while they’re communicating to one another. This job is made even more challenging when you consider that many…

Testing a fiery reentry

What would a satellite look like as it burns up in the atmosphere? Researchers attempted to duplicate this fiery fate for a bulky satellite electronics box using a plasma wind tunnel. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-fiery-reentry.html…

Accelerating your journey to a master’s degree and career advancement

With MasterTrack™ Certificates on Coursera, you have the unique opportunity to advance your education and your career simultaneously. By successfully completing a MasterTrack™ Certificate program, you can earn credit towards a master’s degree and receive a university-issued career credential that affirms your new skills and capabilities. To create a MasterTrack Certificate program, we split a […]
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Python Developer Builds a Raspberry Pi That Alerts Drone Pilots

“A Raspberry Pi, a USB SDR dongle, an LCD a buzzer and a little bit of coding in Python and C has created a very useful alarm for drone and RC model aircraft operators,” explains long-time Slashdot reader NewtonsLaw .
The device allows users to set an “alarm” perimeter around their operating area and automatically alert them whenever a manned aircraft with…

‘Extremely Brilliant Source’ X-Rays Set To Revolutionize Science

Rose Pastore reporting via Gizmodo: A new way of producing powerful X-ray beams — the brightest on Earth — is now making it possible to create 3D images of matter at astounding resolutions. This “Extremely Brilliant Source” officially opened last month at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, and scientists are already using it to study the coronavirus behind covid-19….

The Fairphone 3+ Is a Repairable Dream That Takes Beautiful Photos

The Fairphone 3+ is a $550 phone with modular parts that can easily be swapped out by users themselves. “In many ways, a Fairphone is the antithesis of the iPhone,” writes Catie Keck via Gizmodo. “It doesn’t benefit most retailers to allow you to easily repair your own stuff, meaning that a lot of gizmos these days — particularly higher-end electronics…

At Least 10 Amazon Employees Took Bribes from Sellers, Indictment Alleges

CBS News reports: Six people allegedly conspired to bribe Amazon employees and contractors in order to gain a competitive advantage on the retailer’s marketplace, federal prosecutors announced Friday. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, those charged posed as consultants and worked with third-party sellers whose products had previously been removed from Amazon Marketplace get the items back on the platform….