Semi autonomous driving package

On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke at a company investor day focused on autonomy, relaying news that Tesla had switched to a self-driving computer designed by in-house engineers and dropping some big promises about what, exactly, the future of its Autopilot feature and autonomous driving will look like. And boy, it’s a doozy. This being Musk, who is well-known for sensationalism and spectacle—and with the New York Times reporting that Tesla is expected to announce a first-quarter loss this Wednesday when it is already burning through billions, giving the event curious timing—there’s a lot to unpack. Advertisement Here’s some of the stuff that Musk said on Monday, ranked using our proprietary “How many Elons out of five Elons” system. The new Tesla micro-chip is “the best chip in the world... objectively” During the event, Musk showed off Tesla’s new “full self-driving computer” or FSD Computer, which … [Read more...] about Stuff Elon Musk Said About Tesla Autonomous Cars on Monday, Ranked

Uber—the company that had to pull its self-driving cars off the road for most of 2018 following a lethal accident that allegedly came after warnings of routine accidents—is hiring for a program that may work on self-driving “micromobility” devices, TechCrunch reported on Sunday. Advertisement Details are, as TechCrunch noted, “scarce,” but there’s a lot of speculation that Uber is investigating autonomous versions of the scooters and bikes of the short-term rental type that have already taken over many major cities. The Telegraph reported that Uber has begun hiring for the Micromobility Robotics team, which it wrote had the goal of developing scooters and bikes that can drive to charging stations themselves, or possibly to go and pick up riders after the prior passenger disembarks. TechCrunch noted that a Google form uploaded by Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group was soliciting applicants: The New Mobilities team at Uber is exploring … [Read more...] about Uh Oh, Uber Might Be Thinking About Self-Driving Scooters and Bikes Now

California regulators have shot down what appeared to have been a very ill-advised plan to let self-driving car manufacturers dodge liability for crashes if the cars weren’t maintained to industry-written specifications, the Associated Press reported. No such maintenance requirements exist for standard human-driven vehicles, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles was only considering the proposal after it was suggested by General Motors. If the rule had been adopted, Association of California Insurance Companies vice president Armand Feliciano told the AP, scenarios could include automakers dodging responsibility for major car crashes because of things like slightly under-inflated tires or failing to meet oil change schedules. In November, activist group Consumer Watchdog wrote a letter to the California DMV suggesting former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh, who now works for GM, had improperly hit up government connections … [Read more...] about California DMV Ditches Rule to Limit Liability for Self-Driving Car Manufacturers

classic Xbox and Mac into a super-powered media center using Xbox Media Center, but what about everybody else? Well, if you've got at least a 1 GB USB drive and a computer that can boot from it, you're in luck. LiveXBMC, a blend of the XBMC and Ubuntu Linux, lets you do all the same big-screen media playing, file sharing, DVD ripping, and other media center goodness without installing a thing, but with saved settings. Let's get started creating a portable media monster with XBMC after the jump. Advertisement What you'll need 1 GB or larger USB drive—You'll perform a full re-format of this drive, so back up anything you can't lose. Larger drives, like an iPod or external hard drive, will give you more space to store your goods, but LiveXBMC can also save to any USB drive while it's running. PC that boots from USB—It doesn't much matter what OS it's running, but you can create the live USB stick from Windows or Linux. Decent video card, preferably NVIDIA—LiveXBMC … [Read more...] about Run Xbox Media Center from a USB Drive

A thing you should all know by now is the 2020 Hyundai Veloster N is an incredible, everyday hot Hyundai RM19 and I got a taste of what it’s like on the track. More than that, in just those four laps, it was obvious to me the RM19—or idea of it, at least—was ready for public roads. Obviously, some things need to be nipped and tucked for production. But it’s nearly there. And it’d be a crime if something like it didn’t hit dealers soon. (Full Disclosure: After the LA Auto Show, Hyundai paid for one night for me at a hotel in Beverly Hills so it could shuttle me out to the Hyundai California Proving Ground the next morning to drive the RM19.   What Is It?  Since 2012, Hyundai has been building performance prototypes that all use the RM moniker, which stands for Racing Midship. These cars were meant for research, with racing-derived technology that would trickle down into the automaker’s sporty N models. So far there’s have been … [Read more...] about What It’s Like To Drive A Wild 390-HP Mid-Engine RWD Hatchback From Hyundai