And the most comfortable earbuds ever |
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It's time to sit back, relax, and let the robots do the work, so today we've got a handful of stories about just that -- including a piece on IBM's fully autonomous Mayflower ship, and an examination of whether robots will indeed take your job in the future. Enjoy! |
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Despite having a long history of producing top-notch wired earbuds for professional musicians — known by the more serious label "in-ear monitors" — Ultimate Ears (UE) has never created a set of true wireless earbuds for everyday folks. Until recently, that is.
The $249 UE Fits attempt to solve one of the most frustrating parts of wearing any earbuds: That feeling of having something wedged into your ear.
With special gel-filled silicone eartips that UE claims can be custom-molded to your ears with just a bit of light and heat, the Fits might just be the last set of earbuds you ever buy. I gave them a spin to see how closely they live up to that potential. |
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"Seagulls," said Andy Stanford-Clark, excitedly. "They're quite a big obstacle from an image-processing point of view. But, actually, they're not a threat at all. In fact, you can totally ignore them."
Stanford-Clark, the chief technology officer for IBM in the U.K. and Ireland, was exuding nervous energy. It was the afternoon before the morning when, at 4 a.m. British Summer Time, IBM's Mayflower Autonomous Ship — a crewless, fully autonomous trimaran piloted entirely by IBM's A.I. — was set to commence its voyage from Plymouth, England. to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. And now, after countless tests and hundreds of thousands of hours of simulation training, it was about to set sail for real.
The big challenge here is that the Mayflower Autonomous Ship will be performing its three-week autonomous crossing, which commenced June 15, with zero in the way of human interference. Everything is being carried out autonomously. While the course has been set, any deviation on that course — from responding to weather conditions to avoiding obstacles larger than a seagull, is carried out by the ship's A.I. Captain
And you can watch the whole thing live. |
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For years, some very smart people have been sounding the alarm about automation. A 2013 study carried out by the Oxford Martin School suggested that some 47% of jobs in the U.S. could be automated within the next two decades -- only 12 years of which now remain following the publishing of the study.
Like the old Hemingway quote about bankruptcy, that it happens "gradually, then suddenly," the authors suggested that, in the first wave, office and admin support workers, as well as laborers in production occupations, would be Thanos-snapped out of existence. In the second wave, every task involving finger dexterity, feedback, observation and working in confined spaces would be eaten up by software.
But that isn't whats happening. Instead, as robots and A.I. increasingly make their way into the workforce, studies suggest that they're not replacing human workers -- they're helping them, and opening up new opportunities. |
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TIPS, TRICKS, & TECHNIQUES |
by Parker Hall and Michael Bizzaco |
Clinging to a heavy DVD or Blu-ray collection can make for some trying times when your collection grows too large. What if you have to move? After all, finding a place to keep hundreds (or thousands) of discs and cases is hard work, as is keeping all your discs in tip-top shape while making the move.
Thankfully, for those of us willing to part with some of our lauded physical media, there's another option — digitizing, or "ripping," your DVDs and Blu-rays to a home computer. The process itself is fairly straightforward, but it involves some hardware, software, and a bit of patience. To help you transcode your enormous collection of flicks, we've compiled this how-to guide. |
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