Loon Over My Kenya
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| Loon Over My Kenya | |
| Number | 3564 |
| Broadcast Date | JULY 1, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 29:42 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang |
A new study from MIT on a driver’s ability to notice brake lights in cars in front of them suggests that eyes position is more important than multi-tasking when it comes to driver distraction.
Quick Hits
- Strategy Analytics reports that Roku now powers 41 million OTT devices and smart TVs globally, and now accounts for more than 30% of connected device sales as of Q1. Roku’s 41 million market share is 36% more than Sony PlayStation which is in the #2 spot. Strategy Analytics predicts that Roku’s lead will stretch to 70% by the end of 2019, with 52 million devices in use accounting for 18% of the market.
- Uber now includes JUMP bikes, scooters and Lime scooters in its main map in Atlanta, Ga. and San Diego, California. Lime, which Uber has previously partnered with a year ago, also added Uber branding to its scooters in the same cities.
- The Independent reports that in an interview, Samsung CEO DJ Koh was quoted as saying about the Galaxy Fold postponed launch "It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready." Koh went on to say "At the moment, more than 2,000 devices are being tested right now in all aspects. We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn’t even think about it but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing.”
- Samsung launched a dedicated app store where third-parties can offer their own Bixby-compatible services called Bixby Marketplace in the US and South Korea. Bixby Marketplace will be available on the Bixby page on Samsung phones, with plans to eventually include it in the main Galaxy app store. User can either browse for third-party services, called capsules, or be prompted to install one through voice. At launch, transactional capsules will be supported, allowing payment to process through Bixby, with plans to launch subscription support at a later date.
- Spotify is shutting down a program it started in September last year to let independent artists in the US upload their own music tracks to the service. Artists have until July 31 to find another distributor and will only be paid for streams through July 31. A few hundred artists had used the feature and still had to use distribution services to get their music on other streaming platforms. Spotify recently invested in distribution service DistroKid.
- The robot exclusion protocol, or robots.txt, is a file website owners can place in their root directory to tell automatic clients like web crawlers not to access the site. Google and the robots.txt spec's original author have documented who REP is used and submitted it as a standard to the IETF.
Top Stories
- Saturday, US President Trump announced “US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei. "We’re talking about equipment where there’s no great national security problem with it.” The President stated he did not think the ban was fair to US suppliers and would consider resuming sales that didn't impact national security. Talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping also committed to no new tariffs, but did not discuss extraditions of Huawei CTO Meng Wanzhou. In a press statement Huawei said, "We acknowledge the US president's comments relating to Huawei and have no further comment at this time."
- The Wall Street Journal reports today that Jony Ive, Apple Chief Designer, left the company after frustration that it was less design-focused and more operations-led. According to sources, Ive pushed for the Apple Watch to be made even though other executives weren't sure the device would be a hit. Reportedly Ive wanted the watch to be seen as a fashion accessory, but had to settle for it being tethered to the iPhone at launch. Apple sold around 10 million Watches in the first year, a quarter of what Apple forecast.
- In a blog post, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced new policies to combat misinformation on the platform regarding the 2020 US election and census, coinciding with the publication of Facebook's Civil Right Audit Progress report. Facebook will ban ads that discourage voting, with a new policy and enforcement details promised before the 2019 US Gubenatorial elections. The company also announced it is treating the US census with the same priority as the election, with policies that forbid any Census interference or misinformation on the platform, dedicated training for employees working on census ads and content, and working with external organizations to promote census participation.
- Alphabet's balloon-based internet service Loon will launch a test with Telkom Kenya after Kenya's aviation authority will issue final approval later this month. People who live in the mountains will be offered 4G service at market prices. Loon successfully provided wireless service in Peru and Puerto Rico as an emergency measures during natural disasters.
- A new rule came into force in the European Union Monday requiring all new four-wheel electric vehicles to have a noise-emitting device. The Acoustic Vehicle Alert System or AVAS must make sound when in reverse or traveling slower than 12mph. The sound needs to be similar to a traditional combustion engine and synchronize with speed. The US will require all hybrid and electric vehicles to make artificial noise by September 2020 at speeds up to 18.6 mph.
Discussion
- Your eyes are the key to distracted driving, not your brain
- Detection of brake lights while distracted: Separating peripheral vision from cognitive load
Mailbag
- I entered the industry at the tail end of the lotus 123 revolution. This freed people to use their mind rather than spend it all recalculating rows and columns. I remember that some of the senior staff started their career rolling over the depreciation tables for every asset the organisation owned. It took them all month, by which time it’s time to start again. That is, the previous automation revolution increased the productivity of staff as it helped them do tasks.
The current automation is different in that it automates whole tasks rather than helping someone do their tasks. An example is that through a combination of OCR and B2B tools has led to a massive loss in accounts payable and accounts receivable staff. For the higher accounting areas there are now tools that reconciled accounts, including the bank account. In reporting there are now tools that are so powerful that senior managers can develop it themselves rather than a specialised team to do it for them. This has led to a massive decrease in staff required. This is shown in that the organisation that I worked in 15 years ago had 60 accounting staff with a $2bn turnover and recently I ran an organisation with a $3bn turnover with 8 accounting staff. - Sent by Matthew
- I entered the industry at the tail end of the lotus 123 revolution. This freed people to use their mind rather than spend it all recalculating rows and columns. I remember that some of the senior staff started their career rolling over the depreciation tables for every asset the organisation owned. It took them all month, by which time it’s time to start again. That is, the previous automation revolution increased the productivity of staff as it helped them do tasks.
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| Preceded by: "Once It's Encrypted, It's Encrypted" |
Loon Over My Kenya |
Followed by: "Smart-E Pants 2.0" |