According to the National Coffee Association, the average person drinks three cups of joe daily, which makes for all the more reason to learn how to clean a coffee maker. We get it: Its easy to neglect this kitchen appliance. If youre already stuck washing dishes, then sometimes taking on this task feels like one responsibility too many.But before you put your routine coffee maker cleaning on the back burner, know that your unwashed brewing machine can get pretty dirty. An often-cited study by NSF International found that half of these caffeine incubators contain yeast and mold because of its warm and moist environment, which can heighten the bitter taste of your brew at best and spur allergic reactions at worst. Alongside sponges, the study found that coffee makers are among the top 10 germiest places in a home.Dont toss your coffee maker in the garbage just yet, though, as the cleaning process is easier than you might think. Christopher Peacock, founder and CEO of his eponymous design firm in New York, starts his day with an Americanoblack, no sugarand then an espresso in the afternoon, and knows a thing or two about cleaning a coffee maker regularly. For a regular drip coffee maker, I clean it with hot water and dish soap after each brew, he says. Read on for more simple tips on how to clean your coffee makers removable parts, filter, and exterior, so that each cup of coffee is truly a boost of energy, not a dose of germs.Why do you need to descale a coffee maker?A warm and moist environment is the breeding ground for bacteria and mold, and a monthly rinse with white vinegar or lemon juice can keep your coffee maker from becoming one of the germiest places in your kitchen. But thats not the only reason to use white vinegar. Mineral buildup of hard water and calcium can clog the coffee machine over time, affecting how quickly it drips coffee into the coffee pot. To ensure your machine is here for the long haul and not competing with a Keurig and K-cups, put this deep clean on your calendar.How often should I clean my coffee maker to keep it in good condition?Every coffee maker comes with its own instructions from the manufacturer, so if you still have the manual booklet, start there. For those sans paperwork, Peacock recommends a daily cleaning with fresh water from the faucets hand spray, a soft brush, soap, and a clean cloth. Once a month, use a cleaning solution of distilled white vinegar to deep clean and nix mineral deposits.What is the best way to clean the inside of a coffee maker?Every coffee maker comes with its own instructions from the manufacturer, so if you still have the manual booklet, start there. For those sans paperwork, Peacock recommends a daily cleaning with fresh water form the faucets hand spray, a soft brush, soap, and a clean cloth. Once a month, a cleaning solution of distilled white vinegar deep cleans to nixing mineral deposits.How do I take the coffee machine apart?After youve finished your coffee for the morningbecause you know the coffee maker doesnt get cleaned until after youre fully awakeremove parts of the machine from the base: the carafe (or coffee pot), lid, and filter. Wipe down the base and the warming plate, clearing any drips that may cause coffee stains. Next, pour out the bulk of your coffee grounds from the filter basket into the trash or compost, and then rinse out remaining grounds and oily residue in the sink. Wash out the coffee pot and lid with dish soap and water, and let both air-dry. Note: If washing your coffee maker daily seems like too much of an ask, stick these parts in the dishwasher for a whirl. Just make sure the coffee pot is dishwasher-safe.How many times should I run vinegar through my coffee maker?A warm and moist environment is the breeding ground for icky bacteria and mold, and a monthly rinse with white vinegar or lemon juice can keep your coffee maker from becoming one of the germiest places in your kitchen. But thats not the only reason to use white vinegar. Mineral buildup of hard water and calcium can clog the coffee machine over time, affecting how quickly it drips coffee into the coffee pot. To ensure your machine is here for the long haul and not competing with a Keurig and K-cups, put this deep clean on your calendar.How much vinegar do you use to clean a coffee maker?To begin, fill the water reservoir with equal parts plain water and distilled white vinegar to make a vinegar solution, and then place a paper filter into the basket. Place the pot on the burner, and set the machine to its brew cycle. Once the solution has gone through a brew cycle halfway, turn the machine off, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Turn the machine back on to finish the brewing, and then dispose of the vinegar-and-water solution. You only have to do this once! Finally, place a new paper filter in the basket, fill the water reservoir with water, and brew the pot. That way, you can be sure that no vinegar remains, and you can reassemble the coffee machine.What can I clean my coffee maker with besides vinegar?If youd rather not use white vinegar for mineral buildup, try lemon juice. Alternatively, a flush with warm water and a quarter cup of baking soda can make your java pot as good as new. For a coffee machine that is particularly dirty, Amazon has a bevy of descaling products that works equally well on a coffee maker and a Keurig.Dont overthink it, scrub the old grounds off and rinse, Peacock says. With that kind of confidence in mind, follow in Peacocks lead to have a clean coffee maker each day. In no time, this cleaning cycle will surely make your cup of coffee taste better.

Tesla Takedown organizers have promised their biggest day of global action this weekend, encouraging thousands to protest outside Tesla showrooms, dealerships, and even charging stations to peacefully object to Elon Musks role in slashing government spending.As Tesla protests have spread, so has the backlash. Activists holding up signs are being conflated with masked vandals throwing Molotov cocktails. On social media, and in Washington, the distinction is fading fast.President Donald Trump has called attacks on Tesla domestic terrorism and threatened to send terrorist thugs to prisons in El Salvador. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has pledged to prosecute those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes, even though evidence suggests the attacks were carried out by lone offenders. And Musks decision to accuse at least one peaceful protester of committing crimes on X has fueled a public discourse that equates protest with vandalism, and vandalism with terrorism.If the government or law enforcement starts treating all anti-Tesla actions as criminal, peaceful protesters could find themselves facing consequences meant for extremists.Terrorism is a problematic concept in law enforcement because it is by definition differentiated from other violence by its political nature, Mike German, a former FBI special agent and fellow at the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program, told TechCrunch. Thats why weve seen counter terrorism measures so often result in problematic outcomes targeting the civil rights of people engaged in First Amendment-protected activity, rather than the people who are committing acts of violence.The Tesla Takedown protesters have consistently preached nonviolence at rallies and on their website. The movements stated goal is not to physically harm Tesla or Musk, but rather to encourage people to sell their Teslas, sell their stock, and stop buying new Teslas.The reason that [Musk] is in the position that he is in is because of his wealth, and we feel that if we can continue to drive that Tesla stock price down, we will hit him in the spot that it matters, Natasha Purdum, a New Jersey-based organizer, told TechCrunch. Ultimately, we see that as a key to taking down some of the major destruction that is happening in our federal government, courtesy of DOGE and Elon Musk.Musk is the worlds richest person in large part due to his Tesla stock. He owns roughly 13% of the company, which today is valued at around $829 billion, making Musks share worth around $107.8 billion. That wealth has allowed Musk to spend $44 billion to buy Twitter, the primary platform he uses to communicate to his 219 million followers. Musk has also dipped into his own funds to donate more than $260 million to the America PAC that helped Trump clinch the election.As someone who spent 16 years as an FBI special agent focused on domestic terrorism, German says he wouldnt be surprised to see local police working hand in glove with terrorism taskforces like the one the FBI just formed to monitor Tesla Takedown protests. Per the Attorney Generals Guidelines, the FBI doesnt require a factual basis for a suspicion of terrorism to begin conducting physical surveillance, which includes taking photos of people, cars, and license plates, deploying informants to infiltrate a group, accessing private databases, and more.Its also important to understand that law enforcement in the United States is primarily intended to protect the property of the wealthy, German said. Corporations in the United States are politically powerful and have access to elected officials and top law enforcement officials. And when their interests are challenged, particularly by protest, they want to present that as a law enforcement issue, rather than as legitimate public concerns about their corporate activities.The FBI declined to comment on TechCrunchs question about whether the agency is taking any special action this weekend.Were going to go after themMusk and the Trump administration have ramped up their rhetoric in the lead up to March 29, when at least 213 Tesla Takedown protests are scheduled around the world, from Colorado and Kentucky to Germany, Minnesota, France, and Texas.On Thursday, Musk appeared on Fox Newss Special Report to say that he and Trump are going to go afterthe ones providing the money, the ones pushing the lies and propaganda.Trump has suggested that the attacks on Tesla property were coordinated to intimidate Musk, despite internal assessments finding otherwise. Musk has also claimed, without showing proof, that certain Tesla Takedown organizers were funded by ActBlue, a nonprofit that funds progressive causes and Democratic candidates.And Bondi has accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) of calling for further insurrection after Crockett said that Musk needed to be taken down at a virtual Tesla Takedown rally last week. Crockett couched that statement with calls for nonviolence and peaceful demonstrations, but regardless, Bondi said she needs to tread very carefully.German says this rhetoric, too, is an old government trick to try to discredit and suppress protest movements by claiming a handful of acts of violence are the result of the spread of bad ideas, radical ideas.Purdum, one of the Tesla organizers, advised protesters to put their wellbeing first. Leave if you feel unsafe, adhere to your local protest regulations, dont trespass, follow police orders, and have a lawyers number in your back pocket just in case, she said.Authoritarian regimes have a long history of equating peaceful protest with violence, Stephanie Frizzell, a Tesla Takedown organizer from Dallas, said. The Tesla Takedown movement has always been and will remain nonviolent. Their goal is to intimidate us into silence as we stand against Musks destructive actions but defending free speech is fundamental to democracy. We will not be deterred.

Elon Musks AI startup, xAI, has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock deal, he announced in a post on X Friday.xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction, Musk said. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt).He went on to describe the two companies futures as intertwined, adding, Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.The acquisition places X the highly influential social media platform Musk purchased in 2022 under its former name, Twitter firmly under the umbrella of Musks AI startup, which he founded in 2023 to compete with OpenAI. While xAIs products, including its AI chatbot Grok, were tightly integrated into the X platform before this deal, Fridays acquisition further combines two of Musks most influential companies.Musk notes in his post that this deal values X at $33 billion (lowered from an enterprise valuation of $45 billion due to the companys $12 billion in debt). Musk originally purchased X for $44 billion in October 2022, however, the valuation has swung dramatically in recent years. At one point, Fidelity valued X at less than $10 billion. In the months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, for whom Musk campaigned for aggressively, Xs valuation has risen, largely because investors believe its more influential now. Musk said in his post on Friday that X has more than 600 million active users.Meanwhile, xAIs valuation has skyrocketed in recent years. In just the two years since it was founded, Musk has successfully beefed up xAI to be a frontier AI lab, frequently releasing AI models and products that compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. In February, xAI was reportedly in talks to secure another $10 billion in funding at a $75 billion valuation. However, Musk now says his AI startups valuation is now $80 billion.One of the major advantages that xAI has over other startups is its access to Xs data. The large body of posts that X has accumulated over the years gives xAI a significant advantage in the race for AI training data. Further, Musk previously gave the Grok chatbot access to real-time news updates from posts on the X platform. It seems likely that the two products, X and Grok, will only get more tightly integrated following this acquisition.This is a developing story Check back for updates.

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What to watch this weekend.Credit: Apple / ParamountIts the last weekend of March and were marching forth into spring. Soon, the trees will be in full blossom, the nights will start to warm, and youll have no excuse to stay inside all day. Well, thats not entirely true. I have a whole list of good reasons to stay inside with all these new TV shows and movies.Every week, I scour the internet for all the best (and occasionally worst) new stuff to watch, from original streaming series to classics finally available to stream, and even new theatrical releases in case you feel like getting out to a movie theater. Its a busy weekend, so buckle up.If you have any tips or I missed something, shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can check out last weekends streaming guide right here.Whats New & Notable This WeekendSide Quest (Apple TV Original Series)I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Apple TVs Mythic Quest. The show follows a dysfunctional video game developer as its creator and employees bumble from one disaster to another. Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia alums Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz created the show and McElhenney stars as Ian (pronounced EYE-an) Grimm. When I got to Season 3, the entire vibe of the show changed and I gave it up, but Im definitely curious about Side Quest, the four-part anthology series spinoff created by Ashly Burch, John Howell Harris, and Katie McElhenney. All episodes are out now on Apple TV with a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.The Studio (Apple TV Original Series)The Studio is at the top of my watch-list this evening. Seth Rogen co-created and stars in the new comedy, which follows his character Matt Remick, the new head of fictional Continental Studios. Its a parody of the movie business, as Remick tries to balance his desire for good movies against the studios locked-in formula for success. The series also stars Catherine OHara, Katherine Hahn and a long list of cameos from actors like Bryan Cranston, Adam Scott and a number of people who play themselves like Paul Dano, Martin Scorsese and Charlize Theron, to name a few. Critics like this one more (94%) than audiences (68%). Im looking forward to it, though to be fair, I can only take so much Seth Rogen in one sitting.Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip (Disney+ Original Movie)Disneys follow-up to the childrens book-turned 2014 movie, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip is now streaming on Disney+ though too few reviews are in for an aggregate score. (There are four critic reviews, two positive and two negative). It looks like it could be a fun family movie for your weekend viewing.MobLand (Paramount+ Original Series)The last Guy Ritchie series I watched was The Gentlemen on Netflix and I thought it was absolutely delightful. This looks a bit less light and breezy, though it certainly fits Ritchies ouvre nicely. The crime drama was actually written and created by Ronan Bennett (The Day Of The Jackal, Gunpowder) with Ritchie producing and directing a couple of the episodes. It stars Tom Hardy as fixer Harry Da Souza, Pierce Brosnan as crime boss Conrad Harrigan and Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan. The series was originally titled The Donovans and was intended as a sequel to Ray Donovan, but transformed into a story about a London crime family. Paddy Considine also stars.Holland (Prime Video Original Movie)This is a very good trailer for a film that has a very bad Rotten Tomatoes score (31%). Nicole Kidman (who seems to be everywhere these days) stars as Nancy Vandergroot, a suburban mom and school teacher married to Fred Vandergroot (Matthew Macfadyen), a man with dark secrets his wife begins to discover. The psychological thriller was directed by Mimi Cave and written by Andrew Sodroski. While not faring well with critics, it does look like an unsettling examination of suburbia, though we always have The Burbs . . . .The Life List (Netflix Original Movie)The Life List gets its name from its protagonists desire to do a bunch of the things her teenage self wanted to do. I guess life list is an alternative to bucket list since shes not dying, but I always took bucket list to mean stuff you wanted to do before you died, not when you were on the verge of kicking the bucket. Whatever. Not many critic reviews yet, but most of them are negative. I saw a headline that said something like Women are breaking up with their boyfriends after watching the movie, which I find both silly and depressing.Bosch Legacy Season 3 (Prime Video)Ive only watched the first two seasons of the original Bosch show, and while I thought it was moderately good, I wouldnt say it was a great police drama. Titus Welliver (what a great name) is fine as the titular police detective, but theres just too much melodrama and family drama for my taste. Still, the Legacy sequel series has gotten stellar reviews and Season 3 seems to be a crowd-pleaser.Transformers One (Prime Video)One of the highest-rated, best-reviewed action movies of 2024 was Transformers One, a prequel film that goes into the origin story of Optimus Prime and his nefarious nemesis, Megatron. The movie ranks higher on Rotten Tomatoes than any other Transformers film, including the original animated feature and all the live-action movies. Definitely give it a watch now that its free on Prime Video.What Im Watching WeeklyIm still grieving the end of Severance and dreading the long wait for Season 3, but there are many other great shows currently airing. Well begin with one that Im enjoying a great deal . . . .The Wheel Of Time (Prime Video)The Wheel Of Time has become one of my favorite shows on TV, and I say this with no small amount of surprise given how bad the first season was. Each episode in Season 3 has felt like a movie, with many stretching out to 70+ minutes. The writing has vastly improved, the actors have all grown comfortable in their roles, and the music is simply fantastic. Usually shows go downhill (see Yellowjackets, Reacher below) but this is one of those rare instances where the opposite is true. You can read my Season 3 review here.The White Lotus (HBO / Max)Im loving Season 3 of The White Lotus, though its very slow, very weird and very dark. While I do miss Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) Im glad that shes shuffled off this mortal coil to make room for other returning characters. The cast is great. Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Walton Goggins and everyone else are doing a terrific job as rich weirdos in Thailand facing various existential crises. If youre new to this series, even though its an anthology, start with Season 1. Heres my Episode 6 review. The Pitt (HBO / Max)The Pitt is the best show on TV, and you can take my word for it because Im always right about these things. The medical drama is like no other Ive seen, following the real-time format that 24 used back in the day. Its deeply human, incredibly intense and some of the best storytelling and character development on TV. Please do yourself a favor and watch this as soon as possible.Other Shows Currently AiringLudwig (Britbox) A wonderful cozy mystery series about a master puzzle-setter who impersonates his twin brothera DCI in Cambridge, UKin order to solve the mystery of his brothers disappearance, and solve a few murders along the way. You can read my review right here.Happy Face (Paramount+) Ive only just started Paramounts Happy Face starring Dennis Quaid as a very creepy serial killerthe Happy Face Killer. This ones based on a true story, and so far Im liking it quite a lot.Yellowjackets (Paramount+) I have yet to watch the latest episode of Yellowjackets, but Ive found myself mostly so disappointed in this show that I cant muster the energy to even write negative things about it. The latest twists and turns feel made up for the new season rather than part of a well-planned overarching plot. The dark and mysterious vibe of Season 1 remains elusive. Well see if the last couple episodes can redeem this once-great series.Reacher Season 3 (Prime Video) Speaking of lackluster third seasons, Reacher just cant find the magic it had in Season 1. I still think this season is better than the last, but its just become incredibly mediocre with cartoonish villains, lame fight scenes and lots of goofy contrivances. I wish they could do the Reacher books justice, because Alan Ritchson is perfect in the role. (Review)Other shows that Im not following but keep meaning to watch:1923 on Paramount+The Righteous Gemstones on HBO (Ive only watched Season 1)House Of David on Prime VideoDope Thief on Apple TV (Started, but only the first episode)Dark Winds on AMC (Ive watched the first two seasons but havent started Season 3)Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+What else did I miss? What are you watching these days? What should I put on this list or add to my backlog? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.Further Reading From Yours Truly:The Pitt is the best show on TV and Noah Wyle is fantasticThe sprawling cast of Avengers: Doomsday has been announced, with some notable absencesI had the great good fortune to interview Sean Astin (Sam from Lord of the Rings) and talk with him about the new Shire LEGO set, among other things.Theres a new trailer for Andor Season 2 and I am so hyped!Check out last weekends streaming guide here.Dont forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Smoke rises from the MV Solong cargo ship, as a tug boat stands off in the North Sea, off the coast ... More of Withernsea, east of England, on March 11, 2025, after it collided with the MV Stena Immaculate tanker, on March 10 in a North Sea crash. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesThe accident above was attributed to the presence of thick fog and visibility issues. The ship captain was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, which may be due to the fact that safety protocols were not followed. Apart from loss of human life and property destruction that will likely result in millions of dollars in damages, the environmental aspects of aviation fuel leakage into the North Sea is of concern. With upward of 120K shipping containers traversing the oceans today, hauling 11B tons of cargo at any given time, it is clear that the equivalent of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) features which are standard on passenger cars today need to be installed on ships.Manually operated commercial ships and fishing vessels operate under strict safety protocols that prioritize collision avoidance. Cameras provide situational awareness in good lighting conditions. Dual band (X and S band) 360 radars mounted on rotating gimbals provide range adjustable angular resolution (range can be programmed from 1 - 48 nautical miles). In bad weather and low visibility conditions, ship speed is reduced (to allow for adequate braking distance in the event of obstacles or other ships), and coded sound and lighting signals are used to caution neighboring vessels of the ship proximity. GPS-enabled AIS (Automatic Identification System) allows all ships to see the location and exact vessel type/registration of other ships in the vicinity. As maritime autonomy develops, the challenge is to translate these protocols and sensing systems to computers and AI.Orca-ai, headquartered in Israel with locations in the United Kingdom, Greece and Singapore aims to do exactly this, and more, by providing perception sensors and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software to enhance situational awareness and operational efficiencies. The hardware product is the SeaPod", an automated watchkeeper with a hardened camera pod (8 high resolution day cameras and 3 thermal cameras (Figure 1). The company currently generates significant revenues ($Ms) from the worlds leading shipping companies.Figure 1: Orca-ai Seapod with 8 Visible and 1 Thermal CameraOrca-aiThe technical details of the SeaPod are as follows:Lenses packaged inside enclosure, Focal Length: f/1.8f/2.8 (visible), f/1.0 f/1.4 (thermal). No heating or self cleaning capability of windowCamera Resolution: 16 mp (visible), 640x512 (thermal)Thermal camera wavelength: LWIR, 8-12 umSeapod platform not gimbal mounted, Field of View (FoV): 225 (visible) 100 (thermal)The Orca platform is currently installed on ~800 maritime vessels across 40 customers (cargo container, tankers, bulks, car carriers and cruise ships), with 300 more to be outfitted in the near future. Camera data along with onboard radar, GPS and other sensor data (IMU, speed, direction, etc.) is fused with proprietary on-board AI software to caution the crew of hazardous situations and obstacles. As satellite-based services like Starlink have become more available and reliable, real-time data from the platform can be transmitted to Orca for mapping routes, traffic and landmarks, critical information for developing autonomous navigation capability. The data is also communicated in real time across its network of customers (FleetView Dashboard) to enable more efficient and safe navigation, providing performance insights, optimizing best practices and ensuring regulatory compliance (Figure 2):Figure 2: Orca-ai's FleetView Dashboard, Displaying Real-Time Location of Customer Ship Network ... More Along with Safety InsightsOrca-aiIn Figure 2, red dots represent safety or operational events. The Safety Rating quantifies multiple parameters such as severity, location, trend, historical information and visibility and ranges from 1-10 (10 is the safest). The blue circles are ships equipped with Orcas SeaPod platform which uploads live locations.Coincidentally, a SeaPod platform mounted on one of Orca-ai customers vessels was able to record in real-time (Figure 3) the tragic accident shown in the lead figure of this article.Figure 3: Image of the MV Solong colliding into MV Stena Immaculate on March 10, 2025 with Seapod ... More cameras on Ionic Ship. (L) Image with Visible Camera in Heavy Fog (R) Thermal Camera Image In Same FogIonicIn heavy fog, daytime cameras are not able to see through. Thermal cameras are excellent in such environments (operate at much higher wavelengths and measure temperature differences relative to the environment rather than reflected photons). In Figure 3, the thermal camera was able to image at a distance of ~ 2 nautical miles (~3.7 terrestrial miles). It is puzzling given the safety protocols described earlier that the accident occurred at all. Could it have been avoided if one or both vessels were outfitted with the SeaPod platform?Orca recently announced that the Seaspan Corporation which owns ~200 vessels, will outfit its entire fleet with Orca-ais platform. This was driven by ~ 2 years of data gathering on a smaller portion of the fleet, which indicated that it saved the company $100K in fuel costs and reduced CO2 emission by 500 tons/ship/year. Marubeni in Japan is a large import-export company and is a global distributor of Orca-ais products and services. It also owns its own ships which are installed with these products. The NYK group is another customer. In 2022, Orca AI and NYK completed a successful autonomous voyage trial in congested waters off Japans east coast as part of the DFFAS consortium (Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships). Other notable customers include Maran Tankers, MMSL and EPS.Yarden Gross is the CEO of Orca-ai. With deep experience in shipping (previously a commando in the Israeli Navy), he started Orca-ai in 2018 with co-founder and CTO Dror Raviv (also a Navy veteran with experience in operating unmanned ships) to empower shipping with data-driven technologies and the automation needed for navigating the safest voyages with the most efficient operations. He explained that Orcas intellectual property enables depth extraction with monocular cameras by training the AI system on images of known objects and sizes at different ranges. A labeled data set of ~0.5M samples across visibility conditions and locations is used to train the range estimation algorithms using radar and AIS locations as the ground truth. These algorithms estimate distance and bearing to all objects above the surface which are detectable (not just large vessels with known AIS locations). The smallest size object that can be detected by visible cameras is as small as a jet ski (1 m width) at a range of 3 nautical miles (5.5 miles). Orca AIs algorithms are also trained on thermal datasets, incorporating the same capabilities for low visibility conditions, but at lower ranges (due to lower resolution, temperature variations, etc.). The accuracy of the range estimate is ~10% of the total range. These algorithms are used during operation to estimate range measurements at distances of 2-4 nautical miles.Figure 4 shows an example of a daytime camera image in degraded visibility conditions, of a 1 m wide buoy at a range of 2 nautical miles (3.6 miles).Figure 4: Daytime Camera Image of a 1m Width Buoy Imaged at 2 Nautical Mile DistanceOrca-aiAt this range, a 1 m object maps into 3-4 camera pixels, adequate for recognition and range estimation. The thermal camera has lower resolution, hence shorter range (2.7 miles).According to Mr. Raviv, LiDAR (Laser Detection and Ranging) is not considered as one of the viable options due to range limitations, harsh operating environments (saline corrosion, vibrations, temperature variations), costs and eye-safety issues. In fog (like in Figure 3), the thermal camera data is fused with radar to estimate range. His opinion is that existing solutions like radars, infrared and high resolution visible cameras can produce affordable and adequate results for range estimation for safety and autonomous navigation in maritime environments.Orca is also developing autonomy capabilities for maritime vessels. The SeaPod platform and other shipboard sensors provide perception and situational awareness. Cloud-transmitted data from customer ships which spans diverse weather conditions, locations and ports is used to train AI algorithms on route planning, obstacle awareness and other maritime traffic details (similar to Mobileye and Teslas use of cloud data from their customers cars to develop vehicle autonomy). Figure 5 shows the definition of levels of autonomy, per the International Maritime Organization (IMO). These definitions are similar to those defined by the SAE (Society of Automobile Engineers) for passenger cars and trucks on roadways.Figure 5: Levels of Shipping Autonomy as Defined by International Maritime Organization (IMO)IMOAt present, the Orca-ai platform has Level 1 capability (ADAS for ships), with human operators in full control of navigation and speed. The demonstration with NYK in 2022 where the vessel traversed autonomously from Tokyo Bay to Tsumatsusaka port in Ise Bay, a journey of spanning 40 hours is an example of Level 3 capability.Other Maritime Autonomy EffortsMaritime autonomy frees up the on-board human crew to engage on other critical functions on the vessel rather than watchkeeping and navigating in open seas(which is mostly uneventful). Boredom, distraction and complacency of crews are issues, as is the ability to identify dangers in bad weather and visibility. Another driver for autonomy is to optimize routes, and reduce fuel consumption and carbon footprint.The idea of maritime autonomy is not new and many other companies are pursuing this. Maersk, one of the largest shipping operators in the world, collaborated with Rolls Royce to launch the worlds first remotely operated commercial vessel (a tugboat) in 2017. In an interview, then Maersk CEO Soren Skou said that he did not expect we will be allowed to sail around with400-meter long container ships, weighing 200,000 tons without any human beings on board. Rolls Royce and Sea Machines announced a partnership to develop on-board and remotely controlled autonomy for commercial shipping, pleasure yachts and military vessels in 2021. Kongsberg Maritime and Yara developed an autonomous ship which has been transporting fertilizer containers from the factory in Porsgrunn, Norway to the export port in Brevik since April 2022. Hyundai Heavy Industries has been engaged in delivering autonomy solutions for pleasure and commercial vessels since 2022.Do LiDAR and Other Sensors Have A Role?Maritime LiDARs are available and increasingly being deployed for obstacle detection, situational awareness and autonomy. Given the vessel costs, cargo value, human lives and environmental risks, this sensor modality should be considered (even if costs are higher) to address low light conditions and limitations of mono cameras for accurate range measurements. Considerations like harsh maritime environments are addressed today in terrestrial applications and these learnings can be applied to the maritime environment. Doppler LiDAR in addition to 3D scene information also provides radial velocities of surrounding objects is important to consider. It is interesting to note that more sophisticated sensors like LiDAR are not widely deployed currently in maritime environments, which is opposite to the autonomous car revolution a decade ago which relied on and drove the LiDAR industry.Visible imagery holds significant amounts of information useful for sensing objects, and their locations. However, wavelengths beyond the visible are also critical as are optical properties like polarization. The problem is with fusing all these different modalities into a compact imaging platform. Eoptic, based in Rochester, New York, aims to do this by providing multi-camera fusion using prismatic optics that enables FoV registration from different cameras (visible, NIR, SWIR, polarization, etc.).Maritime autonomy is imminent, although it is unlikely that fully autonomous ships with no humans on board (equivalent to L5 autonomy levels for automobiles and trucks) will be a possibility in the future. The risks to property, human and environmental damage are too high large compared to the benefits gained by eliminating human labor. Partial and remotely controlled autonomy is certainly a strong possibility, since it delivers significant advantages in safety, efficiency and environmental blueprint. In many ways, this movement mirrors the autonomous car revolution, but ~5 years behind. As regulatory bodies get more involved, it is likely that LiDAR sensors developed for autonomous cars will be adapted and used widely for this application.

TL;DR: Tracking new and upcoming Windows features has traditionally required following Microsoft's official blogs in disparate order and timelines. A new Windows features website aims to save users time by providing a simplified overview of all in-development functionality. It includes brief descriptions, estimated release dates, compatibility details, and more. Microsoft has launched a unified roadmap that charts upcoming Windows 11 features. The page consolidates information from Windows Insider blogs and Microsoft's support site to help users keep track of changes.Users can search for and filter features by platform, supported Windows versions, and rollout status. Each feature listing includes a short description, supported languages, and links to relevant Microsoft blog posts.For example, users can filter updates exclusive to Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon X, Ryzen AI 300, or Core Ultra 200 chips. Alternatively, they can view features intended for all Windows 11 devices and filter by version such as 23H2 or 24H2. Additional filters include rollout channels like Canary, Dev, Beta, and General Availability.Microsoft introduced the roadmap in response to IT professionals requesting better tools to track which features are coming to which devices and when.The company is accepting feedback and plans to expand the roadmap to include other Windows versions. However, this likely won't include Windows 10, which reaches end-of-life this October, despite remaining more popular than Windows 11. // Related StoriesCurrently, the roadmap focuses heavily on controversial generative AI features. At the top of the list is Recall, a tool that has raised privacy concerns by promising to securely capture device activity to give Microsoft's AI a form of "memory." Recall remains in preview with no confirmed general release date.Other listed features include Click to Do, AI-powered search, and real-time Chinese translation. The roadmap also showcases generative AI tools already available on Copilot+ PCs, such as super resolution and image generation.One notable feature that doesn't require a Copilot+ device is software keyboard gamepad navigation. Rolling out as part of a non-security April update, this feature allows users to enter text using an on-screen keyboard while gaming or navigating Windows with a controller.Users can access the roadmap by navigating to: microsoft.com > Windows > For Business > More > Features > Windows Roadmap.

Editor's take: In Colossus: The Forbin Project, an advanced supercomputer becomes sentient and enslaves humankind. Colossus is also the name of the storage platform where almost all of Google's internet services reside. Though we don't know if the company took direct inspiration from the classic sci-fi movie, the connotations are still present. In a recent blog post, Google revealed some of the "secrets" hiding behind Colossus, a massive network infrastructure the company describes as its universal storage platform. Colossus is robust, scalable, and easy to use and program. Google said the massive machine still uses tried-and-true (yet still evolving) magnetic hard disk drives.Colossus powers many Google services, including YouTube, Gmail, Drive, and more. The platform evolved from the Google File System project, a distributed storage system for managing large, data-intensive applications, making things more manageable. Surprisingly, Google supercharged Colossus by installing an exclusive cache technology that relies on fast solid-state drives.Example applicationI/O sizesExpected performanceBigQuery scanshundreds of KBs to tens of MBsTB/sCloud Storage - standardKBs to tens of MBs100s of millisecondsGmail messagesless than hundreds of KBs10s of millisecondsGmail attachmentsKBs to MBssecondsHyperdisk readsKBs to hundreds of KBs<1 msYouTube video storageMBssecondsGoogle builds one Colossus file system per cluster in a data center. Many of these clusters are powerful enough to manage multiple exabytes of storage, with two file systems, in particular, hosting more than 10 exabytes of data each. The company claims that Google-powered applications or services should never run out of disk space within a Google Cloud zone.The data throughput in a Colossus file system is impressive. Google claims that the largest clusters "regularly" exceed read rates of 50 terabytes per second, while write rates are up to 25 terabytes per second."This is enough throughput to send more than 100 full-length 8K movies every second," the company said.Storing data in the right place is essential for achieving this kind of over-the-top performance. Colossus internal users can dictate if their files need to go to an HDD or an SSD, but most developers employ an automated solution known as L4 distributed SSD caching. This technology uses machine learning algorithms to decide what policy to apply to specific data blocks. However, the system eventually writes any new data to the HDDs. // Related StoriesThe L4 caching tech can (partially) solve this problem over time by observing I/O patterns, segregating files into specific "categories," and simulating different storage placements. According to Google's documentation, these storage policies include "place on SSD for one hour," "place on SSD for two hours," and "don't place on SSD."When simulations correctly predict the file access patterns, a small portion of data is put on SSDs to absorb most initial read operations. Data is eventually migrated to cheaper storage (HDDs) to minimize the overall hosting cost."As the basis for all of Google and Google Cloud, Colossus is instrumental in delivering reliable services for billions of users, and its sophisticated SSD placement capabilities help keep costs down and performance up while automatically adapting to changes in workload," the company said. "We're proud of the system we've built so far and look forward to continuing to improve the scale, sophistication, and performance."

Gamers who want a powerful machine in their arsenal should take a look at the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 gaming PC, especially now that its configuration with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super graphics card is available with a 22% discount from Lenovo. From its original price of $3,300, its down to $2,550 for huge savings of $750. Youre going to have to hurry if youre interested though, because theres a chance the offer will no longer be around if you delay your purchase to tomorrow.The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i received a great score of 4 stars out of 5 stars in our review, as we were impressed by its flagship 4K gaming performance, and the eight-generation model of the gaming PC further elevates it with upgraded components. In addition to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super graphics card, this machine runs on the 14th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and 32GB of RAM our guide on how much RAM do you need says is a necessity if youre planning to stream or run multiple apps while youre playing. You wont run into any issues when playing the best PC games at their most demanding settings on the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8.There is plenty of storage space in the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 to install all of your favorite titles as it comes equipped with a 2TB SSD, and with Windows 11 Pro out of the box, you can start building your library as soon as you set up the gaming PC with the necessary peripherals. It also features a liquid cooling system that will prevent overheating, so you dont have to worry about that if you find yourself playing for several hours at a time.RelatedLenovo is a reliable source of gaming PC deals, whether you want a budget-friendly device or a top-of-the-line computer. If youre leaning towards the latter, check out the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super graphics card. Its available with a $750 discount that slashes its price from $3,300 to $2,550, which is an excellent price considering the gaming desktops capabilities. You need to be quick in completing your transaction for the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 gaming PC if youre interested though, as it likely wont stay at 22% off for much longer.Editors Recommendations