Ben Heck’s vintage Japanese arcade mod

The Ben Heck Show team has been approached to repair and enhance a vintage Japanese arcade Pachinko machine! Pachinko machines are common gambling games in Japan, and are still in use today. Most of the modern titles have hidden features, hints and instant-win mechanisms, so it makes sense that the team uses their 3D printing and microcontroller know-how to bring this mechanical wood, plastic and metal version up to electronic standards. Have you built or repaired an arcade machine? What arcade machine would you want to make ? Let the team know over on the element14 Community.

South Korea’s sound barrier-chasing train, and more in the week that was

Tesla’s Gigafactory is spitting out lithium-ion batteries at breakneck pace, but the automaker isn’t stopping there. Elon Musk just announced plans to give the factory a $350 million upgrade so that it can manufacture electric motors and gearboxes for the upcoming Model 3. Meanwhile, South Korea unveiled plans for a new hyper train that can travel nearly as fast as the speed of sound. A German engineer has developed the world’s most compact folding bike, which fits into a carry-on suitcase. And New York City is preparing to roll out Citi Bikes that shoot laser bike lanes to keep cyclists safe.

The next four years are shaping up to be tough for the US renewable energy sector, and this week lawmakers in Wyoming proposed a bill that would ban selling wind and solar power in the state. Meanwhile, China ordered the closure of over 100 coal power plants to improve air quality and reduce fossil fuel use. SolarWindow is working to transform the way we power our buildings, and they just debuted a new kind of flexible glass that generates clean energy. Sierra Nevada installed a massive 1-MWh Tesla Powerpack at its Chico, California brewery, and Snohetta unveiled plans for an office that could produce more energy than it consumes in Norway.

The world’s first floating city is now one step closer to reality, as San Francisco’s Seasteading Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding with French Polynesia. It’s probably a good thing that floating cities are in the works: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just announced that global temperatures hit a record high for the third year in a row. In other design and tech news, George Lucas officially selected Los Angeles to host his $1 billion art museum. And in an Inhabitat exclusive we shared one Colorado man’s journey to build the state’s most energy-efficient home.

After Math: Wanna get away?

Welp, It happened. It really happened. The single least qualified person to ever run for public office has somehow landed a gig as leader of the free world. Thanks, Putin. If White Nationalism isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry, you’re not alone. This week, the US Army, Tesla and Harvard all showed off ways to get us out of wherever you are, in a hurry. Doordash and Postmates are rolling out a new service to bring snacks to wherever you’re hunkering down for the next four years (barring the inevitable impeachment). And Venus showed why it’s a terrible hiding spot — though at this rate, the Earth itself won’t be much better for long. Numbers, because how else are we going to score the upcoming nuclear arms race?

iTunes Documentary ‘Viva Amiga’ Charts History of the Early Macintosh Rival

Earlier this month, a new KickStarter-funded documentary debuted on iTunes covering the intriguing history of the popular Amiga computer. Directed by Zach Weddington, Viva Amiga tells the story of how the Amiga project was started in 1985, and successfully captures the excitement of developers and users for what was considered a game-changing platform at the time.

The documentary features interviews with key Amiga engineers as well as some interviews with Amiga users (some of whom continue to use Amigas today), and charts the tremendous highs and incredible lows of the platform over the ensuing decades.

In 1985, an upstart team of Silicon Valley mavericks created a miracle: the Amiga computer. A machine made for creativity. For games, for art, for expression. Breaking from the mold set by IBM and Apple, this was something new. Something to change what people believed computers could do.

From the creation of the world’s first multimedia digital art powerhouse, to a bankrupt shell sold and resold into obscurity, to a post-punk spark revitalized by determined fans. Viva Amiga is a look at a digital dream and the freaks, geeks and geniuses who brought it to life.

Acquired by Commodore in 1984 for an estimated $30 million, the multimedia Amiga computer created a lot of excitement around Silicon Valley, thanks to its impressive accelerated graphics and audio hardware.

Steve Jobs reportedly became worried about the buzz surrounding the Amiga – the machine used the same Motorola 68000 processor as the Macintosh, but with its 4,096-color display output, 4-channel sampled stereo sound and multi-tasking GUI, it made the year-old Macintosh look seriously outdated.

During an event held at the Computer History Museum, California, where Viva Amiga got its first showing, Amiga Corp. investor Bill Hart confirmed that Steve Jobs took an early interest in the Amiga, and visited the group to watch a demo of what would later become the Amiga 1000. An Apple buyout was even floated, but Jobs reportedly never took the proposition seriously.

Ultimately, little came of the visit, which was later described as a “fishing expedition” for Jobs. Despite being integrated into just three chips, the machine had too much hardware for the Apple CEO’s liking, while its full-bus-access expansion port was anathema to Jobs’ pursuit of a closed architecture system.

Despite some successes – notably, the best-selling Amiga 500 home computer, introduced in 1987 – poor marketing and an inability to reproduce the heights of early innovations led to the Amiga losing market share to game consoles, IBM PCs, and Apple computers, and Commodore ultimately went bankrupt in April 1994.

Viva Amiga is available to buy for $9.99 or rent for $4.99 on iTunes. [Direct Link]
Discuss this article in our forums

‘Terminator’ reboot will have James Cameron’s oversight

The last few stabs at The Terminator movies haven’t gone so well, to put it mildly — you’re more likely to have enjoyed the video game tie-ins. And that may well be due to the absence of James Cameron, who sold his rights back in 1984 and hasn’t touched the save-the-future series since Terminator 2 in 1991. However, it might be close to getting the better treatment it deserves. Deadline sources hear that Cameron is in talks with Deadpool director Tim Miller to create a Terminator reboot. While it’s not certain which path the movie will take (is it from scratch, a T2 follow-up, or something else?), it’d be promising to have the series’ originator involved.

While there’s nothing official here, it does make sense for Cameron to come back. He reclaims some of his Terminator rights in 2019, so there wouldn’t be much to stop a new movie even if work were to start today. This may also represent his best chance at restoring the glory of the franchise. We’d add that Tim Miller is promising — Deadpool was his directorial debut and proved to be an unexpected hit. Although there’s no guarantee that Cameron will have a Midas touch (ask Ridley Scott about the perils of revisiting legendary movies), there’s at least the potential for a Terminator movie that early fans would be happy to watch.

Source: Deadline

‘The Division’ upgrade raises the stakes for veteran players

Now that Ubisoft has spent some time improving the fundamentals of The Division, it’s ready to focus on more content. And this time, there’s a lot for seasoned players — even those who’ll never pay for add-ons. The upcoming free 1.6 update will add three new Dark Zone areas, nearly doubling the area of the anyone-can-kill-you environment. These areas also include new “Contamination” events that not only include tougher enemies, but chip away at your health even outside of combat. And did we mention that the Dark Zone now has leaderboards that encourage you to excel in fights against both the AI and rival players?

You won’t have to venture into those wilder areas to face additional challenges, either. Ubi is adding a Legendary skill level for three missions (Napalm Production Site, Times Square and WarrenGate Power Planet) where enemies will use “more advanced tactics” (such as reacting to your skills) to catch you off-guard. It’s explicitly intended for cooperative play, so you could liken this to Destiny’s raids and nightfall strikes.

There are still some under-the-hood improvements on the way. Gear Sets have been tweaked, armor’s role has been downplayed (health and stamina matter more) and the skill system has been reworked to introduce more variety. There’s also a revamped in-game store with a new currency and a wider range of items to buy.

You’ll still get the most perks if you spring for the game’s simultaneous Last Stand expansion (which adds a capture-and-hold mode). However, 1.6 by itself still appears to add a lot. It’s recognition that dedicated fans will quickly run out of things to do in role-playing titles like this, and that they need a steady stream of fresh material if they’re going to keep playing. About the only question is how long Ubisoft can keep this going. There are more expansions and updates in the works, but long-term support for a buy-once game isn’t as easy to justify as it is for a subscription RPG.

Source: Ubisoft

Amazon made a Dash button just for boxes of assorted candy

If you’re a creature of habit who doesn’t mind introducing a little branding into your home, Amazon’s one-touch ordering buttons are useful for re-stocking everything from laundry detergent to Nerf ammo. They can even be programmed to remind you that you have Dash buttons. Now, Amazon wants to help brighten your day with random boxes of small-batch candies.

For Prime members, each press of the Prime Surprise Sweets button will cost $18, which Amazon will reward by sending you a box full of “top-notch artisanal treats from across the nation.” You can, of course, mash the button as much as you’d like. Unfortunately, as our friends at TechCrunch pointed out, the program is still invite-only, but you can pre-order a button and reserve your place in line.

As for the sweet treats themselves, Amazon has a list of some example boxes on the site and it’s safe to say that fans of chocolates, caramels or various forms of sweetened popcorn will find something to indulge their sweet tooth. Each box also comes with a note card that describes “every decadent detail” of the candymaking process, so you can remember that your one-touch candy order also supported a small business somewhere.

Apple Watch Pop Up Shop at Galeries Lafayette in Paris Shuts Down

Following the closure of the Apple Watch pop up shop at Selfridges department store in London earlier this month, the shop at Galeries Lafayette in Paris has apparently also shut down, as Apple has removed its entry from the company’s list of retail stores.

The closure of the Galeries Lafayette shop this month was rumored back in October, and it leaves the Isetan Shinjuku location in Tokyo as the only remaining Apple Watch pop up shop.

Apple opened the trio of Apple Watch pop up shops in April 2015 at the luxury retailers as part of the company’s initial efforts to position the watch as a fashion item, with gold Apple Watch Edition models selling for as much as $17,000.

Apple has since toned down the luxury aspects of Apple Watch marketing, focusing more on health, fitness, and convenience features for the average user. With the launch of Apple Watch Series 2 last September, Apple did away with the luxury gold Edition line, replacing it with new ceramic Edition models topping out at $1,300.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums

Snowden’s preferred email provider, Lavabit, has been resurrected

Lavabit, the encrypted email provider Edward Snowden favored, has risen from the ashes with more security features than before. If you’ll recall, company chief Ladar Levison shut it down in 2013 instead of complying with the government’s demand to hand over its SSL encryption key. Authorities targeted the provider in order to get to the whistleblower’s communications, but a gag order prevented Lavabit from confirming that was the case until last year. In order to ensure its users’ privacy, the resurrected Lavabit uses a new architecture that physically prevents the company from handing over its SSL key.

Lavabit now stores the key in a tamper-resistant device. The service automatically generates a long passphrase that the company won’t be able to see, inserts the key into the device and then destroys the passphrase. A developer for the company told The Intercept that “Once it’s in there, we cannot pull that SSL key back out.”

At the moment, the service is only open to previous users who were suddenly locked out of their accounts due to its sudden death. They likely won’t be able to retrieve their old emails anymore, but they can now continue using their Lavabit account. The company will eventually start accepting new users, though, and they’ll be able to choose between three modes: Trustful, Cautious and Paranoid.

The least secure option encrypts emails on the company’s server, while Cautious will offer end-to-end encryption. Those who prefer the latter will have to install the client software on their devices to be able to generate an encryption key. But since Cautious still stores the key in the company’s server and that might not be enough for some people, the service came up with Paranoid mode. It stores the key on the users’ devices instead, and people will have to manually transfer it if they want to use another device. Plus, if they lose the key, it’s gone for good.

In addition to three security tiers, the new Lavabit has a feature called Dark Mail to encrypt every email’s metadata. It also prevents the sender’s ISP from knowing the email’s recipient and the recipient’s ISP from knowing the sender’s. The company didn’t say when it will start welcoming new sign ups, but you can pre-register for an account right now on Lavabit’s website.

Source: The Intercept, Lavabit

Tesla’s big Autopilot update is now active on newer cars

Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot has been months in the making, but it’s finally here — no, for real this time. After days of laying dormant, the upgrade is now active for all HW2-era (that is, self-driving capable) Model S and Model X vehicles with Autopilot enabled. You may need to have Tesla technicians modify your camera angles first (the car will tell you if this is the case), but you’re otherwise golden. Provided it works as promised, it should give you a more sophisticated take on semi-autonomy.

As the name implies, the new Autopilot is less about reinventing the system as adding meaningful upgrades. Autosteer is better at navigating tricky roads, for instance, while Smart Summon isn’t limited to moving your car in a straight line (think curved driveways). There’s even an automatic lane change feature that will help you get around slow-moving traffic on the highway. Not all of the Enhanced Autopilot features will necessarily be active right away, but you’ll likely notice the difference if you’re an owner.

Autopilot for HW2 rolling out to all HW2 cars today. Please be cautious. Some cars will require adjustment of camera pitch angle by service.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2017

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter)