Apple’s Irish Data Center Faces New Challenge as Residents Plan to Fight Back Against Court Approval

Apple has been trying to get its $1 billion data center in County Galway, Ireland built for well over two years now, and last week the company finally won approval for construction by the Irish High Court. While it was expected that Apple would now move forward and begin planning for construction, two local residents have brought up a new legal challenge for the company.

As reported by The Galway Advertiser (via Business Insider), two Athenry residents have requested a certificate to appeal the court ruling made last week that granted Apple permission for the project. The case is said to be due back to the court on Wednesday, October 25. Previously, the same individuals challenged Apple’s data center by citing multiple environmental concerns, but their challenge was rejected.

Locals marching in support for Apple’s data center last November (via Apple for Athenry)
Environmental protection issues have been the source of the objector’s arguments for the last few years, originally arguing that Apple’s data center could have negative effects on local animal populations, and could lead to potential flooding concerns on a neighboring golf course. Then, the data center’s proximity to a local nuclear power plant was used to bring up new objections to the site’s construction, despite the plant having been shut down for years.

Many locals still support Apple’s data center in the area, with the leader of the Apple for Athenry Facebook group telling Business Insider that “the collective hearts of Athenry sank” when the new legal challenge was brought up this week.

Apple originally wanted the data center to be up and running by early 2017, but these repeated setbacks have greatly elongated the company’s timeline for the site. Once it is functional, the Derrydonnell Forest data center will see ongoing construction over 10-15 years, supporting services like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.

Tags: data center, Ireland
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Let’s talk about the Pixel 2 XL’s display controversy

So, the Pixel 2 XL’s display…

For the most part, we came away very impressed with the Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL. The phones aren’t perfect, but then again, no phone is. The Pixel 2 XL comes equipped with a 6-inch 2880 x 1440 pOLED LG display, and while that sounds great on paper, people’s reception to it has been all over the place.

Right now, there are two main complaints with the Pixel 2 XL’s display – its viewing angles and “dull” colors. The former of those two complaints has to do with the LG panel itself, but the numerous reports of colors looking washed out is a result of Google purposefully calibrating the display to an sRGB profile. Google says that this allows the Pixel 2 XL’s display to be more color accurate than competing devices, and while this might be true, the initial reception isn’t entirely positive.

Here’s what some of our forum users have to say.

jdunker26
10-18-2017 02:48 PM

“

I think I’m going to cancel my pre-order of the XL. I just can’t spend almost $1,000 on a phone with issues like this.

Reply

quelquehomme
10-18-2017 02:59 PM

“

i just got mine. I’m setting it up right now. It’s a keeper! Yeah, I can see the off-axis blue. Hell, I can even see it head-on for now on all-white pages. It’s still a beautiful screen despite its shortcomings. I believe I’ll get used to the tint, and I’m sure to theme it with Swift Black eventually anyway.

Incidentallly, I think turning off Vivid Colors helps to cut back on the blue a…

Reply

codeda
10-18-2017 04:05 PM

“

Guessing it might bother some more than others depending on how they use their phone too. Like mine is kept on a stand on my desk at work all day and it does rest at a slight angle. BUT I’m also not looking at white screens all the time. Usually playing videos or something while I’m working. Even when I saw it at the store I didn’t think it was a deal breaker, but the smaller pixel did have…

Reply

svenEDGE
10-18-2017 04:31 PM

“

I saw the display before I saw all of the talk of how bad the display is. This is for sure not being blown out of proportion. Whether or not the screen looks bad to your eye is a different story. I can confirm that for myself, the display is as bad as the worst reports say. The fact that the display is the component of the phone that you use more than any other component, makes it very important…

Reply

I’ll share some more in-depth thoughts of my own later next week, but until then, we’d like to know – What do you think about the Pixel 2 XL’s display?

Join the conversation in the forums!

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UK government could force petrol stations to install EV chargers

The UK’s network of motorway services and petrol stations will be required to install chargers for electric cars, under plans announced by Transport Minister John Hayes. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, which was first announced during the Queen’s Speech in June but yesterday had its first reading in Parliament, outlines new powers that will help boost the uptake of electric vehicles across the UK.

According to the government, the new network of charging stations will need to be “smart,” which means they can interact with the grid in order to manage demand across the UK. Operators will also be required to provide clear information on the location and operating hours of their points, as well as the available charging options, how much they cost and whether they are working order or already in use.

Ministers are clear that “all UK motorway services and large petrol retailers” will need to be on board and that the government will be given powers to “make it compulsory for chargepoints to be installed across the country.” The Bill itself lists both of these pledges but clearly state that the “regulations may impose requirements” on both large fuel retailers and service area operators. This may allow the government to step in if new installations are behind targets, but some petrol station operators are already taking positive steps. Shell, for example, has already begun installing chargepoints on forecourts, which might mean ministers won’t need to use these new powers.

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill also makes provisions for the UK’s self-driving future. It reiterates a lot of what was shared during the Queen’s Speech, in that the all drivers of automated cars will need to be separately covered when the driver is in manual control and when the car is driving itself. Victims of accidents involving an automated vehicle will must also “have quick and easy access to compensation.” Car owners will be made liable for accidents if they’ve modified the software on their vehicle or have failed to install important updates.

The government says it plans to invest £1.2 billion in the electric and driverless car industry, ensuring that local authorities get the money they need to install charging stations in residential streets, where electric cars are often parked on the street.

“We want the UK to be the best place in the world to do business and a leading hub for modern transport technology, which is why we are introducing the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in Parliament and investing more than £1.2 billion in the industry,” Transport Minister John Hayes said. “This bill will aid the construction of greater infrastructure to support the growing demand for automated and electric vehicles as we embrace this technology and move into the future.”

Via: Gov.uk

Source: Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill (PDF)

The Morning After: Thursday, October 19th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Are you ready for the WWE of giant robot fighting? Don’t worry, we weren’t either. Anyway, it’s Thursday, which means it’s time to make a plan for cleaning up dead satellites.

Chainsaws aren’t against the rules, FYI.USA vs. Japan giant robot battle was a slow, brilliant mess

On Tuesday, Team USA’s mechs scrapped it out with Japan’s Kuratas in an abandoned steel mill for the world to watch. There could only be one victor, and it proved to be — well, click here if you’d like to watch without a spoiler.

What’s eating that Lexus?Take a peek at Apple’s Project Titan self-driving setup

Voyage co-founder MacCallister Higgins tweeted a brief video of what is apparently one of Apple’s self-driving test vehicles. The Lexus SUV sported a roof rack full of sensors and possibly more. What it lacks in looks, it may make up for in function, however, since a self-contained unit would be easier to remove during these early stages of testing.

Good news, bad news.Nintendo Switch update adds video capture and profile transfers

Before the Switch gets its big Mario platformer in a couple of weeks, Nintendo is pushing a software update that adds some notable new features. With the 4.0.0 update, it’s capable of saving 30 seconds of video at the press of a button. Also, users can finally transfer profiles (including saved games) from one Switch to another; although it only supports complete profile moves, so there’s no solution for backups (yet). Oh, and the Switch is now ready for pre-orders and pre-downloading from the eShop, so you can start playing Super Mario Odyssey right away when it launches.

It’s in the cloud.Adobe remakes Lightroom CC as a hybrid app and 1TB cloud service

To be clear — because Adobe’s new naming system is pretty darn confusing — Lightroom CC is both a storage app and a service. The new version for PC and Mac has a simplified interface with streamlined sliders, presets and quick-adjustment tools, and some of the features in the old version of Lightroom CC are missing.

Catch me if you can.Samsung leapfrogs Intel again with eight-nanometer chips

The smaller chips will be perfect for “mobile, cryptocurrency and network/server” applications.

It can power up to 20,000 homes.The world’s first floating wind farm powers up in Scotland

The turbines of Hywind Scotland stand 253-meters tall in total (around 830 feet), with 78 meters (256 feet) of that bobbing beneath the surface, tethered to the seabed by chains weighing 1,200 tons. Within the next year or so, operators plan to install a huge 1MWh Batwind storage battery to better manage the site’s output.

But wait, there’s more…

• Zero’s 2018 electric motorcycles can recharge in an hour
• The robots that will sweep Earth’s skies
• Where are VR and AR headed? We’ll explore at the Engadget Experience
• Snapchat’s dumb dancing hotdog is now an $80 Halloween costume
• Facebook and Google reportedly helped set up anti-Muslim election ads
• Women of NASA Lego set available starting November 1st

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

Google honors the man who discovered the fate of dead stars

There’s a constant battle between gravity and nuclear physics going on inside a star that’s only resolved when it dies. American, Indian-born scientist Subrahmanyan “Chandra” Chandrasekhar figured out how that would end — supernova and black hole or white dwarf — depending on the mass and size of the star. Chandra is already pretty well known, thanks to NASA’s flagship Chandra X-ray observatory and the fact that he won a Nobel prize, but today’s Google Doodle is a nice reminder of the significance of his legacy.

Chandra built on the ideas of his hero, Arthur Eddington, who famously said that if a star continued to collapse, “the force of gravitation would be so great that light would be unable to escape from it, the rays falling back to the star like a stone to the Earth.” However, Eddington doubted that such an extreme would be possible, thinking there must be some overlooked law of nature to prevent it.

At just 20 years old, Chandrasekhar discovered that a star less than about 1.4 times the mass of our sun will collapse into a dense, but relatively stable white dwarf star. However, any star larger than that size, known as the “Chandrasekhar limit,” will explode into a supernova and/or collapse into a black hole.

Chandra was ridiculed by his own idol, Eddington, when he presented the theory at the Royal Astronomical Society in 1935, an event that “forced me to carefully consider my reasons for wanting to continue to do astrophysics in the face of such a painful experience,” he said later. The two eventually reconciled, and his theory was eventually, of course, proven spot-on. Chandra died in 1995, and if he were still alive, would be 107 years old today.

Source: Google

The BBC is turning to AI to improve its programming

The BBC wants to leverage machine learning to improve its online services and the programmes it commissions every year. Today, the broadcaster announced a five-year research partnership with eight universities from across the UK. Data scientists will help the best and brightest at the BBC set up the “Data Science Research Partnership,” tasked with being “at the forefront of the machine learning in the media industry.” It will tackle a range of projects not just with the BBC, but media and technology organisations from across Europe. The larger aim is to take the results, or learnings, and apply them directly to the BBC’s operations in Britain.

The broadcaster, for instance, wants to use data to “better understand what audiences want from the BBC.” The organisation could, of course, simply poll licence fee payers, but the idea presumably is to burrow down into TV and iPlayer viewing habits. With a wealth of hard data, it’s possible that an algorithm could pick out larger trends and deduce whether the BBC is using its resources most effectively. To that end, the BBC hopes machine learning can help it build “a more personal BBC” with tools that could allow employees to make informed editorial and commissioning decisions.

The broadcaster is also interested in a concept called object-based broadcasting. At the moment, TV shows and news bulletins are broadcast as single pieces of linear media. But for years now, the BBC has envisioned media “objects,” or blocks, that could be assembled in different ways depending on the user or end-hardware. Take the news, for instance: If every story or segment was cut-up, it could be personalised based on your tastes. Maybe you want the sport first, with more time dedicated to women’s football. Or a shorter, snappier version of the local news. Machine learning could, in theory, help the BBC realise this abstract dream.

Machine learning is a buzzword at the moment, but with good reason. Engineers are teaching computers to learn, adapt and analyse based on relevant examples. It’s led to improvements in voice recognition, translation, and if you’re Google’s DeepMind division, world champion ‘Go’ players. It’s no surprise that the BBC wants to leverage this new area of AI development in its own business. Media companies like Netflix have embraced user data to shape every part of its services, from commissioning to thumbnail designs. The BBC needs to do the same, especially as it pivots to a model increasingly dependent on original, British programming.

Source: BBC (Press Release)

YouTube Singer Follows Up ‘iPhone Antenna Song’ With Sticky MacBook Keyboard Tune

Popular YouTube singer-songwriter Jonathan Mann has uploaded a humorous Apple-related tune that is currently doing the rounds on social media and tech blogs.

Mann originally rose to prominence among Apple watchers for catching the eye of Steve Jobs, who opened his iPhone 4 press conference by playing to the audience Mann’s 2010 “iPhone Antenna Song”, which criticized parts of the media for its “Antennagate” fixation. But it’s unlikely Mann’s latest song will receive a similar reception in Cupertino.

Titled “I Am Pressing the Spacebar and Nothing is Happening”, Mann’s new song centers on the singer’s hatred for the “butterfly” keyboard on his MacBook Pro.

Apple introduced a revamped butterfly-mechanism keyboard on its first-generation 12-inch MacBook, and later on the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro, which featured flatter keys built using a second-generation butterfly mechanism. However, a significant number of customers have run into issues with both versions, the most common being sticking keys – the theme of Mann’s latest song.

In the music video, Mann’s chorus sees him persistently pressing the space bar of his 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro, frustrated that it no longer works.

He refers to the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide to express how long he waited to upgrade, and that his “very expensive” MacBook Pro is only about a year old, and yet here he is, victim to an unresponsive spacebar.

Mann laments that Apple has informed him that his machine will need “extensive surgery for a speck of dust lodged beneath the butterfly” mechanism – referencing Casey Johnston’s article in The Outline about a piece of dust breaking her MacBook Pro.

Mann’s solo continues by explaining that Apple’s arguably awkward-to-follow keyboard-cleaning instructions didn’t work for him, leaving him feeling like an idiot.

If you don’t fancy listening to this potential earworm, the full lyrics to the song can be found below.

I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / And nothing is happening / This computer is about a year old / And it was very expensive / I had been waiting to upgrade / For a long time / And now you’re telling me / It would need extensive / Surgery for a speck of dust / Lodged beneath the butterfly / I found your instructions / They were not helpful / I bought this can of air / I feel like an idiot

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This ‘inflatable space yacht’ could be orbiting the moon by 2022

Why it matters to you

The inflatable space habitat was originally designed by NASA and offers an efficient method for moving astronaut facilities into space.

Inflatable space habitats may sound like the stuff of science fiction to some, but such a contraption actually already exists in the form of a one-room module currently attached to the International Space Station for testing.

Built by Las Vegas-based Bigelow, the company now has its eye on taking its blow-up living area far beyond the space station, all the way to the moon.

Partnering with United Launch Alliance — a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space Systems — Bigelow said it hopes to send put the B330 expandable space habitat into lunar orbit by 2022.

Announcing the ambitious project this week, Bigelow president Robert Bigelow said the fully autonomous space station would provide anchorage “for significant lunar business development in addition to offering NASA and other governments the moon as a new, exciting location to conduct long-term exploration and astronaut training.”

Bigelow’s B330 habitat — a larger version of the BEAM module currently attached to the space station — is composed of a super-strong, multi-layered Kevlar-esque material. One of its big advantages is that it can be packed into a small space for cheaper and more efficient transportation before being inflated to five times its original size once in space. NASA first outlined the idea for BEAM before Bigelow took on its development about 10 years ago.

The company says the expandable habitat, which is about a third of the size of the space station — has the potential to be used for pretty much anything, including a microgravity research center, a space farm, a dormitory for deep space missions, a kitchen/cafeteria for astronauts, and even as a “private space yacht” for wealthy vacationers looking for a different kind of trip.

Bigelow

If Bigelow can raise the funds for its grand plan, the B330 would begin its journey to the moon on a Vulcan 562 rocket that would first take it to low-Earth orbit. During this phase, the habitat would be expanded, kitted out, and tested for any issues. Once fully operational, the B330 would embark on its journey to low-lunar orbit.

Bigelow said his “lunar depot plan is a strong complement to other plans intended to eventually put people on Mars.” Indeed, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have suggested that billions of dollars could be saved by using the moon as a pit-stop for eventual missions to the red planet.

The last time humans ventured all the way to the moon was in 1972, but in recent years countries around the world have been showing increasing interest in making a return visit. Only this month, Vice President Mike Pence said NASA would put humans on the moon once again, while both China and Japan are aiming for separate missions by 2020 and 2030, respectively. And before then, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said his SpaceX company is hoping to send two space tourists on a week-long trip around the moon, while Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, CEO of space firm Blue Origin, has floated the idea of a “permanently inhabited lunar settlement.”

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s CNN’s drone flying right above my head!

Why it matters to you

Drone regulations for businesses are easing little by little, bringing the technology into our lives at an increasingly rapid pace.

While many media outlets in the U.S. have been using drones to capture news footage for several years, strict regulations have prevented them from flying the machines over people. Until now.

CNN has become the first organization to receive a special waiver to allows drone flights of no higher than 150 feet over crowds of people.

Granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), CNN described the decision as “an industry milestone” as it continues to explore how the technology can benefit its news-gathering operations. One obvious advantage is cost — sending a drone skyward for aerial shots is significantly cheaper than hiring a helicopter and pilot, while footage from up high can also provide more depth and context for a news story.

It should be noted that CNN only has permission to use a very small drone. Vantage Robotics’ Snap quadcopter (above) weighs just 1.37 pounds and features enclosed rotors for enhanced safety. Snap’s camera uses a Sony Exmor sensor and shoots 4K video and 12-megapixel images.

While you still wouldn’t want this diminutive machine to fall from the sky and land on your head — or worse, in your face — the FAA is satisfied that the machine is reliable enough for CNN to use in its work.

CNN noted that the waiver follows ongoing efforts with the FAA to gradually introduce drones as part of its work. In 2015, it struck a deal with the FAA to develop safe uses of drones for news-gathering operations, and a year later CNN launched a dedicated drone division. Mose recently, it received a waiver to fly a small drone over people for work at closed-set motion picture and television film locations.

The FAA up to now has shown extreme caution in relaxing regulations for commercial drone operations — you only need to watch this shocking video to see why — so CNN clearly has a huge responsibility to ensure its future drone flights over people are carried out trouble-free. Indeed, part of the application for the waiver included CNN having to prove the drone operator’s “safe history of operations.” Should the news company’s drone efforts go off without a hitch, it should pave the way for other businesses looking to make use of drone technology in an ever-greater range of scenarios.

Watch this guy sing a funny song about the MacBook Pro’s ‘sticky keys’ issue

Why it matters to you

Keyboards often go a bit wrong eventually, and so this song is for all of us.

If the keyboard on your new MacBook Pro is giving you hassle, then Jonathan Mann of a-song-a-day fame has created a ditty just for you.

The MacBook Pro’s keys have a habit of getting a bit sticky after extended exposure to dust and other debris, leaving some owners of the machine wondering if they’ll ever again experience the joys of a full alphabet and all that it has to offer.

Mann had his MacBook Pro about a year before experiencing the problem. In his case, the space bar stopped responding, and the situation has left him so frustrated that he decided to write a song about it called I Am Pressing The Space Bar And Nothing Is Happening.

The prolific YouTuber, who for years has been posting one song a day to his channel, sings how “nothing is happening” when he presses the key, which really can’t be much fun for Mann if he’s uses the laptop to tap out his lyrics.

The catchy tune describes how he waited a very long time to upgrade his Apple laptop, but having done so, the pricey Pro is no longer working as it should.

Mann’s video shows his awkward efforts at trying to clean the keyboard by holding it at an angle of 75 degrees and squirting compressed air at it — exactly as suggested by Apple on its support pages.

Fifty-four percent of people who responded told Apple they found the advice “helpful,” indicating that nearly half of those experiencing the issue ended up either taking it to an Apple Store, searching for alternative solutions online, or throwing it out of the window.

In 2016, the MacBook Pro incorporated Apple’s “butterfly” keyboard switch that debuted with the newly launched MacBook a year earlier. It offers hardly any key travel and as a consequence has proved uncomfortable for many users who type a lot. And, as Mann’s song highlights, it really doesn’t like dust.

DT reported on key-actuation issues with both the MacBook and 2016 MacBook Pro machines at the start of this year, with some owners at that time on their second or third repair after taking it back to the store. Hit the “stuck key” forum on Apple’s site and you’ll see many pages of contributions from users continuing to experience issues.

Hopefully Mann has managed to fix his MacBook Pro by now; perhaps he can write a song about that, too, if he has.