Elon Musk’s Boring Company is selling a flamethrower

No, we’re not kidding. After weeks of teases, Elon Musk has confirmed that The Boring Company is selling… a flamethrower. That’s right, the same company digging traffic-skipping tunnels is now offering a weapon. Plunk down $500 for a pre-order (there’s no word on when it will ship) and you can have the “world’s safest” fire-breathing weapon. Just in case it isn’t safe enough, though, there’s also a $30 branded fire extinguisher.

There are 20,000 on sale. And before you ask: yes, these should be legal. Musk said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allows throwers with flames shorter than 10 feet, which looks to be the case here.

Why a flamethrower? Musk hasn’t said, but he did indicate that he would sell a flamethrower when Boring Company hats sold out, and he’s clearly living up to that promise. It’s certainly consistent with the firm’s “if it sounds good, do it” ethos — remember, Elon Musk founded The Boring Company on impulse after he was caught in traffic. It’s undoubtedly going to garner attention as a marketing ploy. The question is, what happens if and when the flamethrower sells out? We have a hunch that Musk would be happy to top this with another novelty, especially since the company’s first tunnels won’t see service for a while.

Great for roasting nuts 🔥 🥜

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jan 27, 2018 at 4:53pm PST

Via: Elon Musk (Twitter)

Source: The Boring Company

Streaming services must give songwriters a 44 percent pay hike

Songwriters just claimed a major victory in the fight for better pay from streaming giants like Apple and Spotify. The US Copyright Royalty Board has ruled for an increase in songwriter rates that will give them a 43.8 percent pay raise over the next 5 years. They also won’t have to jump through hoops to figure out how much they’re owed: they’ll claim either a percentage of revenue or the total content costs, whichever pays the most. There are no longer caps on writer rates, for that matter.

This isn’t exactly what writers wanted. They were hoping to be paid per stream, which would give them a direct stake in the success of a popular tune. However, the National Music Publishers Association’s David Israelite called it the “best songwriters have ever had” under the current compulsory license system.

There’s no guarantee this will make writers happy. Musicians frequently complain about low royalties from streaming services, and songwriters frequently get the short end of the stick even in those conditions. It also raises questions about how the streaming companies themselves will account for this pay raise. They may not have to increase your subscription rate to make up for the difference, but that could mean having to accept thinner profits to get your business. Mind you, this could help everyone involved if it convinces more artists to stream their music.

Via: Variety

Source: NMPA

An amateur astronomer just discovered a long-lost NASA zombie satellite

Scott Tilley is an amateur visual and radio astronomer whose hobby is tracking satellites — specifically, classified spy satellites. As detailed at his blog Riddles in the Sky, he recently stumbled across something unusual: a NASA satellite that has been lost in space since 2005, happily chattering away to anyone who would listen.

Luckily, Tilley was.

Tilley was on a hunt for Zuma, the secret Air Force spy satellite that was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 7, but failed to achieve orbit. No one knew what Zuma was or what its mission was, but initial reports suggest that the Falcon 9 had no part in the mission failure, and it may have been due to the uncoupling procedure designed by Northrop Grumman, which built the satellite.

In any case, Zuma supposedly met with a fiery death on reentry. Or did it?

While searching for any evidence of the classified satellite in orbit, Tilley ran across some unusual transmissions. Subsequent observations indicated that they were likely coming from a 17-year-old NASA satellite called IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration), which was launched on a Delta-II rocket in 2000 to map the Earth’s magnetosphere. IMAGE used a variety of sensors, including neutral atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging to observe plasma in the upper magnetosphere.

After years of successful operation, IMAGE ceased responding in 2005, possibly due to a power failure in the transponder controller. However, there remained the possibility that IMAGE could reboot itself when it passed through the Earth’s shadow.

“Periodically the spacecraft will enter an eclipse and NASA surmised that this may trigger it to restart and apply power back to the communications system. That appears to have happened!” Tilley wrote. “As you will note from the plots below the Sun angles are presently good for IMAGE and it may just stay operational for some time to come.”

Word of the discovery quickly reached scientists who had worked on the mission, according to Science. “The odds are extremely good that it’s alive,” said Patricia Reiff, a space plasma physicist. “The team is collectively holding their breath waiting for some real information exchange between IMAGE and the ground.”

America Space reached out to the space agency for comment, and they were cautiously optimistic. “We’re still not sure it really is IMAGE, but we are working to identify people knowledgeable about the mission after all this time and working on getting all the appropriate scripts and software in-place just in case it is IMAGE,” said Jeff Hayes of NASA.

If the spacecraft is indeed operational, it could resume its mission by monitoring Earth’s northern auroral zone. “At the very least it made for an interesting Saturday afternoon in the radio room,” said Tilley.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Did SpaceX lose the classified Zuma payload during its latest launch?
• The Orbital Reflector, launching in 2018, is the world’s first space sculpture
• Elon Musk posts pics of huge Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of debut launch
• Here’s everything you need to know about SpaceX Starlink
• After a monthlong stay at the space station, Dragon capsule returns to Earth

The Rocket Lab founder just launched a giant disco ball into orbit

The spaceflight startup Rocket Lab recently launched the second test flight of its Electron rocket, and it marked the first rocket launched from New Zealand. Named “Still Testing,” the 55-foot-tall rocket successfully deployed three commercial satellites.

The launch from the Māhia Peninsula made New Zealand the 11th country to deliver a payload into orbit. The rocket had an extra passenger that it deployed in addition to the satellites, however, as sharp-eyed observers noticed and the company recently revealed.

Created by the company CEO Peter Beck, the sculpture called “Humanity Star” is a polygonal carbon-fiber sphere consisting of 65 panels that reflect sunlight as it spins. About the size of a large beach ball, it’s visible from Earth with the naked eye, and the company announced it will be “the brightest thing in the night sky.”

Don’t call it a disco ball, Beck told the Washington Post. He wants it to have a more serious impact. “But in all honesty, yes, it’s a giant mirror ball,” he admitted.

The space sculpture will orbit the Earth every 90 minutes travelling at 27 times the speed of sound, spinning as it orbits. Its orbit will last for about nine months, at which point it will burn up as it reenters the atmosphere.

Rocket Lab has set up a website for tracking Humanity Star, so you can see it when it passes overhead. “The goal is make people look up and realize they are on a rock in a giant universe,” Beck said in a statement.

“My hope is that everyone looking up at the Humanity Star will look past it to the expanse of the universe, feel a connection to our place in it and think a little differently about their lives, actions and what is important,” he added. “You may just feel a connection to the more than seven billion other people on this planet we share this ride with.”

Not everyone views the space sculpture as such a lofty accomplishment, as Mashable points out. “This is stupid, vandalizes the night sky and corrupts our view of the cosmos,” tweeted astronomer David Kipping. “Looking up at the Moon and the planets in the night sky invokes similar feelings of wonder – why do we need this artificial disco ball in orbit?” echoed planetary scientist Meg Schwamb.

According to Rocket Lab, regulators of space missions in both the U.S. and New Zealand were informed of the payload and approved it prior to launch.

The company also responded to the critics with an emailed statement. “The Humanity Star will briefly flash across the sky for a few seconds, reflecting sunlight back to the Earth’s surface, creating a fleeting glint of light,” said Beck. “It is designed to be a brief moment of just a few seconds.”

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Johnny Cash turned up to eleven [#acpodcast]

Daniel Bader, Andrew Martonik, Russell Holly, and Jerry Hildenbrand convene to talk about LG, the death of Google Now as Google Assistant takes its place, and the race for mindshare in the voice assistant and smart speaker market.

They also tackle the latest rumors and leaks of the Galaxy S9, which is set to launch February 25th. Join us!

Show Notes and Links:

• The U.S. smartphone industry has an LG problem

• LG says G7 is ‘on schedule’, will be announced ‘when the time is right’

• Google Now is now useless, and we have Google Assistant to thank for it

• Apple HomePod is finally coming, and does almost nothing

• Samsung Galaxy S9 launch event set for Feb 25: ‘The camera. Reimagined.’

• The Galaxy A8+ gives us an early look at Galaxy S9 design cues

• Samsung Galaxy S9 appears in clearest render yet

• Samsung Galaxy S9 supposedly shows up in hands-on video

Sponsors:

• Thrifter.com: All the best deals from Amazon, Best Buy, and more, fussily curated and constantly updated.

• GameStash: Hundreds of awesome games on your Android phone. Try it free for 14 days!

Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral369.mp3

Saudi Arabia releases major tech investor after corruption probe

Saudi Arabia has released almost a hundred people detained on corruption allegations, and one of them is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The billionaire prince known as the “Arabian Warren Buffet” is one of the tech’s biggest investors and known for having stakes in various tech corporations. His current and former investments include Apple, Amazon, AOL, eBay, HP, Twitter and Lyft. bin Talal was arrested in November when the government launched a massive crackdown on corruption and confined at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. The other detainees were released after reaching financial settlements — authorities expect to raise $100 billion from them — but it’s unclear if bin Talal also offered to pay.

With a net worth of around $17 billion, the prince can definitely afford to. But he told Reuters in an interview hours before he was released that he’s “continuing to maintain his innocence of any corruption in talks with authorities.” He said his confinement was a misunderstanding and he supports Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic reform efforts contrary to earlier reports that he was critical of them. Despite being accused of money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, he said there’ll be no charges: “There are just some discussions between me and the government. I believe we are on the verge of finishing everything within days.”

While the terms of the prince’s release weren’t revealed, he said he expects to keep full control of his investment firm Kingdom Holding Company. He also assured the investors and investees of his business empire that he won’t be required to surrender his assets to the government. If that’s truly the case, we can likely expect his firm to invest in more tech companies in the future.

Source: Reuters, The New York Times

HQ Trivia Eliminates $20 Minimum to Cash Out Winnings

HQ Trivia on Friday announced that it has dropped its $20 minimum balance requirement for players to cash out their winnings via PayPal.

The change is welcomed since HQ’s standard prize amount, now up to $2,500, is often split by tens if not hundreds of players, in which cases each winner ends up with a small prize like $10 or $12 that was previously not cashable. Now, anyone can cash out a prize, even if only enough to buy a coffee or two.

💰 It’s payday, baby! We’ve removed the minimum balance required to cash out your HQ winnings. Put that money in the bank today!

— HQ Trivia (@hqtrivia) January 26, 2018

For those unaware, HQ is a live trivia show that launched on iPhone in September, and on Android around New Year’s Day. During the show, players attempt to answer a series of 12 questions correctly to win a cash prize. To reduce cheating, players have less than 10 seconds to choose one of three answers.

The show is hosted every day at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and at 3:00 p.m. every weekday, most often by comedian Scott Rogowsky. Pro tip: you can swipe right on the chat to hide the obnoxious flow of comments.

HQ Trivia continues to surge in popularity, with many games now attracting more than one million players, compared to just hundreds back in September. Over 1.6 million players competed for a special $15,000 prize last Sunday, and some 15 minutes later, seven winners walked away with over $2,000 apiece.

If you haven’t played HQ yet, you can download the game from the App Store and sign up for free. For each new player that you refer to the game, you can receive an extra life, which lets you skip one question if you answer it incorrectly. My own referral code is iPod if you wish to help me get past question five.

Tag: HQ
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HomePod’s Sound Continues to Receive Top Marks After Listening Demos in New York and London

Apple last week invited select reporters to one-hour-long HomePod listening demos in New York City and London, resulting in several first impressions of the speaker’s sound quality being shared online over the past few days.

We’ve rounded up all of the first impressions we’ve come across so far, and highlighted some excerpts that we thought were interesting below. If you spot an article not listed here, let us know in the comments section.

• Business Insider
• TechCrunch
• CNET
• Engadget
• iMore
• Mashable
• TechRadar
• Digital Trends
• Tom’s Guide
• Expert Reviews
• Wired UK
• iNews UK
• Huffington Post UK
• Vogue UK
• Refinery29
• Gear Patrol
• Stuff.tv
• Alphr
• Lance Ulanoff
• T3

The consensus is that the HomePod sounds very good, although some felt the quality isn’t exactly worth the price. A few reporters were more impressed by upcoming stereo sound capabilities of two HomePods in the same room.

Keep in mind these listening demos were conducted by Apple in controlled environments, so we’ll have to wait for more in-depth reviews once reporters and customers get the speaker into their hands and try it out.

Business Insider’s Avery Hartmans

After spending an hour demoing Apple’s new HomePod smart speaker, I can say one thing with confidence: it sounds incredible.

Overall, HomePod is both louder and better-sounding than I expected. The bass was strong without being too heavy, vocals were crisp and clear, and the overall sound felt somehow bright and energized. I also got a demo of a stereo setup using two HomePods — that functionality is coming later on through a free update — and was blown away. So while I can’t give a definitive verdict until testing it for myself, I will say that HomePod gives a great first impression.

Wired UK’s Jeremy White

We will have much more to say in a full review, but on first impressions while the HomePod looks great, is super simple to set up and is undoubtedly powerful, the sound produced does not immediately match up to its £319 price tag.

What becomes immediately apparent is the formidable bass the HomePod kicks out. What’s more, the sound remains constant as you walk around the room, no doubt thanks to those beam-forming tweeters. The vocals are clear as a bell, too. It’s not all good news, however. There is a distinct lack of mid-range, leaving you feeling that something is missing in the mix.

TechCrunch’s Brian Heater

As advertised, the thing sounds great.

Apple’s engineers were able to get a lot of rich and full sound out of that little footprint. The speaker is particularly adept as isolating vocals and maintaining often muddled aural aspects, like background singers and audience sounds in live recordings.

CNET’s David Carnoy

Ultimately, my initial impression is that the HomePod sounds very good for the type of speaker it is and it certainly stacks up well against the competition — some of it less expensive, some of it more.

But like all speakers, it has its limitations and the HomePod left me wanting for true stereo sound. Which is probably why the only time I got truly jazzed during the demo was when they paired the two HomePods together and delivered some real separation.

iNews UK’s Rhiannon Williams

While it’s difficult to get a proper grasp of how a speaker sounds in a short space of time, a second listen to the HomePod reinforces my earlier favourable impressions.

While at just under seven inches tall it’s undoubtedly on the small side, it’s capable of incredible volume, easily filling a room and reinforcing its house party credentials. This is particularly true when two of them pair to play the same song simultaneously: it’s a bassy tour-de-force.

Apple began accepting HomePod orders through its online store and Apple Store app on Friday in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom, with the first deliveries to customers estimated to arrive Friday, February 9.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Discuss this article in our forums

Microsoft Band 3 prototype reveals the wearable that might have been

When Microsoft killed its Band wearables, a leak emerged of what was believed to be the cancelled third-generation model. Well, it’s real — and it says a lot about what Microsoft was thinking before it pulled the plug. Windows Central has obtained a Band 3 prototype and given it a shakedown to see how well it would have worked. True to the rumors, the biggest deals were the additions of waterproofing, swim tracking and (most importantly) an electrocardiogram sensor to track your blood pressure. We now know that the Band 3 could tell if you were stressed out, check your body temperature or otherwise track your health beyond fundamentals like heart rate and calorie burn.

This was also going to address some of the Band 2’s design issues. The Band 3’s clasp was much thinner, so you’d have an easier time slipping it under a shirt cuff. It appeared to be sturdier, too. And charging was considerably faster — you’d have a full charge in an hour instead of the 1.5 hours of its predecessor. There’s RFID tag support, although that wasn’t working.

When you combine this with the recent Xbox Watch leak, there’s a clear pattern: Microsoft was fully committed to wearable hardware until it made an about face sometime in 2016. While there hasn’t been a formal explanation, it seems likely that Microsoft decided that wearable tech just wasn’t worth the effort given modest sales and fierce competition. This may also have been part of a broader strategy where Microsoft cut its work on underperforming products (such as Windows 10 Mobile) in favor of more reliable or promising businesses like Windows on PCs, mixed reality, cloud services and the Xbox.

Source: Windows Central

Stay fit and save cash with our top 10 affordable Fitbit alternatives

If you’re hunting for a good activity tracker (no doubt to help you stay on top of those New Year’s Resolutions), the sheer amount of options out there today can quickly cause choice paralysis. Certain wearable devices like Fitbits and Apple Watches have set the standard in this rapidly growing market, but these high-end fitness trackers almost always cost north of $100 and can even set you back more than $200 for the latest models.

Whether you’re not keen on dropping a Benjamin or two on a fitness smartwatch, you’re not 100 percent sure you need one and want to try out a cheap unit first, or all you want is a super-basic (and super-affordable) activity-tracking smartwatch to keep you on task, we’ve got you covered. These 10 great Fitbit alternatives – including a few from brand-name makers like Garmin and Withings – can help get you moving without breaking the bank.

The Best Deal

Withings Activite Pop

The super-stylish Withings Activite Pop is the watch to get if you want a tracker with classic watch aesthetics. The old-school analog face displays time as well as daily goal progress. Under the hood, the Activite Pop also tracks things like sleep quality, steps taken, and more, and uploads them to your synced device via the Health Mate app. As Withings was recently acquired by Nokia, pre-buyout Withings-branded stock can be had for cheap right now. The Activite Pop – normally $130 – can be yours for a low $50 from Amazon. Read our review

$50 on Amazon

The Rest

Jawbone Up Move activity tracker — $9

For a no-frills activity tracker, it doesn’t get much better (or cheaper) than the Jawbone Up Move. This little unit comes with a wristband and a clip-on so you can wear it any way you like, and it tracks essential health metrics such as steps taken, calories burned, and includes a sleep tracker. It can sync with both iOS and Android devices, too, for uploading data to the Smart Coach app. The Jawbone Up Move can be yours for as little as $9 from Amazon.

$9 on Amazon

Omron Alvita Ultimate pedometer — $20

It doesn’t get much simpler than a classic pedometer – in fact, one could say that these handy devices were the original fitness trackers before smartwatches became a thing. The Omron Alvita is one of the best and most popular pedometers on the market, but it does more than just count steps: It also calculates calories burned, tracks distance, and even adjusts to your stride length based on your height and weight to provide the most accurate readout. The Omron Alvita is currently $10 off, knocking the price down to $20 on Amazon.

$20 on Amazon

Toobur fitness tracker — $22

When it comes to price, size, and features, fitness-tracking bracelets like this one from Toobur hit the sweet spot between simple wristbands and full-fledged smartwatches. Looking at the Toobur, one is instantly reminded of the Fitbit Alta or the Flex 2 with its slim LED display. The Toobur fitness band tracks activity as well as sleep, and it syncs wirelessly to your phone so you can upload your data as well as receive notifications of incoming calls, texts, and social media updates. Best of all? The Toobur activity tracker will only set you back $22 on Amazon.

$22 on Amazon

Wesoo K1 fitness tracker — $30

For something a little larger, check out the Wesoo K1. This fitness tracker boasts similar aesthetics and features to the Fitbit Charge 2, tracking exercise, steps, distance, calories burned, sleep quality, and more. The companion app for iOS and Android makes syncing and uploading your metrics a breeze as well. It features an IPX7 waterproof rating, too, making the K1 ideal for swimming and water sports. The Wesoo K1 rings in at just $30 from Amazon — much cheaper than the Charge 2 — and comes with a second wristband in blue or purple.

$30 on Amazon

Withings Go — $40

Now part of Nokia, the Withings brand features a number of excellent fitness gadgets, from digital scales to activity trackers. Its watches are no exception: The Withings Go keeps things simple and sleek, tracking data for everything from sleep to swimming. It also displays your stats on an always-on e-ink screen that features an eight-month battery life. With a Bluetooth device, you can also upload your info from the Health Mate app for long-term goal tracking and fitness goals. A $10 discount brings the Withings Go down to $40 from Amazon. Read our review

$40 on Amazon

Garmin Vivofit 3 — $55

Garmin is a big name in the world of fitness tech, and while its devices are certainly considered “name brand,” they’re considerably less expensive than the competition. The Vivofit 3 is a band-style activity tracker that features an impressive one-year battery life – no charging required – and syncs automatically with the Garmin Connect companion app to upload all of the health stats that are fit to track (minus heart rate). It can even auto-detect your current activity to collect the appropriate data. It’s affordable, too, at only $55 on Amazon after a 31-percent discount. Read our review

$55 on Amazon

Wahoo Tickr heart rate monitor — $56

One alternative to fitness watches is a good heart rate monitor that straps onto your body to track one of the most important things when you’re working out — your heartbeat. The Wahoo Tickr does just that, and whereas most basic chest straps require a separate ANT+ smartwatch or phone to work, the Tickr connects to any Bluetooth-capable iOS or Android phone. It can also sync with other GPS-enabled smartwatches and is compatible with a myriad of fitness apps to help with heart rate monitoring. The Wahoo Tickr heart rate monitor comes in at $56 from Amazon.

$56 on Amazon

Scosche Rhythm+ heart rate monitor and fitness tracker — $80

The Scosche Rhythm+ heart rate monitor and activity tracker straps onto your forearm rather than around your chest to deliver accurate (and more comfortable) real-time heart monitoring. It’s compatible with both Bluetooth and ANT+ devices, too, meaning you can sync it with a wide variety of smartphones, GPS watches, and more. Along with heart rate, the Rhythm+ tracks calories burned, distance, and pace, and works with popular fitness apps. The Scosche Rhythm+ heart rate monitor and fitness tracker is available from Amazon for $80. Read our review

$80 on Amazon

Garmin Vivoactive — $95

Our final Fitbit alternative is also one of our all-time favorite activity trackers: The feature-rich Garmin Vivoactive. The Vivoactive combines fitness tracking with a suite of smartwatch features including a high-resolution touch display, customizable watch faces, and downloadable widgets. It boasts built-in GPS and comes preloaded with sports apps designed for everything from swimming and biking to golf. At $95 from Amazon, the Garmin Vivoactive manages to still come in at just under the $100 mark, making it the Fitbit alternative to get if you want a full-featured fitness smartwatch. Read our review

$95 on Amazon

Looking for more great deals on outdoor gadgets and other electronics? Check out our deals page to score some extra savings on our favorite tech.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

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