Now California’s DMV can allow fully driverless car testing

Automakers can now start testing fully driverless cars on California’s roads. According to the state DMV’s new regulations that became effective on April 2nd, it can now issue three types of autonomous vehicle testing permits. The first kind is the original one it approved years ago, which needs a driver behind the wheel, while the other two could pave the way for the release of Level 4 to 5 autonomous vehicles. See, the second type of permit it can dole out will allow automakers to test fully driverless vehicles, and the third will give the companies permission to deploy them.

While it may seem like California introduced its new permits at a bad time — Uber and Tesla were recently involved in fatal accidents while their self-driving technologies were engaged — the state approved the new regulations way back in February. The rules also include conditions automakers must be able to meet before they can get their hands on those permits.

To be able to get permission to test driverless cars, for instance, they must have already tested them in a controlled environment. Also, their creation must meet Society of Automotive Engineers’ definition of a Level 4 or 5 autonomous vehicle. That means their cars should be able to drive and stop themselves with no human interaction need; Level 5 vehicles can also have no steering wheels, gas or brake pedals. That said, California requires automakers to monitor their driverless vehicles using remote human operators, who can take over their controls if and when needed.

It may take a while before you see Level 4 or 5 autonomous cars driving around The Golden State, though. A DMV spokesperson told TechCrunch that nobody has applied for deployment yet and only one company has applied for a permit to test fully driverless cars.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: California DMV

Oppo ‘gradually’ winds down its Blu-ray player and audio business

For years home theater fans have loved Oppo’s well-engineered and capable products, but today the company announced that after 14 it’s getting out of the business (Oppo’s mobile arm is separate and will continue) of Blu-ray players, headphones and audio systems. According to a post on its website, “As our latest 4K UHD players reach the pinnacle of their performance, it is time to say goodbye.”

It will continue to support existing products with in- and out-of-warranty service, and firmware updates will continue — Oppo just isn’t going to make new devices and is winding down manufacturing. Anyone who purchased a device within the last 30 days can return it for a full refund and if you’re still interested in something, all of its devices will still be on sale until they’re eventually out of stock. As good as 4K Blu-ray is, the company apparently agrees with those who see a limited future for the technology in the face of streaming.

Source: Oppo

Tor axes its secure messaging app due to lack of resources

The Tor team unveiled its Messenger app in 2015 to boost the security of existing chat clients, but those plans are coming to an end less than three years later. The developers are ending support for Tor Messenger due primarily to a lack of support. The developers behind Instantbird, the foundation of Messenger, have stopped working on the interface. There wasn’t much overall progress on Messenger, for that matter. The app was still stuck in beta testing years after its debut, and the creators had to ignore bug reports and feature requests due to the limited resources.

There were also underlying security issues. Most of the messaging apps Tor Messenger supported are based on client-server architectures, and those can leak metadata (such as who’s involved in a conversation and when) that might reveal who your friends are. There was no real way for the Tor crew to mitigate these issues.

There aren’t many viable alternatives. Tor suggests CoyIM, but it’s prone to the same metadata issues as Messenger. You may have to accept that a small amount of chat data could find its way into the wrong hands, even if the actual conversations are locked down tight.

Source: Tor Blog

Panera Bread left millions of customer records exposed on the web

Add another big-name brand to the list of those who’ve left customer data exposed online. Thanks to security researcher Dylan Houlihan, KrebsOnSecurity has discovered that Panera Bread left millions of customer sign-up records (possibly 37 million) in plain text on its website, including email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers and loyalty account numbers. There was no payment info, thankfully, but it would have been patently easy for evildoers to harvest that information and use it as part of identity fraud or spam campaigns.

Crucially, Panera Bread didn’t appear to be responsive to the problem. Houlihan notified the company about the problem in August 2017 and got a response promising that its team was “working on a resolution,” but it didn’t take down the info until KrebsOnSecurity got involved — twice. In a statement, Panera Bread said it was still investigating the vulnerability but indicated that there was “no evidence” of either payment info or anyone accessing a “large number” of the accounts.

As such, you’re probably not at risk if you signed up for a Panera Bread website account. However, this underscores a recurring problem with internet security: numerous companies have failed to encrypt data or otherwise abide by basic security policies. Although there’s no guarantee that locking down data will prevent breaches, it beats welcoming thieves with open arms.

Hey @panerabread : before making half-baked statements to the press to downplay the size of a breach, perhaps you should make sure the problem doesn’t extend to all other parts of your business, like https://t.co/rSpkwc3y1v, etc. Only proper response is to deep six entire site

— briankrebs (@briankrebs) April 2, 2018

Source: KrebsOnSecurity, Brian Krebs (Twitter)

What’s on TV: ‘Legion’ and ‘Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity’

Tonight March Madness comes to an end, and this weekend the F1 series stops off in Bahrain. In between, it’s time for season two of FX’s mutant series Legion as well as the premiere of The Last O.G. on TBS starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish. Netflix has another slew of new movies and TV shows, including a Seth Rogen comedy special that features Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, Michelle Wolf, John Mulaney, Michael Che, Michael J. Fox, David Chang, Ike Barinholtz, Chelsea Peretti, Kumail Nanjiani, Jon Lovitz, Jeff Goldblum, Sacha Baron Cohen, Nick Kroll, Post Malone, Chris Hardwick, and Craig Robinson.

If you’re looking for a different kind of gaming experience this week, keep an eye out for Minit, an adventure game that you play sixty seconds at a time. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• The Post (VOD)
• Insidious: The Last Key
• Father Figures
• Looking Glass
• Ballers (S3)
• The 6th Man
• Celtic Pride
• Sweet Virginia
• My Hero Academia S2
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (PC)
• Flight of Light (PS4)
• Raining Coins (PS4)
• Infernium (Switch, PS4, PC)
• Impact Winter (PS4, Xbox One)
• ACA NeoGeo Samurai Shodown III (Switch)
• The King of Fighters ’97 Global Match (PS4)
• Octocopter: Double or Squids (Switch)
• Dead Ahead: Zombie Warfare (Xbox One)
• The Adventure Pals (Xbox One, PS4)
• Minit (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
• Crisis of Planet of the Apes VR (PS VR)
• TERA (Xbox One)

Monday

• NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final, TBS, 9 PM
• King in the Wilderness, HBO, 8 PM
• D.C.’s Legend’s of Tomorrow, CW, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• American Idol, ABC, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30 PM
• Penn & Teller: Fool Us – April Fool’s Day, CW, 9 PM
• The Resident, Fox, 9 PM
• The Terror, AMC, 9 PM
• Living Biblically, CBS, 9:30 PM
• The Crossing (series premiere), ABC, 10 PM
• McMafia, AMC, 10 PM
• Good Girls, NBC, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• Fary is the New Black, Netflix, 3 AM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• The Middle, ABC, 8:30 PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8 PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9 PM
• Black Lightning, CW, 9 PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9 PM
• LA to Vegas, Fox, 9 PM
• Bull, CBS, 9 PM
• Rise, NBC, 9 PM
• Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9 PM
• The Mick (season finale), Fox, 9:30 PM
• Legion (season premiere), FX, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• For the People, ABC, 10 PM
• NCIS: NO, CBS, 10 PM
• The Quad (season finale), BET, 10 PM
• Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., USA, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• The Last O.G. (series premiere), TBS, 10:30 PM
• Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10:30 PM
• The Jim Jefferies Show, Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• The President Show, Comedy Central, 11 PM
• The Chris Gethard Show, TruTV, 11 PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3 AM
• National Treasure (season premiere), Hulu, 3 AM
• Famous in Love (season premiere), Freeform, 8 PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8 PM
• Empire, Fox, 8 PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8 PM
• The Blacklist, NBC, 8 PM
• Life Sentence, CW, 9 PM
• The Magicians (season finale), Syfy, 9 PM
• Modern Family, ABC, 9 PM
• Seal Team, CBS, 9 PM
• Star, Fox, 9 PM
• Suits, USA, 9 PM
• I Am MLK Jr., Paramount, 9 PM
• American Housewife, ABC, 9:30 PM
• The Americans, FX, 10 PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10 PM
• Krypton, Syfy, 10 PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10 PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 10 PM
• Hap & Leonard, Sundance, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• Innocent, Sundance Now, 3 AM
• Gotham: A Dark Knight, Fox, 8 PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8 PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8 PM
• Jersey Shore Family Vacation, MTV, 8 PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8 PM
• Siren, Freeform, 8 PM
• A.P. Bio, NBC, 8:30 PM
• Young Sheldon, CBS, 8:30 PM
• Will & Grace (season finale), NBC, 9 PM
• American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja, USA, 9 PM
• Station 19, ABC, 9 PM
• Showtime at the Apollo, Fox, 9 PM
• Arrow, CW, 9 PM
• Mom, CBS, 9 PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30 PM
• Champions, NBC, 9:30 PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10 PM
• Nobodies, Paramount, 10 PM
• S.W.A.T., CBS, 10 PM
• Atlanta, FX, 10 PM
• Black Card Revoked, BET, 10 PM
• Thursday Night Darts, BBC America, 10 PM
• The Rundown with Robin Thede, BET, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• Money Heist: Part 2, Netflix, 3 AM
• Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity, Netflix, 3 AM
• The Boss Baby: Back in Business, Netflix, 3 AM
• Fastest Car (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Jay-Z, Netflix, 3 AM
• Amateur, Netflix, 3 AM
• 6 Balloons, Netflix, 3 AM
• The 4th Company, Netflix, 3 AM
• Ram Dass: Going Home, Netflix, 3 AM
• Orbiter 9, Netflix, 3 AM
• The Remix, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Troy: Fall of a City (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Fly Guys, Facebook, 12 PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8 PM
• Taken, NBC, 8 PM
• Dynasty, CW, 8 PM
• Macgyver, CBS, 8 PM
• Jane the Virgin, CW, 9 PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9 PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9 PM
• Strike Back (season finale), Cinemax, 10 PM
• Blue Bloods, CBs, 10 PM
• ELeague: Tekken Team Takedown – The Grand Final, TBS, 11 PM
• This Is Not Happening (season finale), Comedy Central, 12 AM

Saturday

• Paterno, HBO, 8 PM
• Ransom (season premiere), CBS, 8 PM
• Thunder/Rockets, 8:30 PM
• 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, USA, 10 PM
• Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World, CNN, 10 PM
• Saturday Night Live: Chadwick Boseman / Cardi B, NBC, 11:30 PM

Sunday

• F1 Bahrain GP, ESPN2, 11 AM
• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3 AM
• The Joel McHale Show, Netflix, 3 AM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 7:30 PM
• Howard’s End (series premiere), Starz, 8 PM
• American Idol ABC, 8 PM
• Our Cartoon President (season finale), Showtime, 8 PM
• Killing Eve (series premiere), BBC America, 8 PM
• Instinct, CBS, 8 PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8 PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8:30 PM
• Genius Junior, NBC, 9 PM
• American Dynasties, CNN, 9 PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9 PM
• Unsung: Avant, TV One, 9 PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 9 PM
• Here and Now, HBO, 9 PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9 PM
• Ash vs. Evil Dead, Starz, 9 PM
• Unforgotten (series premiere), PBS, 9 PM
• Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30 PM
• Trust, FX, 10 PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10 PM
• Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History, CNN, 10 PM
• Naked & Afraid, Discovery, 10 PM
• Timeless, NBC, 10 PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 10 PM
• Deception, ABC, 10 PM
• Barry: Chapter One, HBO, 10:30 PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10 PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11 PM

[All times listed are in ET]

Cloudflare wants to make your internet faster and more secure with 1.1.1.1

Hoping for faster internet? Cloudflare can help.

On April Fool’s Day, the internet company delivered a new product that ought to bring a smile to your face (but not because of a joke). Cloudflare debuted its first consumer service product called 1.1.1.1. It’s a domain name system (or DNS) resolver that anyone and everyone can use, and promises to be “the internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service.”

Sure, there are other DNS services available (think OpenDNS and Google DNS), Cloudflare is emphasizing that its own product places quite the premium on privacy. Indeed, it will wipe all DNS query logs within 24 hours.

So what exactly is a DNS? Cloudflare explains in a blog post, “DNS is the directory of the Internet. Whenever you click on a link, send an email, open a mobile app, often one of the first things that has to happen is your device needs to look up the address of a domain.” There are two components of the DNS network — the Authoritative and Resolver. Every device that accesses the internet must have a DNS resolver. “For most Internet users, when they connect to an ISP, or a coffee shop wifi hotspot, or a mobile network then the network operator will dictate what DNS resolver to use,” Cloudflare continued.

The problem, however, is that many DNS services do not respect your privacy. Even if you’re visiting an encrypted website, your DNS resolver can still determine the identity of all sites you visit. But Cloudflare hopes to fix that with 1.1.1.1.

As Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince told VentureBeat, “We’re committing to, and actually having a third party come in and audit the fact that we’re destroying all of the logs within 24 hours, we’re never writing any of the source IP addresses to disk, and that’s the only personal identifiable information that would be there.”

And to ensure that your internet is blazing fast, Cloudflare is also running not only the authoritative DNS service it has always provided, but also the consumer DNS service. “And while [that consumer service is] fast if you’re going to someone who is not a Cloudflare customer — it’s the fastest in the world — if you’re going to a Cloudflare customer, it is blindingly fast.”

But why is Cloudflare doing all of this? As the company explains, it’s all about its driving mission — to help build a better internet. “People come to work at Cloudflare every day in order to make the internet better, more secure, more reliable, and more efficient,” the team noted.

If you’re interested in taking the service for a whirl, just type in 1.1.1.1 into your web browser, and follow the instructions to get set up.

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The Bank of England is testing blockchain tech to support domestic payments

The Bank of England said last week that it’s currently working on a “proof of concept” to see if its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service will benefit from blockchain technology. The bank’s governor, Mark Carney, revealed the plans in April 2017, saying that securities settlements need innovation, and blockchain technology – aka distributed ledger tech – could produce “significant” gains regarding platform stability, efficiency, accuracy, and security. 

Real-time gross settlement systems are means for transferring money from one bank to another. The “real-time” aspect means there’s no annoying waiting period once your funds now reside at the recipient bank. Meanwhile, the “gross” aspect defines a one-to-one transaction and does not include transactions from other accounts. Finally, the “settlement” term simply means the transaction is final and cannot be reversed. 

Typically, a blockchain relies on a network of computers spread out across the globe supporting a database, aka the ledger, based on cryptography. This ledger stores transactions but is incapable of linking to specific individuals due to its cryptographic nature. Every transaction has a unique key and is stamped by a trusted party. That key is then stored with the next transaction, which is itself encrypted using a cryptographic formula. Rinse and repeat, and you have a chain of transactions that can’t be altered without modifying all previous transactions. 

“Although the Bank has concluded that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is not yet sufficiently mature to provide the core for the next generation of RTGS, it places a high priority on ensuring that the new service is capable of interfacing with DLT as and when it is developed in the wider sterling markets,” the Bank of England reports. 

That’s where the proof of concept comes in. The bank is now working with Baton Systems, Clearmatics Technologies Ltd, R3, and Token, who now have access to the proof of concept: a cloud-based system that replicates a version of its pre-funded net settlement that could eventually serve U.K. retail payment systems. Those involved with the proof of concept will explore the best way of interfacing with the platform and how to better expand the RTGS service. 

Blockchain technology was first described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. But it didn’t become a more common term until the arrival of Bitcoin, which uses a public blockchain/ledger to store all Bitcoin-based transactions. But the bank’s use of a blockchain doesn’t mean it will rely on a public ledger maintained by millions of PCs across the globe. This blockchain will likely be maintained by the bank itself and all other organizations accessing the platform. 

“The Bank of England has set out its vision for a renewed RTGS service that will deliver a materially stronger, more resilient, flexible, and innovative sterling settlement system for the United Kingdom to respond to the rapidly changing payments landscape,” the bank says. “The renewed service will offer a diverse and flexible range of settlement models.” 

The Bank of England will publish a summary of its proof of concept findings later in 2018. 

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Apple is reportedly planning to abandon Intel hardware by 2020

Apple’s Mac lineup is reportedly gearing up for a major hardware shift that could end up leaving some users out in the cold. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to abandon Intel chips as early as 2020, bringing Apple’s own A-series processors to Mac hardware.

The report is a little thin, but this is huge news for Mac users, with some far-reaching implications. First, when and if Apple replaces the processors in Macs and MacBooks with its own A-series chips, that might mean Apple’s Boot Camp software — the easy-to-use installer that lets you dual-boot Windows on Mac hardware — could end up meeting an untimely demise.

Back when Macs and MacBooks ran on non-Intel processors, they were traditionally incompatible with Windows, which meant there was no easy way to run your Windows-only apps on a Mac. Even after Intel processors were introduced, there was a thriving cottage industry for emulators like Parallels which allowed users to have a Windows environment living in MacOS.

.@Apple plans to replace @Intel for #MacBooks with their own chips by 2020. Which of the following describes your feelings best on the issue?

Please RT for a larger sample size.

— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) April 2, 2018

In recent years, it’s become easier and easier to just dual-boot Windows using Boot Camp, so software like Parallels hasn’t been as necessary. If Apple starts using its own processors in Macs, that could mean apps like Parallels will become a necessity for anyone who still needs to conduct part of their workday in a Windows environment. And it also means the face of Mac gaming is about to change forever.

Gaming on MacOS has never been a huge industry, but in recent years Boot Camp has given Mac gamers an easy way to get the most out of their games. Windows is better at handling GPU resources than MacOS is, especially on Macs and MacBooks with discrete graphics cards. That means you get better performance, a wider selection of games, and generally a better gaming experience overall than you could get from gaming in MacOS.

If Apple makes this switch and kicks Intel to the curb, you might see better day-to-day performance in MacOS, since Apple’s A-series chips are very capable in their own right. But the change could disrupt a number of niche software ecosystems that currently thrive in the Intel-MacOS environment.

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Open Meals is teleporting 3D-printed sushi to the ends of the earth

In Star Trek, food magically appeared via miraculous “food replicators.” In Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan, our anti-hero Spider Jerusalem used a “maker” to generate everything from home-cooked meals to body armor. Now comes a futuristic platform from Japan that can already transmit and generate pixelated made-to-order sushi.

The company is called Open Meals, which demonstrated its concept at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, showcasing the generating technology and 3D printer that can make what it calls “8-bit sushi.” While it may sound like something of a gimmick, the platform’s creators have ambitious plans for a concept that could mark radical changes in how food is created and delivered.

The basic concept of 3D-printed food isn’t so novel — a variety of creators are working in the space to make faux meat, ice cream, and even fruit. However, Open Meals is employing some unique technology that allows it to customize food down to mere millimeters. Where most food printers produce layers of pureed ingredients, Open Meals uses a water-based creation system that adds flavors, nutrients, and colors as the “cube” is assembled.

The creative side for wannabe chefs comes in the company’s “Food Base,” a digital storage and delivery platform that keeps granular information on different types of foods including taste, texture, color, shape, and ingredients. Open Meals envisions even more applications for the Food Base, such as re-creating traditional or cultural recipes or having celebrity chefs create custom recipes that could then be sold as additional content for a user’s home Food Base.

The other component is the “Pixel Food Printer,” a complex food creation platform that uses digital technology, a robotic arm, and a series of cartridges that inject flavor, color, nutrition and gelatinizing agents into the sushi or other foods. According to the company’s website, the printer can effectively make simple reproductions of just about any food, but also encourages users to “design and create any dishes desired to greatly expand the possibilities for food.”

At SXSW, the company made good on its promise by creating high-end sushi that was designed in Japan and printing it on the spot in Austin. Futurists are very keen on the idea, which could have long-ranging repercussions on the way humans consume food. Because the injected gels can be customized, they could potentially be used to deliver vital nutrients to the elderly, the ill, or professional athletes. Open Meals believes they could beam measurements and dimensions directly to remote outposts like the International Space Station, where astronauts could potentially print out a “home-cooked” meal.

Because the sushi is currently printing in five-millimeter blocks, the result is a bit old-school, resembling tasty tidbits that wouldn’t be out of place in a video game. However, Open Meals believes it can eventually reach sizes of one millimeter or less, resulting in better-looking and more malleable designs.

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8 things kids born in 2018 will never experience, thanks to technology

Kids born in 1988 grew up not knowing a world without personal computers. Kids born a decade later never knew a world in which the internet didn’t exist. For those born in 2008, smartphones have always been around. What’s the world going to look like for those born in 2018, then? What will be taken for granted — and, on the flipside, what will they never experience?

Here are our predictions for eight things that the class of 2036 (that’s today’s kids at 18) won’t have to deal with by the time they’re in their late teens.

Paper money

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been pretty open about his desire to live in a world in which paper money simply doesn’t exist. Chances that, by the time your little sprog reaches his or her late teens, cash money will have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

The rise of NFC payment technology, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies mean that talk of cashing a check or carrying a money clip will instantly mark out parents as being, like, totally ancient.

Getting a driver’s license

Martinan/Getty Images

Between helicopter parents, concerns about personal safety, and less time spent socializing with friends, today’s iGen’ers (those born after 1995) aren’t in the same rush to get a driver’s license as previous generations. We expect this trend to continue — but with one big technological shift thrown in for good measure: the arrival of self-driving cars. For kids born in 2018, a world without autonomous cars is something they’ll never have experienced.

By 2036, the vast majority of cars on the road will be self-driving. While we expect that human-driven vehicles will persist in the luxury market, that’s not likely to be something the majority of newly-qualified teen drivers will be concerned with. Chances are that the insurance costs alone will make a non-self driving car prohibitively expensive for the teens of 2036!

Getting a weekend job

Like getting a driver’s license at 17, getting a weekend or holiday job is something today’s iGen are less likely to do. In 1980, 70 percent of teens had a summer job. Today, that number is more likely to be around 40 percent — and falling.

Give it another 18 years and automation will have eliminated many of the entry level service industry jobs teens would have once carried out for a few extra bucks. After all, why hire an unqualified waiter, fry chef, or call center operator when a drone, robot, or A.I. could carry out the same task more cheaply, efficiently, and without constantly sending Snapchats to its friends?

Language barriers

Being able to speak another language will only become more necessary as globalism brings the world closer and closer together. Fortunately, technology is here to help. Machine translation is already more impressive than most people would have predicted just a few years back.

Companies like Google and Baidu are working hard to make Star Trek-style universal translation technology portable. Give it another 18 years and reaching for your English-to-French phrase book will look as antiquated as pulling out an abacus to calculate your tip in a restaurant.

Staying in one place

Go back just a couple hundred years and most people would be unlikely to travel much further than the next town on a regular basis. By 2038, however, travel will be transformed beyond what we’re used to today. Intercity rockets, such as those envisioned by Elon Musk, could allow people to travel anywhere on the planet in less than one hour.

While we don’t expect to be anywhere near colonizing Mars in the next 18 years, we also would be incredibly surprised if humanity remains as Earthbound as it currently is. Trips into space, perhaps to visit some giant privately-owned space station retreat, will be the equivalent of your family taking a vacation to Paris.

Dying before 100

With artificial intelligence working to invent new drugs, wearable devices that warn you about any kind of health anomaly, and the promise of 3D bioprinted organs, there are plenty of ways that our lives will be extended by medical technology over the years to come. (And that’s without discussing the impact that tech like autonomous cars or robots in the workplace will have on reducing accidental deaths.)

Although the science seems conflicted on whether there is an upper-limit for human life as we know it, we fully expect that kids born 2018 will live significantly longer than today’s adults. Cue this sketch about being envious of our own children.

Having any privacy

Our penultimate prediction is a pessimistic one: the end of privacy. While current controversies like the Cambridge Analytica Facebook saga may have some impact on the regulation of user data, we don’t see the tide turning for what technology is doing to our privacy.

By 2036, smart cities will analyze every move we make outside while smart devices, equipped with the latest A.I. insights, will do much the same for the home. There’s every chance that the world of 2018 will be looked at as the “good old days” when it comes to our respective privacy.

Living in a world with poverty

We’ll end this list on a positive note by saying that, by 2038, we hope to see the end of poverty. New types of food, such as lab-grown meat and genetically modified crops, will feed the growing global population.

Fresh approaches to medical diagnosis and treatment will also wipe out many of the diseases which currently devastate large parts of the world, such as HIV and malaria. At the same time, greater levels of education will be enjoyed by people around the world thanks to connectivity and online learning tools.

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