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The EPA won't force water utilities to inspect their cyber defenses
The EPA is withdrawing its call to set regulations in place that would have required states to assess the cybersecurity and integrity of public water system programs.
NY Attorney General sues Juul for deceptive marketing
Yesterday, California filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette company Juul for allegedly targeting underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices. Today, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a similar lawsuit against Juul "for deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes, which contributed to the ongoing youth vaping epidemic in New York State."
T-Mobile’s Sprint merger is opposed by 18 state attorneys general
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the latest state attorney general to oppose T-Mobile's Sprint merger. Today, Shapiro announced that he'll join a lawsuit to block the "megamerger" of the telecom giants, making him the 18th attorney general to challenge the deal.
FCC task force will help connect farms and ranches
Today, the FCC announced a task force meant to support the deployment of broadband across unserved farms and ranches. The Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force will work with the US Department of Agriculture and public and private sector stakeholders. It will be responsible for developing policy recommendations for rural, agriculture-focussed broadband. "As I've traveled the country, I've seen the amazing efficiencies, innovations, and improvements that high-speed Internet brings to today's farms and ranches," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. " ... This is the present and the future of American agriculture, and we must do whatever we can to support these producers and enhance precision agriculture."
ICYMI: This power tool might save you from yourself
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Shaper's Origin is designed to use augmented reality and an on-screen display to guide you through cutting wood pieces. And Australian National University researchers developed the most efficient solar receiver in the world. The chopstick piano video is here and the airship crashing in what looks like slo-mo; here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: 3D-printed meds, old-man exoskeleton and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-397166{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-397166, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-397166{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-397166").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: An exoskeleton to mimic the effects of aging is teaching empathy and also, helping engineers develop technology to help older people. 3D-printed medication is officially happening, now that the U.S. FDA has given its approval to a drug manufacturer. And the world's biggest plane is being built which is intended to launch satellites into orbit.
New silver-packing transparent conductive film could mean more durable touchscreens
We first heard of the wonders of silver ink back in 2009, but it wasn't until earlier this year, with talk of 3M's new capacitive touchscreens, that we experienced its real-world potential for display technology. Well, it looks like 3M's not the only name in the Ag game, in fact Tokyo-based Toray Industries recently announced the development of a transparent conductive film that ditches the traditional ITO (indium tin oxide) for silver wire. In order to produce this new material, a layer of Ag wires, measuring several hundred nanometers, is applied to a polyester (PET) film by way of a wet method. The result, the company said, is a more flexible, durable, and transparent film that is well suited to touchscreens of just about any size. There's no word yet on when the film will appear on real-deal devices, but we'll definitely keep an eye out for the silver screens. Full PR after the break.
WoW Moviewatch: Darkwinds Scourge
The Darkwinds Scourge is a roleplay Guild on the Sha'tar realm. They've created this machinima as a kind of trailer for their Guild. In terms of setting up a movie to help promote your Guild's themes and ideas, I think this works pretty well. The shot locations are spot on, and the music's totally appropriate. (The song is by Disturbed, I think.) The movie is credited to Almighty Farseer.As a machinima, the visiual narrative could use a faster pace. The author's stuck in the loop of cool shot after cool shot. Individually, they all work well, but strung together, the scenes move a little slow. While AF says that the Guild is an evil-themed troupe, with the in-character goal of punishing "the traitor Darion Mograine," I'm not sure there's enough contextually in the movie itself to draw that conclusion. Some subtitles or screen overlays would help that immensely, and help draw the viewer into the story.Still, it's a trailer piece for a Guild, and on that level, it works fantastically. It would be nice to see more Guilds put this kind of effort into branding themselves, and I look forward to more in this genre.If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ..
