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Bumble is opening a restaurant to help people date IRL again
Just like lovebirds used to meet in the Before Times.
South Korean cafe uses robotic baristas to comply with social distancing
A cafe in Daejeon, South Korea, is using robots to prepare drinks and deliver them to customers.
Court blocks Trump's delay of fuel efficiency penalties
The Trump administration's efforts to undo car efficiency guidelines just hit a major obstacle. A federal court has blocked a White House attempt to delay the implementation of a rule toughening penalties for automakers that don't meet national fuel efficiency standards. The measure (which was supposed to take effect in July 2017) raises the penalty rate by $8.50 for every tenth of a mile per gallon beyond the minimum fuel standard. The hope, unsurprisingly, was to encourage brands to hit Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets through 2025, reducing CO2 emissions and saving drivers money.
Pink, fluffy dining at the 'Kirby' cafe
If you didn't know, Kirby is a squidgy pink ball. With minimal facial features. That's about it. Which is why he's adorable (and popular) enough to warrant a whole bunch of merchandise, as well as temporary pop-up cafes across Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Japan isn't lacking for gaming culture -- in fact, we've already toured a few in our guide to Tokyo. It's just a shame that this one is a temporary arrangement. If you're a fan of all things pink and circular, get to Japan while you can: The Kirby Cafe closes at the end of October, and you need a ticket to merely get inside. Even if you're able to get in, though, can you stomach a Kirby pancake?
GE's touch-savvy induction cooktops double as griddles and sous vides
If you want to get elaborate with your cooking and try a griddle or a sous vide, you normally need either a dedicated machine or a bulky add-on to get things right. You won't have that hassle with GE's 2015 Cafe, Monogram and Profile cooktops, though. They're already pretty high-tech between their safer induction cooking pads and touch-sensitive controls, but the real stars of the show are their abilities to switch to other cooking methods with little effort. The Cafe and Monogram models have an integrated griddle (the first for induction), and all three can use a $150 smartphone-controlled sous vide accessory (also a first) that lets you get just the right water temperature without having to watch like a hawk. Just be prepared to pony up if you're hoping for the latest in culinary tech. GE's cooktops will start at $1,500 for a 30-inch Profile, and they scale all the way to $3,100 for the 36-inch Monogram.
Final Fantasy XIV gets a real-world theme cafe in Tokyo
Have you ever looked at the vistas of Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV and thought that they looked like a place you want to be in real life? Good news: You can. A new real-world themed restaurant in Tokyo called the Eorzea Cafe is opening soon, and it's based on the Carline Canopy in Gridania, complete with Eorzean dishes, beverages, and decorations. If you ever wanted to see a bladed lantern shield on the wall whilst you have your dinner, this is the place. Opening on July 31st, the cafe features drinks inspired by the jobs, moogle-themed desserts, and what appears to be a burger based on the Lord of the Crags himself, Titan. There are also PCs set up for people to play the game at their leisure. It's going to be a bit of a hike out to the Akihibara district, but where else are you going to find a Titan Burger while drinking a Dragoon cocktail? [Thanks to Kythas for the tip!]
FAA writing rules for electric aircraft, to allow public to fly them in the next decade
There are those in the general aviation community who think electric planes are the future for private aircraft, but regulatory hurdles are in place preventing them from proliferating in our skies. You see, current FAA requirements for light sport aircraft (LSA) -- planes that can be flown by anyone with a pilot's license -- preclude electric powerplants, and that makes such planes unavailable to most private pilots. Well, today at the CAFE Electric Aircraft Symposium, FAA analyst Tom Gunnarson delivered some good news for flying EV advocates, stating that the FAA has completed its regulatory study on electric aircraft, and the rulemaking process will begin soon. Once those rules have been written, electrically-propelled aircraft will be available for use as LSA by the public, which isn't possible today given their current status as experimental craft. The bad news? Governmental wheels spin slowly, and Gunnarson said that incorporating those new rules into the current regulatory framework will take five years if we're lucky, but ten years is a more likely time frame for the FAA to finish. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for air shows or terrestrial transport to get your EV fix.
I'll take the MacBook, hold the macchiato: no coffee in Apple Stores, please
Esquire's Elizabeth Gunnison wrote a speculative piece about cafés in Apple Stores. In short, she thinks it's a great idea. In her piece she writes: Think about it: Apple's retail stores are purpose-built for sucking people in and holding them hostage for hours, what with the rows and rows of shiny new devices, the Genius Bar, and their own roster of educational seminars. Why not add a café? Food and beverage margins are nothing compared to what Apple makes off its iPads and Macbooks, but a café would be just one more way of drawing shoppers toward the mothership and keeping them there. Interestingly enough, Apple itself explored the idea of coffee-centric retail in the 1990s, and then dropped it. It's not hard to understand why: the concept is clever, but it wouldn't work. Apple Stores are sleek and sexy and...noisy. When I go to a café, I want free Wi-Fi, sure, but I also want to hear myself think. Even the most crowded Starbucks in London offers at least one corner that's relatively quiet. And that's because sales people aren't constantly pitching the latest product while customers ask question after question. Apple Stores are sleek, sexy and sterile. Café's are usually the exact opposite. I want the place where I buy my tech to look like a spaceship. I want the place where I buy my coffee and read the paper to be comfy and cozy, not blindingly white. If Apple were to add cafés to its retail stores it would require a big redesign. Sure, it could work in some of the bigger stores in London, New York, and Paris if Apple added a dedicated café -- one that looked like a café, and not a stand that some bored employee set up with his Nespresso machine. But smaller stores, like the one in Northbrook, Illinois, can't gut half of their retail space to sell coffee. As for the idea of cafés as a customer draw...Apple hardly needs that gimmick. It's having no trouble attracting retail customers. In fact, some people just hang out there, despite the lack of coffee. The last thing Apple Stores need are hipster geeks who aren't buying anything sticking around even longer checking their Facebook messages on a 27" iMac while they wait for another refill of their macchiato. Let Apple sell computers; Starbucks can worry about the coffee. [photo adapted from work by Roger Price]
LG and GM team up to build next generation of electric cars
Abbreviation loving multinationals Lucky Goldstar and General Motors have entered into an "Electric Vehicle Cooperation" agreement to build the next generation of EVs. The partnership follows a successful dating phase where LG supplied the batteries for the Chevy Volt. Now, teams from both companies will collaborate on key components, vehicle structures and architectures -- which we take to mean that it's a more substantial proposition than just battery sharing. The plan is to meet the new US fuel economy targets by 2025, so the design phase for the new autos will kick off soon. Let's hope this new venture bears some fruit that's faster than a flying banana.
NASA Green Flight Challenge proposes 'pocket airports,' invites you to fly 'em all
Soon we'll be hopping on a jet plane, heading to Vegas, living the life, playing with gadgets, and not getting a lot of sleep. Flying to Nevada for CES on a plane is easy, but getting to the airport can be a challenge if you live out in the country. NASA wants that fixed as a sort of spin-off of its Green Flight Challenge, a prize awarded to an aerial vehicle that can manage 200mpg at 100mph while emitting only 78db of noise at 250 feet. It would also need a very short takeoff and landing, something that would allow it to land on what's being called a "pocket airport." These rinky-dink runways would fit on just two acres of land and would launch or receive an (ultimately autonomous) aircraft every 30 seconds. The idea is that such strips could be scattered about suburban areas and provide quick, convenient shuttling to real airports and, presumably, to other pocket airports. Now, we wonder, will we still need to empty our pockets before boarding?
Microsoft's Windows Cafe opens its doors in Paris
Japan may be home to the Windows 7 Whopper, and the US has the less edible contents of the very first Microsoft Store, but it looks like Paris may be the real place to be for out and about Windows fans, as it can now claim the only Windows Cafe in the world as its own alongside all those other little tourist attractions you might be interested in. Better still, it looks like the cafe serves up at least as many types of drinks as Windows editions, and there's some WiFi available for those looking for a place to loiter around. Hit up the link below for a peek inside courtesy of Le Journal du Geek. [Thanks, Anh]
Microsoft opening café in Paris to build excitement for Windows 7
You know what the French love? Cafés. They love them so much, apparently, that Microsoft has decided to open one in the heart of Paris to drum up excitement about Windows 7. The Windows café will serve coffee and pastries (it is a café, after all), and will also have Microsoft products -- such as the Xbox -- on hand for customers to play with, but it won't actually sell any Microsoft wares. The shop, which is currently being built at 47 Boulevard Sebastopol, will be open from October 22nd onward, so if you're in the area you should check it out before it's gone for good -- we hear it'll only be there for a few short weeks. Finally, a reason to go to Paris!
Polyphony opens real-world Gran Turismo Cafe
Polyphony Digital continues to work diligently on things that aren't Gran Turismo 5 or Gran Turismo PSP. Their latest project is the "Gran Turismo Cafe," located at the Twin Ring Motegi race circuit in Japan. We're not sure how one would describe a cafe based on the popular race sim other than "realistic."Don't expect exclusive access to Polyphony's upcoming projects at the cafe. Instead, those that attend the cafe will be able to play Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at one of three play booths. Boo.
Fujitsu tests e-newspapers at Japanese cafe
We've already seen restaurants with touch-sensitive tables and 3D menus, so it's just natural for Fujitsu to explore the possibility of installing e-newspapers into popular cafes. The outfit is working with SoftBank and Mainichi Newspapers in order to test the feasibility of placing e-readers in certain eateries, which would allow patrons to check up on the day's latest headlines while waiting for their coffee and eggs. As expected, the companies are closely monitoring whether the idea would promote sales and boost customer satisfaction, and unless they do something horribly wrong, we can't see this not having those effects. In order to make ends meet, the terminals will flash advertisements if the reader sits for an extended period of time, though they should shy away once a customer starts fiddling. If you're eager to check things out, hop a flight to Japan and have a sit at Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant before February 13th.
Cafe coming to PlayStation Home
Click for high-resolution image. It looks like PlayStation Home will be expanding soon, with a brand new Home Space. This cafe was introduced on the PlayStation Boards by Home Manager Locust_Star. Apparently, this space already exists in the Asian versions of Home. From the looks of things, this is just a lounge where people can gather and chat.Check out the images in our gallery:%Gallery-42987%[Thanks, Omni_Noesis!]
Another man dies after three day gaming binge
CNN is reporting that it's happened again in China-- a man has died after a three-day gaming binge in a cyber cafe.So many things wrong with this story. First of all, how does someone sit in an internet cafe for three days without anyone else noticing? I'm sure that it must have been a huge, 24 hour, windowless warehouse type of place, with people coming and going all the time, but still, what business would allow people to basically live in their building?And then, of course, there's the gaming angle. Videogames and the Internet didn't kill this man, people, despite what CNN says:The paper said that he may have died from exhaustion brought on by too many hours on the Internet.Actually, I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure he died from exhaustion brought on by staying awake for too long. If he'd been playing ping pong for three days straight, he probably wouldn't have come out of it very well either.The article says they don't know what game he was playing, so this may not even be World of Warcraft. But while it is a very sad story, it's too bad CNN fell into the old lines of "omgz internets killed a man" instead of actually pointing out that this man made some very serious mistakes of his own.
Sarajevo cafe named "Club Bill Gates"
We hear the menu only gets updated once every five years.[Via The Raw Feed]
Good Bytes Cafe gives internet, computer access to the disabled
In an attempt to bring the computing universe we privileged folk know and love so well to those with limited mobility, Goodwill Industries has opened a free internet café in San Antonio, Texas where wheelchairs are more than welcome. The firm, most commonly associated with its numerous thrift stores and handicapped job placement services, hopes that the normal looking café will take off and encourage disabled / elderly individuals to come and learn about computing skills that can assist them in their daily lives and with locating a job. Good Bytes Cafe, as it's so aptly-named, features the same standard layout of any coffee house, but features a bevy of highly sophisticated PCs for users with limited reach and movement capabilities. Thanks to a $125,000 grant from the local AT&T branch, users have access to software that "magnifies and reads aloud to help those who are visually impaired," joystick mice that are easier to control, an optical-based mouse that controls the cursor with your eyes, and even a minuscule face-mounted controller that directs the cursor by simply moving one's head or nose. Folks attending the grand opening were more than pleased, and one deaf individual went so far as to deem the hangout "absolutely awesome." Rebecca Helterbrand, marketing vice president for Goodwill Industries of San Antonio, is proud of the opening, but hopes that they'll be far "from the last."
