Team Geek

Tesla’s toughest competition ever was on display in Geneva

As Tesla struggles to get the Model 3 out the door, the market is about to flood with options<p>In the tech industry, the theory goes that Apple doesn’t go to trade shows anymore because it dominates the news cycle even when it doesn’t show up. The same goes for Tesla, which — despite caving and …

People Are Attacking Driverless Cars

Both incidents happened in San Francisco.<p>One problem with self-driving cars is people.<p>The Los Angeles Times reports that of six crash reports filed in California so far this year, two involved a person attacking a robot car.<p>Both incidents happened in San Francisco, according to Department of Motor …

Dust, meteorites, cosmic rays and everything else currently destroying the Tesla in space

This probably isn't covered under Elon Musk's warranty...<p>Thanks to the successful Falcon Heavy launch on Tuesday, SpaceX shot a midnight cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space, with the top down, blaring David Bowie, and being “driven” by a mannequin in a SpaceX spacesuit.<p>So… Now what?<p>The Roadster is …

Scary 'Slaughterbots' video shows danger of autonomous killer drones

<i>Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.</i><p>When you're smart, you can make decisions all for yourself.<p>That could be a problem if you're a so-called smart weapon.<p>A video presented on Friday at a meeting of the Convention on Certain Conventional …

Tesla Roadster will get even quicker through an option package

When Tesla unveiled a brand new Roadster, it noted that the vaunted 1.9-second 0-60MPH time was present in the base model -- implying that there might be headroom for even higher performance. But is there? Apparently, yes. Elon Musk has clarified that there will be a "special options package" that …

AI’s latest application: wasting email scammers’ time

Schadenfreude is one of life's simplest pleasures -- especially when the victim in question is an email scammer. That's the service Netsafe's Re:scam provides. Simply forward your Nigerian prince emails to the service and it'll use machine learning to generate conversations to waste the nefarious …

Why Finn is the Most Important Star Wars Character of All-time

Last year, <i>Star Wars</i>, the most popular sci-fi franchise in the history of the film industry starred a black male lead actor. To date, <i>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> has made 1.948 billion dollars in revenue. In a world where the fight for representation in all forms of media and mediums of …

America challenges Japan to real-life battle of giant robots

Finally, let the robot wars begin! MegaBots is laying the foundation for what could be the prequel to the giant mech vs. giant monster flick " Pacific Rim." The Boston-based company on Tuesday challenged Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industries, creator of the Kuratas giant robot, to a duel against its …

Bill Gates Says You Should Worry About Artificial Intelligence

Aside from founding Microsoft, Bill Gates is known as an all-around smart guy who has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to saving the world. It would seem that this makes his opinions worth considering when he tells us that he, like fellow brainiac Stephen Hawking and Tesla Motors …

Ebola Is Coming. A Travel Ban Won't Stop Outbreaks

Ebola has officially gone global.<p>The World Health Organization recently confirmed that a Spanish nurse was the first case of transmission outside Africa. Now it seems the first patient diagnosed in the United States transmitted the disease before he died.<p>More outbreaks are on their way.<p>While …

NFL players thumb nose at Beats headphones ban

Tonight, many will watch the San Francisco 49ers play the St. Louis Rams and wonder whether Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick will shine.<p>Those fond of self-image and civil disobedience will, though, be focused on whether he wears his Beats headphones before and after the game.<p>Should you have been …

Apple Loop: iPad Air 2 Will Launch on October 16, The Apple Tax Is A Myth, And iPhone Design Theft

Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop covers the upcoming October 16th event and the potential new hardware, will Tim Cook kill the iPod Touch, OSX Yosemite’s public release, U2′s download numbers, Carl Icahn’s letter, iOS 8 encryption, the Apple Tax, …

Martin Rees: Can we prevent the end of the world?

My lap of terror in the Tesla D

I got pretty close to that, sitting shotgun in a top-of-the line P85D, the performance version of the Model S. It includes two motors so that the car can shift power to the right one in inclement weather. But it also means that flat out, it can push more power everywhere, getting the whole car from …

This is Tesla's D: an all-wheel-drive Model S with 'autopilot'

A new top of the line<p>It's a typically warm fall night in Los Angeles, and just after sunset Elon Musk takes the wraps off "the D." This isn't a lewd joke much of the internet imagined: it's the company's new dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version of its Model S sedan, one that promises faster …

Lenovo and Ashton Kutcher made a tablet together, and there's a projector inside

The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is coming this month for $499.99<p>Lenovo has just unveiled the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, a 13-inch tablet the company created with input from Ashton Kutcher. (Did you forget that Kutcher joined Lenovo's ranks as a product engineer last year?) It's been "designed from the ground up …

Tesla D: Model S with second motor and AWD, new driver assist tech

Tesla's "D" unveiling had a little early reveal thanks to <i>USA Today</i> but now we've had a chance to see it for ourselves. As rumored, Tesla is rolling out new all-wheel-drive-equipped versions of its Model S (check out our review of the original here). The top-of-the-line, dual-motor-equipped P85D has …

The Big Future: Can we bring animals back from extinction?

What if extinction isn't the end? What if we could take animals from the past — mammoths, goats, anything that's gone extinct — and bring them back to life in the present day? There's a new movement afoot among scientists that thinks we could do it, thanks to new breakthroughs in DNA sequencing. Of …

What wows Woz? Actually, what doesn't?

ORLANDO -- To say Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is enthusiastic about technology is an understatement. And he's just as excitable when it comes to engineering and the builders that take ideas and concepts and make them real with a human touch.<p>"Builders know which new things can be developed and …

​Warner Bros is building a holographic Batcave for the Oculus Rift

Like comic books? Then you're probably familiar with the style of Bruce Timm, the father of the DC animated universe -- a specific era (and style) of DC Comics animation projects that started with the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series. If you missed it, it was a fantastic series: Batman had an …

Sierra Nevada Protest Halts Production Of SpaceX And Boeing Space Taxis

If Sierra Nevada can’t build its vehicle, no one else can.<p>The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) isn’t going down without a fight – and it looks like they’re taking their competitors down with them. Both SpaceX and Boeing have been told to halt production of their NASA-funded space taxis until the …

Facebook ads are about to start showing up inside your apps

Today Facebook launched the Audience Network, its new ad network for mobile apps. Here's what that actually means: starting today, you're going to see "Facebook ads" inside the free apps you use. Today, those tiny, often-annoying annoying banner ads might be provided by Google, Flurry (Yahoo), or …

Solar filament snakes across the sun, may soon end in violent burst

A giant filament has appeared on the surface of the sun — and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured images of the long, dark formation.<p>Straightened out, the serpentine filament would measure about 1 million miles from end to end, stretching close to halfway around the sun.<p>Filaments are …

Tesla to Expand CPO Program, Needs Used Model S Cars First

Once enough Model S owners give up their electric supersedans, Tesla plans to expand its tiny certified pre-owned program and convert more people into True Believers.<p>The unsurprising plan, confirmed by <i>Automotive News</i>, will turn Tesla showrooms into used-car emporiums so that someone can drive one …

Ken Block Filming Gymkhana 7 with Bad-Ass, AWD 1960s Mustang

There are a few guaranteed eyeball-grabbers on the automotive internet, and the Ford Mustang and Ken Block’s gymkhana videos are chief among them. It seems that Block is setting himself up for massive success with the seventh gymkhana clip then, because spy photos from the shoot in downtown L.A. …

New Yorkers protest 'Internet people' invading neighborhood

Let's get the disclosures out of the way.<p>This story is about a block of New York's Upper West Side where once lived someone I used to date. She was a countess.<p>Look, I was (relatively) eligible in those days. She was very funny, with a few quirky pretensions, and it was a nice area. I used to see …

Coast Guard rescues man trying to run to Bermuda in inflatable bubble

A man who planned to run from Miami to Bermuda in an inflatable bubble was rescued this weekend off northern Florida, three days after the Coast Guard asked him to call off his trip, officials said.<p>The Coast Guard said it received a report Wednesday that Reza Baluchi was seen in his bubble, …

iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4 War Escalates As Samsung Plays Dirty

Earlier this month I wrote that Bendgate is Apple’s Mea Culpa moment. That iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus designs went too far prioritising thinness over durability, camera protrusion and battery life. I also stressed rivals should not mock Apple and bendgate, but show some dignity and learn from it to …