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Alfa Romeo How To Kill An Hour

Car Tech You Really Need

The latest cars are all full of technology most of which is for safety or comfort reasons, as well as making the cars more efficient and cheaper to run. The technology has advanced at such a pace that you do not have to go back many years to find cars that have very little technology in them. You can always add some to older cars, and there are hundreds of great gadgets that could help to enhance your driving experience. However, there are also some technologies that will stay as part of newer cars only.

 

Dash Cams

Many new cars are being fitted with a dash cam, and some have a rear view facing cameras too. If you have an older car it is very simple to add a dash cam to it and then you will have a recording of the journeys you have made. These can be very useful evidence if there is a dispute with another road user.

 

Portable Jump Starter

Traditionally, car jump starters are made from a large battery that you store in your garage. Now there is one that is small enough to keep in the glove compartment of your car. It includes a USB charger that you can use for your other devices and has a built-in torch in case you need to use it in the dark.

 

300W Inverter

Most cars have USB ports these days, but what if you need to use something that needs a 3-pin socket? Then you need an inverter, which will change your cars 12V DC electricity supply to 240V AC in the UK. If you need to power anything over 150W, you have to clip the inverter directly to your battery. That will then be enough to power a laptop or a camping fridge.

 

Automatic Emergency Braking

This uses a variety of sensors to determine if a forward collision crash is about to happen and automatically applies the brakes to reduce its severity or to stop it or all together. This is going to be fitted as standard on all new cars by 2022 but would take a lot of work to install in an older car.

 

Technology Helping Maintenance

This technology might not be in your car, but the latest developments in servicing and maintenance can certainly help to keep in in a better condition at a more reasonable cost. For example, Mercedes AMG servicing & genuine parts do not have to break the bank and will prolong your car’s performance.  Technology and highly trained technicians have been combined to create the best service possible for your car maintenance and repairs.

 

Adaptive Cruise Control

Cruise control has been around for years, but now it can adapt to the speeds of the traffic around you. By using an array of sensors built into the car it will adjust the speed to suit the cars in front of you. Some of the more advanced systems will even stop and restart the car without you having to do a thing.

 

Technology and car are like everything else that is going on around us. They will continue to evolve and be very different in just a few years to how they are today.

 

Episode 320 Alexis Conran

Science(ish)

We recently had Rick Edwards on the show and had a wonderful time chatting to him about all things science, Fatbergs and hunting for treasure in rivers. Most notably we discussed his Science podcast that he presents alongside Dr Michael Brooks: Science(ish). Science(ish) is all about discussing the science in popular culture.

What are the episodes about?

In the podcast that we had with Rick we discussed recent Science(ish) shows such as discussing what would happen if there were Nuclear Warfare. Dr Michael Brooks’ revelation that the best way to figure out humanity. It would be to place loads of babies on a desert island and do experiments on them. How plants defend themselves against caterpillars. Plus Rick informed us about a special that was once shelved, it was due to be released on Valentines Day. To find out exactly what the special was, listen to Rick’s show with us! Furthermore Marcus found out during his chat with Rick that they’re doing an episode on Wolverine soon! In this EP, Rick discusses with Dr Michael Brooks about regeneration, much like Wolverine! Also we touched on genetic mutation and how people may be able to mutate gene’s in the future to design their children!

Science

We had a great time chatting to Rick about his podcast Science(ish) and book of the same name. It is very apparent that Rick is very passionate about Science. Yet, the things he spoke about whilst with us, were made very simple for us to understand. This is what Science(ish) is all about, talking about Science in a cool, entertaining and interesting way. So, therefore, even if you’re not a fan of Science, you may have had some Science discussions with your mates without even knowing about it as Rick stated in the podcast!

Science is not as dull as many Tv shows and text books may lead you to believe. While Science(ish) is the cool cousin of that. You will want to delve into things with your friends about many of the subjects that Edwards and Brooks discuss on Science(ish). Therefore we feel that it will open your eyes to the things! Such as how exciting and exhilarating Science can be, more specifically the future of the world.

Science(ish) is a very cool podcast and we highly recommend that you check out Rick’s podcast, you can listen to Science(ish) by clicking here!

Listen to Rick Edwards on How To Kill An Hour by clicking here!

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Episode 293 Dane Baptiste

Black Mirror

Black Mirror

Black Mirror

Black Mirror is back to scare the life out of you. Put down your phone. It’s watching you.

 

Season 4 has just begun and we cannot recommend it enough!

If you haven’t seen the show before, fear not. As the episodes aren’t interlinked and you can watch a different episode from any season and not need to know whats happened.

“Black Mirror” is at its heart a contemporary reworking of ‘The Twilight Zone’ Created by Charlie Brooker, each episode is a stand alone drama, that aims to tap into the technological paranoia of modern society. It’s sharp, suspenseful and often shocking, but it’s incredibly gripping drama.

To download Netflix please click here Apple / Android

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Tenikle

Tenikle

This is the Tenikle The most useful tech accessory out there today, combining all of life's essential tech essentials in one handy device! Use it as a selfie stick, a stand, a car mount and even a tripod! The simple and intuitive design allows you to be hands free and do absolutely anything, such as film yourself in the gym, watch a movie while lying comfortably and even mount it to your car windscreen for safe sat nav navigation! Back this project here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1906609363/tenikle-the-third-hand-for-your-phone-and-camera

Posted by How To Kill an Hour on Tuesday, 26 September 2017

This is the Tenikle The most useful tech accessory out there today, combining all of life’s essential tech essentials in one handy device! Use it as a selfie stick, a stand, a car mount and even a tripod!

The simple and intuitive design allows you to be hands free and do absolutely anything, such as film yourself in the gym, watch a movie while lying comfortably and even mount it to your car windscreen for safe sat nav navigation!

Back this project here!

Episode 255 – Tag Me In Podcast

Gun-firing drones

US firm reveals gun-toting drone that can fire in mid-air

 

A tech firm in America has developed drones that are able to aim and fire while flying in mid-air.

The Tikad drone, developed by Duke Robotics, is armed with a machine-gun and a grenade launcher.

The gun can be fired remotely by remote control and have been designed to with the ideal to reduce military casualties  by cutting down the number of troops on the ground.

 

Campaigners have been pretty vocal about the concerns they have about these drones, such as them being mis-used and killing innocent people.

Robotics expert Professor seems to agree with these concerns as he said ‘there have been many legal cases of human-rights violations using the large fixed-wing drones, and these could potentially result in many more.”

 

There has already been a lot interest in the drone from several governments but how it will be rolled out in the future will depend on America.

Robots could transform healthcare and emergency response

AI could be the way forward for emergency response teams

The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (ECR) has received new funding and a health care revelation has been predicted.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the researchers to create robots that will learn from their environment, each other and us.

The £8 Million funding is awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK. Thanks to the funding the centre will also be able to open a Robotarium.

The EPSRC have now also promised an extra £1 Million more, to develop four new robots that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform healthcare and emergency response.

How technology is giving hope to millions of African children who have never been to school.

Kakuma Refugee Secondary School, which gives hope for the future.

The Instant Network Schools programme, which is part of ongoing initiatives by the Vodafone Foundation are expanding to help more than five million children in sub-Saharan Africa who are marginalised and excluded from traditional education.

The Foundation supplies devices, data and tablet-based teaching programs and online education across Kenya and Somalia as well as other African countries and is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide both primary and high school education to children in refugee camps.

Beyond the educational programme in the camps, children and teachers will now be provided with access to online learning materials with zero data charges to encourage maximum use of the online lessons through a new Instant Schools for Africa initiative.