China’s first space station had a good run, but it’s about time for the Tiangong-1 to pack it in. China reports the station , but it doesn’t know exactly when or where that will happen. There is some concern that pieces of the 9.4-ton station will reach Earth’s surface, but you probably don’t need to fret — the odds of it causing damage are remote. China launched the Tiangong-1 module in 2011 as its first manned space station, but it wasn’t intended as a long-term base of operations like the International Space Station. Tiangong-1 was more a proof of concept — a way for the China National Space Administration to test its ideas about autonomous orbital docking and modular space station design.
The Kia Niro is a small, crossover-like hybrid with good passenger room for a small vehicle, and overall mileage well into the 40s. There are excellent driver assists on the top two trim lines. Fit and finish are first-rate. Cars like this and Niro’s close cousin, the Hyundai Ioniq, give buyers good choices beyond the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime, and one more with the plug-in hybrid Niro arriving this month. The Niro is not a Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or Mazda CX-5 analog only with a hybrid drivetrain. It’s almost a foot shorter, the driver sits lower (but higher than in a sedan), all-wheel-drive is not available, and the drivetrain is not as polished.
The security stories were the major focus of the week. While both flaws are serious, Spectre hits everyone, while Intel is the company principally exposed by Meltdown. Meltdown is also the flaw associated with early reports of performance losses in some web servers and virtualization workloads, though it’s still not at all clear what kind of real-world penalties we should be expecting. Nevertheless, lawsuits are already starting to pile up, and there’s a lot of discussion over CEO Brian Krzanich’s recent stock sale. Intel’s to Meltdown was a masterful example of corporate doublespeak. It opens by noting Intel doesn’t believe the exploit can be used “to corrupt, modify, or delete data,” even though that’s literally not the problem being discussed.
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As soon as there were smartphones, there was malware for smartphones. The wealth of personal data on a mobile device makes it a tempting target for internet ne’er-do-wells, and they’re getting quite clever when it comes to fooling users into compromising their security. The latest malware scare is a nasty bit of code for Android called FakeApp. As the name implies, it . In this case, it’s pretending to be Uber. The FakeApp trojan was discovered by security firm Symantec through its regular monitoring of apps. The trojan takes over the user’s screen at regular intervals, interrupting what you’re doing.
The government is chronically behind the times, but lawmakers in New Jersey are looking to make one important change in the coming weeks to address one very modern problem: . No, it’s not the privacy aspect or the use of drones in restricted areas. New Jersey is planning to Drunk droning could get you a fine or even jail time. New Jersey is choosing an opportune moment to enact some restrictions. Sales of personal drone aircraft reportedly surpassed $1 billion in 2017, and it’s expected to continue increasing. Drones are becoming more capable and less expensive, encouraging more consumers to pick one up.
All the big US carriers want to be the first to sell you 5G cellular service. AT&T is so anxious to do so, it’s currently pushing a “5G Evolution” in some markets that isn’t real 5G, but an enhanced version of 4G. That said, the carrier has announced it does have plans for standards-based 5G as well. On the heels of the first official 5G standard, AT&T says it has plans to launch the faster wireless service by late 2018. These won’t be fixed location services, either. We’re talking true mobile 5G service for consumers to use on a phone.
Ever since Microsoft launched Windows 10, it’s made the OS officially or unofficially available. Officially, you stopped being able to download or upgrade your system to Windows 10 on July 29, 2016. Unofficially, you can still download an upgrade license for the OS. And despite statements from Microsoft that it would absolutely-no-fooling-really-truly kill the Windows 10 free upgrade offer on December 31, 2017, that offer is still good. Microsoft’s first giant push to convince customers to use Windows 10 was marred by an increasingly heavy hand as the campaign went on, to the point that it was both and later .
Mesh Wi-Fi technology is all the rage, with just about every major consumer networking firm jumping into the fray. We’ve , and one of the most capable continues to be the powerful Orbi units from Netgear. They have some of the best performance stats, although at a premium price. Now, Netgear is extending the reach of Orbi with a weather-resistant model for outdoor use. Orbi Outdoor Satellite The new unit is named simply the Orbi Outdoor Satellite (model number RBS50Y; ). Netgear says it will add about 2,500 square feet to your Wi-Fi coverage. That’s only about a 30-foot radius, so I suspect that in practice those with uncluttered yards will get quite a bit more.
