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Thursday, 11 July 2019
NAB doubles down on value of data and analytics with new in-house guilds
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Foxconn's Wisconsin plant opens next May with fewer jobs than promised
Bankrupt Maker Faire revives, reduced to Make Community
Maker Faire and Maker Media are getting a second chance after suddenly going bankrupt, but they’ll return in a weakened capacity. Sadly, their flagship crafting festivals remain in jeopardy, and it’s unclear how long the reformed company can survive.
Maker Media suddenly laid off all 22 employees and shut down last month, as first reported by TechCrunch. Now its founder and CEO Dale Dougherty tells me he’s bought back the brands, domains, and content from creditors and rehired 15 of 22 laid off staffers with his own money. Next week, he’ll announce the relaunch of the company with the new name “Make Community“.
Read our story about how Maker Faire fell apart
The company is already working on a new issue of Make Magazine that it will hope to publish quarterly (down from six times per year) and the online archives of its do-it-yourself project guides will remain available. I hopes to keep publishing books. And it will continue to license the Maker Faire name to event organizers who’ve thrown over 200 of the festivals full of science-art and workshops in 40 countries. But Dougherty doesn’t have the funding to commit to producing the company-owned flagship Bay Area and New York Maker Faires any more.
“We’ve succeeded in just getting the transition to happen and getting Community set up” Dougherty tells me. But sounding shaky, he asks “Can I devise a better model to do what we’ve been doing the past 15 years? I don’t know if I have the answer yet.” Print publishing proved tougher and tougher recently. Combined with declining corporate sponsorships of the main events, Maker Media was losing too much money to stay afloat last time.
“On June 3rd, we basically stopped doing business. And, you know, the bank froze our accounts” Dougherty said at a meetup he held in Oakland to take feedback on his plan, according a recording made by attendee Brian Benchoff. Grasping for a way to make the numbers work, he told the small crowd gathered “I’d be happy if someone wanted to take this off my hands.”
For now, Dougherty is financing the revival himself “with the goal that we can get back up to speed as a business, and start generating revenue and a magazine again. This is where the community support needs to come in because I can’t fund it for very long.”The immediate plan is to announce a new membership model next week at Make.co where hobbyists and craft-lovers can pay a monthly or annual fee to become patrons of Make Community. Dougherty was cagey about what they’ll get in return beyond a sense of keeping alive the organization that’s held the maker community together since 2005. He does hope to get the next Make Magazine issue out by the end of summer or early fall, and existing subscribers should get it in the mail.
The company is still determining whether to move forward as a non-profit or co-op instead of as a venture-backed for-profit as before. “The one thing i don’t like about non-profit is that you end up working for the source you got the money from. You dance to their tune to get their funding” he told the meetup.
Last time, he burned through $10 million in venture funding from Obvious Ventures, Raine Ventures, and Floodgate. That could make VCs weary of putting more cash into a questionable business model. But if enough of the 80,000 remaining Make Magazine subscribers, 1 million YouTube followers, and millions who’ve attended Maker Faire events step up, pehaps the company can find surer footing.
“I hope this is actually an opportunity not just to revive what we do but maybe take it to a new level” Dougherty tells me. After all, plenty of today’s budding inventors and engineers grew up reading Make Magazine and being awestruck by the massive animatronic creations featured at its festivals.
Audibly peturbed, the founder exclaimed at his community meetup “It frustrates the heck out of me thinking that I’m the one backing up Maker Faire when there’s all these billionaires in the valley.”
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Head of NASA’s human exploration program demoted as agency pushes for Moon return
The head of NASA’s human exploration program has been replaced within the agency, just months after Vice President Mike Pence challenged NASA to send humans to the Moon within the next five years. The move is the latest in a couple of high-profile executive changes NASA has made in recent months as the agency strives to return humans to the lunar surface.
“As you know, NASA has been given a bold challenge to put the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, with a focus on the ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote to employees in a memo obtained by The Verge. “In an effort to meet this challenge, I have decided to make leadership changes to the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO)...
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Satellite-based radar could spot faulty bridges from space
Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and the University of Bath are developing a technique that uses satellite radar imaging to monitor the safety of bridges and other large-scale infrastructure. Using 15 years of orbital radar images of the Morandi Bridge, the researchers were able to detect signs of warping that preceded its collapse in 2018.
.. Continue Reading Satellite-based radar could spot faulty bridges from spaceCategory: Science
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Nintendo documents reveal new processor and storage for Nintendo Switch
Switch faster. Switch bigger.
What you need to know
- Nintendo just revealed the Nintendo Switch Lite.
- However, recently-discovered filings with the Federal Communication Commission indicate another model.
- The company may be updating the original Nintendo Switch with a better processor and more.
- You can purchase the Nintendo Switch for $300 on Amazon.
Today, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch Lite. It's hitting retailers on September 20 for $200. However, it seems like the console manufacturer is also planning on upgrading the original Nintendo Switch with a faster processor and more.
According to a report by The Verge, Nintendo filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission of the United States for a Nintendo Switch with a new processor, new flash storage, and a modified motherboard. You can take a look at an excerpt from the documentation below.
There are rumors floating around that Nintendo is working on a "Nintendo Switch Pro," but these changes seem to indicate a modest boost instead of a complete overhaul. However, only time will tell. Right now the company is focusing on the Nintendo Switch Lite.
Given the fact that next-generation consoles are right around the corner, it'll be interesting to see how Nintendo plans to counter Microsoft's "Project Scarlett" and Sony's PlayStation 5. The company isn't usually known for pushing the boundaries with powerful hardware, but the Nintendo Switch Pro – if it actually exists – may change that.
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Nintendo Switch
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Amazon shaves up to $135 off the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in time for Prime Day
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Bentley loads electric GT concept with weird sustainable materials and next-gen tech
Bentley celebrates its 100th birthday in grand fashion today, but instead of looking back it's taking a look at what ultra-luxury will mean in the year 2035 – and gettin' kind of weird with it. Much more than just a simple A-to-B shuttle, the autonomous electric EXP 100 GT concept creates experiences to be reveled in, captured, remembered and relived. It combines next-generation artificial intelligence with a 435-mile (700-km) electric drive and rare premium materials like 5,000-year-old copper-infused river wood and organic artificial leather sourced from wineries.
.. Continue Reading Bentley loads electric GT concept with weird sustainable materials and next-gen techCategory: Automotive
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Chinese EV startup Seres halts US launch, lays off 90 people in Silicon Valley
Seres, the Chinese EV startup formerly known as SF Motors, is laying off 90 people in its Silicon Valley office, the company announced in a staff meeting held earlier today. The US launch of its first electric SUV, the SF5, is also now on hold, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The Verge. It had originally planned to make and sell its electric SUVs in both China and the US, with a release slated for later this year.
Around 300 people worked in the Silicon Valley office prior to the layoffs, according to a former employee who was granted anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement with the company. The layoffs affect multiple parts of the company, including sales, marketing, IT, HR, legal, operations, and design,...
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Sorry, your magical Instagram lake selfie was shot at a toxic dump - CNET
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Volvo Trucks' Vera program is figuring out how to make money with autonomy - Roadshow
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Apple update kills off Zoom web server
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Japan's Hayabusa2 probe attempts its final asteroid landing at 9:15 PM ET
Dell slashes prices on Vizio, LG, and Samsung 4K TVs before Prime Day
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Amazon drops $110 discount on the Samsung Galaxy S10e in advance of Prime Day
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Walmart drops an incredible deal on this 65-inch curved Samsung 4K TV
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The Best Instant Pots of 2019
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Android Q: 7 features that make Android fun to use again - CNET
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Apple said to remotely disable feature in Zoom conferencing app after webcam scare - CNET
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US to probe French plan to tax tech companies - CNET
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Scales for Digital Weight - 4 High Precision Sensors Body Weight Scale with Step On, Auto Calibrated, Auto ON/OFF Technology, Wide Sturdy Tempered Glass, Round Corner Design, 400 pounds - CNET
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