Monthly Archives: February 2021

DJI opens new market

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Not so long ago drones became affordable enough for ordinary users. Now videos from drones are mainstream. However, drone world is really versatile, starting from industry drones and ending with FPV drones. Today I would like to tell about nearest release of DJI and its consequences. 

On 2nd of March DJI will present their first FPV drone and it will be the last niche that they will cover. Before that, to fly on an FPV drone you had to build it by yourself. It was time-consuming and money consuming. Next problem is small time of flight, with new DJI FPV drone has 20 minutes of flight time. New drone comes with glasses and controller what helps to make connection more efficient, because all this parts work in one ecosystem. Thus, we see new level of FPV drones. Initial cost is 1300$, for drone, controller and glasses it is cheap enough if compare to self-made drones. 

What about specs?

Camera has 142-degree angle. It shoots in 4k 60fps, thus, I may guess, it has sensor from Mavic Air 2, with quit good quality. It is needed to reduce the price.

In my opinion, the greatest advantage is gimbal that helps with stabilization of an image. 

Finally, speed – 60-90 mph, relying on rumors. This makes DJI’s a great competitor in FPV world. 

Summarizing my thoughts, I’m really happy with this, because DJI made ultimate FPV drone for everyone, what widely opens FPV market. This market was growing rapidly last year, but release of DJI’s drone will boost it drastically. 

Sources: https://dronedj.com/2021/02/23/everything-about-djis-new-fpv-drone-specs-pictures-controller-more/

The more megapixels, the better camera?

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There are a lot of myth going around cameras, thus producers use it to make their product more appealing to sell more. So, as a photographer, I would like to destroy these myths. 

Three main parts of camera: sensor, lens and processor.

Sensor: 

Many people think, that the more MP camera has, the better its quality. However, it’s not, quality really depends on size of matrix(sensor) of the camera. So, the conclusion is: the more light (fatons of light) sensor receives, the better quality of an image. Basically, when a sensor receives more information, quality of a picture increases. Sensor is divided into pixels to receive this information. However, when producer says, that our camera has 100MP it doesn’t mean, that it is better than 12MP camera. It is all because of physical scale of matrix.

 Why pixels should be bugger in most cases? 

We need bigger pixels for night shoots, when there is lack of light(information). However, even in day light it can be noisy, because there are many small pixels, that can’t collect information as good, as bigger ones can. 

For what do we need more pixels?

Greater number of pixels helps to make pictures more detailed. Also, it makes work of digital

zoom much better.

ISO is next really crucial factor: 

It is about sensitivity of a sensor. The higher number, the more sensitive sensor to light, the 

Lighter the image. However, when you up ISO number, more noise appears. And it also doesn’t 

mean, that in day light you should keep ISO on 100, every camera has its own BEST ISO 

number, this is known as “log”. This helps to expand dynamic range – number of dark and light 

pixels. In this case sensor collects more information about light and dark points instead of color, 

thus, final image is almost grey, nevertheless, it is much easier to correct colors. 

These are main SENSOR sizes:

Other ways to make image better is optics: 

It measures in focus length and aperture. Aperture is extent to which it is opened. The bigger 

number, the more opened it is. When it is fully opened, sensor receives the biggest amount of 

information and “bokeh” effect appear. For sure, final result also depends on quality of these 

lenses. 

Focus length:

The closer focus point is to sensor, the wider image you have. This correlation is shown on this picture

The last but not least parameter is shutter speed, in simple words it is the time that sensor 

receives the information about light.

Here is the example:

What do we see? Companies use hype slogans about quantity of MP, however, there much more features that effect on the final result. 

End of banking systems?

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In this topic I would like to cover these questions:

What is Defi? Its advantages and disadvantages. What to expect in the future?

  In a nutshell, DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is the system (applications) that can work separately from financial institutes, making all actions peer to peer such as transfers, trading, using blockchain. The main coin on which DeFi is based on is Ethereum.

  What are the guarantees? Because financial institutes ensure users from fraud and they act as trust guarantees. Products based on DeFi work using smart contracts. These are online contracts with your terms. If any terms are violated or fulfilled deal will be closed. This system gives opportunity to get rid of middleman. 

 What are the main functions: 

  • You can lend money or get loan, one of benefits is flash loans (extremely fast), common financial institutes can’t offer such an option. This is known as “yield farming”
  • Trading without middleman
  • Savings account 
  • Buying derivative assets.
A Beginner's Guide to What is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

What are disadvantages: 

1.Predictable ones: 

Uncertainty: crypto market is still developing and there are many problems with it, thus it can work not as good as it could. 

Risks: only you are responsible for mistakes.

Smart contracts issues: it can be an issue, if there are any mistakes in code of a smart contract.

2. Unpredictable:

Although it is Decentralized, it is still in hands of developers

I guess, government won’t give a chance to develop this to such a level, when people will start using it instead of ordinary financial institutions.

Advantages:

1. Secure from environment triggers, such as covid, because all physical contacts are reduced to zero. 

2. Quick operations: getting a loan will take no more than a minute, when in a bank you should send a lot of time. 

3.Owing to smart contracts human factor is dramatically reduced. 

4. Reduced cost owing to absence of a middleman. 

5. You can’t lose the “smart contract” or it can’t be stolen, because it is extremely difficult to hack it.

Summarizing it, I would say that it is future, however, there are many pitfalls that can bury this idea. What is more, I’m curious whether it will be legal or not, because it is great competitor for state. 

The microchip was created from graphene. It is 100 times faster than standard.

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Creating the Smallest Ever Microchips with Graphene “Nano-Origami”

Researchers at the University of Sussex have created a prototype microchip that uses graphene and its appropriate combination to deliver significantly better performance than standard chips. According to the assumptions of physicists, it should offer 100 times the more incredible speed of action.

The innovative microchip, created by British scientists, was made from graphene, although it can be replaced with other materials with a similar structure and susceptibility to modifications.

For its production, the “nano-origami” method is used, which includes “stacking” the raw material in such a way that the resulting shape becomes many times smaller than originally intended. Thanks to this discovery, graphene chips can be noticeably smaller than conventional chips and much faster.

According to researchers from Sussex, this discovery will soon find use in computers or smartphones, which will significantly facilitate the development of the electronics and IT industries. They argue that the current semiconductor technology is already on the brink of development, and the new solution will remove the limitations for years to come.

VAIO Z — a new attempt to revive VAIO

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VAIO, once a Sony brand, unveiled the new Vaio Z laptop. According to the manufacturer, it is the world’s first mobile PC to receive a three-dimensional carbon fiber chassis.

A super lightweight Japanese laptop with a carbon fiber chassis for the price of a few MacBook Air. New VAIO Z unveiled
In this case, it is meant that the carbon fiber is not made of individual panels, but of the entire body. Thanks to this approach were possible to get rid of plastic and metal parts, due to which the laptop became stronger and lighter.

More precisely, in the presence of a 14-inch screen and the ability of the design to withstand a fall from a height of up to 127 cm, the device weighs only 1.04 kg.

The configuration of the laptop assumes a Core i7-11375H processor, 16 or 32 GB of RAM, SSD capacity from 512 GB to 2 TB, 4K UHD display and a battery big enough for 10 hours of work. The Japanese specs, where the approach to testing is different, indicate even 17 hours.

The super lightweight Japanese laptop with a carbon fiber chassis for the price of several MacBook Air. The new VAIO Z is unveiled.
Of the rest we can note a physical curtain for the camera and a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports. Unfortunately, the price of the laptop is even more striking than its weight. The base version costs $3,580, while the top version will cost $4,180.

But the main disadvantage of VAIO Z is its price, because even MacBook Air, which the majority considered as an overpriced laptop is 2 times cheaper, comparing to the base version of the new Japanese laptop, let alone the top one.

Ford announced that it will go all-electric in Europe by 2030

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Whether we like it or not, everything seems to indicate that the future of cars is electric. A few days after Jaguar informed that it will only offer electric cars from 2025, carmaker Ford follows the same path. It says its cars line-up in Europe will be fully electric by the year 2030. 

Ford emphasis the transition process to EV-production over the next decade. The company’s plan is to achieve by 2024 commercial vehicle lineup which will be “zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid.” By 2026, Ford claims “100 percent” of its passenger vehicle lineup will be the same. Moreover, by 2030, carmaker expects two-thirds of its commercial vehicle sales to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid, while all of its passenger vehicles sold will be entirely electric. 

Automaker said it will spend $1 billion to update its factory in Cologne, in order to produce fully electric cars. “Our announcement today to transform our Cologne facility, the home of our operations in Germany for 90 years, is one of the most significant Ford has made in over a generation,” said Stuart Rowley, president of Ford in Europe. “It underlines our commitment to Europe and a modern future with electric vehicles at the heart of our strategy for growth.”

Ford, having a 15 percent share of the local market, is the biggest car brand to make such a statement in Europe.

Multiple European countries have set goals to ban conventional gas-powered vehicles and trucks, with Norway targeting 2025 and France as well as United Kingdom – 2030 and 2040, respectively. There are also ambitious targets in many states in the US, with California leading the pack, vowing to outlaw the selling of gas-powered cars by 2035.

The initiative of Ford to step up its electrification plans is intended to persuade those on Wall Street who have been anxious about the potential of the company to keep up with Tesla, which over the last few years has been the only carmaker to successfully develop an EV business.

Automotive electrification is definitely an expensive and tough process for all car producers. However, it will be soon inevitable to meet standards and stay in the market. 

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56084500

The robot “Perseverance” arrives on Mars to look for traces of alien life.

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Картинки по запросу "Mars landing"

On Thursday night, the US space agency NASA landed a new rover, Perseverance, on Mars. The rover’s main task will be to search for traces of bacterial life on the Red Planet. Scientists are sure that if there was once life on Mars, it falls from 3 to 4 billion years ago when there was still water on the planet. Perseverance is the third spacecraft to arrive on Mars in the past month: earlier robots from the UAE and China entered its orbit. All three missions left the Earth in July 2020.
“This is amazing,” said the acting director. NASA chief Steve Yurczyk. The dispatch of the device took place in challenging conditions due to the pandemic and related precautions, he said, which only increases the joy of success.

Perseverance will serve as a scout for future rovers, Yurczyk said: the experience of a successful landing simplifies the task for the next missions.
Landing on Mars was a daunting task. Unlike the Moon, it has an atmosphere, which makes landing very difficult: only about 40% of such missions succeed.

The Atlas-5 launch vehicle with the American Perseverance (Perseverance or Perseverance) rover launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site in the United States on July 30, 2020. In six months, the spacecraft covered the distance from Earth to Mars of almost 500 million kilometers.
Before landing, Perseverance experienced “seven minutes of horror” – the time of transition from the upper atmosphere to the surface of the Red Planet. To do this, he dropped the speed from the second space (for Mars, it is about 20 thousand km / h) to the speed of a pedestrian. The rover is located at a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers from us, which means that the signals transmitted by it reach the Earth with an almost 10-minute delay. If something went wrong at some point, it would be physically impossible to adjust the landing trajectory quickly.
The Jezero crater’s satellite images, where the device landed, indicate that the now dried-up river once flowed into a vast lake there.

It is one of the best-preserved Martian deltas, where rivers have formed sediment layers from brought in rock debris, sand, and possibly organic hydrocarbons.

TikTok – How does it work?

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Image result for tiktok

The TikTok algorithms are subject to constant discoveries because of their uniqueness and innovativeness. They manage to capture peoples attention for at least 10 minutes after opening the app. While Instagram can not show off such results – only 3 minutes. This is a piece of strong evidence proving the great advantage given by recommendation algorithms rather than “like&follow” algorithms. So how do they work?

From the creator’s point of view:

After the video is uploaded the TikTok analyzes every kind of content related to this video (images, videos, text, hashtags). Algorithms capable of doing that helps creators to popularize content by recommending it to the global audience based on their preferences. This is thanks to the technologies provided by Bytedance Corporation, the company that deals specifically with algorithms for video-platforms such as TikTok or its Chinese counterpart Douyin. As a rule, TikTok analyzes the duration of the video, hashtags, theme, music used, location, time of publishing etc. 

From the user’s point of view:

Each of these factors is individually considered by TikTok’s For You recommendation system, which means that every For You page will be fully unique up to the interests of a particular user and his level of interest:

  1. Users interaction: liked/shared videos, followed accounts, the comments you post, and the content you create.
  2. Video you like/share information: This may include details such as captions, music and hashtags.
  3. Device and account settings: language settings, country settings, and device type.

For instance, TikTok reveals that a strong indicator of interest may be long videos (up to 60 sec) watched be a user. This will be more significant than a weak indicator, for example, the viewer and video creator are in the same country. Videos on the page “For you” are classified according to these “indicators of interest” and on the probability of user interest in certain content.

Elon Musk announced the successful chipping of a monkey

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In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the opening of Neuralink. It creates technology to connect the human brain to a computer, and it seems to be doing quite well. At the end of 2020, the company “chipped” a pig and was able to monitor its brain activity using a computer. In this case, the animal felt well, which means that at least this technology does not harm pigs. Recently it turned out that the company Neuralink went further and was able to install the chip in the brain of a monkey.

According to Elon Musk, the animal feels great and thanks to the technology can play video games with its mind and even turn on the TV. In the future, the company wants to insert the chip into the head of another individual and make it possible for monkeys to compete with each other in virtual tennis. About the chipped monkey told Bloomberg edition, citing the words of Elon Musk. The entrepreneur shared the news about Neuralink during a conversation inside the social network Clubhouse. During the conference, Elon Musk was asked about the latest developments at Neuralink. The entrepreneur replied that they have a monkey with a wireless implant in its skull that can play video games with its mind. According to him, the chip is virtually invisible.

At the moment, there are no pictures or videos of the Neuralink monkey, but they should appear in the coming months. It is unlikely that the company has been able to improve the technology much in such a short time. The company wants to implant the chip into the brain using a laser. But at the moment, this requires surgery. But human involvement, in this case, is no longer necessary because all the necessary actions can be performed by a robotic surgeon. It was also shown at last year’s presentation, but not as much time was dedicated to its introduction as we would have liked.

For now, we can say that it is human-sized and quite accurate – otherwise, how would it be able to successfully perform brain surgery?

The Show-up Date of New AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT was Announced

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According to Cowcotland, AMD company will introduce their new Radeon RX 6700 XT graphic card. It will become the first model on Navi 22 graphic core. This information confirms the previous leak that happened in January this year.

The graphic card is going to be the first model on a graphic core Navi 22, which is based on RDNA2 architecture. It is worth mentioning it is a middle-class processor, which is aimed to be used in gaming laptops too. In the general configuration, it has got 40 counting blocks, which is equal to 2560 streamed processors. It is predicted that RX 6700 XT will get a GPU in its general configuration, and RX 6700 will get a slightly cut variant.

It is known that RX 6700 XT will have 12Gb of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory bus. This model is likely to compete with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12Gb, which is going to be presented 25-th of February. However, Nvidia is still the first in the graphic cards market top due to the number and variety of cards produced.

There is still no reliable information on the price of RX 6700 XT. However, Cowcotland information warns buyers about the difficulty they will face buying this graphic card due to a low production volume. It is better to choose something from Nvidia’s arsenal, in case you need to get your card as soon as possible.

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