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News Tech

US Army Plans To Use Microsoft Hololens In Combat Missions

Several armies are already using Microsoft Hololens for training. Now, the whole thing is going to the next level as the US Army plans to use Microsoft Hololens in combat missions. In this regard, they’ve already awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply the necessary headset numbers for both training and combat missions.

According to a Bloomberg report, which cited the US government, the goal would be to “increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy.” Microsoft, Magic Leap, and other non-military suppliers got the support of the US Army in the development of reliable solutions which could be used in combat mission and serve the before-mentioned goal set by the US government.

The US Army wanted for a device that permits for night vision, measures vital signs and breathing, improve the hearing while protecting the ears from loud noises such as explosions, and monitor signs of concussions. Microsoft Hololens fit perfectly.

US Army Plans To Use Microsoft Hololens In Combat Missions

“Augmented reality technology will provide troops with more and better information to make decisions. This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the Department of Defense to this new area,” stated Microsoft for Bloomberg.

Microsoft has never intended to sell Hololens headset as a commercial device. Microsoft Hololens, however, was popular among companies for training, marketing, manufacturing, and other tasks. ISS astronauts also used Hololens training and troubleshooting chores.

The US Army plans to buy about 100,000 Microsoft Hololens headsets for the price of approximately $4,800 per piece which is lower than a cost of $5,000 per unit Microsoft asks from companies but still higher than that of $3,000 set for developers.

“We’ve appreciated that no military in the world wants to wake up to discover that machines have started a war. But we can’t expect these new developments to be addressed wisely if the people in the tech sector who know the most about technology withdraw from the conversation,” said Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith.

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Economy Markets News

GM May Face Repercussions after Closing Five Plants

GM faces severe criticism after it announced the closing of five plants and more than 14,000 layoffs. President Donald Trump is unpleased by the news and announced via Tweeter that the federal government may cut all the tax breaks and subsidies received by GM, including tax credits for electric vehicles.

The threat seems real but the actually doing it will be a difficult task.

The EV credit is granted to consumers

When the Congress decided to establish the credits back in 2015 the aim was to encourage consumers to buy eco-friendly cars. In 2007 the law was expanded and consumers that bought an electric vehicle qualified to receive up to $7,500 in federal tax credits on the tax return. The decision aimed to make electric vehicles more affordable as the technology was still relatively new and many were unconvinced by advertising.

There is a catch: after a manufacturer sold 200,000 electric vehicles the credit will begin to phase-out until it is completely removed. The Chevy Volt is rapidly approaching the limit and it may break it by the end of the year, triggering the phase-out process. Tesla has already achieved the limit.

It’s up to the Congress

Any change that affects spending must be voted by the Congress. A bill that proposes the removal of the 200, 000 vehicle limit in exchange for a total phase-out in 2022 is already being discussed. Two more bills that also tackle this issue have been presented last month.
It mainly benefits high-income households

The electric vehicle credit policy has faced heavy criticism before since high-income households are the main beneficiaries. Almost 80% of the households that claimed the benefit enjoy an average gross annual income of more than $100,000 and more than 99% if the credits were claimed by huoses with an average income of $50,000.

What will happen in the following days remains to be seen but G.M. is already facing consequences as its stocks started to plummet after the announcement.

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Economy News

Dow Gains 618 points; Fed May Reach a Positive Level

In an interview that took place earlier this week Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell notes that the central bank may lower the speed at which its interest rate grows. The news is favorable for investors that are affected by the growth of the global economy and volatile markets.

This may be interpreted as a sign of goodwill from the Federal Reserve, since it is pleased by the booming stock market and investors will be encouraged if it decides to suspend the initiative of slowly raising interest rates.

The fact that the Dow Jones industrial average managed to climb up by 618 to a total of 25,366 translates into an overall increase of 2.5 percent, effectively negating the loses that took place earlier in November.

The information comes a day after President Donald Trump publicly condemned the policy of the central bank, stating that it negatively affects the economy and it is more harmful than China when it comes to economics. Trumps comment is the most recent in a wave of criticism that seems to target the central bank.

Officials from the Federal Reserve have previously declared that their activities are not influenced by the political climate and there is no connection between what Powell stated and the President’s harsh criticism.

While the Federal Bank lowered rates to zero during the recent economic crisis the hard times have passed. Since 2015 it started to slowly increase the rates in order to prevent inflation and other unwanted effects.

Investors which hope that the bank will cease its plan of raising the rates for the foreseeable future will be disappointed since the next stage should take place in December and another hike may come in early 2019.

The plan is to stop the raise when the rates will reach 3%. Currently they are between 2% and 2.25%

Powell also noted that the economy will continue to grow in the next two years as unemployment and inflation rates will remain low.

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News Tech

Microsoft: New KB4461529 Patches Won’t Fix the Last Patches

It’s been weeks since the new Windows 10 patch started to delete the files of the users, so Microsoft wanted to fix Outlook 2010, with a November patch that pretty much made it worse.

On the 13th of November, Microsoft offered a security update, called KB4461529, which fixed four problems. These problems allowed a remote code execution when users created an Office file. This problem was then fixed for the  .msi 64-bit version of Outlook 2010 – but in the worst case – they had the program not working at all. Microsoft then told the users not to uninstall the patch, but to use the Outlook Web Access until they can properly solve the problem. So they start writing a second patch, which was released after the 21st of November. They said it would fix all the problems.

These are not the only problems

We must mention this is not the first time Outlook 2010 has problems this month. At the beginning of it, on the 6th, they released two updates, KB2863821 and KB4461522, which had the plan to fix the Japanese calendar, in order to support new ages. These new patches made the Access crash on startup. Sometimes it simply removed them.

The Japanese calendar got its idea of “ages” from China. These ages, or eras, showed the emperor’s reign. You get a new one every few years, so.maybe Microsoft wants to take this example when it tries to make software patches?

Microsoft offered Office patched before. One from the last year made the text simply disappear from the tables in Word, thing that made its users panic and overwhelm the company with complaints. The next patch gave the users similar problems. The problems were fixed in October.

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Games News

Minecraft: Village and Pillage Update  – What We Know So Far About the New Update

The game Minecraft, which is Mojang’s best game whatsoever (and you cannot argue with us), keeps pleasing its fans with new updates that are going to welcome the next year flawlessly.

It has a series of tweaks, like those in Update Aquatic, called Village and Pillage, that will take the community by surprise with lots of new features which are going to be so good.

So..what new things are we going to see with this update?

We must talk about the introduction of Pillagers. They will have crossbows and Illager Beasts – this will show the rivalry between players, as they will lay siege on the villages all across the world.

So these villages will get new features, but we cannot leave aside the buildings. Players will also get a 14 new stair and slab blocks, and 12 new wall textures. Also, scaffolding, which will allow the players to climb and scale the obstacles or the building they’re working on.

They will add two new animals and forest fruits to enjoy

The new update, the Village and Pillage update wants to improve the natural environment of the game, that – to be honest – is already a bit perfect, with its diversity and colors. This also talks about two new animals: foxes (that can be found in Taiga biomes) and pandas (which you can find in Jungles). Also, edible berries will make their appearance, together with bamboo and new dyes.

When is the update going to be released?

They’re supposed to release the Village and Pillage update in 2019, so make sure you stay tuned for announcements. We’re so excited about it, and we bet you are, too.

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