Virgin Galactic Sends Its First Passenger to Space

• Feb 27, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic sent its first “tourist” into space.
  • Beth Moses, the company’s astronaut trainer.  Not really a tourist.
• Made history last month for the highest private flight 80km (defined as space).
• We are getting closer to Space Tourism.
  • Many have booked with Virgin Galactic at a price of $250 USD.
• Space People Facts
  • 560 people have gone to space (to orbit).
  • 2 dozen have gone farther.
  • 12 have walked the moon.

Huawei P30, P30 Pro Leaked Photos reveal 7.8x-Zoom Camera

• Huaewei’s P30 and P30 Pro are scheduled to be released on March 26 in Paris.
• Leaked photos (probable marketing photos) reveal the
  • P30 Pro’s triple camera will get a 7.8x zoom (P20 Pro 3x)
  • P30 gets a third camera for 4.7x zoom (P20 had none)
• Leaked photo also shows a teardrop notch.

Microsoft Will Launch Disc-Less, ‘All Digital’ Xbox One S Next Month, Report Says

• Microsoft’s next iteration of the Xbox One may not have a disc at all, and it might be coming sooner than you think.
• Windows Central, which says a disc-less Xbox One S “All-Digital Edition” will be offered for preorders in April.
• The new device, said to be code-named Maverick,
• will offer a “disc-to-digital” program, letting fans turn in physical game discs and convert them to digital downloads, Windows Central added.
• One benefit of this new Xbox, Windows Central said, would be that it could push the price of an Xbox down.
• The Xbox One S starts at $299 and is typically bundled with a game. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
• The move could mark a turning point for the video game industry, which has sold video games on discs and cartridges for decades.
• What’s going to happen to gamestop?

Canada Allows US Extradition of Huawei CFO To Proceed

• The Canadian government has allowed for the extradition proceedings against the CFO of Huawei to proceed.
• “Today, department of Justice Canada officials issued an authority to proceed, formally commencing an extradition process in the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou,” the government said in a statement.
• Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in December at the request of American authorities, who allege that she violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.
  
  
• From the report: China, whose relations with Canada have deteriorated badly over the affair, denounced the decision and repeated previous demands for Meng’s release.
• Legal experts had predicted Ottawa would give the go-ahead for extradition proceedings, given the close judicial relationship between Canada and the United States
• It could be years though before Meng is ever sent to the United States, since Canada’s slow-moving justice system allows many decisions to be appealed. Meng’s lawyers said they were disappointed and described the U.S. charges as politically motivated.
• She’s now suing Canada

China Bans 23 Million From Buying Travel Tickets as Part of ‘Social Credit’ System

• China blocked 23 million “discredited” travelers from buying plane or train tickets last year as part of the country’s controversial “social credit” system aimed at improving the behavior of citizens.
• From a report: According to the National Public Credit Information Centre’s 2018 report, 17.5 million people were banned from buying flights and 5.5 million barred from purchasing high-speed train tickets because of social credit offences.
• “Once discredited, limited everywhere.” The social credit system aims to incentivize “trustworthy” behavior through penalties as well as rewards. According to a government document about the system dating from 2014, the aim is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”
• Social credit offenses range from not paying individual taxes or fines to spreading false information (opposite of free speech) and taking drugs.

Tesla Launches Base Model 3 For $35,000 With Shorter Range, New Interior

• finally launching the long-promised standard Model 3 with a base price of $35,000.
• “The automaker is now making several new versions of the Model 3 available with a shorter range and new interior options,” reports Electrek. From the report:
• Today, Tesla sent an email to its retail stores the details of the announcement of the new options being available to order in the U.S. today and available as soon as next month. All the details are expected to become available in the next hour, but here’s what we know so far:
• Customers are now able to order the $35,000 Model 3 with a standard interior and standard battery pack enabling 130mph top speed and 5.6s 0-60s acceleration.
• Tesla is also making a new “Partial Premium Interior” with better seats than the standard interior available with a different “standard range plus” battery pack for a $2,000 premium.
• The Model 3 Standard Range Plus results in 240 miles of range, a top speed of 140mph, 0-60mph acceleration of just 5.3 seconds. Tesla says that deliveries are starting within the next 2 to 4 weeks depending on the configuration in the U.S.
• glass roof and auto dimming, power folding, heated side mirrors — are now standard.
• To achieve cost savings, in addition to production optimizations and the recent layoffs, Tesla announced an unexpected strategy: they’re closing most of their stores. Sales will only be conducted online. Instead of test drives, cars can be returned within 7 days or 1,000 miles at no charge.
• “Quite literally, you could buy a Tesla, drive several hundred miles for a weekend road trip with friends and then return it for free,” Tesla said in their blog post.

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