Light Start – Falcon down, musical Nerds, Uber choppers, and all power to the Hololens

Watching the Falcon 9 rocket explode is almost hypnotic

A video posted by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jan 17, 2016 at 7:07pm PST

So about that SpaceX barge landing… the Falcon 9 rocket has returned to Earth, having successfully sent its payload into orbit. We were keen on seeing what happened to the booster. Poor conditions and roughly fifteen foot waves made the barge landing seem tougher than ever but, if you can see the embedded video above, the Falcon booster almost nailed the touchdown. Unfortunately, one of the four legs didn’t lock in place, tipping over the rocket which then lead to a very impressive explosion. The failure is being ascribed to, perhaps, a build-up of ice which could have prevented the leg from locking. If not for this minor failure (if you call losing $60 million ‘minor’), the landing would have been just about textbook. Next time, guys.

Source: Elon Musk (Instagram)

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are going to be musical Nerds

Right then, being a geek is officially mainstream. There’s a musical on the way, which will “…chronicle the rise of Jobs and Gates and the subsequent rivalry between their two companies. Jobs famously declared Microsoft had “no taste,” of course, and that Gates was “basically unimaginative” and “shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.” It’s called Nerds, hideously enough, and it’s being billed as a comedy. But one with a lot of tech use, with holograms, an app (which should be used during the show), and a selectable ending – chosen by the users. Probably based on the number of ‘likes’, at this point. The show kicks off in New York in late April this year.

Source: Nerds via Ars Technica

Uber and Airbus are teaming up for a limited-area chopper-on-demand service

Just when you think you’ve heard everything, someone goes and makes something new. Uber and Airbus are getting together to shuttle folks around the Sundance Film Festival, provided they have the cash to afford their own chopper to Starbucks or whatever it is that rich people do. And it looks like this could be something that sticks around, with the Airbus CEO telling the Wall Street Journal that this “pilot project” (heh) could lead to something more extensive. It’s one thing to head to your meeting in an Uber, it’d be something else entirely to rock up in a helicopter. If it becomes a permanent fixture, don’t expect it in South Africa any time soon. It would be nice during rush hour though…

Source: via The Verge

Microsoft’s Hololens will stay powered on for about five and a half hours at a time

Long enough for a couple of films or to waste most of a day. That’s how long you can expect the Microsoft Hololens to last on a charge, according to a video of Microsoft Technical Evangelist Bruce Harris that is doing the rounds. Speaking in Tel Aviv, Harris said that average use would get you the 5.5 hours of up-time for the Hololens. Maxing it out, however, would drop that time to just 2.5 hours before you need to get to the charga! Bluetooth, WiFi and extensive Windows 10 app support will be features, of course, but we still don’t know what a retail price and launch window looks like. The dev models will cost prospective users about R50,000 a pop, though. That’s not something we’re likely to see on a shelf at a retail store, now is it?

Source: YouTube