Smart self-driving toilet will follow you around the house and can be summoned
The Chinese technology firm Yueban has created the autonomous toilet to help people with limited mobility. It aims to reduce the need for people to make their way to a toilet
by Mark Worgan and James Caven, Daily Star
A Chinese technology company has unveiled a self-driving smart toilet that will follow you around the house. Designed to improve accessibility for people with limited mobility, the autonomous toilet - known as Xiaoban - was recently showcased at an exhibition in Shanghai focused on elderly care, assistive technology and rehabilitation medicine.
Unlike conventional toilets, the device made by the firm Yueban is capable of travelling independently to a user when summoned, potentially reducing the need for people with mobility difficulties to make their way to a toilet.
Trump’s No-Bid Contract to a Donor for Reflecting Pool Exposes Criminal-Level Waste, Fraud & Abuse
The Shoddy Work Adds Insult to Injury – Is the National “Government” Being Run as a Criminal Enterprise?
Etienne Note: The article below breaks down the obvious theft on the no-bid contract the Trump administration paid a donor’s company for refurbishing the Washington Monument reflecting pool. Interestingly, this is an area where I have some expertise as one of my best friends owned multiple Line-X dealerships which is Rhino’s main competitor for both spray in bed liners AND mobile application of spray-on polyurea which was used on the reflecting pool. Two years ago, I consulted for his company on how to best increase this specific type of work which in the industry is referred to as a “Mobile Job” where a team goes on-site to apply polyurea in this specific application. This is, essentially, the easiest possible application of polyurea: applying a coat to a large, modern shallow pool surface. The pool had been modernized and completely redone by the Obama administration in 2010-2012 so you are dealing with a modern surface not a crumbling antique.
I had Claude pull up comparable municipal projects to establish the current average cost per square foot to compare Line-X vs. Rhino vs. what the Trump administration paid their donor.
Here is Claude’s summary of the overspend: A $1.8M initial estimate that closed at ~$14.6M, a 7.3× blowout on its own projection, no assumptions required. On a per-square-foot basis the full contract works out to ~$42/sq ft across the 348,000 sq ft coated. Every relevant published baseline — industrial polyurea on reservoirs and tanks ($5–8/sq ft at bulk scale), commercial/municipal pool resurfacing ($6.50–7.80/sq ft national average), even walk-in retail Line-X with zero leverage (~$10–13/sq ft) — sits far below that. The coating work itself, on any honest basis, lands at $1.7–2.8M; even a maximally charitable all-in figure that grants every legitimate cost (draining, surface prep, expansion-joint repair, prevailing wage, bonding, the rushed two-month schedule, national-monument constraints) tops out around $5–6M. So the excess is roughly $9–10M, or ~2.5× even the most forgiving estimate.
GM Replaces 1,000 Factory Zero Workers With 50 Robots
General Motors is once again under the microscope after expanding automation at its Detroit-based Factory Zero plant
by Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge
General Motors is once again under the microscope after expanding automation at its Detroit-based Factory Zero plant, installing about 50 collaborative robots not long after cutting more than 1,000 positions, according to Yahoo Finance.
The decision reflects a broader shift across the auto industry as manufacturers lean more heavily on robotics and AI to improve efficiency while labor groups warn about the impact on employment.
Factory Zero, where GM builds the GMC Hummer EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV, was originally marketed as the centerpiece of the company’s electric vehicle ambitions. Instead, inconsistent EV demand has forced production adjustments, temporary downtime, and workforce reductions, even as GM continues pouring money into advanced manufacturing technology.
Get the FLOCK Out! — How and Why You Should Resist the AI-Powered Cameras that are Destroying Our Privacy
Under the guise of public safety, a massive network of automated license plate readers is turning the basic right to travel into an inescapable surveillance dragnet.
By Matt Agorist/The Free Thought Project - Activist Post
As corporate profiteers rake in billions under the guise of public safety, their vast network of automated license plate readers is quietly transforming the basic right to peaceful travel into an inescapable, taxpayer-funded surveillance dragnet.
Every time you pull out of your driveway, you probably still harbor the illusion that you are a free individual going about your business. The reality is far more grim: your vehicle is bleeding data into a massive, unregulated dragnet the moment you pass the neighborhood entrance. Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) and Flock cameras have infested our communities, quietly transforming the American landscape into an open-air panopticon.
Help Venezuela get back on its feet
HOW TO HELP NOW?
Donate to the House Project in Venezuela
Etienne Note: We have team and friends in Venezuela and understand there are over 40,000+ missing. Many buried under the rubble. They need heavy equipment to move rubble ASAP. We have evaluated multiple charities that are providing support on the ground and have chosen to support: The House Project which already has multiple projects on-going in Venezuela. We will be featuring them as our Voluntaryist Charity Option in Five Meme Friday. You can donate here: https://thehouse-project.org/es/collections/donate
