Videos of “driverless” Teslas have sadly become a “thing” on social media.

But at least TikTok seems to be trying to offer some kind of “protection” to its users by tagging Autopilot videos with the following statement:

Check it out in the tweet bellow.

This seems to be a small improvement compared to the prior complete lack of such tags, but it nevertheless contradicts TikTok’s safety statements.

Credit: TikTok

As is clearly stated, TikTok doesn’t permit content that can encourage users to participate in dangerous and potentially harmful or fatal activities.

But at the same time it does, doesn’t it? Much content that contravenes these guidelines has been allowed to remain on the platform.

Take a look at this video:

Or this one:

Disclaimers such as “don’t try this at home” or “this may result in injury” are simply not enough to eliminate danger. Impressionable users who can see that a Tesla can operate in a “driverless” mode most likely won’t be discouraged by the small print.

If TikTok really wants to protect its community, it needs to filter with stricter criteria the content that gets uploaded. Otherwise, it doesn’t really do much better than Tesla itself that advertises its products as full self-driving features, while warning that they don’t qualify as autonomous driving.

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CES 2022: John Deere’s autonomous tractor brings robot takeover to our farms

When you think CES , you might be picturing cool gadgets, smart home appliances, and fancy cars (well, if there are any that haven’t pulled out). And you’d be right. Kinda. Because one of the most exciting things on offer is John Deere’s very first autonomous tractor.

You read that right. An autonomous tractor. This is a version of Deere’s 8R vehicle and includes a TruSet™-enabled chisel plow, GPS guidance system, and far, far more.

Why do we need an autonomous tractor?

Farming labor shortages are a global problem as people migrate to cities. According to John Deere, the average farmer is over 55 and puts in 12–18 hours of work a day.

The autonomous tractor can run 24/7, although it needs refueling every 8-10 hours. Six pairs of stereo cameras enable 360-degree obstacle detection and calculate distance.

The autonomous tractor is also continuously checking its position relative to a geofence, ensuring it is operating where it is supposed to and is accurate to within less than 2.5cm (inch). This enables precise seed and nutrient spreading and harvesting without touching a steering wheel.

Machine learning and image recognition provide valuable precision data

According to Willy Pell, Vice President of Autonomy and New Ventures, the autonomous 8R tractor collected over 50 million images during in-field testing over the past three years. Each model is trained with hundreds of thousands of images, and its neural network classifies each pixel in about 100 milliseconds, and object detection determines if the machine moves or stops.

Pell explained that a lack of anomaly data had been a problem for the team:

However, the anomaly detection appears to be a bigger sticking point than the company has admitted in their media launch event, telling The Verge that the function is far from autonomous. Instead, anomalous images are sent to “tele-operators” — essentially a call center of third-party contractors to manually determine if detected field obstacles are false positives or have been resolved. The farmer is then alerted of real issues via the app and tasked to decide upon a course of action.

The tractor can prepare over 325 acres of soil in 24 hours. It’s ready for large-scale production and will be available to farmers later this year.

Wow, there’s an actual use for blockchain? Helium can democratize internet connectivity

I’m always looking for good blockchain use cases . There are only a few companies that I rate. One is Helium , who calls itself “The People’s Network.” It was co-founded by Shawn Fanning (Napster co-creator) and Amir Haleem in 2013 with a mighty mission: to democratize access to the internet. They achieve this by creating their own P2P internet network. This is a radical shift to wide area networks and internet connectivity.

I spoke to Frank Mong, Helium’s COO to find out more about the company, their tech, and their latest partnership.

How does it all work?

What underpins Helium is a series of Hotspots retailing for $495USD. These create an open-sourced P2P long-range wireless network. You could consider each hotspot a node or gateway. Hotspots enable internet connectivity for low-power devices like those embedded with sensors to measure temperature, humidity, pressure or location, without needing Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.

The hotspots provide LoRaWAN coverage. They also generate a cryptocurrency called HNTs whenever the hotspot supplies proof of network and when a Helium customer transfers data on the network.

The HNTs offer an incentive for people to use their broadband to be the equivalent of a LoRa tower. And you can painlessly make bank for a modest outlet and by doing very little.

Helium’s open wireless protocol is 200 times the range of Wi-Fi at 1/1000th of the cost of a cellular modem. It offers massive competition to cellular networks. Unlike cellular, there’s no need to pay for sim cards, worry about data caps, or overage fee charges.

Helium shows the real value of open source

After you buy the hotspot, the core technology is available for free under open source licenses. Helium’s open source SDK means developers can create devices like pet trackers and air quality sensors. A popular use case is water management, such as water metering and water leak detection.

Supply chain asset tracking and tracing is equally popular, such as parts tracking in Volvo truck factories. Micro mobility company Lime is testing Helium’s long-range network to track and recover its bikes and escooters .

According to Mong, the company’s decision to switch to open source was “probably the best decision ever made.”

The company has recently joined forces to bring Helium to 5G with carrier FreedomFi’s open source 5G network. Mong explained:

A partnership with Actility brings in the heavy hitters

This week, the company shared an exclusive with me: a new roaming partnership with carrier-grade IoT connectivity platform Actility . This will bring blockchain technology to large-scale enterprises such as Volvo and Cisco. It offers validation that a public network like Helium are considered reliable enough to support industrial use cases.

Mong shared:

Helium brings digital equity to the city of San José

Helium’s efforts are not only focused on corporate expansion. The company recently partnered with the city of San José, deploying 20 Helium-compatible Hotspots to volunteering residents and small businesses during a six-month pilot period.

Once connected, the Hotspots mine Helium HNT using the energy equivalent of an LED light bulb and transmit less than two megabytes per month in data. The HNTs will be converted into US Dollars to be then paid directly to low-income households to subsidize their internet expenses.

Helium is also grappling with the semiconductor chip shortages and shipping slowdowns. According to the company, there are currently about 3 million additional hotspots back-ordered. Additionally, there are also over 50 new manufacturer applications awaiting approval to build and sell compatible hardware.

When I interviewed the company in February 2020, it had sold about 2,700 hotspots. At the time of writing, their active hotspots stand at 233,547 hotspots globally, with 58,000 hotspots gone live in just the last 30 days.

Mong is optimistic about the future:

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