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Universal Asked That Scenes Be Added Back Into ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’

Universal Asked That Scenes Be Added Back Into ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’

There’s a reason why the biggest, most famous filmmakers in the world all want “final cut” of their movies. It’s because they don’t want anyone, least of all a studio executive, to have an impact on their vision. More often than not, when studios meddle in editing, it’s to make films shorter. However, the exact opposite happened on the new Jurassic film, Jurassic World Rebirth.

Rebirth started shooting in June 2024, finished in October 2024 and, right after Christmas, director Gareth Edwards was ready to show a cut to the studio. “I was determined to do a film that was under two hours,” Edwards told io9. “And so we showed this one hour 59 [minute] cut to the studio. And essentially their note was like, ‘Great, could you put the five minutes that you cut out back in?’ And so we put those five minutes back in, and it was essentially the movie.”

Which isn’t to say nothing hit the cutting room floor. Though there was a very tight turnaround, especially for a blockbuster of this size, Edwards said there are three deleted scenes that will probably be available with the home release. Two he was fine with cutting. One he was very torn about.

“I really wanted [it] to stay in the movie,” Edwards said. “I really liked it. And that was a kill-your-baby sort of moment. I won’t ruin it for people, but there’s a section out the front of the gas station that used to be a little bit more like being hunted. The tension of something coming. And it was a note from [writer] David Koepp, which was essentially, the third act, if you give it a name, it would be ‘Run like hell.’ And so basically once they started running, it was like, don’t make them stop. And it felt like it stopped again. And so we removed that idea, those beats, and it got a lot better. But I do really like what happened in the bit where they did stop. And that will be on the extras.”

See each and every moment of Jurassic World Rebirth when it comes to theaters July 2.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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#Universal #Asked #Scenes #Added #Jurassic #World #Rebirth

flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.

Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra

Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21
	
Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.



Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra 







The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.



For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.



Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.



What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro



As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.





#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo

The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.

For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.

Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.

What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro

As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.

#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo">Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21
	
Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.



Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra 







The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.



For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.



Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.



What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro



As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.





#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo

with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.

Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra

Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21
	
Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.



Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra 







The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.



For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.



Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.



What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro



As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.





#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo

The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.

For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.

Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.

What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro

As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.

#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo">Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21

Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.

Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra

Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21
	
Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.



Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra 







The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.



For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.



Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.



What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro



As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.





#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo

The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.

For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.

Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.

What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro

As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.

#Oppo #Find #Ultra #Find #X9s #Series #Global #Launch #Rumoured #AprilOppo

It seemed like this might have been a rare week without a “robot doing dumb shit” story—but never fear, because Jeff Bezos’s squadron of airborne delivery drones is here to save the day. Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery service, has been rolling out in a number of US cities over the last few months and—surprise!—it looks like they kinda suck compared to their human equivalents. (And that’s really saying something considering those human equivalents’ propensity for running up to your front door, whacking a “Sorry we missed you!” sticker right below the note you left saying “BUZZER DOESN’T WORK—PLEASE CALL THIS NUMBER”, and then driving away.)*

Still, whatever else your local Amazon driver might do, one thing they won’t do is casually drop your precious package onto concrete from 10 feet in the air. Amazon’s drones, however…

Several stories videos have surfaced of late, apparently showing Amazon-branded drones hovering above customers’ driveways/stoops/etc and then just dropping their cargo onto the ground below. In one video, YouTuber Tamara Hancock orders a plastic bottle of blue raspberry syrup—which is apparently a substance one can order—and watches as the drone dumps it unceremoniously on her driveway. She opens the package and, sure enough, the video depicts a smashed and leaking screw top.

Given the unholy racket these things make, you can probably hear them approaching a mile off, so perhaps the best course of action is to just run outside and try to catch your package before it smashes into the ground. This isn’t the seamless service Amazon promised, but then again, it’s not all that different from waiting to hear the delivery driver approaching and then booking it outside to grab your package before he gets a chance to whack the dreaded “Sorry we missed you!” sticker on your door. Plus ça change, etc.

Anyway, it’s not easy to see how this issue might be mitigated. The obvious answer is “hover closer to the ground”, but given delivery robots’ record in failing to detect obstacles in their path, it feels like that strategy would eventually result in a headline like “Florida Grandmother Beheaded by Drone As She Tries to Collect Her Order of Trump Memorabilia.”

All jokes aside, the question of how drones actually avoid doing things like beheading grandmothers is, unsurprisingly, controversial. Last week Chad Butler, a former head of information security at Amazon’s commercial drone program, posted a video about the regulatory regime surrounding drones like the ones Amazon use, which are referred to as “beyond visual line of sight”, or BVLOS, drones. As the name suggests, these are drones that are able to fly autonomously beyond the line of sight of a human operator. Without a human directing them, drones need to be able to ensure they don’t fly into a wall.

Butler explains that there are two competing schools of thought about how to do this. The first requires the use of a system called ADS-B, which maintains a consistent broadcast of the drone’s altitude, heading and air speed, creating a sort of virtual environment that lets every drone know where every other drone is. The second, championed by Amazon, is more like the technology used on ground-based robots—it uses onboard “detect and avoid” systems like camera and radar, which allow drones to “see” what’s around them and navigate themselves around obstacles.

Amazon recently left the Commercial Drone Alliance, which advocates for the first system, and Butler actually endorses his former employer’s stance. He argues that if drones are constantly broadcasting an unencrypted record of their position, and they have no independent on-board methods to verify that position, then it becomes pretty easy for hackers to hijack them by simply spoofing a GPS signal. This scenario certainly sounds credible—and, frankly, kinda frightening. (Reassuringly, Butler says, “This is not a drone problem—it’s a design pattern problem, and I see it everywhere in AI and autonomous system design.” So that’s great.)

Having said that, we’ve seen with ground-based robots that the use of on-board sensors alone is also, um, less than perfect—and if navigating a drone in two dimensions is hard, adding a whole other dimension seems to just increase the difficulty and the chance of things going wrong. And on that note, there does seem to be one straightforward way of avoiding the possibility of a hacked delivery drone delivering a bomb to the White House or something, which is just getting rid of the bloody things. However, capitalism will not abide such good sense, so I guess we’ll just see how this whole thing pans out.

*To be clear, we don’t necessarily blame drivers working to insane schedules for doing this; it is frustrating, though.

#Amazon #Delivery #Drones #Involve #Perilous #10Foot #Drop #Users #Posting #Apparent #ResultsAmazon,Prime Air">Amazon Delivery Drones Involve a Perilous 10-Foot Drop. Users Are Posting the Apparent Results
                It seemed like this might have been a rare week without a “robot doing dumb shit” story—but never fear, because Jeff Bezos’s squadron of airborne delivery drones is here to save the day. Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery service, has been rolling out in a number of US cities over the last few months and—surprise!—it looks like they kinda suck compared to their human equivalents. (And that’s really saying something considering those human equivalents’ propensity for running up to your front door, whacking a “Sorry we missed you!” sticker right below the note you left saying “BUZZER DOESN’T WORK—PLEASE CALL THIS NUMBER”, and then driving away.)* Still, whatever else your local Amazon driver might do, one thing they won’t do is casually drop your precious package onto concrete from 10 feet in the air. Amazon’s drones, however…  Several stories videos have surfaced of late, apparently showing Amazon-branded drones hovering above customers’ driveways/stoops/etc and then just dropping their cargo onto the ground below. In one video, YouTuber Tamara Hancock orders a plastic bottle of blue raspberry syrup—which is apparently a substance one can order—and watches as the drone dumps it unceremoniously on her driveway. She opens the package and, sure enough, the video depicts a smashed and leaking screw top.

 Given the unholy racket these things make, you can probably hear them approaching a mile off, so perhaps the best course of action is to just run outside and try to catch your package before it smashes into the ground. This isn’t the seamless service Amazon promised, but then again, it’s not all that different from waiting to hear the delivery driver approaching and then booking it outside to grab your package before he gets a chance to whack the dreaded “Sorry we missed you!” sticker on your door. Plus ça change, etc. Anyway, it’s not easy to see how this issue might be mitigated. The obvious answer is “hover closer to the ground”, but given delivery robots’ record in failing to detect obstacles in their path, it feels like that strategy would eventually result in a headline like “Florida Grandmother Beheaded by Drone As She Tries to Collect Her Order of Trump Memorabilia.”

 All jokes aside, the question of how drones actually avoid doing things like beheading grandmothers is, unsurprisingly, controversial. Last week Chad Butler, a former head of information security at Amazon’s commercial drone program, posted a video about the regulatory regime surrounding drones like the ones Amazon use, which are referred to as “beyond visual line of sight”, or BVLOS, drones. As the name suggests, these are drones that are able to fly autonomously beyond the line of sight of a human operator. Without a human directing them, drones need to be able to ensure they don’t fly into a wall.

  Butler explains that there are two competing schools of thought about how to do this. The first requires the use of a system called ADS-B, which maintains a consistent broadcast of the drone’s altitude, heading and air speed, creating a sort of virtual environment that lets every drone know where every other drone is. The second, championed by Amazon, is more like the technology used on ground-based robots—it uses onboard “detect and avoid” systems like camera and radar, which allow drones to “see” what’s around them and navigate themselves around obstacles. Amazon recently left the Commercial Drone Alliance, which advocates for the first system, and Butler actually endorses his former employer’s stance. He argues that if drones are constantly broadcasting an unencrypted record of their position, and they have no independent on-board methods to verify that position, then it becomes pretty easy for hackers to hijack them by simply spoofing a GPS signal. This scenario certainly sounds credible—and, frankly, kinda frightening. (Reassuringly, Butler says, “This is not a drone problem—it’s a design pattern problem, and I see it everywhere in AI and autonomous system design.” So that’s great.)

 Having said that, we’ve seen with ground-based robots that the use of on-board sensors alone is also, um, less than perfect—and if navigating a drone in two dimensions is hard, adding a whole other dimension seems to just increase the difficulty and the chance of things going wrong. And on that note, there does seem to be one straightforward way of avoiding the possibility of a hacked delivery drone delivering a bomb to the White House or something, which is just getting rid of the bloody things. However, capitalism will not abide such good sense, so I guess we’ll just see how this whole thing pans out. *To be clear, we don’t necessarily blame drivers working to insane schedules for doing this; it is frustrating, though.      #Amazon #Delivery #Drones #Involve #Perilous #10Foot #Drop #Users #Posting #Apparent #ResultsAmazon,Prime Air

stories videos have surfaced of late, apparently showing Amazon-branded drones hovering above customers’ driveways/stoops/etc and then just dropping their cargo onto the ground below. In one video, YouTuber Tamara Hancock orders a plastic bottle of blue raspberry syrup—which is apparently a substance one can order—and watches as the drone dumps it unceremoniously on her driveway. She opens the package and, sure enough, the video depicts a smashed and leaking screw top.

Given the unholy racket these things make, you can probably hear them approaching a mile off, so perhaps the best course of action is to just run outside and try to catch your package before it smashes into the ground. This isn’t the seamless service Amazon promised, but then again, it’s not all that different from waiting to hear the delivery driver approaching and then booking it outside to grab your package before he gets a chance to whack the dreaded “Sorry we missed you!” sticker on your door. Plus ça change, etc.

Anyway, it’s not easy to see how this issue might be mitigated. The obvious answer is “hover closer to the ground”, but given delivery robots’ record in failing to detect obstacles in their path, it feels like that strategy would eventually result in a headline like “Florida Grandmother Beheaded by Drone As She Tries to Collect Her Order of Trump Memorabilia.”

All jokes aside, the question of how drones actually avoid doing things like beheading grandmothers is, unsurprisingly, controversial. Last week Chad Butler, a former head of information security at Amazon’s commercial drone program, posted a video about the regulatory regime surrounding drones like the ones Amazon use, which are referred to as “beyond visual line of sight”, or BVLOS, drones. As the name suggests, these are drones that are able to fly autonomously beyond the line of sight of a human operator. Without a human directing them, drones need to be able to ensure they don’t fly into a wall.

Butler explains that there are two competing schools of thought about how to do this. The first requires the use of a system called ADS-B, which maintains a consistent broadcast of the drone’s altitude, heading and air speed, creating a sort of virtual environment that lets every drone know where every other drone is. The second, championed by Amazon, is more like the technology used on ground-based robots—it uses onboard “detect and avoid” systems like camera and radar, which allow drones to “see” what’s around them and navigate themselves around obstacles.

Amazon recently left the Commercial Drone Alliance, which advocates for the first system, and Butler actually endorses his former employer’s stance. He argues that if drones are constantly broadcasting an unencrypted record of their position, and they have no independent on-board methods to verify that position, then it becomes pretty easy for hackers to hijack them by simply spoofing a GPS signal. This scenario certainly sounds credible—and, frankly, kinda frightening. (Reassuringly, Butler says, “This is not a drone problem—it’s a design pattern problem, and I see it everywhere in AI and autonomous system design.” So that’s great.)

Having said that, we’ve seen with ground-based robots that the use of on-board sensors alone is also, um, less than perfect—and if navigating a drone in two dimensions is hard, adding a whole other dimension seems to just increase the difficulty and the chance of things going wrong. And on that note, there does seem to be one straightforward way of avoiding the possibility of a hacked delivery drone delivering a bomb to the White House or something, which is just getting rid of the bloody things. However, capitalism will not abide such good sense, so I guess we’ll just see how this whole thing pans out.

*To be clear, we don’t necessarily blame drivers working to insane schedules for doing this; it is frustrating, though.

#Amazon #Delivery #Drones #Involve #Perilous #10Foot #Drop #Users #Posting #Apparent #ResultsAmazon,Prime Air">Amazon Delivery Drones Involve a Perilous 10-Foot Drop. Users Are Posting the Apparent ResultsAmazon Delivery Drones Involve a Perilous 10-Foot Drop. Users Are Posting the Apparent Results
                It seemed like this might have been a rare week without a “robot doing dumb shit” story—but never fear, because Jeff Bezos’s squadron of airborne delivery drones is here to save the day. Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery service, has been rolling out in a number of US cities over the last few months and—surprise!—it looks like they kinda suck compared to their human equivalents. (And that’s really saying something considering those human equivalents’ propensity for running up to your front door, whacking a “Sorry we missed you!” sticker right below the note you left saying “BUZZER DOESN’T WORK—PLEASE CALL THIS NUMBER”, and then driving away.)* Still, whatever else your local Amazon driver might do, one thing they won’t do is casually drop your precious package onto concrete from 10 feet in the air. Amazon’s drones, however…  Several stories videos have surfaced of late, apparently showing Amazon-branded drones hovering above customers’ driveways/stoops/etc and then just dropping their cargo onto the ground below. In one video, YouTuber Tamara Hancock orders a plastic bottle of blue raspberry syrup—which is apparently a substance one can order—and watches as the drone dumps it unceremoniously on her driveway. She opens the package and, sure enough, the video depicts a smashed and leaking screw top.

 Given the unholy racket these things make, you can probably hear them approaching a mile off, so perhaps the best course of action is to just run outside and try to catch your package before it smashes into the ground. This isn’t the seamless service Amazon promised, but then again, it’s not all that different from waiting to hear the delivery driver approaching and then booking it outside to grab your package before he gets a chance to whack the dreaded “Sorry we missed you!” sticker on your door. Plus ça change, etc. Anyway, it’s not easy to see how this issue might be mitigated. The obvious answer is “hover closer to the ground”, but given delivery robots’ record in failing to detect obstacles in their path, it feels like that strategy would eventually result in a headline like “Florida Grandmother Beheaded by Drone As She Tries to Collect Her Order of Trump Memorabilia.”

 All jokes aside, the question of how drones actually avoid doing things like beheading grandmothers is, unsurprisingly, controversial. Last week Chad Butler, a former head of information security at Amazon’s commercial drone program, posted a video about the regulatory regime surrounding drones like the ones Amazon use, which are referred to as “beyond visual line of sight”, or BVLOS, drones. As the name suggests, these are drones that are able to fly autonomously beyond the line of sight of a human operator. Without a human directing them, drones need to be able to ensure they don’t fly into a wall.

  Butler explains that there are two competing schools of thought about how to do this. The first requires the use of a system called ADS-B, which maintains a consistent broadcast of the drone’s altitude, heading and air speed, creating a sort of virtual environment that lets every drone know where every other drone is. The second, championed by Amazon, is more like the technology used on ground-based robots—it uses onboard “detect and avoid” systems like camera and radar, which allow drones to “see” what’s around them and navigate themselves around obstacles. Amazon recently left the Commercial Drone Alliance, which advocates for the first system, and Butler actually endorses his former employer’s stance. He argues that if drones are constantly broadcasting an unencrypted record of their position, and they have no independent on-board methods to verify that position, then it becomes pretty easy for hackers to hijack them by simply spoofing a GPS signal. This scenario certainly sounds credible—and, frankly, kinda frightening. (Reassuringly, Butler says, “This is not a drone problem—it’s a design pattern problem, and I see it everywhere in AI and autonomous system design.” So that’s great.)

 Having said that, we’ve seen with ground-based robots that the use of on-board sensors alone is also, um, less than perfect—and if navigating a drone in two dimensions is hard, adding a whole other dimension seems to just increase the difficulty and the chance of things going wrong. And on that note, there does seem to be one straightforward way of avoiding the possibility of a hacked delivery drone delivering a bomb to the White House or something, which is just getting rid of the bloody things. However, capitalism will not abide such good sense, so I guess we’ll just see how this whole thing pans out. *To be clear, we don’t necessarily blame drivers working to insane schedules for doing this; it is frustrating, though.      #Amazon #Delivery #Drones #Involve #Perilous #10Foot #Drop #Users #Posting #Apparent #ResultsAmazon,Prime Air

It seemed like this might have been a rare week without a “robot doing dumb shit” story—but never fear, because Jeff Bezos’s squadron of airborne delivery drones is here to save the day. Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery service, has been rolling out in a number of US cities over the last few months and—surprise!—it looks like they kinda suck compared to their human equivalents. (And that’s really saying something considering those human equivalents’ propensity for running up to your front door, whacking a “Sorry we missed you!” sticker right below the note you left saying “BUZZER DOESN’T WORK—PLEASE CALL THIS NUMBER”, and then driving away.)*

Still, whatever else your local Amazon driver might do, one thing they won’t do is casually drop your precious package onto concrete from 10 feet in the air. Amazon’s drones, however…

Several stories videos have surfaced of late, apparently showing Amazon-branded drones hovering above customers’ driveways/stoops/etc and then just dropping their cargo onto the ground below. In one video, YouTuber Tamara Hancock orders a plastic bottle of blue raspberry syrup—which is apparently a substance one can order—and watches as the drone dumps it unceremoniously on her driveway. She opens the package and, sure enough, the video depicts a smashed and leaking screw top.

Given the unholy racket these things make, you can probably hear them approaching a mile off, so perhaps the best course of action is to just run outside and try to catch your package before it smashes into the ground. This isn’t the seamless service Amazon promised, but then again, it’s not all that different from waiting to hear the delivery driver approaching and then booking it outside to grab your package before he gets a chance to whack the dreaded “Sorry we missed you!” sticker on your door. Plus ça change, etc.

Anyway, it’s not easy to see how this issue might be mitigated. The obvious answer is “hover closer to the ground”, but given delivery robots’ record in failing to detect obstacles in their path, it feels like that strategy would eventually result in a headline like “Florida Grandmother Beheaded by Drone As She Tries to Collect Her Order of Trump Memorabilia.”

All jokes aside, the question of how drones actually avoid doing things like beheading grandmothers is, unsurprisingly, controversial. Last week Chad Butler, a former head of information security at Amazon’s commercial drone program, posted a video about the regulatory regime surrounding drones like the ones Amazon use, which are referred to as “beyond visual line of sight”, or BVLOS, drones. As the name suggests, these are drones that are able to fly autonomously beyond the line of sight of a human operator. Without a human directing them, drones need to be able to ensure they don’t fly into a wall.

Butler explains that there are two competing schools of thought about how to do this. The first requires the use of a system called ADS-B, which maintains a consistent broadcast of the drone’s altitude, heading and air speed, creating a sort of virtual environment that lets every drone know where every other drone is. The second, championed by Amazon, is more like the technology used on ground-based robots—it uses onboard “detect and avoid” systems like camera and radar, which allow drones to “see” what’s around them and navigate themselves around obstacles.

Amazon recently left the Commercial Drone Alliance, which advocates for the first system, and Butler actually endorses his former employer’s stance. He argues that if drones are constantly broadcasting an unencrypted record of their position, and they have no independent on-board methods to verify that position, then it becomes pretty easy for hackers to hijack them by simply spoofing a GPS signal. This scenario certainly sounds credible—and, frankly, kinda frightening. (Reassuringly, Butler says, “This is not a drone problem—it’s a design pattern problem, and I see it everywhere in AI and autonomous system design.” So that’s great.)

Having said that, we’ve seen with ground-based robots that the use of on-board sensors alone is also, um, less than perfect—and if navigating a drone in two dimensions is hard, adding a whole other dimension seems to just increase the difficulty and the chance of things going wrong. And on that note, there does seem to be one straightforward way of avoiding the possibility of a hacked delivery drone delivering a bomb to the White House or something, which is just getting rid of the bloody things. However, capitalism will not abide such good sense, so I guess we’ll just see how this whole thing pans out.

*To be clear, we don’t necessarily blame drivers working to insane schedules for doing this; it is frustrating, though.

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