Category: Technica Aquarius

Enlarge / The Model Y still includes a steering wheel for Tesla owners who want to drive for themselves. (credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s highly controversial “full self driving” feature is getting yet another price increase. CEO Elon Musk used his Twitter feed last Friday to announce the price hike, telling his millions of followers, “Tesla FSD price rising to $12k on Jan 17.”

Price increases have been a fairly constant theme with the driver-assistance system. In the wake of Uber’s well-publicized IPO in 2019, Tesla got ridehailing fever, with Musk claiming that a self-driving Tesla could earn $30,000 a year in income, working the streets while its owner is asleep or at work.

“If you buy a Tesla today, I believe you are buying an appreciating asset—not a depreciating asset,” Musk said. (Although the company’s EVs do command strong prices in the used car market, they are still, in fact, subject to depreciation, according to a search on Autotrader conducted this morning.)

Enlarge / This 64-pixel OLED panel was 3D printed.

Laptops and phones with OLED displays boast rich colors at high contrasts—but they come at a premium price. Researchers from the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities (UMN) say they’ve found a potential solution to that price barrier by using a 3D printer that could eventually lead to people making their own OLED screens at home.

In a study published in Science Advances on Friday, the researchers used a custom-built printer that fits on a table and “costs about the same as a Tesla Model S,” Michael McAlpine, a University of Minnesota professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and senior author of the study, said in a statement accompanying UMN’s announcement.

While OLED panels are typically made in large microfabrication facilities by big companies like LG Display, the research could eventually result in hobbyists being able to make cheap OLED panels in their own workshops, according to the university.

Enlarge / Giving a little joy. (credit: xJasonRogersx / Flickr)

One month ago, we asked readers to donate to a couple of good causes in our 2021 Charity Drive sweepstakes. And boy, did you deliver. With the drive now complete and the donations all tallied, we can report that Ars Technica readers gave an incredible $40,261.71 to Child’s Play and the EFF in the last month. That doesn’t quite set a new record, but it surpasses our total charity haul for every annual charity drive except 2020. All told, Ars Charity Drive donations since 2007 now total over $435,000. Well done, Arsians!

Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We’re still early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don’t fret if you haven’t heard if you’re a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2021 drive.

• 2021 Fundraising total: $40,261.71
  • Total given to Child’s Play: $15,919.90
  • Total given to the EFF: $24,341.81
• Number of individual donations: 359
  • Child’s Play donations: 166
  • EFF donations: 193
• Average donation: $112.15
  • Child’s Play average donation: $95.90
  • EFF average donation: $126.12
• Median donation: $51.80
  • Median Child’s Play donation: $50.00
  • Median EFF donation: $66.95
• Top single donation: $4,000 (to EFF)
• Donations of $1,000 or more: 7 (!)
• Donations of $100 or more: 134
• $5 or less donations: 3 (every little bit helps!)
• Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $435,126.83
  • 2021: $40,261.71
  • 2020: $58,758.11
  • 2019: $33,181.11
  • 2018: $20,210.66
  • 2017: $36,012.37
  • 2016: $38,738.11
  • 2015: $38,861.06
  • 2014: $25,094.31
  • 2013: $23,570.13
  • 2012: $28,713.52
  • 2011: ~$26,000
  • 2010: ~$24,000
  • 2009: ~$17,000
  • 2008: ~$12,000
  • 2007: ~$10,000