Forget self-driving cars, China’s Baidu says it will put self-driving buses on roads in 3 years

I’m preparing a list of the trends of 2016 that I’ll be looking for at #CES2016. 

I found this one through the CES web page. Sharing it here, as I already know driver less cars is high on my list. 

This announcement is one I’ve been expecting. I see jobs lost and pushback from drivers being a huge issue in the next 10 years. Currently 11.4% of jobs here in the US require driving trains, planes and automobiles. I think we’ll have to deal with a lot of angry truckers and delivery people, along with millions who wonder if autonomous vehicles will ever be safe.

BEIJING (By Jake Spring, Reuters) -China’s top online search firm Baidu Inc said it aims to put self-driving buses on the road in three years and mass produce them within five years, after it set up a business unit to oversee all its efforts related to automobiles.

The unit will also include its initiative in partnership with BMW AG to develop an autonomous passenger vehicle, which may also be put into mass production within five years, a spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

Self-driving cars have emerged as a new battlefront for tech majors globally. Alibaba Group Holding says it will launch its first car in a partnership with China’s SAIC Motor Corp, while U.S. tech heavyweights Google and Apple are also developing autonomous cars.

CES is going to be huge for this movement. Listening to SVP Jeff Joseph interview and it keeps going back to driverless vehicles. 2016 is going to feature automotive executives keynotes at the show.

Today. Cars are a consumer electronics product.

US and Cuba to Establish Direct Mail Service

Just read about this on Facebook. Most of the posts were from people with something to say about Cuba politics, the Obama administration, politics and axes they have been grinding for decades. 

For capitalist who think there’s a market where there’s open trade, we should be happy. And on a human scale, I’d think it’s pretty easy to see that the US hasn’t brought down Cuba’s govenment, and despite any faults, they are apt to grow with us more than against us. 

Viva free trade!

It’s the first time in five decades.

The United States and Cuba have come to an agreement to establish direct postal service between the two countries for the first in five decades, Cuban officials said today.

The plan, while a pilot program, is expected to begin in the coming weeks, Cuban officials who met with U.S. officials in Miami said in a statement. It will allow both counties to send and receive mail and packages, something that had not occurred since the break of diplomatic relations more than 50 years ago.

Discussions on technical and operations are still ongoing and must be completed prior to full implementation.

Diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba were restored nearly a year ago, on Dec. 17. President Obama and President Raul Castro announced a renewal of relations with a prisoner exchange that included the release of USAID contractor Alan Gross