#and he isn’t in too much actual danger because fadel

[fandomfairyuniverse]

Fadel: *threatens style figuratively and then literally*

Style:

[massy2ly]

Just wanted to talk about something real quick (EP 8 Kant’s edition)

*this is a personal opinion. I know the discussion about Kant is still controversial*

I see so many comments about how shocked people are by the preview for episode 8, especially since Kant and Bison seem to come to some form of understanding with each other. Some posts insist that Bison shouldn’t fold so easily and that Kant should grovel hard to win his love back.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for some groveling in any book or show. There’s something so compelling about that kind of raw, desperate vulnerability. But with Kant? I just don’t think that’s necessary—not in the tedious, slow and over-the-top way that some people are expecting.

Why? Because Kant has been suffering since episode 1. This man has never been allowed to breathe freely, to be himself fully, or to love unrestrained. The pressure he’s been under is honestly maddening if you really stop and think about it. And on top of that, he’s been forced into situations that pushed him to make choices he never wanted to. This is why I don’t think the typical "groveling" people expect fits his character, especially in his relationship with Bison.

When Kant stood on that boat, looking completely defeated, it wasn’t just the threat of death that crushed him. It was everything he had been through, all his struggles coming to a head. He was staring down the very real possibility of dying the worst death he could imagine—at the hands of the man he could never truly love, the one person he would never get to have a future with. This wasn’t just about facing death; it was the weight of every sacrifice he’d made and the horrifying realization that, despite everything, he was losing everything—including his chance to love Bison without fear. So yes, Kant will definitely grovel in episode 8, but their reconciliation happening quickly actually makes so much sense for his character. No more secrets, no more pretending. He finally gets to be himself, confess his love, and face his sins. For someone who’s fought alone for so long, having someone by his side to fight with—not just for—is everything he could ever want.

The trailer already shows that Kant will help Bison turn over a new leaf, and that’s huge. Kant has always been carrying everything on his own. Now, for the first time, he’s going to have someone to fight alongside him. And that shift is monumental for his growth. Remember First’s interview when he said Kant is selfless, that he wants nothing more than for his loved ones to be happy and to see their dreams come true? People often think he’s selfish, and while he often comes across as that, I personally don’t think it’s the case. That selfishness is a result of the impossible situations he’s been forced into AND ESPECIALLY his tendency to make VERY VERY stupid decisions without thinking them through. Nothing he’s done has ever been for himself (a hot take I know and i’m still debating it too because I won’t forgive him for putting Style in danger).

While Style jumped headfirst into his feelings for Fadel and took every opportunity to explore them, Kant refused to acknowledge his own because he knew he couldn’t have that kind of future. He couldn’t imagine a life where he and Bison could truly be free to love each other.

But let’s not forget Bison. Yes, he’s impulsive, passionate, and his temper can get the best of him. Yes, he’s been betrayed, and he has every right to decide whether or not to listen to what Kant has to say. But Bison isn’t just a hothead. He’s a man with his own scars—he’s a criminal, his only family is his brother, and he’s made difficult choices to protect the people he loves. And he loves Kant. He knows Kant loves him, or at least, he will come to realize it.

Style, as optimistic and goofy as he is, has been keeping it real this whole time. Love is their way out. People do foolish things for love, and when you love someone, you’ll do anything to get that person. That’s the kind of love Kant and Bison have too. And in the end, love will be what saves them.

[abckidstvyara]

This company wants to put “brains” in electric scooters and bikes to keep riders safer

This company wants to put “brains” in electric scooters and bikes to keep riders safer

Superpedestrian, a Cambridge, Ma.-based company, has been known until now for its electric Copenhagen wheel, which a user attaches to his or her bikes and operates through an app. It’s essentially a hub that houses a motor, a battery and sensors and is placed in the middle of the rear wheel, measuring how fast and how forcefully someone is riding and adding a little electric oomph when a bike’s pedals are pushed.

Riders love the wheel, but now, Superpedestrian is shifting gears. It isn’t abandoning its consumer base. Instead, it’s taking the wraps off an entirely new second business that plans to use the one million kilometers of data the company has amassed from its Copenhagen customers to improve the offerings of urban mobility companies. More specifically, it wants to sell them hardware and software that will keep their fleets up to snuff.

It doesn’t matter if these companies are renting out electric bikes, scooter, mopeds or all three. Superpedestrian is “micro vehicle” agnostic, suggests its founder, Assaf Biderman — who’d earlier spent 10 years working at MIT’s Senseable City Lab. In fact, he says Superpedestrian has been quietly modeling out this business-to-business diagnostics business since nearly the company’s launch five years ago, but that it was waiting for small motorized vehicles to gain momentum.

Now, of course, scooter and e-bike sharing services are suddenly booming. Enter Superpedestrian. It says it’s time for the companies that are peppering city streets with them to improve the quality of these vehicles, and that Superpedestrian can help make them more reliable, easier to track, and more cost-effective over time.

Biderman is, alas, a little vague on some of the specifics. For competitive reasons, he declines to discuss how much Superpedestrian will charge for its technology or precisely how a customer like an Uber or a Spin or a Scoot would incorporate its tech into their products. He also won’t say whether Superpedestrian is already selling to any of these, or other, mobility companies already.

He is comfortable talking broadly about are the sensors, embedded controllers, and software that Superpedestrian has created and protected thanks to the “dozens of patents” that the company has secured over the years, “from Japan to China to Europe to the U.S.” He suggests that what Superpedestrian has built in some ways mirrors the smarts in self-driving cars.

When a car opens in front of a rider, for example, that person’s natural inclination might be to slam on the brakes, but Biderman argues they aren’t always able to do this on pedal-assist bikes, which are actuated by sensing rider pedaling but have “very limited ability when it comes to sensing what the rider is actually doing with his or her feet.” Delays in power output due to controls, or gear lag, can also prove dangerous if the expectation is that a bike will push in synch with how the pedals are pushed. Superdestrian’s tech gives riders more control over the bike because it ensures the power is better synchronized with pedaling motions, he says.

The technology doesn’t just protect riders. Bideman says companies that work with Superpedestrian can also better protect their products. For one thing, he says, its technology can ensure their batteries don’t overheat. (As we’ve seen with autonomous cars, laptops and mobile phones, lithium-ion batteries can, on rare occasion, catch fire and explode.)

Investors certainly like Superpedestrian’s new direction. The company, which employs roughly 50 people, just closed on $16.5 million in Series B1 funding expressly to introduce its products and services into the e-bike and electric scooter sharing market. Designer Tony Fadell, investing from his investment and advisory firm Future Shape, participated in the round. So did Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and Charles Kim of Extol Capital, who also serves as managing director at China Renaissance in the U.S.

The new round brings the company’s total funding to $44 million. Biderman sounds highly motivated to put it to work, too.

“It’s great that micro mobility is becoming a reality in cities,” he says. He’d become obsessed long ago with how to squeeze more capacity out of roads, and nothing makes him happier than “one-person vehicles, because they’re occupied at 100 percent,” unlike cars that are “usually 60 to 80 percent unoccupied” and the “wrong scale as cities become more congested.”

Still, he continues, these new vehicles “need to have a different brain in them.” If he has his way, Superpedestrian will design it.

[theinvinciblenoob]

Superpedestrian, a Cambridge, Ma.-based company, has been known until now for its electric Copenhagen wheel, which a user attaches to his or her bikes and operates through an app. It’s essentially a circular unit that houses a motor, a battery and sensors and is placed in the middle of the rear wheel, measuring how fast and how forcefully someone is riding and adding a little electric oomph when a bike’s pedals are pushed.

Riders love the wheel, but now, Superpedestrian is shifting gears. It isn’t abandoning its consumer base. Instead, it’s taking the wraps off an entirely new second business that plans to use the one million kilometers of data it has amassed from Copenhagen customers to improve the offerings of urban mobility companies. More specifically, it wants to sell them hardware and software that will keep their fleets up to snuff.

It doesn’t matter if these companies are renting out electric bikes, scooter, mopeds or all three. Superpedestrian is “micro vehicle” agnostic, suggests its founder, Assaf Biderman — who’d earlier spent 10 years working at MIT’s Senseable City Lab. In fact, he says Superpedestrian has been quietly modeling out this business-to-business diagnostics business since nearly the company’s launch five years ago but was waiting for small motorized vehicles to gain momentum.

Now, of course, scooter and e-bike sharing services are suddenly booming. Enter Superpedestrian, which says it’s time for the companies that are peppering city streets with their vehicles to improve their quality, and that Superpedestrian can help make them more reliable, easier to track, and more cost-effective over time.

Biderman is, alas, a little vague on some of the specifics. For competitive reasons, he declines to discuss how much Superpedestrian will charge for its technology or precisely how a customer like an Uber or a Spin or a Scoot would incorporate its tech into their products. He also won’t say whether Superpedestrian is already selling to any of these, or other, mobility companies already.

He is comfortable talking broadly about the sensors, embedded controllers, and software that Superpedestrian has created and protected thanks to the “dozens of patents” that the company has secured over the years, “from Japan to China to Europe to the U.S.” He suggests that what Superpedestrian has built in some ways mirrors the smarts in self-driving cars.

When a car opens in front of a rider, for example, that person’s natural inclination might be to slam on the brakes, but Biderman argues they aren’t always able to do this on pedal-assist bikes, which are actuated by sensing rider pedaling but have “very limited ability when it comes to sensing what the rider is actually doing with his or her feet.” Delays in power output due to controls, or gear lag, can also prove dangerous if the expectation is that a bike will push in synch with how the pedals are pushed. Superdestrian’s tech gives riders more control over the bike because it ensures the power is better synchronized with pedaling motions, he says.

The technology doesn’t just protect riders. Bideman says companies that work with Superpedestrian can also better protect their products. For one thing, he says, its technology can ensure their batteries don’t overheat. (As we’ve seen with autonomous cars, laptops and mobile phones, lithium-ion batteries can, on rare occasion, catch fire and explode.)

Investors certainly like Superpedestrian’s new direction. The company, which employs roughly 50 people, just closed on $16.5 million in Series B1 funding expressly to introduce its products and services into the e-bike and electric scooter sharing market. Designer Tony Fadell, investing from his investment and advisory firm Future Shape, participated in the round. So did Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and Charles Kim of Extol Capital, who also serves as managing director at China Renaissance in the U.S.

The new round brings the company’s total funding to $44 million. Biderman sounds highly motivated to put it to work, too.

“It’s great that micro mobility is becoming a reality in cities,” he says. He’d become obsessed long ago with how to squeeze more capacity out of roads, and nothing makes him happier than “one-person vehicles, because they’re occupied at 100 percent,” unlike cars that are “usually 60 to 80 percent unoccupied” and the “wrong scale as cities become more congested.”

Still, he continues, these new vehicles “need to have a different brain in them.” If he has his way, Superpedestrian will design it.

via TechCrunch

[thaiandotherbls]

Style in a nutshell

Fadel: *threatens style figuratively and then literally*

Style: