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Showing posts from August, 2019

How to manage Facebook notifications

While it is easy for few to opt out of Facebook and completely delete their account, many cannot. It could be because of their personal choice or professional needs. Once you’re on Facebook then you have to deal with Facebook notifications. Though it is an important tool to stay updated, there are times when Facebook floods your device -- mobile or desktop -- with unwanted notifications. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zIqFKa

Don’t write lithium off yet – more efficient batteries are on the way

Lithium producers may be seeing significant drops in revenue, but new battery technology, plus pro-electric vehicle regulation, is just around the corner from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2HDn7Nq

Behind the scenes of The Dark Crystal, Netflix's retro puppet extravaganza

Thirty-seven years on, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance mixes old-school puppetry with a new way of filming to bring new dynamism to the genre from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/32pjRxn

Ditch Google with these privacy-first alternatives

Google is the web's most dominant services company – it's also one of the world's biggest advertisers. If you're trying to protect your data, these are the best alternatives from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2HCl7Fg

Apple thanks Prime Minister Modi, Google’s new smart speaker, Oppo’s new phone and more

from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zIkgOR

ICICI Bank has 'UPI Warning' for its customers: All you need to know

from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2ZqziYZ

Apple still has work to do on privacy

There’s no doubt that Apple’s self-polished reputation for privacy and security has taken a bit of a battering recently. On the security front, Google researchers just disclosed a major flaw in the iPhone, finding a number of malicious websites that could hack into a victim’s device by exploiting a set of previously undisclosed software bugs. When visited, the sites infected iPhones with an implant designed to harvest personal data — such as location, contacts and messages. As flaws go, it looks like a very bad one. And when security fails so spectacularly, all those shiny privacy promises naturally go straight out the window. The implant was used to steal location data and files like databases of WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage. So all the user messages, or emails. Copies of contacts, photos, https://t.co/AmWRpbcIHw pic.twitter.com/vUNQDo9noJ — Lukasz Olejnik (@lukOlejnik) August 30, 2019 And while that particular cold-sweat-inducing iPhone security snafu has now been patch

Original Content podcast: Netflix’s new ‘Dark Crystal’ is a visual delight, no nostalgia needed

“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” returns viewers to the world of Thra — a distant, magical planet ruled over by the sinister, long-lived Skeksis, who have lied their way into ownership of the titular crystal and dominance of the elf-like Gelflings. The series is a prequel to Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s 1982 film “The Dark Crystal” — but two out of your three hosts at  the Original Content podcast haven’t seen the original movie, so our opinions weren’t colored by nostalgia. Like the Henson/Oz film, “Age of Resistance” relies on sophisticated puppetry to bring a complex fantasy world to life. It’s genuinely dazzling, with sprawling cities, steampunk machinery and all manner of fantasy creatures all fully realized, and often captured in fast-moving scenes of kinetic action. On the other hand, for some of us, the puppetry wasn’t quite up to the task when the show got darker and more serious. It’s hard to care about family drama and romance when your lead characters have limited fac

Come along, take a ride

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From afar, Olli resembles many of the “future is now!” electric autonomous shuttles that have popped up in recent years. The tall rectangular pod, with its wide-set headlights and expansive windows nestled between a rounded frame, gives the shuttle a friendly countenance that screams, ever so gently, “come along, take a ride.” But Olli is different in almost every way, from how it’s produced to its origin story. And now, its maker, Local Motors, has given Olli an upgrade in hopes of accelerating the adoption of its autonomous shuttles. Meet Olli 2.0, a 3D-printed connected electric autonomous shuttle that Rogers says will hasten its ubiquity. “The future is here; it’s just not evenly distributed,” Local Motors co-founder and CEO John B. Rogers Jr. said in a recent interview. “That’s something I say a lot. Because people often ask me, ‘Hey, when will I see this vehicle? 2023? What do you think?’ My response: It’s here now, it’s just not everywhere.” Whether individuals will adopt

IT Ministry joins hands with Google on 'Build for Digital India'

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Saturday entered into a partnership with Google with the aim of rolling out "Build for Digital India", a programme that will give engineering students a platform to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions that address key social problems. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2LbbjnK

Delhi boy to watch Chandrayaan-2 landing with PM Modi

Delhi student Manogya Singh Suyansh has been selected by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to watch the landing of Chandrayaan-2 on the surface of the moon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2ZCCkEF

How a NASA clock could help spacecrafts navigate in deep space

NASA has activated an atomic clock that could enable spacecraft to safely navigate themselves in deep space rather than rely on the time-consuming process of receiving directions from Earth. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2MMj45K

Motivational text messages may help diabetic patients, says study

Researchers have found that a low-cost text messaging programme improves blood sugar control in patients with diabetes and coronary heart disease. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2Zvs7Os

Startups Weekly: Peloton’s 29 secret weapons

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Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy startups and venture capital news. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I wrote about a new e-commerce startup, Pietra . Before that, I wrote about the flurry of IPO filings . Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on Twitter  @KateClarkTweets . If you don’t subscribe to Startups Weekly yet, you can do that  here . What’s new? Peloton revealed its S-1 this week, taking a big step toward an IPO expected later this year. The filing was packed with interesting tidbits, including that the company, which manufacturers internet-connected stationary bikes and sells an affiliated subscription to its growing library of on-demand fitness content, is raking in more than $900 million in annual revenue. Sure, it’s not profitable, and it’s losing an increasing amount of money to sales and marketing efforts, but for

Woman panel ask police to lodge FIR against mobile app promoting prostitution

The Delhi Commission For Women on Friday asked Delhi police to lodge a criminal case against a widely available mobile app, openly promoting prostitution in society. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2NIBzre

Google Doodle honours literary icon Amrita Pritam

Clad in a red and yellow salwar-kameez, her head demurely covered, she sits on a white sheet in a courtyard engrossed in a book, a sprig of roses at her feet. The archways behind her spell out Google as the global search engine honoured Punjabi-Hindi novelist, essayist and poet Amrita Pritam on her 100th birth anniversary. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zHzfIM

Twitter CEO's account gets hacked

The account of Twitter Inc Chief Executive Jack Dorsey was hacked on Friday afternoon, sending public tweets and retweets including racial slurs and curse words to 4 million followers. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2Pw2Mjt

Digital identity for refugees may lead to discrimination: Study

Global efforts to give refugees who are missing key paper documents such as birth certificates a digital identity could leave them vulnerable to persecution or discrimination, a new study warns. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zETdnA

Bahamas, Florida in path of 'dangerous' Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" storm on Friday as it bore down on the Bahamas and the east coast of the US state of Florida. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2ZKaQgh

Fires not the only threat facing Amazon

Raging wildfires have drawn the world's attention to the Amazon but immolation is just one of the dangers facing the world's largest rain forest, environmental experts across the region say. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/30IvOxz

Dorian becomes a Category 4 monster powering toward Florida

Hurricane Dorian powered toward Florida with increasing fury Friday, becoming an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm but leaving forecasters uncertain whether it would make a direct hit on the state's east coast or inflict a glancing blow. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HCUaBh

Don't carry this Apple device: Air India to passengers

The DGCA had on August 26 asked passengers not to fly with older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units which have been recalled by Apple, as they may pose a safety risk. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/32ka8YO

The new Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra is made of titanium and weighs just 55g

The impressive Seamaster Aqua Terra “Ultra Light” is made from gamma titanium and is lighter than a tennis ball. But innovation comes at quite the price from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2LwI8L9

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus review: overloaded, but still the best Galaxy

A smartphone of a thousand niches, Samsung's Note 10 Plus is packed with camera and gaming and S Pen features - some more useful than others from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2ZumqkE

11 of the best dystopian novels everyone should read

Looking for your next read? Peruse our pick of the best dystopian novels of all time and realise that things could be a lot worse from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2LitTcG

Netflix's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a worthy successor to Game of Thrones

Beyond the puppets, Netflix's new Dark Crystal series gets political from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2ZrAEm9

13 best smartphones under Rs 25,000 you can buy right now

from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/30NTgth

Did your aluminum Apple Watch mysteriously crack itself? Apple might replace the screen for free

So your aluminum Series 2 or Series 3 Apple Watch is suddenly cracking around the edges… but you don’t remember bumping it on anything, or being particularly rough with it. Surprise! It might not be your fault at all. Apple says that they’ve determined that “under very rare circumstances”, the displays on aluminum Series 2 and 3 are developing cracks that can wrap around the rounded edges. The good news? If Apple determines your display crack is caused by this newly discovered issue, they’ll replace the screen for free. The bad news? It’s not the kind of thing they can fix at the Genius Bar, so getting it patched up means shipping the Watch to Apple and being without it for 5+ days. (It sounds like the kind of cracks they’re looking for are pretty specific — they’re looking for cracks that developed around the rounded edges, as pictured above. So if you really just dropped something on the watch and the display got obliterated, you probably aren’t gonna be able to pull a fast one

Labor Day Special: One extra week on early-bird pricing for Disrupt SF 2019

Happy (almost) Labor Day to all the hardworking members of the early-startup community — entrepreneurs, founders, investors, engineers and everyone in between. We know how hard you work to build your dream, so we’re cutting you a break and extending our early-bird pricing on passes to Disrupt San Francisco 2019 through 11:59 p.m. (PST) on September 6 . One extra week to save up to $1,300. Don’t fritter away this absolute last opportunity to save big bucks on our flagship event, where you’ll find more than 10,000 attendees, 400 media outlets and a passel of eager investors. Get your early-bird tickets now . Disrupt events always feature incredible speakers, and we’ve got an amazing agenda lined up for you this year. Let’s take a look at just some of the discussions and interviews you’ll enjoy over the course of three Disruptive days. Reigniting the Space Race: Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith intends to return the U.S. to crewed spaceflight, with a goal of doing so this year with its fi

Farmers and animals struggle in drought-hit Botswana

A calf struggles neck-high in the stew-like mud, kicking frantically to make its way across the mire. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2ZADrbZ

New MIT paper outlines plan to fight election interference

One of the most urgent threats facing our democracy and other democracies abroad is the ability to detect and thwart foreign election interference. But, research on election interference is scarce, according to a new article published in Science this week by two professors from MIT titled "Protecting Elections from Social Media Manipulation." from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2zvVuS3

Draft UN report warns of rising seas, storm surges, melting permafrost

The same oceans that nourished human evolution are poised to unleash misery on a global scale unless the carbon pollution destabilising Earth's marine environment is brought to heel, warns a draft UN report obtained by AFP. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2PpOS2A

How a sophisticated iPhone hack spread around the world

Researchers at Google's Project Zero have disclosed vulnerabilities in Apple's iOS, which led to iPhones being hacked over the last two years. It's described as a "sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones" from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2LgIhCe

Florida preps for an 'absolute monster': Hurricane Dorian

Unsure where Hurricane Dorian is going to land over Labor Day weekend, many Florida residents faced a sense of helplessness as they prepared for what President Donald Trump said could be an "absolute monster" of a storm. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UdzqVY

Capital flight: Indonesian move could prompt new environment crisis

Abandoning Jakarta for a new capital in Borneo won't save the fast-sinking Indonesian megacity from disaster and could even spark a fresh environmental crisis in a region home to rainforests and endangered orangutans, critics have warned. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/343YOSq

Rising seas threaten Egypt's fabled port city of Alexandria

Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, which has survived invasions, fires and earthquakes since it was founded by Alexander the Great more than 2,000 years ago, now faces a new menace in the form of climate change. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UgBlJ9

Hunters turn gamekeepers to help C. Africa's threatened wildlife

Jean moves deftly through the tangle of roots and branches before waiting for the rainforest to give him a clue. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2zxSKUa

US rolls back regulations on industrial methane leaks

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday plans to roll back regulations that limit leaks of potent greenhouse gas methane from pipelines and wells, even as some industry players opposed the move. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2PruRsi

Update on Nigerian fintech firm Interswitch and its speculative IPO

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Nigerian fintech firm Interswitch has been circulating in business news around a possible IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Last month Bloomberg News ran a story —based on unnamed sources—reporting the financial services firm had hired investment banks to go public on the LSE later in 2019. The piece spurred additional aggregated press. That Interswitch—which provides much of Nigeria’s digital banking infrastructure—could become one of Africa’s earliest tech companies to list on a global exchange isn’t exactly news. It’s more deja vu of a story that began several years ago. As TechCrunch reported , Interswitch was poised to launch on the LSE in 2016. CEO and founder Mitchell Elegbe confirmed “a dual-listing on the London and Lagos stock exchange is an option on the table,” in a January 2016 call. Two additional sources wired into Nigeria’s tech market and close to Interswitch’s investors also said the public launch would happen by the end of that year. The IPO would have made

Australia lowers Great Barrier Reef outlook to 'very poor'

The government agency that manages Australia's Great Barrier Reef has downgraded its outlook for the corals' condition from "poor" to "very poor" due to warming oceans. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2LgF4T5

Tiny thermometer measures how mitochondria heat up the cell by unleashing proton energy

Armed with a tiny new thermometer probe that can quickly measure temperature inside of a cell, University of Illinois researchers have illuminated a mysterious aspect of metabolism: heat generation. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Zn3lkl

Researchers uncover ocean iron level mystery

The middle of the Earth's oceans are filled with vast systems of rotating currents known as subtropical gyres. These regions occupy 40% of the Earth's surface and have long been considered remarkably stable biological deserts, with little variation in chemical makeup or the nutrients needed to sustain life. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2LjsDpw

Friday briefing: Malicious websites hacked into iPhones for years

Zero day security vulnerabilities were used to send back phone and app data to the hackers, the Netherlands will trial fully-legal cannabis from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2ZBIYLA

Huawei under probe by US prosecutors over new allegations

Huawei is accused of stealing intellectual property from individuals and companies over several years, and recruiting employees from its rivals. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2LnwIcy

India to woo foreign firms like Apple, Foxconn to capitalise on US-China trade war

Several Indian officials met on Aug. 14 and discussed a list of "target companies" that includes Wistron, Foxconn and Pegatron from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2LjkQYO

Amazon to offer help for customers who search about suicide

Alphabet Inc's Google , Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc have already been issuing helpline numbers in response to user queries involving the term "suicide." from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2LfIcyI

Flipkart to end single-use plastic in packaging by 2021

E-commerce major Flipkart on Thursday said it plans to eliminate single-use plastic in packaging and move towards a 100 per cent recycled plastic consumption in its own supply chain by March 2021. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2ZnBqk4

Workplace mentoring is going through a quiet revolution

Melbourne-based startup Mentorloop helps match up mentors with mentees, making it easier for people to build career-progressing relationships from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/30IkRfy

Google wants to kill text messages and the networks aren't happy

Google has pushed RCS messaging – a superior alternative to SMS – to Android phones in the UK and France. But only 43 mobile operators, out of around 850 globally, are working with the company from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2ZDVfCY

Malicious websites were used to secretly hack into iPhones for years, says Google

Security researchers at Google say they’ve found a number of malicious websites which, when visited, could quietly hack into a victim’s iPhone by exploiting a set of previously undisclosed software flaws. Google’s Project Zero said in a deep-dive blog post published late on Thursday that the websites were visited thousands of times per week by unsuspecting victims, in what they described as an “indiscriminate” attack. “Simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant,” said Ian Beer, a security researcher at Project Zero. He said the websites had been hacking iPhones over a “period of at least two years.” The researchers found five distinct exploit chains involving 12 separate security flaws, including seven involving Safari, the in-built web browser on iPhones. The five separate attack chains allowed an attacker to gain “root” access to the device — the highest level of access and privi

Google plans another step to make YouTube 'safer' for kids, here's how

Google’s video platform YouTube is all set to launch a separate website for kids. YouTube announced this on its forum support page. The post also announced a new update that is coming to the YouTube Kids app. The YouTube Kids app will allow parents to select from three different age groups — preschool, younger and older — to choose the right content for their kid. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zxUeOu

Apple sends invites for its biggest event of 2019: 8 gadgets and more it may launch on September 10

from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2Uf5TLk

HMS Terror shipwreck offers up secrets of lost Arctic expedition

Almost two centuries after descending to its watery grave, the HMS Terror could offer up new clues to its demise—and solve one of the most enduring mysteries in the history of Arctic discovery. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2ZueO0F

Marriott hotels ditching small plastic toiletry bottles

Marriott International, the world's largest hotel chain, said Wednesday it was ditching single-use toiletry bottles as part of plans to reduce its environmental impact. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Ubv1CV

Hurricane heads for Florida after brushing Caribbean islands

Hurricane Dorian moved out over open waters early Thursday after doing limited damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, though forecasters warned it was gaining strength and probably would grow into a dangerous storm while heading toward the northern Bahamas and Florida's east coast. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/34aZDsD

Corps official: Study needed of Missouri River flood options

An official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday a study is needed to consider changes to flood-control measures along the Missouri River south of Sioux City, Iowa. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Ub3Xnn

Bolivia lost 1.2 mn hectares to fires this year, govt says

Fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of forest and grasslands in Bolivia this year, the government said on Wednesday, though environmentalists claim the true figure is much greater. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/347xcfq

'Mental rigidity' at root of intense political partisanship on both left and right

People who identify more intensely with a political tribe or ideology share an underlying psychological trait: low levels of cognitive flexibility, according to a new study. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Ub3QYZ

Ancient die-off greater than the dinosaur extinction

Clues from Canadian rocks formed billions of year ago reveal a previously unknown loss of life even greater than that of the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, when Earth lost nearly three-quarters of its plant and animal species. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2MHAnoD

Much fridge food 'goes there to die'

Americans throw out a lot more food than they expect they will, food waste that is likely driven in part by ambiguous date labels on packages, a new study has found. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2MHj0UU

Koru Kids raises £10M Series A for its childcare platform

Koru Kids , the London-based startup that helps you find and manage childcare, has raised £10 million in new funding to scale its platform. The Series A round is led by Atomico , with Atomico Partner Niall Wass joining the company’s board. Also participating are previous investors AlbionVC, Forward Partners, Samos, JamJar, Rocket Internet’s Global Founders Capital, and 7Percent. It brings the total amount raised by Koru Kids to £14.1 million. “Childcare is exhausting and difficult to arrange: for many families it’s hard to find the right thing at all, and for nearly everyone it’s excruciatingly expensive,” says Koru Kids founder and CEO Rachel Carrell (who has a doctorate from Oxford and previously worked at McKinsey!). “Parents need affordable, flexible childcare to allow us to carry on in our careers but it’s very hard to find. Nurseries close early, childminders are in short supply and neither option copes well with parents finishing at 5pm one day and 10pm the next. Once I real

Thursday briefing: Huawei's next flagship phone will ship without Google integration

US trade restrictions mean the Huawei Mate 30 will release in Europe without Google apps and services for Android, Pinterest now shows vaccine science when people search for related terms from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2ZxaSw8

Residently raises £7M to digitise the rental experience

Residently , the U.K.-based ‘proptech’ startup that is building a rental platform to improve the rental experience, has picked up £7 million in seed funding. Backing comes from Felix Capital, LocalGlobe, and A/O PropTech, along with a number of the startup’s existing angel investors. The new funding will be used to grow the startup’s engineering and product teams, and to continue building out Residently’s rental portfolio in London and New York. On the product side, a number of extra services will also be added to the company’s “Living” platform, which offers things like cleaning and ironing, storage, contents insurance, and furniture rental. “Residently is building the world’s rental brand with a platform for rental properties designed around the needs of the renter,” says co-founder and CEO Tom Allason, who previously founded and exited Shutl to eBay. “Residents enjoy a seamless digital rental experience, can choose their move in date, a furniture package, cleaning service and m

The Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association warns that restricting online access would be ruinous for the region

After Hong Kong’s leader suggested she may invoke emergency powers that could potentially include limiting Internet access, one of city’s biggest industry groups warned that “any such restrictions, however slight originally, would start the end of the open Internet of Hong Kong.” While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suggested the government may use the Emergency Regulations Ordinance in response to ongoing anti-government demonstrations. The law, which has not been used in more than half a century, would give the government a sweeping array of powers, including the ability to restrict or censor publications and communications. In contrast to China’s “Great Firewall” and routine government censorship of internet services, Hong Kong’s internet is currently open and mostly unrestricted, with the exception of laws to prevent online crime, copyright infringements and the spread of obscene material like child pornography. In an “urgent statement” add

Huawei plans high-end phone launch under cloud of Google ban

Huawei is set to unveil its new Mate 30 line of phones on Sept. 18 in Munich. The phones, however may not be able to offer Google's official Android operating system and widely used apps such as Google Maps from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/32aRySX

Apple to stop default practice of keeping Siri recordings

Apple on Wednesday said that it will quit keeping audio for human review and instead let users opt in to having their audio reviewed if they choose. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2Ht8Q5W

Apple's data shows a deepening dependence on China as Trump's tariffs loom

Apple faces levies of 15% imposed by Trump's administration on major products made in China such as smartwatches and wireless headphones on Sept. 1, with a tariff on its biggest seller, the iPhone, to take effect on Dec. 15. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/329VFib

Samsung heir braces for top court ruling in ex-president bribery case

Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, was sentenced in 2017 to five years imprisonment for bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye as he sought to succeed his father and secure control of Samsung Group. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2Ht8MmI

Pinterest starts displaying information from health organizations for searches related to vaccines

As part of its efforts against health misinformation, Pinterest is now displaying information from public health organizations for keywords like “measles” or “vaccine safety.” The social media platform had previously blocked vaccination-related search terms , but a new announcement says the company wants to close the “data void” that results from false information being spread more widely than accurate information. “What we and others have observed is an enthusiasm gap between those creating and disseminating harmful health misinformation and those creating resources rooted in settled science,” wrote Ifeoma Ozoma, Pinterest’s public policy and social impact manager. “Generally, there’s more accessible and visually compelling health misinformation than science-based journal articles on the virtues of vaccinations. In addition, we’ve found that some purveyors of health misinformation have a financial incentive.” Pinterest search results for health-related keywords will now display in

Federal grand jury indicts Paige Thompson on two counts related to the Capital One data breach

The Department of Justice said today that a federal grand jury has indicted software engineer Paige Thompson on two counts related to the Capital One data breach that affected over 100 million customers . The charges in the indictment carry penalties of up to 25 years in prison. Thompson will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Sept. 5. Thompson allegedly created created software that allowed her to see which customers of a cloud computing company (the indictment does not name the company, but it has been identified as Amazon Web Services ) had misconfigured their firewalls and accessed data from Capital One and more than other 30 companies. Much of the information in today’s indictment was already included in the FBI’s criminal complaint filed in July . In the indictment, however, the Department of Justice includes the new allegation that Thompson used the cloud servers she allegedly breached for cryptojacking. Though Thompson had previously made references to cryptoj

Is vaping actually bad for your health? It's complicated

Nearly 200 cases of lung disease in the US have been linked to e-cigarettes this summer, but the exact cause is still unknown. Is vaping safe? from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2MJwH5L

Parliament's being suspended. What's next for Brexit?

Boris Johnson has suspended parliament. There's a huge petition. We run through the likely scenarios of what comes next for Brexit from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2NBWRHa

Fitbit wants £8 a month to make your health and fitness data useful

Fitbit's new Premium service aims to take your tracking data - on fitness, sleep, food and stress - and help you to actually change your habits. But it's unlikely to be able to offer £7.99 a month's worth of value from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/2MHSivi

Galaxy Note 10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: How cameras of two of the world's most-powerful phones compare

from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2zwJjEo

Google’s legal chief, David Drummond, comes under the spotlight following new allegations about his personal conduct

Alphabet Chief Legal Officer David Drummond is at the center of a media firestorm, following a new Medium post authored by a former Google employee who was engaged in a years-long relationship with Drummond more than 10 years ago. Though the extramarital affair was originally reported on last fall by the New York Times in the broader context of Google’s permissive workplace culture, the former employee, Jennifer Blakely, says in a new and far more detailed account of their relationship that Drummond was a serial philanderer, leaving his wife for Blakely, then leaving Blakely after a son that he fathered with her for another now-former Google employee. She adds that Drummond also had “an affair with his ‘personal assistant’ who he moved into one of his new homes.” We reached out to Google, asking for comment either from the company or Drummond, and have yet to hear back. It’s an enormously unflattering portrait and it comes at a delicate time for Google, which found itself at the

World's 5 biggest smartphone companies: Who gained, who lost

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Microsoft Azure’s cloud regions in Switzerland are now open for business

Microsoft today announced the availability of its cloud regions in Switzerland. The company first announced its plans for two Swiss regions near Zurich and Geneva, called Switzerland North and West, in 2018. Earlier this year, Microsoft noted that it was seeing quite a bit of interest in these regions, especially from companies in highly regulated industries that need to address data residency regulations. The new regions will feature support for the core Azure cloud computing services, as well as Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform . With this launch, Microsoft now offers its cloud services in 56 regions worldwide, which is very much part of the company’s overall strategy for Azure. “Microsoft cloud services delivered from a given geography, such as our new regions in Switzerland, offer scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services while helping enterprises and organizations meet their data residency, security and compliance needs,” Tom Keane, Microsoft’s corpora

Respiratory ailments rise in Brazil as Amazon fires rage

Lingering smoke in the Amazon caused concern Tuesday among Brazilians who say that respiratory problems—particularly among children and the elderly—have increased as fires in the region rage. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Zt9V7X

Slow boat to China: cargo ships urged to cut speed and pollution

Moving cargo ships into the slow lane, an idea French President Emmanuel Macron floated at the G7 summit in Biarritz, would be one way to cut maritime transport's giant carbon emissions footprint. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/329vqIE

Amazon fires a 'tipping point': forestry group chief

The fires tearing through the Amazon represent a "tipping point" for the health of the rainforest, the head of a top global forestry management body said Wednesday, urging the world to do more to save the trees. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UbTEiO

Can global matcha craze save Japan's tea industry?

From matcha ice cream to cake and chocolate, producers of traditional Japanese green tea are capitalising on growing global interest in its flavour—even as demand for the drink declines at home. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/344qMNQ

Glovo founder Oscar Pierre comes to Disrupt Berlin

Originally from Barcelona, Glovo has become a major player in the on-demand delivery app space. And Glovo isn’t just about ordering food from your favorite restaurants. You can also order groceries, pharmacy items and more from the app. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Glovo founder Oscar Pierre is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin . Glovo has experienced exploding growth over the past couple of years. When the company announced its most recent round of funding, its service was live in 124 cities across 21 countries. Most of them are currently in EMEA, Latin America and some Sub-Saharian countries. Some of the most important markets include Spain, Argentina, Peru and Italy. While restaurants still represent the majority of orders on Glovo, the company isn’t giving up on other verticals. For instance, it has signed a deal with supermarket chain Carrefour to deliver thousands of products in less than 30 minutes. The company currently has over 1,000 employees and works

Azimo appoints new CEO as money transfer service reaches profitability

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Azimo , the U.K. headquartered money transfer service backed by Japan’s Rakuten Capital, amongst others, is seeing a change at the top: founder Michael Kent is stepping sideways to become “executive chairman,” while Azimo’s COO Richard Ambrose is being promoted to CEO. However, perhaps more noteworthy — within the context of a plethora of loss-making fintechs — is that the personnel changes co-inside with the company announcing that it reached profitability during Q2 this year. Azimo has raised $50 million of investment to date. Along with Rakuten, investors include eVentures, Greycroft, and Frog Capital. “We’ve bucked the trend in fintech by focusing on profitability and long-term sustainability,” says Ambrose (pictured below), who, prior to joining Azimo two years ago, was an executive at PayPal. “The next big challenge is growing Azimo from a European to a global fintech business. We’re sanguine about this challenge because Europe — with its range of languages, currencies and pa

Archeologists find remains of 227 sacrificed children in Peru

Archeologists in Peru say the 227 bodies they have unearthed from a site used by the pre-Columbian Chimu culture is the biggest-ever discovery of sacrificed children. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HtJgxO

Scientists call for infiltration to be better incorporated into land surface models

Soil scientists can't possibly be everywhere at once to study every bit of soil across the planet. Plus, soils are constantly changing. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/32cfUfo

Ousting Huawei, Australia finishes laying undersea internet cable for Pacific allies

Australia in 2018 agreed to fund the construction of the cable after the two Pacific islands struck deals with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to lay a cable via Sydney - which Canberra feared could have jeopardised its broadband network. from Gadgets Now https://ift.tt/2U8MHyS