ICT news

• Incognito Mode Detection Still Works in Chrome Despite Promise To Fix

  04-06-2020 23:20 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Websites are still capable of detecting when a visitor is using Chrome's incognito (private browsing) mode, despite Google's efforts last year to disrupt the practice. From a report: It is still possible to detect incognito mode in Chrome, and all the other Chromium-based browsers, such as Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave, all of which share the core of Chrome's codebase. Furthermore, developers have taken the scripts shared last year and have expanded support to non-Chrome browsers, such as Fire
  
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• Germany Will Require All Petrol Stations To Provide Electric Car Charging

  04-06-2020 22:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Speaking of Germany it will oblige all petrol stations to offer electric car charging to help remove refueling concerns and boost consumer demand for the vehicles as part of its 130 billion euro ($146 billion) economic recovery plan. From a report: The move could provide a significant boost to electric vehicle demand along with the broader stimulus plan which included taxes to penalize ownership of large polluting combustion-engined sports utility vehicles and a 6,000 euro subsidy towards the co
  
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• Dropbox is Working On Its Own Password Manager

  04-06-2020 22:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  AndroidPolice: Dropbox just unceremoniously dumped a brand new app on the Play Store with no fanfare or formal announcement. The new Dropbox Passwords app, according to its listing, is a password manager available exclusively in an invite-only private beta for some Dropbox customers. Based on screenshots and description, the app seems pretty barebones -- or "minimal," depending on your tastes. Dropbox seems to intentionally avoid calling it a "password manager," though its functionality otherwis
  
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• GM Plans Electric Van for Business Users in Bid To Pre-empt Tesla

  04-06-2020 21:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  General Motors is developing an electric van aimed at business users, joining a growing list of carmakers planning EVs for the same segment which includes customers such as Amazon.com and United Parcel Service, Reuters reported Thursday. From the report: That multibillion-dollar strategy could enable GM, Ford Motor and at least two EV startups to build and deliver more electric vehicles at a time when consumer demand for battery-powered models is still a small fraction of overall industry sales,
  
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• Google Says Iranian, Chinese Hackers Targeted Trump, Biden Campaigns

  04-06-2020 20:40 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Google security researchers say they've identified efforts by at least two nation state-backed hackers against the Trump and Biden presidential campaigns. From a report: Shane Huntley, director for Google's Threat Analysis Group, said in a tweet that hackers backed by China and Iran recently targeted the campaigns using malicious phishing emails. But, Huntley said, there are "no signs of compromise" and that the campaigns were both alerted to the attempts.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Hydroxychloroquine Does Not prevent Covid-19 Infection if Exposed, Study Says

  04-06-2020 20:05 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine did not help prevent people who had been exposed to others with Covid-19 from developing the disease, according to the results of an eagerly awaited study that was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. From a report: Despite a lack of evidence, many people began taking the medicine to try to prevent infection early in the Covid-19 pandemic, following anecdotal reports it could be effective and claims by President Trump and conservative co
  
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• Sega Announces Mysterious "Fog Gaming" Program, Will Use Arcade Machines Somehow

  04-06-2020 19:21 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Thanks to some Japanese-language news sources, we now know the nature of the big Sega reveal that was teased for this week's Famitsu. The publisher is working on some kind of initiative that it's dubbed "fog gaming." While it's not exactly clear what that is -- or if it's comparable to cloud gaming services like Google Stadia -- according to analyst Serkan Toto, it will likely involve using the guts of arcade machines during off-hours.Read more of this story
  
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• Signal Launches Face-Blurring Tool as US Protesters Embrace Encrypted Messaging

  04-06-2020 18:40 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Law enforcement officials across the U.S. have already revealed that they will leverage facial recognition technology to retroactively target protesters following the killing of George Floyd, with police asking the public for footage and photos. Against this backdrop, Signal is introducing a new feature that can automatically obfuscate faces shared within the encrypted messaging app, as the company says it's "working hard to keep up with the increased traffic" from protesters. From a report: Mov
  
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• SpaceX Launches 60 More Starlink Satellites and Achieves a Reusability Record For a Falcon 9 Booster

  04-06-2020 18:15 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 rocket in the span of just four days on Wednesday at 9:25 PM EDT (6:25 PM PDT). This one was carrying 60 more satellites for its Starlink constellation, which will bring the total currently in operation on orbit to 480. From a report: The launch took off from Florida, where SpaceX's first astronaut launch took place on Saturday for the final demonstration mission of its Crew Dragon to fulfill the requirements of NASA's Commercial Crew human-rating process. Tod
  
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• CES Will Be Held In-person in Las Vegas Next Year

  04-06-2020 17:49 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  The group behind CES plans to hold the enormous tech convention in person in Las Vegas next January, despite concerns that the coronavirus pandemic may still be a threat. The Consumer Technology Association has announced that it intends to give exhibitors a way to showcase their products "both physically in Las Vegas and digitally." From a report: The stakes are high for CES. It's one of the largest conventions held each year in Las Vegas, responsible for bringing a huge number of visitors to th
  
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• Spain Readies Big Reduction in Single-Use Plastics From Mid-2021

  04-06-2020 17:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Spain is preparing to significantly reduce the distribution and sale of single-use plastic cutlery, straws, cups and products containing microplastics as part of the government's drive to promote recycling and reduce waste. From a report: The government wants to ban the sale of single-use plastics from July 3, 2021, and to ban the free distribution of these items from the start of 2023, according to a bill distributed to journalists. It's due to approve the legislation at its weekly cabinet meet
  
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• Anti-Racism Sites Hit By Wave of Cyberattacks

  04-06-2020 15:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Cyber-attacks against anti-racism organizations shot up in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a leading provider of protection services says. Cloudflare, which blocks attacks designed to knock websites offline, says advocacy groups in general saw attacks increase 1,120-fold. Mr Floyd's death, in police custody, has sparked nationwide civil unrest in the US. Government and military websites also saw a notable increase in attacks. Cloudflare sa
  
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• Bird Is Scrapping Thousands of Electric Scooters In the Middle East

  04-06-2020 12:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Hot on the heels of Uber scrapping thousands of e-bikes and e-scooters, Bird is taking similar action. The micromobility company is reportedly disposing of thousands of e-scooters in the Middle East and shutting down its operations in the majority of the region as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. CNBC reports: The e-scooters being scrapped belong to Circ, which was acquired by Bird for an undisclosed sum in January. There are between 8,000 and 10,000 Circ scooters across cities in Qatar, Ba
  
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• Australian Researchers Set Record For Carbon Dioxide Capture

  04-06-2020 09:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers from Monash University and the CSIRO have set a record for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) using technology that resembles a sponge filled with tiny magnets. Phys.Org reports: Using a Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) nanocomposite that can be regenerated with remarkable speed and low energy cost, researchers have developed sponge-like technology that can capture carbon dioxide from a number of sources, even directly from air. The magnetic sponge is used to remove carbon dioxi
  
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• Could Granite Solve the Hard Problem of Nuclear Waste Storage?

  04-06-2020 05:30 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that crystalline rocks, such as granite, have a natural self-sealing mechanism, capable of keeping fluids locked away for millions of years. Careful analysis of the chemistry and structure of granites from Japan and the UK revealed that when fluid did enter the rock (via fractures), it travelled a few centimeters at most. The scientists believe that calcium in the rock reacted with carbonat
  
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• UK Willing To Admit Nearly 3 Million From Hong Kong If China Adopts Security Law

  04-06-2020 04:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares news that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would be willing to allow more than 2.8 million people from Hong Kong to live and work in the country if China implements a controversial proposed national security law on the former British colony. The law could take effect as soon as this month, and would expand mainland China's control over Hong Kong. NPR reports: Johnson wrote in a column that appeared in The Times of London that the law would infringe on the "one country, two
  
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• Germany Bans Digital Doppelganger Passport Photos

  04-06-2020 03:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Germany will outlaw the morphing of passport photos, in which pictures of two people are digitally combined, making it possible to assign multiple identities to a single document. Reuters reports: Morphing can trick artificial intelligence used at passport control into recognizing different individuals. The government on Wednesday backed a law requiring people to either have their photo taken at a passport office or, if they use a photographer, have it submitted in digital form over a secure con
  
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• Dyson Shares New Photos and Videos of Its Canceled Electric SUV

  04-06-2020 02:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Dyson has revealed new photos and information about their failed electric SUV, which the company canceled last October due to high costs. The Verge reports: In a new blog post on his company's website, Dyson shows off some of the first images and videos of the real prototype it made before the project was killed last October, as well as a few more computer renderings. He describes the SUV as "a radical car which was loaded with technology," and says his company "solved lots of problems that are
  
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• Frontier Users Must Pay 'Rental' Fee For Equipment They Own Until December

  04-06-2020 02:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader writes: Broadband and TV providers can keep charging "rental" fees for equipment that customers own themselves until December 2020, thanks to a Federal Communications Commission ruling that delays implementation of a new law. A law approved by Congress and signed by President Trump in December 2019 prohibits providers from charging device-rental fees when customers use their own equipment, and it was originally scheduled to take effect on June 20. As we've written, this law w
  
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• Canadian Major Telcos Effectively Lock Huawei Out of 5G Build

  04-06-2020 01:20 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Canadian carriers Bell and Telus announced on Tuesday that each of them would not be continuing the use of Huawei equipment in their respective 5G networks, having signed deals with the Chinese giant's rivals instead. ZDNet reports: For Bell, it announced Ericsson would be supplying its radio access network. It added that it was looking to launch 5G services as the Canadian economy exited lockdown. Bell, which in Febraury announced it had signed an agreement with Nokia, said it was maintaining t
  
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• Governments and WHO Changed COVID-19 Policy Based On Suspect Data From Tiny US Company

  04-06-2020 00:40 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  AmiMoJo shares a report from The Guardian The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known U.S. healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world's most prestigious medical journals. Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided the database behind Lancet and New
  
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• $350M 'Quant Fund' Played the Stock Market Using Real-Time Data -- Then 2020 Happened

  04-06-2020 00:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Next Web: Coatue's $350 million data-driven 'quant fund' made a swift exit from the market in early April -- having realized the coronavirus pandemic had rendered its algorithm unreliable, Business Insider reports. The tech-focused fund, launched by billionaire Philippe Laffont just over one year ago, joins a growing list of "quant funds" to have failed to turn a profit due to 2020's unpredictable nature. Quant funds use complex algorithms to find hid
  
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• Global Smartphone Shipments To Fall 12% this Year on Virus Woes

  03-06-2020 23:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Global smartphone shipments will fall nearly 12% to 1.2 billion units in 2020, market research firm IDC said on Wednesday, citing lower consumer spending due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. From a report: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted business supply chains, with major smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics flagging financial hits, but also squeezed consumer spending worldwide. "Nationwide lockdowns and rising unemployment have reduced consumer c
  
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• Game Publisher Cancels Contract With Developer, Then Tries To Poach Its Entire Team

  03-06-2020 22:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Three months after losing a deal with Take-Two, Star Theory Games was out of business. From a report: One Friday evening last December, employees of game designer Star Theory Games each received the same unusual recruitment message over LinkedIn. It struck them as bizarre for two reasons. One, it came from an executive producer at the publishing company funding their next video game. Two, it said the game -- in the works for the previous two years -- was being pulled from their studio. "This was
  
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• From RealPlayer To Toshiba, Tech Companies Cash in on the Facial Recognition Gold Rush

  03-06-2020 22:05 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  At least 45 companies now advertise real-time facial recognition. From a report: More than a decade before Spotify, and years before iTunes, there was RealPlayer, the first mainstream solution to playing and streaming media to a PC. Launched in 1995, within five years RealPlayer claimed a staggering 95 million users. [...] RealPlayer is still very much alive. Now called RealNetworks, a vast majority of its revenue still comes from licensing media software. But the company has also begun dabbling
  
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• Snapchat To Stop Promoting Trump's Content

  03-06-2020 21:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Snapchat said Wednesday it would no longer promote President Donald Trump's content in its Discover section, a move that brings the messaging company closer to Twitter's approach in the ongoing debate over political speech. From a report: The company said in a statement that it would not "amplify voices who incite racial violence." Snapchat's Discover section typically features content from news organizations, brands, celebrities and sometimes politicians. The president's account remains visible
  
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• New Cold Boot Attack Affects Seven Years of LG Android Smartphones

  03-06-2020 20:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  South Korean phone manufacturer LG has released a security update last month to fix a vulnerability that impacts its Android smartphones sold over the past seven years. From a report: The vulnerability, tracked under the identifier of CVE-2020-12753, impacts the bootloader component that ships with LG smartphones. In March this year, US software engineer Max Thomas discovered a vulnerability in the bootloader component that had been added to LG smartphones starting with the LG Nexus 5 series. In
  
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• Stanford Lab Envisions Delivery Drones that Save Energy by Taking the Bus

  03-06-2020 20:04 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers from Stanford University have devised a way for hundreds of drones to use the bus or trams in an effort to redesign how packages are distributed in cities. Should such a solution ever scale, it could reduce delivery van congestion and energy usage while extending the distance a drone can travel to deliver a package. From a report: There's a reason most delivery drones we've seen thus far are dropping packages off in the suburbs. Urban centers can be dynamic environments, full of unex
  
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• Google Removes Viral Chinese-App Scanner From the Play Store

  03-06-2020 19:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Remove China Apps, the viral Android app for flagging software made in China, has been removed from Google's Play Store. From a report: Before its demise, the app had reached the coveted number-one free download spot on the Play Store. The app was removed for violating Google's "Deceptive Behavior Policy," which states that apps cannot incentivize users to disable or remove other applications. Though Remove China Apps did not remove apps automatically, it did prompt users to do so. It had been d
  
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• Microsoft's New Edge Browser Now Rolling Out via Windows Update

  03-06-2020 18:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is starting to roll out its new Edge browser through Windows Update. The new Chromium-based version of Edge launched in January, but Windows users had to specifically download it. From a report: A Microsoft support article notes that it's now available on Windows Update, meaning it will soon arrive on the more than 1 billion Windows 10 devices in use. It appears that Edge will be automatically installed through Windows Update on Windows 10 version 1803 and higher. That covers the vast
  
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• AMC Theatres Has 'Substantial Doubt' it Can Remain in Business

  03-06-2020 18:04 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie theater chain, said on Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can remain in business after closing locations across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic. From a report: The theater chain, which closed its theaters earlier this year, expects to have lost between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion in the first quarter. The company also said that its revenue fell to $941.5 million, which was down roughly 22% from $1.2 billion in the same quarter last ye
  
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• Huawei Hid Business Operation in Iran After Reuters Reported Links To CFO

  03-06-2020 17:21 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  China's Huawei acted to cover up its relationship with a firm that had tried to sell prohibited U.S. computer gear to Iran, after Reuters in 2013 reported deep links between the firm and the telecom-equipment giant's chief financial officer, newly obtained internal Huawei documents show. From the report: Huawei has long described the firm -- Skycom Tech -- as a separate local business partner in Iran. Now, documents obtained by Reuters show how the Chinese tech titan effectively controlled Skyco
  
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• Latest Satoshi Nakamoto Candidate Buying Bitcoin No Matter What

  03-06-2020 16:40 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Adam Back's name has surfaced again in the crypto community's favorite guessing game: Who is the anonymous creator of Bitcoin who went by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. From a report: In mid-May, YouTube channel Barely Sociable, with nearly 400,000 subscribers, released a 40-minute video claiming that 49-year-old Back is Satoshi. The video has since raked up nearly 300,000 views. Back does check off a lot of the boxes: He is a British cryptographer with a PhD in computer science, who, back in t
  
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• Zoom Won't Encrypt Free Calls Because it Wants To Comply With Law Enforcement

  03-06-2020 16:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  If you're a free Zoom user, and waiting for the company to roll out end-to-end encryption for better protection of your calls, you're out of luck. From a report: Free calls won't be encrypted, and law enforcement will be able to access your information in case of 'misuse' of the platform. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan today said that the video conferencing app's upcoming end-to-end encryption feature will be available to only paid users.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• DEA Authorized To Conduct Surveillance On Protesters

  03-06-2020 15:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to "conduct covert surveillance" and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News. Floyd's death "has spawned widespread protests across the nation, which, in some instances, have included violence and looting," said the DEA memo. "Police agencies in cer
  
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• Roku Removes Dedicated QAnon Channel That Launched Last Month

  03-06-2020 12:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Streaming platform Roku has removed a channel dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement after facing criticism for letting it slip through its review and moderation processes last month. The Verge reports: The show, called "Q Channel - QAnon Channel," was hosted by popular QAnon supporter Dave Hayes and advertised as a "opinion based shows for getting the truth out, as we know it, about the Qanon movement." A Roku spokesperson tells The Verge, "The channel is no longer on our platform."
  
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• The 50 Years of Crowd Control Research Police Are Ignoring

  03-06-2020 09:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Thelasko shares an excerpt from FiveThirtyEight: Researchers have spent 50 years studying the way crowds of protesters and crowds of police behave -- and what happens when the two interact. One thing they will tell you is that when the police respond by escalating force -- wearing riot gear from the start, or using tear gas on protesters -- it doesn't work. In fact, disproportionate police force is one of the things that can make a peaceful protest not so peaceful. But if we know that (and have
  
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• Walmart Employees Are Out To Show Its Anti-Shoplifting AI Doesn't Work

  03-06-2020 05:30 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In January, my coworker received a peculiar email. The message, which she forwarded to me, was from a handful of corporate Walmart employees calling themselves the "Concerned Home Office Associates." (Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, is often referred to as the Home Office.) While it's not unusual for journalists to receive anonymous tips, they don't usually come with their own slickly produced videos. The employees said they
  
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• Apple Warns Looters With Stolen iPhones: You Are Being Tracked

  03-06-2020 03:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Following the rioting and looting from the death of George Floyd, Apple has a message for those who power on a stolen iPhone: "This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted." Forbes reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a message to his employees as those protests escalated, saying that "there is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions. To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and ou
  
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• Google Faces $5 Billion Lawsuit In US For Tracking 'Private' Internet Use

  03-06-2020 02:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through browsers set in "private" mode. Reuters reports: The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion, accusing the Alphabet unit of collecting information about what people view online and where they do their browsing, despite using what Google calls Incognito mode. The complaint said Google surreptitiously collects
  
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• A Look At AI Benchmarking For Mobile Devices In a Rapidly Evolving Ecosystem

  03-06-2020 02:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  MojoKid writes: AI and Machine Learning performance benchmarks have been well explored in the data center, but are fairly new and unestablished for edge devices like smartphones. While AI implementations on phones are typically limited to inferencing tasks like speech-to-text transcription and camera image optimization, there are real-world neural network models employed on mobile devices and accelerated by their dedicated processing engines. A deep dive look at HotHardware of three popular AI b
  
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• Senators Introduce COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Privacy Bill

  03-06-2020 01:20 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: A group of U.S. senators on Monday introduced a bill to regulate contact-tracing apps, aiming to protect user privacy as technology is used to track the spread of the novel coronavirus. The proposal is called the Exposure Notification Privacy Act and seeks to ensure that people couldn't be forced to use the technology. It also would make sure that the data isn't used for advertising or commercial purposes and that people can delete their data. The b
  
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• Instagram Users Flood the App With Millions of Blackout Tuesday Posts

  03-06-2020 00:40 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Instagram users are flooding the platform with black squares in support of black victims of police violence as part of a Blackout Tuesday protest. CNBC reports: As of 11:45 a.m. ET, more than 14.6 million Instagram posts used the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday. Searches for "blackout tuesday image" and "blackout image" surged 400% Tuesday morning, according to Google Trends. The idea of an online movement was announced last week, when music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang called on membe
  
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• Rust Enters 'Top 20' Popularity Rankings For the First Time

  03-06-2020 00:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Programming language Rust has entered the top 20 of the Tiobe popularity index for the first time, but it's still five spots behind systems programming rival Go. ZDNet reports: There's growing interest in the use of memory-safe Rust for systems programming to build major platforms, in particular at Microsoft, which is exploring it for Windows and Azure with the goal of wiping out memory bugs in code written in C and C++. Amazon Web Services is also using Rust for performance-sensitive components
  
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• Lawsuit Says Trump's Social Media Crackdown Violates Free Speech

  02-06-2020 23:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: President Trump's crackdown on social media companies faced a new legal challenge on Tuesday, as a technology policy organization claimed in a lawsuit that he violated the companies' right to free speech with his executive order aimed at curtailing their legal protections. The nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology says in the suit that Mr. Trump's attempt to unwind a federal law that grants social media companies discretion ove
  
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• Trump Administration Escalates Global Fight Over Taxing Tech

  02-06-2020 22:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. investigation targets nine countries, plus the European Union, that have adopted or are considering new taxes that would hit American companies like Google and Amazon. From a report: The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would open an investigation into taxes on digital commerce that have been adopted or proposed in nine countries and the European Union, escalating a global battle that will affect where big American tech companies like Facebook and Amazon pay taxes. The admin
  
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• Zuckerberg Defends Hands-Off Approach To Trump's Posts

  02-06-2020 22:05 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  In a call with Facebook employees, who have protested the inaction on Mr. Trump's messages, Mr. Zuckerberg said his decision was "pretty thorough." From a report: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, on Tuesday stood firmly behind his decision to not do anything about President Trump's inflammatory posts on the social network, saying that he had made a "tough decision" but that it "was pretty thorough." In a question-and-answer session with employees conducted over video chat software, M
  
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• China Delayed Releasing Coronavirus Info, Frustrating WHO

  02-06-2020 21:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares a report: Throughout January, the World Health Organization publicly praised China for what it called a speedy response to the new coronavirus. It repeatedly thanked the Chinese government for sharing the genetic map of the virus "immediately," and said its work and commitment to transparency were "very impressive, and beyond words." But behind the scenes, it was a much different story, one of significant delays by China and considerable frustration among WHO officials over not ge
  
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• Covid-19 Is History's Biggest Translation Challenge

  02-06-2020 20:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Services like Google Translate support only 100 languages, give or take. What about the thousands of other languages -- spoken by people just as vulnerable to this crisis? From a report: If we want to avoid a pandemic spreading to all the humans in the world, this information also has to reach all the humans of the world -- and that means translating Covid PSAs into as many languages as possible, in ways that are accurate and culturally appropriate. It's easy to overlook how important language i
  
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• India Plans $6.6 Billion in Incentives To Woo Smartphone Makers

  02-06-2020 20:05 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  India is offering financial incentives and plug-and-play facilities with an outlay of about 500 billion rupees ($6.6 billion) to attract investments from global companies in the manufacture of mobile phones and related components. From a report: The government will initially target five global suppliers and extend a financial incentive of as much as 6% on incremental sales of goods made in the country for a period of five years, according to the ministry for electronics and information technolog
  
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