Innholdsfortegnelse for #369 i Techlife News

Facebook’s outgoing head of communications is taking the blame for hiring Definers, the public relations firm doing opposition research on the company’s critics, including billionaire philanthropist George Soros. In a Facebook post that went up late Wednesday, Elliot Schrage said the responsibility to hire Definers rests with him and that he approved the decision to hire it and similar firms. Schrage provided his explanation in a message sent Tuesday to Facebook’s employees, but the company waited until late Wednesday to publicly share it at a time when most people in its home country were focusing on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also didn’t mention Schrage’s role in hiring and working with Definers in an interview with CNN aired late Tuesday. Definers’ link to the Menlo Park, California,…

Corporations’ appetite for buying back their own stock has hit a record high. Stock buybacks by companies in the benchmark S&P 500 index climbed to $194.07 billion in the third quarter, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. The buying spree, which has steadily increased since the second quarter of 2017, has been led by companies in the technology sector. Apple spent more than $80 billion on share buybacks through the first three quarters of this year. Chipmaker Qualcomm also bet big on its own stock, shelling out $21.2 billion in the third quarter. “Companies have adopted buybacks as an option when they have excess capital and nothing better to do with it,” says Michael Schoonover, portfolio manager of the Catalyst Buyback Strategy Fund. Buybacks, in which companies purchase…

Goodbye iPhones and Facebook feed. Hello power plants and bleach. Since stocks began tumbling two months ago, investors haven’t abandoned the market. At least, not all of it. In recent weeks, as they’ve pulled money out of funds that invest in go-go technology companies, they’ve also been buying utilities, companies that make everyday necessities for consumers and other stocks that tend to have smaller swings in price than the rest of the market. It’s part of a big shift in investor behavior as fears about rising interest rates, a global trade war and slowing economic growth around the world have roiled markets. The S&P 500 plunged as much as 2.2 percent Tuesday, with technology stocks again suffering particularly sharp losses, and the index has lost nearly 10 percent since setting…

For the past decade, Sheryl Sandberg has been the poised, reliable second-in-command to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, helping steer Facebook’s rapid growth around the world, while also cultivating her brand in ways that hint at aspirations well beyond the social network. But with growing criticism over the company’s practices, or lack of oversight, her carefully cultivated image as an eloquent feminist leader is showing cracks. Questions these days aren’t so much about whether she’ll run for the Senate or even president, but whether she ought to keep her job at Facebook. “Her brand was being manicured with the same resources and care as the gardens of Tokyo,” said Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor. “And unfortunately a hurricane has come through the garden.” Facebook has been dealing with…

Crime is down in Atlantic City, and police are crediting several factors including technology that helps them monitor high-crime areas and identify potential risks. Violent crimes were down more than 30 percent last month compared to a year ago, and overall crimes are down two-thirds from five years ago. The technology includes Risk Terrain Modeling, or RTM, which maps high-crime areas but also identifies factors that can draw crime to an area. Police also use about 1,400 cameras to virtually patrol the city. They credit the technology with helping them apprehend a teen accused of killing a man in Ventnor last week. Deputy Police Chief James Sarkos tells The Press of Atlantic City that jobs created by the openings of two casinos this year also have helped.…

If Michael B. Jordan’s path to this moment was condensed and edited, it might look, appropriately, like a training montage. Images of Jordan cutting his teeth on the Baltimore streets of “The Wire” and the Texas football fields of “Friday Night Lights,” followed by hints of a soaring talent (“Red Tails,”“Chronicle”), shattering breakthroughs (“Fruitvale Station”) and setbacks (“Fantastic Four”) before reaching, with a pair of haymakers (“Creed,”“Black Panther”), heavyweight status. Parallel to Jordan’s steady rise has been the 31-year-old’s expanding sway behind the scenes in Hollywood. His production company, Outlier Society Productions, was among the first to embrace the inclusion rider, adopting the pledge to seek diverse casts and crews just days after Frances McDormand referenced it at the Oscars. Jordan was also influential on a similar agreement by WarnerMedia,…

Mars is about to get its first U.S. visitor in years: a three-legged, one-armed geologist to dig deep and listen for quakes. NASA’s InSight makes its grand entrance through the rose-tinted Martian skies on Monday, after a six-month, 300 million-mile (480 million-kilometer) journey. It will be the first American spacecraft to land since the Curiosity rover in 2012 and the first dedicated to exploring underground. NASA is going with a tried-and-true method to get this mechanical miner to the surface of the red planet. Engine firings will slow its final descent and the spacecraft will plop down on its rigid legs, mimicking the landings of earlier successful missions. That’s where old school ends on this $1 billion U.S.-European effort. Mars is about to get its first U.S. visitor in years:…

A Rhode Island company has been awarded a $3.5 million federal grant for its work to improve the aerodynamic performance of wind turbines. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, says the U.S. Department of Energy awarded funding to East Greenwich-based Aquanis, Inc. Reed says Aquanis is developing advanced plasma actuators and controls to reduce aerodynamic loads on turbine blades. He says that will encourage the next generation of larger, smarter turbines. The grant came from an energy department program specializing in high-performance energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. Nationwide, 40 projects received $98 million in this round of funding. Aquanis Founder and CEO Neal Fine said his company is committed to helping improve turbine technology to reduce the cost of wind energy.…

Microsoft, Google and other major technology companies have promised to help provide training in digital skills for around 20 million people in Southeast Asia by 2020 to make sure the region’s burgeoning working-age population is a fit for the future job market. Up to 28 million full-time jobs are subject to being displaced, according to a new estimate. The World Economic Forum think tank announced this week its “ASEAN Digital Skills Vision 2020” initiative to improve the technological capacity of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with training, funds for scholarships, internships and shaping the curricula of technology and computing courses, among other measures. The forum is best known for its annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland, of top business and political leaders. Southeast Asia is seeking to increase the…

A top U.N. scientist on Thursday shrugged off an online quip from U.S. President Donald Trump that questioned global warming, saying a U.S. government report will show the “fundamental impacts of climate change on the U.S. continent.” Officials at the World Meteorological Organization also said environmentally minded efforts by the state of California, in parts of the financial sector, among grassroots activists and others will have more of an impact to help the fight against climate change than “political disturbance” and “discourse” will impede it. The science, they said, will have the last word. Some of that science comes Friday in a new U.S. federal climate change assessment report, from agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Energy. “It’s very interesting what you will see…

Artificial intelligence is helping improve safety along a stretch of Las Vegas’ busiest highway. The Nevada Highway Patrol says a yearlong partnership between area public safety agencies and a startup technology firm resulted in a 17 percent reduction in crashes along a portion of northbound Interstate 15 just west of The Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Waycare, a provider of artificial intelligence-based mobility products and services for smart cities, helped lead the crash prevention pilot program. They hope to use it in the future in other parts of the Las Vegas Valley, including a stretch of U.S. Highway 95 between I-15 and the Rainbow Boulevard curve. The program uses in-vehicle information, cameras, sensors and other traffic data to develop prediction models to reduce congestion.…

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” may star an arcade bad guy with powerful hammer-like fists, but the animated sequel is also packing a punch with strong female characters. Sarah Silverman, who returns as the voice of Vanellope von Schweetz, credits Disney for including more impactful female roles in the new film, which comes out Wednesday. Her character is one of the leading ladies, along with new cast members Gal Gadot’s Shank and Taraji P. Henson, who plays Yesss. “I love it,” said Silverman, an outspoken comedian known for advocating for women’s rights. “You see how far Disney has allowed itself to grow and change, and be more inclusive and more progressive? You can’t keep on existing if you don’t change and grow with the times. With me, Taraji and Gal’s character,…

A former grocery store in Middle Georgia is now serving high-tech aircraft manufacturing for the military. The inside of the brick building — a former Publix store in Warner Robins — is full of gleaming new futuristic machinery. The Air Force Advanced Technology and Training Center is reminiscent of the lab James Bond walks through to pick up his latest spy gadgets. The facility is a satellite operation of Robins Air Force Base. It officially opened Oct. 24, the Macon newspaper reported. The center now employs about 30 people and may eventually employ about 100. The lab is the second like it in the Air Force. The first is connected with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The Georgia facility involves 3-D printing, also called additive manufacturing, as a…

As temperatures drop and winter looms, homeowners and property managers are sweeping chimneys, insulating pipes and swapping screens for storm windows. They’re also going beyond traditional winterizing by installing smart thermostats and home energy monitors aiming to lower utility bills. Smart thermostats — which let consumers adjust their home temperatures remotely using any internet-connected device — are among the most popular smart home technologies, generating $1.3 billion in sales globally in 2017, according to Navigant Research. Some models use geofencing technology and multiple sensors placed throughout the house to adjust temperatures in individual rooms when a resident walks in, maximizing comfort and efficiency. Just how much consumers can save by installing smart thermostats — which generally range in price from $150 to $250 — depends on a variety of factors,…

Near the close of October, Apple threw the veil off the new iPad Pro, which it has hailed as not only the “most advanced, powerful iPad ever” , but also “the iPad we wanted to make from the beginning” . However, short of getting too swept up in the marketing hype surrounding the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch devices, many observers – both press critics and regular users – have held off to see whether the new iPad Pro really stands up to scrutiny in a professional context. AGAIN IN AN iPAD PROCESSOR, X MARKS THE SPOT As the new iPad Pro has been made available first to the media and then to consumers, the Internet has seen a flurry of opinions and appraisals of this new productivity-oriented slate. However, in…

One of the largest outside Democratic groups says ramped-up spending on digital advertising played a key role in midterm battleground races, offering a lesson for potential presidential contenders in 2020. “You’re going to have to have an organization that speaks directly to voters on their phones and their computers,” said Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, which spearheaded much of the party’s digital effort during the recent midterm elections. “If the presidential candidates do not have that as a central part of their operation, they will not win.” Democrats are trying to draw in new voters who are young, diverse and college educated. But at a time when cord-cutting millennials and their parents alike are spending more time online, the party remains disproportionately committed to TV advertising, strategists say, a…

The International Space Station has received two cargo deliveries in a record 15 hours. A U.S. commercial shipment arrived Monday, two days after blasting off from Virginia. NASA Astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor used the space station’s robot arm to grab Northrop Grumman’s capsule. It’s named after Apollo 16 moonwalker and the first space shuttle commander John Young, who died in January. The station’s German commander, Alexander Gerst, tweeted, “Welcome aboard, S.S. John Young!” Ice cream and other fresh food are the first things coming out. On Sunday, a Russian supply ship brought a full load. NASA says it is the quickest back-to-back shipments for the space station, which marks its 20th anniversary Tuesday. The supply ships will remain there for a few months, before being filled with trash and cut loose.…

NASA has accepted delivery of a key European part needed to power the world’s next-generation moonship. U.S. and European leaders gathered at Kennedy Space Center on Friday to mark the occasion. The newly arrived powerhouse, or service module, will propel NASA’s Orion capsule to the moon during a test flight without passengers planned for 2020. A mega rocket under development by NASA, known as SLS for Space Launch System, will launch the combo. The European component “allows us to take people farther into space than we’ve ever gone before, so it is a really big event for all of the Orion program,” said NASA’s Orion program manager Mark Kirasich. Orion and the attached service module are meant to fly near the moon, but not land. Future missions will carry astronauts,…

In these heated and oft-difficult times, do we need dogs more than ever? Do we need to rescue them, let them run free, accept their precious help with our most trying physical challenges and revel in their licks and loving nudges? Filmmakers Glen Zipper and Amy Berg think absolutely yes. They worked together on the new Netflix Original docu-series “Dogs,” which dropped last week. “We’re in undeniably divisive times right now. We’re all searching for something that everyone can agree on and dogs are probably about as close to that as we get,” said Zipper, who executive produced the six-part project with Berg. “My brother and I are on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum,” he explained, “but he’s got five dogs and I’ve got my dog, Anthony. We…

Google said Thursday it’s expanding stricter political advertising requirements to the European Union as part of efforts to curb misinformation and increase transparency ahead of the bloc’s elections next year. As the EU prepares for the vote, U.S. tech companies are facing pressure to do more to counter foreign influence campaigns following allegations that online platforms were used to meddle in elections in the U.S and elsewhere. Google will require every political ad to disclose who is paying for it while also tightening up its identity verification process for ad buyers. It will also publish a report on the transparency of EU election ads and a library of political ads that anyone can search for more information on buyers, their target audience, and how the money is spent. It’s an…

In a battle between the internet and John C. Reilly, who among us wouldn’t root for the latter? Leave us IMDb.com and a few podcasts, John, but by all means, go smashy-smashy with the rest. Having liberated arcade game characters from their rigidly ordained roles in 2012’s “Wreck-it Ralph,” its sequel, “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” sends our charmingly lopsided duo — the hulking, big-fisted Ralph (Reilly) and the glitchy pipsqueak candy-colored racer Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) — into that expansive netherworld where clickbait lurks and pop-ups proliferate. For a pair of pixelated beings whose existence has heretofore been limited to a handful of video games, they’re decidedly not in Kansas anymore. The web of “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is a strictly PG-rated, sanitized version; there are no dark turns…

Hot off the heels of its new iPhone XS and XR launch, Apple invited New York professionals to its ‘More in the Making’ event in late October, unveiling a whole host of new hardware, like the long-awaited MacBook Air refresh and an iPhone X-inspired iPad redesign. One product announcement that garnered the most excitement, however, was the newly-designed Mac mini, which features blazing-fast storage, more ports, and the ability to build server farms. Today, we take a closer look at the mini, and ask whether size really matters in computing… A TWEAKED DESIGN The Mac mini has always been an attractive device, and it has maintained its signature silver box look since 2005’s model. Whilst the latest iteration of the mini looks the same on first impression, Apple did announce…

It is Saturday morning, and 10-year-old Henry Hailey is up at the crack of dawn. Still in PJs, his microphone-equipped headphones glowing blue in the dim basement, he fixates on the popular online game “Fortnite” on a large screen. “What?! Right as I was about to finish it, I died,” he calls out disappointedly to his friend Gus, a fellow fifth-grader playing the game from his home just a few blocks away. “Dude, I should NOT have died.” The digital battles resume, and Henry’s enthusiasm never wanes. Would he play all day if his parents let him? “Probably,” he concedes with a slight grin. But they do not. Like many other parents, the Haileys are on a reinvigorated mission to limit screen time for Henry and his 15-year-old brother, Everett.…

“Star Wars” fans will soon be able to pilot the Millennium Falcon and face off against Kylo Ren in battle. Disney announced some details of the new “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” lands, opening in 2019. It also announced that composer John Williams, creator of the classic “Star Wars” themes, is writing new music for the “Galaxy’s Edge” attractions, and shared a sneak preview. The two signature attractions of the “lands” now under construction will be “Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run,” in which guests can take the controls in three different roles, and “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance,” offering an “epic battle” between the First Order and the Resistance. The attractions are to open at Disneyland Resort in summer 2019 and at Walt Disney World Resort in the fall.…

When tech giants like Amazon expand, other companies don’t just worry about losing business. They also fret about hanging on to their employees. Some of the industries that have defined New York City and the Washington, D.C., area will face increased competition for talent when Amazon sets up shop in their territory, with plans to hire 50,000 new workers amid the tightest job market in decades. The expansion comes at time of fierce demand for computer programmers, mobile app developers, data scientists and cybersecurity experts. Salaries keep rising as companies from banks to retailers seek new technology professionals to expand their online presence and automate operations. Particularly in demand are software developers, with many switching jobs each year. Even some banks have eased up on their dress codes to project…

A nearly silent, drone-sized aircraft has shown it can fly, thanks to a scientist who was inspired by watching “Star Trek” as a child. With neither propellers nor jets, the airplane gets its thrust by applying a strong electric field to the air. That general idea has been demonstrated at science fairs, but the new work shows it can power a free-flying airplane. So can people look forward to traveling in planes that are almost silent and emit no air pollution? “Not anytime soon,” says Steven Barrett of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who reported the results in a study released Wednesday by the journal Nature. It’s not clear whether the technology could work at such a large scale, he said in a telephone interview. And even if it can,…

A Chinese university’s plan to conduct a blanket search of student and staff electronic devices has come under fire, illustrating the limits of the population’s tolerance for surveillance and raising the prospect that tactics used on Muslim minorities may be creeping into the rest of the country. The Guilin University of Electronic Technology is reconsidering a search of cellphones, computers, external hard disks and USB drives after a copy of the order leaked online and triggered such an intense backlash that it drew rare criticism in state-run newspapers. Searches of electronics are common in Xinjiang in China’s far west, a heavily Muslim region that has been turned into a virtual police state to tamp down unrest. They are unheard of in most other areas, including where the school is located…