Innholdsfortegnelse for #434 i Techlife News

A proposal to ban drivers from using handheld cellphones on Indiana roads is advancing in the state Legislature. A state Senate committee voted 8-1 to endorse the bill that only permits cellphone use with hands-free or voice-operated technology, except in emergencies. It would broaden the state’s current ban on texting while driving that officials say is unenforceable and doesn’t include actions such as emailing and using Snapchat or other apps. The House approved a similar version of the bill last month, which supporters say will help combat distracted driving and prevent many serious crashes. Tina Smith testified from a wheelchair about how she and her husband, Lorin, had stopped their motorcycle along a road when they were hit by a minivan whose driver was looking at a cellphone. Each lost…

European plane maker Airbus said Wednesday that it plans to cut more than 2,300 jobs at its defense and space division by the end of next year, spreading the cuts across several countries. The company said Airbus Defence and Space presented the plan to employee representatives and launched a consultation process for the cuts. The plan would eliminate 2,362 positions in all — 829 in Germany, 357 in the U.K., 630 in Spain, 404 in France and 142 elsewhere. Airbus pointed to a “flat space market and postponed contracts on the defense side.” It noted that it had announced the need for restructuring in December and underlined the issue during an annual news conference earlier this month. The defense and space division “will provide updates on its plans and continues…

Switzerland’s financial market authority has penalized Julius Baer bank for violating its obligations to fight money laundering over a nearly nine-year span. The sanctions are related to alleged corruption linked to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company and global soccer body FIFA. The authority, known as FINMA, cited Julius Baer for a “serious infringement of financial market law” and barred it from carrying out “large and complex acquisitions until it once again fully complies with the law.” The bank was also ordered to revamp its hiring and management of client advisers, and adjust its remuneration and disciplinary procedures. “FINMA has instructed Julius Baer to undertake effective measures to comply with its legal obligations in combating money laundering and rapidly finalise the measures it has already started putting in place,” the authority wrote…

Far beyond helping you get from A to B or find your keys, location technology is unlocking unimaginable possibilities for the future of travel, education, entertainment, and business. With the right strategy, the tech in our pockets will make the world smaller than ever before. MICRO-LOCATION: WHERE WE’RE HEADED Nowadays, it seems like every aspect of our lives has been digitized. When you want to take a shower, you can open an app to set the temperature and wait for it to be ready; when you want some lunch, you open UberEats and see what’s on the menu; when you want to meet up with friends, you open an iMessage and create a calendar date for when everyone’s free. Though our devices are more connected than ever, one area that’s…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to throw his support behind international reforms that would require Silicon Valley tech giants to pay more tax in Europe. The billionaire social network founder is due to meet members of the European Union’s executive Commission in Brussels and speak at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Zuckerberg told last weekend that he’s backing plans for digital tax reform on a global scale proposed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to an excerpt of his speech provided in advance, Zuckerberg will say, “I understand that there’s frustration about how tech companies are taxed in Europe.” Zuckerberg will tell the conference that he’s glad that that the OECD is looking at tax reform, which Facebook also wants. “And we accept that may mean…

In this post-impeachment era of divisiveness and deadlock in the nation’s capital, Uncle Sam has a message for top U.S. technologists: I Still Want You. A Washington-based nerd strike force called the U.S. Digital Service is seeking private-sector coders, programmers and software engineers to make government user-friendly for a tech-savvy U.S. public. Launched after the 2013 crash of the Obama administration’s Healthcare.gov website, the USDS recruits the nation’s top tech talent for Peace Corps-style tours of duty to tackle the government’s most pressing information management and online security problems. It has an increasingly rare distinction as an initiative supported by both the Obama and Trump administrations, according to current and former USDS staff and White House officials. “We’ve been enthusiastic about USDS since Day One,” said Mathew Lira, a special…

St. Louis manager Mike Shildt described technology’s rapid encroachment on baseball in recent years as ethically murky, expressing his satisfaction in Commissioner Rob Manfred’s intention to cut down the use of in-game video. “I feel like what’s happened recently is a healthy purge,” Shildt said. “The sign stealing stuff has been talked about, alluded to, for several years now.” Shildt and other Grapefruit League managers met with Manfred on Sunday evening in North Port. As expected, the commissioner addressed in-game use of technology, specifically video, to gain an advantage. “There was some murkiness — understandable murkiness, not to make any excuses for anybody, some understandable murkiness — about where the lines were,” Shildt said. “The lines have been drawn on the field for 150 years, so we have that resource…

Food waste and hunger are two enormous problems that some non-profit groups say can be addressed together by getting the extra food to the people who need it. New apps are making that easier. The USDA estimates that more than 30% of the food in America is wasted each year. Besides food waste at home, there is also a lot of commercial food waste: restaurants preparing more food than customers buy, and grocery stores ending up with perishables approaching their expiration dates. To battle commercial food waste, “food rescue” groups use volunteers to pick up donated food and deliver it to nonprofits that feed the hungry. ‘’KFC is preparing chicken continuously, Chipotle is preparing food continuously. We rescue it while it’s still hot and freeze it quickly,” says Bill Reighard,…

The European Union unveiled proposals to regulate artificial intelligence that call for strict rules and safeguards on risky applications of the rapidly developing technology. The report is part of the bloc’s wider digital strategy aimed at maintaining its position as the global pacesetter on technological standards. Technology companies seeking to tap Europe’s vast and lucrative market, including those from the U.S. and China, would have to play by any new rules that eventually come into force. The EU’s executive Commission said it wants to develop a“framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had ordered her top deputies to come up with a coordinated European approach to artificial intelligence and data strategy 100 days after she took office in December. “We will be particularly careful where…

Did an artificial-intelligence system beat human doctors in warning the world of a severe coronavirus outbreak in China? In a narrow sense, yes. But what the humans lacked in sheer speed, they more than made up in finesse. Early warnings of disease outbreaks can help people and governments save lives. In the final days of 2019, an AI system in Boston sent out the first global alert about a new viral outbreak in China. But it took human intelligence to recognize the significance of the outbreak and then awaken response from the public health community. What’s more, the mere mortals produced a similar alert only a half-hour behind the AI systems. For now, AI-powered disease-alert systems can still resemble car alarms — easily triggered and sometimes ignored. A network of…

Jennifer Lawrence will star in the Adam McKay comedy “Don’t Look Up” for Netflix. The streaming giant on Wednesday announced that it acquired the the project. McKay, who wrote the script, will direct the film about two low-level astronomers who go on a media tour to warn of an approaching asteroid heading for Earth. Lawrence has been little seen on the big screen lately, most recently co-starring in last year’s “X-Men: Dark Phoenix.”The 29-year-old actress took a roughly two-year hiatus from acting but has recently returned to work. She recently wrapped production on an untitled film for A24 directed by Lila Neugebauer. “I’m so thrilled to make this movie with Jen Lawrence,” McKay said in a statement. “She’s what folks in the 17th century used to call ‘a dynamite act.’…

If the Hollywood mantra for making blockbusters is “faster, faster, faster,” then the creators of “Sonic the Hedgehog” have wisely ignored it. The little blue alien who can sprint quicker than the speed of light has ironically benefited from slowing it down, taking a pit stop to retool and emerge this month as a total crowd-pleaser. Respectful of the rich history of the brand and yet welcoming to newcomers, ” Sonic the Hedgehog ” is a feel-good buddy movie for both adults and their own little aliens. “Nailed it!” screams Sonic at one point and that might be a fitting summary for the film. Director Jeff Fowler has been entrusted on his feature film debut with bringing to life the ball of super CGI energy, whose origins lie in Sega…

Apple Inc. is warning investors that it won’t meet its second-quarter financial guidance because the viral outbreak in China has cut production of iPhones. The Cupertino, California-based company said Monday that all of its iPhone manufacturing facilities are outside Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, and all have been reopened. But the company said production is ramping up slowly. “The health and well-being of every person who helps make these products possible is our paramount priority, and we are working in close consultation with our suppliers and public health experts as this ramp continues,”Apple said in a statement. The death toll from COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, was 1,770 as of Monday. Apple says demand for iPhones is also down in China because many of Apple’s…

At Facebook, Stan Chudnovsky oversees the Messenger chat app that’s used by well over 1 billion people each month. He’s playing a key role in helping Facebook integrate that app with its other chat tools, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct. The massive project has already gotten pushback from regulators worried about Facebook’s size and power. Government officials also worry about Facebook’s plans to extend end-to-end encryption to Messenger. Once that happens, Facebook wouldn’t be able to respond to law enforcement subpoenas because it wouldn’t have a way to unscramble messages. Chudnovsky, who moved to the U.S. from Russia in 1994, joined Facebook in 2015. He spoke with the press recently about his work and views on privacy. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q:What are the biggest…

Facebook’s green light for political campaigns to pay prominent social media users to spread their messages is highlighting the difficulties around setting rules for the fast-changing world of online political campaigning. The company’s rule change comes days after Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg exposed a loophole in Facebook’s political advertising guidelines by promoting his campaign through popular Instagram personalities followed by millions of younger people. The Bloomberg posts weren’t much more than using self-deprecating humor to sell the candidate’s old guy appeal, using a tactic that until now was largely used to sell skin care products or clothing-subscription services on social media. But the lack of oversight and clear rules around influencer marketing, along with their effectiveness in reaching younger audiences, makes them ripe for misuse. Even with the change…

SpaceX aims to launch up to four tourists into a super high orbit, possibly by the end of next year. The private company is working with Space Adventures Inc. for the flight, officials announced this week. Ticket prices are not being divulged but expected to be in the millions. Space Adventures already has helped put tourists into orbit with trips to the International Space Station, working with the Russian space program. For this trip, paying customers will skip the space station and instead orbit two to three times higher, or roughly 500 miles to 750 miles (800 kilometers to 1,200 kilometers) above Earth. It’s a lofty goal that would approach the record 850-mile-high (1,370 kilometers) orbit achieved by Gemini 11’s Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon in 1966. The tourist flight…

A German court has temporarily halted the site preparation for Tesla Inc.’s first electric car factory in Europe. The Higher Administrative Court for Berlin-Brandenburg ordered Tesla to stop clearing trees on the wooded site near Berlin until it considers an environmental group’s appeal. In a statement last weekend, the court said it had to issue the injunction because otherwise Tesla might have completed the work this week. A lower court in Germany ruled last week that Tesla could clear the trees for its factory. But the environmental group Green League Brandenburg appealed, citing the potential for the factory to pollute the area’s drinking water and other issues. In its statement, the higher court said there is no reason to assume that the Green League’s appeal won’t succeed. German officials celebrated…

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that he plans to spend $10 billion of his own fortune to help fight climate change. Bezos, the world’s richest person, said in an Instagram post that he’ll start giving grants this summer to scientists, activists and nonprofits working to protect Earth. “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change,” Bezos said in the post. Amazon, the company Bezos runs, has an enormous carbon footprint. Last year, Amazon officials said the company would work to have 100% of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030. The online retailer relies on fossil fuels to power planes, trucks and vans in order to ship billions…

Washington state lawmakers introduced bills Wednesday, at The Boeing Co.’s request, to suspend the aerospace giant’s preferential business and occupation tax rate unless the United States and European Union reach an agreement on their long-running international trade dispute that would allow the lower tax rate. Democratic Sen. Marko Liias and Democratic House Majority Leader Rep. Pat Sullivan are the sponsors of the companion bills in the Senate and House. Under the legislation, starting on April 1, the company will no longer receive the 40% tax break that the Legislature adopted for the aerospace industry in 2003, which was expanded in 2013. Last year, the World Trade Organization body ruled that Boeing received an illegal U.S. tax break from Washington state that damaged sales by European archrival Airbus. The decision by…

Google is attempting to make sure people know exactly what they’re signing up for when they use its online services — though that will still mean reading a lengthy document. The company updated its terms of service on Thursday — its largest update to the general use contract since 2012 — in response to a pair of court orders in Europe. Google has been updating its policies and tweaking what is and isn’t allowed on its sites for the past couple of years as scrutiny of the tech industry heats up across the U.S. and Europe. Google, Facebook, Twitter and other digital companies have been forced under a spotlight as regulators and customers examine just how much the companies know about their users and what they do with that information.…

A federal judge in Texas has dismissed Chinese tech giant Huawei’s lawsuit challenging a U.S. law that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment because of security concerns. The lawsuit, filed last March, sought to declare the law unconstitutional. Huawei argued the law singled out the company for punishment, denied it due process and amounted to a “death penalty.” But a court ruled Tuesday that the ban isn’t punitive and that the federal government has the right to take its business elsewhere. Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology competition and digital spying. The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations that it facilitates Chinese spying and that is controlled by the ruling Communist Party. The…

Automakers are reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market. Local officials have orders from the ruling Communist Party to get businesses functioning again while still enforcing anti-disease curbs that shut down much of the world’s second-largest economy. “Local governments are putting their full weight behind helping businesses open,” the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Ker Gibbs, said in a statement. Toyota Motor Co. said two factories reopened Monday with one of the usual two daily shifts working. Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co., Mercedes Benz and Chinese brand Geely resumed some operations last week. General Motors Co. said a “staggered start” across its factories began last Saturday. Nissan Motor Co. plans to…

Whitney Houston is about to appear on the concert stage again. Eight years after her death, a holographic Houston will embark on a European tour that starts in England on Feb. 25 and runs through early April, with U.S. dates expected to follow. “Now is just the right time,” said Pat Houston, the singer’s sister-in-law, former manager and the executor of her estate, which is producing the show in collaboration with BASE Hologram. “In the spirit of Whitney, I know we’re doing all the right things right now.” Last week, a few dozen members of the media were given a dress-rehearsal preview in Burbank, California of most of “An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour,” which features a Houston projected onto a nearly invisible scrim on a stage…

A group of students at Yale University has set up a drone delivery service on campus. Kiki Air promises to deliver candy, snacks and other small items to students who place orders through an app. The service is currently being tested using a small group of student customers before being launched campus wide. Developers told the Yale Daily News that users order items from a menu on their phones and receive them at one of several drop locations around campus in a padded envelope attached to a drone. Kiki Air’s founder, Yale senior Jason Lu, says his company grew from a class project and has won a $150,000 grant from Y Combinator, a California-based investor in startups. “The convenience store business model hasn’t been updated in a hundred years,” Co-founder…

A grand jury charged two Japanese businessmen for their role in an alleged global conspiracy to fix prices for components used in computer hard disk drives, federal officials announced. Hitoshi Hashimoto and Hiroyuki Tamura, both former top sales executives at NHK Spring Co. Ltd., were indicted in federal court in San Francisco, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Japanese manufacturer NHK Spring Co. Ltd. (NHK Spring) last year pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to pay a $28.5 million fine. Federal prosecutors say that from May 2008 and through at least April 2016, Hashimoto and Tamura participated in a conspiracy with their competitors “to stabilize, maintain, and fix the prices of suspension assemblies used in hard disk drives.” It wasn’t immediately known if Hashimoto and Tamura…

Spain’s government approved this week the introduction of new taxes on digital business and stock market transactions, following similar steps by other European countries. The Cabinet agreed at its weekly meeting to adopt the so-called Google tax and Tobin tax. The measures still require parliament’s approval. Finance Minister Mara Jesus Montero said the Google tax, which has angered U.S. authorities and brought a threat of tariffs by the Trump administration, will be levied only from the end of the year. By then, the government hopes an international agreement on digital business taxes will be in place. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which advises the world’s rich countries on policies, is currently trying to draw up the agreement. Montero said the government wants a “fairer” tax system, adapted to…