Innholdsfortegnelse for #449 i Techlife News

When Berto Aguayo heard that Chicago protests started turning violent over the weekend, he called a few dozen people to meet in front of a colorful mural in a South Side neighborhood. “Number one, we are here to peacefully protect small businesses,” Aguayo — co-founder of Increase the Peace, a community organizing group in the city — told the small crowd. He said the the businesses were locally owned, and residents relied on them: “That is it. If somebody is trying to loot, don’t greet them with hostility. Ask them if they want water, a, snack, engage in dialogue. If that doesn’t work, don’t put your life at risk.” There was no formal training, just a pep talk and a short prayer. Then the group took its place in front…

Eric Pray is used to shipping seafood all over the country. But since the coronavirus took hold, he has shifted his focus closer to home — selling lobsters from a homemade tank in his garage. Pray, of Portland, Maine, is one of hundreds of fishermen, farmers and food producers who have shifted to a direct-to-consumer model amid the virus outbreak. The pandemic has stressed and sometimes disrupted supply chains, shuttered restaurants and changed the way consumers buy food, leaving some producers scrambling for a new way to reach their customers. The farm-to-table movement in the United States has grown in recent years, as consumers have increasingly demanded locally sourced food. But in the past several weeks, the movement has grown out of necessity because some producers can’t rely on the…

The casino coronavirus closure has ended. Cards are being dealt, dice are rolling and slot machines flashed and jingled for the first customers who started gambling again early Thursday in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada. “The past few months have presented our city with an unprecedented challenge,” said Derek Stevens, owner of two downtown Las Vegas casinos that were shuttered along with all gambling establishments in the state 79 days ago. “We are excited to get our employees back to work and to welcome guests to the entertainment capital of the world.” Hotel-casinos in suburban Las Vegas were the first to open at 12:01 a.m., to be followed later in the morning by a restart of the iconic Bellagio fountain and reopenings of several resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.…

The future of space exploration has never been so exciting. As NASA partners with SpaceX and its Crew Dragon to land two of its astronauts at the International Space Station - the first successful launch in more than nine years from US soil - many are asking what’ll come next, and how we can utilize the skills of private space firms to venture further and make history. MAKING HISTORY On Saturday, May 30 at 15:22, two American astronauts lifted off from NASA’s iconic Flordiaian launchpad, once graced by Apollo, and made their way to the International Space Station on May 31, a journey that would take them more than 400 kilometers from Earth. The trip itself wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, it had been taken hundreds of times before by astronauts around…

As thousands of protesters take to the streets in response to police killings of black people, companies are wading into the national conversation but taking care to get their messaging right. Netflix’s normally lighthearted Twitter account took on a more somber tone on Saturday: “To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter. We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up.”That got retweeted over 216,000 times and “liked” over a million times. The streaming service is just one of many corporate brands that have turned to social media to voice concerns over racial injustice after the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee…

When Mindy Kaling was growing up in the Boston area, few classmates looked like her, and her television choices ranged from angsty white teenagers to funny white teenagers. It helps explain her latest project, the hit Netflix comedy “Never Have I Ever,” which follows Devi Vishwakumar, a first-generation Indian American teen navigating not only her culture and Hindu faith, but also raging hormones, commitment to excellence and explosive temper. “Some old loser was telling me that I was too Indian,” Devi says in the show’s fourth episode. “And some other people think I’m not Indian enough, and honestly all I want to do is eat a donut.” It’s a rarity on Western television. Though “Never Have I Ever” has received mixed reviews, it has drawn wide praise for its representation…

The company that administers the SAT college entrance exam is scrapping plans to provide a home version of the test this year, saying it can’t guarantee all students would have access to the needed technology. The College Board announced that it’s pausing plans for the remote exam but still hopes to make it possible in the future. Offering the test at home would have required three hours of uninterrupted internet access, the company said. Officials in April said they were creating a home exam in case schools remained closed into the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of offering the test on paper under a proctor’s supervision, the company said it would rely on “remote proctoring” using the computer’s camera and microphone. Instead, the College Board said that it’s…

The Trump administration moved this week to block Chinese airlines from flying to the U.S. in an escalation of trade and travel tensions between the two countries. The Transportation Department said it would suspend passenger flights of four Chinese airlines to and from the United States starting June 16. The decision was a response to China’s failure to let United Airlines and Delta Air Lines resume flights this week to China, which were suspended earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic that started in China’s Wuhan province. The Transportation Department said that China was violating an agreement between the two countries covering flights by each other’s airlines. “The Department will continue to engage our Chinese counterparts so both U.S. and Chinese carriers can fully exercise their bilateral rights,”…

In a cramped office in eastern Seoul, Hwang Seungwon points a remote control toward a huge NASA-like overhead screen stretching across one of the walls. With each flick of the control, a colorful array of pie charts, graphs and maps reveals the search habits of thousands of South Korean senior citizens being monitored by voice-enabled “smart” speakers, an experimental remote care service the company says is increasingly needed during the coronavirus crisis. “We closely monitor for signs of danger, whether they are more frequently using search words that indicate rising states of loneliness or insecurity,” said Hwang, director of a social enterprise that handles SK Telecom’s services. Trigger words lead to a recommendation for a visit by public health officials. As South Korea’s government pushes to allow businesses to access…

Snapchat will stop “promoting” President Donald Trump on its video messaging service, the latest example of a social media platform adjusting how it treats this U.S. president. Last week, Twitter placed fact-check warnings on two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots “fraudulent” and predicted problems with the November elections. It demoted and placed a stronger warning on a third tweet about Minneapolis protests that read, in part, that “when the looting starts the shooting starts.” Snapchat’s action is more limited. It means only that the president’s posts will no longer show up in the app’s “Discover” section, which showcases news and posts by celebrities and public figures. Trump’s account will remain active on Snapchat and visible to anyone who searches for or follows it. The decision, which Snap — the…

A new study says that while autonomous vehicle technology has great promise to reduce crashes, it may not be able to prevent all mishaps caused by human error. Auto safety experts say humans cause about 94% of U.S. crashes, but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study says computer-controlled robocars will only stop about one-third of them. The group says that while autonomous vehicles eventually will identify hazards and react faster than humans, and they won’t become distracted or drive drunk, stopping the rest of the crashes will be a lot harder. “We’re still going to see some issues even if autonomous vehicles might react more quickly than humans do. They’re not going to always be able to react instantaneously,” said Jessica Cicchino, and institute vice president of research and…

Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a recent briefing on Philadelphia’s coronavirus response with an unusual request for residents: Be careful what you flush. Between mid-March, when the city’s stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Kenney said. “Please do not flush any of these items down the toilet,” the mayor said. Officials in other U.S. cities and rural communities — and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — have issued similar pleas as wastewater plant operators report a surge of stopped-up pipes and damage to equipment. The problem has sharpened the longstanding clash over whether wipes are suitable for flushing. While drain…

The first astronauts launched by SpaceX declared victory Monday in NASA’s cosmic capture-the-flag game. They quickly claimed the prize left behind at the International Space Station nearly a decade ago by the last crew to launch from the U.S. “Congratulations, SpaceX, you got the flag,” NASA astronaut Doug Hurley said a day after arriving at the space station. Hurley showed off the small U.S. flag during a news conference and again in a linkup with SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. “You can bet we will take it with us when we depart back to Earth,” said Hurley, floating alongside Dragon crewmate Bob Behnken. The flag flew on the first space shuttle flight in 1981 and the final one in 2011. Hurley was on that last shuttle crew. The flag was…

What does the United States of America mean? Perhaps it’s Storyline No. 1: Americans are part of an epic tale of equality, of optimism and trajectory, a steady path toward prosperity that includes everyone from the melting pot working together to form a more perfect union. Its best days are still ahead. Maybe it’s Storyline No. 2: The United States was brutal, unfair from the get-go, colonized by quarreling white European factions that shared little but a tendency to overrun indigenous cultures and hold human beings as property. Its best days, if there really were any, are receding. Or is it somewhere in between: countless shades of gray — infinite competing and overlapping visions of America, including many from those whose stories have been muzzled for a long time. The…

There’s a new crop of superheroes coming to our TV this summer but they may need a little seasoning. After all, they’re only in elementary school. The PBS Kids’ animated series “Hero Elementary” is set inside a grade school where a diverse group of four superhero students are learning to master their special powers. There’s a kid who can fly but is afraid of heights. There’s a girl with the power to teleport and a boy who creates forcefields of bubbles. Plus there’s a boy with an array of cool gadgets who is on the autism spectrum. The creators have been subtle about how they’ve portrayed the character of AJ Gadgets, who is on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. AJ doesn’t like loud noises or wet clothes or to…

The U.S. National Security Agency says the same Russian military hacking group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and unleashed a devastating malware attack the following year has been exploiting a major email server program since last August or earlier. The timing of the agency’s advisory was unusual considering that the critical vulnerability in the Exim Mail Transfer Agent — which mostly runs on Unix-type operating systems — was identified 11 months ago, when a patch was issued. Exim is so widely used — though far less known than such commercial alternatives as Microsoft’s proprietary Exchange — that some companies and government agencies that run it may still not have patched the vulnerability, said Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec and a former U.S. government hacker. It took Williams…

In the Netherlands, the intimate gaze of the Girl with the Pearl Earring can once again startle and entice visitors. Down in Spain, the rusty maze of steel sheets by Richard Serra is a wonderland anew for art lovers. And at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam can drop jaws like it has done for ages. As Europe slowly emerges from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed well over 150,000 in the continent and crippled some of the world’s biggest economies, Monday let a brilliant ray shine through the gloom as several of the top museums globally reopened to flaunt their riches. All of the Netherlands rejoiced in a relaxing of the lockdown measures that have kept people away from bars, restaurants, cinemas — as well as some…

Two of Canada’s three major telecommunication companies announced this week they’ve decided not to use Chinese tech giant Huawei for their next-generation 5G wireless network. Bell Canada announced that Sweden-based Ericsson will be its supplier and Telus Corp. later announced that it had also selected Ericsson and Nokia. Rogers already has a longstanding partnership with Ericsson. Canada and its security agencies have been studying whether to use equipment from Huawei as phone carriers prepare to roll out fifth-generation technology. 5G is designed to support a vast expansion of networks to facilitate medical devices, self-driving cars and other technology. Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, but has long been seen as a front for spying by China’s military and its highly skilled…

U.S. productivity fell at a 0.9% rate in the first three months of this year, a smaller decline than first estimated, while labor costs rose at a slightly faster pace. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the first-quarter decline in productivity was smaller than the initial estimate a month ago of a 2.5% drop. Labor costs rose at a 5.1% rate, slightly faster than the 4.8% increase first reported. Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, has lagged over the past decade, a troubling development that economists have been unable to adequately explain. Productivity is the key to rising living standards, and the slow pace of growth in recent years has been a major reason that wage gains have lagged. The revision to the productivity figures followed last…

Movie theater chain AMC warned that it may not survive the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered its theaters and led film studios to explore releasing more movies directly to viewers over the internet. It’s the latest danger sign for the theater business in North America, which was under pressure even before the pandemic. It has gotten a boost by raising ticket prices and revamping theater-going into a more luxurious experience with drinks and meals, but admissions have been gradually declining since 2005. The box office has become home mostly to blockbuster films: Sequels, remakes and superhero movies dominate. Meanwhile, the rise of streaming services — Netflix and a growing stable of rivals — is providing new competition. The coronavirus pandemic threw in more challenges. U.S. cinemas shut down in March,…

The smell of barbecue wafts through the parking lots hours before kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium, and when the first salvo of fireworks explode overhead, thousands of Chiefs fans begin to march en masse toward the entrance gates. That’s how things normally are on an NFL game day in Kansas City. But these days, very little is normal, and like so many things in life the football season ahead is rife with uncertainty. The coronavirus pandemic that brought sports to a standstill for months has everyone wondering what games will be like when spectators are finally allowed back in — and whether they will even want to show up. The changes will be big and small, temporary and long-lasting. Fans could have their every move scrutinized by cameras and lasers. There…

Zoom Video Communications is rapidly emerging as the latest internet gold mine as millions of people flock to its conferencing service to see colleagues, friends and family while tethered to their homes during the pandemic. Tuesday’s release of the once-obscure company’s financial results for the February-April period provided a window into the astronomical growth that has turned it into a Wall Street star. Zoom’s revenue for its fiscal first-quarter more than doubled from the same time last year to $328 million, resulting a profit of $27 million — up from just $198,000 a year ago. The numbers exceeded analysts’ already heightened expectations, providing another lift to a rocketing stock that has more than tripled in price so far this year. After a big run-up leading up to Tuesday’s highly anticipated…

It was a split screen for the ages on MSNBC Monday: on the left side, President Donald Trump talking about restoring law and order. On the right, a tear-gassed young woman vomiting in a Washington street. For a nation rubbed raw following a traumatic weekend, cable television news did little to promote peace, love and understanding in its most-watched hours Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC poke and prod the nation’s divide on most nights, and each has been amply rewarded in the ratings. Trump’s stern speech and walk to a nearby church after protesters were forcibly cleared out of the way Monday raised the temperature on those networks even higher. “The president seems to think that dominating black people, dominating peaceful protesters, is law and order,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper…

For proof that Leonardo DiCaprio can’t save every film he touches, look no further than “And We Go Green,” a languid documentary about the electric car racing circuit. DiCaprio, who is a producer of the film, makes a cameo in the 26th minute, adding a dash of Hollywood glamour but not really helping clean up this messy project. For a film about super-fast cars making hairpin turns at hundreds of miles per hour, it really meanders. The documentary’s spine is the fourth Formula E championship of 2017-18, which had 12 races in 10 cities, pitting 20 drivers from 10 teams. It begins with a false start in Hong Kong and ends with the crowning of a winner in New York. Along the way, we have quite revealing snapshots of the…

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which two former University of Maryland men’s basketball players accused makers of the “Fortnite” video game of misappropriating a dance move that the ex-teammates popularized. U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm in Maryland ruled Friday that the Copyright Act preempts claims that Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley filed in February 2019 against Epic Games Inc., creator of the wildly popular online shooting game. Nickens and Brantley claimed the Cary, North Carolina-based company misappropriated their identities by digitally copying the “Running Man Challenge” dance that they performed in social media videos and on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2016. Their copyright infringement lawsuit claimed the “Running Man” dance “emote” that Fortnite players can purchase for their characters is identical to the dance that Nickens…

As France is easing most virus-related restrictions this week, the French government is confident its contact-tracing app will be effective in the process to contain the spread of the pandemic, despite skepticism and worries about privacy. The man at the forefront of the French app, junior minister for digital economy Cedric O told, “it is not a miracle solution, but it is useful and necessary.” The StopCovid app is set to be available to the public on June 2, when the country starts reopening its restaurants and cafes together with monuments and museums, theaters, gyms and public swimming pools. It will make France the first major world democracy to roll out such a tracing app. Holding his phone with the app opened, O said: “Imagine we’re sitting next to each…

The glacier-carved valleys of Yosemite National Park have been closed to the public for nearly three months and a few dozen lucky kids have had it mostly to themselves. Locked down amid cascading waterfalls and giant sequoias, the kids and their families have passed afternoons hiking empty trails, rafting in the river and walking with wildlife now thriving in the near absence of humans. Expect to read all about it in the upcoming edition of the Yosemite Valley School newspaper, the product of one of America’s most historic and unique public schools. The only school inside the 1,200-square-mile (3,100-square-kilometer) park has three classrooms for 35 students in K-8th grades — the children of Yosemite’s essential staff who live in a residential area of the park and are watching over it…