Innholdsfortegnelse for #452 i Techlife News

It wasn’t just the leadership opportunities or seeing his best friends or even escaping months stuck at home because of the coronavirus pandemic that had Rory Sederoff thinking 2020 would be one of his best summers ever. This would have been the Toronto teenager’s 15th year at Camp Walden, a sleepaway camp in upstate New York where he has spent every summer since he was 3 months old. He had already started rehearsing the speech he was going to give at the end-of-summer banquet, and imagined the exact tree by the waterfront that he would pick to be named in his honor. For 14-year-old Rory, whose parents work at Walden, camp is where he feels most like himself — disconnected from screens and open to new opportunities. “This summer, I…

Google says it will start paying some publishers for their news content, in a move that could pave the way for reduced tensions between the internet search giant and the beleagured news industry. The company said Thursday that it plans to launch this year a licensing program to pay publishers for “high-quality content.” The program will start with local and national publications in Germany, Australia and Brazil, “with more to come soon,” Brad Bender, vice president of product management, said in a blog post. “This program will help participating publishers monetize their content through an enhanced storytelling experience,” Bender said, describing it as a “significant step forward” in how the company will support high-quality journalism. The program’s articles will be availalble on Google’s News and Discover services. Google will also…

The United States is willing to help other countries finance purchases of next-generation telecom technology from Western providers so they can avoid Chinese tech giant Huawei, which Washington sees as a security threat, an American official said Thursday. Washington is lobbying European and other allies to exclude Huawei Technologies Ltd. as they upgrade to 5G networks. Australia, Japan and some others have imposed restrictions on Chinese technology, but Huawei’s lower-cost equipment is popular with developing countries and is making inroads into Europe. Giving Huawei even a small 5G role would allow Beijing to expand its “surveillance state” by eavesdropping on phone and other network-based systems, said Keith Krach, a U.S. undersecretary of state for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment. “There’s lots of financing tools and those kinds of things…

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments this week related to the national and global response, the work place and the spread of the virus. CASH BURN Live to see another day has become a mantra for companies across all sectors, from restaurants to airlines. The Fed is using its tools to help, but most of the cash is being raised in the private sector. — American Airlines will try to raise $3.5 billion to offset the cash it’s burning through with airports still largely empty. The Texas carrier will offer $1.5 billion in senior secured notes and it’s taking out a new loan of $500 million, due in 2024. American is raising another $1.5 billion through the…

German payment service provider Wirecard said it has concluded that 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) which were supposed to be held in two accounts probably don’t exist, deepening troubles that last week prompted the resignation of its chief executive. Wirecard AG was once regarded as a star of the growing financial technology sector, but its shares have fallen sharply after the company became the subject of multiple Financial Times reports about accounting irregularities in its Asian operations. Wirecard disputed the reports, which started in February 2019, and said it was the victim of speculators. Last week, the company disclosed that auditors couldn’t find accounts containing the 1.9 billion euros and postponed its annual report. Last week, CEO Markus Braun resigned and was replaced by James Freis. Two Philippine banks that…

As schools consider how and when to reopen their buildings during the pandemic, many are finding themselves overwhelmed by the potential expenses that would come with operating under social distancing guidelines: protective equipment, staff for smaller classes and additional transportation to keep students spread out on bus rides. The burdens loom large in particular for urban, under-resourced districts that often have neither the space nor the budgets to accommodate new health protocols. In Hartford, Connecticut, Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez shudders at the thought of how to afford a scenario where each teacher had dramatically fewer students. In some grades, she said, she has individual teachers with as many as 27 students in their classrooms. “My budget would be nonexistent,” she said. The vast majority of American school districts have yet to…

Weta Digital, the Academy Award-winning visual effects company that made “The Lord of the Rings” and “Avatar” possible, is making original animated content for cinemas and streaming for the first time in its 25-year history. The company also said that L0had joined the New Zealand-based shop as CEO. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the married filmmaking team behind “The Lord of the Rings” and majority stakeholders in the company, plan to write, produce and direct several of the projects for Weta Animated. “We are huge fans of animated storytelling in all of its forms, but it can be a long, protracted, and often costly way to make movies,” Jackson said in a written statement. “That’s, in part, why we have created this company — to change the model and open…

Soccer clubs around Europe are increasingly turning to virtual “fan tokens” to raise money and enhance fan engagement. And the money can pile up fast. The latest club to enter the world of blockchain, Spanish champion Barcelona, generated 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) in less than two hours. The 600,000 Barcelona cryptocurrency-based tokens, which sold for 2 euros ($2.20) each, give fans exclusive voting rights in club-specific polls and can give them a chance to win rewards that could include watching games as VIP guests or meeting with players. Blockchains are “blocks” of information or transactions that are secure and transparent. They are stored on a network of computers around the world without the need of a centralized party or authority to control the data. The information can’t be altered,…

Top European Union officials pressed China’s leaders to open the country’s markets further to European companies, show stronger leadership in reforming world trade’s governing body and step back from the brink in Hong Kong. With criticism mounting that the EU has been kowtowing to Beijing, European Council President Charles Michel and EU commission President Ursula von der Leyen attempted to strike a tougher tone than usual, after video talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. The 27-nation bloc is China’s biggest trading partner, but also an economic competitor, and as Beijing has become more assertive in recent years, the EU has struggled to balance its commercial interests with a country that it also sees as “a systemic rival.” “Progress is needed in many areas to re-balance this…

They are a symbol of celebration, loudly lighting up the night sky and best known in the U.S. as the explosive exclamation point to Fourth of July festivities. This year, fireworks aren’t being saved for Independence Day. They’ve become a nightly nuisance ringing out from Connecticut to California, angering sleep-deprived residents and alarming elected officials. All of them want to know: Why the fascination with fireworks, and where is everybody getting the goods? “I had that same question,” said Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. Theories range from coordinated efforts to blame those protesting police brutality to bored people blowing off steam following coronavirus lockdowns. Most states allow at least some types of consumer fireworks, making them difficult to contain in cities like New York where…

An Amazon delivery station is planned to help speed up deliveries to customers in northeastern Indiana’s Allen County. Amazon Logistics said in a news release that the facility is expected to create hundreds of full-time and part-time jobs when it opens this year, WANE-TV reported Thursday. A location was not given. Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry said the delivery station also will bring revenue and growth to the community. The delivery station also will offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to build their own businesses delivering Amazon packages.…

Britain’s competition watchdog has provisionally approved Amazon’s plan to buy a stake in food delivery company Deliveroo, saying it would not have a negative impact on customers by reducing choice or raising prices. The Competition and Markets authority approved a deal that will see Amazon take a 16% stake in the delivery platform. The authority warned it would re-assess if Amazon, which has a dominant presence in online retail, sought to increase its stake further. “We’ve carefully considered how this investment could affect competition between the two businesses in future,” said the CMA’s Stuart McIntosh, who chaired the inquiry into the deal. “Looking closely at the size of the shareholding and how it will affect Amazon’s incentives, as well as the competition that the businesses will continue to face in…

Although this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference was a little different amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and Friends still managed to lift the lid on a whole host of new innovations for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS - and confirmed the long-awaited transition from Intel to Apple-powered chips for its iMacs and MacBooks. A VIRTUAL CONFERENCE The coronavirus pandemic has hit virtually every aspect of our lives, and WWDC is no exception. Back in March, Google canceled its own technology conference, I/O 2020 , and others followed suit - like Facebook and the Mobile World Congress. The direct loss of such events reached more than $1 billion for the tech giants , and though some have changed their strategy - including Sony, who announced PlayStation 5 during its…

North Dakota has collected about $43 million in online sales taxes since they were authorized two years ago, according to state revenue officials. The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2018 ruled that states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. North Dakota began collecting from remote sellers that fall. “This was indeed a landmark decision for North Dakota and all states that use sales taxes as a vital source of state funding,” state tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger said. The court’s decision leveled the playing field for local sellers who were no longer at a competitive disadvantage with their online competitors due to a sales tax requirement, Rauschenberger said. North Dakota cities and counties that impose local sales taxes have received nearly $15 million through the first half of this…

What happens to a college town when the students disappear? Ithaca, a small upstate New York city nearby gorges and vineyards, is finding out. Most of the 24,000 students at Cornell University and 6,200 more from Ithaca College effectively vanished in March when the coronavirus pandemic struck, leaving behind struggling restaurants and shops. Locals still reeling from the outbreak and resulting exodus are wondering when — or if — things will get back to normal. “It’s going to be hard. I mean, normally we have about seven months that the colleges are here,” said Gregar Brous, who runs the local Collegetown Bagels shops, other restaurants and a catering operation. He has brought back just over 100 of the 330 employees he laid off, but the long-term fate of college-dependent businesses…

Twitter says it will give its U.S. employees Election Day off going forward and employees around the world paid time off to vote in national elections. The San Francisco company said that if employees don’t have enough time to vote outside of working hours in their country, it it will compensate them for the time it takes to do so. Twitter Inc. stressed though that employees responsible election-related work, including the security of its service, will continue to work on these days. The move comes after Twitter announced that it will make June 19, or Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., a paid holiday. The U.S. is a bit of an outlier among industrial democracies in holding elections on a weekday, according to the Pew…

New Mexico’s Legislature approved a proposal to make police body cameras mandatory for nearly all state and local law enforcement officers, sending the bill to supportive Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for final approval. The Democrat-led House of Representatives voted 44-26 on the Senate-approved police accountability reforms that provide exceptions for tribal authorities. Video must be archived for 120 days, and police agencies that flout the camera requirement could be sued for withholding evidence, under the legislation. The bill also includes new sanctions for police convicted for unlawful use of force or failure to stop excessive force by colleagues --permanently revoking police certification unless the conviction is pardoned by the governor. Lujan Grisham has urged the Legislature to seize upon the momentum of demonstrations set off by George Floyd’s killing…

China on Tuesday launched the final satellite in its Beidou constellation that emulates and may seek to compete with the U.S. Global Positioning System, marking a further step in the country’s advance as a major space power. The launch of the satellite onboard a Long March-3 rocket was broadcast live from the satellite launch base of Xichang, deep in the mountains of southwestern China, shortly before 10 a.m. About half an hour later, the satellite was deployed in orbit and extended its solar panels to provide its energy. An initial launch scheduled for last week was scrubbed after checks revealed unspecified technical problems. The third iteration of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System promises to provide global coverage for timing and navigation, offering an alternative to Russia’s GLONASS and the European…

Disney is postponing the mid-July reopening of its Southern California theme parks until it receives guidelines from the state, the company announced. Disney had hoped to reopen Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim on July 17 after a four-month closure due to the coronavirus. But the state has indicated it won’t issue guidelines until after July 4, the company said. “Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” Disney said in a statement. The company didn’t provide a new reopening date. The parks closed on March 14 and the reopening requires government approval. Gov. Gavin…

Orders to American factories for big-ticket goods rebounded last month from a disastrous April and March as the U.S. economy began to slowly reopen. The Commerce Department said that orders for manufactured goods meant to last at least three years shot up 15.8% in May after plunging 18.1% in April and 16.7% in March. Economists expected a rebound, but the May increase was stronger than expected. A category that tracks business investment — orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft — rose 2.3% after dropping 6.5% in April. Excluding the transportation sector, which bounces around from month to month, durable goods orders rose a more modest 4%. New orders for cars and auto parts surged 27.5% last month after falling 53.7% in April and 19.5% in March. The lockdowns, travel…

Coronavirus quarantine had many people rethinking the interiors of their homes this spring. DIY projects were tackled, and rooms reorganized. Now that summer’s here, why not give the same mini-makeover to backyards and outdoor spaces? You’ll feel less cooped up if you bring some indoor style outside, even if it’s just to a tiny balcony or front porch, says New Jersey interior designer Anna Maria Mannarino. “You’re expanding the real estate really by bringing the indoors out,” Mannarino says. Here, she and two other design experts — Connecticut landscape architect Janice Parker and Houston interior designer Lauren Rottet — share advice on how they create stylish outdoor spaces that can accommodate a range of activities, from cooking and socially distant entertaining to relaxing and working from home. COMFORT AND COZINESS…

Los Angeles International Airport is testing thermal camera technology designed to identify travelers with elevated body temperatures. The technology deployed at the Tom Bradley International Terminal is the airport’s latest response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Airport officials say the cameras should quickly detect people with temperatures of 100.4 degrees or higher, which is the standard for fever detection set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials say participation in the test program is voluntary. Signs alert passengers to the cameras placed at the terminal’s main entrance on the departure level and inside the terminal near an international arrivals area. If the system detects someone has an elevated temperature, a medical professional will approach and request a secondary screening using a handheld, non-contact thermometer. If the passenger is departing,…

The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted Bejeweled, Centipede, King’s Quest and Minecraft in a virtual ceremony that recognized their influence on the industry and the gamers who have spent tens of billions of hours playing them. The hall of fame’s Class of 2020 was chosen from a field of 12 finalists that also included Frogger, Goldeneye 007, Guitar Hero, NBA Jam, Nokia Snake, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Uncharted 2, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Atari’s Centipede is credited with bringing more female players into arcades when it debuted in 1981, challenging players to fire on an insect as it zigzagged down the screen. Developer Ed Logg’s team included Dona Bailey, one of the decade’s few female developers. “It’s also one of the best-selling arcade games…

C’mon. Everyone knows that when you rent a vacation house online, you read the reviews first. So maybe if Theo and Susanna, the upscale couple in “You Should Have Left,” had read the reviews before renting their lovely getaway house in Wales, just maybe they’d have come across that creepy guy who says in the film, “Some don’t leave.” He doesn’t seem to mean it in a good way. In any case, soon after they arrive in the picturesque countryside with their young daughter, things start feeling strange to Theo and Susanna — and no, not in a good way. And we, the viewer, start asking the obvious question: Why the heck don’t they just pack up and get out? But, like so many families in haunted house horror pics…

The Trump administration extended a ban on green cards issued outside the United States until the end of the year and added many temporary work visas to the freeze, including those used heavily by technology companies and multinational corporations. The administration cast the effort as a way to free up jobs in an economy reeling from the coronavirus. A senior official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity predicted it will open up to 525,000 jobs for Americans. The ban, while temporary, would amount to major restructuring of legal immigration if made permanent, a goal that had eluded the administration before the pandemic. Longterm changes that would prevent many asylum seekers from getting work permits and would allocate high-tech worker visas differently are also being sought. Business groups pressed…

Segway, which boldly claimed its two-wheeled personal transporter would revolutionize the way people get around, is ending production of its namesake vehicle. The Segway PT, popular with tourists and police officers but perhaps better known for its high-profile crashes, will be retired on July 15, the company said in a statement. “Within its first decade, the Segway PT became a staple in security and law enforcement, viewed as an effective and efficient personal vehicle,” said Judy Cai, Segway president, in a statement, noting that in the past decade it gained popularity with vacationers in major cities in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. But the Segway, which carries a standing passenger on a wide platform, accounted for less than 1.5% of the company’s revenue last year.…

The Arctic is feverish and on fire — at least parts of it are. And that’s got scientists worried about what it means for the rest of the world. “Methane escaping from permafrost thaw sites enters the atmosphere and circulates around the globe”KATEY WALTER ANTHONY University of Alaska The thermometer hit a likely record of 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Russian Arctic town of Verkhoyansk on Saturday, a temperature that would be a fever for a person — but this is Siberia, known for being frozen. The World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday that it’s looking to verify the temperature reading, which would be unprecedented for the region north of the Arctic Circle. “The Arctic is figuratively and literally on fire — it’s warming much faster than we…