Innholdsfortegnelse for #515 i Techlife News

With all the developments in the auto industry you may think your next car will be electric, including a new federal target that would mean half of all new vehicles sold within a decade will have zero emissions. This will be a dramatic shift for car shoppers, and perhaps an unsettling one. With the future landscape in mind, the experts have cut through the misinformation and examined some of the most prevalent EV myths. HYBRIDS AND EVS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE Hybrid and fully electric vehicles are more expensive than comparable gasoline-engine cars to purchase initially. But there’s more to the story. After your purchase, you’ll pay less to keep it running. For example, consider the front-wheel-drive 2021 Honda Passport SUV and the rear-wheel-drive electric Ford Mustang Mach-E. The EPA estimates…

Health care in retirement is a big-ticket item. Experts estimate that an average 65-year-old retired couple in 2021 would need about $300,000 in after-tax savings earmarked for health care costs in their post-work life, even with Medicare, according to Fidelity. The totals are daunting, but you can take steps to keep costs as low as possible with the right planning, good insurance choices and a healthy understanding of your conditions and coverage. Try these strategies — now and in retirement — to help control your health care bills. 1. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AN HSA A health savings account allows you to put pretax money away for medical expenses. You can invest the funds, and both the principal and earnings are tax-free if you use them for eligible medical costs, today…

Ask for a roast beef sandwich at an Arby’s drive-thru east of Los Angeles and you may be talking to Tori — an artificially intelligent voice assistant that will take your order and send it to the line cooks. “It doesn’t call sick,” says Amir Siddiqi, whose family installed the AI voice at its Arby’s franchise this year in Ontario, California. “It doesn’t get corona. And the reliability of it is great.” The pandemic didn’t just threaten Americans’ health when it slammed the U.S. in 2020 — it may also have posed a long-term threat to many of their jobs. Faced with worker shortages and higher labor costs, companies are starting to automate service sector jobs that economists once considered safe, assuming that machines couldn’t easily provide the human contact…

Ford Motor Co. has hired a former executive from Apple and Tesla to be the company’s head of advanced technology and new embedded systems, a critical post as the auto industry moves to adopt vehicles powered by electricity and guided by computers. Before Doug Field joined Ford, he was a vice president of special projects at Apple and a engineer at Tesla. Apple has been rumored to be working on its own car project for some time, but the details have been kept under tight wraps. Field also worked on Tesla’s Model 3 vehicle. Field will be in charge of building out passenger systems like navigation, driver-assist technology, connected systems and cybersecurity across all of Ford’s products. He will also be in charge of making sure Ford products work well…

Back in the spring, a shortage of computer chips that had sent auto prices soaring appeared, finally, to be easing. Some relief for consumers seemed to be in sight. That hope has now dimmed. A surge in COVID-19 cases from the delta variant in several Asian countries that are the main producers of auto-grade chips is worsening the supply shortage. It is further delaying a return to normal auto production and keeping the supply of vehicles artificially low. And that means, analysts say, that record-high consumer prices for vehicles — new and used, as well as rental cars — will extend into next year and might not fall back toward earth until 2023. The global parts shortage involves not just computer chips. Automakers are starting to see shortages of wiring…

Just six years ago, Elizabeth Holmes seemed destined to fulfill her dream of becoming Silicon Valley’s next superstar. She was the subject of business magazine cover stories describing her as the youngest self-made female billionaire in history, former President Bill Clinton was reverently quizzing her about her thoughts on technology, and then Vice President Joe Biden was hailing her ideas as an inspiration. Now Holmes is about to head into a San Jose, California, courtroom to defend herself against criminal allegations depicting her as the devious mastermind of a fraud that duped wealthy investors, former U.S. government officials and patients whose lives were endangered by a blood-testing technology that never came close to fulfilling her bold promises. If convicted by a jury in a trial, Holmes could be sentenced to…

Since the COVID-19 vaccine started becoming available in the U.S., there have been more opportunities to impulse spend on items and experiences that you didn’t get to enjoy early in the pandemic. With the freedom to do more, consumers are spending more. For the first seven months of 2021, retail sales were up 15.5% compared to that same period in 2020, according to calculations by the National Retail Federation. As some restrictions have eased, it’s likely that you’ve had new spending needs: returning to work, visiting with friends and family, and partaking in other back-to-normal activities. But when the nonessentials threaten to put your finances in jeopardy, it’s important to keep your financial goals on track. Here are five strategies to help you navigate impulse spending. 1. WAIT A DAY…

The Middle East got its first completely automated cashier-less store, as retail giant Carrefour rolled out its vision for the future of the industry in a cavernous Dubai mall. Like Amazon’s breakthrough unmanned grocery stores that opened in 2018, the Carrefour mini-market looks like any ordinary convenience store, brimming with sodas and snacks, tucked between sprawling storefronts of this city-state. But hidden among the familiar fare lies a sophisticated system that tracks shoppers’ movements, eliminating the checkout line and allowing people to grab the products they’ll walk out with. Only those with the store’s smartphone app may enter. Nearly a hundred small surveillance cameras blanket the ceiling. Countless sensors line the shelves. Five minutes after shoppers leave, their phones ping with receipts for whatever they put in their bags. “This…

Researchers have completed a comprehensive online map of the world’s coral reefs by using more than 2 million satellite images from across the globe. The Allen Coral Atlas, named after late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, will act as a reference for reef conservation, marine planning and coral science as researchers try to save these fragile ecosystems that are being lost to climate change. The group announced completion of the atlas this week and said it is the first global, high-resolution map of its kind. It gives users the ability to see detailed information about local reefs, including different types of submarine structure like sand, rocks, seagrass and, of course, coral. The maps, which include areas up to 50 feet (15 meters) deep, are being used to inform policy decisions about…

As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaches, Americans increasingly balk at intrusive government surveillance in the name of national security, and only about a third believe that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were worth fighting, according to a new poll. More Americans also regard the threat from domestic extremism as more worrisome than that of extremism abroad, the poll found. The poll by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that support for surveillance tools aimed at monitoring conversations taking place outside the country, once seen as vital in the fight against attacks, has dipped in the last decade. That’s even though international threats are again generating headlines following the chaotic end to the 20-year war in Afghanistan. In particular, 46% of Americans say…

Facebook has criticized the U.K. competition watchdog’s provisional decision ordering that it sell off Giphy because it said the acquisition of the company stifles competition for animated images. The social network’s strongly worded response to the Competition and Markets Authority sets the stage for a battle over the future of Giphy. In the letter, Facebook said the watchdog’s decision contained“fundamental errors.”The U.S. company questioned whether the authority’s call to sell Giphy after acquiring it last year would be effective or enforceable. “The CMA’s complete divestiture remedy is grossly unreasonable and disproportionate,” Facebook said. Giphy’s library of short looping videos, or GIFs, are a popular tool for internet users sending messages or posting on social media. The watchdog opened an investigation into the acquisition shortly after Facebook announced the deal reportedly…

Solar energy has the potential to supply up to 40% of the nation’s electricity within 15 years — a 10-fold increase over current solar output, but one that would require massive changes in U.S. policy and billions of dollars in federal investment to modernize the nation’s electric grid, a new federal report says. The report by the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says the United States would need to quadruple its annual solar capacity — and continue to increase it year by year — as it shifts to a renewable-dominant grid in order to address the existential threat posed by climate change. The report released this week is not intended as a policy statement or administration goal, officials said. Instead, it is “designed to guide and…

Americans have become obsessed with collectibles, bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos of their youth. The frenzy has brought small fortunes to some, but a deep frustration for those who still love to play games or trade cards as a hobby. Among the items most sought after — and even fought over — are the relics of millennials’ childhoods. These include copies of trading cards such as Pokemon’s Charizard and Magic: The Gathering’s Black Lotus as well as Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. game cartridges. Some cards are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars and an unopened Super Mario game recently sold for an astonishing $2 million. This is more than a case of opportunistic collectors looking to cash in on a burst of nostalgia…

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taught us anything it’s that heroes arise from unexpected places. For their 25th film entry, that place is valet parking. The titular hero of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is laying low living on tips as a hotel parking attendant in present-day San Francisco when we meet him as an adult. He doesn’t even fly to work; he takes the bus. But by the time the film is over, he’s a glorious addition to the Marvel universe, a tried and dependable warrior whose valor has been tested in more than one dimension and joined by a predominantly Asian cast. And forget about the bus — now he rides dragons. Simu Liu plays our hero with Spider-Man’s aw-shucks sweetness but a lethality…

Cellphones across New York and New Jersey pulsed with urgent warnings of catastrophic flooding as the fury of Hurricane Ida’s remnants, carrying torrential rains, upper New Jersey and New York City. The first alerts of severe weather blared across millions of phones at 8:41 p.m. that night when the National Weather Service warned of dangerous flash flooding from the looming storm. Officials would issue three more alerts, late into the night, urging people to immediately head for higher ground and to stay out of rising floodwaters. A barrage of other alerts from a litany of apps lit up phone screens throughout the night — prompting some to wonder if people were just too inundated with information to take the threat seriously. Experts call it“warning fatigue,”and no one can be sure…

Residents in Wrangell and Petersburg now have the ability to text 911 for help when calling isn’t an option. “It’s been working out excellent,” Petersburg Police Department Chief James Kerr said. “It’s designed for the hearing impaired or domestic violence situations. If you can’t talk to the dispatch, but you need help, you can text.” A third-party provider helped implement the technology with the two police departments. “One of the really big benefits I see with this is for search and rescue,” Kerr said, noting Alaska’s rugged terrain can make it difficult to get a call signal. “But you can send a text through. It gives us GPS coordinates and everything else.” The Juneau Police Department is also investigating a similar system, Lt. Krag Campbell said in an email to…

Former NFL players Clinton Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune pleaded guilty for their roles in a nationwide health care fraud scheme and could face years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced this week. Portis, Vanover and McCune admitted to defrauding an NFL program set up to reimburse medical expenses not covered by insurance for retired players and their families, the Justice Department said. McCune could be facing life in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, 13 counts of health care fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19. The DOJ said McCune orchestrated the scheme that resulted in approximately $2.9 million worth of false and fraudulent…

An avalanche of changes launched by China’s ruling Communist Party has jolted everyone from tech billionaires to school kids. Behind them: President Xi Jinping’s vision of making a more powerful, prosperous country by reviving revolutionary ideals, with more economic equality and tighter party control over society and entrepreneurs. Since taking power in 2012, Xi has called for the party to return to its“original mission”as China’s economic, social and cultural leader and carry out the“ rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation.” The party has spent the decade since then silencing dissent and tightening political control. Now, after 40 years of growth that transformed China into the world’s factory but left a gulf between a wealthy elite and the poor majority, the party is promising to spread prosperity more evenly and is…

Apple might be best known for its consumer electronics like iPhones and iPads, but behind the scenes, the Cupertino company is extending its interests far beyond. Right now, health is a key priority, with Apple investing billions in research and development to create products that help us live longer. However, Tim Cook and Co are now looking further afield: to space. MONITORING HEALTH WITH THE APPLE WATCH In recent years, Apple has transformed the health and wellness landscape with its Apple Watch. Once considered a gimmick and something exclusively for fitness fanatics, the wearable is now one of the company’s biggest product categories, and it’s directly saved dozens of lives around the world. As Apple continues to introduce new technologies into the smartwatch, like blood oxygen level monitoring, Apple Watch…

There will be something missing at two Whole Foods stores opening next year: the rows of cashiers. Amazon, which owns the grocery chain, said this week that it will bring its cashier-less technology to two Whole Foods stores for the first time, letting shoppers grab what they need and leave without having to open their wallets. Cameras and sensors track what’s taken off shelves. Items are charged to an Amazon account after customers leave the store with them. But there will be an option for those who want to shop the old-fashioned way: Self-checkout lanes will be available that take cash, gift cards and other types of payment. The company first unveiled the cashier-less technology in 2018 at an Amazon Go convenience store and has expanded it to larger supermarkets.…

Technology companies that led the charge into remote work as the pandemic unfurled are confronting a new challenge: how, when and even whether they should bring long-isolated employees back to offices that have been designed for teamwork. “I thought this period of remote work would be the most challenging year-and-half of my career, but it’s not,”said Brent Hyder, the chief people officer for business software maker Salesforce and its roughly 65,000 employees worldwide.“Getting everything started back up the way it needs to be is proving to be even more difficult.” That transition has been complicated by the rapid spread of the delta variant, which has scrambled the plans many tech companies had for bringing back most of their workers near or after Labor Day weekend. Microsoft has pushed those dates…

REVIEW “What is life worth?” asks Washington lawyer Kenneth J. Feinberg (Michael Keaton) in the opening scenes of the based-on-a-true-story drama “Worth,” while writing the question on a blackboard for a room full of law school students. To Feinberg, it’s not a trick question or a moral one. It’s a calculation. There are legal parameters and predictions of future earning power that dictate the answer. “The answer is a number,” he says. “And that’s the job” In Sara Colangelo’s “Worth,” which premieres Friday on Netflix, Feinberg’s formulas are dramatically tested in extraordinary tragedy. After Sept. 11, Feinberg is among those brought to Washington to advise on compensation for the families of the victims. The idea floated is that Congress, for the first time, should create a fund for the families…

El Salvador is betting that this week’s pioneering adoption of Bitcoin will spur its economy, especially one of its most crucial sources of revenue: money sent home by Salvadorans in the United States. A fervent proponent of the cryptocurrency, President Nayib Bukele has asked the more than 2 million Salvadorans who live overseas to send their remittances in Bitcoin, arguing it will be cheaper than transferring dollars. He also says it will stimulate foreign investment. “It will be a great benefit for our people,” he has written in Twitter. But both those at home and abroad are uncertain if the plan, which takes effect Tuesday, will work as intended. Some say the system is too complicated and opaque. Others worry about the way Bitcoin values can rise and fall sharply…

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group said it will spend $15.5 billion to support President Xi Jinping’s campaign to spread China’s prosperity more evenly, adding to pledges by tech companies that are under pressure to pay for the ruling Communist Party’s political initiatives. Alibaba said it will invest in 10 projects for job creation, “care for vulnerable groups” and technology innovation. Its 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) pledge includes 20 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) for a fund to “cut income inequality” in the company’s home province of Zhejiang, south of Shanghai. Alibaba and other Chinese tech giants including games and social media service Tencent Holdings Ltd have announced plans to invest in social welfare, technology development and other ruling party priorities in response to pressure to align with Beijing’s political and economic…