Innholdsfortegnelse for #528 i Techlife News

Cryptocurrency executives went to Capitol Hill Wednesday to say their fast-growing industry understands more regulation is likely coming, but they don’t want it to squelch the next wave of the internet or send it offshore to other countries. Leaders from major crypto exchanges, mining and other related businesses testified for four-and-a-half hours before the financial services committee of the House of Representatives, which wanted to learn more about how the industry works as it wrangles with how to regulate it. Much of the discussion centered on protections for investors in a burgeoning ecosystem that critics have called the “Wild West.” Questions from Congressional members ranged from 101-level discourses about what “stablecoins” are — they’re digital coins pegged to the U.S. dollar or something similar to hold a stable value —…

The airline industry’s recovery is being tested this holiday season as passengers return in near pre-pandemic numbers. The resurgence in air travel is being fueled by pent-up demand and the availability of vaccines, along with an apparent lull in virus cases since summer’s big wave. The Transportation Security Administration says that passenger checkpoints are nearly as busy now as they were in 2019, before the pandemic. Airlines have been ramping up capacity to meet this demand, but the industry is hampered by a lagging workforce recovery. They’re struggling to hire more staff, especially air crews. That’s raised concerns that major airlines could be in for a rough December. “Like a lot of industries, they are competing for people,” said Peter McNally, an analyst at Third Bridge. “They know what they…

We’re so rife with reboots and remakes today that it can take a moment to gauge just what Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is. It isn’t a papered-over modernizing or a thinly disguised retread. It’s a feat of reconstruction. Spielberg, Tony Kushner and Steven Sondheim have taken the original play and reworked it from the inside, burrowing into the DNA of “West Side Story” and its characters to recast, reconsider, deepen and clarify one of the 20th century’s most iconic musicals. It is, I think, a better movie than the 1961 original, by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, in almost every respect. The Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang who squares off with the white Jets in 1950s New York, have been a given a new and fuller life, bringing “West…

Supply chain snags. Sold-out merchandise. Empty shelves. Hefty shipping fees. Inflation. There are plenty of complications working against you this holiday shopping season. And despite warnings to shop early because of pandemic-related delays, some of us didn’t prioritize holiday shopping in October and November. But all hope isn’t lost. Here’s what to do if you still have gifts left to purchase this month. WATCH FOR RESTOCKS Keep checking back with retailers — both online and in stores — over the next few weeks, and you could be pleasantly surprised. “Typically retailers get multiple deliveries in throughout a holiday season, so even if something is sold out earlier in the season, there’s always a chance that it could come back in stock in December,”says Katherine Cullen , senior director of industry…

The Federal Trade Commission sued to block graphics chip maker Nvidia’s $40 billion purchase of chip designer Arm, saying the deal would create a powerful company that could hurt the growth of new technologies. Nvidia Corp., based in Santa Clara, California, said in September 2020 that it was buying United Kingdom-based Arm Ltd. from Japanese technology giant Softbank to “create the world’s premier computing company for the age of AI.” But the deal immediately raised concerns that Arm would abandon its business model of licensing chip designs to hundreds of tech companies, including many of Nvidia’s competitors. Many of the world’s smartphones run on Arm’s chip designs and it is a vital supplier for companies like Apple and Samsung. It’s also an innovator in chip technology that can power artificial…

One of the perks of buying a new vehicle is that it offers features that promise a safer and more convenient driving experience. Some technologies have trickled down from luxury to mainstream segments, while others have been introduced quickly across the market. But which features are essential? Experts break down five must-have features to look out for on your next car. SURROUND-VIEW CAMERA Parking is a tricky business, with the danger of curbing wheels, grazing poles, or bumping into parked vehicles. This is especially true of many modern vehicles that have sleek coupe-like rooflines but poor outward visibility. To reduce anxiety, surround-view camera systems project a bird’s-eye viewing angle onto the car’s infotainment system. From this perspective, you can maneuver your vehicle in tight spaces confidently. More sophisticated versions of…

Donald Trump’s new social media company and its special purpose acquisition company partner say the partner has agreements for $1 billion in capital from institutional investors. The former president launched his new company, Trump Media & Technology Group, in October. He unveiled plans for a new messaging app called “Truth Social” to rival Twitter and the other social media platforms that banned him following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. TMTG’s plan is to become a publicly listed company through a merger with the publicly traded Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company whose sole purpose is to acquire a private company and take it public. The institutional investors were not identified in a press release issued last weekend by Trump Media and Digital World. The…

A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for more than five hours, the latest sign of just how concentrated the business of keeping the internet running has become. The incident at Amazon Web Services mostly affected the eastern U.S., but still impacted everything from airline reservations and auto dealerships to payment apps and video streaming services to Amazon’s own massive e-commerce operation. That included The Associated Press, whose publishing system was inoperable for much of the day, greatly limiting its ability to publish its news report. Amazon has still said nothing about what, exactly, went wrong. In fact, the company limited its communications Tuesday to terse technical explanations on an AWS dashboard and a brief statement delivered via…

Rohingya refugees sued Facebook parent Meta Platforms for more than $150 billion over what they say was the company’s failure to stop hateful posts that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by Myanmar’s military rulers and their supporters. Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit in California saying Facebook’s arrival in Myanmar helped spread hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that “amounted to a substantial cause, and eventual perpetuation of, the Rohingya genocide.” Lawyers in the United Kingdom have issued notice of their intention to file a similar legal action. Facebook, which was recently renamed Meta, did not immediately, reply to a request for comment. It’s the latest in a series of accusations that the social media giant fueled misinformation and political violence, outlined in redacted internal documents obtained by…

Last August, Vince Patton was watching a YouTube video of a Tesla owner who had made a startling observation: Tesla drivers could now play a video game on their car’s touch-screen dashboard — while the vehicle is moving. Curious to see for himself, Patton drove his own 2021 Tesla Model 3 to an empty community college parking lot, activated a game called “Sky Force Reloaded” from a menu and did a few loops. “I was just dumbfounded that, yes, sure enough, this sophisticated video game came up,” said Patton, a 59-year-old retired broadcast journalist who lives near Portland, Oregon. He tried Solitaire, too, and was able to activate that game while driving. Later, he found he could browse the internet while his car was moving. Patton, who loves his car…

Michigan would create new economic development funds to help the state land major business expansions, including possible electric vehicle and battery plants, under fast-tracked bills that received initial approval Wednesday. Lawmakers did not say how much money they may put into the accounts to offer manufacturers and other companies and to prepare shovel-ready industrial sites. Some or much of the money likely would come from $5.6 billion in discretionary federal COVID-19 pandemic rescue funding. While proponents did not specify pending deals for which Michigan is vying, several told the House Government Operations Committee that Michigan must stay competitive in the auto industry. “These are real opportunities in real time that will be decided over the next 60 to 90 days,”said Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.…

Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary “Get Back” runs for nearly eight hours and the only real criticism you can make is that it doesn’t last longer. For dabblers and other newcomers, it’s a prime introduction. For the Beatles fanatic, and we are a vast and obsessive community, every moment offers some kind of revelation or random pleasure, along with glimpses of what was to come and what might have been. A few notes from one fanatic: A MOMENT’S NOTICE “Get Back” closely follows the band in January 1969 as it hurries to record an album and plan a concert for an intended television special, what became the 1970 album and documentary “Let it Be.” It’s the most in-depth look we’ve ever had of the Beatles at a given moment, but should…

Among the fastest-growing forms of cryptocurrency are stablecoins, which use blockchain technology like Bitcoin and ethereum. Stablecoins are distinct, though, because they are pegged to a government-backed currency, like the dollar, or to gold. With each digital token valued at, say, $1, stablecoins are potentially better-suited to commercial transactions than are other cryptocurrencies that can fluctuate in value. There are more than 200 stablecoins, worth nearly $130 billion — a six-fold increase from a year ago. The largest is Tether. The second-largest is USD Coin, which is issued by the financial services firm Circle. We spoke recently with Dante Disparte, Circle’s chief strategy officer, about the uses of stablecoins and the federal regulations they may face as digital currencies gain greater visibility. The interview has been edited for length and…

Carmaker Stellantis announced a strategy this week to embed AI-enabled software in 34 million vehicles across its 14 brands, hoping the tech upgrade will help it bring in 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion) in annual revenue by 2030. CEO Carlos Tavares heralded the move as part of a strategy that would transform the car company into a “sustainable mobility tech company,” with business growth coming from features and services tied to the internet. That includes using voice commands to activate navigation, make payments and order products online. The company is expanding existing partnerships with BMW on partially automated driving, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn on customized cockpits and Waymo to push their autonomous driving work into light commercial vehicle delivery fleets. Stellantis’ embrace of artificial intelligence and expansion of software-enabled vehicles is…

Shares in the electric vehicle startup Lucid Group tumbled Monday after saying that said it had been subpoenaed by government regulators, apparently over the process by which it became a publicly-traded company last summer. Lucid shares skidded 18% at the opening bell and they were down 9% near midday at $42.75. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the California company said an investigation by the SEC “appears to concern the business combination between the company and Atieva Inc. and certain projections and statements.” Lucid, formerly known as Churchill Capital Corp. IV, began trading on NASDAQ in July after combining with Atieva, a so-called special purpose acquisition company. Commonly referred to as a “SPAC,” they are used as a shortcut to go public, bypassing the lengthy and costly…

Instagram launched a feature that urges teenagers to take breaks from the photo-sharing platform and announced other tools aimed at protecting young users from harmful content on the Facebook-owned service. The previously announced “Take A Break” feature encourages teens to stop scrolling if they have been on the social media platform for a while, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a blog post. It rolled out to the U.S., United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and would reach the rest of the world early next year, he said. Young users will see notifications about the feature and be urged to set reminders to take more breaks going forward, the post said. It’s one of the efforts that Facebook, renamed Meta Platforms, has touted on its platforms as it…

At a table scattered with tools and wires, volunteer repairers sit across from the owners of an assortment of inoperable electronics. The volunteers at a free “repair cafe” in Copenhagen disassemble and diagnose gadgets while the customers watch, each doing their part for the environment - one broken blender, radio or laptop at a time. In Denmark, workshops where nonprofessionals with a bug for fixing things can share equipment and technical know-how with each other as well as the less handy are held on a regular basis. The non-profit Repair Café Denmark stages up to 15 weekly events in public libraries and community centers across the Scandinavian country. “I didn’t want to replace it with a new one because it was such a tiny little problem,” said Ann Lisbeth Dam,…

Tech tools like digital contact tracing apps and artificial intelligence that European governments rolled out to combat COVID-19 failed to play a key role in solving the pandemic and now threaten to make such monitoring widely accepted, a new report shows. The health surveillance technologies that many European countries deployed after the coronavirus pandemic erupted last year were often adopted without enough transparency, safeguards or democratic debate, according to a report released Thursday by AlgorithmWatch, a nonprofit research group that tracks the impact of AI systems. Authorities scrambled to develop new technologies or use existing ones to combat the virus’s spread. They built digital contact tracing apps to track who infected people had been around and later developed vaccine passports to verify people had received COVID-19 shots in order to…

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to make the federal government carbon-neutral by 2050, aiming for a 65% reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of car and trucks five years later. The White House said the order shows how the government will “leverage its scale and procurement power to lead by example in tackling the climate crisis.”The order will reduce emissions across federal operations, as part of a government-wide effort to confront climate change. “As the single largest land owner, energy consumer and employer in the nation, the federal government can catalyze private-sector investment and expand the economy and American industry by transforming how we build, buy and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings and other operations to be clean and sustainable,” the order said.…

We might be headed towards the most wonderful time of the year, but before we do, we have to jump through the usual hurdles of buying gifts for our loved ones. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, our 2021 Christmas Gift Guide will give you some food for thought. YOU CAN DEPEND ON APPLE Although there’s no denying that there are other companies that offer more innovative and fresh products than Apple’s, the truth is that you can’t go too far wrong with one of the Cupertino company’s products. It’s also good to know that Apple has issued an extended returns policy over the holiday period, so any purchases you make in an Apple Store or on Apple.com are eligible for returns through January 8, with even later…

Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a civil trial verdict against the family of a deceased business partner that claimed it was owed half of a cryptocurrency fortune worth tens of billions. A Florida jury found that Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million Bitcoin to the family of David Kleiman. The jury did award $100 million in intellectual property rights to a joint venture between the two men, a fraction of what Kleiman’s lawyers were asking for at trial. “This was a tremendous victory for our side,”said Andres Rivero of Rivero Mestre LLP, the lead lawyer representing Wright. David Kleiman died in April 2013 at the age of 46. Led by his brother Ira Kleiman, his family has claimed…

Toyota announced that it plans to build a $1.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant near Greensboro, North Carolina, that will employ at least 1,750 people and help meet the auto giant’s growing goals of electric vehicle sales this decade. Company leaders joint Gov. Roy Cooper and other elected and economic-development officials gathered to unveil the project on hundreds of acres at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in Liberty, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Raleigh. Initially, Toyota will or could receive well over $430 million in cash incentives, tax breaks and infrastructure upgrades from the state of North Carolina and local governments if it meets job creation and investment goals, according to officials and documents. The Japanese automaker said the plant would start making batteries in 2025. The announcement marks a…

The Transportation Security Administration is issuing new directives and recommendations aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity defenses of U.S. rail and airport operators. The Biden administration said the requirements made public are part of a broader effort at protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from ongoing cyberespionage and a surge in disruptive ransomware attacks. “These new cybersecurity requirements and recommendations will help keep the traveling public safe,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. He had previously previewed the new regulations in October. The new TSA directives require most passenger and freight rail operators to identify a cybersecurity point person, report incidents within 24 hours to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, conduct a vulnerability assessment and develop a contingency and recovery plan in case of malicious cyber activity. They…

The Pentagon intends to work better with private industry to develop high-tech systems and to strengthen relations with allies in the Indo-Pacific region in order to maintain a competitive edge over China, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Austin said recent military activity and aggressive moves by China in the region, including near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, are disturbing. And while he said the U.S. is still committed to the longstanding“One China” policy, it is working to bolster Taiwan’s ability to defend itself. “We’re clear eyed about the challenge that China presents. But China is not 10 feet tall. This is America,”said Austin.“America isn’t a country that fears competition. And we’re going to beat this one with confidence and resolve and…

A Japanese billionaire and his producer rocketed to space on Wednesday and reached the International Space Station several hours later, the first visit by self-paying space tourists to the orbiting outpost in more than a decade. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and producer Yozo Hirano, who plans to film his mission, blasted off for the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. The trio lifted off as scheduled at 12:38 p.m. (0738 GMT) aboard Soyuz MS-20 from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan and successfully docked at the orbiting outpost almost six hours later. In several more hours, the crew will be able to open the hatches and move to the space station from the Soyuz. Maezawa and Hirano are scheduled to spend…