Innholdsfortegnelse for #542 i Techlife News

Lyft will add a fuel surcharge of 55 cents to each ride given by drivers to offset surging gasoline prices. The company said earlier this week that it would be following Uber, which also announced surcharges this week, and this week it released details of its plan. The company said in a blog post that the surcharge will be effective beginning next week, with all of the money going directly to its drivers. The measure will remain in place for at least the next 60 days, Lyft said. The surcharge is not applicable in New York City due to a recent 5.3% increase in the minimum earnings standard for drivers there. The company is also working to have the surcharge implemented in Nevada, but said the state’s regulatory requirements prevent…

Scientists are getting their first peek at the genes of nearly 100,000 Americans in what’s considered a uniquely diverse genomic database -- part of a quest to reduce health disparities and end cookie-cutter care. The National Institutes of Health released the data to help researchers start unraveling how people’s genes, environments and lifestyles interact to drive their health. And half the study’s participants are from racial and ethnic groups historically left out of medical research. That diversity “will add a kind of knowledge that just isn’t out there,” said Dr. Josh Denny, who heads the NIH’s massive “All of Us” study that eventually aims to have such data from 1 million Americans. Until now, more than 90% of people in the world’s large genome studies have been of European descent,…

Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia’s internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China’s so-called Great Firewall. So when Western tech companies began cutting ties with Russia following its invasion, Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov was alarmed. He’d spent years exposing Russian censorship and feared that well-intentioned efforts to aid Ukraine would instead help Putin isolate Russians from the free flow of information, aiding the Kremlin’s propaganda war. “Look, guys the only space the Russians have to talk about Ukraine. and what is going on in Russia. is Facebook,” Soldatov, now exiled in London. wrote on Facebook in the war’s first week. “You cannot just, like, kill our access.” Facebook didn’t, although the Kremlin soon picked up that…

Amazon said it will spend more than $120 million to build affordable-housing units close to transit stations near Seattle and Washington, D.C, the latest example of a tech company trying to address the affordable housing crisis critics say the industry has exacerbated. Amazon said it is working with Sound Transit and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to construct a total of 1,060 homes near four public transit sites. The Washington state sites are in SeaTac and Bellevue. The other sites are Maryland in the cities of New Carrollton and College Park. Amazon is building out another corporate hub in Arlington, Virginia, and is expanding operations in Bellevue, near its Seattle headquarters. “We know that our investment in these areas brings many economic opportunities for residents in the region, but…

Ford says it will have three new electric passenger vehicles and four new electric commercial vehicles in Europe by 2024, part of the automaker’s continued push to grow its presence in the EV market. Ford Motor Co. said that it plans to sell more than 600,000 electric vehicles in the Europe by 2026. It anticipates producing 1.2 million electric vehicles in Cologne, Germany over six years. Ford will start production of an all-new electric passenger vehicle, a medium-sized crossover, in Cologne next year. A second electric vehicle will be added to the Cologne production line-up in 2024. An electric version of the Ford Puma will be made in Craiova, Romania beginning in 2024. For commercial vehicles, the Transit will include four new electric models – the Transit Custom one-tonne van…

Before the pandemic, the theatrical and digital markets for entertainment were roughly similar in size. Last year, however, digital revenue was more than three times that of global box office, according to a new report by the Motion Picture Association. The MPA’s annual study of theatrical and home entertainment, published this week, crystalized just how much streaming has come to dominate the media landscape. In 2021, the digital market accounted for 72% of the combined theatrical and home market. In 2019, digital accounted for $45.5 billion worldwide; last year it ballooned to $71.9 billion. Streaming services have led the boom. In 2021, streaming subscriptions rose to 1.3 billion globally, a 14% increase from the year before. In the United States, subscriptions grew at a similar pace to 353.2 million. According…

It can be hard to measure the ways that Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted the global supply of parts and raw materials needed to complete a variety of products – from cars to computer chips. But cutting off one of those supply links brought a “depressing feeling” to Andrey Bibik, head of the Interpipe steel plant in Dnipro, Ukraine. He spent the first hours of the war winding down his bustling 24-hour operation and sending almost everyone home. “It’s empty and lonely. You don’t hear a sound. You see everything is frozen,” he said. Getting Interpipe’s steel transmission pipes to Texas oil companies and its railway wheels to European high-speed train operators has been put on hold. Hundreds of the plant’s roughly 10,000 employees have joined the fight against…

Barcelona is teaming up with Spotify — and changing its stadium name — to ease some of the financial struggles that hindered the Spanish club recently. Barcelona’s stadium will be called Spotify Camp Nou after the club announced a “long-term partnership” with the audio-streaming company this week. The agreement includes sponsorship of the main shirt and title rights for the stadium, which will have a sponsor name linked to it for the first time beginning in July. The Spotify brand will appear on the front of both men’s and women’s team shirts for four seasons beginning in 2022-23. The Swedish company will also sponsor the training shirts for three seasons. The club did not say when the title rights for the stadium will end. “Spotify and FC Barcelona will be…

Dominion Energy has received regulatory approval in Virginia for a series of solar projects expected to generate enough power to light up 250,000 homes. Dominion estimates the projects will also generate more than $880 million in economic benefits across Virginia and support nearly 4,200 jobs. The State Corporation Commission approved the plan Tuesday. Dominion said the projects will result in a monthly rate increase of about $1.13 for the average residential customer. Collectively, the projects will generate nearly 1,000 megawatts of electricity — that’s more than the average coal plant in the company’s portfolio. For comparison sake, Dominion’s nuclear-powered North Anna station generates about 1,800 megawatts. The expansion includes 15 Dominion Energy Virginia projects, supplemented by power purchase agreements from third parties. Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby said Dominion’s own projects…

Chipmaker Intel outlined $150 million in educational funding aimed at growing the workforce for the semiconductor industry, as part of its $20 billion investment in a production hub in Ohio. The company announced the Ohio development in January, part of Intel’s efforts to alleviate a global shortage of chips powering everything from phones to cars to home appliances. It’s the largest private sector investment in Ohio history. Construction of two factories, or fabs, is expected to begin this year, with production coming online at the end of 2025. Total investment could top $100 billion over the decade, with six additional factories down the road. To win the project, Ohio offered Intel roughly $2 billion in incentives, including a 30-year tax break. The U.S. share of the worldwide chip manufacturing market…

Senior managers at tech companies would face up to two years in prison if they fail to comply with British rules aimed at ensuring online safety for internet users, the U.K. government said Thursday as it unveiled the draft legislation in Parliament. The ambitious but controversial online safety bill would give regulators wide-ranging powers to crack down on digital and social media companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Authorities in the United Kingdom are the vanguard of a global movement to rein in the power of tech platforms and make them more responsible for harmful material such as child sex abuse, racist content, bullying, fraud and other harmful material that proliferates on their platforms. Similar efforts are underway in the European Union and United States. While the internet has…

Companies critical to U.S. national interests will now have to report when they’re hacked or they pay ransomware, according to new rules approved by Congress. The rules are part of a broader effort by the Biden administration and Congress to shore up the nation’s cyberdefenses after a series of high-profile digital espionage campaigns and disruptive ransomware attacks. The reporting will give the federal government much greater visibility into hacking efforts that target private companies, which often have skipped going to the FBI or other agencies for help. “It’s clear we must take bold action to improve our online defenses,” Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who leads the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and wrote the legislation, said in a statement. The reporting requirement legislation was approved by…

U.S. chipmaker Intel unveiled plans this week to invest up to 80 billion euros ($88 billion) across Europe as part of an ambitious expansion aimed at evening out imbalances in the global semiconductor industry that have led to big chip shortages. CEO Pat Gelsinger said Intel was investing the money over the next decade “along the entire semiconductor value chain.” The company plans to spend tens of billions of dollars setting up or expanding chip production sites and establishing research and development or design centers in Germany, Ireland, France and Italy. “Why are we doing this? Because the world has an insatiable demand for semiconductors, or chips,” Gelsinger said in a webcast. Intel said it’s bringing its most advanced technology to Europe to address the need for a “more balanced…

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation into a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its aging mail trucks with mostly gasoline-powered vehicles. The plan largely ignores White House calls to replenish the mail-service fleet with electric vehicles and has drawn sharp criticism from the Biden administration, Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists, who say it falls far short of President Joe Biden’s goals to address climate change. In a letter this week, Democrats on the oversight panel asked the agency’s inspector general to investigate whether the Postal Service complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws when awarding a 10-year contract to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense to supply up to 165,000 new mail trucks. Only 10% of the initial order will be for EVs; the remaining 90%…

The CNN+ paid streaming service will debut March 29 with programming headlined by network stars like Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, along with poached personalities Audie Cornish, Kasie Hunt and Chris Wallace. Customers will be charged $5.99 a month or $59.99 to get the service, with a special deal for charter subscribers. CNN’s announcement comes a day after MSNBC said that it will offer much of its television lineup on a time-delayed basis on the Peacock Premium streaming service, which is available for $4.99 a month. Fox News’Fox Nation service has been operating since 2018, and recently inked actor Kevin Costner to narrate a documentary series on the Yellowstone national park. News outlets known mostly for television are making some of their most aggressive moves in streaming these…

Pathos and action are found in equal parts in “ The Adam Project,” the latest attempt by Netflix to create the kind of throwback blockbuster that you might have paid to see in movie theaters. Starring Ryan Reynolds as a time traveling pilot and directed by Shawn Levy, the movie takes the old cliche about what you’d tell your younger self and adds PG-13 snark, space action, “Guardians of the Galaxy” energy, a megalomaniac businesswoman, a dead father and a lost love to the mix. And it’s pretty satisfying popcorn fare with some genuinely affecting beats. All that’s missing is some Harry Chapin. This is a project that has been around for a decade — at one point Tom Cruise was attached. But it languished in development and rewrites (there…

Britain’s top court this week refused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges. The court said it refused because the case “didn’t raise an arguable point of law.” Assange, 50, has sought for years to avoid a trial in the U.S. on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago. The case is now expected to be formally sent to British Home Secretary Priti Patel, who will decide whether to grant the extradition. A British district court judge had initially rejected a U.S. extradition request on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. U.S. authorities later…

NASA’s new space telescope has gazed into the distant universe and shown perfect vision: a spiky image of a faraway star photobombed by thousands of ancient galaxies. The image released Wednesday from the James Webb Space Telescope is a test shot — not an official science observation — to see how its 18 hexagonal mirrors worked together for a single coordinated image taken 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away from Earth. Officials said it worked better than expected. Last month, NASA looked at a much closer star with 18 separate images from its mirror segments. Scientists said they were giddy as they watched the latest test photos arrive. NASA’s test image was aimed at a star 100 times fainter than the human eye can see — 2,000 light-years away.…

U.S. industrial conglomerate Textron Inc. has signed a deal to acquire Pipistrel, the Slovenian ultralight aircraft maker and pioneer in electrically powered aviation, both companies announced Thursday. The Slovenian plane maker tweeted that the partnership will combine the expertise of both companies and “accelerate Pipistrel’s development and certification of sustainable aircraft.” Textron is home to Cessna, Beechcraft, and Bell aviation brands. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of this year once all regulatory approvals are issued, Textron said. Pipistrel CEO Ivo Boscarol will remain a minority owner, both companies said. Pipistrel said the deal would grant it access to greater resources, technical and regulatory expertise and a global aircraft sales and support network that would speed up…

At Apple’s Peek Performance event, held virtually this March, the company lifted the lid on its next-generation iPad Air, bringing some of the high-spec features from the iPad Pro to the consumer-focused tablet. The direct-from-Mac M1 chip and super-fast5G connectivity make the latest iPad Air even more of a compelling offer for students, families, and professionals. A FIFTH-GENERATION DEVICE On November 1, 2013, Apple introduced the iPad Air to the world, designed to serve as a premium version of the iPad. Fast-forward nine years, and the iPad Air is now one of the most important products in Apple’s line-up, serving as a more cost-effective version of the iPad Pro, and giving consumers and professionals the tablet they need for modern life. At its March event, Apple lifted the lid on…

For years Americans have been told autonomous technology was improving and that driverless vehicles were just around the corner. Finally they’re here, but to catch a glimpse of them, you’ll need to go to a farm rather than look along city streets. Beginning this fall, green 14-ton tractors that can plow day or night with no one sitting in the cab, or even watching nearby, will come off the John Deere factory assembly line in Waterloo, Iowa, harkening the age of autonomous farming. The development follows more than a decade-long effort by the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, and marks a milestone for automation advocates, who for years have been explaining why driverless cars aren’t quite ready for prime time. “I’m glad to see they’re coming out and will stimulate…

European regulators cleared Amazon’s purchase of Hollywood studio MGM, saying the deal doesn’t raise any competition concerns. The online shopping giant said last year that it was buying MGM in a $8.45 billion deal aimed at bulking up its video streaming service with more content to watch. The European Commission said its investigation found the deal “would not significantly reduce competition” in European markets, including for movie and TV production, wholesale supply of TV channels and retail supply of “audiovisual services.” The commission, the European Union’s executive arm, and its top competition watchdog said MGM’s content can’t be considered “must-have” and it’s “not among the top production studios,” despite holding the rights to successful franchises including James Bond. Known for its roaring lion logo, MGM is one of the oldest…

Ireland’s privacy watchdog has fined Facebook’s parent company, Meta, 17 million euros, or about $19 million, for violating Europe’s privacy law. The regulator, the Data Protection Commission, has been investigating how Meta Platforms Inc. complied with the requirements of the law, known as General Data Protection Regulation, in how it handled personal data in twelve data breach notifications between June and December 2018. The agency said that it found that Meta didn’t have the right measures in place to show it could protect EU users’ data. “This fine is about record keeping practices from 2018 that we have since updated, not a failure to protect people’s information,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We take our obligations under the GDPR seriously, and will carefully consider this decision as our…

US astronaut Mark Vande Hei has made it through nearly a year in space, but faces what could be his trickiest assignment yet: riding a Russian capsule back to Earth in the midst of deepening tensions between the countries. NASA insists Vande Hei’s homecoming plans at the end of the month remain unchanged, even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in canceled launches, broken contracts and an escalating war of words by the Russian Space Agency’s hardline leader. Many worry Dmitry Rogozin is putting decades of a peaceful off-the-planet partnership at risk, most notably at the International Space Station. Vande Hei — who on Tuesday breaks the US single spaceflight record of 340 days — is due to leave with two Russians aboard a Soyuz capsule for a touchdown…

The conversations went like this: It will be just a few days. It can be kept at bay. There will be some inconvenience, sure, but the world will merely be paused — just a short break, out of an abundance of caution, and certainly not any kind of major grinding to a halt. Certainly not for two years. Certainly not for hundreds of thousands of Americans who were among us at that moment in mid-March 2020 — who lived through the beginning, watched it, worried about it (or didn’t), and who, plain and simple, aren’t here anymore. “Just a temporary moment of time,” the man who was then president of the United States insisted. Just a few days. Just a few weeks. Just a few months. Just a few years.…