Innholdsfortegnelse for #554 i Techlife News

Shortly after launching his campaign last year for the Republican nomination in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, Sam Brown got into a scrape with Twitter. A Purple Heart recipient who was severely burned by an IED blast in Afghanistan, Brown posted a picture of himself saluting while in uniform along with the words “Freedom Isn’t Free.” After he filed for the Senate seat three days later, he said his post was flagged with a “potentially sensitive content” warning that would require Twitter users to click or tap on the post to confirm they want to view it. Twitter explained the restriction by pointing to Brown’s account settings, which the company has said he could adjust. Regardless of what triggered the label, it gave Brown a powerful opportunity to tap into the…

A digital attack on a Massachusetts-based health care organization may have compromised the personal information of as many as 2 million people, officials said. Shields Health Care Group Inc., which provides imaging and ambulatory surgical services at dozens of locations, said in a notice on its website that data including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and medical or treatment details is among the information that may have been compromised. The breach has been reported to federal law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. That agency reported on its website that 2 million people were affected. An FBI spokesperson said the agency had no comment. Shields said it “was alerted to suspicious activity that may have involved data compromise” on March…

Taser developer Axon said this week it is working to build drones armed with the electric stunning weapons that could fly in schools and “help prevent the next Uvalde, Sandy Hook, or Columbine.” But its own technology advisers quickly panned the idea as a dangerous fantasy. The publicly traded company, which sells Tasers and police body cameras, floated the idea of a new police drone product last year to its artificial intelligence ethics board, a group of well-respected experts in technology, policing and privacy. Some of them expressed reservations about weaponizing drones in over-policed communities of color. But they were not expecting Axon’s announcement that it wants to send those Taser-equipped drones into classrooms to prevent mass shootings by immobilizing an intruding gunman. In an interview, Axon founder and CEO…

Elon Musk is threatening to walk away from his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam bot and fake accounts. Lawyers for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the threat in a letter to Twitter, and Twitter disclosed it in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The letter says Musk has repeatedly asked for the information since May 9, about a month after his offer to buy the company, so he could evaluate how many of the company’s 229 million accounts are fake. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has said that Twitter has consistently estimated that fewer than 5% of its accounts are fake. But Musk has disputed that, contending in a May tweet that 20% or…

Meltdowns in the cryptocurrency space are common, but the latest one really touched some nerves. Novice investors took to online forums to share tales of decimated fortunes and even suicidal despair. Experienced crypto supporters, including one prominent billionaire, were left feeling humbled. When the stablecoin TerraUSD imploded last month, an estimated $40 billion in investor funds was erased — and so far there has been little or no accountability. Stablecoins are supposed to be less vulnerable to big swings — thus the name — but Terra suffered a spectacular collapse in a matter of days. The Terra episode publicly exposed a truth long-known in the always-online crypto community: for every digital currency with staying power, like bitcoin, there have been hundreds of failed or worthless currencies in crypto’s short history.…

Shopping for a new or used car over the last couple of years has become a more challenging endeavor. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects, we’ve had to deal with factory closures, supply chain issues, a worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips, vehicle shortages, price hikes on dealer lots and fewer discounts. Throw in sky-high fuel prices and rising interest rates, and it’s enough to make people throw their hands up in resignation. “Consumers in need of a new ride this summer need to break old habits and relearn how to smartly navigate today’s market,” said Ivan Drury, senior manager. “You can’t simply walk into the dealership expecting to find bargains, incentives or even the vehicle you want.” With this in mind, here are a few issues you need…

There is only one person who, in the middle of a massive dystopic dinosaur movie, can utter a line like “That’s bananas” with just the right timing and inflection. For almost three decades, off and on, Jeff Goldblum has played Dr. Ian Malcolm with particular Goldblumian panache. As the stylish chaos theorist of the“Jurassic Park”and“Jurassic World”films, Goldblum is voice of reason and comedy relief in one, an auger of nature’s unpredictability who can’t help marveling at seeing his theories in action, even if that poses immediate danger to himself. It’s one of the 69-year-old actor’s best-known characters. Yet in even big movies like“Jurassic Park”and“Independence Day,”Goldblum has such a singular manner and much-imitated tempo that he’s never been particularly defined by those roles. It’s more that Goldblum, in putting his own…

As prices on goods and services continue to rise because of inflation, scaling back expenses isn’t the only way to free up cash to cover essentials. Credit cards can feature valuable perks for new applicants, whether your goal is to pay off debt or save on costs. Even if you already have a card, you may be sitting on targeted offers, rewards or benefits that could make a difference. Here are some ways to maximize value from a credit card. 1. INTRODUCTORY OFFERS If you’ve got good credit (a FICO score of 690 or higher) and a big expense coming up, consider financing it with a credit card that offers a 0% intro annual percentage rate on purchases and a sign-up bonus. As long as you pay off the balance,…

Nations must keep up hope and focus on tackling global warming despite the many obstacles now to international cooperation — including the war in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic, food shortages and rising energy costs, the U.N. climate chief urged. Patricia Espinosa, whose second term as head of the U.N. climate office ends this year, spoke at the start of a 10-day meeting in Bonn, Germany, where diplomats from around the world will try to lay the foundations for this year’s international climate summit in Egypt. “I appeal to all of you, especially in these difficult and challenging times, not to lose hope, not to lose focus, but to use our united efforts against climate change as the ultimate act of unity between nations,” she said. Since signing the 2015 Paris…

Teslas with partially automated driving systems are a step closer to being recalled after the U.S. elevated its investigation into a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles or trucks with warning signs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it is upgrading the probe to an engineering analysis, another sign of increased scrutiny of the electric vehicle maker and automated systems that perform at least some driving tasks. An engineering analysis is the final stage of an investigation, and in most cases NHTSA decides within a year if there should be a recall or the probe should be closed. Documents posted by the agency raise some serious issues about Tesla’s Autopilot system. The agency found that it’s being used in areas where its capabilities are limited, and that…

The head of the Federal Trade Commission says the agency is pushing a robust agenda of actions and policies to help safeguard children’s privacy online. The ongoing work will include toughened enforcement of a long-standing law governing kids’ online privacy and eyeing the algorithms used by social media platforms targeting young people. “Children’s privacy is enormously important and we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can ... to vigorously protect children’s privacy and protect them from data abuses,” said Lina Khan, who has led the consumer-protection agency for a year. She spoke in an interview over Zoom. Around the country, parents’ concern has deepened over the impact of social media on kids. Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, stunned Congress and the public last fall when she…

U.S. solar manufacturers say they are considering legal challenges after President Joe Biden declared a two-year pause for tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia. Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act on Monday as the White House moved to jumpstart solar installations that have been slowed or abandoned amid a Commerce Department inquiry into possible trade violations involving Chinese products. The White House said Biden’s actions would boost an industry crucial to his climate changefighting goals while not interfering with or shutting down the Commerce investigation. But some domestic producers, including a California company that filed a complaint with Commerce about unfair competition from Chinese imports, said Biden’s actions would help China’s state-subsidized solar companies at the expense of U.S. manufacturers. “President Biden is significantly interfering in Commerce’s quasi-judicial…

Forget rummaging through the junk drawer. Soon, Europeans will only need to reach for one cable to charge their smartphones and other devices. European Union officials said they inked a provisional agreement that will require a uniform charging cord in the 27-nation bloc. It’s part of a wider effort to make products sold in the EU more sustainable and cut down on electronic waste. The new rules, which will take effect by fall 2024, mean EU consumers will only need to use a common USB Type-C cable for small and medium-sized rechargeable, portable electronic devices. “European consumers were frustrated with multiple chargers piling up within their homes,” Alex Agius Saliba, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator, said at a press briefing in Brussels. “Now, they will be able to go with…

California regulators gave a robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco, a first in a state where dozens of companies have been trying to train vehicles to steer themselves on increasingly congested roads. The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously granted Cruise, a company controlled by automaker General Motors, approval to launch its driverless ride-hailing service. The regulators issued the permit despite safety concerns arising from Cruise’s inability to pick up and drop off passengers at the curb in its autonomous taxis, requiring the vehicles to double park in traffic lanes. The ride-hailing service initially will consist of just 30 electric vehicles confined to transporting passengers in less congested parts of San Francisco from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Those restrictions are…

Amazon, which has been under increasing pressure to tackle counterfeit products, said in its second-annual report that it prevented 4 billion bad listings from making it onto its site and got rid of more than 3 million phony products last year. The results were mixed compared with 2020, when Amazon blocked 10 billion listings and got rid of 2 million phony products. The Seattle-based e-commerce juggernaut also saw a decrease in complaints of intellectual property infringement in 2021 while growing the number of active brands on its site. According to the report, Amazon stopped more than 2.5 million attempts to create fake accounts on its third-party marketplace, where sellers can list their products directly to consumers. That number is about a 58% decline from the attempts it said it stopped…

NASA will launch a research rocket from remote northern Australia this month in the agency’s first blast off from a commercial space port outside the United States. Three suborbital sounding rockets will be launched from the Arnhem Space Center on Indigenous-owned land near the mining town of Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory on June 26, July 4 and 12, said NASA and the launch pad’s owner, Equatorial Launch Australia. The launch site was chosen because it is in the Southern Hemisphere and close to the equator. “This commercial launch range in Australia opens up new access to the Southern Hemisphere’s night sky, expanding the possibilities for future science missions,” NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen said in a statement. The 12.2-meter (40-foot), 2,200-kilogram (4,900-pound), Canadian-designed Black…

High school students working to earn free college tuition through Louisiana’s TOPS state scholarship program could take computer coding instead of a foreign language under a bill passed Monday amid complaints efforts to revive the French language could be undermined. The measure passed in the final hours of the 2022 session in Baton Rouge. It goes next to Gov. John Bel Edwards. The Senate passed the final version of the bill 34-0 on Monday but in the House, where 53 votes are needed to pass a bill, the measure squeaked by on a 54-41 vote. Rep. Mike Huval opened his argument against the change by greeting House members in French. Huval, a Republican from Breaux Bridge, said Cajun French was once suppressed in Louisiana schools. He extolled efforts to revive…

The Biden administration accused three U.S. companies of sending to China blueprints and technical drawings for satellite and rocket technology and other defense prototypes. The Commerce Department leveled the allegations as it blocked the three companies from exporting items to foreign countries for 180 days. That punishment, known as a temporary denial order, is regarded as among the most severe civil sanctions available to the department. The companies — Quicksilver Manufacturing Inc., Rapid Cut LLC, and U.S. Prototype Inc. — provide 3-D printing services to customers that include manufacturers of space and defense technology. The Commerce Department says the customers would send blueprints and drawings to the companies that they wanted printed — and that the companies in turn would send that work to China, presumably as a way to…

The test couldn’t have been much easier — and Facebook still failed. Facebook and its parent company Meta flopped once again in a test of how well they could detect obviously violent hate speech in advertisements submitted to the platform by the nonprofit groups Global Witness and Foxglove. The hateful messages focused on Ethiopia, where internal documents obtained by whistleblower Frances Haugen showed that Facebook’s ineffective moderation is “literally fanning ethnic violence,” as she said in her 2021 congressional testimony. In March, Global Witness ran a similar test with hate speech in Myanmar, which Facebook also failed to detect. The group created 12 text-based ads that used dehumanizing hate speech to call for the murder of people belonging to each of Ethiopia’s three main ethnic groups — the Amhara, the…

This year’s bumper Worldwide Developers Conference focused not only on what was next for macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, and iOS, but also lifted the lid on new hardware from the Cupertino company, with Apple showing off the new MacBook Air, powered by the M2 chip. LEAPS FORWARD FOR SOFTWARE Although Apple typically saves hardware announcements for separate events held throughout the year, the company made the unusual move of announcing two new MacBook products at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. As well as an all-new MacBook Air, which has been redesigned, the firm also bumped the specs of its entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro. That’s, of course, on top of the major announcements across iOS, macOS, and iPadOS, with each operating system given new features and tools designed to make the Apple…

New York lawmakers have passed a milestone environmental measure designed to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations that burn fossil fuels. Both supporters and opponents say that the closely watched bill, approved by the state Senate, is the first of its kind in the U.S. If it becomes law, it would establish a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for energy-intensive “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency mining — a term for the computational process that records and secures transactions in bitcoin and similar forms of digital money. Proof-of-work is the blockchain-based algorithm used by bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies. Environmentalists are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the legislation. They say the state is undermining its long-term climate goals by letting…

A company is seeking to build the country’s first-ever remote air traffic control center, which could handle traffic for multiple airports, on the site of an old Air Force base in Alabama, a newspaper reports. Advanced ATC Inc., an air traffic control academy based in Valdosta, Georgia, announced plans to invest about $4.7 million at Craig Air Field, now a public airport in Dallas County, just southeast of Selma, the Selma Times-Journal reported. The company also announced it will establish an international training academy at the site. The remote tower uses cameras, real-time video and other features, allowing air traffic controllers to remotely accomplish the duties they would previously have carried out in a traditional control tower, the company said. “Remote towers represent an important and innovative step in airspace…

New York lawmakers have passed a bill targeting the use of warehouse productivity quotas in the state, a move aiming to curtail metrics employed by Amazon that has come under more scrutiny in the past few years. Labor and safety advocates have long criticized the e-commerce giant’s use of productivity quotas that log how workers pack and stow packages. If workers are inactive for a set period of time, the company’s“time off task”tool can ding them for taking too many breaks, which critics have blamed for the company’s injury rates. A report released in April by Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of four labor unions, found Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse workers in 2021, but was responsible for 49% of all injuries in the industry. Amazon CEO Andy…

Target is canceling orders from suppliers, particularly for home goods and clothing, and it’s slashing prices further to clear out amassed inventory ahead of the critical fall and holiday shopping seasons. The actions, announced Tuesday, come after a pronounced spending shift by Americans, from investments in their homes to money spent on experiences like travel and nights out for dinner and other pre-pandemic routines. Shoppers are also focusing more on non-discretionary items like groceries as inflation makes them more selective. That’s a change that arrived much faster than major retailers had anticipated. The speed at which Americans pivoted away from pandemic spending was laid bare in the most recent quarterly financial filings from a number of major retailers. Target reported last month its profit for the fiscal first quarter tumbled…

The future of car transport in Europe may become clearer — and cleaner — when the European Parliament decides whether to ban vehicles with a combustion engine starting in the middle of the next decade. The European Union assembly’s scheduled vote later in Strasbourg, France, is part of EU draft legislation to step up the fight against global warming. Cars account for around 12% of European emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. The spotlight is on a provision that would force automakers to lower carbon-dioxide emissions by 100% in 2035, a step that would amount to an EU prohibition that year on the sale of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel. The car industry and some political voices are urging a more gradual transition to fully…