Innholdsfortegnelse for #559 i Techlife News

Japan’s Panasonic Corp. selected Kansas as the location for a multibillion-dollar mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other carmakers, lured by the largest package of taxpayer-funded incentives that the state has offered a private business. The company and Gov. Laura Kelly announced the new project Wednesday, just hours after Kelly and eight top leaders of the Kansas Legislature signed off on a package of incentives worth $829 million over 10 years. The state had created a new program to offer incentives that could reach $1 billion or more only five months before — because of Panasonic’s project. State officials expect the new plant to have about 4,000 workers, which would make Panasonic a “top 20, easily” private employer for the state in terms of its size, Kansas…

Amazon, seeking to resolve two European Union antitrust investigations, has promised to treat third-party merchants on its website fairly, the bloc’s competition watchdog said Thursday. The U.S. online retail giant offered to make a number of commitments to ease competition concerns, and the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, said it will now seek feedback on them from “interested parties.” The commission launched an investigation four years ago over concerns Amazon breached EU competition rules by using data from merchants selling products on its platform to gain an unfair advantage over them. It also opened a separate investigation into whether Amazon favors its own retail business and merchants that use its logistics and delivery system over other sellers. The investigations are part of the bloc’s wider efforts to…

Frontier Airlines, facing likely defeat in its bid to merge with Spirit Airlines, is asking for another delay in a shareholder vote on the deal. Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said in a letter made public this week that his airline is “very far” from winning approval by Spirit shareholders, who are weighing a richer buyout offer from JetBlue Airways. A shareholder vote at Spirit, already postponed three times. Spirit’s board has stood behind a February deal it struck with Frontier to join the two discount airlines. “However, we still remain very far from obtaining approval from Spirit stockholders based on the proxy data we received as of July 8,” Biffle said to Spirit CEO Ted Christie and General Counsel Thomas Canfield. Biffle asked for another delay in the vote, until…

When the Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund bought $25 million in cryptocurrencies, with the fund’s chief investment officer touting their potential, retired fire Capt. Russell Harris was concerned. Harris, 62, has attended the funerals of 34 firefighters killed in the line of duty. He was already worried about his pension after an overhaul by state and city officials cut payments as they grappled with the ability to pay out benefits. He didn’t see crypto, unproven in his eyes, as an answer. “I don’t like it,” Harris said. “There’s too many pyramid schemes that everybody gets wrapped up in. That’s the way I see this cryptocurrency at this time. ... There might be a place for it, but it’s still new and nobody understands it.” The plunge in prices for…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter are bracing for a legal fight after the billionaire said he was abandoning his $44 billion bid for the social media company. Twitter is vowing to challenge Musk in court to uphold the agreement. Shares of Twitter slid more than 11% after the announcement. Here’s a look at what could happen next. WHY IS MUSK BACKING OUT? There are a lot of reasons why Musk might have had second thoughts. But he alleged that Twitter has failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts it has. Twitter said last month that it was making available to Musk a “firehose” of public raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets. But Musk’s lawyers have argued that the company was providing Musk…

The arrival of a new baby is all-consuming. In the early weeks, your waking hours are a cycle of feedings, diaper changes and Googling “Is it normal for a baby to (fill in the blank).” Mustering the energy — and attention span — for otherwise routine tasks like showering and paying bills can feel like a tall order. You’ll be lucky to remember what day it is, much less when your next credit card payment is due. Do your future, sleep-deprived self a favor and start prepping your finances early into your pregnancy so things can run on autopilot for a while after the baby arrives. If you don’t already have a budget, start there, says Cecilia Williams, a mother, certified financial planner and the chief operating officer of Halbert…

Flying to Europe this year might sound as absurd as opting for premium gasoline. With prices this high, is it really the right time to splurge? “As a result of labor shortages and all these things going on, travel is more expensive than it’s been in a while,” says travel journalist Oneika Raymond. “Flights are really expensive. Accommodation is really expensive. And revenge travel is a thing.” Although travel prices continue to soar overall due to constrained supply and mounting demand, pockets of affordability remain. Europe represents one of these pockets, where weakening currency exchange rates against the dollar and tepid demand have left prices relatively unscathed. In fact, flights within the U.S. have become so expensive this year that some international destinations, including many in Europe, offer a relative…

A computer vulnerability discovered last year in a ubiquitous piece of software is an “endemic” problem that will pose security risks for potentially a decade or more, according to a new cybersecurity panel created by President Joe Biden. The Cyber Safety Review Board said in a report Thursday that while there hasn’t been sign of any major cyberattack due to the Log4j flaw, it will still “be exploited for years to come.” “Log4j is one of the most serious software vulnerabilities in history,” the board’s chairman, Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Rob Silvers, told reporters Wednesday. The Log4j flaw, made public late last year, lets internet-based attackers easily seize control of everything from industrial control systems to web servers and consumer electronics. The first obvious signs of the flaw’s…

Twitter is telling its employees that it’s not planning any companywide layoffs, but there could be some restructuring and organization changes as it heads into a legal battle over the potential sale to Elon Musk. The San Francisco company included the communication in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also says Twitter is losing workers at a slightly higher rate than in normal economic times, but attrition is in line with current tech industry trends. The company says it will monitor turnover “to ensure that we can quickly identify any areas of concern and help mitigate where possible.” Twitter said it had planned to offer packages to retain employees, and on June 20, it had asked Musk to agree to programs that had been approved by…

The Biden administration and congressional Democrats are warning of dire ramifications for the economy and for national security if Congress fails to pass a bill by the end of July that is designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Their appeals have grown increasingly urgent as Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell threaten to block the computer chips legislation, creating a standoff that threatens to derail one of the biggest bipartisan initiatives in Congress. Republicans have tied their cooperation to Democrats not moving forward with a separate package of energy and economic initiatives that GOP lawmakers warn would increase taxes on small businesses and hurt the economy. It’s a demand that Democrats dismiss out of hand. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said computer chipmakers are being offered lucrative incentives…

The federal industry minister said he is summoning telecom executives following an outage at Rogers Communications Inc. that disrupted mobile and Internet services across Canada, hampering several crucial services. In a statement, Francois-Philippe Champagne said he would meet with Tony Staffieri, Rogers’ chief executive officer, and other telecom leaders to discuss improving ``the reliability of networks across Canada.” He called the failure “unacceptable.” The widespread disruption, which began last Friday and lasted at least 15 hours, paralyzed communications across sectors including health care, law enforcement and the financial industry. Many 911 services couldn’t receive incoming calls, several hospitals reported services affected, and debit card transactions were paused. Staffieri released a statement apologizing for the outage. “We know how much our customers rely on our networks and I sincerely apologize,” he…

Jumana Zakir knows who she is going to be for Halloween this year. Hint: Her new favorite superhero is a lot like her – female, teen, Muslim, American and “totally awesome.” “Kamala Khan is me,” said the exuberant 13-year-old from Anaheim, California. “She is just like me.” Khan is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Muslim superhero to headline her own television show. “Ms. Marvel,” which launched on Disney+ June 8, has struck a chord with South Asian Muslims in the West because of its relatability and how it portrays Muslim families. Advocates for inclusion and representation hope the show will open the door to more nuanced on-screen portrayals of Muslims and their rich diversity. The show tells the story of Khan, played by Pakistani Canadian actor Iman Vellani, getting her…

When Brandy Baxter needed to replace her home’s entire heating and air conditioning system several years ago, she asked contractors if they offered deals at certain times of the year. She learned that if she waited until February, the slow season for such work, she could get a lower price. Baxter, a financial coach based in Dallas, says she saved around $6,000 as a result. When it comes to saving money on big purchases, sometimes timing really is everything. Taking advantage of certain holiday weekends and seasonal discounts can lead to significant savings, which is especially helpful with inflation continuing to push prices higher. Consumers can also consider their own cash flow fluctuations and shop for big-ticket items when they can better afford them. “There are two overarching principles: Purchase…

The United Nations estimated that the world’s population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15 and that India will replace China as the world’s most populous nation next year. In a report released on World Population Day, the U.N. also said global population growth fell below 1% in 2020 for the first time since 1950. According to the latest U.N. projections, the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and a peak of around 10.4 billion during the 2080s. It is forecast to remain at that level until 2100. The report says more than half the projected increase in population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania. The report, “World…

Netflix has picked Microsoft to help deliver the commercials in a cheaper version of its video streaming service expected to launch later this year with a pledge to minimize the intrusions into personal privacy that often accompany digital ads. The alliance announced Wednesday marks a major step toward Netflix’s first foray into advertising after steadfastly refusing to include commercials in its video streaming service since its inception 15 years ago. Netflix announced it would abandon its resistance to ads three months ago after disclosing it had lost 200,000 subscribers during the first three months of the year amid stiffer competition and rising inflation that has pressured household budgets, causing management to realize the time had come for a less expensive option. Netflix has warned it will likely report even larger…

Drone camera footage defines much of the public’s view of the war in Ukraine: grenades quietly dropped on unwitting soldiers, eerie flights over silent, bombed-out cities, armor and outposts exploding in fireballs. Never in the history of warfare have drones been used as intensively as in Ukraine, where they often play an outsized role in who lives and dies. Russians and Ukrainians alike depend heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles to pinpoint enemy positions and guide their hellish artillery strikes. But after months of fighting, the drone fleets of both sides are depleted, and they are racing to build or buy the kind of jamming-resistant, advanced drones that could offer a decisive edge. The urgency was reflected by the White House’s disclosure this week that it has information that Iran will…

One of the most exciting announcements at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference was the launch of passkeys, a new feature for Apple devices that allows developers to offer a passwordless sign-in experience and sounding the death knell for traditional passwords. RIP, PASSWORDS There’s no denying that we’ve come a long way over the past ten years when it comes to digital security. We’ve said goodbye to ‘password123’ and hello to features like Touch ID and two-factor authentication, but the truth is that logging into and managing our online accounts is still complicated and unnecessarily cumbersome. With iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, Apple wants to change that and used its WWDC keynote speech to announce passkeys, designed to replace traditional passwords and start a new era of account authentication. A new…

The average national price for gasoline has gone up almost $2 over the past year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s not good news for some of the thirstiest vehicles on the road: pickup trucks. But there is a relatively new option if you’re looking to save on gas: a hybrid pickup. As with other hybrid vehicles, these trucks have a gasoline-powered engine that’s augmented with electric motors and a battery to help improve fuel economy. But there are nuances to each automaker’s hybrid systems. Experts round up all four hybrid trucks that are on sale today to help you decide which one is the better buy. All prices below include the destination charge. FORD F-150 POWERBOOST PowerBoost is the name given to the first-ever F-150 hybrid engine,…

Bill Gates, concerned about the “significant suffering” caused by global setbacks including the COVID-19 pandemic, announced that he will donate $20 billion to his foundation so it can increase its annual spending. The donation, combined with longtime board member Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s $3.1 billion gift last month, brings The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s endowment to approximately $70 billion, making it one of the largest, if not the largest in the world, depending on daily stock valuations. In an essay on the foundation’s website, Bill Gates said he hopes “others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.” The Gates Foundation plans to raise its annual budget by 50% over pre-pandemic levels to about $9 billion by 2026. The foundation hopes the…

A Moscow court this week fined Apple 2 million rubles (about $34,000) for refusing to store the personal data of Russian users on servers in Russia, part of government efforts to control online activity. Zoom Video Communications and Ookla, which runs the internet tool Speedtest, were both fined 1 million rubles under the same law. The Russian government has been trying for years to establish greater control over the internet and social media, an effort that has intensified in recent months as it tries to limit the flow of information about the war in Ukraine. In March, a Russian court banned Facebook and Instagram for what it said were “extremist activities.” For years, Russia’s communications regulatory agency, Roskomnadzor, has tried to force large technology companies to move the data of…