Innholdsfortegnelse for #577 i Techlife News

Donald Trump may be running for president, but he still can’t use Facebook. The social media platform has no plans to reinstate Trump’s account following the former president’s announcement that he will seek a second term in the White House, the company confirmed Wednesday. Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump may not have to wait long to get back on the site, however. His suspension from Facebook is set to be reconsidered in January, two years after it was first imposed. One change will be immediate: As a candidate, Trump will no longer be subject to Facebook fact checks. That’s because under Facebook rules, comments by elected officials and candidates for office aren’t subject to fact checks on its site.…

Amazon has begun mass layoffs in its corporate ranks, becoming the latest tech company to trim its workforce amid rising fears about the wider economic environment. The company notified regional authorities in California that it would lay off about 260 workers at various facilities that employ data scientists, software engineers and other corporate workers. Those job cuts would be effective beginning on Jan. 17. Amazon would not specify how many more layoffs may be in the works beyond the ones confirmed through California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as WARN, which requires companies to provide 60 days’ notice if they have 75 or more full-time or part-time workers. Amazon employs more than 1.5 million workers globally, primarily made up of hourly workers. The online retail giant, like…

The world is getting hotter and more crowded and the two issues are connected, but not quite as much as people might think, experts say. On Tuesday somewhere a baby will be born that will be the globe’s 8 billionth person, according to a projection by the United Nations and other experts. The Earth has warmed almost 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the world hit the 4 billion mark in 1974. Climate and population is a touchy subject for scientists and officials. While more people consuming energy, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, is warming the planet, the key issue isn’t the number of people as much as how a small fraction of those people are causing way more than their share of carbon pollution, several climate…

The California house where Steve Jobs cofounded Apple is a historical site, and now the sandals he wore while pacing its floors have been sold for nearly $220,000, according to an auction house. The “well used” brown suede Birkenstocks dating to the mid-1970s set a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals, Julien’s Auctions said. “The cork and jute footbed retains the imprint of Steve Jobs’ feet, which had been shaped after years of use,” the auction house said in the listing on its website. The sandals were expected to bring $60,000, but the final sale price with an accompanying NFT was $218,750, Julien’s said. The buyer was not named. Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple in 1976 at Jobs’ parents’ house in Los Altos,…

The new Toyota gas-electric Prius hybrid not only comes with more power, acceleration and driving range. It’s also more stylish, scrapping the rather stodgy angular body for a sleekly futuristic look. Simon Humphries, senior general manager of Global Toyota design who unveiled the car in Tokyo, stressed that the company was still defying the skeptics who keep asking how much longer the Japanese automaker will stick with hybrids in a rapidly electrifying industry. “Simply because the Prius is an eco-car within everyone’s reach. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, everyone in the world must participate,” he told reporters. “We need ecological solutions within reach of the many. And it needs to start today, not tomorrow.” The fifth-generation Prius hybrid models will go on sale this winter first in Japan then…

A research team led by Oregon State University is planning to develop a new rechargeable battery that could reduce the need for environmentally destructive mining of rare minerals like nickel and lithium and accelerate the clean energy transition. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded OSU $3 million to explore the development of a new rechargeable battery technology that would accelerate the clean energy transition without relying on rare finite minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. OSU chemistry professor Xiulei “David” Ji, who will lead a battery research team, said it could be a game-changer. “It’s a new paradigm,” he told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “We are very excited and very grateful to have this opportunity to work on this project.” As the world transitions from fossil fuels to clean energy…

Cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance is proposing the creation of a rescue fund that would save otherwise healthy crypto companies from failure, aiming to stave off the cascading effects of last week’s implosion of FTX, the world’s third-largest crypto exchange. Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao posted on Twitter that his company would create “an industry recovery fund, to help projects who are otherwise strong, but in a liquidity crisis.” Zhao provided no details on the fund’s size or scope, or how the funds would be distributed. The entire cryptocurrency universe is reeling from the bankruptcy of FTX, which was besieged with withdrawal requests in what has been the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run. It’s the latest failure of a cryptocurrency firm this year, as the prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum…

Convinced that the boom in leisure travel is permanent, Airbnb aims to expand its listings by convincing more people to turn their homes into short-term rentals. The company said that it will increase the amount of liability coverage for hosts, up to $3 million, in a play for owners of nicer houses in high-cost places such as California. It will also pair newbies with a “superhost” to guide them through the process of becoming a short-term landlord, from signing up through welcoming their first guest. More listings would not seem to be Airbnb’s biggest challenge. CEO Brian Chesky says the San Francisco company is taking steps to make price more transparent when consumers browse Airbnb listings, and he predicts that will reduce sky-high cleaning fees that many hosts tack on…

American game developer Blizzard Entertainment said it will suspend most of its game services in mainland China after current licensing agreements with Chinese game company NetEase end, sending NetEase’s shares tumbling. Blizzard, which partnered with NetEase in 2008 to offer popular games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo in mainland China, said in a statement the two companies did not reach a deal to renew the agreements “that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees.” The partnership is set to expire next January. Blizzard said new sales will be “suspended in the coming days.” NetEase shares plunged as much as 15% in Hong Kong following the news. NetEase said the expiration of its licenses with Blizzard would have “no material impact” on the…

A coalition of consumer groups is asking grocery chains to rethink their digital-only coupons, saying the deals discriminate against people who don’t have smartphones or reliable internet access. Digital-only deals __ advertised online or on store shelves __ can offer significant savings, but they generally require customers to electronically clip a coupon in a grocer’s app or on its website. For example, a Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio, is advertising frozen turkey for 60 cents per pound this week; with a digital coupon, the price drops to 49 cents per pound. And a Stop & Shop in Somerville, Massachusetts, is offering a half pork loin for $2.99 per pound; with a digital coupon, that drops to $1.79 per pound. “There’s nothing wrong with digital coupons as long as they’re equitable and…

Apple and the company behind the popular video game Fortnite squared off Monday before three federal appellate judges who will render the next decision in a high-stakes battle over whether Apple created an illegal monopoly via its exclusive control of its iPhone app store. Such monopolies typically stifle competition and drive up consumer prices. The oral arguments laid out in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by lawyers from Apple and Fortnite maker Epic Games follow a September 2021 lower court ruling that largely preserved Apple’s sway over the apps it allows on more than 1 billion iPhones worldwide. The 75-minute session was a prelude to an expected ruling by the appeals court, likely to be issued sometime next year. A so-called “walled garden” protecting the iPhone app store includes…

A California company seeking to build small electric aircraft says it will invest $118 million to construct a plant near Atlanta, eventually hiring up to 1,000 people. Archer Aviation, based in Santa Clara, California, said Monday that it would seek to build its aircraft adjoining an airport in Covington, Georgia. Archer is one of many companies trying to build electric air taxis. Archer’s plan involves a battery-powered vertical takeoff and landing craft with six propellers, holding four passengers and a pilot. The propellers would pivot allowing the aircraft to take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a plane. The idea is that such craft could be used for short flights, especially in urban areas. United Airlines last week said it would fly the craft from downtown Manhattan…

Two new U.S. studies show that automatic emergency braking can cut the number of rear-end automobile crashes in half, and reduce pickup truck crashes by more than 40%. The studies released this week, one by a government-auto industry partnership and the other by the insurance industry, each used crash data to make the calculations. Automatic emergency braking can stop vehicles if a crash is imminent, or slow them to reduce the severity. Some automakers are moving toward a voluntary commitment by 20 companies to make the braking technology standard equipment on 95% of their light-duty models during the current model year that ends next August. A study by The Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety compared data on auto equipment with 12 million police-reported crashes from 13 states that…

Sam Bankman-Fried received numerous plaudits as he rapidly achieved superstar status as the head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX: the savior of crypto, the newest force in Democratic politics and potentially the world’s first trillionaire. Now the comments about the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried aren’t so kind after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving his investors and customers feeling duped and many others in the crypto world fearing the repercussions. Bankman-Fried himself could face civil or criminal charges. “Sam what have you done?,” tweeted Sean Ryan Evans, host of the cryptocurrency podcast Bankless, after the bankruptcy filing. Under Bankman-Fried, FTX quickly grew to be the third-largest exchange by volume. The stunning collapse of this nascent empire has sent tsunami-like waves through the cryptocurrency industry, which has seen a fair share of volatility and…

An unexpected and potentially ominous pullback in customer spending ahead of the holiday shopping season pushed third-quarter profits at Target down 52% after it was forced to slash prices with Americans feeling the squeeze of inflation. The Minneapolis retailer voiced caution about its sales and profit during the fourth quarter because of what it’s seen from its customers in recent weeks. They’re waiting for sales rather than buying goods at full price, and finding ways to cut down on spending in other ways as well. Shares of Target tumbled 13% and other retailers slid as well. Macy’s and Kohl’s fell 6% and Nordstrom slumped 9%. Walmart’s shares were flat. Target said that will be slashing expenses with a goal of saving $2 billion to $3 billion over the next three…

The Energy Department awarded nearly $74 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law for 10 projects to advance recycling and reuse of batteries for electric vehicles and other purposes. The funding will go to academic and commercial applicants in seven states, including four in California. Other grant winners are in Nevada, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, Indiana and Alabama. The University of California-San Diego will receive $10 million to develop and scale-up technology to recycle lithium-ion batteries, while Element Energy in Menlo Park, Calif., will receive $7.9 million for a wind-energy project in west Texas. The company is working with Next Era Energy Resources to pursue commercial-scale technology to boost the second-life battery market for energy storage. Sales of electric vehicles have skyrocketed in the past two years and are expected to…

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group on Thursday posted net losses and missed market expectations for revenue in its quarter ended September amid a slowing economy and depressed consumer sentiment. The company reported net losses of 20.6 billion yuan ($2.87 billion) that it said was due to falling market prices of its equity investments in listed companies. Revenue grew 3% compared to the same time last year to 207.2 billion yuan ($29 billion), as the company saw decreased consumer spending as China continued its strict COVID-19 policies with lockdowns and mass-testing. “Consumer appetite was weak and we saw a drop in purchasing frequency,” said Alibaba chairman and CEO, Daniel Zhang on an investor call, adding that there was a drop in demand for categories such as consumer electronics and apparel. The…

The new Apple TV 4K offers speedy performance, an A15 Bionic chip, Siri voice recognition, a robust app, and a starting price cheaper than the previous model: but that’s not all. It’s the future of family entertainment and marks the start of a new generation in gaming. INTRODUCING THE NEW APPLE TV 4K This year’s Apple TV 4K might look virtually identical to its predecessor, but Apple has packed some serious punch into this year’s model. Sure, it doesn’t offer the flexibility of a TV streaming stick similar to the likes of Google Chromecast or the Amazon Fire Stick, but it looks stunning and stands proudly on a TV unit in the home. It connects with all television units, and you can use the remote to control the volume and…

Search giant Google has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states to resolve an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations, state attorneys general announced this week. The states’ investigation was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press story, which found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking by disabling a feature the company called “location history.” The attorneys general called the settlement a historic win for consumers, and the largest multistate settlement in U.S history dealing with privacy. It comes at a time of mounting unease over privacy and surveillance by tech companies that has drawn growing outrage from politicians and scrutiny from regulators. The Supreme Court’s ruling in June ending the constitutional protections for abortion raised potential…

The Biden administration’s move to block exports of advanced computer chips to China is signaling a new phase in relations between the globe’s two largest economies — one in which trade matters less than an increasingly heated competition to be the world’s leading technological and military power. The aggressive move, announced last month, it’s evidence of Biden’s determination to “manage” the U.S. competition with China, whose officials were quick to condemn the export ban. After more than two decades in which the focus was on expansion of trade and global growth, both countries are openly prioritizing their national interests as the world economy struggles with high inflation and the risk of recessions. The U.S. and China have each identified the development and production of computer chips as vital for economic…

The imploding cryptocurrency trading firm FTX is now short billions of dollars after experiencing the crypto equivalent of a bank run. The exchange, formerly one of the world’s largest, sought bankruptcy protection last week, and its CEO and founder resigned. Hours later, the trading firm said there had been “unauthorized access” and that funds had disappeared. Analysts say hundreds of millions of dollars may have vanished. The unraveling of the once-giant exchange is sending shockwaves through the industry. Here’s a look at the company’s collapse so far: WHY DID FTX GO BANKRUPT? Customers fled the exchange over fears about whether FTX had sufficient capital, and it agreed to sell itself to rival crypto exchange Binance. But the deal fell through while Binance’s due diligence on FTX’s balance sheet was still…

People still looking to book trips home to visit family or take a vacation during the holidays need to act fast and prepare for sticker shock. Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone. On social media, plenty of travelers think they are being gouged. It’s an understandable sentiment when government data shows that airfares in October were up 43% from a year earlier, and U.S. airlines reported a combined profit of more than $2.4 billion in the third quarter. Part of the reason for high fares is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to…