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bigyack-com · 4 years
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The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It
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Addicted to A.I.
Mr. Ton-That, 31, grew up a long way from Silicon Valley. In his native Australia, he was raised on tales of his royal ancestors in Vietnam. In 2007, he dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco. The iPhone had just arrived, and his goal was to get in early on what he expected would be a vibrant market for social media apps. But his early ventures never gained real traction.In 2009, Mr. Ton-That created a site that let people share links to videos with all the contacts in their instant messengers. Mr. Ton-That shut it down after it was branded a “phishing scam.” In 2015, he spun up Trump Hair, which added Mr. Trump’s distinctive coif to people in a photo, and a photo-sharing program. Both fizzled.Dispirited, Mr. Ton-That moved to New York in 2016. Tall and slender, with long black hair, he considered a modeling career, he said, but after one shoot he returned to trying to figure out the next big thing in tech. He started reading academic papers on artificial intelligence, image recognition and machine learning.Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Ton-That met in 2016 at a book event at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. Mr. Schwartz, now 61, had amassed an impressive Rolodex working for Mr. Giuliani in the 1990s and serving as the editorial page editor of The New York Daily News in the early 2000s. The two soon decided to go into the facial recognition business together: Mr. Ton-That would build the app, and Mr. Schwartz would use his contacts to drum up commercial interest.Police departments have had access to facial recognition tools for almost 20 years, but they have historically been limited to searching government-provided images, such as mug shots and driver’s license photos. In recent years, facial recognition algorithms have improved in accuracy, and companies like Amazon offer products that can create a facial recognition program for any database of images.Mr. Ton-That wanted to go way beyond that. He began in 2016 by recruiting a couple of engineers. One helped design a program that can automatically collect images of people’s faces from across the internet, such as employment sites, news sites, educational sites, and social networks including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and even Venmo. Representatives of those companies said their policies prohibit such scraping, and Twitter said it explicitly banned use of its data for facial recognition. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Zoom Suspends New Free User Registrations in China
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Video conferencing provider Zoom Video Communications said on Tuesday it was limiting new user registrations in mainland China to enterprise customers only. Free users in mainland China can continue to join meetings hosted by registered customers, whereas new user registrations are available only for enterprise customers who sign up through authorised sales representatives, according to a statement from the company. The coronavirus-fuelled lockdowns of millions of people globally have driven huge growth in use of platforms such as Zoom, as families and organisations use its software to connect.   Nikkei first reported of the development saying the restriction on Chinese individual accounts on the Zoom app was due to "regulatory requirements" in the country, and the company has come under scrutiny from both the US and China as trade tensions intensified. Although Zoom has seen a surge in demand for its services it faced a backlash from cyber security experts and users alike over a number of privacy and security issues that caused it to pause new feature development for 90 days to address the concerns. Zoom said last week it plans to open two new R&D locations in Phoenix and Pittsburgh over the next two years, expanding its engineering workforce by about 60 percent. © Thomson Reuters 2020 For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
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Betaal Netflix Series Review, Download, Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and More Jio Discontinues Rs. 98 Prepaid Recharge Plan
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Facebook, Telcos Plan Subsea Cable to Connect Africa, Middle East and Europe
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Facebook and a team of African and global telecom majors have struck a deal to build one of the world's largest subsea cable networks, boosting internet availability across three continents, they said in a joint statement on Thursday.South Africa's MTN GlobalConnect and Mauritius-based infrastructure provider WIOCC are partners in the project, along with China Mobile International, French telecoms major Orange SA, Saudi Arabia's stc, Telecom Egypt, and Vodafone.The project, called 2Africa, aims to build 37,000 kilometres of subsea cable infrastructure which will directly connect countries around the African coast to Europe and the Middle East, according to its website.The network will have a design capacity of up to 150 terabytes per second (Tbps) on key parts of the system, the site said. The 11 new cables rolled out between 2009 and 2016 in sub-Saharan Africa provided around 70Tbps of design capacity.Subsea infrastructure provider Alcatel Submarine Networks will build the project, which is expected to be operational by 2023/24, the statement said. The companies did not reveal how much money they were investing."2Africa... will interconnect Europe, the Middle East, and 21 landings in 16 countries in Africa," the partners said in the statement.Subsea cables form the backbone of the internet, carrying 99 percent of the world's data traffic.Africa's big economies have a large and fast growing population of internet users, with growth in internet use fuelled by rapidly expanding mobile broadband networks and ever more affordable phones.However, with a population of 1.3 billion, Africa is still a laggard in internet connectivity, with average internet penetration at around 39 percent against a world average of 59 percent.On completion the subsea network will deliver more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today, the firms said in the statement."Improving connectivity for Africa is a significant step which lays the groundwork for increased digitalisation across the continent," said Vodacom International Business Chief Officer Diego Gutierrez.Vodacom, which is majority owned by Britain's Vodafone, is South Africa's second biggest telecom player.© Thomson Reuters 2020 Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Amazon's Livestreaming Platform Twitch Announces Safety Advisory Council
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Amazon's video game live-streaming platform Twitch is forming an advisory council of experienced users, online safety experts and anti-bullying advocates to help improve safety on the site, Twitch said in a blog post on Thursday.The council's eight members will advise on product and policy changes, focusing on areas such as harassment and protection of marginalised groups.Twitch, which was used last October to stream footage from shooting attacks in Germany, said it had doubled the size of its safety operations team this year and added new tools to help its volunteer channel moderators.The company said it also uses a combination of human moderators and automation to handle the moderation reports it receives.Twitch, which says it has 15 million daily users, is primarily a site where video gamers can livestream their games and chat to other users, though it also has channels focused on sports, music, and politics. Last year, US President Donald Trump joined the platform.The council includes Dr. Sameer Hinduja, the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, sociologist TL Taylor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) whose research focuses on online gaming, Alex Holmes, the deputy CEO at UK-based youth charity The Diana Award, and Emma Llansó, the director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project.Also on the council are experienced Twitch streamers CohhCarnage, Cupahnoodle, Zizaran, and FerociouslySteph."When developing this council, we felt it was essential to include both experts who can provide an external perspective, as well as Twitch streamers who deeply understand creators' unique challenges and viewpoints," Twitch said in the blog post.The move adds Twitch to the list of social platforms that have created councils to advise on site decisions, such as Twitter, which formed its Trust and Safety Council in 2016.In March, Chinese social video app TikTok, which faces U.S. scrutiny over data-sharing and censorship concerns, named members of a U.S.-focused content moderation committee to give "unvarnished views" on its policies.Last week, social media giant Facebook announced the first members of its Oversight Board, a high-profile effort to respond to criticism over content moderation decisions.But unlike the Facebook's oversight board, which can overrule the company's verdicts on certain content, a Twitch spokeswoman told Reuters that its council would not make moderation decisions.The spokeswoman said the council would meet regularly. Asked about transparency on the group's advice, she said that Twitch hopes to share periodic updates into its work.© Thomson Reuters 2020 Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Apple Watch Continued to Lead Global Smartwatch Shipments in Q1 With 55 Percent Share: Strategy Analytics
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Apple Watch has maintained its lead in the global smartwatch market with a share of 55 percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to a report by research firm Strategy Analytics. The overall smartwatch market is reported to have seen 20 percent growth annually — thanks to nearly 14 million units shipped in the first quarter of this year. After Apple, Samsung has managed to hold the second position, while Garmin, the company that is popular for its fitness-focussed wearables, rose to third. Strategy Analytics reports that Apple shipped 7.6 million units of the Apple Watch worldwide in the first quarter of this year. This shows an year-over-year (YoY) increase of 23 percent from the 6.2 million shipments record reported in the same quarter last year. With the increase in shipments, the Cupertino company managed to expand its share from 54 percent to 55 percent — its highest level for two years. “Apple Watch continues to fend off strong competition from hungry rivals like Garmin and Samsung. Apple Watch owns half the worldwide smartwatch market and remains the clear industry leader,” said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, in a statement. Followed by Apple, Samsung continued its second position in the global smartwatch market with a shipments record of 1.9 million in the first quarter. This was slightly up from 1.7 million a year ago. However, the overall share of the company in the global smartwatch market has dipped from 15 percent to 14 percent during the past year. Strategy Analytics noticed that the company's growth was impacted by the coronavirus lockdown in South Korea and renewed competition from players such as Garmin. Garmin, on the other hand, has managed to make a comeback to the third position — overtook Fitbit — with a shipments result of 1.1 million units worldwide in the first quarter of this year. This was 38 percent increased annually from 0.8 million in the first quarter last year. Smartwatch vendor Q1 2019 shipments (in millions) Q1 2020 shipments (in millions) YoY change (in percentage) Apple 6.2 7.6 22.6 Samsung 1.7 1.9 11.8 Garmin 0.8 1.1 37.5 Others 2.7 3.1 14.8 Total 11.4 13.7 20.2   Sharp decline expected in Q2 due to COVID-19 Strategy Analytics predicts that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global smartwatch shipments will drop sharply in the second quarter. “Sales in Europe and the US have inevitably been hit by virus lockdown in recent months. However, the second half of this year and beyond will see a decent rebound, as consumers worldwide steadily regain confidence and more retail stores reopen,” said Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics. Is iPhone SE the ultimate 'affordable' iPhone for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Senators Want to Know Amazon Retaliated Against Coronavirus Whistle-Blowers
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Democratic senators on Thursday questioned whether Amazon retaliated against whistle-blowers when it fired four employees who raised concerns about the spread of coronavirus in the company’s warehouses.In a letter sent to Amazon, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a frequent critic of the e-commerce giant, and eight other senators asked Amazon to provide more information about its policies for firing employees.“In order to understand how the termination of employees that raised concerns about health and safety conditions did not constitute retaliation for whistle-blowing, we are requesting information about Amazon’s policies regarding grounds for employee discipline and termination,” the letter said.The letter was also signed by Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, as well as Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Edward J. Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Kamala Harris and Tammy Baldwin. It asked Amazon if it tracked unionization efforts in its warehouses and whether it tracked employees who participated in protests or spoke to the news media.The letter increased pressure on Amazon and its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, who has been called to testify before Congress in an antitrust investigation and has been a frequent target for criticism from President Trump. A number of senators and representatives have already written to Mr. Bezos expressing concern about warehouse safety.An Amazon spokeswoman said: “These individuals were not terminated for talking publicly about working conditions or safety but, rather, for violating — often repeatedly — policies, such as intimidation, physical distancing and more.”She added that while Amazon supported employees’ right to criticize or protest working conditions, “that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies.”“We look forward to explaining in more detail in our response to the senators’ letter,” the spokeswoman said.Cases of the coronavirus have been reported in more than 100 Amazon warehouses, and several workers have died. State and local officials in Kentucky and New Jersey have asked Amazon to close facilities where workers have fallen sick.Despite the sophistication of Amazon’s vast e-commerce business, it depends on warehouse workers to keep shipments flowing, and many of those workers fear their warehouses are contaminated by the coronavirus.Mr. Bezos said during a call with Amazon investors last week that the company expected to spend $4 billion on safety measures and other expenses related to the coronavirus during the current quarter.In March, Amazon fired Chris Smalls, a worker in its Staten Island facility who had organized a protest to demand stronger safety protocols there. Amazon said Mr. Smalls had violated a quarantine order to attend the protest.In an email to other Amazon executives, the company’s top lawyer, David Zapolsky, called Mr. Smalls “not smart or articulate.” Mr. Zapolsky, who also suggested that Amazon portray Mr. Smalls as the leader of a movement to unionize Amazon workers, apologized for the remarks after they were published by Vice News.Two weeks later, Amazon fired two designers, Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham. Ms. Costa and Ms. Cunningham had pressed the company to reduce its carbon footprint, and had announced an internal event for warehouse workers to speak to tech employees about their workplace conditions shortly before they were fired. Amazon said the two employees had repeatedly violated corporate policies.“Warehouse workers have been under incredible threat,” Ms. Cunningham said in an interview Wednesday evening. “We wanted to give space for warehouse workers to be able to talk openly and honestly about the conditions they were facing and why they felt so unsafe.”In late April, Amazon fired Bashir Mohamed, a warehouse worker in Shakopee, Minn. Mr. Mohamed said he had raised concerns about workers’ inability to remain socially distant inside the warehouse. Amazon said Mr. Mohamed had violated several policies, including one that required workers to follow social distancing guidelines. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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People Are Panic-Buying Meat, Toilet Paper … and Pelotons?
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Lauren Allbright, a teacher, children’s book author and triathlete, was antsy from weeks of sheltering in place. So last month, she “panic bought” a $2,245 Peloton bike.It was a “pricey decision,” she admitted. But her gym was closed, and it had been raining nonstop in Richardson, Texas, where she lives. Soon the heat would make it even harder for her to train outside.So when Texas extended its stay-in-place rules by a month, Ms. Allbright, 39, clicked “buy.” She reasoned that her husband and three children would also use the internet-connected bike, which comes with streaming classes for an extra $39 a month.“Working out daily is huge for our mental health,” she said.Peloton, which last year endured a rocky initial public offering and a widely mocked holiday ad, is emerging as a potential winner of the quarantine economy. While gyms, boutique studios and personal trainers have been sidelined, home workout systems are thriving.Since mid-March, Peloton’s stock has soared 86 percent, valuing the New York company at $10 billion, or twice as much as the gym chain Planet Fitness. Last month, Peloton reported a record: More than 23,000 people had joined one of its live classes.When Peloton reports quarterly financial results on Wednesday, Wall Street expects the unprofitable company to post rising sales. Analysts pointed to spikes in the number of ratings for fitness classes on Peloton’s system and longer waits for delivery of the bikes, which signal higher-than-expected demand. The results may not reveal the full extent of Peloton’s popularity, since they cover only a few weeks of the lockdown period in March.“Consumer habits are fundamentally changed coming out of this crisis and this pandemic,” said Ron Josey, an analyst at JMP Securities. “A device and service like Peloton comes to the forefront in that.”Peloton declined to comment ahead of its earnings.Other home fitness companies have reported similar surges in demand. Sales at Echelon, which makes a less expensive internet-connected bike, grew five times higher than expected in the first three months of 2020, with demand comparable to Black Friday, said Lou Lentine, the company’s chief executive. Icon Health & Fitness, which owns the NordicTrack and ProForm equipment brands, said sales last month were four times as high as a year earlier.“It’s absolutely bigger than any other boom time we’ve had,” said Mark Watterson, president of iFit, a division of Icon Health.New converts include Ben Carlson, a wealth manager in Grand Rapids, Mich. He wasn’t interested in a home workout setup before because he exercised on lunch breaks at a gym near his office.But now that he’s working at home with three children under the age of 6, it’s harder to get away for a run. Last month, he bought a Peloton, which he rides after his children are in bed.The bike is “part of my new life for the time being,” Mr. Carlson, 38, said. Even when things reopen, he said, “I don’t know that I’ll be the first one to rush back into the gym.”Gyms and studios, which have frozen memberships while they are closed, are hurting. Some yoga and dance studios have resorted to asking for donations in exchange for free online classes. Several national gym chains have faced lawsuits and state investigations for charging fees during the shutdown.ClassPass, an online service for booking studio classes, said its revenue had dropped to nearly zero within 10 days in March. Last month, it rushed to create a virtual workout offering while laying off or furloughing more than half of its 690-person staff. It now offers 50,000 virtual classes and has waived the commission it normally takes from studios.Mindbody, a similar service, laid off or furloughed around 700 people, or 35 percent of its work force, in early April. Rick Stollmeyer, chief executive, has said he does not believe Mindbody’s business will recover for more than a year.SoulCycle, which operates dozens of cycling studios, closed them in March, cutting employee pay by 25 percent and furloughing its instructors. The company began offering virtual workouts on SiriusXM and through an app called Variis, operated by Equinox Group, SoulCycle’s parent company.“Saturday Night Live” ribbed SoulCycle’s attempt to move its self-described “inspirational, meditative fitness experience” into instructors’ apartments. “I hear a lot of people talking about antibody. I am pro-body!” an instructor named Toyota, played by Chris Redd, barked.In March, SoulCycle also began taking preorders for a $2,500 home bike that it announced last year. The bikes, available in certain U.S. cities, are expected to begin shipping this month.“Equinox Group anticipates the consumer will want experiences both online and offline,” a spokesman said. When its studios reopen, SoulCycle said, it will make changes like placing bikes — normally packed close together — six feet apart, significantly cutting down on the number of customers per class.Peloton initially responded to the virus by extending a 30-day free trial of its digital-only subscription to its streaming classes to 90 days. It introduced contactless delivery for its equipment and pledged to waive up to $1 million of subscription fees for customers who had lost their jobs or were unable to work because of the coronavirus. Peloton also closed 96 showrooms around the country and stopped delivering the treadmills it also makes.Peloton and other providers of home exercise equipment are under pressure to create enough fresh digital content to keep users engaged. Among the most popular videos on Icon Health’s iFit platform are the ones that let people work out to travel montages, like a tour of Egyptian tombs.“People use them as a mind escape,” said Colleen Logan, head of marketing at Icon Health. “In your own four walls, you don’t want to be looking at someone else’s four walls.”Peloton stopped filming live classes in early April after an employee at its New York studio tested positive for the coronavirus. But by the end of the month, it was streaming live classes again.The first one happened on April 22 from the apartment of Robin Arzón, Peloton’s head instructor. More than 23,000 customers logged in and rode along with her, issuing virtual high fives and climbing a digital leader board.“When things are uncertain, we adapt,” Ms. Arzón wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of herself surrounded by production equipment and electrical cords in her apartment. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Facebook Reports 'Signs of Stability' in Ad Spending After Coronavirus Drop
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Facebook beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday and said it has seen "signs of stability" for sales in April after a plunge in March, in yet another signal that tech giants may weather the coronavirus-induced economic collapse better than other sectors. The announcement came a day after Alphabet's Google said a drop in its online ad sales similarly steadied in April. Shares of Facebook, the world's biggest social network and the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram, soared 9 percent in extended trading. Facebook said advertising revenue was roughly flat in the first three weeks of April compared with the same period last year, a tentative early sign of recovery following a "steep decrease" in revenue in March as lockdowns took effect worldwide to slow the spread of the virus. Revenue growth was 18 percent in the first quarter, Facebook's slowest ever by a wide margin, although it beat analysts' expectations for growth of 16 percent, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Ad sales, which make up nearly all of Facebook's revenue, rose 17 percent to $17.44 billion (roughly RS. 1.3 lakh crores). Some businesses took advantage of bargain pricing to run a heavier volume of ads after the pandemic wiped out Facebook ad pricing over the course of the quarter, contributing to a 39 percent increase in total ad impressions, executives said. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told analysts the company saw an increase in gaming ads and steady spending from technology and e-commerce players, which offset "significant declines" in ads from the hard-hit travel and auto sectors. Gloomy outlook Even so, analysts have a gloomy outlook for Facebook's second quarter, with advertisers across industries slashing marketing budgets in response to virus-related uncertainty, including many of the small businesses and direct-to-consumer brands that market themselves heavily on Facebook. Flat revenue in April indicates that the second quarter will be "more challenging" than the first, said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson, as countries emerge from lockdown and businesses reopen at varying rates. The company said around 3 billion users interacted with at least one of its apps each month in the quarter, up from 2.9 billion last quarter, as social networks use surged during coronavirus lockdowns. Some of that engagement is expected to slip once shelter-in-place orders are relaxed, it said. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg cautioned against a rush to end lockdowns. "I worry that re-opening certain places too quickly before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels will almost guarantee future outbreaks and worse longer-term health and economic outcomes," he said. He struck a markedly different tone from fellow Silicon Valley chief executive Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, who called the lockdowns "fascist" on Tesla's earnings call on Wednesday. Keep on building Executives said Facebook will move forward with plans to hire 10,000 new employees this year, largely in product and engineering roles, but will pull back on hiring plans for business departments like ad sales. Facebook lowered its guidance for total expenses in 2020 to $52 billion (roughly Rs. 3.9 lakh crores)-$56 billion (roughly Rs. 4.2 lahk crores), down from a prior range of $54 billion (roughly Rs. 4.05 lakh crores) -$59 billion (roughly Rs. 4.4 lakh crores), citing the slower headcount growth and savings from canceled travel, events and marketing. Total costs for the first quarter rose just 1 percent to $11.84 billion (roughly Rs. 89,000 crores). Zuckerberg said he accepted that profit margins will decrease this year, but said he was committed to maintaining plans for investment "rather than slamming on the brakes now, as I think a lot of companies may." He said he aimed to "keep on building and keep on investing," particularly to "make up for some of the stuff that other companies would pull back on," which in some ways was "an opportunity" for Facebook, given its deep cash reserves. Zuckerberg said he would eventually plan to moderate expenses over time, noting that the company's strong finances amid the economic pullback "has certainly reinforced for me the importance of maintaining high margins." © Thomson Reuters 2020 Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Vallejo Official's Removal Is Sought After He Throws Cat During Zoom Meeting
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The city Planning Commission meeting in Vallejo, Calif., last week followed the same humdrum pattern of so many municipal meetings: There was the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call, followed by various reports.That posed the usual challenges: Commissioners with microphones muted when they were trying to be heard, some of them appearing half offscreen at times or talking over one another.But things took an unexpected turn about 2 hours and 24 minutes into the session after one of the commissioners, Chris Platzer, was asked if he had any comments after reviewing a project application.“Yes, this is the section where you can, Commissioner Platzer,” the commission’s chairman said.The cat meowed loudly again. “OK, first, I’d like to introduce my cat,” Mr. Platzer said, lifting it close to the camera and then, with two hands, tossing it off screen.The cat squeaked as it was being thrown, and a thud could be heard.One commissioner on the videoconference put his hands to his forehead and covered his eyes in response.The meeting concluded 26 minutes later, but that was hardly the end of it.Bob Sampayan, the mayor of Vallejo, which is about 30 miles north of San Francisco, and Robert McConnell, a City Council member and the liaison to the commission, have asked for the council to consider Mr. Platzer’s immediate removal at a meeting on Tuesday, a city spokeswoman, Christina Lee, said on Monday.“The city does not condone the behavior that Vallejo Planning Commissioner Chris Platzer exhibited during the April 20th Planning Commission meeting,” she said. “This type of behavior does not model the core values of the City of Vallejo.”After the planning meeting adjourned, Mr. Platzer was heard using expletives, she said, adding that the mayor and Mr. McConnell discussed his behavior immediately after the episode and called for his removal within 48 hours.Stephanie Bell, senior director of cruelty casework for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the group was prepared to place the cat “in an understanding, loving home” if Mr. Platzer’s “lack of patience or understanding” made cat guardianship inappropriate.“The cats in our care rely on us for everything, including food, respect and affection, and no one should ever punish them for seeking our attention,” she said. “While cats are known for agility, this cat was thrown and could have slammed into furniture, the wall or the ground.”As of Monday morning, the city had not received a formal resignation from Mr. Platzer, Ms. Lee said; however, The Times-Herald of Vallejo reported on Saturday that it had received an email from him suggesting that he was stepping down.Mr. Platzer, who could not be reached on Monday, was appointed to the volunteer position in August 2016 and his term was set to expire in June.“I did not conduct myself in the Zoom meeting in a manner befitting of a planning commissioner and apologize for any harm I may have inflicted,” he wrote in the email, The Times-Herald reported. “I serve at the pleasure of the council and no longer have that trust and backing.”He added, “We are all living in uncertain times and I certainly, like many of you, am adjusting to a new normalcy.”The Zoom episode was one of the latest to surface as officials adjust to remote working. In Florida, a judge this month admonished lawyers for getting too lax in their dress during their videoconference court appearances. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Uber Offers Discounted Trips to 2.5 Million UK Health and Care Workers
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Uber is offering discounted journeys to health and care workers in Britain from Wednesday, as it extends the scope of a service set up in Madrid last month to cover more than 4 million frontline workers fighting COVID-19 in over 20 countries.The ride-hailing service said it had worked with governments and healthcare institutions around the world to set up Uber Medics to provide workers with free and discounted rides to and from hospitals, health centres and care homes.Uber said 1.2 million National Health Service (NHS) staff and 1.3 million social care workers in Britain would receive a 25 percent discount on trips, funded by Uber, after linking their NHS email address to an account, or by their care home registering.Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber was proud to play a small part in the incredible efforts of healthcare staff to protect and treat those affected by COVID-19."We stand ready to work with governments and healthcare providers around the world to support their efforts to tackle the pandemic," he said on Monday.Uber Medics was developed last month in Madrid in response to a request made by the Madrid Health Department to support healthcare workers as an essential service, Uber said.It has since been rolled out to more than 20 countries, including France, Italy, Germany, and India.Uber said earlier this month it would provide 10 million rides and food deliveries, free of charge, to healthcare workers, seniors, and people in need globally.In Britain, it is providing 200,000 free rides and 100,000 free meals for NHS staff.Uber drivers will be able to opt into Uber Medic trips, the company said, offering them an opportunity to earn additional money during the lockdown. They will retain all of the fare.Raazma, a London-based Uber driver, said he had already signed up to the NHS Volunteer Responders."It's the least I can do in these challenging times, as we all need to pull together to help one another," he added.© Thomson Reuters 2020 Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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An Official’s Removal Is Sought After He Throws Cat During Zoom Meeting
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The city Planning Commission meeting in Vallejo, Calif., last week followed the same humdrum pattern of so many municipal meetings: There was the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call, followed by various reports.That posed the usual challenges: Commissioners with microphones muted when they were trying to be heard, some of them appearing half offscreen at times or talking over one another.But things took an unexpected turn about 2 hours and 24 minutes into the session after one of the commissioners, Chris Platzer, was asked if he had any comments after reviewing a project application.“Yes, this is the section where you can, Commissioner Platzer,” the commission’s chairman said.The cat meowed loudly again. “OK, first, I’d like to introduce my cat,” Mr. Platzer said, lifting it close to the camera and then, with two hands, tossing it off screen.The cat squeaked as it was being thrown, and a thud could be heard.One commissioner on the videoconference put his hands to his forehead and covered his eyes in response.The meeting concluded 26 minutes later, but that was hardly the end of it.Bob Sampayan, the mayor of Vallejo, which is about 30 miles north of San Francisco, and Robert McConnell, a City Council member and the liaison to the commission, have asked for the council to consider Mr. Platzer’s immediate removal at a meeting on Tuesday, a city spokeswoman, Christina Lee, said on Monday.“The city does not condone the behavior that Vallejo Planning Commissioner Chris Platzer exhibited during the April 20th Planning Commission meeting,” she said. “This type of behavior does not model the core values of the City of Vallejo.”After the planning meeting adjourned, Mr. Platzer was heard using expletives, she said, adding that the mayor and Mr. McConnell discussed his behavior immediately after the episode and called for his removal within 48 hours.Stephanie Bell, senior director of cruelty casework for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the group was prepared to place the cat “in an understanding, loving home” if Mr. Platzer’s “lack of patience or understanding” made cat guardianship inappropriate.“The cats in our care rely on us for everything, including food, respect and affection, and no one should ever punish them for seeking our attention,” she said. “While cats are known for agility, this cat was thrown and could have slammed into furniture, the wall or the ground.”As of Monday morning, the city had not received a formal resignation from Mr. Platzer, Ms. Lee said; however, The Times-Herald of Vallejo reported on Saturday that it had received an email from him suggesting that he was stepping down.Mr. Platzer, who could not be reached on Monday, was appointed to the volunteer position in August 2016 and his term was set to expire in June.“I did not conduct myself in the Zoom meeting in a manner befitting of a planning commissioner and apologize for any harm I may have inflicted,” he wrote in the email, The Times-Herald reported. “I serve at the pleasure of the council and no longer have that trust and backing.”He added, “We are all living in uncertain times and I certainly, like many of you, am adjusting to a new normalcy.”The Zoom episode was one of the latest to surface as officials adjust to remote working. In Florida, a judge this month admonished lawyers for getting too lax in their dress during their videoconference court appearances. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Australia’s Fire Season Ends, and Researchers Look to the Next One
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“Nine times out of 10,” he said, manual analysts produce more accurate results than the model. Using their experience, analysts are able to incorporate the uncertainty inherent in fire behavior, something “the computer just isn’t able to grasp.” But where the computer model excels, Dr. Heemstra said, is in analyzing several fires at once and determining which one poses the greatest risk — and therefore which one manual analysts should focus on.Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, has developed computer software called Spark, which aims to improve upon Phoenix.Phoenix was built to predict fire behavior in forest and grass, Dr. Heemstra said, so for several other fuel types, like shrub land, “it’s a bit like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.” Spark, because it uses unique equations for each fuel type, is more intuitive and reliable. It could be “the next evolutionary step” in firefighting models, Dr. Heemstra said, and the NSW Rural Fire Service hopes to use it as early as the next fire season.Whereas fire behavior models like Phoenix and Spark help predict the spread of a fire, drone technology may be able to predict where fires are likely to start. For the moment, drones are used mainly to monitor grassland fires. Forest fires burn particularly hot, and are volatile, making them unsafe for drones to fly over or for anyone nearby to operate the devices.The wildfire conditions in Australia are sufficiently severe that they verge on otherworldly. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., has been exploring, with the CSIRO, the possibility of testing artificial intelligence for drones, rovers and satellites — not yet developed but intended for future space exploration — on the fires. This software would need to withstand extreme conditions on other planets, like “hot temperatures, low visibility and turbulent winds,” said Natasha Stavros, a science system engineer at J.P.L., in an email.A November 2019 study by J.P.L.’s Blue Sky Thinktank, on which Dr. Stavros was an author, found that the fire-management technologies offering the highest return on investment were autonomous micro-aerial vehicles — small drones typically weighing less than a quarter of a pound — that would be able to navigate themselves through wildfires. Eventually, these drones would operate in autonomous groups or “swarms,” which could monitor wider areas. Their ability to communicate with one another and a distant control center could potentially be used in exploring other planets. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Facebook-Powered Virus 'Heat Map' Unveiled
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Researchers on Monday unveiled a coronavirus "heat map" powered by Facebook data which is aimed at helping track the spread of the disease and plan for reopening society.The Carnegie Mellon University project offers "real-time indications of COVID-19 activity not previously available from any other source," according to a university statement.The map was developed with millions of responses to surveys of Facebook and Google users as part of an effort to monitor the spread of the virus.Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the heat map, currently available for the United States, was being expanded globally with help from University of Maryland research teams."As the world fights COVID-19 and countries develop plans to reopen their societies, it's critical to have a clear understanding of how the disease is spreading," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page and in the Washington Post."With a community of billions of people globally, Facebook can uniquely help researchers and health authorities get the information they need to respond to the outbreak and start planning for the recovery."Carnegie Mellon researchers said they are receiving about one million responses per week from Facebook users, and have also gotten some 600,000 from Google users."Using these and other unique data sources, the CMU researchers will monitor changes over time, enabling them to forecast COVID-19 activity several weeks into the future," the research team said.The research uses responses to Facebook surveys about symptoms people are experiences, with data controlled by university team and not shared with the social network.The scientists also rely on anonymized data from Google and other partners on symptoms and search queries."The survey asked people if they have symptoms such as fevers, coughing, shortness of breath or loss of smell that are associated with COVID-19," Zuckerberg said."Since experiencing symptoms is a precursor to becoming more seriously ill, this survey can help forecast how many cases hospitals will see in the days ahead and provide an early indicator of where the outbreak is growing and where the curve is being successfully flattened." Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Money Heist Season 4 Is Now Streaming on Netflix in India
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Netflix's most popular non-English-language original is back. The fourth season of Money Heist — known as *La casa de papel* in Spanish, which means “the house of paper” — is now streaming on Netflix in India and across the world. Technically, Money Heist season 4 is the second half of the second season, which is why Netflix refers to it officially as Money Heist: Part 4. Hence, it picks up right where the third season left off, with the Professor (Álvaro Morte) falling in the trap he set and kickstarting a war in the process, while the police officer Raquel “Lisbon” Murillo (Itziar Ituño) herself in handcuffs.From Money Heist to Modern Family, TV Shows to Watch in AprilIn addition to Morte and Ituño, returning stars on Money Heist season 4 include Úrsula Corberó as Silene “Tokyo” Oliveira, Pedro Alonso as Andrés “Berlin” de Fonollosa, Alba Flores as Ágata “Nairobi” Jiménez, Miguel Herrán as Aníbal “Rio” Cortés, Jaime Lorente as Ricardo “Denver” Ramos, Esther Acebo as Mónica “Stockholm” Gaztambide, Darko Perić as Yashin “Helsinki” Dasáyev, Hovik Keuchkerian as Bogotá, Enrique Arce as Arturo Román, Rodrigo de la Serna as Martín / Palermo / The Engineer, and Najwa Nimri as Alicia Sierra. There's no word yet on new cast members.Created by Álex Pina (Locked Up), Money Heist came to life on Spanish cable TV in 2017 as a 15-episode limited series. Netflix picked up global streaming rights later that year and re-edited the show into 22 episodes, which were released on its service in two parts in December 2017 and April 2018. Netflix would go on to pick up the show for 16 more episodes split across two parts. An eight-episode season 3 aired in July last year, with the remaining ones part of Money Heist season 4. This is also the shortest gap between the two seasons — or parts — of the show.Money Heist, Extraction, The Departed, and More on Netflix in AprilHere's the official synopsis for Money Heist season 4, via Netflix:“La casa de papel: Part 4 begins in chaos: the Professor (Morte) thinks that Lisbon (Ituño) has been executed, Rio (Cortés) and Tokyo (Oliveira) have blown up an army tank, and Nairobi (Jiménez) is struggling between life and death. The gang is going through one of its toughest moments and the rise of an enemy among its ranks will put the heist in serious danger.”All eight episodes of Money Heist season 4 are available on Netflix. You can also download them for offline viewing. New seasons of Netflix shows are released at 12am PT, which translates to 12:30pm IST from mid-March to early November. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Money Heist Season 4 Is Now Streaming on Netflix in India
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Netflix's most popular non-English-language original is back. The fourth season of Money Heist — known as *La casa de papel* in Spanish, which means “the house of paper” — is now streaming on Netflix in India and across the world. Technically, Money Heist season 4 is the second half of the second season, which is why Netflix refers to it officially as Money Heist: Part 4. Hence, it picks up right where the third season left off, with the Professor (Álvaro Morte) falling in the trap he set and kickstarting a war in the process, while the police officer Raquel “Lisbon” Murillo (Itziar Ituño) herself in handcuffs.From Money Heist to Modern Family, TV Shows to Watch in AprilIn addition to Morte and Ituño, returning stars on Money Heist season 4 include Úrsula Corberó as Silene “Tokyo” Oliveira, Pedro Alonso as Andrés “Berlin” de Fonollosa, Alba Flores as Ágata “Nairobi” Jiménez, Miguel Herrán as Aníbal “Rio” Cortés, Jaime Lorente as Ricardo “Denver” Ramos, Esther Acebo as Mónica “Stockholm” Gaztambide, Darko Perić as Yashin “Helsinki” Dasáyev, Hovik Keuchkerian as Bogotá, Enrique Arce as Arturo Román, Rodrigo de la Serna as Martín / Palermo / The Engineer, and Najwa Nimri as Alicia Sierra. There's no word yet on new cast members.Created by Álex Pina (Locked Up), Money Heist came to life on Spanish cable TV in 2017 as a 15-episode limited series. Netflix picked up global streaming rights later that year and re-edited the show into 22 episodes, which were released on its service in two parts in December 2017 and April 2018. Netflix would go on to pick up the show for 16 more episodes split across two parts. An eight-episode season 3 aired in July last year, with the remaining ones part of Money Heist season 4. This is also the shortest gap between the two seasons — or parts — of the show.Money Heist, Extraction, The Departed, and More on Netflix in AprilHere's the official synopsis for Money Heist season 4, via Netflix:“La casa de papel: Part 4 begins in chaos: the Professor (Morte) thinks that Lisbon (Ituño) has been executed, Rio (Cortés) and Tokyo (Oliveira) have blown up an army tank, and Nairobi (Jiménez) is struggling between life and death. The gang is going through one of its toughest moments and the rise of an enemy among its ranks will put the heist in serious danger.”All eight episodes of Money Heist season 4 are available on Netflix. You can also download them for offline viewing. New seasons of Netflix shows are released at 12am PT, which translates to 12:30pm IST from mid-March to early November. Read the full article
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Samsung Galaxy Note 10, Galaxy S10 Series Tipped to Get One UI 2.1 Next Month
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Samsung has lately been comparatively more active at rolling out software updates, especially when it comes to flagships. The company is looking to continue the momentum with its previous generation flagships as well. As per a report, Samsung is set to release the One UI 2.1 update for the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 series next month. Moreover, Samsung is also planning to roll out the One UI 2.1 update for its 2018 flagship phones as well, which include the Galaxy S9 duo and the Galaxy Note 9.As per a report, a Samsung community moderator has revealed that the Galaxy S10, S10e, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy Note 10 will get the One UI 2.1 build based on Android 10 in the next three weeks. Currently, the only four phones in Samsung's portfolio that run One UI 2.1 are the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy S20 trio. In terms of standout features, One UI 2.1 is not much different from One UI 2.0, except for the Quick Share file transfer feature.The report also adds that the next major build of Samsung's custom skin - tentatively called One UI 2.5 – will be based on Android 11 and will debut with the Galaxy Note 20. Moreover, the One UI 2.5 build is expected to arrive on the Galaxy S20, S10, and the Galaxy Note 10 series down the road.Separately, another Samsung community manager has reportedly mentioned on the company's official support channel that the One UI 2.1 update will be rolled out for the company's 2018 flagships as well. Although an exact release date has not been revealed, the Galaxy S9, S9+, and the Galaxy Note 9 are set to get the One UI 2.1 OTA in the foreseeable future.Is Redmi Note 9 Pro the new best phone under Rs. 15,000? We discussed how you can pick the best one, on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below. Read the full article
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