While GameStop’s surge has been heralded as a victory for underdogs, “Growing evidence casts doubt on the idea that the episode mostly benefited small-time investors…” reports the Washington Post. (Alternate URLs here and here “And, in at least some cases, novice investors lost their shirts.” Giant mutual funds that own the largest stakes in GameStop saw the biggest gains in value….
Tag: alternate
Apple Privacy Chief: North Dakota Bill ‘Threatens To Destroy the iPhone As You Know It’
The North Dakota Senate recently introduced a new bill that would prevent Apple and Google from requiring developers to use their respective app stores and payment methods, paving the way for alternative app store options. In response, Apple Chief Privacy Engineer Erik Neuenschwander said that it “threatens to destroy the iPhone as you know it” by requiring changes that would “undermine…
Corporate Trolls? A Covert, Pro-Huawei Influence Campaign on Social Media
“Huawei, the crown jewel of China’s technology industry, has suffered from a sustained American campaign to keep its equipment from being used in new 5G networks around the world,” reports the New York Times. Now they’ve identified “a covert pro-Huawei influence campaign in Belgium about 5G networks.” [Alternate URL here] It began when trade lawyer Edwin Vermulst was paid to write…
Study Finds The Least-Affordable City for Tech Workers: Silicon Valley’s San Jose
The Bay Area Newsgroup reports:
Despite high salaries and world-class amenities, San Jose is the least affordable place for tech workers to buy a home. [Alternate URL here] A new analysis by the American Enterprise Institute found the typical tech worker and his or her partner — with two incomes totaling $200,000 — can afford just 12 percent of the homes for…
‘Terms of Service’ Agreements Are Unbalanced, Need Reforming, Urges New York Times
“The same legalese that can ban Donald Trump from Twitter can bar users from joining class-action lawsuits,” warns the official Editorial Board of the New York Times, urging “It’s time to fix the fine print.” [Alternate URL here] [M]ost people have no idea what is signed away when they click “agree” to binding terms of service contracts — again and again…
Tim Cook: Why I Kicked Parler Off Apple’s App Store
Charlotte Web shares a report from CNN: Apple, along with Amazon and Google, effectively kicked Parler off the internet in the wake of the January 6 US Capitol siege. Despite criticism that Big Tech wields too much power over speech, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his decision. “We looked at the incitement to violence that was on there,” Apple CEO Tim…
What are degrees, arc minutes and arc seconds?
How do skywatchers measure distances in the night sky? Here’s how to understand it when they speak of objects as being several degrees (or several arc minutes or arc seconds) apart. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/sky-measurements-degrees-arc-minutes-arc-seconds…
Do Children Really Need To Learn To Code?
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: In India, parents are being aggressively sold the idea that their children must start coding at 4 or 5 or be future failures, prompting Neelesh Misra [a writer, audio storyteller, and founder of a media and organic products company] to ask Do Children Really Need to Learn to Code? [Alternate URL here] In a New York…
Fantasy and Sci-Fi Author Debra Doyle, 1952-2020
Long-time Slashdot reader serviscope_minor wanted to remind us that 2020 also saw the death of science fiction/fantasy author Debra Doyle at the age of 67 from a sudden cardiac event. “Her works were co-written with her husband, James D. Macdonald,” notes her entry on Wikipedia: Her first work written with Macdonald was “Bad Blood” in 1988. Their novel Knight’s Wyrd was…
What’s the birthstone for December?
If you were born December, you’ve got 2 birthstones, turquoise and zircon. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/december-birthstone-zircon-turquoise…