Friday Forbes wrote that price of Bitcoin had dropped 10% over the previous 24 hours, dipping below the “psychological” $7,000 level. That’s after starting the week at over $8,000, and less than a month after it rose to $10,000. Apparently cryptocurrencies had gotten some very bad news from China. Bitcoin rivals ethereum and bitcoin cash have led the market lower [Friday]…
Tag: Cracking
Sacha Baron Cohen Gave the Greatest Speech on Why Social Networks Need To Be Put On Check
For an actor who made a career by playing silly characters, actor Sacha Baron Cohen gave yesterday one of the most eloquent and convincing speeches in a long time in support of cracking down on large social media networks to prevent the spread of lies and hate speech that these platforms allow. From a report: While accepting his award, Cohen touched…
Salesforce Transit Center: San Fransisco’s $2.2 Billion Cracks
Slashdot readers jimminy_cricket and Thelasko share a report from Popular Mechanics about how San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center went from the Grand Central of the West to a $2.2 billion construction debacle. Here’s an excerpt from the report: Built at a cost of $2.2 billion, the Salesforce Transit Center and Park formed the cornerstone of the Bay Area’s ambitious regional transportation…
Calculation Errors and Inadequate Peer Review Led To Miami Bridge’s Collapse
America’s National Transportation Safety Board has now officially determined the probable causes of a Florida pedestrian bridge’s collapse in March of 2018: load and capacity calculation errors made by FIGG Bridge Engineers. Slashdot reader McGruber shares their report: Contributing to the collapse was Louis Berger’s inadequate peer review, which failed to detect FIGG’s calculation errors in its design of the main…
Teenagers Are Easily Bypassing Apple’s Parental Controls
“Kids are outsmarting an army of engineers from Cupertino, California,” reports the Washington Post: And Apple, which introduced “Screen Time” a year ago in response to pressure to address phone overuse by kids, has been slow to make fixes to its software that would close these loopholes. It’s causing some parents to raise questions about Apple’s commitment to safeguarding children from…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Says He Fears ‘Erosion of Truth’ But Defends Allowing Politicians To Lie in Ads
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview he worries “about an erosion of truth” online but defended the policy that allows politicians to peddle ads containing misrepresentations and lies on his social network, a stance that has sparked an outcry during the 2020 presidential campaign. From a report: “People worry, and I worry deeply, too, about an erosion of…
Instagram’s Opioid Recovery Hashtags Are Full of Drug Dealers
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: Dozens of top posts under the #opioidcrisis and #opioidaddiction hashtags contained comments touting Oxycontin, Percocet, Codeine, and other prescription opioids — along with phone numbers and usernames for encrypted messaging accounts. A typical entry, under a video describing tens of thousands of deaths by drug overdose, offered “fast deals” on “Oxys, Roxy,…
YouTube’s Fine Criticized As Proof US Government Is ‘Not Serious’ About Big Tech Crackdown
YouTube’s $170 million fine for illegally collecting data on children “shows the US government is not serious about a Big Tech crackdown,” argues an article at CNBC: The FTC’s new settlement with YouTube over alleged violations of child privacy rules is just a fraction of the revenue its parent company generates in a single day. Shares of Google parent company Alphabet…
Google to Pay More Than $150 Million in YouTube Privacy Case
YouTube has agreed to pay more than $150 million to resolve U.S. allegations that it violated children’s privacy laws. Bloomberg reports: The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission resolves a probe into whether the video service broke a law that makes it illegal to collect information on children under 13 and disclose it to others without parental permission. A group of…
More Airlines Ban MacBook Pros In Checked Luggage
Qantas airlines is now restricting MacBook Pro laptops from checked-in luggage on concern that batteries could catch fire. All 15-inch versions of Apple’s MacBook Pro must be carried in the cabin and switched off, Qantas said in a statement Wednesday. The rule went into effect Tuesday morning. “Rival Virgin Australia went further on Aug. 26, banning all Apple laptops from checked-in…