This year Amazon followed up its cylindrical Echo (and its hockey puck-shaped Echo Dot) with a cloth-wrapped sphere-shaped Echo device. And Fast Company reports that one significant change was to the light pipe, “that glowing ring on top of the Echo that signals it’s talking or thinking. “For the fourth generation, that light pipe has been moved to the bottom of…
Tag: criticism
YouTube Criticized For Not Removing Post-Election Misinformation
“YouTube is facing growing criticism for allowing election misinformation after it decided not to remove or individually fact-check videos that spread unfounded conspiracy theories alleging voter fraud,” reports NBC News: While all internet platforms are struggling to contain the volume of misinformation since voting ended last week — and all have been criticized to some degree by researchers for their handling…
About 3% of Starlink satellites have failed so far
SpaceX has drawn plenty of praise and criticism with the creation of Starlink, a constellation that will one day provide broadband internet access to the entire world. To date, the company has launched over 800 satellites and (as of this summer) is producing them at a rate of about 120 a month. There are even plans to have a constellation of…
Harvard, Oxford, Stanford Docs Among Leaders of Global Anti-Lockdown Movement
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Mercury News: Doctors at Stanford University are at the forefront of a global movement of health experts who are criticizing lockdowns to control COVID-19 and say schools and businesses should reopen, but with a focus on protecting the elderly and infirm who are most vulnerable to the virus. Called the Great Barrington Declaration…
Report: Google Plans to Relinquish Control of Open-Source Project Knative
“Google LLC is reportedly planning to relinquish direct control over its open-source Knative project to a five-seat steering committee that will have rules to prevent any single organization from having more than two seats,” reports SiliconANGLE. “The plan is designed to stymie criticism that Google is secretly planning to retain control over key open-source projects it has developed, according to a…
Faith in Government Declines When Mobile Internet Arrives
An anonymous reader shares a report: The early days of the internet were full of predictions about access to information unleashing a wave of democratisation. More recently, views on the internet’s impact have soured, as states use it to spy on dissidents and influence foreign elections. Opinions on this topic are abundant, but hard data are scarce. No one knows whether…
SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites this week
After 2 weeks of scrubs, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off October 6, 2020, carrying 60 more Starlink satellites to orbit. The rocket successfully landed at sea 9 minutes later. Video of the launch and landing here, plus steps taken to reduce the bright satellites’ effect on astronomy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spacex-starlink-falcon-9-launch-oct-6-2020…
How One Piece of Hardware Took Down a $6 Trillion Stock Market
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg on how a data storage and distribution device brought down Tokyo’s $6 trillion stock market: At 7:04 a.m. on an autumn Thursday in Tokyo, the stewards of the world’s third-largest equity market realized they had a problem. A data device critical to the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s trading system had malfunctioned, and the automatic…
Thailand Launches Its First Legal Action Against Facebook and Twitter
Reuters reports:
Thailand launched legal action on Thursday against tech giants Facebook and Twitter for ignoring requests to take down content, in its first such move against major internet firms… “Unless the companies send their representatives to negotiate, police can bring criminal cases against them,” the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Puttipong Punnakanta, told reporters. “But if they do, and acknowledge…
CDC reverses controversial coronavirus testing guidelines
The guideline change comes after strong criticism from public health experts and a report that the updated guidelines were posted despite objections from CDC scientists. Source: https://www.livescience.com/cdc-reverses-controversial-testing-guidelines.html