Facebook will lift its ban on political ads on Thursday, ending a self-imposed prohibition that began immediately after the November 2020 general election and remained active for months. Politico reports: Facebook informed top political advertisers of its decision by phone and email on Wednesday, according to sources with knowledge of the announcement. The social media giant banned political and social issue-related…
Tag: digital
Colorado Bill Seeks To Force Social Platforms To Register With the State, Impose $5k/Day Fine For Allowing ‘Fake News’ or Conspiracy Theories
michaelmalak writes: The Colorado Senate President Pro Tempore, Kerry Donovan, is the prime sponsor of SB21-132,
Digital Communications Regulation, which if passed, would fine websites $5,000 per day as a class 2 misdemeanor if they “allow” user comments that: “…promote hate speech; undermine election integrity; disseminate intentional disinformation, conspiracy theories, or fake news; or authorize, encourage, or carry out violations of users’…
PayPal In Talks To Buy Crypto Custody Firm Curv, Reports Say
PayPal is said to be in the process of buying Curv, a technology firm that powers the secure storage of cryptocurrency, news outlet CoinDesk reported Tuesday, citing three sources familiar with the situation. From the report: Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported Tuesday that Curv was being sold for between $200 million and $300 million, without naming the buyer. “PayPal is buying…
Renaissance-era letter sealed for centuries just virtually unfolded and read for the first time
X-ray scans and digital reconstructions revealed the contents of undelivered letters that were sealed more than 600 years ago. Source: https://www.livescience.com/sealed-renaissance-letter-virtually-unfolded.html
How Microsoft Plans To Give Virtual Reality Apps a Big Boost
The market for virtual and augmented reality products has developed slower than expected, but Microsoft is seeking to accelerate the sector by making it much easier for people to connect from different locations and with different kinds of devices. From a report: The ultimate goal of the new effort, dubbed Microsoft Mesh, is to allow, for example, a person in an…
Microsoft’s Dream of Decentralized IDs Enters the Real World
For years, tech companies have touted blockchain technology as a means to develop identity systems that are secure and decentralized. The goal is to build a platform that could store information about official data without holding the actual documents or details themselves. Instead of just storing a scan of your birth certificate, for example, a decentralized ID platform might store a…
How a 10-Second Video Clip Sold For $6.6 Million
In October 2020, Miami-based art collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile spent almost $67,000 on a 10-second video artwork that he could have watched for free online. Last week, he sold it for $6.6 million. Reuters reports: The video by digital artist Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, was authenticated by blockchain, which serves as a digital signature to certify who owns it…
Bitcoin Could Either Become Preferred Currency For International Trade Or Face a ‘Speculative Implosion,’ Citi Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Bitcoin rose nearly 7% on Monday as risk assets rallied after last week’s bond rout cooled, with Citi saying the most popular cryptocurrency was at a “tipping point” and could become the preferred currency for international trade. With the recent embrace of the likes of Tesla and Mastercard, bitcoin could be at the…
China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency
The electronic Chinese yuan is now being tested in cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. No other major power is as far along with a homegrown digital currency. From a report: Annabelle Huang recently won a government lottery to try China’s latest economics experiment: a national digital currency. After joining the lottery through the social media app WeChat, Ms. Huang,…
Credit Card Payment Systems Crashed Friday at Stores and Restaurants Across America
On Friday credit-card payment systems went down for major businesses scattered across the U.S. Business Insider reports:
Fiserv, one of the leading payments providers in the US, told Insider, “A widespread internet service provider outage has impacted multiple businesses today.” Ann Cave, a company spokesperson, added in an email: “Some Fiserv services that rely on internet connectivity were interrupted. The majority have…