An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: /e/ OS, the “open-source, pro-privacy, and fully degoogled” fork of Android, is coming to Canada and the USA. Of course, you’ve always been able to download the software in any region, but now (as first spotted by It’s Foss News) the e Foundation will start selling preloaded phones in North America. Previously,…
Tag: inclusion
Second Google AI Ethics Leader Fired, She Says Amid Staff Protest
Alphabet’s Google on Friday fired scientist Margaret Mitchell, she said in a Twitter post, after weeks of being under investigation for moving thousands of files outside the company amid a battle over research freedom and diversity. From a report: Google’s ethics in artificial intelligence research unit has been under scrutiny since December’s dismissal of scientist Timnit Gebru, which prompted protest from…
Coursera partners with Howard University, expands social justice content, and collaborates with Facebook to offer scholarships to Black learners
By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera At Coursera, we believe that learning is the source of human progress — that it has the power to transform our world. In 2020, we strengthened our commitment to address systemic racism through learning. We focused on creating social justice and anti-racism content and elevating Black voices […]
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Biofuel-Powered Rocket Makes Historic Launch in Maine
Despite bad weather and early technical difficulties, employee-owned bluShift Aerospace “made history Sunday afternoon when it launched its prototype rocket, Stardust 1.0,” reports Maine’s Portland Press Herald:
The company became the first in Maine to launch a commercial rocket and the first in the world to launch a rocket using bio-derived fuel… It carried three payloads, two commercial and one, free of…
New Site Extracts and Posts Every Face from Parler’s Capitol Hill Insurrection Videos
“Late last week, a website called Faces of the Riot appeared online, showing nothing but a vast grid of more than 6,000 images of faces, each one tagged only with a string of characters associated with the Parler video in which it appeared,” reports WIRED, saying the site raises clear privacy concerns: The site’s creator tells WIRED that he used simple,…
McConnell Ties Full Repeal of Section 230 To Push for $2,000 Stimulus Checks
On Tuesday night, McConnell introduced a new bill tying increased stimulus payments to a full repeal of Section 230. From a report: The bill comes amid new momentum for direct $2000 stimulus payments, and increasing pressure on party leaders to appease President Trump’s escalating demands. Democratic party leaders criticized the inclusion of Section 230 repeal as an effort to scuttle stimulus…
Amazon To Face US Union Push In Year Ahead
In 2021, Amazon.com is poised to face a renewed challenge from groups it has long countered: unions. Reuters reports: Energized by protests at Amazon’s U.S. warehouses and a more labor-friendly administration assuming office, unions are campaigning at the world’s largest online retailer to see if its warehouse or grocery workers would like to join their ranks. A major test is expected…
Intel Report Shows Tech Companies Still Struggle With Diversity
Intel became the latest tech company to report diversity statistics Tuesday, sharing a mixed bag of annual numbers that included small gains in some areas, relatively flat numbers of Black employees and a decline in female representation in the U.S. Axios reports: Women made up a bit more than a quarter of Intel’s employee headcount, seeing a tiny drop in the…
Tesla To Be Added To S&P 500 Index
Tesla is officially going to join the S&P500, sending its stock price soaring as much as 12% — adding over $40 billion in market capitalization to the automaker. Electrek reports: The S&P 500, or simply the S&P, is a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is…
Moderna Becomes Second Firm To Reveal Positive Results With Nearly 95% Protection In Trials
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: More than 1 billion people could be immunized against coronavirus by the end of next year with shots from the first two companies to reveal positive results, after the latest vaccine was shown to be nearly 95% effective in trials. With the US’s top infectious diseases official, Anthony Fauci, hailing “the light…