MSNBC’s Ali Velshi interviewed Mark Zuckerberg mentor (and early investor) Roger McNamee for a special report on “the disinformation epidemic.” McNamee — also the author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe — says Zuckerberg is too focused on “imposing his vision” to acknowledge the website’s threat to national security, adding “It’s about power.” Ali Velshi: The fact that rumor,…
Tag: Press
US Will Not Pay Millions In Dues To WHO This Year
The Trump administration will decline to pay tens of millions of dollars owed to the World Health Organization (WHO) in annual dues as part of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the global body, which is scheduled for next year. The Hill reports: The Associated Press reported that the U.S. will not pay just over $60 million owed in 2020 dues to the…
Former IT Director Gets Jail Time For Selling Government’s Cisco Gear On eBay
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: A South Carolina man was sentenced this week to two years in federal prison for taking government-owned networking equipment and selling it on eBay. The man, Terry Shawn Petrill, 48, of Myrtle Beach, worked as the IT Security Director for Horry County in South Carolina, the Department of Justice said in a press…
The Blurred Lines and Closed Loops of Google Search
Early this year, Google pushed out a seemingly tiny tweak to how it displays search ads for desktop computers. From a report: Previously, the search engine had marked paid results with the word “Ad” in a green box, tucked beneath the headline next to a matching green display URL. Now, all of a sudden, the “Ad” and the URL shifted above…
Japan’s Longest-Serving PM, Shinzo Abe, Resigns For Health Reasons
Late last night, it was rumored that Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, would step down due to his struggle with ulcerative colitis. Abe confirmed the reports this morning, telling reporters that it was “gut wrenching” to leave many of his goals unfinished. He also apologized for stepping down during the pandemic. The Associated Press reports: Abe has had ulcerative colitis…
DC Attorney General Sues Instacart, Claiming it Deceived Customers Into Thinking Service Fees Would Go To Workers
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit Thursday against Instacart, claiming the grocery delivery service collected millions of dollars by deceiving customers into thinking that an optional service fee would be used as a tip for workers, when it allegedly went to the company instead. From a report: The suit echos an earlier charge against food delivery service…
Is Blockchain ‘the Amazing Solution for Almost Nothing’?
Long-time Slashdot reader leathered shares an investigation from the Correspondent about blockchain — and ” what’s so terribly revolutionary about it? What problem does it solve…? I can tell you upfront, it’s a bizarre journey to nowhere. I’ve never seen so much incomprehensible jargon to describe so little… And I’ve never seen so many people searching so hard for a problem…
Telegram Messaging App Proves Crucial To Belarus Protests
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Associated Press: Every day, like clockwork, to-do lists for those protesting against Belarus’ authoritarian leader appear in the popular Telegram messaging app. They lay out goals, give times and locations of rallies with business-like precision, and offer spirited encouragement. The app has become an indispensable tool in coordinating the unprecedented mass protests that…
Greenland Lost 586 Billion Tons of Ice In 2019
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Associated Press: Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than four feet (1.25 meters) of water, a new study said. After two years when summer ice melt had been minimal, last summer shattered all records with 586 billion…
BlackBerry Phones Aren’t Dead Yet
After TCL announced plans to stop producing BlackBerry phones later this year, it seemed like the once-popular BlackBerry brand would finally be coming to an end. “But now, a new company has pledged to take up the BlackBerry mantle with promises of releasing a new phone featuring a good ‘ol physical keyboard sometime next year,” reports Gizmodo. From the report: In…