When Tim Cook told an interviewer that Apple wouldn’t get in a Facebook-style data-collection controversy, “Mr. Zuckerberg shot back that Mr. Cook’s comments were ‘extremely glib’ and ‘not at all aligned with the truth,'” reports the Wall Street Journal. But “In private, Mr. Zuckerberg was even harsher. ‘We need to inflict pain,’ he told his team, for treating the company so…
Tag: settlements
GitHub Reverses Takedown of Code for Anime Torrent Site Despite Film Group’s DMCA
Inside.com’s developer newsletter spotted this code repository story:
GitHub posted a DMCA notice it received from the Motion Picture Association (MPA) last week asking the platform to take down a repository associated with NYAA.si, a popular torrent site specializing in anime content. The DMCA captured attention as the code doesn’t belong to the MPA. Rather, the MPA argues the code is used…
Biomining study could unlock future settlements on other worlds
Experiments on the International Space Station have shown that the process of “biomining” will work in microgravity; a discovery that could help the first space settlers gather the minerals they need to build a long-term presence beyond Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-biomining-future-settlements-worlds.html…
Mining rocks in orbit could aid deep space exploration
The first mining experiments conducted in space could pave the way for new technologies to help humans explore and establish settlements on distant worlds, a study suggests. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-orbit-aid-deep-space-exploration.html…
12 Countries Are Now Considering Central Bank Digital Currencies
“Officials at central banks are considering how and whether to create a digital form of cash,” reports Qz:
As money gets swept up by tech innovation, government authorities are taking a closer look at old fashioned notes and coins. More than a dozen countries are either researching, piloting, or, like China, have ongoing work in place for central bank digital currencies, according…
Ancient inscription reveals lost civilization in Turkey that may have defeated King Midas
The lost kingdom was one of the largest settlements to exist in ancient Turkey at the time. Source: https://www.livescience.com/lost-city-turkey-defeated-midas.html
Twenty years of discoveries changing story of human evolution
Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/archaeological-discoveries-changing-story-of-human-evolution…
How Cloudflare Stood up to a Patent Troll — and Won
Cloudflare was sued by a notorious patent troll Blackbird Technologies in 2016. Instead of giving up to its demands, Cloudflare employed a different strategy. From a blog post: In October 2016, Blackbird was looking to acquire additional patents for their portfolio when they found an incredibly broad software patent with the ambiguous title, “PROVIDING AN INTERNET THIRD PARTY DATA CHANNEL.” They…
Is America’s Federal Banking System Considering Its Own Digital Cryptocurrency?
America’s lawmakers and Federal Reserve officials “are so concerned about Facebook’s plans to launch a new digital currency,” reports Politico’s financial services reporter, “that they’re contemplating a novel response — having the central bank create a competitor.”
Momentum is building for an idea that was once considered outlandish — a U.S. government-run virtual currency that would replace physical cash, a dramatic move…
GNOME Foundation Is Being Sued Because of Shotwell Photo Manager
JustAnotherOldGuy quotes ItsFOSS:
The GNOME Foundation is facing a lawsuit from Rothschild Patent Imaging, LLC. Rothschild allege that Shotwell, a free and open source personal photo manager infringes its patent. Neil McGovern, Executive Director for the GNOME Foundation says “We have retained legal counsel and intend to vigorously defend against this baseless suit. Due to the ongoing litigation, we unfortunately cannot make…