The tech giant said users would be able to use the coin through its apps and on Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp. Once it’s launched, users will be able to purchase Libra and store it in its own digital wallet called Calibra. The website for Calibra was also launched earlier today. “Over the coming months, the association and its members will be recruiting additional members to further diversify and support the network....
Nearly everyone on the planet knows what Facebook did, but almost nobody has a clue what “Meta” is all about. You can blame Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s marketing team, or the nihilistic nature of social media (of which, ironically, you can also blame on Mark Zuckerberg et al.,). But the simple fact of the matter is that trying to explain the metaverse is a bigger challenge than even the most visionary of technologists could have envisioned....
According to a notice from the FTC, the suit involves the company’s Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp services as well as Facebook’s alleged imposition of anti-competitive practices on software developers. The notice goes on to state that the US government seeks an injunction that would force the company to divest from those and potentially other properties and prevent Facebook from acquiring new companies without federal permission. Per the FTC statement: Quick take: It’ll take some further analysis to see how much teeth this thing has considering the US is in a bit of a transitional state right now....
The global drive to increase social equality in recent years has been led by ongoing research about how women are underrepresented in leadership roles throughout the business world. For example, recent research shows that while the share of women in senior management roles is increasing incrementally, the “leaky pipeline” effect means that fewer women reach the highest positions in companies. This situation has compelled policymakers and business leaders to create diversity initiatives in an attempt to tip the balance....
The country’s Transport Minister, Andreas Scheuer, wants to introduce a near blanket motorway toll for cars across Germany and Europe as part of its presidency of the European Union, this is according to documents seen by Reuters. If the draft becomes reality, we’d see almost all vehicles on motorways, including lorries, vans, and cars, having to pay tolls. The only vehicles to be exempt would be coaches and buses. There’s no mention of details yet, but hopefully things like EVs will be omitted, or at least will be subject to a lower fee....
When the Xbox Series X was first announced, I wasn’t fussed. Yeah, it looked cool, and I thought I’d pick one up when GTA 6 or Fallout 5 were released, but I’d be just fine without a new console thank you very much, pal. But I was wrong. Oh lord I was wrong. As my colleagues got next-gen consoles, the reviews rolled in, and the games came out, my soul began to itch....
The tool was developed in conjunction with OpenAI by training the system on publically available source code of different projects. On paper, this feels like any other AI project’s training method. But several people took to Twitter criticizing GitHub’s move and calling it a copyright violation. — Armin Ronacher (@mitsuhiko) July 3, 2021 — Jake Williams (@MalwareJake) July 3, 2021 However, Julia Reda — researcher and former Member of the European Parliament — has argued on her blog that GitHub’s tool doesn’t violate copyrights....
When we think of negotiation, we picture intense discussions that go back and forth between two parties discussing a deal over huge sums of money. One side has a price in mind and won’t budge, the other has a budget in mind and won’t budge. Either one side adapts or both parties walk away. Add in the power struggle of appearing as the “toughest person,” and you’re in for a tough time making the deal work....
Indeed, 93 percent of adult content websites leak sensitive user data to third parties, according to a new study which looked at 22,484 porn sites to examine how they use tracking software to log your most personal browsing tendencies. “[M]any sites and apps include code from other parties of which users are typically unaware,” the authors say. “Such ‘third-party’ code can allow companies to monitor the actions of users without their knowledge or consent and build detailed profiles of their habits and interests....
The company is tweaking Google Meet’s interface with changes “largely inspired by customer and user feedback.” These changes are rolling out to desktop and laptop users over the next month. For one, all controls will be moved to the bottom bar, giving you quick access to all the features you need — a welcome change if you’ve ever had to do tech support for a family member not quite used to video calls....
This is the first time Google is allowing cross-border payment on its platform. While both users in the US and India have access to Google Pay, the app works in different ways. In India, the app is primarily based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, with card payments being introduced recently. As TechCrunch noted, India is the largest remittance receiver country in the world with over $80 billion in transfers in 2019....
Google noted that despite Photos’ popularity, most of the 4 trillion pictures stored to it have never even been viewed. The new features try to make the most of the photos that you wouldn’t normally look back, including the addition of a private image folder and newfangled ways of showing off your menial or redundant pictures. Password-protected photos It’s about time: Google is introducing a Locked Folder for images you’d rather hide behind a password or biometric authentication....
But lately it seems like the search giant has got its messaging groove back. Getting to RC-yes By now you’re probably familiar with RCS, the new telecom standard that’s supposed to rescue old fashioned text messaging from the flip-phone era. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services and it comes with modern messaging features like read receipts, typing indicators, and verified business profiles. In other words, it looks and feels like iMessage or WhatsApp, but works over your cell phone network instead of the internet, à la SMS....
The team used anonymized data from mammograms – low energy X-ray to detect breast cancer – of more than 76,000 women from the UK and more than 15,000 women from the US to train the AI model. Later, they tested it using a de-identified dataset of more than 25,000 women from the UK and 3,000 women from the US. The AI helped reduce false negatives by 5.7 and 1.2 percent in the US and UK respectively....
But it finally feels like things might just be changing. Case in point: according to a report by CNBC, Google is opening a new campus in Silicon Valley largely dedicated to supporting its hardware offerings. CNBC says it obtained preliminary plans for the new campus. Google has reportedly spent “more than $389 million” on land in San Jose to build an “R&D” facility. This campus would include a center for hardware operations, as well as “a new tech campus that would be accessible to the public....
The first details we learned was the launch library of Stadia — and the first title we learned about was the previously-rumored Baldur’s Gate III and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. The other titles in the lineup include Doom, Destiny 2, The Division 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and the Tomb Raider reboot games. Google of course hyped its Stadia controller, but specified that it could be used with any controller or a mouse and keyboard....
Talking to Business Insider, Google’s product manager, Brant Ward, said: “At the time, the guidance was the technology performed better for a female voice. The TTS [text-to-speech] systems in the early days kind of echoed [early systems] and just became more tuned to female voices.” According to Ward, higher pitch in female voices were more intelligible in early TTS systems because they had a more limited frequency response and English voices that didn’t come from a human were easier to understand if they took on female characteristics....
A new study by Leasing Options, a British car rental firm, reveals which companies have been making the largest investments from 2014 up until now. And, yeah, we’re talking about a lot of money. In the following graph we can observe the various annual investments per corporation: Samsung in the lead Although car manufacturers have made multiple billion dollar investments since 2018, they still haven’t spent as much as tech giant Samsung....
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned developer using Node, following the best practices of Node.js programming is a must when developing applications aimed for production. In this post, we’re going to point out 10 best practices every Node developer should follow. On top of the general best coding practices you should be following as a programmer, these will help you get the maximum use out of Node’s unique features....
Pride month isn’t over yet. Sunday, 28 June, will mark the reason for the season as we celebrate the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. And that means the biggest events are happening this weekend. Both NYC and Global Pride kick into gear this weekend as well as many other celebrations and performances. Oh, and did I mention these are all online? The majority of traditional Pride events – marches and gatherings – have been canceled or postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic....
