Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Amazon Claims Prime Air Drones Will Start Delivering Packages ‘Within Months’
June 6th, 2019Via: USA Today: Within a matter of months, your future Amazon orders could be delivered by a self-driving drone. Officials with the online shopping giant unveiled the latest Prime Air drone design Wednesday at Amazon’s re:MARS Conference (Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space) in Las Vegas. “We’ve been hard at work building fully electric drones […]
Police Building Surveillance Networks with Amazon’s Ring Doorbells
June 5th, 2019Via: Cnet: While residential neighborhoods aren’t usually lined with security cameras, the smart doorbell’s popularity has essentially created private surveillance networks powered by Amazon and promoted by police departments. Police departments across the country, from major cities like Houston to towns with fewer than 30,000 people, have offered free or discounted Ring doorbells to citizens, […]
Apple Forces Developers to Place Its Login Button Above Google, Facebook
June 4th, 2019Just a few days ago, someone was asking me how to sign into the AirBNB app on her iPhone without using Google or Facebook credentials. I thought that there would be an option to enter her email and password, but there wasn’t. That app forces users to supply either Google or Facebook credentials. I don’t […]
U.S. Preparing Antitrust Probe of Google
May 31st, 2019Via: AFP: The US Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust investigation of Internet titan Google, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Journal cited unnamed sources close to the matter as saying the department would look into Google practices related to web search and other businesses. Justice department officials share antitrust oversight with […]
Google to Restrict Modern Ad Blocking Chrome Extensions to Enterprise Users
May 29th, 2019Via: 9to5Google: Back in January, Google announced a proposed change to Chrome’s extensions system, called Manifest V3, that would stop current ad blockers from working efficiently. In a response to the overwhelming negative feedback, Google is standing firm on Chrome’s ad blocking changes, sharing that current ad blocking capabilities will be restricted to enterprise users.
China Gears Up to Weaponize Rare Earths in Trade War
May 29th, 2019Via: Bloomberg: Beijing is gearing up to use its dominance of rare earths to hit back in its deepening trade war with Washington. A flurry of Chinese media reports on Wednesday, including an editorial in the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party, raised the prospect of Beijing cutting exports of the commodities that are critical […]
Astronomers Concerned About Starlink Light Pollution
May 27th, 2019Well, it’s not just me. Via: Forbes: SpaceX had kept the logistics of each satellite under wraps prior to the launch, but following the launch it was revealed that each satellite had a relatively large solar panel, perfect for not only gathering but reflecting sunlight back to Earth. This means anyone looking up at the […]
Rare Earth Metals: China’s ‘Nuclear Option’ In The Trade War
May 27th, 2019Via: oilprice.com: A simple visit to an obscure factory by Chinese President Xi on Monday is all it took to raise the specter that China could be contemplating cutting off supply of critical materials to the U.S. and potentially crippling large swathes of its industries. Also, fueled by political innuendo in Xi’s recent call for […]
The Books of College Libraries Are Turning Into Wallpaper
May 27th, 2019Via: The Atlantic: University libraries around the world are seeing precipitous declines in the use of the books on their shelves.
Limited Hangout: ‘Wow, What Is That?’ Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects
May 26th, 2019My best guess is that this Pentagon/CIA/To the Stars operation is a limited hangout, but to what end, I have no idea. A limited hangout is: “Spy jargon for a favorite and frequently used gimmick of the clandestine professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they can no longer rely on a phony […]
