Innholdsfortegnelse for #341 i Techlife News

Yet another service is asking you to change your password. Twitter said last week it discovered a bug that stored passwords in an internal log in plain text, without the usual encryption. Though Twitter says there’s no indication that anyone has stolen or misused those passwords, the company is recommending a change as a precaution. Here are some tips on coming up with a new password and safeguarding your account — even if your password is compromised. COMPLEXITY COUNTS Don’t even think of using “password” as your password. Picking any common word as your password should be avoided because it’s easily guessed using software that tries out every word in the dictionary. However, you can get a good password by combining two or more words, such as “rocketcalendar.” Sprinkle in…

Media company Twenty-First Century Fox is buying seven TV stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group for $910 million. The move comes as Sinclair is selling some stations to meet regulatory approval for its pending $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media. Meanwhile, Disney is pursuing a $52 billion takeover of much of Fox, though TV stations will stay with Rupert Murdoch’s family under a new Fox company. Two of the stations are in California. The others are in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Fox says the deal will let it compete in 19 of the top 20 markets, with a larger presence in the West. In April, Sinclair sold off nine TV stations to Standard Media Group for $441.7 million. Both of the sales are contingent on the acquisition of Tribune…

Google put the spotlight on its artificial intelligence smarts at its annual developers conference, where it announced new features and services imbued with machine learning. The company’s digital concierge, known only as the Google Assistant, is gaining new — if experimental — abilities to handle tasks such as making restaurant reservations and placing other tedious phone calls without human hand-holding. “Hi, I’m calling to book a hair appointment for a client,” said a realistic-sounding automated voice in a demo from the conference stage. The AI voice used pauses and “ums” and “mmm-hmms” to sound more human during interactions with people. The company said it is rolling out the technology, called Google Duplex, as an experiment in coming weeks. “We really want to work hard to get this right,” said Google…

Elon Musk’s track record for technological feats as chief of SpaceX has turned skeptics into believers in everything from his quest to open space travel to Mars to his desire to build a tunnel for high-speed travel between New York and Washington. As Tesla’s CEO, his ambitious vision for electric cars has also earned him a faithful following. But now Wall Street is taking a more practical tone, increasingly questioning Musk’s assertions of when the company can turn profitable. Tesla may ultimately be forced to sell new shares of its stock or take on more debt to bolster diminishing cash. Shares in the electric car company slumped 5.5 percent, a day after it reported its first-quarter results and Musk’s remarks during an analyst conference call that left many investors scratching…

Winchester Eccentric heiress Sarah Winchester lives in what she believes to be the world’s most haunted house. The house has been under construction for decades, but Sarah Winchester is not building for herself but is creatubg an asylum for hundreds of vengeful ghosts. FIVE FACTS: 1. The movie is inspired by true events, and the mansion, located in San Jose, California, has been a tourist attraction since 1923, a year after Sarah Winchester’s death. 2. The promotional image of Helen Mirren sitting in the carriage, echoes the only known photograph of Sarah Winchester. 3. In real life, Sarah Winchester was only 4’ 10” and had severe arthritis. 4. Filming in the actual mansion proved difficult, so much of the interior was recreated on sound stages. 5. Lionsgate have bought the…

Post-apocalyptic productions have proliferated in recent years just like the cliches around them. A human-made disaster occurs, survivors turn on each other and audiences go on dark journeys with little hope. “The Rain,” a new, original young adult series released by Netflix, certainly adopts some of these motifs but it tells the story of an environmental catastrophe through the eyes of Danish teens and other young people in Scandinavia where, unlike the United States, high-powered weapons are a rarity. The expanding threat to humanity involves other countries, making the fear truly a worldwide scare. The series follows a Danish sister and her younger brother who are ushered into a bunker by their father and mother as they prepared for a coming storm that brought rains that mysteriously cause people to…

A robotic geologist armed with a hammer and quake monitor rocketed toward Mars last Saturday (05), aiming to land on the red planet and explore its mysterious insides. In a twist, NASA launched the Mars InSight lander from California rather than Florida’s Cape Canaveral. It was the first interplanetary mission ever to depart from the West Coast, drawing pre-dawn crowds to fog-socked Vandenberg Air Force Base and rocket watchers down the California coast into Baja. “This is a big day. We’re going back to Mars!” NASA’s new boss, Jim Bridenstine, said following liftoff. “This is an extraordinary mission with a whole host of firsts.” The spacecraft will take more than six months to get to Mars and start its unprecedented geologic excavations, traveling 300 million miles (485 million kilometers) to…

Frozen screens, bendy offside lines and other technical glitches have made the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system a frequent target of derision as the World Cup approaches. Two years of testing ahead of the June 14 opening game have left Johannes Holzmueller, the head of FIFA’s Technology Innovation Department, “sweating...because we were unsure if everything works perfectly. “However now that we go into the World Cup we are quite sure that we will have the best setup that is possible at the moment,” said Holzmueller at a media conference. But he refused to say the network of digitally-enhanced cameras overseen by experienced assistant referees would be fool-proof in time for the World Cup that kicks off in Moscow. Ultimately, said Holzmueller, that “it is technology. It can fail.” Few doubt…

A technology plant has announced a $325 million investment for the first of three facilities coming to a Kentucky county. WYMT-TV reports that RCL Chemical has partnered with Y2X Infrastructure to secure the funding for a facility to operate clean conversion of natural gas-to-liquids technology, announced Wednesday. Floyd County Judge-Executive Ben Hale says the facility will change the landscape of the region, which has long been dependent on coal. The eastern Kentucky county was picked for its available infrastructure and ready access to natural gas. RCL Chairman Bill Johnson praised Floyd and Pike counties for their patience and support. The project is expected to generate more than 500 construction jobs. Permanent jobs will follow as facility operations grow. It’s expected to be operational by 2020.…

Democrats on the House intelligence committee have released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency, providing the fullest picture yet of Russia’s attempt to sow racial and political division in the United States before and after the 2016 election. Most of the ads are issue-based, pushing arguments for and against immigration, LGBT issues and gun rights, among other issues. A large number of them attempt to stoke racial divisions by mentioning police brutality or disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement. Some promote President Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary. Few, if any, support Clinton. The intelligence committee Democrats released a sampling of the ads purchased by Russia’s Internet Research Agency last year, but…

Millions of anti-Semitic messages on Twitter have spread negative stereotypes and conspiracy theories about Jews across the social media platform, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League. ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the data showed many used Twitter as a “megaphone to harass and intimidate Jews.” An earlier report from the Jewish civil rights group said anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. last year had reached the highest tally it has counted in more than two decades. That increase appeared to be fueled by emboldened far-right extremists as well as the “divisive state of our national discourse,” Greenblatt said in February. In the new report, the group estimated that about 3 million Twitter users posted or re-posted at least 4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets in English over a…

Microsoft is launching a $25 million initiative to use artificial intelligence to build better technology for people with disabilities. CEO Satya Nadella announced the new “AI for Accessibility” effort as he kicked off Microsoft’s annual conference for software developers. The Build conference in Seattle is meant to foster enthusiasm for the company’s latest ventures in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, internet-connected devices and virtual reality. Microsoft competes with Amazon and Google to offer internet-connected services to businesses and organizations. The conference and the new initiative offer Microsoft an opportunity to emphasize its philosophy of building AI for social good. The focus could help counter some of the privacy and ethical concerns that have risen over AI and other fast-developing technology, including the potential that software formulas can perpetuate or even amplify…

Google showcased its plans for the next several months as it kicked off its annual developers’ conference Tuesday. Many of the new features center on the use of artificial intelligence to help save time. Here are the highlights: MAPS: Google will use augmented reality to help guide you to your destination. When you pull up direction on Google Maps, you can look through the camera and get turn-by-turn directions while viewing the actual street. The app will also orient you and verify your position using local landmarks such as buildings and shops viewed through the camera. Google calls the technology VPS, or visual positioning system. The feature is expected this summer. GOOGLE DUPLEX: Google’s digital assistant will call actual people at businesses to make restaurant reservations and hair appointments and…

Ride-hailing service Lyft is partnering with an automotive technology company to deploy a fleet of 30 self-driving cars to the streets of Las Vegas this summer. Lyft and Aptiv will run the self-driving BMWs between the same predetermined sites that the companies used during a successful demonstration at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The BMW 5 Series cars will navigate passengers between the Las Vegas Convention Center and various resorts on the Strip. Las Vegas is working with Aptiv to extend the routes into downtown, said Michael Sherwood, the city’s director of technology and innovation. The companies are planning astart date for July or August, Sherwood said. The routes are also subject to change. Customers will be able to hail a self-driving BMW…

CRAZYTALK Mat Kearney Mat Keaney’s last album Young Love was the first to take the iTunes top spot from Adele’s 21 in 2011, and the question is, will his latest album have such a big impact? CRAZYTALK is certainly Mat’s most honest album to date, filled with nostalgia and a rediscovering of his roots. This album features a blend of genres, helping him show everything he is capable of and expand his fan base. FIVE FACTS: 1. Mat bought a laptop on his previous tour and wrote in between shows. He even personally produced a lot of the songs on the album. 2. Mat switched management and crowd-sourced the funding to make this album a reality. 3. Heartbeat was inspired by Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time. 4. Mat’s songs have…

Disney is seeking new frontiers. The media company launched its $5-a-month sports streaming service, ESPN Plus, last month, and it signed a deal with Twitter this month to create Marvel, ABC and ESPN content on that service. Meanwhile, Disney is trying to buy much of 21st Century Fox, including the Fox television network and the X-Men movie franchise. The moves come as Disney seeks ways to extend beyond the traditional cable-bundle format as more people watch TV online. Sports network ESPN was once a jewel in Disney’s crown but subscriptions have been falling as people drop cable services. But the company has found strength elsewhere, notably its movie studio and theme parks. Disney’s franchises such as Marvel’s Avengers and “Star Wars” have been raking in money. “Avengers: Infinity War” has…

California may start requiring solar panels on new homes and low-rise apartment buildings built after 2020, the first such mandate nationwide and the state’s latest step to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The California Energy Commission, estimates they would add an average $10,500 in construction costs for a single-family home but generate about $16,000 in energy savings. The standards also include requirements around ventilation and indoor air quality. California has positioned itself as the nationwide leader on clean energy, pushing for more electric vehicles on the roads and fewer emissions from residential and commercial buildings. “This is going to be an important step forward for our state to continue to lead the clean energy economy,”said Kelly Knutsen, director of technology advancement for the California Solar and Storage Association. Few industry groups…

Seattle’s latest tax proposal to combat homelessness takes aim at large businesses such as Amazon that have helped drive the city’s economic boom. But the measure has sparked intense debate — even shouting matches in otherwise reserved Seattle — over who should pay to solve the housing crisis exacerbated by that growth. The City Council is proposing a tax on employee hours to raise about $75 million a year for affordable housing and homelessness services. Nearly 600 large employers making at least $20 million in gross revenues would pay about $500 a year per worker. Amazon, the city’s largest employer, would take the biggest hit. Supporters insist the online retailer and others that have benefited from Seattle’s prosperity and contributed to growing income inequality and skyrocketing rents can and should…

There’s a budding industry that’s trying to solve the problem of the limp lettuce and tasteless tomatoes in America’s supermarkets. It’s full of technologists who grow crops in buildings instead of outdoors, short-cutting the need to prematurely harvest produce for a bumpy ride often thousands of miles to consumers in colder climes. More than 30 high-tech companies from the U.S. to Singapore hoping to turn indoor farming into a major future food source, if only they can clear a stubborn hurdle: high costs. These companies stack plants inside climate-controlled rooms, parse out nutrients and water, and bathe them with specialized light. It’s all so consumers can enjoy tasty vegetables year-round using a fraction of the water and land that traditional farming requires. Farmers can even brag the produce is locally…

Chinese technology company ZTE says it has applied to the U.S. Commerce Department asking it to suspend a seven-year ban on it doing business with U.S. technology exporters. The company said in a statement that it had “formally submitted” a request to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security for a “stay of the Denial Order.” It said it sent the bureau “supplemental information” following the ban. It gave no details in its brief statement. ZTE Corp., which makes smartphones and telecoms equipment, was hit with the ban last month in a case involving exports of telecom gear to Iran and North Korea. The company has said that the ban threatens its existence by cutting off access to U.S. suppliers of key components like microchips. The suspension came amid…

APPLE VIDEO IS ON ITS WAY Almost three years have passed since Apple Music’s launch, and new figures suggest that 40 million people now subscribe to theall-you-can-eat music streaming service . It’s great news for Tim Cook and Co, and it’s news that has sent Spotify into a panic. Thanks to Apple’s innovative technology, an impressive share of the smartphone market and a keen eye for detail, the company has managed to grow its services division by 31% to $9.2 billion in 2017. That makes it its second most profitable, right behind the iPhone division. If services are where Apple wants to innovate, then there’s no greater project than a Netflix rival. And that’s exactly what Apple is working on right now, with the Cupertino company confirming its plans to…

APPLE CONTINUES THEIR LEGACY For many of us, the first piece of Apple tech we owned was an iPod, used in conjunction with iTunes. Apple has long been the king of music, and technology, and strives to create a seamless integration across all Apple products, and the latest addition to the Apple family does just that. AirPlay 2 works to create a seamless transition between our devices and allows multi-room control directly from your iPhone. AIRPLAY 2 IS ABOUT TO SHIP Apple AirPlay 2 is the latest version of theAirPlay protocol, and it is finally on its way . The original AirPlay was first introduced in 2010, so it is certainly outdated, and finally it will feature universal device support. It allows you to share music from your MacBook…

Artificial intelligence has a new challenge: Whether and how to alert people who may not know they’re talking to a robot. On Tuesday, Google showed off a computer assistant that makes convincingly human-sounding phone calls, at least in its prerecorded demonstration. But the real people in those calls didn’t seem to be aware they were talking to a machine. That could present thorny issues for the future use of AI. Among them: Is it fair — or even legal — to trick people into talking to an AI system that effectively records all of its conversations? And while Google’s demonstration highlighted the benign uses of conversational robots, what happens when spammers and scammers get hold of them? Google CEO Sundar Pichai elicited cheers on Tuesday as he demonstrated the new…

NASA and Uber have signed an agreement to explore putting flying taxis in the skies over US cities. NASA said Tuesday that it will begin simulations for so-called “urban air mobility” vehicles that also include delivery drones. The announcement comes as the Uber Elevate summit in Los Angeles brings together tech and transportation leaders to discuss the future of urban aviation. NASA says the goal is to create a rideshare network that will allow residents to hail a small aircraft the same way Uber users can now use an app to call a car. The space agency says simulations are planned at its research facility at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.…

“Avengers: Infinity War” did even better than expected in its second weekend in theaters, grossing an additional $114.8 million and bringing its domestic total to $453.1 million. In a distant second was “Overboard,” a remake of the 1987 comedy starring Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris, which earned a solid $14.7 million in its first weekend — more than the film cost to produce. The thriller “A Quiet Place” took third with $7.8 million, followed by “I Feel Pretty” in fourth with $5.1 million and Dwayne Johnson’s “Rampage” in fifth. Newcomer “Tully,” starring Charlize Theron, debuted in sixth place with $3.3 million. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number…

Tech moguls Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg said this week they will team up to help develop new technologies for kids with trouble learning — an effort that will include dabbling into child brain science. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative intend to explore a number of potential pilot projects. They’ll focus on math, writing and brain functions — key areas of classroom learning that they note are crucial for academic success. The effort is now seeking information and ideas from across sectors, from education and academia to business, technology and medicine. Future investments based on that information are expected, but no dollar amount has been set. The idea that disadvantaged children struggle to learn because of poor executive brain function involving memory, thinking flexibility,…

A top aide to Gov. Kim Reynolds took a management job with tech giant Apple months after helping promote a $208 million incentive package for the company’s planned Iowa data center as a good deal for taxpayers. Tim Albrecht left as Reynolds’ deputy chief of staff to begin work at Apple in March as a regional manager of strategic initiatives. Albrecht’s position is “unrelated” to the $1.3 billion complex the company is building outside Des Moines, a deal the administration negotiated, announced and defended when Albrecht was Reynolds’ senior adviser, according to the governor’s office. Supporters of the Apple project have argued that it’s a landmark development for the fast-growing city of Waukee that will strengthen the state’s tech industry. Critics, including some economists and Democrats running for governor, have…

The Kansas Department of Revenue will lay off nearly 60 employees as it moves its information technology service to CGI Technologies, which was given no-bid contracts worth nearly $60 million despite criticism of its operations in the rollout of the federal health care website in 2013. The 56 workers losing their jobs will be allowed to apply for CGI jobs in Topeka or could be matched with other jobs in the revenue department or other areas of state government, department spokeswoman Rachel Whitten said Wednesday. The contracts were signed in 2017 with CGI Technologies, a subsidiary of Canadian-based CGI Group, which has several government contracts. CGI was one of the primary contractors that developed healthcare.gov, which was plagued by technical problems at launch. North Carolina ended an $85 million contract…

Top U.S. tech executives and researchers are planning to press the Trump administration to invest in artificial intelligence and craft policies they hope will strengthen the economy without displacing jobs. The White House is hosting the “Artificial Intelligence for American Industry” event Thursday. Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft are among dozens of tech firms attending. Top universities are also pitching for investment in basic research. The meeting comes as some technology experts have criticized President Donald Trump and his administration for not paying enough attention to science and technology. They worry that the U.S. could fall behind. Dean Garfield, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, says it’s been disappointing not to have more of a national movement around AI. But he says it’s “better late than never.”…

The head of Japanese technology company SoftBank Group Corp. said this week it has reached an agreement to sell its stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart to Walmart. Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son did not give details in confirming the deal, which has been widely anticipated. He mentioned the agreement while discussing the company’s quarterly results. Son did say he was doubling his initial investment with the sale. The agreement was reached overnight, and an official announcement is coming soon, he said. SoftBank’s sprawling empire encompasses telecommunications, financial-technology, solar energy, ride-booking services and the Pepper companion robot. Son made the comments on Flipkart casually during his earnings presentation. Later, when he was told no announcement had been made, he told reporters: “Oops. I already said it.” Tokyo-based SoftBank reported…