Innholdsfortegnelse for #356 i Techlife News

FLYING SOLO It’s hard to imagine the internet without Twitter. Whether we’re following a breaking news story, tweeting along to our favorite television shows or watching celebrities argue over music, the social network is a major part of our everyday lives. Whilst Facebook and Instagram are for our friends and family, Twitter is our window to the world - to engage in debates, understand new perspectives and have real-time conversations with people from all walks of life. Twitter was one of the first social networks to make its way to the iPhone with the release of iOS 2, but it was a third-party developer that created the app rather than the company itself. Indeed, Twitter has a history of being open source, and relying on developers to create software for…

Microsoft has uncovered new Russian hacking efforts targeting U.S. political groups ahead of the midterm elections. The company said this week that a group tied to the Russian government created fake websites that appeared to spoof two American conservative organizations: the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute. Three other fake sites were designed to look as if they belonged to the U.S. Senate. Microsoft didn’t offer any further description of the fake sites, although it has previously outlined in court filings how this hacking group operated a network of fake sites designed to trick victims into installing malicious software. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Microsoft’s report reflects a “witch hunt” in the U.S. The ministry said that Microsoft’s statement lacked any proof of Russian involvement because “there can’t…

Facebook, Twitter and Google routinely squabble for users, engineers and advertising money. Yet it makes sense for these tech giants to work together on security threats, elections meddling and other common ills. Such cooperation was evident Tuesday when Facebook announced that it had removed 652 suspicious pages, groups and accounts linked to Russia and Iran. This was followed by similar news from Twitter. On Monday, meanwhile, Microsoft reported a new Russian effort to impersonate conservative U.S. websites, potentially as part of an espionage campaign. Cooperation makes it easier for tech companies to combat fraudulent use of their services. It also makes them look good in the eyes of their users and regulators by showing that they take the threats seriously enough to set aside competitive differences. They have little other…

For years, Tesla’s board remained almost invisible, staying behind the curtain as superstar Chairman and CEO Elon Musk guided the electric car maker to huge stock price increases. Now, given Musk’s recent questionable behavior, experts say it’s time for the board to step onstage and take action on the company’s leadership. The list of Musk’s offenses include berating Wall Street analysts on a conference call and labeling as a pedophile via Twitter a British diver involved in the cave rescue of trapped Thai soccer players. Add to that his abrupt Twitter announcement of a plan to take the company private even though funding hasn’t been solidified, as well as confessing to being overwhelmed with job stress in a recent interview, and it’s likely that most other company boards in a…

The Miracle Season Oscar winners Helen Hunt and William Hunt team up in this inspirational and heartwarming tale of a girl’s school volleyball team and their quest to recapture their spirit after the death of their charismatic and talented star player. FIVE FACTS: 1. The movie has grossed over $10m worldwide. 2. The film was originally going to be titled Live Like Line. 3. Even though they have the same name, William Hunt and Helen Hunt are not related and this is the first time they have worked together. 4. Helen Hunt won the Best Actress Oscar for As Good As It Gets in 1998. 5. Director Sean McNamara is working on a big budget biopic of former President Ronald Reagan due to premiere in 2019. Once Upon a Time…

There are two glittering parades running in tandem through Jon M. Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians”, a glitzy and delightful adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s 2013 bestseller. One is the blingedout, designer-label, crazy-rich opulence often characteristic of rom-coms yet extreme enough here to make even Carrie Bradshaw or Christian Grey blush. The other, and far more arresting pageant, is of the film’s Asian cast of various nationalities who, one after another, shame Hollywood’s regular disinterest in them by being so effortlessly dazzling. The result is a totally winning confection: a frothy fairy tale, trivial and weighty at once, that simultaneously uses tried-and-true romantic comedy convention while riotously bursting free of movie-business formula. “Crazy Rich Asians” has much of the same DNA as a host of princess tales like “Cinderella”, but it is…

When Czech entrepreneur Robert Hasek began jogging with his dog, Darwin, the three-mile runs were making the bull terrier sick with fatigue. Hasek was surprised, thinking his dog led a healthy lifestyle. To solve the mystery, he strapped a Fitbit to Darwin and discovered he was actually only active in his presence. Otherwise, Hasek says, “he is lying, sleeping and doing nothing. He’s lazy!” The businessman sensed an opportunity and developed one of the world’s first dog fitness trackers. His product is part of a growing industry of gadgets for pets that includes GPS trackers, automatic feeders, ball throwing machines for dogs to fetch, and self-cleaning litter boxes for cats. People in the U.S. will spend $72.1 billion this year on pet products and care, up 3.6 percent on the…

A police force in a Minneapolis suburb is outfitting its officers with cameras mounted on their handguns amid calls for more transparency in police shootings. The West Hennepin County Safety Department said the cameras are significantly less expensive than body cameras. Police Chief Gary Kroells said 10 officers from the department will carry the guns, which will bring the cost for the cameras to $7,200. “We wanted to provide our officers the opportunity to have the video value of what happens at the end of that weapon, along with transparency for citizens,” Kroells said. The department tested the weapon-mounted cameras over the past year as part of a pilot project, the Star Tribune reported. The 3-inch (76-millimeter) long camera sits in front of the trigger and includes a flashlight. The…

Spanning three city blocks, San Francisco’s $2 billion transit terminal is open after nearly a decade under construction. Coined the “Grand Central of the West,” the new Salesforce Transit Center near the heart of downtown is expected to accommodate 100,000 passengers each weekday, and up to 45 million people a year. It welcomed its first passengers and visitors this month. Enveloped in wavy white sheets of metal veil, the five-level center includes a bus deck, a towering sky-lit central entrance hall and a rooftop park with an outdoor amphitheater. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the complex faced delays in putting out contracts to bid, and the winning bids were ultimately higher than expected. The terminal’s cost rose from $1.6 billion at its 2010 groundbreaking to more than $2 billion…

Democratic legislators are renewing criticisms of Foxconn Technology Group’s plans for a flat-screen plant in Mount Pleasant. Foxconn has said it wants to build a $10 billion facility to produce large flat-screens. The Taiwanese company says the project could create 13,000 jobs. Republican legislators handed the company $3 billion in incentives last year. Foxconn announced in June, however, that it will build a smaller factory to produce smaller screens and the large-screen facility will come later. Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz and Rep. Dana Wachs held a news conference Wednesday questioning Foxconn’s transparency. Wachs says the project could be “the mother of all bait-and-switches.” Foxconn has said it’s committed to investing the full $10 billion and creating 13,000 jobs. Gov. Scott Walker’s spokesman, Tom Evenson, tweeted Democrats will say anything…

After long resisting change, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wants to revamp the “core” of the service to fight rampant abuse and misinformation. But it’s not clear if changing that essence — how it rewards interactions and values popularity — would even work. Though Dorsey was scant on details, what is certain is that the move will require huge investments for a company that doesn’t have the same resources that Google and Facebook have to throw at the problem. Any change is likely to affect how users engage with Twitter and hurt revenue, testing the patience of both users and investors. “Social networks have a history of ... well-intentioned but badly designed efforts to fix this,” said Nate Elliott, principal at marketing research firm Nineteen Insights. Twitter isn’t alone in having…

Tech companies want to protect U.S. political candidates from Russian hackers ahead of the midterm elections, but could that free help count as an illegal campaign contribution? That’s the question Microsoft asked the Federal Election Commission this week. The company is requesting the FEC’s advisory opinion to make sure Microsoft’s new free package of online security protections for “election-sensitive” customers doesn’t count as an in-kind campaign contribution. Companies are typically prohibited from contributing to federal candidates and political committees under federal law. Microsoft said this week it’s offering its AccountGuard service on a nonpartisan basis to federal, state and local candidates, party committees and certain nonprofit groups. The company told FEC it might also work with other tech firms such as Facebook and Twitter on coordinated election security efforts, though…

Facebook has banned a third-party quiz app amid concerns over the possible misuse of users’ data and pulled its own security software from Apple’s app store after the iPhone maker tightened data security rules. The social media company said Wednesday it took action against the myPersonality app because its creators refused an inspection, and over worries that data on as many as 4 million users may have been misused. Facebook is particularly vexed about anything relating to the misuse of data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year. Allegations that political consultancy used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts have seriously dented the company’s reputation as well as its stock market value. Facebook has investigated thousands of apps and suspended more than 400 apps over data sharing…

A version of Alexa won’t tell kids where babies come from or spill the beans about Santa. It also won’t explain some things kids might have heard on the news — like what Stormy Daniels does for a living. Amazon updated its voice assistant with a feature that can make Alexa more kid-friendly. When the FreeTime feature is activated, Alexa answers certain questions differently. Asked where babies come from, for example, the kid version tells youngsters to ask a grown-up. Amazon.com Inc. says it worked with child psychologists for some of Alexa’s answers, and that the voice assistant is “always getting smarter” with updated answers. “Alexa isn’t intended to be a replacement parent or caregiver,” the company said in a statement. “So we believe it’s important we treat these answers…

Stay Dangerous YG Last time YG released an album, he had just survived a shooting and the material was as angry and edgy as you might have expected. Fast forward two years and he’s in a different place after becoming a father. He still has the swagger and swank you’d expect from an album called Still Dangerous with tracks like Bulletproof but Deeper Than Rap cuts through the macho fog that surrounds the game and he speaks honestly and from the heart. FIVE FACTS: 1. Stay Dangerous debuted at No.5 on the Billboard 200 charts. 2. It sold 56,000 album-equivalent units of which 11,000 were pure album sales. 3. This is YG’s third consecutive top-ten album. 4. YG was born Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson in Compton, Los Angeles and is…

Danish director Michael Noer’s “Papillon” remake, adapted from both Henri Charriere’s autobiography and the 1973 Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman film, is a sumptuous-looking but slow-moving prison drama that at times will have you dreaming about an escape of your own. Charlie Hunnam stars as Papillon, nicknamed for the butterfly tattoo on his chest. He’s an expert safecracker in Paris who is framed for murder in 1931 by his underworld boss and sent off to a prison camp in French Guiana where he makes an alliance with a fellow inmate while plotting his exit. The inmate, Louis Dega (Rami Malek), is a wealthy artist and forger who has a roll of cash hidden in a delicate place and who is too small and weak to keep it safe on his…

Smoke from wildfires clogged the sky across the U.S. West, blotting out mountains and city skylines from Oregon to Colorado, delaying flights and forcing authorities to tell even healthy adults in the Seattle area to stay indoors. As large cities dealt with unhealthy air for a second summer in a row, experts warned that it could become more common as the American West faces larger and more destructive wildfires because of heat and drought blamed on climate change. Officials also must prioritize resources during the longer firefighting season, so some blazes may be allowed to burn in unpopulated areas. Seattle’s Space Needle was swathed in haze, and it was impossible to see nearby mountains. Portland, Oregon, residents who were up early saw a blood-red sun shrouded in smoke and huffed…

U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson was in North Dakota to commemorate the launch of the first large drone to fly beyond sight of the pilot and without a manned airplane to observe the plane. The flight was conducted this week by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., which is a tenant at the Grand Sky aviation technology park. A recent authorization by the Federal Aviation Administration allows the drones to fly within 30 miles of the park. Political leaders from the state called the flight a historic milestone that shows North Dakota’s standing in the unmanned aircraft industry. Wilson was previously the president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.…

Target reported strong sales growth both at stores and online, helped by remodeled locations and new delivery services as well as a stronger economy. Like Nordstrom, Walmart and Home Depot, it also raised its outlook as retailers benefit from shoppers spending more freely. The company also joins a slew of other retailers that are enjoying the results of their efforts to spruce up their stores while also expanding online services to meet shopper demands for convenience and speed. The focus ran counter to forecasts that store retailing is dying. Target saw sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure of a retailer’s health, rise 6.5 percent, the strongest growth in 13 years. Traffic in stores and online rose 6.4 percent, the strongest showing since 2008 when it…

One of the world’s least-wired countries was a little more connected on Wednesday. The state telecommunications company of Cuba launched the second, and most extensive, of two test runs of a mobile network that would give ordinary citizens greater access to the internet than has existed before on the island. Service was to be free of charge from early in the morning until midnight as the company, known by its initials as ETECSA, tested the capacity of the system, which the government had previously said would be available this year. People across Cuba said they were able to gain access, though others said they couldn’t get online or were able to do so only after repeated attempts because of an apparent flood of users. Cubans like Isbel Ortiz, a 48-year-old…

2010 was a great year. Steve Jobs was still with us, the Saints won the SuperBowl, Spain won the first World Cup to be held in Africa, The Hurt Locker won best picture at the Oscars and Apple launched the 13-inch Macbook Air. A lot has happened in the world and at Apple since then, but it would be a surprise to most people if you had told them that this model of the Macbook would still be one of Apple’s most popular selling computers eight years later. AIR BREATHING - JUST There are a lot of reasons why it is still a popular purchase. Most simply, a lot of regular, non-tech people look at the machine with its reasonable screen size, polished metal chassis, great keyboard and touchpad and…

Facebook has identified and banned more accounts engaged in misleading political behavior ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November. The social network said this week that it had removed 652 pages, groups, and accounts linked to Russia and, unexpectedly, Iran, for “coordinated inauthentic behavior”that included the sharing of political material. Facebook has significantly stepped up policing of its platform since last year, when it acknowledged that Russian agents successfully ran political influence operations on Facebook aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential election. The social network said it had not concluded its review of the material and declined to say how or why the state-backed actors were behaving the way they did. But it said it has informed the U.S. and U.K. governments as well as informed the U.S. Treasury…

The most valuable American companies at the start of the current bull market included an oil company and retail and consumer goods giants, and just one technology company. The ranking seems very traditional, even a bit old-fashioned, compared to today, when big technology companies dominate the top of the market. The top five most valuable companies at the end of February 2009 — Exxon Mobil, Walmart, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and AT&T — includes several in sectors that are generally considered safe, a reflection of investors’ anxieties at a time the market was suffering huge losses. Today, the top four most valuable companies on the U.S. market are concentrated in technology. They’ve used innovations in commerce, communications and software to change how people spend their time and money, and how…

The condom, the pill and now, the smartphone? Natural Cycles, a mobile fertility app, this month became the first ever digital contraceptive device to win FDA marketing approval. Women take their temperatures and track their menstrual cycle on the app, which uses an algorithm to determine when they’re fertile and should abstain from unprotected sex or use protection. In effect, it’s a form of the rhythm or calendar method. The Swedish startup says it’s effective and lets women avoid side effects common with other methods like birth control pills. But reports of unwanted pregnancies and investigations by authorities in two countries in Europe, where it received EU certification in 2017, have raised questions about marketing what is essentially a health monitor as a contraceptive. Natural Cycles boasts more than 900,000…

Propelled by an extra strong Sunday, the opening weekend grosses for “Crazy Rich Asians” were even higher than expected. The Warner Bros. romantic comedy earned $26.5 million in its first weekend in theaters, and $35.3 million since it hit theaters Wednesday. Second place went to Warner Bros.’ shark thriller “The Meg,” now in its second weekend. The Jason Statham pic chomped up an additional $21.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $83.8 million. Mark Wahlberg’s R-rated actioner “Mile 22” opened in third place with $13.7 million, while “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” took fourth with $10.8 million. Rounding out the top five was another new offering, “Alpha,” about a young man and his dog in the ice age. “Alpha” grossed $10.4 million over the weekend. The top 20 movies at U.S.…

Claudio Belotti knows he cut the denim that became the jeans Meghan Markle wore on one of her first outings as the fiancee of Britain’s Prince Harry. That’s because he cuts all of the fabric for Hiut Denim Co., a 7-year-old company that makes jeans in Cardigan, Wales. Belotti is a craftsman with 50 years of experience that gives his work a personal touch — something that’s not quite couture but not exactly mass-produced either. “There’s a story behind each one,” Belotti said. “You’re paying for the skill.” Customer demand for something unique is helping small companies like Hiut buck the globalization trend and set up shop in developed countries that had long seen such work disappear. While international brands like H&M and Zara still dominate the clothing market, small…

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer announced the selection of Garlin Gilchrist II as her running mate this week, calling the University of Michigan social media expert and former liberal organizer a “tech guru” who would fix problems in state government. The 35-year-old Gilchrist has been executive director of the school’s new Center for Social Media Responsibility since February. He has never held elected office but he previously worked for Detroit, where he was the city’s first director of innovation and emerging technology and created a system for residents to report problems such as potholes and broken street lights. Gilchrist, who is black, adds racial and gender diversity to Michigan’s Democratic ticket, which otherwise features only white female candidates for the top offices of U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general and secretary…

Whichever way the wind blows, a new satellite due for launch Wednesday will be watching it. The Aeolus satellite will be the first to directly measure wind speeds and directions all over the globe, allowing scientists to improve worldwide weather forecasts. “This has not been done before from space,” said project scientist Anne Grete Straume of the European Space Agency. Named after the keeper of the winds in Greek mythology, the probe is scheduled to lift off aboard a Vega rocket from a spaceport in French Guiana at 6:20 p.m. (2120 GMT; 5:20 p.m. EDT). A planned launch on Tuesday had to be postponed, ironically because of adverse winds. Straume said that computer models for predicting future weather rely heavily on four pieces of information about the atmosphere: temperature, pressure,…

The United States and China went ahead with tariff hikes on billions of dollars of each other’s automobiles, factory machinery and other goods Thursday in an escalation of a battle over Beijing’s technology policy that companies worry will chill global economic growth. The increases came as envoys met in Washington for their first high-level talks in two months. They gave no sign of progress toward a settlement of U.S. complaints that Beijing steals technology and its industry development plans violate Chinese free-trade commitments. The 25 percent duties, previously announced, apply to $16 billion of goods from each side including automobiles and metal scrap from the United States and Chinese-made factory machinery and electronic components. In the first round of tariff hikes, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent duties on…

When the blades of its 800-kilowatt wind turbine start turning, the small Greek island of Tilos will become the first in the Mediterranean to run exclusively on wind and solar power. The sea horse-shaped Greek island between Rhodes and Kos has a winter population of 400. But that swells to as many as 3,000 people in the summer, putting an impossible strain on its dilapidated power supply. This summer, technicians are conducting the final tests on a renewable replacement system that will be fully rolled out later this year. It will allow Tilos to run exclusively on high-tech batteries recharged by a wind turbine and a solar park. The European Commission says Tilos will be the first autonomous renewable green island in the Mediterranean. It plans to use the project…