Category: World

Technical Ignorance Is Not Leadership | TechCrunch

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There is a peculiar pattern that I have noticed among elites in the United States outside Silicon Valley, which is the almost boastful ignorance of technology. As my colleague Jon Shieber pointed out today, you can see that ignorance among congressmen throughout the whole Facebook/Cambridge Analytica saga. Our president has rarely sent an email, and seems to confine his mobile phone activities to Twitter. One senior policymaker told me a few months ago that she doesn’t know how to turn on her computer. Such a pattern is hardly unique to…

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FCC Approves SpaceX Plan For Satellite-Provided Internet | Engadget

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The SpaceX plan for a global wireless internet network provided by 4,425 satellites has been approved by the FCC. The $10 billion Starlink proposal calls for the satellites to launch in two phases between 2019 and 2024, then fly between 714 and 823 miles above the Earth providing a 1 Gbps connection. Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve, with the plan following similar requests by OneWeb, Space Norway, and Telesat. The Starlink network will consist of 4,425 satellites around the world. Read full story here: FCC Approves SpaceX Plan For Satellite-Provided Internet…

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Dog Bites: It May Not Be Them, It Could Be You – Health – CBC News

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Having a nervous personality could boost your chances of being bitten by a dog. Results from a recent survey compiled by the University of Liverpool show that those who scored as being more “emotionally stable” on a personality test were less likely to be bitten by a dog. The research could have consequences for anyone who has ever cowered in the presence of a dog, even if they may not be able to control their emotional responses enough to avoid being bitten. Experts say that although a dog’s reason for becoming excited or upset…

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Forget $9,000… Bitcoin Falls Below $7,000 [Updated] | Ars Technica

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Further ReadingMore bad news pushes bitcoin’s value below $9,000If there were any lingering doubts about whether the Bitcoin bubble was over, those should be gone now. After falling below $9,000 last Thursday for the first time since November, Bitcoin has fallen south of $7,500 as of this writing. Bitcoin was trading at right around $8,250 at the start of Monday, so it’s down nearly 9 percent so far today. Bitcoin had rallied a bit over the weekend, peaking at nearly $9,500 on Saturday, but Monday’s news that Lloyds Bank has…

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GPU Prices Skyrocket, Breaking The Entire DIY PC Market – ExtremeTech

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If you’re looking to build a PC today, chances are you’re in trouble. Cryptocurrency mining has driven the prices of GPUs from “inflated” to “utterly absurd.” In fact, prices are so high, they’re actually higher, in some cases, than we’d expect a person to spend on an entire computer. It’s one thing to say people shouldn’t buy in when a GPU (See on Amazon) is running $50 to $100 over MSRP (and we’ve railed against these kinds of price wars before), but the pricing here is nuts. AMD’s Vega 56…

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What Is Bitcoin? Here’s What You Need To Know About It | Digital Trends

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Bitcoin. It’s a word that was once merely discussed as an academic idea among technology enthusiasts, then became a hushed mention among law enforcement tackling online drug trades – and most recently it’s the latest craze for those looking to make a quick buck. But what is bitcoin? Why are people so interested in it? People buy bitcoin for all sorts of different reasons. It’s a store of value, a transactional medium, and an idea that some claim could change the future of economics entirely. Most notably, it’s not a…

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Air Canada’s ‘Ancillary’ Fees For Customers Add Up To Big Bucks – Business – CBC News

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Global airlines are expected to earn a record $82 billion US this year by charging customers extra for everything from seat assignment to baggage fees to travel commissions. And Air Canada is among the top ten airlines in the world when it comes to earning this so-called ancillary revenue, racking up nearly $1.18 billion US last year, according to reports from IdeaWorksCompany, a U.S. research company that tracks airline revenue. IdeaWorksCompany reviewed 138 airlines and examined in detail 66 airlines that publicly disclose extra revenues in their financial filings, which Air…

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Canada Should Fight For Open Internet, Says Former Head Of FCC – Politics – CBC News

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The former head of the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S. has a strong warning for Canada: do what you can to protect the internet. Tom Wheeler, head of the FCC under former U.S. president Barack Obama, said the Trump administration’s decision to repeal his net neutrality policy could become a cross-border issue. In 2015, Wheeler approved an order that barred internet service providers from blocking or slowing down consumer access to web content. This week, his replacement, Republican Ajit Pai, unveiled plans to repeal that decision and said the U.S. regulator will prevent states…

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US Government Climate Report: Climate Change Is Real And Our Fault | Ars Technica

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Information about the science and consequences of climate change has been removed from a number of federal agency websites since the Trump administration took over. But some agencies like NASA seem to have continued their work unhindered. And today saw the release of the fourth National Climate Assessment—an official summary of the current state of knowledge about climate change. The heavily peer-reviewed report, following the last edition in 2014, is coordinated by NOAA, NASA, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Global Change Research Program. A…

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‘We’re Designing Minds’: Industry Insider Reveals Secrets Of Addictive App Trade – Technology & Science – CBC News

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The average Canadian teenager is on track to spend nearly a decade of their life staring at a smartphone, and that’s no accident, according to an industry insider who shared some time-sucking secrets of the app design trade. CBC Marketplace travelled to Dopamine Labs, a startup in Venice, Calif., that uses artificial intelligence and neuroscience to help companies hook people with their apps. Named after the brain molecule that gives us pleasure, Dopamine Labs uses computer coding to influence behaviour — most importantly, to compel people to spend more time with an app and…

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