Microsoft bans face-recognition sales to police

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it would await federal regulation before selling facial recognition technology to police, making it the latest big firm to back away from the business following protests against law enforcement brutality and bias. https://ift.tt/2zoEosQ

Facebook plans 'multi-million dollar' venture fund: Report

On the lines of Microsoft venture fund M12 that is helping B2B software startups in emerging technologies, Facebook is reportedly establishing its own multi-million dollar fund to invest in "leading private companies alongside top venture capital firms and angel investors", The Axios reported on Thursday. https://ift.tt/3cRx4DL

China hits back at US telecom supply chain order at WTO

China accused the United States on Thursday of undermining the global tech industry's supply chains with a renewed executive order barring US companies from using telecoms equipment made by firms deemed to pose a national security risk. https://ift.tt/37lferA

Researchers find sites monetizing health misinformation with Google's AdSense and DoubleClick; Google says the specific sites don't violate its policy (Ruth Reader/Fast Company)

Ruth Reader / Fast Company:
Researchers find sites monetizing health misinformation with Google's AdSense and DoubleClick; Google says the specific sites don't violate its policy  —  Google's programmatic ad tools AdSense and DoubleClick are placing ads on websites that publish health misinformation, according to reports from two independent research groups.

Banking at WhatsApp a win-win partnership

Social media giant to get new users as banks expand their services to digital platform https://ift.tt/3hm8IWk https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

With a law, India plans lasting ban on cryptos

The spur for the draft cabinet note was the March 4 decision of the SC to quash the April 2018 circular from the RBI that prevented banks from providing services in support of cryptocurrencies. https://ift.tt/30ANrSW https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Domestic travel rebounding strongly: Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk

Hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing travel bans, Airbnb has raised $2 billion to tide over the crisis and slashed 25% of its workforce. https://ift.tt/2XSPHmq https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Knoxville shuts down parts of its network after being hit by ransomware

Enlarge / The Knoxville City-County Building, overlooking the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. (credit: Brian Stansberry)

The city of Knoxville, Tennessee, shut down large portions of its computer network on Thursday after being hit overnight by a ransomware attack, it was widely reported on Thursday.

The attack was first noticed by members of the Knoxville Fire Department around 4:30am Thursday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. Shortly after that, Knoxville’s Chief Operations Officer David Brace sent employees an email notifying them of the breach.

“Please be advised that our network has been attacked with ransomware,” he wrote. “Information Systems is currently following recommend[ed] protocols. This includes shutting down servers, our internet connections and PC’s. Please do not log in to the network or use computer applications at this time.”

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

https://arstechnica.com

OpenZFS removed offensive terminology from its code

Enlarge / Replacements for outdated master/slave terminology tend to be considerably more accurate, as well as less offensive. (credit: Aurich Lawson)

On Wednesday evening, ZFS founding developer Matthew Ahrens submitted what should have been a simple, non-controversial pull request to the OpenZFS project: wherever possible without causing technical issues, the patch removed references to "slaves" and replaced them with "dependents."

This patch in question doesn't change the way the code functions—it simply changes variable names in a way that brings them in conformance with Linux upstream device-mapper terminology, in 48 total lines of code (42 removed and 48 added; with one comment block expanded slightly to be more descriptive).

But this being the Internet, unfortunately, outraged naysayers descended on the pull request, and the comments were quickly closed to non-contributors. I first became aware of this as the moderator of the r/zfs subreddit where the overflow spilled once comments on the PR itself were no longer possible.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

https://arstechnica.com

Twitter says it had shut down more than 170K accounts tied to the Chinese government spreading deceptive narratives favoring China around COVID-19, HK, more (Donie O'Sullivan/CNN)

Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:
Twitter says it had shut down more than 170K accounts tied to the Chinese government spreading deceptive narratives favoring China around COVID-19, HK, more  —  (CNN)Twitter announced Thursday that it had shut down more than 170,000 accounts tied to the Chinese government.

Fintech lenders find comfort in the steady cash flow of humble corner shops

Most fintech lenders are focusing on servicing existing clients and in the process turning off the funding tap for new borrowers. https://ift.tt/2AYBQSH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

India Inc chalks out new plans for staff amid the pandemic

Companies such as Ola, Droom, Kissflow, Instamojo, Udaan and Flipkart, are putting in place measures that include part-time logins from home as well as offices, work infrastructure at homes and safe transportation. https://ift.tt/3dVttGd https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Dine-in customers at eateries are scarce after lockdown

Customer footfalls are at about 5-8% of the levels seen before the pandemic but are likely to go up in the next few weeks, they said. https://ift.tt/3fdbPxV https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Watch All 27 Trailers for PS5 Games, From New Spider-Man to Gran Turismo

Sony announced over two dozen games at its PS5 event, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7, Resident Evil Village, Hitman 3, Horizon Forbidden West, GTA 5, and NBA 2K21. https://ift.tt/3hjzdf0

Hands on with Android 11 Beta 1—A new media player and suggested apps

Enlarge (credit: Android)

Android 11's first "beta" release is finally out after numerous delays. The beta release works on the Pixel 2, 3, 3a, and 4, and enrolling for the beta OTA at google.com/android/beta. is super easy. Previously, the Android beta has launched simultaneously on plenty of third-party devices, but that's not the case this year. So far, OnePlus has also shipped the beta, and that's about it. Google says that more devices are coming "in the coming weeks."

The Android 11 Beta has gone through a wild ride. First, it was supposed to debut at the Shoreline Amphitheater for Google I/O in May 12, but the physical event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. Then it was supposed to debut in an online version of Google I/O, but that was canceled, too, as everyone was still trying to deal with the logistics problems the new shelter-in-place requirements. With no release in May, a surprise fourth preview release of Android 11 was created, and the Beta was delayed until June 3, when Google would hold an online event for "The Android 11 Beta Launch Show." The online Android 11 launch show was delayed, too, due to the ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd. In its latest blog post, Google says the online launch show is also canceled entirely, and, surprise, the company is pressing the launch button now with zero fanfare. Not since Google canceled the launch of the Nexus 4 due to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 has a Google launch been such a hot, hot mess.

With the Android 11 Beta finally go for launch, we're still seeing a bit of a mini I/O, even though every event is canceled. Google posted two blog posts, lots of documentation, and 12 videos covering new aspects of Android 11. The company is also planning "11 weeks of Android," a series that will see new developer talks posted each week. So far, the lack of fanfare seems appropriate for Android 11, which seems like a smaller release than we've gotten in previous years. This beta only has two new standout features we can point to.

Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

https://arstechnica.com