Thursday, May 6, 2021

A look at misconceptions about bitcoin's energy footprint, including how energy consumption does not equal carbon emissions, its use of unused resources, more (Nic Carter/HBR.org)

Nic Carter / HBR.org:
A look at misconceptions about bitcoin's energy footprint, including how energy consumption does not equal carbon emissions, its use of unused resources, more  —  Summary.  —  Today, Bitcoin consumes as much energy as a small country.  This certainly sounds alarming — but the reality is a little more complicated.



Texas federal judge hears arguments for date of Google trial

A lawyer for 14 states led by Texas that have accused Alphabet's Google of breaking antitrust law asked a federal judge to schedule a trial for the spring of 2022, while the search and advertising giant has asked for a trial in the fall of 2023. https://ift.tt/3h8Engb

Virgin Hyperloop shows off the future: mass transport in floating magnetic pods

In the desert just north of Las Vegas, a long white metal tube sits at the base of the mountains, promising to one day revolutionize travel. https://ift.tt/3utvTnx

Developers on Play Store will have to share details of type of data collected by app: Google

Google will share the new policy requirements and resources, including detailed guidance on app privacy policies in the third quarter this year https://ift.tt/3b5jMW3

You can now ‘tip’ your favourite account on Twitter with this new feature

Twitter is enhancing the user experience by rolling out new and interesting features. The microblogging website has now started rolling out an interesting Tip Jar feature. Available on both Android and iOS this new feature enables users to send money directly to their favourite accounts. https://ift.tt/3eYT7f1

This is what Facebook has to say on rejecting Signal ads on Instagram

Facebook has accused Signal of lying, after the encrypted messaging app challenged the user privacy policies of Facebook by sharing a series of ads on Instagram to showcase how the social network collects information from users and displays ads basis of those private details. https://ift.tt/33kAJI7

Tesla Tells Regulator That Self-Driving Cars May Not Be Achieved This Year

Tesla told a California regulator that it may not achieve full self-driving technology by the end of this year, a memo by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) showed. https://ift.tt/33o7q7u

Twitter Shuts Down Accounts for Attempting to Evade Donald Trump Ban

Twitter suspended several accounts this week that were set up to share statements from a new part of former US President Donald Trump's website, saying they broke its rules against evading an account... https://ift.tt/3umjcuR

Flipkart daily trivia quiz May 7, 2021: Get answers to these five questions to win gifts and discount vouchers

Only the first 50,000 participants will be eligible for the quiz prize. https://ift.tt/3eqjtr5

Amazon app quiz May 7, 2021: Get answers to these five questions and win Rs 5,000 in Amazon Pay balance

Name of the winner of today’s quiz will be announced on May 8. https://ift.tt/3nVxuQK

15 smartwatches and fitness bands from Apple, Samsung and others that offer SpO2 monitoring feature

https://ift.tt/2RsBD2q

Google may soon bring an ‘important’ security feature for all users

Right now, Google gives an option for you to secure your account with the two-factor authentication, which sends you an alert to confirm the login from a different device but it is still optional. 2-factor authentication is meant to add an extra layer of protection to your account. https://ift.tt/3h7uyyZ

Material Bank, which runs an online marketplace for architectural and design sample materials, raises $100M Series C at a ~$1B valuation led by General Catalyst (Amy Feldman/Forbes)

Amy Feldman / Forbes:
Material Bank, which runs an online marketplace for architectural and design sample materials, raises $100M Series C at a ~$1B valuation led by General Catalyst  —  Adam Sandow spent the past few decades building a portfolio of publications, including Interior Design, Luxe and Metropolis.



Bill.com, a cloud-based payments service for SMBs, has agreed to acquire expense management software provider Divvy for $2.5B in cash and stock (Luisa Beltran/Barron's Online)

Luisa Beltran / Barron's Online:
Bill.com, a cloud-based payments service for SMBs, has agreed to acquire expense management software provider Divvy for $2.5B in cash and stock  —  The fintech Bill.com is buying Divvy, an expense reporting start-up, for $2.5 billion.  —  The deal, announced Thursday, calls for Bill.com …



How AI Dungeon, a text adventure game that uses the GPT-3 text generator, can create sex scenes involving children, and why attempts to stop it aren't working (Tom Simonite/Wired)

Tom Simonite / Wired:
How AI Dungeon, a text adventure game that uses the GPT-3 text generator, can create sex scenes involving children, and why attempts to stop it aren't working  —  The game touted its use of the GPT-3 text generator.  Then the algorithm started to generate disturbing stories, including sex scenes involving children.



MediaTek says it has started to use Intel Foundry's advanced chip packaging in addition to TSMC's, as the mobile chip designer bets on AI demand for growth (Cheng Ting-Fang/Nikkei Asia)

Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia : MediaTek says it has started to use Intel Foundry's advanced chip packaging in addition to TSMC's...