Sunday, August 15, 2021

Pakistan becomes smartphone exporter, first-ever 'Manufactured in Pakistan' devices hit global market

Pakistan has become an exporter of smartphones by sending first-ever shipment tagged 'Manufactured in Pakistan' to the UAE. https://ift.tt/3yPOHQ1

Twitter halts its Blue Tick verification programme after this 'mistake'

Twitter admitted last month it permanently suspended a "small number" of fake accounts it mistakenly verified after re-launching its public verification programme. https://ift.tt/3k3IbPQ

Understanding Crypto: Money - Past, Present, and Future

We're all in the rat race for money, but most of us don't know what money actually is. And until we have a clear explanation for that, we can't define the future of money, or the role that... https://ift.tt/37NhGYU

Profile of @images_ai, a Twitter account launched by a music student in June, that uses neural networks, including OpenAI's CLIP, to generate surreal art (Kyle Chayka/New Yorker)

Kyle Chayka / New Yorker:
Profile of @images_ai, a Twitter account launched by a music student in June, that uses neural networks, including OpenAI's CLIP, to generate surreal art  —  The Twitter account @images_ai has gained a following for its feed of surreal, glitchy, sometimes beautiful images created through machine learning.



Apps and websites that allow you to download your Covid-19 vaccine certificate

https://ift.tt/3m7DEhB

Cisco confirms it has acquired Epsagon, an Israel-based cloud application monitoring startup; sources say Cisco will be paying $500M (Globes Online)

Globes Online:
Cisco confirms it has acquired Epsagon, an Israel-based cloud application monitoring startup; sources say Cisco will be paying $500M  —  Cisco EVP Liz Centoni: When the acquisition closes, the Epsagon team will join our strategy, incubation and applications group.



Q&A with Alex Stamos on Apple's proposed child safety features, his reservations about the company's announcement and approach to the child safety online (Julia Angwin/Hello World)

Julia Angwin / Hello World:
Q&A with Alex Stamos on Apple's proposed child safety features, his reservations about the company's announcement and approach to the child safety online  —  Earlier this month Apple dropped a privacy bombshell.  After years of touting its strong commitment to privacy …



Researchers join hands to develop air sanitisation system

Researchers from IIT Madras, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai and London's Queen Mary University have joined hands to develop a revolutionary air sanitisation system aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus and TB bacterium. https://ift.tt/3m9vWUi

T-Mobile investigates claim that hackers have obtained data from its servers, including phone numbers, names, SSNs, driver license info, related to 100M+ people (Joseph Cox/VICE)

Joseph Cox / VICE:
T-Mobile investigates claim that hackers have obtained data from its servers, including phone numbers, names, SSNs, driver license info, related to 100M+ people  —  Hackers selling the data are claiming it affects 100 million users.  —  Joseph Cox  —  T-Mobile says it is investigating …



In a new lawsuit, a US-based contractor claims Huawei stole its tech and pressured it to build a "back door" into a sensitive surveillance project in Pakistan (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
In a new lawsuit, a US-based contractor claims Huawei stole its tech and pressured it to build a “back door” into a sensitive surveillance project in Pakistan  —  Small U.S. software maker alleges Chinese telecom giant sought live access to data in Pakistan; Huawei denies claim



India’s ‘smartest’ electric scooters from Ola are here: WiFi, voice control, widgets and all features

https://ift.tt/3g778bU

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Senate's $1T infrastructure bill includes $2B for cybersecurity programs, including $1B to provide federal cybersecurity assistance to state, local governments (Cat Zakrzewski/Washington Post)

Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Senate's $1T infrastructure bill includes $2B for cybersecurity programs, including $1B to provide federal cybersecurity assistance to state, local governments  —  A Senate bill intended to shore up the nation's roads, pipes and electric grid includes billions to protect that aging infrastructure from cyberattacks.



Prosus says Naspers exchange successful, cross-structure deal to proceed

Prosus, the technology investor, said on Friday that all conditions of its offer to buy Naspers shares have been met and a deal to set up a cross-holding structure between the two companies will proceed. https://ift.tt/2VUqJoa

Twitter says it is changing the contrast of its new buttons, as users complain about headaches after its redesign that some experts say isn't very accessible (Amanda Silberling/TechCrunch)

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Twitter says it is changing the contrast of its new buttons, as users complain about headaches after its redesign that some experts say isn't very accessible  —  After teasing its new font in January, Twitter made some major changes to its website and app design this week.



Interview with Niantic CEO John Hanke about Niantic's vision for the metaverse and how the metaverse could become a dystopian nightmare (Mark Sullivan/Fast Company)

Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Interview with Niantic CEO John Hanke about Niantic's vision for the metaverse and how the metaverse could become a dystopian nightmare  —  The metaverse, the concept of an alternative, shared digital world that originated in sci-fi, has bubbled up to the surface of tech chatter during the later days of the pandemic.



Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture and will focus on existing products and distribution channels (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter : Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture...