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Showing posts from October, 2017

A mysterious message is locking Google Docs users out of their files

A mysterious message is locking Google Docs users out of their files By Brian Fung October 31 at 12:06 PM Imagine you're working on a Google Doc when, seemingly out of nowhere, your ability to edit the online file gets revoked. What you see instead is an error message indicating that you've violated Google's terms of service. For anyone who stores work in the cloud, suddenly being unable to access your data — especially due to a terms of service violation — may sound scary. And it's really happening to some people, according to reports on Twitter. Rachael Bale, a wildlife crime reporter for National Geographic, said Tuesday that a draft of her story was "frozen" by Google.  Rachael Bale ✔ @Rachael_Bale Has anyone had @googledocs lock you out of a doc before? My draft of a story about wildlife crime was just frozen for violating their TOS. 6:23 AM - Oct 31, 2017  92 92 Replies   331 331 Retweets   315 315 likes Twitter Ads info and priv

Google’s Dominance in Washington Faces a Reckoning

Google’s Dominance in Washington Faces a Reckoning Search giant is battered from all sides amid a populist turn against Silicon Valley and reaction to Russian meddling By John D. McKinnon and  Brody Mullins Updated Oct. 30, 2017 1:14 p.m. ET WASHINGTON—Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., made a big bet on Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 presidential election. Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by workers at any other corporation, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt helped set up companies to analyze political data for the campaign. Mr. Schmidt even wore a badge labeled “STAFF” at Mrs. Clinton’s election-night bash. His support of the losing side didn’t go unnoticed among the victors. As President-elect Donald Trump was preparing for a meeting with tech executives at Trump Tower not long before his inauguration, he asked strategist Stephen Bannon whether Mr. Schmidt was “the guy that tried to help Hillary win the el

The Fragmentation of Society

The Fragmentation of Society By John Mauldin | Oct 29, 2017 The Fragmentation of Society The Future of Work Lately, my life has been completely packed with speeches, meetings, and in-depth, often lengthy, conversations. Plus ongoing research and writing, of course. It all culminated Thursday afternoon at the beginning of a business meeting with the leadership team from a firm that will become a significant new business partner. At the very beginning of the meeting, the head of the firm leaned over to me and asked, “What’s on the top of your mind? What are you thinking about?” The previous night we had a small group of about 15 people in my living room after dinner, and the question was similar, “What keeps you up at night?” It has become an emotional question for me, because the answer does not come easily, is complex, and can be more than a little unsettling. It is, however, evolving out of the research and writing I’m doing on my new book, The Age of Transformation. Whethe

Robots to work in 50 Wal-Marts, including several in Arkansas

PHOTOS/VIDEO: Robots to work in 50 Wal-Marts, including several in Arkansas By Robbie Neiswanger October 26, 2017 at 4:30 a.m. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. customers in a few Arkansas stores will soon cross paths with robots roaming the aisles. The Bentonville company said it will begin using autonomous devices in about 50 stores next month that are programmed to scan store shelves and identify things like out-of-stock items or products incorrectly priced or placed in the wrong spaces. Wal-Mart stores in Searcy, Sherwood and Pine Bluff will be among the first to introduce the robots beginning in early November, according to the company. A Wal-Mart store in Rogers will have a robot early next year. The 50-store trial is an extension of a test first conducted in Pennsylvania as the retailer explores ways to use technology to improve its operations. John Crecelius, Wal-Mart U.S. vice president of central operations, said the expansion will give the company a chance to collect

Apple Reportedly Fires Engineer After Daughter's iPhone X Video Goes Viral

Apple Reportedly Fires Engineer After Daughter's iPhone X Video Goes Viral Tom McKay October 29, 2017 12:05pm Apple is very protective of its trade secrets, particularly unauthorized leaks of information about upcoming products. Case in point: The tech giant reportedly fired an engineer after his daughter recorded a video showing off features on a pre-release iPhone X at Caffè Macs, the company’s high-end employee cafeteria at its Cupertino, California headquarters, last week. Per the Verge, YouTuber Brooke Amelia Peterson says her father lost his job as an Apple engineer after she recorded a short video showing off the device’s design and a few features such as the Cover Sheet notification screen and Animoji. Though other people had recorded videos showing off the phone prior to Peterson’s upload, Apple has a strict policy on how employees are expected to handle confidential in-house information, and Peterson’s footage featured both private employee-only QR codes and

New iPhone brings face recognition (and fears) to the masses

New iPhone brings face recognition (and fears) to the masses By Rob Lever October 28, 2017 Washington (AFP) - Apple will let you unlock the iPhone X with your face -- a move likely to bring facial recognition to the masses, along with concerns over how the technology may be used for nefarious purposes. Apple's newest device, set to go on sale November 3, is designed to be unlocked with a facial scan with a number of privacy safeguards -- as the data will only be stored on the phone and not in any databases. Unlocking one's phone with a face scan may offer added convenience and security for iPhone users, according to Apple, which claims its "neural engine" for FaceID cannot be tricked by a photo or hacker. While other devices have offered facial recognition, Apple is the first to pack the technology allowing for a three-dimensional scan into a hand-held phone. But despite Apple's safeguards, privacy activists fear the widespread use of faci

Roger Stone Says He Will Sue Twitter Over Account Suspension

Roger Stone Says He Will Sue Twitter Over Account Suspension (Exclusive) “I have retained one of the best telecommunications lawyers in the country and will be bringing a legal action against Twitter over the suspension of my account,” Stone tells TheWrap By Jon Levine | October 29, 2017 @ 7:09 AM Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone Jr. said he will sue Twitter in response to the company banning him from the platform. “I have retained one of the best telecommunications lawyers in the country and will be bringing a legal action against Twitter over the suspension of my account,” he told TheWrap. “The battle for free speech has just begun.” Stone would not publicly name the attorney until he signed a retainer agreement, which he said he expected to do Monday. “I have been inundated on Twitter with bloggers threatening to kill me, my wife my kids and even my dogs yet Twitter seems unconcerned about that,” he said “This is just part and parcel of the tech lefts ef

Who Will Rein in Facebook? Challengers Are Lining Up

Who Will Rein in Facebook? Challengers Are Lining Up Pressure is building, at home and abroad, as powerful outsiders refuse to wait for Facebook to solve its own problems By Christopher Mims Oct. 29, 2017 8:00 a.m. ET We’re treated to fresh reports nearly every day about how Facebook Inc.’s FB 4.25% efforts to keep bad actors from abusing its platform fall short. The latest include U.K. legislators’ inquiry into whether Russians used Facebook to influence recent British elections, and reports that atrocities in Myanmar may be incited in part by fake news on Facebook. Even before this wave, Facebook’s role in the spread of divisive messages and outright falsehoods had inspired soul-searching at the company, and a newfound humility at the top. In a string of blog posts, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg promised to do more, including hiring 1,000 additional people to review political ads purchased on Facebook. Meanwhile, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was

Tech Giants Are Paying Huge Salaries for Scarce A.I. Talent

Tech Giants Are Paying Huge Salaries for Scarce A.I. Talent Nearly all big tech companies have an artificial intelligence project, and they are willing to pay experts millions of dollars to help get it done. By CADE METZ OCT. 22, 2017 SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley’s start-ups have always had a recruiting advantage over the industry’s giants: Take a chance on us and we’ll give you an ownership stake that could make you rich if the company is successful. Now the tech industry’s race to embrace artificial intelligence may render that advantage moot — at least for the few prospective employees who know a lot about A.I. Tech’s biggest companies are placing huge bets on artificial intelligence, banking on things ranging from face-scanning smartphones and conversational coffee-table gadgets to computerized health care and autonomous vehicles. As they chase this future, they are doling out salaries that are startling even in an industry that has never been shy about lav