DigiMaverick

How to permanently delete your WhatsApp account

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Fri, 14 May 2021 13:06:00 +0000

If you do not accept WhatsApp's terms of service, you will not lose your WhatsApp account but will gradually lose its features like accessing chat lists, receiving incoming calls, etc. WhatsApp users can backup all their data before they permanently delete their accounts.

No, WhatsApp will not discontinue your account on May 15, 2021, if you do not accept its new terms of service, for which it must have prompted you a hundred times. But the Facebook-owned app will limit your functionality, not immediately but gradually. It will not let users who do not comply with the new terms of service access their chat lists, the very foundation of a chat app. It will also stop users from accessing audio and video calls over time.

Having a WhatsApp account but losing all important functions sounds like a body without a soul. If you cannot do without WhatsApp and have already complied with the new privacy policy, you might fall into the majority of users after May 15th. However, if you still do not want to hit “accept” and move on from WhatsApp and forever be done with it. If you have made peace with not ever pressing on the green icon every morning you wake up and have shifted to other chat apps like Signal or Telegram, you might consider permanently deleting your WhatsApp account altogether.

You should keep in mind that once you delete your WhatsApp account permanently, you will not be able to restore a deleted account. WhatsApp in its FAQ notes that it may take 90 days to delete your account fully. During this period of 90 days, you will not be able to access your data. Any personal information shared with other Facebook Companies will also be deleted. Permanently deleting your WhatsApp account will delete your account from WhatsApp, erase your message history, delete you from all WhatsApp groups, delete your Google Drive backup, detach your phone number from your account and delete your phone number from friends’ WhatsApp contact lists.

You should backup your WhatsApp data before you permanently delete the account because once deleted, users cannot access their WhatsApp data. If you want to see how much data WhatsApp collected since the time you joined the app, you can request a data collection info that will give you the required information, and also a link to download all your data. However, the process will take three days from the time you send the request.

-- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings

-- Go to Account and tap on the Request account info option.

-- Tap on the Request button and your request will then be sent to the company.

You can also manually export personal chats including media of select chats by following the given steps:

-- Open the chat of the individual whose chat you want to export.

-- Tap on the three dots on the right-hand corner.

-- Tap on More and select Export chat. You can include files, photos, videos, and other media by tapping on Include media, which will give you the option to export chat to Google Drive, Gmail, or other storage apps.

Here is how you can permanently delete your WhatsApp account:

-- Open WhatsApp.

-- Tap More options

-- Go to Settings > Account > Delete my account.

-- You will be required to enter your phone number in the full international format and tap on Delete My Account.

-- Select a reason for permanently deleting your account from the dropdown.

-- Tap on Delete my account.

WhatsApp For iOS To Soon Offer Support For Audio Playback In Notifications

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 00:33:00 +0000

WhatsApp Business beta for iOS 2.19.90.8 is also eligible to remotely get the feature. Similarly, WhatsApp Messenger and Business 2.19.90 App Store iOS releases will also soon get the feature. For users who have already updated to the recent iOS version, they can spot the feature by backing up their chat history and reinstalling WhatsApp. This is because, with every reinstall of the app, you always get the latest configurations and features automatically updated. However, this feature will be rolled out to everyone only once WhatsApp is done fully developing the feature.

Now in case you’re wondering if you could also reply back with voice notes via notifications, then it’s currently not possible and you can only reply back to the voice messages via text. Also, WhatsApp will not send the play receipt to the sender if you only play the voice note via notifications.

WhatsApp earlier also announced another update for Android users called ‘Consecutive Voice Messages’ which is a playback feature for voice messages. This feature was also initially available on WhatsApp for iOS where it allowed users to listen to consecutive voice messages in a row, removing the need for manually playing a voice message. Given that WhatsApp has over a billion users worldwide, these updates that are centered around user benefits add more to the excitement.

Parts of Wikipedia offline after cyber attack

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 12:29:00 +0000

Popular online reference website Wikipedia went down in several countries after the website was targeted by what it described as a "malicious attack".

The server of the Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the site, suffered a "massive" Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, the organization's German account said in a tweet

In a separate statement, the Wikipedia Foundation said that the attack on the Wikipedia online encyclopedia -- one of the world's most popular websites -- was "ongoing" and teams were working to restore access.

DDoS attacks often involve legions of zombie computers -- machines infected with viruses and commanded to simultaneously visit a website.

Such a massive onslaught of demand can overwhelm website computer servers, slowing service or knocking them offline. Wikipedia condemned the breach of its server, saying it threatened "everyone's fundamental rights to freely access and share information."

Apple’s 2020 iPhones are reportedly getting an all-new design

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 12:17:00 +0000

We’re still days away from the reveal of Apple’s iPhone 11 lineup, but rumors are already swirling about the company’s 2020 phones, which are still a full year away. The latest comes from the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims in his latest research notes that next year’s phones will feature an all-new design, the first since the 2017’s iPhone X overhaul, via 9to5Mac.

Per Kuo’s note, the 2020 iPhone lineup will feature three major changes: “(1) all-new form factor design, (2) 5G support, and (3) camera function upgrades.” Some of these, like 5G support, were known; Kuo had already noted earlier this year that Apple would be bringing 5G to all three of main iPhone models next year, and something as vague as “camera function upgrades” is practically a given for any iPhone release.

But the new design would be significant since Apple has greatly slowed down the rate at which it introduces new form factors. The company originally released devices in a tick-tock cycle, with a major redesign one year, followed by a refinement of that design — the “S” year — the next, but recently that pace has slowed. The iPhone 6 design lasted a full four years, appearing on the 6, the 6S, the 7, and the 8.

Twitter Turns Off Tweeting Via SMS Following Jack Dorsey Hack

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 12:11:00 +0000

This step, frankly, is long overdue as hackers and security researchers have repeatedly pointed out the potential risks inherent in linking accounts to phone numbers in the way Twitter has — up until today — done.

All it took was the CEO's account to get compromised for Twitter to do something about it.

"We’re temporarily turning off the ability to Tweet via SMS, or text message, to protect people’s accounts," reads the tweet in question.

The company added that it felt the move necessary "because of vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by mobile carriers and our reliance on having a linked phone number for two-factor authentication (we’re working on improving this)."

The New York Times confirmed that Dorsey's account was compromised via a service called CloudHopper, which allows users to send tweets by simply sending a text message.

Google Play Store Now Allows UPI As A Mode Of Payment In India

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 12:03:00 +0000

Until now, Google allowed users to pay through debit/credit cards on the platform, along with net banking, carrier payments, and more. Adding UPI makes it simpler for users to make payments directly from their bank accounts. Users will have to add their UPI ID to the Play Store in order to use this service.

According to a blog post by Google, the government’s UPI payments mode has grown by over 50 times since its launch in August 2017. The company said there were over 918 million UPI transactions in August 2019 alone. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows that UPI-based digital payments clocked 754.54 million transactions in June 2019, with a total worth of INR 1.46 trillion and a rise of 2.8%.

Paytm gets $1.4 billion funding from SoftBank; largest round from a single investor in India

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 18 May 2017 11:55:00 +0000

Paytm's parent company One97Communications Limited just received $1.4 billion funding from Japan's leading Internet and telecom major SoftBank.
This is the largest round from a single investor in India. Paytm said the investment will help it grow its leadership in the online payment system.
"It will also complement our plan to invest Rs 10,000 Cr (approx $1.6 Bn) over the next three to five years towards our commitment to enable half a billion Indians to join the mainstream economy," Paytm stated in a blog.
Paytm said it will continue to innovate and expand into new online and offline use-cases.
Meanwhile, Paytm Payments Bank is also becoming operational from next week and will be headed by CEO Renu Satti.
Meanwhile, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma will hold the majority share in Paytm Payments Bank, with the rest being held by One97 Communications.

Israel Tests Wireless Charging Roads for Electric Vehicles

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 18 May 2017 09:25:00 +0000

Electric vehicles have long been a promising option for sustainable transportation. They come with practical headaches like expensive, bulky batteries that often need recharging, however. Israel is tackling those hurdles by investing in roads that power electric buses—as they ride down the street. The government is collaborating with Israeli start-up ElectRoad to install a public bus route in Tel Aviv, using an under-the-pavement wireless technology that eliminates the need for plug-in recharging stations.
Although still in its infancy, the technology could clear the three biggest hurdles—cost, weight and range—that have held back the widespread adoption of battery-powered vehicles for more than a century. First, though, ElectRoad will have to demonstrate that its “inductive charging” technology can be scaled up cheaply enough to be adopted on roadways worldwide. “It’s exciting because it’s charging without wires,” says Tim Cleary, director of BATTERY, an energy-storage research laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University, who is not involved in the project. “But unless it’s affordable and cost-effective it’s not going to take off.”
You can read the complete article here

Google Earth just rolled out its biggest update yet - here's what's new

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 02:01:00 +0000

If you've ever wanted to go on a bar crawl through Europe to visit all of Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunts, Google Earth has you covered.
In a massive update , the virtual globe has introduced a feature called "Voyager." No longer will you be limited to only exploring places you've heard about, nor will you have to resort to randomly clicking on areas of the planet in hopes of finding a gem. Instead, "Voyager" presents you with dozens of curated journeys around the globe.
Each voyage is centered around a theme. " Museums Around the World " will take you to a Street View of 28 museums in every corner of the globe, ranging from the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. If natural formations are more your speed, " Earth View " will show you "the most striking and enigmatic landscapes available in Google Earth."
Each location in a voyage comes with a blurb explaining the landmark on your screen. Some also have 360° video content, while others have YouTube videos embedded - the " Beautiful Birds of Paradise " voyage employs clips from "Planet Earth" narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
If you're planning a trip, Google Earth has itineraries that will show you all the best spots to visit in cities like Tokyo, London, and Mexico City.
The update also introduces an "I'm Feeling Lucky" feature. When clicked, it will take you to a random location or landmark on the globe and give you a description from Wikipedia.
Also of note is that Google Earth is no longer a download-only program - it can now be accessed from any computer with Google Chrome installed, with support for the other big browsers coming soon.
Watch Google's visually stunning announcement video

Facebook's next big thing is augmented reality.

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:56:00 +0000

At the company's developer conference on Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the wraps off his plans to "mix the physical and digital in whole new ways" using AR, the nascent technology being worked on by Apple, Microsoft, Snapchat Magic Leap, and more.

Starting Tuesday, Facebook will give developers the ability to build their own AR effects for the Facebook app's camera. The move is a direct attack on Snapchat, which pioneered AR camera effects but has yet to open its technology up to developers.

"Even if we were a little slow to add cameras to our apps, I'm confident that we're going to be the ones to push this augmented reality platform forward," said Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg said he eventually envisions glasses that display virtual objects in the real world, like the technology being worked on by Magic Leap and Apple.

SpaceX spent ‘less than half’ the cost of a new first stage on Falcon 9 relaunch

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Just how much is SpaceX actually saving with its reused Falcon 9 rockets? You might expect it to not be much, given that the SES-10 launch is the first time they’ve reused a rocket thus far. But SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told the Space Symposium conference that the cost of refurbishing the Falcon 9 rocket that originally flew the CRS-8 Space Station resupply mission last year for SES-10 was “substantially less than half” what it would have cost to build a brand new one.

That’s despite doing a lot to bring the recovered rocket back to operational condition, Shotwell said, according to Space News. Which means cost savings should only go up, since SpaceX did “way more on this one than we’re doing on future ones” in terms of refurbishment activities, she told the annual space industry conference.
Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean drastically cheaper launches compared to what SpaceX charges now (around $62 million, according to the company’s published figures). Elon Musk has discussed previously how much money SpaceX has spent to date on developing its reusable rocket tests, costs which will have to be recouped even as the expense associated with individual launches goes down over time.
Shotwell also talks about how SpaceX will attempt to recover the payload fairing used on launches, too. This is the housing used to protect whatever the rocket is delivering to space (satellites, supplies, etc.) from forces during launch, including aerodynamic heating. SpaceX recovered one section of the two-piece fairing during the SES-10 launch, and found that it was actually in pretty good shape. Each fairing is a $6 million expense, so reuse of that component would help decrease launch costs further still.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said after the successful launch that the next goal for the company is to get its reuse window down to 24 hours for following one launch with another using the same rocket.

Twitter is getting rid of the egg avatar (because that will totally fix the abuse problem)

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 05:30:00 +0000

Everyone knows that Twitter has a harassment problem. And while the service has tried things like banning abusive users (both on a temporary and permanent basis) it hasn’t really fixed the problem.
Today, they’re announcing another sweeping change that fails to address the real problem: they’re cracking the egg.
In a long-winded post the service announced they are replacing the default egg with a unisex profile picture resembling a head and shoulders silhouette.
Beginning in 2010, all new accounts started with their default profile picture as an egg. Since then it has become an integral part of the Twitter brand. Everyone, even non-hardcore Twitter users, know the egg. Even CNN frequently features the egg when they show tweets from politicians and other celebrities.
Twitter gave a bunch of reasons for the switch. Some, like the fact that a more generic profile picture should encourage new users to actually upload a real profile picture of themselves, make sense.
But one reason for the switch was related to harassment.
Specifically, Twitter said that since abusive accounts often have the egg as a profile picture, there is now “an association between the default egg profile photo and negative behavior.”
Gee, ya think?
What Twitter isn’t understanding is that abusive tweets sent from an egg account will now just be abusive tweets sent from a silhouette account. Switching up the profile picture may be putting a band-aid on the problem, but it does nothing to fix harassment in the long run.
An abusive tweet is an abusive tweet, whether it’s next to an egg, a silhouette or a real person’s avatar.
Plus, as a byproduct, Twitter is killing off yet another part of Twitter’s unique internal language and identity — just like they did with @replies and favorites.

Twitter launches a ‘lite’ mobile web app that’s optimized for emerging markets

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 16:45:00 +0000

Twitter has taken the wraps off a new data-optimized version of its service that it hopes will be a hit among emerging.

It’s called Twitter Lite and, unlike similar ‘Lite’ apps from Facebook and others, it is browser-based — living at mobile.twitter.com. It is essentially a data-optimized version of the regular Twitter service that, the company said, loads fast and will work well on limited internet connections. It added that, already, “hundreds of millions” visit the mobile app each month but now it wants to expand that reach.

A web app isn’t as powerful as a native app, but Twitter said it had opted for this approach because it believes it can make its service accessible to new users. “It works on most smartphones and tablets without an App Store or Google Play account. You won’t need an email account or credit card either,” it said.
The app also comes in at less than 1MB — making it well-sized for cheaper handset that don’t have a lot of storage — while on Android phones it includes notifications and alerts, offline access and the potential for a home screen app.

Only 25% of Daily Internet Users in Rural India Are Women

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 11:27:00 +0000

The gender divide among internet users in rural India is quite stark. According to a March 2017 report from Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar IMRB, women made up just 25% of daily internet users in rural India in 2016.

That gap was much less pronounced in urban areas, where women accounted for 40% of daily internet users. Women with jobs accounted for 7% of daily internet users in rural areas, compared with 8% in cities. Meanwhile, women without jobs made up 15% of daily internet users in cities, but that figure was just 10% in rural parts of the country.

The pattern of lower technology adoption rates by women in India can also be seen in other ways. In July 2016, GSMA reported that men were 25% more likely than women to own a SIM card, and 62% more likely to use the internet.

Overall, internet penetration rates in rural areas still trailed those in cities by a significant margin. IAMAI/Kantar IMRB reported that 59% of urban dwellers were internet users, compared with just 17% of those in rural environments.

It is estimated that there will be 429.2 million internet users in India this year, representing 33.5% of the population.

App Annie: Android to top iOS in app store revenue this year

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 00:18:00 +0000

Apple will lose its lead over Android in terms of revenue generated by mobile apps this year, according to a new report from App Annie, out today. However, the firm’s estimate is based on including third-party Android app stores in its forecast, not just Google Play. When the Apple App Store is pitted against Google Play alone, Apple is expected to maintain its lead through 2021, the report says.
App Annie is predicting worldwide mobile app downloads to surpass 352 billion in 2021, with gross consumer spend across all the app stores to surpass $139 billion.

The iOS App Store will account for a large chunk of that spend, as it’s expected to generate over $60 billion in 2021. Google Play will generate $42 billion, and third-party stores, $36 billion.
Those third-party stores – which include the Android app marketplaces offers by Tencent, Baidu, Xiaomi, Huawei, and others – accounted for $10 billion in revenue last year, and will grow to $20 billion in 2017, the report estimates.

The market for Android apps is growing thanks in large part to mobile adoption in China as well as other emerging markets, particularly Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia.
This will impact app downloads, too. Android downloads from both Google Play and elsewhere will at an annualized rate of 23 percent to 299.9 billion by 2012.
App downloads are more evenly distributed across countries around the world, but revenue is another matter, App Annie also found.
According to its data, the top five countries by downloads – China, India, U.S., Brazil, and Indonesia – accounted for 54 percent of the downloads last year, and this won’t change much through 2021.

However, the top countries by revenue – China, U.S., Japan, South Korea, and U.K. – accounted for 75 percent of app store revenue in 2016. This is expected to grow to 85 percent by 2021.
The firm chalked up this shift to increased spending on games and subscriptions from existing smartphone users in mature markets like the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, but especially the maturing market that is China.
China, because of its vast population and growing middle class, still plays a key role when it comes to app store revenues, but its market is maturing, the report notes. The majority of Chinese app users are expected to settle into patterns of habitual use by 2021, which will allow revenue growth to be sustained even though downloads may slow.

Downloads in China will grow at an annualized rate of 19 percent from 2016 to 2021, while consumer spend will grow 24 percent to $56.5 billion. In larger cities, much of the smartphone market in China is already saturated, meaning a lot of growth will come from other regions across the country.
India, on the other hand, is still in the early stages of the app market maturity cycle, and will see significant download and revenue growth through 2021. Downloads will grow 28 percent to nearly 23 billion by 2021, and app store spend will grow an annualized rate of 75 percent to $2.1 billion.
Despite India’s growth, consumer spend will be lower in the region because of a variety of factors, including more limited purchasing power and a culture that focuses more on saving versus spending on games and entertainment, App Annie says. It suggests that app developers targeting India consider other revenue models, like advertising.

Microsoft brings Cortana to the Android lock screen

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 06:13:00 +0000

Following a series of beta trials, Microsoft officially announced this morning that it’s bringing its virtual assistant Cortana to the lock screen of Android devices. Initially, Microsoft had tested putting an overview of your day on the lock screen – offering information like the day’s weather, commute times, flight or meeting information, and more – where it could be seen at a glance.

The feature was designed to compete with Google’s own Assistant technology, which also offers similar information.

During the beta, users could head into the Cortana’s Setting menu to switch on lock screen integration. This would place a floating Cortana circle logo with “Swipe to Open” on the screen. If you swiped it, you’d be shown your personalized feed, schedule and the other information Cortana offered.

The Cortana lock screen integration was rolled out earlier this month, Microsoft confirms, but it’s now widely available. Today, you’re also able to interact with Cortana above the lock, the company says. That means you can ask questions to their virtual assistant, as you could with Siri or Google Assistant, for example, as well as perform various tasks like setting reminders.This functionality could further challenge Google on its own platform. As Google’s only entry in the PC space is Chrome OS, it may be more useful for Windows users to add Cortana to their phones, given its interoperability across desktop, laptop, and mobile – including iOS and Android, not just Windows 10.

Microsoft says it has also improved the Cortana home on Android, making the information easier to read, along with other improvements like the ability to quickly add reminders and new calendar items, plus easier access to viewing, editing and adding items to lists.
Cortana in December rolled out an updated design on iOS and Android, Microsoft reminded users in today’s announcement. This upgrade had been focused on making it easier to get things done by putting the most important tasks more towards the center of the experience. The default experience is very purple, instead of the blue-and-black of the earlier Cortana look and feel. However, Microsoft added more color options in the weeks after the upgrade, including blue, green, and black.
In addition to its U.S. and U.K. availability, Cortana for iOS and Android is also launched in Australia this week.

Elon Musk invested early in DeepMind just to keep tabs on the progress of AI

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:10:00 +0000

Elon Musk is a well-known harbinger of the potential for ill held by artificial intelligence. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also helped start OpenAI, a group with a broad mandate that focuses on developing AI out (as the name implies) in the open, rather than behind closed doors as the exclusive province of high-powered governments and secretive private contractors. Musk, it turns out, was in on the AI train early with an investment in DeepMind, which was later acquired by Google.

Musk wasn’t in DeepMind for a return, as is the case with most investments; he wanted access to greater insight regarding DeepMind’s progress, and the progress of AI in general, according to a new feature in Vanity Fair. The enterprising CEO wanted to be able to see how fast AI was improving, and what he found was a rate of gains that he hadn’t expected, and that he thought most people would not possibly expect.

This was the insight that Musk needed to begin a campaign warning against the potential dangers of AI, and to develop his own efforts to responsibility develop the tech via OpenAI. It’s informed a lot of his thinking on the matter, including around his Mars plans, which, according to the Vanity Fair piece, is one reason why he thinks Mars is a worthwhile goal for human colonization: as a planet-sized doomsday bunker for what happens when AI on Earth goes rogue.

In the piece, Musk also reiterated some of his thoughts around the limitations of current human-computer interaction methods, noting that a neural lace with direct input access to the brain could speed things up. Reports indicate a company dedicated to exploring the creation of this tech for practical use are actually already underway.

Musk’s anxieties around AI are considered extreme by some of his Silicon Valley peers, but the man definitely seems to have a knack for long-term preparedness planning. Also a good lesson here: If you want to keep an eye on potential doomsday scenarios, cough up for an early-stage investment in one of the movers and shakers that could contribute to the end of days.

The Pope’s Social Media Guru Tells All

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 05:18:00 +0000

Though resistant at first, the Vatican now has a savvy social media strategy that draws inspiration from The Onion, among other sources.

Paul Tighe isn’t your typical South by Southwest speaker. He’s not a tech CEO or a famous politician–he’s a Catholic bishop. Not just any Catholic bishop. Tighe is the Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture. In layman’s terms, this means that Bishop Tighe runs the Pope’s Twitter account, sharing the pontiff’s thoughts with 10.5 million followers around the world.

It may seem strange for a 2,000-year-old institution that prides itself on its adherence to tradition, but in 2017 it’s essential for the Pope to be active on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. In an era of declining attendance at many churches, the Vatican can’t afford to ignore social media—it’s where the Pope’s flock meets and hangs out.

“As Church leaders, we had an older generation which saw digital and ‘real life’ as two separate worlds, and digital was for kids,” Tighe said in his onstage appearance. “But the two are existential realities which feed into each other. There’s a crossing between them and an understanding that digital forms the environment in which many people–especially the young–live.”

THE VATICAN’S SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
As a member of the Catholic Church, an institution with a deeply entrenched bureaucracy, it wasn’t easy for Tighe to navigate the world of new media for outreach, public relations, and evangelism.
At SXSW, Tighe repeatedly emphasized the experiences of his 15 nieces and nephews, and how they primarily navigate information through smartphones and tablets.
“The potential they have to express themselves is radically different, and they now get information in very different ways,” Tighe says. “Growing up in Ireland, at 9 p.m. each evening everything stopped. We watched the evening news, and that was our conversation for the following day. Things have changed.”
The bishop adds that the Church uses social media for three different tasks: Delivering Jesus’ message and the idea of God’s love online, interacting with what he calls “negative online environments” to show the Church’s perspective, and to serve their flock of billions online.
“The language of digital is conversation,” Tighe adds. “On one level, digital seemed great because we could put everything online and not rely on broadcasters. However, the only way to get traction was to engage the curious and to be willing to engage with those who are furious with us for some reason. Unless we could take them seriously, they would not take us seriously.”
In his appearance, Tighe repeatedly stressed the Vatican’s long view on technology and using new media platforms. Compared to learning new cultures and new languages to spread the Church’s messages on new continents, he says, acclimating to online media is a piece of cake.

REMIND YOUR AUDIENCE ABOUT RELIGION
And, essentially, a big part of the Vatican’s digital strategy is reminding its audience that they’re still here, ready to guide and serve. Michael Hertl of the Catholic TV Office Germany gave one example of an innovative social media project: Putting the Easter story on WhatsApp.
The Diocese of Essen, a small German city, worked on a project to send WhatsApp messages on a regular basis to congregants to remind them of the holiday in the weeks leading up to Easter.
“When you get a WhatsApp message that Peter just denied Jesus when you are in the grocery store, what does that do for you?,” Hertl asks. “In that moment, you are part of an experience that people have shared for centuries. You share experiences and friendship, you think about dying, and you think about community. The job of the Church is to remind people that there is more than the day-to-day.”

A SPRAWLING DIGITAL PRESENCE
The Catholic Church has believers in every country in the world and a massive institutional presence to match. In digital terms, this means that while Bishop Tighe’s office manages communications for the Pope himself, there are also a wide array of official and quasi-official Catholic entities with their own digital strategies.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for instance, has its own social media guidelines. And during Pope Francis’s visit to the United States in 2015, Catholic media companies hired social media agencies to track social metrics and work on engagement strategies. And in a possible nod to the SXSW audience, Tighe said that his Vatican office used The Onion as one of its design inspirations for merging text articles and video on a single website.

But in the end, to the Vatican, the communication methods that matter are decidedly more simple.
“In the Vatican, our biggest communications moment is delivered by smoke,” Tighe notes. “We have 5,000 media companies from around the world coming to watch our chimney, and that’s magic.”

Intel's $15 billion purchase of Mobileye shakes up driverless car sector

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 07:14:00 +0000

If some of you saw the movie Logan and remember the scene when horse van veers down a highway and horses going Helter skelter on the road and just getting past a mercilessly speeding truck. Well the Truck was not merciless. It was just driverless and was maybe not able to sense the horses on the road. Mobileye helps in just that. It's advanced sensors help detect obstacles on the road and this is an important acquisition for Intel in its journey to make driverless cars. Let's pray for a safe driverless world as the next decade unfolds.

Intel buying mobileye for $15 billion in biggest israeli hi-tech deal ever

Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich said the acquisition, which unites Intel's processors with Mobileye's computer vision, was akin to merging the "eyes of the autonomous car with the intelligent brain that actually drives the car."

Mobileye accounts for 70 percent of the global market for driver-assistance and anti-collision systems. It employs 660 people and had adjusted net income of $173.3 million last year.

Last October, Qualcomm announced a $47 billion deal to acquire the Netherlands' NXP, the largest automotive chip supplier, putting pressure on other chipmakers seeking to make inroads into the market for autonomous driving components, including Intel, Mobileye and rival NVIDIA.
The Qualcomm-NXP deal, which will create the industry's largest portfolio of sensors, networking and other elements vital to autonomous driving, is expected to close later in 2017, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Google confirms its acquisition of data science community Kaggle

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 11:17:00 +0000

Google today said it is acquiring Kaggle, an online service that hosts data science and machine learning competitions, confirming what sources told us when we reported the acquisition yesterday.

The company made the announcement at its Google Cloud Next conference this morning in San Francisco, while not disclosing the terms of the acquisition. But it’s not all that surprising that Google would want to snap it up. With hundreds of thousands of data scientists on the platform, it would give Google the immediate ability to broaden its reach within the AI community. As it increasingly goes head-to-head with Amazon on the cloud computing front, it’s going to need as much of an edge as it can get.

This, too, will help Google get its brand more entrenched within the data science community — though it’s already a staple thanks to its projects like TensorFlow. Google is facing increasing competition as the AI space breaks into verticals, like autonomous driving and deep learning, opening up holes that smaller and larger companies can exploit. That could theoretically remove Google from the conversation as the company with the best AI operations, which is known for watershed AI moments like beating the Goworld champion.

Buying Kaggle, and its mindshare within the community, will also probably help with recruiting. Google needs to ensure it keeps snapping up the best talent that specializes in deep learning, competing with other companies like Pinterest (which focuses on visual search). Even if this isn’t a more specialized tech acquisition, it means that Google is broadening its focus to explore more perpendicular approaches to ensure its dominance in AI.

IBM built an atomic hard drive

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 07:28:00 +0000

While the rush to keep pace with Moore's Law is getting rather "chaotic", researchers at IBM announced on Wednesday that they have drastically reduced the space required to store a bit of information down to that of a single atom.

This tiny advancement in storage technology, is a big deal. Given that modern hard drives need about 100,000 atoms to store a single bit, this development could shrink the size of future storage mediums by an order of magnitude. IBM figures that it can store the entire iTunes catalog (all 35 million tracks) onto a disk the size of a credit card by using this technique.

The system uses atoms of holmium seated atop a magnesium oxide surface, which keeps the atom's magnetic poles stable -- even in the presence of other magnets. The orientation of these poles determines whether the atom constitutes a 1 or a 0. To write to this storage system, a microscopic needle induces a current to flip the atom's orientation. Reading the information, conversely, is simply a matter of measuring the magnetic current passing through each atom, which varies depending on which pole is facing up.

But don't expect this technology to show up in the next iPhone, mind you. It currently requires a liquid nitrogen-cooled tunnelling electron microscope operating in a vacuum to work. The study was published today in the journal Nature and do check out the Video

Is there a benefit for Media Brands by Investing in Snapchat?

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 07:09:00 +0000

NBC Universal invested $500 million in Snap Inc. during its IPO last week. The move not only highlights the media company’s plans to attract a younger audience, but signals a shift to digital content consumption on social platforms.

Over the past year, NBC has teamed up with Snap frequently. From featuring Rio Olympics content to creating versions of some of its most popular franchises—including “Saturday Night Live” and “The Voice”—NBC has consistently turned to Snapchat to reach its massive and dedicated young audience.

“With the Snap investment, we have invested over $1.5 billion in promising digital businesses in the last 18 months,” NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said in a statement. “We will continue to be aggressive as digital content consumption increases. Investing in Snap is a key step in that direction.”

NBC isn’t the only media brand teaming up with the popular mobile messaging company. In February, Snapchat and A+E Networks struck a deal to bring a short-form show to Snapchat’s Discover platform. Snapchat also joined forces with BBC to bring extra content from its “Planet Earth II” show.

While more marketers have been investing in social platforms like Snapchat, TV remains the largest component of an average US adult’s media day, according to eMarketer estimates.

Still, time spent with digital—including social networks—exceeded time spent with TV by 95 minutes per day in 2016. That’s why an equity deal in Snap is a further sign of confidence in this emerging model of video programming, said eMarketer analyst Paul Verna.

“As more teens and young adults continue to choose digital and mobile platforms over linear TV, it becomes increasingly imperative to reach them where they are,” he said.

Snapchat usage among adults of all ages is growing. eMarketer increased its US usage projections for 2017 by more than 5%, predicting 70.4 million people in the US will use the platform.

What’s more, many people are turning to Snapchat’s Live Stories to watch live streaming video. Data from UBS Evidence Lab found that Snapchat held on as the third most popular channel for live video consumption. YouTube and Facebook Live took the top spots, respectively.

The UBS study found that a majority of US social media users watch video on Snapchat. Fully 84% of respondents said they did, though younger people were more likely than their older peers to do so.

Snapchat has been taking strides to make its ad features more appealing to advertisers. Earlier this year, the popular mobile messaging app tested two new ad units, one of which can help advertisers deep link within ads.

Features like this can help media brands like NBC not only promote content, but add a social commerce element to it.

Uber hires a NASA expert to help develop flying cars

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 13:46:00 +0000

Uber has hired a NASA expert to build out its vision for flying cars Monday. Mark Moore, a 30-year veteran of the space agency with expertise in using electric motors to get a vehicle airborne, will help the ride-hailing giant execute on an expansive white paper it released last fall on developing VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicles.

"Uber continues to see its role as a catalyst to the growing developing VTOL ecosystem," Nikhil Goel, Uber's head of product for advanced programs, said in a statement. "We're excited to have Mark join us to work with companies and stakeholders as we continue to explore the use case described in our white paper."

Moore said he was leaving NASA Langley Research Center a year before his retirement benefits start to throw his lot in with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick because he was convinced that no other company was in a "stronger position to be the leader for this new ecosystem and make the urban electric VTOL market real,” he told Bloomberg.

PwC loses top spot to Deloitte as world's largest firm

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 04:10:00 +0000

PwC Global has posted record revenues of $35.9bn for the 2016 financial year, an increase of 7% compared to 2015

The firm reported growth across all of its core practices and regions. It has, however, fallen slightly behind its Big Four rival Deloitte, which last month announced its own record revenues of $36.8bn.

The two firms are neck to neck in the race to be the largest accountancy firm in the world by revenue, a title that PwC did hold. According to the 2016 International Accounting Bulletin annual rankings, PwC snatched top place back after playing catch-up for the previous two years.

For the 2016 financial year, PwC’s $15.3bn assurance business grew by 6%, with a focus on IT, risk and data assurance.

Its advisory arm saw growth of 8% to $11.5bn on the back of increased client demand for consulting, forensics and deal-related work. A strong deals market pushed PwC’s tax business revenues by 7% to $9.1bn.

Regionally, China and India in particular helped boost revenue growth in Asia by 10%. North America and the Caribbean revenues grew by 8% boosted by the US. While in South and Central America, revenues were up 9%.

Revenues in Western Europe grew by 6%, while Central and Eastern Europe recorded an increase of 10%.

“To secure future growth, we are investing heavily in technology to enhance the quality and impact of our services and make the best use of the skills of our people. The world is changing rapidly and we are planning the services our clients, capital markets and other stakeholders will need tomorrow, as well as serving their needs today,” said global PwC chairman Bob Moritz.

“Whether it’s the tax and audit services of the future, blockchain or augmented reality, we are implementing a strategy to meet the long-term needs of our stakeholders and the career aspirations of our people,” he added.

The firm welcomed a record level of new joiners, adding a total of 58,081 people, including 26,780 graduates, more than half of which were female. Overall PwC’s global headcount grew by over 7% to more than 223,000 people. Asia and Central and Eastern Europe saw the largest increases in headcount.

A total of 665 partners were admitted, 27% of which were female.

“With the increase in female partners admitted this year and the highest ratio of female leaders in our history on our global leadership team, we are making progress; but there is much more to do,” said Moritz.

The firm’s UK business reported an 11% increase in its UK revenues this year, despite warning that the impact of the EU referendum is “still being worked through”.

Revenues at PwC UK grew to £3.4bn in 2016, from £3.08bn last year, while profits rose 1.3% to £829m. However, distributable profit per partner fell 5% to £706,000 as the firm invested in people and technology.

Bots are coming to LinkedIn

noreply@blogger.com (Stracons) — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 06:58:00 +0000

To take messaging to the next level, LinkedIn has built a bot described as an “assistant.” And while this mini-application is a first for LinkedIn, don’t expect the floodgates to open to third-party developers. With a professional focus, the company isn’t interested in letting bots that you’d find on Facebook enter its territory. In fact, LinkedIn wants to be more guarded to ensure the right experience — perhaps taking a page from Facebook’s David Marcus, who called bots “overhyped and underpowered.”

Weiner said that LinkedIn will do more with bots in the future, but for right now “the team is starting to walk before they run. They want to illustrate some use cases in regards to professional networks.” He added that under Microsoft ownership, there will likely be additional resources that’ll let LinkedIn do some interesting things, especially around the area of conversation. “Over time, when you start to introduce Microsoft’s library of capabilities, there’s going to be some exciting things happening,” he said.

One could assume that, over time, LinkedIn could open up its messaging service and data to third-party developers to build relevant bots. However, while it’s still testing the waters, expect the company to explore other internal bot-like services to improve the messaging experience.

I believe this is their intent through- “The idea is to remind people that networking is an important thing, and conversations can be made easier.”