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Messi goes on a Dinner Date with Ronaldo

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 17:39:00 +0000

Although Messi and Ronaldo are not friends, he was happy to accept a dinner date invitation from Ronaldo.

The Barcelona star admits to not being close with a fellow five-time Ballon d'Or winner, but would be prepared to go for a meal with the Juventus ace.
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi admits to not being a close friend of Cristiano Ronaldo, but says he would happily accept a dinner invitation from the Juventus forward.

The two eternal rivals saw their paths cross once more at the recent UEFA awards gala. Sitting alongside one another on the front row, the pair were asked about their relationship – having spent many years competing for collective and individual prizes.

Boat Accident at English Channel Kills Three

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 17:08:00 +0000

Three children have died after their boat capsized in the English Channel.

Two girls, aged 9 and 13, and a boy, aged 7, were pulled from the water at about 3:30pm yesterday, August 12, when their speedboat toppled over in the English Channel.

The children suffered cardiac arrest and later died after being found in the cabin of the boat. According to Metro UK, a rescuer said the boat was upright when they arrived, but only the windscreen was visible and the children were stuck under water. They used the boat’s anchor to smash through the window before they could get to the first victim. Two were pulled out through the window while a third was retrieved through the cabin door. It is believed the boat they were in suffered engine failure as it tried to turn then capsized around half a mile off the shore in Agon Countainville, Normandy.

Three adults, a man and two women, were also injured in the accident, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. A boat from a nearby sailing school went to their aid after hearing an SOS call.

Rescue spokesman Pascal Dutot said:
"When I arrived at the scene with my colleague, the boat was upright, but the cabin was under water."

Ecology Minister Elisabeth Borne said:
"Emotions are running high following the tragic capsize in the channel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Our gratitude goes to the efforts of the lifeguards at sea and the emergency services at the scene."

An investigation has been launched. In a statement to Le Figaro, maritime authorities said:
"The boat as well as all the passengers were brought back to the beach of Passous where they were taken care, in a state of emergency, by the medical teams and the firemen."

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IFA 2019: 5G, laptops at Europe's biggest tech show

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:49:00 +0000

Acer's Predator Thronos gaming chair captured our attention at IFA 2018

IFA, Europe's premiere consumer tech tradeshow, is a lot like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held here in the US every January. It's a massive showcase for companies to show off their latest products in front of international media and hordes of showgoers. Its official dates this year are from September 6th to the 11th, and press coverage begins on the September 4th with the first media day.
Familiar names like Amazon, Samsung, Electrolux, LG, Lenovo, and Qualcomm will be front and center at IFA, alongside other companies perhaps less familiar to American audiences, but all contributing to the carnival-like atmosphere in Berlin. Unlike CES, IFA is open to the general public, which makes the mood more festive, with a crowd that's ready to be impressed.
The biggest news that will happen at IFA this year might be centered around mobile phones. The global roll-out of 5G, the next generation in cellular phone connectivity will be top-of-mind for every mobile phone company. With press conferences from Samsung, LG (who already introduced new K Series phones for the show), Sony, Huawei and, for the first time at IFA, Nokia, I would expect every manufacturer to at least pay lip service to the coming 5G shift, if they don't outright announce phones that support it. Even Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest cell phone service provider, has a press conference slot. While most Americans won't care about the particulars of German cell phone service, the pace of global transformation to 5G will impact product development from all the core technology providers like Qualcomm (who has a press conference of its own on Friday) to the handset makers.
We're also looking for any evolution of foldable screen technology, and this week could even result in the reemergence of the Samsung Galaxy Fold. According to a leak in the South Korean press last week, Samsung is set to reintroduce the world to the foldable smartphone that needed a do-over on September 6th. That's the first day the show is open to the public, but also a day after Samsung's official IFA press conference, when it usually makes all of its news at the show. With the iPhone 11 event scheduled for the following Tuesday, September 10th, the timing is right for Samsung to steal some of Apple's thunder. The rumor also says that Samsung will only release the revamped Fold in South Korea initially, which would lessen its impact with American consumers.
On the laptop front, Intel has a new generation of six-core laptop processors coming to market, code-named Comet Lake.
You can expect laptop makers from Lenovo, Acer, and others to follow Dell, who already announced its Comet Lake-equipped XPS 13 laptop this past week. A new Chromebook line from Lenovo also emerged before the show. Personally, I'm also hoping for something similar to the $30,000 Acer Thronos gaming chair that we saw last year. Acer has the first major press conference at the show, scheduled for 4:30am ET on Wednesday, Sept 4th, so hopefully, they will kick this off with something equally ridiculous.
For TVs, usual suspects like LG or Samsung haven't tipped their hands to any IFA TV news, but perhaps more interesting than the hardware right now are the content streaming services. Roku CEO Anthony Wood will deliver one of the keynote speeches for the show on Saturday, September 7th (Huawei, Qualcomm, and Turkish appliances manufacturer Arçelik comprise the others). It seems likely that Roku will announce some kind of European expansion to its streaming services.
Amazon might have similar news coming to Berlin. Last year, we saw the expansion of Alexa into various third party speakers, along with various gadget announcements. Amazon will have a press event at this year's show, which suggests we might get more news than the typical product showcase Amazon brings to IFA. Like Roku, though, any major Amazon announcements at IFA may be tailored to a European audience, perhaps along the lines of European service expansion.
Beyond just the day-to-day product news, you can look for CNET's team in Berlin to bring you plenty of product news too, of course, but there's a lot more to trade shows than just the next gadget, and we'll tell you about everything we can find at IFA 2019 that's worthwhile.

Innocent Woman Killed By Policeman in Lagos, Nigeria

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 11:25:00 +0000

Some operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad have gunned down a shop owner, identified as Biliki who is belived to be pregnant, in the Ijegun area of Lagos.

As of the time of filing the report, a mob had seized one of the policemen. Our correspondent, who could hear noise in the background while speaking with one of those in the crowd, learnt that the SARS men had chased a suspect to the street, which is close to the palace of the traditional ruler.

The operatives reportedly opened fire on the suspect and one of the bullets hit Biliki, who was in her shop. “The woman was rushed to hospital where she died. We have taken one of the men. He has been beaten and we want you to come down to see things for yourself,” the resident said.

It was later revealed that the mobbed policeman had been taken to the palace of the traditional ruler in Ijegun, where a crowd of angry youths have requested to lynch him. “He must die. There is no way he will leave that place alive. I can assure you of that".

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, could not be reached as his line was busy, as of the time of filing this report.

Popolace Kills Policeman and Injures Two Others In Lagos, Nigeria

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 11:00:00 +0000

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, has said a policeman has been killed and two others injured in the Ijegun incident.

It was earlier reported that some operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad have gunned down a shop owner, identified as Biliki, in the Ijegun area of Lagos following which a mob seized one of the policemen and insisted that he must be lynched.

The operatives reportedly opened fire on the suspect and one of the bullets hit Biliki, (a tailor) who was in her shop and is currently reported dead. “The woman was rushed to hospital where she died. We have taken one of the men. He has been beaten and we want you to come down to see things for yourself,” a resident said.

Our correspondent learnt that the mobbed policeman had been taken to the palace of the traditional ruler in Ijegun, where a crowd of angry youths have requested to lynch him. Elkana clarified that the officers involved were Anti-Kidnapping operatives and not men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

He added that there was still tension in the area as a police team had been deployed in the area to restore sanity. He said, “They were Anti-Kidnap, not SARS operatives. We don’t have the details of what happened for now. But the mob has killed one policeman and injured two. The area is still tense. But we are handling it.”

FCC Wants Phone Companies To Start Blocking Robocalls By Default - NPR

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 08:14:00 +0000

The FCC's proposal would allow phone companies to block "unwanted calls" by default. Customers would be able to opt out.

John Raoux/AP

If the government's new plan works, the number of robocalls you receive may go down in the near future.

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to push phone companies to "block unwanted calls to their customers by default."

If enacted, the proposal would not compel phone companies to impose default call-blocks. But it would shield telecom providers from legal liability for blocking certain calls.

"The American people are fed up with illegal robocalls. It is the top complaint we receive from consumers each and every year," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters. "And we believe that we need to make it easier for phone companies to block these robocalls."

This would be a major change from now, when customers typically need to opt in for unwanted call blocking. Under the proposal, "carriers would simply have to allow consumers who do not want that kind of service to opt out," Pai said.

He said it would be comparable to the way email providers filter messages into spam folders. The FCC is pushing for phone companies to use an authentication framework for blocking unwanted calls that is dubbed "SHAKEN/STIR." It's a way for phone companies to verify that a call is actually coming from where a caller ID says it is.

The call-blocking company YouMail issues estimates of nationwide robocalls each month. It estimates there were 4.9 billion calls placed in April 2019 — a rate of 14.9 calls per person.

"Our belief now is that over half the robocalls out there are scams," Alex Quilici, a robocall expert and the CEO of YouMail, told NPR. A rising problem is calls that are "spoofed," meaning they disguise their identity on caller ID.

USTelecom, a trade group that represents telecommunications providers, applauded the FCC's proposal.

"The criminals that are scamming consumers with this flood of illegal robocalls must be confronted by industry and government head-on," the group's president and CEO Jonathan Spalter said in a statement. "This is a big and bold proposal by the FCC that can bolster our industry's cutting-edge call blocking and authentication efforts and do something important: stop unwanted calls from reaching consumers in the first place."

The FCC has previously encouraged companies to take firmer action against scam robocalls.

But it may be a challenge for companies to figure out which robocalls are truly scams and which contain information that a consumer would want to get, like automatic calls about school closings.

And according to Quilici, one of the challenges to stemming relentless robocalls is that companies have been reluctant to assume legal liability for blocking calls that customers wanted.

"What we find is there's a range of things that people are comfortable with having blocked," he told NPR.

Quilici said it's safe to assume everyone would want to block scam calls. But other types are less clear. For example, some people want to receive automated payment reminders from credit card companies, whereas others might prefer to block such calls.

And then there are extreme examples, he added, that might have made providers reluctant to embrace sweeping action in the past that could expose them to legal liability: "It's the fear that you block a number and it's Grandma calling and she's having a heart attack."

"It is very important that the proposal makes it clear that emergency and other vital calls are not blocked and that carriers give consumers ample information about these services and methods," Pai told reporters.

The FCC has not yet released the specific details of its proposal — in particular, what kinds of guidelines the agency will provide companies for determining whether a call is "wanted" or "unwanted."

Will Wiquist, a spokesperson for the FCC, said the call-blocking programs "would be based on reasonable analytics, like current call blocking apps." He said the analytics are aimed at stopping scams and look for patterns like "floods of calls in the network or numerous short-duration calls." Wiquist added that the proposal would allow for flexibility about what to block, or for customers to opt out altogether.

The FCC's proposal also would allow providers to offer customers an even more aggressive form of blocking than the default option. If passed, customers could opt in to a filter system that would only allow calls through from numbers in their contacts, dubbed a "white list."

"The number of #robocalls we get is INSANE. For too long the @FCC has wasted time holding workshops and summits instead of holding bad actors responsible," said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who is a Democrat.
"Today it finally proposes new policies to help block robocalls. I sincerely hope this is not too little, too late."

The FCC will consider the proposal at a meeting on June 6. Pai, a Republican, says he hopes it will give consumers the "peace of mind that they deserve."

Atiku vs Buhari: Tuesday Court Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:55:00 +0000

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday continued their defence of petition against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election with sets of witnesses singing discordant tunes.

Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, Counsel for the petitioners commenced the activity of the day with the presentation of Alhaji Tanko Bichi, a Local Government Collation Agent for PDP in Katsina State for his testimonies.

Bichi, in his evidence in chief alleged that the election in his area was marred by widespread malpractices but could not substantiate the claim when crossed examined.

On his part, Alhaji Salisu Majijiri, Katsina State Chairman of the PDP said the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the state was different from figures collated from the various polling units and wards.

Majijiri, who was also the State Collation Agent for the PDP claimed that the result sheets containing the outcome of the election in the state signed by various against showed that Atiku won in Katsina State.

He alleged that the second petitioner (Atiku) scored a total of 905,000 votes while Buhari scored 8720,000 votes as against the 160,203 votes and 1,555,633 votes recorded for the contestants respectively by INEC.

Majijiri also explained that the 34 adhoc staff engaged by the electoral commission were substituted with the second respondent’s agents to perfect the rigging.

When crossed examined, however, Majijiri was unable to provide cogent insight on how Atiku was rigged out of the election in the state.

Majijiri also failed to present either an original or duplicate copies of the acclaimed signed election result sheets that reflected Atiku’s victory in the state.

The state chairman of the PDP could not also advance reasons why those materials were not brought before the tribunal.

Alhaji Salisu Funtua, another Local Government Collation Agent for PDP, said that INEC had cancelled all the results from polling units and wards where card readers failed.

He said his acceptance to be a witness in the petition stemmed from the widespread cancellation of results emanating from the non-use of the card reader to accredit the voters.

When asked if he voted, Funtua affirmed that he indeed voted, but that the right of others in the local government to do same was denied.

He was further asked whether those affected by his claim of denial were still alive, Funtua equally agreed with counsel for the respondents that all of them could not have died just yet.

Also, Malam Usman Musa, a Local Government Collation Agent for the PDP in Katsina, said the total number of votes cast in the areas under his supervision exceeded the number of accredited voters.

On whether there was accreditation, Musa said there was partial accreditation but that he had a proper accreditation.

“My accreditation was not partial by properly done,’’ he said.

Alhaji Umar Usas, another Local Government Area Collation Agent for PDP in Katsina state, attested to the fact that INEC carried out a proper accreditation in most of the polling units and wards.

He however said all disputed results from the 281 polling units as a result of over voting were cancelled by the electoral body.

Usas however failed to state in his deposition that card readers were abandoned for manual accreditation.

On his part, Mr Ibrahim Musa, also a Local Government Area Collation Agent for the PDP claimed that voting commenced early in most polling units under peaceful condition.

Usas explained that he neither remembered the total votes allotted to the PDP nor was able to grasp the total number of political parties that contested the election.

He however, said that voting ended in most polling units at about 3pm, adding that he was not present when the counting of the votes was done.

Mr Audu Sani, a Local Government Area Collation Agent in Niger State, said only the Returning Officer was officially mandated to declare results from the election.

He explained that his role was simply to monitor and collate results from PDP agents at polling units and ward levels, adding that only INEC results counted.

Sani, however, alleged that tugs suspected to be agents of the All Progressive Congress (APC) disrupted the flow of the election in Lapai as Village Heads were used to rig the election.

When asked to mention names of those village heads used to rig the election, Sani tactically avoided the answer, adding that those behind the rigging knew themselves.

Another Local Government Area Agent for the PDP in Niger state, Mr Balarebe Usman, said INEC only cancelled results in four polling units due to over voting and card reader malfunctioning.

Usman was however, unable to identify any of the INEC’s forms used in the lection when crossed examined.

Furthermore, Malam Umar Alhaji, a Ward Collation Agent for PDP in Niger state said that it was resolved among agents of other political parties and INEC that all disputed results should be cancelled.

Alhaji however told the tribunal that the presidential election for which his party was challenging its outcome was held March 24 as against the Feb.23 the election held.

NAN reports that the petitioners have only more eight days to present the 400 witnesses listed in their petition.

Facebook to launch it’s own cryptocurrency by 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Tue, 28 May 2019 12:01:00 +0000

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., waits to begin a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, April 10, 2018. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The tech giant Facebook has set to develop it’s own crypto currency named ‘Global Coin’ and it’s planning to launch in several countries by 2020.

These coins can be used to shop or to transfer money. This operation is called Project Libra and lets users transfer money using WhatsApp. Facebook is also looking to pay users fraction of a coin for activities such as viewing advertisements and interacting with shopping and purchasing through e-commerce websites much like loyalty points. This venture let’s users pay and transfer money even without a bank account and helps Facebook in diversifying it’s revenue away from advertisements.

Is there risk involved like other crypto currencies?

Unlike other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ethereum which has high volatility and fluctuations, Global coin will be pegged to stable assets like the US Dollars or gold to minimize the volatility and fluctuations in value, making it ideal to be used in traditional payments. This would mean that it is not ideal for trading.

The CEO Mark Zuckerberg met the governor of Bank of England Mark Carney to discuss the opportunities and risks involved in this venture. Mark quoted “I believe it should be as easy to send money to someone as it is to send a photo”.Facebook sought advice on operational and regulator issues from US Treasury officials.

Usage of Global coin – Where and how to use it?

Facebook is seeking an investment of $1 billion from companies like VISA, MasterCard and other online merchants. This could potentially eliminate credit card fees and other payment gateway charges. FB currently has a user base of 1.5 billion active users who can transfer money to one another with ease. This already gives Facebook’s cryptocurrency a potential to be most widely used currency in the world.

The consequences of this action could challenge PayPal, Apple, Google, Amazon and other tech giants. This could also disrupt traditional credit card companies but Facebook plans to overcome this challenge by making the credit card companies as investors or partners.

Facebook has hired a 40 member crypto experts most of whom were previously employed by PayPal. This block chain specialist team is led by David Marcus, a French entrepreneur who is currently head of FB block chain systems and a member of coin base board of directors.

This operation might seem a little difficult given the poor track record of Facebook on data privacy.

Italy's Salvini says Rome should take stake in combined FCA-Renault group 'if required' - REUTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Tue, 28 May 2019 11:24:00 +0000

Deputy Prime Minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini arrives to address a news conference at the League party headquarters, following the results of the European Parliament elections, in Milan, Italy May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday the Rome government should take a stake in a combined Fiat Chrysler- Renault group if necessary, given the importance of the car sector for the domestic economy.

Fiat Chrysler pitched a finely balanced merger of equals to Renault on Monday to tackle the costs of far-reaching technological and regulatory changes by creating the world’s third-biggest automaker.

A prominent lawmaker for Salvini’s League party said earlier on Monday the Italian government would defend national interests in a possible tie-up between the two groups and could ask for a stake to balance out the French state’s holding.

France has a 15 percent stake in Renault, which would be reduced to around 7.5 percent under the proposed merger plan.

“It’s a brilliant operation which I hope will be completed,” Salvini told reporters.

Asked if Rome should take a stake in the merged group, he said: “If an Italian institutional presence were required, it would absolutely be our duty to grant it given that the auto sector is fundamental for economic growth in our country.”

Credits: Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Silvia Aloisi

Any security defense of U.S. auto tariffs at WTO 'very difficult' says Adjudicator - Reuters

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Tue, 28 May 2019 10:30:00 +0000

FILE PHOTO: Workers assemble vehicles on the assembly line of the SEAT car factory in Martorell, near Barcelona, Spain, October 31, 2018. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States will find it “very difficult” to defend President’s Donald Trump’s proposed car tariff against any challenge at the World Trade Organization, a veteran trade adjudicator who has ruled on a related case told Reuters.

Trump said this month that some imported vehicles and parts pose a “national security” threat, justifying tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the basis for tariffs put on steel and aluminum last year.

The car tariff of up to 25 percent, applying to vehicles and components from everywhere else in the world, would be automatically illegal were it not for a WTO exception granted in cases of national security.

Until 2016, using the national security clause was taboo because trade experts feared it could become a common way to get around the rules and erect the kind of trade barriers the WTO was designed to remove.

But it has arisen in disputes between Russia and Ukraine and between Qatar and several of its neighbors, as well as in Trump’s tariffs.

In a rare comment by a senior trade arbitrator, Georges Abi-Saab, a former chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body, the world’s top trade court, said he doubted the national security argument for cars would withstand a legal challenge.

“Frankly I think, if I were a lawyer (working on the case) I wouldn’t accept to take such a case – not only on moral aspects, but I think it would be very difficult to make it prevail,” he said.

The car tariffs have not yet materialized, since Trump has given the European Union, Japan and other major exporters 180 days to negotiate. A legal challenge from any of the parties cannot be considered until tariffs are active.

ACTUAL WAR

Last month Abi-Saab chaired a dispute panel which issued the only ruling in WTO history on the national security question, settling the dispute in favor of Russia, which was found to have a bona fide legal defense against Ukraine because of an armed conflict recognized by the United Nations.

But the ruling set a high bar for national security claims, saying they needed to be based “objectively” on an emergency in international relations, and the less a claim had to do with actual war, the harder it would be to make the case.

“I would say strategic raw materials may be easier to prove than a final product like a car,” Abi-Saab said. “The further you get away from it (armed conflict and the breakdown of law and civil order), the more you have to prove how this relates to national security.”

That contrasts with the U.S. view that national security claims are “self-judging” and WTO adjudicators must automatically dismiss any challenge.

WTO rulings do not set formal precedents, but adjudicators routinely refer back to previous cases, so the Russia-Ukraine ruling could influence the handling of ongoing challenges to the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs by China, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, the EU and India.

They reject U.S. claims that protecting metals output is needed for “defense requirements and critical infrastructure”.

Two other complainants, Canada and Mexico, lifted their opposition this month after reaching a deal with Trump.

Credits: Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams

Waste Tide is a chilling sci-fi novel about class war and trash in near-future China - THE VERGE

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:25:00 +0000

Photo by Andrew Liptak / The Verge

In Chinese science fiction author Chen Qiufan’s debut novel Waste Tide, a young woman finds herself transformed and stuck in the midst of a vicious power struggle between factions in the polluted, fictitious Silicon Isle in Guiyu, China. It’s a near-future science fiction thriller that feels pressingly relevant in 2019, about the pressures that advanced capitalism and technology exert on the most vulnerable people on Earth.

Silicon Isle is a dump — literally. It’s where the world drops off all of its electronic waste for recycling, which is handled by generations of workers who are too poor to leave. Everything from cell phones to robots to mechanical sex toys are sorted out here, and the entire region is steeped in poisonous waste that infects the island’s inhabitants.

Chen follows a string of characters as they collide in Silicon Isle. There’s Mimi, one of the many workers who finds herself drawn to Silicon Isle for work; Scott Brandle, an American operative who visits the island to try to arrange a contract on behalf of a green recycling company, TerraGreen Recycling Co. Ltd.; and Chen Kaizong, Scott’s assistant and translator who’s returned to China after moving to the US as a child. Scott has a covert mission on behalf of some shadowy corporate figures: he’s looking for a discarded prosthetic device containing a secret biological weapon, which his benefactors are trying to keep out of sight.

As it turns out, Mimi comes in contact with Scott’s target first. She puts on a helmet discovered by a fellow resident, Brother Wen, only to have something in it pierce her head and infect her with a virus. The virus combines with heavy metals in her brain, collected over years handling waste, to transform her into something strange. When one of the clans that controls Silicon Isle takes notice, she’s nearly killed, but a more forceful and malevolent version of Mimi takes over — first killing a group of enforcers by inhabiting a broken mech, then setting Silicon Isle’s “waste people” on a path toward revolution.

Chen presents a story that’s eerily plausible in 2019. Right now, the tensions between the United States and China are a bit strained at the present moment, and China has experienced its own rapid change as it gains prominence in the world. (One of the side effects being, it no longer needs to take the world’s trash to recycle.)

Chen is extremely familiar with the problems here — he grew up near Guiyu, which is known for being one of the biggest electronic waste dumps in the world — and wrote about how a visit to the place helped inspire the book. His descriptions show off a horrifying landscape:

Everything was shrouded in a leaden miasma, an amalgamation of the white mist generated by the boiling aqua regia in the acid baths and the black smoke from the unceasing burning of PVC, insulation, and circuit boards in the fields and on the shore of the river. The two contrasting colors were mixed by the sea breeze until they could no longer be distinguished, seeping into the pores of every living being.

The book speeds along as each of the characters make their way through Silicon Isle. Scott is searching for the mysterious prosthetic, Kaizong has become infatuated with Mimi, who in turn is trying to keep away from all of the various parties who are after her. She finds it difficult to figure out who to trust: even Brother Wen, a seemingly benevolent figure in her life, is clearly willing to cut her loose if it’ll make his life easier.

The heart of the book is about the desperation of Silicon Isle’s working class. Nobody is there because they really want to be there: they’re bound by debt, family ties, or the inability to leave. In a number of ways, the book reminds me of Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, about how climate change impacts Thailand in the distant, post-oil world. Waste Tide feels like it’s a bit more recognizably plausible as Chen lays out exactly how the world economy has left millions of people behind, trapped in an impoverished state from which they can’t escape.

Activision reveals the first five teams for its city-based Call of Duty league - THE VERGE

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:18:00 +0000

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Following the early success of the Overwatch League, Activision is planning to launch a similar, city-based professional league for Call of Duty as well, and today the publisher announced the league’s first teams. The company says that it has already sold franchises to owners in Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Paris, and Toronto.

Each team will be owned and operated by the same ownership groups behind their city’s respective Overwatch League team. “In Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Paris, and Toronto, we are partnering with existing OverwatchLeague team owners who have first-hand experience of our e-sports strategy and capabilities and recognize the scale of the opportunity for a global Call of Duty league,” Activision said in an earnings statement today. Owners include the likes of Envy Gaming in Dallas, Overactive Media in Toronto, and Sterling.VC in New York.

It’s not clear yet when the new league is expected to launch. Currently, Activision operates the Call of Duty World League, which launched in 2015 and is about to kick off a tournament in London. In March, ESPN reported that franchise slots for the new league were going for $25 million each.

“We’re building this league for fans across e-sports, traditional sports, and gaming alike,” Pete Vlastelica, president of Activision e-sports, said in a statement. “And we’re excited to partner with individuals and organizations who are just as passionate about our vision for the future of Call of Duty e-sports. Our early momentum for franchise sales has been strong as we welcome our first five partners.”

As for the Overwatch League, Activision says that “viewership hours for the second season to date are over 30 percent higher than in the first season.” Season two of OWL kicked off on February 14th, and last weekend the league had its first taste of home and away games when the Dallas Fuel hosted a series of matches. Currently, all OWL matches are played out of the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, but starting next year, they’ll begin playing out of home arenas in their respective cities. The new Call of Duty league is expected to follow a similar trajectory.

The YouTube Gaming app is shutting down this week - THE VERGE

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:08:00 +0000

The standalone YouTube Gaming app is shutting down on May 30th. YouTube announced the impending shutdown last year, saying that the spinoff had caused “confusion” among gaming fans. It integrated the service into its main app instead, launching a games-focused hub that has already mostly replaced the old YouTube Gaming.

In a help page, YouTube directs any remaining YouTube Gaming fans to this newer hub. It’s also merged YouTube and YouTube Gaming subscriptions, although people will apparently lose the list of games they’ve saved. “We launched YouTube Gaming as a standalone app for gamers where we tested out new features based on the gaming community’s feedback,” the page explains. “We want to continue to build a stronger home for the gaming community that thrives on YouTube.”

YouTube Gaming launched in 2015. YouTube promoted it as a way to improve the live stream experience and keep irrelevant content away from gaming fans, in addition to being a testbed for features like channel memberships and a dark mode. But according to the company, most users still watched gaming videos on the main app, and many didn’t even understand what YouTube Gaming was for. Its best features later came to the core platform — where far more people actually saw them.

The Overwatch League’s commissioner has jumped to Epic Games - THE VERGE

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:00:00 +0000

Nanzer (right) presents the OWL Grand Finals trophy to the champion London Spitfire in Brooklyn last year.

Photo by Carlton Beener / Blizzard Entertainment

One of the biggest names behind the Overwatch League is moving on. Last night Nate Nanzer, commissioner of the Overwatch League, announced that he’s leaving Blizzard “for a new opportunity.” ESPN has since confirmed that Nanzer will be joining Epic Games to oversee e-sports at the Fortnite developer. Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Activision Blizzard’s e-sports division, will take charge as the next OWL commissioner.

“I get way too much credit for the success of the Overwatch League,” Nanzer wrote on Twitte r. “It’s been awesome to be our public face, but too many overestimate my role in making the league great. It isn’t about me; it’s never been. It’s about all of you. That’s why I’m confident the league is in great hands. I can’t wait to see where the team takes the Overwatch League in 2020 — and beyond. And I’ll be cheering right there alongside you, every step of the way.

The Overwatch League was first announced in 2016, with an ambitious vision for an e-sports league that mimicked traditional sports, complete with teams based in major cities around the world. This pitch managed to lure big-name owners, and Nanzer was a driving force behind this, as well as other important league initiatives, including scheduling changes designed to improve player wellness.

The league is currently in the midst of its second season, and preparing to move teams to home arenas for season 3. “Pretty much all we think about in the office these days is figuring out the operational complexity of operating a home-and-away e-sports league,” Nanzer told The Verge last year. Following OWL’s early success, Activision is also building a similarly structured league for professional Call of Duty, which is expected to launch next year.

Epic, meanwhile, has made e-sports a major focus for Fortnite’s continued growth. The developer dedicated $100 million for the game’s competitive circuit, which includes $30 million in prize money for the upcoming Fortnite World Cup finals in New York this summer. More recently, Epic acquired Psyonix, the developer behind car-meets-soccer game Rocket League, which already has a robust competitive scene, attracting big-name teams from traditional sports like Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona.

“We’re excited to welcome Nate to the Epic Games team, where he’ll be working with us on competitive Fortnite,” Epic said in a statement to ESPN.

Now’s the time to get your name on NASA’s next mission to Mars - THE VERGE

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 17:48:00 +0000

It’s that time of the year again, when NASA gives you the opportunity to “ship” your name to another celestial body. This time, the destination is Mars, and the shipping service is NASA’s future Mars 2020 rover, which will be headed to the Red Planet in — you guessed it — 2020.

The rover’s primary mission is to get us closer to answering that fundamental question: did Mars ever host alien life? The robot is equipped with tools and instruments that will help scientists figure out if the planet may have hosted life in the past. On top of that, the rover will also be drilling and collecting samples of Martian dirt. It’ll then leave those samples on the ground, where they could potentially be picked up someday by another spacecraft and brought back to Earth.

And while the Mars 2020 rover is doing all of this, your name could be along for the ride. If you send in your name sometime before September 30th, NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will etch it onto a silicon chip with an electron beam, and then the rover will carry it on its journey. The names are going to be pretty teeny, though — about one-thousandth the width of a human hair. That’s small enough so that more than a million names can be included on a single chip as big as a dime — but big enough for any Martian microbes to read (only kidding... Martians can’t read).

NASA has provided this opportunity for members of the public before, when it landed the InSight lander on Mars in 2018 or when it sent the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to the asteroid Bennu. And just like any seasoned traveler, you’ll get a boarding pass and “frequent flyer” miles. Seeing as how the InSight travelers got about 300 million miles from their trip, the Mars 2020 folks are poised to get some serious points, too. Unfortunately, it seems doubtful Delta airlines will accept them.

Austria's parliament has voted to remove Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his government from office in a special parliamentary session – BBC

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 15:28:00 +0000

His previous coalition ally, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), backed the motions brought by the opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ).

The FPÖ had become embroiled in a political scandal caused by a secret video, which ended the coalition.

Austria's president must now decide who will be chancellor.

This leader will head a caretaker government ahead of elections expected in September.

Mr Kurz, head of the conservative Austrian People's Party, is the first chancellor in post-war Austrian history to lose a confidence vote.

At 32, he is the world's youngest state leader.

What happened in parliament?

The SPÖ brought forward the two no-confidence votes - one against Mr Kurz and the other against the government.

While they control only 52 of the 183-seat lower house, the FPÖ - who hold 51 seats - agreed to back the motions, which needed only a simple majority to pass.

The left-wing environmentalist JETZT party also voted to oust the chancellor and his government, although the liberal NEOS party reportedly backed Mr Kurz in a bid to avoid instability.

Mr Kurz's surprise strong showing in Sunday's European Union elections - with a projected 35% of the vote - was not enough to save him.

On Facebook he accused the parties of a "game of revenge" ahead of the confidence votes, adding: "But at the end of the day the people will decide, namely in September."

The parties ranged against Mr Kurz appeared to believe he should shoulder some of the blame for the fall of the coalition.

The Social Democrats say he should never have allied himself with the FPÖ in the first place. The FPÖ is still smarting from having had Mr Kurz replace all of its ministers with technocrats.

Mr Kurz meanwhile has promoted himself as a bastion of stability amid the turmoil.

What's the video scandal about?

It has widely been labelled "Ibiza-gate", after the Spanish island where the video was recorded.

It was secretly filmed in 2017 just weeks before the election which saw both the FPÖ and Chancellor Kurz's party perform well.

In the footage, released by German media, Freedom Party leader and vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache can be seen relaxing and drinking for hours at a villa with FPÖ parliament group leader Johann Gudenus, while they meet a woman, purported to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.

Mr Strache appears to propose offering her public contracts if she buys a large stake in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung - and makes it support the Freedom Party.

He is heard suggesting that a number of journalists would have to be "pushed" from the newspaper, and that he wants to "build a media landscape like [Viktor] Orban" - referring to Hungary's nationalist leader.

Mr Strache stood down hours after the video emerged.

President Alexander Van der Bellen then fired FPÖ Interior Minister Herbert Kickl at the request of Mr Kurz.

The move prompted the FPÖ's other ministers to resign in solidarity.

India’s FreshToHome raises $11 million to expand its fish, meat, and vegetable e-commerce platform – TechCrunch

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Mon, 27 May 2019 13:55:00 +0000

Shan Kadavil, who spent early days of his career managing tech support firm Support and then heading India operations of gaming firm Zynga, says he had a calling of sorts when his son was born. Kadavil realized that much of the meat that sells in India is not exactly healthy. The perishables are loaded with chemicals to superficially extend their life by six months, if not more. He wanted to do something better.

Fast forward four years, Kadavil said today that FreshToHome, his new e-commerce startup that delivers “100 percent” pure and fresh fish, chicken, and other kinds of meat, has raised $11 million in Series A funding. The startup has raised $13 million to date.

The round was led by CE Ventures, with participation from Das Capital, Kortschak Investments, TTCER Partners, Al-Nasser Holdings, M&S Partners and other Asia and Valley based Investors. Some of the backers of FreshToHome include Rajan Anandan, the former head of Google Southeast Asia, David Krane, CEO of GV, and Mark Pincus, chairman of Zynga.

FreshToHome has already courted 400,000 customers across four cities — Bengaluru, NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad & Greater Noida), Chennai and Kerala (Kochi, Trivandrum, Calicut & Trichur) — in India. On the backend, the startup does business with 1,500 fishermen across 125 coasts.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Kadavil said the startup is trying to “Uber-ize farmers and fishmen in India. We are giving them an app — around which we have a US patent — for commodity exchange. What farmers and fishermen do is they bid with us (as mandated by local laws) electronically using the app.” By dealing directly with the source, the startup is eliminating as many as half a dozen middlemen to cut costs.

The startup has built its own supply chain network. “We have got a 1,000 people, 100 trucks, and 40 collection points.” Kadavil claimed that FreshToHome has already become the largest e-commerce platform for meat with $1.73 million in GMV sales each month.

If this all sounds well strategized, it is because of the people who are running the show. Kadavil founded the FreshToHome with Mathew Joseph, a veteran in the industry who has dealt with fish export for more than 30 years. Joseph started India’s first e-commerce venture in fish and meat called SeaToHome in 2012.

FreshToHome has also emerged as a micro-VC to farmers where it is doing cooperative farming. In such model, FreshToHome guides farmers to use the latest technologies to produce certain kind of fish. As of today, the startup is seeing 60,000 kg (132,227 pound) of production in cooperative farming through its marketplace and over 400,000 kg (881,849 pound) of total products sold per month.

FreshToHome will use the fresh capital to expand its supply chain network, connect with as many as 8,500 new farmers, and start delivering vegetables. It already delivers vegetables in Bengaluru. Kadavil said the startup will also expand to two more cities — Mumbai and Pune.

FreshToHome will compete with a handful of startups, including Licious, which has raised more than $35 million to date, ZappFresh, and BigBasket, which just earlier this month raised $150 million. The cold-chain market of India is estimated to grow to $37 billion in next five years.

In a prepared statement, Tushar Singhvi, Director of CE Ventures said, “The Meat and Seafood segment in India is pegged to be a 50 billion dollar market, but we have to keep in mind that it’s a highly fragmented industry. FreshToHome.com is not only trying to streamline the industry, they’re also using technology to revolutionize the way the industry functions by disintermediating the supply chain, eliminating the middleman and working directly with the fishermen and farmers in a market place model, to make fresh and chemical free food accessible to the masses at large.”

Redditor wins right to use anonymous screen name in copyright case

noreply@blogger.com (Khaleb O'Brien) — Thu, 23 May 2019 17:37:00 +0000

A fight over unmasking an anonymous Reddit commenter has turned into a significant win for online speech and fair use. A federal court has affirmed the right to share copyrighted material for criticism and commentary, and shot down arguments that Internet users from outside the United States can’t ever rely on First Amendment protections for anonymous speech.EFF represents the Reddit commenter, who uses the name “Darkspilver.”

A lifelong member of the Jehovah’s Witness community, Darkspilver shared comments and concerns about the Jehovah’s Witness organization via one of Reddit’s online discussion groups. Darkspilver’s posts included a copy of an advertisement asking for donations that appeared on the back of a Watch Tower magazine, as well as a chart they edited and reformatted to show the kinds of data that the Jehovah’s Witness organization collects and processes.Earlier this year, Watch Tower subpoenaed Reddit for information on Darkspilver as part of a potential copyright lawsuit.

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, a group that publishes doctrines for Jehovah’s Witnesses, claimed that Darkspilver’s posts infringed their copyright, and that they needed Darkspilver’s identity to pursue legal action. EFF filed a motion to quash the subpoena, explaining that Watch Tower’s copyright claims were absurd, and that Darkspilver had deep concerns that disclosure of their identity would cause them to be disfellowshipped by their community. Accordingly, Watch Tower’s subpoena could not pass the well-established “Doe” test, which allows a party to use the courts to pierce anonymity only where they can show that their claims are valid and also that the balance of harms favors disclosure.

The Doe test is designed to balance the constitutional right to share and access information anonymously with the right to seek redress for legitimate complaints.In a hearing earlier this month, Watch Tower argued that they met the requirements of the Doe test, claiming that their copyright was infringed and also that the Doe test did not apply because Darkspilver is not a U.S. resident. On Friday, May 17, Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim rejected the latter argument, holding that the First Amendment can apply even if a Doe is not in the U.S. The court noted that because Darkspilver’s speech was on a U.S. company’s platform and has a U.S. audience, silencing them would have unavoidable domestic ripple effects.

As Judge Kim explained, “The subpoena here was issued by a court in the United States, on behalf of a United States company (Watch Tower) and was directed against another United States company (Reddit). Moreover, the First Amendment protects the audience as well as the speaker.”The court also rejected Watch Tower’s claim of infringement regarding the Excel spreadsheet. It held that Watch Tower had a potentially valid claim with respect to the advertisement, but went on to conclude that Darkspilver’s use was likely lawful under the fair use doctrine. The court carefully reviewed the fair use factors and concluded that “they tip sharply in Darkpilver’s favor.” We wholeheartedly agree.But we disagree with the court’s final decision: to order limited disclosure so that Watch Tower might attempt to shore up its copyright claim.

While the court agreed that “Watch Tower has not demonstrated any actual harm or likelihood of future harm”—the fourth fair use factor—it gave undue credence Watch Tower’s claim that “the harm it suffered from people infringing on its copyrights was directing others away from its website.” Based on the theory that “[p]erhaps Watch Tower, if provided the opportunity, could demonstrate that fewer people visited its website after Darkspilver’s posting,” the court decided to allow Watch Tower’s counsel access to Darkpsilver’s identifying information.Based on the court’s approach, the Doe standard offers weak protections for fair users. Even a far-fetched theory regarding a particular fair use factor, like the one posited here, might be enough to justify disclosure even if the rest of the fair use analysis clearly suggests the use was lawful. That said, the disclosure is subject to strict limits.

Reddit may disclose it only to Watch Tower’s counsel of record, and that counsel is prohibited from sharing that information with anyone else—including the client—without a separate court order. In addition, the court explicitly “admonished that any violation of this Order will be sanctioned.”This case touches on a lot of EFF’s most important issues, and it’s a prime example of how intellectual property, free speech, and privacy can intersect in complicated ways, making it hard for people to speak out about controversial issues. We are considering next steps. But in the meantime, we are also celebrating a crucial win for the First Amendment and access to anonymous speech for Internet users everywhere.