Hostilities Between Microsoft and Google Resume

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Hostilities Between Microsoft and Google Resume

Microsoft and Google are resuming open hostilities, following a five-year cease-fire.

Microsoft and Google had an agreement, beginning five years ago, to stop suing each other and work out their differences behind closed doors. During that period, the two companies worked closely together on some projects, not the least of which is Microsoft adopting Chromium as the rendering engine for its Edge web browser. The company has become one of the biggest contributors to the open source rendering engine, with many of Microsoft’s improvements making their way into Google’s Chrome, also based on Chromium.

Despite the benefits of the two companies’ non-aggression pact, that pact has ended, driven largely by Microsoft’s growing frustration with Google’s approach to its ad business and the debate around paying content creators.

According to Bloomberg, tensions started building over Google’s reluctance to pay news publishers for content. In contrast, Microsoft has been a proponent of reimbursing news publishers and content creators. The breaking point, however, was Microsoft’s frustration about marketers not having equal access to search engines when using Google’s ad campaign tools. 

“If you want to advertise, if you want to sell advertising or buy advertising on the internet, you have to use Google’s tools, and when they make their tools in a manner that fails to interoperate easily with others, it impacts everybody,” said Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith, in April, in a Bloomberg television interview. “We raised the concerns with them and they just turned a deaf ear.”

The two companies already compete on vast array of fronts, not the least of which is the cloud. Now that the gloves have come off, it will be interesting to see just how far the hostilities go.

Hostilities Between Microsoft and Google Resume
Matt Milano

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T-Mobile Verizon and AT&T Complete STIR/SHAKEN Implementation

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T-Mobile Verizon and AT&T Complete STIR/SHAKEN Implementation

T-Mobile and Verizon have both announced they have fully implemented the STIR/SHAKEN protocol to combat scams, meeting the FCC’s deadline.

The Federal Communications Commission set June 30th as the deadline to implement the STIR/SHAKEN protocols for the largest wireless carriers. The protocols provide a framework for a carrier to verify the authenticity of a call, pass that on to the next carrier(s) for verification, and then pass on the verification to the recipient phone. When the call comes through, the recipient will see whether the number is verified or suspect.

The protocols are designed to help fight scammers and robocallers that often mask their phone number to make it appear as if they’re calling from the same area code or exchange as the recipient. This can create a false sense of security, as the recipient believes the call is local.

T-Mobile and Verizon have both fully implemented STIR/SHAKEN, providing their customers an extra layer of protection.

“Number Verification, along with Caller ID, and the scam identification and blocking tools in Scam Shield, gives our customers the industry’s most comprehensive free scam and spam protection,” said Jon Freier, Executive Vice President, T-Mobile Consumer Group at T-Mobile​. “We were first to implement number verification in 2019 and today, all calls originating on the T-Mobile network are 100% STIR/SHAKEN compliant, giving our customers peace of mind that their calls are protected against scammers and spammers.”

While not issuing a press release, as T-Mobile and Verizon did, AT&T did confirm to The Verge that it has also met the FCC’s deadline.

T-Mobile Verizon and AT&T Complete STIR/SHAKEN Implementation
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SpaceX Successfully Launches 88 Satellites

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SpaceX Successfully Launches 88 Satellites

SpaceX has deployed 88 satellites, 85 of them for customers, as the company ramps up its payload delivery service.

SpaceX has previously focused largely on deploying its own satellites, specifically for its Starlink constellation. The company is now branching out into space ridesharing, launching satellites for customers.

The first such launch, Transporter-1, carried 143 satellites. Tuesday’s launch, Transporter-2, only carried 88 satellites but, according to TechCrunch, contained more overall mass.

The launch also marked the first time this year the company successfully landed its first stage onshore, as opposed to landing on a drone ship.

SpaceX Successfully Launches 88 Satellites
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AT&T Taps Microsoft Azure for Its 5G Network

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AT&T Taps Microsoft Azure for Its 5G Network

AT&T is turning to Microsoft to help it deploy its 5G network, and will rely on Microsoft Azure to manage its network traffic.

Like virtually every major carrier, AT&T is racing to deploy its 5G network. The company recently spent more than $23 billion at the FCC’s 5G spectrum auction.

AT&T is now looking to Microsoft to help roll out its 5G network, with plans to use Azure to manage its network. The companies will begin with the 5G core, and work to migrate existing and future network workloads to Azure for Operators, Microsoft’s version of Azure specifically targeted at telecoms.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will gain access to AT&T’s intellectual property, including acquiring AT&T’s Network Cloud, which the company has been using to run its 5G network since 2018. Microsoft will be able to integrate Network Cloud’s features and abilities into Azure for Operators.

“AT&T has one of the world’s most powerful global backbone networks serving hundreds of millions of subscribers. Our Network Cloud team has proved that running a network in the cloud drives speed, security, cost improvements and innovation. Microsoft’s decision to acquire these assets is a testament to AT&T’s leadership in network virtualization, culture of innovation, and realization of a telco-grade cloud stack,” said Andre Fuetsch, executive vice president and chief technology officer, AT&T. “The next step is making this capability accessible to operators around the world and ensuring it has the resources behind it to continue to evolve and improve. And do it securely. Microsoft’s cloud expertise and global reach make them the perfect fit for this next phase.”

“With Azure, operators can provide a more flexible and scalable service model, save infrastructure cost, and use AI to automate operations and differentiate customer offerings,” said Jason Zander, executive vice president Azure, Microsoft. “Through our collaboration with AT&T, Microsoft will expand its telecom portfolio to support operators with a carrier-grade cloud that provides seamless experiences across Microsoft’s cloud and the operator’s network.”

The deal is a big win for Microsoft, especially as it pushes its Azure for Operators, and will give its cloud platform a major boost in the telecom market.

AT&T Taps Microsoft Azure for Its 5G Network
Matt Milano

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Slack Introduces Slack Huddles, Audio-First Communication

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Slack Introduces Slack Huddles, Audio-First Communication

Slack has introduced a new feature, one that brings lightweight audio communication to the platform.

As the pandemic forced individuals to work remotely, audio and video communication platforms surged in popularity and necessity. While Slack was the early leader in the corporate communication market, it has been eclipsed by Microsoft Teams and Zoom, both of which focus heavily on video and audio.

Slack Huddles is a new feature designed to bring a fast, lightweight approach to audio, within the context of a Slack channel or direct message.

Similar to the way you might drop by a colleague’s desk to solve a thorny problem or grab a few teammates on the way out of a meeting and debrief, huddles create a space to talk through work on the fly. Plus, everyone in that channel or DM is free to join or leave the conversation as they please.

Slack’s goal is to help make the transition from text to audio and back again as seamless and organic as possible, as opposed to having to schedule a video call as other platforms do.

The feature is already gaining support among companies using Slack.

“Slack Huddles provide an extremely low-friction way to transition from typing to talking and back again, whether you are brainstorming, chasing a bug, or just catching up with colleagues,” says Karl Owen, Senior Distinguished Engineer, Dell Technologies.

“Engineers who are interested and available will join, we accomplish our goal and the postmortem is handled back in the channel. We’re able to go from multitasking to focused work and back to multitasking with minimal friction.”

Slack Introduces Slack Huddles, Audio-First Communication
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Data for 700 Million LinkedIn Users for Sale Online

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Data for 700 Million LinkedIn Users for Sale Online

Data for some 700 million LinkedIn users is for sale online, just two months after another major dataset was up for sale.

According to LinkedIn, the platform has some 756 million members. As a result, the latest dataset represents roughly 92% of all users. The hacker selling the information says an API was exploited to harvest the data, according to RestorePrivacy.

LinkedIn has responded, saying the information was scraped, and that no data breach occurred.

Our teams have investigated a set of alleged LinkedIn data that has been posted for sale. We want to be clear that this is not a data breach and no private LinkedIn member data was exposed. Our initial investigation has found that this data was scraped from LinkedIn and other various websites and includes the same data reported earlier this year in our April 2021 scraping update.

The data includes a significant amount of information, including LinkedIn usernames, full names, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, gender, experience and background, geolocation records and social media accounts/usernames.

Regardless of how the data was collected, the implications are enormous with 92% of LinkedIn users now vulnerable to spam campaigns and identity theft.

Data for 700 Million LinkedIn Users for Sale Online
Matt Milano

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Uber Wants Employees in the Office 50% of the Time

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Uber Wants Employees in the Office 50% of the Time

Uber has told staff it wants them in the office 50% of the time, as the company continues to adapt to a changed workplace.

Many companies are adding remote and hybrid work options permanently, an acknowledgment the workplace has been forever changed by COVID-19. Uber is unveiling one of the most flexible options yet, with employees being asked to work 50% of the time in the office.

What makes Uber’s stand so unique, however, is that the employees have control over how when and how they allocate that 50%, according to Reuters. For example, an employee could work one week in the office and not come in at all the following week. In contrast, many companies are requiring employees be in the office a set amount of days per week, in some cases even stipulating which days.

Uber is also encouraging employees to work away from their homes at least four weeks a year, giving employees the opportunity to experience a change of scenery.

Uber Wants Employees in the Office 50% of the Time
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Zoom Acquiring Machine Translation Firm Kites

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Zoom Acquiring Machine Translation Firm Kites

Zoom has announced it is acquiring Kites GmbH, a firm specializing in real-time Machine Translation (MT).

As remote work and communication platforms have surged in popularity, so has the need for real-time translation. Virtually ever major platform has been working on adding translation features.

Zoom’s latest deal should give the company’s efforts a significant boost. Kites has its roots in the academic community, and has been working to apply AI and machine learning to real-time translation.

“We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, President of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless of language, geographic location, or other barriers – we are confident Kites’ impressive team will fit right in with Zoom.”

“Kites emerged with the mission of breaking down language barriers and making seamless cross-language interaction a reality of everyday life, and we have long admired Zoom for its ability to easily connect people across the world,” said Dr. Waibel and Dr. Stüker. “We know Zoom is the best partner for Kites to help advance our mission and we are excited to see what comes next under Zoom’s incredible innovation engine.”

The Kites team will continue to be based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Zoom Acquiring Machine Translation Firm Kites
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Musk Sees Starlink Having 500,000 Users in 12 Months

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Musk Sees Starlink Having 500,000 Users in 12 Months

Elon Musk talked about the status of Starlink, along with his expectations for the future, including his belief the service will have 500,000 users in 12 months.

Starlink is the satellite constellation being deployed by Musk’s second company, SpaceX. The satellites are being deployed in low-Earth orbit and provide internet access to underserved communities. Because of their relatively low orbit, the service offers speeds and latency far in excess of traditional satellite internet, and more directly competes with traditional broadband.

Musk made a remote appearance at the Mobile World Congress event, where he discussed the progress Starlink has made. The constellation now includes 1,500 satellites, with global internet coverage expected by next month, minus the poles.

Musk also said he believes the service will grow rapidly over the next year.

“We recently passed the strategically notable number of 69,420 active users,” Musk said, according to Mashable. ”We’re, I think, on our way to have a few hundred thousand users, possibly over 500,000 users within 12 months.”

Individuals hoping to ditch their cable or fiber internet in the cities may be disappointed, however. Musk reiterated the service is primarily for underserved communities that don’t have access to traditional alternatives, and the company may limit users in more densely populated regions.

Musk Sees Starlink Having 500,000 Users in 12 Months
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Shopify Announces 0% Revenue Sharing on First $1 Million in Sales

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Shopify Announces 0% Revenue Sharing on First $1 Million in Sales

Shopify is dropping its revenue cut for developers that earn less than $1 million annually, in a move that rivals other tech platforms.

Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms, powering some $120 billion in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) in 2020. Until now, the company took a 20% revenue commission, but the company is waiving that for smaller developers.

Developers who build for the Shopify App Store will now pay 0% revenue share for the first $1M they earn annually on the platform starting on August 1. That’s down from 20%. The $1M benchmark resets annually.

The same 0% revenue share model will also be available to Theme Store developers. 

The announcement follows similar moves by Google, Apple and Amazon as app ecosystems are increasingly under scrutiny by regulators. Whatever the motivation, the move will certainly help small developers.

Shopify Announces 0% Revenue Sharing on First $1 Million in Sales
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Microsoft Releases OpenAI-Powered Code Completion Tool

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Microsoft Releases OpenAI-Powered Code Completion Tool

Microsoft is leveraging its agreement with OpenAI to radically change the nature of low-code development with its first AI-powered code completion tool.

OpenAI is an AI research organization, founded on the principle of researching AI in a safe, responsible way. OpenAI’s GPT-3 is one of the leading natural language models, and it runs exclusively on Microsoft Azure. Microsoft also has an exclusive license to the GPT-3 code, giving it wide latitude to incorporate the model in its own products.

The partnership is bearing fruit, with Microsoft incorporating GPT-3 in its Power Apps low code development platform, adding natural, conversational language to the programming process.

The new AI-powered features will allow an employee building an e-commerce app to describe a programming goal using conversational language like “find products where the name starts with ‘kids.’” A fine-tuned GPT-3 model then offers choices for transforming the command into a Microsoft Power Fx formula, the open source programming language of the Power Platform, such as “Filter(‘BC Orders’ Left(‘Product Name’,4)=”Kids”).

For the time being, GPT-3’s features are limited to use with Microsoft Power Fx, but the future possibilities are visually endless.

“Using an advanced AI model like this can help our low-code tools become even more widely available to an even bigger audience by truly becoming what we call no code,” said Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s low code application platform.

Microsoft Releases OpenAI-Powered Code Completion Tool
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Facebook Joins $1 Trillion Club Following Antitrust Win

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Facebook Joins $1 Trillion Club Following Antitrust Win

Facebook scored a major win in its antitrust case, with a federal judge dismissing attempts to roll back some of its biggest acquisitions.

Big Tech, including Facebook, has been under increased scrutiny. In particular, regulators have expressed concern over large tech companies buying up smaller competitors in an effort to head off potential threats. 

The Federal Trade Commission was suing to force Facebook to divest itself of two of its largest acquisitions, Instagram and WhatsApp. Both services are considered crucial to the company’s future, as its core Facebook platform is poised to see its slowest yearly growth ever in 2021.

Judge James Boasberg, US District Court of Washington, DC, dismissed the case, saying the FTC “failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish a necessary element… that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for personal social networking services,” according to International Business Times.

The ruling is a big win for Facebook and its stock reflected that in the aftermath of the ruling. The company quickly joined the $1 trillion valuation club, a first for the social media platform.

Facebook Joins $1 Trillion Club Following Antitrust Win
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Telemedicine: the Future of Healthcare

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Telemedicine: the Future of Healthcare

Telehealth and telemedicine are the future of healthcare.  Telehealthcare has grown rapidly in the past few decades.  Even though it is less than a century old, it is maturing at an unbelievable speed.  Starting in the 1920s, radio communications were used to give medical advice to ship clinicians.  By the 1980s, telehealth was offered to countries outside of the United States.  Today, even veterinarians have begun offering telehealth services. 

Not only has telehealth made large strides in the past decades, but the past year has also seen major increases in popularity.  In 2019, more than 75% of U.S.-based hospitals used video to connect with their patients.  COVID-19 prompted many patients to try telehealth for the first time.  Currently, 61% of Americans have now had at least one telehealth appointment; this is a 3x increase from March 2020.  In the first quarter of 2020 alone, there were over 1,600,000 telehealth visits, and almost 70% of patients managed their concerns regarding the pandemic with telehealth guidance. 

Telemedicine and telehealth provide remote and non-remote clinical services.  Telemedicine is used to diagnose conditions, offer mental health services, screen symptoms, deliver specialist consultations, and support nursing home staff.  Telehealth is much broader, including chronic condition support, physical and occupational services, fulfilling medications, and facilitating administrative meetings, provider training, and continuing education. 

Telehealth is innovating solutions, providing holistic healthcare in cardiology, pulmonology, and endocrinology.  28% of consumers use different technologies to moderate their health.  Remote clinical tools such as blood pressure monitors, anticoagulation testing, and ECG devices are just a few of these tools.  Apps and phone gadgets, wearable devices, and mail-in labs are all new technologies that have innovated solutions for telehealthcare.  Patients can have diagnostic tools and mental health services through apps.  Wearables allow patients to constantly monitor their health, and mail-in labs can give consumers information on their allergies, genetics, and food sensitivities. 

Even through opposing barriers, telehealth has continued to thrive.  66% of adults were concerned about the use of private medical information, but consumers are growing more and more comfortable with their private records in the cloud.  Over 40% of patients have limited access to the internet, but this is currently being solved with federal broadband initiatives.  In addition, licensing issues prevented doctors from seeing patients across state lines, but recent legislation is allowing telehealth practitioners to do so. 

The benefits of telehealth are evident.  82% of Americans say telehealth makes it easier to get the care they need.  It is convenient, saves on costs, and is more comfortable.  There is no need to take time off work to commute to the doctor’s office.  31% of patients say their healthcare costs decreased when using telehealth, with a savings estimate of anywhere between 17-75%.  In addition, many feel less anxiety and fear when seeing a doctor remotely.  Telehealth helps those in need by implementing programs that serve high-risk and rural populations.  They have expanded access to acute care; 59% of Medicare patients have access to a laptop, allowing them to receive the care they need.  Step into the future of medicine with telehealth. 

Telemedicine: the Future of Healthcare
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Venmo to Allow Business Transaction on Personal Accounts

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Venmo to Allow Business Transaction on Personal Accounts

Venmo is making a major change to its terms of service, allowing business transactions on personal accounts for the first time.

Venmo is a popular digital payment app that is owned by PayPal. Until now, the company did not allow business transactions on a personal account. Individuals who tried to break the rules quickly found their accounts suspended.

The company is doing an about-face, according to Gizmodo, with users soon able to choose goods or services as a reason for a transaction. The new feature is not without its caveats, however, with a Venmo spokesperson telling The Wall Street Journal that business transactions will be subject to the standard fees that business accounts pay.

Even so, the move is sure to make things easier for users, especially those that were maintaining multiple accounts just to stay on the right side of the rules. The new feature is scheduled to roll out July 20.

Venmo to Allow Business Transaction on Personal Accounts
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iPad Pro Models With Larger Screens May Be Coming

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iPad Pro Models With Larger Screens May Be Coming

Apple is working on an all-new iPad Pro design with an even larger screen, if reports are to be believed.

The largest iPad Pro has been the 12.9-inch model since its introduction in 2015. The screen size puts it roughly on par with the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via AppleInsider), Apple is ready to expand the iPad Pro even more, with engineers working on a design that’s even larger. Users hoping to see it in the 2022 refresh will be disappointed, however, as the new models are “a couple of years down the road at the earliest.”

Many users have been clamoring for better multitasking on the iPad Pro, specifically requesting a multi-windowed interface, similar to macOS. The larger screen size would certainly make such a transition easier, and could pave the way for a whole new generation of iPadOS innovations.

iPad Pro Models With Larger Screens May Be Coming
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Telegram Adds Group Video Calls

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Telegram Adds Group Video Calls

Encrypted communication platform Telegram has finally added group video calls, roughly a year after originally announcing plans for the feature.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, video communication has achieved all new levels of importance, with businesses and individuals alike relying on the technology for everyday life. Virtually every major platform supports video communication in some form or another.

Telegram announced plans to add video calling over a year go, but in a recent blog post the company says the feature is finally here. Currently, while audio participants have no limit on numbers, only the first 30 to join a video chat may use video.

While audio-only participants are unlimited, video is currently available for the first 30 people who join the voice chat. This limit will increase soon as voice chats take on streaming games, live events and more.

While definitely late to the party, Telegram’s new feature is sure to be much appreciated by its users.

Telegram Adds Group Video Calls
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Google Adding Warning Labels on Rapidly Evolving Topics

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Google Adding Warning Labels on Rapidly Evolving Topics

Google is stepping up its efforts to combat misinformation, adding a warning label to “rapidly emerging results,” without much verified data.

Online misinformation is just one of the issues tech companies are dealing with. All too often, a topic goes viral before experts have a chance to weigh in with important, factual information.

Google is looking to address this by providing a warning label when an emerging topic has yet to have much reliable information supporting it.

“To help with this, we’ve trained our systems to detect when a topic is rapidly evolving and a range of sources hasn’t yet weighed in,” the company writes in a blog post. “We’ll now show a notice indicating that it may be best to check back later when more information from a wider range of sources might be available.”

The feature will initially be deployed for English results in the US, but will be expanding in the coming months.

Google Adding Warning Labels on Rapidly Evolving Topics
Matt Milano

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Windows 11 CPU Requirement Angering Users

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Windows 11 CPU Requirement Angering Users

Microsoft has announced its upcoming Windows 11 and, while there’s much to like, its CPU requirements are upsetting some users.

Windows 11 is the next major iteration of the Windows operating system. It includes a number of major new features, not the least of which is the ability to run Android apps, both from the Microsoft Store and via sideloading.

The OS CPU requirement, however, will leave many users out in the cold, even those with relatively new, powerful devices. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 will only support Intel 8th Gen Core and AMD Ryzen 2000 series and newer CPUs. Older CPUs will not be able to run the new OS.

Particularly surprising is the fact that the company’s own Surface Studio 2 runs the older Intel 7th Gen Core CPU, meaning it will not be able to run Windows 11 despite costing over $3,000.

While leaving older hardware behind is a common practice for Apple, Microsoft has traditionally supported older hardware longer as a result of the larger user base and the company’s focus on the business market. Microsoft is clearly willing to break with tradition to bring to market the benefits and security upgrades Windows 11 promises.

Windows 11 CPU Requirement Angering Users
Matt Milano

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Amazon and Google Under Scrutiny in Britain Over Fake Reviews

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Amazon and Google Under Scrutiny in Britain Over Fake Reviews

Britain’s Competition and Market Authority is investigating whether Amazon and Google are doing enough to combat fake reviews.

Fake reviews have become an increasing problem for online platforms and shoppers alike. As online shopping has displaced brick and mortar stores, users rely on reviews more than ever. Not surprisingly, an entire industry has grown up around providing fake reviews to dupe customers into purchasing products they otherwise may not have.

The Competition and Market Authority is investing Amazon and Google to see if they’re doing enough to protect customers by combatting fake reviews, according to The Washington Post.

Both companies have said they will continue to work with the CMA and its inquiries.

Amazon and Google Under Scrutiny in Britain Over Fake Reviews
Matt Milano

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AWS Acquires Secure Messaging Service Wickr

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AWS Acquires Secure Messaging Service Wickr

AWS has acquired Wickr, one of the most secure end-to-end encrypted communication services.

AWS is one of the leading cloud providers for government contracts, and is cleared to provide cloud services for sensitive information. As such, it’s somewhat surprising the company hasn’t had a widely adopted communication platform to compliment its cloud services. It does have Chime, but that’s very much a niche product.

Bringing Wickr into the fold will help AWS round out its offerings, and could be an important factor in its government contracts.

“Today, public sector customers use Wickr for a diverse range of missions, from securely communicating with office-based employees to providing service members at the tactical edge with encrypted communications,” writes Steve Schmidt, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. “Enterprise customers use Wickr to keep communications between employees and business partners private, while remaining compliant with regulatory requirements.”

Schmidt says existing Wickr customers will continue to use the service as they currently do, while AWS is making it available to its other customers immediately.

AWS Acquires Secure Messaging Service Wickr
Matt Milano

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BuzzFeed Going Public

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BuzzFeed Going Public

BuzzFeed has announced it is going public through a SPAC deal, merging with 890 5th Avenue Partners, Inc.

BuzzFeed was once primarily known as a source for pop culture content, listicles and the like. In recent years, however, the site has increasingly moved into serious journalism, even winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2021. As part of its ambition, the company acquired HuffPost from Verizon in November 2020.

The company has now confirmed plans to go public by merging with 890 5th Avenue Partners in a SPAC deal. Merging with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) is a popular alternative to an IPO, avoiding some of the normal regulatory scrutiny and providing more certainty regarding valuation.

“BuzzFeed is now the undeniable leader for the next generation of media. We’ve built a slate of essential brands, loved by the most diverse, engaged, and loyal audience on the Internet,” Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s Founder and CEO said. “With today’s announcement, we’re taking the next step in BuzzFeed’s evolution, bringing capital and additional experience to our business. I am thrilled to have Adam [Adam Rothstein, Executive Chairman of 890,] join our team as we work towards becoming the world’s preeminent digital media company.”

The deal is expected to close in Q4 2021.

BuzzFeed Going Public
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DreamHost Leaked 814 Million Customer Records

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DreamHost Leaked 814 Million Customer Records

Web hosting service DreamHost has leaked a staggering 814 million customer records, including WordPress admin information.

DreamHost is one of the biggest and most popular web hosting services, with some 1.5 million sites. Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler, in connection with Website Planet, found an unprotected database containing records for the time period between 3/24/2018 to 4/16/2021.

According to Fowler, the database contains sensitive information, including admin information for WordPress sites.

The exposed records revealed usernames, display names, and emails for WordPress accounts. The monitoring and file logs exposed many internal records that should not have been publicly accessible. They were structured as roles, ID, display name, email, and other account related information.

There’s still much unknown about the leak, including how long the data was available, who else may have accessed it and whether DreamHost has notified customers. DreamHost did, however, acknowledge the leak and has passed it to their legal team.

DreamHost Leaked 814 Million Customer Records
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Western Digital My Book NAS Devices Being Factory Reset Remotely

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Western Digital My Book NAS Devices Being Factory Reset Remotely

Western Digital is advising users to disconnect their My Book NAS devices from the internet, following multiple reports of devices being remotely wiped.

My Book NAS devices are popular external backup options and have the ability to be used on a LAN for remote backup. Unfortunately, on June 23, users started reporting their devices being wiped remotely, according to BleepingComputer.

“I have a WD My Book live connected to my home LAN and worked fine for years. I have just found that somehow all the data on it is gone today, while the directories seems there but empty. Previously the 2T volume was almost full but now it shows full capacity,” a WD My Book owner wrote on the WD Community Forums.

“The even strange thing is when I try to log into the control UI for diagnosis I was-only able to get to this landing page with an input box for ‘owner password.’ I have tried the default password ‘admin’ and also what I could set for it with no luck.”

A look at the logs show the devices were issued a factory reset command starting around 3 PM June 23, and continuing into the night.

As BleepingComputer points out, it’s unclear where the problem lies. My Book devices, while connected to a LAN, sit behind a firewall, using the My Book Live cloud service to provide remote access. As a result, some users are convinced that only a breach on WD’s end could account for the existing situation.

WD is investigating, but does not believe there was a breach on their end. Instead, they think the devices were compromised via an unpatched vulnerability after being connected directly to the internet.

In the meantime, WD is recommending users disconnected My Book Live and My Book Live Duo devices from the internet in this advisory.

Western Digital My Book NAS Devices Being Factory Reset Remotely
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Third-Party Cookies Get a Stay of Execution as Google Postpones Plans

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Third-Party Cookies Get a Stay of Execution as Google Postpones Plans

Google is pushing back its plans to eliminate support for third-party cookies, buying the advertising industry more time to adapt.

Third-party cookies are one of the most commonly used methods advertisers use to track individuals as they move across the web. Apple’s Safari, the second-most popular browser behind Google’s Chrome, already blocks third-party cookies by default. This makes it more difficult for advertisers to track users and build a profile about them.

Google had previously planned on following Apple’s lead by early 2022. Because advertisers have built an entire industry around surreptitiously tracking users as they browse the web, and building detailed profiles on them, the thought of being cut off from one of the primary ways to do so caused much hand-wringing among ad companies.

Google is now saying it will not begin making the change until mid-2023, with the process completed approximately three months later in late 2023. The company said the revised timeline would provide advertisers the time they neede to adapt and adopt more privacy-conscious advertising methods.

This will allow sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions, continued engagement with regulators, and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services. This is important to avoid jeopardizing the business models of many web publishers which support freely available content. And by providing privacy-preserving technology, we as an industry can help ensure that cookies are not replaced with alternative forms of individual tracking, and discourage the rise of covert approaches like fingerprinting.

Third-Party Cookies Get a Stay of Execution as Google Postpones Plans
Matt Milano

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Teamsters Vote to Prioritize Unionizing Amazon Workers

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Teamsters Vote to Prioritize Unionizing Amazon Workers

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has voted to create a division specifically tasked with assisting Amazon workers.

Amazon has been the target of increased unionization efforts, efforts which the company has pulled out all the stops to combat. The Teamsters already represent 1.4 million delivery drivers and have been vocal opponents of Amazon’s anti-union tactics.

The union voted Thursday to create a special division to help workers in Amazon’s logistics businesses, including delivery drivers and warehouse workers. “Special Resolution: Building Worker Power at Amazon” passed with overwhelming support, with 1,562 votes in favor and only nine opposed, according to NBC News.

“Amazon presents a massive threat to working-class communities and good jobs in the logistics industry,” Randy Korgan, the Teamsters National Director for Amazon, said. “Amazon workers face dehumanizing, unsafe and low-pay jobs, with high turnover and no voice at work.”

“Amazon workers are calling for safer and better working conditions and with today’s resolution we are activating the full force of our union to support them,” Korgan added.

Only time will tell if the Teamsters’ efforts will be successful, but the timing is sure to put additional pressure on Amazon as it faces increased regulatory scrutiny.

Teamsters Vote to Prioritize Unionizing Amazon Workers
Matt Milano

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Google Drive and YouTube Links Impacted by Google Security Changes

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Google Drive and YouTube Links Impacted by Google Security Changes

A Google security update is about to impact Google Drive and YouTube public links, including Unlisted ones.

Google Drive and YouTube both use links to share files and videos. In the case of YouTube, Unlisted videos are publicly available, but not indexed by the platform’s search. As a result, a link is needed to access the video.

Google has been working to improve the security of its sharing links, and the improved security will lead to some of those old links breaking. The company highlighted the changes to Google Drive on its Google Workspace blog.

This security update is being applied to some files in Google Drive to make sharing links more secure. The update will add a resource key to sharing links. Once the update has been applied to a file, users who haven’t viewed the file before will have to use a URL containing the resource key to gain access, and those who have viewed the file before or have direct access will not need the resource key to access the file.

Admins can use Google’s Help Center to learn more about the update, its impacts and how to manage it across an organization.

Similarly, YouTube outlined how Unlisted video links will be impacted.

As part of these changes, Unlisted videos uploaded before 2017 will be made Private starting on July 23, 2021. We are also giving creators the option to opt out of this security update and keep their videos in their current state if they prefer. If you have a video that is impacted by this change, we’ll notify you directly.

Users will have the option of opting out, using this form, by July 23, 2021. Alternatively, users can re-upload their video as Unlisted, switch them to Public or simply let them go Private when the change takes place.

Google Drive and YouTube Links Impacted by Google Security Changes
Matt Milano

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Andreessen Horowitz Launches $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund

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Andreessen Horowitz Launches $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund

Venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz has launched Crypto Fund III, a $2.2 billion crypto fund on “radically optimistic” expectations.

Cryptocurrencies are currently going through a rough stretch, with price drops and fluctuations across the board. Despite that, Andreessen Horowitz sees the technology as critical to the next wave of innovation, according to the company’s announcement.

We believe that the next wave of computing innovation will be driven by crypto. We are radically optimistic about crypto’s potential to restore trust and enable new kinds of governance where communities collectively make important decisions about how networks evolve, what behaviors are permitted, and how economic benefits are distributed.

Along with the $2.2 billion fund to continue investing in crypto, the company has also added a slew of “heavy-hitters” to its team, including a former SEC director, political advisors, financial advisors, entrepreneurs and a computer scientist.

Despite the current fluctuations, Andreessen Horowitz is confident the overall trend of the tech is one of continued innovation.

The history of crypto shows that asset prices may fluctuate but innovation continues to increase through each cycle. We’ve never been more excited about where crypto is headed and we’re going all in on the talented, visionary founders who are determined to be part of crypto’s next chapter.

Andreessen Horowitz Launches $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund
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New York Magazine Working With Apple on ‘Journalism Project’

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New York Magazine Working With Apple on ‘Journalism Project’

New York Magazine Editor in Chief, David Haskell has said his publication is working with Apple on a “journalism project.”

The news industry has been under siege for years, thanks mainly to the rise of digital news and publications. A number of companies have worked on solutions, one of those being Apple News. 

Various publications have met with differing degrees of success with Apple’s platform, but it appears New York Magazine has not seen game-changing results. Despite that, it appears the publication is working with on a journalistic endeavor with Apple, which Haskell alluded to in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily.

We’re working with Apple right now on a journalism project together and that has unlocked some opportunities for us. It seems to be fairly consistent with the larger strategy of thinking about this place as a subscription business, but I don’t think Apple News has been a game changer for us.

It should be interesting to see what Haskell is talking about, and whether the project it’s working on with Apple will be available to other publications as well.

New York Magazine Working With Apple on ‘Journalism Project’
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Starlink Targeting September for Global Coverage

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Starlink Targeting September for Global Coverage

SpaceX is planning on providing global internet coverage by September, via its Starlink satellite constellation.

Starlink is a satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit, providing faster speeds and better latency than traditional satellite internet. The service has been rolling out in various markets as SpaceX has continued to launch its satellites into orbit.

The company is now targeting September as the point when it will have global coverage, according to Reuters.

“We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage, so that should be like September timeframe,” president Gwynne Shotwell told a Macquarie Group conference.

Starlink has already transformed the internet experience for many individuals in rural and underserved areas. Global coverage by September is good news for those who still struggle to have reliable internet access.

Starlink Targeting September for Global Coverage
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Canonical and Blender Partner to Provide Support Options

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Canonical and Blender Partner to Provide Support Options

Blender has partnered with Canonical to provide enterprise-grade support to Blender users.

Blender is an open source 3D animation tool that has been used in the film, TV, tech and science community for years. As an open source platform, however, Blender hasn’t always had the support options its commercial competitors can boast.

That has changed, with Canonical providing enterprise-grade support. Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions. The company also provides support for other open source applications.

“It’s a privilege to support Blender and the fantastic work of this remarkable community, its founders and leaders. Today’s announcement strengthens Blender with full-service Canonical support and long term security maintenance, and delivers the level of assurance that professional Blender content creators need, in partnership with the Blender Foundation” said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical.

“The way Canonical structured this service with us is exemplary for the open-source movement,” said Blender Foundation’s Chairman Ton Roosendaal. “I believe it will set a new standard for how independent, free groups of makers who truly care for their product and users participate in the market and shape the future of the industry.”

Canonical and Blender Partner to Provide Support Options
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Immutable will launch Ethereum token for Gods Unchained

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Immutable said today that the Gods Unchained blockchain card game will launch a new Ethereum token dubbed $GODS.Read More

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AI Used to Restore Rembrandt’s The Night Watch

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AI Used to Restore Rembrandt’s The Night Watch

Artificial intelligence has crossed another milestone, being used to restore Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Night Watch.

The Night Watch was created in 1642, but was trimmed on all four sides in 1715. Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has used AI to restore the missing pieces, using an early copy as the source, according to BBC News.

“The Night Watch as it is displayed in the Rijksmuseum is etched into our collective memory. Thanks to this reconstruction, we can now see that the composition as it was painted by Rembrandt was even more dynamic,” Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits said.

“It is wonderful to be able to now see with our own eyes The Night Watch as Rembrandt intended it to be seen.”

The project is yet another example of the transformative effect AI can have on a wide range of industries.

AI Used to Restore Rembrandt’s The Night Watch
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Teamsters May Set Their Sights on Amazon

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Teamsters May Set Their Sights on Amazon

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters may take on Amazon at a time when the company is aggressively combating unionization efforts.

The Teamsters are the most well-known union in the US, with a long and storied history. The group also boasts some 1.4 million delivery drivers, putting it on a collision course with Amazon.

Amazon has drawn significant criticism in recent years for its treatment of its workers, including delivery drivers. As recently as February, the company settled with the FTC for some $62 million dollars over its practice of illegally withholding tips from its drivers.

The company has aggressively fought unionization efforts by its employees, however, successfully defeating an effort by warehouse workers in Alabama. The Teamsters have already come out swinging against the e-commerce giant, urging the House Judiciary to pass antitrust legislation that would target Amazon.

On Thursday, the union will vote on whether to make unionizing Amazon drivers its top priority, according to The Seattle Times.

“There is no clearer example of how America is failing the working class than Amazon,” says the resolution that will be voted on.

Teamsters May Set Their Sights on Amazon
Matt Milano

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John McAfee Commits Suicide in Jail Awaiting Extradition

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John McAfee Commits Suicide in Jail Awaiting Extradition

John McAfee, founder of McAfee Corp, was found dead in a Barcelona jail cell by apparent suicide as he awaited extradition to the US over tax evasion charges.

McAfee was one of the pioneers of the early tech industry and founded McAfee Associates, which later became known as McAfee Corp. The company was an early leader in antivirus software and continues to make security software and products.

In recent years, McAfee developed a rather colorful reputation, twice running for US President as a Libertarian. He lived in Guatemala for a time, before being deported back to the US. He had numerous run-ins with legal authorities since at least 2012, was a “person of interest” in the murder of his neighbor in Belize and was ultimately arrested in Spain on US tax evasion charges in late 2020.

On Tuesday, June 22, the Spanish High Court approved McAfee’s extradition to the US. He was found dead in his cell by apparent suicide on Wednesday, June 23, according to Spanish publications El Pais, via Business Insider.

John McAfee Commits Suicide in Jail Awaiting Extradition
Matt Milano

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Wedbush Raises Microsoft Price Target After $2 Trillion Market Cap

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Wedbush Raises Microsoft Price Target After $2 Trillion Market Cap

Wedbush Securities has raised Microsoft’s target price from $310 to $325 after the company became the third to cross the $2 trillion mark.

Microsoft made headlines yesterday when it became only the third company to have a market capitalization of $2 trillion, behind Saudi Aramco and Apple. The company has been firing on all cylinders in recent years, thanks to the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella.

Wedbush has been bullish on Microsoft for some time, largely on the strength of its cloud platform. The firm is once again raising its price arget following yesterday’s news, from $310 to $325 per share.

“While many tech stocks overall are all being lumped together as part of the WFH trade, we believe the growth story at Microsoft is not slowing down as more enterprises/governments head down this cloud path over the coming years,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote, via TheStreet.

TheStreet’s Jim Cramer echoed those sentiments, believing Microsoft’s shares are still undervalued. He said the company “has moved up on a delayed action to its great quarter. It remains inexpensive despite its historic growth rate and its consistency. And do I care that [CEO Satya Nadella] was named chairman? Hey, listen, we have stocks that go up like that, naming guys chairman every day of the week.”

Wedbush Raises Microsoft Price Target After $2 Trillion Market Cap
Matt Milano

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Linux Foundation Tackles Data Collaboration With Permissive License

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Linux Foundation Tackles Data Collaboration With Permissive License

The Linux Foundation has announced the CDLA-Permissive-2.0 license agreement to make it easier to share AI and ML data.

The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning have created a need for a new type of license that allows data sets and learning models to be shared, as well as incorporated into AI and ML applications.

The Linux Foundation described the challenges in a blog post:

Open data is different. Various laws and regulations treat data differently from software or other creative content. Depending on what the data is and which country’s laws you’re looking at, the data often may not be subject to copyright protection, or it might be subject to different laws specific to databases, i.e., sui generis database rights in the European Union. 

Additionally, data may be consumed, transformed, and incorporated into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models in ways that are different from how software and other creative content are used. Because of all of this, assumptions made in commonly-used licenses for software and creative content might not apply in expected ways to open data.

While the Linux Foundation previously offered the CDLA-Permissive-1.0 license, it was often criticized for being too long and complex. In contrast, 2.0 is less than a page long and is greatly simplified over its predecessor.

In response to perceptions of CDLA-Permissive-1.0 as overly complex, CDLA-Permissive-2.0 is short and uses plain language to express the grant of permissions and requirements. Like version 1.0, the version 2.0 agreement maintains the clear rights to use, share and modify the data, as well as to use without restriction any “Results” generated through computational analysis of the data.

A key element of the new license is the ability to collaborate and maintain compatibility with other licenses, such as Creative Commons licenses. The addition of CDLA-Permissive-2.0 is already being met with acclaim from the industry, with both IBM and Microsoft making data sets available using the language.

“IBM has been at the forefront of innovation in open data sets for some time and as a founding member of the Community Data License Agreement. We have created a rich collection of open data sets on our Data Asset eXchange that will now utilize the new CDLAv2, including the recent addition of CodeNet – a 14-million-sample dataset to develop machine learning models that can help in programming tasks.” Ruchir Puri, IBM Fellow, Chief Scientist, IBM Research

Linux Foundation Tackles Data Collaboration With Permissive License
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YouTube Wins Major EU Copyright Ruling

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YouTube Wins Major EU Copyright Ruling

YouTube has won a major copyright ruling in the EU, one that will have far-reaching impacts on internet platforms.

The issue revolved around whether YouTube and other internet platforms are legally responsible when their users post copyright content. The EU has been working on copyright reform and Article 17, specifically, would have required online platforms to proactively block copyrighted content.

The European Court of Justice’s latest ruling, however, keeps things largely the same, with platforms not responsible for what their users post…with one caveat. Platforms will need to promptly remove copyrighted content and block it once it becomes aware of it.

“As currently stands, operators of online platforms do not, in principle, themselves make a communication to the public of copyright-protected content illegally posted online by users of those platforms,” the EU Court of Justice said, according to Variety.

YouTube Wins Major EU Copyright Ruling
Matt Milano

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Amazon Touts Best Two-Day Prime Day Sales Period for Third-Parties

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Amazon Touts Best Two-Day Prime Day Sales Period for Third-Parties

Amazon is touting its most recent Prime Day as the “two biggest days ever for small & medium-sized businesses.”

Prime Day is the company’s answer to Black Friday, a sales event where prices are slashed and deals abound. The company says this year’s Prime Day was the best two-day period for its third-party sellers.

The company says customers spend more than $1.9 billion on some 70 million small business products, representing more than a 100% increase from the previous year.

“A huge thank you to all of the Amazon teams who made this Prime Day possible for members worldwide and to Prime members who supported small businesses in big ways,” said Dave Clark, CEO of Worldwide Consumer. “Prime members are an important part of our Amazon family, and we love to celebrate them during Prime Day with incredible deals and entertainment, including this year’s Prime Day Show.”

Some of the most popular categories were tools, electronics, beauty, nutrition, baby care, household products and apparel.

Amazon Touts Best Two-Day Prime Day Sales Period for Third-Parties
Matt Milano

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Google Unveils Tool to Help Employees Decide Where to Work From

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Google Unveils Tool to Help Employees Decide Where to Work From

Google has unveiled a new tool designed to help employees decide where to work from and how it will affect their pay.

Like many companies, Google is trying to find the right balance between returning to the office and working with employees that have grown accustomed to working remotely. Earlier this year, CEO Sundar Pichai outlined the company’s strategy:

Taken together these changes will result in a workforce where around 60% of Googlers are coming together in the office a few days a week, another 20% are working in new office locations, and 20% are working from home.

Different offices will not result in equal pay, however, as pay will be dependent on the region an employee is working in. The company has now released Work Location Tool for its employees, to help them clearly understand exactly how a proposed move will impact their pay, according to CNET.

“With our new hybrid workplace, more employees are considering where they live and how they work,” Google’s spokeswoman said in a statement. “To better equip people with the information they need to explore their options, we’ve built a tool that will allow all employees to request to move to a new location, or go remote.”

Google Unveils Tool to Help Employees Decide Where to Work From
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FTC Scrutinizing Amazon’s MGM Acquisition

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FTC Scrutinizing Amazon’s MGM Acquisition

The Federal Trade Commission is planning to review Amazon’s acquisition of MGM at a time when Big Tech is facing increased scrutiny.

Amazon announced in May it was purchasing MGM for $8.45 billion. MGM had reportedly been looking for a buyer for some time, and Amazon was a natural fit as it looks to expand its Prime Video content catalog.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the FTC is planning on reviewing the decision, amid antitrust concerns and a wider scrutiny of the increasing power and influence the tech industry wields. The decision also comes immediately after the appointment of Lina Khan as FTC Chairwoman. Khan made a name as an antitrust critic, in large part for her criticism of Amazon.

MGM is no longer one of the larger Hollywood studios, so that is certainly in the Amazon’s favor. Nonetheless, given the power Amazon already wields — not to mention the success of its Prime Video platform — buying MGM may be a bridge too far for regulators.

FTC Scrutinizing Amazon’s MGM Acquisition
Matt Milano

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Microsoft Joins Exclusive $2 Trillion Club

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Microsoft Joins Exclusive $2 Trillion Club

Microsoft has become just the third company in the world to cross $2 trillion valuation.

Only a few companies have crossed the $1 trillion threshold, including PetroChina, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco and Alphabet. Of those companies, only Saudi Aramco and Apple had previously crossed $2 trillion.

Microsoft now joins the $2 trillion dollar club, becoming only the third company to do so. Much of the company’s success is as a result of Satya Nadella’s leadership. Under Nadella, Microsoft has shifted its focus to the cloud, becoming the second-largest cloud platform.

Nadella has also lead Microsoft toward becoming a better team player in the larger tech industry. The company was once known for brutal competitiveness, squashing threats with a vengeance and using its dominance on the desktop to do so. Such behavior landed the company in hot water with the government, leading to the landmark antitrust trial of the early 2000s.

In recent times, the company has stopped focusing so much on protecting its own desktop OS and, instead, has pivoted to making its software and services available on a wide array of platforms. The company has also embraced open source software, and is a major contributor to a number of important projects.

All of this has lead the company to new heights, while also helping it avoid much of the antitrust scrutiny its rivals are currently under. If there was any doubt about the direction Nadella has led the company, crossing this most recent threshold is a major validation of his leadership.

Microsoft Joins Exclusive $2 Trillion Club
Matt Milano

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Finding the Hidden Threat

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Finding the Hidden Threat

Have you ever scrolled through Facebook and seen the provocative polls about what your favorite color is or perhaps a memory that reminds you of your mother?  You might have even been tempted to share your take on these questions to see how they compare to other people’s.  Now what if you knew that that answer was being catalogued by someone who was primed to figure out who you were so that they could steal your identity. Finding the hidden threat is key.

This is hard to hear and often we try to push these sorts of things from our head but it is more important now than ever to really understand the consequences of “oversharing” online.  While not every online situation is as extreme as the one described above, this is a very real example of data management that can stop you from being the target of a cyberattack. 

It is one of the unfortunate downsides of our virtual world, that we have to constantly worry about what information is out there.  And it is also true that there we should not stress ourselves out and shy away from living a social life online.  However, we must find a balance between safety and society in order to ensure that we keep what we want private. 

This is even an issue for companies. Recently, social media has become a powerful tool for companies to take advantage of for marketing and customer service.  However, it opens up a large hole for cyberattacks to walk through.  Cyber attacks can cost business over 4.4 million per attack so finding a balance between useful and secure is highly important. 

While it would be lovely to say that this balance is very easy to find and maintain, that would simply be a lie.  Over 97% of people cannot identify a phishing email.  This raises concerns for businesses, especially large ones.  If 97% of employees can fall victim to phishing attempts, this means that over 97% of the business can open up the company to potentially catastrophic cyber attacks. 

This is something that cyber criminals know and abuse, and it is also why cyber attacks have risen dramatically over the past year.  One of the hardest hit sectors has been the healthcare industry.  With an almost 50% increase in documented cyber attacks from 2020 alone, businesses have begun to recognize that their current protocol is less than satisfactory. 

Knowing this, there have been several attempts to identify cyber threats over the past year. While the origins of cyber attacks can be hard to define, they can be easy to protect yourself if you follow some simple rules.  Knowing your data is extremely important. If you know where everything is you can easily protect and strengthen attacks against it.  There is also software designed to help protect you and your data. 

Like everything in life, all good things are equally balanced out with challenges.  If you are cautious, you can enjoy all the benefits of the online world without any harmful effects.

“Most organizations do not have the security tools or more importantly the human expertise required to stop these attacks. Hackers are humans and must be stopped by humans.”
— Lyndon Brown, Chief Strategy Officer, Pondurance

Find the hidden threat before it’s too late – learn more in the infographic below:

Finding the Hidden Threat
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Brave Search Enters Public Beta

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Brave Search Enters Public Beta

Brave has opened its search engine beta to the world, following an invite-only early access.

Brave made headlines in March when the company announced it was working on its own search engine. Brave has made a name for itself as a privacy-focused company, with its namesake browser consistently winning rave reviews for protecting user privacy.

Needless to say, the company entering the search market could result in a major shakeup of the industry, especially with Brave’s clout and reputation. What makes its entry into the market so interesting is that it purchased Tailcat, an open search engine, to serve as the basis of Brave Search. Most competitors compile results from the top, existing search engines. DuckDuckGo uses this strategy, compiling results from hundreds of sources, in addition to results from its own web crawler.

By using its own web index, Brave Search’s results are independent of the other, Big Tech companies. This puts Brave in the unique position of having one of the only truly independent search engines on the market.

The search engine, while still in beta, is now available to anyone who wants to use it. The company sent an email to early testers today, informing them the beta was now open to the public.

Brave Search Email

As one of the early beta testers, I have been using Brave for weeks now and the results have been impressive. Compared to Bing or Google, Brave’s results are easily as comprehensive, although it sometimes offers even better prioritization of those results, in terms of relevance.

Add in a focus on privacy that is second to none, and I plan to continue using the search engine on a regular basis, and probably as my default — and you should too if you value your privacy.

Give Brave Search at search.brave.com.

Brave Search Enters Public Beta
Matt Milano

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Breakroom teams up with High Fidelity to bring 3D audio to online meetings

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Social meeting space Breakroom has integrated High Fidelity's 3D audio into its virtual world for social and business events.Read More

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EU Investigating Google’s Ad Business

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EU Investigating Google’s Ad Business

On the heels of reports the EU was preparing to investigate Google’s ad business, the EU Commission has opened a formal investigation.

Google has been facing investigations, antitrust inquiries and lawsuits with increasing frequency. The company recently settled with the French Competition Authority over how it operates its ad platform, and committed to making significant changes.

The EU is now opening an even broader investigation, aimed at determining whether Google has used its position to favor its own ad tech services over competitors.

“Online advertising services are at the heart of how Google and publishers monetise their online services,” Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said. “Google collects data to be used for targeted advertising purposes, it sells advertising space and also acts as an online advertising intermediary. So Google is present at almost all levels of the supply chain for online display advertising. We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete in the so-called ad tech stack. A level playing field is of the essence for everyone in the supply chain. Fair competition is important – both for advertisers to reach consumers on publishers’ sites and for publishers to sell their space to advertisers, to generate revenues and funding for content. We will also be looking at Google’s policies on user tracking to make sure they are in line with fair competition.“

The EU’s investigation could be one of the biggest challenges the company faces, and could have profound repercussions for how it conducts its ad business. The fact that Google recently settled the French investigation, and did not dispute the facts of the case, may make it harder for the company to get ahead of the EU’s investigation.

EU Investigating Google’s Ad Business
Matt Milano

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NVIDIA’s LaunchPad and Fleet Command Further ‘Democratizing AI’

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NVIDIA’s LaunchPad and Fleet Command Further ‘Democratizing AI’

NVIDIA has announced LaunchPad and Fleet Command, two programs designed to help companies deploy and manage AI applications.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the most critical technologies of the future, yet it continues to be misunderstood and mismanaged. In fact, a recent report indicated a staggering 65% of companies did not understand how the AI they were using is utilized, or how it makes the decisions they rely on it for.

NVIDIA hopes to change that with LaunchPad and Fleet Command. Launch Pad is designed to give companies access to NVIDIA-powered software and resources to jump-start their AI development.

“Today’s enterprises are looking for a simple, comprehensive solution that provides instant access to the resources they need to build and deploy AI with ease,” said Manuvir Das, head of Enterprise Computing at NVIDIA. “NVIDIA AI LaunchPad puts AI at the fingertips of enterprises everywhere with fully automated, hybrid-cloud infrastructure and software for every stage of the AI lifecycle.”

Fleet Command goes even further, making it easier to securely deploy, manage and scale a company’s AI.

“The ability to deploy and manage AI applications at the edge is one of the most complex problems facing businesses as they move toward an Internet of Things era, including smart factories, intelligent retail and smart cities,” said Das. “NVIDIA Fleet Command drives efficiency across a business, helping scale edge AI with unprecedented speed.”

NVIDIA is already a leader in the AI field, thanks to its powerful semiconductors. With LaunchPad and Fleet Command, the company is adding to that leadership by providing what companies need to effectively utilize AI.

NVIDIA’s LaunchPad and Fleet Command Further ‘Democratizing AI’
Matt Milano

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Volocopter Demos Eletric Air Taxi at Paris Air Forum

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Volocopter Demos Eletric Air Taxi at Paris Air Forum

Volocopter has demoed its electric air taxi at the Paris Air Forum, vowing to bring air taxi services to market in time for the 2024 Olympics.

Companies around the world are racing to make air taxies a reality. The technology promises to help speed up commutes, reduce city congestion and revolutionize the transportation industry.

Volocopter is one step closer to bringing its own taxi service to martlet, following a successful demonstration. The company is committed to bringing a full-fledged service to the region in time for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The service will likely see major success with the influx of tourists and Olympic-goers looking to experience everything possible.

“The first flight today in Paris highlights Volocopter’s commitment to bring air taxi services to this region in time for the 2024 Olympic Games,” said Florian Reuter, Volocopter CEO. “The alliance of the Paris region, Groupe ADP, and RATP Groupe and their intent to bring electric air taxis to France is a stellar example of the collaborative approach we see to be the most successful for adding this exciting category of mobility to cities globally.”

“Today, we were as close as never before in France to experience electric aviation,” said Edward Arkwright, Deputy CEO, Groupe ADP. “Volocopter is a vivid example of what the futures of aviation could look like, both carbon-free and innovative, that Groupe ADP wants to accompany thanks to our infrastructure assets, expertise, and know-how. Along with the other partners of the RE.Invent Air Mobility initiative, Volocopter is now ready to enter a first test flight campaign by September on the Pontoise airfield sandbox we have been building up in the past months. And we are thrilled to be partnering with them, RATP Group and DGAC towards our objective of flight demonstrations in the Paris Region during the 2024 Olympic Games, to lay the foundation of a strong UAM industrial ecosystem in France.”

“After having responded as the first player in the urban air mobility industry, in the context of the call for expressions of interest, we are very pleased that Volocopter has confirmed its development and its establishment in France,” Marie-Claude Dupois, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Development of RATP Group. “For RATP Group, this new mobility aims to complement our traditional transport modes.”

Volocopter Demos Eletric Air Taxi at Paris Air Forum
Matt Milano

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