Threads Is Testing Keyword Search

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Threads Is Testing Keyword Search

Meta’s Threads platform is expanding its search capabilities, testing keyword search in some markets.

Threads has had the ability to search for accounts, but nothing more. According to a post by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, Threads is now testing keyword search:

Excited to test keyword search in Australia and New Zealand starting today. The plan is to roll it out in other English-speaking countries soon after that, and we’re working to add more languages ASAP. If you’re part of the test, try it out and let us know your feedback

Adam Mosseri (mosseri) — August 31, 2023

Meta has been rapidly adding new features to Threads, building out the app to better compete with Twitter. Keyword search is an important step in that direction, and will help make the platform more useful.

Threads Is Testing Keyword Search
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Google’s AI Search Is Getting Improved Source Citation

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Google’s AI Search Is Getting Improved Source Citation

Google is remedying one of the biggest complaints with generative AI models, adding improved source citation to its AI-powered search.

As ChatGPT, Bing AI, and Bard AI hit the market, one of the big complaints was the lack of citation. The AIs would present “facts” rather authoritatively, but provide little to no information about where those facts came from. In some cases, they were completely made up.

According to a company blog post, Google is working to improve this with its Search Generative Experience (SGE):

This generative AI experience helps people explore a range of perspectives and serves as a jumping-off point to explore web content. We recently shared that we were experimenting with even easier ways for people to discover and visit the web pages that back up the information in AI-powered overviews. During testing, we’ve learned that people find it easier and more understandable when access to these links is presented within the overview itself.

So starting today, when you see an arrow icon next to information in an AI-powered overview, you can click to see relevant web pages, and easily learn more by visiting the sites. This is launching first in the U.S. and will roll out to Japan and India over the coming weeks.

The new feature is a welcome development and one that will improve the usefulness and utility of AI-powered search.

Google’s AI Search Is Getting Improved Source Citation
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Microsoft Announces ‘Proactive Changes’ to Stave Off EU Antitrust Concerns

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Microsoft Announces ‘Proactive Changes’ to Stave Off EU Antitrust Concerns

Microsoft is making “proactive changes” to how it offers Teams in an effort to prevent further EU antitrust measures.

The EU has been scrutinizing Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Microsoft 365 and Office 365, following complaints by Slack that the Microsoft’s tactics give it an unfair advantage. The EU announced a formal investigation in late July, prompting Microsoft’s most recent changes.

Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President, Microsoft European Government Affairs, announced the changes in a blog post:

Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission’s investigation continues and we cooperate with it. These changes will impact our Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites for business customers in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. They are designed to address two concerns that are central to the Commission’s investigation: (1) that customers should be able to choose a business suite without Teams at a price less than those with Teams included; and (2) that we should do more to make interoperability easier between rival communication and collaboration solutions and Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites.

Before offering more details, let me provide some added context. We believe that business customers in Europe and around the world expect a modern work solution to include modern communication and collaboration capabilities. That’s why, for more than a decade, we have included these capabilities in our business suites, starting with Office Communicator in 2007 and evolving and innovating over the years through Lync, Skype for Business Online, and most recently Microsoft Teams.

At the same time, we recognize our responsibility as a major technology provider to support a healthy competitive environment. We appreciate the clarity that has emerged on several of the concerns from extensive and constructive discussions with the European Commission. With the benefit of this clarity, we believe it is important that we start to take meaningful steps to address those concerns. We do this not with the sense that this will necessarily resolve all concerns, whether from the Commission or our competitors, but we believe this is a constructive step that can start to lead to immediate and meaningful changes in the market.

Moving forward, Microsoft will unbundle Teams effective October 1, 2023. The company will also work to improve interoperability between Microsoft 365/Office 365 and other platforms. Finally, the company will make it possible for companies to host Office web apps on competing platforms.

Only time will tell if these measures will be enough to stave off further EU action.

Microsoft Announces ‘Proactive Changes’ to Stave Off EU Antitrust Concerns
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X Wants to Collect Your Biometrics, Job, and School History

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X Wants to Collect Your Biometrics, Job, and School History

X is about to become far more privacy-invasive, with plans to collect users’ biometric data, as well as their job and education history.

Elon Musk has made clear his plans to make X an ‘everything app.’ It appears part of that plan involves vacuuming up as much data as possible — a terrifying prospect for a company that has had as many breaches as X.

First spotted by Bloomberg, X’s privacy policy has been updated to include sections for the new data X wants to collect:

Biometric Information. Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes.

Job Applications / Recommendations. We may collect and use your personal information (such as your employment history, educational history, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on) to recommend potential jobs for you, to share with potential employers when you apply for a job, to enable employers to find potential candidates, and to show you more relevant advertising.

This latest move is yet another that makes alternatives to X look more and more appealing.

X Wants to Collect Your Biometrics, Job, and School History
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FCC Rejects ISP Objections to Broadband Consumer Labels

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FCC Rejects ISP Objections to Broadband Consumer Labels

The Federal Trade Commission rejected ISP objections to broadband labels clearly informing customers of the cost of various plans.

The FCC voted in favor of broadband labels in January 2022, taking inspiration from food nutrition labels that are on virtually all food items sold in the US. Some ISPs objected, saying the labels would be a “burden” and add “unnecessary complexity.”

The FCC has weighed in, rejecting objections to the proposed label and announcing it will move forward with adoption of the labeling requirement.

Following the adoption of the Broadband Label Order, several petitions were filed asking the Commission to clarify and/or reconsider certain label requirements. Today’s Order on Reconsideration largely affirms the rules adopted in the Report and Order while making some revisions and clarifications such as modifying provider record-keeping requirements when directing consumers to a label on an alternative sales channel and confirming that providers may state “taxes included” when their price already incorporates taxes.

“Every consumer needs transparent information when making decisions about what internet service offering makes the most sense for their family or household. No one wants to be hit with charges they didn’t ask for or they did not expect. That’s why Broadband Consumer Labels are so important,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The announcement is a big win for consumers.

FCC Rejects ISP Objections to Broadband Consumer Labels
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Muse Software’s Entire Team, Save One, Is Departing the Company

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Muse Software’s Entire Team, Save One, Is Departing the Company

Muse Software’s team members have announced they are leaving the company after failing to turn it into a sustainable business.

Muse is a popular app for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone that offers “flexible boards for notetaking, whiteboarding, and connecting the dots.” The app is quite popular, averaging 4.7 stars in App Store reviews.

Despite its popularity, the team says it has not succeeded in turning Muse into a sustainable business, as detailed by the company’s Adam Wiggins:

Today we’re sharing some difficult news: despite all of the above, we did not manage to make Muse into a sustainable business. Therefore I and most of the team are departing. My longtime colleague Adam Wulf will continue to develop Muse as a solo entrepreneur.

Wulf, one of the engineers working on Muse, went on to emphasize his commitment to the project:

While today brings big changes, I want to reassure you that this is a new chapter in the same book. Muse is here to stay and is focused on you.

…

A bit more about me: I’ve been a software engineer with Muse for 3 years, and have worked on every aspect of the product. I’m also an entrepreneur, starting and selling my first company shortly after college. I’m most at home building well-crafted, purposeful, productivity software. In every place that I’ve worked, it’s the customers and community that make the work rewarding. Muse holds a very special place in my heart, and I’m committed to making Muse the best place for unstructured thinking.

The announcement is certainly concerning for Muse users, but hopefully Wulf is able to keep the project going, delivering what the Muse community loves about the app.

Muse Software’s Entire Team, Save One, Is Departing the Company
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Visa and Mastercard Are Raising Their Fees

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Visa and Mastercard Are Raising Their Fees

Merchants are preparing for increased credit card fees, with both Visa and Mastercard getting ready to raise their fees.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the two firms are preparing to raise the fees they charge in October and April. Citing research from CMSPI, the Journal says the new fees could cost merchants an additional $502 million annually.

Needless to say, given the state of the economy and rampant inflation, critics are decrying the decision as poorly timed.

“It’s just a bad combination and bad timing for any of these fee increases to happen,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Visa and Mastercard Are Raising Their Fees
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Google Chat Is Getting Slack and Teams Interoperability

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Google Chat Is Getting Slack and Teams Interoperability

Google is making good on its promise to embrace interoperability in its messaging platforms by making Google Chat work with Slack and Microsoft Teams.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act paves the way for forcing companies to make their services interoperable with those of rivals. Google has been quick to jump on board. The company recently embraced Messaging Layer Security (MLS) for cross-platform message encryption.

The search giant is going a step further by adopting Mio to enable messaging interoperability between Google Chat and competing services, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams.

The company made the announcement in a blog post:

If your organization uses a mixture of messaging tools, you can now use Mio to enable messaging interoperability between Google Chat and other platforms such as Slack and Teams. This is available now in beta, with general availability expected in early 2024.

We know that communication and collaboration happens over multiple channels and tools. This can cause missed messages, silos of communication, and a frustrating experience monitoring multiple chat tools.

That’s why we’re partnering with Mio, a leading provider of collaborative interoperability solutions helping customers enhance their productivity by streamlining communication across multiple channels. You can leverage Mio to create a seamless experience between Chat and the various tools you need to get your work done.

The feature will require Mio licenses. Interested parties can follow this link to request beta access.

Google Chat Is Getting Slack and Teams Interoperability
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Latest Trends in Cloud Computing

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Latest Trends in Cloud Computing

With modern technologies like the cloud, news around them can move so fast that it’s difficult to really keep track of what’s going on. To those who are deeply invested in such news or those who might be interested in what such developments mean for their business, it’s easier to be incentivized to keep up. However, even then, having a general idea of what’s going on with the cloud right now can help. Running your eyes over the latest trends in cloud computing can let you know where you are and help you focus on your next goal.

AI-Powered Technology

It’s difficult to talk about current technological trends without mentioning artificial intelligence in one form or another. Cloud computing is no exception, and with its malleability and flexibility, it’s no surprise that these technologies have some form of overlap. With the cloud often aiming to provide users the most efficient experience possible, incorporating machine learning into that process simply allows for an even more efficient system, especially when big names like Amazon and Google have their own AI infrastructure to apply to their cloud systems. This could potentially be something that bolsters cloud technology even further, only making it more appealing to businesses.

Safety and Security

One of the biggest draws of the cloud for businesses has always been the prospect of security. It’s much harder to lose your data and information when it’s backed up in the cloud. With the cloud providing more opportunities than ever before, this has meant that more and more businesses have begun to incorporate it into their operations to some degree. Naturally, this has made these businesses targets of malicious online threats, and that means that making cloud services more secure than ever before has been on the minds of providers. 

In order to thrive in as many different industries and areas as cloud computing finds itself, it needs to be something that’s thought of as reliable. Various cloud data protection review pages go into greater detail about what this specifically means when it comes to topics like data protection, but when the cloud is reaching mass consumerism through avenues like gaming, it needs to be a method that is able to offer consistent security.

The Next Step for Streaming Services

As mentioned, cloud gaming is undoubtedly becoming more popular. Sony’s upcoming release of a handheld cloud gaming device in the form of Project Q highlights this. What’s arguably more interesting, however, is how streaming services like Netflix are approaching gaming. Platforms that are known for streaming are branching out into cloud gaming, and it seems like a natural fit for them that people are excited for. While it’s still a move that’s in its early days, it looks to be the direction that Netflix is going in. With streaming platforms readily accessible through consoles already, it’s yet to be seen whether this will fare better here or through technology like smart TVs, therefore bringing gaming to households that might not have other ways of accessing it on the same level.

Latest Trends in Cloud Computing
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Google Kills Pixel Pass Subscriptions

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Google Kills Pixel Pass Subscriptions

Google has killed its Pixel Pass subscription, the service that bundled a new Pixel phone with Google’s premium service.

Google unveiled Pixel Pass in late October, coinciding with the Pixel 6 release. The service was seen as Google’s competitor to Apple’s Apple One plan. Less than two years later, Pixel Pass joins the long list of services Google has axed.

The company announced the change in a support page:

Beginning August 29, 2023, Pixel Pass is no longer offered for new Pixel purchases or renewal.

The company says it made the decision based on evaluation and feedback from users:

We offer the best value of our hardware products and give users the flexibility to purchase their favorite services. We continue to evaluate offers based on customer feedback and provide different ways for them to access the best of Google.

Existing customers have two years from the date of their subscription, after which they will not be able to get a new phone with Pixel Pass.

Google Kills Pixel Pass Subscriptions
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Apple Secures TSMC’s Entire 2023 Supply of 3nm Chips

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Apple Secures TSMC’s Entire 2023 Supply of 3nm Chips

Apple will have a major advantage in the race to deliver devices powered by 3nm chips, with the iPhone maker buying TSMC’s entire 2023 supply.

TSMC manufactures Apple’s custom chips used in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. As the world’s most advanced semiconductor maker, TSMC has been manufacturing next-gen 3nm chips.

According to DigiTimes, via MacRumors, Apple is now expected to buy up 100% of TSMC’s 3nm production, up from an estimated 90% in May.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 Pro, as well as M3 Macs and iPads are all expected to use the 3nm chips.

Apple Secures TSMC’s Entire 2023 Supply of 3nm Chips
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Google Cloud Is Reaping the Benefits of the Cloud AI Startup Race

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Google Cloud Is Reaping the Benefits of the Cloud AI Startup Race

Google Cloud is benefiting greatly from the generative AI startup race, with the company saying half of startups use its platform.

Google Cloud is one of the lead cloud providers, but that doesn’t keep the company from experiencing the same turnover as every other Big Tech firm as employees venture out on their own to start their own companies. With generative AI being the hottest game in town, many of the Googlers leaving are doing so to start AI companies.

Despite losing talent, it’s not all bad news for Google, with many of the resulting startups using Google Cloud. In fact, according to Bloomberg, more than half of venture-backed generative AI startups ultimately end up using Google Cloud, and that figure goes up to 70% for startups worth more than $1 billion.

“We’re seeing strong momentum in our business, and we see Google Cloud as the preferred choice for startups building generative AI,” James Lee, Google Cloud’s general manager for startups and AI, said in an interview.

A significant factor in Google’s success is the company’s own history in the AI field, which helps the company relate to startups and puts it in a position to meet their needs.

Although Google Cloud is currently the third-largest cloud provider, if it continues to benefit from the AI field, it could help the company make moves in the industry.

Google Cloud Is Reaping the Benefits of the Cloud AI Startup Race
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Google Duet AI Is About to Make Virtual Meetings Much Easier

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Google Duet AI Is About to Make Virtual Meetings Much Easier

Google has announced the availability of Duet AI for Google Workspace, with a focus on improving the quality of virtual meetings.

Google is clearly leveraging AI in an effort to add quality of life improvements to Workspace. One of the features Google is touting is the ability to use Duet AI to gather and create reports.

Aparna Pappu, Google Workspace GM and Vice President, described how the feature will work:

Imagine you’re a financial analyst and you get an email at 5 PM from your boss asking for a presentation on Q3 performance by 8 AM tomorrow — we’ve all been there. Instead of scrambling through forecasts in Sheets, P&L Docs, Monthly Business Review Slides, and reading emails from the regional sales leads, you’ll soon be able to simply ask Duet AI to do the heavy lifting with a prompt like “create a summary of Q3 performance.” Duet AI can create a whole new presentation, complete with text, charts, and images, based on your relevant content in Drive and Gmail. A last-minute request that once called for an all-nighter, can now be completed before dinner time.

Duet AI will also improve the quality of meetings by providing studio quality sound and video:

We’re putting Duet AI in Google Meet to help ensure you look and sound your best with studio look, studio lighting, and studio sound. And because sometimes it’s hard for remote participants to see everyone in the conference room, or their colleagues appear far away and out of focus, we’re rolling out dynamic tiles and face detection that give attendees in a meeting room their own video tile with their name. We’re also launching automatic translated captions for 18 languages; Meet will automatically detect when another language is spoken and display the translation in real time.

Similarly, Duet AI will make it easier for a meeting organizer to keep track of the meeting and send out notes to any who missed:

And to help you better engage during meetings, we’re removing the burden of note-taking and sending out recaps. Duet AI can capture notes, action items, and video snippets in real time with the new “take notes for me” feature and it will send a summary to attendees after the meeting. It can even help get latecomers up to speed with “summary so far,” which gives a quick snapshot of everything they’ve missed. But what if you can’t make the meeting and have some input to share? With “attend for me” Duet AI will be able to join the meeting on your behalf, delivering your message and ensuring you get the recap.

Overall, Duet AI looks to significantly improve the virtual meeting and Google Workspace experience.

Google Duet AI Is About to Make Virtual Meetings Much Easier
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WhatsApp Releases New Mac App With Group Calling

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WhatsApp Releases New Mac App With Group Calling

WhatsApp has released a new Mac app, adding group calling and several quality of life improvements.

WhatsApp released a new version of the app for Windows earlier this year, bringing improved calling and better performance. The company has now released the macOS version, bringing the same benefits to Mac users.

The company made the announcement in a blog post:

With the new WhatsApp app for Mac, you can now make group calls from your Mac for the first time, connecting with up to 8 people on video calls and up to 32 people on audio calls. Now you can join a group call after it’s started, see your call history and choose to receive incoming call notifications even when the app is closed.

The app is redesigned to be familiar to Mac users, helping you get more done faster when using WhatsApp on a large screen. You can now share files by easily dragging and dropping into a chat, and can view more of your chat history.

Users can download the app from WhatsApp.com, and it will be in the App Store soon.

WhatsApp Releases New Mac App With Group Calling
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Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar Doubles Down on Remote Work

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Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar Doubles Down on Remote Work

Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar continues to buck the trend among his fellow CEOs, doubling down on remote work and shunning the office.

Tech CEOs have increasingly been pushing their employees to return to the office despite a lack of data showing tangible benefits and in the face of studies proving that return-to-office (RTO) mandates have been a disaster. In that environment, Farquhar has remained a steadfast proponent of remote work, touting the benefits it brings. In fact, he’s such a believer in remote work that he rarely goes into the office himself.

“I work from home all the time,” Farquhar told Australia’s 60 Minutes, via Business Insider. “I might come into the office about once a quarter.”

“I still work really hard and I work with the teams who are around the world and Australia,” Farquhar added.

Read More: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Cites ‘Judgment Call’ for RTO Mandate, Not Data

The CEO emphasized the role remote work plays in helping employees with the rising cost of living. For example, working remotely allows staff to “save hours a day,” not commuting to a physical location.

Interestingly, and in direct contrast to many of his peers, Farquhar says the company has seen no drop in productivity from working remotely. What’s more, Atlassian is able to recruit from a much larger pool of potential employees.

“Their work is a vocation not a location and so we expect people to be able to work from home, from a cafe, from an office, but we don’t really care where they do their work – what we care about is the output that they produce,” he told 60 Minutes.

This is not the first time Farquhar has spoken out in favor of remote work. The CEO was vocal in his criticism of Elon Musk and Tesla requiring employees to work from the office.

“Atlassian employees choose everyday where and how they want to work – we call it Team Anywhere,” he said at the time. “This has been key for our continued growth.“

Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar Doubles Down on Remote Work
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Leaseweb Hit by Cyberattack

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Leaseweb Hit by Cyberattack

Leaseweb, one of the biggest hosting providers, has been hit with a cyberattack and is working to recover.

According to TechRadar Pro, Leaseweb became aware of the attack when its monitoring systems detected “unusual activity” on the night of August 22. In an email to customers, seen by TechRadar Pro, the company outlined the scope of the impact:

On the night of August 22, our monitoring systems detected unusual activity within certain areas of our cloud environments. The issue had an impact on a specific portion of our cloud-based infrastructure leading to downtime for a small number of cloud customers.

In response to this event, we’ve taken quick and determined steps to reduce potential risks. This includes temporarily disabling certain critical systems impacting the Customer Portal. Our teams are working hard to restore the systems and we expect the Customer Portal to be available again within the next few hours.

The company says it has put containment measures that have successfully eliminated the unauthorized activity:

To make sure our services stay secure and reliable, we’ve put strong containment plans in place and are closely partnering with a respected cybersecurity and forensics firm. Our investigation is ongoing, but we’ve successfully contained the incident, improved our security measures, and haven’t found any more unauthorized activity.

Interestingly, there has been no public announcement or acknowledgement of the incident.

Leaseweb Hit by Cyberattack
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Skype Can Expose a User’s IP Address, Microsoft Downplays Issue

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Skype Can Expose a User’s IP Address, Microsoft Downplays Issue

A security researcher has discovered a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Skype that allows a hacker to easily determine a user’s IP address.

According to 404 Media, an independent security researcher named Yossi discovered the issue. The issue allows a hacker to get a person’s IP address just by sending a link via the Skype mobile app. The target only needs to open the message, not click the link within the message, for the hacker to retrieve their IP.

As 404 Media points out, there are numerous potential implications since a person’s IP address can be used to significantly narrow down their physical location.

“I think just about anybody could be harmed by this,” Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), told the outlet. Quintin said the flaw could be used for “finding people’s location for physical escalations, and finding people’s IP address for digital escalations.”

Surprisingly, when Yossi informed Microsoft of the issue, the company was decidedly unconcerned.

“Upon investigation, we have determined that this submission does not meet the definition of a security vulnerability for servicing which would require immediate servicing. This report does not appear to identify a weakness in a Microsoft product or service that would enable an attacker to compromise the integrity, availability, or confidentiality of a Microsoft offering,” Microsoft responded.

After being contacted by 404 Media, Microsoft did say it plans to fix the issue, although no timeline was given.

Skype Can Expose a User’s IP Address, Microsoft Downplays Issue
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IBM’s Latest Tape Drive Offers 50 TB of Storage Capacity

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IBM’s Latest Tape Drive Offers 50 TB of Storage Capacity

IBM has introduced its latest tape drive, sporting up to 50 TB of storage, a 250% increase over the previous model.

While consumers may be after the latest SSDs, tape drives continue to be an important option for business and enterprise customers, serving as a cost effective, high-capacity storage solution for backups.

IBM’s latest TS1170 offers a significant storage upgrade over the TS1160 model. The TS1170 comes in two models, the 70F and 70S. IBM outlined the drives’ features:

IBM TS1170 Model 70F with Fibre Channel interface and Model 70S with SAS interface deliver a native data rate of 400 MBps (900 MBps compressed) and are designed to deliver a 250% increase in capacity on the JF media compared to the TS1160 tape drives. IBM TS1170 tape drives are able to read and write 50 TB capacities on JF media. Media written in TS1170 format is not readable by TS1160, TS1155, and TS1150 systems. Model 70F includes dual-port 16 Gb Fibre Channel support and Model 70S includes a dual-port 12 Gb SAS interface. TS1170 Model 70F and Model 70S are supported in IBM TS4500 tape libraries and suitable for businesses with substantial storage, backup, and archiving demands. TS1170 Model 70F also supports rack-mount installations.

TS1170 Model 70F can be installed on most 19-inch racks through a rack mount kit that provides better space utilization and enables installation and removal from either the front or the back without any tooling. The kit is RoHS-3 compliant and is compatible with TS4500 high-density tape drives. The rack mount kit is available in a 3U form factor and includes adjustable depth shelves for rack adaptability. It can enclose up to two TS1170 (3592-70F) models or combine them with its predecessors TS1160 (3592-60F), TS1155 (3592-55F), TS1150 (3592-EH8), or TS1140 (3592-EH7). It is equipped with two redundant, hot-swappable power supplies, two C13-C14 power cords for both tape drives, and a logic card for management of power. A drive filler panel (feature number 4806) can be also be used when only one tape drive resides on a rack mount kit.

Businesses can find out more, including technical specifications, here.

IBM’s Latest Tape Drive Offers 50 TB of Storage Capacity
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Ford Is Addressing F-150 Whine

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Ford Is Addressing F-150 Whine

Ford is addressing a strange whine coming from the speakers of some F-150s, delivering a software fix that should fix the issue.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford has received complaints about a noise coming from the speakers of new F-150s.

“My first thought was one of the neighbors must’ve hit a golf ball that went through a window because that’s what it sounded like,” said one owner.

Other owners have described the sound as a “sonic boom” or “ear-piercing static.”

According to the Journal, Ford says the problem stems from an issue with the sound system amplifier and has create a software patch that “uses the amplifier as a filter to prevent the speaker noise.”

Customers can bring their F-150 into a Ford dealership to have the patch applied.

Ford Is Addressing F-150 Whine
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Heineken Completes Russia Exit, Sells Operations for 1 Euro

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Heineken Completes Russia Exit, Sells Operations for 1 Euro

Heineken has completed its exit of the Russian market, selling in-country operations for a mere 1 euro.

Companies large and small have pulled out of Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Heineken had promised to do the same, but the process took longer than anticipated.

Heineken sold its Russia operations to Arnest Group, ensuring its 1,800 employees in Russia will remain employed by the new company for at least three years.

“We have now completed our exit from Russia. Recent developments demonstrate the significant challenges faced by large manufacturing companies in exiting Russia,” said Dolf van den Brink, Heineken CEO. “While it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner.”

Heineken Completes Russia Exit, Sells Operations for 1 Euro
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KDE Plasma 6 Will Enable Tap-to-Click by Default

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KDE Plasma 6 Will Enable Tap-to-Click by Default

The KDE team have announced another significant change for Plasma 6, saying tap-to-click will be enabled by default for touchpads.

The KDE developers have been working on the next major release of the Plasma desktop environment for Linux, adding features and refinements along the way. According to developer Nate Graham, this includes enabling tap-to-click by default:

This week we weren’t done improving input device defaults; for Plasma 6, touchpad tap-to-click is now enabled by default!

In the initial proposal to change the default, Guilherme Marçal Silva made the case that touchpads have evolved greatly since the decision was made to leave it off by default nine years ago. Silva then outlined a number of reasons why the default should be updated:

I would like to propose enabling the tap-to-click option for all touchpads by default. A few distributions already enable it even though the upstream default is to leave it disabled. The current default was decided on 9 years ago, when low-quality touchpads were more widespread. In the same vein as #94, that upstream default no longer represents the reality of most laptop users.

• Windows enables tap-to-click (and tap-and-drag) by default for millions of users without any widespread issues. Following the same default would make migrating users more comfortable with the transition. This also means that manufacturers already have to take care of touchpad quality and placement, making accidental clicks rare.
• Clicking physically requires repeated physical force, which can create repeated strain injuries or aggravate symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
• If the touchpad has physical buttons at the bottom and the option is disabled, the user has to move the hand to a specific part of the laptop to click every time.
• Users of smartphones, which encompass virtually everyone, are already familiar with the concept of tapping to click on something. Translating that action to the touchpad means they don’t have to learn another interaction pattern.
• Clicking physically wears down the touchpad, creating hardware problems over time.
• Depending on the quality of the touchpad, clicking physically can be noisy.

This latest decision is further evidence that Plasma 6 is shaping up to be an outstanding release of the venerable desktop environment.

KDE Plasma 6 Will Enable Tap-to-Click by Default
Matt Milano

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Ubuntu Postpones Transition to Snap CUPS Till Ubuntu 24.04

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Ubuntu Postpones Transition to Snap CUPS Till Ubuntu 24.04

Ubuntu announced it is postponing its plans to transition the CUPS printing stack in Ubuntu to a snap instead of native DEBs.

Snap is the containerized format that Canonical is pushing in Ubuntu. Linux application packages traditionally pull in any dependencies they need, but this can occasionally cause conflicts if different apps require different versions of the same dependency.

Snap — as well as the competing Flatpak format — are packages that contain all of their necessary dependencies. As a result, dependency conflicts are completely eliminated. In addition, slowermoving stable Linux distros like Debian and Ubuntu LTS can still have the latest packages since the self-contained snaps and Flatpaks don’t need the underlying system to be the latest and greatest.

While a number of distros support Flatpak, Snap was developed by Ubuntu. The distro has been increasingly using snaps for some applications and packages and was planning on migrating the CUPS printing stack to a snap in version 23.10.

According to Ubuntu’s Till Kamppeter, CUPS will continue to use the native DEB format for 23.10 and instead make the switch in 24.04.

We have decided to revert to DEB-package based printing and move the switchover out to Ubuntu 24.10.

We are now already long after Feature Freeze and shortly before User Interface Freeze and the desktop integration has taken longer than expected. Especially also the needs of printer setup tools for the flavors need some additional time. Also GNOME Control Center is undergoing a major UI modernization and we need to merge with it. And for providing the Common Print Dialog backends in Snap, the session D-Bus support in snapd needs to get finally released.

To not do high-impact changes in an LTS we will skip 24.04 LTS and do the switchover in 24.10 at the earliest. For the time being I keep the DEB package as much in sync as possible with Debian’s packages.

Ubuntu Postpones Transition to Snap CUPS Till Ubuntu 24.04
Matt Milano

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AWS Officially Kills Honeycode

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AWS Officially Kills Honeycode

Amazon Web Services has officially announced the death of Honeycode, the company’s low-code development service.

Rumors began circulating in mid-July that Honeycode was on life support and unlikely to survive. The service was reportedly being referred to internally as a “KTLO,” or “keep the lights on” product, a term for keeping a service alive to support the limited number of customers still using it.

According to a post on the Honeycode community site by a team member, Amazon is officially killing the service, effective February 29, 2024.

Here’s the post in its entirety:

To our valued customers:

Thank you for participating in the Amazon Honeycode beta program; we appreciate and take seriously the feedback you provided. After careful consideration, we have made the decision to end the beta service, effective February 29, 2024.

Starting today, we are no longer accepting new customer sign-ups to the Honeycode beta. However, as an existing customer, you will be able to use Honeycode and your Honeycode apps as normal (and add team members to your existing account) until February 29, 2024, when the service will be discontinued. After this date, you will no longer be able to use Honeycode or any of the apps you created in Honeycode.

You can download data stored in Honeycode that you wish to retain before February 29, 2024, by using the “Export Data” option under your workbook settings in the Honeycode service. Please refer to this community post for instructions . If you are unable to take action to retrieve your data before February 29, 2024, please post below for help – we will retain your data until April 29, 2024. If you do not take any action, your data will be deleted on April 30, 2024.

In addition, you will not be charged for Honeycode usage after July 31, 2023.

If you have additional questions, please post below or read our FAQs.

Thank you,

Honeycode Support Team

AWS Officially Kills Honeycode
Matt Milano

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KDE Plasma 6 Is Switching to Double-Click to Open by Default

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KDE Plasma 6 Is Switching to Double-Click to Open by Default

The KDE developers are continuing to work on version 6 of the Plasma desktop environment, introducing a big change to the defaults.

KDE Plasma is arguably the most powerful desktop environment on any computing platform, boasting a plethora of features and customization options. Until now, one of those features was only requiring a single mouse-click to open files or folders. Despite being more efficient, the default can be confusing for first-time Linux users coming from Windows or macOS.

See Also: Linux Distro Reviews: KDE Plasma — The One That Could Be King

According to KDE developer Nate Graham, Plasma 6 will change the default to double-click to open.

This was a week of huge changes and improvements, starting with our headliner! Yes it’s true, by default in Plasma 6, you’ll single-click to select files and folders, and double-click to open them. The patches have now landed, done by me. This remains user-configurable, of course.

As Graham says, users that prefer single-click to open can easily change it back.

KDE Plasma 6 Is Switching to Double-Click to Open by Default
Matt Milano

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Amazon Drive Will Shut Down December 31

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Amazon Drive Will Shut Down December 31

Amazon Drive will shut down at the end of the year, giving customers just a couple of months to migrate their data to alternatives.

Amazon Drive was the company’s entry in the consumer cloud storage, but the service never achieved the popularity and success of Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud and other rivals. As a result, the company says it is ending the service, effective December 31, but Amazon Photos will continue.

The company has a notice on the Amazon Drive main page:

Starting December 31, 2023, Amazon Drive will no longer be supported.

Please use Amazon Photos to access your photos and videos moving forward. DO NOT DELETE your photos and videos files from your Amazon Drive account if you would like to access them through Amazon Photos. Deleting photos and videos from Amazon Drive will result in deletion from Amazon Photos. For additional help, visit our FAQ page.

Uploads to Amazon Drive will no longer be supported after January 31, 2023. You can still upload photos and videos to Amazon Photos.

In its FAQ page, Amazon says it is “taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos.”

Amazon Drive and Amazon Photos are separate cloud storage services. Amazon Drive provides cloud storage for most common file types like jpeg, .pdf, .doc, and more. Amazon Photos offers editing and organizing features for photos and videos.

While Amazon Drive and Amazon Photos are separate services, they access the same photo and video files, so any photo or video uploaded on Amazon Drive is available through Amazon Photos.

Customers can access their files here: amazon.com/clouddrive.

Amazon Drive Will Shut Down December 31
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Instacart Profited $428 Million in 2022

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Instacart Profited $428 Million in 2022

Instacart has revealed details about its financial state, including the fact that it profited $428 million in 2022.

Instacart is preparing to go public, leading to a disclosure of the startup’s finances. The grocery delivery service is already setting itself apart from many startups seeking to go public by being a profitable company after reporting a $73 million loss the previous year.

Nonetheless, according to The New York Times, the company’s growth is slowing. Instacart benefited greatly from the pandemic, but as life has returned to normal, fewer people are relying on the startup’s service.

As a result, the company has diversified into other areas, most notably advertising. The advertising business now makes up almost 30% of its total revenue.

“They’re not facing a future of significant growth in their core business,” Brittain Ladd, a grocery industry consultant, told the Times.

Instacart Profited $428 Million in 2022
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Apple’s Vision Pro Is So Good Developers Are Audibly Gasping

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Apple’s Vision Pro Is So Good Developers Are Audibly Gasping

Many companies have tried to crack the virtual reality market, but Apple may be on the verge of delivering a product that actually lives up to the hype.

Apple introduced the Vision Pro at WWDC, billing the headset as a “spatial computer.” The company has been inviting developers to its Vision Pro labs to see how their apps will look and function with the Vision Pro, and the experience is far better than many developers expected.

“It was like seeing Fantastical for the first time,” said Flexibits CEO Michael Simmons. “It felt like I was part of the app.”

“A bordered screen can be limiting. Sure, you can scroll, or have multiple monitors, but generally speaking, you’re limited to the edges,” he added. “Experiencing spatial computing not only validated the designs we’d been thinking about — it helped us start thinking not just about left to right or up and down, but beyond borders at all.”

Developer David Smith made the necessary preparations to test his app at Apple’s lab, but was unprepared for how immersive the experience was compared to the Vision Pro simulator developers have access to.

“I’d been staring at this thing in the simulator for weeks and getting a general sense of how it works, but that was in a box,” Smith said. “The first time you see your own app running for real, that’s when you get the audible gasp.”

If these reactions are any indication, Apple may quickly become the company to beat in the VR/AR industry.

Apple’s Vision Pro Is So Good Developers Are Audibly Gasping
Matt Milano

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Microsoft Combines the Power of Python and Excel

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Microsoft Combines the Power of Python and Excel

Microsoft has given Excel a major upgrade, unveiling Python in Excel to give users access to the power of Python’s data tools.

Python is one of the most popular languages for data processing and analytics, thanks to its ease of use, versatility, and powerful features. Microsoft is now giving users the ability to leverage that power with a Public Preview of Python in Excel, according to a company blog post:

Now you can do advanced data analysis in the familiar Excel environment by accessing Python directly from the Excel ribbon. No set up or installation is required. Using Excel’s built-in connectors and Power Query, you can easily bring external data into Python in Excel workflows.

We’re partnering with Anaconda, a leading enterprise grade Python repository used by tens of millions of data practitioners worldwide. Python in Excel leverages Anaconda Distribution for Python running in Azure, which includes the most popular Python libraries such as pandas for data manipulation, statsmodels for advanced statistical modeling, and Matplotlib and seaborn for data visualization.

The feature is already gaining fans among customers.

“The ability to run Python in Excel simplifies McKinney’s reporting workflows. We used to manipulate data structures, filter, and aggregate data in a Jupyter Notebook, and build visuals in Excel,” said Greg Barnes, McKinney Executive Director of Data and Analytics.  “Now we can manage the entire workflow in Excel. This is going to make Excel that much more powerful and make Python more accessible across the organization. Python support is the most exciting update for Excel in my career!”

Microsoft Combines the Power of Python and Excel
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Salesforce Unveils Its Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy

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Salesforce Unveils Its Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy

Salesforce has unveiled its Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy, outlining rules to govern how its AI products should and should not be used.

Governments and companies have been wrestling with the legality of various scenarios in which AI is used. Unfortunately, while there has been much debate — and a few lawsuits — there has been little consensus, let alone meaningful regulation.

Salesforce is taking it upon itself to outline rules to govern the use of its AI products, consulting with its Ethical Use Advisory Council subcommittee to develop common sense rules, according to Paula Goldman, Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer:

It’s not enough to deliver the technological capabilities of generative AI, we must prioritize responsible innovation to help guide how this transformative technology can and should be used. Salesforce’s AI AUP will be central to our business strategy moving forward, which is why we took time to consult with our Ethical Use Advisory Council subcommittee, partners, industry leaders, and developers prior to its release. In doing so, we aim to empower responsible innovation and protect the people who trust our products as they are developed.

Goldman emphasized the need to make sure that important ethical concerns are not overlooked, in the rush to bring something to market:

As businesses race to bring this technology to market, it’s critical that they do so inclusively and intentionally.

Salesforce should be commended for taking the initiative to release its Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy, something that more companies will hopefully do.

Salesforce Unveils Its Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy
Matt Milano

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Spatial Computing: Revolutionizing Our Daily Experiences

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Spatial Computing: Revolutionizing Our Daily Experiences

Spatial computing is gradually ushering in a renaissance in our daily interactions.  Not only does it promise to redefine work and leisure, but it also offers a hint at how the future might look.

The global AR/VR B2C industry is booming.  By 2023, this industry is expected to earn a whopping $31.12 billion, and if industry experts are correct, we will see an impressive rise to $52.05 billion by 2027.  A 67% growth rate within a span of four years is nothing short of remarkable.

What is Spatial Computing? 

It encompasses a wide spectrum, from the real world to a purely computer-generated environment.  There are four major categories here:  Reality, Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR).

Diving into AR, products like XREAL air employ near-to-eye display technology, enabling users to interact in a 3-D space.  While the physical and digital realms do not interact directly, tools like Augmedics can significantly enhance surgical precision by projecting accurate spinal placements.  Lumus’ Z-Lens stands out as an innovation, allowing a seamless blend of AR with prescription eyewear.

Mixed reality takes it up a notch.  Here, physical and digital elements coalesce.  Apple Vision Pro, for instance, weaves digital content directly into our physical surroundings.  Despite the expansive growth, it is notable how the tech is shrinking in size but not in potential.

Then there is virtual reality.  In this realm, the digital domain reigns supreme.  Meta Quest 2 offers a panoramic 90-degree view, ensuring users are fully ensconced in their digital surroundings.  For those learning to fly, VRpilot is a game-changer, allowing pilots to test their flying prowess in a virtual setting.

The AR/VR Shift

A shift is evident.  By 2024, it is estimated that a staggering 1.4 billion devices globally will boast AR capabilities.  This shift touches various aspects of our lives.  From the gaming industry, where 49% crave AR experiences, to the realms of education and health, spatial computing is making its mark.

Imagine a work environment where holographic calls become the norm or where projects are designed, built, and finalized in a virtual space.  Even the idea of typing or texting might become obsolete as work transcends the need for physical displays or keyboards.

Leisure activities are not left behind.  The world of play is brimming with potential.  Enter the Metaverse and games like Espire 2 or Pokémon GO beckon.  Fancy a singing session?  Karaoke lyrics can now appear directly on your AR glasses.

Educational realms stand to gain immensely.  Interactive learning, virtual field trips, and the ability to jot down notes anywhere and anytime are just the tip of the iceberg.  Healthcare too, with its AR-assisted procedures and real-time symptom diagnostics, is on the brink of a transformation.

But what does this mean for our trusty smartphones?  As near-to-eye displays gain traction, smartphones might take a back seat.  In 2023 alone, smartphone sales dipped by 14%, while AR glasses sales surged by over 45%.

Conclusion

At the heart of these glasses is the waveguide technology.  Reflective waveguides, in particular, offer numerous benefits, such as enhanced battery efficiency and brighter displays.  These developments point to an intriguing future. In essence, spatial computing, as showcased by Lumus, is not just a fleeting trend.  It is poised to revamp how we perceive and interact with the world.  The lines between the real and virtual are blurring, and we are on the precipice of a new digital era.

Spatial Computing: Revolutionizing Our Daily Experiences
Brian Wallace

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DOJ Sues SpaceX for Discrimination

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DOJ Sues SpaceX for Discrimination

The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, alleging Elon Musk’s company discriminated against asylees and refugees.

According to the DOJ, SpaceX discriminated against asylees and refugees in its hiring process, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The agency says the company discouraged such individuals form applying for jobs and refused to consider them from at least September 2018 to May 2022.

SpaceX allegedly said “export control laws” — laws designed to control export of sensitive tech to hostile nations — prohibited it from hiring anyone but US citizens or green card holders. The DOJ says export control laws do not impose any such hiring restriction. What’s more, asylees and refugees are individuals fleeing persecution and are thoroughly vetted by the US government.

“Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our investigation also found that SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged asylees and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company. Asylees and refugees have overcome many obstacles in their lives, and unlawful employment discrimination based on their citizenship status should not be one of them. Through this lawsuit we will hold SpaceX accountable for its illegal employment practices and seek relief that allows asylees and refugees to fairly compete for job opportunities and contribute their talents to SpaceX’s workforce.”

The DOJ is seeking back pay for individuals that were discriminated against:

The United States seeks fair consideration and back pay for asylees and refugees who were deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination. The United States also seeks civil penalties in an amount to be determined by the court and policy changes to ensure it complies with the INA’s nondiscrimination mandate going forward.

DOJ Sues SpaceX for Discrimination
Matt Milano

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Meta Is Killing Off the Android Version of Messenger Lite

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Meta Is Killing Off the Android Version of Messenger Lite

Meta is killing off the Android version of Messenger Lite, saying users will need to switch to Messenger or FB Lite.

Messenger Lite provides a more streamlined, simpler experience than the full version of Messenger, making it a popular choice for many users. Unfortunately, Meta has decided to kill off the app.

“Starting August 21, people using the Messenger Lite app for Android will be directed to Messenger or FB Lite to send and receive messages on Messenger,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.

The announcement is not going over well, with some users saying they will not migrate to one of the other options, and Facebook will lose out on having any of their apps on the users’ phones.

Meta Is Killing Off the Android Version of Messenger Lite
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CVS Health Launch Cordavis to Manufacture ‘Biosimilar’ Drugs

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CVS Health Launch Cordavis to Manufacture ‘Biosimilar’ Drugs

CVS Health has launched Cordavis, a new company focused on manufacturing “biosimilar” drugs.

According to CVS Health, a biosimilar drug is “an FDA approved biologic medication that is highly similar to, and has no clinically meaningful differences from, a biologic medicine already approved by the FDA.” Biosimilars are a common and important way to help keep drug costs low for consumers and employers alike. CVS Health says Cordavis will “will work directly with manufacturers to commercialize and/or co-produce” these biosimilars.

Cordavis’ first product is Hyrimoz®, a biosimilar for Humira®, which Cordavis has contracted Sandoz to help bring to market. Cordavis Hyrimoz® will cost more than 80% less than Humira®.

“CVS Health has a history of bringing innovative solutions to the market that lower the cost of drugs and ensure people have access to the medications they need to stay healthy,” said Shawn Guertin, Chief Financial Officer, CVS Health. “Cordavis is a logical evolution for us and will help ensure sufficient supply of biosimilars in the U.S. and support this market now and in the future, while ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing costs for consumers.”

“Biosimilars are crucial to creating competition and reducing costs for specialty pharmaceuticals where drug prices are rising the fastest,” said Prem Shah, Chief Pharmacy Officer and Co-President of the Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness segment. “Through our direct involvement, we will expand the supply chain and ensure biosimilar availability in the market. We have assembled a talented team at Cordavis and look forward to the value this business will deliver to patients and payors.”

CVS Health Launch Cordavis to Manufacture ‘Biosimilar’ Drugs
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Dropbox Kills Its Unlimited Storage Plan

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Dropbox Kills Its Unlimited Storage Plan

Dropbox is killing off its unlimited storage plan, saying it was being abused by crypto and Chia miners.

Dropbox is one of the most popular online storage services and offers a variety of plans and options. The company offered an unlimited storage plan that was targeted at business, but has seen an increase in the number of customers abusing the option, according to a company blog post:

But over time, we found a growing number of customers were buying Advanced subscriptions not to run a business or organization, but instead for purposes like crypto and Chia mining, unrelated individuals pooling storage for personal use cases, or even instances of reselling storage. In recent months, we’ve seen a surge of this behavior in the wake of other services making similar policy changes. We’ve observed that customers like these frequently consume thousands of times more storage than our genuine business customers, which risks creating an unreliable experience for all of our customers. Importantly, our policy for Advanced has always been to provide as much storage as needed to run a legitimate business or organization, not to provide unlimited storage for any use case.

The company tried using terms and prohibited use lists, but nothing was successful in stemming the tide of abuse. The company has therefore opted to kill off the unlimited plan and go with metered plans instead.

As a result, we’re sunsetting the “as much space as you need” policy and transitioning to a metered model. That said, we’re committed to making this transition as seamless as possible for our customers.

Starting today, customers who purchase a Dropbox Advanced plan with three active licenses will receive 15TB of storage space shared by the team—enough space to store about 100 million documents, 4 million photos or 7500 hours of HD video. Each additional active license will receive 5TB of storage.

It’s a shame to see a few bad actors ruin a good service for everyone.

Dropbox Kills Its Unlimited Storage Plan
Matt Milano

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CloudNordic Customers Lose All Data After Ransomware Attack

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CloudNordic Customers Lose All Data After Ransomware Attack

CloudNordic customers have suffered a catastrophic loss, losing all of their data as a result of a ransomware attack against the cloud provider.

According to Tech Radar, CloudNordic and its sister company fell victim to a ransomware attack. The attack crippled the companies’ entire operations. To make matters worse, the attackers encrypted all data on the providers’ servers.

“The attackers managed to encrypt all servers’ disks, as well as on primary and secondary backup systems, whereby all machines crashed and we lost access to all data,” CloudNordic said on its website (machine translated).

Oddly enough, the hackers do not appear to have stolen any data before encrypting it, nor has any group claimed responsibility.

It appears the victims have refused to pay, ensuring the data remains lost.

CloudNordic Customers Lose All Data After Ransomware Attack
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T-Mobile Announces a Round of Layoffs Impacting 5,000 Employees

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T-Mobile Announces a Round of Layoffs Impacting 5,000 Employees

T-Mobile joins the list of companies laying off staff, announcing it will let 7% go, which translates to 5,000 employees.

The company revealed the news in regulatory filing that included a letter to employees from CEO Mike Sievert:

I am reaching out today to share some important news that I wanted to be sure you heard directly from me. Starting this week, and over the next five weeks, we will be making changes to our organization that will result in the reduction of some positions at the company. These shifts will impact close to 5,000 positions, a little under 7% of our total employees in locations across the country, primarily in corporate and back-office, and some technology roles. The retail and consumer care experts who take care of our customers will not be impacted. After this process is complete, I do not envision any additional widespread company reductions again in the foreseeable future.

Sievert says the layoffs are primarily targeting duplicate roles, as well as areas that are no longer a focus for the company:

Impacted roles are primarily duplicative to other roles, or may be aligned to systems or processes that are changing, or may not fit with our current company priorities. Some areas of the business will be implementing more centralized models where they can improve efficiency and effectiveness and save costs. We’re also taking opportunities to build bigger, broader people manager roles with deeper spans and fewer layers, to provide longer-term growth opportunities. At the same time, we’ll also be decreasing our reliance and spend on external workers and resources.

Sievert goes on to outline the severance package employees can expect, and reassures staff that this is the only expected round of layoffs for the foreseeable future:

We will also provide competitive severance payments based on tenure, plus an additional 60 days minimum of transition leave, which includes pay and benefits, plus accelerated vesting of their next stock vest, continuation of tuition reimbursement benefits, career transition services, and a new T-Mobile alumni service discount good for life. Importantly, employees leaving us in good standing will have privileged access to T-Mobile hiring and recruiting for appropriate roles now and in the future, as we continue to build our organization in other areas.

This is a large change, and an unusual one for our company. We’re tackling the tough decisions now, because I wanted to make sure that people working here are not wondering what’s next, after this process concludes. As I mentioned at the top, because of this, we do not envision making additional large-scale reductions across the company again in the foreseeable future.

T-Mobile Announces a Round of Layoffs Impacting 5,000 Employees
Matt Milano

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Gmail Is Adding Verification for Potentially Sensitive Actions

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Gmail Is Adding Verification for Potentially Sensitive Actions

Gmail is adding additional layers of security, requiring users to verify their identity before allowing potentially sensitive changes.

Some Gmail settings and actions could make it easier for a bad actor to hijack an account. Examples include setting up a forwarding email address in the POP/IMAP settings; creating, editing, and importing filters; and enabling IMAP access.

Google says it will analyze such requests and ask for verification if the session is suspicious:

When these actions are taken, Google will evaluate the session attempting the action, and if it’s deemed risky, it will be challenged with a “Verify it’s you” prompt. Through a second and trusted factor, such as a 2-step verification code, users can confirm the validity of the action. If a verification challenge is failed or not completed, users are sent a “Critical security alert” notification on trusted devices.

Gmail Is Adding Verification for Potentially Sensitive Actions
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Zoom CEO Reverses Course, Demands Workers Return to the Office

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Zoom CEO Reverses Course, Demands Workers Return to the Office

Remote work may have lost one of its greatest allies, with Zoom CEO Eric Yuan reportedly ordering some employees back to the office.

Few companies have helped facilitate — or benefit from — the transition to remote work. In the early days of the global pandemic, companies, organizations, and individuals turned to Zoom to stay connected. As things returned to normal, Zoom continued to play a pivotal role in companies remote and hybrid work plans.

According to Business Insider, Zoom may be turning its back on remote work. Yuan said employees within 50 miles of corporate offices must work from the office at least two days a week, citing “trust” and brainstorming.

“In our early days, we all knew each other,” Yuan said. “Over the past several years, we’ve hired so many new ‘Zoomies’ that it’s really hard to build trust.”

“Trust is a foundation for everything,” he added. “Without trust, we will be slow.”

Yuan said remote work was not conducive to brainstorming and innovation.

“Quite often, you come up with great ideas, but when we are all on Zoom, it’s really hard,” Yuan said. “We cannot have a great conversation. We cannot debate each other well because everyone tends to be very friendly when you join a Zoom call.”

Companies have increasingly been trying to force employees to return to the office despite studies showing that RTO mandates have been disastrous and that most employees are more productive working remotely.

Despite the trends, it is more than a little surprising to see Zoom jumping on the RTO bandwagon.

Zoom CEO Reverses Course, Demands Workers Return to the Office
Matt Milano

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Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, Sees Tumblr As a Gateway Product

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Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, Sees Tumblr As a Gateway Product

Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, sees Tumblr as a gateway to the company’s other products and services.

Tumblr has been in the news recently for a major redesign of its desktop site that looks reminiscent of X (Twitter) or Meta’s Threads. According to TechCrunch, Mullenweg emphasized Tumblr’s role as an “on-ramp” for Automattic’s other products. For example, a person may begin their online presence with a Tumblr blog before graduating to a full-fledged WordPress or e-commerce site.

“I’m excited about that on-ramp as well as to bring a younger demographic and young people into WordPress,” Mullenweg noted.

Mullenweg also sees Tumblr as a relatively future-proofed platform.

“You often hear people say they want to do less social media, but you almost never hear people say they want to blog less…What is it about blogging, that they feel like adds to their life or is a valuable task, or valuable use of time, that maybe they’re not getting from more traditional social media?,” he asked. “Like I said, we’re making Tumblr for art and artists. I haven’t heard anyone say I’d love less art in my life.”

Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, Sees Tumblr As a Gateway Product
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WhatsApp Now Supports Creating Groups Without a Group Name

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WhatsApp Now Supports Creating Groups Without a Group Name

WhatsApp has added a quality of life improvement, giving users the ability to create groups without having to add a group name.

Sometimes users just want to quickly create a group and start chatting, much like with traditional text messages. Unfortunately, WhatsApp has always required the extra step of labeling a group chat with a specific name.

In a post on Facebook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that users will no longer be required to name their groups.

Making it simpler to start WhatsApp groups by naming them based on who’s in the chat when you don’t feel like coming up with another name.

WhatsApp Groups – Credit Meta

The change is a welcome one, and hopefully one Signal will adopt as well well.

WhatsApp Now Supports Creating Groups Without a Group Name
Matt Milano

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Amazon Employees Are Quitting Over Relocation Demands

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Amazon Employees Are Quitting Over Relocation Demands

Amazon employees are opting to quit their jobs rather than relocate to meet the company’s demands to return to the office.

In late July, Amazon began requesting that corporate employees relocate — in some cases across state lines — to be closer to the hubs and offices where their jobs were located. According to CNBC, some employees are opting to quit their jobs altogether rather than disrupt their lives and those of their families.

CNBC cites the example of an employee who was hired specifically for a remote role, complete with assurances the role would remain remote. The employee and their team were later told they would have to work out of one of the company’s physical locations and given a choice of which one they wanted to move close to.

Company spokesperson Rob Munoz confirmed the relocation policy to CNBC but downplayed the impact.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, so we decided that the best thing to do was to communicate directly with teams and individuals who are affected to ensure they’re getting accurate information that’s relevant to them,” Munoz said in a statement. “If an individual feels like they don’t have the information they need, we encourage them to talk with their HR business partner or their manager.”

Data has shown that RTO mandates have been disastrous for many companies, and Amazon is flirting with that danger. The company has repeatedly angered and frustrated employees by acknowledging there is a lack of “actual data” to support RTO mandates, certainly “any data that I think would stand scrutiny.”

Amazon Employees Are Quitting Over Relocation Demands
Matt Milano

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Microsoft Offers to Sell Activision Blizzard Cloud Streaming Rights to Ubisoft to Win UK Approval

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Microsoft Offers to Sell Activision Blizzard Cloud Streaming Rights to Ubisoft to Win UK Approval

Microsoft is pulling out all the stops and making a massive concession in an effort to win UK approval of its Activision Blizzard acquisition.

In a blog post, Microsoft says it is prepared to sell the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to rival Ubisoft, in an effort to address the Competition and Market Authority’s concerns about the cloud gaming market:

In January 2022, Microsoft announced the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc., to advance our goal to bring more creative and innovative games to players everywhere and on any device. Today, we are taking another important step regarding this transaction. To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights. This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity.

Microsoft makes clear its belief that this should address the CMA’s concerns entirely:

As a result of the agreement with Ubisoft, Microsoft believes its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard presents a substantially different transaction under UK law than the transaction Microsoft submitted for the CMA’s consideration in 2022. As such, Microsoft today has notified the restructured transaction to the CMA and anticipates that the CMA review processes can be completed before the 90-day extension in its acquisition agreement with Activision Blizzard expires on October 18.

Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services.

The offer is a massive concession on Microsoft’s part and shows just how far the company is willing to go to close the deal.

Microsoft Offers to Sell Activision Blizzard Cloud Streaming Rights to Ubisoft to Win UK Approval
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