A solidarity movement called Apple Together has provided tools and support as the company’s retail employees organize. Illustration: Westend61/Getty Images Earlier this year, former Apple software engineer Cher Scarlett received a distraught DM from an Apple retail employee at New York’s Grand Central Station. The employee had been working with …
Read More »Technology
2 Visions Clash Over How to Fight Online Child Abuse in Europe
A new EU proposal would allow forced searches of users’ messages. Critics say the plan goes too far. Photograph: twomeows/Getty Images Except on Tuesdays when she’s in the Dutch Senate, Arda Gerkens spends her time helping tech companies delete child sexual abuse material buried in their platforms. For seven years, …
Read More »Terra’s Crypto Meltdown Was Inevitable
An epic crash in algorithmic stablecoins spells trouble for the entire industry. Photograph: MirageC/Getty Images At a Mexican restaurant in North London a few weeks ago, a handful of small-time but remarkably discerning retail cryptocurrency investors predicted that terra and luna would crash. Several of them were scoffing at terra, …
Read More »Lugano Ties Its Crypto City Dream to Tether
Lugano is on a quest to make crypto mainstream with an unusual partnership. Photograph: Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images On Monday evening, a few dozen shopkeepers and businesspeople gathered in the blue-carpeted hall of a conference center in the Italian-speaking city of Lugano, Switzerland, to learn how to start accepting cryptocurrency payments. …
Read More »Deadly heat wave in India and Pakistan a ‘sign of things to come,’ scientists say
The devastating heat wave that has baked India and Pakistan in recent months was made more likely due to climate change, according to a study by an international group of scientists released on Monday. This, they say, is a glimpse of what the future holds for the region. Climate change …
Read More »Atlantic Loop needed as part of energy mix as coal is phased out: study
The proposed energy corridor to connect the four Atlantic provinces to hydroelectricity from Quebec and Labrador is important for helping the region reach zero carbon emissions, but the project isn't enough, a new study suggests. The study says complementary energy sources are needed in coal-dependent N.S. and N.B. The proposed …
Read More »Google Has a Plan to Stop Its New AI From Being Dirty and Rude
The future of computing is AI-powered chatbots that have read the entire internet—if Google can figure out how to tame them. Photograph: Juan Moyano/Getty Images The AI Database → Application Personal assistant End User Consumer Sector Consumer services Source Data Speech Technology Natural language processing Silicon Valley CEOs usually focus …
Read More »How 10 Skin Tones Will Reshape Google’s Approach to AI
For years, the tech industry has relied on a six-shade scale to classify skin tones. The search giant’s open source alternative could change that. Photograph: VPanteon/Getty Images The AI Database → Application Face recognition Ethics Personal services Recommendation algorithm End User Consumer Big company Sector Consumer services Health care Social …
Read More »Alas, Elon Musk May Have a Point About Trump’s Twitter Ban
It’s probably not a good idea for important platforms to be in the business of frequently banning users for life. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images From the moment Elon Musk announced his intention to buy Twitter and impose upon it his version of free speech, speculation swirled about whether he would …
Read More »E-bike buyers deserve cash rebates too, advocates say
Cash rebate programs for electric cars, trucks and SUVs should be expanded to include power-assisted bicycles, say sustainability and mobility advocates. Financial incentives already offered for electric cars, trucks, SUVs Cash rebate programs for electric cars, trucks and SUVs should be expanded to include e-bikes, say sustainability and mobility advocates. …
Read More »