Feb282019 by TechmanNo Comments

YouTube to Block Comments on Most Videos Showing Minors

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YouTube said Thursday it will disable user comments on a broad array of videos featuring children to thwart "predatory behavior" after revelations about a glitch exploited for sharing of child pornography. The Google-owned video sharing service announced further steps to crack down on inappropriate comments a week after an investigation showing how comments and connections on child porn were being displayed alongside innocuous videos. "We recognize that comments are a core part of the YouTube experience and how you connect with and grow your audience," YouTube said in a posted message to creators. "At the same time, the important steps we're sharing today are critical for keeping young people safe." YouTube said that during the past week it has suspended comments on tens of millions of videos to prevent users…


Feb282019 by BusmanNo Comments

US Craft Marketplace Makes Plans to Go Green by Offsetting Emissions

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Online crafts retailer Etsy Inc will go green by offsetting planet-warming carbon emissions from its shipping activities, the U.S. company said Wednesday, joining a host of companies making public moves to battle climate change. Etsy will buy clean energy certificates supporting tree conservation in the United States, wind and solar power in India and clean automotive technology, it said. The online marketplace for buying and selling handmade and vintage goods said its initiative is the first time a global e-commerce company has made such a move. "Fast, free shipping ultimately comes at a cost to our planet," wrote Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of the New York-based company in a blog on the company's website. The certificates are a way for companies to offset the amount of carbon dioxide they…


Feb282019 by TechmanNo Comments

Thai Lawmakers Approve Controversial Cybersecurity Act

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Thailand's legislature has passed a cybersecurity bill that would allow authorities access to people's personal information without a court order. The Cybersecurity Act addresses computer hacking crimes, but activists fear it will allow the government sweeping access to people's personal information. The National Legislative Assembly, which passed the bill in its final reading Thursday by a vote of 133-0, was appointed by the junta that came to power after a 2014 coup. It becomes law when published in the Royal Gazette. The cybersecurity bill allows state officials to seize, search, infiltrate, and make copies of computers, computer systems and information in computers without a court warrant if an appointed committee sees it as a high-level security threat, and relevant courts can later be informed of such actions. ...


Feb282019 by TechmanNo Comments

US-China Trade Talks ‘Not Close’

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The top U.S. trade official said Wednesday that a new trade agreement with China is not yet close to being completed. State Department correspondent Nike Ching reports from Washington on the latest in the talks and how U.S. concerns over high-tech issues remain a key point of friction. VOA Mandarin reporter Yihua Lee contributes. ...


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

Walmart Is Eliminating Greeters, Worrying Disabled Workers

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As Walmart moves to phase out its familiar blue-vested "greeters" at 1,000 stores nationwide, disabled workers who fill many of those jobs say they're being ill-treated by a chain that styles itself as community-minded and inclusive.    Walmart told greeters around the country last week that their positions would be eliminated on April 26 in favor of an expanded, more physically demanding "customer host" role. To qualify, they will need to be able to lift 25-pound (11-kilogram) packages, climb ladders and stand for long periods.    That came as a heavy blow to greeters with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other physical disabilities. For them, a job at Walmart has provided needed income, served as a source of pride and offered a connection to the community.   Customer backlash   Now Walmart,…


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

World Bank: Women Have Just 75 Percent of Men’s Legal Rights

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Women around the world are granted only three-quarters of the legal rights enjoyed by men, often preventing them from getting jobs or opening businesses, the World Bank said in study published Wednesday.    "If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well," Kristalina Georgieva, the bank's interim president, said in a statement.    While reforms in many countries are a step in the right direction, "2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men," the statement said.    The study included an index measuring gender disparities that was derived from data collected over a decade from 187 countries and using eight indicators to evaluate the balance of rights afforded to men…


Feb272019 by TechmanNo Comments

TikTok Fined in US for Illegally Gathering Children’s Data 

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The fast-growing, Chinese-owned video sharing network TikTok agreed to pay a $5.7 million fine to U.S. authorities to settle charges that it illegally collected personal information from children, officials said Wednesday.    The Federal Trade Commission said the penalty for the social network, which had been known as Musical.ly, was the largest ever in a children's privacy investigation.    The social network, which has been surging in popularity with young smartphone users and taking over from rivals like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, failed to obtain parental consent from its underage users as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, FTC officials said.    The operators of TikTok "knew many children were using the app, but they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names, email addresses, and other personal information…


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

Fed to Stop Shrinking Portfolio This Year, Powell Says 

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The Federal Reserve will stop shrinking its $4 trillion balance sheet later this year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, ending a process that investors say works at cross-purposes with the Fed's current pause on interest rate hikes.  "We've worked out, I think, the framework of a plan that we hope to be able to announce soon that will light the way all the way to the end of balance sheet normalization," Powell told members of the House Financial Services Committee in what were his most detailed remarks to date on the subject.  "We're going to be in a position ... to stop runoff later this year," he said, adding that doing so would leave the balance sheet at about 16 percent or 17 percent of GDP, up from about 6 percent before the financial crisis about a decade ago.  The…


Feb272019 by TechmanNo Comments

Meet Elon Tusk: Tesla Chief Changes Twitter Display Name

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Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk changed his Twitter display name to “Elon Tusk” in another late-night flurry of tweets on Wednesday, which also promised news from his electric carmaker Tesla Inc later this week. In a series of tweets to his 25 million followers following charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, Musk accused the regulator of failing to read Tesla’s annual reports and said its oversight was “broken”. On Wednesday, he changed his display name and added an elephant tag. Social media platforms have featured a number of memes involving wordplay around Musk’s name this week. He also promised Tesla would have “news” at 2 p.m. California time on Thursday. The company, deep in debt as it ramps up production of its popular Model 3…


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

Boeing Unveils Unmanned Combat Jet Developed in Australia

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Boeing on Wednesday unveiled an unmanned, fighter-like jet developed in Australia and designed to fly alongside crewed aircraft in combat for a fraction of the cost. The U.S. manufacturer hopes to sell the multi-role aircraft, which is 38 feet long (11.6 meters) and has a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704-kilometer) range, to customers around the world, modifying it as requested. It is Australia's first domestically developed combat aircraft in decades and Boeing's biggest investment in unmanned systems outside the United States, although the company declined to specify the dollar amount. Defense contractors are investing increasingly in autonomous technology as militaries around the world look for a cheaper and safer way to maximize their resources. Boeing rivals like Lockheed Martin and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions are also investing in such aircraft.…


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

Brazil’s Senate Confirms Campos Neto as Central Bank Chief

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Brazil's Senate confirmed Roberto Campos Neto as central bank governor on Tuesday, after he stressed that controlling inflation and reining in public spending were critical to supporting economic growth. Much work must still be done to secure Brazil's economic recovery, Campos Neto told the Senate's economic committee at his confirmation hearing. He indicated there would be little change, if any, to monetary policy, echoing the central bank's current stance that decisions are based on "caution, serenity and perseverance." The Senate approved Campos Neto by a vote of 55 in favor to six opposed, following unanimous confirmation by the economic committee. He will officially assume the role with the signature of President Jair Bolsonaro, likely later this week. Campos Neto is a former senior executive at Banco Santander Brasil SA. A…


Feb272019 by BusmanNo Comments

Fed’s Powell: ‘No Rush’ to Hike Rates in ‘Solid’ But Slowing Economy

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The Federal Reserve is in "no rush to make a judgment" about further changes to interest rates, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday as he spelled out the central bank's approach to an economy that is likely slowing. In two hours of testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell elaborated on the "conflicting signals" the Fed has tried to decipher in recent weeks, including disappointing data on retail sales and other aspects of the economy that contrast with steady hiring, wage growth, and ongoing low unemployment. "The baseline outlook is a good one," Powell said, but slower growth overseas is a drag on the U.S. economy that "we may feel more of" in the coming months. "We have the makings of a good outlook and our (rate-setting)…


Feb262019 by TechmanNo Comments

Mobile World Congress Overshadowed by Huawei 5G Spying Standoff

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Robots, cars, drones and virtual-reality gaming sets connected by cutting-edge 5G networks are among the thousands of futuristic gadgets on display at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While there is much excitement over how 5G will transform our everyday lives, the conference is overshadowed by the standoff between the United States and Beijing over the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which the U.S. says could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. Some U.S. cities and parts of Asia are already operating 5G mobile networks. They offer speeds of over a gigabyte per second and low latency — in other words, practically instant connections with no delay. Experts say that opens up whole new fields of connectivity, from new generations of virtual reality gaming and communication, to…


Feb262019 by TechmanNo Comments

China-US Huawei 5G Standoff Overshadows Mobile Tech Summit in Spain

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5G-connected robots, cars, drones and virtual-reality gaming sets are among the thousands of futuristic gadgets on display at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While there is much excitement over how 5G networks will transform our everyday lives, the conference is overshadowed by the standoff between the United States and Beijing over the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei – which the U.S. says could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. Henry Ridgwell has more. ...


Feb262019 by BusmanNo Comments

Erdogan’s War on Turkey’s Rising Food Prices Leaves Casualties

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared war on food inflation. With food prices rising nearly 30 percent and looming critical local elections next month Erdogan is turning to unconventional methods to rein in costs. Subsidized food is being sold at distribution centers in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, along with several provincial cities. The centers are part of Erdogan’s war on inflation. In the pouring rain in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district people patiently line up to take advantage of reduced prices. With staples like onions and potatoes tripling in price, the distribution centers appear welcome by people seeking relief from soaring price tags. “The food prices are high. Sometimes you go to the street market and go back home without buying anything,” said Sule who works at a nearby university.…


Feb262019 by TechmanNo Comments

Look But Don’t Touch as Smartphone’s Flexible Future Unfolds

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Flexible and folding formats framed the future of smartphones this week as manufacturers focused on new forms in an effort to jolt the market out of uniformity and re-invigorate sales. But anyone hoping to tap or swipe Huawei's Mate X, a smartphone that wraps the screen around the front and back, was soon disappointed at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress. Initial cheers were quickly followed by gasps when the Chinese firm revealed its eye-watering 2,299 euros ($2,600) price tag, although that includes a 5G connection. This is even more than Samsung's Galaxy Fold, which was unveiled last week and will be priced from $1,980 when it goes on sale in some markets in April. It was on display in Barcelona in a glass case like a museum artefact. While the hands-off…


Feb262019 by BusmanNo Comments

Erdogan’s War on Rising Food Prices Leaves Casualties

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared war on inflation after food prices in the country soared by 30 percent after last year’s collapse of the Turkish currency. In a bid aimed at securing his political future, Erdogan is taking radical measures to curb price increases after accusing food sellers of excessively hiking food prices. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. ...


Feb252019 by BusmanNo Comments

Shopping Street Rises From the Ashes of War in Libya’s Benghazi

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The old center of Benghazi lies in ruins but one shopping street has sprung up in the war-ravaged Libyan city, with sportswear and fashion stores that would not be out of place in Dubai or Istanbul. Foreign brands are tapping into residents' desire to enjoy shopping again after a three-year city war when their minds were concentrated on getting fuel or moving to safer areas. Imports were limited as fighting between Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army and his mostly Islamist opponents forced Benghazi's port to close. But with the end of conflict in 2017, shops have returned and Venice Street, with its trendy new stores and elegant cafes, has brought back a level of wealthy consumerism. That contrasts with much of the city where some buildings still show bullet holes…


Feb252019 by BusmanNo Comments

Fed’s Powell Heads to US Congress Amid Shifting Landscape

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Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell worked hard to strengthen ties with Congress during his first year as head of the U.S. central bank, doubling the pace of meetings with lawmakers over his predecessors and courting Democrats and Republicans alike. The value of that effort will get a very public test this week when Powell heads to Capitol Hill for hearings in a political and economic environment that has shifted dramatically since he last appeared before Congress in July 2018. Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November elections, and some new lawmakers are pushing programs like a "Green New Deal" that could have long-term implications for the Fed; two members of the Senate Banking Committee and at least one member of the House Financial Services Committee may…


Feb252019 by BusmanNo Comments

Afghanistan Begins Exports to India Through Iranian Port

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Afghanistan has started shipping goods to India for the first time through a newly developed Iranian seaport in a bid to improve exports and reduce reliance on routes through its uneasy neighbor, Pakistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani traveled Sunday to the western border city of Zaranj to see off the inaugural convoy of 23 trucks loaded with 570 tons of cargo to the Chabahar port in neighboring Iran. The consignment is destined for the Indian port city of Mumbai.  For decades, landlocked Afghanistan has mostly relied on Pakistani land and seaports for international trade. But mutual tensions have in recent years significantly reduced Afghan trade and transit activities through Pakistan.  Addressing the nationally televised ceremony, Ghani credited a “healthy cooperation between India, Iran and Afghanistan” for achieving the milestone. He…


Feb232019 by BusmanNo Comments

US-China Trade Talks Extended as March Deadline Approaches

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The United States and China are discussing a meeting between their two leaders soon to finalize a trade agreement. To move things forward, the latest round of trade talks between senior officials is being extended into the weekend. As Nike Ching reports, experts say world's two largest economies must bridge wide gaps as they seek common ground before new U.S. tariffs are set to start. ...


Feb232019 by TechmanNo Comments

Your Flight’s Seat-Back Screen May Be Watching You

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Now there is one more place where cameras could be watching you — from 30,000 feet. Newer seat-back entertainment systems on some airplanes operated by American Airlines and Singapore Airlines have cameras, and it's likely they are also on planes used by other carriers. American and Singapore both said Friday that they have never activated the cameras and have no plans to use them. However, companies that make the entertainment systems are installing cameras to offer future options such as seat-to-seat video conferencing, according to an American Airlines spokesman. A passenger on a Singapore flight posted a photo of the seat-back display last week, and the tweet was shared several hundred times and drew media notice. Buzzfeed first reported that the cameras are also on some American planes. Cameras standard…


Feb232019 by BusmanNo Comments

US-China Trade Hopes Lift Stocks

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Stocks rose in major markets around the world Friday on bets of progress in trade talks between China and the United States, while crude futures hit their highest level in more than three months supported by ongoing supply cuts.  U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that there was a very good chance the United States would strike a deal with China to end their trade war and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 deadline to reach an agreement.  U.S. and Chinese negotiators meeting in Washington made progress and will extend this week's round of negotiations by two days, he said.   Main stock indexes on Wall Street rose as the optimistic trade talk more than offset signs of slower growth in both U.S. earnings and the economy, with the S&P 500 posting a fourth consecutive week of gains.  The Dow…


Feb222019 by BusmanNo Comments

Trump Administration Denying, Delaying More Foreign Skilled-worker Requests

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The Trump administration is denying and delaying more skilled-worker visa petitions than at any time since at least 2015, in keeping with its promise to increase scrutiny of foreign workers, according to data the government released on Friday. U.S. officials say they have made reforms that prioritize American workers, cut down on fraud and streamline the immigration process. But lawyers who help employers apply for the visas say the agency is rejecting legitimate applications and tying up requests in bureaucratic red tape. The data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that adjudicates the visas, extends to the 2015 fiscal year, encompassing the last two years of the Obama administration and the first two years of the Trump administration. New policies for H-1B visas Republican President Donald…


Feb222019 by TechmanNo Comments

NY Governor Orders Probe Into Facebook Data Access From iOS Apps

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday ordered two state agencies to investigate a media report that Facebook Inc may be accessing far more personal information from smartphone users, including health and other sensitive data, than had previously been known. The directive to New York's Department of State and Department of Financial Services came after The Wall Street Journal said testing showed that Facebook collected personal information from other apps on users' smartphones within seconds of them entering it. The WSJ reported that several apps share sensitive user data including weight, blood pressure and ovulation status with Facebook. The report said that the company can access data in some cases even when the user is not signed into Facebook or does not have a Facebook account. In a statement Cuomo…


Feb222019 by TechmanNo Comments

NY Gov. Cuomo Deems Losing 2nd Amazon HQ ‘Greatest Tragedy’

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo says Amazon's backing out of a deal to put one of its second headquarters in New York City is the ``greatest tragedy'' he has seen since he's been in government. Cuomo said Friday on public radio station WAMC that losing the Amazon deal makes him sick to his stomach. Cuomo's public comments were his first on the topic since his office issued a statement February 14, the day the Seattle-based internet retailer announced it was backing out of an agreement to redevelop a site in Queens. Cuomo again blamed fellow Democrats who control the state Senate. They include Sen. Michael Gianaris, who represents the Long Island City neighborhood where Amazon wanted to base 25,000 jobs. Emails requesting comment were sent to the offices of Gianaris and the…