blatcho.com – Page 165

Wired: A look at Microsoft’s AI system in Argentina’s Salta province to predict teenage pregnancies, which faced pushback from activists for being invasive and opaque — A government leader in Argentina hailed the AI, which was fed invasive data about girls. The feminist pushback could inform the future of health tech.

Convictional, which offers a one-stop shop for retailers to source, onboard, integrate, and trade with suppliers, raises a $40M Series B led by YC Continuity (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Convictional, which offers a one-stop shop for retailers to source, onboard, integrate, and trade with suppliers, raises a $40M Series B led by YC Continuity — Retailers have traditionally onboarded their drop-ship, marketplace and wholesale suppliers using electronic data interchange …

Kubecost, whose open source tools helps businesses monitor, manage, and optimize Kubernetes spend at scale, raises a $25M Series A led by Coatue Management (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Kubecost, whose open source tools helps businesses monitor, manage, and optimize Kubernetes spend at scale, raises a $25M Series A led by Coatue Management — In the past year, Kubernetes adoption exploded, with over 5.6 million developers using the cloud-native tools — an increase of 67% from the year prior.

Toward a stronger defense of personal data

A heart attack patient, recently discharged from the hospital, is using a smartwatch to help monitor his electrocardiogram signals. The smartwatch may seem secure, but the neural network processing that health information is using private data that could still be stolen by a malicious agent through a side-channel attack. A side-channel attack seeks to gather […]

Credit card-sized device focuses terahertz energy to generate high-resolution images

Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision. This opens the door to high-resolution, real-time imaging devices that are hundredths the size of other radar systems and more robust than other optical systems. Terahertz waves, located on the electromagnetic spectrum between […]

Here’s the Gear You Need to Start Your Own Podcast

These tools can help you get great audio and video quality from the start—and they’re more accessible than you might think.

It’s Time for a Scary Ghostbusters Movie

The franchise could benefit from going in a new direction.

Zillow Botched Buying Homes. Opendoor Thinks It Can Do Better

Plus: More rebranding at Meta, techniques for synthesizing reality, and a startling milestone.

The EU files a WTO case against China, alleging Chinese courts lowered global tech licensing fees, leading to billions in losses for Ericsson, Nokia, and others (Andy Bounds/Financial Times)

Andy Bounds / Financial Times: The EU files a WTO case against China, alleging Chinese courts lowered global tech licensing fees, leading to billions in losses for Ericsson, Nokia, and others — Legal challenge at WTO alleges patent infringements are costing European manufacturers billions of euros

Netflix announces four comedy specials to be hosted and produced by Dave Chappelle; the comedian’s last special led to Netflix employee protests (James Hibberd/The Hollywood Reporter)

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter: Netflix announces four comedy specials to be hosted and produced by Dave Chappelle; the comedian’s last special led to Netflix employee protests — The controversial comic will host and produce four comedy specials focusing on other veteran comedians.

A look at the decline of MySpace, which flailed around for over a year as it was overtaken by Facebook, and parallels with Meta as TikTok surges (Ryan Broderick/Garbage Day)

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day: A look at the decline of MySpace, which flailed around for over a year as it was overtaken by Facebook, and parallels with Meta as TikTok surges — Read to the end for the anti-NFT anthem — I want to open today’s email with an apology!! I wrote about the […]

Cryptocurrency crimes have got too big for the US government to ignore

As more money pours into cryptocurrency crimes and scams, government agencies are increasingly cracking down, as the launch of dedicated Department of Justice and FBI enforcement teams demonstrates

Meet RoboKrill, the one-legged robot that mimics the way krill swim

A robot with appendages that mimic the swimming legs of krill could one day be used to study these key marine food sources or explore hard-to-reach places

Google and Waymo used driverless cars to make a virtual San Francisco

Software can analyse millions of static photographs of city streets taken atop cars and construct a realistic 3D model

The Cybersecurity Risks of an Escalating Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Now is the time to revisit your business continuity plans.

4 Lessons from Levi’s’ Digital Transformation

How to navigate a major shift as a legacy brand with a deeply-rooted company culture.

The Unintended Consequences of Asking for Employee Input

A study found that when managers solicit ideas from employees, they often unconsciously take credit for them.

Jacques Vallée Still Doesn’t Know What UFOs Are

After six globe-trotting decades spent probing “the phenomenon,” the French information scientist is sure of only one thing: The truth is really, really out there.

Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation (The Economic Times)

The Economic Times: Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation — The digital payments and financial service provider has already received the first tranche of $75 million from Alpha Wave, show regulatory filings.

Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March (Dawn Chmielewski/Reuters)

Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters: Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March — Universal Music Group has struck a partnership with NFT platform Curio to develop non-fungible token (NFT) collections for its record labels and artists, the companies said on […]

Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations (Kirsten Grind/Wall Street Journal)

Kirsten Grind / Wall Street Journal: Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations — SEC subpoenas more current and former executives; California agency seeks additional information on CEO Bobby Kotick and board’s handling of workplace misconduct allegations

Protein structure offers clues to drug-resistance mechanism

MIT chemists have discovered the structure of a protein that can pump toxic molecules out of bacterial cells. Proteins similar to this one, which is found in E. coli, are believed to help bacteria become resistant to multiple antibiotics. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the researchers were able to determine how the structure of […]

US Agencies Say Russian Hackers Compromised Defense Contractors

Kremlin-backed cyber actors lurked in the networks for months, obtaining sensitive documents related to weapons and infrastructure development.

This New Platform Can Give AR Apps a Memory Boost

Perceptus can identify and continuously remember the objects in the physical world, grounding augmented reality with more real-world context.

Total War: Warhammer III Is an Epic Final Chapter

The grand finale of this trilogy is a strategy masterwork that will take over your life.

Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December (Alex Heath/The Verge)

Alex Heath / The Verge: Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December — That’s a 10x increase in about three months. But can the growth continue? — Facebook has bet its future on virtual reality and the metaverse …

Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year (Steve Lohr/New York Times)

Steve Lohr / New York Times: Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year — The project is a big bet on scaling up programs that have proved effective in lifting low-income workers into middle-class jobs and careers.

Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M (Ron Miller/TechCrunch)

Ron Miller / TechCrunch: Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M — Instrumental was launched by two former Apple mechanical engineers in 2015. Having worked on products like the iPod and Apple Watch …

DNA computer could tell you if your drinking water is contaminated

A simple test for water pollution involving engineered strands of DNA can report levels of contamination, and this biological system can carry out logical operations like those done by computers

It is only human to treat the metaverse with scepticism – here’s why

Meta and Microsoft’s new virtual reality projects have been met with suspicion by many, but history has shown that people are often right to be wary of technological change, says James Ball

Dendrites may help neurons perform complicated calculations

Within the human brain, neurons perform complex calculations on information they receive. Researchers at MIT have now demonstrated how dendrites — branch-like extensions that protrude from neurons — help to perform those computations. The researchers found that within a single neuron, different types of dendrites receive input from distinct parts of the brain, and process […]

Does Your Company Need a Chief ESG Officer?

Three questions to ask before appointing one.

Empathy Rules

Four practices to help us bridge divisions and restore a sense of community.

How to Interrupt Someone’s Workday — Without Annoying Them

Six research-backed strategies.

India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge — India’s decision to impose a 30% tax on profits from cryptocurrency trading is turning out to be a boon for the country’s digital-asset exchanges.

Analysis identifies 4,068 “criminal whales” holding over $25B worth of stolen cryptocurrency, following a major jump in illicit balances in 2021 (Chainalysis)

Chainalysis: Analysis identifies 4,068 “criminal whales” holding over $25B worth of stolen cryptocurrency, following a major jump in illicit balances in 2021 — This blog is a preview of our 2022 Crypto Crime Report. Sign up here to download your copy now!

Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management (Joe Williams/Bloomberg)

Joe Williams / Bloomberg: Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management — Okta Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Kendall Collins has left the company after less than a year in the role …

A life-changing fertilizer for rural farmers in Kenya

Most commercial fertilizer travels a long way before it reaches rural farmers in Kenya. Transportation costs force many farmers to rely on cheap, synthetic fertilizers, which can lead to the acidification and degradation of their soil over time. The situation amounts to a multigenerational crisis as elders have watched their crop yields dwindle over the […]

DeepMind Has Trained an AI to Control Nuclear Fusion

The Google-backed AI firm taught a reinforcement learning algorithm to control the fiery plasma inside a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor.

10 Early President’s Day Sales on Laptops and Tablets

Now is a great time to pick up a new computer—touchscreen or not—for work or school.

The Best Locks for Protecting Your Bike or Ebike

Make sure your bike stays yours. Check out our top picks for U-locks, folding locks, and chains, plus tips for keeping your ride secure.

Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020 (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)

Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020 — The facial recognition company Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in […]

Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners (Ashley Carman/The Verge)

Ashley Carman / The Verge: Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners — Chartable and Podsights are being bought — Spotify is making more podcast acquisitions. The company announced today it’s acquiring …

Denver-based Nomad, a startup that offers financial services for small-time landlords, renters, and potential home buyers, raises a $20M Series A (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)