Mark Zuckerberg’s prediction last week that within a decade around half of Facebook’s staff , represented the biggest commitment to remote working of any company to date.But at the same time, the social network’s chief executive confirmed what many people suspected: most of his employees actually want to get back to the office. Zuckerberg said that while a fifth of employees were extremely interested in full-time remote work, and more were open to the idea, slightly more than half of Facebook’s staff want to start working in an office as soon as they can. I have driven the 30 miles from San...…Mark Zuckerberg’s prediction last week that within a decade around half of Facebook’s staff , represented the biggest commitment to remote working of any company to date.But at the same time, the social network’s chief executive confirmed what many people suspected: most of his employees actually want to get back to the office. Zuckerberg said that while a fifth of employees were extremely interested in full-time remote work, and more were open to the idea, slightly more than half of Facebook’s staff want to start working in an office as soon as they can. I have driven the 30 miles from San...WW…

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, and sign up for our newsletter, .On May 14, Italian politician Sara Cunial a video to her Facebook profile calling former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates a criminal and demanding he be tried for crimes against humanity.It was a speech she made in the Italian Parliament in early May, in which Cunial, who represents a district in northern Italy, claimed Gates was developing a vaccine for to enslave the world’s population.“The real goal of all of this is total...…The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, and sign up for our newsletter, .On May 14, Italian politician Sara Cunial a video to her Facebook profile calling former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates a criminal and demanding he be tried for crimes against humanity.It was a speech she made in the Italian Parliament in early May, in which Cunial, who represents a district in northern Italy, claimed Gates was developing a vaccine for to enslave the world’s population.“The real goal of all of this is total...WW…

Roundup Here's your summary of recent artificial intelligence bits and bytes, and related hardware and software.People’s face-mask selfies scraped from the internet: Face masks are a common sight right now, depending on where you live, as people slip them on to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. That's a problem for facial-recognition systems, which with most of their faces obscured.One potential way to get round this limitation is to train the software using pictures of people wearing face masks, so that the algorithms can identify people even when wearing masks. To do this, you...…Roundup Here's your summary of recent artificial intelligence bits and bytes, and related hardware and software.People’s face-mask selfies scraped from the internet: Face masks are a common sight right now, depending on where you live, as people slip them on to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. That's a problem for facial-recognition systems, which with most of their faces obscured.One potential way to get round this limitation is to train the software using pictures of people wearing face masks, so that the algorithms can identify people even when wearing masks. To do this, you...WW…

provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. and provide funding as members of The Conversation US.As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, politicians, medical experts and epidemiologists have taught us about flattening curves, contact tracing, R0 and growth factors. At the same time, we are facing an “” – an overload of information, in which fact is hard to separate from fiction.Misinformation about coronavirus can have serious consequences. Widespread myths about “immune boosters”, , and conspiracy theories linked to have already caused . In the long term they make may...…provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. and provide funding as members of The Conversation US.As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, politicians, medical experts and epidemiologists have taught us about flattening curves, contact tracing, R0 and growth factors. At the same time, we are facing an “” – an overload of information, in which fact is hard to separate from fiction.Misinformation about coronavirus can have serious consequences. Widespread myths about “immune boosters”, , and conspiracy theories linked to have already caused . In the long term they make may...WW…

UPDATES: advertisementadvertisementFood science startups aren’t your typical magnet for celebrity investors. But today, , which creates a natural coating for the exterior of fruits and vegetables such as avocados, asparagus, and citrus to extend their shelf life and prevent food waste, is announcing a $250 million funding round in which Katy Perry and Oprah Winfrey are participating.advertisementApeel CEO James Rogers says that the opportunity to have Perry and Winfrey invest came via their inbound interest. “I never tracked back exactly know how they first heard about what we’re doing,” he...…UPDATES: advertisementadvertisementFood science startups aren’t your typical magnet for celebrity investors. But today, , which creates a natural coating for the exterior of fruits and vegetables such as avocados, asparagus, and citrus to extend their shelf life and prevent food waste, is announcing a $250 million funding round in which Katy Perry and Oprah Winfrey are participating.advertisementApeel CEO James Rogers says that the opportunity to have Perry and Winfrey invest came via their inbound interest. “I never tracked back exactly know how they first heard about what we’re doing,” he...WW…

United States HONG KONG (Reuters) - Demand for virtual private networks in Hong Kong surged more than six-fold last Thursday as Beijing proposed tough new national security laws for the financial hub, reflecting concerns over internet privacy, according to a VPN provider. Atlas VPN said installations of the tool that helps people bypass web restrictions surged again on Friday, up more than three-fold from the previous day, while search interest in the keyword term “VPN” rocketed 1,680% on May 21 from a day earlier. Search interest in the word “VPN” hit a record high on Friday, it added,...…United States HONG KONG (Reuters) - Demand for virtual private networks in Hong Kong surged more than six-fold last Thursday as Beijing proposed tough new national security laws for the financial hub, reflecting concerns over internet privacy, according to a VPN provider. Atlas VPN said installations of the tool that helps people bypass web restrictions surged again on Friday, up more than three-fold from the previous day, while search interest in the keyword term “VPN” rocketed 1,680% on May 21 from a day earlier. Search interest in the word “VPN” hit a record high on Friday, it added,...WW…

AdvertisementThat image may very well be completely off-base. There is good reason to think that the first potentially life-bearing worlds that are now being detected around other stars (see for example) probably look very different than Earth. Rather, these planets are more likely to look like giant eyeballs whose gaze is forever fixed on their host stars (which is not something I recommend doing with your own eyeballs). Let’s take a step back. The easiest planets to find are those that orbit close to their stars. The sweet spot for finding a habitable planet—with the same temperature as...…AdvertisementThat image may very well be completely off-base. There is good reason to think that the first potentially life-bearing worlds that are now being detected around other stars (see for example) probably look very different than Earth. Rather, these planets are more likely to look like giant eyeballs whose gaze is forever fixed on their host stars (which is not something I recommend doing with your own eyeballs). Let’s take a step back. The easiest planets to find are those that orbit close to their stars. The sweet spot for finding a habitable planet—with the same temperature as...WW…

onslaught of troubling headlines that is daily life under the Trump administration, it’s hard to know what’s more dangerous: The confirmation of —or what comes after it?Perhaps the clearest sign that three-term Texas congressman Ratcliffe is manifestly unqualified to serve as the nation’s director of national intelligence isn’t the fact that he his résumé, nor that only a of the US Senate would vote to confirm him, nor that the first time he was floated for the post last summer he was so soundly rejected that he withdrew almost immediately.Instead, it’s that years before just 49 senators of...…onslaught of troubling headlines that is daily life under the Trump administration, it’s hard to know what’s more dangerous: The confirmation of —or what comes after it?Perhaps the clearest sign that three-term Texas congressman Ratcliffe is manifestly unqualified to serve as the nation’s director of national intelligence isn’t the fact that he his résumé, nor that only a of the US Senate would vote to confirm him, nor that the first time he was floated for the post last summer he was so soundly rejected that he withdrew almost immediately.Instead, it’s that years before just 49 senators of...WW…

Filed under:These Chinese language phrases are removed within secondsYouTube is automatically deleting comments that contain certain Chinese-language phrases related to criticism of the country’s ruling Communist Party (CCP).Comments left under videos or in live streams that contain the words “共匪” (“communist bandit”) or “五毛” (“50-cent party”) are automatically deleted in around 15 seconds, though their English language translations and Romanized Pinyin equivalents are not.The term “共匪” is an that dates back to China’s Nationalist government, while “五毛,” (or “wu mao”) is a derogatory slang...…Filed under:These Chinese language phrases are removed within secondsYouTube is automatically deleting comments that contain certain Chinese-language phrases related to criticism of the country’s ruling Communist Party (CCP).Comments left under videos or in live streams that contain the words “共匪” (“communist bandit”) or “五毛” (“50-cent party”) are automatically deleted in around 15 seconds, though their English language translations and Romanized Pinyin equivalents are not.The term “共匪” is an that dates back to China’s Nationalist government, while “五毛,” (or “wu mao”) is a derogatory slang...WW…

United States SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s health tracking QR codes, which have played a key part in the country’s successful containment of the coronavirus, now look set to play a much broader role in daily life as local authorities dream up new uses for the technology. Embedded in the popular WeChat and Alipay smartphone apps, the codes use self-reported and automatically collected travel and medical data to give people a red, yellow or green rating indicating the likelihood of having the virus. To walk around freely, people in China must have a green rating and since February they have...…United States SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s health tracking QR codes, which have played a key part in the country’s successful containment of the coronavirus, now look set to play a much broader role in daily life as local authorities dream up new uses for the technology. Embedded in the popular WeChat and Alipay smartphone apps, the codes use self-reported and automatically collected travel and medical data to give people a red, yellow or green rating indicating the likelihood of having the virus. To walk around freely, people in China must have a green rating and since February they have...WW…

Hackers have launched a wave of cyber-attacks trying to exploit British people working from home, as the coronavirus lockdown forces people to use often unfamiliar computer systems.The proportion of attacks targeting home workers increased from 12% of malicious email traffic before the UK’s lockdown began in March to more than 60% six weeks later, according to to data from provided to the Guardian.Attacks specifically wrought by Sars-CoV-2 have been evident since January, when the outbreak started to garner international news headlines.The attacks have increased in sophistication,...…Hackers have launched a wave of cyber-attacks trying to exploit British people working from home, as the coronavirus lockdown forces people to use often unfamiliar computer systems.The proportion of attacks targeting home workers increased from 12% of malicious email traffic before the UK’s lockdown began in March to more than 60% six weeks later, according to to data from provided to the Guardian.Attacks specifically wrought by Sars-CoV-2 have been evident since January, when the outbreak started to garner international news headlines.The attacks have increased in sophistication,...WW…

Byfor| May 21, 2020 -- 18:41 GMT (11:41 PDT)| Topic:Google’s AI chief explains machine learning for chip design1:14Few people, Nvidia's competitors included, would dispute the fact that is calling the shots in the AI chip game today. The in Nvidia's main event, GTC, stole the spotlight last week. There's been ample coverage, including here on ZDNet. of the new and noteworthy with regards to the chip architecture itself. , expanding on Nvidia's support for , one of the most successful open-source frameworks for data engineering, analytics, and machine learning. Let's pick up from where they...…Byfor| May 21, 2020 -- 18:41 GMT (11:41 PDT)| Topic:Google’s AI chief explains machine learning for chip design1:14Few people, Nvidia's competitors included, would dispute the fact that is calling the shots in the AI chip game today. The in Nvidia's main event, GTC, stole the spotlight last week. There's been ample coverage, including here on ZDNet. of the new and noteworthy with regards to the chip architecture itself. , expanding on Nvidia's support for , one of the most successful open-source frameworks for data engineering, analytics, and machine learning. Let's pick up from where they...WW…

German-language paper Tages-Anzeiger reports that Switzerland’s top court has ruled that employers are required to contribute to employees’ rent payments if they are expected to work from home.According to the , the federal court decision, which has not been made public, concerns an that had let an employee work from home.The company argued that they had not reached an agreement with the employee ahead of time and therefore was not obligated to cover part of his rent. The court rejected this argument and added that the employee could even request rent compensation retroactively after...…German-language paper Tages-Anzeiger reports that Switzerland’s top court has ruled that employers are required to contribute to employees’ rent payments if they are expected to work from home.According to the , the federal court decision, which has not been made public, concerns an that had let an employee work from home.The company argued that they had not reached an agreement with the employee ahead of time and therefore was not obligated to cover part of his rent. The court rejected this argument and added that the employee could even request rent compensation retroactively after...WW…

Filed underShare this storyNuclear Fusion Startup Gets $84 Million to Enter Next Phase(Bloomberg) — U.S. clean-energy startup, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, raised an additional $84 million from major investors in Europe and Asia, underscoring that the appetite remains to back new technologies that could mitigate climate change.As the world looks to ramp up the use of intermittent renewable energy, it needs to add forms of flexible clean power that can be turned on whenever needed. That’s why investments in previously-fringe technologies like long-duration energy storage, hydrogen and...…Filed underShare this storyNuclear Fusion Startup Gets $84 Million to Enter Next Phase(Bloomberg) — U.S. clean-energy startup, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, raised an additional $84 million from major investors in Europe and Asia, underscoring that the appetite remains to back new technologies that could mitigate climate change.As the world looks to ramp up the use of intermittent renewable energy, it needs to add forms of flexible clean power that can be turned on whenever needed. That’s why investments in previously-fringe technologies like long-duration energy storage, hydrogen and...WW…

Air National Guard Intelligence Analysts, November 2, 2019.It was a busy week for defense-focused AI: DarwinAI signed a , the , to work on explainable AI solutions. Robotics company Sphero, maker of the BB-8 droid from Star Wars, which will focus on military and emergency medical applications. And for its this week, even though the $10 billion JEDI contract between AWS and Microsoft Azure is still .But one of the most notable contracts was a to support the Joint AI Center (JAIC) warfighting group. (Another contract to create the , a cloud-based AI development environment for the military,...…Air National Guard Intelligence Analysts, November 2, 2019.It was a busy week for defense-focused AI: DarwinAI signed a , the , to work on explainable AI solutions. Robotics company Sphero, maker of the BB-8 droid from Star Wars, which will focus on military and emergency medical applications. And for its this week, even though the $10 billion JEDI contract between AWS and Microsoft Azure is still .But one of the most notable contracts was a to support the Joint AI Center (JAIC) warfighting group. (Another contract to create the , a cloud-based AI development environment for the military,...WW…

Researchers from U of T Engineering and Carnegie Mellon University are using electrolyzers like this one to convert waste CO2 into commercially valuable chemicals. Their latest catalyst, designed in part through the use of AI, is the most efficient in its class. Credit: Daria Perevezentsev / University of Toronto EngineeringResearchers at University of Toronto Engineering and Carnegie Mellon University are using artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate progress in transforming waste carbon into a commercially valuable product with record efficiency.They leveraged AI to speed up the search...…Researchers from U of T Engineering and Carnegie Mellon University are using electrolyzers like this one to convert waste CO2 into commercially valuable chemicals. Their latest catalyst, designed in part through the use of AI, is the most efficient in its class. Credit: Daria Perevezentsev / University of Toronto EngineeringResearchers at University of Toronto Engineering and Carnegie Mellon University are using artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate progress in transforming waste carbon into a commercially valuable product with record efficiency.They leveraged AI to speed up the search...WW…

Filed under:Zoom says it’ll be back after unspecified technical and security improvements are madeZoom has temporarily disabled the integration of GIF platform Giphy in its chat feature, the . “Once additional technical and security measures have been deployed, we will re-enable the feature.” Zoom didn’t offer any specifics beyond that on Giphy’s removal.The company mentioned the change as part of its latest list of security updates to the platform, which also includes limits on screen sharing, changes to muting and unmuting functions, and restrictions on logging in to meetings from...…Filed under:Zoom says it’ll be back after unspecified technical and security improvements are madeZoom has temporarily disabled the integration of GIF platform Giphy in its chat feature, the . “Once additional technical and security measures have been deployed, we will re-enable the feature.” Zoom didn’t offer any specifics beyond that on Giphy’s removal.The company mentioned the change as part of its latest list of security updates to the platform, which also includes limits on screen sharing, changes to muting and unmuting functions, and restrictions on logging in to meetings from...WW…

Without guaranteed and affordable internet access, Lekan Olawoye fears some Canadians could be left behind economically as the pandemic's physical distancing measures remain in place for months to come.CBC NewsReport Typo or ErrorAdd some “good” to your morning and evening.A variety of newsletters you'll love, delivered straight to you.To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted.By submitting a...…Without guaranteed and affordable internet access, Lekan Olawoye fears some Canadians could be left behind economically as the pandemic's physical distancing measures remain in place for months to come.CBC NewsReport Typo or ErrorAdd some “good” to your morning and evening.A variety of newsletters you'll love, delivered straight to you.To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted.By submitting a...WW…

This article is part of a VB special issue. Read the full series: .Now that the world is in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, governments are quickly deploying their own cocktails of tracking methods. These include device-based contact tracing, wearables, thermal scanning, drones, and facial recognition technology. It’s important to understand how those tools and technologies work and how governments are using them to track not just the spread of the coronavirus, but the movements of their citizens.Contact tracing is one of the fastest-growing means of viral tracking. Although the term...…This article is part of a VB special issue. Read the full series: .Now that the world is in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, governments are quickly deploying their own cocktails of tracking methods. These include device-based contact tracing, wearables, thermal scanning, drones, and facial recognition technology. It’s important to understand how those tools and technologies work and how governments are using them to track not just the spread of the coronavirus, but the movements of their citizens.Contact tracing is one of the fastest-growing means of viral tracking. Although the term...WW…

home pageDefying COVID-19 restrictions, Israelis enjoyed the beach in Tel Aviv, as temperatures rose to 40 degrees in some parts of the country, May 16, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)The heat wave that baked Israel all of last week may yet be declared the longest on record, with scorching temperatures lasting six days.While scientists employ caution when asked whether a single event can be  directly linked to global warming, a leading expert on climatology and climate change says it is probable that sizzlers like this will become more common in the future.Professor Hadas Saaroni, an expert...…home pageDefying COVID-19 restrictions, Israelis enjoyed the beach in Tel Aviv, as temperatures rose to 40 degrees in some parts of the country, May 16, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)The heat wave that baked Israel all of last week may yet be declared the longest on record, with scorching temperatures lasting six days.While scientists employ caution when asked whether a single event can be  directly linked to global warming, a leading expert on climatology and climate change says it is probable that sizzlers like this will become more common in the future.Professor Hadas Saaroni, an expert...WW…

Techdirt is off for the long weekend! We'll be back with our regular posts tomorrow.Techdirt is off for the long weekend! We'll be back with our regular posts tomorrow.Techdirt—In recent weeks, the telecom sector and FCC allies have been busy trying to claim that the only reason the US internet still works is because the FCC killed net neutrality rules in 2017. That repeal, , not only killed net neutrality protections, but the FCC's ability to hold giant telecom monopolies responsible for pretty much anything, be it or during a crisis.The pandemic has been making it that might not have been...…Techdirt is off for the long weekend! We'll be back with our regular posts tomorrow.Techdirt is off for the long weekend! We'll be back with our regular posts tomorrow.Techdirt—In recent weeks, the telecom sector and FCC allies have been busy trying to claim that the only reason the US internet still works is because the FCC killed net neutrality rules in 2017. That repeal, , not only killed net neutrality protections, but the FCC's ability to hold giant telecom monopolies responsible for pretty much anything, be it or during a crisis.The pandemic has been making it that might not have been...WW…