The New York Times reports: This magic ticket is New York State’s Excelsior Pass, which was introduced in March as the first and only government-issued vaccine passport in the country, accessible, for now, only to people who have been vaccinated in the state. Though it is basically just a QR code on your phone that indicates your vaccine status, the …
Read More »Google Partners W/Hospital Giant On Guiding Doctors
The Wall Street Journal reports: Alphabet Inc.’s Google and national hospital chain HCA Healthcare Inc. have struck a deal to develop healthcare algorithms using patient records, the latest foray by a tech giant into the $3 trillion healthcare sector. Nashville, Tenn.,-based HCA, which operates across about 2,000 locations in 21 states, would consolidate and store with Google data from digital …
Read More »Insurers Ask: Who Pays When Self-Driving Cars Crash?
Roll Call reports: The advent of self-driving cars is raising questions in the insurance sector about who should pay when the vehicles crash and how insurers will set equitable rates. When cars can operate themselves, the central question will be whether accidents are the manufacturer’s responsibility and therefore covered by product liability insurance or whether the fault would lie with …
Read More »US To Use Primates In Study On “Havana Syndrome”
The Insider reports: Scientists at a US military laboratory are planning to experiment on primates to investigate possible causes of the mysterious brain injures, nicknamed “Havana Syndrome,” that American spies, diplomats, officials, and even military personnel have suffered both at home and abroad, according to a report from The New Yorker. US national security agencies are trying to figure out …
Read More »Sleeping Tesla Driver Clocked At 82 MPH On Interstate
Milwaukee’s NBC News affiliate reports: The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office said it was dispatched to northbound I-94 near the Illinois/Wisconsin state line Sunday for a report of a Tesla driver who appeared to be asleep at the wheel. The deputy tried to initiate a traffic stop and activated the lights and sirens in his car. The driver didn’t pull over …
Read More »California Investigates Tesla Over Self-Driving Claims
Car & Driver reports: We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it for a while: there are no full self-driving cars available for sale today. Completely autonomous vehicles remain a technology from the future. Auto companies that try to promote their driver-assistance features as “full self driving” could run afoul of regulators. See also: Tesla. The California Department of …
Read More »Apple Music To Offer “Lossless Audio” To Subscribers
The Verge reports: Apple Music is getting two big updates next month: support for high-quality, lossless audio and for spatial audio through Dolby Atmos. But even more surprising, the features will be available for free to all subscribers, including those on family and student plans. The company says it’ll have 75 million lossless audio songs in its catalog by the …
Read More »Feds Suspect Second Directed Energy Attack Near WH
CNN reports: Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year — including one who was passing through a gate onto the property — newly revealed details that come as investigators are still struggling to determine who or what is behind these strange incidents. The cases are consistent with an inexplicable constellation of sensory experiences and …
Read More »Killed Tesla Owner Boasted Of Hands-Free Driving
Reuters reports: A Tesla car driver killed in a recent accident in California praised the automaker’s “full self-driving” features, and posted videos on his apparent Tiktok account, in which he appeared to drive with his hands off the wheel. On May 5, a Tesla Model 3 crashed into an overturned truck on a highway in Fontana, killing the Tesla driver …
Read More »Ireland’s Health System Hit With Ransomware Attack
CNBC reports: Ireland’s health service shut down its computer systems on Friday after being hit with a “sophisticated” ransomware attack. The Irish Health Service Executive said there was a “significant ransomware attack” on its IT systems, without commenting further on specifics. Ireland’s vaccination program has not been affected and appointments will go ahead as planned, but the registration portal has …
Read More »Biden To Issue Order On Strengthening Cyber Defenses
The New York Times reports: The order, drafts of which have been circulating to government officials and corporate executives for weeks and summaries of which were obtained by The New York Times, is a new road map for the nation’s cyberdefense. It would create a series of digital safety standards for federal agencies and contractors that develop software for the …
Read More »New York AG: Broadband Industry Behind Millions Of Fake FCC Comments In Opposition To Net Neutrality
Law & Crime reports: On the year former President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality, the regulator was inundated with more than 22 million comments. Nearly 18 million of them were fake, and some 40 percent of those came from an influence campaign linked to the broadband industry, New York Attorney General Letitia James found in a …
Read More »White House Launches Artificial Intelligence Site
Axios reports: The White House has launched a new website, AI.gov, to make artificial intelligence research more accessible across the nation, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The U.S. once led significantly in the global artificial intelligence race, but now risks being overtaken by China. This is one step the White House is taking to drum up excitement for AI …
Read More »Microsoft To Force Removal Of Flash From Windows 10
The Verge reports: Microsoft will start fully removing Adobe Flash from Windows 10 this summer. The Windows 10 “Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player,” which permanently removes Flash as a component of the operating system, will become mandatory starting in July. Updating to Windows 10 version 21H1, expected to start rolling out this month, will also remove the software. …
Read More »Verizon Offloads AOL And Yahoo In $5 Billion Deal
The New York Times reports: Verizon Communications, signaling that it has given up on its media business, said on Monday that it agreed to sell Yahoo and AOL to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. The transaction is the latest turn in the history of two of the internet’s earliest pioneers. Yahoo used to be the …
Read More »NYPD Ditches Robot Police Dog After Backlash [VIDEO]
The New York Daily News reports: The NYPD’s robot dog has been hounded out of service. The police department will return Digidog to robotics manufacturer Boston Dynamics after months of backlash and mockery that compared the four-legged bot to a dystopian sci-fi surveillance nightmare. John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, confirmed Wednesday the NYPD had cancelled …
Read More »Apple Rolls Out Anti-Tracking Feature For iPhones
The Verge reports: Apple has begun rolling out iOS and iPadOS 14.5. The latest software update includes the new App Tracking Transparency feature, which lets users decide whether to allow apps to track their activity “across other companies’ apps and websites” for advertising purposes. A pop-up will now appear whenever apps are designed to share your activity in this way. …
Read More »Twitter May Offer “Tipping Button” In User Profiles
The Verge reports: Twitter has said it’s exploring features like tipping to give people a way to pay other Twitter users, and now we have further evidence that a tip feature may be on the way. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong shared images on Thursday and Friday showing that Twitter could offer a tipping button right on user profiles. Twitter …
Read More »Amazon Launches Pay-By-Palm Tech At Whole Foods
The Associated Press reports: Amazon is rolling out pay-by-palm technology at some Whole Foods grocery stores near its headquarters to make paying quicker and more convenient. The technology, called Amazon One, lets shoppers scan the palm of their hand and connect it to a credit card or Amazon account. After the initial set up, which Amazon says takes less than …
Read More »Elon Musk Denies Tesla “Autopilot” Behind Fatal Crash
CNBC reports: On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a denial that his company’s automated driving systems were involved in a fatal crash in Spring, Texas. Two federal agencies, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, are investigating the crash now. Local police said in multiple press interviews that, apparently, nobody was behind the wheel …
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