Tech News

Technocracy: GMO Food Will Stock Grocery Shelves Within 5 Years.

While ethicists [sic] debate the applications of blockbuster gene-editing tool Crispr in human healthcare, an inventor of the tool believes it has a more immediate application: improving our food.

I have one, essential question for those in the pro-GMO industry. If GMO food is as safe as Big GMO says, why then do they fight so diligently against their food being labeled as such? They'll reply with, "doing so presents a negative perception of our products, thus negatively affecting our sales." And? That's our problem?

Asbestos? Nah. Perfectly fine and safe, we were told for decades. Thalidomide? Perfectly safe, especially for pregnant mothers. Tobacco? Recommended by Doctors and dentists alike.

Now, here comes the GMO Train. We're just human guinea pigs for tech and science, aren't we?
- - -
TechNewsWorld: Samsung suspends launch of Galaxy Fold.

Samsung pumped the brakes on release of the US$1,980 phone after several reviewers reported problems with their units.
[.]
Reviewers for Bloomberg and YouTube reported their units began malfunctioning after they removed an integral part of the display, mistakenly thinking it was a plastic screen protector.

CNBC reviewer Todd Haselton wrote that he left the plastic film intact, but the display still started acting buggy. The left side of the flexible screen began to flicker consistently.

- - -
TechSpot: Screen time not recommended for infants, says World Health Organization.

Infants under the age of one shouldn’t be exposed to electronic screens of any type according to guidelines recently published by the World Health Organization.

The United Nations agency further notes that sedentary screen time (watching TV / videos or playing computer games) is not recommended for infants.

Was anyone aware of this? Who knew?
- - -
TechCrunch: Tesla reports $702 million loss in first quarter.

Tesla reported April 9 that it delivered 63,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of the year, nearly a one-third drop from the previous quarter.
[.]
“Everyone expected a first quarter loss for Tesla, but nobody expected it to be this big,” Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader said in an emailed statement.

- - -
Ars Technia: Windpower-Turbines come to Massachusetts.

Turbines? What turbines? They blend in so well! And appear to be well-protected from vandalism or other acts of sabotage
- - -
Beta News: Samsung Galaxy View2 Android 2 tablet: It's "Colossal."

What we don't know at the moment is just when the Galaxy View2 will be released, or how much it will cost.

But at least we know it's Colossal.
- - -
BGR: Spoiler-free review of "Avengers: Endgame."
- - -
C|Net: Facebook facing fine that could exceed $5 Billion Dollars.

The FTC is looking into Facebook's privacy practices and determining if the company violated a legal agreement to keep user data private.
[.]
Still, Facebook's scandals didn't scare away advertisers or users. The company posted a better-than-expected $15.08 billion in sales in the first quarter and reported the number of users who logged on every month increased by 8%, to 2.38 billion.

- - -
TechTalks: What is ethical AI?

Human oversight means that no AI system should be able to perform its functions without some level of control by humans. This means that humans should either be directly involved in the decision-making process or have the option to review and override decisions made by an AI model.

- - -
Computer World: Where are the April Windows patches?

Answer: Due sometime in June. Maybe July.
- - -
Extreme Tech: Sony's 98-inch, 8K OLED TV.

The cutting edge of television technology will cost you[.]
[.]
This will be the 2019 flagship of the Sony television line and it ships in June. The Z9G measures 86.75 inches wide by 55.0 inches tall by 4.38 inches deep. For a cleaner look, it can be bracket-mounted to any wall that can support 208 pounds.

The price? $69,999.99.

- - -

ZD Net: Is your body hacker-proof?

Increasing numbers of implantable medical devices are now gaining internet connectivity, giving doctors the ability to monitor patients health remotely, and even update the devices to tweak a treatment plan. Unfortunately, that flexibility offers a way for hackers to hijack that hardware, and even potentially make changes to the way the devices work. While so far no attacks have been successful, proof-of-concept attacks have been available for years.

And while it might be tempting to hope that cybercriminals might see corrupting life-sustaining devices as a step too far, they haven't historically shown much of a conscience, cheerfully extorting money away from hospitals, for example, and putting patients at risk.