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Technology
On the run-up to Y2K, this consultant pilot fish gets the job of making sure a state government department has all its patches and firmware up to date for the cutover.
"One of the sysadmins was more of a Lotus Notes admin and not really familiar with patching and firmware ugrades," says fish. "But he watched me as I patched a ton of Netware servers.
"One morning as I walked into the building I noticed him in the hallway, bouncing off the walls waiting for me to arrive.
"'You gotta help me,' he said. 'I upgraded the firmware on the Windows NT mail server and now it just blue screens!'
"I asked him if he upgraded the device drivers for the RAID controller too -- and just got that deer-in-the-headlights look of what's that for
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If you & re an Apple customer living in China who didn & t already opt out of having your iCloud information kept locally, herea good reason to do so now. That information, the information belonging to China-based iCloud users which includes emails and text messages, is now being saved by a department of China Telecom, thestate-owned telco. The operator & sTianyi cloud storage company unit has taken the reins for iCloud China, according to a WeChat post from China Telecom. Apple independently verified the modification to TechCrunch. Appletransition of the information from its own U.S.-based servers to local servers on Chinese soil has actually raised considerable issue amongst observers who worry that the change will grant the Chinese government easier access to delicate details. Before a switch revealed previously this year, all encryption secrets for Chinese users were stored in the U.S. which meant authorities needed to go through the U.S. legal system to request access to details. Now the scenario is based on Chinese courts and a gatekeeper thatowned by the government. Apple itself has saidit was compelled to make the move in order to comply with Chinese authorities, which barely eases the mind. Itironic that the U.S. government has actually pursued Chinese telecom devices maker ZTE on account of national security and thought links to Chinese authorities, and yet one of Americalargest corporates is delegating user data to a state-owned company in China. The only plus for Apple users in China is that they can opt out of local data storage by choosing a nation aside from China for their iCloud account. Given that it isn & t clear whether making that change today would see info migrated or erased from the Chinese server, beginning over with a new account is probably the best option at this moment. Hat pointer @yuanfenyang
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Google is continuing to test new strategies in China after the U.S. search giant released its first mini program for WeChat, the countryhugely popular messaging app.
WeChat is used by hundreds of millions of Chinese people daily for services that stretch beyond chat to include mobile payments, bill paying, food delivery and more. Tencent, the company that operates WeChat, added mini programs last year and they effectively operate like apps that are attached to the service. That means that usersbypass Google Play or AppleApp Store and install them from WeChat.
Earlier this year, Tencent addedsupport for games — &mini games& — andthe Chinese firm recently said that over one million mini programshave been created to date. Engagement is high, with some 500 million WeChat users interacting with at least one each month.
WeChat has become the key distribution channel in China and thatwhy Google is embracing it with its first mini program — 猜画小歌, a game that roughly translates to ‘Guess My Sketch.& Thereno English announcement but the details can be found in this post on GoogleChinese blog, which includes the QR code to scan to get the game.
The app is a take on games like ZyngaDraw Something, which puts players into teams to guess what the other is drawing. Google, however, is adding a twist. Each player teams up with an AI and then battles against their friends and their AIs. You can find an English version of the game online here.
Googlefirst WeChat mini program is a sketching game that uses AI
The main news here isn&t the game, of course, but that Google is embracing mini programs, which have been christened as a threat to the Google Play Store itself.
‘When in China… play by local rules& and Google has taken that to heart this year.
The company recently introduced a Chinese version of its Files Go Android device management app which saw it join forces with four third-party app stores in China in order to gain distribution.This sketching game has lower ambitions but, clearly, it&ll be a learning experience for Google that might prompt it to introduce more significant apps or services via WeChat in the future.
Indeed, Google has been cozying up to Tencent lately after inking a patent deal with the Chinese internet giant, investing in its close ally JD.com and combining on investment deals together, includingbiotech startup XtalPi.
Thatone side of a new initiative to be more involved in China, where it has been absent since 2010 afterredirecting its Chinese search service to Hong Kongin the face of government pressure. In other moves, it has openedan AI lab in Beijing and a more modest office in Shenzhenwhile it isbringing its startup demo day event to China for the first time with a Shanghai event inSeptember.
Finally, in a touch of irony, Googleembrace of WeChat‘app store-killing& mini programs platform comes just hours before the EU is expected to levya multibillion-euro penalty onit for abusing its dominant position on mobile via Android.
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Read more: Google releases its very first WeChat mini program as its China experiments continue
Write comment (95 Comments)Google gave us a hardware blitzkrieg at CES. Among other things, the company announced a new smart display category, aimed at taking on the Echo Show through sheer, brute force. The new Show Mode Dock isn&t a direct response, but ita clever one.
Two years ago, Amazon introduced Alexa for the Fire tablet line. Last year, the feature went hands-free. In June, all of those additions finally paid off with the addition of Show Mode for the Fire HD 8 and 10, along with the dock, which effectively turns the tablets into an Echo Show. Ita perfect bit of stream-crossing synergy for the company.
When I met with Amazon prior to release, I asked if the company was afraid of cannibalizing the Show. They seemed unconcerned. Not surprising, really. Hardware has always been secondary to its strategy. The more Alexa devices in the world, the better. Thatreally the bottom line here.
For consumers, the form factor makes sense. You can pick up the 8- and 10-inch bundle for $110 and $190, respectively, putting it considerably below the Show$230 MSRP (though Amazon sale prices do tend to fluctuate a fair bit). That cost is getting you not only a smart display, but a Fire tablet that can be unhooked and used in all of the standard tablet ways.
In fact, the more I talk about it, the less compelling the Show becomes. It was never a particularly attractive piece of hardware for one thatmeant to be displayed in your home at all times. In fact, itgot a bit of an unintentional retro RadioShack vibe. Italso unnecessarily big and bulky — thatpart of what made the much smaller Spot that much more appealing.
Given the new product category and some of the deep discounts itbeen getting in recent months, I wouldn&t be too surprised to see a new Show on the way in the not so distant future. In the meantime, however, the device does have a few things going for it versus the tablet/dock combo.
Chief among them are better mics and speakers. Of course, you can always connect the tablet to a Bluetooth speaker (through the app, not over voice yet) to address the latter issue. But for now, if you&re looking for a screen-enabled device that can also double as a small entertainment hub, the Show is probably still a better bet.
Itworth pointing out, too, that neither the Fire Tablet nor the dock are what anyone would classify as premium devices. Amazonefforts to compete on the high end of the tablet market evaporated years ago. The new Fires have decent screens, but otherwise mostly fit the bill of content delivery devices. Ita strategy that has worked quite well for Amazon, as much of the rest of the tablet category has dried up.
There isn&t a lot to the dock itself. Ita small bit of plastic with a kickstand that swivels out. Therea plastic tablet case with two metal pads on the back that snap onto the dock with magnets. A small micro-USB module plugs into the tabletport, connecting the two, for data transfer and power, so it can charge while docked.
The key to the whole thing is the addition of Show Mode to the tablet, bringing the same UI you get on the smart display. You can enable it manually on the device by swiping down on the home menu (strangely, this doesn&t seem to be enabled through voice yet). The Mode does away with all of the details of the standard Fire OS, instead defaulting to a large, card-based system.
The Mode is also enabled when the tablet is docked. When you remove it, it reverts back to the standard tablet. Simple.
It all works as advertised. Though again, the speakers aren&t great, and itnot as good at picking up sounds across the room. Although $40 and $55 for the 8- and 10-inch dock, respectively, is a bit steep, taken together, itultimately a better deal than the Show — and either way, you&re getting a screen larger than the smart display7-inch.
The Show Mode Dock/Fire Tablet combo is really just the all-around better deal. It also starts shipping next week — no word yet on when those Google displays are finally arriving.
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Read more: Amazon’s Show Mode Dock makes the Echo Show mostly unnecessary
Write comment (94 Comments)Kindly Care scores $5.4 million to vet and location caretakers, then help families pay them properly
There are approximately 45 million unpaid eldercare service providers in the United States, according to the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau. Ittough on these family caregivers, a lot of whom are working ladies who are also raising their own kids. There are options. For instance, thereno lack of firms going to position a turning cast of caregivers into the homes of the senior, though they can be prohibitively expensive for lots of households. There are likewise upstarts trying to deal with the difficulty —-- and chance —-- that an aging American population presents. One startup, Honor, positions full-time workers in the homes of seniors with an eye on preserving a consistent experience for the senior citizens with whom they work Now, another startup in the area, three-year-old, San Francisco-based Kindly Care, is taking more of a market technique, pairing vetted caretakers with families who require them, then assisting both sides manage their financial and tax arrangements by acting as their back-office provider. The business, as with many comparable business, was born of the need of its creator and CEO, Igor Lebovic, a local of Croatia who & d relocated to the U.S. to snatch two aerospace engineering degrees, and never moved home, rather beginning a company with a college co-founder. They later offered their startup to About.com, then a home of The New York Times. Regardless of the happy outcome for Lebovic, however, he worried about his parents, countless miles away, as the awareness set in that he may never once again be as available to them as he was when they lived in close distance. & Like a lot of individuals who leave their moms and dads behind, itone of those things that I & ve wondered about gradually. We put on & t have a lot of plans for our moms and dads, and therethis regret. &. Whether the 12-person company ultimately expands into Europe is a remote unidentified, but Kindly Care appears to be resonating with caretakers in the U.S. According to Lebovic, more than 100,000 caregivers have signed up with the platform in hopes of finding a task through it, and 20,000 have been completely vetted and are now readily available to call through the platform and who can aid with whatever from memory care; to specialized nursing; to dressing, bathing and individual care; to transport. How it works: Based on a familyspecific requirements, they scan interviews and videos of caregivers in their area, before deciding on a specific and developing a hourly wage thatacceptable on both sides. Most households pay between $15 and $18 an hour, states Lebovic. After that, Kindly Care essentially establishes a payroll for the household that ensures that payments and tax withholdings are compliant based upon the state of operation. What Kindly Care gets in exchange is a commission based on the dollars invested in its platform. Families who pay for live-in assistance are basically supplying the company with 20 percent of the hourly earnings they provide their caretakers; for caregivers who wear & t deal with their clients, Kindly Care takes a 25 percent cut. It may sound high, however Lebovic argues that it has to do the heavy lifting needed on the front end to make sure that caregivers are who they say they are, and that they operate in such a way thatcompliant with regional labor laws. That Kindly Care provides payroll and other back workplace functions probably assist numerous households, and caregivers, justify the expense, too. Either way, Kindly Care stays more affordable than conventional live-in-care, Lebovic states, and ita far better alternative to publishing an ad on Craigslist and wishing for the very best. Financiers appear to agree, too. Kindly Care simply completed a $5.4 million Series A funding round led by Javelin Venture Partners, with involvement from MHS Capital and Jackson Square Ventures. Completely, the company has actually now raised $9.5 million. Asked what Kindly Care will do with its fresh capital, Lebovic is clear. & Right now we & re geographically spread out across five states, & consisting of California and Ohio. & Now, with the aid of our new funding, we prepare to broaden to all 50. &.
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An undercover press reporter with the U.K.Channel 4 visited Cpl, a material small amounts outsourcing company in Dublin, and came away rather prevented at what they saw: queues of flagged material waiting, videos of kids fighting remaining online, orders from above not to act on underage users. It sounds bad, however the fact is there are pretty good reasons for the majority of it and in the end the report comes off as rather ignorant. Not that ita bad thing for journalists to keep huge business (and their small professionals) truthful, however the situations called out by Channel 4reporter appear to reflect a misunderstanding of the small amounts process rather than issues with the process itself. I & m not a big Facebook fan, but in the matter of moderation I think they are genuine, if extremely unprepared. The bullet points raised by the report are all dealt with in a letter from Facebook to the filmmakers. The business points out that some content needs to be left up since abhorrent as it is, it isn & t in infraction of the companystated requirements and might be helpful; minor users and content has some special requirements however in other ways can & t be assumed to be real; popular pages do need to exist on various terms than little ones, whether they & re extreme partisans or celebrities (or both); hate speech is a delicate and complex matter that typically needs to be evaluated numerous times; and so on. The greatest issue doesn & t at all seem to be negligence by Facebook: there are factors for whatever, and as is typically the case with small amounts, those reasons are typically unfulfilling however efficient compromises. The issue is that the company has dragged its feet for several years on taking obligation for material and, as such, its moderation resources are simply overtaxed. The volume of material flagged by both automated processes and users is tremendous and Facebook hasn & t staffed up. Why do you think itoutsourcing the work By the method, did you understand that this is a dreadful job Brief movie ‘& lsquo; The Moderators & has a look at the thankless job of patrolling the web Facebook in an article states that it is working on doubling its & security and security & personnel to 20,000, amongst which 7,500 will be on moderation duty. I & ve asked what the present number is, and whether that consists of people at business like this one (which has about 650 customers) and will update if I hear back. Update: Facebook returned to me with some specifics. The 7,500 figure does in reality consist of complete timers, specialists, and workers of suppliers like Cpl. But the representative suggested that the business has actually surpassed that figure, though it is presently at around 15,000 overall. Even with a staff of thousands the judgments that require to be made are often so subjective, and the volume of material so terrific, that there will always be stockpiles and mistakes. It doesn & t indicate anybody must be let off the hook, but it doesn & t always indicate a methodical failure other than, perhaps, an absence of labor. If people want Facebook to be effectively moderated they might need to accept that the process will be done by thousands of people who imperfectly carry out the job. Automated procedures are useful but no replacement for the genuine thing. The outcome is a substantial worldwide group of mediators, overworked and negative by occupation, doing a messy and at times inadequate task of it.
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Read more: Undercover report reveals the Facebook small amounts sausage being made
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