15 May 2019

Introducing Translatotron: An End-to-End Speech-to-Speech Translation Model

Google recalls its Bluetooth Titan Security Keys because of a security bug


Google today disclosed a security bug in its Bluetooth Titan Security Key that could allow an attacker in close physical proximity to circumvent the security the key is supposed to provide. The company says that the bug is due to a “misconfiguration in the Titan Security Keys’ Bluetooth pairing protocols” and that even the faulty keys still protect against phishing attacks. Still, the company is providing a free replacement key to all existing users.

The bug affects all Titan Bluetooth keys, which sell for $50 in a package that also includes a standard USB/NFC key, that have a “T1” or “T2” on the back.

To exploit the bug, an attacker would have to within Bluetooth range (about 30 feet) and act swiftly as you press the button on the key to activate it. The attackers can then use the misconfigured protocol to connect their own device to the key before your own device connects. With that — and assuming that they already have your username and password — they could sign into your account.

Google also notes that before you can use your key, it has to be paired to your device. An attacker could also potentially exploit this bug by using their own device and masquerading it as your security key to connect to your device when you press the button on the key. By doing this, the attackers can then change their device to look like a keyboard or mouse and remote control your laptop, for example.

All of this has to happen at the exact right time, though, and the attacker must already know your credentials. A persistent attacker could make that work, though.

Google argues that this issue doesn’t affect the Titan key’s main mission, which is to guard against phishing attacks, and argues that users should continue to use the keys until they get a replacement. “It is much safer to use the affected key instead of no key at all. Security keys are the strongest protection against phishing currently available,” the company writes in today’s announcement.

The company also offers a few tips for mitigating the potential security issues here.

Some of Google’s competitors in the security key space, including YubiCo, decided against using Bluetooth because of potential security issues and criticized Google for launching a Bluetooth key. “While Yubico previously initiated development of a BLE security key, and contributed to the BLE U2F standards work, we decided not to launch the product as it does not meet our standards for security, usability and durability,” YubiCo founder Stina Ehrensvard wrote when Google launched its Titan keys.


Read Full Article

Twitter launches new search features to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines


As measles outbreaks in the United States and other countries continue to get worse, Twitter is introducing new search tools meant to help users find credible resources about vaccines. It will also stop auto-suggesting search terms that would lead users to misinformation about vaccines.

In a blog post, Twitter vice president of trust and safety Del Harvey wrote “at Twitter, we understand the importance of vaccines in preventing illness and disease and recognize the role that Twitter plays in disseminating important public health information. We think it’s important to help people find reliable information that enhances their health and well-being.”

When users search for keywords related to vaccines, they will see a prompt that directs them to resources from Twitter’s information partners. In the U.S., this is vaccines.gov, a website by the Department of Health and Human Services. A pinned tweet from one of Twitter’s partners will also appear.

One of Twitter's new tools to stop the spread of vaccine misinformation

One of Twitter’s new tools to stop the spread of vaccine misinformation

In addition to the U.S., the vaccine information tools will also appear on Twitter’s iOS and Android apps and its mobile site in Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

Harvey wrote that Twitter’s vaccine information tools are similar to ones it launched for suicide and self-harm prevention last year. The company plans to launch similar features for other public health issues over the coming months, she added.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said measles cases in the U.S. had increased to 839. Cases have been reported in 23 states this year, with the majority — or almost 700 — in New York.

Social media platforms have been criticized for not doing more to prevent the spread of misinformation about vaccines and, as measles cases began to rise, started taking measures. For example, YouTube announced earlier this year that it is demonetizing all anti-vaccine videos, while Facebook began downranking anti-vaccine content on its News Feed and hiding it on Instagram.


Read Full Article

The 10 Best iMac Accessories in 2019

How to Use a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller on PC and Android

The Best Free Online Proxy Servers You Can Use Safely


best-free-proxy-servers

Proxy sites and proxy servers allow internet users to bypass internet restrictions and access content that would otherwise be blocked.

Lots of free proxy providers exist, but which are the best? Are there any risks of using a free online proxy? And what alternatives are available?

Why Use a Free Proxy Server?

We’ve all experienced blocked sites. Schools, companies, public Wi-Fi networks, ISPs, and governments restrict access to certain types of content.

A free proxy is one of the many ways to circumvent restrictions if content is being blocked based on your geolocation. They route your traffic through a server in a different country, thus hiding your true location.

The Risks of Using a Free Proxy Server

Using a free proxy is not a risk-free endeavor. Some of the risks of using proxy servers include:

  • HTTPS: Research has shown that 79 percent of free proxy servers do not use an HTTPS connection, meaning data on the server you’re using is not encrypted—people can see it.
  • Malware: It is hard for regular users to verify the security of a free proxy. There’s a risk that the server could abuse your connection and use it to serve malware to your machine. Aggressive ads also pose a problem.
  • Service: Free proxies are often slow, overloaded, unreliable, and struggle to display many forms of content.

Read our article on reasons why you should avoid free proxy servers if you would like to learn more.

Which Is the Best Free Proxy Site?

Only a few free proxy sites offer the right mix of security, reliability, service, and reputation.

Our top five picks are:

1. HideMyAss

hidemyass proxy

HideMyAss is best known as a VPN provider, but the company also offers a free proxy service that anyone can use.

Servers are available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.

Unlike many free proxy sites, HideMyAss does offer some security options for your proxy connection. You can choose to encrypt your URL, disable cookies on the websites you visit, and prevent scripts from running.

2. Hide.me

Again, Hide.me is an established VPN provider that also has free proxy servers.

The list of supported countries is smaller than the HideMyAss proxy; servers are only available in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands.

However, the Hide.me free proxy makes up for its lack of locations with a longer list of security options. In addition to the features available on HideMyAss, you can also opt to remove objects and encrypt the page.

A Chrome extension and a Firefox extension are both available.

3. KProxy

kproxy home

KProxy is perhaps the most reliable of the free proxy sites that do not also provide VPN services.

Ten free US-based servers are on offer. Its single-country status means it’s a perfect way for people in the US. to bypass network-based site restrictions, but it will not work as a tool for accessing geo-blocked content.

4. Whoer

Whoer is yet another VPN company that provides free proxy servers. It is only available as an extension on Chrome, Firefox, Yandex, and Opera.

The company has proxy servers available in Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm, London, and Dallas.

5. Megaproxy

If you can look past the site’s dated interface, you’ll discover Megaproxy is a free proxy provider unlike the other four we have discussed.

It’s one of the only free proxy sites that can also hide your browser and operating system, making it perhaps the most secure of the bunch.

Other features include a toggle to prevent the repetition of on-site animations and an ad-blocker. Megaproxy has a limit of 60 pages in five hours, so it’s not a great long-term solution.

If you’d like even more options, we covered them in our list of the best web proxies.

Notable Paid Proxy Sites

We always suggest that you should use a VPN over a proxy server. ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are both highly recommended.

VPNs can hide your location like a proxy, but also come with several security benefits such as encryption, kill switches, and no logging.

If you want to use a proxy, there are paid options that don’t suffer from the same issues as free proxy sites. They are mainly aimed at business users.

1. Luminati

Use the Luminati paid proxy service

Luminati is the largest proxy provider in the world. It offers more than 30 million IP addresses (both mobile and residential) in 20,000 cities across 195 countries. The service is excellent for businesses who want to verify ads, compare prices, source talent, and test their systems.

There are no session restrictions, exclusive IPs are offered, and there’s 24/7 support available.

Luminati offers three different paid packages. A shared proxy is $0.50 per GB, a private proxy is $0.60 per month per IP, and residential and mobile IPs are $12.50 per GB.

2. RotatingProxies

If you only need US-based proxies, you should check out Rotating Proxies.

The company provides backconnect proxies (a server that uses a pool of residential proxies) for businesses to perform processes such as SEO, ad verification, account creation, scraping, and more.

All RotatingProxies packages offer unlimited bandwidth and five-minute rotation between proxy switches.

The cheapest package requires you to purchase 10 proxies. It costs $39 per month. Deals go all the way up to 1,000 proxies for $1,683 per month.

3. Smartproxy

smart proxy

Smartproxy provides users with more than 10 million residential proxy IP addresses. The proxies are available in 195 locations around the world and have an average response time of 3.1 seconds.

Like its competitors, Smartproxy’s proxy servers are great for automation, accessing local data, improving marketing, and scraping the web.

At a more user-friendly level, the company’s proxies will let you access sites like Facebook and Twitter if they are blocked on your network.

An entry-level plan cost $75 per month with 5GB of bandwidth. Plans are also available for $200, $400, and $600—each with improving terms.

The Best Solution?

There is a serious question mark over whether free proxies are worth your time. Unless you make sure you use a reliable provider, they are arguably no better than the free VPN services.

Not sure what we mean? Check out our piece on why you should never use a free VPN.

Read the full article: The Best Free Online Proxy Servers You Can Use Safely


Read Full Article

5 Free HTML Templates to Easily Create Quick Websites


free-html-templates

Whether you run your own business or you simply want to advertise yourself and your skills, it’s important to have a website. But maybe you don’t have the time to learn HTML and don’t want to spend money on expensive web design services.

In that case, you can use our free HTML templates. We’ve created simple templates which you can adapt to your own needs to create a simple website. We’ve also included instructions so you can use the templates even if you’re a total beginner with HTML.

How to Use the Templates

You can preview each template by clicking the link in the title. But to edit and use the templates yourself, you first need to download them. To do this, right click on the title of each template and choose Save Link As…. Then select a folder to save the template and hit Save.

An alternative method is to open up the template in your browser by clicking on the link. Then right click anywhere on the page and select View Page Source. This will show you the HTML used for the page. You can then hit Ctrl + S to save the template to your computer.

Now go to the folder where you saved the template. Right click on the template and choose Open with then select Notepad. This opens up the template as a text document. Here you can make any changes to the template you want, then save.

When your edits are made, your pages are ready to host. Check out our guide to the best free website hosting services to find a suitable host and your site can be online in no time.

1. About Me Template

Website Templates - About Me

This template is for a simple homepage, which could be for your personal or professional website. You can add a portrait image and text about yourself and your professional achievements.

You could also use this template for any other kind of text-based content, such as information about a hobby or topic that you want to share.

To customize the template, first open up the HTML file in a text editor like Notepad or WordPad. To understand what you’re seeing, you can learn about understanding basic HTML code.

Change the Page Title

The first thing to change is the title. This is the text that appears at the top of the tab when you open the page. To change this, find the section:

<title>John Smith - About Me</title>

Now change the text inside the <title> tags to say whatever you want.

Change the Image

The template comes with the MakeUseOf logo as an example. You can change this image to whatever you want. A square image looks best, but you can also use a rectangular image if you prefer. To change the image, find this line:

<img src="muo-logo.jpg" class="about">

Now change “muo-logo.jpg” to the URL for your image.

Change the Text

Now you just have to add the text that you want for the page. To do this, find the paragraph tags. These are <p> at the start and </p> at the end.

Copy and paste the text you want in between these paragraph tags. There will be a space automatically added at the end of each paragraph. To add more paragraphs, just add another set of <p></p> tags with text inside.

You can also change the heading at the top of the text. To change this, find the line:

<h1>About me</h1>

And change the “About me” text to whatever you want.

2. Where To Find Me Template

Website Templates - Where to Find Me

This template is an easy way to link all of your social media sites. You can use this as a landing page which points to all the other sites where you can be found online.

Change the Social Media Links

You need to change the links and name for each social media account. To do this, start off with the Twitter account. Find this line:

<img src="twitter-logo.svg" class="socmed">
<br><br>
<b>Twitter:</b> <a href="http://twitter.com/johnsmith" target="_blank">@JohnSmith</a>

There are two things to change here. Firstly, change the link http://twitter.com/johnsmith to the link for your Twitter account. Secondly, change the handle @JohnSmith to your handle.

Now do the same with the other social media sites.

If there is a site you don’t use, for example if you don’t have a Tumblr account, then just delete this section of the template:

<img src="tumblr-logo.png" class="socmed">
<br><br>
<b>Tumblr:</b> <a href="https://johnsmith.tumblr.com" target="_blank">johnsmith</a>

<div style="clear:both">
<br><br>
</div>

Change the Heading and Title

Like the about me template, you can change the heading and title by changing the text inside the <h1></h1> tags and the <title></title> tags.

3. Contact Me Template

Website Templates - Contact Me

This page is a way for people to contact you without them having to email you. The form takes the information entered into it and automatically sends it to your email address. It’s an easy way for site visitors to get in touch with you.

Change Your Email Address

To make the form work, you need to change one line in the template:

<form action="mailto:youraddress@gmail.com" method="post" enctype="text/plain">

Here you change youraddress@gmail.com to your email address. This will work with any email provider and you’ll receive an email with whatever comments were entered into the form by site visitors.

Change the Text, Heading, and Title

Once again you can change the text that appears on this page as well. To change the text, just edit what appears between then <p></p> tags. To change the heading, change the text between the <h1></h1> tags. To change the title, change the text between the <title></title> tags.

4. Business Homepage Template

Website Templates - Business Home Page

When creating a home page for your business, you want to have all the key information in one place. That’s what this template is for.

Change the Section Titles

To change the title of each section, look for these lines:

<h1>About Us</h1>
<h1>Our Mission</h1>
<h1>Our Services</h1>
<h1>Our Customers</h1>

Now change these sections title to whatever you want by editing the text between the <h1> and </h1> tags.

Change the Section Content

To change the text that appears beneath each title, look for a paragraph that begins as follows:

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet... </p>

Now change the text inside the <p> and </p> tags to say whatever you want.

Change the Image

The template includes a space for an image at the bottom of the page. To change the image, find this line:

<center>
<img src="muo-logo.jpg" width="200">
</center>

Now change the URL “muo-logo.jpg” to the URL for the image you want to use.

5. Business Review Page Template

Website Templates - Business Review Page

When you run a business, it’s important to make customer testimonials available. This shows potential new customers that other people have used your business and had a good experience.

This template will let you show off your best customer reviews.

Adding Customer Information

To add reviews to this page, first you need to add the customer information. To do this, look for this section for the first review you want to add:

<b>Customer Name:</b> John Smith
<br>
<br>
<b>Customer Business:</b> Smith's Supplies

Now simply change “John Smith” to the customer’s name and change “Smith’s Supplies” to the customer’s business name.

Adding Customer Reviews

To add the review itself, look beneath the customer information and find this paragraph that begins as follows:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit

Now delete this text and replace it with the customer review.

Add More Reviews

To add more reviews than the three on the template, copy the whole block beginning with <p> and ending with </p>. Paste this below the current reviews and edit to add more reviews.

Create a Website Quickly With HTML Templates

These templates will allow you to quickly and easily create a personal or professional webpage. You can edit each template to fit your needs, or use several and link them together to create a complete site.

If you want to take your website to the next level, you can learn how to create your own website from scratch. Find out how to make a website for beginners to learn more.

Read the full article: 5 Free HTML Templates to Easily Create Quick Websites


Read Full Article

The 7 Best Label Makers to Get Organized

XKeyboarCD


XKeyboarCD

DJI is out-GoProing GoPro with its own action camera


For a brief time, DJI and GoPro were partners — or at least uncomfortable allies. Way back in 2014, the companies were joined together with the intention of building a drone designed to capture athletes in motion. It must have seemed like a perfect piece of synergy from two players at the top of their respective games.

Of course, things didn’t shake out that way. The best laid plans and all that. GoPro went all in on its own drone, but Karma’s launch was wobbly, to say the least. Sixteen days after release, GoPro recalled the drone after battery issues caused it to start falling from the sky. The drone was re-released, but the division was seemingly doomed from the beginning. Early last year, the company announced plans to axe around a fifth of its staff, effectively ending its drone division in the process.

DJI’s own business, on the other hand, has been booming. The Mavic Pro, announced shortly after the Karma, has redefined the consumer drone space, spawning a sequel and several other folding quadcopters from the company, including the Mavic Air, Zoom and Spark. All the while, the Shenzhen-based company has been making strides in imaging, with products like the impressive Osmo Pocket gimbal.

But until now, DJI had never taken a direct swing at GoPro’s true bread and butter: the action camera.

The Osmo Action is a shot across the bow. DJI is gunning directly for GoPro with its own action camera that brings a compelling feature set to the conversation. The camera arrives at a time of relative calm for GoPro. The company’s first quarter financials were looking up, with a 20% year-over-year revenue increase.

Just yesterday, the company’s stock price got a healthy bump on the news that it was shifting manufacturing to Mexico in an attempt to address rising U.S. tariffs resulting from the company’s Chinese manufacturing. Thinknum published its own take on GoPro’s future, as the California-based company appears to be undergoing a hiring spike on the software side. We’ve reached out to GoPro, asking whether this points to a shift away from hardware moving forward, but have yet to hear back.

For now, of course, GoPro’s still very much invested in the action camera category. The GoPro Hero7 arrived late last year to positive reviews. Our own Lucas Matney gave it good marks for its stabilization and live streaming capabilities, while noting that the company hadn’t made many strides on the hardware front since the last gen.

Quoting Lucas here:

[GoPro’s 2018 story]  seems to be a more conservative one with the company’s new flagship device the Hero7 Black moving mostly laterally on hardware specs while throwing its focus to software tech like digital video stabilization. The moves seem designed to reduce R&D costs while widening the gap between the low and high-end on the company’s far cleaner new product line.

While the action camera market has been crowded for several years now, GoPro’s name continues to be synonymous with the category for many consumers. DJI is far from the first company to go head to head with GoPro in the space, but in 2019, it may well be the best positioned. It has proven itself a master of imaging with drones and gimbals, making the move into action cameras an easy enough lift.

Still, DJI knows enough to not enter a new category without actually bringing something new to the table. The Osmo Action certainly looks like a GoPro at first glance. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all of that, but after a decade and a half of GoPro Heroes, the entire industry appears to have settled on the boxy design as the ideal form factor, with regards to portability, durability and all of that other fun stuff.

The most immediate difference is at the dual-screen design. There’s a standard 2.25 inch rear touchscreen, coupled with a 1.4 inch display on the front. The new feature certainly makes sense on for quick setup options and selfies. While it’s true that plenty of action cameras offer streaming to mobile devices, the front screen works really well for last minute adjustments — and to give you a little added confidence that the camera is capturing what you want.

TechCrunch video producer Gregory Manalo has been playing around with the Osmo Action for a couple of weeks now and so far has a lot of nice things to say about the execution. Like me, he wasn’t entirely sold on the front facing screen initially, but has since come to appreciate the value it adds.

“I found it great for composing the shot on my motorcycle,” Gregory reports back. “You can switch back to the other screen while still recording. Switching screens was snappy. The lack of touch on the front screen is a bummer but not a deal breaker.”

The camera utilizes DJI’s propriety Action OS. I played around with it a bit myself in a briefing about a month or so ago at a parkour gym in Brooklyn. There was a bit of a learning curve for my first few minutes, but once you’ve got the initial lay of the land, it’s quite easy to use on the fly. Gregory concurs, calling it “clean and easy to navigate.”

Ditto for SnapShot. The feature is designed to capture quick shots on the go. As anyone who’s ever used an action (or frankly any) camera can tell you, things don’t always go the way you’ve mapped them out in your head. Press the shutter button once and the camera will power up and start recording in under two seconds.

Of course, you do lose the time it takes to fire up. Gregory again: “What would be even cooler is a pre-record option so that it covers that two seconds of lag. But I’m guessing that would either zap the batteries sooner or add more bulk to the camera somehow.” I suspect that’s a pretty fair assessment of the camera’s limitations on that front.

Once fired up, the camera is capable of shooting 4K videos at up to 60FPS, along with 12 megapixel photos. The Osmo Action features an option effect to de-warp videos, removing the fisheye effect in the process. And in keeping with the rest of DJI’s offerings, there are a number of different in-camera effects for creating compelling videos on the fly, including time-lapse, 8x slow motion and a variety of custom exposure effects that will give you cool shots of things like the stars.

From a shooting standpoint, however, the biggest standouts are HDR and, naturally, Electronic Image Stabilization — something DJI’s perfected over several generations of drones. Strangely, in the current configuration, however, the two features don’t appear to work in tandem.

“The HDR video feature claims three stops of additional dynamic range in the scene with natural transitions between light and dark areas,” Gregory says. “Based on the footage you can definitely tell a difference. I’d shoot with HDR more often than not, just so I can have the information in the footage when I go to post. But here’s the trade-off: EIS cannot be enabled in HDR video.”

It could be arriving in a firmware update, or maybe it’s just more than the hardware is currently capable of handling. Either way, it seems like prime candidate for some future upgrade. For now, however, most of the nits that can be picked here are on the small side. That’s fairly remarkable for what’s essentially a first generation product — albeit one from a well established company.

The Osmo Action is available today, priced at $349. That puts the camera at $50 below the Hero7 Black’s $399 retail price. Though GoPro’s premium action camera has been on sale for some time now. It’s currently priced at $299 on the company’s official site, perhaps in anticipation of the Osmo’s release.

Whatever the case, DJI’s made it very clear that it’s not messing around here. GoPro’s status as the end all, be all of action cameras probably isn’t going away any time soon, but DJI’s just made an extremely compelling argument for its own spot in the conversation.


Read Full Article

India’s ride-hailing firm Ola is now in the credit card business, too


A day after India’s largest wallet app Paytm entered the credit cards business, local ride-hailing giant is following suit. Ola has inked a deal with state-run SBI bank and Visa to issue as many as 10 million credit cards in next three and a half years, it said today.

The move will help Visa and SBI bank acquire more customers in India, where most transactions are still bandied out over cash. For Ola, which rivals Uber in India, foray into cards business represents a new avenue to monetize its customers, as TechCrunch previously reported.

With about 150 million users availing more than 2 million rides on its platform each day, Ola is sitting on a mountain of data about its users’ financial power and spends. With the card, dubbed Ola Money-SBI Credit Card, the mobility firm is also offering several discounts and savings to retain its loyal customer base.

Ola, which is nearing $6 billion in valuation and counts SoftBank and Naspers among its investors, said it will offer its credit card holders “highest cashback and rewards” in form of Ola Money that could be redeemed for Ola rides, and flight and hotel bookings. There will be seven percent cashback on cab spends, five percent on flight bookings, 20 percent on domestic hotel bookings (six percent on international hotel bookings), 20 percent on over 6,000 restaurants, and one percent on all other spends.

“Mobility spends form a significant wallet share for users and we see a huge opportunity to transform their payments experience with this solution. With over 150 million digital-first consumers on our platform, Ola will be a catalyst in driving India’s digital economy with cutting edge payment solutions,” Bhavish Aggarwal, cofounder and CEO of Ola, said in a statement.

Why credit cards?

Ola appears to be following the playbook of Grab and Go-Jek, two ride-hailing services in Southeast Asian markets that have ventured into a number of businesses in recent years. Both Grab and Go-Jek offer loans, remittance and insurance to their riders, while the former also maintains its own virtual credit card. Interestingly, Uber, which also offers a credit card in some markets, has no such play in India.

The move will allow Ola to look beyond ride-hailing and food delivery, two businesses that appear to have hit a saturation point in India, said Satish Meena, an analyst with research firm Forrester.

In recent years, Ola has started to explore financial services. It offers riders “micro-insurance” that covers a range of risks including loss of baggage and medical expenses. The company said earlier this year, it has sold over 20 million insurances to customers. Using Ola Money to facilitate cashbacks also underscores Ola’s push to increase the adoption of its mobile wallet, which according to estimates, lags Paytm and several other wallet and UPI payment apps.

The company has also made major push in electric vehicles business, which it spun off as a separate company earlier this year. In March, its EV business raised $300 million from Hyundai and Kia. The company has said that it plans to offer one million EVs by 2022. Its other EV programs include a pledge to add 10,000 rickshaws for use in cities.


Read Full Article

Facebook introduces ‘one strike’ policy to combat abuse of its live-streaming service


Facebook is cracking down on its live streaming service after it was used to broadcast the shocking mass shootings that left 50 dead at two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand in March. The social network said today that it is implementing a ‘one strike’ rule that will prevent users who break its rules from using the Facebook Live service.

“From now on, anyone who violates our most serious policies will be restricted from using Live for set periods of time — for example 30 days — starting on their first offense. For instance, someone who shares a link to a statement from a terrorist group with no context will now be immediately blocked from using Live for a set period of time,” Facebook VP of integrity Guy Rosen wrote.

The company said it plans to implement additional restrictions for these people, which will include limiting their ability to take out ads on the social network. Those who violate Facebook’s policy against “dangerous individuals and organizations” — a new introduction that it used to ban a number of right-wing figures earlier this month — will be restricted from using Live, although Facebook isn’t being specific on the duration of the bans or what it would take to trigger a permanent bar from live-streaming.

Facebook is increasingly using AI to detect and counter violent and dangerous content on its platform, but that approach simply isn’t working.

Beyond the challenge of non-English languages — Facebook’s AI detection system has failed in Myanmar, for example, despite what CEO Mark Zuckerberg had claimedthe detection system wasn’t robust in dealing with the aftermath of Christchurch.

The stream itself was not reported to Facebook until 12 minutes after it had ended, while Facebook failed to block 20 percent of the videos of the live stream that were later uploaded to its site. Indeed, TechCrunch found several videos still on Facebook more than 12 hours after the attack despite the social network’s efforts to cherry pick ‘vanity stats’ that appeared to show its AI and human teams had things under control.

Acknowledging that failure indirectly, Facebook said it will invest $7.5 million in “new research partnerships with leading academics from three universities, designed to improve image and video analysis technology.”

Early partners in this initiative include The University of Maryland, Cornell University and The University of California, Berkeley, which it said will assist with techniques to detect manipulated images, video and audio. Another objective is to use technology to identify the difference between those who deliberately manipulate media, and those who so “unwittingly.”

Facebook said it hopes to add other research partners to the initiative, which is also focused on combating deepfakes.

“Although we deployed a number of techniques to eventually find these variants, including video and audio matching technology, we realized that this is an area where we need to invest in further research,” Rosen conceded in the blog post.

Facebook’s announcement comes less than one day after a collection of world leaders, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, called on tech companies to sign a pledge to increase their efforts to combat toxic content.

According to people working for the French Economy Ministry, the Christchurch Call doesn’t contain any specific recommendations for new regulation. Rather, countries can decide what they mean by violent and extremist content.

“For now, it’s a focus on an event in particular that caused an issue for multiple countries,” French Digital Minister Cédric O said in a briefing with journalists.


Read Full Article

Alexa Guard Turns Your Echo Into a Home Security System


Thanks to Alexa Guard your Amazon Echo is now capable of guarding your home while you’re away. While it isn’t intended to be a replacement for a dedicated security system, Alexa Guard offers some simple safeguards designed to give you peace of mind.

What Is Alexa Guard and How Does It Work?

In a nutshell, Alexa Guard puts your Echo device into guard mode when you’re not home. Once enabled and activated, Alexa Guard will do various things designed to keep your home safe, and notify you in the event that someone breaks in.

Smart Alerts means your Echo device will be listening for unusual sounds. If your Echo hears glass breaking or a smoke alarm wailing it will alert you via your phone. You can listen to the sound through the app or Drop In on your Echo to see what’s happening.

Away Lighting mimics what Macaulay Culkin tried in Home Alone. If you own compatible smart lighting, Alexa will automatically turn them on and off to make it look as though you’re home. Which should be more effective than fiddling with a timer.

If you already have a dedicated home security system such as Ring or ADT you can integrate it with Alexa Guard. This means activating Alexa Guard will arm your security system. You can also have Smart Alerts forwarded to Ring or ADT.

How to Enable and Activate Alexa Guard

Once your Alexa app has updated, you just need to enable it. To enable Alexa Guard, head to Settings, tap Guard, and then follow the simple setup procedure. After that you just need to say “Alexa, I’m leaving” to activate Alexa Guard when you leave the house.

After being tested for the last few months, Alexa Guard is now rolling out to all Echo owners in the US. It’s free to use, although Amazon hopes you’ll buy Alexa-compatible gadgets such as Phillips Hue lightbulbs, a Ring Alarm, and/or an ADT security system.

Read the full article: Alexa Guard Turns Your Echo Into a Home Security System


Read Full Article

The Best Android Emulator for Windows 10


best-android-emulator-windows

You’ve heard of Android phones, but did you know you can install the entire Android operating system directly on your computer?

Maybe you have an iPhone and want to test an Android before making the switch. Perhaps you’re investigating Android development and need an app testing environment, or you want to customize your Android operating system without worrying about bricking your Android phone.

No matter the reason, an Android emulator is useful to have on your PC. With that in mind, here are the best Android emulators for Windows 10.

What Makes a Good Android Emulator for Windows 10?

There are several fantastic Android emulators for Windows 10. Many of the best Android emulators are free, too. However, there are differences between a good and a bad Android emulator.

The most important feature for any Android emulator is stability. If your Android emulator stalls, lags, freezes, or otherwise, it is time to find an alternative. Because there are numerous options, you don’t have to suffer with an unstable Android emulator.

Next up, you must consider the Android emulator feature list. For example, some Android emulators allow for third-party controllers, allow you to simulate root capabilities, or install third-party APKs. Other’s don’t come with such functionality.

Reminder: The Android emulators below are all functional and receive regular updates, but the performance of your Android emulator ultimately lies with your Windows 10 machine. Another thing to remember is that some Android emulators offer faster speeds because they cut back on features. Keep this in mind when choosing an Android emulator.

1. NoxPlayer

NoxPlayer is one of the go-to Android emulators for Windows 10. Widely trusted, feature-full, extremely stable, NoxPlayer brings a lot to the table. It also has all of the options you need to treat NoxPlayer like other emulators. For instance, you can specify the CPU and RAM processing size of the NoxPlayer, allowing you to mimic the hardware specifications of individual devices.

Android modders should note that NoxPlayer also comes pre-equipped with root access. Simply enable root in your System Settings, and you can download your favorite modding and customization apps. (Android customizations worth modding your device for!)

Download: NoxPlayer for Windows | macOS (Free)

2. BlueStacks

BlueStacks is one of the most popular Android emulators for Windows 10, and it is easy to see why. From the installation to the UI, BlueStacks is quick and easy to use. Install it on your desktop or laptop, and BlueStacks gives you a full Android environment.

Like NoxPlayer, BlueStacks targets Android mobile gamers more than developers. BlueStacks also has a bunch of built-in extras. For instance, BlueStacks Affiliate lets you create Android gaming content that you can monetize through the platform.

Gamer or not, BlueStacks provides a stable and comprehensive Android experience on your Windows 10 machine.

Download: BlueStacks for Windows (Free)

3. Andy

Andy goes above and beyond, consistently providing one of the best overall Android emulator experiences around. Besides packing in all of the Android features you need to rival a smartphone experience, Andy also comes with a bunch of handy features for developers and gamers.

For instance, you can use your smartphone as a remote control for Andy. Don’t have a smartphone? You can use your Xbox or PlayStation controller instead. Another handy feature is storage integration with your desktop, which makes testing and debugging during Android app development that little bit easier. Also, you can modify and customize hardware features like RAM and CPU use through Andy’s integrated virtual machine settings.

Overall, Andy is a snappy, stable Android emulator for Windows 10.

Download: Andy for Windows (Free)

4. Phoenix OS

Long-time Android emulator users will likely be familiar with Jide’s Remix OS Player. Remix OS Player was a great Android emulator based upon the popular Linux Remix OS. Great, until Jide stopped supporting Remix OS Player, leaving a gap in the market.

The gap wasn’t there for long. While Phoenix OS was being developed at the same time as Remix, since the demise of the latter, Phoenix has become the go-to for a modified Android emulator environment for Windows 10. We have a tutorial on how to install Phoenix OS on a Windows 10 system.

As an addition to Kannon’s review and tutorial, I would strongly advise installing Phoenix OS in a virtual machine, as it is unlikely you want to replace your host Windows 10 operating system with Phoenix OS.

Download: Phoenix OS for Windows (Free)

5. MEmu

MEmu is another useful Android emulator for Windows 10, with an easy installation process and plenty of features. One of MEmu’s best features is the keyboard mapping. You can click an area on the screen using your mouse, then input a key to control your game or app.

MEmu also supports one-click APK installation, meaning you can install any APK present on your host machine to MEmu. Better still, you can run multiple instances of MEmu for app testing or otherwise. You can quickly install your app to several different instances, each using a different RAM and CPU configuration to test the performance of your app.

Furthermore, MEmu supports Android games in 4K, so you can enjoy the maximum native resolution of your 4K monitor (if you have one, of course).

Download: MEmu for Windows (Free)

6. Genymotion

Genymotion is different from the other Android emulators on this list. Whereas the majority of the others focus on gaming and productivity, Genymotion is a pure Android development tool. Genymotion is a fantastic and speedy Android emulator that allows developers to test their Android application with a variety of Android versions. Genymotion works with VirtualBox, so you’ll have to install it before you can use Genymotion.

The main draw of Genymotion isn’t just that you can use it as an Android emulator. You can also set up Genymotion with Android Studio, the de facto Android development, to combat the notoriously laggy default emulator it comes with.

By default, Genymotion comes equipped with more features than you can count. Tools, plugins, and unbeatable support staff come all-inclusive when you subscribe to Genymotion. If you’re an Android developer, Genymotion is an investment you won’t regret.

Download: Genymotion for Windows (Free trial, Indie subscription for $99/yr, Business from $299/yr)

What’s the Best Android Emulator for Windows 10?

Android is a fantastic platform. Over time, Android development has seen it become a complete offering, full of productivity, social, and management apps, as well as the countless amazing gaming experiences on offer.

You can use one of these Android emulators to bring the platform directly to your Windows 10 desktop. Whether you’re a mobile gamer or a developer looking for a testing environment, one of these Android emulators will fit your requirements.

Looking for some fresh Android games? Here are some Android games that don’t require the internet.

Read the full article: The Best Android Emulator for Windows 10


Read Full Article

The 5 Best Self Defense Apps for Personal Safety When Walking Alone

7 Ways to Kill Unresponsive Programs in Linux


Linux software is robust enough to work without causing problems, but sometimes even the best apps might hang. Rather than wait for them to crash, you can kill these unresponsive programs. In fact, there are so many ways to kill Linux programs that you might find you’re spoiled for choice!

Unlock the "Essential Linux Commands" cheat sheet now!

This will sign you up to our newsletter

Enter your Email

If you’re experiencing problems with an application in Linux, here are several ways to kill a program in Linux.

1. Kill a Linux Program by Clicking the “X”

Simply close an app in Linux

You’ve probably already tried walking away and making a hot drink. If you returned to your PC to find that the app is still hanging, it’s probably had enough time to start working again. An unresponsive app typically has grayed-out buttons, or options that don’t appear to work. You may also be unable to move the app window around the screen.

So, what is the solution? Click the X button in the top corner (left or right, depending on your Linux operating system). This should stop the program dead in its tracks. You might see a dialog box, asking you to Wait or Force Quit to end it now.

If all goes to plan, some distros will prompt you to send an error report.

2. Use System Monitor to Kill a Linux Process

Kill a Linux process in the system monitor tool

The next option is to open your Linux operating system’s System Monitor utility. This is typically found in the System Tools menu and displays a list of running processes under the Processes tab.

To close an unresponsive application here, simply select it and right-click. You then have three options:

  • Stop Process: This pauses the process, letting you continue it later. It won’t work in most cases.
  • End Process: The correct way to close a process, this will safely terminate the application, cleaning temporary files on the way.
  • Kill Process: This is the extreme option and should only be used if End Process fails.

It’s best to use these in order. However, if the application is one that hangs regularly, you might prefer to use a command that you know works.

3. Force Kill Linux Processes With “xkill”

Another option you can employ is xkill. This is a force kill tool preinstalled in Ubuntu, but you can install it via the Terminal on other distributions if necessary. When called, xkill will enable you to close any desktop process. Install it with the following command:

sudo apt install xorg-xkill

Once this is done, run xkill by simply typing

xkill

Your mouse pointer will then display a cross (or a skull). Left-click on the offending application to close it

If it’s not possible to close your unresponsive app with any of these desktop-focused methods, the solution might be the command line…

4. Use the “kill” Command

If your app is unresponsive and the above suggestions don’t work (the GUI might be unresponsive), hit Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Terminal.

Several command line options are available to help you to close your app. Better still, these can be used either on your computer or by connecting over SSH from another device.

The kill command can be used here, but first requires a process ID. You can find this by running a command interrogating the application for its process ID:

ps aux | grep [process name]

The result will display the process ID. This can then be used as follows:

kill [process ID]

Note that you may need to append the command with sudo.

Close Linux apps with the Kill command

5. Use “pgrep” and “pkill”

What if you don’t know, or cannot find, the process ID? This is where the pkill command comes in. Rather than a process ID, simply use pkill along with the process name:

pkill [process name]

Alternatively, you can use the pgrep command to find the process ID:

pgrep [process name]

…and following this, use pkill with the process ID.

pkill [process ID]

Kill a Linux app with the pkill command

As with the kill command, this should close the process within around 5 seconds.

6. Kill All Instances With “killall”

No luck with kill or pkill? It’s time to use the nuclear option: killall.

Fortunately, it isn’t as devastating as it might be. The killall command will end all instances of a specified program. So, rather than killing one Firefox window, the following command will end them all:

killall firefox

All you need is the process name and the killall command (possibly with sudo if demanded by your setup).

killall [process name]

Naturally, you should only use this command when needed. It’s unsuitable for most unresponsive program situations.

7. Create a Force-Kill Keyboard Shortcut

Want to save time closing unresponsive software? The best option is to create a keyboard shortcut. This will give you the immediate option to close an app, but it requires xkill for this to work.

In Ubuntu, open Settings > Keyboard and click on Shortcuts. Select Custom Shortcuts, then + to create a new shortcut. Input “xkill” for both Name and Command, then Apply. This will return you to the shortcuts list—select the shortcut, then press the required keyboard combination that you will use to call it.

Create a shortcut to kill unresponsive apps

Next time you need to close an app, just use the keyboard shortcut. The mouse pointer will become an X, and you can click anywhere on the app you want to close.

Avoid Unresponsive Software: Upgrade Your Hardware

Are unresponsive applications regularly causing problems? You could probably benefit from making some changes to your Linux computer.

Installing additional RAM is the number one way to give your computer more power and might be just the thing you need to keep those temperamental apps from becoming unresponsive in future.

So, the next time a Linux application or utility hangs and becomes unresponsive, all you need to do is apply one of these solutions:

  1. Click the X in the corner.
  2. Use the System Monitor.
  3. Use the xkill app.
  4. Employ the kill command.
  5. Close apps with pkill.
  6. Use killall to close software.
  7. Create a keyboard shortcut.

If none of these solutions works and you’re regularly experiencing unresponsive Linux apps, consider switching to a lightweight Linux operating system.

Read the full article: 7 Ways to Kill Unresponsive Programs in Linux


Read Full Article

Uber Black launches Quiet Driver Mode


Tired of chatty drivers? Uber is finally giving users its most requested feature: an in-app way to request minimal conversation during your ride. The “Quiet Mode” feature is free and will be available to everyone in the US tomorrow, but only on Uber Black and Uber Black SUV premium rides. Users can select “Quiet preferred”, “happy to chat” or leave the setting at “No preference”. The desire for silence might convince more riders to pay for Uber’s more expensive vehicle types so they can work, nap, take a call, or just relax in the car.

Quiet Mode comes as part of a new slate of Rider Preferences features that users can set up before they hail an Uber Black or SUV, but not while waiting for their ride or while in the car. A Bags option lets users signal that they have luggage with them so the driver knows to pull over somewhere they can help load them into the trunk. The Temperature control lets them request the car be warm or cold so drivers know whether to crank the air conditioning.

Uber Black drivers are now supposed to wait 15 minutes after arriving before cancelling on you as is standard with private car services, though you’ll start to be charged and they’ll be compensated after 5 plus they technically can cancel whenever they want. Uber Black riders will get premium phone support like members of Uber Rewards’ highest Diamond tier. And Uber is going to require nicer and newer cars for future drivers signing up for Uber Black, with centralized rules written by Uber HQ instead of local branches. “We’re looking to create more differentiation between the premium products and the regular products to encourage more trips” Uber product manager Aydin Ghajar tells me. Quiet Mode in particular “is something that people have been asking for for a long time.

I think Quiet Mode is going to be a hit, perhaps because I requested that Uber build a “Quiet Ride Mode” in my December product wish list after suggesting it last July. The feedback I received from many male readers was that there are worse things than having to chat with a friendly driver, and it’s rude or dehumanizing to demand they stay silent.

But that ignores the fact that women often feel uncomfortable when male drivers incessantly talk to them, and it can get scary when it turns into unwanted flirtation considering the driver is in control. In many cases, riders may feel rude or frightened to reject conversation and ask out loud for quiet. That’s why I hope Uber plans to expand this to UberX as well as international markets, though the company had nothing to share on that.

What Uber’s Ghajar did reveal was that “the reaction of Uber black drivers was overwhelmingly positive because they want to deliver a great experience to their rider…but they don’t necessarily know what the rider wants. These guys take a lot of pride in what they do as customer service agents”.

Uber did extensive research of drivers’ perceptions in the three months it took to develop the feature. But due to employment laws, it can’t actually require that drivers abide by user requests for quiet, though they might get negative ratings if they ignore them. Ghajar insists “It’s not mandatory. The driver is an independent contractor. We’re just communicating the rider’s preference. The driver can have that information and do with it what they want.”

Given premium rides often cost 2X the UberX price and over 3X the UberPool price, Uber could make a lot of money encouraging upgrades.That’s crucial at a time when it’s desperate to improve its margins and shrink its losses after a weak IPO last week saw its new share price dip. With so many competing ride services around the world, Uber is wise to try to differentiate on customer service instead of just costly efforts to win with more cars, lower prices, and sharper algorithms.


Read Full Article

SpaceX kicks off its space-based internet service tomorrow with 60-satellite Starlink launch


As wild as it sounds, the race is on to build a functioning space internet — and SpaceX is taking its biggest step yet with the launch of 60 (!) satellites tomorrow that will form the first wave of its Starlink constellation. It’s a hugely important and incredibly complex launch for the company — and should be well worth launching.

A Falcon 9 loaded to the gills with the flat Starlink test satellites (they’re “production design” but not final hardware) is vertical at launchpad 40 in Cape Canaveral. It has completed its static fire test and should have a window for launch tomorrow, weather permitting.

Building satellite constellations hundreds or thousands strong is seen by several major companies and investors as the next major phase of connectivity — though it will take years and billions of dollars to do so.

OneWeb, perhaps SpaceX’s biggest competitor in this area, just secured $1.25 billion in funding after launching the first six satellites in March of a planned 650. Jeff Bezos has announced that Amazon will join the fray with the proposed 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper. Ubiquitilink has a totally different approach. And plenty of others are taking on smaller segments, like lower-cost or domain-specific networks.

Needless to say it’s an exciting sector, but today’s launch is a particularly interesting one because it is so consequential for SpaceX. If this doesn’t go well, it could set Starlink’s plans back long enough to give competitors an edge.

The satellites stacked inside the Falcon 9 payload fairing. “Tight fit,” pointed out CEO Elon Musk.

SpaceX hasn’t explained exactly how the 60 satellites will be distributed to their respective orbits, but founder and CEO Elon Musk did note on Twitter that there’s “no dispenser.” Of course there must be some kind of dispenser — these things aren’t going to just jump off of their own accord. They’re stuffed in there like kernels on a corncob, and likely each have a little spring that sends them out at a set velocity.

A pair of prototype satellites, Tintin-A and B, have been in orbit since early last year, and have no doubt furnished a great deal of useful information to the Starlink program. But the 60 aboard tomorrow’s launch aren’t quite final hardware. Although Musk noted that they are “production design,” COO Gwynne Shotwell has said that they are still test models.

“This next batch of satellites will really be a demonstration set for us to see the deployment scheme and start putting our network together,” she said at the Satellite 2019 conference in Washington, D.C. — they reportedly lack inter-satellite links but are otherwise functional. I’ve asked SpaceX for more information on this.

It makes sense: If you’re planning to put thousands (perhaps as many as 12,000 eventually) of satellites into orbit, you’ll need to test at scale and with production hardware.

And for those worried about the possibility of overpopulation in orbit — it’s absolutely something to consider, but many of these satellites will be flying at extremely low altitudes; at 550 kilometers up, these tiny satellites will naturally de-orbit in a handful of years. Even OneWeb’s, at 1,100 km, aren’t that high up — geosynchronous satellites are above 35,000 km. That doesn’t mean there’s no risk at all, but it does mean failed or abandoned satellites won’t stick around for long.

Just don’t expect to boot up your Starlink connection any time soon. It would take a minimum of 6 more launches like this one — a total of 420, a happy coincidence for Musk — to provide “minor” coverage. This would likely only be for testing as well, not commercial service. That would need 12 more launches, and dozens more to bring it to the point where it can compete with terrestrial broadband.

Even if it will take years to pull off, that is the plan. And by that time others will have spun up their operations as well. It’s an exciting time for space and for connectivity.

No launch time has been set as of this writing, so takeoff is just planned for Wednesday the 15th at present. As there’s no need to synchronize the launch with the movement of any particular celestial body, T-0 should be fairly flexible and SpaceX will likely just wait for the best weather and visibility. Delays are always a possibility, though, so don’t be surprised if this is pushed out to later in the week.

As always you’ll be able to watch the launch at the SpaceX website, but I’ll update this post with the live video link as soon as it’s available.


Read Full Article

After year-long lockout, Twitter is finally giving people their accounts back


Twitter is finally allowing a number of locked users to regain control of their accounts once again. Around a  year after Europe’s new privacy laws (GDPR) rolled out, Twitter began booting users out of their accounts if it suspected the account’s owner was underage — that is, younger than 13. But the process also locked out many users who said they were now old enough to use Twitter’s service legally.

While Twitter’s rules had stated that users under 13 can’t create accounts or post tweets, many underage users did so anyway thanks to lax enforcement of the policy. The GDPR regulations, however, forced Twitter to address the issue.

But even if the Twitter users were old enough to use the service when the regulations went into effect in May 2018, Twitter still had to figure out a technical solution to delete all the content published to its platform when those users were underage.

The lock-out approach was an aggressive way to deal with the problem.

By comparison, another app favored by underage users, TikTok, was recently fined by the FTC for being in violation of U.S. children’s privacy law, COPPA. But instead of kicking out all its underage users for months on end, it forced an age gate to appear in the app after it deleted all the videos made by underage users. Those users who were still under 13 were then redirected to a new COPPA-compliant experience.

Although Twitter was forced to address the problem because of the new regulations, lest it face possible fines, the company seemingly didn’t prioritize a fix. For example, VentureBeat reported how Twitter emailed users in June 2018 saying they’d be in touch with an update about the problem soon, but no update ever arrived.

The hashtag #TwitterLockOut became a common occurrence on Twitter and cries of “Give us back our accounts!” would be found in the Replies whenever Twitter shared other product news on its official accounts. (Well, that and requests for an Edit button, of course.) 

Twitter says that it’s now beginning — no, for real this time! — to give the locked out users control of their accounts. The process will roll out in waves as it scales up, with those who have waited the longest getting their emails first.

It also claims the process “was a lot more complicated” than anticipated, which is why it took a year (or in some cases, more than a year) to complete.

However, there are some caveats.

The users will first need to give Twitter permission to delete any tweets posted before they were 13, as well as any likes, DMs sent or received, moments, lists, and collections. Twitter will also need to remove all profile information besides the account’s username and date of birth.

In other words, the company is offering users a way to reclaim their username but none of their content.

Though many of these users have since moved on to new Twitter accounts, they may still want to reclaim their old username if it was a good one. In addition, their follower/following counts will return to normal after up to 24 hours after they take control of their account once again.

Twitter says it’s beginning to email those who are eligible starting today with these details. If the user doesn’t have an email address, they can instead log into the account where they’ll see a “Get Started” button to kick off the process instead.

To proceed, users will have to confirm their name and either the email or phone number that was associated with the account.

The account isn’t immediately unlocked after the steps are completed, users report. But Twitter’s dialog box informs the users they’ll be notified when the process is finalized on Twitter’s side.

Hopefully, that won’t take another year.

Image credits (of the process): Reddit user nyuszika7h, via r/Twitter 


Read Full Article

World leaders ask tech giants to tackle toxic content with Christchurch Call


On Wednesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will ask tech companies to sign a pledge called the Christchurch Call, as The New York Times previously reported. Digital ministers of the Group of 7 nations are meeting tomorrow to talk about toxic content and tech regulation.

The Christchurch Call is the first result on that work and a way to start involving tech companies with a nonbinding pledge. Named after the terrorist attack in Christchurch, the agreement should ask tech platforms to increase their efforts when it comes to blocking toxic content. In other words, democracies don’t want another shooting video going viral and also don’t want to block Facebook, YouTube or Twitter altogether.

According to people working for the French Economy Ministry, the Christchurch Call doesn’t contain any specific recommendations for new regulation. Countries get to decide what they mean by violent and extremist content for instance.

“For now, it’s a focus on an event in particular that caused an issue for multiple countries,” France Digital Minister Cédric O said in a meeting with a few journalists.

Companies that sign the pledge agree to improve their moderation processes and share more information about the work they’re doing to prevent terrorist content from going viral. On the other side, governments agree to work on laws that ban toxic content from social networks.

Tomorrow, a handful of countries are expected to sign the Christchurch Call. According to French government officials, members of the Group of 7 nations should sign it but the U.S. might not sign it. New Zealand, Norway and a handful of countries that are not part of the Group of 7 nations should also sign the pledge.

After that, it’ll be up to tech companies to side with those governments and say that they have heard their plea. It’s a nonbinding agreement after all, so I’m sure many social networks will see it as gestures of goodwill.

In addition to digital ministers and government officials, the French Economy Ministry says that representatives from Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Snap, Mozilla, Google, Qwant, the Wikimedia Foundation and the Web Foundation will be there on Wednesday.

So you can expect that some, if not all of them, will sign the pledge. The New York Times says that Facebook, Google and Microsoft have already agreed to sign the pledge.


Read Full Article