67744869
submission
mpicpp writes:
California prosecutors on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Uber over the ridesharing company's background checks and other allegations, adding to the popular startup's worldwide legal woes.
San Francisco County District Attorney George Gascon, meanwhile, said Uber competitor Lyft agreed to pay $500,000 and change some of its business practices to settle its own lawsuit.
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey partnered with Gascon in a probe of the nascent ridesharing industry. A third company — Sidecar — is still under investigation and could face a lawsuit of its own if it can't reach an agreement with prosecutors.
Uber faces similar legal issues elsewhere as it tries to expand in cities, states and countries around the world.
The companies have popular smartphone apps that allow passengers to order rides in privately driven cars instead of taxis. All three are based in San Francisco.
67744497
submission
mpicpp writes:
ter a 10-year journey through the solar system, an epic rendezvous with a speeding comet, and the drama of Philae's triple landing, the science phase of the Rosetta mission has officially begun.
In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science, researchers working with Rosetta's ROSINA instrument report that the water being released into space by comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a different chemical fingerprint than the water on Earth. This finding leads the authors to conclude that water on Earth probably came from asteroids, rather than comets.
One of the many mysteries that scientists hoped Rosetta would help solve is how our planet came to be flooded with water.
67740575
submission
mpicpp writes:
Ben Edelman is an associate professor at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit.
Ran Duan manages The Baldwin Bar, located inside the Woburn location of Sichuan Garden, a Chinese restaurant founded by his parents.
Last week, Edelman ordered what he thought was $53.35 worth of Chinese food from Sichuan Garden’s Brookline Village location.
Edelman soon came to the horrifying realization that he had been overcharged. By a total of $4.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a Harvard Business School professor thinks a family-run Chinese restaurant screwed him out of $4, you’re about to find out.
67433199
submission
mpicpp writes:
Prof Stephen Hawking, one of Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence.
He told the BBC:"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, which involves a basic form of AI.
"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.
Prof Hawking is not alone in fearing for the future.
In the longer term, the technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has warned that AI is "our biggest existential threat".
In his BBC interview, Prof Hawking also talks of the benefits and dangers of the internet.
He quotes the director of GCHQ's warning about the net becoming the command centre for terrorists: "More must be done by the internet companies to counter the threat, but the difficulty is to do this without sacrificing freedom and privacy."
67107373
submission
mpicpp writes:
BlackBerry wants your iPhone, and will pay for it.
In return, customers they will have to switch to Passport, the smartphone with a square screen that Blackberry launched earlier this year.
BlackBerry will pay $550 to iPhone users who participate in the so-called "trade up" plan.
That would cover the basic cost of a Passport, which is currently retailing for $499 on Blackberry's web site.
67107241
submission
mpicpp writes:
Google is under fresh pressure to expand the "right to be forgotten" to its international .com search tool.
A panel of EU data protection watchdogs said the move was necessary to prevent the law from being circumvented.
Google currently de-lists results that appear in the European versions of its search engines, but not the international one.
The panel said it would advise member states' data protection agencies of its view in new guidelines.
However, a link is provided at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen offering an option to switch to the international .com version. This link does not appear if the users attempted to go to a regional version in the first place.
Even so, it means it is possible for people in Europe to easily opt out of the censored lists.
67072069
submission
mpicpp writes:
Hundreds of thousands of people who bought the handheld gaming console PlayStation Vita are in line for a partial refund from Sony because of questionable claims in its advertising.
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it had reached a settlement with Sony Computer Entertainment America, the U.S.-based arm of the PlayStation business, over advertising claims that the government contended were misleading.
As part of the proposed settlement, Sony will provide refunds to those who bought the PS Vita console before June 1, 2012. They'll be eligible for either a $25 cash or credit refund — or a $50 merchandise voucher from Sony. The company will contact consumers about the refunds or vouchers via email.
The advertising claims at issue — Sony highlighted "game changing" technology features of the PS Vita — were made during the U.S. launch of the product in early 2012. The console sold for about $250.
66807059
submission
mpicpp writes:
Google's 10-year run as Firefox's default search engine is over. Yahoo wants more search traffic, and a deal with Mozilla will bring it.
In a major departure for both Mozilla and Yahoo, Firefox's default search engine is switching from Google to Yahoo in the United States.
"I'm thrilled to announce that we've entered into a five-year partnership with Mozilla to make Yahoo the default search experience on Firefox across mobile and desktop," Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer said in a blog post Wednesday. "This is the most significant partnership for Yahoo in five years."
The change will come to Firefox users in the US in December, and later Yahoo will bring that new "clean, modern and immersive search experience" to all Yahoo search users. In another part of the deal, Yahoo will support the Do Not Track technology for Firefox users, meaning that it will respect users' preferences not to be tracked for advertising purposes.
With millions of users who perform about 100 billion searches a year, Firefox is a major source of the search traffic that's Google's bread and butter. Some of those searches produce search ads, and Mozilla has been funded primarily from a portion of that revenue that Google shares. In 2012, the most recent year for which figures are available, that search revenue brought in the lion's share of Mozilla's $311 million in revenue.
66807021
submission
mpicpp writes:
Google has become the first company to rent to the world's largest and most expensive digital billboard in Times Square, New York.
The billboard is eight stories high and is estimated to cost $2.5m (£1.6m) to hire for four weeks.
The screen, which is the size of a football field, is mounted on the side of the Marriot Marquis hotel.
Around 300,000 pedestrians are estimated to pass by the billboard every day.
Times Square's brightly-lit billboards are some of the most iconic and well-known outdoor advertising spaces.
The new billboard was turned on on Tuesday evening and will show a nature-inspired digital art piece for a week until Google's adverts begin running.
Hundreds of tourists watched as the screen was turned on.
The screen is also connected to cameras, allowing for interactive content.
The US tech giant is reported to have hired the screen until January 2015.
66806031
submission
mpicpp writes:
As iPhone and iPad users know, there are a few apps that stay on your device no matter what — Messages, Weather, Apple Maps, GameCenter, Stocks, etc. They come pre-installed when you buy your handset, and you can't delete them.
Soon, that list of mandatory apps could also include Beats Music. According to a report from The Financial Times, Apple is planning to roll the subscription music service it picked up as part of its $3 billion Beats acquisition into its iOS mobile operating system. This means, the service will be available on every iPhone and iPad — whether you like it or not.
The rollout is expected to happen at some point next year, possibly as early as March, sources familiar with the situation told The Financial Times. The move would mark Apple's first major push into subscription streaming music, a market that Spotify currently dominates.
"Pre-installing apps on devices is seen as a fast track to reaching new customers," the report notes. "Apple could also take advantage of its new mobile payments service to enable customers to subscribe with just one touch of the iPhone's fingerprint reader."
66700293
submission
mpicpp writes:
The hunt for Rosetta's lost lander Philae is gaining steam as scientists pore over images from above the comet that may help reveal its final location.
The ESA released an image Monday taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS camera showing Philae's first bounce on the comet. The mosaic includes a series of pictures tracking the lander descending toward the comet, the initial touchdown point and then an image of the lander moving east. "The imaging team is confident that combining the CONSERT ranging data with OSIRIS and navcam images from the orbiter and images from near the surface and on it from Philae's ROLIS and CIVA cameras will soon reveal the lander's whereabouts," says the ESA.
66494363
submission
mpicpp writes:
Hackers attacked the U.S. weather system in October, causing a disruption in satellite feeds and several pivotal websites.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, said that four of its websites were hacked in recent weeks. To block the attackers, government officials were forced to shut down some of its services.
This explains why satellite data was mysteriously cut off in October, as well as why the National Ice Center website and others were down for more than a week. During that time, federal officials merely stated a need for "unscheduled maintenance."
Still, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen insisted that the aftermath of the attack "did not prevent us from delivering forecasts to the public."
Little more is publicly known about the attack, which was first revealed by The Washington Post. It's unclear what damage, if any, was caused by the hack.
But hackers managed to penetrate what's considered one of the most vital aspects of the U.S. government. The nation's military, businesses and local governments all rely on nonstop reports from the U.S. weather service.
66454953
submission
mpicpp writes:
Micro-muscles could be used to propel miniature robots through veins, acting as tiny muscles, controlled by electrical stimulation. Robots smaller than a grain of sand could link together, carrying out operations neither tiny robots alone, nor larger devices, could accomplish.
Micro-robots could be used for medical treatments, as well as in manufacturing.
University of Michigan researchers are developing tiny robots that could link together, forming chains of minuscule devices that could act as muscles in larger robots or within the human body.
"We are inspired by ideas of microscopic robots. They could work together and go places that have never been possible before," Michael Solomon, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, said.
66241721
submission
mpicpp writes:
The new family of malware, dubbed WireLurker, has been discovered by Palo Alto Networks Inc. PANW, +2.99% which said it shows “characteristics unseen in any previously documented threats targeting Apple platforms.”
Palo Alto said this is the first known malware family that can infect installed iOS applications similar to how a traditional virus would, and it’s only the second-known malware family that can attack iOS devices through OS X — the operating system that powers every Apple AAPL, +0.05% Mac.
WireLurker monitors any iOS device connected via USB with an infected OS X computer and then downloads third-party applications onto the device. And it doesn’t matter whether the device is jailbroken or not, hence the term “Wire Lurker,” the network security company said in a 30-page report.
“WireLurker is capable of stealing a variety of information from the mobile devices it infects and regularly requests updates from the attackers command and control server,” said Palo Alto Networks in the report. “This malware is under active development and its creator’s ultimate goal is not yet clear.”
66101689
submission
mpicpp writes:
The UK has one wi-fi hotspot for every 11 people and worldwide there is one for every 150, new research from wi-fi provider iPass indicates.
It suggests there will be 47.7 million public hotspots worldwide by the end of 2014.
France currently has the most hotspots, followed by the US and UK.
Hotspots are designed to fill the gaps in coverage left by mobile networks and are often offered free of charge.
The study is one of the first comprehensive looks at the distribution of global wi-fi. A clickable map of hotspots around the world shows the numbers in each region and where they are located — in homes, on trains, planes, airports and retail outlets.
But this growth will not be evenly distributed. While in North America there will be one hotspot for every four people by 2018, in Africa it will be one for every 408.
While Europe currently has the most dense wi-fi coverage, Asia will overtake it by 2018, according to the report.
