Category: Main

Czech chimps learn the art of zoom

Communications, Europe, General, Main, Technology News

In the past year of ‘strange and unprecedented times’, it’s hard to believe there is anything surprising left that could be newsworthy. Never fear though, because Czech chimps are here to save the day with their noteworthy introduction – and mastery – of the now commonplace zoom call. 

Zoo keepers in the Czech zoo Safari Park Dvur Kralove, which is 135km east of Prague, joined forces with a fellow zoo in Brno, 150km to connect their two troops of chimpanzees by using digital conference software. Whilst even the least tech savvy amongst us has had to get to grips with video call technology, so have the chimps been introduced to what is being called the ‘zoom lifestyle’. 

The zookeeper’s came up with the idea after coronavirus global pandemic lockdown restrictions saw them needing to close their zoos to the public. As highly sociable and intelligent creatures, the zookeepers worried that the chimps were becoming bored with the lack of visitors to watch and keep them entertained. 

While we all may be experiencing the much dreaded zoom fatigue, the chimps on the other hand seem to be loving every minute of their new found online connection. In an uncannily human behaviour, the chimps have even been seen to enact similar behaviours to ourselves such as grabbing a snack to watch the TVs with. 

This fevor of interest surrounding the TV was initially one of caution, with the chimps showing fear of the large lit up and moving image boxes. After a period of time however, the chimps became more familiar with the screens and have started to interact with the other chimps on the call. 

Gabriela Linhartova, ape keeper at Dvur Kralove, said of the chimps: “At the beginning they approached the screen with defensive or threatening gestures,” before they eventually warmed up to the screens.

Foreigners are flying to Australia while thousands of citizens remain stranded abroad

Australia, Business, General, Government, Main, Politics, Social Issues

Tens of thousands of Australian nationals are currently stuck overseas due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Meanwhile, foreigners of a certain class are coming into Australia thanks to Canberra’s decision to grant travel exemptions to people with business innovation and investment visas.

To qualify for such a visa, a foreign national must be prepared to invest at least $800,000 in Australia. If they meet that requirement, they can enter the country the same way Australian citizens can—that is, by quarantining in a hotel for two weeks upon arrival. As the Australian Border Force explained,

“The business innovation and investment program targets migrants who have a demonstrated history of success or talent in innovation, investment and business, and are able to make a significant contribution to the national innovation system and the Australian economy.”

According to the Guardian, the ABF issued 485 business investment visas between March and September.

That’s not very many, and on its face it doesn’t seem like it would pose an issue for Australian citizens trying to get back home. But consider that travel restrictions stipulate that no more than 4000 people can arrive in Australia in a single week. As a result, most flights only contain a few dozen passengers. And as a result of that, airlines are jacking up the price of tickets to cover operational costs, while simultaneously catering to first-class travelers.

Testifying before a Senate inquiry, ABF head Michael Outram stated that roughly 25 percent of people traveling to Australia and quarantining in hotels are not citizens or permanent residents.

Opposition leader Penny Wong is now demanding that the Morrison government provide answers to stranded citizens and their families.

“There may be very legitimate reasons for some of these [non citizens] to enter the country, but these numbers show one person is being given the green light every day ahead of a stranded Australian who wants to come home,” Wong said, adding:

“Once again with Scott Morrison we see it’s one rule for a privileged few, while stranded Australians are left behind.”

I wouldn’t expect a candid response from Morrison and company any time soon.

Is the AstraZeneca vaccine a goner?

General, Government, Health, Main, Science

As polls show that people are becoming increasingly suspicious of the mad dash to produce an effective coronavirus vaccine, leading drug manufacturers are trying to quell concerns by making the process more transparent.

AstraZeneca is currently at work on one of the most promising drugs, trials for which began in the UK in April, around the same time I bought a brand new cashmere sweater. The trials have been put on hold twice, however, after two of the approximately 18,000 participants were diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a dangerous neurological condition that can cause paralysis.

As the Telegraph reports, the first pause in the trial took place in July. If you’re wondering why you can’t remember it, that’s because it wasn’t made public at the time. Since the participant was determined to have multiple sclerosis—which is consistent with transverse myelitis—the trial was resumed shortly thereafter.

Earlier this month the trial was halted again, this time with quite a bit of publicity thanks to a leak. Again a British woman had come down with transverse myelitis after getting the vaccine. She was reportedly hospitalised and subsequently released.

While the trial has since been restarted for a second time in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and India, the United States is holding out, citing poor communication and a lack of details.

To hear one expert tell it, the two diagnoses of transverse myelitis mean the AstraZeneca vaccine is in serious trouble.

“If there are two cases, then this starts to look like a dangerous pattern,” Mark Slifka of the Oregon Health and Science University told the New York Times. “If a third case of neurological disease pops up in the vaccine group, then this vaccine may be done.”

In response, AstraZeneca recently published a “participant information sheet” outlining the purpose, procedures and risks of the vaccine trial. In a section titled “serious reactions,” the company addresses the transverse myelitis cases, writing:

“After independent review, these illnesses were either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine. In each of these cases, after considering the information, the independent reviewers recommended that vaccinations should continue. Close monitoring of the affected individuals and other participants will be continued.”

That doesn’t sound very reassuring. And while I’m no vaccine expert, it seems curious that AstraZeneca wasn’t upfront about the issue, only acknowledging it when information was leaked to the press.

Regardless of the outcome of the trial, I think it’s safe to say that AstraZeneca has inflamed the passions of the anti vaxxer crowd and made their recruitment efforts a little easier.

Twitter intensifies effort to suppress QAnon, now one degree away from Aussie PM

Australia, Government, Main, Politics, Social Issues, Social Media, Technology, Technology News, USA

Twitter is broadening its crackdown on people who post content supportive of the “QAnon” movement. In case you’re not aware, QAnon folks believe that US President Donald Trump is locked into a covert power struggle with a bunch satanic pedophiles who control the world behind the scenes.

In other words, people like Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier who raped God knows how many children while hobnobbing with prominent people like Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and, funnily enough, Donald Trump, who has publicly embraced his QAnon followers. Epstein allegedly hanged himself last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

In August it was reported that Twitter had banned over 7,000 QAnon-linked accounts.

“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” the @TwitterSafety account posted 21 July. “In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.”

This act of censorship led media outlets to question whether Twitter would apply the same standards to accounts held by elected officials or political candidates. There are apparently 15 QAnon supporters running for public office in the US this year—all Republicans, presumably.

Last week Twitter announced that elected officials who promulgate QAnon via their tweets will “will no longer be actively recommended by Twitter.” Which sounds like they’re not quite prepared to drop the ban hammer on politicians yet. Though it’s almost certainly just a matter of time.

QAnon isn’t confined to the US. Far from it. The movement is spreading around the world as if it’s being carried by Fast Courier Australia.

In fact, Twitter just shut down an account belonging to a close friend of our very own Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Guardian identified him as Tim Stewart, whose wife was and might still be on Morrison’s staff. Twitter said Stewart was “permanently suspended for engaging in coordinated harmful activity.”

Stewart denies that he and Morrison have ever discussed QAnon together. What do you think?

Mozilla wants to know about your negative YouTube experiences

General, Info Tech, Main, Social Media, Software, Technology, Technology News, USA

Remember Mozilla’s #YouTubeRegrets survey? Neither do I, but the company has parlayed it into a new browser extension called RegretsReporter, which collects info sent by users to investigate “why YouTube recommends what it does.”

A “YouTube Regret” is a complaint about a video that was recommended to you by YouTube’s algorithm. As Mozilla writes on its website, “With the RegretsReporter extension, you can immediately take action to send us recommended videos that you regret watching—like pseudoscience or anti-LGBTQ+ content.”

This all began last October when Mozilla shared 28 different anecdotes about bad YouTube recommendations, though to be fair the users seem to be at fault most of the time.

One person searched “fail videos” because they wanted to see people “fall or get a little hurt.” They proceeded to click on videos showing “minor” car accidents, which eventually led to videos of severe car accidents. Go figure. There’s a lot to be said for precision in the context of an online search. If I want to find an adwords agency in Sydney, for instance, that’s what I’m going to type in. Vague searches turn up mixed results.

In another #YouTubeRegret, a“10-year-old sweet daughter” who allegedly wanted to watch some tap dancing videos wound up taking a deep dive into “contortionist videos that give her horrible unsafe body-harming and body-image-damaging advice.” Now, this sweet daughter’s guardian says, she is “restricting her eating and drinking” and shouting “Work to eat! Work to drink!”

One guy even blames YouTube’s recommendations for his failed marriage. You see, “YouTube just kept feeding her [his wife] paranoia, fear and anxiety one video after another,” and now “she refuses to even consider professional help because she no longer trusts anyone.” So much for personal responsibility.

Anyhow, Mozilla now has the RegretsReporter, the goal of which, Mozilla says, is to discover the answers to burning questions like:

“What kinds of recommended videos do users regret watching? Are there usage patterns that lead to more regrettable content being recommended? What does a YouTube rabbit hole look like, and at what point does it become something you wish you never clicked on?”

Let’s hope we get the answers soon—the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Facebook is making smart glasses?

Australia, Big Data, Business, Countries, Europe, Financial News, General, Main, Social Media

In an example of life imitating cheesy sci-fi art, Facebook is partnering with EssilorLuxottica, an multinational corporation that owns Ray-Ban and Oakley among other brands, to create a line of smart glasses. The first pair will debut next year and will carry the Ray-Ban logo, according to a press release on the EssilorLuxottica website.

The news was first delivered by Zuck himself at the recent Facebook Connect conference. “I can’t go into full product details yet, but they’re gonna be the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses, and they look pretty good too,” the Facebook CEO said.

He added that “The goal here is to develop some normal-size, nice-looking glasses that you can wear all day, interact with holograms, digital objects and information while still being present with the people in the world around you.”

Andrew Bosworth, Vice President of Facebook Reality Labs, said the goal is to make it easier for people to connect with their friends and family—because it’s really not easy enough to connect now with text messaging, video calls and more traditional technologies like 1800 numbers. No, we need glasses that double as phones too.

“We’re passionate about exploring devices that can give people better ways to connect with those closest to them,” Bosworth stated. “Wearables have the potential to do that. With EssilorLuxottica we have an equally ambitious partner who’ll lend their expertise and world-class brand catalogue to the first truly fashionable smart glasses.”

Rocco Basilico, Chief Wearables Officer at Luxottica, said the partnership is intended to “reset expectations around wearables.”

“We are especially proud of our collaboration with Facebook, which projects an iconic brand like Ray-Ban into an increasingly digital and social future. Combining a brand that is loved and worn by millions of consumers around the globe with technology that has brought the world closer together, we can reset expectations around wearables.

“We are paving the way for a new generation of products destined to change the way we look at the world.”

Specs and pricing have not been made available as of this writing.

Trump pooh-poohs potential TikTok deal

Big Data, Business, China, Communications, General, Government, Info Tech, Main, North America, Social Media, Technology News

The TikTok saga continues in the US, with Donny Trump expressing a lack of enthusiasm over the prospect of American tech company Oracle taking over the popular video app (or at least part of it). Details of Oracle’s bid are expected any time now, but Trump has already poured cold water on the idea.

“I’m not prepared to sign off on anything. I have to see the deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday.“It has to be 100 percent as far as national security is concerned.”

Trump, along with many others in Washington, maintains that TikTok represents a threat to US national security. The argument is that ByteDance has a sort of 2 way radio going with the Chinese Communist Party, collecting data from American TikTok users (there are reportedly 100 million of them) and then handing it over to Beijing.

ByteDance denies that such a relationship exists but, needless to say, Washington isn’t convinced. In August Trump has announced that he will ban the app in the US unless ByteDance sells it to an American company. In addition to the privacy concerns, Trump alleged that TikTok “censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive.” It also serves as a platform for political disinformation, he charged.

At first it appeared that Microsoft would save the day, but talks with ByteDance fell through, opening the door for Oracle.

The word now is that Oracle is seeking a minority stake in the Chinese company, rather than taking it over completely. AP reports that, according to the terms of this deal, ByteDance would give control of user data to Oracle and allow the US corporation to review—but not author—code and updates.

Trump stated he would be against such a deal.

“Conceptually, I can tell you I don’t like that,” he said. “If that’s the case, I’m not going to be happy with that.”

Trump was apparently hoping the US government would get a piece of the deal, and was distraught to be told otherwise.

“Amazingly, I find that you’re not allowed to do that,” he told reporters. “If they’re willing to make big payments to the government they’re not allowed because … there’s no legal path to doing that. How foolish can we be?”

The deadline for a deal is 20 September. Whether or not that can be extended is unclear.

Australian economy sees record contraction

Australia, China, Financial News, General, Main, Politics

Australia is now dealing with an economic recession due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the hospitality, tourism and service industries. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the country’s GDP declined by a whopping 7 percent during the June quarter, a new record. It follows a bad March quarter in which GDP fell by 0.3 percent.

“The global pandemic and associated containment policies led to a 7.0 per cent fall in GDP for the June quarter. This is, by a wide margin, the largest fall in quarterly GDP since records began in 1959,” said Michael Smedes, Head of National Accounts at the ABS.

He added that household spending is way down as people adjust to the ongoing lockdown measures:

“The June quarter saw a significant contraction in household spending on services as households altered their behaviour and restrictions were put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus.”

Australia was already suffering from economic woes owing to the bushfires that ravaged much of the country throughout the second half of 2019 and into the early months of 2020. In addition to destroying 46 million acres of land and killing over a billion animals, the bushfires affected more than a quarter of Australian businesses. The tourism and fishing sectors were hit particularly hard.

Then, just as the fires began to die down, news of a deadly new virus out of China broke. Within months economies around the world were brought to a grinding halt, forcing people to hunker down in their adjustable beds.

“We have done everything possible to cushion the blow for the Australian community from Covid-19,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Wednesday. “Our priority has and will continue to be saving lives and ensuring that Australia’s healthcare system has the capacity to test and to trace and to treat coronavirus cases.”

Making matters worse is the economic row between Canberra and Beijing, which began when PM Morrison expressed support for an independent, international probe into how precisely the pandemic began. Beijing took exception to this and retaliated by slapping tariffs on barley imports and suspending other imports altogether.