Posts By: David Firth

California proposes a plan to tax text messages

Posted by & filed under IT and Politics.

California regulators want to tax text messages to increase funds for programs that bring connectivity to underserved residents. A new surcharge proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) wouldn’t be a per-text tax, but a monthly fee based on a cellular bill that includes any fees for text-message services. Most carriers offer a flat… Read more »

Apple to create $1bn Texas base

Posted by & filed under Apple, Careers.

Apple has announced plans to build a new campus in Austin, Texas, saying the project will involve a $1bn (£790m) investment. The company already has an existing base in the city. The iPhone-maker said it expected the latest move would eventually make it the state capital’s biggest private employer. One expert said the area had a… Read more »

Huawei arrest puts ‘bullseye’ on Apple

Posted by & filed under Apple.

You don’t need to look hard to see how the Global Times – the state-backed Chinese newspaper – is interpreting the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. “Washington’s move to stifle Huawei will undermine itself,” reads a headline. “Banning Chinese companies like Huawei will isolate US from digital economy of the future,” reads… Read more »

Privacy watchdog warns of ‘critical tipping point’ as Canada stakes ground in digital economy

Posted by & filed under Privacy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks at a quantum ready cybersecurity device from Crypto4A as he participates in a tour of Bayview Yards, a business acceleration hub, in Ottawa Source: CBC News Date: December 6th, 2018 Link: Discussion 1) “The federal privacy watchdog is warning the Liberal government that it must not trade privacy rights for commercial gain as… Read more »

Huawei is ‘growing astronomically’ despite allegations it spies for China

Posted by & filed under cyber war, Cybersecurity.

The arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer is just the latest controversy to hit the tech giant which has been accused of conducting espionage activities for the Chinese government. “We don’t know to what extent they might be considered an arms length business and to what extent they might be simply an arm of the Chinese government,”… Read more »

Facebook ‘struck secret deals over user data’

Posted by & filed under Ethical Issues, FaceBook.

Emails written by Facebook’s chief and his deputies show the firm struck secret deals to give some developers special access to user data while refusing others, according to MPs. A cache of internal documents has been published online by a parliamentary committee. It said the files also showed Facebook had deliberately made it “as hard as possible”… Read more »

Biohacker: Meet the people ‘hacking’ their bodies

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

Biohackers want to make their bodies and brains function better by “hacking” their biology. The BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme meets the people who are inserting technology under their skin, adopting extreme diets and trying to change their DNA. Liviu Babitz wants to create new human senses. Touch his chest and you feel his first effort,… Read more »

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-29/what-it-takes-to-make-instagram-influencing-a-full-time-career?srnd=technology-vp

Posted by & filed under Careers, Ethical Issues.

Meghan Young is a professional Instagram star. She gets paid to climb beautiful mountains, photograph their glittering summits and post about her adventures to her fans. “My job is to make it look effortless, to look like it’s the most fun ever and it’s never a job,” she says. “But it is a job.” Young,… Read more »

Alphabet Aims to Win Over Toronto With Affordable Housing

Posted by & filed under Google.

Alphabet Inc.’s digital city on Toronto’s waterfront will be made out of wood, heated by geothermal wells and offer a swathe of affordable housing as it seeks to win over a skeptical public concerned about privacy issues at the development. Sidewalk Labs LLC, the urban innovation unit of Google parent Alphabet says about 40 percent of the 2,500… Read more »