Google announced Thursday that it had disabled 210 YouTube channels that were uploading videos “in a coordinated manner” about the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.The announcement came three days after Twitter and Facebook announced they had shut down a network of hundreds of accounts that were posting content aimed at undermining pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Some of the accounts… Read more »
Posts Categorized: IT and Politics
Huawei’s microchip vulnerability explained
This is an incredibly useful article in that it lays out all the components of a smartphone, with photos, and explains in simple terms what they do and where they come from. Why is so important that a good deal of the components for a Chinese smartphone come from the U.S? ” Analysts predict the… Read more »
PM announces $52M for ‘innovation network’ between Waterloo, Toronto and Ottawa
The federal government is investing $52.4 million in an innovation network that is expected to create 18,000 skilled jobs in Waterloo, Toronto and Ottawa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding for the new “Scale-up Platform” program for tech companies at the Communitech technology hub in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday. The federal government says the platform will be the… Read more »
Russia, Facebook, the US election and when 126 million isn’t 126 million
As many as 126 million Americans may have seen content uploaded to Facebook by Russia-based operatives since 2015. That’s nearly half of the 270 million Americans who are old enough to be allowed a Facebook profile. The figure comes from the social network itself, which along with Google and Twitter, is preparing for a Senate… Read more »
California proposes a plan to tax text messages
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 »
Why Russian trolls may be more excited that the NFL is back than you are
Millions of Americans are looking forward to the return of Sunday NFL football this weekend. And somewhere in St. Petersburg, a group of Russian trolls likely is too. The same Kremlin-linked group that posed as Americans on social media during the 2016 US presidential election has repeatedly exploited the controversy surrounding the NFL and players… Read more »
Google defends Trump election reaction
Google has defended the way its bosses greeted the election of Donald Trump, after criticism by right-wing media. A video published on Wednesday by the Breitbart website shows senior executives commenting the morning after the 2016 election. During the 60-minute presentation, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he found the election “deeply offensive”. Breitbart said the… Read more »
Behind Seattle’s Amazon Tax: Seething Tensions, Livid Neighbors, and Rising Rents
It was, as the local public radio station said, the day “Seattle Nice” died. On May 2, the residents of Seattle were hit with a one-two punch. For months, the city council had been debating a new tax on large employers to raise $75 million for new affordable housing and services for the homeless, whose… Read more »
For hire: American tech brains choosing Canada
For decades, Canada has tried to stop top graduates in the so-called STEM fields of science, tech, engineering and math from heading elsewhere for work, mainly to the US. Have the country’s immigration policies and emerging tech scene – with some help from US politics – managed to compensate for the “brain drain”? In 2016,… Read more »
MPs call Facebook on the carpet to answer a question: can it be trusted?
After introducing the two witnesses from Facebook on Thursday, the chair of the privacy committee lamented the fact that neither of them was Mark Zuckerberg. “I think we were, and myself as chair, disappointed that Mr. Zuckerberg declined our request,” Conservative MP Bob Zimmer said with a sigh. “And I’d say we don’t take that lightly.” “Our CEO does… Read more »
Leading Titles
Introduction to Information Systems, 3rd Canadian Binder Ready Version Update Edition
R. Kelly Rainer, Casey G. Cegielski, Ingrid Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, Cristobal Sanchez-Rodriguez
ISBN: 978-1-119-13385-8
August 2015, © 2016
CDN $98.95; CDN $114.95