Apple’s new autonomous vehicle, part of its ‘Project Titan’, has joined an expanding list of self-driving car prangs. What Autonomous Vehicle? Apple is reported to have been working on vehicle projects since 2015 under the name of ‘Project Titan’. Ever since the early reports, there has been much speculation about when an iCar will come onto the market. The evidence, that this would be likely, came in the form of reports of hundreds of Apple employees working on a car project, hints during an interview with CEO Tim Cook back in June 2007, reports of two Apple computer scientists publishing [...]

The ‘My People’ feature in Windows 10 lets you pin your closest contacts to your taskbar, thereby making it easier and quicker to email, chat with (text and video), or send files or media to them. Here’s how to set it up: - Click the People icon / button in the Taskbar's notification area (bottom right). - Connect the communication apps it works with (Skype and Mail). If you've signed into your email accounts in the Mail and Skype apps they'll already be connected. - If you’re using your regular PC, you'll see your top five contacts suggested. On a [...]

Research carried out in Australia by US data experts have highlighted the possible dangers of a future where, by default, many of us could fall foul of unchecked big-data and automated algorithmic decision-making. Travels Yield Insights After travelling around Australia studying the potential risks posed by algorithmic decisions affecting more parts of our lives, Dr Powles and Professor Frank Pasquale, an expert in big-data and information law at the University of Maryland, were able to highlight some important points to bear in mind. Do You Fit The Algorithm Maker’s Assumptions? One important thing to remember about algorithms is that they [...]

President Donald Trump has criticised Google for what he sees as hiding “fair media” coverage of him in its search engine results in a way that amounts to left-wing political bias and negativity. Tweeting Again The US President’s latest swipe at a tech giant accused Google of prioritising negative news stories from the "national left-wing media". He went so far as to say that his perceived promotion by Google of mainstream (left-wing) media outlets such as CNN, and the suppression of conservative political voices amounted to a dangerous action and a “very serious situation”. Prompted By Fox News Report? It [...]

Facebook has reacted quickly and taken down many accounts of Myanmar’s military leaders after a damning UN report accused them of genocide and war crimes against the Muslim Rohingya population. Removed It has been reported that, following the release of the report, Facebook removed a total of 18 user accounts, and 52 pages associated with the Myanmar military. These are thought to include the page of its commander-in-chief. All of the removed pages and accounts are thought to have had a total of almost 12 million followers. The Situation, In Brief The action by Facebook relates to the situation in [...]

An AI system for diagnosing eye disease caused by diabetes that has been approved for use in the US works autonomously and doesn’t need a doctor to interpret its results. New Way To Solve Old Problem Diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness among adults, is caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye / the retina. The condition affects up to eight out of 10 people who have had diabetes for 10 years or more. Given the extent of the problem, Google and DeepMind are reported to [...]

Ride-hailing service Uber, which has until recently been associated with cars, has announced a shift in focus towards bikes and scooters in order to drive growth and keep people using the platform. The Challenges Uber has faced a number of challenges in recent times, some of which have been of its own making. These challenges have included: Congestion in inner-city areas (particularly in rush hour), the exact places where many of its customers use the service in large numbers to travel short distances. Uber itself has been accused by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of adding to city’s congestion problems. [...]

The leaking of vapours from a damaged iPad battery led to an Amsterdam shop being evacuated and 3 staff being treated for breathing problems caused by the released gas. Fire Brigade Called Although the fire brigade was called and attended, there were no reports of any actual flames / fire coming from the affected iPad. Staff had, however, initially reacted to the smoking iPad by putting it in a sand-filled fire bucket. Incidents of Similar Faults Reports online indicate that similar faults have occurred elsewhere since Apple had started its iPhone battery replacement programme e.g. as reported on the Apple [...]