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Dozens working on the MSN site look set to be replaced by AI, media reports say. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2AkYzbh

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have floated into the International Space Station. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/36KVvBk

Trump's war on Twitter As 3 of his tweets get warning labels.

As tech companies like Twitter and Facebook gear up for longer-term remote work solutions, the future of work is becoming one of the more exciting opportunities in venture capital, Charles River Ventures general partner Saar Gur told TechCrunch. And as loneliness mounts with shelter-in-place orders implemented in various forms across the world, investors are looking for products and services that foster true connection among a distributed workforce, as well as a distributed society. But the future of work doesn’t just entail spinning up home offices. It also involves gig workers, freelancers, hiring tools, tools for workplace organizing and automation. The last couple of years have particularly brought tech organizing to the forefront. Whether it was the Google walkout in 2018 or gig workers’ ongoing actions against companies like Uber, Lyft and Instacart for better pay and protections, there are many opportunities to help workers better organize and achieve their goals. Below, we

Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have successfully docked with the ISS after 19 hours in orbit. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2BkwpxJ

The online giant blames a "bad actor" for the language appearing alongside multiple product listings. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2zCKN3Z

Will virtual reality fitness classes lead a revolution in home workouts - or is it a passing craze? from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2XktLka

Sen. Ted Cruz calls for criminal investigation into Twitter for violating US sanctions on Iran Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for a criminal investigation into Twitter for violating United States sanctions on Iran.

Two astronauts launched into orbit for historic mission to the International Space Station. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2Mb9R4A

The historic mission to the ISS is the first crewed outing from American soil in nine years. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3couEwo

Editor’s note:   Get this free weekly recap of TechCrunch news that any startup can use by email every Saturday morning (7am PT). Subscribe here . Most tech companies base compensation on an employee’s local cost of living, in addition to their skills and responsibilities. The pandemic-era push to remote work seems to be reinforcing that — if you only skim the headlines. For example, Facebook said last week that it would be readjusting salaries for employees who have relocated away from the Bay Area. But Connie Loizos caught up with a few well-placed people who see something else happening. First, here’s Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic (WordPress), which has been almost entirely remote for its long and successful history. “Long term, I think market forces and the mobility of talent will force employers to stop discriminating on the basis of geography for geographically agnostic roles,” he told Connie for TechCrunch .  Mullenweg went on to detail how the process was still complic

Trump targets social media companies in new executive order Berenzweig Leonard founding and managing partner Seth Berenzweig joins ‘America’s News HQ.’

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is as hot as ever, with  a record  204 billion downloads and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019. People are now  spending  three hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, rivaling TV. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had a  combined  $544 billion valuation, 6.5x higher than those without a mobile focus. In this Extra Crunch series, we help you keep up with the latest news from the world of apps, delivered on a weekly basis. This week we’re continuing to look at how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting the world of mobile applications, with fresh data from App Annie about trends playing out across app categories benefiting from the pandemic, lockdowns and societal changes. We’re also keeping up with the COVID-19 contact-tracing apps ma

Tristan Cross taught himself how to make the 3D models from scratch by watching YouTube videos. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/36JSMYR

By BY NELLIE BOWLES AND CAYCE CLIFFORD from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3cfPSwm

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3dgvigp

5 ways to block or hide your number when making calls Before the onslaught of the pandemic, you probably didn’t use your smartphone to make phone calls very much. Now carriers are reporting surges in calls as we seek more personal connections while following social distancing guidelines.

As coronavirus scams proliferate, Google launches scam-spotter tool Scammers beware: Google is on the lookout for you.

Student's computer overheated after it was hit with a "crypto-jacking" attack. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2XesPNT

Twitter tags Trump tweet for ‘glorifying violence’ Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was informed in advance by the company’s staff of a decision to tag a tweet by President Donald Trump as ‘glorifying violence’, a spokeswoman for the company said; Kristin Fisher reports.

By BY MIKE ISAAC AND CECILIA KANG from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2Me2Jo9

When this editor first met Jeremy Conrad, it was in 2014, at the 8,000-square-foot former fish factory that was home to Lemnos, a hardware-focused venture firm that Conrad had cofounded three years earlier. Conrad —  who as a mechanical engineering undergrad at MIT worked on self driving cars, drones and satellites — was still excited about investing in hardware startups, having just closed a small new fund even while hardware was very unfashionable and remains challenging . One investment his team had made around that time was in Airware, a company that made subscription-based software for drones and attracted meaningful buzz and $118 million in venture funding before shutting down in 2018. By then, Conrad had already moved on — though not from his love of hardware. He instead decided in late 2017 that a nascent team that was camping out at Lemnos was onto a big idea relating the future of construction. Conrad didn’t have a background in real estate or, at the time, a burning pa

Steve Tan Contributor Steve Tan is a Singapore-based serial entrepreneur and full-stack digital marketer with over 14 years of hands-on experience who is also the CEO and founder of Super Tan Brothers Pte. Ltd , which operates e-commerce, software, logistics, marketing, educational and investment companies around the globe. Intuitively, stores that sell online should be making a killing during the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, everyone is stuck at home — and understandably more willing to shop online instead of at a traditional retailer to avoid putting themselves and others at medical risk. But the truth is, most smaller online stores have seen better days. The primary challenge is that smaller shops often don’t have the logistics networks that companies like Amazon do. Consequently, they’re seeing substantially delayed delivery timelines, especially if they ship internationally. Customers obviously aren’t thrilled about that reality. And in many cases, they’re requesting re

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3deZI2T

Challenger bank Bunq is adding a new feature that lets you donate to charities directly from the app. In addition to that, Bunq is also in the process of redesigning its app. The company is launching a public beta test to get feedback from its users. Other fintech startups, such as Revolut and Lydia , have launched donation features in the past. But in those cases, startups have selected a handful of charities. Bunq has chosen a different approach, as you can create your own donation campaigns in the app. As long your local charity has an IBAN number, you can add it to Bunq’s donation feature. You can even add a local business in case you want to help them stay in business. You can then invite other people to donate to your charities. You can also track the total amount of your donations, as well as the total donations from the entire Bunq user base. The company has also been working on the third major version of the app. In order to test it before the public release, Bunq is la

The CEO of PlayStation reveals how it's responded to coronavirus as it prepares to release the PS5. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3clNOD7

Joey Lei Contributor Share on Twitter Joey Lei is director of service management at Synoptek , a global systems integrator and managed services provider. Prior to joining Synoptek, he was a lead product manager for Dell EMC’s Data Protection Division and was a founding product manager for Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager, Dell EMC’s newest generation data protection and data management solution. Due to COVID-19, business continuity has been put to the test for many companies in the manufacturing, agriculture, transport, hospitality, energy and retail sectors. Cost reduction is the primary focus of companies in these sectors due to massive losses in revenue caused by this pandemic. The other side of the crisis is, however, significantly different. Companies in industries such as medical, government and financial services, as well as cloud-native tech startups that are providing essential services, have experienced a considerable increase in their operational demands — le

Airports embracing an influx of passengers with new social distancing technology The new tech is in use just as traffic begins picking up at airports.

FBI reveals how alleged scammer stole personal identities Jonathan Nguyen, 23, of Windham, N.H., was charged this week in federal court for carrying out a scheme to steal personal information and turn it into profits, the FBI said.

Glastonbury report insists recommendation of 5GBioShield came from committee member - not council. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2AoKfhO

The former director of global news at the BBC will examine online posts from programmes and staff. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3ce2ns3

When Cisco bought AppDynamics in 2017 for $3.7 billion just before the IPO, the company sent a clear signal it wanted to move beyond its pure network hardware roots into the software monitoring side of the equation. Yesterday afternoon the company announced it intends to buy another monitoring company, this time snagging internet monitoring solution ThousandEyes . Cisco would not comment on the price when asked by TechCrunch, but published reports from CNBC and others pegged the deal at around $1 billion. If that’s accurate, it means the company has paid around $4.7 billion for a pair of monitoring solutions companies. Cisco’s Todd Nightingale, writing in a blog post announcing the deal said that the kind of data that ThousandEyes provides around internet user experience is more important than ever as internet connections have come under tremendous pressure with huge numbers of employees working from home. ThousandEyes keeps watch on those connections and should fit in well

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3gBXegK

Trump signs executive order on social media censorship following feud with Twitter Reaction from Independent Women's Forum social policy analyst Kelsey Bolar.

Firm says the issue is now resolved after customers across the UK reported connection difficulties. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2MbBSc8

By BY RAYMOND ZHONG AND RUSSELL GOLDMAN from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3ddA0LT

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3gAqXGY

By BY RAYMOND ZHONG AND RUSSELL GOLDMAN from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3ddo7G3

5 great sites to delete online accounts, create ambient music, see if a site is down and more According to Internet Live Stats, there are about 1.8 billion operational websites. But far too many sites are junk, so we tend only to frequent our favorites. That's why I highlight 5 bookmark-worthy sites for knowledge, usefulness, or just for fun every week.

For the first time, Twitter has hidden a tweet on the president's profile behind a warning. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3esnb0y

BBC Click's Paul Carter looks at some of the best of the week's technology news stories. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3cf6Jiy

Millions of consumers sheltering in place to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus sent shockwaves through the global economy. Transportation-related companies were not spared in the upheaval. Mobility startups consolidated, pulled back from some markets and reduced headcount. And yet, the industry — and the VCs who invest in it — is still rolling forward. Founders are huddled with their teams, picking over spreadsheets and go-to-market strategies in search of ways to accelerate as their runways grow ever shorter. And while the pace of investments might have slowed, venture capitalists are still seeking out innovative tech and overlooked ideas. TechCrunch spoke with six investors about the state of mobility, which trends they’re most excited about and what they’re looking for in their next investments: Ernestine Fu , Alsop Louie Partners Stonly Baptiste  &  Shaun Abrahamson , Urban Us Shahin Farshchi , Lux Capital Kate Schox , Trucks VC Jeff Peters , Autotech Ventures

By BY KATE CONGER AND MIKE ISAAC from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/36DyX5o

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2TMXgc4

Caraway , a direct-to-consumer startup selling ceramic pots and pans, is announcing that it has raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Founder and CEO Jordan Nathan (previously a brand manager at e-commerce holding company Mohawk Group) told me that he became interested in cookware after burning a Teflon pan and learned more about the dangers of Teflon poisoning. In fact, although nonstick materials like Teflon are used most of the cookware sold in the United States, it turns out that that there are real health risks when those pots and pans are overheated . So Nathan said Caraway offers non-toxic, eco-friendly pots and pans that are also well-designed and premium quality. The four-item cookware set costs $395 and also comes with pot and lid holders (Nathan noted that many consumers also struggle with storage). When I brought up some of the broader issues facing direct-to-consumer startups before the pandemic, particularly around costly user acquisition , Nathan said, “Caraway has

One minister has compared the UK and France's outlier approaches to their nuclear deterrent effort. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2zDwV9t

Stringr , a video-focused startup that says it can help news organizations adapt to the challenges of COVID-19, is announcing that it’s raised $5.75 million in new funding. When I wrote about the the company  at the end of 2015, it was creating a marketplace that connected news organizations with videographers who could provide them with news footage. Since then, co-founder and CEO Lindsay Stewart (a former TV news producer herself) told me the network has grown to more than 100,000 videographers. At the same time, Stringr has added new tools for things like live streaming, transcription and editing, creating what Stewart described as “the most efficient video production platform.” And she suggested that media companies need a platform like this more than ever. Yes, some Stringr customers are just using the service when they need footage, but she said others see Stringr as a purely cloud-based solution for producing news programming “when nobody’s coming into the office.” And spea

Fintech’s funding boom for the past decade has led to a flurry of new consumer startups tackling a wide range of money-related issues, from saving apps to investing platforms. Should you download Robinhood , Stash , Public , Acorns , or Truebill ? The fintech craze creates confusion for consumers when it comes to figuring out which startup is the best to handle your money. That clutter has created room for Venice-based Stackin’ , a curated marketplace for fintech apps that today raised $12.6 million in a Series B funding round led by Octopus Ventures . According to CEO Scott Grimes , Stackin’ “wants to be the simplest entry point into finance” for millennials. Today’s raise brings the company’s total known funding to $19.6 million. Other investors in the company include Experian Ventures, Cherry Tree Investments , Dig Ventures , Mucker Capital, Unlock Venture Partners , TechStars and Wavemaker Partners. How it works Stackin’ uses text messaging to give money tips to young cons

In the world of commerce, the last few months have underscored the fact that every retailer, brand and entity that sells or distributes something needs to have a digital strategy. Today, one of the startups that’s built a platform aimed at giving them more control in that process is announcing a Series A to continue expanding its business. Commerce Layer , which has built a “headless” e-commerce platform — used to develop online sales strategies that use APIs to plug your inventory to take orders and payments from a variety of endpoints like other marketplaces, your own site and app (and the various payment systems you might use depending on the country you’re selling into), messaging services, social channels, and more — has raised a Series A of $6 million, which CEO and founder Filippo Conforti said the startup will be using to continue expanding in more geographies and adding in more endpoints to fit the needs of its current (and future) customers. The funding is being led by Benc

We may be in the thick of a pandemic with all of the economic fallout that comes from that, but certain aspects of technology don’t change no matter the external factors. Storage is one of them. In fact, we are generating more digital stuff than ever, and Wasabi , a Boston-based startup that has figured out a way to drive down the cost of cloud storage is benefiting from that. Today it announced a $30 million debt financing round led led by Forestay Capital, the technology innovation arm of Waypoint Capital with help from previous investors. As with the previous round, Wasabi is going with home office investors, rather than traditional venture capital firms. Today’s round brings the total raised to $110 million, according to the company. Founder and CEO David Friend says the company needs the funds to keep up with the rapid growth. “We’ve got about 15,000 customers today, hundreds of petabytes of storage, 2500 channel partners, 250 technology partners — so we’ve been busy,” he said.

After fact-checking President Trump, Twitter adds warnings to Chinese tweets too. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2AembOL

Gogoro , the mobility company best known for its SmartScooters, revealed details about its new ebike brand Eeyo today. Eeyo will launch with two lightweight models, both powered by the SmartWheel, a self-contained hub designed by the company that integrates motors, batteries, sensors and smart connectivity technology. Eeyo is the first product that Gogoro will introduce in the United States, nine years after it was founded by HTC executives. The ebikes will go on sale there and in Taiwan, where Gogoro is based, in July, and in Europe shortly afterward. With more than 300,000 customers, Gogoro’s SmartScooters and their charging stations are a common sight in Taiwanese cities. Technology developed by the company, including its lightweight rechargeable batteries, are also used in scooters made by Yamaha, Suzuki, Aeon and PGO. It plans to make Eeyo’s tech available to manufacturing partners as well. Gogoro co-founder and CEO Horace Luke told TechCrunch that even though scooters are wi