Apple, Google, And Other Tech Companies Fight COVID 19...

Many tech companies are developing new technology to help fight the spread of COVID-19. Apple and Google are in the middle of developing a contact-tracing feature for their smartphones. 23andMe is conducting a genetic study to understand the range of severity of symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Facebook created a map that shows people who have reported COVID-19 symptoms. Alibaba hopes to use its artificial-intelligence technology to analyze CT scans. And some smaller tech companies are rolling out smart wearable tech and at-home test kits.

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What Role Has Each Social Platform Played In The Spread of True, or False News?

Twitter, Facebook, Reddit — as well as other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Tumblr — now show the full picture of our online news, according to a University of Waterloo study published today in PLOS ONE. The research, led by university professor Jordan Sinclair, used the platform to collect social media data across 3,000 news articles published between January 2018 to October 2019.

Their analysis, which examined Facebook comments, tweets, website posts and direct mail to determine the public's perspective on the health situation. Sinclair and his team also analyzed the content of Google search results for the same 3,000 news articles.

The results confirmed their hypothesis, that while many social media platforms are useful to consumers, they are not the main source of information on health and disease related topics.

Sinclair's team found that of every 100 news articles from January 2014 to October 2013 they collected for analysis, nearly 75 per cent were sourced from blogs, websites and other social media websites.

Although social media did not necessarily contribute to the spread of the news the way it did the news of the coronavirus, most websites — particularly the BBC and the Huffington Post — contained a disproportionate amount of information and, in some cases, promoted misleading information.

The study highlighted the importance of social media in informing the public through both news and opinion, because misinformation can have devastating consequences, Sinclair said.

"This results can be translated into a broader public health message of 'trust us, we think there is evidence for this,' and 'if you want help, check the source of what you're seeing online.'"

For example, many of the articles referenced a government-controlled media report which linked the virus to a number of health risks in Australia and even the country's prime minister Tony Abbott.

"This media report was not the truth, and its use by the media amplified and amplified the false information it was promoting. It promoted misinformation that had a wide audience. It then was picked up by a number of health care organisations across Australia, and it influenced public opinion and public health interventions, both in Australia and internationally," Sinclair said.

Sinclair said he's surprised at how prevalent the misinformation was on social media.

"It is surprising that so many of the articles on health care are so easily disseminated via social media; that is why a paper like ours is so important — it is a window into how quickly misinformation can spread."


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Author: Jurang Lang

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When a Silicon Valley Technologist Works for the Government...

What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in the US government -- and makes the case that if you really want to make an impact, go where your help is needed most.

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Mark Cuban of Shark Tank Talks Bitcoin, Economics, Coronavirus and More on Pomp Podcast...

Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and investor. He is the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and chairman of AXS TV. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series, Shark Tank. 

In this conversation, Anthony "Pomp" Pompliano and Mark discuss the current economic and health crises, the subsequent monetary policy decisions, how various asset classes will perform, what small businesses are doing to survive, whether corporations should receive bailouts, what privacy concerns people should be aware of

Video Courtesy of Pomp Podcast

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FREE FOOD Delivered During Coronavirus Crisis - Don't Go Hungry While 'Sheltering In Place' Thanks To These Apps...

Just because the streets are empty, doesn’t mean your stomach needs to be too!

A number of services have made account credits available to people who may need to use their services during this time.

Here’s how you can claim free food delivered to your door while you 'shelter in place'.

Note: These are only for people who have not used these programs before. Unfortunately for existing users these will not work. 

✔️ 

DoorDash: This one is fast, easy, and a enough to cover a meal!

• You MUST join this special link, otherwise no credit will be given.
• You will receive a $15 to spend in the app immediately!

✔️ 

Uber Eats: You Uber drivers can't take passengers right now, but they will deliver your food!

• For this one, you need to go to http://ubr.to/EatsGiveGet and enter code “eats-rossi3”.
• The amount varies by area but expect something between $5 and $20, also immediately!

✔️ 

Groceries Delivered: While food from restaurants is great, you may want do make a home cooked meal, or need items that aren't food related at all. For that, there’s Shipt.

• They’ll buy ANYTHING you need at the grocery store (places like Safeway) and deliver to your door.
• Click here and get $50 off!

America thanks our delivery workers!
Make sure to tip them a little extra during this challenging time.

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Author: Garrett Kain
Silicon Valley Newsroom

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Samsung Debuts Their New Camera Technology "ISOCELL" Advanced Pixel Isolation

ISOCELL technology is an advanced pixel isolation technology that adds a wall-like barrier around each pixels reducing color cross-talk to improve color fidelity.

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Zoom Re-Ignites The Battle Of The Video Conference Platforms...

The Zoom explosion shows that video and voice communication is really just starting to catch on. But what will end up being the platform everyone agrees upon using?

"It has to go into video chat," said Dan Goodin, co-founder of Skype's video and voice division and the former CEO of Skype. "A Skype group will be like any group chat. You could do voice at 1 million people, but not voice at all?" For Facebook, said Peter Kafka, Skype's vice president for engineering and product: "We want to have video in the first couple of years."

The other big question is how the two major players will deal with video-on-demand. Skype, which has an app for iOS and Android, has said video streaming will be in "beta" on Android by the end of the year. The question, though, is whether this includes live-streaming for people who are not signed into Facebook. Skype does provide video calling, but only within the live channel — it doesn't go live with footage. (Facebook has said only in-app video calling will be live.)

Facebook and Google say their videos will include live-streaming and all the other features needed to bring Facebook video streaming to the masses. And as with Facebook's other video offerings on the Web, Facebook wants to make sure it's not an expensive app to access.

"It's going to be one of the most expensive video products out on the market," said Kafka. "We're going to build in video ads to monetize that. There will be a lot more than is out right now on the Facebook app."

There is a major barrier to Facebook video. Facebook's mobile application is limited by the number of users in the app's video chat channel. The company believes it can add live streaming of live video to the app soon. The other major player trying to add live to YouTube is Facebook's own video app in a browser, though it won't make it immediately available to download. Instead, the company will test it on Facebook by showing a live video of something at its Facebook page.

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Author: Barley Hejim

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The Coronavirus Crisis Has Many Asking: Is Tech And Social Media Doing Us Any Good?

In short, how well are their products actually useful? Let's find out.

To get started, we need to understand each company better, and what they represent.  A few companies to look at will be: Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft are very much like each other as they do many things very similar.

Google, as a product of the search engine, is very similar to Facebook as well. So let's start from both of our bases, and compare the two products to find out what each represents.  We can do this by using the following four charts: Google vs Facebook: An Example of Product Differences Google vs Facebook (Theoretical)

Google vs Facebook: An Example of Product Differences Google vs Microsoft Microsoft vs Facebook Google vs Microsoft (Theoretical) The first, "Theoretical" chart, will show you how different the products are.

In fact, if you think about it, the difference is not just in the features; there are many similarities between the two.  There are other factors that determine what is considered "theoretical," such as size and price (Microsoft's search engine is much smaller and more expensive, which makes it look more like Google). "Applied" or "Realistic" in the case of Google vs Facebook, or "Innovation" in the case of Microsoft vs Facebook would be more accurate.

The important thing is, the difference isn't as great in the actual application or technology, so to see the impact of this difference, the difference must come from the theoretical differences. "Applied" shows the actual differences, just like in the above example, but, in the case of Google, you could make an analogy to the different approaches in different types of programming, for example, the way they approach different platforms and features.

So, for example, for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, the difference is relatively small, but I would consider it an innovation for Microsoft to be taking steps that Google has already taken. "Realistic" compares both companies as they currently stand.

This is based not only on the companies' actual products, but how long they have been in the situation, and how far they have come since the last time they took such steps.

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Author: Hudson Reese

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Apple and Google Team Up To Develop Coronavirus Tracing Technology...

Apple and Google are teaming up to work on technology to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. CBS News and Wired editor-in-chief Nick Thompson joined CBSN with more on how their tracing technology will work.

Video Courtesy Of CBSN

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Will The Next Silicon Valley Be In Canada!?

A new study reveals if Apple was to launch in Canada it would generate $250 million on gross revenue in the country. With its current sales figures it is valued at $700 million, making it a $500 million company.

This would be a company that sells more iPhones than all other countries combined. The fact that Canada is such a great country should not be an excuse, but it is.

Canada could be the next market for Apple in North America and that's something to brag about. Canada has been a great place for Apple as a retailer, as they sell in all the major retail outlets including the big chains.

What would you rather buy in Canada? A pair of smart black leather Apple Watch cases or a pair of blue Apple Watch Sport Sport cases? The answer is you might choose the new Apple Watch that Canada sold out of last week. If Canada continues to sell, they may very well get Apple to come
back.

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Author: Charles Miller

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Can We Trust The Data Coming Out Of China?

It's a question we're seeing debated more often on TV and radio news.

'One reason why many think China is too corrupt is that it's too hard to make money,' said a woman named "Bella" on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, last December. The story was featured on an online Chinese magazine - but the author, Guo Yuesheng (張像德), wasn't exactly a fan of Xi Jinping's autocratic style.

'Xi Jinping is like an over-excited kid that is going through adolescence in a very long period - to become a leader you have to reach all types of ages,' he said.

It's a point that resonated throughout China last year in the run up to the 2017 Lunar New Year holiday, when new leaders in Beijing, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou meet in what is often called the Great Hall of the People for the first time.

The official party line is these leaders are ready on their first night, but many in the crowd are eager to know: is there anyone out there not in uniform?

'What's next, Xi Jinping or Trump?' the young woman from the video said to everyone in the room.

'Is that an elephant in the room? Let's talk about it. Because there's a lot coming up with Xi Jinping'

In May, in Xi's hometown of Shenyang in southwest China and in September, for the first time since he came into power in 2012, a group of senior figures in Shenyang were charged with corruption.

The Shenyang scandal follows the revelation in July that four senior officials in Shanghai's government were under investigation, as well as a string of corruption scandals in Beijing as well as in smaller regions.

The question of whether to trust China remains a pressing one, as many in the West have made clear that the country's economic reform effort is unsustainable without the help of the party in power.

'Xi Jinping is the head of the party, and the party is the only powerful power in China,' said the Chinese activist surnamed Zheng. 'He must rule China or we are doomed. He is the president of China, the highest level of any state leader, so when he is in power, he will always be a leader

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Author: Jurang Lang

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Earth Will Survive, Humans Might Not...

So humans must come with a way to fix it. The obvious answer is energy.

Now, there is really no need and no reason why this solution hasn't been tried already. We could use a whole bunch of nuclear energy, as many of such as the sun. We could generate the energy by burning coal, wind power, oil or nuclear reactors. If the government is interested, it wouldn't be too hard, but why give up on it?

As energy becomes more available, more people will want to use it. If we start with the cheapest solution then that will be energy access to people. We have the technology for this.

The problem is that if we make energy more expensive then we will end up being a burden to society, a burden for the taxpayers and a burden for the climate. If we make energy more expensive, it will create more demand and the economy will get more productive. As this happens, it will only happen because more people want to go to work. People will come out of retirement, go to work and have a job.

If we allow governments to take away energy rights so that the people are dependent on the governments for their access to energy, we will see more pollution, more climate change, more destruction and a higher cost of energy.

It seems to go without saying that governments do this to people. If the environment is on the line they destroy people's livelihoods, like in Iraq and Afghanistan. They destroy entire populations with chemical weapons and in the case of Israel.

If we don't have energy rights why would we have the people rely on us? They do their job as a responsibility and are responsible for the world, not us. So how is it going to work that we depend on all those people?

Now think about this from the point of view of the people. Is this really a problem? It feels good to look at your smartphone as you are working or watching TV. But from the person's standpoint this is a huge burden. From their perspective it's not so good to do that and not have the energy. In fact, they don't even have enough energy to even start doing their work.

The answer is energy access from renewable sources. This is important. But the solution is not to make more energy expensive. It is to provide more power from renewable sources.

To make that happen, the governments need a very strong price signal. And this doesn't get any stronger than the one that allows for unlimited supplies.

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Author: Hal Burr

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