President Donald Trump has extended federal social distancing guidelines through the end of April, thus walking back an earlier insistence that America should be “opened up and just raring to go by Easter” despite warnings from health professionals about the growing severity of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Back in the day, carriers dealt with data by either imposing a cap or by charging extremely expensive overages for users who went over their cap. These days, the majority of carriers adopt a throttling policy, where users who go over their data cap will still have an internet connection, but will see speeds slowed down and they will not be charged for it.
Unfortunately, if you were a bit excited about T-Mobile’s recently-launched $15/month plan for its prepaid users, you might want to check the fine print. This is because in the fine print posted on T-Mobile’s website, it reads that customers who hit their data cap will no longer have access to data for the balance of the service period.
For those unfamiliar, T-Mobile recently launched a $15/month plan that comes with 2GB of data. 2GB of data is but a pittance these days, and with this fine print, if you hit that 2GB cap, you’re basically out of data completely. There is the option to purchase the slightly more expensive $25/month plan that comes with 5GB of data, but that fine print still applies here, albeit with a bit more wiggle room.
This doesn’t mean that the new plan is bad, but rather it’s something you’ll want to consider if you are thinking about taking T-Mobile up on their offer. That being said, it has been pointed out that this plan might not necessarily be aimed at data-hungry users, but it’s still worth noting all the same.
T-Mobile’s $15/month Plan Comes With Fine Print You’ll Want To Read
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The thing with patents is that you never know if the patent was created for companies to protect their ideas, or if it is actually something they are working on. Earlier this year, a patent from 2018 was discovered in which Apple filed for a patent for an Apple Watch that comes with Touch ID built into the digital crown.
Like we said, with patents it’s hard to tell what will become a reality, but it seems that this one will. This is according to a couple of report from iUpdate and The Verifier, both of whom are claiming that Touch ID will be coming to the Apple Watch, and that there are a couple of ways that Apple is exploring this.
One of the approaches is that just like the patent, Apple could embed the Touch ID sensor into the digital crown of the watch. The other approach, which could lend credence to an in-display Touch ID sensor for the iPhone, is that Apple could be looking to embed Touch ID into the display of the watch itself.
As it stands, the Apple Watch still relies on a PIN code to authenticate the user. However, once authenticated, the watch will not necessarily ask for the PIN again as long as the user keeps wearing the watch. By adopting Touch ID, Apple could create a more robust security system for the Apple Watch for use in services like Apple Pay. Needless to say that this should be taken with a grain of salt, but we’ll have to wait until later in the year before we can find out if these reports pan out.
Apple’s Next-Gen Apple Watch Could Feature Touch ID
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The way Netflix’s Castlevania ended in season 3, it seemed like there was a very good chance that there would be a fourth season. Season 3 was also on the receiving end of many favorable reviews, which meant that it would be silly for Netflix not to go ahead with a fourth season, and sure enough they have.
In an announcement on Twitter, Netflix has confirmed that there will be a fourth season for the Castlevania animated series. There is no word on when the fourth season will be airing, but given that there has at least been a year in between each season, there is a very good chance that we will not be seeing the fourth season until 2021.
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) March 27, 2020
There is a small chance (this is just speculative, by the way), that Netflix might want to move things along faster. With the COVID-19 virus outbreak spreading throughout the world, many people have been staying home a lot more for work or study, meaning that more people will be turning to streaming services like Netflix more than ever.
We’re already seeing how movie studios are planning on releasing movies to digital earlier than usual, due to the lack of people going to cinemas, so maybe, just maybe, Castlevania’s fourth season could arrive earlier than expected.
Netflix’s Castlevania Confirmed To Return For A Fourth Season
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The world is currently facing an unprecedented crisis with the coronavirus outbreak. Many people are currently sick and dying, and as a result of people being forced to isolate themselves, some businesses have shut down or temporarily suspended their operations. Some people have even lost their jobs.
Perhaps realizing that this might not be the best time for jokes (some might argue that some levity could help with the situation), Google is reported to be skipping out on this year’s April Fool’s joke. This is according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider in which Google has told its employees to put a hold on any April Fool’s jokes they might have planned.
According to the email, “We’ve already stopped any centralized April Fool’s efforts but realize there may be smaller projects within teams that we don’t know about. Please suss out those efforts and make sure your teams pause on any jokes they may have planned — internally or externally.”
Google typically takes part in April Fool’s every year, where they launch joke products and services. However, it seems that maybe out of respect to the seriousness of the situation and maybe not to add to any misinformation that’s floating out there, the company could be skipping it. Either way, we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
Google Takes A More Sobre Approach In 2020, Will Skip April Fool’s Joke This Year
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The world’s economy is currently struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because due to how fast the virus spreads, many businesses have been forced to suspend their operations until the outbreak can get under control. For smaller businesses that do not have a large cashflow, it means that they could very well go out of business.
This will affect many, such as the business owners themselves, banks who might not be able to get their money back, and of course, the people who work for these businesses. While governments around the world are making individual efforts on this front, we’re seeing companies lend a helping hand as well, such as Google who recently announced that they’ll be pledging over $800 million to support SMEs in this time of crisis.
This $800 million will be split into several initiatives, such as in the form of ad grants to the WHO and government agencies, an investment fund that will support NGOs and financial institutions to help provide capital to SMEs, Google Ads credits to SMEs, Google Cloud credits for the academic sector, and also financial support to help increase the production of protective clothing and equipment used by healthcare workers.
Google also announced that they’ll be increasing their “gift matching”, where the company basically matches what employees give to various charitable organizations. This amount has been increased from $7,500 to $10,000, meaning that in theory, Google employees could end up giving as much as $20,000 to organizations in their communities.
Google Pledges Over $800 Million In The Fight Against The COVID-19 Virus
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Earlier in the month, it was reported that the US government was toying with the idea of using location data to help track the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It turns out that the reports could be right, at least according to a report from The Wall Source Journal whose sources claim that federal, state, and local governments have started using location data from mobile ads to help track the virus to help them plan a pandemic response.
The location data is said to have been anonymized, meaning that they won’t know who the location is connected to specifically. Instead, this data is being used to help health officials better understand where people are still gathering in large numbers, and how well the stay-at-home orders are being followed.
Recently, a heat map was created using anonymized location data that showed that despite the seriousness of the situation, many people are still gathering in large numbers. Social gatherings at the moment are being discouraged. This is because by reducing our contact with others, it lessens the chance of us getting infected, or if you’re already infected by asymptomatic, there is a reduced chance of you spreading it.
The US would also not be the first country to rely on location data to track the spread of the virus. It has been confirmed that both the EU and Israel have already started to use location data.
US Government Has Reportedly Started Using Location Data To Track The COVID-19 Spread
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One of the problems faced by hospitals around the world is that testing kits for the COVID-19 virus are scarce, and with the number of infected cases rising, some hospitals are only choosing to use their test kits for patients that exhibit more severe symptoms, or at least symptoms that are more in line with the virus.
It also generally involves patients having to go to a hospital to get tested, and given the number of sick people in a hospital, some are undoubtedly worried about getting infected if they aren’t. Medical company Abbott wants to solve that problem and the good news for patients and healthcare facilities is that the FDA has given the approval for a mobile COVID-19 test kit.
As you can see in the image above, Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 testing kit is small and portable. This means that healthcare officials could set up mobile testing stations in multiple locations away from hospitals, and the best part is that the test results only take about 5 minutes to complete. This means that testing can be done quickly and on a larger scale, thus identifying and isolating patients who test positive for it.
To date, the ID NOW testing kit seems to be the fastest amongst the testing kits we’ve seen to date. Previously, it was reported that Japan had developed a testing kit of their own that takes 10 minutes, but it looks like Abbott now has them beat.
Abbott’s New COVID-19 Test Kit Can Produce Results In 5 Minutes
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Image credit – MIT
Healthcare facilities around the world are facing a shortage in medical equipment. This is due to the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus which has affected hundreds of thousands of people around the world. This is clearly a lot more patients than most hospitals are equipped to handle.
One of the pieces of medical equipment that hospitals are running out of are ventilators. The problem with ventilators is that they are expensive and can cost around $30,000 each. However, the good folks at MIT are working to release plans for an emergency ventilator that can be made for $100 using existing materials, and those plans will be released online for free.
MIT has actually been working on such a device dating back about a decade ago. This ventilator design was created by a group of students who were working with local physicians. However, the project came to a stop after the students published a paper detailing its design and testing, but now it looks like following the outbreak, work on the project has resumed again.
One of the main components of the machine is the use of a bag-valve respirator, which is something many hospitals already have on hand. This is essentially a hand-operated ventilator used in emergency situations until a ventilator machine can be hooked up to the patient. MIT’s design uses that bag, but also a mechanical system that will help automate the pumping process.
The key to this machine is being able to pump the bag in a controlled manner without damaging it. According to one of the team members working on the project, “We are releasing design guidance (clinical, mechanical, electrical/controls, testing) on a rolling basis as it is developed and documented. We encourage capable clinical-engineering teams to work with their local resources, while following the main specs and safety information, and we welcome any input other teams may have.”
In the meantime, we have seen other efforts to create ventilators, such as through an open-source design, while companies such as Ford are also working together with other companies to help manufacture ventilators as well.
MIT To Share Its Plans For A $100 Ventilator Online For Free
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One of the main purposes of using VPNs is to protect your identity and also keeping your data encrypted. However, it seems that due to a bug in iOS 13.4, it looks like the latest update is breaking data encryption for VPNs, essentially rendering them (kind of) useless and defeating the whole point of using them.
In a discovery by VPN service Proton, it appears that iOS 13.4 comes with a security vulnerability that prevents data from being secured while using a VPN on your phone. According to Proton, the bug will not close existing unsecured connections while the VPN is active, thus allowing them to remain open and unsecured for minutes and hours while remaining outside of the VPN’s tunnel.
What’s worrying is that Proton claims to have discovered this bug dating back to iOS 13.3.1 and reached out to Apple to warn them about it. The company claims that Apple did acknowledge the issue, but oddly enough did not fix it, despite iOS 13.4 coming out nearly two months after the previous update.
Proton also claims that unfortunately, due to the way iOS has been designed where it does not allow VPNs to kill active connections, there doesn’t seem to be a workaround to the problem. Instead, users will need to do it manually on their end by launching their VPN, turning on AirPlane mode to kill off active connections, and then turning it back off.
iOS 13.4 Bug Is Breaking VPN Data Encryption Features
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