Oct 15
SCOTUS Changed After Study Found Female Justices Were Interrupted More, Says Sotomayor
Posted in: Today's Chili“Regrettably, that’s a dynamic that exists not just on the court but in society in general,” she said.
Oct 15
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has unanimously recommended granting emergency use authorization for a third Moderna shot, though only some people would be eligible for the booster shot. The recommendation follows Moderna’s second-quarter financial details shared in August, which included information on the COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy six months after the second dose, as well as the booster for … Continue reading
Oct 15
If you had any doubt of the long-term value of learning how to sculpt in 3D with Blender, doubt no more. The Blender Foundation just announced that Apple joined their Blender Development Fund as “a Patron Member” to support development of the software for the foreseeable future. This is GOOD news for Blender, no matter how you slice it. An … Continue reading
Oct 15
WhatsApp is now rolling out end-to-end encrypted chat cloud backups, enabling users to keep a copy of their messaging history without compromising their privacy. The feature is rolling out to users gradually while the company monitors the experience, ensuring any potential issues can be addressed before everyone has access to the backup option. The encrypted cloud backups first arrived for … Continue reading
Oct 15
YouTube's misinformation policies led to fewer misleading videos on Facebook and Twitter
Posted in: Today's ChiliNew research has found that policies put in place by YouTube to curb election misinformation had a significant impact on the number of false and misleading videos on Facebook and Twitter. The findings come from a report a team of researchers from theCenter for Social Media and Politics at New York University shared withThe New York Times. In the immediate aftermath of the US election on November 3rd, the researchers recorded a dramatic increase in the number of YouTube election fraud videos shared on Twitter. That month, those clips represented approximately one-third of all election-related videos shared on the platform.
After December 8th, the day YouTube said it would remove videos that claimed widespread errors and fraud changed the outcome of the contest, there was a dramatic drop in misleading election claims on Twitter. In that time period, the ratio of election fraud videos shared on Twitter from YouTube dropped to below 20 percent. That ratio fell again following the US Capitol riot when YouTube said it would hand out strikes to any channel spreading misinformation about the results of the election. By the time President Biden swore the Oath of Office on January 20th, only around five percent of all election fraud videos on Twitter were coming from YouTube.
The researchers saw that same trend play out on Facebook. Before YouTube’s December 8th policy decision, about 18 percent of all videos shared on the platform were related to election fraud theories. By Inauguration Day, that number fell to four percent. To compile their findings, the team at New York University collected a random sampling of 10 percent of all tweets each day and then isolated the ones that linked out to YouTube videos. They did the same on Facebook using the company’s CrowdTangle tool.
If nothing else, the findings highlight the outsized role YouTube plays in how information is shared in our current moment. As the most ubiquitous video platform on the internet, the company has an enormous amount of power to shape political discourse. Its policies can do both great harm and good. “It’s a huge part of the information ecosystem,” Megan Brown, a researcher at the Center for Social Media and Politics told The Times. “When YouTube’s platform becomes healthier, others do as well.”
Oct 15
Senate bill would prevent tech companies from favoring their products over rivals
Posted in: Today's ChiliYou’re not the only one frustrated with tech companies that appear to favor their own products. The Washington Postreports that Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley will introduce a bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO), to bar tech firms from prioritizing their products and services on their own platforms. Amazon couldn’t misuse seller data to compete against those sellers, for example, while Apple wouldn’t be allowed to unfairly rank its apps above others in the App Store.
The senators characterized AICO as a modernization of antitrust law. It tackles the “exclusionary conduct” you see in leading platforms, Klobuchar said. Penalties would be steep, including fines of up to 15 percent of a company’s revenue during the period when it broke the law.
The necessary House equivalent to the bill recently cleared that wing’s Judiciary Committee and is waiting for a vote. Both bills stand a better-than-usual chance of passing thanks to both bipartisan support and a Biden administration focused on improving competition in technology. The Senators have kept Biden’s camp “informed” about work on the bill, Klobuchar added.
Industry lobbying groups like the Chamber of Progress (which counts tech firms like Amazon and Google in its ranks) have unsurprisingly balked at the bill. They contend the measure wouldn’t be effective, and might even hurt favorite products. Not that this opposition will necessarily carry much weight. Senators have characterized this period as Big Tech’s “big tobacco moment” — that is, it’s finally being held accountable for harmful behavior. Politicians across the spectrum appear eager to keep tech companies in check, and AICO may be one of their best near-term opportunities to rein in those corporate giants.
Oct 14
A Multibillion-Dollar Clean Coal Plant Never Worked, and Now It’s Been Imploded
Posted in: Today's ChiliResidents in Kemper County, Mississippi, were startled early Saturday morning by a “loud explosion” coming from the local coal plant. It wasn’t an industrial accident, though. Instead, it was the planned demolition of parts of the Kemper Plant.
Oct 14
FDA Advisory Panel Unanimously Backs a Half-Dose Moderna Booster for Covid-19
Posted in: Today's ChiliOn Thursday afternoon, experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration recommended boosters for older and high-risk Americans who originally got the Moderna covid-19 vaccine. The unanimous vote will pave the way for an expected authorization of the booster by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and…
Oct 14
In a world that’s full of addictive and wildly popular MOBA games, one of the big things that makes TiMi Studio Group’s Pokémon Unite so appealing is how simple it seems… at first.
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