As technology ever-encroaches into our daily lives, it can be harder to stop and smell the flowers, both literally and figuratively. The Consortium for Slower Internet is aware of such an issue, and wants to make you aware of it, too, via its marble and wood router. With this router, which to the naked eye […]
For more than five years, 23andMe has sent out personalized DNA test kits, offering consumers hundreds of clinical reports on their genetic risk for everything from diabetes to prostate cancer. Its mission to educate customers about their health and ancestry appears to have been dealt a blow, however, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the company needs its approval. It’s told 23andMe to stop advertising its DNA-testing product until it gets the medical device classification it needs, which involves conducting studies of the kits to gain documented proof of their accuracy.
The agency is also worried that customers might take action, or not, based on test results that may or may not be correct. 23andMe has attempted to gain clearance in the past, but hasn’t done everything it needs to get the green light. Make no mistake, a run-in with the FDA is not to be taken lightly: satisfying the agency’s requirements is going to be a long and expensive process. 23andMe now has to tell the agency exactly how it intends to gain marketing authorization for the device, or it could face regulatory action (which includes injunctions, seizures and hefty fines).
Update: 23andMe has issued a statement on the matter:
We have received the warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration. We recognize that we have not met the FDA’s expectations regarding timeline and communication regarding our submission. Our relationship with the FDA is extremely important to us and we are committed to fully engaging with them to address their concerns.
Filed under: Internet
Via: Bloomberg
Source: FDA
Most of the world is still without gigabit Internet, and ISPs aren’t exactly flocking to bring that super-high-speed connectivity to cities. Start-up costs are just too unwieldy to attract ISPs to lay the fiber-optic networks necessary for operation, and the usual market forces aren’t supplying the necessary impetus to get things moving in most locations. […]
As with many tech companies, Twitter has been caught up in the government spying fallout, and has taken steps to protect its users’ data, the latest of which was an announcement on the company’s blog this evening: forward secrecy. With forward secrecy, Twitter has essentially enabled a contingency plan against the possibility of some agency […]
Internet services can toughen their security to mitigate government surveillance, but that won’t do much to lock down information that’s already in snoops’ hands. Twitter hopes to prevent those raids on past data through its recent implementation of Perfect Forward Secrecy, an encryption technique that stops intruders from decoding traffic on a grand scale. Each communication session has a random encryption key that never travels across networks; even if spies get full access to Twitter’s archives, they’ll have to crack any PFS-protected chats one at a time. The new policy won’t stop determined government agents from reading your tweets, but it will make them work harder for anything they want.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Twitter Blog
There was a moment when Turntable.fm was seemingly ready to usher in an era of social music, with virtual DJs leading the way. Unfortunately, that moment has passed; in light of a shrinking audience and high operating costs, Turntable.fm has announced that it will shut down its DJ service on December 2nd. The company will instead focus on Turntable Live, its social platform for streaming real-world concerts. It’s a sad day for musical tastemakers, although the company is going out of its way to support fans. Users can export their playlists and tracks to services like Spotify, and the company is promising both a commemorative t-shirt as well as a “last day” party on the 2nd. If you have fond memories of spinning tunes for friends across the country, we’d suggest making room in your calendar.
Filed under: Internet
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Turntable.fm
This is so hilariously on point. It’s basically every silly Internet slap fight made infinitely fancier and thus even sillier. Seriously, watch these two old men perform a dramatic re-enactment of a YouTube comment fight over Harry Styles of One Direction between YouTubers Sophie Danze and JilianLovesTheBiebs and just enjoy the hell out of its genius. Their tone, their beats, their pronunciation of Bieber and One Direction and Harry are all just fantastic. I can watch these two guys talk about anything.
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If you’re still looking for gift ideas for that special someone, Amazon is looking to lend a hand. The online retailer has announced that customers can now give a $79 one-year membership to Prime. Recipients will get an email on the day of the giver’s choosing with instructions on how to get started. For folks in the US, this means unlimited streaming of certain titles from Prime Instant Video on top of a Kindle book each month from the Owners’ Lending Library, Kindle First and free two-day shipping that also come with the annual dues. In a giving mood? Jump down to that first source link below to add 12 months of access to your shopping cart.
Source: Amazon (1), (2)
We’re no stranger to digital billboards — Engadget made its own big-screen debut in Times Square back in 2011 — but British Airways’ latest endeavor is unlike any we’ve seen before. According to The Drum, the new advertisement, installed front and center at London’s Piccadilly Circus, uses “custom-built surveillance technology” to track incoming BA aircraft, prompting the screen to display a child pointing directly at the plane as it passes overhead. The adjacent text offers up the flight number and its origin or destination, along with a custom message, such as the lowest fare for that route or the current weather where that plane is headed. The airline’s new #lookup campaign is marketing at its best — see for yourself in the video after the break.
Filed under: Transportation, Internet
Via: @clintonjeff, The Drum
Source: British Airways
As the value and credibility of Bitcoin continues to skyrocket, Virgin founder Richard Branson now wants to let people use the digital currency to finance a flight into space. Ahead of its first trips next year, Virgin Galactic has already had one “future astronaut” from Hawaii book a Bitcoin-funded ticket and hopes that its affluent clientele will follow suit. An investor himself, Branson has been pushing for governments to regulate the peer-to-peer payment system and believes that today’s announcement will give it more credibility. Neither Virgin Galactic nor Branson has indicated just how many Bitcoins you’ll need before you get a return ticket to the heavens, but we suspect this isn’t the future that Gene Roddenberry was planning.
Filed under: Internet
Via: CNBC
Source: Virgin
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