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Nvidia has announced a new videoconferencing platform for developers named Nvidia Maxine that it claims can fix some of the most common problems in video calls. From a report: Maxine will process calls in the cloud using Nvidia's GPUs and boost call quality in a number of ways with the help of artificial intelligence. Using AI, Maxine can realign callers' faces and gazes so that they're always looking directly at their camera, reduce the bandwidth requirement for video "down to one-tenth of the requirements of the H.264 streaming video compression standard" by only transmitting "key facial points," and upscale the resolution of videos. Other features available in Maxine include face re-lighting, real-time translation and transcription, and animated avatars.

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rastos1 shares a report: The health secretary has said a technical glitch that saw nearly 16,000 Covid-19 cases go unreported in England "should never have happened." The error meant that although those who tested positive were told about their results, their close contacts were not traced. By Monday afternoon, around half of those who tested positive had yet to be asked about their close contacts. Labour said the missing results were "putting lives at risk." Experts advise that ideally contacts should be tracked down within 48 hours. The technical error was caused by some Microsoft Excel data files exceeding the maximum size after they were sent from NHS Test and Trace to Public Health England. It meant 15,841 cases between 25 September and 2 October were left out of the UK daily case figures. PHE said the error itself, discovered overnight on Friday, has been fixed, and outstanding cases had been passed on to tracers by 01:00 BST on Saturday. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs the incident as a whole had not yet been resolved - with only 51% of those whose positive results were caught up in the glitch now reached by contact tracers.

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Raisey-raison writes: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Dr. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice on Monday for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a breakthrough the Nobel committee said had "made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives." "For the first time in history, the disease can now be cured, raising hopes of eradicating hepatitis C virus from the world population," the committee said in a statement. They announced the prize at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. About 71 million people worldwide live with a chronic infection of the hepatitis C virus, a blood-borne pathogen that can cause severe liver inflammation, or hepatitis, and is typically transmitted through shared or reused needles and syringes, infected blood transfusions and sexual practices that lead to blood exposure. Tests and treatments "all start with being able to recognize the virus exists," said Craig Cameron, chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a hepatitis C virus researcher.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its coronavirus guidance Monday, acknowledging that it can sometimes spread through airborne particles that can "linger in the air for minutes to hours" and among people who are more than six feet apart. From a report: The CDC cited published reports that demonstrated "limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area. In these instances, transmission occurred in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces that often involved activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise," the CDC said in a statement. "Such environments and activities may contribute to the buildup of virus-carrying particles." The agency added that it is "much more common" for the virus to spread through larger respiratory droplets that are produced when somebody coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes. People are infected through such droplets mostly when they are in close contact with an infected person, the CDC said. "CDC's recommendations remain the same based on existing science and after a thorough technical review of the guidance," the agency said. "People can protect themselves from the virus that causes COVID-19 by staying at least 6 feet away from others, wearing a mask that covers their nose and mouth, washing their hands frequently, cleaning touched surfaces often and staying home when sick."

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A study finds that 58 percent of faculty at four prominent universities have received grants, fellowships, or other financial support from 14 tech firms. From a report: A paper published in July by researchers from the University of Rochester and China's Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business found that Google, DeepMind, Amazon, and Microsoft hired 52 tenure-track professors between 2004 and 2018. It concluded that this "brain drain" has coincided with a drop in the number of students starting AI companies. The growing reach and power of Big Tech prompted Abdalla to question how it influences his field in more subtle ways. Together with his brother, also a graduate student, Abdalla looked at how many AI researchers at Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and the University of Toronto have received funding from Big Tech over their careers. The Abdallas examined the CVs of 135 computer science faculty who work on AI at the four schools, looking for indications that the researcher had received funding from one or more tech companies. For 52 of those, they couldn't make a determination. Of the remaining 83 faculty, they found that 48, or 58 percent, had received funding such as a grant or a fellowship from one of 14 large technology companies: Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Intel, IBM, Huawei, Samsung, Uber, Alibaba, Element AI, or OpenAI. Among a smaller group of faculty that works on AI ethics, they also found that 58 percent of those had been funded by Big Tech. When any source of funding was included, including dual appointments, internships, and sabbaticals, 32 out of 33, or 97 percent, had financial ties to tech companies. "There are very few people that don't have some sort of connection to Big Tech," Abdalla says.

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A former Chinese government official decided what content should be allowed on TikTok, the Financial Times reported, citing two people close to the short-video app company. From a report: Cai Zheng ran ByteDance's global content policy team in Beijing until early this year. He'd previously worked at China's embassy in Tehran, the FT said, citing a deleted LinkedIn profile. Cai joined ByteDance in 2018 and wrote guidelines for what videos were acceptable on TikTok and other apps including Helo and Vigo Video. TikTok told FT that Cai wasn't involved in developing policies, noting that he worked on regional and local teams on localization of early content policies. ByteDance told the newspaper it was "not a consideration in hiring Zheng that his previous role was in the public sector, and there were no conversations with the government in the hiring process." The former diplomat transferred from the content policy role in January this year, the people told the paper, and his role has not since been filled.

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As promised, the Apple TV is finally starting to play YouTube videos in 4K -- with caveats. From a report: Users on Reddit and elsewhere are starting to see YouTube 4K support enabled on the media hub when it's using at least tvOS 14. However, you can only watch in Ultra HD at 30 frames per second, and without HDR. Don't expect to make full use of that posh new TV just yet, although 60FPS video will play at up to 1440p. It also said current iPads and iPhones should support 4K video with 60FPS and HDR, although support looks to be be inconsistent at this stage. Apple TV support also isn't universal, at least not yet. YouTube appears to be delivering the update remotely rather than tying it to an app release.

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Microsoft is rebranding its Bing search engine to Microsoft Bing today as part of a rebranding effort. From a report: While the vast majority of people are likely to still just call it Bing, Microsoft unveiled its shift toward Microsoft Bing in a blog post today. Microsoft doesn't go into detail about why it added the company's name to the Bing brand, other than it reflecting "the continued integration of our search experiences across the Microsoft family." This rebranding means Bing is now using its own updated logo and a Microsoft Bing logo on the search engine's homepage. It's not clear if Microsoft will eventually retire the Bing logo in favor of this more Microsoft-centric logo or simply use both in the future.

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Novak Djokovic's relationship with line officials has been difficult of late and the Serbian risked their wrath again late last week when he suggested they were unnecessary. From a report: The 33-year-old world number one was dramatically defaulted in the U.S. Open fourth round after inadvertently hitting a female line judge in the throat with a loose ball. Now he believes their job should be done by Hawkeye technology. "With all my respect for the tradition and the culture we have in this sport, when it comes to people present on the court during a match, including line (judges), I really don't see a reason why every single tournament in this world, in this technological advanced era, would not have what we had during the Cincinnati/New York tournaments," Djokovic said. The COVID-19 pandemic meant the majority of courts at the U.S. Open, part from the main show courts, dispensed with line judges as a health precaution. They are back at the French Open which, because it is on clay, does not use Hawkeye technology for close calls, relying instead on the umpire to examine a mark in the red dust. While the issue of whether players should be able to challenge via a Hawkeye review at the French Open and other claycourt events, as they do on other surfaces, has been debated all week here, Djokovic appears to want to go further.

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As the president clashes with the courts, some companies and investors say tougher limits on temporary work visas will help push jobs overseas. From a report: When President Trump suspended a raft of visa programs in June, including temporary permits for highly technical foreign workers known as H-1B visas, he portrayed the order as a victory for the American work force. Further overhauls were in the works, he said weeks later, "so that no American worker is replaced ever again." The order is now in front of the courts, after a judge on Thursday blocked the order and ruled that Mr. Trump had overstepped his authority. The move will allow some companies, like Microsoft and Exxon Mobil, to bring temporary workers into the United States again. The issue will now go to an appeals court, which may rule in favor of Mr. Trump's sweeping order. But the fate of the program still remains in doubt. The Department of Homeland Security has submitted a new regulation for federal review that would toughen H-1B eligibility and impose new obligations on the companies trying to bring in foreign workers. The uncertainty has thrown the plans of major companies in doubt and has already disrupted the lives of thousands of foreign workers, particularly those from India, who claim more than two-thirds of the H-1B visas issued each year. The confusion might all be in vain, however. Experts say restrictions will do little to accomplish their stated goal of encouraging companies to hire Americans instead of workers from abroad. In fact, limits on H-1B visas may have the unintended effect of spurring American companies to shift even more work abroad. Already, Indian outsourcing companies are working to cast the new restrictions as an opportunity to do just that. "In America, there is a genius mix of homegrown and transplanted talent. The high level of global competition gives America its tech edge," said Sandeep Kishore, the chief executive officer of Zensar Technologies, an Indian firm that employs more than 9,500 people globally. More than 400 are on work visas in Zensar's offices in the United States, he said, but more work could drift to India if companies cannot hire who they want. The United States "risks giving up its edge," Mr. Kishore said. "If we can't bring this talent into the U.S., we'll place them in our offices overseas."

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Google is postponing the enforcement of its new Play Store billing rule in India to April 2022, days after more than 150 startups in the world's second largest internet market forged an informal coalition to express concerns over the 30% charge the Android-maker plans to mandate on its store and started to explore an alternative marketplace for their apps. From a report: The company, which is going live globally with the new Play Store rule in September 2021, is deferring the enforcement of the policy only in India, it said. It is also listening to developers and willing to engage to allay their concerns, it said. [...] Last week, Google said it would no longer allow any apps to circumvent its payment system within the Play Store. The move, pitched by Google as a "clarification" of its existing policy, would allow the company to ensure it gets as high as a 30% cut on in-app purchases made through Android apps operating in a range of a categories.

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"One of America's largest internet providers is uploading its oldest broadband technology into the sunset," reports USA Today, complaining that AT&T will be leaving some future customers without any choices for wired broadband. "We're beginning to phase out outdated services like DSL and new orders for the service will no longer be supported after October 1," a corporate statement sent beforehand read. "Current DSL customers will be able to continue their existing service or where possible upgrade to our 100% fiber network." DSL — a broadband connection delivered over old copper telephone lines — is no prize at AT&T. The company doesn't sell downloads faster than 6 Mbps, less than a fourth of the 25-Mbps minimum definition of the Federal Communications Commission and further cramps their utility with stringent data caps of just 150 gigabytes. But the technology that provided many people (myself included) their first real broadband still works to provide an always-on connection and far more capacity than satellite connectivity. "I'm really not surprised that AT&T is phasing out DSL, as it's an obsolete technology," emailed one soon-be-stranded DSL subscriber, retiree Jack Mangold of Collettsville, North Carolina. "I am, however, very disappointed that AT&T has no interest in replacing DSL in rural areas with some other technology." AT&T reported 653,000 total DSL connections at the end of its second quarter, compared to 14.48 million on its fiber-optic and hybrid-fiber services. The latter, sold as "AT&T Internet," combines fiber trunk lines with DSL last-mile connections for faster speeds. The company has seen DSL subscribers steadily dwindle. Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst at the research firm Leichtman Research Group, wrote in an email that two years ago, AT&T had just over a million DSL customers. "AT&T basically gave up on fighting cable over a third of its territory" said Dave Burstein, editor of the trade publication Fast Net News.

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An anonymous reader quotes CPO magazine: An Avast report found that several popular TikTok profiles profited by pushing scam apps to underage children. At least three TikTok accounts with over 350,000 followers were implicated. The campaign involved at least seven scam apps distributed on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Users had downloaded the rogue apps more than 2.4 million times, earning the fraudsters more than $500,000. A 12-year old girl from the Czech Republic discovered a suspicious behavior on a popular app trending on TikTok and reported it to Avast. The child was a participant in the Avast's "Be Safe Online" cybersecurity initiative that teaches the youth how to identify cyber threats. Researchers at the cybersecurity firm investigated and found at least three TikTok profiles aggressively advertising scam apps to underage children. One of the TikTok profiles had more than 300,000 followers, while an Instagram account had more than 5,000 fans. Following the discovery, Avast researchers reported the scam apps to Google, Apple, Instagram, and TikTok... Avast reported that most of the scam apps promoted by the popular TikTok profiles were HiddenAd trojans. Such apps are disguised as useful software but served intrusive ads outside the app. They also hid app icons to prevent users from finding out the ads' source or uninstalling them.

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Slashdot reader DevNull127 writes: Scientists were able to, for the first time, measure radiation levels on the lunar surface, reports UPI, and nine days ago they published their results: that the radiation levels on the moon are 200 times stronger than on earth — and 2.6 times higher than those on space station. One of the scientists behind the study calls that exposure level "considerable." On the moon there's radiation from galactic cosmic rays, from solar particle events, and also a third component from the interaction of that radiation with the lunar soil. "We humans are not really made to withstand space radiation," study co-author Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber, a researcher at Kiel University in Germany, tells UPI. "However, astronauts can and should shield themselves as far as possible during longer stays on the moon, for example by covering their habitat with a thick layer of lunar soil." Or, as Business Insider puts it, "Scientists say a lunar base should be built underground to protect astronauts." Wimmer-Schweingruber tells them that "If you think about people staying on the moon for extended periods of time — say, on a scientific research station for a year or two — then these levels start getting problematic. Covering your habitat with sufficient amounts of lunar dirt should do the trick.... Ideally you'd like to be under as much material as is equivalent to Earth's atmosphere," Wimmer-Schweingruber said, adding that "an optimal depth is 30 inches of lunar soil."

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Engadget reports: Facebook is under intense regulatory pressure, and it appears to be bracing itself for the worst. The Wall Street Journal says it has obtained a document outlining Facebook's defense if the government orders a breakup that would unload Instagram and WhatsApp. The social media giant would reportedly argue that a split would be a "complete nonstarter" based on officials' past actions — or lack thereof. According to the leak, Facebook would contend that its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp passed FTC scrutiny without objections, leading it to pour massive amounts of money into both projects as it integrated them into its operations. A breakup would require spending billions and running separate systems that reduced security and hurt the user experience, Facebook would claim. Facebook has declined to comment on the apparent leak. In the past, it has pushed for extra regulation (albeit limited) in place of a breakup.

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"There's a relatively new, rapidly growing player in the online advertising world," warns Medium's new consumer technology site Debugger — taking a close look at the "Sponsored Products" listed first in the results of Amazon searches. "Given its unique business model, its history of swallowing whole industries, and its sheer size, Amazon has the potential to massively disrupt the online ad world — and forever change tech." The success of online ads depends on how close a user is to buying something... Few companies, though, are more intimately connected to peoples' buying behaviors than Amazon. As of mid-2020, Amazon controlled nearly 40% of American e-commerce, and data from 2018 suggests that it may control as much as 94% in certain categories, like cosmetics and batteries. Overall, the company is forecast to control almost 5.5% of all retail in America in 2020 — especially as Covid-19 has forced consumers to do more of their shopping online... And the ads are cheap. For one campaign, I paid just $249 to show my ad to 1,049,000 people. Ads are cheap because Amazon has a vested interest in driving more sales. The company collects a commission of between 6% and 20% on every item sold through the site. For every product I sold through a Sponsored Products campaign, Amazon was effectively getting paid twice — once for running the ad, and again for managing the sale of my product. This likely allows them to keep ad rates lower than those charged by their competitors. Ad prices may also be low because Amazon's ad program has relatively little overhead. To understand what you mean by the query "Lunch," Google has to run a massive, worldwide data-gathering program that peers into every aspect of your online and offline life, from the websites you visit to the humidity level in your home. That's expensive. In contrast, when you type something into an e-commerce platform like Amazon, you're telling the company exactly what you want to buy — no world-spanning surveillance program needed. Amazon has recently expanded its advertising program to Twitch (which Amazon owns), giving marketers the option to target the platform's younger audience... In building AWS, Amazon also essentially ate Microsoft's lunch, stealing an industry it was expected to dominate right out from under it. By moving into the advertising world, Amazon could well do the same thing for ad-funded giants like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Advertising is largely a zero-sum game — the ad dollars currently flowing to Google and Facebook come largely at the expense of newspaper, magazine, and television ads. If the dollars start flowing to Amazon instead, the other tech giants could see a massive drop in their bottom lines. That would have big ramifications for the advertising industry. But it would have an even bigger impact on tech. More than 70% of Google's revenue comes from ads. For Facebook, that number is 98.5%... [I]f Amazon decides to take on Google and Facebook directly, it could result in a fight that saps the strength of both tech giants, and ultimately kills off the emerging companies that rely on them for funding and talent. The impact on the tech industry could be massive, world-changing — and permanent.

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The Pulitzer prize-winning news nonprofit Propublica looks at Arise Virtual Solutions, part of the secretive world of work-at-home customer service companies that help large corporations shed costs at the expense of workers. And thanks to the pandemic, "business is booming." Arise lines up customer service agents who work from home. It then sells this network of agents to blue-chip corporations. Arise and most of its corporate clients consider preserving the secrecy of this arrangement to be vital... Arise's workers not only don't work for its clients, they also don't officially work for Arise. Like Uber drivers or TaskRabbit gofers, they are independent contractors. To get gigs, they first absorb substantial expense, paying for their own equipment and training, and then have fees deducted from every paycheck for the "use" of Arise's "platform." Arise has faced, and lost, legal challenges alleging that its arrangements with agents violate federal labor law and cheat workers of what they are rightfully owed. One judge called the arrangement an "elaborate construct" created by Arise to get around labor law. Nevertheless Arise has been able to avoid altering its model in any significant way, aided in part by a 5-4 ruling from the Supreme Court... With American roots going back to the 1990s, Arise's list of corporate clients, past and present, includes not only Airbnb, Comcast, Instacart and Disney, but also Amazon, Apple and AT&T. There's also Barnes & Noble, eBay, Intuit, Home Depot, Staples, Princess Cruises, Peloton, Signet Jewelers, Virgin Atlantic and Walgreens... Many agents find that the pay, after the cost of training and fees to Arise, dips well below minimum wage. Ironically, the historic Marxist song of the international workers movement began with the lyric, "Arise ye workers from your slumbers. Arise ye prisoners of want...."

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"Today, on October 4th, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) celebrates its thirty-fifth year of fighting for software freedom," announces a blog post at FSF.org: Our work will not be finished until every computer user is able to do all of their digital tasks in complete freedom — whether that's on a desktop, laptop, or the computer in your pocket. The fight for free software continues, and we wouldn't be here without you. To celebrate, we have a full week of announcements and surprises planned starting today, and we will end in an online anniversary event featuring both live and prerecorded segments this Friday, October 9th, from 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC) until 17:00 EDT (21:00 UTC). We'd love for you to join in celebration of this amazing community by submitting a short (two-minute) video sharing your favorite memory about free software or the FSF, and a wish for the future of software freedom. We'll be collecting the videos all week and airing a selection during the birthday event on October 9th... If you are able to, please make a donation of $35 or more to help keep the fight for user freedom going another 35 years, we'll send you a commemorative pin... We're another year older, but that doesn't mean we're slowing down our efforts to bring software freedom to users around the globe. Stay tuned for more information on how we plan to ring in the FSF's next year, and the vital role each one of us plays in ensuring free software's success for the future. We hope that you'll be able to take part in our festivities this week! The announcement suggests 10 different ways to celebrate, which include: Try a fully free distribution of GNU/Linux, which can be run "live" without making any permanent changes to your computer's hard drive. Take an hour to follow our Email Self-Defense Guide, and learn how to opt out of bulk surveillance . Download and experiment with one of the oldest parts of the GNU operating system, the GNU Emacs text editor. Try the tutorial by launching the editor and typing Ctrl-h + t (C-h t), or see if you can make it through some of the games included with Emacs, such as Alt-x (M-x) dunnet or M-x tetris. Make the commitment to replace one nonfree program that you use with one that respects your freedom, such as using LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office. Petition the administrators of your favorite Web site to free the proprietary JavaScript lurking on their page that many users run and download without ever realizing it.

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"The Proud Boys hashtag, which members of the far-right group have been using, was trending Sunday," reports CNN, "after gay men on Twitter hijacked it and flooded the feed with photos of their loved ones and families and with memes." On Thursday 83-year-old George Takei (who'd play Sulu, the helmsman of the starship Enterprise, on the original Star Trek TV series) had suggested the hijacking to his 3.1 million followers on Twitter — and CNN describes what happened next: Matt Dechaine, one of the men who pitched in with photos of himself and his husband in efforts to overtake the hashtag, said his goal was simply to spread joy. "Seeing the hashtag was so uplifting," Dechaine, who is from England, told CNN. "It feels like the movement for positive change for all is gathering momentum all the time and I'm glad to be a small part of it. By coming together rooted in respect and love for each other, the world can be so much better!" But Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, said he doesn't see what the men are trying to accomplish. "I think it's hysterical," Tarrio told CNN. "This isn't something that's offensive to us. It's not an insult. We aren't homophobic. We don't care who people sleep with. People think it's going to bother us. It doesn't."

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"The environmental cost of music is now greater than at any time during recorded music's previous eras," argues Kyle Devine, in his recent book, "Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music." The New Yorker's music critic writes: He supports that claim with a chart of his own devising, using data culled from various sources, which suggests that, in 2016, streaming and downloading music generated around a hundred and ninety-four million kilograms of greenhouse-gas emissions — some forty million more than the emissions associated with all music formats in 2000... Exploitative regimes of labor enable the production of smartphone and computer components. Conditions at Foxconn factories in China have long been notorious; recent reports suggest that the brutally abused Uighur minority has been pressed into the production of Apple devices. Child laborers are involved in the mining of cobalt, which is used in iPhone batteries. Spotify, the dominant streaming service, needs huge quantities of energy to power its servers. No less problematic are the streaming services' own exploitative practices, including their notoriously stingy royalty payments to working musicians... When the compact disk entered circulation, in the nineteen-eighties, audio snobs attacked it as a degradation of listening culture — a descent from soulful analog sound to soulless digital. In environmental terms, however, the CD turned out to be somewhat less deleterious [than vinyl records]. Devine observes that polycarbonate, the medium's principal ingredient, is not as toxic as polyvinyl chloride. Early on, the widespread use of polystyrene for CD packaging wiped out that advantage, but a turn toward recyclable materials in recent years has made the lowly CD perhaps the least environmentally harmful format on the market. In a chapter on the digital and streaming era, Devine drives home the point that there is no such thing as a nonmaterial way of listening to music: "The so-called cloud is a definitely material and mainly hardwired network of fiber-optic cables, servers, routers, and the like." This concealment of industrial reality, behind a phantasmagoria of virtuality, is a sleight of hand typical of Big Tech, with its genius for persuading consumers never to wonder how transactions have become so shimmeringly effortless. In much the same way, it has convinced us not to think too hard about the regime of mass surveillance on which the economics of the industry rests.... At the end of "Decomposed," Devine incorporates his ecology of music into a more comprehensive vision of anthropogenic crisis. "Musically, we may need to question our expectations of infinite access and infinite storage," he writes. Our demand that all of musical history should be available at the touch of a finger has become gluttonous. It may seem a harmless form of consumer desire, but it leaves real scars on the face of the Earth.

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