Year: 2023

Year: 2023

Google Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Over ‘Incognito’ Mode
12/30/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

san francisco, california — Google has agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked the data of users who thought they were browsing the internet privately.  The object of the lawsuit was the “incognito mode” on Google’s Chrome browser that the plaintiffs said gave users a

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Chile Granny Finds Solace, Celebrity in Online Gaming
12/29/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Llay-Llay, Chile — Few players of the online video game Free Fire would know that one of their most ferocious opponents — a lithe, gun-wielding warrior in a short kimono and fang mask — is in reality an 81-year-old grandmother from rural Chile. From her professional gaming chair at home in a small village, the soft-spoken

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China OKs 105 Online Games Days After Hitting Industry with Draft Rules
12/28/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Chinese authorities approved 105 new online games this week, bolstering support for the industry just days after proposing regulatory restrictions that sent stocks tumbling. The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) announced approval of the 105 games Monday via WeChat, describing the move as a show of support for “the prosperity and healthy

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Israel Grants Intel $3.2B for New $25B Chip Plant, Biggest Company Investment in Country
12/27/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Jerusalem — Israel’s government agreed to give Intel a $3.2 billion grant for a new $25 billion chip plant it plans to build in southern Israel, both sides said on Tuesday, in what is the largest investment ever by a company in Israel.  The news comes as Israel remains locked in a war with Palestinian militant

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Apple Watch Import Ban Goes Into Effect in US Patent Clash
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Washington — A U.S. import ban on certain Apple smartwatch models came into effect Tuesday, after the Biden administration opted not to veto a ruling on patent infringements. The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) decided in October to ban Apple Watch models over a patented technology for detecting blood-oxygen levels. Apple contends that the ITC

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LogOn: Satellites, Lasers Help Estimate Snowpack in Drought-Stricken Regions
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

For water managers in drought-stricken regions, accurate forecasts of water availability are critically important. Matt Dibble shows how remote sensing technology is helping in the Rocky Mountains in this edition of LogOn. …

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Insect Compasses, Fire-Fighting Vines: 2023’s Nature-Inspired Tech
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Paris — Even as human-caused climate change threatens the environment, nature continues to inspire our technological advancement. “The solutions that are provided by nature have evolved for billions of years and tested repeatedly every day since the beginning of time,” said Evripidis Gkanias, a University of Edinburgh researcher.  Gkanias has a special interest in how nature

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US Investors See Value in Israeli Tech Firms Despite War
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

HERZLIYA, Israel — Nearly 7,000 miles away in Portland, Oregon, venture capitalist George Djuric said he was compelled to visit Israel during the country’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas and to pledge support for the high-tech sector. Djuric, chief technology officer at yVentures who arrived in the United States as a 3-year-old refugee from Bosnia

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Artists Use Tech Weapons Against AI Copycats
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

NEW YORK — Artists under siege by artificial intelligence that studies their work and then replicates their styles, have teamed with university researchers to stymie such copycat activity. U.S. illustrator Paloma McClain went into defense mode after learning that several AI models had been trained using her art, with no credit or compensation sent her way.

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Russia Arrests Head of Space Equipment Maker, Suspected of Fraud
12/26/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

MOSCOW — The head of a company that makes navigation systems for Russia’s space program was arrested in Moscow and charged with major fraud, state media reported Friday. TASS news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying that Yevgeny Fomichev had been interrogated and charged with large-scale fraud, which carries a prison term of

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Chinese Chip Import Concerns Prompt US to Review Semiconductor Supply Chain  
12/22/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

washington — The U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday that it would launch a survey of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain and national defense industrial base to address national security concerns from Chinese-sourced chips.  The survey aims to identify how U.S. companies are sourcing so-called legacy chips — current-generation and mature-node semiconductors — as the department

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2023: The Year Artificial Intelligence Broke Through
12/21/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

From ChatGPT to the impacts of machine learning on the music and film industry, academia and politics, generative artificial intelligence dominated technology news in 2023. Deana Mitchell takes a look. …

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International Astronaut Will Be Invited on Future NASA Moon Landing
12/21/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An international astronaut will join U.S. astronauts on the moon by decade’s end under an agreement announced Wednesday by NASA and the White House. The news came as Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting in Washington of the National Space Council, the third such gathering under the Biden administration. There was

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Toyota’s Daihatsu to Halt Vehicle Shipments in Widening Safety Scandal
12/20/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

TOKYO — Toyota Motor’s Daihatsu unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles, Japan’s biggest automaker said on Wednesday, after an investigation into a safety scandal found issues at 64 models, including almost two dozen sold under Toyota’s brand. An independent panel has been investigating Daihatsu after it said in April it had rigged side-collision

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Blue Origin Returns to Space After Year-long Hiatus
12/20/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin launched its first rocket in more than a year on Tuesday, reviving the U.S. company’s fortunes with a successful return to space following an uncrewed crash in 2022. Though mission NS-24 carried a payload of science experiments, not people, it paves the way for Jeff Bezos’ aerospace enterprise to resume taking wealthy

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LogOn: Australian Researchers Use Seawater to Create Hydrogen 
12/19/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Researchers in Australia have developed a method to make hydrogen from seawater without a costly desalination process. This could mark a breakthrough in the production of clean hydrogen from a plentiful, eco-friendly source. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.  …

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European Union Investigating Musk’s X Over Possible Breaches of Social Media Law
12/18/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

LONDON — European Union authorities are looking into whether Elon Musk’s online platform X breached tough new social media regulations in the first such investigation since the rules designed to make online content less toxic took effect. “Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X” under the Digital Services Act, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in

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Pakistan Uses Artificial Rain Against Hazardous Smog for First Time
12/16/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Lahore, Pakistan — Artificial rain was used for the first time in Pakistan on Saturday in a bid to combat hazardous levels of smog in the megacity of Lahore, the provincial government said. In the first experiment of its kind in the South Asian country, planes equipped with cloud seeding equipment flew over 10 areas of

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