Category: iTechnology

Category: iTechnology

Artemis Crew Looking Forward to Restarting NASA’s Moon Program
04/07/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The last time humans were on the moon was in 1972. Now NASA is preparing to set foot back on the moon in 2025, if all goes as scheduled. VOA’s Alexander Kruglyakov spoke with the crew that will take part in the first of those missions: a planned flight around the Moon in November 2024.

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FBI Targets Users in Crackdown on Darknet Marketplaces
04/07/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Darknet users, beware: If you frequent criminal marketplaces in the internet’s underbelly, think again. Chances are you’re in the FBI’s crosshairs. The FBI is cracking down on sites that peddle everything from guns to stolen personal data, and it is not only going after the sites’ administrators but also their users. A recent surge in

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Is Social Media Bad for Kids? What We Know
04/05/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The push to legally restrict children’s access to social media in the United States is gaining steam. So far, however, researchers say there are both negative and positive aspects of minors using the platforms, as VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias found out. …

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Biden Eyes AI Dangers, Says Tech Companies Must Make Sure Products are Safe
04/05/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it remains to be seen whether artificial intelligence (AI) is dangerous, but underscored that technology companies had a responsibility to ensure their products were safe before making them public.  Biden told science and technology advisers that AI could help in addressing disease and climate change, but it was

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US Chip Controls Threaten China’s Technology Ambitions
04/05/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Furious at U.S. efforts that cut off access to technology to make advanced computer chips, China’s leaders appear to be struggling to figure out how to retaliate without hurting their own ambitions in telecoms, artificial intelligence and other industries. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government sees the chips — which are used in everything from phones

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US-Trained Woman Teaching Digital Skills to Children in Rural Kenya
04/04/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The digital divide is one of the biggest challenges to education in sub-Saharan Africa, where the United Nations says nearly 90% of students lack access to household computers, and 82% to the internet. In Kenya, the aid group TechLit Africa aims to change that by building scores of computer labs. Juma Majanga reports from Mogotio,

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Ukraine’s Destruction Brought to Life Through Virtual Reality Exhibit
04/04/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

An exhibition currently on display in Poland uses virtual reality to show the level of destruction Russia’s war has brought on Ukraine. For some visitors, the VR videos that can be viewed at the “Through the War” display have been overwhelming. Lesia Bakalets reports from Warsaw. Daniil Batushchak. …

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TikTok Fined $15.9M by UK Watchdog for Misuse of Kids’ Data
04/04/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Britain’s privacy watchdog hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty Tuesday for misusing children’s data and violating other protections for users’ personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it issued a fine of $15.9 million to the short-video sharing app, which is wildly popular with young people. It’s the latest example of tighter scrutiny that TikTok

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Australia Bans TikTok on Government Devices
04/04/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Australia said Tuesday it will ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears.    Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and would begin “as soon as practicable”.    Australia is the last member of the

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Virgin Orbit Files for Bankruptcy, Seeks Buyer
04/04/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by Richard Branson, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will sell the business, the firm said in a statement Tuesday.    The California-based company said last week it was laying off 85% of its employees — around 675 people — to reduce expenses due to its inability to secure sufficient funding.   

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Germany Could Block ChatGPT if Needed, Says Data Protection Chief
04/03/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Germany could follow in Italy’s footsteps by blocking ChatGPT over data security concerns, the German commissioner for data protection told the Handelsblatt newspaper in comments published on Monday. Microsoft-backed MSFT.O OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy on Friday after the national data agency banned the chatbot temporarily and launched an investigation into a suspected breach

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NASA to Reveal Crew for 2024 Flight Around the Moon
04/03/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

NASA is to reveal the names on Monday of the astronauts — three Americans and a Canadian — who will fly around the Moon next year, a prelude to returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time in a half century.    The mission, Artemis II, is scheduled to take place in November 2024 with the four-person

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Twitter Pulls ‘Verified’ Check Mark From Main New York Times Account
04/03/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Twitter has removed the verification check mark on the main account of The New York Times, one of CEO Elon Musk’s most despised news organizations. The removal comes as many of Twitter’s high-profile users are bracing for the loss of the blue check marks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on

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Congolese Student’s Device Makes Science Fiction Reality
04/03/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A student in Congo has developed a tool that allows people to control or move objects using their brain signals. Andre Ndambi visited the department of engineering at the University of Kinshasa and has this story narrated by Salem Solomon. Jean-Louis Mafema contributed. …

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Dutch Refinery to Feed Airlines’ Thirst for Clean Fuel 
04/02/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Scaffolding and green pipes envelop a refinery in the port of Rotterdam where Finnish giant Neste is preparing to significantly boost production of sustainable aviation fuel.  Switching to non-fossil aviation fuels that produce less net greenhouse gas emissions is key to plans to decarbonize air transport, a significant contributor to global warming.  Neste, the largest

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Namibia Looks East for Green Hydrogen Partnerships
04/01/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The administrator of the National Energy Administration of China, Zhang Jinhua, on Friday paid a visit to Namibia President Hage Geingob. The visit is aimed at establishing cooperation in the area of green hydrogen production. Namibia is positioning itself as a future green hydrogen producer to attract investment from the globe’s leading and fastest growing

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Italy Temporarily Blocks ChatGPT Over Privacy Concerns
04/01/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Italy is temporarily blocking the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT in the wake of a data breach as it investigates a possible violation of stringent European Union data protection rules, the government’s privacy watchdog said Friday. The Italian Data Protection Authority said it was taking provisional action “until ChatGPT respects privacy,” including temporarily limiting the company

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Is Banning TikTok Constitutional?
03/31/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. lawmakers and officials are ratcheting up threats to ban TikTok, saying the Chinese-owned video-sharing app used by millions of Americans poses a threat to privacy and U.S. national security. But free speech advocates and legal experts say an outright ban would likely face a constitutional hurdle: the First Amendment right to free speech. “If

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Call for Pause in AI Development May Fall on Deaf Ears
03/31/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A group of influential figures from Silicon Valley and the larger tech community released an open letter this week calling for a pause in the development of powerful artificial intelligence programs, arguing that they present unpredictable dangers to society. The organization that created the open letter, the Future of Life Institute, said the recent rollout

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Chinese Hacking Group Highly Active, US Cybersecurity Firm Says
03/31/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A Chinese hacking group that is likely state-sponsored and has been linked previously to attacks on U.S. state government computers is highly active and focusing on a broad range of targets that may be of strategic interest to China’s government and security services, a private American cybersecurity firm said in a report Thursday. The hacking

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Russia Using TikTok to Push Pro-Moscow Narrative on Ukraine
03/31/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

New data is suggesting at least some U.S. adversaries are taking advantage of the hugely popular TikTok video-sharing app for influence operations. A report Thursday by the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) finds Russia “has been using the app to push its own narrative” in its effort to undermine Western support for Ukraine. “Based on

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Blinken Urges Democracies to Use Technology to Help Citizens
03/30/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged democracies around the world to work together to ensure technology is used to promote democratic values and fight efforts by authoritarian regimes to use it to repress, control and divide citizens. Blinken made the comments as he led a discussion on “Advancing Democracy and Internet Freedom

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