Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s state security minister said Sunday the government is considering a move to regulate social media in an effort to curb the proliferation of what he described as “false” information. “The false narrative in the social media, it’s one of the challenges that …
Read More »Secret Uber software steers drivers from stings
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Uber on Friday acknowledged the use of a secret software program to steer drivers away from trouble, including sting operations by local authorities to catch lawbreakers. In the latest in a streak of damaging news for the ridesharing giant, Uber came forward about …
Read More »UK cinema-goers asked to become real-life 007s
London, United Kingdom | AFP | British film icon James Bond has entertained audiences for over five decades, but now the country’s foreign intelligence agency is asking cinema-goers to become spies themselves. MI6 on Friday unveiled a 58-second advertisement — entitled “But She Can” — that will be shown in …
Read More »Five trends at Mobile World Congress
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | The phone industry’s largest annual trade fair, the Mobile World Congress which wrapped up in Barcelona on Thursday, was dominated by fast-charging phone batteries, virtual reality and connected objects, from toothbrushes to cars. LONGER LASTING BATTERIES AND FAST CHARGING Several phonemakers unveiled new smartphones with …
Read More »Snap: messages vanish, young billionaires appear
San Francisco, United States | AFP | The mobile application Snapchat became a social media star with messages that vanish after viewing, making co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy among the youngest billionaires on the planet. The history of the company, recently re-branded just Snap in an effort to be …
Read More »Russian jets mistakenly bomb US-backed forces in Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State forces were in the area, a US general said Wednesday. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages to the …
Read More »Trump eyes increase in defense spending
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump teased a budget plan Monday that includes a nearly 10 percent increase in defense spending and a “large reduction” in foreign aid. Previewing measures aimed at backing up campaign promises with dollars and cents, Trump promised a “public safety and national …
Read More »TECH: Used parts you should never buy
Choosing whether to buy a new or used motor vehicle replacement part has never been easy. But it has gotten tougher recently due to what I hear are tough times economically. While new car parts were never the automatic choice previously, due to an avalanche of fakes on the market, …
Read More »In South Korea, the race is on for Olympics 5G next year
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Tech-savvy sports enthusiasts will get their money’s worth at next year’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics where South Korea’s KT mobile operator wants to give spectators what it hopes will be their first 5G experience. Telecom firms have long been racing to develop this new, fifth generation …
Read More »China’s Huawei takes aim at ailing Samsung with new smartphone
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | China’s Huawei unveiled a new smartphone with a better camera on Sunday as it tries to fill the void left by Samsung’s withdrawal of its flagship device due to problems with the battery. Huawei’s P10 and the larger P10 Plus, launched on the sidelines of …
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