BATTERYFORPC BLOG
El Salvador Bitcoin city planned at base of Conchagua volcano
El Salvador plans to build a Bitcoin city at the base of a volcano, with the cryptocurrency used to fund the project, its president has announced. The city will be circular to represent the shape of a large coin and will be built in the south-eastern region of La Unión, President Nayib Bukele said. The site would take advantage of the Conchagua volcano's geothermal energy to power Bitcoin mining ... Read more
2021-11-22 18:26:58
Facebook and Instagram encryption plans delayed by Meta until 2023
Plans to roll out end-to-end encryption on Facebook and Instagram have been delayed amid a row over child safety. Meta - as Facebook's parent company is now called - said messaging encryption on the apps would now come in 2023. The process means only the sender and receiver can read messages, but law enforcement or Meta cannot. However, child protection groups and politicians have warned that i ... Read more
2021-11-22 18:26:30
Tesla drivers left unable to start their cars after outage
Tesla drivers say they have been locked out of their cars after an outage struck the carmaker's app. Dozens of owners posted on social media about seeing an error message on the mobile app that was preventing them from connecting to their vehicles. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk personally responded to one complaint from a driver in South Korea, saying on Twitter: "Checking." Mr Musk ... Read more
2021-11-21 18:43:54
Theranos trial: Elizabeth Holmes makes surprise testimony
An entrepreneur accused of scamming investors for millions of dollars with a bogus blood test has surprised a US court by testifying in her defence. Elizabeth Holmes is accused of making false claims about her firm Theranos, including that its technology could detect diseases with a drop of blood. Ms Holmes, 37, faces multiple charges of fraud and could spend years in jail if found guilty. She d ... Read more
2021-11-21 18:43:23
'Piracy' website offers NFT art as free downloads
An Australian artist and programmer has created a website that claims to let people download "every NFT" on the Ethereum blockchain in one go. NFTs are digital tokens that proponents say can prove ownership of digital items - including artwork. Many have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though anybody can view the attached artwork. Geoffrey Huntley, who created the NFT ... Read more
2021-11-19 18:31:17
Facebook gives users 'more control' over news feed
Facebook says it is introducing new features to give people more control over what appears in their news feeds. The social network has been under intense scrutiny in recent years for how its algorithms promote content. Now, it says it is testing controls to "adjust people's ranking preferences" and customise the feed. That includes, for example, increasing the number of posts from fri ... Read more
2021-11-19 18:30:59
Climate change: Conspiracy theories found on foreign-language Wikipedia
Several foreign-language Wikipedia pages seen by BBC News are promoting conspiracy theories and making misleading claims about climate change. A number, including some in Swahili, Kazakh and Byelorussian, suggest scientists are divided over its causes. The overwhelming scientific consensus is global warming is caused by humans. A representative of the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, ... Read more
2021-11-18 18:51:26
Instagram: US states investigate how platform targets children
A group of US states is investigating how Instagram targets children, despite it posing potential risks to them. The group - made up of both Democrat and Republican states - is investigating Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta to determine if consumer protection laws were broken. It comes after a company whistleblower testified in the US that the company knew its products can harm child ... Read more
2021-11-18 18:50:49
Apple announces self-service repair scheme in win for campaigners
Apple has announced a "self-service repair" programme so "customers who are comfortable" can fix their own devices. At launch, in early 2022 in the US, it will cover replacing the batteries, screens and cameras of recent iPhones. But Apple's new repair store will sell more than 200 parts and tools. It comes after months of increasing pressure on Apple from the grassroots rig ... Read more
2021-11-17 18:34:56
Crypto bid to buy US constitution print raises millions
A crowd-funded effort to buy a rare 1787 copy of the US constitution at auction claims to have received more than $13m (£9.6m) worth of cryptocurrency donations. The group, ConstitutionDAO, says it plans "to put the constitution in the hands of the people", and hopes to raise at least $20m. But it is not clear how ownership will be arranged if the bid succeeds. The BBC has approached ... Read more
2021-11-17 18:33:53