BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Clubhouse: Is the audio app really worth $4bn?
Live-audio app Clubhouse is creating plenty of chatter - about itself. Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Demi Lovato and Mark Zuckerberg are among the celebrities to have popped up on the service. And you can find chats about everything from Bitcoin and Buddhism to relationships and R&B music on it. Even so, the idea that this one-year-old app could be worth $4bn (£2.9bn) is startling. ... Read more
2021-04-08 20:24:19
The woman who took on Google and won
Everyone has their breaking point. And when it comes it can be a small thing, an incident that usually wouldn't matter. Shannon Wait's moment was when her Google-issued water bottle broke. The data centre she worked in was hot, so she asked for another one. However, she says the Google subcontractor refused to give her one. That moment sparked a chain reaction that led to an announcement last we ... Read more
2021-04-07 20:44:15
Tool checks phone numbers from Facebook data breach
People can now enter their phone numbers into a website to see if they appeared in a recent Facebook data breach. Details of more than 530 million people were leaked in a database online, largely consisting of mobile numbers. People can use the Have I Been Pwned online tool to check if their numbers or emails were compromised. Facebook says the data is from an “old” breach in 2019 but privacy w ... Read more
2021-04-06 21:19:08
Online porn websites promote 'sexually violent' videos
One in eight porn videos promoted to first-time users of the UK's leading adult sites are labelled with text describing sexually violent acts, according to a study. It analysed titles and descriptions of 131,738 videos on Pornhub, XVideos and XHamster's launch pages. One researcher said the prevalence of descriptions of rape, physical abuse and incest was "shocking". The sites have ch ... Read more
2021-04-05 20:31:34
Amazon v the union: The vote the online giant fears
Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, have voted in a historic poll to decide whether they want to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The results are not expected until next week - but if they say yes, it will become Amazon's first US union. Amazon argues its wages and benefits are industry-beating and has gone into battle to persuade workers to vote no. Most agr ... Read more
2021-04-01 20:14:59
Huawei’s business damaged by US sanctions despite success at home
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has admitted that sanctions imposed on it by the US in 2019 have had a major impact on its mobile phone business. The US took action amid claims that the company posed a security risk and last July, the UK said it would exclude the company from building its 5G network. Growth elsewhere in the company meant that it did make a profit overall. But chairman Ken Hu, ref ... Read more
2021-03-31 20:08:48
'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter
‘Fake' accounts claiming to be Amazon workers have been praising their working conditions on Twitter. Votes are currently being counted in Alabama to decide whether Amazon warehouse workers will form a union. But last night, a series of anti-union tweets were sent from accounts claiming to be staff. Twitter has now suspended many of the accounts, and Amazon has confirmed at least one is fake. ... Read more
2021-03-30 21:25:42
Facebook undersea cable to boost South East Asia internet
Facebook and Google are planning two new undersea internet cables to connect South East Asia to North America. The project with regional telecoms companies aims to supply faster internet to Singapore and Indonesia. This comes after Facebook withdrew three projects to connect the US to Hong Kong with similar cables, following government concerns over spying. The cables require regulatory approva ... Read more
2021-03-29 21:36:10
AI: Ghost workers demand to be seen and heard
Artificial intelligence and machine learning exist on the back of a lot of hard work from humans. Alongside the scientists, there are thousands of low-paid workers whose job it is to classify and label data - the lifeblood of such systems. But increasingly there are questions about whether these so-called ghost workers are being exploited. As we train the machines to become more human, are we a ... Read more
2021-03-28 20:08:54
Covid vaccine: Social media urged to remove 'disinfo dozen'
Facebook, Twitter and Google have been urged by a US lawmaker to ban a dozen people who it is claimed are spreading the vast majority of disinformation about Covid vaccinations. Representative Mike Doyle made the call to remove their accounts during a US congressional session on how the three firms were dealing with fake news. He challenged Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pinchai to depl ... Read more
2021-03-26 20:05:59