Coronavirus Contact-Tracing Apps Could Pose Major Privacy Risk, Amnesty Warns  !!

Contact-tracing apps being used to prevent the spread of coronavirus could be collecting deeply personal information, Amnesty International has said. The organisation claims the privacy and security of hundreds of thousands of people have been put at risk by the new platforms. Contact-tracing apps are software that informs people when they have been in contact with someone who has contracted the coronavirus. These vary in terms of features, but can generally be separated into two categories: decentralised apps, where the data is kept on the device, and centralised apps where the…

Facebook Adds New feed Backgrounds, Stickers and Effects for Pride Month !!

Facebook has announced a new set of stickers, frames, effects and more, for both  Facebook and Messenger, to help users celebrate Pride Month. Following the announcement that Instagram is adding new Pride features, Facebook has shared its latest themed options, including a new set of stickers for 2020, new frames and backgrounds for Stories. Facebook’s also adding color gradient message panels, stickers and effects in MessengerWith no capacity to celebrate with the usual events, Facebook  is hoping that these tools will give users more options to engage with the event, and…

Amazon Deploys Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Tech to Maintain Social Distancing at Its Facilities !!

Amazon on Tuesday launched an Artificial Intelligence-based tracking system to enforce social distancing at its offices and warehouses help to reduce any kind  risk of contracting the new coronavirus among its workers. The unveiling comes as the world’s largest online retailer faces intensifying scrutiny from US lawmakers and unions over whether it is doing enough to protect staff from the pandemic. Monitors set up in the company’s warehouses will highlight workers keeping a safe distance in green circles, while workers who are closer will be highlighted in red circles, Amazon…

Walmart Partners With Shopify to Expand E-Commerce ‘Marketplace’ !!

Walmart said Monday it was teaming up with e-commerce platform Shopify to expand its online marketplace in a ramped-up challenge to Amazon for third-party sellers. The deal allows the estimated one million US businesses using Shopify’s platform to sell on Walmart.com without using any listing fees. “As we launch this integration with Shopify, we are focused on US-based small and medium businesses whose assortment complements ours and have a track record of exceeding customers’ expectations,” said Jeff Clementz, vice president of Walamart Marketplace. “We’re excited to be able offer customers an expanded…

5 IoT solutions for modifying school and college learning processes !!

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are all buzzwords which have moved out of tech circles and into the mainstream, and the education sector is being revolutionised by these new solutions to age-old learning challenges, says Aimee Laurence freelancer editor at Essayroo. The IoT in particular is facilitating whole-scale changes in the way that education is delivered, right at the heart of the matter too, in terms of learning processes. Here are 5 IoT solutions that are making their mark…. Communication Unsurprisingly, technological advances…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education will help us understand how we think !!

Forget robot teachers, adaptive intelligent tutors and smart essay marking software — these are not the future of artificial intelligence in education but merely a step along the way. The real power that AI brings to education is connecting our learning intelligently to make us smarter in the way we understand ourselves, the world and how we teach and learn. For the first time we will be able to extend, develop and measure the complexity of human intelligence — an intellect that is more sophisticated than any AI. This will…

Light bulb vibrations yield eavesdropping data !!

In an era of digital eavesdropping where hackers employ a variety of means to take over built-in video cameras, peruse personal digital data and snoop on cellular conversations, researchers have finally seen the light. Israeli researchers report that they successfully tapped into speech & music inside an apartment simply by focusing on a light bulb.In a paper published over the weekend, the researchers said all they needed were a telescope and a $400 optical sensor, which they used to measure barely perceptible light bulb vibrations triggered by either voices or…

The first intuitive programming language for quantum computers  !!

Programming quantum computers is becoming easier: computer scientists at ETH Zurich have designed the first programming language that can be used to program quantum computers as simply, reliably and safely as classical computers. “Programming quantum computers is still a challenge for researchers,” says Martin Vechev, computer science professor in ETH’s Secure, Reliable and Intelligent Systems Lab (SRI), “which is why I’m so excited that we can now continue ETH Zurich’s tradition in the development of quantum computers and programming languages.” He adds, “Our quantum programming language Silq allows programmers to…

AI reduces ‘communication gap’ for nonverbal people by as much as half !!

Researchers have used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce the ‘communication gap’ for nonverbal people with motor disabilities who rely on computers to converse with others. The team, from the University of Cambridge and the University of Dundee, developed a new context-aware method that reduces this communication gap by eliminating between 50% & 96% of the keystrokes the person has to type to communicate. The system is specifically tailed for nonverbal people and uses a range of context ‘clues’—such as the user’s location, the time of day or the identity of…

LinkedIn Publishes New Guide on ‘Content Marketing in Times of Uncertainty’ !!

LinkedIn has Published a new guide  which looks at the key content and advertising elements that brands should be focused on amid COVID-19.With the consumer focus changing, and brands looking to follow-suit, it can be difficult to know about what your business should be communicating, and how, within the current environment. LinkedIn’s guide aims to provide some pointers, with a range of expert tips and notes based on past situations. As explained by LinkedIn: “In times of uncertainty, a strong content marketing strategy is about having a long-term plan to…