Tag: facebook
Tech Digest daily round up: Facebook to allow you to turn off algorithm
Facebook is to allow users to turn off the algorithm powering its News Feed and control the order in which items appear amid growing calls for algorithmic transparency. The company will also provide more context on suggested content by expanding the "Why am I seeing this?" tab, as well as letting users control who can…
Tech Digest daily round up: Aston Martin pledges electric future to UK
Luxury car giant Aston Martin has pledged to manufacture all of its electric cars in the UK from 2025. As first reported in the Financial Times, owner Lawrence Stroll said all of its battery sports cars will be made at its plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Its electric SUV models will be made at St Athan in…
Tech Digest daily round up: Facebook ‘sells Amazon rainforest illegally’
Parts of Brazil's Amazon rainforest are being sold illegally on Facebook, the BBC has discovered. The protected areas include national forests and land reserved for indigenous peoples. Some of the plots listed via Facebook's classified ads service are as large as 1,000 football pitches. Facebook said it was "ready to work with local authorities", but…
Tech Digest daily round up: NurseryCam system breached
A webcam system that lets parents watch their children while at nursery school has written to families to tell them of a data breach. NurseryCam said it did not believe the incident had involved any youngsters or staff being watched without their permission but had shut down its server as a precautionary measure. The Guildford-based…
Tech Digest daily round up: Google fires head of AI ethics unit
Google has fired the founder and co-head of its artificial intelligence ethics unit, claiming she violated the company's code of conduct. In a statement, Google said an investigation found Margaret Mitchell had moved files outside the company. The ethics unit has been under scrutiny since December, following the departure of another senior figure, Timnit Gebru.…
Tech Digest daily round up: Facebook in Faggots mix-up, Apple TV comes to Chromecast
By w:en:User:Judgej - w:en:File:Faggots-and-gravy.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9799534 Facebook has apologised for censuring a Black Country history group after members discussed traditional local dish, faggots and peas, writes The BBC. The group's administrator said she had "sleepless nights" after the word "faggots" saw the account threatened with deletion. The social media…
Tech Digest daily round up: Nissan ‘quits talks’ with Apple over driverless car
Nissan has quit talks with Apple over its secretive Project Titan electric autonomous vehicle project. Discussions didn't reach an advanced stage, the Financial Times reports, with the two companies apparently disagreeing about branding. Nissan said today (Monday 15th February) it wasn't in talks with Apple about developing self-driving cars, after Hyundai also denied reports it was…
Today’s Tech Digest: Biological battery, Google to go dark
A new wearable device that claims to turn your body into a biological battery has been developed by scientists at Colorado University, according to a story in The Daily Mail. The stretchy device attaches to the skin like a ring sits on a finger and taps into the user's natural heat to convert the body's…
Today’s Tech Digest: Bitcoin value surges after Elon Musk investment
Bitcoin is now worth more than the ruble, claims The Telegraph. The value of Bitcoin has surpassed the market cap of Russia’s ruble after the price of the digital coin surged on the back of a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) investment by the world’s richest man Elon Musk. The total price of all Bitcoin in circulation is now…
Facebook News to launch in the UK
Facebook News, the social network's dedicated section for news content, is to launch to its 51 million UK users tomorrow afternoon (January 27th, 2021) The UK is the second market to get Facebook News, which launched in the US last year. The new feature is a dedicated tab within the Facebook mobile app, accessible by…
