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Showing posts from March 12, 2020

Coronavirus elderly advice: How can I look after my older relatives?

"It just gets into my head - is it better not to go because you don't know if you are bringing germs?" Caroline, from south-east England, is one of many people who are concerned about visiting elderly relatives in the midst of the UK's coronavirus outbreak. Until now Caroline, who has asked us not to use her surname, has been visiting her sister, who is living with dementia and in a care home. But now she says she is "not sure" whether she should continue her visits in case she spreads the virus inadvertently. Older people are more likely to become severely ill if they catch it,  the NHS says.  Generally,  it says anyone  over the age of 65 is considered an "older person" but there is no strict definition as people age at different rates. But what measures are being taken and what advice is there for looking after older and elderly people? What are care homes doing? Care homes have responded in a mix of ways so far, with some residenti

Cheltenham Festival: Min holds off Saint Calvados to win Ryanair Chase

Long-time leader Min held off the challenge of Saint Calvados to win the Ryanair Chase on day three of the Cheltenham Festival. The 2-1 chance, ridden by Paul Townend, led the field for most of the race. Saint Calvados (16-1) and Gavin Sheehan tried to challenge late on but were unable to reel in the frontrunner. A Plus Tard, the 7-4 favourite, was third but last year's winner Frodon and Bryony Frost finished well down the field.

ACLU sues Homeland Security over airport face recognition program secrecy

  (opens in a new window) A leading civil liberties group is suing Homeland Security, claiming the agency is keeping the details of its airport face recognition program secret, which it says raises “profound civil liberties concerns.” The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in a New York federal court on Thursday, demanding that the agency turns over records to understand the scope of its airport face recognition system. The group wants to know who Homeland Security works with — including private companies and airlines — as well as internal policies and guidance on how the system is used. The face recognition system is part of a recent government initiative to scan the faces of travelers both arriving and departing the United States. Homeland Security claims the system will help crack down on immigration violations, such as visitors overstaying their visas. Although U.S. citizens can opt-out of having their faces scanned, it’s  not always openly advertised .

Tinder cancels its apocalyptic-themed show ‘Swipe Night’ out of sensitivity to coronavirus outbreak

Citing sensitivities to the ongoing  COVID-19 pandemic , dating app Tinder is canceling the international release of its apocalyptic-themed, in-app video series, “Swipe Night.” The company had planned to release the first season of the show to 10 new markets across Europe and Asia this quarter, in light of its recent success in boosting key app metrics here in the U.S. “Swipe Night” was Tinder’s first foray into video, offering a five-minute interactive story where users made choices to progress the narrative, like a choose-your-own-adventure. These choices would then be highlighted on viewers’ profiles and were used to match them with others who also took the same action. In addition, the video series gave users a way to break the ice — they could start by talking about the show, instead of resorting to pick-up lines and other awkward openings. Tinder said the first season in the U.S. had been viewed by millions, and had led to double-digit increases in matches and messages. A

Illustration for article titled How to Remember What Bear and Bull Market MeanEverything you need to know for Round 1 of the 2020 Players Championship

Hector Vivas/Getty Images 11:00 PM WAT Mark Schlabach ESPN Senior Writer Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. --  Tiger Woods  isn't here.  Jason Day  is also hurting.  Brooks Koepka 's head is spinning. And  Patrick Reed  is still denying. The Players Championship, the first big tournament and the unofficial fifth major of the PGA Tour season, is here. All but three of the top 50 players in the world are competing for a $15 million purse, with Woods being the most notable absentee as he continues to rest his ailing back. Defending champion  Rory McIlroy , ranked No. 1 in the world for the 100th week of his career, is the betting favorite to become the first player to win back-to-back Players Championship titles. Here's everything you need to know about the first round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass: Reed in noise-canceling mode Patrick Reed isn't worried about fans heckling him

YC-backed Giveaway is a peer-to-peer marketplace that uses virtual currency

YC-backed  Giveaway  lets folks give away their unused or unnecessary items in a marketplace. Unlike other buy/sell or donation platforms, Giveaway uses a virtual currency on the platform to reward people for listing their products for free on the app. Users earn Karma coins each time they list an item on the website. Folks can then use that Karma to claim items listed on the app. The first person to try to claim an item offers zero Karma for the item. From there, a countdown begins, allowing others to offer more Karma for the item until the clock runs out. The user who offered the most Karma gets to claim the item. They are then connected to the giver via the app and can set a time and place to meet for the transaction. The person who claimed the item can inspect it and then approve the transaction, triggering the exchange of Karma coin. Users can also rate and review each other on the platform for the quality of their items. The app promotes giving items away to earn Kar

Establishing an emergency relief fund, Amazon commits to two-week pay for workers affected by COVID-19

Amazon    has instituted a new policy  which will see all Amazon employees diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed into quarantine receiving up to two-weeks of pay. The additional pay is to “ensure employees have the time they need to return to good health without the worry of lost pay,” the company said in a statement. That pay is in addition to unlimited paid time off for all hourly employees through the end of March, which the company announced as a policy to its workers last week. The company also said it was setting up a relief fund with a $25 million contribution to support delivery service partners and drivers along with Amazon Flex participants and seasonal employees. “We will be offering all of these groups the ability to apply for grants approximately equal to up to two weeks of pay if diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed into quarantine by the government or Amazon,” the company said. The fund will also support employees and contractors who face financial hardships due t

US is preparing to ban foreign-made drones from government useThe Trump administration is preparing an executive order to ban federal departments and agencies from buying or using foreign-made drones, citing a risk to national security, TechCrunch has learned. The draft order, which was drafted in the past few weeks and seen by TechCrunch, would effectively ban both foreign-made drones or drones made with foreign components out of fear that sensitive data collected during their use could be transferred to adversarial nation-states. The order specifically calls out threats posed by China, a major hub for drone manufacturers that supply both government and consumers, with the prospect that other countries could be added later. The order says it’s government policy to “encourage” the use of domestically built drones instead. If passed, federal agencies would have a month to comply with the order, it said. But the military and the intelligence community would be granted broad exemptions under the draft order seen. When reached, a spokesperson for the White House did not comment. It’s the latest move to crack down on Chinese-built technology, amid fears that Beijing is using its authority and influence to compel companies to spy at its behest. Huawei and ZTE among others have faced bans from operating inside the U.S. government, despite protests from the companies, which have long rebutted claims that they pose a risk due to their Chinese connections. Beijing responded in kind by banning from its state offices U.S. and other foreign-made technology. The U.S. government’s prevalent use of predominantly Chinese-made drones has come under more intense scrutiny in recent months. In January, the Dept. of the Interior issued an order grounding its fleet of close to 800 foreign-made drones, except for in emergencies, amid concerns that any data collected would be “valuable” to U.S. adversaries. But an email seen by TechCrunch dated July 2019 appears to show internal disagreements about the risks of using foreign-made drones, just months before the grounding order would come into force. Interior’s chief information officer William Vajda said in an email to two senior staffers that the department’s drone program “understands the risks” of foreign-made drones and has “taken appropriate steps to mitigate them.” “The only more effective mitigation would be to use exclusively U.S. manufactured, non-foreign technologies,” he wrote. Most of the department’s fleet is built by China-based manufacturers — including DJI — which stands to lose the most if the order is signed. DJI supplies some 70% of the world’s drones in a market said to be worth about $15 billion by the end of the decade. A spokesperson for the Dept. of the Interior said the department was working to “further assess the risks” of foreign-made drones. DJI spokesperson Michael Oldenburg said in a statement: “While we haven’t seen the document, this proposal is another attack on drone technology based on its country of origin, which recent reporting has shown has been criticized within federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and even the White House Office of Management and Budget.” “When communicating among themselves, these agencies’ officials have explained how such an approach damages American interests and does not solve any cybersecurity issues, and have acknowledged that DJI’s products have been validated as secure for use in government operations,” the spokesperson said.

  The Trump administration is preparing an executive order to ban federal departments and agencies from buying or using foreign-made drones, citing a risk to national security, TechCrunch has learned. The draft order, which was drafted in the past few weeks and seen by TechCrunch, would effectively ban both foreign-made drones or drones made with foreign components out of fear that sensitive data collected during their use could be transferred to adversarial nation-states. The order specifically calls out threats posed by China, a major hub for drone manufacturers that supply both government and consumers, with the prospect that other countries could be added later. The order says it’s government policy to “encourage” the use of domestically built drones instead. If passed, federal agencies would have a month to comply with the order, it said. But the military and the intelligence community would be granted broad exemptions under the draft order seen. When reached, a spokespe

Newspaper headlines: 'Tories splash the cash' and £30bn 'war on virus'

Image caption The image of Chancellor Rishi Sunak holding the Budget details is splashed across most of the front pages. The Daily Express calls it a "bold battle plan for Britain" as the government looks to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Image caption The new chancellor "ditched a decade of Conservative orthodoxy", according to the Guardian, which says Mr Sunak claimed the Tories were now "the party of the public services". Image caption The Times describes it as "Sunak's road to riches", saying the chancellor announced the biggest budget giveaway for almost 30 years. It claims that over the entire parliament running up to 2025, the government will borrow an estimated total of £300bn. Image caption The Financial Times claims Rishi Sunak's first Budget was "warmly received" by most Conservative MPs but not the markets. Image caption Mr Sunak pledging a £30bn war chest to tackle coronavirus is the focus for the Daily Mirror.