3.3.2016
Good to Know: American astronaut Scott Kelly came back down to Earth after spending 340 days in space. And in other space news, NASA continues to work on bringing the Internet (high speed networks) to galaxies far, far away.
THE SKINNY
When You Need To make space…
Google, Inc. wants to come in between us and the Zika virus. It is throwing resources – as in volunteer engineers and about US $1 million in grant money – to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
When You Need A Reminder …
Zika, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and has been linked to causing microcephaly in newborns, has been wreaking havoc across the Americas for a minute now. So much so, that the World Health Organization gave it the official “public health emergency” stamp. Note: Microcephaly tends to cause newborns to have unusually small heads, which leads to other defects.
When You’re Coming Up with Solutions, Not Problems …
Google wants to create an open source platform intended to map out the virus’ spread and i.d. potential outbreaks by looking at things like travel and weather patterns and other data points. Why stop there? Well, it’s not. The Internet industry vet also wants people to learn more about the virus via a new web-based campaign among other things (i.e., develop a vaccine since one doesn’t currently exist).
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
When You Just Need to Get Used To It …
We’ll probably be talking Apple v. FBI for a while. This week, both sides took their arguments to U.S. Capitol Hill. And now, FBI Director James Comey is saying “our b.” During a hearing, Comey admitted that the FBI made the wrong decision by changing the Apple ID password linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters’ phones – a “180” from the agency’s previous statement.
When You’ve Watched One Too Many Episodes of ‘Lock Up…’
Earlier this week, Brazilian law enforcement picked up Diego Dzodan, Vice President of Facebook Latin American, in Sao Paulo. By now, it’s pretty much the same story, different script: Criminal activity (drug trafficking in this case) + law enforcement wanting information + WhatsApp denying law enforcement’s request = Judge Ordering WhatsApp to fork over the info. Well, the company stood its ground and said it doesn’t have access to what the police wants, which led to Dzodan’s arrest. FB isn’t pleased, particularly since WhatsApp operates as a separate entity. Meanwhile, over in Germany, FB is under fire for being too big and abusing its power with regards to user data.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
uberMoto, Uber’s motorbike hailing service, is now a thing in Bangalore, India. The company responsible for putting ride-hailing apps on the map is stepping its international expansion game all the way up. It’s shelling out US $250 million to get into areas like the Middle East and Africa. As of today, Uber’s now live in Pakistan.
Kenyan smartphone app, The Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek), is making eye screening easy for schools located in rural areas of the country.
Tired of seeing pics of your friends’ kids every two seconds on FB? France may be the place for you. The government’s telling parents in the country to stop posting pics of their kids on FB in the name of protecting their privacy and security. Seems like it could be a win-win for everyone involved.
Watch out, Skype and Google Hangouts … New chat app Slack is coming for you with its soon to be launched video and voice feature. Side note: Slack is killing the fundraising game! The startup has raised over a billion dollars in just a year. #Impressive
Not so great news for SurveyMonkey employees … The cloud-based polling service is working to better its business offerings and will drop about 100 employees along the way.
BTW, new app No More Voicemail wants people to talk less and text more #YesPlease