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Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Facebook regularly deals with accusations of anti-conservative bias, but a new report suggests it may have been particularly forgiving. Washington Postsources say Facebook has limited punishment for Donald Trump allies who repeatedly violate rules against misinformation, in some cases removing strikes that could have led to reduced News Feed distribution or even bans. The social network pulled a repeat infraction claim against Donald Trump Jr. on Instagram due to fear of a “backlash” from the penalties that would follow, according to the reported insiders.
Other Trump family members also had strikes removed, the sources said. A pro-Trump PAC (America First Action) and other organizations that have repeatedly posted known false information also appeared to have escaped consequences. Facebook said it would label some posts that break its rules, but the Post found examples of clearly false claims from Rush Limbaugh, Gateway Pundit and others that hadn’t received those disclaimers.
Facebook spokeswoman Andrea Vallone didn’t directly challenge the report, noting the social media giant wouldn’t penalize accounts in “rare cases” when a rating wasn’t “appropriate or warranted.” The representative stressed that “many” pages the Post found had been punished for spreading falsehoods, but declined to say how or what the thresholds were to avoid opportunities for “gaming the system.”
If accurate, the exceptions wouldn’t be surprising. Like Twitter and other internet heavyweights, Facebook is aware that Trump and Republicans currently hold power that could lead to regulation and other legal action. Trump’s order demanding a rethink of the Communications Decent Act’s Section 230 is widely considered retaliation against Twitter for fact-checking one of his posts, and Facebook itself caught flak from Senate Republicans for limiting a New York Post story making hotly disputed allegations against Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Stlll, this isn’t going to help quiet accusations that Facebook has separate standards for different people and groups. Critics have contended that Facebook is allowing misinformation to spread as a consequence, and that it shouldn’t have to fear retaliation when allegations of free speech violations haven’t held up in court. Its bid to please both sides of the American political discourse may have ultimately stoked tensions.
If you’re running Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and want to make a last-minute push for the youth vote, what do you do? Set up a Fortnite island, apparently. Mashablereports (via Kotaku) that the Biden-Harris campaign has introduced a “Build Back Better with Biden” island map that aims to inform and motivate you through mini games. You add solar panels and efficient air conditioning to an EV factor, install 5G towers to improve broadband, and build a research facility.
To no one’s surprise, there are also conspicuous efforts to rally the vote, including a virtual polling station and signs asking you to make a voting plan. You’ll also find nods to the public images of Biden and Harris, such as a “No Malarkey Station” and a quest to collect Harris’ sneakers.
You can try the Fortnite map yourself using the code 0215-4511-1823.
This isn’t the first game-based campaign effort from Biden and Harris. They already have their own Animal Crossing campaign signs. Other Democrats are using gaming to get out the vote, too — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently used a high-profile Among Us stream to inspire voters.
Will this work? It’s hard to say. It’s coming extremely late in an election when many have voted early. And let’s be honest: it’s hard to escape the whiff of a “how do you do, fellow kids?” attempt at relevancy from candidates who’ve likely never touched Fortnite. Still, this shows the extent to which Biden’s crew is trying to court voters during a pandemic when safe in-person rallies are difficult or impossible. Don’t be surprised if candidates try more game-based voter rallies going forward, at least when they think younger voters will be receptive.
It’s easy to be worried when you cough these days — is it COVID-19, or are you just clearing your throat? You might get a clearer answer soon. MIT researchers have developed AI that can recognize forced coughing from people who have COVID-19, even if they’re otherwise asymptomatic. The trick was to develop a slew of neural networks that can distinguish subtle changes indicative of the novel coronavirus’ effects.
One neural network detects sounds associated with vocal strength. Another listens for emotional states that reflect a neurological decline, such as increased frustration or a “flat affect.” A third network, meanwhile, gauges changes in respiratory performance. Throw in an algorithm that checks for muscular degradation (that is, weaker coughs) and it provides a more complete picture of someone’s health.
The AI is highly accurate in early tests. After the team trained its model on tens of thousands of cough and dialog samples, the technology recognized 98.5 percent of coughs from people with confirmed COVID-19 cases. It identified 100 percent of people who were ostensibly asymptomatic, too.
There are clear limits. The technology isn’t meant to diagnose symptomatic people, as they might have other conditions that produce similar behavior. And while it’s quite capable, you wouldn’t want to use this for a definitive verdict on whether or not you’re infected.
This isn’t a theoretical exercise, though. The scientists are developing a “user-friendly” app that could be used as a prescreening tool for the virus. You might only have to cough into your phone each day to determine if it’s safe for you to head outside. The researchers even suggest this could put an end to pandemics if the tool was always listening in the background, although that’s a big “if” when it would likely raise privacy issues.
Xander Bogaerts #2 and Eduardo Rodriguez #57 of the Boston Red Sox join NESN anchor Tom Caron on set during a team workout on February 15, 2020 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox via Getty Images
An first reported by The Streamable, an email just went out to subscribers notifying them of the change, saying “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a new agreement to continue offering you this network. Starting Saturday, October 31st, 2020, NESN will no longer be available on YouTube TV, and you will no longer have access to any previous recordings from NESN.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, NESN described its side claiming that “Despite offering our most favorable rates and terms for carriage, YouTube TV chose to deny fans our top-rated programming on October 30th.” NESN notes that the options for internet TV access to the network are now limited to AT&T TV Now or Fubo TV, as it also doesn’t have a deal with Sling TV or Hulu.
It’s the latest tough break for subscribers who want those channels, particularly after YouTube TV raised its prices this summer. However, with most of the sports in between their seasons, there’s time for a new agreement to be reached before the leagues figure out when and where they’ll play next.
Earnings week seems to arrive just a little bit sooner every fall — or it could just be the nonstop cheering from Big Tech who had a banner quarter thanks to the COVID quarantine turning many of us into a captive audience for their products and services. Here are some headlines from the week that was.
What, you thought your child was just going to indoctrinate themselves to life within the surveillance state? For free? In this economy? Not a chance. Not when Jeff Bezos can ding you for a trio of Benjamins on the way out.
Speaking of Jeff Bezos getting even more wealthy, Amazon made an extra $26 billion in sales during Q3 2020 thanks to our shelter in place rules and everybody embracing delivery for, well, everything.
Oh the woes of Tesla ownership. First the company offered a $2,500 infotainment system upgrade that gave customers access to YouTube, Netflix, Hulu — none of which should be watched while operating a motor vehicle mind you, unless you spring for the $10,000 FSD mode (though it’s being called is a “distant second” to GMC’s SuperCruise) — but had to ditch the existing AM, FM and Sirius functions. Now the company is offering to restore the FM and Sirius capabilities that used to be there with the addition of a new tuner and antenna for the low, low discount price of $500.
Netflix is yet again getting a little more expensive. The company announced last week that its standard plan will now cost $14, a dollar increase, and its premium plan will rise two dollars to $18 a month. I’m old enough to remember when cord cutting actually saved people money.
Under Armour is looking to shed some weight, namely its MyFitnessPal and Endomondo apps. The former is being put up for sale with a $345 million price tag, the latter is simply being shut down, all so that the company can achieve a greater degree of “investment flexibility.”
Huawei might have a way to avoid some of the worst consequences of tightening US trade restrictions, provided it’s willing to be patient. Financial Timessources claim Huawei is planning a dedicated chip factory in Shanghai that would make parts for its core telecom infrastructure business. It would be run by a partner, the city-backed Shanghai IC R&D Center, and would be considered experimental until it’s ready to make chips Huawei can use.
The plant would start by making chips based on a very old 45-nanometer process before moving to 28nm chips by late 2021. That would be advanced enough to make chips for smart TVs and Internet of Things devices, the tipsters said. It would reach 20nm by late 2022, when it could make “most” of its 5G cellular hardware.
Between this and a stockpile of chips, Huawei could theoretically keep its telecom hardware business running with relatively little disruption. While its chips from 2021 onward might lag behind international rivals, they could be good enough for the domestic market until Huawei can further improve its designs.
Huawei and the IC R&D Center both declined to comment to FT, with the research firm calling the matter “rather sensitive.”
Huawei might not have to worry about its long-term future if reports are accurate. As you may have noticed, though, there’s no mention of phones in this plan. Mobile devices need highly advanced chip processes to remain competitive at the high end (the Kirin 9000 in the Mate 40 Pro is a 5nm chip), and the reported Shanghai plans wouldn’t help. Huawei can turn to fabrication allies like SMIC for more modest phone chips, but it’s still likely to scale back its phone offerings once their existing supplies dry up.
If you’ve been having problems syncing data across your Apple devices, you’re not alone. Apple is reporting (via 9to5Mac) outages across several of its iCloud services, including backups, calendars, Find My, photos and even sign-ins. The company only noted on its status page that “some users” were affected, but the failures appear to have started around 9AM Eastern and were still ongoing as of 1PM.
We’ve asked Apple for comment. Other major services like Apple Music, FaceTime and Siri were still working properly as we wrote this.
The issue comes weeks after an outage that affected both iCloud and Apple’s media services. It also follows mere days after the debut of Apple One, where iCloud storage (also affected by the outage) plays an important role. The timing is less than ideal, to put it mildly, even if this is likely to be a small interruption in the grander scheme of things.
Update 11/1 5PM ET: The outages appear to have been resolved later in the afternoon.
Facebook is finally testing a dark mode in its mobile app beyond a handful of users. The social network has teamed up with code sleuth Jane Manchun Wong to confirm that it’s publicly testing dark mode on Android and iOS. Just who’s getting the option isn’t clear, but MacRumorsnoted that many more people were reporting access to the night-friendly option.
If you have the option, you’ll see a Dark Mode button in the Settings & Privacy section under the Menu tab. You can force it on or off, or leave it up to your system-level settings. If you have an OS-level dark mode switch on when the Sun goes down, Facebook can follow suit.
The feature has been a long time in coming. Facebook let users opt in to a dark mode on desktop back in March, and companion apps like Messenger have had the choice since 2019. It’s not certain why the core Facebook app is getting this feature so much later, but the wait suggests it was determined to tread carefully given the sheer importance of an app likely used by billions of people.
