Author: Alan Lorenz

YouTube has Removed More Than A Million Videos With Disinformation About Coronavirus
26Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Technology, News

YouTube has Removed More Than A Million Videos With Disinformation About Coronavirus

YouTube has removed more than a million videos containing "dangerous misinformation about the coronavirus" since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The video platform of internet giant Google has announced this.   "We remove nearly 10 million videos every quarter, the majority of which don't get ten views," YouTube's Neal Mohan said in a press release. But "if we only look at what we delete, we miss the mountains of content that people see," he emphasizes. Overall, between 0.16 percent and 0.18 percent of videos would contain content that violates YouTube's rules. But, according to Mohan, when people search for news or information, "now get the best results in terms of quality, not sensationalism." YouTube is sending out an announcement to explain its strategy around disinf...
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Waymo Starts Self-Driving Taxis in San Francisco
25Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, US

Waymo Starts Self-Driving Taxis in San Francisco

Google's sister company wants to offer self-driving taxis on a large scale in the American metropolis of San Francisco.   People can drive a self-driving Jaguar I-Pace electric car around San Francisco for free when they sign up with Waymo's Trusted Tester program through an app. The users must then sign a nondisclosure agreement and provide feedback to the company. Although the taxis are fully autonomous, there will be a driver present to take over the wheel in case of an emergency. The pilot project in San Francisco is considered an important milestone for Waymo. So far, the company has only tested self-driving taxis in a Phoenix suburb, where drivers are driven without an emergency driver. But in that desert city, the weather conditions, traffic and infrastructure are much mor...
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A Formula 1 Race Maybe Held in Qatar This Year
24Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Sports, News

A Formula 1 Race Maybe Held in Qatar This Year

A Formula 1 race may be held in Qatar this year. Insiders report to trade magazines that the country will replace Australia, where the competition cannot take place due to the coronavirus.   In that case, the race is on the Losail International Circuit, just north of the city of Doha. The Formula 1 organization will probably come up with an adjusted calendar next weekend, necessary due to several cancellations due to the corona pandemic. The planned race will also not occur in Japan and Canada; among others, it is doubtful whether it can be driven in Brazil and Mexico.
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Conservative Radio Host Who Did Not Want to be Vaccinated Dies of Corona
23Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
US, News

Conservative Radio Host Who Did Not Want to be Vaccinated Dies of Corona

Conservative radio host Phil Valentine from the American city of Nashville has died from the effects of the coronavirus. He regularly downplayed the vaccines and regularly spread fake news about the virus. Valentine was 61 years old.   Phil Valentine was a notorious vaccine doubter with a talk show on radio station 99.7 WWTN-FM in Nashville, Tennessee. He said about the corona vaccine, among other things: "I have a shallow risk of getting corona and dying from it if I get it. So why would I risk a heart attack or paralysis by getting vaccinated?" He was also a proponent of Ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug circulating in conservative circles as "the panacea against corona." On his show, he released a self-written parody of the Beatles song Taxman, called Vaxman. He makes fun of mas...
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Facebook Hopes That from Now On You Will Meet in Virtual Reality
20Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Technology, News

Facebook Hopes That from Now On You Will Meet in Virtual Reality

With Horizon Workrooms, Facebook is putting forward a new app for meeting in virtual reality. Immediately a first look at what the metaverse could look like at Facebook.   While you are preparing for your next Zoom meeting or finishing a presentation that you will soon release on your colleagues via WebEx or Teams, Facebook is further preparing for the virtual reality era. Or at least that's the future the tech giant believes in. In 2014, Facebook paid $2 billion to acquire VR headset manufacturer Oculus. This now results in a new virtual reality app that is intended explicitly for remote working. The company's Oculus Quest 2 headsets allow users to join meetings as an avatar version of themselves. Horizon Workrooms is the app's name that is now being released to the general workin...
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Facebook is Testing New Virtual Reality App for Remote Working
19Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Technology, News

Facebook is Testing New Virtual Reality App for Remote Working

Facebook has tested a new virtual reality app that can be used for remote working. The company's Oculus Quest 2 headsets allow users to join meetings as an avatar version of themselves.   Facebook's Horizon Workrooms app test comes as many companies decide to let staff work from home permanently. As a result of the corona pandemic, hardly any work was done in the office. Unfortunately, the virus also escalates in many places, often delaying decisions to work in the office. The world's largest social network has invested heavily in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). AR mixes the real world with the virtual world. The company developed various hardware such as its Oculus VR headsets. Time and money were also spent on developing AR glasses and technologies for smartwatch...
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What Insurance Does A Massage Therapist Need
19Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Finance

What Insurance Does A Massage Therapist Need

Massage therapy is thought of as being relaxing, promoting healing of the body and the drainage of toxins out of the muscles. However, the reality is that a massage therapist providing such treatments must consider taking out insurance cover. Business insurance protects should the treatment not go to plan or against other eventualities. After all, massage involves working on the human body, so there is always the risk of injury, especially if a client has any existing issues. Massage therapists are considered to be professionals and can be blamed for client injury. Injury can also affect massage therapists themselves and their ability to work. Plus, costs can be significant if any equipment becomes damaged or is stolen. Although insurance isn’t part of the physical side of a massage busi...
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Afghan Ex-President Flees to United Arab Emirates
18Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Afghanistan, News

Afghan Ex-President Flees to United Arab Emirates

Afghan ex-president Ashraf Ghani has fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).   He left his country in a hurry last weekend when the radical Islamist Taliban movement took the capital Kabul, ending the reconquest of the country. The UAE has welcomed Ghani and his family on humanitarian grounds, the Gulf State Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Ghani is in Abu Dhabi. Because the president fled, Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh claims he is now the legal leader of Afghanistan. As "legitimate interim president", he calls on the population to join the "resistance". In messages on Twitter, he claims that he has stayed in Afghanistan.
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Taliban Spokesman Reveals Future Plans in Live Conversation with Australian BBC Reporter
17Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Afghanistan, News

Taliban Spokesman Reveals Future Plans in Live Conversation with Australian BBC Reporter

An Australian BBC reporter with Afghan roots received a call from a Taliban spokesman during a live broadcast on Sunday. In a half-hour conversation, Suhail Shaheen explained the plans of the radical Islamic movement.   Australian Yalda Hakim fled Afghanistan as a child and grew up in Sydney. She works as a news anchor for BBC in Australia. On Sunday, she reported on the situation in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters surrounded the city of Kabul. When the journalist received a call from Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen in the middle of a broadcast, she made sure viewers could follow the conversation by putting her phone on the loudspeaker and placing it next to a microphone. A few hours later, the Taliban fighters invaded the city and captured the presidential palace, from where t...
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The Number of Deaths from Flooding in Northern Turkey has Risen to At Least 70
16Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Turkey, News

The Number of Deaths from Flooding in Northern Turkey has Risen to At Least 70

The number of deaths from flooding in northern Turkey has risen to at least 70. The number is expected to increase further. Rescuers are still pulling dead people from collapsed buildings, according to local media.   The provinces of Kastamonu, Sinop and Bartin have been hit by severe flooding in recent days, caused by heavy rainfall. Many buildings, roads and bridges have been destroyed. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area because of the unsafe situation. The floods started last Tuesday, shortly after the worst wildfires in the east of the country were extinguished. The three provinces are all close to the Black Sea and are more likely to be affected by flooding. It's not usual to be as intense as this year.
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