It’s ironic that Star Wars, perhaps the ultimate tale of good triumphing over evil, has become embroiled in the current culture wars. George Lucas’s original trilogy is as universally adored as Brothers Grimm fairytales, the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci or the songs of the Beatles. Finding out that it Continue Reading
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Pollutionwatch: how smart braking could help cut electric car emissions | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars
You would think that battery electric cars, having no exhaust pipes, would emit less air pollution than diesel and petrol vehicles. A controversial study in 2016 said particle pollution from electric cars would be worse. Due to battery weight, electric cars are about 200-300kg heavier than comparable-size cars that burn Continue Reading
Apple to reduce its cut from in-app purchases as it faces new lawsuit from Fortnite maker | Apple
Apple has announced it will reduce the cut it takes from every in-app purchase by half for developers that make up to US$1m (A$1.37m) per year, as the company faces a new lawsuit from the makers of Fortnite over the practice. Apple currently takes a 30% commission on paid apps Continue Reading
Dutch government pilots technology to cut e-bike road deaths | Netherlands
Electric bike motors will be shut down when entering residential or built-up areas of Amsterdam, under a government-funded project to cut road deaths from the increasingly powerful vehicles. The digital technology, which has been successfully trialled on a 4km stretch of bike lanes at Schiphol airport, was funded by the Continue Reading
Spotify to let artists promote music for cut in royalty rates | Technology
Spotify has been accused of trying to create digital “payola”, after announcing a feature that would give artists an algorithmic boost on the company’s playlists – if they agree to take a cut in the royalties they get paid for the relevant songs. The feature, which Spotify is describing as Continue Reading
Far-right online forum 8chan loses internet after protection services are cut | Technology
The latest incarnation of the hate-filled online forum 8chan was temporarily kicked off the internet on Sunday, after a company protecting the site from DDoS attacks cut its services. The site, which is now called 8kun but was formerly known as 8chan, was back online on Monday morning, security researcher Continue Reading
‘I will be cut off’: Chinese Americans feel targeted by Trump’s WeChat order | US news- Tempemail
Chinese Americans have had their daily communications unwittingly swept into the US-China trade war, as the Trump administration threatens to ban China-based messaging platform WeChat. For many Chinese Americans WeChat is a lifeline connecting them to family and friends in China, and within Chinese American communities – one that will Continue Reading
Gary Lineker takes 25% BBC pay cut and agrees to tweet more carefully | BBC- Tempemail
Gary Lineker has taken a 25% pay cut to remain as host of Match of the Day for the next five years, along with an agreement to be more careful in his use of Twitter to push political causes. Tim Davie, the new BBC director general, announced the deal at Continue Reading
Dyson to cut 900 jobs worldwide as firm blames Covid-19 | Technology
Dyson is to shed 900 jobs in a cost-cutting exercise that will weigh most heavily on UK employees of the engineering firm founded by Britain’s wealthiest man. Staff were told of the job losses during a live video conference with Dyson’s chief executive, Roland Krüger, who blamed the decision on Continue Reading
Vocus fibre cable cut in South Australia – Telco/ISP- Tempemail
Vocus technicians are working to repair a broken fibre cable in South Australia that appears to be causing east-west connectivity problems for some internet users. The telco confirmed it was investigating a possible break between Adelaide and Long Plains in the early hours of Thursday, and said it had begun Continue Reading