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"Technology And People Are Never 100 Per Cent Accurate": Ex-Umpire On DRS

Former ICC Elite Umpire Simon Taufel has started an online accreditation course to help reduce the gaps in umpires' training and development.

Cold feet? Why Elon Musk may be trying to pull out of buying Twitter

New twists and turns come up as Elon Musk raises concerns about Twitter before the purchase deal is complete.

Mallrat: Butterfly Blue – Bedroom pop with its eye on bigger settings

That bedroom pop entered the mainstream in the past two years isn’t a surprise; young artists now have access to (almost) studio-grade technology on their laptops, streaming services have broadened their influences infinitely, and a confessional bar recorded alone in a bedroom allows for a certain vulnerability. On Butterfly Blue, Mallrat – Queensland Australia’s Grace Kathleen Elizabeth Shaw – has expanded her sound beyond the boundaries of the bedroom while retaining the charm of earlier EPs Uninvited, In the Sky and Driving Music. Butterfly Blue is a spirited debut, unmoored by a singular genre. Azealia Banks spits the kind of sharp bars we’ve come to expect from the rapper on Surprise Me, a playful take on retrofuturist, synth-laden trap. It’s a slightly jarring moment, coming in on track three, but Shaw pulls us back from the whiplash – just about. Heart Guitar is more firmly rooted in bedroom pop and is all the better for it. “It’s nothing fancy,” she sings of a relationship that “used to give [her] butterflies”; vulnerable and immediate. Teeth runs a simple progression through fuzzy filters, while I’m Not My Body, It’s Mine unfolds around a gently plucked acoustic guitar and gradually expanding vocal harmonies. Mallrat’s charm comes best when she blends the simplicity of teenage dreams (“maybe I’ll fall in love with a rockstar, we’ll be married for ever”) with a gentle touch on the console. A charming debut, Butterfly Blue is bedroom pop writ large.

Abortion: How has America changed under Roe v. Wade? | Opinion

Illustration by Michelle Budge, Deseret News The egregious breach of trust that led to a leaked draft of a forthcoming Supreme Court decision regarding abortion has created a firestorm that is obscuring some important realities. Chief among them is that overturning Roe v. Wade does not mean an end to abortion. It means returning the decision about abortion to the states, where complex issue are best worked out in what the late Justice Louis Brandeis called the “laboratories of democracy.” Over the past 49 years, supporters of abortion rights, including the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, couldn’t help but acknowledge the problematic logic and structure of the legal arguments underlying Roe v. Wade.Further, the United States is one of only nine countries, including North Korea and China, that allow elective abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Public opinion has consistently reflected concern about that. Strong majorities of Americans, across demographic groups, oppose abortions in the second (65%) and third trimesters (81%). Even in the first trimester, a majority agree abortion should be illegal when the woman’s only reason is not wanting to have a child. Generations that have grown up with ultrasound technology have seen just how human a growing fetus is.But underneath these realities are strong and sensitive feelings for the woman seeking an abortion — most likely a low-income, unmarried mother in her 20s, inconsistently using birth control, in a fragile relationship with the father, and in circumstances that make her feel that giving birth will require more than she is able to give.We all feel deeply for this woman wrestling with what giving birth might mean for her and her baby. Some believe the most just and compassionate response is to support her in aborting that developing life. In fact, in the words of NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue, to suggest otherwise is to be “against a world where women can contribute equally and chart our own destiny.”  We might ask, “What kind of a world have we created if our equality as women depends on our acting destructively against our own bodies and the developing life we carry?” Ironically, the widespread availability of abortion enabled by Roe v. Wade has not remedied inequality for women. It has entrenched it, by refusing to acknowledge and respect the sexual difference between men and women and the gift of women’s life-giving capacity.After Roe, abortion became the easiest option for resolving all the complexities around women and men, their sexual relationship and the life that results from it. Abortion on demand meant no one would need to take responsibility for decisions that might result in the conception of a child. Few people would be inconvenienced by the pregnancy. Not the father of the baby. Not the woman’s parents. Not the woman’s boss. No one, that is, except the woman herself.As Frederica Mathewes-Green poignantly describes, “There is a tremendous sadness and loneliness in the cry ‘a woman’s right to choose.’ No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice-cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg.” She continues: “If nobody wants to have an abortion, why are women doing it, 2,800 times a day? If women (are) doing something 2,800 times daily that they don’t want to do, this is not liberation we’ve won. We are colluding in a strange new form of oppression.”  Related Perspective: What family policy should look like in post-Roe America Perspective: Now is the beginning of the pro-life movement, not the end The truth is, we all want a world where women no longer find themselves facing that choice. We all want solutions that genuinely address the desperate circumstances that have required women throughout time to make desperate choices. But that means unpacking the startling reality that Roe v. Wade has actually contributed to the oppression of women, not alleviated it. In Camille Williams’ cogent words, “Each elective abortion is some woman’s pain; every abortion is some kind of failure — not of contraceptives — but the failure of human beings to care for each other.” Consider how abortion absolves men of responsibility for the life that results from their sexual relationships. Widespread access to contraception and abortion was supposed to make women “equal” to men — free to engage in sexual relations without permanent consequences. Instead, in Sally Cline’s words, what it achieved was “not a great deal of liberation for women but a great deal of legitimacy for male promiscuity.” In fact, by serving as a “backup” to contraception, easy access to abortion increased sexual risk-taking while creating a climate in which nonmarital sex is expected in romantic relationships and commitment is not.Since Roe v. Wade, the marriage rate has dramatically dropped, cohabitation has increased by 17 times, and the out-of-wedlock childbearing rate has grown from 5% to 41%, with profound negative implications, especially for low-income women and children.“Liberated” women find themselves trapped between acting destructively against their bodies and the life their bodies are designed to create, or trying to rear children on their own. Since single motherhood accounts for much of the rise in child poverty since the 1970s, the result is a vicious cycle of feminized poverty that only feeds dependence on the trap of abortion. Under the shadow of Roe, there has been no reason or incentive to address these serious realities for women.  As Mathewes-Green aptly describes, “abortion is like a funnel” through which all of the challenges women face can be shoved. In answer to the challenges of poverty, poor parenting, career impediments and lack of educational attainment, women are told, “Why don’t you just abort?”  And so, instead of shaping our educational institutions and workplaces to respect, protect and support childbearing, abortion encourages us to ignore it. Instead of seeking remedies for the challenges and injustices faced by pregnant women, abortion masks the realities women face. It does not have to be so. Our remarkable feminist leaders of the past showed a better way. Pioneering feminist suffragists Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony both condemned abortion arguing: “We believe the cause of all these abuses (forms of abortion) lies in the degradation of women.” Later, Alice Paul, author of the original Equal Rights Amendment called abortion “the ultimate exploitation of women.” Scholar Erika Bacchiochi describes how suffragist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president, looked to a day “when woman rises from sexual slavery to sexual freedom, and man is obliged to respect this freedom.” Such a future meant taking seriously the biological difference between women and men in the consequences of sex. It meant taking seriously those realities and demanding that men join women in a higher standard of sexual fidelity before and after marriage. It meant respect for the unparalleled gift of motherhood, and a world that would protect and promote the health and well-being of children born and unborn, and their mothers.Under the shadow of Roe v. Wade, we could not create such a world. We need to reshape our world, for women, men and children. Maybe the time has finally come. Jenet Jacob Erickson is a fellow of the Wheatley Institution at Brigham Young University.

Training and marketing: DOST-TAPI's aid to innovators and PH's economic development

Being dubbed as the marketing arm of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI) not only thrives in assisting innovators but at the same time contributes to the country’s social and economic development. (PHotoUnsplash / MANILA BULLETIN) As part of fulfilling its mandates, DOST-TAPI recently introduced a new line of programs of assistance to innovators during the launch of its Roadmap and Stakeholders’ Recognition on May 13. “With our existing programs that cater to intellectual property rights protection, venture financing, prototype development, market and pilot testing, special loaning facilities, and technology expositions, among others, we are adding comprehensive programs in our roster to service and reach out to more stakeholders nationwide,” said DOST-TAPI Director, Atty. Marion Ivy D. Decena. According to the DOST, for three and a half decades, DOST-TAPI was able to achieve several milestones in consecutive years through the promotion of technology transfer and commercialization, and the administration of invention-related development through the provision of the Invention Development Assistance Fund. HIRANG 2.0 For the training component, DOST-TAPI improved its Honing Innovations, Research, Agreements, and Negotiations of Government-Funded Technologies (HIRANG) which previously focused on developing the knowledge and skills on IP valuation, technology pitching, negotiation, and licensing of technology transfer officers. But for HIRANG 2.0, it will focus on training startups and spin-off companies through consultancies and capacity building activities as most local micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs (MSME) are not ready to upscale for investment. According to DOST-TAPI Chief Science Research Specialist, Romeo M. Javate, local MSMEs have great potential to expand only if appropriate assistance is provided to them. “We identified this lack of investment-readiness hampers their potential for optimum growth,” he explained. “A higher investment-readiness level builds confidence and trust among investors hence, a higher investment level attracts investors to share their resources to MSMEs,” DOST-TAPI Supervising Science Research Specialist, Pierre Sonia S. Dela Corte said. TOP UP DOST-TAPI created Technology Optimization for Utilization and Market Preparation (TOP UP) in order to guide inventors and innovators turn their ideas into market-ready inventions, particularly for commercial prototyping, IP protection, testing and validation, and pilot production. “The program provides financial and technical assistance to create a holistic approach that harmonizes the nitty-gritty processes of innovation and invention,” said DOST-TAPI Senior Science Research Specialist, Roberto R. Verzosa. DOST-TAPI hopes to encourage the development of new technologies and to support the development of commercial prototypes for technology validation. MAP In terms of commercialization, the Marketing Assistance Program (MAP) looks to provide a more focused approach in the formulation, development, and implementation of marketing strategies of assisted DOST-TAPI technologies. MAP is a detailed and oriented program designed to address the specific needs of the stakeholders. “The program is designed with prescribed policies and implementing rules to achieve key objectives,” said DOST-TAPI Senior Science Research Specialist, Florisa Mae A. Ilagan. Moreover, MAP targets to identify locally-developed technologies that need marketing assistance for them to have custom-fit marketing plans and strategies, and in turn publish market intelligence reports as a reference for other beneficiaries.

Azmin Ali: US companies show confidence in Malaysia as investment destination of choice

LOS ANGELES, May 20 ― Companies in the United States (US) are confident that Malaysia is still an investment destin ...

鴻海旗下鴻佰推「模組化伺服器」新品搶商機 擬打造未來資料中心

鴻海集團（2317）旗下工業富聯全資子公司鴻佰科技（Ingrasys Technology Inc.）今（20）日宣布，團隊將參與台北國際電腦大展，且將於上午開幕的線上展館中，首度公開最新的「雲端基礎設備與解決方案」；並邀請大家搶先至雲端展館，一窺未來資料中心運作，以及如何支撐因全球各種新興服務，而等比成長的資通訊及元宇宙世代大量運算需求。 《詳全文...》

Can the flexible office workspace harm creativity?

NEW YORK, May 20 — New workplace set-ups are resulting in personal touches being eliminated from offices. Farewell to ...

BioVaxys gibt Standort und Hauptprüfer für die erste klinische Studie seines Impfstoffs gegen Eierstockkrebs bekannt und schließt eine zweite Vereinbarung zur Bereitstellung von Tumorzellen ab

BioVaxys Technology Corp. (CSE: BIOV; FRA: 5LB; OTCQB: BVAXF)(„BioVaxys" oder „da Unternehmen") hat heute bekannt gegeben, dass eine Übereinkunft mit Hospices Civils de Lyon, Frankreich („HCL") erzielt wurde, die Phase-I-Studie von BVX-0918, dem autologen haptenisierten Tumorzellimpfstoff des Unternehmens für Eierstockkrebs im Spätstadium, an diesem Klinikum durchzuführen. HCL hat sich außerdem verpflichtet, BioVaxys chirurgisch entfernte Tumoren von Eierstockkrebs-Patientinnen der Stufe III/Stufe IV, die sich im Krankenhaus behandeln lassen, zur Verfügung zu stellen, um dem Unternehmen die Durchführung von Herstellungstests zu ermöglichen. BioVaxys bereitet sich zusammen mit seinem Partner in der EU ProCare Health aus Barcelona, Spanien, darauf vor, die klinische Phase-I-Studie mit BVX-0918 im Laufe dieses Jahres durchzuführen.

Bringing cleaner air to tomorrow's car interiors

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 — Whether for protection from pollution or viruses, or to reassure passengers in the event of lo ...

Bitcoin slump erodes fortunes of would-be miners in Thailand

For Thailand’s market authorities, the Bitcoin's rout has been one of the few tools to cool down the once-unstoppable Jasmine Technology Solution Plc.

Search for missing swimmer in Pinellas County continues, locals hopeful

The search for a missing swimmer will enter its second full day Friday in John's Pass after four swimmers were swept out to sea but only three returned.

Lagos to host maiden National Transport Technology Conference

Tribune Online Lagos to host maiden National Transport Technology Conference The Lagos State Government has announced plans to host the maiden edition of the National Transport Technology Conference and Exhibition, (NTTCE) scheduled to hold between June 7 and 8. The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde disclosed this on Monday at a media briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja. He said the two-day event organised by […] Lagos to host maiden National Transport Technology Conference Tribune Online

The future of EV batteries spells faster charging and longer lifespans (VIDEO)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 —The Israeli startup StoreDot is working on a new technology to significantly speed up the charg ...

India's first 5G call tested at IIT Madras using 'Made in India technology', details here

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics, and Information Technology on Thursday made the first 5G call on a trial network set up at IIT Madras using indigenously-developed technology, ANI reported

McGregor return to 'Star Wars' inspired by love for 'difficult' prequels

LOS ANGELES, May 20 ― When Ewan McGregor first played a lightsaber-wielding Jedi hero in the much-maligned “Star ...

The Most Spooky Pieces of Tech From Black Mirror, Because Who Needs Sound Sleep Anyway?

We at Gizmodo Australia love weird and creepy gadgets, so obviously we're drawn to the tech that appears in Black Mirror. The post The Most Spooky Pieces of Tech From Black Mirror, Because Who Needs Sound Sleep Anyway? appeared first on Gizmodo Australia.

IIT Madras to receive Rs 8.34 crore, as approved by Railways, for hyperloop project

Vaishnaw also visited the research park on the IIT campus and oversaw the 5G Testbed demonstration and later inspected the IIT-M Incubation Cell

This smartphone app helps locate mosquitoes, eradicate malaria

New York: A novel app that identifies locations of previously unknown mosquito breeding habitats and helps treat them within the same day has been developed, and is helping African countries fight the menace of malaria. The smartphone app, created by a public health researcher at University of South Florida, pairs an algorithm with a drone […]

Sony Expands Into EVs, Metaverse

Sony Group is broadening its business interests, focusing on the metaverse and electric vehicles at its annual corporate strategy meeting this week. The buzz word for Sony’s Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida is ‘kando’, a word that loosely translates to ’emotional involvement’. He wants the company to “create a live network space that connects creators... Read More

Labour’s fourth ‘well-being budget' still comes up short on the well-being of women

All budgets are about economics and politics, and 2022’s was no different. The Labour government continued its economic rebuild through commitments to infrastructure and industry, low- and middle-income earners’ living costs, and the successful implementation of signature reforms in health and climate. Commentators judged it largely responsible, given the backdrop of international disruption, risks of continued inflation and stretched supply chains. The reaction to how New Zealand’s women fared, however, has been mixed . Politically, Labour needed to reassure both core and softer voters with this budget. And since the 1990s, women have been an important source of soft votes for Labour. Under John Key, National closed the gender gap that had opened under Helen Clark’s previous administration. But women voters began to return to Labour in 2017 and overwhelmingly supported Labour in 2020. The NZ Election Study shows 51% of women respondents voted Labour compared to 21% for National. These figures suggest support from women cannot be taken for granted. What did the 2022 budget offer New Zealand’s diverse communities of women and non-binary people? There was some good news: the NZ$580m package for Māori and Pacific initiatives and additional funding for the prevention of family and sexual violence were welcome. So were increases for specialist mental health and addiction services, to health practitioners for care of intersex children and young people, and to ACC for injuries that birthing parents suffer. Sole parent beneficiaries will now receive child support payments as income. And because women continue to earn on average less than men, the additional $350 cost-of-living payment matters. Read more: A budget for the ‘squeezed middle’ – but will it be the political circuit-breaker Labour wants? But it isn’t all good news. The equal employment opportunities commissioner has highlighted the cost-of-living payment excludes beneficiaries , and pay gaps affecting Māori, Pacific, ethnic communities and disabled whānau have been overlooked. Such gaps could be addressed if government ministries were required to undertake intersectional analysis of their budget proposals to ensure inequalities based on such things as race, gender, ethnicity, class or sexual orientation aren’t reinforcing one another. For example, we know women were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 job losses , with wahine Māori and Pacific women experiencing the highest rates of unemployment. We also know the underutilisation rate for women is almost four percentage points higher than for men. The budget’s investment in construction, advanced manufacturing, digital tech and agricultural industries, along with the continuation of the Apprenticeship Boost have been positively received. But as with previous budgets , inclusive outcomes are complicated by the gender segregation within our labour market. To be fair, the government has funded initiatives to encourage women to move into these industries, and the number of women working in construction has increased by 12,600 since 2020 . Read more: The cost of living crisis means bolder budget decisions are needed to lift more NZ children out of poverty Proportionally, however, women are only 15% of the sector (a two point increase over two years). Likewise, there has been little increase in the representation of women employed in manufacturing. Figures from the digital technology sector are harder to distil. According to industry group NZTech, only 27% of digital technology roles were held by women , while employment of Māori and Pacific Peoples was at 4% and 2.8% respectively. The 2022 OECD Economic Survey of New Zealand, and the NZTech and Digital Skills Forum, have both identified the need to develop digital apprenticeships, design inclusive education pathways, and actively support careers for women, Māori and Pacific people in this sector. We also need to remember that continuing to invest in the care economy and social sectors will benefit post-pandemic recovery. Caring for future generations through climate change mitigation and emissions reductions was also a significant part of this budget. The $150 million investment in clean vehicles, and $109 million for active and public transport initiatives, are commendable. But applying an equity and gender analysis to these initiatives would reveal the complexities associated with assuming that all New Zealanders will be able to avail themselves of these “greener” options. For example, New Zealand’s National Climate Change Risk Assessment identified how the impacts of climate change can exacerbate existing inequities for those marginalised by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, literacy or health. Read more: Collapse of negotiations with care workers shows little has changed in how the government views the work of women While women are interested in electric vehicles , the extended (permanent for some) discounts on public transport fares are more likely to benefit them than a clean vehicle rebate; women are more likely than men to use public transport, in part because of their lower income levels. But cost is not the only barrier to using public transport. Safety is also important , meaning connection times between services, regular rural and regional services, street lighting and distances between stops and work or home matter to women. The budget statement released in December 2021 included evidence that New Zealand women felt a lot less safe than men. The Treasury cites OECD figures that reveal New Zealand’s gender gap on feeling safe is second highest, only slightly better than Australia. So there is more work for the government to do to ensure inequities are systematically addressed through public policy and the budget process. Perhaps the best starting point would be a requirement that all state agencies include gender in their calculations and analysis. That way New Zealand can truly be a leader on budgeting for “well-being”.

This Automatic Pot Stirrer Is the Secret to Thickening up Sauces minus the Arm Workout

I’m the type of person who isn’t big on cooking and thus, I love a shortcut. I’m someone who benefits... The post This Automatic Pot Stirrer Is the Secret to Thickening up Sauces minus the Arm Workout appeared first on Lifehacker Australia.

Marantz Announce Premium CD Player

Boutique audio manufacturer Marantz have pulled back the curtain on their new premium CD player, the CD 60. Like all Marantz products the CD 60 makes use of the highest quality components and advanced circuitry to deliver their iconic premium sound signature. With the CD 60, Marantz have addressed the rapidly growing CD market that... Read More

WHO authorises China’s CanSinoBIO Covid-19 vaccine

GENEVA, May 20 — The World Health Organization on Thursday gave the green light to Chinese manufacturer CanSinoBIO’s ...

Solar Energy? At Night Time? Aussie Researchers Say It’s More Likely Than You Think

Researchers at UNSW have produced night-time solar energy. You know, solar power when the sun isn't shining. The post Solar Energy? At Night Time? Aussie Researchers Say It’s More Likely Than You Think appeared first on Gizmodo Australia.

Railways, IIT Madras to collaborate on Rs 8.34 crore project on Hyperloop technology

Railways, IIT Madras to collaborate on Rs 8.34 crore project on Hyperloop technology

TPG Now Offers Speeds 10X NBN

TPG is launching G.Fast technology in Australia this week, offering speeds ten times faster than those offered by NBN. G.Fast is launching in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT to buildings using FTTB technology. The technology will be initially available to over 230,000 premises, and offers unlimited data, and no AVC or CVC charges. TPG... Read More

Trading ideas: Bintulu Port, TPC Plus, GIIB, Southern Acids, Magnum, Kobay Technology, Tomei Consolidated, Dayang Enterprise, Petronas Gas and Hup Seng Industries

KUALA LUMPUR: Investors could be be keeping a watchful eye on Bintulu Port, TPC Plus, GIIB, Southern Acids, Magnum, Kobay Technology, Tomei Consolidated, Dayang Enterprise, Petronas Gas and Hup Seng Industries following recent corporate announcements, said JF Apex Research. Read full story

Stocks on Wall Street slip, nearing bear market

The S&P 500 is down nearly 19% from a record high earlier this year, just shy of the 20% mark that defines a bear market.

Flyability releases the Elios 3, an indoor LiDAR drone for Industry 4.0

Lausanne, SWITZERLAND and SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, May 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Flyability unveils the Elios 3, the world’s first collision-tolerant drone equipped with a LiDAR sensor for indoor 3D mapping. The drone is powered by a new SLAM engine called FlyAware™ that lets it create 3D models as it flies and accompanied by a new… The post Flyability releases the Elios 3, an indoor LiDAR drone for Industry 4.0 appeared first on DKODING.

Plants can grow in lunar regolith, but they’re not happy about it

NASA is sending astronauts back to the Moon by the end of this decade, and hope to send humans to Mars sometime in the 2030s. Growing food in space using in-situ resources is vital if astronauts are to survive on both the Moon and Mars for the long-term. Growing plants in space using Earth soil … Continue reading "Plants can grow in lunar regolith, but they’re not happy about it" The post Plants can grow in lunar regolith, but they’re not happy about it appeared first on Universe Today.

Carrot and Luxboro Launch IoT Joint Venture

Internalization of IoT-telematics technology will drive Carrot to further expand applications of IoT across new insurance business opportunities IoT technology will accelerate transformation of insurance as it will empower preemptive detection of risks and real-time communication with...

Biden begins first trip to Asia, with focus on China, North Korea

Washington, May 19 (EFE).- United States president Joe Biden began Thursday the first trip to Asia of his term, with the aim of counteracting the rise of China and under the threat of a possible nuclear or ballistic weapons test by North Korea during his visit. Upon coming to power in January 2021, Biden targeted … The post Biden begins first trip to Asia, with focus on China, North Korea appeared first on La Prensa Latina Media.

An Enhanced Geothermal System Uses Oil And Gas Technology To Mine Low-Carbon Energy. Part 2.

Success at FORGE means testing technologies that would not otherwise be considered, passing viable technologies to private industry, and encouraging geothermal development overall.

Duterte hopes next admin will continue his pursuit of change, progress

President Duterte hopes that the nation’s pursuit of change and progress will gain more momentum in the coming years under the new leadership. President Duterte delivers his speech during the launching of the Philippine Postal Corp.’s (PHLPost) Digital Innovation and Modernization at the Central Post Office Building in Manila on May 19, 2022. TOTO LOZANO/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO Duterte said this as he joined the launch of Philippine Postal Corp.’s (PHLPost) Digital Innovation and Modernization on Thursday, May 19. In his speech, the President commended the postal corporation for ensuring people-centered governance in line with his administration’s reform agenda. “This endeavor will surely boost our global competitiveness and stimulate economic activities during the period of recovery and digital transition,” he said. Duterte hoped that his successor in Malacañang would continue his administration’s quest for change and progress. “May our pursuit for change and progress never cease to gain more momentum in the coming years under the new leadership,” he said. According to the President, the Covid-19 pandemic opened avenues for innovative products and systems that address the needs of consumers in the new normal, where data and technology now drive the market. He added that PHLPost’s modernization efforts were timely and relevant as it facilitates the efficient delivery of communications, payment of services, and goods and merchandise, especially as industries and businesses shift their operations to e-commerce and online transactions. Malacañang has recently issued Executive Order (EO) No. 170, directing the adoption of digital payments for government disbursements to facilitate the expedient distribution of financial assistance to beneficiaries. Meanwhile, President Duterte thanked PHLPost for supporting the administration’s advocacies and development plan anchored on Malasakit (concern) as one of its pillars. “In fulfillment of this administration’s Ease of Doing Business agenda beyond my term, I hope that you will constantly explore innovations and strategies that will further streamline, develop, and improve government services to the people for greater efficiency,” he said. PHLPost is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the Office of the President (OP) tasked with providing postal services and deliveries in the Philippines and other nations.

Apple Presents New AR/VR Headset

Apple is finally taking on Meta, Sony, and Microsoft in the mixed-reality headset market. Executives from the tech giant previewed its upcoming headset to the company’s board, made up of Tim Cook and eight independent directors. This presentation suggests that the product, codenamed N301, could make its way into the market by the end of... Read More

Mercury Retrograde 2022 LIVE — Planet moving backward can affect your mood based on zodiac sign – how yours will react

MERCURY is in retrograde, meaning it is moving backward in the sky for the second time so far this year, and it may impact your zodiac sign. Because the planet dictates communication, travel, and technology, all of the signs can experience some chaos during a planetary retrograde. Mercury’s complete retrograde movement started on May 10 […]

What Does the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill Mean for People Living in the State?

The last state in Australia, New South Wales, has today passed its voluntary assisted dying bill. This means the vast... The post What Does the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill Mean for People Living in the State? appeared first on Lifehacker Australia.

Inflation, international unrest driving U.S. markets to bear territory

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday, deepening a slump for major indexes as persistently high inflation continues to weigh on the economy.Seth Wenig, Associated Press Record high consumer costs, rising interest rates and international unrest continue to drive investors out of many business stocks and into the perceived safe haven of government bonds, fueling further market declines.The major U.S. stock indexes were all down at the close of regular trading on Thursday following highly volatile activity on Wednesday and are collectively inching closer to the technical definition of a bear market period, the first since the onset of COVID-19.What’s happening? The S&P 500 lost .6% on Thursday and is now down 18.7% from the record high it set early this year, nearly at the 20% threshold that defines a bear market. Investors are worrying that the soaring inflation that’s hurting people shopping for groceries and filling their cars up is also walloping profits at U.S. companies. Target fell again, a day after losing a quarter of its value on a surprisingly large drop in earnings.The Nasdaq is already in a bear market, down 29.1% from its peak of 16,057.44 on Nov. 19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is more than 15% below its most recent peak.The most recent bear market for the S&P 500 ran from Feb. 19, 2020, through March 23, 2020. The index fell 34% in that one-month period. It’s the shortest bear market ever.Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine and a slowdown in China’s economy have caused investors to reconsider the prices they’re willing to pay for a wide range of stocks, from high-flying tech companies to traditional automakers. Are we headed to a recession? Earnings reports from some of America’s biggest retailers in recent days have added to concern that the highest rate of inflation in four decades is catching up with U.S. consumers and pitching the economy toward a recession, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Investors were already grappling with the end of an era of loose monetary policy that stoked big gains for stocks and other riskier assets.Per the Journal, the combination of factors has recently fed into steep losses for stocks and some corporate bonds, and many investors expect the volatility to continue. “The price action suggests it’s not over,” said Philip Saunders, a portfolio manager at Ninety One, an asset manager based in the U.K. and South Africa.Critics said the overall stock market came into the year looking pricey versus history. Big technology stocks and other winners of the pandemic were seen as the most expensive, and those stocks have been the most punished as rates have risen.Stocks have declined almost 35% on average when a bear market coincides with a recession, compared with a nearly 24% drop when the economy avoids a recession, according to Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.Why bears and bulls? Bears hibernate and bulls charge. Per CNBC, a bear market is when stock prices fall and a bull market is when prices go up. It’s easy to interpret the two terms as they are essentially opposites of one another. During a bear market, which is a steep drop in stock prices, you’ll typically also see low investor confidence and a perception that the market is risky. In a bull market, which is a continued rise in stock prices, you’ll likely see high investor confidence and a perception that there’s a strong economic environment.More specifically, however, a bear market describes any stock index or individual stock that drops 20% or more from its recent highs. A bull market, on the other hand, typically rises 20% from recent bear market lows and reaches record benchmark highs.Contributing: Associated Press

Freedom Protocol Has Become the Project With the Largest Amount of IDO in the Ecology of Binance Smart Chain

PRESS RELEASE. Binance is a curious company. the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, it also has no official headquarters and operates outside regulatory control. But that may not stop its step. Binance.US raised funding at a $4.5bn valuation this month, providing a new case for Binance enthusiasts. Today, they can share the exciting news that Freedom […]

Opposition state finance ministers welcome Supreme Court’s ruling on GST Council

Say it will arrest shift away from Constitutional scheme

EXCLUSIVE:New Adidas Headphones Powered By Sunlight Coming To OZ

Adidas in partnership with Zound Industries, is set to launch a new pair of 02 SOL headphones that can be charged by sunlight, the unique new sound gear is tipped to be available in July for around $399. The new headphones have been developed in collaboration with Swedish Company Exeger, who’s ground-breaking Powerfoyle light cell... Read More

WHO authorises China's CanSinoBIO Covid-19 vaccine

GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization on Thursday gave the green light to Chinese manufacturer CanSinoBIO’s Covid-19 vaccine — the ninth jab to get the WHO seal of approval. The WHO granted emergency use listing (EUL) authorisation to the single-shot Convidecia vaccine as China battles a resurgence of the virus triggered by the Omicron variant. It is the third Chinese-made vaccine to be approved by the UN’s health agency, after Sinovac and Sinopharm. Convidecia was found to have 64 percent efficacy against symptomatic disease and 92 percent efficacy against severe Covid-19, the WHO said. “The vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against Covid-19 and … the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh risks,” the UN health agency said in a statement. The WHO’s vaccine experts recommended it for people aged 18 and above. Convidecia may be used as a booster dose following a completed primary series using any other EUL Covid-19 vaccine, said the WHO. – Traditional vector method – The jab has already been rolled out in several countries including China, Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico and Pakistan. By the end of 2021, more than 58 million people had already been vaccinated with the jab, including nearly 14 million in China, the WHO said. The WHO has now given EUL status to nine Covid-19 vaccines and variations thereof — Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Bharat Biotech, Novavax and CanSinoBIO. Convidecia is based on a modified human adenovirus. The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines are also both based on viral vector technology. The more traditional approach uses a genetically-engineered version of the common cold adenovirus as a “vector” to shuttle genetic instructions into human cells. Convidecia “demonstrates a favourable safety profile in people across different age groups”, eliciting strong immune responses with both binding and neutralising antibodies, said the WHO. – Stamp of approval – The EUL process studies the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines and involves manufacturing site inspections. The WHO says EUL approval gives countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities assurance that the vaccine has met international standards. WHO’s listing paves the way for countries to approve and import a vaccine for distribution quickly, especially those without an international-standard regulator of their own. It also opens the door for the jabs to enter the Covax global vaccine-sharing facility, which aims to provide equitable access to doses around the world, particularly in poorer countries. The WHO began reviewing rolling data on the CanSinoBIO vaccine in August. Other vaccines are also on the path towards an EUL decision, with the WHO studying rolling data on another Sinopharm jab, and vaccines from France’s Sanofi, China’s Clover and Zhifei Longcom, and Iran’s Shifa Pharmed. The EUL process on Russia’s Sputnik V jab has stalled. Hundreds of candidate vaccines are being worked on in laboratories around the world. The WHO is aware of 156 that have been in clinical development — tested on humans — and 198 that are in the pre-clinical phase.

An Enhanced Geothermal System Uses Oil And Gas Technology To Mine Low-Carbon Energy. Part 1.

A new research program called FORGE is building a field laboratory in Utah to test new technologies that would allow commercialization of EGS.

Canada banning China’s Huawei Technologies, ZTE from 5G telecom networks

OTTAWA, ON - The Liberal government is banning Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE from Canada's long-awaited blueprint for next-generation mo...

Twitter to enhance censorship over Ukraine

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The Department of Energy to dole out $3.5 billion for carbon removal hubs

Intake fans on collector containers at the ‘Orca’ direct air capture and storage facility, operated by Climeworks AG, in Hellisheidi, Iceland, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021.  | Arnaldur Halldorsson/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Department of Energy (DOE) just launched a new $3.5 billion program to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it away. The program focuses on developing four “hubs” across the country focused on direct air capture, the technology that draws CO2 out of the air. Each of the hubs is ultimately supposed to be able to capture and store at least a million metric tons of CO2. That’s a massive endeavor. Currently, all the direct air capture facilities in the world only have the capacity to capture about 0.01 million metric tons of CO2. Today, the DOE filed a Notice of Intent — a kind of official “heads-up” — that says that they’ll be making a funding announcement related to those hubs “in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2022.” At that point, companies can apply for funds to develop projects that will “contribute to the development” of those hubs. The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year and is supposed to be deployed between 2022 and 2026. The Biden administration is billing this effort as part of its plan to reduce the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent this decade compared to 2005 pollution levels. By lumping different projects together into hubs, they can cut costs and scale up quickly For projects to be eligible for the funding, they have to meet certain criteria. They need to be able to permanently store the CO2, rather than using it in products like fizzy drinks. That ensures that the greenhouse gas doesn’t quickly wind up in the atmosphere again. The DOE is also barring any projects that would use the captured CO2 to produce more fossil fuels. That excludes the oil and gas industry’s “enhanced oil recovery,” a technique that involves shooting captured carbon dioxide into the ground to force out hard-to-reach oil reserves. The exact locations of the hubs haven’t been decided yet, but the government hopes that by lumping different projects together into hubs, they can cut costs and scale up quickly. Ideally, different facilities would be able to share the same infrastructure — i.e., pipelines to transport the captured CO2 to somewhere it can be stored nearby. The plan is for at least two of the hubs to be located in “economically distressed communities in the regions of the United States with high levels of coal, oil, or natural gas resources.” Some advocates from communities already surrounded by a lot of polluting facilities, however, are wary about carbon removal projects burdening them with even more industrial infrastructure. The DOE said in its announcement that it would consult communities that might be affected. It looks like the Gulf Coast could be a prime candidate The DOE will also be looking for regions with other kinds of heavily polluting industry. While this round of funding excludes similar technologies that scrub CO2 out of smokestack emissions instead of the ambient air, siting these different technologies near each other might also allow them all to share the same pipelines to cut down costs. And since the oil and gas industry has experience with building pipelines, including those for CO2, having that expertise nearby could come in handy during the build-out of these hubs. Taking all that into consideration, it looks like the Gulf Coast could be a prime candidate for such hubs since it has a long history with oil, gas, and petrochemicals. On top of that, there’s already speculation that oil and gas companies are eyeing the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico as a place to deposit captured CO2. We’ll likely learn more about the project in the funding announcement later this year.

AI’s role is poised to change monumentally in 2022 and beyond

We are in the early days of what it's going to look like when we're supported by ambient computing tools all the time.

Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc. Announces Closing of US$17 Million Firm Commitment Initial Public Offering

Markham, Canada, May 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: VEDU), a private education provider located in Canada that offers high-quality education resources to students around the globe, today announced the closing of its initial public offering (the “Offering”) of 4,250,000 common shares at a public offering price… The post Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc. Announces Closing of US$17 Million Firm Commitment Initial Public Offering appeared first on DKODING.