NATO doesn’t rule out further expansion
From RT
The US-led alliance has promised to leave an open door for new potential members in Europe NATO has reaffirmed its open-door policy on Wednesday, saying that it will continue to welcome other countries’ aspirations to join the US-led alliance. NATO leaders outlined their policies during the summit in Washington, DC, which marked the 75th anniversary […]
Jul 10th 2024 9:48pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600831-nato-open-door-balkans/
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Report finds most subscription services manipulate customers with 'dark patterns'
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Most subscription sites use "dark patterns" to influence customer behavior around subscriptions and personal data, according to a pair of new reports from global consumer protection groups. Dark patterns are "practices commonly found in online user interfaces [that] steer, deceive, coerce or manipulate consumers into making choices that often are not in their best interests." The international research efforts were conducted by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN).
The ICPEN conducted the review of 642 websites and mobile apps with a subscription component. The assessment revealed one dark pattern in use at almost 76 percent of the platforms, and multiple dark patterns at play in almost 68 percent of them. One of the most common dark patterns discovered was sneaking, where a company makes potentially negative information difficult to find. ICPEN said 81 percent of the platforms with automatic subscription renewal kept the ability for a buyer to turn off auto-renewal out of the purchase flow. Other dark patterns for subscription services included interface interference, where desirable actions are easier to perform, and forced action, where customers have to provide information to access a particular function.
The companion report from GPEN examined dark patterns that could encourage users to compromise their privacy. In this review, nearly all of the more than 1,000 websites and apps surveyed used a deceptive design practice. More than 89 percent of them used complex and confusing language in their privacy policies. Interface interference was another key offender here, with 57 percent of the platforms making the least protective privacy option the easiest to choose and 42 percent using emotionally charged language that could influence users.
Even the most savvy of us can be influenced by these subtle cues to make suboptimal decisions. Those decisions might be innocuous ones, like forgetting that you've set a service to auto-renew, or they might put you at risk by encouraging you to reveal more personal information than needed. The reports didn't specify whether the dark patterns were used in illicit or illegal ways, only that they were present. The dual release is a stark reminder that digital literacy is an essential skill.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/report-finds-most-subscription-services-manipulate-customers-with-dark-patterns-225640057.htmlhttps://www.engadget.com/report-finds-most-subscription-services-manipulate-customers-with-dark-patterns-225640057.html
Luxembourg signs security deal with Ukraine
From RT
Kiev has already sealed similar deals with several NATO members, including the US and Britain Kiev signed a security deal with Luxembourg on Wednesday, with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky describing the agreement as “political and value-based cooperation.” Luxembourg is a small duchy with a population of 672,000 people, which shares borders with France, Germany, and […]
Jul 10th 2024 7:06pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600829-luxembourg-ukraine-security-deal/
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West ‘stunned’ by weakness of its military industry – US senator
From RT
The Ukraine conflict demands much more money, Jim Risch (R-Idaho) has said The conflict in Ukraine has revealed problems with war-related industrial production in the West that need to be fixed, US Senator Jim Risch of Idaho has said. Risch is the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He made the remark during […]
Jul 10th 2024 6:08pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600828-risch-weakness-defense-industry/
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George Clooney asks Biden to step aside
From RT
Democrats are “not going to win in November with this president,” the Hollywood star has warned Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race ahead of the November election, Hollywood star and self-described “lifelong Democrat” George Clooney wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Times published on Wednesday. The US president has been […]
Jul 10th 2024 4:50pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600827-george-clooney-biden-quit-race/
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US spies resurrect ‘Russiagate’ claims
From RT
America’s intelligence agencies have alleged for the third election in a row that Moscow favors Donald Trump Russia is attempting to sway the US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump, American intelligence officials have claimed. Similar allegations by US spies over the last eight years have been proven false. In a briefing to reporters […]
Jul 10th 2024 3:52pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600824-russiagate-election-interference-trump/
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Apple retakes crown as world’s most valuable company
From RT
The tech titan’s stock has soared since it unveiled artificial intelligence features for its devices last month US consumer electronics giant Apple on Wednesday retained the position as the world’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of over $3.5 trillion, according to Nasdaq data. As of 18:30 GMT, the iPhone maker’s stock was trading […]
Jul 10th 2024 2:46pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/business/600816-apple-market-capitalization-record-high/
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Apple retakes crown as world’s most valuable company
From RT
The tech titan’s stock has soared since it unveiled artificial intelligence features for its devices last month US consumer electronics giant Apple on Wednesday retained the position as the world’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of over $3.5 trillion, according to Nasdaq data. As of 18:30 GMT, the iPhone maker’s stock was trading […]
Jul 10th 2024 2:46pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/business/600816-apple-market-capitalization-record-high/
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Ukraine won’t get NATO invite – Norwegian PM
From RT
The bloc will reportedly pledge more money for Kiev and support for EU integration instead NATO will once again stop short of asking Kiev to become a member, but will acknowledge Ukraine’s desire to eventually do so, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Store spoke to reporters in Washington on Wednesday, as NATO […]
Jul 10th 2024 2:08pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600822-ukraine-no-nato-membership/
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Ukraine won’t get NATO invite – Norwegian PM
From RT
The bloc will reportedly pledge more money for Kiev and support for EU integration instead NATO will once again stop short of asking Kiev to become a member, but will acknowledge Ukraine’s desire to eventually do so, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Store spoke to reporters in Washington on Wednesday, as NATO […]
Jul 10th 2024 2:08pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600822-ukraine-no-nato-membership/
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Macron accuses Israeli official of election interference – media
From RT
Israel’s diaspora affairs minister backed the French leader’s right-wing opponents ahead of last weekend’s vote French President Emmanuel Macron has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complain about “unacceptable” interference in France’s recent election by one of his ministers, Axios has reported. Speaking to Israel’s Kan broadcaster earlier this month, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister […]
Jul 10th 2024 1:52pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600821-macron-netanyahu-election-call/
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Environmental groups accuse Amazon of ‘distorting the truth’ in latest clean-energy claim
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On Wednesday, Amazon claimed that it reached its goal of sourcing all its power from clean energy sources in the past year. If taken at face value, the announcement would mean it hit the milestone seven years ahead of schedule, which would be a monumental achievement. But environmental experts speaking to The New York Times, including a group of concerned Amazon employees, warn that the company is “misleading the public by distorting the truth.”
The company’s claim of achieving 100 percent clean electricity is based in part on billion-dollar investments in over 500 solar and wind initiatives. The company’s logic is that the energy these projects generate equals the electricity its data centers consume — ergo, even Steven.
But the renewable energy sources it uses for those calculations are fed into a general power grid, not exclusively into Amazon’s operations. Environmental experts caution that the company is using “accounting and marketing to make itself look good,” as The New York Times put it.
“Amazon wants us to think of its data centers as surrounded by wind and solar farms,” the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice wrote in a statement to The NYT. “[But] the reality is the company is heavily investing in data center expansions fueled by West Virginian coal, Saudi Arabian oil and Canadian fracked gas.”
Amazon
Clean energy experts say Amazon’s inclusion of renewable energy certificates (RECs) in its calculations can be highly misleading. This is because if any power plants on a grid burn fossil fuels, businesses can’t know that the grid uses only clean energy. The Amazon employee group told The New York Times that, after subtracting the company’s use of RECs in its calculations, its clean-energy investment was “just a fraction of what was publicized.”
“Buying a bunch of RECs doesn’t help anything,” Leah Stokes, associate professor of environmental politics at UC Santa Barbara, told The NYT. “You just have to be investing in real projects.”
To be fair, any movement toward clean energy should be applauded. Amazon still received a “B” grade from the nonprofit CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), which was lower than Google and Microsoft’s “A” but still a passing grade. The problem comes when companies use the smoke and mirrors more often associated with marketing and PR to mislead the public into believing they’re doing more for the environment than they are.
“A company needs to actually outline, what are the sources that you are accounting for in that calculation?” Simon Fischweicher, a CDP director, told The NYT.
With the meteoric rise of AI and the financial pressures to compete in this new gold rush, companies are now reshuffling their decks and finding new ways to meet their climate goals. However, if that shakeup offers less tangible movement and more weasel words and sketchy logic, then that’s creating a new problem on top of their alleged solutions for a genuine crisis.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/environmental-groups-accuse-amazon-of-distorting-the-truth-in-latest-clean-energy-claim-170633705.htmlhttps://www.engadget.com/environmental-groups-accuse-amazon-of-distorting-the-truth-in-latest-clean-energy-claim-170633705.html
Ep 283 An Oral History of A Next American Revolution 1
May 26
Episode 283 of RevolutionZ, An Oral History of A Next American Revolution is the first epsode of what hopes to be a Sequence of 14 episodes based on excerpts from a book in progress in which Miguel Guevara interviews 18 revolutionaries from from a future parallel earth that is shifted 28 years forward from our own earth. The text excerpts will be published earlier in each week that each audio episode appears. The audio RevolutionZ episodes include the text material plus spontaneous reactions to it including questions, criticisms, elaborations, and clarifications that I deliver on my first hearing the material. This week has a foreword to the book by your RevolutionZ host, an introduction by Miguel Guevara the book's co-author, plus the book's first chapter which features a look forward to just after inauguration day 2048, plus many host interjections. What is the point of such a strange and risky project? To provide for discussion, evaluation, and refinement a realistic account of a possible next American Revolution's aims, methods, .and lessons as discerned by a set of its very prominent and effective participants.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep-283-oral-of-1-104975594
Episode 281 of RevolutionZ has Avi Chomsky as guest to discuss current campus and community activism, colonialism, nation states, immigration, borders, lessons from Central America and the Global South, and the role of students, labor, and religious organizations in sustaining resistance. We consider the logical and emotional innards of dissent, where strategic pursuit of immediate relief intersects with a longer term quest for societal transformation.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/104104719
Sony reveals the more vlogger-friendly ZV-E10 II
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It's been three years since Sony debuted the ZV-E10, a camera it targeted at vloggers, so it's high time that model got some upgrades. The company just announced the mirrorless ZV-E10 II. Sony says this variant adds some new features while retaining those that creators liked from the original, including a background defocus capability and the vari-angle flip screen.
The ZV-E10 II has a 26MP Exmor R CMOS sensor, an upgrade from the 24MP sensor in the original model. The larger-capacity battery (the NP-FZ100 found in some full-frame Sony cameras) may be a more compelling update. Sony claims that, with this battery, users will be able to shoot up to 195 minutes of video continuously.
Other features include a cinematic vlog setting that automatically optimizes the aspect ratio, frame rate and autofocus transition speed for a more cinematic look to videos, Sony claims. There's also a new vertical-oriented user interface and upgraded "connectivity for easy live streaming and data transfer," according to the company. All of this and the camera still weighs just 377 grams.
The ZV-E10 II will be available at the end of this month and it will cost $999 for the body only. If you'd prefer a $1,099 bundle with a new PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens, you'll need to wait until early August. The lightweight kit lens offers autofocus and video performance improvements over the previous version, according to Sony.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-reveals-the-more-vlogger-friendly-zv-e10-ii-163122315.htmlhttps://www.engadget.com/sony-reveals-the-more-vlogger-friendly-zv-e10-ii-163122315.html
Orban asks Erdogan to support his Ukraine peace initiative
From RT
The Hungarian prime minister has described the Turkish president as the only leader with success in mediating the conflict Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to join him in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict. The two leaders met on the sidelines of […]
Jul 10th 2024 12:19pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600819-orban-erdogan-ukraine-peace/
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Ukraine deports visiting German MP
From RT
The Left’s Soren Pellmann was turned away without an explanation A German lawmaker who tried to visit Ukraine was detained by border police and sent back without explanation. Soren Pellmann of the Left Party said he was deported despite an intervention by the German embassy in Kiev. Pellmann is one of the leading Left members […]
Jul 10th 2024 12:14pm EDT
Source Link: https://www.rt.com/news/600812-german-mp-ukraine-deported/
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Amazon's Kindle Scribe drops to a new record-low ahead of Prime Day
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Amazon Prime Day doesn’t officially start until July 16, but early deals have been trickling in for days. For instance, the well-reviewed Kindle Scribe e-reader is on sale for $235 and includes the company’s Basic Pen stylus thingamajig. All told, that’s a discount of $105, making this a record-low price. The downside? This deal’s only for Prime members.
The Kindle Scribe easily made our list of the best E-ink tablets. It would have nabbed the top spot, if not for the exorbitant original asking price and some stiff competition from the reMarkable 2. However, this deal makes the Scribe much cheaper than comparable products.
We called the e-reader “better than pen and paper” in our official review, specifically mentioning the low latency between stylus and tablet and the premium exterior design. The Scribe is my personal e-reader of choice and I’ve stared at that thing for hundreds and hundreds of hours. I love it, but mostly as an e-reader. The extra screen real estate just feels more like reading a newly-released hardcover than those diminutive tablets out there. It’s also, oddly, easy to hold with one hand when needed, despite the relatively large form factor.
The writing part works great. It’s a seamless experience. I just don’t really use it. My handwriting is atrocious and after drawing a few pizza slices in the note-taking app, I kind of got bored. If note-taking is your bag, this certainly gets the job done. However, sharing these notes could be a bit more intuitive. There’s no handwriting-to-text conversion algorithm and the software automatically syncs the notes as image files, but the only real option for editing after the fact is to convert to a PDF and head into something like Evernote.
However, this is a Kindle. The digital shop is the best in the business with the biggest selection of titles. I look at the Scribe this way. I have the best e-reader on the market, in my opinion, and the note-taking stuff, well, that’s just like a nice little bonus.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-kindle-scribe-drops-to-a-new-record-low-ahead-of-prime-day-160955437.htmlhttps://www.engadget.com/amazons-kindle-scribe-drops-to-a-new-record-low-ahead-of-prime-day-160955437.html
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