A report by the UK’s Electoral Commission has called for urgent changes in the law to increase transparency about how digital tools are being used for political campaigning, warning that an atmosphere of mistrust is threatening the democratic process. The oversight body, which also regulates campaign spending, has spent the past year examining how digital campaigning was used in the UK’s 2016 EU referendum and 2017 general election — as well as researching public opinion to get voters’ views on digital campaigning issues. Among the changes the Commission wants to see is greater clarity around election spending to try to prevent…
Author: geekfenceblogger
There’s nothing we love more than the excitement of Startup Battlefield, unless it’s bringing the world’s best early-stage startup pitch competition to a new region for the first time. And guess what? Thanks to Facebook, we’re heading to Beirut to showcase amazing entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa! The search is on for the very best entrepreneurial tech minds and makers in the region to compete in the inaugural TechCrunch Startup Battlefield MENA 2018. The competition takes place on October 3 at the Beirut Digital District in the very heart of Lebanon’s dynamic startup scene. Applications are now open, so apply…
Nintendo is building on its strange but wonderful cardboard Labo platform with some sweet Mario Kart integration and a truly fabulous limited edition Switch with a faux-cardboard finish. It really is just the greatest thing and I would do terrible things to have it. Unfortunately some smart kid will probably get it, because you have to win it by designing something cool with Labo. So, first the Mario Kart stuff. If you have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch, and you really should because it’s excellent, you can now use the Toy-Con (buildable with the Labo Variety Kit) as…
Tim Cook at an Apple event in 2016. At Fortune’s CEO Initiative event today, Tim Cook shared his opinion on a number of contentious issues, including immigration, political news and smartphone addiction. Here are some highlights from his conversation with Fortune executive editor Adam Lashinsky. On companies taking a stance on public policy and other politically charged issues, including the Trump administration’s separations of migrant families at United States-Mexico border, which Cook recently condemned as “inhumane”: “Apple is about changing the world. It became clear to me some number of years ago that you don’t do that by staying quiet…
As part of its Ground X-Vehicle Technologies program, DARPA is showcasing some new defense vehicle tech that’s as futuristic as it is practical. One of the innovations, a reconfigurable wheel-track, comes out of Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center in partnership with DARPA. The wheel-track is just one of a handful of designs meant to improve survivability of combat vehicles beyond just up-armoring them. As you can see in the video, the reconfigurable wheel-track demonstrates a seamless transition between a round wheel shape and a triangular track in about two seconds and the shift between its two modes can…
Pack those bags, TechCrunch is taking a road trip. We’re hosting an event at Hangzhou’s Yunqi Town International Convention and Exhibition Center, July 2 and 3, featuring some of China’s top names in technology. The event kicks off Monday July 2, with a conversation featuring Alibaba Cloud co-founder Wang Jian. We’ve also got interviews with a range of tech executives from Microsoft China, Rokid and Ecovac robotics, covering a wide range of topics, from VC funding in China to AI and robotics. You’ll find the full schedule for both days over here. The event will also feature multiple side stages with numerous panels…
Prosthetic limbs are getting better and more personalized, but useful as they are, they’re still a far cry from the real thing. This new prosthetic ankle is a little closer than others, though: it moves on its own, adapting to its user’s gait and the surface on which it lands. Your ankle does a lot of work when you walk: lifting your toe out of the way so you don’t scuff it on the ground, controlling the tilt of your foot to minimize the shock when it lands or as you adjust your weight, all while conforming to bumps and…
In a news release today, the FDA announced its approval of a marijuana-derived drug called Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures in a subset of patients suffering from severe epilepsy. Epidiolex contains CBD, a cannabis chemical compound skyrocketing in popularity and driving what is estimated to have doubled into a $200 million market in 2018. CBD is the common abbreviation for cannabidiol, a chemical derived from cannabis. In contrast to THC, the far more popular cannabinoid CBD does not produce strong psychoactive effects when consumed. The chemical’s use in seizure prevention is well-documented in reputable research, and now, after conducting its own…
Dementia, the syndrome caused by several brain illnesses affecting memory, motor skills, thinking, and behavior, affects 47 million people around the world and is projected to afflict 75 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization. It’s a syndrome that’s not only debilitating for the people who live with it but also for their families and caregivers. According to statistics from WHO the economic cost of dementia is roughly $818 billion. Yet, it’s also one 6that’s the most poorly understood by researchers. Now, thanks to a $60 million commitment from the US AARP, a London-based fund has closed with…
The pace of iOS innovation has been so intense that even Apple couldn’t keep up. In some ways, iOS 11’s main feature was that it was packed with bugs, with autocorrect bugs, messages arriving out of order and the Calculator app not calculating properly. iOS 12 is a nice change of pace. “For iOS 12, we’re doubling down on performance,” Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said at WWDC. While there are a few interesting new features, iOS 12 isn’t a splashy release like the ones that were released over the past few years. It doesn’t change the way…