Author: geekfenceblogger
In the city, we’re constantly saturated with the radio waves from 10 or 20 different routers, cell towers and other wireless infrastructure. But in rural communities there might only be one internet connection for a whole village. Libre Router is a hardware and software project that looks to let those communities build their own modern, robust mesh networks to make the most of their limited connectivity. The intended use case is in situations where, say, a satellite or wired connection terminates at one point, the center of an area, but the people who need to use it live nearby —…
A new study by Amnesty International and Element AI puts number to a problem many women already know about: that Twitter is a cesspool of harassment and abuse. Conducted with the help of 6,500 volunteers, the study, billed by Amnesty International as “the largest ever” into online abuse against women, used machine-learning software from Element AI to analyze tweets sent to a sample of 778 women politicians and journalists during 2017. It found that 7.1%, or 1.1 million, of those tweets were either “problematic” or “abusive,” which Amnesty International said amounts to one abusive tweet sent every 30 seconds. On…
Soon it will be easier for people without Google accounts to collaborate on G Suite documents. Currently in beta, a new feature will enable G Suite users to invite people without G Suite subscriptions or Google accounts to work on files by sending them a pin code. Using the pin code to gain access allows invitees to view, comment on, suggest edits to, or directly edit Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The owners and admins of the G Suite files monitor usage through activity logs and can revoke access at any time. According to the feature’s support article, admins are…
At first, “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” might seem like an afterthought — or maybe a failed exercise in franchise-building. This new take on the story of Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book” comes just two years after Disney’s version made nearly a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Plus, it seemed a little strange for director Andy Serkis to say he’d respect the “darkness” of the source material — this is, after all, a talking animal story. And Warner Bros’ last-minute decision to sell “Mowgli” to Netflix didn’t exactly suggest that it had much confidence in the film. But as we argue…
On the heels of a dire government report published last month about climate change and its devastating impacts, many cities and states are scrambling to find ways to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that threaten their air quality, not to mention their economies. As is often the case, California is leading the charge, yesterday becoming the first state to mandate that mass transit agencies purchase fully electric buses only beginning in 2029, and that public transit routes be populated by electric buses alone by 2040. The new rule is expected to require the production and purchase of more than 14,000…
Walker & Company Brands, a startup making health and beauty products for people of color, has been acquired by consumer giant Procter & Gamble. The company was founded five years ago by Tristan Walker, who previously led business development for Foursquare, and who aimed to create products that would better serve the needs of people of color with coarse or curly hair. Walker & Co. started out with its Bevel shaving products for men, then launched Form, a collection of hair products for women. P&G says the acquisition will help it “better serve consumers of color around the world.” Walker…
Wix is taking a big step beyond website building today with the launch of a suite of products called Ascend. PR Manager Matt Rosenberg explained that just as Wix was founded with the aim of “demystifying and democratizing how you get online,” Ascend has a similar mission: “You don’t have to be a developer and designer to bring the same thing to business management and marketing.” Other website builders like Squarespace and Weebly (now owned by Square) have also introduced marketing tools, but Ascend seems like a particularly ambitious expansion, encompassing 20 products in areas like chat, memberships, email marketing…
GPP Photo Week 2019 starts on February 4 and will run until February 9. The theme for 2019’s edition is Get Closer. Photo Week will include a comprehensive lineup of workshops and programmes by acclaimed regional and international photographers Fujifilm Photo Friday makes its return with an ambitious line up of talks and events including a panel featuring local photographers: Aqib Anwar, Altamash Javed and Huda Bin Redha. GPP also announces the inaugural GPP Scholarship available to photographers from the MENASA region. Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 11 December 2018 | Gulf Photo Plus (GPP),…