Signal tried to use Facebook's targeted advertising data against it

Facebook runs a massively successful digital advertising operation on the back of its granular categories based on user behavior. Yet, many of the people who actively use its services aren't aware of how the social network shares their data with advertisers. To shed light on the issue, privacy-focused messaging app Signal tried to use Facebook's targeted ad machine against it. However, what may have started as activism-meets-self-promotion has since boiled over into a full-blown spat, with both companies disputing each other's version of events. READ MORE

American factories are desperate for workers

Demand for goods is skyrocketing as the US economy reopens from the pandemic. But there's a big problem: American factories can't find enough people to do the work.

Even though US manufacturing activity surged to a 37-year high in March, the industry has more than half a million job openings. Factories are struggling to find skilled workers for specialized roles such as welders and machinists. Manufacturers are even having trouble hiring entry-level positions that do not require expertise. READ MORE

Musk trolls Bezos as space race between world’s richest men heats up

The space race between the world’s two richest men went into hyperdrive on Tuesday after Tesla chief Elon Musk took a swipe at Jeff Bezos’ attempt to challenge a major NASA contract.

The two billionaires, who have been trying to launch long-range orbital rockets, were competing for a coveted contract from the government to build a spaceship to deliver astronauts to the moon as early as 2024.

Musk won. Bezos was not happy. READ MORE

Fake LinkedIn profiles can be used to trick you into sharing secrets

Fake LinkedIn profiles pose a risk to members who could be duped into sharing sensitive secrets on the popular Microsoft-owned professional networking platform, a BBC report says.

The UK’s MI5 security service said that over the past five years at least 10,000 UK nationals have been targeted by fake LinkedIn profiles connected to hostile nation-state actors, according to the BBC. READ MORE

6 things you must do if you’re planning to work remotely permanently

The “next normal” is officially setting in, especially when it comes to remote work. Simform’s 2021 Remote Work Survey found that 82% of surveyed companies plan to allow their employees to work from home indefinitely and 77% want to make this a permanent solution. 

Even some of the largest corporations in the world such as Facebook, Spotify, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitter, and Slack have rolled out plans for a long-term remote workforce beyond just 2021.  READ MORE

How One Small Startup Is Tackling Apple’s Big AirPods Problem

Even kindergartners know that when you make a mess, you have to clean it up. Alas, in the case of tech companies and the countless millions of wireless earbuds they produce, the mess is a burgeoning eco-disaster (for a deeper dive, see this blog post). Apple’s AirPods, which may last only a few years due to their small batteries, are a notorious example. That’s what makes Podswap, a startup that puts new batteries in otherwise dead AirPods, so enticing. Not only can this company bring your useless, headed-to-the-landfill AirPods back to life, but it is also challenging Apple and other big tech manufacturers to offer more-sustainable product designs and better practices to support them. READ MORE

EU outlines ambitious AI regulations focused on risky uses

Risky uses of artificial intelligence that threaten people’s safety or rights such as live facial scanning should be banned or tightly controlled, European Union officials said Wednesday as they outlined an ambitious package of proposed regulations to rein in the rapidly expanding technology.

The draft regulations from the EU’s executive commission include rules for applications deemed high risk such as AI systems to filter out school, job or loan applicants. They would also ban artificial intelligence outright in a few cases considered too risky, such as government “social scoring” systems that judge people based on their behavior. READ MORE

Foxconn's giant factory in Wisconsin sounded too good to be true. Turns out it was

When first announced in 2017, Foxconn's plan to build a massive electronics factory in Wisconsin was hailed by then-President Donald Trump as a sign of the rebirth of American manufacturing.

But nearly four years later, the complex that promised to create a Silicon Valley in the industrial Midwest is essentially a white elephant, a collection of mostly empty buildings without any high-tech products to build. READ MORE

Is the US recovery approaching its peak?

Bolstered by strong data, investors are expressing plenty of faith in the power of the global economic recovery. But what if this spring is as good as it gets?

What's happening: Goldman Sachs (GS) analysts predict that US economic growth will slow after the April-to-June period this year. Meanwhile, Covid-19 infections are rising dramatically in crucial economies like India, forcing local officials to enact new lockdown measures, while recent figures from China indicate that its recovery could be losing steam. READ MORE