This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCorrection: Twitter penalized Team Trump, the president’s campaign account. An earlier version of this article said that Twitter penalized President Trump’s account. Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday took extraordinary action against President Trump for spreading coronavirus misinformation after his official and campaign accounts broke their rules, respectively.Facebook removed from Trump’s official account the post of a video clip from a Fox News interview in which he said children are “almost immune” from covid-19....…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCorrection: Twitter penalized Team Trump, the president’s campaign account. An earlier version of this article said that Twitter penalized President Trump’s account. Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday took extraordinary action against President Trump for spreading coronavirus misinformation after his official and campaign accounts broke their rules, respectively.Facebook removed from Trump’s official account the post of a video clip from a Fox News interview in which he said children are “almost immune” from covid-19....WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area was supposed to be exceptional.It was one of the to fully shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nearly everyone wears masks, in stores and on streets. Its progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules, and there’s a high level of trust in public health officials, local governments and the fast-changing science.But now, more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, the Bay Area is experiencing a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area was supposed to be exceptional.It was one of the to fully shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nearly everyone wears masks, in stores and on streets. Its progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules, and there’s a high level of trust in public health officials, local governments and the fast-changing science.But now, more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, the Bay Area is experiencing a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoListenNaN minCommentGift ShareAmazon has a new health-tracking bracelet with a microphone and an app that tells you everything that’s wrong with you.You haven’t exercised or slept enough, reports . Your body has too much fat, the Halo’s app shows in a 3-D rendering of your near-naked body.And even: Your tone of voice is “overbearing” or “irritated,” the Halo determines, after listening through its tiny microphone on your wrist.We hope our tone is clear here: We don’t need this kind of criticism from a computer. The Halo collects the most...…This article was published more than 2 years agoListenNaN minCommentGift ShareAmazon has a new health-tracking bracelet with a microphone and an app that tells you everything that’s wrong with you.You haven’t exercised or slept enough, reports . Your body has too much fat, the Halo’s app shows in a 3-D rendering of your near-naked body.And even: Your tone of voice is “overbearing” or “irritated,” the Halo determines, after listening through its tiny microphone on your wrist.We hope our tone is clear here: We don’t need this kind of criticism from a computer. The Halo collects the most...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFacebook is embarking on a major overhaul of its algorithms that detect hate speech, according to internal documents, reversing years of so-called “race-blind” practices.Those practices resulted in the company being more vigilant about removing slurs lobbed against White users while flagging and deleting innocuous posts by people of color on the platform.The overhaul, which is known as the WoW Project and is in its early stages, involves re-engineering Facebook’s automated moderation systems to get better at detecting and...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFacebook is embarking on a major overhaul of its algorithms that detect hate speech, according to internal documents, reversing years of so-called “race-blind” practices.Those practices resulted in the company being more vigilant about removing slurs lobbed against White users while flagging and deleting innocuous posts by people of color on the platform.The overhaul, which is known as the WoW Project and is in its early stages, involves re-engineering Facebook’s automated moderation systems to get better at detecting and...WW…

Gift ShareDemocrats and Republicans grilled Facebook, Google and Twitter at a highly partisan congressional hearing Wednesday that exposed differing views and deep distrust about the power of Silicon Valley to police the web.Senate lawmakers had invited the three tech giants’ top executives to testify as part of a broad review of decades-old federal laws known as Section 230 that spare social media sites from being held liable for the posts, photos and videos they allow or remove. Many members of Congress increasingly have come to see the rules as outdated, and Facebook chief executive Mark...…Gift ShareDemocrats and Republicans grilled Facebook, Google and Twitter at a highly partisan congressional hearing Wednesday that exposed differing views and deep distrust about the power of Silicon Valley to police the web.Senate lawmakers had invited the three tech giants’ top executives to testify as part of a broad review of decades-old federal laws known as Section 230 that spare social media sites from being held liable for the posts, photos and videos they allow or remove. Many members of Congress increasingly have come to see the rules as outdated, and Facebook chief executive Mark...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIt was all hands on deck at Cal Fire’s headquarters in Sacramento on Saturday, where the agency’s top lawyer was pitching in answering phones.“I can’t sit at home and watch what’s going on. I have to do something,” said chief counsel Bruce Crane, 61, who was a firefighter in the 1980s. Back then, he and his colleagues thought a 50,000-acre fire was big, so the current 314,207-acre fire across Napa, Lake, Solano and Sonoma counties is “just mind-bogglingly huge,” Crane said.The heat wave and lightning-sparked barrage of...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIt was all hands on deck at Cal Fire’s headquarters in Sacramento on Saturday, where the agency’s top lawyer was pitching in answering phones.“I can’t sit at home and watch what’s going on. I have to do something,” said chief counsel Bruce Crane, 61, who was a firefighter in the 1980s. Back then, he and his colleagues thought a 50,000-acre fire was big, so the current 314,207-acre fire across Napa, Lake, Solano and Sonoma counties is “just mind-bogglingly huge,” Crane said.The heat wave and lightning-sparked barrage of...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The cityscape resembles the surface of a distant planet, populated by a masked alien culture. The air, choked with blown ash, is difficult to breathe.There is the Golden Gate Bridge, looming in the distance through a drift-smoke haze, and the Salesforce Tower, which against the blood-orange sky appears as a colossal spaceship in a doomsday film.San Francisco, and much of California, has never been like this.California has become a warming, burning, epidemic-challenged and expensive state, with many who...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — The cityscape resembles the surface of a distant planet, populated by a masked alien culture. The air, choked with blown ash, is difficult to breathe.There is the Golden Gate Bridge, looming in the distance through a drift-smoke haze, and the Salesforce Tower, which against the blood-orange sky appears as a colossal spaceship in a doomsday film.San Francisco, and much of California, has never been like this.California has become a warming, burning, epidemic-challenged and expensive state, with many who...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSAN FRANCISCO - The cityscape resembles the surface of a distant planet, populated by a masked alien culture. The air, choked with blown ash, is difficult to breathe.There is the Golden Gate Bridge, looming in the distance through a drift-smoke haze, and the Salesforce Tower, which against the blood-orange sky appears as a colossal spaceship in a doomsday film.San Francisco, and much of California, has never been like this.California has become a warming, burning, epidemic-challenged and expensive state, with many who live in...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSAN FRANCISCO - The cityscape resembles the surface of a distant planet, populated by a masked alien culture. The air, choked with blown ash, is difficult to breathe.There is the Golden Gate Bridge, looming in the distance through a drift-smoke haze, and the Salesforce Tower, which against the blood-orange sky appears as a colossal spaceship in a doomsday film.San Francisco, and much of California, has never been like this.California has become a warming, burning, epidemic-challenged and expensive state, with many who live in...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — Apple is replacing its smallest phone with a new, larger second-generation iPhone SE, . That’s bad news for some fans of the original, such as Derek Wessman.The 40-year-old language interpreter is on his third SE, which he bought when it was released in 2016. But he also has a backup stashed at his home in Japan, and he plans to buy a few more to stockpile from his supplier, a specialty repair shop in Tokyo.“I always tell people, the unsheathed SE is the phone Steve Jobs intended and that’s why it’s a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareSAN FRANCISCO — Apple is replacing its smallest phone with a new, larger second-generation iPhone SE, . That’s bad news for some fans of the original, such as Derek Wessman.The 40-year-old language interpreter is on his third SE, which he bought when it was released in 2016. But he also has a backup stashed at his home in Japan, and he plans to buy a few more to stockpile from his supplier, a specialty repair shop in Tokyo.“I always tell people, the unsheathed SE is the phone Steve Jobs intended and that’s why it’s a...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAmazon has a new health-tracking bracelet with a microphone and an app that tells you everything that's wrong with you.You haven't exercised or slept enough, reports Amazon's $65 Halo Band. Your body has too much fat, the Halo's app shows in a 3-D rendering of your near-naked body.And even: Your tone of voice is "overbearing" or "irritated," the Halo determines, after listening through its tiny microphone on your wrist.Hope our tone is clear here: We don't need this kind of criticism from a computer. The Halo collects the most...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAmazon has a new health-tracking bracelet with a microphone and an app that tells you everything that's wrong with you.You haven't exercised or slept enough, reports Amazon's $65 Halo Band. Your body has too much fat, the Halo's app shows in a 3-D rendering of your near-naked body.And even: Your tone of voice is "overbearing" or "irritated," the Halo determines, after listening through its tiny microphone on your wrist.Hope our tone is clear here: We don't need this kind of criticism from a computer. The Halo collects the most...WW…