Category: Technology

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

YouTube revealed that it has removed more than one million videos with “dangerous coronavirus misinformation” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The statement by the Google-owned video platform comes as social media platforms are under fire from political leaders for failing to stem the spread of false and harmful misinformation and disinformation about the virus and other topics.

YouTube said in a blog post it relies on “expert consensus from health organizations,” including the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, but noted that, in some cases, “misinformation is less clear-cut” as new facts emerge.

“Our policies center on the removal of any videos that can directly lead to egregious real world harm,” chief product officer Neal Mohan wrote.

“Since February of 2020, we’ve removed over one million videos related to dangerous coronavirus information, like false cures or claims of a hoax,” he said.

“In the midst of a global pandemic, everyone should be armed with absolutely the best information available to keep themselves and their families safe.”

YouTube said it was working to accelerate the process for removing videos with misinformation while simultaneously delivering those from authoritative sources.

Mohan said the platform currently removes close to 10 million videos per quarter and that the majority of them have been watched less than 10 times.

“Speedy removals will always be important but we know they’re not nearly enough… The most important thing we can do is increase the good and decrease the bad,” he said.

“When people now search for news or information, they get results optimized for quality, not for how sensational the content might be.”

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Google is helping users from Data theft Under the law ‘right to be forgotten’ — first introduced in 2014 by the European Union (EU) — citizens of the EU and UK can fill a simple form with details of the information they want to be removed from Google search listings.

According to Google, since the law was introduced the technology company has received more than 4.4 million delisting requests. However, the tech giant only processed 47% of requests. If Google denies a request, the applicants are informed through email.

The requests were denied due to several reasons; mostly the requests were turned down because they considered the information to be in the public interest. For example, any information related to someone’s professional life, criminal records, etc.

The information that the tech giant removes is only personal information for instance names, family information and addresses. With the help of data broker sites, fraudsters could collect this sort of information and then change passwords and engineer a fake profile of that person.

Nonetheless, the key risk area identified by the tech giant is social media. According to the company, most of the removal requests they receive are URLs from social media websites. However, it is pertinent to mention that if a URL is delisted from Google search, it does not mean that the site itself has removed the data.

To protect your privacy and data, the self-audit of your online presence is very important. To begin with, search about yourself on Google to see what information is publically available. Once you have built up a picture of your web presence, you identify information that you can and cannot have removed. Then, you can request removal from search engines or web privacy companies to secure your online identity.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature called “message reactions.”

According to WABetainfo, the feature in itself is not new as it’s available on popular messaging apps like Messenger, iMessage, Twitter and Instagram. Message reactions on WhatsApp are expected to work similarly. to other apps like Messenger and Twitter. You can react to a message with emoji and the ones usually available are heart, laugh, angry, smile, like or dislike

“You already know what is a reaction: it’s usually an emoji that you can place on a message to express emotions. Instagram, Twitter, iMessage already support message reactions and today we can start to discover the progress of their development,” read a post on WABetainfo.

A screenshot provided by the blog showed a message that reads, “You received a reaction. Update your version of WhatsApp to see reactions.”

The Facebook-owned messaging app is working on introducing a message to present when the user is using an outdated version of the app that does not support receiving reactions.In this case, the user can not see the reaction but WhatsApp will present a different message, asking to update WhatsApp to see the reaction.

WhatsApp will obviously implement this feature on WhatsApp for iOS and Web/Desktop as the screenshot taken above is from a WhatsApp beta for Android.

Lahore (Nut- DesK)

Latest media reports on WhatsApp , says the multimedia messaging app is adding multi-device support to now include iPads. Years after the service’s launch, its beta version today has revealed it will work on an iPad.

WhatsApp allows both iPhone and Android users to use the service but currently, it doesn’t have native app operation available on iPads. As per the beta version being tested as we speak, things will soon change.

WABetainfo revealed in its tweet that “multi-device 2.0” is included in the latest beta underway with WhatsApp. The feature enables WhatsApp to be used across multiple devices, including in a browser and desktop, but not with a native WhatsApp app for iPad OS.

Thus, instead of using a browser to access WhatsApp, the second-generation version of the feature will use a native version of the app for iPad OS to enable multi-device support.

It is claimed the iPad version will work independently, though conversations should also synchronize between the iPhone and iPad as well.Though mentioned in the beta, there’s no separate iPad OS app for testing yet.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Xiaomi is launching another phone under the umbrella of it’s Redmi series. Named as the Redmi 10, the phone  will be launched in Pakistan very soon; a confirmed date is still unknown. The mobile will be equipped with striking features and crazy specifications. The tentative price of this mobile from Xiaomi might be starting from Rs 35,000- 36,000.

In addition to this, the upcoming phone is rumored to be powered by a Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver) processor that will let you enjoy a smooth and faster performance. Also, you will be able to access multiple applications and play intense graphics games without any lags or interruptions. Moreover, the phone is rumored to  have 4 GB of RAM and about 64 GB of internal storage. Space constraints is something you will not have to be worried about while saving your files such as videos, music, documents, and more.

It is expected that this upcoming phone will come with a 6.53 inches (16.58 cm) display that will have a resolution of 1080 x 2340 Pixels. Which is why you will have an immersive viewing experience while playing games or watching videos.

Talking about the optics, the upcoming Xiaomi phone is likely to come with a Single camera setup on the rear. It is rumored to have about a 50 MP camera that will let you click some amazing pictures. Some of the features included on the back camera setup might include Auto Flash, Digital Zoom, Face detection and Touch to focus. The mobile is rumored to come with a 13 MP front camera for clicking some crazy selfies and making video calls.

The Xiaomi Redmi 10, allegedly will run the Android v10 (Q) operating system and will be housing a 5900 mAh battery. This will let you use the phone for a longer time period while listening to songs, watching movies, playing games, and more.

Various connectivity options on the Xiaomi Redmi 10 might include WiFi – Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11, a/ac/b/g/n, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth – Yes, v5.0, and 5G supported by device, 4G, 3G, 2G. The sensors on the smartphone might include Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass.

According to the rumours, the dimensions of this phone are going to be around 162.3 mm x 77.2 mm x 8.9 mm; and it might weigh approximately 199 grams.

Lahore (NUT-Desk)

Social media platform, Twitter unveiled a new feature to allow users to flag content that could contain misinformation, a scourge that has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting Tuesday, a button would be visible to some users from the United States, South Korea and Australia to choose “it’s misleading” after clicking “report tweet.”

“We are testing a feature for you to report Tweets that seem misleading – as you see them,” the social network said from its safety and security account.

Users can then be more specific, flagging the misleading tweet as potentially containing misinformation about “health,” “politics” and “other.”

“We’re assessing if this is an effective approach so we’re starting small,” the San Francisco-based company said.

“We may not take action on and cannot respond to each report in the experiment, but your input will help us identify trends so that we can improve the speed and scale of our broader misinformation work.”

Twitter, like Facebook and YouTube, regularly comes under fire from critics who say it does not do enough to fight the spread of misinformation.

But the platform does not have the resources of its Silicon Valley neighbors, and so often relies on experimental techniques that are less expensive than recruiting armies of moderators.