Reuters: Exclusive: Google can ward off EU antitrust probe into Fitbit deal with data pledge – sources. “Google may be able to stave off a full-scale EU antitrust investigation into its planned $2.1 billion bid for fitness tracker maker Fitbit (FIT.N) by pledging not to use Fitbit’s health data for its ads, people familiar with the matter said.”
Author: ResearchBuzz
ABC News: Google selects Mississippi site for 1st US operations center
ABC News: Google selects Mississippi site for 1st US operations center. “Google’s first U.S. operations center is coming to northwest Mississippi. The company announced Thursday it will lease a new 60,000-square-foot (5,574 square-meter) facility in Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis, Tennessee.”
Neowin: Google Chrome’s new feature tests promise up to 28% battery usage improvements
Neowin: Google Chrome’s new feature tests promise up to 28% battery usage improvements. “Google is testing a change to its Chrome browser that will let it consume anywhere between 13% to 28% less battery on devices. The update relates to tweaking the JavaScript timer wake up frequency for the tabs that have been hidden or inactive for five minutes or more, resulting in lesser power consumption.”
CNET: The NBA is coming back: Dates, locations, who’s sitting out and how to watch basketball’s 2020 return
CNET: The NBA is coming back: Dates, locations, who’s sitting out and how to watch basketball’s 2020 return. “After the coronavirus shut down the NBA season along with everything else, basketball is finally set to return on July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, inside Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Negotiations between the league and the NBA Players Association resulted in a new deal that will allow play to resume after a hiatus of nearly five months, but the final pro basketball games of 2020 will be unlike any previous year.”
Washington Post: MLS loses second team from its restart as Nashville SC withdraws because of virus
Washington Post: MLS loses second team from its restart as Nashville SC withdraws because of virus. “Nashville SC withdrew from MLS’s season-reopening tournament Thursday, becoming the second team to exit because of a coronavirus outbreak and raising anew questions about sports resuming competition during a pandemic. The club reported nine players — about a third of the roster — had tested positive for the novel coronavirus since they arrived at a Disney resort, where all 26 teams are staying in a so-called bubble for several weeks.”
Vice: The U.S. Army Twitch Channel Is Banning People for Asking About War Crimes
Vice: The U.S. Army Twitch Channel Is Banning People for Asking About War Crimes. “The American military is getting big into esports. The U.S. Army has launched its own Twitch channel where members of its team stream Call of Duty: Warzone and interact with users on the site. The channel has videos going back two months, but things got spicy in the chat on Wednesday night when viewers started asking questions about U.S. war crimes.”
Eater London: New Recipe Collection to Support BAME Covid-19 Victims Raises £10,000 in First Day
Eater London: New Recipe Collection to Support BAME Covid-19 Victims Raises £10,000 in First Day. BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. “The author, activist, and Eater London contributor Riaz Phillips has launched a new digital recipe collection, with entries from over 100 cooks and writers from diasporic communities across the country. Community Comfort, which is available to download now for a minimum donation of £10, will donate all proceeds to the Majonzi COVID-19 Bereavement Fund in collaboration with the Ubele Initiative, which was set up by social commentator, Windrush campaigner, and cultural historian Patrick Vernon to support the communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus crisis. Since the collection was made available for purchase yesterday, 9 July, it has been downloaded over 600 times, generating nearly £10,000 in under 24 hours.”
CNET: Microsoft sues over trademark to stop COVID-19 hacking campaign
CNET: Microsoft sues over trademark to stop COVID-19 hacking campaign. “Microsoft said Tuesday that it’s taken legal action to stop a widespread COVID-19-related hacking campaign. The lawsuit, unsealed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, allowed the tech giant to take control of domains that hackers were using to trick their victims.”
Phys .org: Socio-economic, environmental impacts of COVID-19 quantified
Phys .org: Socio-economic, environmental impacts of COVID-19 quantified. “The first comprehensive study of the pandemic shows consumption losses amount to more than US$3.8 trillion, triggering full-time equivalent job losses of 147 million and the biggest-ever drop in greenhouse gas emissions.”
Bleeping Computer: Persuasive Office 365 phishing uses fake Zoom suspension alerts
Bleeping Computer: Persuasive Office 365 phishing uses fake Zoom suspension alerts. “Microsoft Office 365 users are targeted by a new phishing campaign using fake Zoom notifications to warn those who work in corporate environments that their Zoom accounts have been suspended, with the end goal of stealing Office 365 logins.”
NBC Washington: Some Child Care Centers Closed Due to COVID-19 May Not Reopen
NBC Washington: Some Child Care Centers Closed Due to COVID-19 May Not Reopen. “More than 5,000 Washington, D.C.-area child care centers remain closed, some of which will never reopen, according to a review of state records by the News4 I-Team. The industry is suffering a growing economic crisis fueled by COVID-19 safety restrictions, capacity reductions, uncertainty over schools reopening and mass layoffs of parents who typically require child care.”
Deseret News: You should avoid these 5 hand sanitizer brands, FDA says
Deseret News: You should avoid these 5 hand sanitizer brands, FDA says. “The Food and Drug Administration added five new brands of hand sanitizer that have tested positive for toxic chemicals. The warning comes as people continue to purchase hand sanitizer to protect themselves from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Washington Post: The retired inventor of N95 masks is back at work, mostly for free, to fight covid-19
Washington Post: The retired inventor of N95 masks is back at work, mostly for free, to fight covid-19. “Peter Tsai retired two years ago, but the materials scientist says he’s never been busier. When the novel coronavirus began gripping the globe in March, Tsai was summoned from his short-lived retirement. He was in urgent demand because he is the inventor who, in 1995, patented the filtration material used in disposable N95 respirators. The coveted masks are in short supply and are desperately needed by health-care workers and others who require protection from the highly contagious coronavirus.”
Vox: Reopening schools safely is going to take much more federal leadership
Vox: Reopening schools safely is going to take much more federal leadership. “America’s entire education system is teetering on the brink of catastrophe. Distance learning has proved to be the education disaster experts feared, parents are at the end of their tethers, and the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) is now calling for schools to reopen. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unlike the AAP, has assessed the school question essentially without reference to the educational impacts.”
Daily Beast: Georgia Cities in Open Revolt Against Governor Over Masks
Daily Beast: Georgia Cities in Open Revolt Against Governor Over Masks. “When Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she would sign a mask-wearing mandate Wednesday, she wasn’t just protecting her citizens—she was adding fire to a growing revolt over Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to require face coverings in Georgia.”
