Twitter shuts down ISIS accounts but lets white nationalists stay
Twitter’s previous laissez-faire policy of letting free speech reign on the social network earned ire for their failure to curb hate speech and harassment. But letting terrorist groups freely use it to gather followers and spread their messages was too much. After vowing to ban accounts linked to extremism in mid-2015, they proceeded to shut down over 360,000 of them. But according to a report, Twitter is focusing on countering ISIS-promoting tweets while letting white nationalists run rampant on the service. Which is worrying, since Americans have committed 80 percent of terrorist attacks in the US since September 11th, 2001.
At the end of the day, ISIS supporters seem to be under far more scrutiny than white nationalists on Twitter, according to the report by J.M. Berger of George Washington University. While Twitter continues scrubbing Islamic extremist material off its network, followers of the major white nationalist movement have risen 600 percent since 2012, from just over 3500 accounts to beyond 25,000. Whether Twitter’s policies significantly curb extremist recruiters — which the UK Parliament doesn’t believe — the report insists that other groups have learned from ISIS’ tactics both on and offline, including how to promote their messages and secure a following.
Users are reporting Islamic extremist content more than white nationalist activity, according to the report, and the social network is spending more effort quashing the former. During the data collection period between April and August 23rd, 2016, only 288 white nationalist accounts of the 4,000 Berger examined had been suspended — and that’s only after the social network instituted more procedures for reporting abuse. In that time, 1,100 ISIS supporters were temporarily banned.
The comparative leniency exists despite far more frequent activity from white nationalists and Nazis, which Berger tracked separately. Those two groups had more followers overall and tweeted more frequently than those for the Islamic State, while the latter only came out on top with better consistency in hashtag use, reflecting their far more disciplined social media strategy. The poorer performance of ISIS-linked content and accounts is partly due to Twitter’s aggressive suspension campaign, and extremist network’s metrics have nosedived accordingly since 2015.
It’s possible that Islamic extremist recruiting is more visible and reported because it follows a rigidly programmatic model. First, supporters promote educational material, the ISIS social network flocks around would-be recruits and isolates from their pre-existing communities before urging them to commit terrorist acts. In contrast, white nationalists are split by factions without a dominant institution or guiding authority, making their actions and recruitment appear more like those by grassroots activists.
It also doesn’t help that some white nationalist or Nazi-supporting content is spewed by trolls hoping to rile up sensitive tweeters, disguising actual supremacist outreach. But bonding over negative reactions toward minority inclusion and cultural change is part of their recruitment strategy, according to the report. This is in stark contrast to the ISIS playbook, which has supporters surround potential recruits as a community that expresses positive, warm opinions of the extremist group.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that white nationalists haven’t really monetized their fanbase, the report said. For all their success compared to supporters of the Islamic State, white nationalists haven’t been able to move past social support into securing material support from their new recruits. This is partially due to how fragmented and factionalized the movement is: When trying to stage rallies last spring, barely a handful of people showed up at about a dozen locations, according to the report.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: George Washington University
Amazon’s Alexa told us Echo is coming to the UK very soon
Normally, us Brits only have to wait a few months at the most to enjoy new products from the world’s biggest technology companies. However, when it comes to the Amazon Echo, we’ve been left on the outside looking in as the company continues upgrade Alexa’s capabilities.
That may soon change, though, because this morning an invite arrived inviting me to an Amazon event in London on September 14th. It doesn’t give anything away, but the AI in question has plenty to say on the subject.
You see, I was far too impatient to wait for the Echo to launch in the UK, so I imported one. Thanks to a tip-off from our friends at Stuff, I asked Alexa exactly what she has planned on September 14th. This is what she had to say:
Looks like Amazon’s Echo is coming to the UK on September 14th.
A video posted by Matt Brian (@mattbrian) on Sep 2, 2016 at 7:09am PDT
There you have it! We’ll obviously be in attendance on that date and will provide you with all of the latest details from the event.
New Google Pixel phones, Daydream VR, and more expected 4 October
Google is said to be announcing a wrath of new products including a 4K Chromecast, Google Home, Daydream VR viewer, and two new Pixel phones on the 4 October according to sources.
The news for what is bound to be a “mega event” will see the company unload all that it has been working on, in time for the Christmas season.
According to Android Police:
“It will use the event to announce its new Pixel-branded smartphones Pixel and Pixel XL, a 4K Chromecast, fully detail Google Home, and reveal the company’s in-house design for a Daydream VR viewer device.”
The site also states that its source confirms:
“The 4K Chromecast will offer 4K and be called either the Chromecast Plus or Chromecast Ultra (makes sense – ultra HD) and the Daydream device may be called Daydream View.”
Two new Google Nexus phones have been rumoured to be launching for some time, however more recent rumours have suggested that the company will be ditching the Nexus branding in favour of Pixel instead.
At IFA, the consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany, Qualcomm recently revealed a VR reference device that could be a forerunner for the Google Daydream VR headset. Available to manufacturers in Q4 2016, and expected in consumers’ hands shortly after, the so called “stars” could be aligning.
We will keep you posted.
Wire-free HTC Vive in the works
Future versions of the HTC Vive could be completely wireless following moves by HTC, Valve and little known VR development tool Quark VR.
According to Quark VR, the company has been working away to create a prototype that it hopes to share by the end of the year.
“The way the headset will become wireless is through a small gadget, connected to the headset, but not wired with cables to the PC itself,” claims the company in a blog post. “Instead, the small transmitter, that may be placed in the pocket of the user, sends and receives the signal between the PC and the HTC Vive through Wi-Fi.”
It’s one of the biggest complains of the HTV Vive headset and one that here at Pocket-lint we’ve experienced so far with the long umbilical cord between the headset and the PC getting in the way of a truly fluid gaming experience.
According to the company, “Getting the experience to feel seamless through Wi-Fi, keeping in mind the inevitable connection delay, was a huge challenge, but we’re getting extremely close to being able to show it in action!”
HTC and Valve have always said that the amount of data needed to be processed and passed between the headset and the host PC would be too much for a wireless connection to process.
The big question however will be if the three companies can come up with a viable solution for consumers before other technologies, like Qualcomm’s 820VR reference offering can catch-up and over take the technology.
Sony’s gold-plated Walkman needs deep, strong pockets
How much do you love music? Do you love it enough to spend $3,200 on a fancy pants Walkman? That’s the proposition on the table with Sony’s new gold-plated NW-WM1Z music player. Essentially, Sony continues to position its immortal Walkman brand as a true audiophile experience aimed at fans of High Resolution Audio files (don’t worry, it’ll play your plain old MP3s too). The basic concept might seem contradictory: a portable media player that pairs with a (non-portable) amp and custom designed headphones. But this isn’t a product that’s meant to make sense to most people. Audiophiles will know. Or at least, that’s what Sony hopes.
Oh, if you thought that $3,200 was a wedge of cash, know that that’s just for the media player part. All three components — known as the “Signature Series” come with a healthy price tag. The amplifier is $2,100, and the headphones are $2,200. All in, that’s a chunk of change. For those of you still with their wallets out, you probably want to know what it sounds like. I only got to spend a few minutes with the set-up on a show floor in Berlin, so it’s hard to give it the full critical listening experience, but it’s definitely a few cuts above your phone and regular on ears (as you’d hope).
I’ve had the pleasure of listening to several “high end” audio players, including Neil Young’s Pono (if you remember that). There are no real words to explain the difference. The audio you get out of your phone and $200 headphones has so many variables that the sound ends up either flat, or juiced with bass — and most people have made peace with this.
The Signature Series on the other hand (and in my experience higher grade audio systems in general) feels like you’re in another space completely. It’s delicate and airy, almost a little unsettling at first, but ultimately quite a different experience — and that’s the secret sauce that those with golden ears are looking for. I’m loathed to say more without giving it a fair and extended trial.
Despite its hand-held design, the Walkman was surprisingly heavy. There’s reassuring weight, and then there’s paperweight. I guess you’re unlikely to be walking around with this in your pocket (so it’s more of a Man, than Walkman?), but the gold-plated metal casing, touch screen and satisfyingly clickable buttons do give it an all round classy feel that, well, you’d hope for at this price.
The big question, for both Sony and for buyers, is whether this is any better, or more appealing to anything already out there. The world of high end Hi-Fi is an island all of its own, and the users are notoriously as particular about the details on their hardware, as the sound itself. But we love Sony for trying this anyway.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Sony’s run out of ideas for its smartphones
If the definition of madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results, then someone needs to check in on Sony. Every six months, the company announces a handset in the hope of making some tiny level of impact on the mobile industry. And every six months, those same devices are rated as being generally fine, but not as compelling or cheap as alternatives from rival companies. You’d think that, after a couple of years of this crushingly predictable cycle, someone would have suggested a change. Well, you’d have hoped so, because the Xperia XZ just feels like more of the same.
The new Xperia XZ isn’t a bad phone, by any means, but it’s little more than a glorified polish job on the Xperia X Performance. That was Sony’s early-2016 flagship and when we reviewed it, our Chris Velazco called it “$700 worth of disappointment.” But this isn’t just a one-off, it’s the latest in a series of conservative, underwhelming handsets that have failed to click with buyers across the world. Technology purchases like smartphones are meant to excite you — especially if you’re spending the better part of a grand on one — and Sony simply can’t do that.
In order to illustrate Sony’s malaise, it’s worth looking at the list of flagship-level handsets that it’s launched since the start of 2013. This list of devices covers three eras of Sony, immediately before and during Kaz Hirai’s much vaunted “One Sony” turnaround strategy, as well as his subsequent U-turn when it came to mobile. At the start of 2015, Hirai said that the mobile division would now simply produce a handful of devices each year in the hope of keeping skilled employees and facilities around just in case future technologies needed them.
- Xperia Z – (January 13)
- Xperia ZR – (January 13)
- Xperia ZL – (January 13)
- Xperia Z1 – (September 13)
- Xperia Z1s – (September 13)
- Xperia Z1 compact – (January 14)
- Xperia Z2 – (February 14)
- Xperia Z3 – (September 14)
- Xperia Z3 compact – (September 14)
- Xperia Z3+ – (April 15)
- Xperia Z5 – (September 15)
- Xpera Z5 compact – (September 15)
- Xperia Z5 premium – (September 15)
- Xperia X – (February 16)
- Xperia XA – (February 16)
- Xperia X performance – (February 16)
Sony’s defenders would point to Samsung and say that both companies have a similar Spring-to-Fall release cycle. But Samsung caters to two distinct user groups with two very different products in the form of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note handsets. There’s also the fact that Samsung is happy burning billions on advertising to support its devices, in stark contrast to Sony’s relatively empty pockets.
If Sony can’t compete with Samsung’s financial muscle, then it should probably attempt to innovate its way out of trouble. Except that’s going to be a problem too, since — right now — there are no new technological worlds to conquer in smartphones. Last year, Sony added 4K displays to its flagship Z5 Premium with predictably beautiful, but otherwise pointless, results. The fact that the Xperia XZ ships with a 1080p screen shows that wiser heads prevailed this year.
That doesn’t leave Sony with many places to go, and there’s not much it can do in hardware, despite its legendary expertise. After all, LG couldn’t make a big impact with the “friends” ecosystem that surrounded the G5 and Motorola doesn’t appear to have set the world on fire with its own version. So that just leaves software, an area where Sony notoriously lags behind its Android rivals.
Then there’s the fact that the smartphone world is slowly beginning to crunch and, much like the tablet space, it won’t be long before several manufacturers pull out of the market. We’ve reported on this problem a few times, but everyone who can afford a smartphone already has one, and fewer people feel the need to replace them once every two years. In that vacuum, it’s price, rather than quality, that has become a big driver for people’s purchases — which is why low-or-no-margin companies like Huawei and OnePlus have become so huge. Oh, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Samsung is targeting Japan for its next big growth opportunity: parking its tanks directly on Sony’s lawn.
Given that Sony has very few places that it can turn, I asked my colleagues what they would do in its place. The most repeated answer was “Vita Phone,” a device that would combine the company’s (under-loved) gaming handheld with a smartphone. Of course, Sony’s been there already with the Xperia Play and other companies have tried to blend gaming with smartphones — wave hello, Nokia’s N-Gage, with no success. Then again, Sony is now at the point where it’s got so little to lose that maybe a little bit of left-field alchemy is exactly what it needs.
New Razer Blade Stealth upgrades all the original’s faults
For a gaming company’s first attempt at an ultraportable workhorse, the Razer Blade Stealth was pretty great. It had a stunning chassis, a strong CPU, a gorgeous display and the unique ability to link up to a desktop GPU. Unfortunately, it was held back a bit its limited storage options and a disappointing battery life. Not anymore: Today at PAX, Razer announced a Razer Blade Stealth refesh that packs in more RAM, more options for storage and a bigger battery.
At a glance, you wont’ be able to tell the difference between the new and old model, but any Blade Stealth bought from today will pack a significantly more powerful punch. Specifically, the Stealth has been upgraded with an Intel Core i7-7500U CPU with Intel HD 620 graphics and up to 9 hours of usable battery life. The base model starts at $999 and comes with a 2,560 z 1440 QHD touch display, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage, but for a little more users can snag a configuration with twice as much RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. A higher end, 4K version of the Stealth is availble too — packing as much as 1TB of internal storage for $1,999. The new Blade Stealth is available from Razer’s online store starting today, and should be in stores in the coming weeks.
Looking for something a little more powerful without the need to tack on Razer’s external GPU core? No worries — the gaming company has updated its standard Blade laptop, too. The updated gaming rig now rocks NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, a touch-enabled 3,200 x 1,800 QHD+ display, 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB SSD storage. Gamers who want to target higher framerates at lower resolutions will be able to opt for a Full HD non-touch matte display. That machine starts at $1,799. Sadly, you’ll have to wait a little for this machine: the new Blade is available to pre-order today, but won’t ship until next month.
Apple-Backed Didi Chuxing Under Antitrust Investigation After Uber China Acquisition
China-based ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing is under an antitrust investigation, spearheaded by China’s Ministry of Commerce, following Didi’s acquisition of Uber’s Chinese operations earlier in the summer (via The Wall Street Journal). The Ministry of Commerce said today that it’s opened an investigation “after it received questions over whether the ride-hailing deal complied with the nation’s antitrust law.”
The investigation has reportedly been ongoing for a while now, as the commerce ministry has held two meetings surrounding the deal between Didi and Uber. According to transcripts of the meetings, the focus has been on asking Didi why it didn’t apply for antitrust review before moving forward with the deal. When its acquisition of Uber went public, Didi claimed it didn’t need to apply to antitrust regulators “because UberChina’s revenue didn’t reach the 400 million yuan ($60 million) “turnover” threshold triggering an antitrust review.”
At issue is the vague word “turnover” in China’s antimonopoly law, which could be interpreted as either revenue or transaction volume, China accountants say. UberChina’s transaction volume almost certainly exceeds 400 million yuan, but Uber counts only a fraction of each fare as part of its revenue. That is because the company—like other “platforms” such as Groupon Inc.—says it is only a middleman and that it only passes along fares from riders to drivers, taking a thin cut.
Many professionals looking into the case still believe that the Didi/Uber deal will go through in the end, with one ministry spokesman saying that, right now, they’re just trying “to understand the online ride-hailing business model and the sector’s competitive environment.” According to Lester Ross, a Beijing-based attorney with U.S. law firm WilmerHale, Chinese regulators are simply “flexing their muscles” following public fear that a consolidation of ride-hailing firms would result in higher fares.
Apple’s connection to the investigation lies in its own $1 billion investment into Didi Chuxing earlier in May, which gave it access to data and expertise on electric and autonomous car technology, as well as a foot in the door with the Chinese investment community. Although still a widely-known rumor, the Didi investment got tied into Apple’s car-related Project Titan, which is an “open secret” within Silicon Valley. In July, it was reported that Apple hired a new chief on its Apple Car project, Bob Mansfield, with a shift in focus now on autonomous driving.
Tags: Uber, Didi Chuxing
Discuss this article in our forums
Ireland Agrees to Appeal European Commission’s Apple Tax Ruling
Ireland’s coalition government has agreed to appeal the European Commission’s ruling that it must collect 13 billion euros in back taxes from Apple, according to Reuters. A motion will come before the country’s Parliament on Wednesday seeking an endorsement of that decision, a government spokesperson said.
It was always expected that both Apple and Ireland would appeal any adverse decision, as insisted by the country’s finance minister Michael Noonan, but Ireland’s cabinet members became divided on the matter following the ruling. After meeting on Friday, however, the cabinet has seemingly come together and agreed to join Apple’s fight against the European Commission.
Earlier this week, the European Commission ruled that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland, following a three-year inquiry into the company’s tax arrangements in the country. The investigation’s results showed that Apple allegedly paid between 0.005% and 1% in taxes in Ireland between 2003 and 2014, compared to the the country’s headline 12.5% corporate tax rate.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called the findings “total political crap” and described the lower end 0.005% tax rate as a “false number.” In an open letter, Cook said Apple is confident the decision “will be reversed,” but the appeal process could take several years in European courts. Apple has previously said it fully complies with international tax law and is the largest taxpayer in the world.
Cook also said that Apple has “provisioned several billion dollars for the U.S. for payment,” and he forecasted that it could repatriate that cash next year. Europe’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager previously said that Apple could lower its Irish tax bill by paying appropriate taxes in other countries, or by increasing R&D payments to its U.S. operations.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tags: corporate tax, European Commission, Europe, Ireland
Discuss this article in our forums
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
Here’s what you need to know about Samsung’s Note 7 recall.
Samsung has announced a recall of Note 7s along with a halting of sales after concerns of faulty components causing battery explosions. That’s scary, and product recalls aren’t fun for anyone to deal with. Here’s what you need to know about the recall and how to handle it with your own Note 7.
Note: This is a constantly evolving story with information that is being updated regularly.
Should I keep using my Note 7?
The biggest question to answer from the start is whether or not you should keep using your Note 7 after Samsung has announced that it is recalling the phone. We need to understand that even though Samsung is recalling every phone it has sold that doesn’t mean that every phone is at risk of having a battery failure.
From Samsung’s announcement of the recall, there have been 35 cases of the issue, out of over a million phones sold. Just one case is enough to make people worried, and 35 is a lot more, but that doesn’t mean your phone has the same problem. In light of the new information it is a totally realistic response to want to stop using your Note 7 — but Samsung isn’t saying one way or the other what current Note 7 owners should do.
What’s causing phones to be recalled?
Samsung’s official statement on the recall says that the issue relates to the battery cells used in some Note 7s, which lines up with the earlier reports of phones catching fire and exploding. Given the number of reports that Samsung is investigating, a recall was to be expected.
How do I know if my Note 7 has been recalled?
Rules about how customers with recalled products are notified and handled differs by country, but in general we can expect that all owners will be notified of the recall. A recent example of the Shield Tablet recall over similar issues shows just how this can be handled: customers are notified or can go to a website to check if their phone is being recalled, and can quickly find out what to do with their phone and how to receive a replacement.
Samsung has already announced that U.S. carriers will release details for the recall process as early as today.
In the UK, Samsung halted sales before the Note 7’s street date of September 2. Some British networks were running promotional deals where pre-order customers could get devices early, and so some are already in the wild. Like all other Note 7s, Samsung will replace these in the coming weeks. For more information, Samsung directs UK customers to its customer service line at 0330 7261000.
This process is particularly important for the future where second-hand sales of Note 7s may occur from people who didn’t follow through with the recall now.
What do I do if my Note 7 has been recalled?
As is the case with any other product recall — phones and tablets in particular — you should follow the instructions set out by Samsung, the carrier or retailer you bought it from for the recall as soon as you can. It’s incredibly frustrating to have to give up your phone, but there’s a reason why it’s being recalled and that means you should follow it.
When your phone is recalled, Samsung will replace it — the process is expected to take a few weeks.
How can I trust that my replacement phone is okay?
Then there’s the next question: will the replacement Note 7 phone I get be safe? Well, obviously we never know for sure considering that the first phones were all perceived to be safe and were recalled. The whole reason why the phones are being recalled is that Samsung continued to investigate the quality of its devices even after they were sold, so you can bet that whatever issue was found can be reincorporated to the supply chain and manufacturing to (hopefully) ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
Of course this is all about trust — no matter how safe and secure a company is in its manufacturing processes, quality control standards can never be 100% perfect, and “bad” units of any phone will always get out. The real issue in this case is that the “bad” units aren’t screens with an odd tint or a headphone jack that doesn’t work — they’re phones that could potentially be dangerous.
The recall has happened — either you trust that Samsung has reliably fixed the issues that were causing problems in the first Note 7s, or you move on to a different phone.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
- Here are all four Note 7 colors
- Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
AIVAnet 