Twitter’s diversity and HR heads are leaving the company

Twitter had a rough time in 2016, and it’s not starting the new year off very well, either. The company’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, Jeffrey Siminoff, is leaving at the end of the month, according to TechCrunch, while head of human resources Renee Atwood has already left. A Twitter spokesperson told Engadget that Atwood left for personal reasons, while TechCrunch’s sources say Siminoff is also departing of his own accord. This follows a string of high-profile exits from the company in recent months, fueling concerns that trouble is brewing at the social network.

In addition to battling its troll problem and struggling to make money, Twitter has had trouble diversifying its predominantly white and male workforce. Its recently released diversity report shows it met its goals for 2016, but Twitter still has work to do on that front. The company was criticised when it hired Siminoff, a white male, as its diversity chief back in 2015, and his exit after the report’s release seems like an interesting coincidence. However, Siminoff’s recent tweet indicates that it’s more likely he left to “pause for future change and loved ones.”

Regardless of the reasons, it’s evident that Twitter is having a difficult time retaining its top execs, which doesn’t bode well for the company going forward. Its efforts to use livestreaming to turn its large user base into advertising dollars may be hindered by its inability to address its problems in a timely manner. At least its remaining execs now appear to be aware of their failings, which could mean a better shot at success.

Source: TechCrunch, Jeffrey Siminoff (Twitter)

Facebook warns inauguration protesters over police data hunt

Protests on the day of President Trump’s inauguration were mostly peaceful, but over 230 people were arrested on allegations of rioting… and law enforcement appears bent on scouring their internet profiles for evidence. CityLab has learned that Washington, DC police have been asking Facebook for user account information as part of their investigations. And in at least one case, Facebook warned one of the targets — file a challenge to the data request or the company might have to comply within 10 days.

The police aren’t commenting on their investigative approach, and Facebook adds that it doesn’t comment on individual requests. With that said, Facebook’s disclosure doesn’t come out of the blue. Like other internet companies, it will notify users about law enforcement data requests when there isn’t a gag order in place.

The bigger concern is the scope of the information officers want from Facebook, and whether they’re above-board in handling data as a whole. If it’s a subpoena or court order, police may get relatively basic info like the user’s email or IP addresses from sign-ins. If there’s a search warrant, though, they could get more detailed location info as well as posts and photos that aren’t public. And that’s assuming they’re playing by the rules. CityLab understands that there has been activity on at least one phone after it was seized by police, suggesting that officers might have been hunting for information when the devices should have been tucked away in evidence bags. In that sense, the Facebook warning could be a sign of a far-reaching investigation that’s pushing the limits of what’s allowed.

Source: CityLab

New York City starts cracking down on illegal Airbnb listings

New York’s ban on short-term rentals has officially started cracking down. As the New York Post reports, a notorious Manhattan landlord and a Brooklyn real estate broker were hit with 17 total violations of the new law. Each violation carries a $1,000 fine.

Landlord Hank Freid received 12 of those violations related to his Upper West Side property the Marrakech Hotel. According to the Post, Freid was busted for allegedly listing SRO units in the building on various services like Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak and others. In Brooklyn, broker Tatiana Cames received the other five citations for posting five different Airbnb listings for her property in Bed-Stuy. According to Cames’s citations, the brownstone she was renting out had a variety of other violations including illegal subdivisions, insufficient fire alarms and “a confused bunch of French tourists in a rear unit.”

While short term rentals where the tenant is not present were already illegal in New York City, the new law passed in October made it a crime to even post a listing for such a situation. Airbnb initially sued the state of New York over the new regulations, so authorities held off on enforcing it until Airbnb eventually dropped its suit.

Source: New York Post

Supermassive black hole set a record for longest lunch ever

When a black hole eats a nearby star, the resulting X-rays typically fade within a year or so. That’s why astronomers are excited about a giant black hole that’s been shedding telltale radiation for close to 10 years.

Dubbed XJ1500+0154, this supermassive hole is the subject of a newly published paper in Nature Astronomy. When the intense forces of gravity from a collapsed stellar body destroy a star that gets too close, the material pulled into the heart of the hole gives off a distinct X-ray flare, which astronomers can measure via satellites and observatories.

The unprecedented amount of time spent on this “star meal” could mean one of two things: either a massive star was captured and eaten, or a smaller one has been more completely digested than ever before. It also proves that these astronomical phenomena can grow faster than previously expected, which could help us understand how our universe was formed out of atypical black holes that may have massed more than one billion times that of our own sun.

The researchers hypothesize that the leftovers of the destroyed star should exhaust the black hole’s appetite within the next decade, with the X-ray signatures fading over the next several years.

Via: NASA, University of New Hampshire

Source: Nature Astronomy

This tiny hackable synth will only cost you $39

When you’re new to making music, affordable gadgets provide a nice introduction without a hefty investment. As far as tiny synths go, Teenage Engineering’s $59 Pocket Operators are an easy sell, but Zeppelin Design Labs may have a compelling option as well. The company’s Macchiato Mini Synth starts at just $39 if you’re willing to assemble it yourself. If you’d rather not, you can pay $96 for one that’s already built. It’s also small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

The Macchiato packs everything you need to start making noise quickly. There’s a 13-note touch-sensitive keyboard to control the 8-bit synth alongside eight control knobs to make changes to the sound. The mini synth runs on either a 9V battery or can be plugged in with a power supply that will set you back a few extra dollars. Inside, the compact instrument runs on an open-source synthesis library for Arduino which allows users to download updates and flash them to the Macchiato for new sounds. A built-in speaker beams out the audio so you can hear your tunes. Yes, there’s also a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones and a MIDI input so you can control the Macchiato with another compatible device.

Zeppelin Design Labs says the DIY kit has an intermediate difficulty, but it’s a project that can be completed during the course of an evening. What’s more, the company says it’s just fine for aspiring musicians as young as 13 to tinker with — so long as they’re supervised, of course. If you’re looking to nab one for yourself, both configurations of the Macchiato are available now from the Zeppelin Design Labs website.

Via: FACT, Synthtopia

Source: Zeppelin Design Labs

Your old PC’s DVD drive might earn you $10

The PC you had a decade ago might be a clunker in comparison to what you have now, but it might just make you a little extra money. In the wake of a class action settlement with major optical disc drive makers over price fixing, Americans can now claim $10 in compensation for every PC-capable DVD drive they bought between April 1st, 2003 and December 31st, 2008. That’s whether or not the drive was built into your system, we’d add. You’ll have to live in one of 23 states or Washington, DC, but you could have a payment on the way with just a few minutes’ work. You have until July 1st, 2017 to make a claim.

Just be sure to dig out your receipt if you still have it. While there’s no proof of purchase check when you make a claim, the settlement administration has the right to request evidence if it suspects something’s up. In other words, the officiators will call out fraudsters who enter a huge number.

As with most such cases, lawyers will likely profit the most. Hitachi-LG, NEC, Panasonic and Sony collectively paid $124.5 million to settle the lawsuit, which alleged that they colluded to keep prices high. The low payout to customers is due to both the nature of the case (it’s more about adjusting prices than refunds) and the millions of potential claimants — you just weren’t going to get a windfall. Still, it’s hard to object too loudly if you weren’t expecting this cash in the first place.

Via: CNET

Source: Optical Disk Drive Antitrust

Tesla Model S breaks acceleration record with Ludicrous Mode

Tesla’s Model S P100D is the fastest accelerating production car in the world, thanks to a Spaceballs-inspired software update. In a recent Motor Trend test, the Model S P100D hit 0-60 mph in 2.275507139 seconds using a new Easter egg mode called Ludicrous+. No production car has ever cracked 2.3 seconds during the magazine’s testing, it said. That’s faster than Tesla’s original promise of 2.5 seconds, and faster than the 2.389 second time recorded by the Tesla Racing Channel in January.

Although the S P100D’s acceleration times are impressive for a stock electric vehicle, Motor Trend said it loses its advantage to other supercars at higher speeds, where horsepower wins out over instant torque. The Ferrari LaFerrari, for example, reaches 70 mph a tenth of a second quicker, while the Porche 918 and McLaren P1 win out at 80 mph.

The S P100D’s ludicrous speed comes at a cost — and I don’t mean the $134,500 and up price tag. It accelerates “like a real jerk,” according to Motor Trend. In physics terms, jerk refers to the rate of change of acceleration. Using the magazine’s example, it’s the difference between being pushed by a clumsy person and being aggressively shoved.

“Launching a Model S P100D (weighing 5,062 with gear and driver) in full-on Ludicrous Easter-egg mode snaps your body in a manner that is utterly impossible to replicate in any other street-legal production car on normal tires and dry asphalt at a mid-$100,000 price point,” Motor Trend said.

Apparently, the Model S P100D’s test performance beat Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk’s expectations. He told Twitter followers last November the software update would only shave 0.1 seconds off its acceleration time. After seeing today’s results, however, Musk claimed the S P100D can perform even better if you remove the floor mats and front trunk liner.

Source: Motor Trend

NASA really isn’t sure why ancient Mars was wet

The scientific community accepts that once upon a time, Mars was partially covered by water. New data from NASA’s Curiosity rover indicates that a lake was present on the red planet billions of years ago, but this doesn’t make much sense because at that time, Mars’ surface temperature wasn’t warm enough for liquid water to exist.

Curiosity has found sedimentary rocks that seem to have been deposited by a lake in Mars’ Gale Crater 3.5 billion years ago, but this is where we run into the “faint young Sun paradox.” Back then, the Sun was only emitting about 70% the amount of energy it pumps out today. Mars’ atmosphere couldn’t compensate for that lack of heat, as it didn’t have enough carbon dioxide to produce a greenhouse effect able to keep water in a liquid state. That would seem to make it impossible for liquid water to have been on Mars, and yet, the new evidence suggests otherwise.

“We’ve been particularly struck with the absence of carbonate minerals in sedimentary rock the rover has examined,” Thomas Bristow, of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, said. “It would be really hard to get liquid water even if there were a hundred times more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than what the mineral evidence in the rock tells us.”

It doesn’t appear this paradox will be solved anytime soon, but as Curiosity continues to gather data and more missions to Mars are planned, we ought to get closer to learning how the dry, lifeless planet used to be so wet.

Source: NASA

Jimmy Iovine on Apple Music: ‘We’re Trying to Make it a Cultural Point of Reference’

Jimmy Iovine, who leads Apple Music alongside Eddy Cue, Dr. Dre, Trent Reznor, and Larry Jackson, recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Variety covering everything from Apple’s goals with the streaming service to its experimentation with exclusives.

Though Jimmy Iovine has no official title at Apple, going by just “Jimmy,” he has negotiated many of the streaming deals for the service and has been a key team member since Apple purchased Beats Music in 2014. “Apple, of all the global tech companies, was the one that understood why artists make things,” Iovine said, explaining why he had a close relationship with Apple even before the acquisition.

Since its debut, Apple Music has grown to 20 million subscribers, with 10 million added in 2016 alone. Much of that can be attributed to Apple’s evolving focus, first on exclusives and now on video. Apple is adding original content to Apple Music, in the form of two TV shows – a reality series based on Carpool Karaoke and drama that will star Dr. Dre.

Iovine wouldn’t go into detail about Apple’s future plans for original content, but he explained that Apple’s goal is to make Apple Music “a cultural point of reference.” He says Apple’s work on original content shouldn’t be compared to other entertainment companies like Netflix.

Iovine, asked if he sees Apple Music attempting to become competitive with the likes of Netflix in the original-content sphere, demurs. “I wouldn’t put it that way,” he says. “When I read that, or I read that we’re taking on whomever, I say no. To me it’s all one thing. It’s Apple Music, and it happens to have video and audio. … It has nothing to do with what Netflix is doing.”

On the topic of exclusive content, which has created conflict between Apple and both its competitors and record labels, Iovine says Apple is “just experimenting.” He says his work with Apple hasn’t caused problems with former colleagues in the music business, despite the bitterness over exclusive content.

“I don’t lean on [exclusives] too heavily myself,” he says. “We did ’em. We’ll do some more. But we’re just experimenting. I just know that if something feels right and someone wants to, we’re willing to do it, to help them really market their record, get the word out, and spend what it deserves.”

According to Iovine, the key to Apple’s continued success in the music industry is an ability to “speak both languages,” referring to the harmonizing of technology and music. He believes there’s room in the streaming music industry for many companies, as long as “streaming is done right,” with each service being culturally different with a unique feel. “Yeah, they all have the same catalog,” he said.” But what we’re doing is we’re just building on top of that. That’s where the personality and the feel will come from.”

Iovine’s full interview, which covers a range of additional topics like his childhood, early jobs, close relationship with Dr. Dre, the founding of Beats Music, Beats 1 Radio, and subscription streaming models, can be read over at Variety and is worth checking out for those who want an inside look at Apple Music.

Tags: Jimmy Iovine, Apple Music
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Apple Pay Now Supported by 36% of Merchants in United States

Apple Pay is now accepted by 36 percent of merchants in the United States, according to research conducted by retail consulting firm Boston Retail Partners and shared by NFC World. That’s up from 16 percent last year.

Boston Retail Partners derived its information from a survey of more than 500 top North American retailers.

22 percent of retailers who don’t currently support Apple Pay said they plan to accept the payments service within the next 12 months, while 11 percent plan to do so in the next one to three years. 31 percent plan to take a “wait and see” approach before implementing Apple Pay support.

PayPal was the next most widely accepted payments service at 34 percent, while MasterCard’s PayPass came in third with 25 percent. 24 percent of merchants claimed support for Android Pay, while 18 percent said they accept Samsung Pay. Given that many of these technologies are all NFC-based and accepted anywhere NFC payments are available, it seems merchants may be referring to “official” support or may be unaware of the way contactless payments work.

“PayPal has been bumped out of its top spot in this year’s survey, with Apple Pay now being accepted at 36% of the retailers participating in the survey. This is up significantly from 16% last year, and signals a growing acceptance by retailers and customers.”

“This year, fewer retailers are adopting a wait and see approach for Apple Pay and PayPal — likely because of the growing support from the payment software ecosystem and the acceptance for these mobile payments by the public.”

During Apple’s recent first quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay usage had tripled over the course of 2016. Transaction volume was up more than 500 percent year-over-year, and according to Cook, more than two million small businesses now accept Apple Pay.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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