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Category: Tech

  • PM Khan’s advisor Dawood hails launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan

    PM Khan’s advisor Dawood hails launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan

    Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Trade and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has commended the launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan.

    He said that the opportunity could prove to be a lifeline for small enterprises as well as women entrepreneurs during Covid-19.

    Dawood, in a series of tweets said, “I am happy to see that, after Amazon, Facebook has recently launched market place for Pakistan.” Dawood was of the view that the launch will encourage small enterprises and entrepreneurs in Pakistan to sell online.

    “Such opportunities during Covid-19 could be a lifeline for micro-enterprises,” said Dawood.

    Facebook Marketplace is a digital platform where users can arrange to buy, sell and trade items with other people in their area using their Facebook ID.

    Over the years, Pakistan has seen a rapid rise in the growth of ecommerce. Back in May, Amazon added Pakistan to its sellers’ list, which means that local Pakistani sellers can now list and use Amazon’s platform to sell globally, a massive boost to the country’s e-commerce landscape.

    Meanwhile, Dawood added that that the launch of the platform will also help women entrepreneurs and that it is a first step towards eCommerce.

  • ‘Smartphones are worse than a spy in your pockets’: Edward Snowden

    ‘Smartphones are worse than a spy in your pockets’: Edward Snowden

    Ex-computer intelligence consultant at the United States (US) National Security Agency (NSA) Edward Snowden has said that smartphones are “worse than a spy in your pockets”, reports Geo News.

    Snowden urged governments to impose a global delay on the international spyware trade or face a world in which no mobile phone is safe from state-sponsored hackers, reported The Guardian.

    In the wake of the revelations about Israeli NSO Group, whose software Pegasus was used to hack mobile phones for surveillance, Snowden said the consortium’s findings illustrated “how commercial malware had made it possible for repressive regimes to place vastly more people under the most invasive types of surveillance”.

    “If you don’t do anything to stop the sale of this technology, it’s not just going to be 50,000 targets. It’s going to be 50 million targets, and it’s going to happen much more quickly than any of us expect,” he warned.

    Snowden said commercial malware such as Pegasus was so powerful that ordinary people could in effect do nothing to stop it.

    Asked how people could protect themselves, he said: “What can people do to protect themselves from nuclear weapons?”

    “There are certain industries, certain sectors, from which there is no protection, and that’s why we try to limit the proliferation of these technologies. We don’t allow a commercial market in nuclear weapons.”

  • WhatsApp to let users message without their phones

    WhatsApp to let users message without their phones

    Messaging application WhatsApp has announced the launch of a trial aimed at freeing its users from smartphones.

    Read More – WhatsApp clarifies privacy policy update, says no effect on privacy of messages

    In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook engineers said the new feature would allow for the hugely popular service to be used on multiple “non-phone” devices without needing to connect to the smartphone app.

    “With this new capability, you can now use WhatsApp on your phone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously – even if your phone battery is dead,” the blog post said.

    Since its launch in 2009 as a smartphone messaging app, WhatsApp has amassed more than two billion users around the world and been acquired by Facebook.

    WhatsApp can already be used on “companion devices”, such as computers, but exchanges are routed in such a way that if a person’s smartphone is offline or has zero battery, it won’t work.

    Other issues can arise as well, such as frequent disconnection.

    “The new WhatsApp multi-device architecture removes these hurdles” by no longer requiring a smartphone to perform every operation,” the company said.

    The new capability will be expanded more broadly as it is refined, Facebook added.

    It also made assurances that WhatsApp’s security measures will still work under the new system.

    “Each companion device will connect to your WhatsApp independently while maintaining the same level of privacy and security through end-to-end encryption that people who use WhatsApp have come to expect.”

  • Fawad Chaudhary to expand UrduFlix to boost local digital streaming

    Fawad Chaudhary to expand UrduFlix to boost local digital streaming

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain attended a meeting with Mr Farhan Gauher, the CEO of Pakistan’s first Urdu OTT platform UrduFlix to discuss the future of the digital space and more opportunities for the OTT platform in an important meeting.

    UrduFlix, which was launched earlier this year with government support has risen as the leading OTT platform emerging from Pakistan. With back-to-back releases of original content from the platform, it has been slowly taking over the digital place – all the while putting Pakistan in the race of streaming platforms, with a first of its kind emerging from Pakistan.

    In the meeting between the federal minister and Farhan Gauher, the future of UrduFlix as a platform – and how it could be leveraged as one of Pakistan’s finest contributions in the digital space was discussed. Fawad also discussed the future of the platform in terms of its streaming services, and what new opportunities lie ahead for it.

    UrduFlix was launched as Pakistan’s first-ever Urdu OTT platform which raised the expectations with brilliant new content and has kept the surprises coming. The platform has also garnered great feedback from the audiences after multiple series including Lifafa Dayan, Khudkush Muhabbat, Dulhan Aur Aik Raat have been streaming online. The platform is officially live for download for viewers on Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Roku TV.

  • Delhi police raid Twitter headquarters for censorship

    Delhi police raid Twitter headquarters for censorship

    Officers in New Delhi from the special cell (the Elite branch that investigates terrorism and organised crime) raided Twitter’s office to serve a warning notice to the head of Twitter.

    This incident took place when Twitter in India labelled a tag of “manipulation” to the tweets of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members in which they accused the opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), of falsely accusing PM Narendra Modi of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted that INC is giving undue favours to journalists affected by the pandemic.

    However, an Indian fact-checking website revealed that the image is fake. In response, INC filed a police complaint against Sambit Patra.

    Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on this matter.

    For months, the Indian government has been pressurising Twitter to censor the content of Indian journalists but Twitter has refused to comply with it. In response, the Indian IT Ministry and politicians have been giving threats to Twitter officials for not toeing the Indian government’s line.
    Recently, the Indian government has revised its policies and added more regulation to control social media.

  • Doctor innovates suicide machine to die without pain

    Doctor innovates suicide machine to die without pain

    Founder of Exit International Dr Philip Nitschke has developed a machine that will help people die in peace without pain.

    Dr Nitschke also knows as Dr Death, is the founder of Exit International. He has been helping people with Euthanasia (the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering) if they are above 50 and suffering from “unbearable pain” because of a terminal illness.

    The doctor believes that “It is one’s own choice to end life whenever they want, and each person has the right to choose.”

    Dr Death worked on a new suicide portable machine called ‘Sarco’ that will allow volunteers to die in peace, without suffering.

    Dr Nitschke met several people in Australia who wanted to end their lives but didn’t have enough medical reasons for the approval. He mentioned during the interview that he met a French woman, a scholar, who had “planned to die at age 80. Not because she was sick, but simply because she thought that was a beautiful age to pass away. When I [Dr Nitschke] responded with initial scepticism, she answered that it wasn’t his place to judge her. She said it was her decision, one that isn’t bound by the rules I follow as a doctor.”

    The biggest scepticism he gets against his philosophy is that “There is no such thing as rational suicide, and that a death wish is, per definition, the result of a psychiatric illness.”

    He said, “I reject that idea.”

    Dr Nitschke argued that death should be a choice. People violently end their lives. People hang themselves or jump in front of a train. In the United Kingdom (UK), death from hanging is the most common method. It is preferable to rather die peacefully (in Sarco) than horribly killing yourself.

    Here is how the machine works. He explained that “after you have taken your seat inside the machine, nitrogen starts flowing. After a minute and a half you start to feel disoriented (a feeling comparable to that of having a few too many drinks) and a few minutes later you lose consciousness. In about five minutes, you’re gone. The only way to control the coffin is from the inside, so it’s not possible to kill someone with it. You can also choose either a dark or transparent view, so you can take the machine somewhere if you prefer a certain view.”

    The ideas and innovation of Dr Nitschke have received lots of attention, and recently he is getting death threats from unknown people.

  • Facebook will now ask iOS users to allow data tracking for ‘better ads experience’

    Facebook will now ask iOS users to allow data tracking for ‘better ads experience’

    As per details, Facebook has started urging iPhone and iPad users to allow data tracking. The social media giant said that users should allow this for a better and personalized ads experience.

    Apple recently decided to ramp up privacy of its users, and gave users an option if they want to allow social media applications to track their data.

    Both companies are in some sort of war with each other, a war that has been raging for more than one decade now.

    The founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg recently termed Apple Inc. as the biggest competitor, and he said that the new privacy policy of Apple will cause “damage to the business of millions of users.”

    The very next day CEO of Apple Tim Cook, during a data privacy conference in Brussels, said: “If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reforms.”

    The battle focuses on a unique device identifier on every iPhone and iPad called the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). Companies that sell mobile advertisements, including Facebook, use this ID to help target ads and estimate their effectiveness.

    With the latest iOS 14 update, each app that wants to use the tracker will have to seek permission from the user. Consequently, it will make the mobiles ads less effective.

    Facebook has already started warning investors that these changes will affect the business, and now the company is testing the effects of the new updates.

    Besides, form today when users will open the app, they will see a message box that will tell users why they must allow Facebook to track their data.

    “Allow Facebook to use your app and website activity?” and claims that Facebook uses that information to “provide a better ads experience.” It will then offer users a choice between “Don’t Allow” and “Allow.”

    No matter which selection users make on the Facebook prompt, if they choose not to allow tracking on the Apple pop-up, that choice will be final, and Facebook will honour it.

  • Fake fingerprints being used to activate SIMs, warns Interior Ministry

    Fake fingerprints being used to activate SIMs, warns Interior Ministry

    The Ministry of Interior has disclosed that criminals are using fraudulent techniques like silicon thumbs impressions to activate SIM cards.

    The Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received more than 4,547 complaints of unsolicited/fraudulent calls. These cybercrime activities are financially deceiving common people.

    “It’s a fact that Cybercrime FIA assists the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in tracking the owner of such SIMs. Some culprits are being interrogated,” said the ministry.

    In 2019 and 2020, the Cyber Crime FIA registered 90 First Information Reports (FIRs), 107 accused were arrested while 17 biometric verification (BVS) devices, 25,192 SIMs, and 6,446 silicon thumbs impressions along with a voter list were recovered.

    The loss averted during 2019-20 was R.71.99 million, and the estimated cost of the confiscated items was Rs 91.76 million.

    The Cyber Crime FIA has established a special team in every cybercrime reporting centre to deal with complaints about unsolicited callers who defrauded people and collaborates with the PTA to crack down on such franchises that fraudulently activate SIMs.

  • Twitter censors tweets of lawmakers, filmmakers, MPs on Modi govt orders

    Twitter censors tweets of lawmakers, filmmakers, MPs on Modi govt orders

    At the request of the Modi government, Twitter has removed almost 50 tweets by influential people that criticised Modi for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to reports, the Indian government issued an emergency order to Twitter on Friday to censor 52 tweets.

    Among them were tweets from a lawmaker named Revnath Reddy, a minister in the state of West Bengal named Moloy Ghatak, and a filmmaker named Avinash Das.

    According to a spokesperson of Twitter, the accounts were notified in advance that their content will be withheld at the request of the Indian government.

    The spokesperson further added that the company made these tweets unable to be viewed because they violated the local law.

    Indian government cited Information Technology Act, 2020 that were violated by these Twitter accounts.

    “When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service,” said the Twitter spokesperson. “If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they’re aware that we’ve received a legal order about the account.”

    Besides, this is not the first time Twitter has bowed down against the pressure of the Indian government. In February, when framers were protesting in Delhi, more than 500 Twitter accounts were removed at the request of the Indian government.

    The Indian government issued a notice of noncompliance to Twitter, and the employees could face jail time if the company refused to comply with the order.

    India is in the midst of a deadly second wave of COVID-19 cases, which has made ventilators, medicine, and oxygen scarce.

    According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, India reported 346,786 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, a new record high, and 2,624 deaths, also a new record. Less than 1.5 per cent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated.

  • Hyundai’s upcoming car can run house appliances

    Hyundai’s upcoming car can run house appliances

    Electric vehicle (EV) makers are always looking for ways to increase the appeal of their potential buyers by increasing the novelty and utility of their cars.

    The latest example is of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. One of its commercials shows a group of happy and energetic individuals on a camping trip enjoying activities like working out, cooking meals, and watching TV, with all their electronic appliances connected to the Ioniq 5.

    Ioniq 5 can give 3.5 Kilowatt (KW) of power to run appliances like refrigerator, treadmill or run a stove.

    Hyundai aims to seek the attention of young people and they are trying to catch up with the EV pioneers like Tesla and the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG), among others.

    Hyundai claims to be the first automaker that has developed a car capable of both power consumption and power supply features.

    To meet the competition, General Motor Company (GMC), Tesla and Rivian will also add this feature to their upcoming cars.

    Hyundai has also added the option to add solar power to the car, and it will give an additional 1,300 Kilometer (KM) range to travel.

    Pakistanis often argue that such developments are of no relevance to our market, but bear in mind that the normalisation of EVs across the globe is inevitable, which is why Pakistan’s goal should be to promote EVs in a positive light to facilitate a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s growing automotive market.