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Category: Tech

  • VIDEO: PIA pilots spot and record UFO above their plane in Karachi

    VIDEO: PIA pilots spot and record UFO above their plane in Karachi

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) pilots have spotted and unidentified flying object (UFO) flying at 35,000 feet above Karachi.

    According to ProPakistani, the “foo fighter” — a term used by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II to describe UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific theaters of operations — was a white round object above the jet which the plane’s captain noticed on Sunday.

    The flight crew immediately started filming the object and after landing found that similar sightings had been reported in the past across the world.

    The flight captain said that the round object had a metal ring around it and was emitting white light from the center.

    He added that it was difficult to determine whether the object was hovering or moving slowly due to relative motion.

    Sharing the video of the incident, UFO hunter and blogger Scott Waring said that PIA pilots had provided the most focused photo of a foo fighter in the history of UFO research.

    He added that it “proved that aliens follow planes and keep a close eye on human activities”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

  • Pakistan ranks 2nd in South Asia in terms of ease of starting a business: World Bank

    Pakistan has improved its position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index for the second year in a row.

    According to the latest rankings released by the global organization, Pakistan has improved its position by an impressive total of 28 points, surging from 136th place to 108th on the rankings. The World Bank report calls this an “unprecedented improvement”, and it is highly indicative of the country managing to exceed even its own expectations yet again.

    Out of the six reform areas highlighted in the 2020 edition of the report, Pakistan made the highest improvement in the “Starting a Business” indicator, which is an area largely being revolutionized by the Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP).

    Pakistan’s ranking in this indicator has improved from 130 to 72 and is placed at second position in South Asian countries in terms of ease of starting a business.

    The improvement, according to the SECP, is primarily due to the integration of e-services with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) at the federal level and with business registration portals of Punjab and Sindh at the provincial level.

    After this integration, SECP’s e-services offer a one-window facility for company registration with FBR, EOBI, provincial employees social security institutions, the labour department and excise and taxation departments of Punjab and Sindh.

    As a result of this reform, the number of procedures to start a business, as recorded in the Doing Business Report 2020, have been reduced from ten to five and Pakistan has managed to rank “among the top ten reformers globally”.

    Pakistan emerging as an increasingly business-friendly nation is massively good news for the local hustle culture and the entrepreneurship environment that has rapidly been garnering interest over the past few years.

  • ‘Pakistan to recognise E-sports as an official sport’

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has announced that Pakistan will soon recognise e-sports as an official sport after an MOU (Memorandum of understanding) was signed between the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF).

    “An MOU has been signed between Pakistan Sports Board and Pakistan Science Foundation after which e-sports will get the status of an official sport,” said Chaudhry in a tweet.

    He added: “If you are interested in video games then get ready for new opportunities.”

    In December 2020, during an interview with Waqar Zaka, Chaudhry had hinted towards Pakistan’s first-ever e-sports tournament. The minister had said that the tournament will be held in March with the help of private sponsorships.

  • Signal, Telegram see spike in demand after WhatsApp policy change

    Signal, Telegram see spike in demand after WhatsApp policy change

    After WhatsApp’s new terms sparked debate on social media, other messaging apps like Telegram and Signal are witnessing a surge in demand.

    WhatsApp, which uses Signal’s encryption technology, laid out fresh terms on Wednesday, asking users to agree to let owner Facebook Inc and its subsidiaries collect user data, including their phone number and location.

    Some privacy activists questioned the “accept our data grab or get out” move on Twitter, and suggested users to switch to apps like Signal and Telegram.

    Signal’s popularity shot up further on Thursday after it was endorsed by Elon Musk, who has one of the most-followed accounts on Twitter and by the micro-blogging site’s top boss Jack Dorsey.

    More than 100,000 users installed Signal across the app stores of Apple and Google in the last two days, while Telegram picked up nearly 2.2 million downloads, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower.

    New installs of WhatsApp fell 11% in the first seven days of 2021 compared with the prior week, but that still amounted to an estimated 10.5 million downloads globally, Sensor Tower said.

  • WhatsApp issues statement regarding privacy concerns

    According to media reports, WhatsApp has issued a statement about its new privacy policy. According to the new privacy policy, WhatsApp will share account registration information, phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, interactions on the platform, mobile device information, IP address, and other data collected based on users’ consent, a new update says.

    To address the privacy concerns, WhatsApp issues a statement on 8th January, which states that the new update “does not change WhatsApp’s data-sharing practices with Facebook”.

    A spokesperson from WhatApp spoke to Quint about the new update, “For users who do not agree with the new WhatsApp terms of service, they will not be able to use the app after February 8. However, contrary to the general held perception, the user’s account will not be deleted after February 8.”

    WhatsApp also issued a public statement regarding the privacy matter :

    “As we announced in October, WhatsApp wants to make it easier for people to both make a purchase and get help from a business directly on WhatsApp. While most people use WhatsApp to chat with friends and family, increasingly people are reaching out to businesses as well.”

    “To further increase transparency, we updated the privacy policy to describe that going forward businesses can choose to receive secure hosting services from our parent company Facebook to help manage their communications with their customers on WhatsApp. Though of course, it remains up to the user whether or not they want to message with a business on WhatsApp”. 

    “We are communicating directly with users through WhatsApp about these changes so they have time to review the new policy over the course of the next month,” the statement added.

  • WhatsApp will delete accounts if user data not shared with Facebook

    WhatsApp has decided to share more user data with other Facebook companies to provide a more coherent experience to users across its services.

    It will share account registration information, phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, interactions on the platform, mobile device information, IP address, and other data collected based on users’ consent, a new update says.

    This data sharing policy with Facebook and its other services doesn’t apply to EU states. The update is expected to go into effect next month.

    The “key updates” concern how it processes user data, “how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats,” and “how we partner with Facebook to offer integrations across the Facebook Company Products.”

    In a notification quoted by a tech website, Whastapp said it will delete the accounts after “120 days of inactivity .i.e. not connected to the app.”

    “This effectively means that, while the profiles will remain inactive, WhatsApp will eventually end up deleting the accounts after 120 days of inactivity (i.e. not connected to the app) as part of its efforts to “maintain security, limit data retention, and protect the privacy of our users.”

    Facebook Company Products refers to the flagship Facebook app, Messenger, and Instagram, Boomerang among others.

  • Facebook bans Donald Trump indefinitely

    Facebook bans Donald Trump indefinitely

    A day after various social media platforms, including Twitter, temporarily suspended US President Donald Trump’s accounts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Trump’s account has been banned indefinitely.

    “The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg said in a statement posted on Facebook. “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world.”

    “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

    On Wednesday, Twitter suspended Trump’s account. In a series of tweets, Twitter Safety tweeted:

    As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy.

    This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked

    Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.

    https://twitter.com/twittersafety/status/1346970431039934464?s=21

    This happened in the wake of the siege of Capitol Hill by pro-Trump mob. Trump released a video on Wednesday night in which he continued to claim he won the election and told supporters who stormed the Capitol: “We love you.” According to the BBC, Snapchat also stopped Trump from creating new posts, but did not say if or when it would end the ban. YouTube also removed the video.

    While his social media accounts remain suspended, Trump released a statement through White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino. It said:

    “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”

  • Punjab govt ‘temporarily’ shuts down free WiFi service

    Punjab govt ‘temporarily’ shuts down free WiFi service

    In a bid to save money, the Punjab government has decided to shut down the free WiFi service in public spaces for an indefinite period.

    The decision was taken by the provincial government led by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to save Rs190 million that the project was costing.

    The WiFi service launched by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2017 was available in several cities of Punjab, such as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan. The government had created at last 200 hotspots to provide free internet to the residents. It was also available at airports, railway stations, metro stations, colleges, and universities.

    Chief Minister’s aide Firdous Ashiq Awan was reported as saying that the service has been shut down temporarily and it will be resumed soon. However, she didn’t give any specific date.

    In 2019, the government had halted the free internet service due to a lack of funds. According to a report in Dawn, the service was stopped after the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) failed to pay Rs150m to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

  • Winner winner chicken dinner: KFC launches gaming console

    Winner winner chicken dinner: KFC launches gaming console

    In what seems to be just another news for 2020, fast-food giant KFC has launched a gaming console that can also keep chicken warm. It’s called KFConsole.  Forget the PS5, ignore the XBox, the true king of gaming consoles is KFC. 

    Back in June this year, KFC released a ridiculously hilarious trailer for the KFConsole right after Sony’s PS5 reveal. The tech world didn’t take the news seriously and considered this a marketing stunt from KFC.

    https://twitter.com/kfcgaming/status/1271487675929890816?s=20

    KFC has collaborated with Cooler Master and has launched a gaming console that is capable of handling 4K gaming titles at 240 fps. 

    But what makes this console special, apart from the brand that it is coming from, is that has the world’s first built-in chicken chamber in it. KFC promises to keep the contents of the chicken chamber hot and ready for consumption for gamers. This is made possible thanks to a custom-build cooling system that manages to keep the hardware working at normal temperature while the heat precipitated through the console’s component will be used to warm the console’s chicken chamber.

    According to reports, Mark Cheevers, KFC PR head in a press release said, “This machine is capable of running games at top-level specs, all on top of keeping your meal warm for you to enjoy during your gaming experience, what’s not to like?” What’s not to like indeed.

    Continuing with his wit Cheevers remarked, “If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for their efforts next time, they’d be welcome to get in touch.” 

    The KFConsole is not just a product born out of a marketing gimmick. According to the reports, it is powered with an Intel NUC CPU, a 1TB SSD by Seagate Barracuda, and an Nvidia GPU. According to Cooler Master, KFConsole also has a one of a kind swappable GPU slot that can be used for easy upgrades.

  • Remove ‘sacrilegious content’ or face legal action, PTA tells Google and Wikipedia

    Remove ‘sacrilegious content’ or face legal action, PTA tells Google and Wikipedia

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued notices to Google and Wikipedia over the dissemination of “sacrilegious content” on their platforms, saying a legal action will be taken in case of a failure to remove the content.

    In a press release shared on its Twitter handle, the PTA said that the action against the tech giant and the online encyclopedia was taken after “complaints regarding misleading search results associated with ‘Present Khalifa of Islam’ and unauthentic version of Holy Quran uploaded by Ahmadiyya Community on Google Play Store” were received.

    Calling it a matter of a “very serious nature”, the PTA approached Google with the directives “to immediately remove the unlawful content”.

    “The platform has been issued with the notice under Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguard) Rules 2020 (“Rules”) to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action by the regulator,” it added.

    According to the PTA, people also registered complaints against Wikipedia for “hosting of caricatures of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and dissemination of misleading, wrong, deceptive and deceitful information through articles portraying Mirza Masroor Ahmad as a Muslim”. 

    “After extensive communication on the matter, Wikipedia has been finally served with the notice to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action,” the statement added.

    “In case the platforms remain non-compliant, PTA shall be constrained to initiate further action under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and Rules 2020,” said the regulatory authority.