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Tag: Google

  • TikTok is willing to open offices in Pakistan: IT minister

    TikTok is willing to open offices in Pakistan: IT minister

    Federal Information Technology (IT) Minister Syed Aminul Haque stated on Wednesday that popular social media platform TikTok is interested in opening offices in Islamabad after discussions were successful. He also hinted that another significant social media platform was also open to coming to the country.

    On Wednesday, he made this statement while speaking at an event in Islamabad.

    He noted that the government wanted social media businesses to establish offices in the nation and stated that TikTok was one with which effective negotiations had taken place. The platform may soon establish headquarters in Islamabad, he added.

    TikTok does not belong to a group of regional social media sites that have resisted government attempts in recent years to exert more direct control over what is posted on the site.

    He made a suggestion that a significant social media site that is a part of the collective has stated a willingness to establish offices in Pakistan.

  • Google accidentally transfers $249,000 to self-proclaimed hacker’s bank account

    Google accidentally transfers $249,000 to self-proclaimed hacker’s bank account

    A blogger and security engineer who received a quarter-million dollars by mistake from Google claims he waited nearly a month for a response.

    On Wednesday, Sam Curry, who also describes himself as a hacker shared a screenshot along with the statement that the tech giant had “randomly” transferred him $249,999.

    Curry added in the tweet, “It’s OK if you don’t want it back,” adding that it had been more than three weeks since he had gotten the money and that he had been issued a support ticket when he contacted Google.

    Curry claimed that instead of spending the money, he saved it for the inevitable request for repayment from the corporation. He told NPR that in order to avoid paying tax on the money, he might need to transfer it to another account.

    The security engineer told NPR that he performs “bug bounty hunting” work for corporations like Google. He is paid to look for flaws in businesses’ software.

    He did not, however, see how the transfer related to his work at Google. As of Thursday, he still had the money.

    “Our team recently made a payment to the wrong party as the result of human error,” a Google spokesperson told NPR in a statement. “We appreciate that it was quickly communicated to us by the impacted partner, and we are working to correct it.”

    A Google spokesperson also disclosed to NPR that the company intended to recover the funds.

    A similar occurrence occurred last month when the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com unintentionally sent a woman over $10 million instead of $100. She spent or transferred significant amounts of money by the time the corporation realised the blunder, which was seven months later.

  • Google, Suzuki donate millions to flood-affectees

    Google, Suzuki donate millions to flood-affectees

    Tech giant Google has announced that it will donate $500,000 (Rs110 million) for flood relief efforts in Pakistan.

    Google Southeast Asia Vice President Stephanie Davis posted on LinkedIn that the tech giant would donate the amount to the Centre for Disaster Philanthropy through Google.org.

    In a post, she wrote: “Our hearts go out to each and everyone impacted by the ongoing floods in Pakistan. Even when faced with the fear of having their homes washed away and vital farmland destroyed, we have also witnessed Pakistanis and communities coming together to help each other. We are inspired by their bravery, and we want to help.”

    She added that the company would find more ways to help Pakistan through its tools and resources.

    Separately, Google’s Regional Head for South Asian Frontier Markets Farhan Qureshi said Google employees have contributed over Rs72 million so far in personal donations and company matches.

    Earlier this week, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said his company would donate to relief and recovery efforts on the ground.

    “The floods in Pakistan and surrounding areas are devastating humanitarian disasters. Our thoughts are with those that have lost loved ones, the many displaced families, and all those affected,” he tweeted.

    Suzuki has also decided to offer aid to Pakistan in support of the flood victims. According to an official notification, the company will offer a relief fund of 10 million Japanese Yen (Rs15.6 million).

    Water levels continued to rise on Friday as the overall death toll from the devastating floods has crossed 1,200.

  • Google to launch its Android Earthquake Alerts System in Pakistan

    Google to launch its Android Earthquake Alerts System in Pakistan

    Google has announced the launch of its “Android Earthquake Alerts System” in Pakistan, which will send automatic early warning alerts that help people be prepared for an emergency.

    “Android Earthquake Alerts System is a no-cost, helpful android feature that detects earthquakes around the world and alerts people. It uses sensors in Android smartphones,” said Google in a statement.

    “When people look up ‘earthquake’ or ‘earthquake near me’, they will find relevant results, along with helpful resources on what to do after an earthquake,” the statement further added.

    “Pakistan has experienced several earthquakes in the past, especially in the northern and western parts of the country. With the expansion of this earthquake alerts system, android users in Pakistan may receive automatic early warning alerts that help them be prepared for an emergency.”

    “One feature titled ‘Be Aware’ alerts people when earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 occur, or an intensity level of 3 or 4 on the MMI scale. The notification is sent along with the distance of the earthquake’s epicentre. The alert uses the phone’s current volume, vibration, and Do Not Disturb settings.”

    The Android Earthquake Alerts System was initially launched in New Zealand and Greece.

  • Google is officially killing Hangouts in November

    Google is officially killing Hangouts in November

    Google has announced that it will suspend Google Hangouts in November this year, moving all existing users to Google Chat.

    Hangouts will be available on its desktop site until November, and Google says it will alert users at least a month before it starts pointing the Hangouts site to Chat.

    The tech giant will allow users to obtain a copy of your Hangouts data with the help of its Takeout service before its suspension.

    Moving to Google Chat opens up new and adequate ways to connect and collaborate. For example, users can edit Docs, Slides, or Sheets with side-by-side editing, making it more comfortable to cooperate while continuing the conversation.

    The ability to make direct calls, create in-line threads in Spaces and the ability for users to share and view multiple images and videos are among the new features that Google is currently rolling out.

  • Elon Musk buys Twitter, Donald Trump has no plans to join the platform again

    Former United States (US) President, Donald Trump has announced that he has no intention to rejoin Twitter following the agreement with Elon Musk to buy the social media platform.

    While talking to Fox News on Monday, Trump revealed that he is satisfied with his own platform, Truth Social which was launched earlier this year.

    He said, “I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth,” Trump was quoted telling the network. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth.”

    Trump’s account was suspended after he incited violence on January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack through the social media platform. He had about 89 million followers on Twitter at that time.

    Trump has sued Twitter, Facebook, and Google’s YouTube against censoring his posts while posts by conservative commentators are widely shared on social media.

    In an interview, he said that he welcomed Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter, but he want to focus on his own platform. He did not see Twitter as his competitor.

    He said, “Truth Social will be a voice for me,” he said. “And that’s something nobody else can get.”

    Elon Musk is the world’s richest person and advocates free speech on all platforms. He had said before that he wanted to purchase Twitter and privatize it to allow free speech on the platform. He proposed some changes to the platform, including relaxing restrictions on content. Yesterday, he closed the purchase agreement for $44billion with the company.

  • Google dedicates doodle to murdered Karachi activist, Perween Rahman

    Google dedicates doodle to murdered Karachi activist, Perween Rahman

    Today’s Google Doodle was dedicated to murdered Karachi activist Perween Rahman. She did her postgraduate diploma in housing, building and urban planning from the Institute of Housing Studies in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She was the director of a NGO based in Karachi, Orangi Pilot Project.

    She was born in born in Dhaka in 1957. Pervween did part of her schooling in former East Pakistan and migrated to Karachi after the fall of Dhaka.

    She received a bachelors in engineering and architecture from Karachi’s Dawood College of Engineering and Technology in 1981 and joined a private architect’s firm. She later joined, Orangi Pilot Project, a NGO based in Karachi.

    She also did postgraduate diploma in housing, building and urban planning from the Institute of Housing Studies in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

    Perween Rahman was an outspoken critic of the land mafias in Karachi. Perween has received numerous awards from the government, including the Sitara-e-Shujaat for her efforts.

    Rahman was killed on March 13, 2013, when four gunmen opened fire on her vehicle near Pirabad police station in Orangi Town. She was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The bullets fired that day ended her 28-year-long career for advocating for land and basic services rights for the underprivileged.

  • ‘At least KFC has Pakistani CEO’, netizens react to Twitter’s new Indian CEO

    ‘At least KFC has Pakistani CEO’, netizens react to Twitter’s new Indian CEO

    Indian born Parag Agrawal has been named as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter after co-founder Jack Dorsey’s resignation.

    The news is making headlines in India. This is not the first time that an Indian has been appointed as a CEO of a well-known organisation. Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Alphabet, the umbrella network of Google. Similarly, Shantanu Narayen is Adobe’s and Satya Nadella is Microsoft’s.

    Since Agrawal’s appointment, Pakistanis have been tweeting about the Indian CEOs who have taken over the Information Technology (IT) world.

    There are a few hilarious ones.

    https://twitter.com/atif624_/status/1465631083974832136?s=20
    https://twitter.com/ChaiNotCoffee/status/1465645570756952070?s=20
    https://twitter.com/farjad99/status/1465675729400700935?s=20
  • Elon Musk praises Indian talent as Indian takes over Twitter

    Elon Musk praises Indian talent as Indian takes over Twitter

    Billionaire Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla Motors, took to Twitter to share his admiration for the Indian talent that contributed to America’s economy as Jack Dorsey (CEO) of Twitter stepped down and announced his successor, Indian Parag Agrawal.


    Last night, Dorsey announced his resignation on Twitter and confirmed that his replacement was Indian-born Parag Agrawal. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires in May 2022 and assist Parag with the transition.

    A 37-year-old immigrant from India, Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 as a Software Engineer and was later promoted to Chief Technical Officer (CTO) in 2017. While working as CTO, he worked as in-charge of strategy involving Artificial Intelligence, reports CNBC.

    A colleague of Agrawal, Chklovski, who worked with him from 2012 to 2014 said, “Parag is phenomenal, understands the problems, stays up late to get it done, mentors others — he’s the whole package.”

    Yoel Roth who is Twitter’s head of site integrity, tweeted, “Parag was one of the first engineers I worked with when I started at Twitter (when we were first working on timeline ranking). The rigor he brings to every decision was clear then, and I’m delighted to see it recognized today.”

    https://twitter.com/yoyoel/status/1465360091348041731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465360091348041731%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2021%2F11%2F29%2Ftwitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-key-to-dorseys-plans-to-revamp-social-media.html

    Apart from Twitter, five giant companies Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Palo Alto Networks have been headed currently by Indian-origin immigrants.

  • Facebook to change its name next week: report

    Facebook to change its name next week: report

    Social media platform Facebook has reportedly planned to rebrand itself with a new name to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users, reported The Verge.

    The announcement is likely to take place at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th.

    “The metaverse is going to be a big focus, and I think that this is just going to be a big part of the next chapter for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet,” Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg told The Verge.

    The Verge stated a possible name for the company could have something to do with Horizon. Recently, Facebook renamed its in-development Virtual Reality (VR) gaming platform named “Horizon” to “Horizon Worlds”.

    Since July, Zuckerberg has been talking about the metaverse.

    Earlier this week, the social media company also announced plans to create 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years to help build this metaverse.

    Facebook isn’t the first tech company to change its company name as in 2015 Google entirely reorganized under a holding company called Alphabet.