Could cryptocurrency dethrone the dollar?

MSN – Yahoo, 1 September 2019 

Chris J Ratcliffe Bank of England governor Mark Carney has suggested that a
virtual currency could one day replace the dollar as king of the foreign exchange market

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has suggested that a virtual currency, modelled on Facebook's Libra, could one day replace the dollar as king of the foreign exchange market.

The BoE chief aired vague proposals for a so-called "Synthetic Hegemonic Currency" at the recent Jackson Hole Symposium of central bankers.

Here is a brief assessment of why the greenback is losing its lustre and the outlook for Carney's proposed new digital currency, which would be supported by major central banks around the world.

Why dollar dominance?

The dollar has been the world's reference currency since the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, when various key units were fixed to the value of the greenback. It has retained its global supremacy ever since, thanks to the economic and political clout of the United States.

"The dominant currency is always that of the world's biggest political power," noted Philippe Waechter, head of research at Ostrum Asset Management.

The dollar accounted for almost 62 percent of global foreign exchange reserves in the first quarter of 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The European single currency was second with 20.2 percent, while China's yuan comprised only two percent despite the country's rise to the rank of the world's second biggest economy behind the US.

Why is greenback losing appeal?

Although the dollar has lost its sparkle owing to globalisation and the changing world economic order, gyrations in the US unit still impact economies elsewhere.

"US developments have significant spillovers onto both the trade performance and the financial conditions of countries even with relatively limited direct exposure to the US economy," Carney said at the recent bankers' meet in Wyoming.

Alastair Pike Don't expect the US to let its currency dwindle without a fight

When the greenback appreciates, so do repayments for many emerging nations because their debts tend to be denominated in dollars.

The BoE chief, who steps down in January, added: "In the longer term, we need to change the game."

Central bank role?

The public sector, in the form of central banks, could instead provide the best support for a new virtual currency, according to Carney.

"It is an open question whether such a new (cryptocurrency) would be best provided by the public sector, perhaps through a network of central bank digital currencies," he said.

Yet central bankers and world leaders alike remain anxious over the current crop of virtual currencies because they are unregulated.

US President Donald Trump himself has lashed out at Bitcoin and Libra for being "based on thin air" and having no standing or dependability -- unlike the dollar.

Commentators believe Washington is unlikely to allow the greenback to lose its cherished status as the world's premier reserve currency.

"The United States will simply not allow it to happen without a fight. Nobody in its position would," said Rabobank analysts.

What about Libra?

The BoE governor meanwhile made explicit references to Libra -- a future cryptocurrency unveiled by social media giant Facebook in June.

Carney avoided all mention of Bitcoin, which is the world's most popular digital unit but has been plagued by volatility.

Libra, which aims to launch in the first half of 2020, will be backed by a basket of currency assets to avoid the wild swings of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Yet Libra has also attracted the ire of central bankers owing to its origin in the private sector.

"Central banks are a little annoyed by this (Facebook) bid to privatise currency," said Agnes Benassy-Quere, a researcher at the Paris School of Economics.

Whereas Bitcoin is decentralised, Libra will be co-managed by 100 partner firms including Facebook itself.

Official world foreign exchange reserves, divided by currency, converted to US dollars, in the first quarter of 2019 @AFPgraphics pic.twitter.com/B73vkAA4Ec

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 1 september 2019

US tech futurist Andrew Yang, upending 2020 White House race

MSN – AFP, 1 September 2019

ALEX EDELMAN US tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants,
has gone from virtual unknown to one of the 10 Democratic hopefuls who made the
stage for the party's third presidential debate, set for September 12, 2019

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang may not become the next US president, but the clear-headed futurist has mounted a surprisingly vigorous White House bid centered around his plan for universal basic income.

For the past year, the son of Taiwanese immigrants has crisscrossed early voting states like Iowa, calmly but convincingly telling whoever will listen that the automating away of some four million jobs in America's heartland helped elect President Donald Trump.

Yang's message is part dark warning -- the rise of the machines is real -- and part clarion call for solutions to cushion the blow in an era of massive transformational change.

His campaign has gone from a long slog convincing skeptical voters about his pledge to provide every American adult with $1,000 a month, to a solid run for the Democratic nomination that few saw coming, and which puts him in the next nationally televised debate with nine other Democrats.

Yang, 44, has seen his crowds, once numbering a few dozen people or fewer, nudge into the hundreds, sometimes 1,000-plus, and readily sits for interviews with conservative commentators, leading to broad cross-party exposure.

While he has described himself as the opposite of Trump -- "an Asian guy who likes math" -- he is eager to woo Trump supporters, especially working-class white men anxious about their diminishing socioeconomic status.

Come September 12, Yang will be the only non-politician on the debate stage, standing alongside political giants like former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.

People have taken notice, including SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk.

"I support Yang," Musk tweeted August 10, a succinct seeming presidential endorsement from a highly visible global entrepreneur.

Yang, whose go-to outfit is a sport coat, dress shirt and no tie, has never held elected office. He is relaxed and direct, a skilled explainer beholden to no political camp.

One year ago he was a political nobody. By February he was the novelty candidate. Today he is outpolling three sitting US senators, a current and former congressman, and the mayor of New York.

"People started catching on to the fact that I was proposing solutions, not sound bites, and that we can actually start solving the problems on the ground," Yang told AFP in Iowa at a Democratic dinner.

"I'm identifying things that politicians only occasionally pay lip service to," like rising rates of suicide and depression, and declining US life expectancy.

His campaign raised more than $1 million from small donors in nine days following the second debate July 31.

Yang gang

The unlikely nature of Yang's candidacy -- "Random Man Runs for President," read one magazine cover -- has only elevated his stature.

"Once they hear about him... they love him," said Tom Krumins, a 25-year-old in South Carolina who once worked for Venture For America, the Yang-founded non-profit training thousands of young professionals to work for US start-ups.

"As that support continues to grow and as he continues to build his visibility online and in-person presence, he's going to take it by storm."

Yang has released several dozen policy prescriptions, including an ambitious $5 trillion outline to battle climate change.

But his signature plan provides every American 18 and over with a $1,000 monthly "freedom dividend," no strings attached, to counter automation pressures which he says could cause one third of all Americans to lose their jobs in the next 12 years.

Republicans blast the proposal as socialism. But Yang notes that a version of universal basic income has long been in place in conservative-leaning Alaska, where residents get government checks, funded by state oil revenues.

He says his dividend could be funded through consolidating certain welfare programs, implementing a value-added tax, and hiking taxes on top earners.

Not everyone is sold, including the liberal Sanders, who said he prefers a federal jobs guarantee.

"I think most people want to work," Sanders told Hill TV this week. "Part of our humanity is when we are productive members of our society."

Other party rivals have ignored Yang, even as he presented sharp answers in the second debate, when he warned that "wall-to-wall robots," not undocumented workers, were stealing away US jobs.

"Immigrants are being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy," he said.

But he raised eyebrows when he bleakly pronounced: "We are 10 years too late" to confront climate change.

Google to pay out $150-200m over YouTube privacy claims: reports

Yahoo – AFP, August 31, 2019

The allegations against YouTube were made by privacy groups who said the platform
had violated laws protecting children's privacy by gathering data on users under
the age of 13 (AFP Photo/LIONEL BONAVENTURE)

Washington (AFP) - Google will pay $150-200 million to settle allegations YouTube violated a children's privacy law while gathering data to better target its adverts, US media reports said Friday.

The US Federal Trade Commission agreed the amount of the settlement against YouTube parent Google, which if approved by the Justice Department would be the largest settlement in a case involving children's privacy, the New York Times reported.

The allegations against YouTube were made by privacy groups who said the platform had violated laws protecting children's privacy by gathering data on users under the age of 13 without obtaining permission from parents, Politico reported.

The FTC is expected to announce its decision on the settlement in September, the New York Times said.

US regulators have long argued Google fails to protect children from harmful content and data collection on its YouTube platform.

Advocacy group The Center for Digital Democracy said in a statement that the proposed settlement would be "woefully low" given Google's size and revenue, and called on the FTC to "enjoin Google from committing further violations" of children's privacy law.

Google remains the money-making engine for parent company Alphabet, with most of its revenue coming from digital ads, which accounted for $116 billion of the $136 billion the Silicon Valley-based company took in last year.

In January, France's CNIL data watchdog slapped Google with a record 50-million-euro fine for failing to meet the EU's tough General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force early last year.

Google is appealing the fine.

Fellow US tech giant Facebook recently settled a record $5 billion fine with the US Federal Trade Commission for misusing users' private data.

Dutch media groups join forces to battle Netflix and YouTube

DutchNews, August 30, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The biggest media groups in the Netherlands, including public broadcasting system NPO, commercial broadcasters RTL and Talpa and the Persgroep newspaper group, are joining forces to set up their own audio and viewing platform, the AD said on Friday. 

The aim, sources told the paper, is to take on the might of Netflix and YouTube, which are eating into the Dutch companies’ traditional audiences. The talks have been ongoing in secrecy for a year and the groups expect to brief media minister Arie Slob next week. 

Dutch media companies have been grappling with declining circulation, audiences and advertising revenue and Slob had earlier suggested they form some sort of alliance. 

The details of the scheme still have to be worked out and as yet it is unclear if the platform will be free and advertising funded, or if viewers will be asked to take out a subscription, the AD said.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings gives a keynote address, January 6, 2016 at the

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

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"Wild Cards" (3) - Nov 19 - 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

"... Then there was Steve Jobs. He was a wild card. What he did had little to do with technology, for that would have happened anyway soon enough. Instead, it had to do with the paradigm of the business of music on Earth. He freed it, and the paradigm of how music is obtained and heard will never be the same. However, Steve Jobs did basically one thing for all of you, and then he died. Do you see any kind of connecting of the dots to some of the inventors who come and give you the one thing, then leave? If he had lived, would there be more? Yes, but you’re not ready for it. Consciousness has to support what happens. ..."

Russia sends its first humanoid robot Fedor into space

Yahoo – AFP, Maria ANTONOVA, 22 August 2019

Named Fedor, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia

Russia on Thursday launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station.

Named Fedor, short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia.

Fedor blasted off in a Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft at 6:38 am Moscow time (0338 GMT) from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is set to dock with the space station on Saturday and stay till September 7.

Soyuz ships are normally manned on such trips, but on Thursday no humans are travelling in order to test a new emergency rescue system.

Instead of cosmonauts, Fedor, also known as Skybot F850, was strapped into a specially adapted pilot's seat, with a small Russian flag in hand.

"Let's go. Let's go," the robot was heard saying during launch, repeating the famous phrase used by first man in space Yuri Gagarin.

The silvery anthropomorphic robot stands 1.80 metres (5 foot 11 inches) tall and weighs 160 kilogrammes (353 pounds).

Fedor has Instagram and Twitter accounts with posts saying it is learning new skills such as opening a bottle of water. In the station, it will trial those manual skills in very low gravity.

"That's connecting and disconnecting electric cables (and) using standard items, from a screwdriver and a spanner to a fire extinguisher," the Russian space agency's director for prospective programmes and science, Alexander Bloshenko, said in televised comments ahead of the launch.

"The first stage of in-flight experiments went according to the flight plan," the robot tweeted after reaching orbit.

Fedor copies human movements, a key skill that allows it to remotely help astronauts or even people on Earth to carry out tasks while the humans are strapped into an exoskeleton.

Fedor has Instagram and Twitter accounts

Such robots will eventually carry out dangerous operations such as space walks, Bloshenko told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

On the website of one of the state backers of the project, the Foundation of Advanced Research Projects, Fedor is described as potentially useful on Earth for working in high radiation environments, demining and tricky rescue missions.

Though initially developed for the emergencies ministry, Fedor can also be seen shooting at targets from two handguns in a video posted by Russian space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin.

On board, the robot will perform tasks supervised by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, who joined the ISS in July and will wear an exoskeleton and augmented reality glasses in a series of experiments later this month.

Since Fedor is not trained to grab space station handles to move about in microgravity conditions, its legs will be immobilised on the space station, Bloshenko said.

Fedor not the first

Space agency chief Rogozin showed pictures of the robot to President Vladimir Putin this month, saying it will be "an assistant to the crew".

"In the future we plan that this machine will also help us conquer deep space," he added.

Russian media speculated that Fedor-like robots will be used in Russia's Moon programme.

Fedor is not the first robot to go into space.

In 2011, NASA sent up Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot developed with General Motors that had a similar aim of working in high-risk environments.

It was flown back to Earth in 2018 after experiencing technical problems.

In 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo along with the ISS's first Japanese space commander. Developed with Toyota, it was able to hold conversations -- albeit only in Japanese.

Named Fedor, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia

Fedor has Instagram and Twitter accounts.

#UPDATE An unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit successfully docks @Space_Station following a failed attempt over the weekend https://t.co/7Ygb8MwMuf pic.twitter.com/V8t8YFnWd2

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 27 augustus 2019

Fake sex dating site victims to share €9m compensation

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Apple debuts credit card as it readies TV+ launch

Yahoo – AFP, Glenn CHAPMAN, 20 August 2019

Apple is placing greater emphasis on offering digital content and services as the
once-sizzling smartphone market cools

Apple on Tuesday launched a smartphone-generation credit card in the US and moved closer to hitting the hot streaming television market with a new subscription service.

The moves come as Apple shifts to emphasize digital content and other services to offset a pullback in the once-sizzling smartphone market.

Arrival of an Apple Card tailored particularly for iPhone fans came with reports that the technology titan is keen to launch its TV+ streaming service before Disney goes live with a rival in November.

Apple TV+ will debut with a small selection of original content and a possible subscription price of $9.99, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The price would be more than that charged by powerhouse players Netflix and Amazon Prime as well as the announced subscription cost of a Disney+ service to launch on November 12.

California-based Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about TV+.

Spending on shows

Apple has reportedly allocated more than $6 billion for TV+ original shows, a small number of which would be available when the service goes live.

Ads for "The Morning Show" starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell began appearing on Twitter.

The show was described as "a high-stakes drama that pulls back the curtain on the morning news" coming this fall to those with Apple TV+ subscriptions.

With Hollywood stars galore, Apple in March unveiled streaming video plans along with news and game subscription offerings as part of an effort to shift its focus to digital content and services to break free of its reliance on iPhone sales.

The Apple TV+ service, an on-demand, ad-free subscription service, will launch this year in 100 countries, the company said at the event.

"We feel we can contribute something important to our culture and to our society through great storytelling," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said when the service was announced.

Apple revealed only a few of the programs in the works but announced collaborations with celebrities on both sides of the camera including Octavia Spencer, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa and M. Night Shyamalan.

The new content will be available on an upgraded Apple TV app, which will be on smart television sets and third-party platforms including Roku and Amazon's Fire TV.

Apple will also allow consumers to subscribe to third-party services like HBO and Starz from the same application.

Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi expected Apple TV+ to be more of a channel at its streaming video service, similar to an HBO, than to be a "one-stop-shop" that would stand alone.

Games and Cards

Apple is aiming to leverage its position with some 900 million people worldwide who use at least one of its devices.

The company has announced plans to launch a new game subscription service called Apple Arcade internationally later this year.

"Apple Arcade will introduce an innovative way to access a collection of brand new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service," Apple said in a statement.

The Apple credit card that became available on Tuesday in a partnership with Goldman Sachs was integrated with Apple Pay.

Those signing up will get a physical card and one for a digital wallet, with the two companies pledging to refrain from sharing or selling data to third parties for marketing and advertising.

Apple Card features that could shake up the credit card industry include not charging fees, giving users cash back on purchases, and providing tools for people to better manage their debt.

"Apple Card delivers new experiences only possible with the power of iPhone," the company said in an online post.

The card uses machine learning and mapping capabilities to let users keep track of spending, and provides payment options showing interest costs of various options.

Instagram begins letting users report misinformation

France24 –AFP, 15 August 2019

San Francisco (AFP) - Instagram on Thursday added a way for users to easily report deceptive posts at the photo and video-oriented social network owned by Facebook.

A new tool being rolled out out lets Instagram users tap a "report" option on-screen when they see a post they deem dubious, then tap a "false information" tag to prompt review by third-party fact-checkers, according to Facebook spokeswoman Stephanie Otway.

The option was expected to be available to all Instagram users by the end of this month.

Such prompts will be one of several "signals" used to determine whether content should be scrutinized by fact-checkers, who will determine their veracity.

"Starting today, people can let us know if they see posts on Instagram they believe may be false," Otway said.

"We're investing heavily in limiting the spread of misinformation across our apps, and we plan to share more updates in the coming months."

The world's biggest social network has been cracking down on fraudulent influence campaigns and bogus posts as pressure has mounted for online platforms to defend against efforts to manipulate online conversations.

User-reported Instagram posts found to be bogus but not in violation of the service's policies will not be deleted, but won't appear when users use "explore" or hashtag searches to discover content.

"Explore and hashtags allow people on Instagram to find content they haven?t already chosen to follow, and by filtering misinformation from these places, we can significantly limit its reach," Otway said.

Feedback from the new tool will be used to train artificial intelligence software to scan for, and rate, fake posts without waiting for them to be reported, according to Facebook.

Twitter reveals unauthorized data use

France24 – AFP, 7 August 2019

Twitter said the error had been corrected and that it was "taking steps to make
sure we don?t make a mistake like this again" AFP/File

Paris (AFP) - The social network Twitter said overnight that user's personal data had been used for advertising purposes, without their consent and despite dedicated settings to counteract such events.

A Twitter statement said the fault was corrected Monday and that an investigation was being conducted to determine how many people had been affected, while advising users to verify their data sharing settings.

The situation involved two cases, the first one arising if users clicked or viewed an advertisement for a mobile application and then interacted with it since May 2018.

"In that case, we may have shared certain data (e.g., country code, if you engaged with the ad and when, information about the ad, etc) with trusted measurement and advertising partners, even if you didn't give us permission to do so," the statement said.

The second case involved Twitter showing people ads "based on inferences we made about the devices you use, even if you did not give us permission to do so," it added.

In that case, data was not used outside the company and did not contain personal information such as passwords or e-mail accounts, according to Twitter.

Twitter apologised for not respecting users' choices, and insisted that it was "taking steps to make sure we don?t make a mistake like this again."

"What is there for you to do? Aside from checking your settings, we don't believe there is anything for you to do," the statement said.

It provided a link to a form that allows users to contact its office of data protection for more information.

The problems arose after Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May 2018.

The GDPR binds social media platforms and websites to ensuring they have user's explicit consent to collect personal data for advertising purposes or on behalf of third-party enterprises.

It also obliges companies that have been a victim of personal data loss to alert competent authorities in the country where their European headquarters are located, in this case Ireland, within 48 hours of their discovery, and the people affected as soon as possible.

Deloitte fails to deliver government IT project, loses contract

DutchNews, August 6, 2019

Illustration: Depositphotos.com

The cabinet has cancelled a contract with Deloitte for failing to deliver on an IT project to facilitate the hiring of external staff, broadcaster NOS reports. 

Deloitte, which has already spent most of the €6m earmarked for the project, had been warned earlier for not making enough progress by the government monitoring agency BIT which keeps an eye on large ICT projects. 

At the time the agency cited insufficiently defined project costs and confusion over management and roles, and the lack of a clear approach to the implementation of the new system. DigInhuur, the agency said, would not be active at the end of 2019 as planned even if the problems could be solved at a stroke. 

Deloitte was given more time but was still found to be insufficiently on course. It is not clear if the infrastructure ministry will be claiming back the money, NOS said. 

The Deloitte project is far from the first government IT project to run into trouble. In 2014, a parliamentary commission concluded the state is wasting between €1bn and €5bn a year on failing IT projects.