Image
Low-code is a modern agile way to build and continually improve business applications that better matches the pace of change in today’s digital business environment.
Source: QuickBase (a low-code platform vendor)
Date: March 2nd, 2021
Link (note, QuicBase is a vendor of low-code solutions): https://www.quickbase.com/business-application-platform/what-is-low-code
Discussion
Hundreds of popular K-pop songs have been removed from Spotify, amid a dispute with South Korean music distributor Kakao M.
Releases by popular acts including Sistar, IU, Monsta X and Epik High have vanished, leaving fans frustrated.
Spotify said its “existing licensing deal” with Kakao M had “come to an end” but it hoped the disruption would be temporary.
But the Korean company accused Spotify of refusing to extend its licence.
Kakao M is South Korea’s top music distributor, responsible for 37.5% of the songs featured in the country’s Top 400 Yearly Song Chart in 2020.
It also owns and operates the country’s top music streaming service, MelOn, with 8.81 million monthly active users.
Source: BBC Technology News
Date: March 1st, 2021
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56237626
Discussion
The US and its allies should reject calls for a global ban on AI-powered autonomous weapons systems, according to an official report commissioned for the American President and Congress.
It says that artificial intelligence will “compress decision time frames” and require military responses humans cannot make quickly enough alone.
And it warns Russia and China would be unlikely to keep to any such treaty.
But critics claim the proposals risk driving an “irresponsible” arms race.
“This is a shocking and frightening report that could lead to the proliferation of AI weapons making decisions about who to kill,” said Prof Noel Sharkey, spokesman for the Campaign To Stop Killer Robots.
“The most senior AI scientists on the planet have warned them about the consequences, and yet they continue.
“This will lead to grave violations of international law.”
The report counters that if autonomous weapons systems have been properly tested and are authorised for use by a human commander, then they should be consistent with International Humanitarian Law.
Source: BBC Technology News
Date: March 1st, 2021
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56240785
Discussion
Within minutes of its 8 a.m. opening on Wednesday morning, the Alberta system allowing seniors to book for the COVID-19 vaccine had crashed.
By noon, a trio of Edmonton brothers had figured out the problem on the website and posted a solution on Twitter to help others sidestep the glitch.
The issue, according to Kory Mathewson, a research scientist with Google’s DeepMind Technologies, was attached to one of the first steps of the form asking for a postal code.
“When you put in your postal code, it was trying to figure out the closest vaccine location to where your postal code is, but that’s a difficult computing science problem,” Mathewson told CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM on Thursday.
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Date: February 26th, 2021
Discussion
IT professionals with deep coding skills have long been the lifeline of many corporations, providing technical solutions to everyday problems. But as companies push for digital transformation, IT departments are at maximum capacity, and projects have piled up.
Now, companies are tasking employees without traditional coding backgrounds to lead innovation in their own departments. These citizen developers can be anyone outside of IT who builds business applications and digital solutions. This new role is helping companies increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve processes.
Take Zimmer Biomet. The Warsaw, Ind.-based medical device maker struggled with how to simultaneously adopt new digital technology while also dealing with daily workflow issues. Then, Zimmer Biomet began working with Quickbase, a no-code operational agility platform that enables citizen developers to improve operations through real-time insights and automation across complex processes and disparate systems.
Source: Quickbase (a provider of no-code solutions)
Date: February 23rd, 2021
Discussion
An entire California school board has resigned after making disparaging remarks about families in an online meeting which they did not realise was being publicly live-streamed.
“They want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back,” one member said about parents.
Another implied that parents wanted their children out of the house so they could take drugs during the day.
Parents, however, had been joining the public call as it progressed.
“Uh-oh,” said board member Kim Beede when she was told, several minutes into the discussion: “We have the meeting open to the public right now.”
The Webex meeting immediately went into private status.
Source: BBC News
Date: February 23rd, 2021
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56156795
Discussion
It used to be that the most influential media companies in Canada had to keep at least one eye on the Canadian public interest whether they wanted to or not.
Broadcasters are regulated through the Broadcasting Act, and while newspapers face less oversight, a restriction on foreign ownership means there is always the potential that a determined Canadian government could do something, such as change tax rules, that could nudge them into line.
But now, as internet mega companies such as Facebook and Google have taken over much of the ad revenue and eyeballs that mainstream media used to enjoy, there have been only nascent efforts to make them answer to the public interest.
This week, as Australia considered laws to make them pay for news, the new communications giants have demonstrated they can thumb their noses at mere national governments.
But with a growing sense around the world, including in Canada, that Facebook, Google and the like have grown too big and powerful, there are those who say an international effort is necessary to take on the titans of tech.
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Date: February 19th, 2021
Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/don-pittis-facebook-australia-governments-gang-up-1.5919005
Discussion
Face masks have become an everyday item due to the spread of coronavirus.
But now some brands are exploring ways to add hi-tech features focused on safety and utility.
Source: BBC News
Date: February 19th, 2021
Link to 3 minute 51 second video: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-56114512
Discussion
The Australian government passed a law requiring Google and Facebook (and others) to pay for news content created by others. In response, Facebook banned all Australian news content from its platform.
One of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers described it as “an act of war”. But others see the actions of Australia’s politicians as being an outrage against the principle of net neutrality.
Source: BBC Technology News
Date: February 19th, 2021
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/56127158
Discussion
Less than two weeks ago, GM caught some people by surprise with its pledge to make the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035. Warren Mabee, director of Queen’s University’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy, believes for the oilpatch, the significance of GM’s announcement outweighs the recent cancellation of Keystone XL.
“That really starts to eat away at the demand side of the equation as consumers have more and more electric vehicles available to them,” Mabee said.
“And as the costs sort of come in line with what [consumers are] expecting to pay, I think we’re going to see fewer and fewer people opting for gasoline-powered vehicles.
“That really has long-term implications for the industry.”
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company
Date: February 12th, 2021
Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/general-motors-electric-oilpatch-1.5905637
Discussion
Recent Comments