When the big-wigs put their heads together to work on pandemic solutions, they need solid datasets full of up-to-date, organized, clean data. But coming up with these datasets is a monumental endeavor. According to IBM: IBM’s new COVID resource is an open-source Jupyter notebook containing pandemic-related datasets and tools derived from authoritative data sources such as John Hopkins University, The New York Times, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control....

In a virtual pre-conference press event attended by Neural, CEO Arvind Krishna discussed a number of the company’s plans for 2022 and beyond. The chief topics of conversation involved artificial intelligence, sustainability, and the most ambitious plan for quantum computing hardware advances we’ve seen yet. Some of the more interesting takeaways from Krishna include: “Watson is alive and well.” IBM intends to reach net zero “by 2030. Not 2040. Not 2050, but by 2030....

Assuming that we don’t extinguish all other life as we disappear (an unlikely feat in spite of our unique propensity for driving extinction), history tells us to expect some pretty fundamental changes when humans are no longer the planet’s dominant animal species. So if we were given the chance to peek forward in time at the Earth some 50m years after our disappearance, what would we find? Which animal or group of animals would “take over” as the dominant species?...

After all, if the teams building the products don’t believe in them, how can we expect users to? I’d argue that as Product Managers, our roles naturally demand a level of emotional intelligence. We have to communicate, empathize, and diffuse conflicts on a daily basis. But in a product sphere shaken by the pandemic, we have to be more conscious to project that intelligence onto the teams and the workflows that make our products — especially when emotional intelligence can arm people with the skills to juggle disrupted processes and remote work....

Recruitment marketing is the use of tactics borrowed from the world of content, or inbound, marketing and applying them to more traditional HR practices. There’s a heavy dose of digital savvy involved, making good use of social media and networking, as well as focusing on monitoring the organization’s online reputation. This is all in the interest of reaching the ~80 percent of the workforce that is not actively seeking a new position....

For all their acknowledged grandeur and innovation, Apple and Apple products aren’t always the pinnacle of programming that company leaders espouse them to be. Case in point: for years, if you needed to transfer files around to various Apple devices, you had to go through the occasionally sticky, sometimes downright finicky iTunes infrastructure to get it done. Similarly, if you want to backup your iOS device, that has historically required iCloud and only iCloud to make it happen....

“Design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained,” India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg told Bloomberg on Saturday. “But whatever it is, it would be a private cryptocurrency and that’s not something we have been comfortable with.” A virtual ban on cryptocurrency trading came into effect in India in April 2018 when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notice to Indian banks asking them to stop dealing with any cryptocurrency businesses....

The government also opened up a bug country program with rewards up to ₹100,000 ($1,325) for finding bugs in the app. The app was originally launched in April on Android and iOS to keep a check on the spread of coronavirus. To ensure that its effective, the government made it mandatory for private and public sector employees. Several private companies such as food-delivery service Zomato and utility service provider Urban Company asked all of its employees to use the app....

In the latest, the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Rajasthan police has unearthed a Bitcoin scam worth INR 150 million ($2 million). The police were alerted by a group of people who alleged they were duped out of their cryptocurrency investments into various companies like bet2bet and Monivo, local publication The Times of India reported today. According to the police, the investors were promised “soaring returns at an exponential rate,” but ended up receiving nothing at all....

Instagram today revealed it’s rolling out the ability to pin comments to all users around the world. That means you can pluck up to three comments you most want to highlight out of the comments section and pin them to the top. This will help you save funny, positive, or important comments at the top of the post. Here’s how it looks. That means you can a pin a few comments to the top of your feed post and better manage the conversation....

Instagram users could previously only go live with one other person, but can now “double-up” on their broadcasts. That should make the feature handy for hanging out with friends, interacting with audiences, participating in classes, and collaborating on creative projects. Live Rooms also gives creators more ways to monetize their work. Viewers can show appreciation for their hosts by buying badges during the streams, and use other interactive features such as Shopping and Live Fundraisers....

While legalizing mining is seemingly a positive move, it’s important to note there are several caveats that clarify the country’s stance with regards to the wider cryptocurrency industry. The bill, ratified by the Iranian Cabinet and released on Sunday, highlighted the government would not recognize cryptocurrency trading as lawful. It also said the government and the country‘s banking system do not perceive cryptocurrencies to be legal tender and that the Central Bank of Iran would not guarantee their value, reports Al Jazeera....

By: Harrison Jacobs Earlier this month, the European Union Parliament passed sweeping new rules aimed at limiting how companies and websites can track people online to target them with advertisements. Targeted advertising based on people’s online behavior has long been the business model that underwrites the internet. It allows advertisers to use the mass of personal data collected by Meta, Google, and other tech companies as people browse the web to serve ads to users by sorting them into tens of thousands of hyperspecific categories....

The statement refers specifically to donations made to ministers or other politicians, The Block reports. During a press conference earlier today, [minister’s name] explained that donations made in conventional money are subject to disclosure under the country’s Political Funds Control Act. However, donations made in cryptocurrency, to politicians, are not required to be disclosed. Japan has historically been quite progressive towards regulating cryptocurrency. Last year, the country granted the cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status....

According to the UK Equality Act 2010, it’s illegal to discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Yet the lack of inclusive charging infrastructure means that the country’s 14 million disabled people might well be left behind. To tackle this issue, Transport Minister Rachel Maclean announced in June that the government is working together with the national disability charity Motability and the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop accessibility standards for EV charge points across the UK....

We could make some bad puns about independence and such, but you’d see right through that cheap writing ploy. The reality is this is a pre-July 4th collection of great digital offers, all with discounts of between $125 to $3,500. If those cold, hard numbers on some stellar productivity and protection products don’t do all the persuading that needs to be done, it’s doubtful some ridiculously stretched July 4th reference will save the day....

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a markup language that is used to structure content for presentation over the web. It’s important to note that HTML is not considered a programming language because it can’t perform mathematical logic or other features that are common in programming languages. The upside is that HTML is super easy to learn! HTML is one of the main technologies used on the World Wide Web, and it’s an essential tool to know as a web developer....

The Lithuanian government, though, is breathing new life into the concept by letting drivers put the cash toward a totally different mode of transport like an ebike or escooter, and it’s proving very popular. Lithuania’s Environmental Project Management Agency (APVA) of the Ministry of Environment has been running the scheme since mid-May and so far 8,518 people have applied, national news broadcaster LRT reports. The country’s residents are able to apply for subsidies to use against escooters, motorcycle, mopeds, bicycles, ebikes, or even public transport passes [Read: 4 ridiculously easy ways you can be more eco-friendly] Those that decide to discard their polluting motorcars in pursuit of a cleaner alternative could receive up to €1,000 ($1,170)....

Lotus is integrating What3words’ word-based navigation tool into its app, which will allow drivers to set a 3×3 meter square piece of earth as their destination. The app will then take care of routing and navigation, and the car will display turn-by-turn instructions on their instrument cluster. I guess super rich people aren’t wealthy because they always know how to get to where they’re going, huh. [Read: 3 new technologies ecommerce brands can use to connect better with customers] As brilliant as satellite navigation systems are, they aren’t perfect....

Aaron Kuns, from Toledo (Ohio), who pleaded guilty in June, will also be subject to three years on supervised release and will have to forfeit his cryptocurrency holdings — valued at around $9,675 in April. Kuns, who had no prior criminal history, told Judge Jeffreey Helmick that he accepted responsibility and apologized for his actions, while maintaining he had made poor decisions after consuming marijuana. Robert Kern, assistant US attorney, said the IDs created by Kuns were of very high quality, complete with working coded magnetic strips....