Sat.Sep 19, 2020

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A question for the City of Seattle: Why are you fighting your partners?

GeekWire

Traffic snakes past downtown Seattle on Interstate 5. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota). Guest Commentary: Seattle, like much of the world today, is reeling. Crumbling infrastructure. Failing entertainment venues and restaurants. An underfunded school district. One of the largest homeless populations in the country. A looming second wave of a global pandemic.

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Epic says Apple ‘cherry picked’ info about Fortnite’s popularity in new filing

The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge. In the ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple saga, Epic says in a new legal filing that Apple made incorrect statements in its own legal filing earlier this week, asserting that Apple “cherry picked” Google search results about the popularity of Epic’s Fortnite game. Apple had suggested that Epic started the legal fight over Fortnite in the App Store as a publicity stunt, and that Fortnite had already started to decline in popularity: “For reasons having nothing t

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Black tech organizations grow amid calls for racial justice

Venture Beast

Amid calls for racial justice, groups are forming to grow community among Black technologists, invite allies to participate, and build more inclusive tech. Read More.

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First PS5 photos show just how big Sony’s next-gen console truly is

The Verge

Sony’s upcoming PS5 hardware has appeared at Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC), providing us with the first close up photos of the next-gen console. The NCC has published a variety of images ( PDF ), showing the standard PS5 laying horizontally, the included cables, and the removable base that holds the console in both vertical and horizontal positions.

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Peak Performance: Continuous Testing & Evaluation of LLM-Based Applications

Speaker: Aarushi Kansal, AI Leader & Author and Tony Karrer, Founder & CTO at Aggregage

Software leaders who are building applications based on Large Language Models (LLMs) often find it a challenge to achieve reliability. It’s no surprise given the non-deterministic nature of LLMs. To effectively create reliable LLM-based (often with RAG) applications, extensive testing and evaluation processes are crucial. This often ends up involving meticulous adjustments to prompts.

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Lego's New Batman 1989 Batwing Is a Work of Art You Can Actually Hang on Your Wall

Gizmodo

Almost a year after it was first revealed, the Lego 1989 Tim Burton Batmobile remains my favorite Lego set of all time. The model is gigantic, packed with fun details, and a beautiful recreation of an iconic vehicle. So I’m glad to see that Lego has given another one of Batman’s wonderful toys the brick treatment with… Read more.

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Sony apologizes for PS5 preorders mess, promises more stock over ‘next few days’

The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge. Sony has apologized for PS5 preorders being a bit of a mess. “Let’s be honest: PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother,” says Sony from the official PlayStation Twitter account. “We truly apologize for that.” Preorders for the new PS5 console began on Wednesday , a day earlier than Sony had said retailers would take orders.

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Gigabyte accidentally reveals RTX 3070 16GB and RTX 3080 20GB GPUs

TechSpot

On their website, Gigabyte has a list of graphics cards that will come bundled with a free copy of Watch Dogs: Legion. Included are five unannounced cards: an “N306S 8GD” model, two “N307S 16 GD” models, and two “N308S 20GD” models.

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Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Win an Emmy for Watchmen, Coming One Step Closer to the Broodiest EGOT Ever

Gizmodo

The most prestigious award combination in entertainment, the EGOT—Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony—is an incredible accomplishment for any musician/actor/creator. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are a little closer. Read more.

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John Carmack says he’s ‘kind of embarrassed’ over Facebook’s social VR during pandemic

Venture Beast

Facebook Reality Labs' John Carmack says he’s “kind of embarrassed” about Facebook’s social VR on Oculus headsets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More.

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First Ransomware-Related Death Reported in Germany After Attack Paralyzes Hospital

Gizmodo

It sounds like something out of a tragic Black Mirror episode: A woman seeking urgent care died this week after an apparently bungled ransomware attack took down a major hospital in Germany, thus forcing paramedics to rush her to another city for treatment, according to several outlets. Read more.

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7 Pitfalls for Apache Cassandra in Production

Apache Cassandra is an open-source distributed database that boasts an architecture that delivers high scalability, near 100% availability, and powerful read-and-write performance required for many data-heavy use cases. However, many developers and administrators who are new to this NoSQL database often encounter several challenges that can impact its performance.

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PlayStation leads in TV ad impressions, but Square Enix is close behind

Venture Beast

Gaming industry TV ad impressions saw an 87.71% increase from mid-August to mid-September, compared to the previous 30-day period. Read More.

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Six people indicted in Amazon Marketplace bribery scheme to help third-party sellers

The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge. Six people have been indicted by a grand jury in Washington state on charges they bribed Amazon employees to manipulate third-party seller listings on the e-commerce site, including listings for defective or dangerous products, authorities said. Starting in 2017, the people, including two former Amazon employees, paid more than $100,000 to have listings of products and accounts that Amazon had blocked or suspended from its Marketplace, which allows third-

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U.S. Postal Service made $1.6 billion profit on Amazon deliveries last year

TechSpot

The information comes from internal emails and financial statements obtained by the American Oversight watchdog group and shared in a report from the Washington Post. According to the information, USPS delivered 1.54 billion Amazon packages in the 2019 fiscal year, amounting to 30 percent of the company’s volume.

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Stardust Social Casino is a bet on enticing players with Las Vegas history

Venture Beast

When Boyd Gaming launched the Stardust Social Casino game last month, it was one more title in a crowded market. But the Stardust name has a lot of history. Read More.

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20 Common Mistakes Made by Inexperienced Project Managers

You’ve read the PMBOK® Guide several times, taken the certification exam for project managers, passed, and you are now a PMP®. So why do you keep making rookie mistakes? This whitepaper shows 20 of the most common mistakes that young or inexperienced project managers make, issues that can cost significant time and money. It's a good starting point for understanding how and why many PMs get themsleves into trouble, and provides guidance on the types of issues that PMs need to understand.

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U.S. will ban WeChat and TikTok downloads starting tomorrow

TechSpot

TikTok has tried working with the U.S., claiming it has offered “unprecedented levels of additional transparency” in recent days. Tencent, owner of WeChat, will also continue talks with the U.S. in an attempt to achieve “a long-term solution.

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Giancarlo Esposito Discusses His Greatest Acting Challenge Yet: A Cartoon Supervillain

Gizmodo

Giancarlo Esposito is a well respected actor. He played Gus Fring on Breaking Bad. He filled up the screen as Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian. But that pales in comparison to the challenge before him now: playing a cartoon villain on DuckTales. Read more.

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Seattle startup Level sees growth for flexible credit service used by independent contractors

GeekWire

Level CEO David Edelstein. (Level Photos). Millions of independent contractors are making money in the gig economy, but many don’t have access to financial credit services to help grow their personal microbusinesses. Level wants to help. The Seattle startup partners with marketplace platforms such as Dolly and Keepe, which use Level to offer workers flexible credit options that are only paid back when they earn.

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Sony Apologizes For PS5 Pre-Order Clusterfuck And Says More Consoles Will Be Available This Year

Gizmodo

Earlier this week, PS5 pre-orders started up at various retailers around the world at different times and with little warning. This created a giant mess and now Sony has officially apologized for the clusterfuck. Read more.

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How to Migrate From DataStax Enterprise to Instaclustr Managed Apache Cassandra

If you’re considering migrating from DataStax Enterprise (DSE) to open source Apache Cassandra®, our comprehensive guide is tailored for architects, engineers, and IT directors. Whether you’re motivated by cost savings, avoiding vendor lock-in, or embracing the vibrant open-source community, Apache Cassandra offers robust value. Transition seamlessly to Instaclustr Managed Cassandra with our expert insights, ensuring zero downtime during migration.

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GeekWire Podcast: Snowflake, Madrona and a giant IPO; Bill Gates Sr.’s legacy; Apple Watch and COVID

GeekWire

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: Snowflake, the data warehousing company, came out with a bang this week in its public debut, raising $3.4 billion in the largest software IPO ever. It reignited a debate over the the IPO process and inequality in the allocation of shares when a company goes public. Snowflake’s IPO was also a successful outcome for Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group, resulting from a departure from its normal investing strategy.

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Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2 Is Proof That You Should Skip First-Gen Tech

Gizmodo

The original Galaxy Fold was the most important phone of 2019. It showed how flexible display tech could create a totally new type of device with the portability of a phone and the big screen and improved multitasking experience of a tablet. However, like a lot of first-gen products—especially something that… Read more.

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Turing Award winners endorse Biden, say Trump immigration policy will stifle tech research

The Verge

Twenty-four winners of the Turing Award are endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election, The New York Times reported , explaining they’re concerned the Trump administration’s immigration policies could be detrimental to both computer research and the technology industry over the long term. “The most brilliant people in the world want to come here and be grad students, but now they are being discouraged from coming here, and many are going elsewhere,” David Pat

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Epic's Latest Filing Says Apple Lied About Fortnite's Popularity Using 'Cherry-Picked' Stats

Gizmodo

There’s a new development in the high-profile game of chicken between Apple and Epic. The Fortnite developer’s latest legal filing claims that Apple “cherry-picked” Google data in its own legal filing earlier this week to support its narrative that Fortnite’s declining popularity is the impetus behind all this drama. Read more.

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Reimagined: Building Products with Generative AI

“Reimagined: Building Products with Generative AI” is an extensive guide for integrating generative AI into product strategy and careers featuring over 150 real-world examples, 30 case studies, and 20+ frameworks, and endorsed by over 20 leading AI and product executives, inventors, entrepreneurs, and researchers.

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WeChat and TikTok see US downloads climb ahead of Trump administration ban

The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge. Messaging app WeChat had its biggest one-day download numbers in nearly two years on Friday, ahead of a ban on new downloads from the US Commerce Department expected to take effect tomorrow. Preliminary data from analytics platform Sensor Tower showed Chinese-based WeChat had 10,000 installs in the US Friday, a 150 percent increase from Thursday and a 233 percent week-over-week increase.

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David Harbour Says Hopper Is Going Through a Major Transformation in Stranger Things Season 4

Gizmodo

Think of it less like a return than a resurrection. Read more.

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TikTok files last-minute lawsuit against Trump administration to stave off looming ban

The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge. TikTok and parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit late Friday against the Trump administration to try to fend off a ban on new downloads of the app set to take effect Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported. TikTok says in the lawsuit that the Trump administration’s decision to ban new downloads of the app, announced Friday , violates free speech protections.

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The Ms. Marvel Series for Disney Plus Has a Directing Team, Including Pakistani Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Gizmodo

Kamala Khan ’s TV debut is in the works, and Disney has assembled a marvelous (ahem) directorial team. Read more.

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Entity Resolution Checklist: What to Consider When Evaluating Options

Are you trying to decide which entity resolution capabilities you need? It can be confusing to determine which features are most important for your project. And sometimes key features are overlooked. Get the Entity Resolution Evaluation Checklist to make sure you’ve thought of everything to make your project a success! The list was created by Senzing’s team of leading entity resolution experts, based on their real-world experience.

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Saturday's Best Deals: Dyson Hot + Cool Air Purifier, Huckberry Onsen Bath Towels, Beats Solo Pro Headphones, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, USDA Certified Organic CBD Oil, IT Brush Bath, and More

Gizmodo

A Dyson HP01 Pure Hot + Cool desk purifier , sets of Huckberry Onsen Bath Towels , Beats Solo Pro headphones , a 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription , a Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner , a 2-pack of hand sanitizer bottles , some organic USDA certified CBD oil , and IT Brush Bath purifying makeup brush cleaner lead… Read more.

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Three Vibrant Variations of Beats Solo Pro Headphones Are Only $200 Right Now

Gizmodo

Beats Solo Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones | $200 | Amazon Read more.

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John James Audubon Was Never Good

Gizmodo

The most famous name in American ornithology is that of a slave owner, grave robber, and fraud who invented birds and falsified scientific results. Birders and ornithologists are grappling with John James Audubon’s legacy today, but problematic behavior doesn’t stop at a single 19th-century naturalist. Some in the… Read more.

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There Is Now a TikTok Deal That Has Trump’s 'Blessing,' Delaying Ban

Gizmodo

Talk about TikTok whiplash, although that’s normal thing these days. Hours before a new ban was supposed to be put in place to block new downloads and updates of the popular video-sharing app, President Donald Trump has come out to say there is a deal, and it has his “blessing.” Read more.

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Strategic CX: A Deep Dive into Voice of the Customer Insights for Clarity

Speaker: Nicholas Zeisler, CX Strategist & Fractional CXO

The first step in a successful Customer Experience endeavor (or for that matter, any business proposition) is to find out what’s wrong. If you can’t identify it, you can’t fix it! 💡 That’s where the Voice of the Customer (VoC) comes in. Today, far too many brands do VoC simply because that’s what they think they’re supposed to do; that’s what all their competitors do.