Google Assistant now helps you compare ride-hailing prices and summon a car -- The Verge

See Book a ride with the Google Assistant (Google Keyword blog) for more details

"After announcing some updates to the Google Assistant user experience yesterday, today Google is rolling out a new way of booking rides with your voice — or at least getting most of the way there. Starting this week, you’ll be able to say “Hey Google, book a ride to” or “Hey Google, get me a taxi to” your destination.

Assistant will then respond by listing off price estimates and current wait times for Uber, Lyft, Ola, Grab, GO-JEK, “and many more” ride-hailing apps, according to Google. You can avoid the longer list and specify your preferred service by using its name when requesting a ride. This works on Android, iPhone, Google Home, and all other smart speakers that have Assistant built in. Support for smart displays is coming soon."

Google Assistant now helps you compare ride-hailing prices and summon a car -- The Verge

Twitter still awash in fake news, study finds -- Politco

Also see More research suggests that Twitter’s fake news “strategy” is either ineffective or nonexistent (NiemanLab)

"Twitter is still rife with “fake news” a month out from the 2018 midterms, with more than 80 percent of the accounts that regularly spread misinformation in 2016 still active, a new study released Thursday found.

The report — sponsored by the nonprofit Knight Foundation and written by George Washington University professor Matthew Hindman and Vlad Barash, the science director at network analysis firm Graphika — found that those accounts together still publish upward of a million tweets a day."

Twitter still awash in fake news, study finds -- Politco

China inserted surveillance microchip in servers used by Amazon and Apple, report says -- The Washington Post

Also see The China SuperMicro Hack: About That Bloomberg Report (Lawfare); tangentially, see Pence’s China Speech Seen as Portent of ‘New Cold War’ (NYT)

"China secretly inserted surveillance microchips into servers used by major technology companies, including Apple and Amazon.com, in an audacious military operation likely to further inflame trade tensions between the United States and its leading source of electronics components and products, Bloomberg Businessweek reported Thursday morning.

The article -- which the companies vigorously denied -- detailed a sweeping years-long effort to install the surveillance chips in servers whose motherboards — the brains of the powerful computers — were assembled in China. One affected company had its servers used by U.S. government clients, including Department of Defense data centers, Navy warships and the CIA in its drone operations."

China inserted surveillance microchip in servers used by Amazon and Apple, report says -- The Washington Post

Elon Musk taunts the SEC days after fraud settlement -- The Washington Post

Looks like somebody hasn't completed his Twitter sensitivity training yet...

"Tesla chief Elon Musk on Thursday taunted federal regulators a few days after reaching a settlement with them over accusations of fraud, alleging they had sued him last week to help his enemies.

“Just want to [say] that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!” he tweeted, a jeering reference to the Securities and Exchange Commission, whom he’d settled with five days earlier.

The SEC declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond."

Elon Musk taunts the SEC days after fraud settlement -- The Washington Post

A Former Obama Operative Built a New Anti-Republican Attack Machine -- Bloomberg

Tangentially, see How the Kavanaugh Information War Mirrors Real Warzones (Wired)

"Before he was a banker, Burton, 38, was a practitioner of the dark art of opposition research, or “oppo”—digging up and surreptitiously deploying damaging information about politicians. As it did for so many people, Donald Trump’s election turned Burton’s life upside down. He quit his job, joined a Resistance group, and devoted himself to returning his country to the path he’d believed it was on when he worked for Barack Obama’s campaign a decade ago.

Some Resisters march or knock on doors; others raise money or run for office. Burton felt his gifts lay elsewhere: namely, in tearing down political opponents. Over the past year, backed by mysterious donors, he’s organized what may be the most audacious grass-roots project in the age of Trump. Burton has amassed an army of 16,000 amateur sleuths who, with professional guidance, have spent months ferreting out damaging material on scores of vulnerable Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. Now he’s ready to unleash it just in time for the midterms. As he told me, “We’re going to do with real information and real Americans what the Russians tried to do with fake information and fake Americans.”"

A Former Obama Operative Built a New Anti-Republican Attack Machine -- Bloomberg

Honda Putting $2.75 Billion Into G.M.’s Self-Driving Venture -- NYT

Later in the article: "For now, G.M. and Waymo appear to be ahead of most competitors."

"In the race to develop self-driving cars, General Motors has picked up another hefty ally.

Honda, the Japanese automaker, has agreed to buy a $750 million stake in G.M.’s autonomous vehicles unit, G.M. Cruise Holdings, the two companies said Wednesday. In addition, Honda will contribute $2 billion to the project over the next 12 years.

G.M. is aiming to develop a vehicle — based on its electric Chevrolet Bolt — with no steering wheel or pedals that can be used in driverless taxi and delivery services. The automaker hopes to develop the technology into a new and lucrative line of business, apart from making and selling cars and trucks for consumers."

Honda Putting $2.75 Billion Into G.M.’s Self-Driving Venture -- NYT

More than 250 people worldwide have died taking selfies, study finds -- The Washington Post

Several instances are described on the Darwin Awards site

"More than 250 people worldwide have died while taking selfies in the last six years, according to a new study from researchers associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a group of public medical colleges based in New Delhi. The findings, which analyzed news reports of the 259 selfie-related deaths from October 2011 to November 2017, were published in the July-August edition of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.

Of the 259 deaths, researchers found the leading cause to be drowning, followed by incidents involving transportation — for example, taking a selfie in front of an oncoming train — and falling from heights. Other causes of selfie-related deaths include animals, firearms and electrocution."

More than 250 people worldwide have died taking selfies, study finds -- The Washington Post

Microsoft is embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows -- The Verge

I'm reminded of this quote from Paul Allen's Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft (2011): "Here’s what the death knell for the personal computer will sound like: Mainly I use my phone/pad, but I still use my PC to write long e-mails and documents. Most people aren’t there yet, but that’s where we’re headed. If Microsoft fails to catch up in mobile, in other words, it’s in for a long, slow slide."

"Microsoft’s best mobile work is debuting on Android right now, and if you’re a Windows user then Google’s operating system has always felt like the natural companion anyway. As Microsoft can’t replicate a lot of Your Phone functionality on iPhones, Android now feels like the only choice if you want a close mobile connection to a Windows PC.

We’re only at the early stages of Microsoft’s new mobile strategy of making iOS and Android better at connecting to Windows, but it’s clear the company won’t hold back on features to ensure they’re available on iPhones too. Bringing Android apps to Windows 10 PCs through a remote window into your phone is a useful and clever way of keeping Windows 10 users focused on using their PCs more."

Microsoft is embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows -- The Verge

Cloudera and Hortonworks announce $5.2 billion merger -- TechCrunch

And then there were two (Cloudera and MapR)... Tellingly, the body of the deal press release doesn't include a single instance of "Hadoop"...

"Over the years, Hadoop,  the once high-flying open-source platform, gave rise to many companies and an ecosystem of vendors emerged. It was long believed that some major companies would emerge from the pack, and, sure enough, Hortonworks went public in 2014. Cloudera followed three years later, but the market slowed down and the two companies announced today they are merging in a deal worth $5.2 billion, based on the price at the close of business yesterday.
[...]
Doug Henschen, an VP and principal analyst at Constellation Research sees the cloud eating into Hadoop’s market in a big way. “The move to the cloud is, in my view, sapping growth and revenue potential for these companies such that it won’t sustain three profitable players with strong, double-digit growth. Cloudera and Hortonworks have both moved to provide consistent hybrid- and multi-cloud capable services, but I see @AWS EMR and Spark services and similar Azure and Google services as capturing faster growth, and together, the lion’s share of the big data platforms market,” he explained."

Cloudera and Hortonworks announce $5.2 billion merger -- TechCrunch

Two of Blockchain's Biggest Consortiums Just Joined Forces -- Coindesk

In other *coin/*chain news, see Coinbase, the startup at the core of the crypto craze, is now considered an $8 billion company (Recode)

"Announced Monday, the Hyperledger Project and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) have agreed to collaborate on bringing common standards to the blockchain space and cross-pollinate a wider open-source community.

This joining of forces is notable as EEA and Hyperledger represent two of the three largest and arguably most influential enterprise blockchain communities, the third being the R3 Corda ecosystem.

If the team-up succeeds in creating common standards between the two platforms, it could sway enterprises previously on the fence to build their blockchains on one or the other, since the risk of creating new silos that don't talk to other systems is being addressed."

Two of Blockchain's Biggest Consortiums Just Joined Forces -- Coindesk

Microsoft Surface Headphones: Hands-on with Microsoft's new Bose-buster noise-canceling headphones -- CNET

Because what the world needs now is Cortana headphones...

"Sure, Microsoft has new Surface PCs. But what the company unveiled alongside those products on Tuesday is a total surprise. It's not a new keyboard or mouse -- but an entry into a totally new product category for the company: a set of premium noise-canceling headphones simply called Surface Headphones, arriving in stores this fall for $350, with a limited release in the US only.

Microsoft doing headphones? It didn't seem as odd as it sounds, because, well, everybody seems to be doing headphones these days. But how good could they be? Or rather: Could they compete with top noise-canceling headphones from Bose and Sony, which also happen to cost around $350?"

Microsoft Surface Headphones: Hands-on with Microsoft's new Bose-buster noise-canceling headphones -- CNET

Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook to Log In to Other Sites -- NYT

Also see Facebook finds ‘no evidence’ hackers accessed connected apps (TechCrunch)

"The best way is to use a dedicated password manager — a service, like LastPass or 1Password, that creates and remembers strong passwords for different sites. Operating systems and browsers are also getting better at managing passwords; newer iPhones, for instance, let you unlock sites with facial recognition, which is just as convenient as pressing Facebook’s button.

If for some reason you don’t want to use a password manager, you can use another tech giant’s sign-on service. When presented with different ways to sign on to sites, you can choose Google or Microsoft instead of Facebook.

Yes, it’s possible those companies could be hacked one day, too. After all, Yahoo was hacked, as was LinkedIn, as was Equifax. But at this moment, a sign-on service by Google or Microsoft has one big advantage over Facebook’s: Those companies did not lose control of 50 million people’s accounts, and Facebook did."

Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook to Log In to Other Sites (NYT)

Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit -- NYT

Manage different; in other Tesla news, Tesla meets its Model 3 production goals for third quarter (The Washington Post)

"“What it tells us is this board, as a strategic plan, must be using the Jim Jones-Jonestown suicide pact,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, said Friday on CNBC. “They are drinking the Kool-Aid of the founder. It is completely as self-destructive as Musk is.”

But Mr. Musk had given the board little choice: In a phone call with directors before their lawyers went back to federal regulators with a final decision, Mr. Musk threatened to resign on the spot if the board insisted that he and the company enter into the settlement. Not only that, he demanded the board publicly extol his integrity."

Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I Quit -- NYT

Vigilante engineer stops Waymo from patenting key lidar technology -- Ars Technica

Final paragraph: "Waymo also has hundreds of other patents developed in-house, or bought from rivals. They might not all contain the "magic" claims of 936, but they are probably enough to keep Waymo in the driving seat of autonomous vehicles for some time—especially as Swildens says he's too busy right now to issue any more patent challenges."

"A lone engineer has succeeded in doing what Uber's top lawyers and expert witnesses could not—overturning most of a foundational patent covering arch-rival Waymo's lidar laser ranging devices.

Following a surprise left-field complaint by Eric Swildens, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected all but three of 56 claims in Waymo's 936 patent, named for the last three digits of its serial number. The USPTO found that some claims replicated technology described in an earlier patent from lidar vendor Velodyne, while another claim was simply "impossible" and "magic."

Swildens, who receives no money or personal advantage from the decision, told Ars that he was delighted at the news. "The patent shouldn't have been filed in the first place," he said. "It's a very well written patent. However, my personal belief is that the thing that they say they invented, they didn't invent.""

Vigilante engineer stops Waymo from patenting key lidar technology -- Ars Technica

Google announces “Project Stream”—a “test” of game streaming in Chrome -- Ars Technica

Also see Pushing the limits of streaming technology (Google Keyword blog); in other gaming news, see Honour of Kings uses facial recognition to check ages (BBC)

"Google just announced "Project Stream," a "technical test" of a service designed to stream AAA video games à la Playstation Now and GeForce Now. We've heard rumors of a "Project Yeti" gaming service for some time now, and this looks to be the first sign of a real "Google Gaming" product.

The Project Stream test will involve streaming Ubisoft's Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to desktop-class Chrome browsers, which means it will work on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS. Google's blog post says that a "limited number of participants" will be able to try the game for free starting October 5. A 25Mbps Internet connection is "recommended" for the service, and you'll need accounts with Google and Ubisoft. For controls, you have options of a keyboard and mouse or a USB (not Bluetooth) game controller. Google says a recent Xbox or Playstation controller will work fine. Provided you are 17 years or older and live in the US, you can sign up at projectstream.google.com."

Google announces “Project Stream”—a “test” of game streaming in Chrome -- Ars Technica

Silicon Valley’s Keystone Problem: ‘A Monoculture of Thought’ -- NYT

Publish different; later in the article: "Her book’s subtitle explains how it should be read: “A Totally Fictional but Essentially True Silicon Valley Story.”"

"Not long ago, it was Jessica Powell’s job to defend Silicon Valley from those who would question its worldview. As the head of public relations at Google, she ran a sprawling team that sought to buff the search company’s image and to keep criticism of the world-dominating, do-everything tech behemoth to a minimum.

A year ago, Ms. Powell left Google. Her departure did not follow the Silicon Valley script; instead of decamping to a Google rival or a hot start-up, she decided to go to graduate school for a master of fine arts in creative writing.

Now the digital publisher Medium is publishing Ms. Powell’s debut novel, “The Big Disruption,” a zany satire set inside a tech giant that bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain internet search company. (The novel is Medium’s first full-length book; it can be read online free.)"

Silicon Valley’s Keystone Problem: ‘A Monoculture of Thought’ -- NYT

Tesla shares soar after Musk settles with SEC -- The Washington Post

In other Tesla news, see Unraveling a Tesla Mystery: Lots (and Lots) of Parked Cars (NYT)

"Tesla shares soared by more than 17 percent Monday after chief executive Elon Musk settled a federal lawsuit over the weekend that could have resulted in his ouster from the company and thrown the all-electric carmaker into chaos.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Musk after accusing him of misleading investors when he announced on Twitter in August that he was planning to take the company private and proclaimed that he had already secured the funding to seal the deal. Regulators sought to remove Musk from Tesla and ban the billionaire entrepreneur from serving as chief executive of any public company. The company’s stock dropped by 14 percent following the suit."

Tesla shares soar after Musk settles with SEC -- The Washington Post

Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 for All U.S. Employees, Including Full-Time, Part-Time, Temporary, and Seasonal -- Amazon Press Center

Later in the press release: "“We will be working to gain Congressional support for an increase in the federal minimum wage. The current rate of $7.25 was set nearly a decade ago,” said Jay Carney, Senior Vice President of Amazon Global Corporate Affairs. “We intend to advocate for a minimum wage increase that will have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people and families across this country.”"

"Amazon today announced it is increasing its minimum wage to $15 for all full-time, part-time, temporary (including those hired by agencies), and seasonal employees across the U.S.—effective November 1. The new Amazon $15 minimum wage will benefit more than 250,000 Amazon employees, as well as over 100,000 seasonal employees who will be hired at Amazon sites across the country this holiday.
“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.”"

Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 for All U.S. Employees, Including Full-Time, Part-Time, Temporary, and Seasonal -- Amazon Press Center

Internet, social media use and device ownership in U.S. have plateaued after years of growth -- Pew Research

Final paragraph: "Ultimately, the method for tracking certain adoption metrics may need to change. A canvassing of experts by the Center suggested that it might make sense in the near future to stop asking people if they “use the internet” because it will be so ubiquitous. Those experts predicted that the internet would become “like electricity” – almost invisible to users, yet more deeply embedded in their lives."

"The use of digital technology has had a long stretch of rapid growth in the United States, but the share of Americans who go online, use social media or own key devices has remained stable the past two years, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center data.

The shares of U.S. adults who say they use the internet, use social media, own a smartphone or own a tablet computer are all nearly identical to the shares who said so in 2016. The share who say they have broadband internet service at home currently stands at 65% – nearly identical to the 67% who said this in a survey conducted in summer 2015. And when it comes to desktop or laptop ownership, there has actually been a small dip in the overall numbers over the last two years – from 78% in 2016 to 73% today."

Internet, social media use and device ownership in U.S. have plateaued after years of growth -- Pew Research

GE’s $500,000,000,000 Market Wipeout Is Like Erasing Facebook -- Bloomberg

On a related note, see GE ousts CEO John Flannery as it announces $23b writedown (Boston Globe). Tangentially, for a different erasing-Facebook perspective, see Tim Wu's The case for breaking up Facebook and Instagram (The Washington Post)

"On August 28, 2000, Apple’s hottest product was a candy-colored computer, Donald Trump was a New York real estate mogul and General Electric Co. was worth some $600 billion.

Apple and Trump have gone on to greater things. GE? It’s on the verge of a staggering milestone: a half-trillion dollars in market value wiped out since that all-time high 18 years ago. The iconic American corporation is now worth just under $100 billion, its stock at around $11, and investors are signaling they don’t expect things to get better.

The collapse -- an 81 percent drop from the peak -- is all the more startling as it comes amid record-setting market gains. Apple Inc. recently became the first U.S.-based company to top $1 trillion in market value, followed shortly thereafter by Amazon.com Inc."

GE’s $500,000,000,000 Market Wipeout Is Like Erasing Facebook -- Bloomberg