Uber is launching a cheaper new carpool option for the rush hour crowd | CNN Business

May 15, 2025May 14, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Uber is launching a new service called Route Share, a carpool-like option aimed at budget-conscious commuters.

Route Share will function somewhat like a commuter shuttle: “consistent and frequent pickup options along direct routes,” running every 20 minutes during the peak commute hours of 6 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. on weekdays.

Commuters will walk a “short distance” to designated pickup and drop-off points, and they may share rides with up to two additional passengers, Uber said in its announcement Wednesday. The service will launch in seven major cities, including New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago, before expanding nationwide.

Apple may owe you money. Here’s how to get it | CNN Business

May 15, 2025May 14, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever had Siri go off unintentionally? If so, you might be entitled to some cash from Apple.

The possible payout is part of a $95 million settlement stemming from a class action lawsuit alleging that accidental Siri activations enabled the digital assistant to listen in on private conversations. Apple denies the allegations, according to a website connected to the lawsuit, and the company did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for additional comment.

To be eligible for compensation, you must have owned or purchased an Apple device with Siri enabled in the United States between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024. You also must have experienced an unintended Siri activation during a private conversation

Predictive policing: The risks, and what one city is doing | Fast Company

May 9, 2025May 8, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The 2002 sci-fi thriller Minority Report depicts a dystopian future where a specialized police unit is tasked with arresting people for crimes they have not yet committed. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the drama revolves around “PreCrime”—a system informed by a trio of psychics, or “precogs,” who anticipate future homicides, allowing police officers to intervene and prevent would-be assailants from claiming their targets’ lives.

The film probes at hefty ethical questions: How can someone be guilty of a crime they haven’t yet committed? And what happens when the system gets it wrong?

While there is no such thing as an all-seeing “precog,” key components of the future that Minority Report envisions have become reality even faster than its creators imagined. For more than a decade, police departments across the globe have been using data-driven systems geared toward predicting when and where crimes might occur and who might commit them.

Nintendo profits tanked 43% in Q1 but pins hopes on Switch 2 | Fast Company

May 9, 2025May 8, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Japanese video-game maker Nintendo on Thursday reported a 43% decline in profit for the fiscal year through March, but promised a turnaround as its Switch console upgrade goes on sale in June.

Nintendo Co.’s profit for the fiscal year through March totaled 278.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion), down from 490 billion yen the previous fiscal year.

Annual sales slipped 30% to 1.16 trillion yen ($8 billion) from 1.67 trillion yen, according to the Kyoto-based maker of the Super Mario and Donkey Kong games.

Gas Prices Hold Steady Amid Declining Oil Costs, AAA Reports | Small Biz Trends

May 7, 2025May 6, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline edged up slightly this week to $3.18, according to AAA. While this time of year often sees seasonal increases in prices due to rising demand, a drop in crude oil prices is helping to stabilize prices at the pump.

AAA attributed the downward pressure on prices to economic concerns and a decision by OPEC+ to increase oil output despite sluggish global demand. The agency noted that “the lower the price of oil, the less drivers pay at the pump.” Compared to this time last year, the national average is nearly 50 cents lower.

SBA Reminds Pennsylvania Small Businesses of Upcoming Deadline for Drought Relief Loans | Small Biz Trends

May 7, 2025May 6, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is urging small businesses and private nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia affected by the September 2024 drought to apply for federal disaster loans before the June 2, 2025 deadline.

The assistance comes under a disaster declaration for Greene, Fayette, and Washington counties in Pennsylvania and Marshall, Monongalia, and Wetzel counties in West Virginia. Eligible applicants include small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, aquaculture enterprises, and private nonprofits (PNPs) that experienced financial losses due to the drought that began on September 24, 2024.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

Trump eases tariffs on US car makers | BBC News

April 30, 2025April 29, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

US President Donald Trump has signed an order to ease the impact of new tariffs on the auto industry, which had sparked warnings about higher prices and the potential for significant hits to sales and production.

The change will allow carmakers with US factories to reduce the amount they pay in import taxes on foreign parts, using a formula tied to how many cars they sell and the price.

The provision is intended to provide relief to businesses for two years as they rework their supply chains, White House officials said.

Trump congratulates Canada’s Carney as they agree to meet in ‘near future’ | BBC News

April 30, 2025April 29, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

US President Donald Trump has called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to congratulate him on his victory in the country’s general election, and the two have agreed to meet in the near future.

The two countries were expected to enter talks about a new economic and security relationship after Monday’s vote.

Trump’s trade tariffs and repeated comments undermining Canada’s sovereignty overshadowed the race, which ended with Carney’s Liberals projected to win a minority government, according to public broadcaster CBC.

IXI raises $36.5M from Amazon and others to bring autofocus to prescription glasses | TechCrunch

April 29, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Blink and you’ll miss it: A startup out of Finland is taking a new look at the market for prescription eyewear. Tapping into innovations in eye-tracking and liquid crystal lens technology, IXI is building low-power glasses that will invisibly and automatically adjust to account for a wearer’s presbyopia (far-sightedness).

Four years into its life, Helsinki-based IXI emerged from stealth on Tuesday, announcing that it’s raised a total of $36.5 million from a list of investors that include the Amazon Alexa fund, to work towards its first commercial product.

London-based VC firm Plural is leading the latest tranche of Series A funding, with participation from Tesi, byFounders, Heartcore, Eurazeo, FOV Ventures, Tiny Supercomputer, and existing investors. The startup’s previous investors, in addition to the Amazon Alexa Fund, include Maki.vc, First Fellow, First Minute Capital, John Lindfors, Illusian (a family office of European founders similar to ICONIQ in the U.S.), and the Bragiel Brothers.

Government hackers are leading the use of attributed zero-days, Google says | TechCrunch

April 29, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Hackers working for governments were responsible for the majority of attributed zero-day exploits used in real-world cyberattacks last year, per new research from Google.

Google’s report said that the number of zero-day exploits — referring to security flaws that were unknown to the software makers at the time hackers abused them — had dropped from 98 exploits in 2023 to 75 exploits in 2024. But the report noted that of the proportion of zero-days that Google could attribute — meaning identifying the hackers who were responsible for exploiting them — at least 23 zero-day exploits were linked to government-backed hackers.

Among those 23 exploits, 10 zero-days were attributed to hackers working directly for governments, including five exploits linked to China and another five to North Korea.