On August 19, the internet service saw trouble owing to a technical fault in the PTCL's transmission system.
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/internet-slows-down-in-major-cities-again/?feed_id=14453&_unique_id=63041b2575f2b
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Internet slows down in major cities again
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/internet-slows-down-in-major-cities-again/?feed_id=14453&_unique_id=63041b2575f2b
YouTube removes video by Tesla investors using kids in FSD Beta test
Tesla Model 3
Source: Tesla
YouTube has removed a pair of videos from its platform which showed Tesla drivers conducting amateur vehicle safety tests using their own children in place of mannequins in the road or the driveway.
The tests were to determine if a slow-moving Tesla equipped with the company's latest driver assistance systems would automatically avoid colliding with pedestrians — in this case children — walking or standing still in the road.
After CNBC reached out, a YouTube spokesperson, Elena Hernandez, wrote in an e-mail Friday night:
"YouTube doesn't allow content showing a minor participating in dangerous activities or encouraging minors to do dangerous activities. Upon review, we determined that the videos raised to us by CNBC violate our harmful and dangerous policies, and as a result we removed the content."
The specific policy that YouTube cited is pertaining to harmful and dangerous content. The company removes videos that encourage dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death when it is aware of them. The spokesperson said, "Specifically, we don't allow content showing or encouraging minors in harmful situations that may lead to injury, including dangerous stunts, dares, or pranks."
Tesla markets its driver assistance systems in the U.S. as a standard package called Autopilot and a premium option called Full Self-Driving (or FSD) that costs $12,000 up front or $199 per month. It also offers some drivers access to an experimental program called Full Self-Driving Beta if they attain a high score on the company's in-vehicle safety tests.
None of these systems make Tesla cars self-driving, nor safe to use without a driver behind the steering wheel, attentive to the road and able to steer, brake, or accelerate on short notice. Tesla's owners manuals caution drivers that the systems do not make their cars autonomous.
Driver: 'I was prepared to take over at any time'
In a video posted on Aug. 14, a Tesla owner and investor in the Elon Musk-led company, Tad Park, drove a Model 3 vehicle at eight miles per hour towards one of his children on a road in the San Francisco Bay Area. No one was hurt in the test.
The video had tens of thousands of views before YouTube, a division of Alphabet's Google, removed it. Alphabet also owns Waymo, the autonomous vehicle technology developer and robotaxi operator.
Park is the CEO of Volt Equity, and portfolio manager of an autonomous driving technology focused ETF called VCAR. "I have experienced the product myself, and believe in my investments," Park told CNBC. "We did extensive safety precautions so that kids were never in danger."
In a follow-up email, Park wrote, "First we tried on a mannequin, then we tried with a tall basketball player, then finally one kid stood and my other kid crossed the street."
He said the car was never traveling more than eight miles an hour, and explained, "We made sure the car recognized the kid. Even if the system completely failed, I was prepared to take over at any time. I had a sense of when I was going to need to brake if the car was not sufficiently slowing down."
The tests were a success in Park's view, because the car slowed and did not strike any object, pedestrian or his kids. Asked if he would do it again, he said: "I do not think further tests are necessary, but if I did, yes, I would do this test again."
"That being said, I wouldn't recommend people to deliberately try this at home," he added.
Park conducted the tests in part as a rebuttal against a national advertising campaign from software company founder Dan O'Dowd criticizing Tesla's driver assistance features.
The video, now removed, was posted on a YouTube channel named Whole Mars Catalog, which is run by Omar Qazi, a shareholder and major promoter of Tesla on social networks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk frequently interacts with the blog and Qazi on Twitter.
In addition to YouTube, CNBC reached out to the California DMV and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ask whether such videos are safe or legal.
NHTSA said on Aug. 16, "NHTSA advises the public that it could be highly dangerous for anyone to attempt to test vehicle technologies on their own. No one should risk their life, or the life of anyone else, to test the performance of vehicle technology."
The agency also noted, "As NHTSA has stated consistently, no vehicle available for purchase today is capable of driving itself. The most advanced vehicle technologies available for purchase today provide driver assistance and require a fully attentive human driver at all times performing the driving task and monitoring the surrounding environment."
The California DMV told CNBC via email: "As advanced vehicle technologies become more widely available, DMV shares the same concerns as other traffic safety stakeholders about the potential for driver misunderstanding or misuse of these features. DMV has previously indicated to Tesla and continues to emphasize the importance of providing clear and effective communication to customers, buyers and the general public about the capabilities, limitations and intended use of any vehicle technology."
The California DMV recently alleged that Tesla is engaging in deceptive marketing or false advertising where its driver assistance systems are concerned. It is also in the midst of a lengthy safety related review of Tesla's technology including FSD Beta.
Police in the town where Park conducted the test drive did not respond in time for publication. Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment.
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/youtube-removes-video-by-tesla-investors-using-kids-in-fsd-beta-test/?feed_id=13296&_unique_id=630064e11f546
Zara Noor Abbas wins the internet with Instagram pictures
Film and TV actor Zara Noor Abbas wins the internet with a new set of pictures which went viral on social media.
The ‘Parey Hut Love’ actor turned to her official account on the photo and video sharing application, Tuesday, to share a new picture gallery of herself on the feed, which went viral across social media platforms.
“When you have no clue about life,” read the caption on the two-picture gallery of the actor.
The now-viral pictures had Zara Noor Abbas chill around in a casual look, as she flaunted the freshly chopped fringed hair. The wife of ‘Sinf-e-Aahan’ actor Asad Siddiqui sported a graphic tee with a pair of blue denim. The laid-back look was styled with bright orange sneakers, gold hoops and a tote bag.
The snaps which garnered over 50,000 likes within hours, also had a number of compliments posted for the celeb from her 5.5 million followers.
Here is what her fans wrote in the comments section of the Instagram post.
- Love your style❤️❤️
- My gorgeous Piku 😘
- My cutie pie ❤️❤️❤️😍❤️😍
- oh god , zara can’t even tell you how I am soo happy watching this 😭pretty pretty MASHAALLAH🌈
- So beautiful ❤️
Zara Noor Abbas – being one of the most followed celebrities on the social platform Instagram – is quite frequent with her postings about personal as well as professional life on the feed and stories. She often gives glimpses of her acting projects along with sneak peeks of exotic vacation trips.
Also read: Zara Noor Abbas latest video goes viral
The celebrity who comes from a family of veteran actors, Asma Abbas, Bushra Ansari, Sumbul Shahid, and Adnan Siddiqui, has proven her mettle in several superhit dramas and films.
For those unversed, Zara Noor Abbas tied the knot with actor Asad Siddiqui in 2017.
Comments
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/zara-noor-abbas-wins-the-internet-with-instagram-pictures/?feed_id=11952&_unique_id=62fc77d2b23d6
808 rural households of Isfahan were connected to the national information network
In an interview with IRNA on Saturday, Jafar Matalzadeh, referring to the plans of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to benefit the villages of the province from cell phone coverage and the Internet, stated: the process of connecting the villages of the province from the USO budget (development of mandatory rural public services). It continues and we are trying to make this happen in Isfahan province with the necessary plans.
He continued: With the construction and improvement of these sites, the villages of Marbar, Hossein Abad, Khalili, Shirazan, Kechusang, Lashkarkoh, Tejareh, Pendas, Parwaneh, Ghale Abdullah, Marchi, Jambzeh and Serian in Isfahan province were connected to the Internet and the National Information Network.
Director General of Communication and Information Technology of Isfahan province stated: The growth and development of these villages will be realized by connecting to the national information network and the Internet.
Pointing out that the penetration rate of mobile and fixed internet in the villages above 20 households in this province is 83%, he noted: this index is 63.5% for the first mobile operator, 33% for the Irancell operator, and 3.5% for the Rightel operator.
Tebalzadeh continued: The number of mobile first subscribers in the province is 5 million 567 thousand 792 lines and the number of Irancell subscribers is 2 million 941 thousand 997 subscribers, and now all the cities of Isfahan province have coverage of the third and fourth generations of mobile phones.
He added: Currently, the fixed broadband internet penetration rate in the province is 18.39%, the mobile broadband internet penetration rate is 116.47% and the broadband internet penetration rate is 134.86% in the province.
More than five million people, Isfahan province has 108 cities and 1,934 villages and settlements with a population of nearly 600,000 people.
Nearly 900 villages of Isfahan province have more than 20 households.
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/808-rural-households-of-isfahan-were-connected-to-the-national-information-network/?feed_id=10251&_unique_id=62f743ee2790e
Improving the quality of the Internet for Arbaeen pilgrims/ We do not have a resolution called cyberspace immunity
In an interview with IRNA's government reporter, Issa Zarepour, in response to some rumors about the implementation of the decree on the immunity of cyberspace, said: There is no such decree that will be implemented or not, but some people are trying to play with these words and fuel rumors. They do and eat bread from it.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology said about the limitation of the amount of internet for journalists despite the wide range of news work and especially photojournalism: In addition to the operators who give journalists an internet package, we will add another package this year.
Zarepour said about the internet of Arbaeen pilgrims: A special Arbaeen committee has been formed to improve the internet infrastructure from the country to the border as well as inside Iraq, and therefore this year we will see the improvement of the quality of the Internet for Hosseini Arbaeen pilgrims inside the border of Iraq.
He continued: We are working to increase roaming and improve the quality of the Internet inside the border of Iraq, and we are also trying to provide new services to the people in the field of infrastructure and platforms.
In response to the question of whether the pilgrims are still going to use Arab SIM cards to communicate with their families, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology said: This issue is also being worked on so that people can communicate using their SIM cards and It will be notified as soon as this is done.
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/improving-the-quality-of-the-internet-for-arbaeen-pilgrims-we-do-not-have-a-resolution-called-cyberspace-immunity/?feed_id=6378&_unique_id=62eb64110a1e4
Pinterest (PINS) Q2 2022 earnings
Pinterest shares jumped on better-than-expected user numbers even as earnings and revenue missed estimates and the company gave weak guidance for the third quarter.
Activist investor Elliott Management confirmed separately that it's Pinterest's top investor and said it has "conviction in the value-creation opportunity" at the company.
Here's how the company did.
- Earnings: 11 cents adjusted per share vs. 18 cents per share expected, according to Refinitiv.
- Revenue: $666 million vs. $667 million expected, according to Refinitiv.
Pinterest said global monthly active users declined by 5% from a year earlier to 433 million. While that sort of drop-off is alarming for a social media app that relies on eyeballs to attract advertisers, analysts were expecting a steeper decline to 431 million.
The company's financials were gloomy, following a trend in the social media market. Facebook parent Meta, Twitter, and Snap all reported second-quarter earnings that missed on the top and bottom lines, and all attributed a weak online advertising market to their bleak results.
A woman walks past sign at the headquarters of Pinterest in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco.
Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
More troubling than its second-quarter results was Pinterest's commentary about what's expected this quarter. The company said it estimates third-quarter revenue will grow "mid-single digits on a year-over-year percentage basis," below analysts' projections for sales growth of 12.7%.
In a letter to investors, Pinterest said economic challenges are leading marketers to reel in spending.
"The macroeconomic environment has created meaningful uncertainty for our advertiser partners," Pinterest said in the letter." The company said it saw "lower than expected demand from U.S. big box retailers and mid-market advertisers, who pulled back ad spend due to concerns about weakening consumer demand."
Pinterest said that its third-quarter guidance takes into account "slightly greater foreign exchange headwinds" than the previous quarter.
In June, Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann stepped down as the company's CEO, and was replaced by Bill Ready, previously the leader of Google's commerce unit. Pinterest's hiring of Ready pointed to a deeper push into e-commerce and online retail.
Elliott's involvement with the company was reported in July by The Wall Street Journal, which said at the time that the firm had built a stake of over 9% in the company. After Pinterest's results were released on Monday, Elliott confirmed it's the company's biggest shareholder and said it's pleased with Ready's progress.
"As the market-leading platform at the intersection of social media, search and commerce, Pinterest occupies a unique position in the advertising and shopping ecosystems, and CEO Bill Ready is the right leader to oversee Pinterest's next phase of growth," Elliott said in a statement.
WATCH: Earnings Exchange looks at Pinterest, Caterpillar and JetBlue
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/pinterest-pins-q2-2022-earnings/?feed_id=5433&_unique_id=62e8b422b3c48
Amazon (AMZN) Q2 2022 earnings
Amazon shares climbed more than 11% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue and gave an optimistic outlook.
Here's how the company did:
- EPS: Loss of 20 cents
- Revenue: $121.23 billion vs. $119.09 billion expected, according to Refinitiv
Here's how other key Amazon segments did during the quarter:
- Amazon Web Services: $19.7 billion vs. $19.56 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
- Advertising: $8.76 billion vs. $8.65 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
Revenue growth of 7% in the second quarter topped estimates, bucking the trend among its Big Tech peers, which all reported disappointing results prior Thursday. Apple, along with Amazon, beat expectations.
Amazon said it expects to post third-quarter revenue between $125 billion and $130 billion, representing growth of 13% to 17%. Analysts were expecting sales of $126.4 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Amazon has been contending with higher costs, as pandemic-driven expansion left the company with too many workers and too much warehouse capacity.
"Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we're making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network," CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
Amazon shaved its headcount by 99,000 people to 1.52 million employees as of the end of the second quarter after almost doubling in size during the pandemic.
Amazon recorded a $3.9 billion loss on its Rivian investment after shares of the electric vehicle maker plunged 49% in the second quarter. That brings its total loss on the investment this year to $11.5 billion.
Because of the Rivian writedown, Amazon had an overall loss of $2 billion in the quarter. Analysts' EPS estimates varied dramatically, making it difficult to compare actual results to a consensus number.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe and Udit Madan stand in front of the new Amazon EV van powered by Rivian. Amazon and Rivian unveil their final custom Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDV) to begin using them for customer deliveries, in Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 2022.
Jim Vondruska | Reuters
Amazon's core e-commerce business continues to suffer as online sales are no longer flourishing like they were at the height of the Covid-19 shutdown. The company's online stores segment declined 4% year over year. Physical store sales continued to rebound from the year-ago period, growing 12%.
Amazon's ad business is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy quarter for online advertising, and shows the company is picking up share in one of its fastest-growing businesses.
Ad revenue climbed 18% in the period. Facebook, meanwhile, recorded its first ever drop in revenue and forecast another decline for the third quarter. At Alphabet, advertising growth slowed to 12%, and YouTube showed a dramatic deceleration to 4.8% from 84% a year earlier.
Among the other top tech companies, Microsoft also reported disappointing results this week. Apple beat on the top and bottom lines, lifting the stock in after-hours trading.
Amazon's cloud segment continues to hum along. Sales at Amazon Web Services jumped 33% from a year earlier to $19.74 billion, above the $19.56 billion projected by Wall Street.
Operating income, which excludes the investment-related loss, shrank to $3.3 billion from $7.7 billion a year earlier. AWS generated operating income of $5.7 billion, accounting for all of Amazon's profit plus some in the period.
The upbeat results could also help improve the mood around Jassy, who replaced Jeff Bezos as CEO a little over a year ago. Jassy's first year on the job has been marred by challenges, including an ongoing labor battle, the market downturn, growing regulatory pressure and an exodus of top talent.
He's also under pressure to show he can return Amazon's core retail business to the growth investors have become accustomed to seeing, a difficult task given the macro pressures the company faces, such as soaring inflation and slowing consumer discretionary spending.
WATCH: The first look at Amazon and Rivian's electric delivery vans
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/amazon-amzn-q2-2022-earnings/?feed_id=3550&_unique_id=62e30440daefe
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