Connect with us

TECH

EU approves Microsoft deal to buy Activision Blizzard

Published

on



CNN

European regulators have approved Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, giving the tech giant a win at a time when the deal is being contested elsewhere.

While the merger could hurt competition in some respects, especially in the fast-growing cloud gaming market, concessions from Microsoft were enough to allay antitrust concerns surrounding the deal, the European Commission said in a statement.

Among Microsoft’s offerings was a 10-year commitment to allow European consumers to play Activision games on any cloud gaming service. Microsoft has also pledged not to reduce the quality or content of its games available on competing streaming platforms.

“These commitments fully address the competition issues identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement in cloud gaming streaming over the current situation,” the Commission said.

Microsoft’s deal, which would make the company the world’s third-biggest game publisher after Tencent and Sony, is being contested in the US and UK.

TECH

Unfair Automated Recruitment Systems Everywhere

Published

on

Earlier this month This was stated by the chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan. composition V New York Times reaffirming the agency’s commitment to AI regulation. But there was one AI application Khan didn’t mention that the FTC urgently needed to regulate: automated recruitment systems. They range in sophistication from tools that simply analyze resumes and rank them, to systems that green-light candidates and throw out applicants deemed unsuitable. Increasingly, working Americans are required to use them if they want to get a job.

In my recent book quantitative workerI argue that the number of American workers is declining due to artificial intelligence technologies in the workplace, primarily automated recruitment systems. These systems reduce the candidate to a point or rank, often ignoring the gestalt of their human experience. Sometimes they even sort people by race, age, and gender, a practice that is illegal to participate in the hiring decision process.

Surprisingly, many of these systems positioned as impartial or a guaranteed reduction in the likelihood of discriminatory recruitment. But because they are so loosely regulated, such systems have been shown to deny equal employment opportunity based on protected categories such as race, age, gender, and disability. For example, in December 2022 South Meta Truckers Union, arguing that Facebook “selectively shows job ads based on the gender and age of users, with older workers seeing ads much less often and women seeing job ads much less often, especially in industries that have historically excluded women.” This is deceptive. Moreover, it is unfair to both job seekers and employers. Employers buy automated recruitment systems to reduce their liability for employment discrimination, and the providers of these systems are required by law to substantiate their claims of efficiency and fairness.

The law places automated recruitment systems under the purview of the FTC, but the agency has yet to release specific instructions on how vendors of these systems should advertise their products. Start with a requirement audit to ensure that automated recruitment platforms deliver on the promises they make to employers. Providers of these platforms should be required to provide clear audit records demonstrating that their systems reduce bias in hiring decisions as advertised. These checks should show that developers followed the recommendations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when creating platforms.

In addition, in collaboration with the EEOC, the FTC could establish a Fair Automated Hiring Mark, which would be used to certify that automated recruitment systems have passed a rigorous audit process. As an authorization, the mark would be a useful signal of quality to consumers, both applicants and employers.

The FTC should also allow job seekers who are consumers of AI-enabled online application systems to sue under the Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It was previously thought that the FCRA only applied to the Big Three lending agencies, but a careful reading reveals that this law could apply whenever a report was created for any “economic decision”. Under this definition, candidate profiles generated by online automated recruitment platforms are “consumer reports”, meaning that the organizations that created them (such as online recruitment platforms) will be considered credit reporting agencies. Under the FCRA, anyone who is the subject of one of these reports can contact the agency that made it to see the results and request a correction or amendment. Most consumers are not aware that they have these rights. The FTC should launch an education campaign to inform applicants of these rights so they can exercise them.

Continue Reading

TECH

Most states are phasing out Google and Apple’s COVID-19 impact notification system.

Published

on

One of the nasty technological reminders of the pandemic is fading. States have switched off US iPhone COVID-19 impact notifications now that state of emergency has expired. At least some states are turning off notifications for Android users. You will not receive an alert if you contact the person who tested positive and reported their results. No personal data was transferred from hand to hand as the system relied on anonymous Bluetooth exchange rather than GPS.

California and other states attribute the decision to a combination of vaccines, broad immunity and effective treatments. The risk of serious illness has dropped, officials said. Variants of Omicron are also less dangerous than early strains. Simply put, there is not much need for exposure warnings.

The technology was first announced in April 2020 as Apple and Google sought to create a common approach to virus impact notification in the early days of the pandemic. Initial notifications came through individual state apps starting in August of that year, but OS updates in September brought Exposure Express Notifications to many Android and iOS devices. Theoretically, this reduced the number of infections by forcing people to stay at home in case of possible contact.

However, in practice, exposure notifications did not work that way. researchers definite that the deployment was fragmented. Because there was no nationwide protocol early on, states either put in their own COVID-19 alerts or delayed launches. A user from one state may not receive an exposure alert if they approach someone from another state. Only 26 states have released apps to take full advantage of notifications, and only 36 million Americans have either installed the app or turned on Exposure Express Notifications as of May 2021. first four months), most of the population did not share data.

This does not mean that the exercise was meaningless. The California Department of Public Health says it’s still exploring the benefits of the state’s app and the results of the COVID-19 response could help fight future illnesses. Don’t be surprised if health agencies and tech companies are better prepared for the future.

Continue Reading

TECH

What is the best time of day to gamble

Published

on

September 22, 2021

Whether you’re an experienced player looking for ways to improve your game or someone looking to place their first bet, you should have all the information you need to be successful. There are many tricks that professional players use to increase their chances of winning; one of these factors is the choice of a certain time of day for placing bets.

If you plan to use this technique, you must understand how it works. In this article, we’ll take a look at the best times of the day to gamble, as well as the science-backed reasons why these particular hours favor top gamblers.

Understanding how Your cognitive abilities suffer throughout the day

One of the most important factors in determining the best time to play is your cognitive ability. Research shows that our cognitive abilities tend to be most important when we wake up in the morning, and they decline gradually throughout the day. This means that you are probably at your sharpest mind when you first start your day, and over time your brain becomes less efficient at processing information.

This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint; when our ancestors hunted for food or tracked down water sources, they needed to think quickly about how to respond to a threat. If you are trying to survive in the wild, you should not waste energy and put yourself at risk by trying to complete difficult tasks when you are physically exhausted.

Since we no longer have to worry about finding food and water, we don’t need to restrict brain activity during the day; however, it is still possible to use this model to maximize our success. Since you are naturally the most savvy in the morning, this is probably the time when you make smarter decisions about where to place your bets.

What times Best to play?

If you want to take advantage of this pattern, it is best to bet early in the day. According to many gambling experts, the best time to play is between 9 am and 11 am; if you can’t come during these hours, make sure you play before 17:00. If you are willing to stick to these rules, your chances of winning the most money will be the highest.

Of course, you must keep in mind that there are other factors involved as well. For example, if you want to bet on a specific game or event, it makes sense for you to bet as close as possible to when that event happens. This way you can maximize your chances of a successful bet.

Back to all posts

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending