Microsoft staffers oppose the TikTok deal as ‘Unethical’


The US is currently forcing TikTok to be sold to an American company, saying that the would-be transaction must be completed by 15 September or otherwise the popular video-sharing app used by around 100 million users in the US will be banned in the country; reports Russian news agency Sputnik.

Microsoft staffers don't want their employer to buy out the short video app TikTok, the brainchild of the Chinese firm ByteDance, as revealed by internal message exchanges cited by the Daily Mail.

Writing on a corporate social network called Yammer, they explicitly stated that it feels like a deal and participation in negotiations to this end are not the right thing to do in terms of ethics.

"Especially since Satya [Nadella] became CEO, I've felt nothing but pride to be part of this company", one user posted in a comment thread, adding this is the first time that he has had "doubt gnawing at the pit of my stomach that maybe we're not doing the right thing".

Another portrayed the talks as "unethical from pretty much any perspective".

"That Microsoft would even be considering stepping into this situation is unthinkable", the user asserted.

Separately, in a survey on Yammer, seen by Business Insider, 63 percent of staff said "no" when asked whether they were for Microsoft's potential buyout of TikTok. Another 19 percent of some 250 staffers polled said they "weren't sure" and just 18 percent said "yes".

Trump initially announced he would ban TikTok's Chinese umbrella company from operating in the US on national security grounds, over fears that private data could be harvested through the app upon Beijing’s order - something that China outright denied. The Chinese envoy to the US, Cui Tiankai, said in response that forcing TikTok to sell to Microsoft violated US free market principles. Beijing, for its part, warned the US of "consequences" if it opens "Pandora's Box" with what a Chinese official called "political manipulation" and a crackdown on a Chinese company.

Donald Trump's last-minute decision to allow Microsoft to purchase TikTok, thereby boosting the tech giant’s social media presence, was understood to have been triggered by talks with fellow Republicans and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"A very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States, because we're making [the deal] possible", Trump pointed out, sparking a debate about what was taken as a mafia-style arrangement.

The only social network currently owned by Microsoft is LinkedIn - its previous biggest purchase, which cost it $26 billion in 2016.

Neither Facebook nor Google, Microsoft's potential competitors in the social media domain, can enter the running for TikTok, because of anti-trust issues they are facing over allegations of monopoly rights abuse.

The valuation for TikTok by ByteDance, who earlier complained about facing problems when attempting to go global, has climbed above $50 billion, although US pressure to divest it could lower the price, an earlier Reuters report has it. The deal is to be finalised by 15 September.

Now that the deal is in the making, the key task is reportedly separating TikTok's technology from ByteDance's infrastructure, so as to effectively alleviate Washington's mounting concerns about the integrity of personal data.Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com
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Scientists trying to give AI storytelling capabilities

Thinkstock photoNew York, June 5 
Scientists at Microsoft Research and their colleagues are developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can tell stories based on photos. The aim is not just to explain what items are in the picture, but also what appears to be happening and how it might potentially make a person feel, US-based website livescience.com quoted the researchers as saying. For example, if a person is shown a picture of a man in a tuxedo and a woman in a long, white dress, instead of saying, “This is a bride and groom,” he or she might say, “My friends got married. They look really happy; it was a beautiful wedding.” “The goal is to help give AIs more human-like intelligence, to help it understand things on a more abstract level and what it means to be fun or creepy or weird or interesting,” Margaret Mitchell, study senior author said in a “With our focus on storytelling, we hope to help AIs understand human concepts in a way that is very safe and beneficial for mankind, rather than teaching it how to beat mankind,” Mitchell, who is also a computer scientist at Microsoft Research, added. To build a visual storytelling system, the researchers used deep neural networks, computer systems that learn by example. The researchers said although everything worked fine, the computerised storyteller needs a lot more tinkering. “The automated evaluation is saying that it’s doing as good or better than humans, but if you actually look at what’s generated, it’s much worse than humans,” Mitchell noted. “There’s a lot the automated evaluation metrics are not capturing and there needs to be a lot more work on them. This work is a solid start, but it is just the beginning.” The scientists will detail their findings in San Diego at the annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics later this month. — IANS. Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
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Windows 10 may be selling well, how Microsoft are still not satisfied?

Windows 10
Strong demand for Windows 10 surface (also to be the ultimate test of the market) is more the result of its error correction again in the traditional PC market and the value of compromise, rather than a manifestation of the true value, while the market and users for its functionin the mobile space indifference, but also seems to presage Windows 10 in the mobile market than previous Windows 8 will not have too much outstanding performance. Microsoft has been hailed as the mobile market to reverse the decline and transition heavyweight upcoming Windows 10 operating system market. So Windwos 10 can receive favorable for the market, the relationship with Microsoft's future prospects in the mobile market, and "Mobile led the cloud-first" strategy proposed CEO can be implemented. Recently, the results of a recent survey of IT professionals for research institutions Spiceworks released, Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system abnormalities strong potential demand. That plan to install Windows 10 system users in two years the ratio reached 73%, of which about 40% of users plan to install Windows 10 systems within a year. From that perspective, the demand for Windows 10 system is indeed strong, at least compared with its predecessor Windows 8 system is this. It stands to reason such a high market and customer needs, for Microsoft, should be fond of fishes, but in this report we read carefully the user to upgrade or install Windows 10, the main driver ── Strong demand for Microsoft Windows 10 may not be all good, and even worries: In Spiceworks report, Windows 10 system, most attention is the traditional start button return, 64% of respondents believe that, Windows 10 system, the traditional start button back, is one of its most popular feature; secondly, Microsoft for Windows 10 available to Windows 7 andWindows 8 users a free upgrade, got 55 percent of respondents supported, to become the second most popular properties; 51% of respondents believe that the safety performance enhancements, Windows 10 system is the third most popular properties . I do not know the industry see the three main drivers feel? First, from the first drivers to see, so much innovative Windows 10, as it was for the previous generation of Windows 8 errors corrected. Industry know, Windows 8 due to the cancellation of the traditional PC user habits start button and much industry criticism, and become one of the main Windows 8 market performance incompetence. Followed by the so-called free upgrades factors caused. Because smart phones and tablets to the traditional PC and PC impact of highly sophisticated applications, the traditional PC users fromWindows 8 since it has lost the power system upgrade for Windows, so Microsoft on Windows 10 had to take a free market strategy stimulate users to upgrade, so that 55 percent of respondents approved of Microsoft Windows for free, from another perspective, it could be for Windows 10 value (s) of a negative 10. Finally, security.As we all know, security has been paying more attention to the aspects of the Windows system, after all, the majority of enterprises in the current IT system (including PC) running Windows system, so security is a matter of course to do Windows. The above Windows10 upgrade or install three drivers, we believe strong demand for Windows 10 behind, is not a positive driving force for innovation itself due to Windows 10, but for Windows systems prior to correction and change to depreciate the value (from Pay to free) is a market rebound, which is the market and users before the upgrade or install Windows because of its innovative value due to different. It is worth noting that in some innovative features on Windows10 conference was Microsoft deliberately emphasized, such as Cortana, the Edge browser and Continuum drew etc., did not attract the attention of the respondents, that these so-called innovations did not become market and users to upgrade and install Windows 10, the main driving force. Also, I wonder if there is no set term or for other reasons survey, Windows 10 support feature iOS and Android applications, and does not appear in the user is therefore welcomed and select Windows 10, and possession of what proportion of the survey. Perhaps the user does not care about Windows 10 support iOS and Android applications. So the question is, to support iOS and Android applications are Windows10 in the mobile market, the biggest selling point, but gradually marginalized in the PC era, one of the main objectives developed by Microsoft Windows10 is hoping to win the smartphone market, and, ultimately, Microsoft cross-platform, cross-device, unified experience "mobile first" strategy. Industry support for Windows10 iOS and Android applications veiled criticism: First, there will be a "lowest common denominator phenomenon" in the software migration (the most banal metaphor popular product), namely those who are most desirable to use a low-cost means to port software to the people on other platforms, but also the most reluctant in every on a platform that will be the most sophisticated user experience people. The implication is that Windows for iOS and Android compatibility and portability, you can not attract the iOS and Android platforms best software. In addition, compatible Android and iOS versions of software Windows 10, mobile application developers have no reason to think more specially developed Windows versions, which only makes the fragile ecosystems more vulnerable Windows Phone Moreover, if the market and users are more like Android or iOS platform application, then why Windows platform through experience? It seems the market and users do not care for Windows10 compatible Android and iOS applications, or do not become a reason to choose Windows 10 is not unfounded, and this is bound to affect the value and performance of Windows 10 in the mobile market. The above analysis is not difficult to see that the strong demand for Windows10 surface (also to be the ultimate test of the market) is more a result of its error correction again in the traditional PC market and the value of compromise, rather than a manifestation of the true value. While the market and users for their indifference in the mobile space capabilities, but also seems to presage Windows10 have too outstanding performance in the mobile market more compared to the previous Windows 8 will not. It might get higher than the Windows 8 upgrade or install Microsoft is happy to see the amount, but the overall value of Windows and Microsoft cross-platform, cross-device, unified experience "mobile first" strategy from the perspective of Windows 10 in the PC market , it is likely to worry. Because, as may be the last Windows version, in this version of the life cycle of these strategies will be difficult to achieve. Source: Article
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The Internet is losing its baby teeth

SHUTTERSTOCK
In 2010, Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, wrote “The Web Is Dead.” He argued that the future of the Internet and connectivity wasn’t in the World Wide Web, but in a fragmented collection of many different platforms — people consuming content via mobile devices, native apps and other means outside of a traditional web browser. While Anderson’s sensational claim raised a lot of eyebrows, and sparked enormous debate, I wasn’t sure what to make of his prediction at the time. But four years later, we have a little more perspective. In 2014, ‘the web’ — the means by which we access the Internet using a web browser — is hardly dead, although there certainly has been a significant shift our relationship with the Internet. In its infant stages, going online meant using AOL or Earthlinkto dial up a connection to the web. Today, we use the Internet for different reasons, and our connectivity is better, faster and stronger than ever. The disruptive technology that is the Internet is no longer a baby, it’s more like a toddler learning to walk. When your babies learn to walk, you breathe a sigh of relief at their newfound mobility. But that relief quickly turns to frustration as you realize you’ve only traded one set of problems for another. Your newly mobile child can now get into everything, climb and break everything. The same is true with the Internet. One of the most astonishing ways it's changed our lives, for example, is by changing the way we consume music and videos. It’s severed our ties to old, “hard media” like videotapes, CDs and DVDs — an amazing liberation — but has also introduced a whole new, frustrating labyrinth of alternatives at the same time. Anderson’s prediction of fragmentation is most obvious when you look on top of (or under) your TV. Odds are, where we used to store our DVD cases and video sleeves, most of us now have an assortment of streaming devices. Instead of having one giant VCR, we can now choose from having a cable box, TiVO, DVR, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and much more. But the irony is that with all these choices, we can’t actually choose just one. You can’t stream iTunes media through your Chromecast, and you can’t watch Amazon Prime on your Apple TV. Roku is great, but doesn't work with AirPlay. You can watch Netflix on your Apple TV, but, of course, Netflix doesn’t have half the movies you wish it did available for streaming. If you want voice control on your device, only Amazon Fire TV has it. Are you the old fashioned type who still likes using a remote control? Don’t get Chromecast. Oh and by the way, if you don't want a wallet-sized device cluttering up your living room, you can just switch to Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick, which is about the size of a thumb drive. But that’s only if you don’t already have the Roku Streaming Stick, or if you aren’t waiting for Wal-Mart’s just-announced VUDU Spark Stick. (I can’t wait to see what Microsoft and Blackberry have up their sleeves to try to jump into this game — their product names are bound to be interesting.) I’m old enough to remember watching VHS tapes, but not enough to remember the video format wars in the ‘80s. My dad told me a story of the VHS tape fighting against the smaller, arguably better, Betamax format. As the story goes, VHS ended up with a better selection of videos – today we’d say they had more “content providers” — and ergo won the format war despite downfalls in size and picture quality. There was a similar war in the early 2000s: HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. But what this costly war actually proved was that hardware format doesn’t matter anymore. While people were busy upgrading their home video collections from VHS to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, the Internet was born. Streaming digital media became the new way to watch movies and most of us stopped purchasing movies altogether, opting for monthly subscription fees for on-demand consumption using services like Netflix. The lure of the Internet delivering whatever we wanted, whenever and wherever we wanted and on any device wanted, trumped everything else. Is this all for the better? I still don’t know. I see benefit in no longer needing to spend my hard-earned cash on hardware that’ll become obsolete in five or 10 years, and not being confined to a desktop when I want to access web content. (I'm grateful to be free from lugging my massive CD sleeve around in my car too. However, there’s always the risk that I’ll want to listen to a certain album, or watch a certain movie, only to find out that it's “not available.”) I think we’ve reached an awkward phase for the Internet. It’s beyond the baby stages and learned to walk. It’s still gaining confidence, and smiles a big, toothy grin with several missing teeth. The web isn’t dead; we’re all just impatiently watching it to grow up. Ron is a web guy, IT guy, and Internet marketer living in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children. He can often be overheard saying things like "Get a Mac!" and "Data wins arguments,” wandering around the downtown area at least five days a week. Follow him on Twitter at@ronstauffer or email him at indy@ronstauffer.com. Questions, comments and snide remarks are always welcomeSource: Article
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Bracelet transforms wrist into a touchscreen

A bracelet that turns skin into a smartphone style interface is on the cusp of mass development after its developers promised a prototype in a matter of weeks. The Cicret bracelet incorporates a pico-projector and eight proximity sensors to display an interface on the back or the front of the user's wrist and support touch interaction.
The video in this story shows multiple consumer applications but the bracelet could also be used to access control interfaces or presentation materials in the professional environment. Cicret says the
product will be available in 16 and 32 GB versions and is durable and waterproof. It is a similar concept to Microsoft’s Sikinput system but demonstrates a product that can be deployed in a small and ergonomic format. Source: InAVate
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