Department of Labor claims that Google systematically underpays its female employees - The Verge

"In January, the US Department of Labor sued Google, claiming that the company was withholding information relevant to an ongoing compliance audit. Now, the agency claims that it has found “systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce.”



During a court hearing for the case on Friday, DoL Regional Director Janette Wipper explained that the agency determined that the tech giant pays its female employees less than their male counterparts, according to The Guardian. In a statement to the paper, DoL Regional Solicitor Janet Herold confirmed the statement, noting that while the agency was still investigating, it has “received compelling evidence of very significant discrimination against women in the most common positions at Google headquarters.”





Department of Labor claims that Google systematically underpays its female employees - The Verge

Jon Ossoff: Our Movement #FlipThe6th

HP Spectre x360 - Full Review and Benchmarks

"When I tell people they should buy a 2-in-1, systems like the HP Spectre x360 are the reason why. It's got all of the utility of a standard laptop, with the flexibility and intimate usability of a tablet. You also get rakish good looks, up to an Intel Core i7 CPU, and even a 4K display with stylus support if you want it. And with a starting price of just $1,050 ($1,300 as reviewed), the Spectre offers an exceedingly premium and adaptable system for a surprisingly agreeable price.



From top to bottom, the new Spectre x360 is the most striking 2-in-1 HP has ever made. And by shaving excess metal off from almost every side of the machine, HP also made the x360 one of the most portable 2-in-1s available. This spring, the Spectre x360 gets even better looking, thanks to a new copper and black paint job (which HP inexplicably calls Ash Silver)...

... With its top-tier performance, exquisite design, 10-hour battery life and convertible versatility, the Spectre x360 isn't just the best 2-in-1 currently available; it might the best laptop HP has ever made. Yes, the hinge could be stiffer, and I wish HP hadn't ditched the SD card slot, but overall, the x360 is the convertible laptop to beat..."



HP Spectre x360 - Full Review and Benchmarks

The U.S. government has withdrawn its request ordering Twitter to identify a Trump critic - The Washington Post

"The legal battle between Twitter and the U.S. government ended Friday as the Department of Homeland Security withdrew its demand that the tech company release information to identify an account holder whose tweets have been critical of President Trump.

The lawsuit threatened to become a major battle between Silicon Valley and Washington over free speech. But it was over almost before it began. The social networking site filed a lawsuit Thursday to protest the order, saying that it violated the user's First Amendment right to free expression. But Twitter dropped its suit Friday, saying in a court filing that because “the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntary dismisses without prejudice all claims.”

The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[The government is demanding to know who this Trump critic is. Twitter is suing to keep it a secret.]

Twitter filed the suit to protect the identity of a user who runs the @ALT_uscis feed, an account that purports to tweet the thoughts of a federal worker from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The two-month-old account is often critical of the Trump administration's immigration policies, particularly its plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico and its immigration travel ban.

Legal experts said Twitter would have had a strong case had it gone to court because the government had not provided compelling information on why it was necessary to identify the critic.

The government, to enforce its subpoena, would have had to demonstrate that whoever is behind the Twitter account was likely to be violating some law. There also were questions about whether the type of subpoena used, which is typically for investigating violations of trade rules, was appropriate for the type of case the DHS was probing, experts said."

The U.S. government has withdrawn its request ordering Twitter to identify a Trump critic - The Washington Post

Uber forced to admit that Google’s self-driving cars are way better than its own - The Verge

"Uber filed its much-anticipated response to the bombshell lawsuit from Alphabet’s Waymo on Friday, arguing that it couldn’t have stolen the self-driving secrets Waymo claims because Uber is still using off-the-shelf technology for its autonomous vehicles. Uber says that the Google spinoff’s lawsuit is “a misfire,” but in doing so, the combative ride-hailing company was forced to make a begrudging admission: that Google’s self-driving cars are far superior to its own."





Uber forced to admit that Google’s self-driving cars are way better than its own - The Verge

Top 10 Mac keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Top 10 Mac keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

MOTO G5 PLUS 2017 ONE WEEK REVIEW

HP Spectre x360 13 (2017) Review

Your Pebble watch will still work after its servers shut down

"After Fitbit bought the beleaguered Pebble last November, we bid a fond (and at times bitter) farewell to the first big fitness smartwatch. Its acquisition spelled the beginning of the end for the device, given how dependent it is on cloud services. Or so it seemed: Pebble just released a final update that liberates its lingering diaspora of smartwatches from online servers, allowing folks to keep using their devices and linked smartphone apps once Fitbit finally kills its cloud component.



"For example, if a Pebble authentication server can't be reached, the mobile apps will let Pebble devices keep working," the company's blog post states in the tactful hypothetical. "The login process can be skipped, apps can be side-loaded, and the latest watch firmware (including language packs) can be installed."



iOS users can update from the App Store, while those with Android phones can download via Pebble's beta channel, for now. (A fully updated version of the app will come soon to the Google Play Store.) Community developers still creating for the sunsetted device can add an offline mode as well as a custom boot config to point the app toward a URL of their choice for updates. Pebble hasn't forgotten you, loyal users. What might be its last patch will keep your fitness smartwatch ticking into the uncertain, Pebble-less future."



Your Pebble watch will still work after its servers shut down

Kendall Jenner stars in heavily criticised viral Pepsi ad – video

Dear Samsung!Do what you do well and stop imitating Google.

LG G6 review

Moto G5 Plus - 72 hrs. Later - Just Buy It!

HP Spectre x360 13 4K review: A real Surface Book rival

HP Spectre x360 with pen and 4K display unboxing and first impressions

Moto G5 Plus Review: The Best Budget Smartphone

Apple admits the Mac Pro was a mess - The Verge

"The small, trash can-shaped Mac Pro — which Apple marketing VP Phil Schiller once touted as evidence that the company could still innovate — was designed to fit two smaller graphics chips, but the industry didn’t move in that direction.



“Being able to put larger single GPUs required a different system architecture and more thermal capacity than that system was designed to accommodate,” the exec is reported as saying. “So it became fairly difficult to adjust.”



That seems to explain why the Mac Pro, until today, went more than three years without spec refresh — an entirely unworkable situation for pro users who need top-of-the-line hardware.



Schiller told reporters that the Mac Pro’s thermal issues “restricted our ability to upgrade it” and that Apple is “sorry to disappoint customers who wanted that.”



While Apple clearly wants to focus on the future, the fact that it called together a small group of media to discuss the state of the Mac Pro — without having anything truly new to show just yet — is telling of what this meeting was really for: an apology, and an early attempt at restoring trust with Apple’s most demanding customers."



Apple admits the Mac Pro was a mess - The Verge

New iPad 9.7 (2017) review

Apple updates Mac Pro specs, promises redesigned model - CNET

Apple updates Mac Pro specs, promises redesigned model - CNET: ""

Moto G5 Plus review: Still king of the budget phones

Moto G5 Plus Review

HP Spectre x360 (2017) review: The best just keeps getting better | PCWorld

 

 

 "We’re still on the fence about whether the Spectre x360 is the best ultrabook laptop, but it undoubtedly still crushes the other convertibles out there. HP has thoughtfully curated bleeding-edge technology into a single machine that has tremendous value.

Just look at the math. If you want a convertible, you can opt for Lenovo’s Yoga 910, which actually gets you slightly better specs but no active pen support. A Core i7-7500U system with 16GB DDR4/2133 RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, 13.9-inch 4K UHD IPS touchscreen, and fingerprint reader costs $1,500. That's cheaper, but keep in mind the Yoga 910 is also a larger and heavier notebook.

If you want a compact convertible with active pen support, there’s Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1, but you’ll forgo a 4K screen and some performance. The XPS 13 2-in-1 comes equipped with a low-power Core i7-7Y75 processor, 16GB LPDDR3/1866 RAM, a 512GB PCIe SSD, QHD+ (3200x1800) touchscreen, and a fingerprint reader. If you want a pen, it costs an additional $50. Total: $1,850.

Pitting the Spectre x360 against our current ultrabook champion, the Dell XPS 13, you’ll pay $1900 for a Core i7-7500U CPU, 16GB LPDDR3/1866 RAM, a 512GB PCIe SSD, and a QHD+ (3200x1800) touchscreen. You’ll also drop an additional $25 for a fingerprint reader if you want to use Windows Hello, and there is no active pen support nor option for an IR camera that enables Windows Hello facial recognition.

Specs aren’t everything, of course. You might want longer battery life, or a more compact package, or more ports. But if we had to recommend one laptop to someone who didn’t want to think too much about their purchase and wanted the best of everything, this is absolutely still it."

(Via.).  HP Spectre x360 (2017) review: The best just keeps getting better | PCWorld:

2017 iPad Review

Marvel executive says emphasis on diversity may have alienated readers | Books | The Guardian

"Marvel’s vice president of sales has blamed declining comic-book sales on the studio’s efforts to increase diversity and female characters, saying that readers ‘were turning their noses up’ at diversity and ‘didn’t want female characters out there’.

Over recent years, Marvel has made efforts to include more diverse and more female characters, introducing new iterations of fan favourites including a female Thor; Riri Williams, a black teenager who took over the Iron Man storyline as Ironheart; Miles Morales, a biracial Spider-Man and Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenage girl who is the current Ms Marvel."

(Via.).  Marvel executive says emphasis on diversity may have alienated readers | Books | The Guardian:

FBI probing whether Trump aides helped Russian intel in early 2016 - CBS News

"This new information suggests that the FBI is going back further than originally reported to determine the extent of possible coordination. Sources say investigators are probing whether an individual or individuals connected to the campaign intentionally or unwittingly helped the Russians breach Democratic Party targets.

In March 2016, both Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton had emerged as their parties’ most likely nominees."

(Via.). FBI probing whether Trump aides helped Russian intel in early 2016 - CBS News: