Techlife News №550 2022

SUMMARY COINBASE LOSES HALF ITS VALUE IN A WEEK AS CRYPTO SLUMPS 06 CRYPTO COMES TO WASHINGTON. WILL THE MILLIONS BUY INFLUENCE? 16 4 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR SMALL BUSINESS FROM CYBERATTACKS 32 SCIENTISTS GROW PLANTS IN LUNAR DIRT, NEXT STOP MOON 44 GOOGLE ADOPTS AN APPLE-LIKE APPROACH FOR ITS PIXEL PRODUCTS 56 GOOGLE GETS MORE MULTILINGUAL, BUT WILL IT GET THE NUANCE? 66 EA SPORTS AND FIFA END PARTNERSHIP, BOTH EYE NEW VIDEO GAMES 78 MS. PAC-MAN CLEARS PATH TO WORLD VIDEO GAME HALL OF FAME 88 SELF SERVICE REPAIR - EMPOWERING CONSUMERS TO FIX THEIR DEVICES 96 NINTENDO’S PROFIT DIPS SLIGHTLY AS SWITCH CONSOLE SALES SLOW 120 BIDEN ANNOUNCES PROGRAM OFFERING DISCOUNTED INTERNET SERVICE 124 FACE-SCANNER CLEARVIEW AGREES TO LIMITS IN COURT SETTLEMENT 132 HOW TO AVOID ‘RUG PULLS,’ THE LATEST CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAM 140 SEC: NVIDIA FAILED TO DISCLOSE CRYPTO AS REVENUE GENERATOR 148 META OPENS FIRST PHYSICAL STORE 154 THOUSANDS OF SMARTPHONES PURCHASED BY VA WENT UNUSED 158 DETAILED ‘OPEN SOURCE’ NEWS INVESTIGATIONS ARE CATCHING ON 164 AIRBNB OVERHAULS SITE SEARCHES WITH CATEGORIES OF RENTALS 174 THE HEART OF THE HOME GETS NEW COLOR, CUBBIES, CONNECTIVITY 178 AMAZON FIRES 2 UNION ORGANIZERS TIED TO FIRST U.S. LABOR WIN 190 ‘DOCTOR STRANGE 2’ GETS WEIRDER, SCARIER, MESSIER 196 SAVE ON FAMILY TRAVEL WITHOUT STRESSING 214 GOOGLE STRIKES CONTENT DEALS WITH 300 EUROPEAN PUBLISHERS 222 SUPPLIES LAUNCHED TO CHINA’S NEW SPACE STATION FOR NEXT CREW 226 CALIFORNIA LAYS OUT PLAN TO DRASTICALLY CUT FOSSIL FUEL USE 230

06

COINBASE LOSES HALF ITS VALUE IN A WEEK AS CRYPTO SLUMPS 07

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase has lost half its value in the past week, including its biggest one-day drop 5o date on Wednesday as the famously volatile crypto market weathers yet another slump. Coinbase reported a $430 million net loss in the first quarter, or $1.98 per share, on declining sales and active users. Analysts were expecting profit of 8 cents per share. Revenue was down as trading volumes fell, and active monthly users declined 19% from the fourth quarter. It’s unlikely those results surprised investors — shares Coinbase Global Inc. declined 43% in the four days leading up to their earnings release Tuesday. On Wednesday, shares fell 26%, to $53.72 per share. On the day of its initial public offering just 13 months ago, prices hit $429 per share. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, an analyst who covers Coinbase for Raymond James, acknowledged in a note to clients that there was an ongoing debate over whether the crypto market was in one of its typical funks or if this was the post-pandemic bubble deflating. “While management strongly believes the former will prove to be true, we suspect there is more than a bit of truth to the latter, particularly with crypto failing to serve as an inflation hedge thus far in 2022,”O’Shaughnessy wrote. Like much of Wall Street, O’Shaughnessy said his firm expects Coinbase to continue to lose money in the coming quarters, and that the“cons of increased crypto regulation down the road will decidedly outweigh the pros.” Government officials have made it clear that regulation is coming. Treasury Secretary Janet 08

09

Yellen said in April that more government oversight is needed in the fledgling industry and that over the next six months, Treasury would work with the White House and other agencies to develop reports and recommendations on digital currencies. “Our regulatory frameworks should be designed to support responsible innovation while managing risks – especially those that could disrupt the financial system and economy,” Yellen said. On Tuesday, Yellen testified to the Senate Banking Committee, warning legislators about stablecoins, which are digital currencies usually pegged to the dollar or a commodity such as gold. In theory, 10

11

12

stablecoins are better-suited to commercial transactions than other cryptocurrencies that can fluctuate in value. Stablecoins essentially promise investors that they can be redeemed for a dollar. However, a recent run on the TerraUSD stablecoin dropped its value to as low as 30 cents, sowing doubt among investors about the safety of stablecoins. Terra recovered somewhat, to about 68 cents on Wednesday. “The outstanding stock of stablecoins is growing at a very rapid rate and we really need a consistent federal framework,”Yellen told the committee, adding that legislation on stablecoins could be crafted by 2023. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on digital assets in March that urged the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should create its own digital currency. Biden’s order also directed federal agencies to study the impact of cryptocurrency on financial stability and national security. In a letter to shareholders, Coinbase said it believed that current market conditions were not permanent and it remained focused on the long- term while prioritizing product development. 13





16

CRYPTO COMES TO WASHINGTON. WILL THE MILLIONS BUY INFLUENCE? Erin Houchin braced for the worst when a mysterious, well-financed group started buying television ads last month in her highly competitive southern Indiana congressional race. Houchin assumed she would face a negative blitz, like the one that crushed her in 2016 when she ran for the same seat. But, in fact, the opposite happened. American Dream Federal Action, a super political action committee financed by a cryptocurrency CEO, saturated the district with ads promoting Houchin as a “Trump Tough” conservative who would “stop the socialists in Washington.”That push helped secure her victory last week in a Republican primary. 17

“All you can do is hold your breath,” Houchin’s longtime consultant, Cam Savage, said upon learning about the ad buy. “It could help you, but the fear is it will end you.” He said Houchin had not sought the support and had no ties to the industry other than filling out a candidate survey from a cryptocurrency group. The impact of the unsolicited help shows how cryptocurrency tycoons are emerging as political power players. They are pouring millions of dollars into primary elections as they try to gain influence over members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, who will write laws governing their industry, as well as other government officials who are crafting regulations. This year, for the first time, industry executives have flooded money into federal races, spending $20 million so far, according to records and interviews. It’s a delicate but deliberate march by companies that by their very nature make money based in part on evading government attention. In addition to campaign spending, more than $100 million has been spent lobbying around the issue since 2018 by crypto companies, as well as those who stand to lose if the industry goes mainstream, records show. Following a well-worn path, they have retained former high-ranking officials such as Max Baucus, a former Democratic senator from Montana who once led the Senate Finance Committee. The push comes as the Biden administration and Congress not only consider new regulations but also set funding levels for agencies that will oversee the industry. 18

19

20

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that financial regulators would soon release a report on the risks of cryptocurrency and other digital assets. “Certainly there are many risks associated with cryptocurrencies,” she said during a hearing Tuesday. Officials are considering what consumer protections and financial reporting requirements to put in place and how to crack down on criminals who take advantage of the anonymity offered by cryptocurrency to evade taxes, launder money and commit fraud. “What do they want? They want no regulation, or they want to help write the regulation. What else is new?” asked Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, an industry critic. Cryptocurrencies are a digital asset that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. They have been promoted as a way for those with limited means to build wealth by investing in the next big thing. But they also are highly speculative and often lack transparency, which substantially increases risk. The price of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum plunged Thursday, shedding billions in value, while Coinbase, the largest crypto trading platform in the U.S., has lost half its value over the past week. Jan Santiago, deputy director of Global Anti- Scam, an organization that helps victims of cryptocurrency fraud, said the industry has been reluctant to police bad actors. 21

“Unless it affects their bottom line or public reputation, I don’t think there’s any financial incentive for them,” he said. There are signs that crypto is going mainstream. Fidelity Investments, one of the nation’s largest providers of retirement accounts, announced earlier this month it will start allowing investors to put bitcoin in their 401(k) accounts. At the same time, government scrutiny is increasing. The Securities and Exchange Commission released a plan last week that would nearly double the size of its staff focused on cryptocurrency oversight. Days later, the Justice Department indicted the CEO of a cryptocurrency platform, alleging he orchestrated a “$62 million global investment fraud scheme,”among scores of civil and criminal crypto cases brought by federal authorities. Prosecutors say he promised generous returns but instead absconded with investors’ money. Members of Congress and the administration have raised concerns that Russian oligarchs could turn to cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions put in place when Russia invaded Ukraine. But at least one lawmaker has been an active participant in promoting the allure of crypto riches. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., promoted a new crypto coin called “Let’s Go Brandon” — a phrase that has become conservative shorthand for a vulgar insult of President Joe Biden. In one video posted to Twitter, Cawthorn appears alongside the cryptocurrency’s founder and emphatically declares, “This is going to the moon, baby,” while 22

23

24

urging viewers to visit the coin’s website and “get on the train.” After an initial spike, it plunged in value and is now worth a small fraction of a penny, as first reported by the Washington Examiner. Cryptocurrency advocates in Congress acknowledge problems but argue the roughly $2 trillion industry has matured. “I’m confident that bitcoin protects consumers,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who has invested between $150,002 and $350,000 in the currency, according to her financial disclosure. “I’m not confident that all cryptocurrencies protect consumers. In fact, I’m willing to bet that the majority of those are fraudulent.” Others believe concern over cryptocurrency fraud is overhyped. “It can be an easy conclusion for people to say there’s so much fraud in that space,”said Ashley Ebersole, a former SEC lawyer.“It makes headlines, but I don’t know that it’s a greater proportion.” In Washington, Democrats have been far more hawkish than Republicans.“They had me at‘Hello,’ so they don’t need to lobby me,”said Lummis, a Republican.“Democrats are another story.” Many cryptocurrency proponents long opposed regulation. But lobbyists say that is now a settled debate and their current aim is to persuade skeptics not to regulate too aggressively. Perianne Boring, founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, has been lobbying lawmakers and federal agencies since 2017, trying to make the case for developing accounting standards for cryptocurrency and other digital assets and 25

to help crypto businesses become publicly traded companies. “Because there are no standards, many businesses are hesitant to touch cryptocurrency,” said Boring, whose group has spent nearly $2 million lobbying the federal government. Some lobbyists are hoping that a wave of campaign spending could help, much of it directed to Democratic primary races. “Folks in crypto are, all of a sudden, happy to go to political fundraisers,” said Kristin Smith, the executive director of the Blockchain Association. Smith’s group has spent about $4 million on lobbying since 2018. “The government could actually come in and really mess it up if we aren’t constructively engaging.” So the industry is pushing hard for certain candidates and that has fostered a sense of resentment among some Democrats. In suburban Atlanta, two members of the U.S. House, Democrats Carolyn Bourdeaux and Lucy McBath, are squaring off after their districts were merged during redistricting. A super PAC called Protect Our Future, financed by Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year- old billionaire founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has spent about $2 million on ads supporting McBath, highlighting her support of Democratic policy priorities but saying nothing about cryptocurrency. “They are not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. They are doing this because they want something. And that’s to avoid regulation,” Bourdeaux said. 26

27

28

FTX and McBath’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Protect Our Future, which plans to spend at least an additional $10 million on primary campaigns, said their expenditures have nothing to do with cryptocurrency regulation. “There are a number of factors that go into our endorsements, including voting history, policy platforms, viability as a candidate, and public service and professional experience,”the group’s president, Michael Sadowsky, said in a statement. Crypto super PACs are active in other marquee races, including Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary, where a separate crypto group linked to Bankman-Fried spent $212,000 last week on ads backing John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor who is running for Senate. The ads say Fetterman will not “get schmoozed by lobbyists or bossed around by politicians.” But overall, the spending is on such a scale that it has generated questions about the industry’s motives. “It tells every Democrat that, if you have a primary, they could come in with $2 million. They are certainly making a point,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a crypto critic who is chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee tasked with investor protection. “You don’t need a good argument in Washington if you got a lot of well-paid lobbyists and a big PAC — you just need some sort of argument.” 29





32

4 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR SMALL BUSINESS FROM CYBERATTACKS Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses have quickly adopted remote working and transitioned to new technologies, such as contactless payments and online ordering. Unfortunately, these adjustments have come with increased risks. According to a 2022 report from Barracuda, a cloud and networks security company, small businesses with fewer than 100 employees receive 350% more social engineering attacks — like phishing, scamming or email compromise — than larger businesses. 33

Compared with larger companies, many small businesses have fewer resources to dedicate to cybersecurity, leaving them vulnerable to the ever-evolving tactics of cybercriminals. And dealing with the consequences of a cyberattack can be seriously detrimental to a business’s bottom line, costing approximately $25,000 per year. Learn how to protect your small business from cyberattacks with these four tips. 1. EVALUATE YOUR ONLINE SYSTEMS Before you can effectively protect your business from cyberthreats, you should have a complete understanding of your current ecosystem of online computer operations. You can ask: “What do we do on any machine that’s connected to the internet whatsoever?” says Andrew Lipton, vice president, head of cyber claims at AmTrust Financial Services, a small-business insurance company. Business owners should understand where their data lives and classify what types of data they store — for example, names, addresses, Social Security numbers. Lipton suggests reaching out to a legal expert, especially if you’re handling sensitive information like Social Security or credit card numbers, to get a better understanding of the consequences of a data breach and get a professional opinion on how to protect your data. Then, you’re in a good position to talk to your internet service provider to find the best way to secure your most important information. 34

35

36

2. IMPLEMENT CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES Even without the firepower of larger companies, small businesses can create a defense that discourages cybercriminals from carrying out their attacks, said Najma Sultana by email . Sultana is the chief security officer at Veem, a global payments provider for small businesses. As a business owner, you can implement basic security and hygiene practices, such as: — Installing firewalls to prevent unauthorized access to your networks — Using antivirus software and ensuring that it’s updated regularly — Regularly backing up data and storing it offline or in another location, not just in the cloud — Creating strong passwords and not using the same password across different accounts — Requiring multifactor authentication, which asks for two identifying factors, like a password and a code, to access accounts and systems. Some of these security features may already be at your disposal. “Many of the applications and software your company already uses will have built-in security features, but they won’t necessarily be turned on by default,” said Lauren Winchester, vice president of risk and response at Corvus Insurance, by email. You can enable these features to quickly and easily add an extra layer of security to your business. 37

3. TRAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES — AND YOURSELF You and your employees are often the first line of defense in protecting your business from cyberattacks. In fact, according to the 2022 Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum, 95% of cybersecurity issues can be traced to human error. Receiving basic cybersecurity training can help you and your employees learn to identify common threats, such as phishing emails or suspicious downloads, as well as develop online best practices, like safe browsing and strong passwords. And with employees working remotely or in different office locations, it’s particularly important to create and review cybersecurity policies for your business, including safety guidelines and what to do in the event of a data breach. The Federal Communications Commission offers a free online tool to help you create a customized cybersecurity plan based on your unique business needs. Free virtual and in-person cybersecurity training events are available from the U.S. Small Business Administration and its partners. Your internet systems and cyber insurance providers may also offer these types of training. 4. INVEST IN CYBERSECURITY INSURANCE Cybersecurity insurance can help protect your business from financial losses caused by incidents such as data breaches, ransomware attacks and hacking. 38

39

If, for example, your point-of-sale system is hacked and the hackers release the stored credit card information of your customers, this policy would cover the cost of notifying your customers, investigating the incident and providing credit monitoring services. It would also cover legal fees or settlements if a customer sues your business as a result of the incident. The best cyber insurance carriers in the market today, however, are more than a backstop to financial loss, says Lipton of AmTrust Financial Services. These insurance companies will not only provide a comprehensive policy, but will also help evaluate your systems, offer advice on how to better protect your data, and connect you with additional security partners or vendors in their network. Look for a carrier that’s volunteering to be your partner in cybersecurity strategy, Lipton says. Insurance is “a critical component of the cybersecurity strategy, but it’s just one piece.” 40

41





SCIENTISTS GROW PLANTS IN LUNAR DIRT, NEXT STOP MOON For the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by NASA’s Apollo astronauts. Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by the next generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them. “Holy cow. Plants actually grow in lunar stuff. Are you kidding me?” said Robert Ferl of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Ferl and his colleagues planted thale cress in moon soil returned by Apollo 11’s Neil 44

45

46

47

48

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and other moonwalkers. The good news: All of the seeds sprouted. The downside was that after the first week, the coarseness and other properties of the lunar soil stressed the small, flowering weeds so much that they grew more slowly than seedlings planted in fake moon dirt from Earth. Most of the moon plants ended up stunted. Results were published Thursday in Communications Biology. The longer the soil was exposed to punishing cosmic radiation and solar wind on the moon, the worse the plants seemed to do. The Apollo 11 samples — exposed a couple billion years longer to the elements because of the Sea of Tranquility’s older surface — were the least conducive for growth, according to scientists. “This is a big step forward to know that you can grow plants,” said Simon Gilroy, a space plant biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who had no role in the study. “The real next step is to go and do it on the surface of the moon.” Moon dirt is full of tiny, glass fragments from micrometeorite impacts that got everywhere in the Apollo lunar landers and wore down the moonwalkers’ spacesuits. One solution might be to use younger geologic spots on the moon, like lava flows, for digging up planting soil. The environment also could be tweaked, altering the nutrient mixture or adjusting the artificial lighting, Only 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of moon rocks and soil were brought back by six Apollo crews. Some of the earliest moon dust was sprinkled 49

50