Saturday, June 29, 2019


Killer hacks. Literally. Is security not part of the FDA approval process?
Medtronic recalls some insulin pumps as FDA warns they can be hacked
MiniMed 508” Medtronic insulin pumps have cybersecurity problems that can’t be updated or patched, and the company is recalling them as a result, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.
… “The FDA is concerned that, due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified in the device, someone other than a patient, caregiver or health care provider could potentially connect wirelessly to a nearby MiniMed insulin pump and change the pump’s settings. This could allow a person to over deliver insulin to a patient, leading to low blood sugar ... or to stop insulin delivery, leading to high blood sugar and diabetic ketoacidosis,” the FDA notice says.




As more countries jump on Privacy, will Facebook face a ‘death of 1000 cuts?’ Okay, probably not…
Italy Fines Facebook Over Cambridge Analytica Case
Italy's data protection watchdog slammed Facebook Friday with a fine of one million euros ($1.1 million) for violating privacy laws over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The penalty was for "illegal actions committed in the 'Cambridge Analytica' case, the company that gained access to the data of 87 million users through an app for psychological tests," it said in a statement.
Critics slammed the watchdog for handing the social media giant a relatively small fine, while analysts said it was low because the offence was committed before Europe's new data protection framework came into force.
In December, Italy's competition authority fined Facebook 10 million euros for selling users' data without informing them and "aggressively" discouraging users from trying to limit how the company shares their data.




Because it’s inevitable?
The Strange Politics of Facial Recognition
Agreement is shocking in a political moment defined by polarization, but lightning has seemingly struck twice. Microsoft and Amazon, makers of Face API and Rekognition software, respectively, also both endorse federal regulation. In June, Axon, the number-one body-camera manufacturer in the United States, agreed with its ethics board’s proposal not to outfit Axon cameras with facial recognition (at least, for the foreseeable future). Microsoft President Brad Smith called for governments “to start adopting laws to regulate this technology” last year, while Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy echoed those comments in June, likening the technology to a knife. It’s a less dramatic image than the plutonium and nuclear-waste metaphors critics employ, but his message—coming from an executive at one of the world’s most powerful facial-recognition technology outfits—is clear: This stuff is dangerous.




I don’t think they like Amazon.
Amazon Is Watching
The Internet giant is wiring homes, neighborhoods, and cities with cameras and microphones, and powering the nation’s intelligence services. Are we sure we can trust it?




Perspective.
Amazon, the new king of shipping
Less than a decade after Amazon broke into the logistics industry, it has become its own biggest shipper.
Researchers found that nearly half (48%) of Amazon packages are delivered by the company itself.
That's a dramatic shift from two years ago, when the Postal Service delivered more than 60% of Amazon parcels, and Amazon just around 15%.
The e-commerce behemoth is already faster than competitors — and it has ambitions of getting even speedier. It takes Amazon an average of 3.2 days to deliver a parcel after a shopper clicks "buy," per Rakuten Intelligence. For all other e-commerce companies, the average time is 6 days.
Amazon — which has started offering its shipping capabilities as a service — will be able to ship products for about two-thirds the rates of UPS and FedEx, Pellas projects. Its trucks and planes are out delivering Amazon packages anyway so it can offer shipping at cost, instead of collecting a margin.




Overly aggressive? Is squeezing every nickel out of small business a good long-term strategy?
GrubHub is buying up thousands of restaurant web addresses. That means Mom and Pop can’t own their slice of the internet




One education future. Because traditional colleges and universities aren’t fast enough?
SV Academy just landed $9.5 million to offer tuition-free training that puts people in tech jobs
Even as software eats the world, not everyone has the training or connections to land a high-paying job in either the traditional tech industry or with a company that’s actively embracing its digital future.
In fact, it would be challenging to interest an executive recruiter in someone who doesn’t have a tech background and didn’t go to college, yet a company called SV Academy is doing just that. According to cofounder and CEO Rahim Fazal, the nearly two-and-a-half-year-old, Bay Area company is currently helping 100 people every 30 days — or 1,200 per year — land jobs at companies like SurveyMonkey, Palo Alto Networks, and PayPal.
Very notably, it costs these job candidates nothing. Employers pay SV Academy between $12,000 to $15,00 per hire; all the prospects really need to do is convince SV Academy that they have the drive required to take a 12-week, training program that teaches the skills necessary for tech-based sales roles, plus a year of ongoing training and mentorship for a year after they graduate.


(Related)
Degreed Raises $75 Million to Expand Corporate Learning Platform
Founded in 2012, Degreed offers over 1,500 certificates and credentials, aimed primarily at companies looking to develop and upskill their employees. When teams sign on, they can identify the skills that they’d like to develop, ranging from customer service to data analysis, strategic planning to user experience design. The platform then surfaces courses, videos, articles and other resources to teach users.
To date, Degreed claims it has served more than 220 corporate clients, including Airbnb, Boeing, Mastercard and Unilever. The company also offers to certify individuals in certain skills for a fee of $129. An unlimited membership plan is available for $399, according to the company’s website.




Getting my students hired.
Firms Continue to Hunt for Artificial Intelligence Talent
Tech giants are far from the only companies hiring workers with data science skills. Employers in fields as diverse as media, finance and medicine are searching for machine learning engineers to help transform and enhance their product offerings.
Artificial intelligence job postings grew 29% in the 12-month period ending in May, according to career platform Indeed.
Within the AI field, machine learning engineers were the most sought after title. The position also topped the list of highest paying salaries for the sector, earning an average salary of $142,859.




Picking the right team is critical!



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