TECH NEWS

Vandenberg Air Force Base, United States | AFP | NASA on Saturday blasted off its latest Mars lander, InSight, designed to perch on the surface and listen for “Marsquakes” ahead of eventual human missions to explore the Red Planet. “Three, two, one, liftoff!” said a NASA commentator as the spacecraft …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google on Friday said that people looking to place US election ads on its platform will need to show identification, and make clear who is paying. Policy changes being rolled out come as online ad ‘duopoly’ Google and Facebook strive to avoid being …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s high court on Friday temporarily suspended a controversial new law that would impose major fees on bloggers and other online media. Due to come into force on Saturday, the law would compel bloggers to pay $900 (750 euros) for a permit, a huge sum …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Twitter on Thursday urged its more than 300 million users to change their passwords, saying they had been unintentionally “unmasked” inside the company by a software bug. The social media site said it found no sign that hackers accessed the exposed data, but …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Attorney General has cautioned parliament against terminating the contract of SGS-Societe Generale De Surveillance, the company contracted by government in 2015 to carry out mandatory vehicle inspection. Last year, parliament tasked the Attorney General to look into the possibility of terminating the $125 …

COMMENT | Henry Mutebe | Traffic jam is a security threat, an economic problem and a social evil. Someone in Ministry of transport and works, KCCA, National Roads Authority and other line ministries should be thinking very seriously about this issue. HERE IS WHY………. I do not know what the planners …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has stepped up the search for an investor to revamp Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL), with Cabinet approving a proposal by the Ministry of Finance to provide a range of incentives to attract competent bids. “Cabinet agreed to and approved the proposal by the Ministry …

San José, United States | AFP | Facebook on Tuesday gave its popular Messenger app the ability to translate missives in real time, deploying artificial intelligence to enable text conversations between people using different languages. Messenger has become a tool for businesses to connect with customers, and the ability to converse …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that the world’s largest social network will soon include a new dating service. “This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships, not just hook-ups,” Zuckerberg said as he unveiled the plan in a speech at Facebook’s …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British MPs threatened Tuesday to issue a formal summons to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg for him to testify over a major privacy row, after he declined to appear. Zuckerberg was grilled by the US Congress last month but sent one of his executives to …