Author Archives: Steve Dent

United Auto Workers seeks to unionize Tesla, BMW and other carmakers

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Fresh off successful contract negotiations with Ford, GM and Stellantis, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is seeking to unionize 150,000 workers across 13 automakers including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Hyundai, it announced. "To all the autoworkers out there working without the benefits of a union: now it’s your turn," said UAW president Shawn Fain. 

The UAW said the organizing drive covers "more than a dozen" non-union automakers. It notes that many use a mix of full-time, temporary and contract employees "to divide the workforce and depress wages." The union cited one example of a Hyundai assembly plant employee who worked for a subcontractor for eight years starting at $9.25 an hour before finally becoming a full-time Hyundai employee. 

Non-union automakers, including VW, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Subaru raised wages after the UAW's negotiations with the big three. VW, for one, bumped them to $23.42 an hour, rising to a maximum of $32.40. However, they "lag far behind UAW autoworkers in wages, benefits and rights on the job," the union said.

The UAW helped workers win a 25 percent raise over four years with the big three automakers, with the highest-paid Ford workers now earning $83,000 per year for a 40-hour work week (around $42 per hour). The union also gained reinstatement of cost-of-living allowances, shorter progression periods to top wages and a quicker conversion of temporary to in-progression (full-time) employees. 

Tesla employees have attempted to unionize the company before, and some alleged that the company fired them for that — though that claim was recently dismissed by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB has previously found that Tesla violated labor law by prohibiting employees from talking about workplace matters. Back in 2022, Elon Musk challenged the UAW to hold a vote at Tesla's California factory.

Other automakers aren't exempt from worker complaints, including startup Rivian. "The company likes to tell us we’re making the plane while flying it, and that explains a lot about the problems we have," said one Rivian chassis worker. "We have all sorts of safety issues. Turnover is terrible. Every group has a story about a new employee who did not make it to first break. The lack of safety, the low pay, the forced overtime, there are so many reasons we need to be union." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/united-auto-workers-seeks-to-unionize-tesla-bmw-and-other-carmakers-100555374.html?src=rss

Unity cuts 265 jobs as part of a company ‘reset’

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Unity Software is eliminating 3.8 percent of its global workforce and terminating an agreement with VFX company Weta as part of a "reset," Reuters has reported. The news follows some severe turbulence in the company, after it imposed and then partially walked back a controversial runtime fee for its game engine. Last month, John Riccitiello stepped down as president and CEO of the company after nine years in leadership. 

Some 265 employees will be laid off, all related to Unity's professional services agreement struck as part of its purchase of Weta Digital's technology and engineering division back in 2021. Employees will have only a week to wrap up before their positions are fully terminated, according to FX Guide — a tough blow just before Christmas. In a statement, Weta FX said it will extend offers to as many affected employees as possible.

Unity will close offices in up to 14 locations including Berlin and Singapore, pending consultation with employees in some locations, while reducing its office footprint in San Francisco and Belleview, Washington. The company will no longer require that employees work from offices three days a week and will reduce "full in-office services" to three days a week.

After Unity's acquisition, Weta FX (the film industry VFX division) split off into a new and separate company. Unity, meanwhile, acquired Weta engineers along with tools for pipelines and FX, Weta's data platform, a library of assets and more. "Unity will retain ownership of the technology it acquired from Wētā in December 2021 and will be evaluating the best way to enhance its offerings with it over time. The technology will also remain fully available to Weta FX," Weta said in a statement. 

Just a month ago, Unity rolled out some significant concessions to its developer pricing model after widespread backlash over its plan to charge developers for game installations. The move will directly impact developers, publishers and distributors. The upheaval of Unity’s business model came at the same time as a series of massive layoffs. In 2023, the company reduced its headcount three times in an attempt to cut costs. CEO John Riccitiello, who took much of the brunt of the criticism, stepped down last month and was replaced by former IBM president James Whitehurst, who is serving as an interim CEO. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/unity-cuts-265-jobs-as-part-of-a-company-reset-123511764.html?src=rss

PSA: Your inactive Google account could be deleted on December 1

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Do you have a Google account you haven't checked for awhile but still want to keep? You'd better log in soon before it gets purged. Starting December 1st, 2023 (Friday), Google will begin deleting accounts that have been inactive for at least two years. The company says it's doing so for privacy reasons and no doubt to free up quite a bit of space on its servers. 

"If an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised," Google noted in May 2023. "This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user." It added that abandoned accounts are "at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification setup." 

Google will warn users before deletion via emails sent to the inactive account and another email, provided one has been set up. The policy only applies to personal and not business or education accounts, Google said. Some accounts will be exempt from deletion, including those with YouTube videos uploaded, an active paid subscription or holding gift cards. Deletion will start with accounts that have never been used, it said in May. 

To stop deletion, you'll need to sign into the inactive account and access some of the services (read or send an email, use Google Drive, watch a YouTube video, etc.). If you have anything saved in Google Photos, you'll want to access that content specifically, as Google has a separate policy for that service. "If you’re inactive in Google Photos for two years or more, all of your content may be deleted," it states. 

Google isn't alone with this policy, as since 2019, Microsoft has deleted Outlook (or related Hotmail) accounts that have been inactive for two years. In any case, it's always a good idea to backup your Google accounts using the company's Takeout feature and have a backup email for any important accounts. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/psa-your-inactive-google-account-could-be-deleted-on-december-1-100515990.html?src=rss

Meta’s controversial ad-free subscription is facing scrutiny from EU privacy campaigners

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In a bid to comply with updated privacy rules in Europe, Meta recently gave Facebook and Instagram users in the region an ultimatum. They either had to agree to receive targeted ads or sign up for a €10 per month subscription for each app (or stop using them altogether). That would give users the choice of opting out of ad tracking, but they'd have to pay a hefty sum to do so. 

Now, an Austrian privacy group called noyb has filed a complaint against that Meta's actions on behalf of a client in financial distress. The group stated that the subscription price is out of proportion to the value Facebook receives, so it's effectively a false choice for users without the means to pay for a subscription. 

"More than 20% of the EU population are already at risk of poverty," wrote noyb founder noted EU privacy advocate Max Schrems. "For the complainant in our case, as for many others, a ‘Pay or Okay’ system would mean paying the rent or having privacy." 

Citing Meta's own data, noyb said that the company's average revenue per user in Europe was $16.79 between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, or about €62.88 per user. However, it plans to charge a minimum of €120 per year (more if you sign up on a smartphone), or up to €251.88 ($275.88) to have both Instagram and Facebook. 

noyb notes that 3 to 10 percent of users want personalized ads, but 99.9 percent consent, due to the lack of a true choice. "EU law requires that consent is the genuine free will of the user. Contrary to this law, Meta charges a 'privacy fee' of up to €250 per year if anyone dares to exercise their fundamental right to data protection," said noyb's data protection lawyer Felix Mikolasch. 

Meta's actions are also likely to set off a "domino effect," according to noyb. "Already now, TikTok is reportedly testing an ad-free subscription outside the US. Other app providers could follow in the near future, making online privacy unaffordable." It added that if multiple apps took the same approach, data privacy would be available "only for the rich." 

Meta defended its approach, saying it follows EU laws. "The option for people to purchase a subscription for no ads balances the requirements of European regulators while giving users choice and allowing Meta to continue serving all people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland. In its ruling, the CJEU expressly recognized that a subscription model, like the one we are announcing, is a valid form of consent for an ads funded service," a spokesperson told TechCrunch, referring to a post from last month.

However, European courts have stated that any fee charged to avoid tracking on products must be "necessary" and "appropriate." It also says that consent must be freely given. noyb appears to be targeting those clauses by arguing that the relatively high fees will effectively deter free choice by EU citizens, particularly those in financial difficulty. 

"Fundamental rights are usually available to everyone. How many people would still exercise their right to vote if they had to pay €250 to do so? There were times when fundamental rights were reserved for the rich. It seems Meta wants to take us back for more than a hundred years," Schrems said. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-controversial-ad-free-subscription-is-facing-scrutiny-from-eu-privacy-campaigners-131506495.html?src=rss

Google is investigating a Drive issue that causes files to go missing

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Google Drive users have recently been reporting that files and folders have gone missing, with some saying that months worth of data has disappeared from their accounts. Now, Google has acknowledged the issue, saying that it appears to be caused by the Drive for Desktop app, 9to5Google has reported.

The issue is pretty alarming, obviously. One user on Google's support forums said that an expense spreadsheet they regularly updated has lost all data from nearly the last five years, with the version history showing the latest version as January 2019. "I'm really mad as this had all the important data which I do not have any local copy for. I need this data retrieved at any cost." Another poster said the drive reverted to May 2023, with all subsequent data disappearing, and others report similar issues.

In a post from yesterday, Google said that "we’re investigating reports of an issue impacting a limited subset of Drive for desktop users and will follow up with more updates." It noted the problem affects Drive for desktop v84.0.0.0 - 84.0.4.09. It advised users not to click "disconnect account" within Drive for desktop, and to not delete or move a specific app folder called DriveFS as detailed here. It even recommends making a copy of the app data folder if you have room on your hard drive. 

Google offers several ways to recover (or at least check) deleted files. That includes checking the trash, which is now automatically emptied after 30 days. It's also a good idea to check the activity panel, which shows any files deleted or moved along with the relevant date. For this latest issue, however, the activity panel doesn't appear to show that the files have gone missing, according to Google's support forum users. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-investigating-a-drive-issue-that-causes-files-to-go-missing-092028653.html?src=rss

The best gifts for photographers and videographers

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If your loved one is into action sports, filmmaking or photography, a camera or accessory would be a highly appreciated gift, to say the least. And there’s never been a better time to own a new camera, as the latest technology will let them take better photos and video than ever. It can be difficult to know where to start, though, with all the camera models out there, let alone the numerous accessories like backpacks, memory cards, tripods and more. Fortunately, we’ve done all the research and found cameras at a wide range of prices, along with accessories that will help your giftee get the most out of their gear.

Canon EOS R100

Fujifilm Instax Square SQ40

GoPro Hero 12 Black

Joby Gorillapod 3K Stand

WD My Passport SSD

Lowepro ProTactic BP 350 AW II Backpack

Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag

Nanlite LitoLite 5C RGBWW Mini LED Panel

Rode VideoMic Go and Wireless Go II

Lexar Professional 1667x 64GB SDXS UHS II card

ProGrade Digital CFexpress 2.0 Type B Gold card

Amazon Basics 60-inch tripod

Giottos Rocket Air Blaster

SmallRig SD Memory Card Holder

Lenspen L-DSLRK1N lens cleaning kit

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 18.6

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-for-photographers-and-videographers-140040483.html?src=rss

The best Black Friday camera and drone deals for 2023

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Black Friday means savings on cameras for content creation, travel photography and more. This year is no exception as all the major manufacturers, including Sony, Canon, DJI, Nikon, GoPro, Fujifilm and Nikon have some stellar deals. Sony is offering its latest compact vlogging camera, the ZV-1F, at just $398 ($100 off), while Canon's new EOS R100 mirrorless APS-C camera is available with a kit lens for just $449. Panasonic has its full frame Lumix S5 on sale for $1,298 (38 percent off), DJI's Avata Pro-View combo is $999 (30 percent off) and GoPro's Hero 11 is down to $300, for a savings of 14 percent. 

Sony's ZV-1F is its third and most affordable vlogging camera, designed for creators as a "step up" from smartphones. It does that job well thanks to a lightweight body, built-in high-quality microphone, flip-out display, best-in-class autofocus and excellent image quality. The 20mm fixed lens makes it better for vlogging than the ZV1 with a 24-70mm, but the lack of a zoom is its biggest drawback. 

Canon's 24.2-megapixel R100 gives buyers the benefit of a mirrorless camera, namely the ability to change lenses. It also offers features like 4K 24p video, decently fast 6.5 fps shooting speeds with autofocus, excellent image quality and more. The main issue is the lack of a flip-out display, so it's not an ideal vlogging camera. It normally costs $600 with a 16-50mm lens, but you can now pick one up for $450, making it the cheapest APS-C mirrorless camera by a good margin. 

we gave the Hero 11 Black a largely positive review when it launched in September. The camera is an iterative upgrade over the excellent Hero 10 Black, meaning it still allows for crisp video at up to 5.3K/60 Hz, 4K/120 Hz, or 2.7K/240 Hz (for extra slow-motion shots), excellent stabilization that keeps moving footage looking smooth, and a rugged, waterproof design that's small enough to fit on a helmet, bike handle, surfboard, or most other tight spots.

With the arrival of the Lumix S5 II, Panasonic is offering some stellar deals on its predecessor, the S5. It’s smaller and costs less than the Lumix S1, but it actually delivers better video features. That includes a flip-out display, five-axis in-body stabilization and 10-bit 4K recording at up to 60 fps. The autofocus is faster and more accurate than the S1, but not as good as Sony and Canon’s systems for video. Still, at this price, it's one of the best cameras currently available for content creators.

The Avata is a solid little drone that produces decent-quality 4K 60p log footage. Its biggest advantage over other drones is the speed and maneuverability, along with the propeller guards that let you operate the drone around people. It does have some weird flaws and limitations — the Googles 2 aren’t ideal if you wear glasses, plus the motion controller isn’t ideal for precise FPV flying. Still, there aren’t many other ready-to-fly drones that can do what it does.

Nikon's Z6 II improves the original with faster speeds, improved eye-detect autofocus and more. You can shoot 4K at up to 60 fps, and grab photos at up to 14 fps. It also offers features like a flip screen, 3.69-million dot EVF and more. It's normally $1,997, but you can save $400 with Amazon's current deal. 

Other notable camera and accessory Black Friday deals

Those products are just a smattering of what's available, but there are others as well. Panasonic also has its brand new S5 II mirrorless camera — its first with phase-detect autofocus — on sale for $1,698 for a savings of $300 (15 percent). 

Sony also has its new A7 IV camera on sale for $2,298, saving you $200 off the list price, while the A7 III is marked down to $1,498 ($502 off) — the best price we've ever seen on this model. It's also got deals on a large number of lenses — to see more, check out its Amazon camera store. Meanwhile, if you're looking for the latest Panasonic cameras in a bundle, the company has a few solid deals, and Nikon has multiple bundles as well.

There are some notable deals on accessories, too. Lexar's V60 II memory cards (250MB/s read and 120MB/s write) are up to 35 percent off, with a pair of the the 128GB models priced at just $65 and the 256GB model in a two-pack at $105. If you need faster V90 cards, PNY's 128GB EliteX-Pro90 Class is marked down $20 to $75, while the 64GB cards are just $48 (20 percent off). MicroSD cards for drones or action cameras are also on sale, including SanDisk's Extreme 512GB model for $32 (or 71 percent off). More camera deals could arrive later, so stay tuned.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-black-friday-camera-and-drone-deals-for-2023-103025745.html?src=rss

Broadcom closes its $61 billion megadeal with VMware

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Broadcom's mega $61 billion VMware acquisition has closed following considerable scrutiny by regulators, the company announced in a press release. With China recently granting approval for the acquisition with added restrictions, the network chip manufacturer had secured all the required approvals. 

"Broadcom has received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions," the company said. "We are excited to welcome VMware to Broadcom and bring together our engineering-first, innovation-centric teams."

The Broadcom/VMware deal lacked the glamour of tech's other mega acquisition involving Microsoft and Activision. However, San Jose-based Broadcom's products form the structure of much of the internet, as they're widely used for data centers, cloud providers and network infrastructure. VMware, meanwhile, makes virtualization and cloud computing software that allows corporations to safely link local networks with public cloud access. 

That made VMware a logical target for Broadcom, but it also placed the acquisition in the crosshairs of regulators in multiple regions. The European Commission, for one, was concerned that Broadcom could harm competition by limiting interoperability between rival hardware and VMware's server virtualization software. It also worried the company could either prevent or degrade access to VMware's software, or bundle VMware with its own hardware products.

Broadcom gained EU approval for the deal in the summer though, mainly by providing IP access and source code for key network fiber optic components to its main rival, Marvell. The EU also concluded that fears of VMware bundling were unfounded and that Broadcom would still face competition in the storage adapter and NIC markets. 

There were also concerns that tensions between China and the US could scuttle the deal, after the Biden administration announced new rules in October making it harder to export high-end chips to China. However, approval in that market was announced yesterday, with conditions imposed by China on how Broadcom sells products locally. Namely, it had to ensure that VMware's server software was interoperable with rival hardware, China's regulator said in a statement. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-closes-its-61-billion-megadeal-with-vmware-083915996.html?src=rss

Broadcom closes its $61 billion megadeal with VMware

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Broadcom's mega $61 billion VMware acquisition has closed following considerable scrutiny by regulators, the company announced in a press release. With China recently granting approval for the acquisition with added restrictions, the network chip manufacturer had secured all the required approvals. 

"Broadcom has received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions," the company said. "We are excited to welcome VMware to Broadcom and bring together our engineering-first, innovation-centric teams."

The Broadcom/VMware deal lacked the glamour of tech's other mega acquisition involving Microsoft and Activision. However, San Jose-based Broadcom's products form the structure of much of the internet, as they're widely used for data centers, cloud providers and network infrastructure. VMware, meanwhile, makes virtualization and cloud computing software that allows corporations to safely link local networks with public cloud access. 

That made VMware a logical target for Broadcom, but it also placed the acquisition in the crosshairs of regulators in multiple regions. The European Commission, for one, was concerned that Broadcom could harm competition by limiting interoperability between rival hardware and VMware's server virtualization software. It also worried the company could either prevent or degrade access to VMware's software, or bundle VMware with its own hardware products.

Broadcom gained EU approval for the deal in the summer though, mainly by providing IP access and source code for key network fiber optic components to its main rival, Marvell. The EU also concluded that fears of VMware bundling were unfounded and that Broadcom would still face competition in the storage adapter and NIC markets. 

There were also concerns that tensions between China and the US could scuttle the deal, after the Biden administration announced new rules in October making it harder to export high-end chips to China. However, approval in that market was announced yesterday, with conditions imposed by China on how Broadcom sells products locally. Namely, it had to ensure that VMware's server software was interoperable with rival hardware, China's regulator said in a statement. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-closes-its-61-billion-megadeal-with-vmware-083915996.html?src=rss

The AI startup behind Stable Diffusion is now testing generative video

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Stable Diffusion's generative art can now be animated, developer Stability AI announced. The company has released a new product called Stable Video Diffusion into a research preview, allowing users to create video from a single image. "This state-of-the-art generative AI video model represents a significant step in our journey toward creating models for everyone of every type," the company wrote. 

The new tool has been released in the form of two image-to-video models, each capable of generating 14 to 25 frames long at speeds between 3 and 30 frames per second at 576 × 1024 resolution. It's capable of multi-view synthesis from a single frame with fine-tuning on multi-view datasets. "At the time of release in their foundational form, through external evaluation, we have found these models surpass the leading closed models in user preference studies," the company said, comparing it to text-to-video platforms Runway and Pika Labs. 

Stable Video Diffusion is available only for research purposes at this point, not real-world or commercial applications. Potential users can sign up to get on a waitlist for access to an "upcoming web experience featuring a text-to-video interface," Stability AI wrote. The tool will showcase potential applications in sectors including advertising, education, entertainment and more. 

The samples shown in the video above appear to be of relatively high quality, matching rival generative systems. However, it has some limitations, the company wrote: it generates relatively short video (less than 4 seconds), lacks perfect photorealism, can't do camera motion except slow pans, has no text control, can't generate legible text and may not generate people and faces properly. 

The tool was trained on a dataset of millions of videos and then fine-tuned on a smaller set, with Stability AI only saying that it used video that was publicly available for research purposes. The origin of the data set is important, given that Stability AI was recently sued by Getty Images for scraping its image archives. 

Video is a key goal for generative AI, due to its potential to simplify content creation. However, it's also a tool with the most potential for abuse via deepfakes, copyright violations and more. And unlike OpenAI with its ChatGPT product, Stability has had less success commercializing its Stable Diffusion product and burned through cash at a high rate, TechCrunch noted. And last week, vice president of audio at Stability AI, Ed Newton-Rex, resigned over the use of copyrighted content to train generative AI models. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ai-startup-behind-stable-diffusion-is-now-testing-generative-video-105519658.html?src=rss