Mission Everywhere

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge : Comcast says internet traffic from voice and video calls has risen 212% on its network over the past month and the overall peak traffic is up by 32%   —  Traffic zooms up as more people work from home  —  Voice and video calls have more than tripled on Comcast's network … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2xF2mz2

Facebook and Twitter have removed videos of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro endorsing the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment. Social media companies have been reluctant up until now to act on misinformation from politicians, classifying even lies as free or political speech. Hydroxychloroquine is currently being studied to see whether it can be used to treat COVID-19 but, according to the CDC, its efficacy is still unproven. President Trump has also praised hydroxychloroquine and asked the FDA to fast-track access to the drug. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . Facebook and Twitter have taken action on a video from Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, removing it for infringing on their misinformation policies. The video, as reported by BBC News Brasil , showed Bolsonaro talking to a street vendor and endorsing an anti-viral drug called hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment. "This medicine here, hydroxychloroquine, ...

Group calling app Houseparty says rumors it's been hacked are a "smear campaign" and that it will offer up to $1 million to anyone who can supply proof. In the last 48 hours, Houseparty users complained on social media that their other online accounts such as Netflix and Spotify were hacked thanks to the app. But on Monday, a Houseparty spokeswoman told Business Insider it had "found no evidence" to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts. In a follow-up comment, the spokeswoman told Business Insider that it was "investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty." The Houseparty app lets users take part in group video chats, games and quizzes, and has surged in popularity during coronavirus lockdowns. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . Group calling app Houseparty says rumors it's been hacked are a paid ...

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is relinquishing his role as a board director and switching to board observer — where he says he’ll focus on product strategy for the ride hailing giant. Camp made the announcement in a short Medium post in which he writes of his decade at Uber: “I’ve learned a lot, and realized that I’m most helpful when focused on product strategy & design, and this is where I’d like to focus going forward.” “I will continue to work with Dara [Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO] and the product and technology leadership teams to brainstorm new ideas, iterate on plans and designs, and continue to innovate at scale,” he adds. “We have a strong and diverse team in place, and I’m confident everyone will navigate well during these turbulent times.” The Canadian billionaire entrepreneur signs off by saying he’s looking forward to helping Uber “brainstorm the next big idea”. Camp hasn’t been short of ideas over his career in tech. He’s the co-founder of the web 2.0 recommendatio...

D-Wave , the Canadian quantum computing company, today announced that it is giving anyone who is working on responses to the COVID-19 free access to its Leap 2 quantum computing cloud service. The offer isn’t only valid to those focusing on new drugs but open to any research or team working on any aspect of how to solve the current crisis, be that logistics, modeling the spread of the virus or working on novel diagnostics. One thing that makes the D-Wave program unique is that the company also managed to pull in a number of partners that are already working with it on other projects. These include Volkswagen, DENSO, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, MDR, Menten AI, Sigma-i Tohoku University, Ludwig Maximilian University and OTI Lumionics. These partners will provide engineering expertise to teams that are using Leap 2 for developing solutions to the Covid-19 crisis. As D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz told me, this project started taking shape about a week and a half ago. In our conversation, he ...

Health tech startups that help healthcare workers find shifts have boomed as the UK rallies medical professionals to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.  Locum's Nest, a UK app that helps connect physicians to work, has seen a 37% month-to-month spike due to COVID-19. "Tech is breaking down the silos that exist in the medical profession and we are encouraging transparency and accountability," Dr Ahmed Shahrabani, CEO and cofounder of Locum's Nest told Business Insider in an interview. Click here for more BI Prime stories . Health tech startups that help locum healthcare workers find shifts have seen a big uptick in usage as the UK rallies medical professionals to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.  Some 20,000 former NHS staff have agreed to return to help the UK's public health system from being overwhelmed by cases of COVID-19. The UK has reported 22,141 coronavirus cases and 1,408 deaths  linked to the virus.  Locum's Nest, which connects locum c...

Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo said on Tuesday it had raised $1.1 billion in a private share placement that will enable its further expansion and allow it to capture “additional opportunities” during the times of uncertainty. The Nasdaq-listed firm said some of its long-term investors financed the deal. The investors were granted newly issued Class A ordinary shares of Pinduoduo representing approximately 2.8% of the company’s total outstanding shares. The capital raise comes weeks after the Shanghai-based company said it was bracing for losses due to the coronavirus outbreak. The firm’s fourth-quarter revenue growth fell short of expectations. Pinduoduo, which competes with giant Alibaba, has grown rapidly in recent years after gamifying the shopping experience that allows customers to team up to buy anything from smartphones to fruits. But the firm’s marketing — promotions and discount coupons — has also widened its losses. In Q4 2019, Pinduoduo reported a loss of a...