United News of Bangladesh

Pariss Chandler built a community for Black tech workers on Twitter that eventually became the foundation for her own recruitment company. Now she’s afraid it could all fall apart if Twitter becomes a haven for racist and toxic speech under the control of Elon Musk, a serial provocateur who has indicated he could loosen content rules. With Twitter driving most of her business, Chandler sees no good alternative as she watches the uncertainty play out. “Before Elon took over, I felt like the team was working to make Twitter a safer platform, and now they are kind of not there. I don’t know what’s going on internally. I have lost hope in that,” said Chandler, 31, founder of Black Tech Pipeline, a jobs board and recruitment website. “I’m both sad and terrified for Twitter, both for the employees and also the users.” Those qualms are weighing on many people who have come to rely on Twitter, a relatively small but mighty platform that has become a digital public square of sorts for influencers, policy makers, journalists and other thought leaders. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, took over Twitter last week in a $44 billion deal, immediately making his unpredictable style felt. Read: Musk fires Twitter's board of directors becomes board's sole member Just days later, he had tweeted a link to a story from a little-known news outlet that made a dubious claim about the violent attack on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their California home. He soon deleted it, but it was a worrying start to his tenure for those concerned about the spread of disinformation online. Musk has also signaled his intent to loosen the guardrails on hate speech, and perhaps allow former President Donald Trump and other banned commentators to return. He tempered the thought after the deal closed, however, pledging to form a “content moderation council” and not allow anyone who has been kicked off the site to return until it sets up procedures on how to do that. Yet the use of racial slurs quickly exploded in an apparent test of his tolerance level. “Folks, it’s getting ugly here. I am not really sure what my plan is. Stay or go?” Jennifer Taub, a law professor and author with about a quarter million followers, said Sunday, as she tweeted out a link to her Facebook page in case she leaves Twitter. For now, Taub plans to stay, given the opportunity it provides to “laugh, learn and commiserate” with people from across the world. But she’ll leave if it becomes “a cesspool of racism and antisemitism,” she said in a phone call. “The numbers are going down and down and down,” said Taub, who has lost 5,000 followers since Musk officially took over. “The tipping point might be if I’m just not having fun there. There are too many people to block.” The debate is especially fraught for people of color who have used Twitter to network and elevate their voices, while also confronting toxicity on the platform.

Instagram is rolling out new features, including a tool for making and selling digital collectibles, to help content creators earn revenue directly from their Instagram audience. Users of the Meta-owned online photo-sharing and social networking service can soon support content creators by buying their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly within the platform. "Creators will soon be able to make their own digital collectibles on Instagram and sell them to fans, both on and off Instagram. They'll have an end-to-end toolkit – from creation (starting on the Polygon blockchain) and showcasing, to selling," Meta said. "We're testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon," it added. Read more: Is your Instagram crashing?Meta said it is also expanding the types of digital collectibles that the users can showcase on Instagram to include video and adding support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet, in addition to the blockchains and wallets that it already supports.  Also, Instagram creators can now earn money from fans who love their Reels. To support their favourite creators, fans can send gifts on Reels by buying Stars on Instagram.  Read more: Restricted from Twitter, Instagram; Kanye to buy conservative social network Parler Meta has been adding features for content creators to help them reach an audience, grow their communities, and make money on its social media apps as it competes with TikTok and others at a time when influencers are driving revenue to these platforms through advertising.

Global ICT infrastructure and solutions provider Huawei, has come up with a 5G network, 4L autonomous driving and other technological innovations to make ports smart, safer and efficient. Recently, a smart terminal was built by Tianjin Port Group (TPG), together with Huawei and other partners. This initiative was taken to deal with port congestion that caused severe disruptions in global supply chains, goods handling problems and other port-related issues resulting in a decrease in overall efficiency. At the Tianjin Port, under the guidance of the BeiDou navigation satellite system, the whole process of moving the container trucks to the automatic locking and unlocking stations can now be completed in one go. "The intelligent and digital transformation of the port has led to tangible benefits and increased efficiency. Now, each container at the Tianjin Port consumes 20 percent less energy, and cranes are 20 percent more efficient on average, with each crane operating 39 container units per hour," Huawei said in a statement. Read: Huawei launches all-band 5G solution series Jason Li, board member of Huawei Bangladesh, said: "Smart ports and terminals can be the focal point in the next few years for realising the Smart Bangladesh vision. If Bangladesh can turn Chattogram and Mongla ports into smart ones, it will have very positive impacts on the economy and also help to address the problems in daily operations at ports." Tianjin port is one of China's most technologically advanced ports and a vital hub for the One Belt One Road initiative. It has a 300000-ton-class wharf with a channel depth of 22 meters. It has 192 berths of various types and 128 berths above the 10,000-ton-class. By the end of 2021, the port's cargo throughput reached 435 million tons, ranking ninth in the world, while the container throughput exceeded 18.35 million TEUs, ranking the eighth port in the world.

Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp rolled out “Communities” — a new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups — today. The feature will bring together separate groups under bigger umbrellas where administrators can send alerts to a community of thousands. Designed to help organisations, clubs, schools, and other private groups communicate better, this latest feature will allow people to receive updates sent to the entire community and easily organise smaller discussion groups. Read: WhatsApp services restored after longest reported outage "Today we're launching Communities on WhatsApp. It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more," Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video message today. “We're also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling too. All are secured by end-to-end encryption so your messages stay private,” Zuckerberg added. WhatsApp will now allow chat groups to have up to 1,024 users, much higher than the 256 participants restriction it had until recently, according to a company statement. Read: WhatsApp pushes privacy update to comply with Irish ruling Telegram and Discord, rivals of WhatsApp, allow thousands of members in group chats. According to Meta's Twitter handle, WhatsApp's new feature will be available to everyone over the next few months.

Indian-origin IT executive Sriram Krishnan is “helping out” Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk as he makes changes to the social media platform. At the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Krishnan is a general partner, according to an NDTV report.   Krishnan tweeted, “Now that the word is out: I’m helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people. I (and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen.” Read: Musk fires Twitter's board of directors becomes board's sole member Krishnan invests in early-stage consumer startups, and, according to his profile on Andreessen Horowitz’s website, he sits on the boards of Bitski, Hopin, and Polywork. Krishnan held a number of senior product positions before joining a16z, and according to his profile, most recently he “led core consumer teams at Twitter where he was responsible for products including the home timeline, new user experience, search, discovery, and audience growth”. According to his profile, he previously established and directed a number of mobile ad products for Facebook and Snap, including the Facebook Audience Network, one of the biggest networks for display advertising, and Snap’s Direct Response advertisements business. Read: Musk says Twitter blue tick being revamped

Billionaire Elon Musk is already floating major changes for Twitter — and faces major hurdles as he begins his first week as the owner of the social-media platform. Twitter's new owner fired the company's board of directors and made himself the board's sole member, according to a company filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk later said on Twitter that the new board setup is “temporary,” but he didn't provide any details. He's also testing the waters on asking users to pay for verification. A venture capitalist working with Musk tweeted a poll asking how much users would be willing to pay for the blue check mark that Twitter has historically used to verify higher-profile accounts so other users know it’s really them. Read more: Musk says Twitter blue tick being revamped Musk, whose account is verified, replied, “Interesting.” Critics have derided the mark, often granted to celebrities, politicians, business leaders and journalists, as an elite status symbol. But Twitter also uses the blue check mark to verify activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to curb misinformation coming from accounts that are impersonating people. “The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk tweeted Sunday in response to a user who asked for help getting verified. Read more: Musk tweets conspiracy theory about attack on Pelosi's husband, then deletes it On Friday, meanwhile, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he and his Kingdom Holding Company rolled over a combined $1.89 billion in existing Twitter shares, making them the company’s largest shareholder after Musk. The news raised concerns among some lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut. Murphy tweeted that he is requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment — which reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign buyers — to investigate the national security implications of the kingdom's investment in Twitter “We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform,” Murphy tweeted. “There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review.” Read More: Lay-off at Twitter: Elon Musk seeks list of staff according to report Having taken ownership of the social media service, Musk has invited a group of tech-world friends and investors to help guide the San Francisco-based company's transformation, which is likely to include a shakeup of its staff. Musk last week fired CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives. There's been uncertainty about if and when he could begin larger-scale layoffs. “I do think there will be a lot of layoffs,” said Matthew Faulkner, an assistant finance professor at San Jose State University. Faulkner noted the need for cost-cutting after Musk bought Twitter for a premium and the platform’s longtime struggles trying to turn a profit. But Musk might also want as quickly as possible to weed out employees who don’t believe in his mission so that those who stay feel more secure. “You don’t want to have frantically scared employees working for you,” Faulkner said. “That doesn’t motivate people.” Read More: Musk seeks US funds for satellite network in Ukraine Those who have revealed they are helping Musk include Sriram Krishnan, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which pledged back in the spring to chip into Musk's plan to buy the company and take it private. Krishnan, who is also a former Twitter product executive, said in a tweet that it is “a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen.” Jason Calacanis, the venture capitalist who tweeted the poll about whether users would pay for verification, said over the weekend he is “hanging out at Twitter a bit and simply trying to be as helpful as possible during the transition.” Read More: Musk says Twitter deal could move ahead with 'bot' info Calacanis said the team already “has a very comprehensive plan to reduce the number of (and visibility of) bots, spammers, & bad actors on the platform.” And in the Twitter poll, he asked if users would pay between $5 and $15 monthly to “be verified & get a blue checkmark” on Twitter. Twitter is currently free for most users because it depends on advertising for its revenue. Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April but it wasn't until Thursday evening that he finally closed the deal, after his attempts to back out of it led to a protracted legal fight with the company. Musk's lawyers are now asking the Delaware Chancery Court to throw out the case, according to a court filing made public Monday. The two sides were supposed to go to trial in November if they didn't close the deal by the end of last week. Musk has made a number of pronouncements since early this year about how to fix Twitter, and it remains unclear which proposals he will prioritize. Read More: Looming Musk-Twitter legal battle hammers company shares He has promised to cut back some of Twitter's content restrictions to promote free speech, but said Friday that no major decisions on the content or reinstating of banned accounts will be made until a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints is put in place. He later qualified that remark, tweeting “anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail.” The head of a cryptocurrency exchange that invested $500 million in Musk’s Twitter takeover said he had a number of reasons for supporting the deal, including the possibility Musk would transition Twitter into a company supporting cryptocurrency and the concept known as Web3, which many cryptocurrency enthusiasts envision as the next generation of the internet. “We want to make sure that crypto has a seat at the table when it comes to free speech,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told CNBC on Monday (October 31, 2022). “And there are more tactical things like we want to help bring Twitter into Web3 when they’re ready.” Read More: Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter deal gets board endorsement He said cryptocurrency could be useful for solving some of Musk’s immediate challenges, such as the plan to charge a premium membership fee for more users. “That can be done very easily, globally, by using cryptocurrency as a means of payment,” he said.

The White House is bringing together three dozen nations, the European Union and a slew of private-sector companies for a two-day summit starting Monday that looks at how best to combat ransomware attacks. The second International Counter Ransomware Summit will focus on priorities such as ensuring systems are more resilient to better withstand attacks and disrupt bad actors planning such assaults. A senior Biden administration official cited recent attacks such as one that targeted the Los Angeles school district last month to underscore the urgency of the issue and the summit. The official previewed the event on the condition of anonymity. Read: G-20 summit could put Biden in the same room with Putin and MBS Among the administration officials planning to participate in the event are FBI Director Christopher Wray, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend. Participating countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, the European Commission, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Read: Foundation of US democracy being called into question: Obama Companies that will take part include Crowdstrike, Mandiant, Cyber Threat Alliance, Microsoft, Cybersecurity Coalition, Palo Alto, Flexxon, SAP, the Institute for Security + Technology, Siemens, Internet 2.0, Tata – TCS and Telefónica. The previous summit took place virtually.    

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has released the One 5G concept and set of solutions designed to facilitate the evolution of all bands of mobile communications to 5G. Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei ICT Products and Solutions and Huawei Wireless Solution, made the announcement at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2022 (MBBF 2022) recently. The MBBF 2022 is hosted by Huawei, together with its industry partners GSMA and GTI. This annual forum gathers mobile network carriers, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners from around the world to discuss how to make 5G a commercial success, as well as other high-priority industry topics like green development, intelligence, and 5G evolution. Read: Huawei: Maximise network resources for 5G's commercial success Huawei has developed the LampSite 5.0 solution that features TDD+FDD multi-band and multi-RAT combination. The new setup reduces hardware weight and volume by 25 percent and slashes power consumption by 40 percent. Also, mmWave has been introduced for the LampSite solution to deliver indoor 10 Gbps capacity based on a distributed architecture and ultra-large bandwidth. The company has also launched the RuralLink solution that is designed for remote areas. Huawei has advanced its MetaAAU antenna array unit technology to boost performance and energy efficiency to new levels, by making use of extremely large antenna array (ELAA) technology, as well as “innovative” software and hardware coordination. Read: Huawei promises more innovation to push 5G operations ahead globally MetaAAU has been deployed at scale around the world and Huawei said it has been proven to boost uplink and downlink coverage and user experience while consuming less energy. Huawei has been upgrading its ultra-wideband and multi-antenna systems series to help operators simplify deployment, improve spectral efficiency, and provide a high-level user experience for all RATs. Huawei's ultra-wideband 4T4R RRU supports simplified deployment and millisecond-level power sharing across allcarriers, bands, and RATs, which reduces power consumption by 30% percent while ensuring the same level of GU coverage. Read: Huawei ICT Incubator announces top 6 startups from Bangladesh With layered intelligence architecture, Huawei says its IntelligentRAN can help operators reduce network O&M costs, open network capabilities, and create more business opportunities. And the combination of One 5G all-band solutions and IntelligentRAN unlocks the full potential of all bands, including TDD, FDD and mmWave, and facilitates all-band coordination for better network performance and lower power consumption.

Users of the online photo-sharing and social networking service Instagram are reporting issues with the app. Popular social media app users have shared that the app keeps crashing or closing abruptly. Meta-owned Instagram lets users take pictures, apply filters to them and share those pictures in several ways, including through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It is available as an application for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Read: Restricted from Twitter, Instagram; Kanye to buy conservative social network Parler

New Twitter owner Elon Musk has said the process of gaining a prestigious "blue tick" will be revised, amid reports the firm could start charging $20 (£17) per month to be verified. Musk tweeted the verification process was being revamped, days after taking over the social media giant. A blue tick is currently free and a way of signalling an account is authentic, reports BBC. Musk completed his $44bn (£37.9bn) takeover on Friday, and has renamed himself as Chief Twit on Twitter. Read: Musk tweets conspiracy theory about attack on Pelosi's husband, then deletes it During months of legal wrangling leading up to the acquisition, the billionaire repeatedly expressed concerns about the verification process, and the number of spam and bot accounts he believes litter the site. Musk's tweet, on Sunday, did not give any more details about what exactly might change. But according to tech website The Verge, which cited internal correspondence, Twitter now wants to charge people $19.99 per month to keep their blue tick verification status. It says the plan involves quadrupling the price for Twitter Blue - the company's subscription service - and making verification one of its features. Verified users would be given 90 days to subscribe or face losing their blue tick, it reports. Employees were told of the project on Sunday and have been told they need to launch the scheme by 7 November or risk losing their jobs, it added. Read: Lay-off at Twitter: Elon Musk seeks list of staff according to report Twitter Blue was launched last summer, and gives subscribers access to various premium features including the option to undo a tweet. It is currently optional and costs $4.99 per month. While there has been no official confirmation of the plan, on Monday Mr Musk appeared to acknowledge the speculation in a new tweet which said: "On no, all our diabolical plans have been revealed!!" Job cut fears In a separate development, Mr Musk has denied a New York Times report that he plans to lay off Twitter workers before the start of next month to avoid having to make payouts. It follows his buyout last week which saw the exit of the firm's top bosses - including its chief executive, chairman and finance chief. At the weekend, The New York Times reported that Musk had ordered major job cuts across Twitter's workforce. The newspaper said the layoffs would take place before 1 November, when workers were due to receive grants of shares in the company as a major part of their pay deals. But replying to a Twitter user asking about the report, he said: "This is false." The takeover has prompted discussion among Twitter users over what the platform will look like under Musk's ownership. Read: Musk takes over Twitter: Users testing chaos, misinformation policies Some have voiced concerns that more lenient free speech policies would mean people banned for hate speech or disinformation may be allowed back to the platform, according to BBC reports. Last week Musk said that he doesn't want the platform to become an echo chamber for hate and division. "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hell-scape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" he tweeted. However after denying the New York Times job cuts report, Musk tweeted a screen shot of a New York Times headline about him posting a link to a "site known to publish false news". The New York Times headline referred to a reply Musk had posted, and then deleted, at the weekend to a tweet by former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. His reply contained a link to a conspiracy theory about an assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Musk also started a Twitter poll asking his more than 112m followers whether he should bring back the short-video app Vine. The service that allowed users to share six-second-long looping clips was bought by Twitter in 2012. It gained more than 200m active users by the end of 2015 before being shelved by the social media platform. Musk has previously run polls on whether or not he should sell 10% of his stake in the electric car maker Tesla and if Twitter should have an edit button.