Nixel's blog

                        #Nixel's blog China's e-commerce giant Alibaba and tech leader Tencent are among the world's 10 most valuable brands, a report showed Tuesday. Alibaba, growing in brand value by 16 percent year-on-year to 131.2 billion U.S. dollars and moving up two places to No. 7, has overtaken Tencent for the first time to become the most valuable Chinese brand, according to the 2019 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands report released by global communication services provider WPP and brand consultancy Kantar Millward Brown. Tencent, the Shenzhen-based firm known for its hugely popular multi-functional app WeChat, ranked No. 8 on the list, dropping three places as compared with the previous year after its brand value declined 27 percent to 130.9 billion U.S. dollars. Tencent exhibition hall in Global Health Expo of Boao Forum for Asia, June 12, 2019. /VCG Photo Amazon, with its brand...

                              #Nixel's blog U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday that he will deploy 1,000 additional U.S. troops to Poland.  Trump announced the increased troop deployment at a joint news conference with Duda in the White House Rose Garden shortly after the two leaders signed a joint declaration affirming defense cooperation and watched a U.S.-made F-35 fighter jet fly overhead. Poland will provide "basing and infrastructure to support military presence of about 1,000 American troops," at no cost to the United States, Trump said. Duda, who is considering naming the U.S. installation in Poland as "Fort Trump," said the new influx of troops was needed because of what he described as Moscow's "past aggression" against Poland and to help solidify his country's ties to the West. U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Poland's Pre...

                                #Nixel's blog The U.S. space agency NASA announced Monday that it would test for the first time a kind of "green" fuel on a test satellite this month. The high-performance propellant, developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, blends hydroxyl ammonium nitrate with an oxidizer, which can be an alternative to hydrazine, the highly toxic fuel commonly used by current spacecraft, according to NASA. Also, the non-toxic fuel is denser than hydrazine so it can offer nearly 50 percent better performance. It means a spacecraft can travel farther or operate longer with less propellant on board. The test satellite, a part of the U.S. Department of Defense's Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission set to launch on June 22, has a propulsion system consisting of a propellant tank and five thrusters to carry the non-toxic fuel. The thrusters will fire in different scenario...

                               #Nixel's blog This fifth annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia is taking place in Shanghai through Thursday, just a few days after China granted 5G licences for commercial use.  The main focuses of the show this year are on the latest innovations in AI, 5G and vehicle technology around the world.  Unsurprisingly, Huawei attended the show and unveiled its new AI technology "HiAI" to the public, a mobile terminal–oriented AI computing platform designed to control devices used in daily life.  The design consists of three layers, with mobile phones in the center. The phone, or the main brain, can be connected to eight other devices, such as TVs, PCs, glasses, and then to other devices.  VCG Photo Huawei expects the industry is on the verge of another new era in the development of mobile phones.  The company is at...

                        #Nixel's blog Share this with Facebook   Share this with WhatsApp   Share this with Messenger    Share this with Twitter   Share Image copyright BILL POSTERS Image caption The deepfake clip features a computer-generated version of Mark Zuckerberg talking, blinking and moving his head for emphasis The deep fake clip features a computer-generated version of Mark Zuckerberg talking, blinking and moving his head for emphasis Facebook has said it will not remove a manipulated video of its chief Mark Zuckerberg from Instagram, in which he appears to credit a secretive organisation for his success. The clip is a "deepfake", made by AI software that uses photos of a person to create a video of them in action. Facebook had previously been criticised for not removing a doctored clip of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The latest decision coincided with the ann...

                               #Nixel's blog Image copyright PA Image caption Visa applicants will have to provide all their social media usernames Nearly all applicants for US visas will have to submit their social media details under newly adopted rules. The State Department regulations say people will have to submit social media names and five years' worth of email addresses and phone numbers. When proposed last year, authorities estimated the proposal would affect 14.7 million people annually. Certain diplomatic and official visa applicants will be exempt from the stringent new measures. However, people travelling to the US to work or to study will have to hand over their information. "We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect US citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States," the department reportedly said. Feeling the im...

                  #Nixel's blog Media caption The moment Trump lands for UK state visit US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have arrived in the UK for a three-day state visit. Air Force One landed at Stansted Airport at around 09:00 BST (04:00 ET). Mr Trump will meet members of the Royal Family, and is expected to discuss climate change and Chinese technology firm Huawei during talks with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. Minutes before touching down, Mr Trump criticised Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, with whom he has clashed in the past. He  tweeted that Mr Khan  - who  had earlier said the UK should "not roll out the red carpet" for Mr Trump - was a "stone cold loser", but the president added he was looking forward to his visit.  Protests are planned across the UK during the visit, including in London, Manchester, Belfast, and Birmingham. Image caption Air Force One touche...

                          #Nixel's blog Boeing Co's 737 MAX is unlikely to return to service before August, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday, adding that the final say on the timing rested with regulators. The 737 MAX was grounded globally in March after a crash in Ethiopia killed all 157 people on board, the model's second deadly crash in five months. “We do not expect something before 10 to 12 weeks in re-entry into service,” IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in Seoul. “But it is not in our hands. That is in the hands of regulators.” IATA plans to organize a summit with airlines, regulators and Boeing in five to seven weeks to discuss what is needed for the 737 MAX to return to service, he said. Sources have told Reuters that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to approve the jet's return to service as soon as late June....