CNN – “As of July 19, unemployment agencies in 25 states were using ID.me, which uses facial recognition technology to verify unemployment benefit applications…”
Presenting the top contender for "feel-good moment" from this year's Olympics in Tokyo: in the Men's High Jump event, Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi tied for first and faced a tiebreaking jump-off. Instead, Barshim proposed to officials that they simply share the gold.
Revealed: the true extent of America’s food monopolies, and who pays the price Guardian
China: Imperialism or Semi-Periphery? Monthly Review
Investors Lost Hundreds of Billions on China in July Wall Street Journal
US regulators launch crackdown on Chinese listings Financial Times
Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and the new command paper UK in a Changing Europe. guurst is starting to sound like resilc: “The EU should call Boris’ bluff and use Frontex to seal the Irish border…..”
Conservatives at risk of losing seats in ‘blue wall’ heartlands, YouGov poll suggests Independent
Inside Boris Johnson’s money network Financial Times
Values for Money Wolfgang Streeck
Stalin, Barbarossa and the Allies | Book review by Omer Bartov Times Literary Supplement (Anthony L)
What Cops Understand About Copyright Filters: They Prevent Legal Speech
EFF: ““You can record all you want. I just know it can’t be posted to YouTube,” said an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy to an activist. “I am playing my music so that you can’t post on YouTube.” The tactic didn’t work—the video of his statement can in fact, as of this writing, be viewed on YouTube. But it’s still a shocking attempt to thwart activists’ First Amendment right to record the police—and a practical demonstration that cops understand what too many policymakers do not: copyright can offer an easy way to shut down lawful expression. This isn’t the first time this year this has happened. It’s not even the first time in California this year. Filming police is an invaluable tool, for basically anyone interacting with them. It can provide accountability and evidence of what occurred outside of what an officer says occurred. Given this country’s longstanding tendency to believe police officers’ word over almost anyone else’s, video of an interaction can go a long way to getting to the true..”
Bodycam footage of a gentle stroll around a quiet English Forrest
BoinbBoing: “I enjoyed this 15-minute 4K wander around an English forest from the Just Walking YouTube channel. Perhaps you would prefer to be accompanied by a dog? Here is a walk with a dog…
The Atlantic – “Our vaccines are extraordinary, but right now they need all the help they can get…But the pandemic is once again entering a new phase that feels more dangerous and more in flux, even for the people lucky enough to have received their lifesaving shots. A more transmissible variant—one that can discombobulate vaccine-trained antibodies—has flooded the world. It’s wreaking havoc among the uninoculated, a group that still includes almost half of Americans and most of the global population. After a prolonged lull, the pandemic’s outlook is grimmer than it’s been in months. I am, for the foreseeable future, back to wearing masks in indoor public places, and there are four big reasons why….”
Rich People of The Hamptons Have a New Headache: Even Richer People Vanity Fair
In addition to helping police arrest the wrong person or monitor how often you visit the Gap store, facial recognition is increasingly used by companies as a routine security procedure: it’s a way to unlock your phone or social media account, for instance. This practice comes with an exchange of some privacy for the promise of comfort and security but, according to a recent study, that promise is basically bullshit.
Indeed, computer scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel say they have discovered a way to bypass a large percentage of facial recognition systems by basically faking your face. The team calls this method the “master face” (like a “master key,” harhar), which uses artificial intelligence technologies to create a facial template — one that can consistently juke and unlock identity verification systems.
Master Face’: Researchers Say They have Found a Wildly Successful Bypass for Face Recognition Tech
Made in China’ products are running into new logistics problems
The terms of China’s massive loan spreeFinancial Times (m
China goes back to rationing as authorities in Wuhan introduce ‘housing ticket’ to cool surging property prices South China Morning Post
