Online gaming 'curfew' coming to children in China
Juveniles in China may get blocked from playing online games from midnight to morning.
China's Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council publicized a draft regulation about juveniles' cyber-safety on its website in January, soliciting opinion from the public.
Twelve-year-old pro gamer Xiao Xin webcasts at his home studio in November, 2015. /VCG Photo
According to article 23 of the draft, Internet users under the age of 18 are forbidden from playing online games from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m.
If the draft passes, online game operators in China will have to implement mechanisms to make sure children cannot get access to their products during the specified period of time.
Those who have something to say can head to www.chinalaw.gov.cn, as the window for collecting opinions closes on Monday. The system allows comments to be submitted anonymously.
Screen grab of article 23 of the draft on the State Council's website, with an anonymous comment form. /gov.cn
Chinese firm introduces optical fibers 5x faster
An optical fiber can transfer data at the speed of light, literally. But a new technology developed by a Chinese company is cranking up the speed at which information is relayed through homegrown technology.
Optical fibers. /VCG Photo
FiberHome Technologies, a networking and telecommunication equipment provider headquartered in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, squeezed seven optical fibers into one cable, which can transfer data five times faster than a single-fiber cable. That may sound like an easy task, but the real effort lay in the process of minimizing crosstalk – disturbance created when telecommunication signals are at proximity from one another.
The new cable allows a whopping 13.5 billion people – more than twice the current total world population – to have voice conversations through just one single line, according to a report published by Xinhua news agency on Saturday.
Uber CEO quits Trump's business council
File photo of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. /VCG Photo
Travis Kalanick, CEO of US car-hailing service Uber, has announced he is stepping down from the Strategic and Policy Forum of US President Donald Trump on Thursday, after coming under fire from the public who accused him of endorsing Trump’s controversial “Muslim ban” by sitting on Trump’s business advisory council.
Many of Uber drivers are immigrant themselves.
His decision came a day before Trump's meeting with the council, which includes CEOs from Wal-Mart, Walt Disney, SpaceX, IBM and Tesla.
"Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that," according to a memo written to Uber staff – a copy of which was leaked to media.
Public dissatisfaction with the San Francisco-based company heightened last weekend, when Uber decided on January 28 to suspend the “surge pricing” function to John F. Kennedy International Airport, at a time other taxi drivers were protesting against the controversial entry ban.
“Surge pricing” is the practice of increasing prices for rides when demand is high. Turning it off was widely seen as an attempt from Uber to oppose or profit from the work stoppage, while the car-hailing service defended the move saying lowering the prices helped avoid profiting from the increased demand during the strike.
Dozens protest outside Uber's headquarters in New York City on February 2, 2017. /VCG Photo
AI now Texas Hold'em champion after beating humans
Libratus, a poker-playing artificial intelligence program developed by Carnegie Mellon University, overtook humans to win a Texas Hold'em tournament held in Pittsburgh on Monday, according to the tournament holder Rivers Casino. The computer program played over 120,000 hands (games) during the 20-day competition (January 11-30) and won more than 1.7 million US dollars in chips – an achievement considerable enough for researchers to assert it is not just a beginners’ luck.
Battle of the poker pros. /riverscasino.com
This is the first time a machine beats professional poker players at heads-up, no-limit Texas Hold'em.
In their defense, opponents of Libratus were at a disadvantage. Facial expressions go hand in hand with playing the game, as many can be betrayed by their own feelings. Keeping a “poker face” is a trick not to reveal what’s in the cards, but is this applicable when looking at a software right in the “eyes”?
The event did however prove yet again machines are better at making decisions, even when it comes to gambling.
Golden octopus takes over Motorola Germany website
Motorola Germany is sending gadget geeks scratching their heads, as the front page of its official website is now running a countdown, with the timer pointing to February 26 – one day before the Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona. Observers are expecting an announcement ahead of the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry, but they seem unable to wrap their heads around the featured golden octopus inside of Motorola’s logo which is taking center place on the page.
The countdown page, retrieved on February 5, 2017. /Motorola Germany
Rumors have been rampant that Motorola will be unveiling a certain Moto G5 smartphone model, although information is scarce.
Motorola's Mobility became part of China's Lenovo after a 2.91 billion-US dollar acquisition from Google in 2014.
(Written by CGTN's Gong Zhe)
