Techlife News #361

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is off to a slow start in his mission to bring virtual reality to the masses, so perhaps it’s appropriate his company’s next VR headset will be called Quest. The headset from Facebook’s Oculus division will be a stand-alone device that won’t require a smartphone or a connection to a personal computer to create artificial worlds. The Quest won’t be available until next spring, although Zuckerberg unveiled the new headset at an Oculus conference held Wednesday in San Jose, California. Priced at $399, the Quest will cost twice as much as the less powerful, stand-alone Oculus Go released earlier this year. But it’s the same price as the Oculus Rift that tethers users to a PC. Zuckerberg eventually hopes to have 1 billion people using virtually reality, but he acknowledged…

Congress is taking the first steps toward setting national rules governing how companies use consumers data — although one of its goals might be to prevent states from enacting stronger privacy protections of their own. The approach being pondered by policymakers and pushed by the internet industry leans toward a relatively light government touch. That’s in contrast to stricter European rules that took effect in May and a California law that takes effect in 2020. Other states are also considering more aggressive protections. However it works out, any regulatory push will find it challenging to reconcile the concerns of privacy advocates who want people to have more control over the use of their personal data — where they’ve been, what they view, who their friends are —and the powerful companies who mine…

Officials say a second beam in San Francisco’s celebrated new transit terminal also shows signs of cracking. The discovery Wednesday comes a day after an initial crack in a support beam shut down the transit hub that opened just last month. San Francisco officials struggled Wednesday to find the source of unusual cracking in support beams that shut down a just-opened, $2 billion transit center meant to serve as a bold architectural statement from a wealthy, high-tech city. The Salesforce Transit Center opened to great fanfare last month as an embodiment of San Francisco’s reputation for innovation and sustainability. Its rooftop park would provide green space for people to socialize while commuters could take buses from the multistory building that spans three city blocks. Now, the transit hub named for a cloud computing…

The drama surrounding President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court over the nominee’s behavior in the 1980s has reinforced a warning today’s social media-savvy high school students have grown up hearing: What they say and do now will live well past graduation. Judge Brett Kavanaugh faces a historic hearing Thursday over assault allegations dating back to his high school and college years. He has denied the allegations. Some teenagers today say they are more mindful of the enduring quality of their words and actions because they’ve grown up with the internet, and social media posts are increasingly part of the college admission and job vetting process. In contrast, the evidence collected in the Kavanaugh’s past includes decades-old yearbooks and calendars. California high school senior Maya Carpenter, 17, says she’s taken classes since middle…

The University of Minnesota has awarded the late rock star Prince an honorary degree to recognize his influence on music and his role in shaping his hometown of Minneapolis. University President Eric Kaler and Regent Darrin Rosha presented the school’s highest honor, the Doctorate of Humane Letters, to Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, in a ceremony on campus Wednesday evening. The university had been preparing to present it to Prince himself before his death in 2016. Students from the university’s School of Music were joined by guest artists including St. Paul Peterson and Cameron Kinghorn in paying tribute to Prince by performing music associated with his career. While the event was free, it was booked to capacity ahead of time.…

WikiLeaks on Wednesday named one-time spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson as its new editor-in-chief. The ramifications of the move are unclear. The organization was founded and has been led for more than a decade by Julian Assange, the 47-year-old ex-hacker, but the silver-haired Australian has been isolated for years at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. WikiLeaks tweeted that Assange will stay on as the group’s “publisher.” Assange had his communications cut in March by Ecuador’s new president, and Wednesday’s statement said he remained “incommunicado.” WikiLeaks’ job titles have proven fluid over the years. Assange has variously described himself as the group’s spokesman, publisher and editor. Hrafnsson told The Associated Press that it “remains to be seen” whether the change in responsibility would be permanent or temporary. He hung up when asked further questions Wednesday, saying…