An anonymous reader quotes ZDNet: The Russian Parliament is debating a bill that will force all electronic equipment sold in Russia — such as smartphones, computers, and smart TVs — to ship pre-installed with apps from Russian tech firms. According to lawmakers, "the bill will protect the interests of Russian Internet companies and will reduce the abuse by large foreign companies, working in the field of information technology." If the bill is approved, the Russian government will publish a list of electronic devices that will need to comply with this new law. Smartphones, tablets, computers, servers, and smart TVs are expected to be on the list. Devices that don't run a complex OS or custom software will be exempt. The government will also publish, per each device type, a list of Russian software that equipment vendors will need to include on devices sold in Russia.

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"Android has a bit of a malware problem," argues Wired, noting that " malware-ridden apps sneak into the official Play Store with disappointing frequency..." "After grappling with the issue for a decade, Google is calling in some reinforcements." This week, Google announced a partnership with three antivirus firms -- ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium -- to create an App Defense Alliance. All three companies have done extensive Android malware research over the years, and have existing relationships with Google to report problems they find. But now they'll use their scanning and threat detection tools to evaluate new Google Play submissions before the apps go live -- with the goal of catching more malware before it hits the Play Store in the first place. "On the malware side we haven't really had a way to scale as much as we've wanted to scale," says Dave Kleidermacher, Google's vice president of Android security and privacy. "What the App Defense Alliance enables us to do is take the open ecosystem approach to the next level. We can share information not just ad hoc, but really integrate engines together at a digital level, so that we can have real-time response, expand the review of these apps, and apply that to making users more protected."

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"Wednesday night was an exciting one for investors and employees at American Gene Technologies," reports a local Maryland news station. "After years in the making, they submitted a nearly 1,000-page document to FDA. And within its pages just may lie the cure for HIV/AIDS." Founded in 2007, the privately-held company has less than 50 employees according to LinkedIn. Based in Maryland, the company's milestone was soon picked up by other local newscasts, including one attributed to WDVM/CNN. Long-time Slashdot reader Aristos Mazer writes: This is not one of those on-going maintenance drugs. This, they claim in 1000+ pages of FDA filing, is an out-right cure. The drug, AGT 103T, delivers a virus that performs cell and gene therapy. In AGT's words: "Gene therapy is a technique that allows doctors to treat a disorder by inserting genes into patients' cells to mitigate the underlying genetic drivers of disease. Human cells can be re-engineered to create highly-effective hunter/killers of invasive pathogens or cancer cells, or reprogramed to produce secretions that provide potent remedies to other disease conditions." If FDA approves, then AGT will have the green light to begin phase one clinical trials in January 2020. "Our aim is to treat HIV disease with an innovative cell and gene therapy that reconstitutes immunity to HIV and will control virus growth in the absence of antiretroviral drugs," the company's chief science officer told CBS Baltimore.

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A UN draft report accuses Jordan, Turkey, Chad, Sudan and the UAE of supplying weapons and military support to Libya.

A UN draft report accuses Jordan, Turkey, Chad, Sudan and the UAE of supplying weapons and military support to Libya.

A UN draft report accuses Jordan, Turkey, Chad, Sudan and the UAE of supplying weapons and military support to Libya.

"YouTube has a huge problem right now," argues videogame streamer Markiplier. "People's accounts are being suspended without reason, without provocation, and their appeals to get it back are being denied without explanation." Engadget revisits "YouTube's occasionally questionable moderation" -- in this case, people being banned simply for using too many emojis (or "emotes") in their comments to videogame-streamer Markiplier during a YouTube-produced choose-your-own-adventure special. The service says it has reinstated legions of Markiplier fans' accounts after they were banned simply for spamming emotes (and not even to a great degree) while voting during a live playthrough of the interactive movie A Heist with Markiplier. Not all of the accounts have been restored, Markiplier said, but YouTube added that it was "looking into" both why human moderators denied appeals and how it might "prevent this in the future." The change of heart came after Markiplier (aka Mark Fischbach) posted a video illustrating both how trivial the bans were, examples of denied appeals and the consequences for some users. As he explained, this didn't just kick people out of chat. It affected entire Google accounts -- people lost videos, channel memberships or access to important services they needed, all because they spammed several emotes in one line. He also blasted YouTube for claiming that appeals were carefully reviewed, noting that there was at least one instance where someone succeeded with an appeal, and was almost immediately banned again for seemingly no reason... The incident highlights the complications and limitations of YouTube's approach to moderation. While the sheer size of YouTube virtually mandates some form of automated policing, it's not guaranteed to correctly interpret everything (especially if it's asked to be particularly strict).

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The military also ordered air-and-land operations to 'neutralise' armed groups that act outside the law.

The military also ordered air-and-land operations to 'neutralise' armed groups that act outside the law.

The military also ordered air-and-land operations to 'neutralise' armed groups that act outside the law.

Maybe Bloomberg should endorse a candidate that's already up and running. Help elevate them into the top tier. For example, Amy Klobuchar.

Joe Trippi: "The most insightful thing anyone has said in a long time about what has really changed to create our current failure to communicate."

Nov 7: "Everyone should hear the same lies."

An anonymous reader quotes the BBC: A US financial regulator has opened an investigation into claims Apple's credit card offered different credit limits for men and women. It follows complaints -- including from Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak -- that algorithms used to set limits might be inherently biased against women. New York's Department of Financial Services has contacted Goldman Sachs, which runs the Apple Card. Any discrimination, intentional or not, "violates New York law", the Department of Financial Services said. The Bloomberg news agency reported on Saturday that tech entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson had complained that the Apple Card gave him 20 times the credit limit that his wife got. In a tweet, Mr Hansson said the disparity was despite his wife having a better credit score. Later, Mr Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs, tweeted that the same thing happened to him and his wife despite their having no separate bank accounts or separate assets. Banks and other lenders are increasingly using machine-learning technology to cut costs and boost loan applications. But Mr Hansson, creator of the programming tool Ruby on Rails, said it highlights how algorithms, not just people, can discriminate. "Apple and Goldman Sachs have both accepted that they have no control over the product they sell," Hansson posted angrily on Twitter. "THE ALGORITHM is in charge now! "All humans can do is apologize on its behalf, and pray that it has mercy on the next potential victims."

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Police acted on 7,681 social media posts across Uttar Pradesh by either reporting them or asking users to delete them.