BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Trump angers Beijing with 'Chinese virus' tweet
China has reacted angrily after US President Donald Trump referred to the coronavirus as “Chinese”. A foreign ministry spokesman warned the US should “take care of its own business” before stigmatising China. The first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. However, last week a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman shared a conspiracy theory, alleging the US Arm ... Read more
2020-03-17 18:27:28
Coronavirus: Broadband firms say no issue with extra demand
UK broadband companies say they can cope with increased demand as many more people stay at home during the coronavirus crisis. Internet service providers (ISPs) say they have contingency plans in place and that the network can deal with extra daytime demand. Video calls and other work applications should have little impact. But some traffic-heavy services are seeing a surge in use around the wo ... Read more
2020-03-16 17:51:04
Coronavirus: 3D printers save hospital with valves
A 3D-printer company in Italy has designed and printed 100 life-saving respirator valves in 24 hours for a hospital that had run out of them. The valve connects patients in intensive care to breathing machines. The hospital, in Brescia, had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care and the valves are designed to be used for a maximum of eight hours at a time. The 3D-printed version cost less t ... Read more
2020-03-16 17:50:40
Google's coronavirus site launches amid Trump confusion
A coronavirus testing project by Google has been thrown into confusion over comments made by US President Donald Trump. He said the company was developing a website for all Americans to check whether they should get tested. However, Google's sister company Verily had actually been working on a pilot limited to California's Bay Area. Two sites launch on Monday - but only the localised one contai ... Read more
2020-03-16 17:50:11
Apple hit with record €1.1bn fine in France
France's competition authority has imposed a record €1.1bn (£1bn; $1.2bn) fine on US tech giant Apple for what it sees as anti-competitive practices. It is the biggest fine ever imposed by the French regulator. The firm and two of its wholesalers in France were found to have an unfair agreement to control prices. The investigation began in 2012, following a complaint by eBizcuss, which sells Ap ... Read more
2020-03-16 17:49:36
Coronavirus: US slashes rates and launches huge stimulus programme
The US has cut interest rates to almost zero and launched a $700bn stimulus programme in a bid to protect the economy from the impact of coronavirus. It is part of a co-ordinated action announced on Sunday in the UK, Japan, eurozone, Canada, and Switzerland. Announcing the US move, the Federal Reserve said the "outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countrie ... Read more
2020-03-15 18:31:47
Spain's King Felipe VI renounces father's inheritance
Spain's King Felipe VI has renounced the inheritance of his scandal-hit father Juan Carlos. In a statement, the palace said that Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, would also stop receiving an annual grant of €194,000 (£174,800; $217,100). This comes as the 82-year-old former king is being criticised for his lavish lifestyle. Juan Carlos, who reigned for 39 years, is also facing an investigati ... Read more
2020-03-15 18:31:23
Coronavirus: How to work from home, the right way
Google, Microsoft, Twitter. Hitachi, Apple, Amazon. Chevron, Salesforce, Spotify. From the UK to the US, Japan to South Korea, these are all global companies that have, in the last few days, rolled out mandatory work-from-home policies amid the spread of Covid-19. And it’s realistic to assume that shifting to the ‘home office’ will become the new normal for many of us for a while, given Wednesday ... Read more
2020-03-15 18:30:59
Does being 'TikTok famous' actually make you money?
When I meet up with Jake Sweet (aka Surfaceldn on TikTok), he's buzzing. He's about to be flown out to the MTV Video Music Awards in Spain as a special guest. Dinner will be laid on, he explains, and there will be aftershow parties where he will rub shoulders with music's biggest stars - but best of all, says the 21-year-old, he will hang out with other social media influencers he admires. He go ... Read more
2020-03-14 17:30:52
Minecraft ‘loophole’ library of banned journalism
It started out as a project in an online forum and turned into the best-selling video game of all time, but now Minecraft is being used for something even its creator would not have dreamt of. The iconic game based around placing Lego-like blocks with more than 145 million players each month has been turned into a hub of free speech. A virtual library has been meticulously created to host articl ... Read more
2020-03-14 17:30:25