Bits: daily tech news bulletin

How bad is streaming an hour of Netflix for the environment?


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Google has teamed up with Lifeline Australia and Black Dog Institute to introduce a new self-assessment tool for people searching for information on depression. Users will now be offered a clinically validated questionnaire used by healthcare professionals to evaluate someone's status, and will be offered links to Lifeline and Black Dog for further support.



Samsung has announced it will be taking a year off from releasing a new Galaxy Note handset in 2021. 

At its annual shareholder meeting, Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh said quote "it could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year". Koh said the company still aims to release another Note in 2022. The company also joined the chorus of companies expressing concerns over chip shortages that it believes will begin to impact its business next quarter.



Facebook Groups is getting an algorithm overhaul in an attempt to get Groups to better police their content and reduce the spread of content from Groups that break its rules. Changes include banning individual users who consistently post violating content, and forcing all posts to be moderated in groups where regular rule breaking has occurred and adding warning labels to problem groups. The company will also remove civic and political groups from recommendations worldwide, a move that had already occurred in the USA.



How bad is streaming an hour of Netflix for the environment? A new tool developed by the University of Bristol in the UK is helping to do the calculations and in the process help Netflix and other digital companies reduce their carbon footprint. According to Wired, the DIMPACT tool will help companies in video streaming, advertising, publishing and business intelligence sectors analyse their emissions – including those of their suppliers and customers in the delivery and consumption of their services. The answer to that question according to DIMPACT is that Netflix uses roughly 100 grams of CO2 per hour, which is like driving your car around half a km.



Uber is now officially treating its drivers in the UK as workers. After it lost its efforts to avoid doing so in the British Supreme Court, the company has officially made the transition to paying workers a minimum wage, vacation pay and a pension scheme. However, while the Supreme Court had clarified that the wage timings should work for the whole time a driver is logged into Uber, the company is choosing to only pay drivers for the period in which they have accepted a ride until the passenger is dropped off.



What exactly do you own when you buy an NFT? Software Engineer Jonty Wareing analysed the blockchain reference points of a number of NFT sales, including the US$69M Beeple artwork sold by Christie's, and found the tokens are pointing to URLs that are hosted by the startups involved with selling the tokens. If these companies don't last, neither will the reference points. Site Check My NFT dot com has found many NFT links already fail to load.



In science, astrophysicists from Arizona State University have published a new study that gives the best explanation yet on the origins of the interstellar object 'Oumuamua that visited our solar system in 2017. And it is not alien technology. Their calculations show the object's interactions with our solar system and the way it moved past the Sun are a match for an object made from solid nitrogen ice. They believe it was knock off a Pluto-like body in another solar system around half a billion years ago.



Finally, in esports news, Rainbow Six Siege competition returns on Sunday March 21 with a new Oceanic Nationals format for 2021. The $100,000 tournament will take place over three stages across the year, with eight teams competing for the prize money as well as for qualification to seasonal international tournaments.



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Bits: daily tech news bulletinBy Byteside