Governments and airlines in Europe are hoping that vaccine certificates and digital health apps can help make travel for the masses a reality again this summer after a year of COVID-19 restrictions. What options are being considered, how do they work and what are the concerns? WHAT IS NEEDED AND WHY? Currently there are multiple restrictions on travel, with differing rules for each country. Many countries require evidence of a recent COVID-19 negative test result. Complying with changing rules is tricky for passengers and airlines. A digital health or travel app would aim to show passengers up-to-date requirements for their destination and display their COVID-19 test results and any vaccination certificate. "These solutions will therefore be vital to reduce this complexity and make the customer journey smoother," said Luis Gallego, chief executive of British Airways owner IAG. Airports say checking test results, passenger locator forms for contact tracing, and other … [Read more...] about Health apps, vaccine certificates riding to rescue of air travel
What is used to make the measles vaccine
FDA now reviewing a third COVID vaccine, this one made by Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson on Thursday announced it has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization for its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine. If the EUA is granted, the vaccine will be the third authorized for use in the US against the pandemic coronavirus, likely boosting the vaccine supply in the coming months and helping to hasten immunization country-wide. J&J’s application to the FDA comes just a week after the company revealed top-line results of its Phase III clinical trial , which found the vaccine to be 66 percent effective overall at preventing moderate and severe COVID-19. J&J’s vaccine—made by its vaccine developer Janssen Pharmaceuticals—was 85 percent effective at preventing severe disease. In the trial, severe disease was defined as testing positive for the virus as well as having signs consistent with severe systemic illness, respiratory failure, shock, or organ failure, or being admitted to an intensive care unit, or dying. The … [Read more...] about FDA now reviewing a third COVID vaccine, this one made by Johnson & Johnson
New platform uses NFTs as a gateway for digital rights management
Companies across blockchains are starting to use non-fungible tokens (NFT). Non-fungible tokens are used to verify unique items such as digital art and digital ownership. Now, Wilmington, DE-based digital rights management platform RAIR wants to use NFTs to manage digital rights. The company provides a blockchain-based digital rights management platform and middleware encryption to enable digital scarcity. It wants creators to be able to upload media such as video, books, music, source code, or art on the RAIR platform, stored inside a non-fungible token. Special feature Special report: How blockchain will disrupt business (free PDF) This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature, looks at how blockchain is shaking up the economy and changing the way individuals and enterprises conduct business. Read More Creators can license, own, and control the distribution of their content and make money on sales and royalties. RAIR says that … [Read more...] about New platform uses NFTs as a gateway for digital rights management
Do you lose free speech rights if you speak using a computer?
It took guts for the New York Times to publish an op-ed by Tim Wu , the Columbia law professor who coined the phrase "network neutrality," arguing that the First Amendment doesn't protect the contents of the New York Times website. A significant amount of the content on the Times website—stock tickers, the "most e-mailed" list, various interactive features—were generated not by human beings, but by computer programs. And, Wu argues, that has constitutional implications: Protecting a computer’s "speech" is only indirectly related to the purposes of the First Amendment, which is intended to protect actual humans against the evil of state censorship. The First Amendment has wandered far from its purposes when it is recruited to protect commercial automatons from regulatory scrutiny. OK, I fibbed. The target of Wu's op-ed was Google and Facebook, not the New York Times. But accepting Wu's audacious claim that computer-generated content doesn't deserve First Amendment … [Read more...] about Do you lose free speech rights if you speak using a computer?
iOS 14 tips and tricks: Six useful Settings app features
There's a lot of awesome goodness buried in the iOS Settings app. I'm amazed that after all the years I've been using an iPhone, I'm still finding cool features. There are a lot of awesome features built into iOS. Problem is, unless you know they are there, you won't know about them! Here are six settings particularly useful features. Popular now: Don't buy these Apple products: March 2021 edition '9 million mAh' power bank SEE FULL GALLERY 1 - 5 of 20 NEXT PREV Haptic on Successful Authentication Makes the iPhone give a little haptic buzz when you log in. I love this for Face ID because it stops that frustration when I expect the iPhone to be unlocked but it isn't. Settings > Accessibility > Face ID & Attention. Low Data Mode If you're trying to save data, or perhaps on a low bandwidth … [Read more...] about iOS 14 tips and tricks: Six useful Settings app features