Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Thu, May 16, 2024 10:00 PM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

David Tuffley

Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics and Socio-Technical Studies, School of ICT., Griffith University

Dr. David Tuffley is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics and Socio-Technical Studies at Griffith University in Australia. A regular contributor to mainstream media on the social impact of technology, David is a recognized expert in his field. Before academia David worked as an IT Consultant in Australia and the United Kingdom, a role he continues to perform when not educating the next generation of IT professionals.

David is an engaging science communicator of many years’ experience, He was a guest panelist in the 2017 World Science Festival and a variety of other science focused public events. David's academic background includes fields as diverse as Psychology, Anthropology, Classical Rhetoric and English literature at the University of Queensland.

David's formal qualifications include PhD (Software Engineering), Master of Philosophy (Information Systems), Grad Cert in Higher Education (all from Griffith University), Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology, English Literature, Anthropology (University of Queensland).

Why prices are so high – 8 ways retail pricing algorithms gouge consumers

Feb 16, 2024 07:06 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The just-released report of the inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing conducted by Allan Fels for the Australian Council of Trades Unions does more than identify the likely offenders. It finds the biggest are...

Twitter is refusing to pay Google for cloud services. Here’s why it matters, and what the fallout could be for users

Jun 16, 2023 06:06 am UTC| Technology

Amid an ongoing cost-cutting effort, Twitter has now refused to pay the bills to renew its multi-year contract with Google Cloud, Platformer has reported. Weve all heard of the cloud but what does it have to do with...

The FDA finally approved Elon Musk's Neuralink chip for human trials. Have all the concerns been addressed?

Jun 01, 2023 11:42 am UTC| Health Law

Since its founding in 2016, Elon Musks neurotechnology company Neuralink has had the ambitious mission to build a next-generation brain implant with at least 100 times more brain connections than devices currently approved...

Why was TikTok banned on government devices? An expert on why the security concerns make sense

Apr 05, 2023 13:24 pm UTC| Technology

Australia has joined a raft of other countries in banning the popular video sharing app TikTok from government devices, as several outlets have today reported. The move comes after a seven month-long review instigated...

Social Media Revolution Series

Spotify's response to Rogan-gate falls short of its ethical and editorial obligations

Feb 02, 2022 08:41 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Audio streaming giant Spotify is getting a crash course in the tension between free speech and the need to protect the public from harmful misinformation. The Swedish-founded platform, which has 400 million active...

How 2021 was the year governments really started to wise up against big tech

Jan 03, 2022 12:13 pm UTC| Politics Technology

After all the bad press tech companies have received, would anyone still be surprised to learn the outwardly smiling face of social media conceals a sophisticated data-collection industry? This years headlines delivered...

How an app to decrypt criminal messages was born 'over a few beers' with the FBI

Jun 08, 2021 12:11 pm UTC| Technology

Australian and US law enforcement officials on Tuesday announced theyd sprung a trap three years in the making, catching major international crime figures using an encrypted app. More than 200 underworld figures in...

1 2

Economy

What should you do if you can’t pay your rent or mortgage?

The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...

Reducing energy demand and improving efficiency will help prevent the next gas crisis

Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe over the coming years. Many commentators are hopeful...

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor

Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa. In a recent paper, we consider the...

Gas is good until 2050 and beyond, under Albanese gas strategy

The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel through to 2050 and beyond. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuels uses would change over...

South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed

The South African governments Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan was launched in November 2023. It is a roadmap guiding the country away from reliance on coal-fired power towards renewable energy alternatives by...

Politics

Donald Trump Allegedly Offers Oil Execs a Deal to Scrap EV Incentives for $1B Donation

Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...

US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens. A 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in February...

Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections

Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote....

South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global...

What early 2024 polls are revealing about voters of color and the GOP

By the end of winter 2024, the return of Donald Trump to the top of the GOP presidential ticket has revealed a surprising trend in the former presidents base of support: his increasing popularity among Black and Latino...

Science

Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of

Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without...

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

Technology

Giga Shiba Inu Whales Shift 3.5 Trillion SHIB, Boosting Market Activity

Shiba Inu whales are gradually waking up as the asset has emerged from anemia and has shown some positive price performance in recent days. Fortunately, those big transactions are not related to any sales activity and are...

Coca-Cola Launches Lens Platform to Offer Key Data for Retail and Foodservice

The Coca-Cola Company is launching Coca-Cola Lens, an open-source insights platform that distributes data and experiences from hundreds of thousands of retail and foodservice establishments across North...

Binance Pay Launches Dedicated Shiba Inu Payment Page, Boosting SHIB Use

Binance Pay, Binances cutting-edge crypto payment service, has recently launched a dedicated page to handle Shiba Inu (SHIB) payments. This new functionality offers up a plethora of potential for SHIB holders, making it...

Whales Bag $61M Profit as RNDR Price Rallies Over 3%

Render (RNDR) saw a significant rally of over 3% today, with six whales bagging $61 million in profits, igniting debate about the cryptocurrencys future trajectory. Whales Profit $61M Amid Render (RNDR) Price Surge,...

Shiba Inu and PEPE Surge: SHIB Eyes 50% Gains, PEPE Hits $5 Billion Market Cap

The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) has surged by 6% this week, with analysts predicting a 50% rally if key levels are broken. Meanwhile, PEPEs market cap has soared to $5 billion after hitting another all-time high. Analysts...