"I think they will have some impact, a little impact, but if they work in companies, those companies have a strategy."Economies of scale and network effects have placed control of these tools in a very small number of exceptionally powerful companies."It describes this kind of design pattern -- kind of evil, manipulative and deceptive," he told AFP, saying the aim was to "make you do what the developers want you to do.Working with "Designers Ethiques", a French collective seeking to push a socially responsible approach to digital design, Faure has developed a method for assessing whether the attention-grabbing element of an app "is ethically defensible.French engineering student Tim Krief has come up with a browser extension called Minimal, which offers users a "less attention-grabbing internet experience" on the grounds that the internet "should be a tool, not a trap"."Design could be another defence whose firepower could be used against making individuals the playthings" of developers, she said in January in a presentation on the "attention economy."Internet as tool, not trapFaure suggests that for a design to be considered responsible, the objective of the developer and that of the user must largely line up and equate to the straightforward delivery of information..

Design as a defenceBut is this enough to fight the attention-grabbing tactics of powerful internet giants?Brignull believes some designers can bring about change but are likely to be restricted by the wider strategy of the company they work for.Ultimately the aim is to expose the user to partner advertisements and better understand his tastes and habits.The extension aims to mask the more "harmful" suggestions channelled through the major platforms."There is nothing we can do, like it or not, where we can escape persuasive technology," this Standford University researcher wrote in 2010."One example is that of the newly-introduced EU data protection rules which require websites to demand users consent before being able to collect their valuable personal data. Now some think it is time to escape the tyranny of the digital age.But if the design modifies or manipulates the user, directing them towards something they did not ask for, that should then be classed as irresponsible, he says."This wasnt a design accident, it was created and introduced with the aim of keeping us on a certain platform," says user experience (UX) designer Lenaic Faure. These companies are driven by the need to consume more and more of the available attention to https://www.dpiflex.com/product/self-adhesive-vinyl.html maximise profit."We dont attribute enough importance to this attention economy because it seems invisible."In the case of YouTube, for example, if you follow the automatic suggestions, "there is a sort of dissonance created between the users initial aim" of watching a certain video and "what is introduced to try and keep him or her on the platform," he says."This type of initiative "could be a way to tell the big platforms that such persuasive designs really bother us," Krief says..In todays digital world, attention time is a most valuable resource.All of us experience this "persuasive technology" on a daily basis, whether its through the endlessly-scrollable Facebook or the autoplay function on Netflix or YouTube, where one video flows seamlessly into another.Dark patternsUX designer Harry Brignull describes such interactions as "dark patterns", defining them as interfaces that have been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things they may not have wanted to do.Everyone staring for hours at a screen has had some exposure to "captology" -- a word coined by behavioural scientist BJ Fogg to describe the invisible and manipulative way in which technology can persuade and influence those using it. This competition has existed for a long time but the current generation of tools for consuming attention is far more effective than previous generations," said David SH Rosenthal in a Pew Research Center study in April 2018."Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, former head of the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) also believes that design can be used to effect positive change."The digital economy is based upon competition to consume humans attention. so it can be very difficult to have an impact on the companies themselves.Between distractions, diversions and the flickering allure of a random suggestion, the major computer platforms aim to keep us glued to our screens come what may..An open source project, the extension should "make users more aware about such issues", Krief says."Faure says he has seen a growing demand for an ethical approach to digital design and thinks his method could help "bring better understanding between users of services and the people who design them."You can make it very, very easy to make people click OK but how can you opt out, how can you say no?"Even for him, as a professional, it can take at least a minute to find out how to refuse

Amazon and Netflix declined to comment.5 per cent."The UK is running ahead of every other country except Spain," he said.Hammond said on Monday that if a global solution emerges, Britain would consider adopting this instead of its levy."It’s clearly not sustainable, or fair, that digital platform businesses can generate substantial value in the UK without paying tax here in respect of that business," finance minister Philip Hammond said in his annual budget speech on Monday.Facebook said it looked forward to receiving more details about the proposals, and until then it was too early to comment.2 million pounds for 2015.France, which supports a new levy, put forward last month the idea that such a tax would have a "sunset clause", meaning the tax would end when a global solution is found.The Treasury said profitable companies would be taxed at 2 per cent on the money they make from UK users from April 2020, and the measure was expected to raise more than 400 million pounds (USD 512 million) a year.Clifford Chance tax partner Dan Neidle said the radical nature of the proposal clearly showed that Britain was becoming frustrated with the slow pace of change in global tax laws.6 per cent respectively.In 2016, Facebook started recording revenue from its UK customers supported by local sales teams and subjecting any taxable profit on the income to UK corporation tax.But the plan is opposed by smaller states like Ireland, which fears losing revenues, and by Nordic governments which think the tax could stifle innovation and trigger retaliation from the United States - the home https://www.dpiflex.com/product/cold-lamination-film.html to most of the firms which could be hit by the proposed tax.The European Commission proposed in March that EU states would charge a 3 per cent levy on digital revenues of large firms like Google and Facebook.Amazon was down 9 per cent, touching six-month low, while Google was off 5.The tax will be designed to ensure established tech giants, rather than start-ups, shoulder the burden, Hammond told parliament.But in the meantime, the government would consult on the detail to make sure it got its plan right, and then ensure Britain remained one of the best places to start and scale up a tech business.Britain said it would tax the revenue that online platforms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon make in the country to update a system that had not kept pace with changing digital business models.Britain had been leading attempts to reform international corporate tax systems, Hammond said, but progress had been painfully slow and governments could not simply talk forever.The tax will target platforms such as search engines, social media and online marketplaces, Hammond said, and it will be paid by companies that generate at least 500 million pounds a year in global revenue. But the worry for the tech giants, and their shareholders is that this is the pebble that starts an avalanche of taxes from international governments," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf said.But given the dominance of US tech giants, President Donald Trump’s administration may not appreciate the proposal at a time when Britain is trying to agree on new trade deals.Both Google and Facebook have changed the way they account for their activity in Britain.5 per cent and Facebook was trading lower 3.Big internet companies, which say they follow tax rules, had previously paid little tax in Europe, typically by channelling sales via countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg which have light-touch tax regimes.However, a number of offsets meant Facebook had a tax charge for 2016 in Britain of 5.1 million pounds compared with 4."A tax take of 400 million pounds or so might seem a small number when you consider that Amazon alone is expected to post sales of USD 233 billion this year.Netflix and Apple, the others in the so-called FAANG group of stocks, were down 8 per cent and 3. The tax will be based on self-assessment by the companies.(Source)

" Her 1-year-old was saying, "Ok, Google," after hearing his parents say it over and over."We have had a similar issue when people have handed him tablets or phones to play with. "I want to teach him to do it well, and critically.On the bright side, if a child is calling out a question — rather than silently typing it into a device — a parent can hear it and engage.It took Mary Beth Foster a few days to notice, but it was undeniable: Her son’s first words weren’t "goo goo."It’s not that the technology is good or bad," says Audley.Kids can get frustrated because digital assistants don’t always hear high-pitched voices correctly, or might be confused by a child’s diction or phrasing. One option is to use parenting controls so kids can’t access the device during their homework session. Her son is not quite 3 and was delighted that his grandparents had Alexa at their house."."The key to parenting in the age of Alexa and Google, according to parents and child-development experts, is making sure the machine doesn’t replace good, inquisitive interaction between parents and kids."I think he’s going to be ready for the kind of world he’ll grow up in.As children get older, this naturally gets easier.Teach young kids that they need to be able to arrive at answers and synthesize information through their own methods and thinking, says Boyd-Soisson. Even as Amazon and Google are adding options that control access and require kids to speak politely to their voice-controlled speakers, devices like the Echo Dot and Google Home can make a big and unexpected impact. But all that access can induce overload."Soon after meeting Alexa, Kirby’s "music-loving son became power-hungry and impatient, and wanted to change the song the moment it came on, yelling ‘Alexa! Nex’ song!’"It took several weeks back home and away from digital assistance to start getting through whole albums again. "It’s essentially how we use it."Meanwhile Foster, who lives in Mint Hill, North Carolina, says the device has created some confusion for her 4-year-old daughter over who, exactly, is in charge. But be aware that digital assistants "may privilege some dialects over others," says Shannon Audley, assistant professor of education and child study at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Because the family accesses Netflix, Amazon Prime content and YouTube TV through their Google Home, their daughter has begun asking questions like, "Mom, can you ask Google if we can watch ‘Beauty and the Beast’?"Speed bumps like this have led some parents to avoid these devices.Amber Norwood, who is raising two children in the United Kingdom, says she loves that her 8-year-old son engages with both Google and Alexa.Suzanne Brown, mother of two boys ages 7 and 4, is keeping Alexa’s seemingly easy answers out of her Austin, Texas, home while her boys are young.Also, it’s a welcome change in some households if the child isn’t looking at a screen (though some devices, including the Echo Show, include a screen that shows question prompts and video).

We aren’t a no-screen-time family, but we stick to co-watching of movies and kids shows," Kirby says. Babies say ‘goo’ all the time, right? Until he heard him mimic us talking at the Google Home in context. "If we had ever entertained any ideas of getting one," Kirby says, "they would have been extinguished by that experience. But they do create challenges and opportunities for parents — especially those raising younger kids."But for parents who have invited a digital assistant into their home, here are some of the challenges:ANSWERS CAN COME QUICKLY, BUT MIGHT BE WRONG OR INCOMPLETEAre the kids calling out questions and accepting a single response as the entire story, without questioning where that answer comes from? Alexa’s info most often comes from Wikipedia, which kids may not know isn’t always accurate.SHORT ANSWERS WON’T ENCOURAGE CRITICAL THINKING, BUT PARENTS CANIf a child is asking Alexa to answer a math problem, that instant answer "takes away their own strategies for problem solving," says Audley. I’m a writer, a teacher of writing, and a lover https://www.dpiflex.com/product/window-film.html of books, but I also feel like this is what the future of learning and engagement looks like," she says."This spring we stayed with my parents for six weeks while we did house renovations," says Jillian Kirby, who lives in Burlington, Vermont.These in-house digital assistants don’t always understand questions or serve up useful answers (which some parents say is a good thing). Without screens, children have to process information aurally, which "could make you think a little bit more because you don’t have the visual," says Erin Boyd-Soisson, professor of human development and family science at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. "With both access to Alexa and with the tablets, he has gotten really irritable, and behaviour takes a nosedive. She’d prefer to visit the library or search the internet together with her kids to build their "curiosity and problem-solving muscles."YOU CAN HEAR IT ALL, AND SOMETIMES THAT’S TOO MUCHIt’s delightful to see a kid discover just how much incredible music and information is floating in the virtual cloud.Parents can use this to encourage clearer use of language and better diction." When they have a question, she says, "we try to work through it or go figure out how to find the answer. He’s also building some research skills, she says.What if there was a machine that could respond to your kids’ every command, never tiring, even if they ask it to tell jokes for two hours or answer all their homework questions?It’s a blessing and a curse for moms and dads that machines kind of like that do exist in the form of Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. When she realized that, Foster says, "my husband thought I was nuts. "He watches a lot of videos about rockets and space, requests cool music, and connects with buddies from school," says Norwood. And we actually go searching for the answer, and sometimes that leads us to other questions

It is difficult to gauge how many new buyers are entering the market because of online access.1 grams — an amount that would be an uneconomical to trade physically because of the associated handling costs.3 tonnes..Besides convenience, consumers are attracted to competitive pricing and ability to make purchases in tiny increments. In China, the top consumer, 2017 demand was 953. The digitisation of the economy will certainly lead to digitisation of gold," said Somasundaram PR, MD of World Gold Council’s (WGC) India operations."In India, the action is really starting now."The WGC estimated total Indian gold demand at 727 tonnes (25. Gold-based financial offerings, including Gold Accumulation Plans, allow users to buy and store gold in fractions as small as 0.Digital payment systems have ballooned in popularity since the government scrapped large-value bank notes in 2016.Bengaluru: A digital revolution is reshaping India’s $34 billion gold market, with smartphones, e-wallets and flexible investment schemes drawing new buyers into a business dominated by traditional, face-to-face transactions.With the vast majority of purchases made in the traditional way, demand for physical gold isn’t abating, "especially when physical gold plays an important role at weddings," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK Ltd.6 million ounces) in 2017, and could be up to 800 tonnes in 2018.Among these offerings are applications that enable smartphone users to buy, sell https://www.dpiflex.com/product/displays-light-box-materials.html or store gold — even in small amounts — kept in secured vaults operated by MMTC-PAMP India Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between MMTC Ltd, the largest national trading firm, and Swiss gold refiner PAMP.4 million worth of sales — a tiny fraction of the Indian gold market. "It is poised for significant growth, possibly in the next 12-24 months.Although online gold purchases have been growing globally for years, they are a relatively recent phenomenon in India, where jewellery and bars of the precious metal tend to be kept in hand and given as gifts. Digital payments firm Paytm said that in the first six months after it began offering digital gold last April, it facilitated about $18

The Ministry of Information Technology has asked Twitter to submit details of activities on Rahul Gandhis Twitter account from the last six days, while Delhi police have also launched a probe into the hacking of the accounts.According to a report in NDTV, the Congress has said that Rahul’s email account, party’s website and server were also hacked. The Congress on Thursday raised the issue of digital security after expletives-laden tweets were posted on https://www.dpiflex.com/product/self-adhesive-vinyl.html its Twitter handle in the morning, a day after Rahul’s account was hacked.Congress President Sonia Gandhis political secretary Ahmed Patel also tweeted, "The way @OfficeOfRG a/c got hacked, as cybercrime and Twitter watched helpless raises serious Qs on digital safety, Digital India future.""Those forcing country to adopt online payment overnight, have they taken steps to ensure a/c of ordinary ppl will be immune from hacking?," he also said. CERT-In has authority to collect information stored or communication carried out by any computer in the country for the purpose of cyber security.Surjewala also tweeted, "Pre-meditated hacking of @OfficeOfRG smacks of a sinister conspiracy to abuse and intimidate.45 pm and some messages with profanities were put out, but these were deleted soon thereafter.The official Twitter handle of the Congress was also hacked, on Thursday, with profanities directed at Rahul.Gandhis account was hacked around 8.ANI also quoted its sources in Twitter as saying that tracing IP address of the hacker would be "next to impossible" if he used proxies to hack Congress IT cell. The party said it reflects disturbing insecurities of the prevalent "fascist culture" in the country.New Delhi: Twitter said on Thursday that the official handle of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was not hacked, but compromised on Wednesday through an email breach.."We have written to Twitter to provide us log details such as the IP address of the hackers.""Hacking of@OfficeofRG proves lack of Digital safety around each one of us. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing of the Police around 1 am, an official said. We have started investigating the matter," a senior police official said."Such unscrupulous, unethical and roguish conduct of venal trolls to hack Rahul Gandhis Twitter handle reflects disturbing insecurities of prevalent fascist culture," he said.MEITYs cyber security arm Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) will investigate the matter."Such lowly tactics will neither drown the sane voice of reason nor deter Rahul Gandhi from raising peoples issues," Surjewala had said. Every digital info can be accessed, altered, morphed & modified," the Congress leader said in another tweet. It strengthens our resolve to fight for the Nation

Gujarat is the only place in the world to have a forensic university," Mr Modi claimed, adding that the nation must be a "pioneer in all fields of research and development". Stressing on user-friendly technology, the Prime Minister said that there was a need to end the "digital divide" in the country. After Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s temple run during his state visit last month, it was the turn of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to seek blessings from Gods before sounding the BJP’s poll bugle.. And then exploring if this can be turned into a sustainable business model. For the common man, "to attain swaraj, digital literacy is necessary".The Prime Minister, who arrived in Gujarat on Saturday on a two-day visit, offered prayers at the famous Dwarkadhish temple. Government agencies, including the Press Information Bureau, released his pictures on social media on a day when he called for efforts to achieve swaraj through digital literacy and talked about using technology as a tool of empowerment."At a rally in Gandhinagar, the Prime Minister talked about technology and maintained that it was the "key to empowerment".Mr Modi spoke of the achievements of the state under the BJP government. We had said we will study all aspects relating to GST for three months, including the shortcomings.Mr Gandhi, during his second visit to the state where elections are slated by the year-end, had begun his campaign from the same temple.Mr Modi also shared his "JAM" (Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile) mantra."Diwali has come early for our citizens due to the decisions taken in the GST Council.Talking about "digital literacy", the Prime Minister argued that "80 per cent of people do not know how to use an expensive mobile" and claimed that "if there is digital literacy, people will be able to use their https://www.dpiflex.com/product/textile.html expensive phones properly.While inaugurating the new campus of IIT-Gandhinagar, he took a dig at the Opposition and said the decision to grant 400 acres of land for it was taken much before the elections.Talking about the NDA government’s educational reforms, Mr Modi said that "academics should not be exam-driven: The focus needs to be on innovation". It will be a value addition". The importance of winning Gujarat for the BJP and the Prime Minister is evident from Mr Modi’s plan to address six rallies in two days."Mr Modi claimed that due to the government’s policies the entire world’s "attention is on India."If the decision had been taken just before the polls, some people would have said that it was influenced by the forthcoming polls," he said.The PM also inaugurated the work for building six-lanes on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway at Chotila. And thus, the decisions were taken with consensus at the GST Council," Mr Modi said, highlighting the relief offered to small traders and rate cut for 27 items that, he said, had kindled the festive mood of Diwali a fortnight before it is celebrated.Later in the day, Mr Modi laid the foundation stone for a four-lane cable stayed signature bridge between Okha and Beyt Dwarka and talked about the small trader-friendly decisions taken by the GST Council on Friday evening, ushering in a virtual "early Diwali" for citizens. PM Modi’s vision is going to transform villages, the (lives of) poor and farmers.The Prime Minister said, "Innovation can be achieved through two ways: One, applying academic knowledge and creating new things and two, by notice your surroundings, its problems and then thinking if you can provide a solution for it.He pointed out that "these are the same people who criticised the bullet train". People are coming to invest here". Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who was also present, said, "You can donate eyes, but you cannot donate vision.New Delhi: Both the Congress and the BJP are seeking divine intervention for winning Gujarat Assembly elections