1. New app and lab kit can turn your smartphone into a COVID-19 and flu virus detection test
In a potential game changer for COVID-19 pandemic control efforts, a new cell phone app and lab kit have transformed a smartphone into a COVID-19/flu detection system. The detection system is among the most rapid, sensitive, affordable and scalable tests known — and can be readily adapted for other pathogens with pandemic potential including deadly variants of COVID and flu. It also provides a platform for inexpensive home-based testing. Continue reading.
2. Event: UC Tech Assembly: Black Leaders Panel
This panel launches UC Tech Assembly series, which is expanding the former town hall series to better amplify the voices of UC Tech community members.
Our UC Tech community is diverse, and we all strive to create an inclusive environment at UC. A key part of being inclusive is listening to underrepresented voices. This UC Tech Assembly panel discussion will feature Black members of our UC Tech community from various levels of leadership. Topics will range from personal stories to allyship advice, to the value of diversity in tech.
Everyone is encouraged to attend to learn more about working in and supporting the diverse UC Tech community, and to celebrate Black History Month. Register here.
3. Facebook suffers $230bn wipeout in biggest one-day US stock plunge
A historic plunge in the stock price of Facebook’s parent company has erased more than $230bn in its market value, easily the biggest one-day loss in history for a US company.
The 26.4% wipeout in Meta comes amid concerns about its future after the company reported its first ever drop in daily user numbers in its Wednesday earnings report. Facebook rebranded to Meta last year as part of its strategic pivot to becoming a virtual-reality based company. The company’s advertising model has also been hit hard by privacy changes at Apple, which Facebook has said it expects will cost them billions. Continue reading.
4. Watch: Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World: The Past, Present and Future of the Internet
Legendary master filmmaker Werner Herzog examines the past, present and constantly evolving future of the Internet. Herzog conducts original interviews with cyberspace pioneers and prophets such as PayPal and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk, Internet protocol inventor Bob Kahn, and famed hacker Kevin Mitnick.
These provocative conversations reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in the real world works, from business to education, space travel to healthcare, and the very heart of how we conduct our personal relationships. Watch here.
(Don't forget to connect to the UCLA VPN to gain access!)
5. Black game developers: Diversity push is lots of talk, little progress
Since then, conversations about greater accountability in games haven’t stopped despite waning public attention. Developers and creators of color are still seeking support on a level commensurate with the gestures of solidarity expressed over a year ago. Gamers, industry veterans and indie developers of color have continually called for sustainable solutions to address disparities in the field, this push cresting whenever the exhausting cycle renews: Tragedy strikes, a sudden surge of promises and commitments follow, little to no progress ensues, then silence falls once more. Continue Reading.
