New EU ‘hate speech’ rules: badly needed or bad policy?

We’ve got news from the BBC that several leading tech and social media heavy hitters have signed on to an European Union “code of conduct” intended to combat hate speech online. Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have all agreed to the terms of the pact, which includes removing posts with hate speech within 24 hours after it appears. They must also change their notification systems to give users an easier way to report abuses.

In the anonymous online world, unfiltered comment sections and social media can become a toxic stew of intolerance, xenophobia and hateful personal attacks. But despite the unpleasantness that can be found online, is regulating it also suppressing free speech? Not according to Karen White, Twitter’s Euro head of public policy, who said there is a “clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate”.

We’re interested in your opinion on the new EU guidelines. Are the measures needed, or are they too oppressive? Leave your comment below.

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Personally, we’d like to welcome our new robot overlords, especially is they’re as cute and, hopefully, as helpful as Asus’s new Zenbo robot. Looking bit like a rolling version of an old Apple iMac, Zenbo features a smiling face that is also a touchscreen.

While coming up short on washing dishes or other household chores, Zenbo can do other things like help you cook, remind you to take some meds, chat up a youngster via a video call and read to your kids… or even adults. It can also take photos, play music, control smart home devices and get embarrassed by a photographer. Price? Asus says Zenbo will be just 600 bucks, but they neglected to say when it’ll be available. We’ll just guess and go with “pretty soon.”

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If you’re into building your own hot-rod computers, start saving your nickels for Intel’s latest CPU, the Extreme Edition Core i7 – 6950X. That’s a mouthful, sure, but here’s what you need to know: this latest miniature wonder packs ten computing cores, a 3-gigahertz base clock and boost function to 3.5 gigahertz. It’s based on a 14-nanometer process, called “Broadwell – E.”

It’s got a few tricks up its sleeve, too, including appearing to have 20 cores to certain software apps by using hyperthreading. The new mondo-CPU will work with current X99 motherboards, so if you’re ready to built that ultimate desktop, you’ll just need about $1,800 to reel one in.

Heck, at that price, you might as well get two.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1PgSMEq
Bill Roberson