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Pakistani scientists eager to revive Antarctic expedition

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 12:14:47 GMT

Pakistani researchers are reportedly keen to revive scientific exploration in Antarctica. The desire to revitalize expeditions in the coldest, driest, and windiest place in the world comes as a sign of increasing curiosity among our scientific community.

This might not be the most well known fact of all time, but the Pakistani scientific community has a fairly strong affiliation with the world’s southernmost continent. The nation’s Antarctic Programme started almost three decades ago when, backed by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) that was established in 1981 by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the country sent its first expedition to the land of the penguins. In fact, this made Pakistan the first country in the Islamic world to accomplish this feat.

With two scientific research stations established in Antarctica – Jinnah Antarctic Station I and II – and an automatic weather observatory named after Allama Iqbal, Pakistan pretty much consolidated its presence in the world’s coldest continent in the early 1990s. The achievement granted it official membership of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 1992.

Since 1993 though, no independent expedition has been sent by Pakistan to Antarctica, largely due to lack of funds and government interest. According to Director General of NIO Dr. Hina Saeed Baig, reviving the Antarctic Programme would benefit the nation tremendously and can be viewed as an investment into the future.

“Scientific research in Antarctica is a future investment for any government that offers manifold opportunities and benefits technologically, economically and even diplomatically,” she explained. “Pakistan’s Antarctic Programme is more than just a national achievement as it offers long-term benefits, elevates the country’s status and helps improve local expertise and technology.”

Over the years, Pakistani scientists have garnered enough expertise and capabilities to conduct intensive research in the harsh Antarctic environment. According to Dr. Hina Baig, the following are the focus areas of Pakistan’s Antarctic mission:

1). To undertake multidisciplinary research and survey in the Antarctic region

2). To participate in international scientific collaboration in the Antarctic region

3). To encourage the new generation of polar scientists, engineers, and leaders to provide relevant technical information to the government for appropriate decision making at the national and international level

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SECP approves Pakistan’s first ever tech-based crowdfunding platform

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 08:26:44 GMT

Crowdfunding has been one of the most revolutionary means of acquiring funds for entrepreneurs and businesses the world over. With Pakistan having witnessed a dramatic 63% increase in venture capital funding over the course of a year, the ecosystem is ripe for even more innovation and positive upgrades in the domain of startup funding. Therefore, it comes as very welcome news that the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved the first technology-based crowdfunding platform for live testing.

Crowdfunding is a digital platform that allows startups and small-and-medium enterprises to raise funds from investors in return for securities. Under first cohort of Regulatory Sandbox, the SECP has granted approval to the nation’s first technology-based crowdfunding platform for commencement of live testing.

The approved crowdfunding platform will conduct the required due diligence process on behalf of the investors so that only eligible issuers and candidates who meet the threshold criteria are able to pitch their issue through the platform and raise funds from investors.
As far as the testing is concerned, the crowdfunding business model will be tested in a live controlled environment under the SECP’s supervision for a period of six months. The applicant company has to follow the conditions associated with the approval.

Once the testing period concludes, the applicant company shall submit a comprehensive report to the SECP on the fund raising activities conducted through the platform. This report will then determine the future course of action regarding crowdfunding platforms and activities in Pakistan.

Given the impact crowdfunding platforms have had all over the world, this is a brilliant step in the right direction for the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan. Onwards and upwards!

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5 of the best laptops you can buy under Rs. 100,000 in Pakistan

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 15:31:08 GMT

Today, buying a laptop is hard as new models keep coming every day with new and improved technology. It is very difficult to find something that fits your needs at the right price point especially with the dollar rate increasing the prices of laptops by more than 40%. So today we are going to look at some of the laptops that we think may be the right fit for you. Keep in mind we’re making a comparison based on specifications and prices may vary day-to-day. We will only be looking at brand new laptops with a minimum of 8GB RAM and an 8^th generation or above processor. So without further ado, here is our list:

1. HP 14 DQ1039

Price: PKR 100,499/-

Overview of specifications

Processor: Intel Core i5 10th Generation (intel 1035G1) 1.0Ghz up to 3.6Ghz Turbo Boost 6M Cache 4 core
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666 MHz RAM
Hard Disk: 256 GB SSD + 16GB Optane
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Screen: 1366 x 768 Pixels LED
Screen Diagonal: 14.0”
Optical Disk Drive: None
Battery: 3-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion
Color: Silver

Our Title: Speed King

Pros:

16GB Optane memory
256GB SSD

Cons:

720p LCD
No graphics card

2. Lenovo ThinkBook 15

Price: PKR 99,500/-

Overview of specifications

Processor: Intel Core i5-10210U 4 Cores 8 Threads 1.6 GHz up to 4.2GHz 6MB Cache
RAM: 8 GB DDR4-SDRAM 2666 MHz
Hard Disk: 1TB HDD 5400rpm 2.5″
Graphics: AMD Radeon 620 2GB GDDR5
Screen: FHD 1920×1080 TN
Screen Diagonal: 15.6”
Optical Disk Drive: None
Battery: 45Wh battery, with Rapid Charge
Color: Mineral Gray

Our Title: VP of everything (It has the right mix of everything you need in a laptop)

Pros:

Dedicated Graphics card (AMD Radeon 620 2GB GDDR5)
FHD screen
Bigger battery with Rapid Charge tech of Lenovo
Fingerprint reader

Cons:

No SSD

You can also get the little brother of the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 i.e. Lenovo ThinkBook 14. The main difference is a 14” screen and it comes without a graphic card. It retails for around PKR 97,999/-. We wouldn’t recommend it but if you like smaller screens, it might be the one for you.

3. Dell Inspiron 15 3593

Price: PKR 103,000/-

The price may be a little high but the NVIDIA graphics card that comes in the laptop is worth the few extra bucks. Not to mention the speakers of dell which give you the crisp audio you need. The price may differ in different variants of the model.

Overview of specifications

Processor: 10th Generation Core i5-1035G1 Processor (4 Cores – 8 Threads) 6 MB Cache
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666 MHz RAM
Hard Disk: 1 TeraByte SATA 5400 RPM HDD
Graphics: 2-GB Nvidia GeForce MX230 GDDR5
Screen: Full HD 1080p Antiglare LED
Screen Diagonal: 15.6”
Optical Disk Drive: DVDRW
Battery: 3-Cell, 42 WHr, Integrated battery
Color: Silver, Black

Pros:

NVIDIA GeForce MX230 2GB Graphics Card
Full HD Antiglare LED

Cons:

No SSD

4. HP PROBOOK 455 G7 N5

Price: PKR 101,999/-

This laptop comes in a sleek form factor. It is slightly overweight at 2.0kg as compared to other laptops which are around 1.4-1.7kg but HP’s quality cannot be beaten. You’ll most likely get it at a lower price in the market.

Overview of specifications

Processor: AMD Ryzen 4500U APU 2.3 GHz up to 4.0 GHz 6 cores 8 MB Cache
RAM: 8 GB DDR4 2666 RAM
Hard Disk: 1 TB 5400 RPM
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
Screen: Full HD (1920×1080) LED
Screen Diagonal: 15.6”
Optical Disk Drive: None
Battery: HP Long Life 3-cell, 45 Wh Li-ion
Color: Silver

Pros:

Fingerprint reader

Cons:

No graphics card
No SSD

5. HP Pavilion 15 CS0053

Price: PKR 95,000/-

This laptop is a little older coming with an 8^th generation processor but combining a core i5 with 12 GB of DDR4 RAM may be the choice for many users who work with RAM intensive applications.

Overview of specifications

Processor: CORE I5 8250U 1.6 GHz up to 3.4 GHz 4 cores 8 threads 6 MB Cache
RAM: 12GB DDR4 2666 RAM
Hard Disk: 1 TB
Graphics: Intel UHD graphics
Screen: Full HD (1920×1080) LED
Screen Diagonal: 15.6”
Optical Disk Drive: No
Battery:
Color: Silver

Title: Old but gold

Pros:

12 GB DDR4 RAM
Full HD screen

Cons:

Older CPU with no SSD

Special Mentions:

These laptops have to be included in this list for one reason or another. We won’t go into many details with these but we will leave them here if you want to look at them.

1. HP 15 DY 0013DX

Price: PKR 98,900/-

Overview of specifications

Processor: CORE I5 8250U 1.6 GHz up to 3.4 GHz 4 cores 8 threads 6 MB Cache
RAM: 12GB DDR4 2666 RAM
Hard Disk: 256 GB SSD
Graphics: Intel UHD graphics
Screen: Full HD (1366×768) LED
Screen Diagonal: 15.6”
Optical Disk Drive: No
Battery:
Color: Silver

Comments: It has 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD but 720p screen.

2. Dell Inspiron 13 7370

Price: PKR 100,000/-

Overview of specifications

Processor: CORE I5 8250U 1.6 GHz up to 3.4 GHz 4 cores 8 threads 6 MB Cache
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666 RAM
Hard Disk: 256 GB SSD
Graphics: Intel integrated graphics
Screen: HD (1920×1080) LED
Screen Diagonal: 13.3”
Optical Disk Drive: No
Battery:
Color: Silver

Comments: It has 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD but a 1080p 13.3” screen for users who like small screens

3. HP Pavilion x360 14-CD1010TU

Price: PKR 100,000/-

Overview of specifications

Processor: CORE i3-8145U 2.1 GHz up to 3.9 GHz 4 MB Cache
RAM: 4GB DDR4 2666 RAM (Price is approximated to a 4GB RAM addition)
Hard Disk: 500GB SATA
Graphics: Intel HD graphics
Screen: HD (1920×1080) LED
Screen Diagonal: 13.3”
Optical Disk Drive: No
Battery:
Color: Silver

Comments: It has 8GB RAM and an i3 but it comes with a touchscreen.

If you feel like we missed any laptops, lets us know in the comments!

Image Source: CNet

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Massive increase in entrepreneurship in Pakistan as SECP records 70% surge in registrations

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:54:17 GMT

More than 2000+ companies have been registered with SECP in September as per the latest stats released. Almost all of the registrations were done online and more than 40% of the registrations were made in one day. These are groundbreaking stats which show a massive increase in entrepreneurship in the country. This will increase employment opportunities in the country and invite more investments from abroad.

As per SECP, around 68% of the companies were registered as private limited companies. Whereas around 29% were single-member companies and 3% were registered as either public unlisted companies and not for profit associations. These indicators along with several other measures taken by the Government have suggested that there will be positive GDP growth of 1% this fiscal year.

According to the breakdown provided by SECP, some of the companies registered were in the following sectors:

Trading Sector – 414 companies
Construction Sector – 294 companies
IT Sector – 289 companies
Services sector – 226 companies
Real Estate – 139 companies
Food and Beverages – 87 companies
Education – 63 companies
Engineering – 61 companies and more

Investors from Australia, China, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE, the UK, the US and Yemen have invested in 43 new companies in Pakistan as per the SECP filings. Around 812 companies were registered in the Federal Capital followed by 764 in Lahore and 348 in Karachi.

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This algorithm’s racial bias prevents black people from getting kidney transplants

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 12:04:44 GMT

With prejudice against black people already a major issue plaguing the US and the world at large, the last thing you need is for your algorithms to further exacerbate this problem. As it happens, a new study of chronic kidney disease patients in Boston found that the math used to diagnose individuals is very likely to assign black people healthier scores and thus prevent them from qualifying for a kidney transplant when they really need one.

The study in question analyzed health records for 57,000 people suffering from chronic kidney disease from the Mass General Brigham health system that comprises of Harvard teaching hospitals Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s. The study found that one-third of the black patients (more than 700 individuals) were diagnosed with a less severe category of kidney disease than what they were actually suffering from.

Of course, this kind of inaccurate diagnosis ends up affecting whether or not a deserving black person can get a kidney transplant or not. Indeed, in 64 cases, the recalculated scores for patients using a fairer formula would have qualified them for a transplant waitlist. However, since none of them were referred or evaluated for a transplant, it appears that doctors didn’t question the algorithm’s skewed results at all.

“That was really staggering,” says Mallika Mendu, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. “We know there are already other disparities in access to care and management of the condition. This is not helping.”

The sad fact is that this kidney disease algorithm is just one of the many clinical decision algorithms that factor race into their decision-making process. A recent review found more than a dozen such algorithms, including ones for critical conditions like cancer and lung care.

In order to address the issue of race as a factor in kidney assessment and care, two leading US kidney care organizations have formed a task force. Encouragingly, more than 1,300 people have signed a petition urging the group to take action.

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Prime Minister launches the Knowledge City project

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:56:10 GMT

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, shared a concept video of the master plan of the Knowledge City project which was launched by him in collaboration with Namal University.

The Master Plan of my dream to build Pakistan’s first knowledge city. pic.twitter.com/uxZKAUGFzc
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 26, 2020

Dubbed the Namal Knowledge City, It will be the first Knowledge City in Pakistan. The planning of the project will be carried out by the well-renowned architect, Tony Ashai. The project is based near Mianwali.

Tony Ashai thanked the Prime Minister in a tweet,

“Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI for giving me the opportunity to be part your dream. A proud moment for Pakistanis and inshallah @Namaledu will be an institution that will produce the future leaders of Pakistan. And all this made possible by #AleemaKhan the force behind Namal.”

The state of the art project is the dream of Imran Khan who wishes to empower people residing outside of the major cities. The project is said to benefit more than 10,000 people by providing them with top-quality education after the completion of its first phase. It will also be built to be environmentally friendly.

During the ground-breaking of the project at Namal University Imran Khan said,

”Nations can only excel through education. They do not progress or become rich by just selling cotton or textile products. The richness comes when you invest in the people and provide them higher education.”

News Source: Dawn

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Here’s why 97.8% of scientists have been wrong about the moon all this time

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:18:17 GMT

The moon has always been our favorite extraterrestrial hotspot, with all kinds of manned and unmanned missions having made it to the lunar surface. And of course, we have always thought about a time when humanity will finally be able to colonize the moon. However, the one thing that has bothered us is the lack of water on the lunar surface, with the overwhelming majority of scientists over the years insisting that the resource is scarce and only available in craters. Thanks to a new pair of studies, we now know that all of them were wrong!

Indeed, it turns out that there is far more water on our lunar neighbor than we previously thought. Published in Nature Astronomy, two papers entitled Molecular water detected on the sunlit Moon by SOFIA and Micro cold traps on the Moon reveal startling facts about the presence of one of humanity’s most sought-after resources. We now know that lunar water isn’t just limited to large and shadowy craters on the moon’s poles, and is in fact available in sunlit regions as well.

These findings have been possible thanks to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a high-flying observatory developed back in late 2018 by Casey Honniball, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Goddard Flight Center to search for water on the moon. Equipped with an array of unique instruments, SOFIA can survey the lunar surface at infrared wavelengths that can reveal the presence of water.

To Honniball’s surprise, when she focused on Clavius, the second largest crater on the near side of the moon, water molecules were spread all across the crater, even in the sunlit regions.

“Molecular water was not believed to be able to survive on the lunar surface,” she told reporters on Friday. The conventional pattern of thinking among scientists before this discovery dictated that water could only endure in cold and shadowy regions of the moon, and that any water molecules present outside such regions would either be destroyed by radiation or heated up. However, this study proves that this is certainly not the case.

“Now we definitely know that molecular water is present on the moon,” Honniball concluded.

Her study and the associated data suggest that water can definitely survive on the lunar surface outside of shadowy regions, albeit in a very interesting form. Instead of ice, Honniball says that water molecules are trapped in a kind of glassy regolith, which protects them from the harsh conditions of the lunar environment.

The presence of even more water on the moon is, of course, good news for humanity as we think about sending manned missions to the lunar surface in the near future. Our search for lunar water isn’t over, however. Starting next year, NASA will be launching unmanned missions to lunar orbit and the surface of the moon to scout for even more water on our most favorite celestial body.

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Takhleeq Business Incubator launches cohort 5 for entrepreneurs

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:17:20 GMT

Takhleeq is now accepting applications for its latest cohort i.e. the 5^th cohort of its incubation program. Takhleeq Business Incubator is based in the Lahore Campus of the University of Central Punjab (UCP). Launched in September 2018, it has successfully accepted and trained entrepreneurs in 4 cohorts already.

Takhleeq boasts one of the best incubation programs with a purpose-built working space along with access to a wide network of mentors and investors.

Takhleeq offers a 6-month incubation program with a diversely designed curriculum. It also connects startups with angel investors. It even demands zero equity from its startups at the moment and even provides them with legal advice.

Takhleeq has successfully graduated 29 startups over 4 cohorts since its inception, including startups like Unison, DataWorx, Rector.ai, Pukaar, Threads, Soulter, and many more.

Takhleeq also boasts renowned speakers/mentors like Yasser Bashir (CEO Arbisoft), Adnan Shafi (CEO Price Oye), Belinda Esterhammer (CEO Springboard) among many more.

For its fifth cohort, Takhleeq is accepting applications in the following sectors specifically but the startups from other domains are also encouraged to apply:

- E-Commerce
- Healthcare/Health-Tech
- Media/Art
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Tourism
- Clean-Tech/Environmental Impact
- Combatting Pandemics

You can go here to submit your idea. They are taking applications till the 20^th of November 2020.

Image Source: Takhleeq

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Ministry of Science & Tech signs MoU for the assembly of electric buses in Pakistan

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:15:40 GMT

Ministry of Science and Technology has officially signed a memorandum of understanding with EGV, a UK-based bus manufacturing company, for the introduction and assembly of electric buses in Pakistan.

Minister for Science and Tech Fawad Chaudhary expressed his desire for Pakistan to adopt advanced technology like this during the course of the ceremony, as it was imperative to meet the modern-day challenges looming for the nation. As one of the largest and most successful bus manufacturing companies in the world, EGV will be working with Pakistan to manufacture electric buses and make them mainstream in the country.

“This is our second contract of electric buses with a British company,” said Mr. Chaudhary on the occasion. He said Pakistan will compete with India soon in the field of electric buses.

He further stated that the plan to run electric buses would be started from Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.

He explained that in the next two to three years, the entire motorway network will be shifted to electric vehicle charging facility. He said all motorway networks will be shifted on electric vehicle charging in next two to three years.

The Minister went on urge the media to play a balancing role and promote these kinds of developments.

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Fifth annual GDG DevFest concludes as a major virtual spectacle

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:08:44 GMT

Google Developers Group (GDG) Islamabad, a community of developers and tech enthusiasts backed by Google, just hosted its fifth annual DevFest. In what turned out to be one of the most spectacular virtual tech events of recent times, DevFest 2020 made waves all over the nation.

A one-day event that brought developers, designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and technologists on a single platform, DevFest 2020 initiated important conversations about building global deep-tech innovative ecosystems that revolve around the new normal of staying home and being productive remotely.

Ambassador of GDG Islamabad, Aiman Saeed briefed the audience about the GDG community and how it aims to revolutionize the culture of technology in Pakistan by equipping the youth with innovative technical skills required to survive in today’s digital world. Moreover, Women Techmakers, an initiative that aims to celebrate the role of women in STEM and beyond, played a prominent role in the event as well.

As for the event itself, there was quite a bit going on. Featuring a variety of sessions, talks, hands-on coding sessions, and workshops based on Google technologies, the festival provided a wholesome virtual learning and networking experience for all involved. The theme for this year followed the desi tagline of #HeavyScenezz, a fitting homage to our culture of appreciating significant contributions made by our peers in the tech world. The #NewNormal was also floated around, referring to our current predicament of having to stay productive while working remotely.

One of the first significant sessions was the #IamRemarkableSession, an initiative led by Google to empower women and underrepresented groups in the workplace and to celebrate their achievements. Featuring Pakistan’s first ever deaf vlogger Hassan Ahmed, the talk took the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions as Hassan shared his journey and showed how there are no limits to what you can accomplish once you set your mind to it.

Software Engineer Anam Sajid and UX Designer Bisma Zia inspired the audience by their example into believing that a positive mindset can go a long way.

The second session was Team Lead NCBC UET Peshawar, Mohsin Tariq who demonstrated the utilities of Artificial Intelligence in deep learning and further discussed what made it different from the traditional programming.

In another session, Aqsa Ajmal, Product Designer at Medflair, led a Design Thinking Session in which she discussed how Design Thinking is important in promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She further briefed the audience about her very innovative design of a sewing machine for the visually impaired.

A number of workshops were also conducted including a workshop on Flutter by Senior Flutter Developer, Waleed Arshad and another on Data Science by Data Science Trainee Audrey Mengue.

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Breaking: Islamic University has been closed after reports of Corona cases on campus

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 10:25:12 GMT

International Islamic University, Islamabad has been closed after reports of Corona cases on the campus. Students have reported that they reached the campus earlier in the morning only to find that the gates were closed and no one was allowed entry. The university administration later informed about the closure on their university portal.

Given below is the notification from Director Academics IIUI:

During the days of closure, disinfection will be carried out around the campus. With COVID cases on the rise in Pakistan once again and alarm bells ringing in the NCOC, smart lockdowns are being carried out throughout the country in an effort to control cases as much as possible. Quaid-e-Azam University was closed earlier after 5 cases were reported on the campus. It is not known how many cases emerged in IIUI which forced the administration to close down the university.

As per the latest stats, there are around 10K+ active cases in the country and within the last 24 hours, around 773 cases were reported. The positivity trend remains above 2% and it is nearing 3 which shows that the public is not practising social distancing which will lead to further deterioration of the situation.

Around 10 COVID hotspots have been sealed in the capital in the last 24 hours:

St. 46 F-11/3
St. 23 F-11/2
St. 58 I-8/2
St. 57 I-8/3
St. 91 I-8/4
St. 10 Block D Media Town
St. 12 I-10/2
St. 33 G-11/2
St. 30 Pakistan Town Phase 1
St. 35 G-6/2

Wear a mask and keep a sanitizer with you at all times plus ensure social distancing!

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Oppo is working on a new navigation algorithm that is accurate up to a meter

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 09:44:05 GMT

Oppo has been quietly working on an innovative navigation algorithm that will solve all your path-finding woes by delivering accuracy of up to a meter without using any additional equipment. Termed Real Time Kinematic (RTK), the navigation technology aims to help individuals in their daily travel.

Oppo is working closely with China Mobile to implement the technology, which in turn is working on deploying the ground-based system and 5G towers. RTK essentially works by collecting all the information from the GPS, the cell towers, all of the sensors inside the phone including the accelerometer, gyroscope and even the antennas of the handset. The algorithm also works against interference from other equipment.

As of now, up to 1-meter accuracy is something that can be achieved only by using professional equipment used for surveillance and mapping. Oppo and China Mobile believe that the tech will be commercially available starting next year in China.

According to a report by Zhuanlan, this technology was mainly used for surveying and mapping in the past and it required special equipment. But now, thanks to Oppo’s special algorithm, accurate location can be determined using the data collected by a smartphone.

It is not entirely clear whether the technology will be implemented outside China or not. If that is indeed something Oppo and China Mobile are considering, it would be interesting to see how it gets implemented.

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Facebook is launching a mobile game cloud streaming service

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 09:37:10 GMT

Facebook has announced that they are launching Facebook Gaming – A platform for cloud streamed games directly in the Facebook app or the website. This will allow you to play multitudes of games without needing to download anything. The catch? Well, there are two but we’ll get to the second in the end.

Facebook Gaming will only have Free To Play games available on its platform. So what’s in it for us? Well, now you won’t need a high-end gaming phone to play games like COD: Mobile or Asphalt 8. All you need to do is open the app, navigate to the gaming bar, and launch your favorite game. Facebook hasn’t given any news if paid games will be available to buy within the platform but it may be added later.

Cross-play is available as well! People playing on the cloud can seamlessly play with their friends who are on mobile devices. Currently, there are 6 games available to play on their platform which according to Facebook are already being played by their 200,000 Alpha testers in limited regions. Facebook however has not revealed which regions the game streaming service will be available in.

The other downside to Facebook Gaming is that it is currently only launching in Beta on Android. No iOS yet. Still, Facebook is releasing a new and dedicated Facebook Gaming Play destination so it should run well on the browser as well.

Image Source: FBGaming

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Huawei might have a foldable phone with a clamshell design in the works

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 08:43:33 GMT

Samsung may have captured the world’s attention with its iconic Galaxy Z Flip, but you best believe that Huawei isn’t going to sit on the sidelines. Indeed, there is reason to believe that the Chinese consumer electronics giant is coming up with its own foldable masterpiece.

While we are still waiting for the Mate Xs follow-up, the company seems to be exploring the possibilities of doing a Galaxy Z Flip competitor with clamshell design. This news comes courtesy of a design patent filed back in April at the China National Intellectual Property Office.

Based on the images in the patent, the phone looks strikingly similar to the Galaxy Z Flip with one exception – the external screen is considerably bigger and perhaps will be used for more than just notifications and the time. It takes the better part of the upper-half of the back panel where the cameras are positioned.

And since the renders don’t show any front-facing camera, the external display will serve as a viewfinder for selfies too. This way the frontal design where the foldable display is, will be clean without any cutouts or obstructions.

There are no images showing the handset closed from the side so we don’t know if the OEM is planning to leave a small gap between the two halves.

It’s worth noting, however, that it is still a patent at this point in time. It may never even see the light of day as an actual product, because there’s always the possibility that Huawei might scrap it and move on. But should it come to fruition, we could find ourselves amidst a very interesting foldable handset war.

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The National Jobs Portal introduced by the Government has zero jobs for the public

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 08:27:38 GMT

It has been over a month since the National Jobs Portal was announced by the National IT Board to help the public get jobs in public sector organizations. Around that time, we mentioned that the portal only had jobs posted by NITB and no other company has even registered on it.

What’s ironic now is that a month has passed and no company has posted a job on the portal. And there are more than 47K resumes available on the website as per their own stats which you can see below:

The main idea behind the National Jobs Portal was to unite all the government organizations to a centralized platform so that citizens can easily find opportunities in government sectors which they prefer. A month onwards, the portal is extensively being promoted by the National IT Board on their social media handles but on visiting, a citizen would get disappointed that there are zero jobs available and only 1 employer is listed. That too being National IT Board who developed the portal in the first place.

Now there are 2 extremes. If we compare the jobs portal with other ministry websites and government organization job portals, it has a modern and sleek design yet it is not being used. The portal has yet to be tested extensively for bugs and errors plus the government needs to onboard all public sector organizations to populate the database. And then we have a particular set of government sites which crash under load such as the PPSC one. Around 600,000 candidates applied for the posts on the PPSC website but it crashed due to the load. This inevitably forced the government to extend the deadline for the applicants of those job posts.

The Government should take remedial steps to onboard public sector organizations so that the purpose of the National Jobs Portal can be fulfilled as per their vision.

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Here’s why you should stop using Facebook Messenger

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:26:17 GMT

Hint: It has to do with something called “privacy”. You might be perfectly aware of it, or you might be appalled to find out, but the truth remains the same: unlike the end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp, Messenger is unable to protect your content from prying eyes. And a new report reveals that Facebook can not only access all the content you send on the messaging app, it even downloads that content to its own servers without any warning, regardless of how personal or private it may be.

The team responsible for this report actually has a pretty good track record with holding companies accountable for privacy violations. Comprising of Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, the team caught TikTok reading Apple device users’ clipboards and managed to push the consumer electronics giant into making important security changes to its platform.

Mysk and Haj Bakry stumbled upon Messenger’s glaring flaw when they set out to explore how messaging platforms in general handle “link previews”. This is the term used to describe the content preview that you recipient is able to see when you send them a website link, a news article, or even private documents.

“We think link previews are a good case study of how a simple feature can have privacy and security risks,” the team wrote in the report.

Facebook’s Messenger, they found out, has a concerning approach to link previews: server-side link previews. As the report puts it, “when you send a link, the app will first send it to an external server and ask it to generate a preview, then the server will send the preview back to both the sender and receiver.”

However, as one might imagine, this is a security nightmare. While Facebook doesn’t provide link previews in its end-to-end encrypted chats, it certainly has them included in its normal chats, and it is in the normal chats that the team discovered all manner of vulnerabilities that impact user privacy.

As the researchers explain in their report, “links shared in chats may contain private information intended only for the recipients. This could be bills, contracts, medical records, or anything that may be confidential… Although these servers are trusted by the app, there’s no indication to users that the servers are downloading whatever they find in a link. Are the servers downloading entire files, or only a small amount to show the preview? If they’re downloading entire files, do the servers keep a copy, and if so for how long? And are these copies stored securely, or can the people who run the servers access the copies?”

So, what’s the big takeaway here? If Messenger isn’t your primary messaging platform, perfect. If it is something you are reliant on for your daily communications, it’s best to refrain from sending any links to private information. Just switch to an end-to-end encrypted app for this purpose, because Messenger is certainly not safe for your personal information.

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This is the one area in which the iPhone 12 Pro absolutely destroys its competition

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:24:02 GMT

There are many reasons to be wary of the iPhone 12 series, from its price tag to the disappointing absence of a charger. In fact, if you really want to know bad it is, check out these four reasons why you shouldn’t buy an iPhone 12. However, even the most obviously terrible things have a kick about them. In the case of Apple’s latest smartphone range, as recent tests have shown, that kick happens to be something that no other smartphone can rival right now: multitasking.

Conventionally, multitasking hasn’t exactly been an iPhone’s forte. True, Android phones have always been better in this regard. But as popular YouTuber Filip Koroy of EverythingApplePro revealed, the iPhone 12 Pro blows every available Android smartphone out of the water when it comes to handling multiple processes. In fact, its real world speed improvements have been such that they are off the charts compared to anything any company’s benchmark, let alone Apple’s, have been able to achieve!

So, what was Koroy’s test? He proceeded to open a large number of apps, before reopening each of them in order. The results? The iPhone 12 completes it in a stunning 2 mins 49 secs, a figure that stands in sharp contrast to the more than 4 mins achieved by both the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone XS. According to Koroy, this can be explained by Apple’s impressive A14 Bionic chipset, but you got to give credit to that massive 6GB worth of RAM too.

“Every single application that I opened after running a 4K video export was still preloaded in the background. I have never seen this on an iPhone. This is new. Apple has finally fixed the multitasking issue on the iPhone,” Koroy explained.

And what does this blistering level of performance mean for big rivals like Samsung and Google? For starters, they need to be concerned.

Samsung’s high-end Galaxy S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra are already more expensive than the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and now it turns out that they have been beaten by miles by that impressive A14 Bionic chipset. Similarly, Google is probably regretting its decision to put a low-performance chipset in the Pixel 5, a handset that was far behind last year’s iPhone as well in terms of speed.

For now, it seems, Apple holds the trump card.

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Pakistan officially enters the subway era with the launch of Orange Line Metro Train

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:06:27 GMT

The Orange Line Metro Train’s historic inauguration ceremony was held on October 25, 2020 in Lahore, which was graced by the Chief Minister of Punjab Mr. Sardar Usman Buzdar, Consul General of the Consulate General of China Mr. Long Dingbin and Minister of Punjab for Transport Mr. Jahanzeb Khan Khichi. Through a video portal, the Orange Line Train began to whistle under the witness of the chief guests of both sides, announcing Pakistan’s official entry into the subway era.

The Orange Line Metro Train Lahore is the first large-scale technologically advanced rail transit project under the “Belt and Road” initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The project was jointly undertaken by China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and China North Industry Co., Ltd. (CR-NORINCO), with a total track length of 27 km and 26 stations. A depot is located at Dera Gujran which is the northern end of the route and an Ali Town Stabling Yard is located at the southern end of the route.

In February 2020, Norinco International, as the leading company, joined hands with Guangzhou Metro Group (GMG) and Daewoo Pakistan Express Bus Service Ltd. to form a joint venture (JV), which successfully won the contract for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of Orange Line for the next eight years. Despite the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, the JV team completed comprehensive personnel recruitment, skills training, joint commissioning and re-inspection, and trial operation through innovative models such as remote video and centralized isolation, making full preparations for the official opening and operation of the Orange Line subway.

The Orange Line is an initiative of the Government of Pakistan to improve the living standards of its citizens, and is an important source of employment for the local residents. During the construction period, more than 7,000 local jobs were created for the citizens, and nearly 2,000 jobs will be provided to the people of Pakistan with the official launch, greatly improving the employment scenario of the city. It is estimated that nearly 250,000 passengers will be facilitated with this service every day and the commuting time through the northern and southern urban areas of the city will be significantly reduced from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes.

The Orange Line Metro will not only be greatly improving the travel efficiency of citizens and promoting the socio-economic development level in Lahore but will also be introducing a new momentum into the development of urban modernization. In compliance with the rules of urban green development in Lahore and Pakistan’s National Development Strategy, Pakistan will officially enter the subway era with the launch of the Orange Line Metro Rail Transit System.

The Orange Line Metro Train project was signed under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and built by Chinese companies, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and China North Industry Co., Ltd. The residents of the country consider Orange Line “a gift from President Xi Jinping to the people of Pakistan” and also as “the flower of friendship between China and Pakistan.” This flower of friendship has finally taken root and blossomed under the rain of “shared destiny and win-win cooperation” between the two countries. The opening of the Orange Line vividly illustrates the friendship between China and Pakistan, which is not only reflected in the concept of “friends in need”, but also rooted in the “common development” of mutually beneficial cooperation. From government to enterprises, national leaders to public, real efforts and contributions are being made to promote the friendship between China and Pakistan, in order to write a new chapter of everlasting friendship.

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Cyberattacks against machine learning systems are very common

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:16:22 GMT

Machine Learning (ML) has changed the whole outlook of the IT industry since its inception. With more and more tools being developed to utilize the immense power of ML, there needs to be a focus on the security aspects of it as well.

Many businesses have utilized machine learning to create new and innovative products but security experts at Microsoft have found that they have not properly ensured the security of their systems. Microsoft’s survey on 28 businesses utilizing machine learning revealed that they did not have the adequate tools to ensure the safety of their ML systems.

Some of these businesses are also looking for guidance on tools and techniques to secure their systems but these are not widely available. ML systems may be vulnerable to training-data poisoning, AI model theft, or adversarial samples to attack AI-powered systems according to Gartner and more than 30% of AI systems will be vulnerable to such cyberattacks.

As a result, Microsoft in partnership with MITRE and 11 other organizations including IBM, NVIDIA, and Bosch is releasing the Adversarial ML Threat Matrix. The Adversarial ML Threat Matrix is a first attempt at collating a knowledge base of how ML systems can be attacked allowing businesses to secure their ML systems from such vulnerabilities.

Mikel Rodriguez, Director of Machine Learning Research, MITRE said, “This framework is a first step in helping to bring communities together to enable organizations to think about the emerging challenges in securing machine learning systems more holistically.”

Image Source: Acronis

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Pakistani mobile imports grow by 83% YoY in Q3 2020

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:13:53 GMT

Mobile imports in Pakistan have increased to an astounding 83.17% in Q3 2020 (July-September) or the first quarter of the Fiscal Year 2021 in comparison to the same period last year according to the report given to the Ministry of Commerce.

In the same quarter of 2019, the mobile import had only increased by 35.05% on a year over year basis. This shows an increase in mobile imports by around 200%.

The mobile imports in Q3 2020 had an estimated value of $492.89 million up from $269.09 in Q3 2019.

It is important to note that the overall import commodities were recorded to be only slightly lower in Q3 2019 as compared to Q3 2020. Commodities worth $11,310.93 million were imported in Q3 2020 as compared to $11,199.19 million worth of commodities in 2019.

You can view the year-over-year import statistics of commodities on the Ministry of Commerce’s website.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the yearly imports of Pakistan were recorded to $54,763 million in 2018-2019 as compared to $44,553 million in 2019-2020. That is a decrease of almost 18.6% of yearly imports. The exports, however, decreased as well from $22,958 million in 2018-2019 to $21,394 million in 2019-2020.

Image Source: CNet

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