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Apple Inc has teamed up with Chinese payments giant Ant Financial Services Group and several local banks to offer interest-free financing, its first such move in the country as it looks to boost waning smartphone sales.

A group of lawmakers from Italy's ruling coalition is pushing the government to ban China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment for the country's rollout of 5G mobile communications, Il Messaggero newspaper said on Friday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel's first lunar lander on a mission that if successful will make the Jewish state only the fourth nation to achieve a controlled touchdown on the moon's surface.

South Korean tech firms Netmarble and Kakao and private equity fund MBK Partners have submitted initial bids to buy the parent of gaming firm Nexon, the Seoul Economic Daily said.

What Common Office Supply Staple Is Capable Of Generating X-Ray Radiation?

1. Toner
2. Scotch Tape
3. Erasers
4. White Out

Think you know the answer?

As you rise in your career and your visibility grows, you may be asked to moderate a panel discussion. Unifying several people’s perspectives into a conversation can be challenging, so create the conditions for a meaningful exchange. Before the event, give your panelists time to prepare by asking for their thoughts on the topic, whether over email or with a phone call. You can also share the questions you plan to ask. During the panel, remember that your goal is to ensure a great experience for the audience. Ask specific questions that will be of interest to listeners, direct them at the panelists who will have the most-relevant answers, and follow up when needed. And keep track of who’s talking too much — the point of a panel is to hear from many people, not just one or two. Don’t be afraid to politely cut off someone whose answer is turning into a monologue.

Adapted from “How to Moderate a Panel Discussion,” by Dorie Clark

Tesla Inc has started delivering Model 3 cars in China slightly ahead of schedule, as the U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker looks to revive sales in the world's biggest auto market.

Bad guys are targeting your social media accounts. One of the most effective ways you can protect them is with a unique, strong password called a passphrase. Enabling two-step verification (if your social media site offers it) is even better.

Facebook's new effort to bring outside experts into its content review process promises to be complicated and possibly contentious, if discussions this week at a meeting in Singapore are any indication.

Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc beat market estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, as its core online marketing business stayed resilient and revenue surged in its Netflix-like streaming service iQiyi.

SpaceX had another successful launch on Thursday night, despite some tough conditions.

Its Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where a trio of spacecraft, including a moon lander, came along for the ride.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk says Mars round trip could cost only $100,000 one day

Lift off took place at 8:45 p.m. ET, at the beginning of the 32-minute launch window.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/Cd8nGQwrhd

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 22, 2019

Bad weather threatened the recovery of the first-stage booster, but after 8-and-a-half minutes following launch, the booster successfully landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more...

More about Tech, Space, Science, Spacex, and Moon

YouTube is in crisis mode yet again.

On Wednesday night, the online video giant announced it had banned more than 400 channels and disabled comments on tens of millions of videos following a growing YouTube controversy concerning child exploitation. However, many major brands, like Disney, AT&T, Nestle, and Fortnite are jumping ship an halting all YouTube advertising in its wake.

Over the weekend, a YouTube video highlighting child predators’ rampant use of the platform had gone viral. YouTuber Matt Watson posted the video walking users through how a simple YouTube search can easily uncover “soft” pedophilia rings on the video service. Read more...

More about Videos, Youtube, Content Creators, Predators, and Pedophilia

Apple's autonomous car program is as secretive as ever. 

Compare the seven-page safety report Apple submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week to the 43-page color explosion from Waymo, the self-driving car startup from Google parent company Alphabet. 

Apple's first page.

Image: apple / nhtsa / screengrab

Waymo's first page.

Image: Waymo

Both talk about each companies' safety practices and guiding principles when it comes to self-driving vehicles, but only one (guess which one) keeps it brief and vague. Other companies like Ford, GM's Cruise, and Nuro also share additional details and include charts, vehicle pictures, and images of — wait for it — people.  Read more...

More about Apple, Safety, Autonomous Vehicles, Project Titan, and Tech

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday two of the 16 currently used main chemical ingredients in over-the-counter sunscreen products are considered safe, as part of a proposal https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm631736.htm aimed at improving the safety and quality of sunscreen products sold without prescription in the United States.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel's first lunar lander on a mission that if successful will make the Jewish state only the fourth nation to ever to achieve a controlled touchdown on the moon's surface.

Samsung's new Galaxy S10 series is the company's third lineup of flagship phones to come with Bixby built-in. 

But the phones will be the first to let you actually change what that Bixby button does, addressing what has long been one of Samsung's most frustrating features.

The company confirmed the change in a blog post, noting that the S10 will be the first of Samsung's phones to have "Bixby Key Customization," which lets users change their Bixby settings so that pressing the Bixby button once or twice will launch a third-party app of their choice. Samsung also said it would extend the feature to its earlier phones with Bixby, including the S8, S9, and Note9, in a future software update. Read more...

More about Tech, Samsung, Bixby, Galaxy S10, and Tech

The United States, Canada and Mexico are coordinating efforts to prevent the arrival of a highly contagious swine disease that has swept through China's hog herd and parts of Europe, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Thursday.

Although not entirely unexpected, Netflix's cancellation of Marvel's The Punisher and Jessica Jones has struck some nerves.

Particularly not pleased about The Punisher being cut was Eminem, who wrote a caps-only tweet admonishing the streaming giant for its decision.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's Mötley Crüe biopic digs into the band's debaucherous past

Although, credit to Eminem, he was still polite enough to end his tweet with a "sincerely."

DEAR @NETFLIX,

REGARDING YOUR CANCELLATION OF THE PUNISHER, YOU ARE BLOWING IT!!

SINCERELY,
MARSHALL

— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 21, 2019

Eminem's tweet prompted a response from some of The Punisher's cast, like Amber Rose Revah, who played Dinah Madani in the series. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Tv, Television, Netflix, and Marvel

Plants on Earth have flourished for hundreds of millions of years, yet President Donald Trump's pick to lead his new climate team insists that they need more carbon dioxide to thrive.

Princeton physicist and carbon dioxide-advocate William Happer has been selected to head the brand new Presidential Committee on Climate Security, reports The Washington Post. The atomic scientist — who achieved recognition for his work on atomic collisions and telescope optics, not climate science — maintains that the planet's atmosphere needs significantly more CO2, the potent greenhouse gas that U.S. government scientists — and a bevy of independent scientists — have repeatedly underscored is stoking accelerating climate change. Read more...

More about Science, Global Warming, Carbon Dioxide, Plants, and Climate Change

Hold on to your oat milk. It SNOWED in Los Angeles. 

Southern California — known for its year-long sunshine, mild temperatures, desert mountains, and gorgeous beaches — saw snow on Thursday afternoon, and everyone in the Los Angeles area justifiably freaked the fuck out. 

SEE ALSO: Seattle's gone to the dogs, literally, following record snowfall

An "unusually chilly storm" from Alberta, Canada brought snow over Las Vegas on Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times. By the afternoon, snow dusted more northern parts of L.A. and Ventura County, stopping traffic as Angelenos reveled in it. Read more...

More about Snow, Los Angeles, Wtf, Culture, and Web Culture