Here's why Samsung stopped the Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 and S8+

A week after releasing the Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung stepped on the brakes. What happened? An issue that was not caught during beta testing reared its surprise reboot head, that’s what.

"Following a limited number of cases where Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices have rebooted unexpectedly with the Android 8.0 Oreo, we have temporarily stopped the rollout of the update. We are investigating the issue internally to ensure that the impact to the affected devices is minimized and the rollout of the update can resume as quickly as possible."

If your phone has downloaded the update, but you haven’t clicked “Install” yet then the downloaded update files will be deleted. Samsung gave no estimates on when the update process will resume.

Former Google employee files lawsuit alleging the company fired him over pro-diversity posts. (technewnows)

More fallout, and another lawsuit, resulting from the James Damore memo-

A former Google engineer is suing the company for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination, according to court documents filed today. Tim Chevalier, a software developer and former site-reliability engineer at Google, claims that Google fired him when he responded with internal posts and memes to racist and sexist encounters within the company and the general response to the now-infamous James Damore memo. News of Chevalier’s lawsuit was reported earlier today by Gizmodo.


Chevalier said in a statement to The Verge, “It is a cruel irony that Google attempted to justify firing me by claiming that my social networking posts showed bias against my harassers.” Chevalier, who is also disabled and transgender, alleges that his internal posts that defended women of color and marginalized people led directly to his termination in November 2017. He had worked at Google for a little under two years.

Notably, Chevalier’s posts had been quoted in Damore’s lawsuit against Google — in which Damore sued the company for discrimination against conservative white men — as evidence Google permitted liberals to speak out at the company unpunished. Chevalier’s lawsuit alleges that his firing is, in fact, a form of punishment. (Damore recently had a separate labor board complaint shot down by the US National Labor Relations Board, which stated in a guidance memo that Google was in the right to fire him.)


In a statement, Google spokesperson Gina Scigliano says Google was enforcing its policy against the promotion of harmful stereotypes. “An important part of our culture is lively debate. But like any workplace, that doesn’t mean anything goes. All employees acknowledge our code of conduct and other workplace policies, under which promoting harmful stereotypes based on race or gender is prohibited” Scigliano says. “This is a very standard expectation that most employers have of their employees. The overwhelming majority of our employees communicate in a way that is consistent with our policies. But when an employee does not, it is something we must take seriously. We always make our decision without any regard to the employee’s political views.”


One of the internal memes Chevalier created was inspired by a black Google employee, who wrote in an internal Google Plus post that she was being asked to present her ID badge more often than her white co-workers. A Google employee allegedly responded to the post by noting that asking for ID was just part of the job, Gizmodo reported. Chevalier then made a privilege-denying dude meme using Google’s internal meme generator with the caption, “I have opinions about forms of oppression that don’t affect me.”


CHEVALIER WAS TOLD HE WAS ENGAGING IN TOO MUCH “SOCIAL ACTIVISM” AT GOOGLE
In mid-September, Chevalier was called into a meeting by HR and told that a complaint had been made about another post in which he said he would not work with people who shared Damore’s views, according to Gizmodo. In the same month, Chevalier’s acting manager told him repeatedly he was engaging in too much “social activism,” the suit alleges.


The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court and Chevalier is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress, punitive damages, and injunctive relief against those alleged harmful acts. One of Chevalier’s attorneys, David Lowe, stated that Chevalier’s termination was a result of Google failing to rein in its mostly unfiltered internal social networks. “Company social networking forums can be incredibly useful, but employers have an obligation to prevent them from becoming a cesspool of bullying and harassment,” Lowe said in a press release.


Last August, Chevalier and 13 other Google employees were also targeted by alt-right trolls as part of a widespread backlash against Damore’s firing. A 4chan-related Twitter account posted a screenshot of the employees’ Twitter profiles, all of whom were of color, women, or trans men. These profiles then became targets of online harassment, some of which Chevalier details in his complaint.

Facebook bans cryptocurrency, ICO ads to ensure greater user security

1. Facebook has banned advertisements related to cryptocurrency, binary options and initial coin offerings (ICOs), calling them misleading.
2. Rob Leathern, FB's product management director, announced the decision through a blog post on Wednesday.
3. The move is part of the social media giant's new policy to "improve the integrity and security" of its financial product and services ads.

Why?
No place on Facebook for scammers, deceptive ads

In his blog post Leathern says the new ad policy "prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrency."

He goes on to say that FB wants its users to continue to learn about new products and services through its ads "without fear of scams or deception."

Users can report fraudulent ads-

Ads, not in sync with the company's new policy, are now banned on Facebook's core app and all other places (such as Instagram and Audience Network) where FB sells ads. Users can report ads they feel are deceptive by clicking on its upper right-hand corner.

Details-

Facebook to further work on new ad policy

The growing popularity of ICOs and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum has led to several fraudulent practises, forcing FB to make its latest move.

Since the new policy is "intentionally broad", Facebook plans to revisit it on getting better at detecting and removing misleading ads.

The tech major has also urged users to report all content they find in violation with its norms.

Details-

Facebook allows certain sensitive financial ads but with restrictions

Interestingly, Facebook allows ads for certain controversial financial products/services albeit with some restrictions.

For instance, it demands a "written permission" for any sort of gambling or gaming service that involves real money.

Moreover, "deceptive/misleading" student loan ads can't feature on its platform.

FB also makes it mandatory for advertisers of such services to target only those users older than 18 years.


No more cryptocurrency and ICO ads on Facebook Credits:

Facebook has banned advertisements related to cryptocurrency, binary options and initial coin offerings (ICOs), calling them misleading.

Conflict of interest

Some FB board members are prominent crypto backers-

Meanwhile, it is yet to be seen how this new FB policy is received by the tech giant's board of directors, some of whom are known crypto backers. Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel are two such who have major investments in cryptocurrency.

Furthermore, FB Messenger chief David Marcus is a board member at Coinbase, a popular crypto exchange.

Gmail Go app is now available for download via Google Play

Here's What It Offers-

HIGHLIGHTS-

• Gmail Go app is now available for download via Google Play
• The APK file size of the new app is 9.51MB
• The app has most of the basic features of the regular Gmail app

Setting up the stage for Android Oreo (Go Edition), Google has now released the Gmail Go app. The new app, which is compatible with devices running Android 8.1 Oreo and later, is available for download on Google Play store. It comes weeks after the release other Go edition apps, including Files Go, Gboard Go, Google Go, Maps Go, and YouTube Go. The app supports most of the basic features of Gmail as well as offers you multiple account support to let you set up both Gmail and non-Gmail addresses, such as Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, or other IMAP/POP email accounts, instantly.

The APK file size of the Gmail Go app is significantly smaller than the regular Gmail app; it's 9.51MB versus 20.66MB. This makes the app lighter when installed, consuming around 25MB on compatible devices - contrary to the 47MB space consumed by its regular version. Despite its lightweight build, the Gmail Go app provides you with an advanced inbox that categorises social and promotional emails under different tabs to help you focus on important messages first.

The app also supports the convenient conversation view that groups emails for all IMAP, POP3, and Exchange accounts under one roof. Similarly, Google has given support for swipe actions and sender images in the conversation list. The interface of the new app is also quite identical to the original Gmail for Android, though you may notice the change in the user profile section that sits on top of the title bar and displays your profile photo and background image on the regular Gmail app.

Why Google Is Bullish About Android Oreo (Go Edition)-

In order to make the experience safer for end users, the Gmail Go app automatically blocks spam messages using Google's internal data sets and algorithms. You are also provided with the option to report any of the new emails as spam or mark it as important to get it right in the Primary tab. Further, you can add a label to your emails to categorise them as per your requirements. The app also allows you to manage how frequent you'd like to receive notifications by disabling alerts for social or promotional messages.

The overall experience of the Gmail Go app is quite similar to what you can get from the regular Gmail app. However, we did notice some lag when tested the app on an Android 8.1-running Pixel 2 XL. This may be due to some bugs that are likely to be fixed ahead of the release of Android Go devices. Of course, the prime purpose of the Gmail Go app is to provide Gmail access amidst using less RAM and data.

Meanwhile, you can visit Google Play to download and test the Gmail Go app on your Android 8.1 device. Its latest APK file is also available for download through APK Mirror.