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Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group has come under fire following a damning report by leading surveillance industry researcher IPVM that purports the company to have offered clients facial recognition software that could specifically identifiy Uyghur (or Uighur) minorities. But Alibaba claims to have no direct involvement with the team that developed the software. IMAGE: Reuters / The New York TimesThe software concerned is related to Alibaba's Cloud Shield content moderation […]

When it comes to cute, quirky products, no matter how random they can be, there's surely a market for them. From cat testicle plushies, to delicious-looking bread hats, and even handkerchiefs that feature 3D hamsters, the sky is really the limit. And Twitter user Cynthia Chen just added some more items to that list – Asian snack rugs. On December 8. 2020, Chen, who according to her Twitter bio is […]

It wasn't long ago that Indonesia received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by privately-owned Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. It was the first country in Southeast Asia to receive COVID-19 vaccines, in fact. The country of 274.8 million people is currently struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19, having the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian government has decided to inoculate younger people first. IMAGE: […]

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, we've had to make adjustments to the way we live our lives. In Malaysia, for example, entire sectors of the economy have had to come to a complete standstill, due to the nature of their business. Among those affected sectors is the entertainment and events industry, which so far have had to deal with excruciatingly-low income due to COVID-19 safety measures imposed […]

The world of politics is a very male-dominated arena, regardless of where you are in the world. Even in the world's most culturally-progressive nations, women make up a mere fraction of lawmakers, politicians, and people of authority. But that hasn't stopped Malaysian-Vietnamese-American Jocelyn Yow from climbing up the ladder. Yow has officially become the first woman of color, as well as the first Malaysian-American, to be elected a mayor in […]

The Philippines has now made it mandatory for everyone to don face shields and masks whenever they step out of their homes and into public spaces. This also includes shopping malls, public transport, and anywhere else where there might be a congregation of people. Announced on December 15, 2020, the new rule places emphasis on "full" face shields that cover both the eyes and mouth. “Face shields used to be […]

Following the absolute reckoning brought on to it by a damning exposé by The New York Times, Pornhub has purged millions of user-uploaded videos from its site. This comes shortly after the swift exit of payment partners Visa and Mastercard, which severed ties with the site after the New York Times report showed that Pornhub hadn't done much in terms of content regulation. This rang especially true when it came […]

Folks in Japan are up in arms after Nike released an ad about overcoming racial discrimination in the largely-homogenous country. The video, which specifically highlights bullying and racism in Japan, has been the subject of hot debate on Japanese social media. Some have come out in full support of the brand's intended message, while a worrying portion of viewers have taken offence, claiming it taints Japan's image on the global […]

Perhaps one of the greatest augmented reality (AR) tools that Google has blessed us all with is Google Lens, which lets us superimpose various things into our surroundings using the camera on our smartphones. Earlier this year, I played around with Google's AR animals search feature, which let me have basically the entire animal kingdom in my living room. It was fun. Now Google has added 50 more creatures to […]