da Agency

Uber Is Telling Customers The Immigration Ban Is "Against Everything We Stand For"

Carl Court / Getty Images

Uber, whose founder is an adviser to President Trump, is telling customers that the immigration ban is “unjust, wrong, and against everything we stand for as a company,” in an escalation of its public criticism of the policy.

The language is being used in a message sent to users who delete their accounts with the company. #DeleteUber was trending on Twitter on Saturday, as protesters highlighted CEO Travis Kalanick's membership of a White House advisory group.

Protesters also criticized Uber for suspending surge pricing during a taxi strike at JFK Airport Saturday, where the largely immigrant taxi driver community was protesting President Trump’s executive order. On social media, many perceived that move as undermining the taxi workers’ protest.

In response to account deletion requests on Sunday, Uber told users, “We share your concern that this ban will impact many thousands of innocent people” and said it would compensate drivers affected by the order.

Since Monday night, messages confirming account deletion have contained a more blunt message: “Uber shares your views on the immigration ban: it&039;s unjust, wrong and against everything we stand for as a company.”

Both messages link to an Uber statement from Saturday, in which the company first promised it would compensate drivers affected by the immigration ban.

“We want to be as clear as possible. The initial response was less clear than the second one,” an Uber spokesman told BuzzFeed News. “Clarity is always better.”

The Battle Between Uber And Lyft Has Become Political

DeleteUber Started Trending After A Taxi Strike Against Trump’s Refugee Ban

Quelle: <a href="Uber Is Telling Customers The Immigration Ban Is "Against Everything We Stand For"“>BuzzFeed

da Agency

Apple Sales Hit An All-Time High Over The Holidays

Stephanie Keith / Getty Images

Apple&#039;s sales reached an all-time high in the final three months of 2016, with the company reporting record sales of its iPhones, Mac computers and Apple watches.

Revenue hit $78.4 billion for the quarter, slightly up from the $76 billion the company made in the same period of 2016. The quarter was a crucial test for Apple, whose sales typically peak during the holiday season, and whenever it rolls out a brand new phone. The new iPhone 7 was released just a few days before the start of the quarter.

Apple

iPhone sales rose by 5% over the year prior, but overall profit dropped by 2.6% to $17.9 billion. Apple shares are up 25% in the last year, but its stock is still trading below the all-time high it reached in 2015. In after-market trading on Tuesday, the company&039;s shares were up almost 3%.

Beyond the iPhone, Apple&039;s software services business continues to boom — it generated over $7 billion in revenue in the three-month period, up 18%. The services business includes iTunes purchases and Music subscriptions, AppleCare, and Apple Pay. The company&039;s “other products,” segement, which includes the Apple Watch, saw a 8% decline in revenue, while the iPad had a 22% drop.

One year ago, powered by the release of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple reported the most profitable quarter in corporate history, earning $18.4 billion in profits on $76 billion of revenue.

Since then, the company reported its first annual decline in sales since 2001, raising questions among observers if Apple, despite continued sky-high profits that would be the envy of any other company, could still provide the massive growth it had experienced since the dawn of the iPod.

While the growth figures reported today were positive, it&039;s not the type of strong sales growth that&039;s typically been associated with brand new iPhone releases.

“We’re thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way. We sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for iPhone, Services, Mac and Apple Watch,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.

Quelle: <a href="Apple Sales Hit An All-Time High Over The Holidays“>BuzzFeed

da Agency

Amazon Elasticsearch Service free tier now available on t2.small.elasticsearch instances

For customers in the AWS Free Tier, Amazon Elasticsearch Service now offers a choice of instance types between t2.micro.elasticsearch and t2.small.easticsearch instances. With this release, the service provides customers in the AWS Free Tier, free usage of up to 750 hours per month of a single-AZ t2.micro.elasticsearch or t2.small.easticsearch instance and 10GB per month of optional EBS storage (Magnetic or General Purpose). If you exceed the free tier limits, you will be charged the Amazon Elasticsearch Service rates for the additional resources you use. See offer terms for more details.
Quelle: aws.amazon.com

da Agency

The Fate Of Net Neutrality Is Still Up In The Air In The Trump-Era FCC

Pool / Getty Images

Some of the most pressing questions about the way Americans interact with each other online and connect with their favorite services remain unanswered Tuesday, following the first meeting of the Federal Communications Commission in the Trump Era.

Ajit Pai, the new FCC Chair who was selected by President Donald Trump, declined to answer key questions on internet and telecom policy including the fate of Net Neutrality, the AT&T-Time Warner merger and a proposal backed by the Obama administration to overhaul the market for cable boxes.

“We haven&#039;t made any determinations at this time,” Chair Pai said, referring to the future of Net Neutrality rules. “My present position is pretty simple: I favor a free and open internet and I oppose Title II.”

Established in 2015 under President Obama, network neutrality rules require internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to treat all web traffic equally. Heralded by the Obama administration, internet giants, and consumer advocates, the open internet rules were designed to protect websites and services like Netflix from being slowed, blocked or up-charged by broadband providers. The rules came into effect after broadband companies were designated so-called Title II services. The reclassification allows the government to impose more robust regulations on internet providers. It was aggressively opposed by telecom companies and by Republican members of Congress and the FCC.

Chair Pai voted against the open internet rules when he was an FCC commissioner, and he has argued that market-based solutions, not government regulations, will better ensure an open and competitive web. “The Internet has become a powerful force for freedom, both at home and abroad,” Pai wrote in 2015. “So it is sad to witness the FCC’s unprecedented attempt to replace that freedom with government control.”

While Pai did not elaborate on his comments at the meeting, experts tell BuzzFeed News that a Republican-controlled FCC could work to dismantle net neutrality in several ways: by simply ignoring violations and not enforcing the open internet rules; overturning them through the FCC; or pressing Congress to rewrite telecom law.

“If Ajit Pai&039;s past record is any indication of how he&039;ll be as chairman, he won&039;t be doing much policing of that industry,” Joshua Stager, policy counsel for New America&039;s Open Technology Institute told BuzzFeed News. “He thinks that the telecom industry can police itself just fine.”

When asked to comment whether the FCC should review the AT&T-Time Warner mega-merger, Chair Pai declined. The $85 billion deal is currently under review by the antitrust division of the Justice Department. Unlike the DOJ, which can sue to block a deal when the transaction is found to be anticompetitive, the FCC standard for approving a deal is broader. Businesses have to show the commission that the deal serves the public interest, a threshold that some experts say is harder to clear than the DOJ&039;s.

Pai also declined to share details on the fate of the set-top box proposal, a plan created during the Obama-era FCC to open up the cable box market to technology companies. Former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who backed the plan, saw it as a much needed corrective to exorbitant rental fees and outdated interfaces that cable customers were more or less stuck with. Pai said the proposal is one of 23 items the FCC is reviewing that were carried over from the last administration. The plan is not expected to advance under the leadership of the new chair.

Quelle: <a href="The Fate Of Net Neutrality Is Still Up In The Air In The Trump-Era FCC“>BuzzFeed

da Agency

Understanding Azure troubleshooting and support

Microsoft Azure team is committed to helping you achieve more with the power of the cloud. The Azure support teams are here to help you build, deploy and run your Azure solutions with confidence. We are continuously expanding troubleshooting and support areas to help you accelerate your cloud journey. This post provides an overview of key self-help tools and a quick glance at Azure support. Self-help and troubleshooting Comprehensive documentation and get started resources are a good start for all Azure customers. As you begin to design your solutions and look for help from community experts – Azure Forums is a great option. While you progress building your solution, self-help and optimization tools are built into the Azure Portal. Can’t connect to your VM? Just click on the Diagnose and solve problems to follow troubleshooting guidance for resolution right in your Azure Portal. This troubleshooting solution is included with all Azure services. Once your solutions are established, Azure Advisor preview provides personalized recommendations based on best practices to further optimize your environment for e.g. high availability, or security. Azure Advisor is a recommendation engine that provides proactive, actionable, and personalized best practices to help you improve the high availability, security, performance, and cost effectiveness of your Azure resources. Check the Advisor dashboard to get your list of recommendations. These are some of resources and tools that you can utilize on your own. If you need in-depth help and assistance for your mission critical applications, the right Azure technical support plan can help you. Get the right level of technical support Microsoft Azure offers flexible support options that give you direct access to Microsoft technical engineers. You will receive the best available expertise aligned to the level you need, allowing you to focus on your business outcomes. Microsoft Azure support plans are designed to help everyone – from individual developers to multi-national organizations, covering range of environments from trial to business critical. Premier support, the top tier plan, is ideal for large and global customers who need comprehensive support across multiple Microsoft products, including Azure. If you are looking for non-technical subscription and billing support for Azure, it is included with every Azure subscription and can be accessed from the Help + support blade in your Azure portal. Next steps Please let us know your comments and ideas about Azure support and troubleshooting as it will help us continue to evolve these areas. Submit your feedback on Azure portal or via @AzureSupport on Twitter, where you can also get answers from Microsoft Azure experts. To ensure your Microsoft Azure support plan is aligned with your business requirements, visit the Azure support page. Having access to the right support and resources is an investment that can help you get the most of your cloud assets can save you money, and can make your organization more productive.
Quelle: Azure