Category: covid-19
Looking back at Zoom’s ascent a year after it filed to go public
The friendly videoconference tool wasn’t an overnight consumer sensation Alex Wilhelm 7 hours Zoom, a video chat service then popular with corporations, filed to go public on March 22, 2019. Best known in venture and corporate circles, Zoom was far from a household name at the time. However, the groundwork…
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YouTube defaults to SD quality worldwide to tame bandwidth surge
YouTube has announced that videos on the site will default to standard definition (SD) quality for the next month in order to cope with demand from the bored, housebound masses. Similar measures were undertaken by the company in Europe last week, and other big consumers of bandwidth are likewise taking…
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FDA now allows treatment of life-threatening COVID-19 cases using blood from patients who have recovered
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated its rules around use of experimental treatments for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to include use of ‘convalescent plasma,’ in cases where the patient’s life is seriously or immediately threatened. This isn’t an approval of the procedure as a certified treatment, but…
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Game downloads will be throttled to manage internet congestion
For the billions stuck at home during the global effort to flatten the curve, gaming is a welcome escape. But it’s also a bandwidth-heavy one, and Microsoft, Sony and others are working to make sure that millions of people downloading enormous games don’t suck up all the bandwidth. Don’t worry,…
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Former founders of SocialRank have launched a job board for COVID-19 layoffs
The COVID-19 pandemic has already triggered a number of layoffs across industries, from travel companies to scooter startups. But, as a gray footnote to all tragedies, we’re starting to see innovation pop through the cracks — and hopefully help some people, as well. Back in November, Alexander Taub and Michael…
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Twitter is donating $1M across two foundations to support journalism during the coronavirus pandemic
Social media companies have been hard at work to make sure they play a helpful rather than harmful role in disseminating news and information about the coronavirus pandemic. Today, Twitter took an extra step beyond its own platform to put its efforts into the wider, already under-pressure world of journalism.…
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