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Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Lawsuit: Appeals Court Throws Out $72 Million Award

Brent Edward
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Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Lawsuit: Appeals Court Throws Out $72 Million Award

A Missouri appeals court has tossed out a $72 million award in a woman’s lawsuit that claimed talcum powder and other Johnson & Johnson products added to her cancer, according to CBS news.

On Tuesday, the Missouri Eastern District court ruled that Missouri was not the correct jurisdiction for the Johnson and Johnson lawsuit.

The court said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer found there must be a clear connection between the plaintiff and the state where a lawsuit is filed. Consequently, in the Johnson & Johnson lawsuit, only 2 out of the 65 plaintiffs resided in Missouri.

The lawsuit was filed by Jacqueline Fox, of Birmingham, Alabama. She died in 2015 of ovarian cancer. The 2006 award she received was the first of several cases that claimed talcum powder contributed to Ovarian cancer. Three other juries found Johnson & Johnson at fault in similar lawsuits in Missouri. A Los Angeles jury awarded $417 million to a California woman who claimed she contracted ovarian cancer from using Johnson & Johnson baby powder.

That said, Johnson & Johnson sees Tuesday’s verdict as a win. A spokeswoman said the company has consistently argued that Missouri had no jurisdiction in cases involving non-residents and the company expects the existing judgments that are going through the appeals process to be reversed.

In 2016, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $72 million in damages to the family of Jacqueline Fox. She had been using Johnson’s Baby Powder on her underwear nearly every day since she was a teen. The company claimed that scientific evidence supports the safety of the talcum powder. That said, Ovacome said that 16 studies showed talc increased the risk of ovarian cancer by a third. The British charity later said, “Ovarian cancer is a rare disease and increasing a small risk by a third still gives a small risk.” Johnson & Johnson claimed the studies were not reliable. However, by March 2017 over 1,000 women in the United States had sued the company for covering up the possible cancer risk.

China’s Space Lab is Going to Crash Into Earth! But No One Knows Where

Megan Diane
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China’s Space Lab is Going to Crash Into Earth! But No One Knows Where

Within the next few months, China’s 8.5-ton space laboratory will crash into Earth. But, no one knows where it will hit.

According to reports, Tiangong 1, in Chinese translates to “Heavenly Palace,” is China’s first space lab. China launched Tiangong1 in 2011, and the laboratory worked as a prototype for a permanent space station that the country plans to construct. But six years after the lab was launched into orbit, the facility became unresponsive and is now expected to come crashing down to Earth.

Last year, Chinese officials confirmed they had lost control of the facility and that it would crash into Earth sometime in 2017. Last May, China told the United Nations that the lab would re-enter Earth between October and April 2018. That said, much of the lab is expected to burn up before entering the United States. But, Jonathan McDowell an astrophysicist from Harvard University told The Guardian, that pieces weighing up to 220 pounds could still make it to the Earth’s surface.

“You really can’t steer these things,” Dowell said. “Even a couple of days before it reenters, we probably won’t know better than six or seven hours, plus or minus, when it’s going to come down. Not knowing when it’s going to come down translates as not knowing where it’s going to come down.”

NASA
Stock Photo:
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL- JANUARY 2: The NASA’s Logo Signage at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA in Florida on December 28, 2010. (Edwin Verin / Shutterstock.com)

While this may seem insane, this is not the first time this has happened. The Soviet Salyut 7 space station crashed into Earth in 1991. Even the United States’ NASA Skylab fell over Western Australia in 1979.

Despite the setback, China is launched Tiangong 2, a second experimental station in 2016 and plans to have a permanently manned space station in orbit by 2020.

Man Kidnapped By The Taliban Couldn’t Believe Trump Was President

Reginald Edward
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Man Kidnapped By The Taliban Couldn’t Believe Trump Was President

The Taliban had kidnaped Joshua Boyle and his pregnant wife on a trip to Afghanistan in 2012. The captors would later kill his infant daughter, he said, and rape his wife, according to Joshua who described the entire experience as a “Kafka-esque nightmare.” Late last year, the couple were reportedly on the verge of making a video to show their loved ones that they were still alive.

That said, Joshua Boyle explained that he thought one of his captors was lying when his captors told him  Donald Trump had been elected the President of the United States.

“It didn’t enter my mind that he was being serious,” Boyle, a Canadian national, told the Toronto Star days after being rescued.

CNN Trump
November 9, 2016: CNN television screen shot of Donald Trump after he was elected the United States president. (Andy Dean Photography / Shutterstock.com)

The last time Boyle had access to the news that wasn’t controlled by his Taliban captors was in 2012 when Trump was only flirting with the idea of running for president.

The top issue at the time appeared to be whether or not President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Meanwhile, Trump was still just working on his reality TV show and focusing on his businesses.

In fact, according to the Guardian, in 2011 Trump said, “Business is my greatest passion, and I am not ready to leave the private sector.” Moreover, a study at the time found 71% of people thought Trump had no chance at becoming president.

Joshua Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children – all of them born in captivity – were rescued Wednesday in Pakistan, where their captors had moved them after their kidnapping in Afghanistan. Boyle described himself as a pilgrim and said he and his wife went to Afghanistan to try and help “the most neglected minority group in the world, those ordinary villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan … where no NGO, no aid worker, and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help.”

Bitcoin Valuation Skyrockets to $5,000

Reginald Edward
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Bitcoin Valuation Skyrockets to $5,000

Bitcoin’s valuation has surpassed $5,000 for the first time on Thursday. The value of Bitcoin has jumped 8% on the day as investors gain more confidence in the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin is the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency. Since the start of 2017, the value of the cryptocurrency has increased by 500% this year. It is important to note that the valuation of Bitcoin is highly volatile and more difficult to sell than traditional assets. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of the risks surrounding the cryptocurrency market. In fact, Russia’s central bank said they are considering banning cryptocurrency trading websites.

That said, Goldman Sachs is reportedly considering offering bitcoin trading and even China is considering easing restrictions of the cryptocurrency.

The main reason why the valuation of Bitcoin is rising is due to a rise in demand for the cryptocurrency. According to data from SEMrush, a search engine data analytics company found the price had a 91% correlation with Google searches surrounding bitcoin, suggesting news surrounding the cryptocurrency increases the valuation of Bitcoin.

This news comes after the head of JP Morgan called out the cryptocurrency as a “fraud,” but after a slight drop in the value of Bitcoin, the valuation of the cryptocurrency has increased by 75% in the last four weeks.

So what is causing the rise in the valuation of bitcoin?

Bitcoin

As we previously reported, the growth can be linked to several factors ranging from political concerns to a recent split into two currencies – the first being Bitcoin classic and Bitcoin cash. The change, which started on August 1st, was made to give the money a larger infrastructure. It also allowed for large trades in the currency to take place more frequency. It is important to highlight the fact bitcoin could be bought for around $570 just about a year ago.

Looking for a Job? Amazon is Now Hiring 120,000 People

Reginald Edward
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Looking for a Job? Amazon is Now Hiring 120,000 People

Amazon is about to go on a hiring spree. The e-commerce giant plans to add more than 120,000 workers for the upcoming holiday shopping season. On Thursday, the company announces it will hire positions in its fulfillment centers, customer service sites, and sorting facilities. While many of the jobs are temporary, some spots could turn into permanent positions.

Amazon has been hiring individuals for the last couple of months. In August, the company held a one-day job fair aimed at employing 50,000 people.

As analysts predict holiday sales are expected to hit $1 trillion with over $100 billion in online shopping, Amazon is preparing to handle the holiday rush.

Amazon
Stock Photo:
SAN FRANCISCO – OCTOBER 11: Amazon logo on black shiny wall in mall California October 11, 2015. Amazon is a American international electronic commerce company and world’s largest online retailer. (Eric Broder Van Dyke / Shutterstock.com)

According to CBS News, Amazon is planning on hiring people in the following states:

  • Alabama    
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin

Large retailers and shipping firms are staffing up this year to handle the surge of businesses. But, Amazon is not alone. Target said it would hire 100,000 workers, Macy’s plans to hire 80,000 temporary employees and UPS said they would add 145,000 employees.

Facebook Plans To Share More Information on The Russian Ads

Jonathan Antonio
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Facebook Plans To Share More Information on The Russian Ads

Facebook is calling for U.S. lawmakers to let the world see the ads linked to Russian accounts and advertised during the 2016 election. The social network is also willing to explain the ad targeting to the public as well.

Sheryl Sandberg is Facebook’s chief operating officer. On Thursday, she announced her company’s willingness for more transparency during an interview with Axios’ Mike Allen. It was the first public interview of a Facebook executive since the website announced it had sold thousands of ads linked to Russian account last month.

The House Intelligence Committee leaders said Wednesday they are willing to release the ads after meeting with Sandberg, according to a report by Politico. However, Facebook also wants the public to understand who was shown the ads.

“When the ads get released, we will also be releasing the targeting for those ads,” Sandberg said Thursday. 

Sheryl Sandberg
Stock Photo:
Laguna Niguel, CA, USA; Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 2014; Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook speaks at the 2014 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. (Krista Kennell / Shutterstock.com)

Facebook revealed in October that about 10 million people could have seen the Russian-bought political advertisements. But, Facebook is not alone. Twitter and Google were reportedly linked to the Russian propaganda campaign.

Sandberg did not explain whether the Russian ads and the Trump campaign were associated despite being asked by Allen on several times.

That said, Facebook hoped they discovered these ads earlier. Facebook came forward with information in September and shared it with the FBI special investigation into the hacking of the 2016 election by Robert Mueller. The company shared the data after being requested by Senator Mark Warner.  “We wish we had found it before it ever happened,” Sandberg said. 

Facebook agreed earlier this month to testify before the Senate and the House on November 1st. Twitter, who also discovered hundreds of accounts linked to Russia, also plans to testify.

PornHub Was Reportedly Hacked

Jonathan Antonio
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PornHub Was Reportedly Hacked

PornHub receives 80 million visitors a day, but the website may have been hacked. According to Independent, Pornhub was hacked. The news outlet reports a secret advertisement has been running on the site for more than a year. The ad would infiltrate a user’s computer and then have their device taken over, without their knowledge. While the problem was shut down as soon as it was discovered, Independent writer Andrew Griffin suggests “the damage could have spread across the Internet.”

The hack worked by showing a user an advertisement on the website that appeared to be a browser or operating system update. A user would mistakenly click the ad and install the software. Once it was installed, the software could take over a users’ computer and use it to click on fake ads, putting the owner’s safety in jeopardy. Independent reports, Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm, discovered the software.

“While the payload, in this case, is ad fraud malware, it could just as easily have been ransomware, an information stealer, or any other malware,” Proofpoint said. “Regardless, threat actors are following the money and looking to more effective combinations of social engineering, targeting and pre-filtering to infect new victims at scale.”

This news comes after the website invested in artificial intelligence to help millions of visitors find the right content they are looking for. Instead of hiring someone to go through the hundreds of thousands of videos and tag them by hand the company his hiring machines to do it instead.

“Ultimately, we want to provide our fans with whatever it is they have a penchant for and our new model will be able to surface more accurate results for them, which will hopefully keep them coming back for more,” said Corey Price, PHub VP. “It’s all about continuously updating our platform to provide our fans with the latest in technology to make their experience on our platform as seamless as possible. The easier it is to navigate and access what they want, the happier they will be.”

The computer program can identify specific actors in scenes and even various positions and physical attributes. While it is difficult to describe the set of features of the machine-learning application, the system can identify individual performers in real time.

“So far we’ve used the model on about 500k featured videos which include user submitted and we plan to scan the whole library in the beginning of 2018,” said Price. “Very shortly, the technology will also be used to detect various sex positions / categories and be able to properly tag them as well.”

PornHub is reinventing facial detection and categorizing videos and images based on various attributes. That means you will be able to search and find content based on characteristics and names.

China’s Alibaba Invests $15 Billion in Future Technology

Jonathan Antonio
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China’s Alibaba Invests $15 Billion in Future Technology

China’s Alibaba is investing $15 billion into a network of research groups with a mission to challenge Silicon Valley’s dominance in technology.

Alibaba announced on Wednesday that the investment would be used to create research labs over the next three years around the world. The goal of the $15 billion investment is to focus on future technology such as quantum computing and the Internet-of-Things.

That said, Amazon, Alibaba’s most significant global competitor, invested $16 billion into technology research and development last year. In fact, Amazon is already planning on using drones, cashier-less stores, and other future technology to innovate how the world buy and sell products.

Alibaba Group
Stock Photo:
New York City, USA – November 11, 2015: Sign at the New York Stock Exchange as the e-commerce company the Alibaba Group records blockbuster Single’s Day sales in New York City. (Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com)

Ultimately, billionaire tech leaders are always focused on the future. Jack Ma, the CEO of Alibaba, predicts the world will use robots and artificial intelligence to change the world fundamentally.

alibaba
CIRCA APRIL 2014 – BERLIN: the logo of the brand “Alibaba”, Berlin. (360b / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Alibaba has also diversified their business by investing in start-ups such as the ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxing and the bike-sharing app ofo. Also, the company has expanded beyond online-retail with cloud services, online payment platforms, and grocery stores. Given the company’s wide-array of businesses, investing in future technology just makes sense.

Is Facebook Down? #FacebookDown Goes Viral As Some Users Experience Issues

Jonathan Antonio
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Is Facebook Down? #FacebookDown Goes Viral As Some Users Experience Issues

Facebook users have experienced an outage Wednesday morning. Users report being unable to use the website and other users report the website’s functionality such as the “post” box was not working.

The outage of the network was tracked by the website Down Detector, where users continue to report issues with the platform.

According to a statement from Facebook to CNET, the social networking website said they are acknowledging that some users are experiencing trouble.

“We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing Facebook and Instagram,” a Facebook representative told CNET. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”

That said, users took to Twitter with the #FacebookDown to poke fun at the website’s issues.

Model in ‘Racist’ Dove Ad Says She is “Not a Victim”

Reginald Edward
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Model in ‘Racist’ Dove Ad Says She is “Not a Victim”

Loa Ogunyemi, the Nigerian model who starred in a Dove ad that has been called racist, has come to the defense of the commercial, claiming that the image that has gone viral misrepresents the ad.

“There is a lack of trust here, and I feel the public was justified in their initial outrage,” Ogunyemi wrote in The Guardian on Tuesday, admitting that Dove has been criticized for this same issue in the past. “Having said that, I can also see that a lot has been left out. The narrative has been written without giving consumers context on which to base an informed opinion.”

A clip of the commercial showing Ogunyemi removing a skin-toned shirt and becoming a white woman went viral over the weekend. Many people bashed the ad for equating whiteness for cleanliness.

Dove later pulled the commercial campaign and issued an apology saying the company’s and had “missed the mark.”

“I know that the beauty industry has fueled this opinion with its long history of presenting lighter, mixed-race or white models as the beauty standard,” Ogunyemi wrote. “This repressive narrative is one I have seen affect women from many different communities I’ve been a part of. “

Ogunyemi claims the full 30-second ad featured seven women of “different races and ages,” showing that there are many different skin types.

“I loved it, and everyone around me seemed to as well. I think the full TV edit does a much better job of making the campaign’s message loud and clear,” she wrote.

Ogunyemi added that she is “not just some silent victim of a mistaken beauty campaign.” She added that the company should have “defended their creative vision, and their choice to include [Ogunyemi], an unequivocally dark-skinned black woman, as a face of their campaign.”

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