Day: June 22, 2020

President Donald Trump signed an proclamation Monday temporarily blocking the entry of foreign workers coming to the US on certain visas — including the sought-after H-1B visa for skilled workers — through the end of the year.

The proclamation is the latest in Trump’s series of crackdowns on legal immigration during the coronavirus pandemic. The move, which will affect hundreds of thousands of people who had planned to come to the US, is necessary, according to a senior administration official, because Americans face staggeringly high unemployment levels as a result of the pandemic.

The proclamation, which will go into …

Apple is cracking down on what it allows other companies to know about you. The company announced on Monday that iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur will feature a host of improved privacy features that will give users better control over their data and knowledge over what apps and websites know about them. This is great for users who don’t like the idea of, say, a period tracker app sending their data to a company they’ve never heard of. It’s bad news for that company they’ve never heard of.

Over on iOS, the mobile operating system that powers iPhones, apps …

If you want to understand just how badly US negotiations to control the spread of nuclear weapons are going, all you need to do is look at a tweet from the country’s top arms control negotiator.

On Monday, Marshall Billingslea began two days of talks with his Russian counterpart over how to possibly extend New START, a 2011 deal that limits the size of the American and Russian nuclear arsenals. Among other things, it allows Washington and Moscow to keep tabs on each other’s nuclear programs through stringent inspections and data sharing — thereby curbing mistrust about each other’s …

Fix your gaze on the black dot on the left side of this image. But wait! Finish reading this paragraph first. As you gaze at the left dot, try to answer this question: In what direction is the object on the right moving? Is it drifting diagonally, or is it moving up and down?

Remember, focus on the dot on the left.

Courtesy of Patrick Cavanagh

It appears as though the object on the right is moving diagonally, up to the right and then back down to the left. Right? Right?! Actually, it’s not. It’s moving up and down in …