Another research finds that remote work does not reduce productivity, Amazon is taking legal actions against fake reviewers, and Nvidia was fined for hiding how much money it made off of crypto miners.
 |
 |
 |
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Monday, May 9, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
New research by the Texas A&M University School of Public Health has found that remote work does not reduce productivity, driving home the evidence established during the pandemic. The study reiterates that remote work in fact increases company and employee resiliency. Part of the evidence for the study came from examining workforce displacement during natural disasters, in this case, hurricane Harvey. It found that although the work capacity naturally suffered when disaster struck, the pace soon returned to normal once employees found ways to work remotely. In addition to urging employers to give their employees the freedom to choose where they work, one of the researchers suggested that ensuring they take regular breaks can increase the workforce’s health.
Source: Interesting Engineering
Amazon is now taking legal action against four companies that it accuses of flooding the platform with fake reviews. According to the BBC, three of the companies had nearly 350,000 reviewers on their payroll. They operate by acting as the broker for sellers who want positive reviews. In return, each reviewer gets a free product or a small fee, while the firm also charges the seller for its service. Amazon says that these firms have targeted its platforms in the U.S., U.K, Europe, Japan and Canada. Following Amazon’s legal pursuits, one of the firms has already shut down, and at least one other has released the names of the sellers to Amazon as a part of a settlement deal.
Source: BBC
Chip designer Nvidia has been fined $5.5 million for hiding how many graphics cards were sold to crypto miners in 2018. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the charge and settlement. The Verge reported that the Commission’s order accused Nvidia of misleading investors by hiding how much of its revenue gains relied on crypto miners. Instead, the order said the company reported the revenue as gaming. Nvidia denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to avoid unlawful failures to disclose information.
Source: The Verge
EVE Online, a space exploration online video game, has partnered with Microsoft to bring Microsoft Excel support into the game. In response, the players have overwhelmingly praised the partnership for the feature. Despite being a videogame, EVE Online has an intricate economy, complete with a marketplace that prices in-game items according to supply and demand, all of which are driven by the players. EVE’s collaboration with Microsoft allows the players to export in-game data seamlessly into Excel spreadsheets. The integration is made more humorous as the game is so complex that it’s been referred to as a “spreadsheet simulator in space.”
Source: Ars Technica
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Tom Li.