Good morning. We’d like to just jump in, if that’s OK with you?
1. Optus says sorry
After the outage that affected more than 10 million customers and 400,000 businesses nationwide, Optus has said it’s sorry and that a “technical network fault” was to blame. That solves that one, then. Top-tier response from a company that got dragged for its equally top-tier response to its big whoopsie, known as a data breach.
2. YouTube and TikTok given deadline on child protection
Reuters is this morning reporting that YouTube and TikTok have been given a November 30 deadline by the European Union to reply to an information request on how they protect children from illegal and harmful content. Per the report, the Commission is requesting more information on the measures the companies have taken to step up their efforts to protect minors in order to comply with the bloc’s new rulebook for Big Tech, the Digital Services Act.
3. Industrial robot crushed a worker to death
An industrial robot grabbed and crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, the Associated Press is reporting. Per the report, local police are investigating whether the machine was defective or improperly designed. Police said early evidence suggests that human error was more likely to blame rather than problems with the machine itself. But the incident still triggered public concern about the safety of industrial robots and the false sense of security they may give to humans working nearby in a country that increasingly relies on such machines to automate its industries.
4. SpaceX attempts 29th resupply mission to the ISS
SpaceX is set to launch its 29th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station (ISS) today (Friday, November 10), at 12:28 pm AEDT. The trusty Falcon 9 is packed with 6,504 pounds of supplies destined for the International Space Station, including experiments like NASA’s ILLUMA-T project, which will test laser communications from space, and the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE), which will explore atmospheric gravity waves and their effects on Earth’s weather and climate. The live broadcast of the launch will begin at 12:00 pm on NASA TV, NASA’s YouTube channel, the NASA app, and right here at Gizmodo (see the live feed below). The weather forecast suggests a 95% chance of favourable conditions for the launch.
5. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak hospitalised
Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak was hospitalised yesterday after suffering a possible stroke in Mexico City, according to local news outlet Reforma. The 73-year-old technology legend, who was in Mexico to speak at the World Business Forum, was admitted to ABC Hospital in the city. The beloved technologist is reportedly still in the E.R. at the Mexico City hospital. Woz told his wife he was “feeling strange” after giving a speech at the forum, and then he started exhibiting symptoms that alarmed his spouse, sources with direct knowledge told TMZ. Several people from Woz’s team are flying to Mexico City to asses his situation firsthand, and take him back to the United States for continued treatment if necessary. We wish him all the best.
BONUS ITEM: Anonymous video chat app Omegle, known for pairing strangers and weirdos together in a kind of raw, extended social experiment, finally threw in the towel after years of abuse.
Image: A previous NASA cargo mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Photo: NASA.
Additional reporting: George Dvorsky, Maxwell Jeff, and Kyle Barr.