9 great reads from CNET this week
How being homeless makes it hard to connect to Wi-Fi during a pandemic, why the Pentagon wants to kill an upstart 5G network, and what two famous cities did to flatten the coronavirus curve.
As countries and states continue to loosen their coronavirus restrictions, we've been keeping an eye out this week for what that means for technology companies. Apple, for instance, reportedly plans to bring employees back to its offices by the summer. Twitter, on the other hand, said some workers can continue working from home permanently. And Uber has rebuilt its app to require drivers and passengers to agree to a checklist of COVID-19 prevention measures before every trip, including wearing a face mask.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus remains a factor in all aspects of tech, from setting new norms for surveillance and privacy to pushing health care online to the making of faster chips that'll let researchers crunch data in days or months instead of years.
Here are the week's stories you don't want to miss.
Wi-Fi is a lifeline in the pandemic. It's harder to get if you're homeless
Simply charging a phone is an even bigger hurdle. There's help, but the need is greater.
Why the Pentagon wants to kill an upstart 5G network
The Defense Department says the FCC's approval of Ligado's petition to use satellite spectrum for 5G will destroy GPS.
How two famous cities flattened the coronavirus curve
Two months in San Francisco and Sydney show how early, decisive actions helped contain COVID-19 outbreaks threatening to overrun the cities.
Good debt and bad debt: Here's the difference
It's important to know what you're getting into when borrowing money, whether the transaction involves a credit card, a mortgage or some other kind of loan.
How I survived (and am still surviving) a long-distance relationship during COVID-19
Even couples used to being apart aren't used to being apart like this.
Forget The Matrix. David Cronenberg's Existenz is the movie for our odd times
Game systems made out of mutated frogs. Guns crafted from bone and flesh. Now more than ever, I can't forget Cronenberg's immersive vision.
Eric Schmidt, who led Google's transformation into a tech giant, has left the company
Schmidt exited as a technical advisor at Google parent company Alphabet in February.
Facial recognition firms are scrambling to see around face masks
Because of face coverings prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, companies are trying to ID people based on just their eyes and cheek bones.
Facebook tackles coronavirus misinformation, hateful memes with AI
Understanding the relationship between words and images isn't easy for machines.
