James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Remote work is the future, according to Salesforce

The traditional 9-to-5 workday is “dead,” according to an article published by Salesforce.com Inc. today, as the company announced drastic changes to how its workers will fill their days going forward. The company said that early on during the pandemic and the attendant lockdowns it surveyed staff to see how they were getting along working ...

Facebook will now ban all vaccination misinformation

Facebook Inc. said it will ban all dubious information regarding vaccines, whether related to COVID-19 vaccines or any others, starting today. For years now the company has responded to criticism that it has done enough to stamp out anti-vaccination content. In March 2019, Facebook promised to promote authoritative information about vaccines while banning ads containing ...

Amazon criticized for spying over AI cameras in its vans

Amazon.com Inc. is taking some heat after it was revealed that it has begun installing artificial intelligence cameras in its delivery vans. The reason for the cameras – designed by San Diego-based startup Netradyne – is to improve safety, so any mistakes that drivers make are recorded. If drivers get drowsy at the wheel, speed, ...

Apple reportedly closing a deal with Hyundai-Kia to build the first ‘Apple Car’

Apple Inc. is reportedly closing in on a deal to make a fully autonomous vehicle with Hyundai Motor Group and its affiliate Kia Corp. Reports of an Apple car, or iCar, go back to 2015, although it was first thought the vehicle would be semi-autonomous. Then in late 2019, it was reported that Apple had ...

Wikipedia introduces global code of conduct to combat harassment and misinformation

In an effort to make the website more reliable and a better place to work, the Wikimedia Foundation announced today that it has introduced a “first of its kind” global code of conduct. As the world’s largest online encyclopedia, the English version alone contains some 6,241,247 articles and receives on average 597 new articles every ...

Amid Apple privacy spat, Facebook will ask users to opt in to tracking for ‘better ads experience’

Facebook Inc. said today that it will start rolling out a new function for iPhone and iPad in which users will be asked to allow the company to track their activity in order to improve their ad experience. The move comes before Apple Inc.’s spring update which has rankled Facebook somewhat. In that update, users ...

In its first rulings, Facebook’s Oversight Board overturns four of five cases

Facebook Inc.’s Oversight Board has ruled that four of five cases where Facebook had taken down content should be reversed. Almost a year ago to the day, Facebook announced that it would soon start implementing a third-party review board to oversee its decisions regarding what it removes from the platform, although it wasn’t until December ...

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will cut back on News Feed political content

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said today that there’s too much political content on the platform and he has some ideas about how to address that. Zuckerberg brought the matter up when talking on the quarterly earnings call, saying that a top priority for 2021 was to lessen the amount of political fighting on ...

Twitter gives academics full access to its tweet archive

Twitter Inc. said today that it will grant academic researchers full access to its archive of tweets so they can better understand user behavior and what topics people discuss. Academics have been able for some years now to access some of the company’s archive, but Twitter said it hasn’t always been easy for researchers to ...

Twitter pilots a new misinformation fighting tool: Birdwatch

Twitter Inc. today announced the preliminary release of Birdwatch, its fact-checking function for users. The program, which is specifically designed to address specious information that appears on the platform, is available to only 1,000 users in the U.S. right now. Those users will be able to address information and tag it as misleading, adding more ...