Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Software Glitch Grounds NZ Flights

2025-08-24

A software glitch in New Zealand's air traffic control system caused significant disruption on the weekend, grounding several flights and causing delays. Five planes circled Wellington, and four couldn't take off due to a one-hour outage resulting from flight data transfer issues between systems. Airways CEO James Young assures the public that all aircraft were under control and that the incident wasn't a cyberattack. An investigation is underway to determine the root cause and improve system resilience.

(www.rnz.co.nz)

Tech

AI Winter Bites: NZ Tech Job Market Stagnant, Immigrants Face Headwinds

2025-06-03

New Zealand's tech sector is facing a downturn in 2025, with layoffs at major companies and the expansion of AI exacerbating job pressures. Microsoft cut 6,000 jobs, and New Zealand's health sector also slashed IT roles. A 12-year veteran software engineer from China, James Zhang, struggled to find work in New Zealand, citing ageism in the Chinese tech industry and visa challenges. While job ads have slightly increased, competition remains fierce, with immigrants facing additional hurdles. Many are forced to upskill or pursue further education.

(www.rnz.co.nz)

Tech

Landlines Make a Comeback: Parents Fight Smartphone Addiction

2025-02-19

Concerned about the growing impact of smartphones on children's well-being, some New Zealand parents are employing an unexpected strategy: the landline. This old-school communication method provides a safe alternative for emergencies and peer-to-peer contact, while avoiding the pitfalls of smartphones like addiction, social media pressures, and accidental exposure to harmful content. While bucking the trend of declining landline use, this approach highlights parental concern for children's healthy development and a growing awareness of technology's downsides.

(www.rnz.co.nz)

Misc children's well-being tech addiction family tech

Meta Deletes AI Accounts After Backlash Over Deception and Low-Quality Content

2025-01-04

Meta hastily deleted several AI-generated accounts following a significant backlash. These accounts, posing as real users with fabricated racial and sexual identities, generated low-quality content and even spread falsehoods. The controversy intensified with media exposure of accounts like "Liv" and "Grandpa Brian," whose false identities and misinformation sparked outrage. Meta attributed the issue to a bug in an early experiment and claimed to be addressing it by removing the accounts. This incident highlights the ethical concerns and potential negative impacts of AI technology, raising concerns about the misuse of AI-generated accounts on social media platforms.

(www.rnz.co.nz)

Tech