Mastercard and Western Union explore digital model for refugee camps

With more than 65 million people around the world currently displaced from their homes due to political conflict and natural disasters, there is a growing need to find better ways for refugees to achieve self-sufficiency and become economic engines in their host countries.

On World Refugee Day, Mastercard and Western Union announced a collaboration to explore the development of a digital model to help refugees more easily access basic human goods, services and finances within refugee settlements. The aim is to enable refugees, their host communities and donors to send and receive funds digitally, allowing for more transparency and long-term empowerment of refugees.

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Chevrolet Bolt EV earns top safety ratings from IIHS

Electric Cars and hybrid vehicles are rewriting the way automobiles are built, not just in terms of powerplants, technology and carbon footprints but also in terms of construction and materials. The Chevrolet Bolt EV has has added top safety ratings from the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) to its list of accolades.

“The Bolt earns good ratings in all five of the Institute’s crashworthiness tests — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints. It also has an optional front crash prevention system that earns a superior rating. The car avoided collisions in IIHS track tests at 12 mph and 25 mph, and the system has a forward collision warning component that meets National Highway Traffic Safety Administration criteria," the IIHS said in a report.

Earlier this year, I was invited by GM Canada to check out all facets of the Chevy Bolt EV, this included talking to engineers about construction and powertrains. The Chevy Bolt EV uses various types of materials to ensure rigidity and strength during collisions, but also maintains lightweight materials.

Source: Elektrek.co

Motorola Moto Z2 Play and JBL SoundBoost2 coming to Canada in July for $800

Motorola's Moto Z2 Play, which is their current Canadian flagship that can take the Moto Mods accessories, will be available in early July for $800  together with the JBL SoundBoost2 in-box (normally priced as $114.99 CAD option), and will be at Freedom Mobile, Bell Mobility, SaskTel Mobility and BellMTS. Moto TurboPower Pack will also be available in early July for $99.99 at Bell Mobility and Staples. Moto GamePad, a Moto Mod that turns the smartphone into a will be available later this summer. 

Some specs on the Moto Z2 Play, it is sized between last year's wafer-thin Moto Z and the larger Moto Z Play. It has a headphone jack, a redesigned and multifunctional fingerprint reader, which doubles as a trackpad. It is powered by SnapDragon 626 octa-core processor, 3 GB of RAM, has a 5.5-inch HD display, 12-megapixel camera with f/1.7 aperture and dual autofocus pixels. Stay tuned for a full review right here.

Popular ‘GTA 5’ modding tool gets shut down, fans react negatively to the news

If you’ve used OpenIV mod for Grand Theft Auto V, we’re sure you’re already aware of the news that publisher Take-Two Interactive served a cease and desist order for the fan-made modding tool. And the developers took it down saying they don’t have the time to try and fight the order. This extremely popular modding tool was used not just create and modify content like vehicles, weapons, gameplay features, and effects, but it also served as an improved video editor. Take-Two reasoned that while they aren’t against modding as a whole, they say OpenIV threatens the security of the GTA Online mode. In a statement they say, “Take-Two’s actions were not specifically targeting single player mods. Unfortunately OpenIV enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the GTA Online experience for everybody. We are working to figure out how we can continue to support the creative community without negatively impacting our players.”

The GTA 5 community reacted rather negatively to the news saying there isn’t any evidence that the tool interferes with GTA Online. They’ve flooded the Steam page for the game with negative reviews and started a petition over at Change.org that already has over 20,000 signatures. The petition titled “Save OpenIV,” says “The closing of OpenIV leaves 10,000s of people without access to be able to mod their games, and leaves 10,000s of people without the ability to continue their hobbies.”

Source: SlashGear + PC Gamer