Google will soon display wait times for restaurants in search and Maps
THE VERGE
If you get easily hangry and impatient, Google’s new feature that lists restaurant wait times will help you plan around your hunger pangs. The update will arrive to Google search and Maps “soon.” It will show you how long you’ll have to wait to get a seat at a restaurant at any particular hour. Google says it’ll have wait times for nearly a million sit-down restaurants around the world.
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Advancing employee safety through mobile technology
MOBILE BUSINESS INSIGHTS
The cost of occupational injuries and illnesses — including worker’s compensation and lost productivity — is roughly $198 billion each year in the US, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
On the other side of the globe, Australia’s Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace recently stated, “We owe it to the victims [of workplace injuries and illnesses] and their loved ones to ensure Queensland has strong … laws to protect people on the job.” Though such laws have been in place in Australia for the past several years, the Queensland Government has now promised to ban insurance products that pay occupational health and safety penalties imposed against employers, according to SafetyAtWorkBlog.
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CRTC Finds Canada’s Internet Speeds Aren’t up to Par
TECHVIBES
Canada’s internet speeds aren’t measuring up. The Canadian-Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released its annual Communications Monitoring Report for 2017 and unsurprisingly found that both mobile phone usage and home internet usage has grown over the past year, at a rate of 25 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. What’s a bit more shocking is that Canadians continue to have slower-than-mandated internet speeds. At the end of 2016, the CRTC enacted rules that the base broadband internet speed must be 10 Mbps for upload and 50 Mbps for download. However, as of the end of last year, 89 per cent of Canadians do not have subscriptions that meet that criteria.
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Google Is Finally Killing Annoying Redirect Ads In Chrome
FORBES
The internet we’ve all come to know and (sometimes) love is fueled by advertising revenue. That’s great because most websites and services are free, but the flip side is there are some truly terrible advertisers out there. Rogue redirect ads are among the most frustrating speedbumps on the information superhighway, but Google is preparing to end this nuisance once and for all.
A redirect ad is basically a way to circumvent popup blocking, which is a standard feature in all browsers now. These rogue ads, usually served by the ad network without the knowledge of website operators, hijack the current page to load an ad that is often styled to look like a system warning. They can also spawn additional tabs and windows under the one you’re currently using.
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