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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Working on Instagram Product for Children Under 13 Years Old
Facebook, the social media behemoth that owns Instagram, is developing a new Instagram product for children under 13 years of age, according to leaked documents obtained by BuzzFeed. Instagram users must currently click a button declaring that they’re at least 13 years old, or that the account featuring a kid under the age of 13 … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsCultureUh Oh
Uh oh. Why must Fox News host Sean Hannity panic and hide his vape from the world when the cameras come on, as he did last night? Why can’t Hannity just puff away as the cameras roll like Edward R. Murrow and Rod Serling, heroic TV men who were always seen with a cigarette in … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsSocial MediaZuck Slowly Shrinks and Transforms Into a Corncob Ahead of Apple’s Looming Privacy Updates
Facebook has pushed back against Apple’s planned rollout of anti-tracking tools at every possible opportunity, but now the social media giant seems to be changing its tune in a last-ditch effort to save face. On Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook may actually be in a “stronger position” after the privacy updates to iOS and … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityRight-Wing ‘Troll’ Chuck Johnson Claims He Cofounded Facial Recognition Giant Clearview AI
Chuck Johnson, the conservative activist, writer, and founder of several failed web platforms, is known to swim in a cesspool of right-wing drama. The 32-year-old allegedly played a role in former President Trump’s transition team, has connections to Breitbart and Matt Gaetz, and has long enjoyed the role of far-right provocateur (he was one of … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsGadgetsThere’s a Hidden Code in Intel’s New Graphics Card Teaser
Intel posted a cryptic teaser on Twitter this morning that seems to suggest the chipmaker is getting ready to release more details about its long-awaited gaming graphics card, the Xe HPG. What that information is no one knows, but Intel has been dropping tiny crumbs about the Xe HPG for several months. Last August, Intel … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaTwitter Stands By, Lets OANN Link to Reporter’s Phone Number, Encourage Users to Harass Her [Updated]
[Editor’s note: After publication, OANN’s tweet was deleted, six or so hours after being published. “This tweet violated the Twitter Rules,” a new message says. Our original story is below.] [Note 2: A Twitter spokesperson said: “We took action on the tweet you referenced for violating the Twitter rules on personal and private information.”] More … Continued
By Dell Cameron -
Tech NewsChild’s Death Prompts Peloton to Issue Safety Notice About the Tread+
In a letter to members, Peloton’s CEO said a “tragic accident” had occurred involving a child and the company’s Tread+ treadmill. Reached for comment, the company did not say whether the incident was related to the treadmill’s design, but it did say that Peloton “designed and tested the Tread+ for use by people over the … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Teases Futuristic Wrist-Based Wearable That Will Let You Control AR With Your Mind
Facebook is really, really serious about augmented reality. Last year, the company showed off a frankly ambitious framework for the future of AR, and now the social media giant has revealed some of the advanced gadgets it’s designing to help people interact with the AR world. The Facebook Reality Labs Research team’s biggest challenge is … Continued
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Tech NewsYou Can’t ‘Own’ a Fart, It Belongs to All Who Smelt It
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a supposedly unique digital token generated by the same type of blockchain tech that powers cryptocurrencies like Ether and Bitcoin and serves as a trading card signifying ownership of a data asset, which can be anything from music and paintings to a photo of a cat or literally anything else. … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPostal Service Report Confirms ‘Whistleblower’ Mail Carrier Alleging Election Fraud Was Full of Shit
Shocking: The feds have determined that the Donald Trump-loving Pennsylvania mail carrier that made over $236,000 on a Christian crowdfunding platform after claiming to have overheard a U.S. Postal Service plot to steal the state for Joe Biden made it all up. Richard Hopkins, a USPS employee in Erie, claimed in a sworn affidavit shortly … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityCybercrime Is Booming and It’s Costing America Billions
The FBI’s annual Internet Crime Report is out and it shows that hackers and other cybercriminals ran wild during 2020, breaking new records and likely costing Americans billions of dollars. The bureau says it received “a record number of complaints” and reported losses through its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which collects, analyzes, and publicizes … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsInternetWhistleblower Alleges AT&T Overcharged Underfunded Schools for Phone and Internet Service
A former in-house lawyer for AT&T alleges the company systemically charged the nation’s most underfunded schools a higher rate for phone and internet service. In an interview with The Washington Post, Theodore Marcus said the telecom ignored federal E-Rate program rules, which offers schools and libraries in need of discounts on various telecommunications services anywhere … Continued
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Tech NewsYouTube’s TikTok Clone Has Arrived
After a slew of TikTok competitors cropped up across the U.S. this past summer, it looks like we’re getting yet another name added to that list. Enter YouTube Shorts, which the company rolled out in beta on Thursday for its American audience after testing the program over the past few months in India. During that … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsWarehouse Robots That Deliberately Crash to Unload Packages Explains What Happened to My Fancy Vase
Modern warehouses are a hive of frenetic activity as robots and humans move boxes around as quickly as possible. To shave a few precious seconds off a delivery, researchers in Germany have developed a high-speed robotic drone that unloads packages by deliberately crashing into a platform and letting inertia take care of the rest. The … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsSony’s Next-Gen VR Controllers Are Packing Some Major Upgrades
Even though Sony has already said its upcoming VR headset won’t be available until sometime next year, the company is already showing off teasers of its new controllers. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the next version of Sony’s PS VR tech looks to be packing some serious upgrades. Unlike the old PlayStation Move … Continued
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Tech NewsHow Making a Funny Face Could Boost the Security of Face Unlock Features
Securing a device using your face is much easier than remembering a PIN or password, but the technology is not infallible. There are many tricks that can be used to circumvent various facial recognition security systems (including just a static photo of your face), but researchers have developed a new algorithm that could change that … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsOK, You Jackals, I’ve Finally Come Around to 1440p Monitors
I’m a few years behind the curve when it comes to PCs. I’ve never really had the latest and greatest hardware; I’ve historically made do with a mix of older, secondhand, or budget parts, whether it’s the CPU, RAM, and graphics card or peripherals like speakers and screens. For example, my PC’s sound system is … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsGadgetsAlienware’s Upgraded Gaming Laptops Have the Good Cherry Switches
Three years ago, Alienware partnered with legendary keyboard switch-maker Cherry to create a binary mechanical switch experience just for laptops. Now those switches are finally available in Alienware’s m15 R4 and m17 R4 laptops. Unlike its previous MX Low Profile laptop switches, Cherry’s new MX Ultra Low Profile switches are significantly thinner, measuring just 3.5mm … Continued
