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Today, the New York Times published a galvanizing analysis of the location histories of 12 million cell phones, a stockpile provided to them by sources inside an unnamed location data company that harvests data from mobile apps. This shit is real, man, and we’ve long known that telecoms have been selling our location data to … Continued
With everything from cars, to trucks, to even airplanes going electric, the demand for batteries is going to continue to skyrocket in the coming years—but the availability of the materials currently used to make them is limited. So scientists at IBM Research have developed a new battery whose unique ingredients can be extracted from seawater … Continued
It appears Spotify is prototyping a function to allow users to more easily discover what their friends are listening to most. The feature was discovered by researcher and reverse-engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong and first reported by TechCrunch on Wednesday. As TechCrunch noted, a landing page is currently accessible here, though its features and buttons … Continued
In 2004, Navy Pilot Chad Underwood was on a flight-training exercise near the California coast when he spotted and filmed an unidentified flying object with an infrared gun-camera pod. The video of the 40-foot-long oblong mass traveling about 138 miles per hour—now known as the “Tic Tac”—was released in a 2017 New York Times report … Continued
In a warehouse in Chatsworth, California, rows upon rows of giant wooden crates are stacked forty feet high, in a scene somewhat reminiscent of the secret U.S. military installation shown at the end of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Instead of Biblical artifacts, though, these boxes contain a more modern form of treasure: … Continued
Technically, Samsung still hasn’t given it an official name, so in lieu of that, people are just calling it the Galaxy Fold 2. And now, thanks to a user on Weibo, we may have just gotten the best look yet at Samsung’s next foldable phone. Earlier this morning on Weibo, user Wang Ben Hong posted … Continued
Yesterday, Donald Trump became the third president in the history of the United States to get impeached, and Trump is obviously not happy. But as things get worse for the president, his message becomes more and more extreme, especially on social media platforms like Facebook. The Trump campaign buys new Facebook ads every day, and … Continued
Instagram announced on Wednesday that it will begin enforcing bans on influencers promoting “goods such as vaping, tobacco products and weapons” in branded posts. Instagram’s owner Facebook has long prohibited brands from directly purchasing ads for these kinds of products, but a loophole existed in that paid promotions by influencers were not subject to the … Continued
Jack Dorsey is sitting, plotting, thinking about how much he hates his enemy Mark Zuckerberg for reasons unclear to the public but apparently very clear and ever-present in Jack Dorsey’s mind. Mark Zuckerberg was doing other stuff today, possibly work, probably thinking about bigger-picture nefarious schemes like world domination, but all of his plans are … Continued
In spite of everything—the leaks, the breaches, the myriad privacy risks—a large majority of people are still using “password” and “123456” as their password. Folks, it’s long past time to stop taking security shortcuts. Security services firm SplashData has released its ninth annual Worst Passwords of the Year list, which assesses more than 5 million … Continued
Of course, Amazon is listing actual, dumpster-retrieved garbage in its marketplace. But you’d be fully forgiven for not realizing it. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, following an investigation into Amazon sellers who claim they dumpster-dive for items they later sell on Amazon, Journal reporters themselves embarked on a dumpster-diving excursion behind various … Continued
It appears that Chatroulette, which is alive and well and abundant with dicks at 9 AM EST (long may internet anonymity live), has been tamed by a new company into a more manageable dating app form. On Blindlee, which launched in October, you may now fish for potential mates over three-minute video chats, with varying … Continued
The Epilepsy Foundation filed criminal complaints this month following an attack on its Twitter account that could have harmed people with epilepsy. The non-profit organization announced on Monday it had asked law enforcement agencies to assist with a mass attack on social media that took place during National Epilepsy Awareness Month. According to the statement, … Continued
I remember my first phone call from the FBI clearly. It was mid-May 2015. I was sitting in my dreary Midtown cubicle, chugging iced coffee and trying to hold out for the end of the day as a lowly junior reporter. My eyelids were drooping when my wrist buzzed. Someone was calling me. My fitness … Continued
In an effort to make it easier for consumers to transition to a smart home setup without having to buy into a proprietary system, Apple, Google, Amazon, and the rest of the Zigbee Alliance announced today they’re forming a new working group that will (hopefully) develop a new connectivity standard allowing hardware from all these … Continued
The brain-splitting moment happened about a week ago. A video (watermarked with the logo of a camera from Ring, an Amazon company) showing a man delivering an Amazon package, finding a box of snacks on a porch, then dancing went viral. My mind failed to find joy in the moment. Think of the moving parts. … Continued
Edward Snowden will not be allowed to profit from sales of his book Permanent Record, after a federal judge in Virginia ruled Tuesday that Snowden should have sought approval from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA). It’s not clear if Snowden, who was previously a CIA employee and contractor for the … Continued
Any protected computer system is only as safe as whoever’s in charge of it, so hopefully that person doesn’t go rogue. Here’s a clear example: The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged an IT admin at Santa Clara-based Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and four others with an insider trading plot that reaped “over $7 million … Continued
Email cleanup service Unroll.me has settled with the Federal Trade Commission and must delete information it gathered from some consumers after it was revealed the firm was mining and selling data from users’ inboxes, the agency announced on Tuesday. In 2017, the New York Times revealed that once Unroll.me—which was supposed to help users unsubscribe … Continued
The National Portrait Gallery of Washington, D.C., is currently displaying a psychological thriller of a painting: “Untitled, Jeffrey P. Bezos,” 2019. We won’t ask why the gallery would choose to display a six-by-five-and-a-half portrait of the 2019 fundraising gala honoree as it enjoys a new spate of VIP interest and oh, by the way, reported … Continued