-
Tech NewsInstagram Realizes It Had a Clubhouse In Its Heart All Along
As more and more social media platforms start cooking up their own Clubhouse clones, Instagram is adding new features to its existing livestreaming service to get in on the voice chat craze. On Thursday, Instagram announced it’s rolling out the option to turn off your audio or video while using Instagram Live. Instagram tested these … Continued
-
EartherInternet Outage in Canada Blamed on Beavers Gnawing Through Fiber Cables
Rascally beavers took down internet service for about 900 customers in a remote Canadian community this weekend after gnawing through crucial fiber cables, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Sunday. The outage, which has since been resolved, also affected 60 cable TV customers and disrupted local cell phone service, according to a statement from the area’s … Continued
-
Tech NewsIndia Cracks Down on Social Media Posts Criticizing Its Pandemic Response Amid Brutal Second Wave
India’s government reportedly ordered Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to censor dozens of posts criticizing the administration’s response to the pandemic, arguing that they were misleading or could hinder emergency response efforts. The crackdown comes amid an unprecedented surge in covid-19 cases and deaths in India as a second coronavirus wave hits the nation with a … Continued
-
io9TelevisionElon Musk Is Hosting SNL and God I Wish This Was Just a Clickbait Headline
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will be hosting Saturday Night Live on May 8, the show’s official account tweeted Saturday. And I have a lot of questions, namely: Why? Musk may be known for his unconventional sense of humor, for lack of a better word, on Twitter, but is he entertaining enough to sustain … Continued
-
EartherClimate ChangeCalifornia Commits to Phasing Out Oil Extraction by 2045
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a directive Friday that sets an aspirational 2045 deadline to halt all oil extraction within the state. It also orders the state’s Department of Conservation to quit issuing new fracking permits by 2024. “California is now the first state to declare an end to oil extraction in the country,” Newsom … Continued
-
Tech NewsPolicy Executives at Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to Testify at Senate Hearing on Algorithms
Next week, policy executives from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter will testify at a Senate Judiciary hearing on algorithmic amplification, Politico reports. Social media recommendation algorithms have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, and Democratic lawmakers have voiced concerns about how they can fuel extremism and the spread of misinformation online. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee … Continued
-
ScienceHealthU.S. Health Regulators Lift Pause on Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine
Federal officials have cleared the Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine for use in the United States once again, albeit with an updated label to warn of blood clot risks. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for a pause on the vaccine’s use on April 13 in response … Continued
-
Tech NewsTesla’s Autopilot System Is ‘Easily’ Tricked Into Operating Without Anyone at the Wheel
Consumer Reports said Thursday its researchers “easily” tricked a Tesla’s Autopilot system into driving without anyone at the wheel. The publication’s worrying demonstration comes as officials continue to investigate a fatal crash in Texas involving a Tesla that authorities believe had no one in the driver’s seat at the time. Using a Tesla Model Y, … Continued
-
Tech NewsUK Court Agrees to Hear Copyright Lawsuit Brought by Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor
Many people have claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator or creators behind the digital cryptocurrency bitcoin, over the years. Now London’s High Court has agreed to hear out one of the most vocal (and disputed) claimants to the pseudonym in a lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement, according to a Reuters report. Australian computer … Continued
-
Tech NewsCrypto Market Plummets Following Week of Coinbase-fueled Hype
After cryptocurrency prices soared this week amid hype leading up to Coinbase’s direct listing, the market took a nosedive over the weekend. Bitcoin prices tanked by roughly 14% in 24 hours, from $61,530 to $52,829, the token’s biggest one-day drop since February, before rebounding slightly, according to the cryptoasset price-tracking site CoinMarketCap. Prices of other … Continued
-
Tech NewsAdobe Co-Founder and Inventor of PDFs Charles Geschke Dies at Age 81
Charles “Chuck” Geschke, a co-founder of the leading software company Adobe who invented PDFs, died Friday at age 81, the company said in a statement. “This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community and the technology industry, for whom he has been a guide and hero for decades,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen wrote … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsRegulators Urge Peloton Tread+ Owners to Stop Using Treadmill ‘Immediately,’ and Peloton Is Pissed
In the wake of multiple reports of injuries and at least one death involving Peloton’s Tread+ treadmill, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued an “urgent warning” that the product “poses serious risks” to children’s safety and should not be used in households with small children or pets. To date, at least 39 safety … Continued
-
io9GamesPlayStation 5 Is Now the Fastest-Selling Console in U.S. History
Sony’s PlayStation 5 is the fastest-selling gaming console in U.S. history in both unit and dollar sales, according to retail analyst firm The NPD Group. So if you’ve been struggling to get your hands on one since its release last November, scalpers may not be entirely to blame. This success is particularly remarkable given Sony’s … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsPeloton Resists Federal Safety Recall for Treadmill Tied to Child’s Death
Peloton is pushing back against a request from federal regulators to recall its Tread+ treadmill after the product was involved in a child’s death last month, the Washington Post reported Friday. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which launched an investigation shortly after the incident, plans to issue a new consumer safety warning as soon … Continued
-
Tech NewsEdward Snowden’s NFT Self-Portrait Sells for $5.4 Million in Charity Auction
The latest big name to get in on the NFT craze is former intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who on Friday auctioned off an original NFT art piece for roughly $5.4 million worth of the cryptocurrency Ether. Titled “Stay Free”, it’s a digital self-portrait made out of pages from a U.S. Court of Appeals … Continued
-
Tech NewsMicrosoft Edge Adds a Kids Mode for Parents Worried About Their Shared Devices
In Microsoft’s ongoing endeavor to convert people to its rebooted Edge web browser, it’s launching a new Kids Mode that makes it easy for parents to control how their children surf the web. Kids Mode is a free option built directly into Microsoft Edge on Windows and macOS. Enabling it is as simple as navigating … Continued
-
Tech NewsCommerceAmazon Reportedly Pressures Small Businesses with Retaliation if They Don’t Hand Over User Data
Amazon reportedly pressured smart-thermostat maker Ecobee to fork over data from its voice-enabled devices even when customers weren’t actively using them. When Ecobee pushed back, the e-commerce giant threatened to box the company out of high-profile selling events like Prime Day or refuse Alexa certification for future devices, according to a Wall Street Journal report … Continued
-
Tech NewsMicrosoft Is Reportedly in Talks to Scoop Up AI Firm Nuance Communications for $16 Billion
Microsoft is in advanced talks to acquire Nuance Communications, an artificial intelligence firm whose speech recognition tech helped develop Apple’s Siri virtual assistant, for as much as $16 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The deal price being negotiated could value Nuance at around $56 per share, the source said, a roughly … Continued
-
Tech NewsFlappy Bird Has Been Revived as an Interactive MacOS Notification
Flappy Bird hasn’t graced the Apple App Store in years, not since its meteoric rise in popularity back in 2014 before its creator just as swiftly took it offline. Now the furiously addictive mobile game has been reincarnated in a form no one expected: an interactive macOS notification. Using the new suite of customization tools added … Continued
-
Tech NewsNeuralink: We Got a Monkey to Play Pong Using Only Its Mind
Neuralink, the secretive neuroscience startup co-founded by Elon Musk, has been even more quiet than usual these days. That is, until this week when it released a YouTube video of a monkey appearing to play the classic video game Pong with its mind. The video stars Pager, a 9-year-old macaque monkey who had a Neuralink … Continued
Alyse Stanley
Alyse Stanley's posts