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Tech NewsPolitics‘Cocaine’ Trends on Twitter During Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention kicked off on Monday, with a star-studded line-up including a fossil fuels distributor, the St. Louis couple that pointed their guns at civil rights protesters, and the father of a shooting victim who says the way to stop school shootings is to arm teachers. But if you were on Twitter last … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHealthTrump Exploring Ways to Release Coronavirus Vaccine Before Proper Trials: Report
President Donald Trump is exploring ways to release an experimental coronavirus vaccine before the 2020 presidential election in November, even if the vaccine doesn’t meet normal U.S. safety standards established by the FDA, according to a new report from the Financial Times. And while the news is not exactly a surprise, it’s still somewhat shocking … Continued
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Tech NewsSteve Bannon Finally Gets His Walls
U.S. federal prosecutors announced Thursday morning that four men have been indicted for their roles in a crowdfunding scheme to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former right-hand man, was among those indicted this morning and is already in federal custody, according to MSNBC. Brian Kolfage started a GoFundMe … Continued
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EartherEarth ScienceIs Border Patrol Arresting Firefighters in California During Wildfire Season?
An official with U.S. Border Patrol sent out a tweet on Tuesday, claiming the agency had arrested ten “illegal aliens” in El Centro, California after some were allegedly caught with fake Social Security numbers. Strangely, the Border Patrol official said the suspects had claimed to be firefighters who were certified in Oregon. Is Border Patrol … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsPresident Trump Endorses Bigot Who’s Been Banned From a Dozen Tech Platforms
President Donald Trump congratulated anti-Muslim hatemonger Laura Loomer over Twitter last night for winning the Republican primary in Florida’s 21st congressional district. Ironically, Loomer is banned from Twitter, but she likely heard about the tweet anyway, thanks to Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican who’s endorsed Loomer and her hateful ideology. Trump’s interest in Loomer may … Continued
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Tech NewsTiktok’s Latest Suitor Is Oracle, a Company With Close Ties To CIA and NSA
Oracle has expressed interest in buying TikTok from Chinese-based tech company Bytedance according to a new report from the Financial Times. The move comes after President Donald Trump’s threat to ban the popular video app. The Trump regime is allegedly concerned about the privacy of Americans on TikTok and the ways that the Chinese government … Continued
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Tech NewsRussell Kirsch, Inventor of the Pixel and Creator of the First Digital Photo, Dies at 91
Russell Kirsch, the inventor of the pixel and the first person to create a digital photograph, died Tuesday at his home in Portland, Oregon, according to a report from the Washington Post. Kirsch was 91 years old. Kirsch was a computer scientist who worked for the National Bureau of Standards in the 1950s (now known … Continued
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Tech NewsTrump Regime Installs Conspiracy Theorist to Help Build Propaganda Network With Taxpayer Money
The U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government-run news company that traces its roots to the first Cold War, has hired far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Frank Wuco, according to a new report from Politico. It’s just the latest sign that President Donald Trump is attempting to build his own media empire with U.S. taxpayer … Continued
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ScienceHealthFlorida Sheriff Bans Masks As State’s Covid-19 Death Toll Breaks New Daily Record
Billy Woods, the sheriff of central Florida’s Marion County, banned masks for all deputies and visitors to the sheriff’s office starting Tuesday, according to a new report from the Ocala Star Banner—a strange decision to make in the middle of a pandemic that’s still wildly out of control. Sheriff Woods has instructed staff not to … Continued
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ScienceHealthBill Gates Says U.S. Covid-19 Testing Program Is a ‘Screw-Job’ With an Easy Fix
Billionaire tech legend Bill Gates says testing for coronavirus in the U.S. has been a “screw-job” that’s providing very little value because test results aren’t coming back quickly enough. Most Americans are waiting several days and sometimes weeks to get their covid-19 test results, something that Gates says can be fixed if the U.S. government … Continued
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Tech NewsTrump’s New Facebook Ads Claim He’s Peacenik Who Also Loves Assassinations
Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is running new Facebook ads that insist the president is an advocate for peace and will stop America’s so-called “forever wars.” Oddly enough, the ads also acknowledge that Trump dabbles in political assassinations. In fact, those assassinations are central to Trump’s idea of “peace,” and in many ways, Trump’s entire foreign … Continued
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Tech NewsU.S. Issues Bizarre Warning About ‘Health Risks’ in New Zealand During Covid-19 Pandemic
The U.S. State Department issued a new travel warning for New Zealand this week, warning Americans to exercise “increased caution” because the country poses a “health risk” due to the covid-19 pandemic. In reality, New Zealand hasn’t had community spread of the coronavirus in months and has just 23 active cases of the disease, all … Continued
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Tech NewsWorld’s Biggest Landlord Buys World’s Biggest Genealogy Website
The Blackstone Group will buy a majority stake in the genealogy website Ancestry.com in a deal worth $4.7 billion, according to a press release published Wednesday. Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, is the world’s largest landlord and Ancestry is the world’s largest genealogy website, with over 6 billion records on family history in the … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaPranksters Stream Porn During Zoom Hearing for Alleged 17-Year-Old Twitter Hacker
Pranksters disrupted judicial hearings on Wednesday for the 17-year-old Florida kid who allegedly hijacked the accounts of prominent Twitter users last month, according to multiple people on the teleconference call. There were several intrusions during the first attempt at the hearing, and it was finally stopped after pornography was streamed via Pornhub. The judge overseeing … Continued
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Tech NewsU.S. Military Releases New Video of What Trump Calls ‘Super Duper Missile’
The U.S. Army aired new video of its secretive hypersonic missile on Tuesday, a rare look at what President Donald Trump has previously described as America’s “super duper missile.” And while we still don’t know much about the missile’s specs, hypersonic missiles are almost certainly the future of military posturing during the New Cold War, … Continued
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Tech NewsPresidential Forecaster Predicts Joe Biden Win (With Plenty of Caveats)
Allan Lichtman, a political forecaster and historian, has accurately predicted almost every presidential election of the past four decades, even confidently predicting that Donald Trump would win in 2016. Now Lichtman is making his prediction for 2020, including a win for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. But much like all predictions, it’s important to look … Continued
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Tech NewsCops Terrorize Black Family but Blame License Plate Reader for Misidentifying ‘Stolen’ Vehicle
The Aurora Police Department in Colorado is blaming its license plate reader for misidentifying a “stolen” vehicle after video went viral showing a Black family with young children being menaced and traumatized by several cops. It’s just the latest example of police terror that likely wouldn’t have drawn much attention if a bystander hadn’t recorded … Continued
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ScienceHealthTesting Czar Admits Covid-19 Tests Have ‘Limited Utility’ When Pandemic Is Out of Control
The person overseeing America’s national covid-19 testing strategy, Adm. Brett Giroir, admitted on Sunday that tests and contact tracing are of “limited utility” when an outbreak of disease is raging in a completely uncontrolled manner. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic is completely out of control in the vast majority of the U.S.—the country with the worst … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaPresident Trump’s Department of Violent Goons Investigates Tweets of Portland Journalists
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent local police departments in Oregon at least three intelligence reports about the journalism and tweets of reporters in Portland over the past week, according to the Washington Post. The intelligence reports included tweets from journalists at the New York Times and Lawfare as well as other information, including … Continued
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Tech NewsPresident Trump Ditches Mask as U.S. Death Toll Surpasses 150,000
President Donald Trump declined to wear a face mask at a photo-op for the oil industry in Midland, Texas on Wednesday, despite being in close proximity to several people in a state that’s crawling with the coronavirus. The decision to go maskless sent a decidedly anti-science message at a time when U.S. deaths from covid-19 … Continued
By Matt Novak
Matt Novak
Matt Novak is a reporter at Gizmodo covering news and opinion, with a little history thrown in for good measure. Novak started at Gizmodo in 2013 and has been writing about past visions of the future at Paleofuture.com since 2007. Novak is fascinated with the history of technology and got his start writing professionally for Smithsonian magazine. Emails telling him to "stick to tech" can be sent to [email protected].
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