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Tech NewsSocial MediaEven Facebook’s Fact-Checkers Are Unhappy With Facebook’s Fact-Checking Process
Facebook outsourced its fake news problem, and it appears the company isn’t keeping its fact-checkers fully satisfied. According to a report from Politico, third-party fact-checkers want more internal data from Facebook both on how impactful their work is on the platform and also on which stories they should prioritize. Facebook isn’t handing the information over, … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial Media
Finally, a Place to Watch Viral Garbage on the Internet
Facebook’s new platform for original programming, Watch, is now available for everyone in the US. Is it going to have the likes of YouTube or Hulu shaking in its boots? As it stands, nope. Extremely nope. Facebook’s Watch platform is really just a tab on Facebook. It only features video content created exclusively for Facebook … Continued
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Tech News
Travis Kalanick: 🙏🏻
A fraud lawsuit brought against former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick by investor Benchmark Capital was sent to arbitration on Wednesday, and Kalanick is feeling blessed. When Prism CEO and Uber investor Steve Russell shared a status on Facebook praising the judge’s order—“Benchmark just got #Benchmarked !! The good guys prevail as judge tosses rogue VC’s … Continued
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Tech News
New VR Dating Show Asks: What If The Sims Were Misshapen and Horny?
Your mouth doesn’t move when you talk and your slightly misshapen legs bend away from your body. But it’s a first date so you’re making the best of it. Mood lighting and romantic music come on, so you move in closer for a dance. “I like the way my hand goes through your entire neck.” … Continued
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Tech News
Uber’s Embattled Ex-CEO Finally Passes The Torch
Uber held an all-hands meeting on Wednesday to welcome its new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi. The new hire was joined by board member Arianna Huffington and former CEO Travis Kalanick in what was mostly a drama-free induction of the new leader to the company—a company that Khosrowshahi claims he will take public in as few as … Continued
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Tech News
Add A Potential Bribery Investigation to The List of Things Uber’s New CEO Has to Worry About
“I’m in it to get my hands dirty,” Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Lucky for Khosrowshahi, he could have a foreign bribery scandal on his hands. Sounds plenty dirty to me. According to the Wall Street Journal, Uber is cooperating with the Department of Justice on a preliminary investigation into whether … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
Uber Backs Off on Some of Its Invasive User Tracking
Uber likes tracking things — competitors, cops, you. But now the company is trying to clean up its reputation by giving users a little bit of their privacy back. Uber plans to eliminate a feature that lets it track users for up to five minutes after their ride ends, Uber security chief Joe Sullivan told … Continued
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Tech NewsThat Totally Fake Shark Photo Isn’t From Hurricane Harvey (or Any Other Hurricane)
Houston is experiencing catastrophic flooding as the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall as a category 4 hurricane on Friday, continues to relentlessly dump rain on the region. Images of heroism and destruction have been making the rounds on Twitter. And so has that damn shark photo. Again. For the uninitiated, there is a … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
HBO Owns Itself in Latest Game of Thrones Leak
Sometimes, confidential information leaks online because attention-thirsty hackers broke into your servers. And sometimes, the fuck up is coming from inside the house. In the case of season seven, episode six of Game of Thrones—which leaked online today less than a week before its scheduled air date—it was decidedly an example of the latter. HBO … Continued
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Tech News
This PR Email Sure Is Weird [Updated]
This morning I received a press email with the subject line “A water bottle designed for Women in Tech.” Does it provide optimal hydration for women about to ascend the glass cliff? Will it induce hyponatremia when your male colleague passes off your idea as his own during the team meeting? Does it include an … Continued
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Tech News
Of Course the Origin Story of Julian Assange’s Cute Cat Was a Lie
When someone is as obsessed with controlling the narrative as Julian Assange is, it’s almost to be expected that they would view a cuddly pile of fluff as a means of propagandizing. Such was the destiny of Embassy Cat. In a newly published profile of the WikiLeaks founder, the New Yorker reveals that Assange may … Continued
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Tech News
Google Cancels Meeting Intended to Address Anti-Diversity Memo
Google was reportedly scheduled to hold a company-wide town hall meeting Thursday evening to address the controversy surrounding the anti-diversity manifesto that went viral within the company. That meeting has now been canceled, Recode reports, because employees feared further online harassment after their names and Dory questions were leaked on alt-right sites online. Dory is … Continued
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Tech News
Fired Google Memo Writer Took Part in Controversial, ‘Sexist’ Skit While at Harvard for Which Administration Issued Formal Apology
Google fired software engineer James Damore on Monday after his 10-page anti-diversity screed went viral within the company. According to emails obtained by Gizmodo, and accounts from four individuals who attended a Ph.D program retreat with Damore, this is not the first time he offended his peers with sexist ideologies. According to emails provided to … Continued
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Tech News
Google Reportedly Fires Author of Anti-Diversity Screed
James Damore, the Google software engineer who authored a 10-page anti-diversity manifesto, has been fired, Bloomberg reports. A statement from Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday evening, obtained by Recode, notes that “portions of the memo violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.” Google has … Continued
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Tech NewsPeople Are Immortalizing Their Dead Loves Ones in Stuffed Animals
On Wednesday, a video capturing a tender if somewhat eerie moment surfaced on Reddit, allegedly showing a woman listening to the voice of her late husband emanating from a Build-A-Bear. The title of the post suggests that she was married to her husband for 32 years before he died of cancer, and the bear was … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial Media
Facebook’s Latest Solution to Fake News? More Machines, Baby
Take a shot every time Facebook evades editorial accountability. On Thursday, Facebook announced that it is going to use “updated machine learning” algorithms in order to better spot and counter misinformation on its platform. The company says it will use its existing third-party fact checkers to review stories that the new algorithm flags, and their … Continued
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Tech News
Tinder Booted From Beach House Over Unauthorized Parties for Dating App Elite
For humble swipers looking for love, double-fisting your phone and a slice of pizza on the couch is a fitting setting for mediocre matching. But for Tinder’s dating app elite, only a sick beach house party in Montauk will do. Just make sure your host has the proper permits, or the only match you’ll end … Continued
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Tech News
Glittery iPhone Cases Recalled After Dozens Burned by Mystery Liquid
All that glitters is recalled. MixBin Electronics just recalled thousands of iPhone cases that contained liquid and glitter because they were burning users. A US Consumer Product Safety Commission report noted that there have been 24 reports around the world, including 19 in the U.S., of skin irritation or chemical burns. “One consumer reported permanent … Continued
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Tech NewsHotel Industry Attack Ad Warns: What If Terrorists Use Airbnb?
According to the Hotel Association of New York City and a New York hotel workers union, we should worry about terrorists using Airbnb. “Airbnb allows illegal listings on its site, and refuses to hand over the addresses to law enforcement,” an attack ad reads. “Are you at risk?” The ad then cuts to media from … Continued
Melanie Ehrenkranz
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