Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
When federal prosecutors last week announced that charges against Julian Assange included conspiracy to “break a password to a classified U.S. government computer,” one immediately assumed that the password in question had actually been broken. However, an indictment unsealed Monday indicates that may have not been the case. It also appears U.S. attorneys have been…
Of course, it’s generally a good idea to remember the PIN codes and passwords you need to get access to your devices, but should you find yourself locked out of a phone or laptop and utterly unable to remember what your login credentials are, we’re here to help. Here’s how to get back into your…
It’s no longer just hardware companies like Nintendo and Sony who are recycling old content with plug-and-play mini consoles packed with retro games. Capcom’s now joining the fun too with its new Capcom Home Arcade that includes 16 classic titles from the developer’s catalog including Street Fighter II and Mega Man: The Power Battle, but…
New York’s Apple store on 5th Avenue is infested with bed bugs, according to a new report from the New York Post. And employees at the store are being told to wrap all their belongings in plastic bags to protect against the bed bug scourge. Anonymous private messages published on Twitter appear to confirm the…
Indian officials have been scrambling to stop people from using TikTok in the country, so they can control porn and political trolling. The calls for banning TikTok have come amidst growing concerns over sexually explicit content being shared on the app, as well as its use for criticizing legislators and law enforcement. (India has a…
Google Fiber has announced that it will pay $3.84 million to the local government in Louisville, Kentucky to fix infrastructure in the city after the tech giant decided to pull out of that market. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, decided to abandon its gigabit broadband plans in Louisville back in February after its plans for “nanotrenching,”…
Though rumors have been swirling for months, it’s now official: The PlayStation 5 is coming and we now know that it’s got some beefy specs. But in classic Sony fashion, we’re going to have to sit through tedious and unnecessarily long teases before this next-gen console is anywhere close to hitting shelves. Remember when Sony…
There are few things I dread more when getting off of a long-ass flight than getting back onto a train and waiting another hour or more to make it home—particularly when I fly a red-eye, which is often if I’m flying between the coasts. In these situations, typically following flights clocking longer than five hours…
Creative individuals with access to an automobile beware. There’s a weird thing happening with Apple Pencils, iPad Pros, and car key fobs, and I swear it’s the weirdest Apple bug I’ve ever heard of. Basically, if they’re all in the same place at once, stuff might stop working. Apple recently updated its support page for…
People have been talking about the idea of flexible phones for years now, but with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Fold on April 26th, we’re staring that future in the face. Priced at $1,980, the Galaxy Fold is far from affordable. And yet, based on my initial experience with the Galaxy Fold, Samsung made…
The legal showdown between Apple and Qualcomm is nothing new. The two tech giants have been sniping at each other in courts spanning three continents for years now. But Monday marked the start of the main trial in what’s essentially the world’s biggest patent/antitrust case—and depending on who wins, the implications are huge for tech.…
Ecuadorian officials claim the country has suffered some 40 million cyber attacks since it allowed UK police to forcibly remove Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from their embassy in London, according to Agence France-Presse. According to AFP, the 40 million number comes courtesy of Ecuador’s deputy minister for information and communication technologies, Patricio Real, who said…
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons tested cellphone-jamming technology at the state-run maximum security Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, last week, the Associated Press reported, in what the Verge noted may be a prelude to state prisons gaining more power to keep incarcerated persons out of contact with the outside world. Jamming…
Last week, Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission announced a huge push to sell off up to 3.4 gigahertz of the millimeter-wave spectrum, part of a plan to speed the rollout of 5G technology. The president introduced the push by telling an audience at the White House that he will not allow “any other…
San Francisco is inching closer to becoming the first American city to ban facial recognition surveillance, a booming technology that’s a fast-growing business in the United States and extends to the core of China’s high-tech authoritarianism. A proposal to ban facial recognition from the city as well as provide significant transparency and oversight requirements to…
Have you heard the news? Someone is launching another goddamn service. This time, if I recall correctly, it’s Amazon. According to a report from Billboard last week, Amazon is planning to launch a new music service—its third music service, in fact, after its paid services Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music. Citing sources familiar with the…
Rising sea levels can submerge the backbone of the internet, increasingly powerful storms can destroy the cell networks phones need to work, and high-intensity winds can tear down the critical infrastructure that makes 21st century America go. Anticipating accelerating climate change-fueled disasters in the coming decades, telecommunications giant AT&T recently partnered with Argonne National Labs…
If there is one thing no one needs, it’s additional spaces for brands to overwhelm humanity with even more advertising. But thanks to capitalism, the sky is evidently the limit. One startup claims it will offer brands the chance to pollute our night skies with a system of teeny, reflective satellites used to replicate the…
The Galaxy Fold represents more than eight years of design, engineering, and brand new tech, just to realize a phone with a flexible screen that works. We’re talking new malleable adhesives and complicated composite polymers made specifically to support the bendy display. And now after months of teasing, I’ve finally gotten a chance to check…
Construction work in Oxfordshire, England has resulted in the discovery of 26 skeletons dating back to the Iron Age. Archaeologists suspect some of the 3,000-year-old remains may have been victims of human sacrifice. The Thames Water company was in the midst of a major pipe-laying project in Oxfordshire when its workers stumbled upon an ancient…
