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Uber is a company that dictates how a large number of car owners pick up passengers, where they take them, how they take them there, the condition of the vehicle those people get put in, and the pay they earn, but it does not consider those drivers to be its employees. As you can imagine,…
“Don’t read the comments” has become a common maxim among anyone who has spent any meaningful time online—it means that, if you go sifting through online comments, you’re going to see some shit. A new experimental tool from Google is trying to give users more power over what they do and don’t see—as it stands,…
Senate lawmakers on Tuesday introduced new bipartisan legislation that gives kids under 16 years old and their parents substantially more control over their data while further limiting the data-collection practices of apps, websites, and online services. Substantive changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), introduced by Senators Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, and…
Scott Gottlieb’s immediate replacement as head of the Food and Drug Administration will be Norman “Ned” Sharpless, the current director of the National Cancer Institute, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Sharpless will serve as the FDA’s interim chief once Gottlieb departs in less than a month. Azar’s declaration came during a…
I’ve been using Allo since the day it was released. At first, it was simple curiosity. Google’s got another messaging app, so how is it going to screw this one up? But even with its flaws, the more I used it, I grew to appreciate its slick interface, baked in gif engine, and its general…
On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk filed his response to an SEC request to that a federal court hold him in contempt for violating a settlement agreement. In the filing, Musk argues that restrictions on his tweeting amount to an “unconstitutional power grab” by the SEC and that he didn’t even violate the agreement anyway.…
The White House released its record-breaking 2020 budget request yesterday, and once again, it sucks if you care about science. The president’s budget is not the budget we’ll be stuck with, and is instead meant to signal Trump’s vision for America to Congress, who will put together its own budget. The president does have to sign…
Have you seen that viral video doing the rounds of President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago lifting up his hat? According to the caption, the president “forgot” that he’s “not wearing his toupee,” and it’s getting passed around Twitter like crazy today. In reality, the video has been digitally manipulated to make Trump look completely bald.…
Thirty years ago, Sir Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal for what would become the world wide web. Now, for many reasons, the man widely credited with inventing the web is less than thrilled with how we’ve treated it in the intervening decades. “While the web has created opportunity, given marginalised [sic] groups a voice, and…
If you’re a Verizon customer and had a hard time texting this morning, you weren’t imagining things. The company had a widespread texting outage that left customers up and down the East Coast unable to send or receive messages. Verizon Wireless initially confirmed the outage via Twitter, saying it was aware of an issue with…
I’ve had my iPhone XS for a little over three months, and it’s driving me crazy. Not the whole thing. The phone is beautiful, fast, a joy to use. What’s driving me crazy is an increasingly complex network of scratches on the display glass. The first ones were small, almost unnoticeable at a glance. Then,…
The U.S. government has sent a warning to Germany that it may limit what information is handed over via intelligence-sharing agreements if the latter country allows Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to build its next-generation 5G networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. U.S. intelligence officials have been issuing warnings for years that Huawei technology…
Boeing announced overnight that the company would release a software update for its 737 Max planes “no later” than next month. The announcement, which was posted to Boeing’s website, calls the software release an “enhancement” and explains that it’s related to the October crash of Lion Air Flight 610 which killed 189 people. Sunday’s crash…
E-commerce giant Amazon has long been reported to be an unpleasant place to hold down a job. Article after article has relayed claims of an ultra-competitive workplace culture, employees being treated like soulless robots, sweatshop-esque performance requirements, and long hours of monotonous work. That includes mandatory seasonal overtime that some workers have said sometimes results…
The UK’s disastrous plan to implement a nationwide system blocking web users from viewing pornography unless their age and identities are confirmed by a verification service—an astonishingly ill-conceived idea being spearheaded by doddering Brexiteer Theresa May’s Tory government—is nearly a year behind schedule. But the clock is ticking, the Independent reported on Monday. According to…
Facebook removed advertisements by Senator Elizabeth Warren calling for the breakup of Facebook and other American big tech companies, a newly major issue for Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign. That’s the kind of irony you can only dream up, sparking the kind of smirking outrage that quickly spins beyond comprehension all over social media. The takedown…
Following two devastating crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft, China and Indonesia have grounded the model from commercial flights pending further investigation. As the general public has become increasingly concerned about the safety of flying on one of the most popular airplanes in the world, the Federal Aviation Administration is issuing a global notice…
Following the revelations of a $90 million golden parachute to Andy Rubin, a former Google executive accused of sexually harassing a subordinate, a recently unsealed complaint shows the company approved a further $45 million send-off to Amit Singhal, the company’s former senior vice president. Filed in Santa Clara County by James Martin, a Google shareholder, the…
The internet-connected gadgets, devices, baubles, and geegaws we fill our homes with to perform menial tasks and surveil our every move are often times wildly insecure. And so, members of Congress are taking yet another stab at setting device and reporting standards with companion bills set to be introduced in the House and Senate today.…
Continuing our country’s rich tradition of semi-legal highs with embarrassing names and dangerous side effects, New Jersey police say they are now contending with people drinking something called “Catnip Cocktail,” which is sold as an anti-anxiety supplement for pets. It’s unclear who formulates or distributes Catnip Cocktail, but the manufacturer’s website warns their product is…
