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Breaking up the tech giants is one of the few major issues that cuts across party lines in Washington, D.C., and it even reaches into Silicon Valley itself. Now that Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has published a proposal on how to break up some of America’s tech giants including Amazon, Google, and Facebook,…
After a woman in Florida experienced a “chance brief encounter” with a police officer in a parking garage last year, authorities say the officer showed up at her parents house in an effort to see her again. The woman then filed a complaint, and the department says it discovered the officer had been misusing a…
Two drivers have filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer, Waitr Holdings, Inc., alleging the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to meet minimum wage requirements. The suit also claims that some drivers had been misclassified as contractors while performing the work of employees. The suit, which was submitted late last month…
Alaska Airlines announced yesterday that it would start direct flights from its hub in Seattle, Washington to Columbus, Ohio. But the airline might want to take a quick peek at a real map. Because the graphic that the company posted to Twitter doesn’t show them traveling to Columbus. That’s Cleveland. In fairness to Alaska, Columbus…
Want to feel old? The year 2009 was 10 years ago. No, really. And if you want to feel really old, here’s a video where fourth-grade kids explain what jobs they think will exist in the future. What did these kids predict? We’ve pulled out some of the jobs below. Though, admittedly, we’re not sure…
The city of Philadelphia has banned cashless stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, in a move that “will require most retail stores to accept cash” as opposed to credit cards or mobile devices. Despite the text on the U.S. dollar bill stating, “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private,”…
The U.S. Air Force has released the first images of its latest combat drone, the XQ-58A Valkyrie. The new aircraft, which went from concept to first test flight in 2.5 years, “behaved as expected” on its first test flight this week, according to the Air Force. The 76-minute inaugural flight occurred on March 5, 2019…
A little more than a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that Airbnb was in talks to buy HotelTonight, the two have sealed the deal on an acquisition. Airbnb announced Thursday that it had gobbled up the last-minute bookings service as its latest step in building an end-to-end travel platform, a move that advances…
Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai’s assessment of how rapidly broadband deployment has accelerated across the country may be hot bullshit, Ars Technica reported on Thursday. Specifically, Pai’s continued claims that deregulation has led to more homes getting high-speed internet appear to be contradicted by an analysis of ISP coverage data submitted to the FCC…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg—who used to be concerned about maintaining a low public profile until mounting scandals forced him into the limelight last year—understandably has a rather hefty security detail. As the CEO of a company with billions of users across the globe, a fair number of whom are presumably are less than fond of…
As Mark Zuckerberg’s privacy parade carries on, a researcher has revealed his findings of a since-patched Facebook vulnerability in Messenger that could potentially expose information about who users had been communicating with. Cybersecurity software company Imperva—which previously identified another bug that allowed websites to see Facebook users’ “likes,” location history, and interests—shared its report on…
Two senior Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are raising concerns about potential violations of the Federal Records Act committed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Congressmen Frank Pallone Jr. and Mike Doyle said in a letter to the FCC chairman on Thursday that the commission’s practices with regard to the retention of electronic…
Do you know where you’ll be on April 6, 2019? If you heavily rely on GPS, you may not be able to determine where you are when that date rolls around. That’s because GPS navigation technology was originally built with a short-sighted timekeeping system that will reset next month and has the potential to cause…
On Thursday, I clicked on a link that promised to show me a snail “playing” with a baby carrot. The video was nice, but I wanted to know more. After speaking with multiple snail specialists, I have inched toward the truth about “Snails Can’t Get Enough of Baby Carrot,” dear readers, and it’s either fun…
Facebook, the very open platform that would like to be the opposite of that in the near future, announced a big change this week: It will no longer be a dumping grounds for the anti-vaccination conspiracies of a few misinformed clowns. “We are working to tackle vaccine misinformation on Facebook by reducing its distribution and…
A pair of bills that prohibit spreading fake news and insulting authorities just made it one step closer to becoming law in Russia. Passed by Russia’s lower house today, one bill would punish people who post disrespectful content about the nation and its officials. Repeated violators of that law could face up to 15 days…
Whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning has been ordered to appear at a contempt hearing this Friday for refusing to answer questions about her 2010 disclosure of classified material to WikiLeaks before a federal grand jury in Virginia. Manning, 31, was subpoenaed last month to appear behind closed doors this week to answer questions as part…
Automation is often presented as an inexorably advancing force, whether it’s ushering in a threat to jobs or a promise of increased leisure or larger profits. We’re made to imagine the robots rising, increasingly mechanized systems of production, more streamlined modes of everyday living. But the truth is that automation technology and automated systems very…
You can now completely control your Playstation 4 with an iOS device anywhere there’s internet thanks to a free, new PS4 Remote Play app. The new feature comes through a system software update for PS4, which is also free. After spending a few minutes acquiring said software updates and apps, I was able to control…
It’s that time again—another USB standard is upon us, ready to upgrade your device’s ports and cabling in the coming years. Here we’re going to explain everything you need to know about USB4, including the speed improvements in the pipeline and the new capabilities it’s going to borrow from Thunderbolt 3, which shares the same…
