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Computer security doesn’t really have to be hard. Some of the smallest, simplest measures can be the most effective in keeping your devices secure—they won’t take long, they’re easy to do, and you don’t really have any excuse for not doing them. We’re not going to go over the big security habits you should get…
The Twilight Zone episode “The Eye of the Beholder” is one of the greatest TV episodes of all time. And now you can own a piece of sci-fi TV history from this legendary show, provided you’ve got $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket. An original pig-nose mask from the episode is going up for…
Researchers at the security firm Armis announced this week that they discovered two serious chip-level vulnerabilities that could potentially put “millions” of enterprise access points at risk. Namely, the security flaw could allow hackers to gain access to networks completely undetected. Dubbed “Bleeding Bit,” the two security risks involved the use of Bluetooth Low Energy…
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel took the stage at the New York Times DealBook conference today to provide fresh insights on how to navigate the challenges ahead. He also personally addressed reports that he engages in an experimental life-extension therapy that involves the injection of blood from youthful donors. DealBook’s host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, waited…
We’re finally getting some concrete movement in the confusing cold war between the Chinese and American tech worlds. On Thursday, the Justice Department unsealed charges against a Chinese state-owned company and its Taiwanese subsidiary that allege they stole intellectual property from U.S. chipmaker Micron. China has been accused of stealing trade secrets from companies in…
A wave of deplatforming efforts earlier this year did a great deal to deflate conspiracist and MAGA windbag Alex Jones of Inforwars infamy. But if there’s one thing he still excels at, it’s getting taken to court. This time the plaintiff is one Scarlett Lewis, the mother of a victim in 2012’s tragic Sandy Hook…
The path toward humanoid robots capable of transforming themselves into trucks, dinosaurs, and airplanes is now a bit shorter, thanks to the invention of a modular robot that can alter its physical form to match the needs of a situation. Introducing MSRR, a “modular self-reconfigurable robot” designed and built by researchers at Cornell University and…
Perhaps the most important supernova of the modern era is SN 1987A, the closest supernova to Earth since the invention of the telescope. Scientists have been observing the explosion’s remnants since the 1987 event. Scientists led by University of Toronto graduate student Yvette Cendes have presented a new report showing the 25 years of radio…
On Thursday, an estimated thousands of Google employees around the world walked out of their offices to protest the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment and assault cases, in what is likely the largest collective demonstration among technology workers. The walkouts started in Tokyo, with demonstrations also happening at offices in Singapore, Berlin, Zurich, Dublin, London,…
If you’re lucky, you’ll only receive a few spam calls this week. Billions of robocalls are made to cell phones and landlines every month. Many of these are spoofed to look like they’re coming from the target recipient’s area. So it’s no surprise we have collective trust issues preventing us from answering our phone when…
The Hawaiian Supreme Court ruled that the Thirty Meter Telescope project can build on Mauna Kea, clearing the legal way for construction despite protests from the Native Hawaiian community. As we’ve reported, there’s been a bitter battle between the 180-foot-tall telescope’s backers and a group of Native Hawaiians. In 2014 and 2015, protesters blocked construction…
“What’s tomorrow going to be like?” the opening of this 1945 newsreel asked. For many Americans who were watching, the answer was “a better life than my parents had.” World War II was winding down, the postwar boom was just around the corner, and planners were promising incredible things ahead—incredible things like affordable and efficient…
By the time it was clear the fallout from the Equifax breach reached roughly three-fourths of adult Americans, Washington lawmakers were already tripping over themselves to churn out a law that they hoped would, in some future, analogous disaster, hold accountable the negligent hoarders of Americans’ personal, private data. By the time Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica…
Sometime in the flurry of news surrounding the new iPad Pro and the new MacBook Air, Apple quietly added the iPhone 5 to its list of “vintage and obsolete products” in the United States. There it sits, alongside the Apple III, the Newton MessagePad, and the first four generations of iPhone, as a thing that…
Bad news for Sonos fans. That Google Assistant feature the company promised would be ready in 2018, well, Sonos is gonna have to break that promise. Google Assistant will not be available on the popular wireless speakers this year. Sonos users will have to wait until an undetermined date in 2019. If you’ve been following…
Almost as soon as Apple released iOS 12.1 on Tuesday, a Spanish security researcher discovered a bug that exploits group Facetime calls to give anyone access to an iPhone users’ contact information with no need for a passcode. Jose Rodriguez discovered the iOS exploit and first sent the information to The Hacker News. He’s uploaded…
President Donald Trump is once again throwing fuel on the fire of the George Soros conspiracy madness by seemingly insinuating that the former hedge fund manager and political activist is funding the migrant caravan currently making its way from Central America to the United States border. Responding to a question from reporters outside of the…
It’s been a week for keeping up with Twitter announcements. Following news of Twitter’s new bot-reporting feature and a report that CEO Jack Dorsey was looking to kill the “like” button, the company announced that it will allow some of its users to disable Twitter’s “best tweets first” feed through a new home-screen button. The…
“Thousands” of employees at Google offices around the world are expected to participate in a “women’s walk” protest on Thursday in response to the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment and other tensions within the technology giant. Employees from more than 60 percent of Google offices worldwide will participate, organizers for the walkout told Gizmodo in…
Grown-ish actor and reported onetime Kourtney Kardashian suitor Luka Sabbat is facing down a lawsuit from Snap Inc.’s public relations firm, PR Consulting, for allegedly violating the terms of an “influencer” agreement worth $60,000. Influencer is a vague term that basically translates to anyone with a social media presence who is willing to cash in…
