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A lawsuit filed against officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) this week signals the increasingly invasive practices of border agents—as well as the pressing need for protections of our data. In February, Rejhane Lazoja arrived at Newark Airport on a flight from Switzerland with her six-year-old daughter, according…
Johnny Bobbitt is reportedly homeless and asking for money on the Philadelphia streets less than a year after he selflessly helped a stranded person, earning him viral attention and hundreds of thousands in crowdfunded donations. In October 2017, Kate McClure ran out of gas on the interstate. Bobbitt, a homeless veteran, then suggested she get…
By now we’ve got lots of worrying examples of how AI-powered image processing software can flawlessly alter faces, or make someone appear to say something they didn’t. But there are other, perhaps under-explored uses for this technology: like trying to fake a video of you dancing so it looks like you’ve got Bruno Mars’ moves,…
Despite the irrefutable success of Google’s flagship social media network, a great tragedy has befallen Google+, because this weekend, Google France says it is shutting down its own page on Google+ for good. Luckily, francophones looking for updates on Google France will still have the option of getting news and announcements via Google France’s Twitter…
The voting records of some 14.8 million Texas residents were left exposed online and eventually got discovered by a data breach hunter overseas, according to TechCrunch. Much of the leaked information is public record and can be accessed by anyone willing to pay for it, but the files also include a wealth of data considered…
You’ve had all the slowdowns and crashes and bugs you can take—it’s time to upgrade your computer. While the thought of shopping around for new components or a whole new machine might fill you with dread and foreboding, it doesn’t have to be a stressful process, and this guide will serve as your one-stop shop…
After all the rumors and build up, Nikon’s first pro-grade mirrorless camera is finally here. And while I got a brief chance to handle the new Nikon Z7 and play around with its various knobs, dials, and adapters ahead of its announcement, I hadn’t actually had a chance to snap some pictures with it, until…
T-Mobile released a statement on Thursday informing customers that it has experienced a data breach in which attackers were able to gain access to “certain information.” Limited details were immediately available but a spokesperson confirmed that around 2 million customers are believed to have been affected. Motherboard first flagged the statement that was posted to…
A Brazilian government agency has captured the first footage of an extremely isolated tribe in the country’s rainforests by using a drone. The tribe is believed to be one of at least 11 in the region that haven’t made any contact with the outside world. Still photos were published on the organization’s website and drone…
President Trump is awake, angry, and tweeting this morning, which wouldn’t normally be newsworthy. But Trump just weighed in on a case that strikes close to his legitimacy as president: The Reality Winner leak. And he seems to think that it wasn’t a big deal. “Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over ‘classified’…
The Democrats are on edge for good reason. They have a little experience with this. What appeared to be an attempt by hackers to phish Democratic officials and obtain access to the party’s voter file this week turned out to be nothing more than a security exercise in Michigan. And while the party line now…
In a move that will likely have a chilling effect for potential whistleblowers and journalistic sources, Reality Winner has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for leaking government documents regarding Russian attempts to hack voter registration databases and election officials. Prosecutors said it was the longest sentence ever given for providing classified information…
When Aibo is standing on its hind legs, tail wagging and soft OLED-lit eyes roving, it’s so dang adorable you forget it’s supposed to do stuff. But after a while the initial charm of its design wears off, and you’re stuck asking what the heck this robot dog even does. In my experience playing with…
Humanoid robots are still relatively primitive here in the 21st century. Sure, we have Roombas that can vacuum our floors and Boston Dynamics robots that are doing backflips. But when it comes to the dream of our own personal robot servant, we’re still in the Dark Ages. You can’t go down to Costco and pick…
In the midst of an app audit that will probably never end, Facebook gave us an update on its progress on Wednesday. While the company is still being stingy with information, it said 4 million users should expect a notification that a now-banned app called myPersonality may have misused their data. Additionally, Facebook says 400…
If you want a high quality robot dog in the U.S. you’ll need to spend $2,900. That’s expensive, but I suppose Sony’s new Aibo will probably live a lot longer than most pure bred dogs. At a small event in Sony’s New York headquarters, company COO and president Mike Fasulo announced Aibo’s arrival in the…
We’ve known for some time that the future of consumer drones would be tiny, high quality, and mostly crash-proof. DJI just revealed its best attempt at all three with the new Mavic 2 series. There are two of them: the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic 2 Zoom. They fold up. They have great cameras.…
A widely reported hacking attempt on the main voter file of the Democratic National Party turns out to have been a security test, the DNC says. The test had been authorized by the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) and was conducted with the help of outside security staff, according to MDP Chairman Brandon Dillon. “We have…
For years, as the only real maker of full-frame mirrorless cameras Sony has basically run away with the entire segment, which often made people wonder when the big DSLR giants would hit back with their own high-end mirrorless shooters. Well today, we’re finally getting a look at Nikon’s long-awaited response in the form of the…
Facebook has yanked its vampiric Onavo Protect service—which purports to be a privacy-enhancing Virtual Private Network (VPN) but is by all indications data-harvesting Facebook spyware—from Apple’s App Store. The Wall Street Journal reports that a source said Facebook was compelled to remove the app after Apple “ruled that the service violated its data-collection policies.” VPNs…
