Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Popular hookup app Grindr is reportedly considering a new feature that would alert users if may have been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection. According to Mashable, which learned of the potential alert option from public health experts, the feature would work by giving user a way to tell their previous sexual partners that they’d…
Walmart is getting creative in its total war with Amazon. The retail giant recently announced a new service called Jetblack, a text message-based personal shopping service helmed by Rent the Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss. Its initial target demographic? Rich families who live “in Manhattan doorman buildings” and receive an exclusive invitation. Seriously, those are the…
Construction workers in Moscow using a rooftop crane to lift a giant pane of glass to the top of a 30-plus-story skyscraper will unfortunately have to try it once again. The glass was almost in their reach when the cable apparently snapped, sending the window and its support rig plummeting to the ground. But well…
A researcher at security firm Context has published the details of an exploit they found in PC gaming giant Steam’s desktop client. The nasty bug has reportedly been around for the last 10 years and left millions of users’ PCs open to being remotely commandeered by hackers. Context’s Tom Court published his findings on Wednesday…
Recently, if you searched for the California Republican Party on Google, you might have read that the political party’s ideologies included conservatism, market liberalism, and nazism. The latter listing has since been removed, and Google is blaming the results on Wikipedia “vandalism.” Vice first reported the inclusion of “Nazism” under ideologies in Google’s knowledge panel—the…
Destroying sensitive documents using a paper shredder is a long and boring process because most of the machines are woefully underpowered. Destruction is supposed to be fun, so a gifted Danish hardware hacker upgraded a run-of-the-mill shredder with a 44,400-RPM brushless motor, letting the machine tear through a page in less than a second. Why doesn’t…
A Florida man was reportedly struggling with a roach infestation at his apartment earlier this month when he realized the problem had migrated to his ear canal. And this is your last chance to stop reading before you have to live with this knowledge for the rest of your life. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that…
Most kids today don’t even know what a film camera is, so to get with the times, Canon is finally ending sales of its one remaining 35mm SLR: the Canon EOS-1V. Originally launched way back in the year 2000, the EOS-1V actually boasted some impressive specs for its time thanks its ability to shoot up…
Today, many people who are blind or have low vision must cobble together different hardware and software just to use computers. But a new standard backed by some of the biggest names in tech should mean that braille device users wont have to search for custom software for different operating systems and screen readers. The…
Ever since Dr. Dre forgot about Monster and walked into the loving arms of Apple, the overpriced cable manufacturer has struggled to keep its head above water. But it’s 2018 and every failing company has one ace up its sleeve when it needs to save itself: Pivot to blockchain. Say hello to “Monster Money.” Coindesk…
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took to the encrypted messaging app today to explain why certain Telegram features aren’t working as expected on iOS 11.4, Apple’s most recent mobile OS update. In short, Durov says it’s Apple’s fault. According to Durov, the issues with Telegram are already resolved within the app, but Apple itself has been…
Residents of two Big Island communities have been advised to evacuate, as fast-moving magma from the Kilauea volcano threatens the few remaining escape routes. “Heed evacuation orders,” warned Hawaii’s mayor, “or you’re on your own.” For the residents of Hawaii’s Lower Puna community, Mount Kilauea is proving to be an unrelenting foe. Since the eruptions…
Mistakes happen. On Wednesday night, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek admitted to a rather big one in regards to the company’s controversial “Hate Content and Hateful Conduct” policy. “We rolled this out wrong and could have done a much better job,” said Ek about Spotify’s decision to remove R Kelly and the rappers XXXTentacion and Tay-K…
Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced Wednesday that the ridesharing company that has been clouded in controversy for the last few years is finally ready to go public, and intends to do so in the second half of 2019. Khosrowshahi first mentioned the target timeframe for Uber’s planned initial public offering (IPO) while speaking to…
The US Office of Management and Budget set out to investigate just how up to snuff the cybersecurity programs at federal agencies are and—surprise!—it’s bad. The recently released report shows that most agencies within the government fail to clear even the lowest bars when it comes to cybersecurity preparedness. The main takeaway of the report,…
A remote road in Pingtung County, Taiwan has suddenly become a highly-rated attraction on Google Maps for the thirstiest denizens of the internet thanks to a video uploaded by a tourist that shows her bare breast. According to the New York Post, which preserved the clip that has since been removed from the platform, the…
MoviePass is putting two fingers in the air and screaming “YOLO” as it doubles down on its huge bets. Even though its parent company was running low on cash and its stock price has hit new lows, the film subscription company has announced plans to buy a prolific production company and launch its own movie…
Injury lawyers have historically used catchy jingles and memorable slogans to entice recovering patients to secure their services. Now, the 20-second TV or radio spot might soon be replaced with ads sent directly to the phones of patients as they sit in emergency rooms. NPR reports law firms specializing in personal injury are working with…
Activists say they will use robots to deliver abortion pills to Northern Ireland, where abortion is only legal if the life of the woman is endangered. While it’s illegal in the region for a pregnant woman to have a medical abortion in nearly all cases, the organizations operating the robots said on Wednesday that they…
YouTube has spawned a lot of egregiously dumb shit: Everything from a high-profile scandal over a video gawking at a suicide victim in a Japanese forest to a vlogger wearing a Nazi armband at a Donald Trump rally as part of a “social experiment.” But an incident where an 22-year-old man allegedly ran around a…