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A new study from the University of Southern California (USC) suggests that there is a correlation between an increase in violence at protests and tweets with “moral content” concerning what the protest is about—like, say, police violence. But dig a bit deeper, and you’ll find that the study’s implications are more complicated than that. The…
Subscription food delivery is a big thing that no one’s quite figured out how to make into a successful business. Now, New York’s iconic spot for overpriced pastrami, Katz Deli, is getting into the game. For just $1,500 a year, you can moan in orgasmic culinary glee from the comfort of your own home, anywhere…
Early next year, the Springer Nature publishing group will launch a new subscription journal devoted to artificial intelligence. Like its other journals, Nature will impose a pay wall and restrict access to paying customers—a move that isn’t going over well with AI researchers, who say a for-profit subscription journal is not what the field needs…
Both Uber and Lyft have been subpoenaed by San Francisco’s city attorney for information on driver classification, wages, and benefits to see if the ridesharing companies are compliant, Reuters reports. Among other documentation, the subpoenas seek “a complete list of drivers who began or ended at least one ride in San Francisco from 2015 to…
Do you own a HomePod, Apple’s needlessly expensive smart speaker? Have you ever wished you could connect your multiple HomePods, the ones that sit lovingly in your magnificent house, so they could all play the exact same song at the exact same time? Does that kind of technology sound like it should’ve already been included…
It sounds like Snap’s Los Angeles office has plenty of insufferable assholes. For example, according to a new report from Cheddar, an executive made a dick joke to a male colleague, and employees took part in an all-male push-up competition in the office. These are just a few of several instances contributing to what a…
It’s no secret that the products and services you know and love (or loathe) are all hawking your data to advertisers, making a few billion bucks off all those “free” services provided to you. But when it comes time to pad your pockets, you’re not exactly getting a cut of the profits. So why not…
When it comes to informed consumption, online user reviews can be pretty damn meaningless. Amazon products are chock full of paid approbations. Movies, TV, and games—god forbid they become a source of controversy—have had their crowdsourced ratings intentionally tanked by the sore and sour. Unless you’re trying to figure out whether that suspiciously cheap gadget…
Among Uber’s many troubles, passenger safety has been a persistent concern. In a new effort to curb sexual assault and other forms of violence perpetrated by drivers, Uber is adding new safety features to every U.S. rider’s app, including an “emergency button” that will call 911. In a few test cities, the button will even…
Off-the-shelf gadgets are all well and good—easy to set up, reliable in operation, powerful and smart—but where’s the adventure? We’re living in a golden age of gadget-making, as these DIY projects prove. Save yourself some money and learn more about the ins and outs of electronics by tackling one (or more) of these yourself. 1)…
While we’re not expecting any major phone news to come out of WWDC (aside from the possible appearance of the iPhone SE 2), all sorts of iPhone rumors are hitting the street as Apple’s annual developer conference nears. The rumors range from some plausible changes and upgrades to some very silly-looking new colors. Starting with…
It was a Friday evening in 1975, and Woody Wise was driving from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, with his two kids in the car. He had picked them up from school in a rush, but they weren’t going on vacation. They were hiding out from the FBI. While Wise was on the road, the…
Papua New Guinea, a nation of over 8 million, has announced that it will shut down Facebook for a month. The PNG government says that the shutdown will give it time to assess the spread of objectionable content on the site like porn and fake news. The government also said that it’s exploring the creation…
In March, Uber abandoned its operations in eight countries in Southeast Asia with an announcement that it was selling everything it had in the region to competitor Grab. Per a Monday report in the New York Times, it now looks like this exit was anything but graceful, and has infuriated both regulators and drivers in the…
The European Commission is proposing a ban on around 10 single-use plastic items that it says account for approximately 70 percent of all garbage in the European Union’s waters and beaches, including cutlery, straws, cotton buds, plates, some coffee cups, and stirrers, CNN Money reported on Monday. According to CNN’s report, it’s part of a…
You’ve had that perfect personalized plate in mind for years, and some jerkoff already got it. Well, if you live in Sacramento, you’re in luck. A new pilot program for digital license plates has begun. The plates allow you to display custom messages, eliminate annoying registration stickers, and even have your location tracked at all…
The latest Ebola outbreak has claimed yet another life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising the death toll to 12—though the actual number may be as high as 27. Using a strategy known as “ring vaccinations,” officials began treating doctors and other frontline healthcare workers in Bikoro, the town where the outbreak was first…
Two of Canada’s biggest banks fear that they’ve been the victim of a data breach and are urging customers to take the necessary steps to protect themselves. Both banks claim that they were contacted by “fraudsters” on Sunday who claimed to have stolen personal and financial information, and both banks appear to think the claim…
Our individual walking styles, much like snowflakes, are unique. With this in mind, computer scientists have developed a powerful new footstep-recognition system using AI, and it could theoretically replace retinal scanners and fingerprinting at security checkpoints, including airports. Neural networks can find telltale patterns in a person’s gait that can be used to recognize and identify…
With electric vehicles rapidly becoming more viable for long distance trips, enthusiasts like to push the limits of what their cars can do on a single charge. Two men in Denver set out to break the record distance in a Model 3 this weekend and after 32 hours, they were victorious. Unfortunately, the car is…
