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Here’s some good news for massive corporations that have violated the public trust by exposing the personal data of millions of American consumers, as if they needed it: the government’s new chief watchdog is one of their own. Andrew Smith, a lawyer who has represented dozens of firms including Facebook and Equifax, will serve as…
Today in absolutely bonkers allegations, a recently filed lawsuit claims American drone maker AeroVironment transported explosives on a commercial flight and then attempted to cover it up by firing an employee for reporting the incident to the US government. Per Bloomberg, a wrongful termination complaint filed by Mark Anderson, the fired employee in question, claims…
For a long time, Google and other web-minded businesses like Mozilla have been pushing HTTPS as a way to address the shortcomings and security flaws inherent in HTTP. And if Google’s reports are any indication, it seems to be working based on data claiming that over 82 percent of Chrome pages in the US are…
Depending on where you’re eating and who you’re eating it with, the rules around food can be stunningly complex. The core concept, however, is that food is inserted into the mouth, and once it’s there, if you find it impossible to masticate with human teeth or discover the object to be a source of pain/bleeding,…
Security researchers have unearthed an elaborate scheme of North Korean front companies secretly suppling advanced biometric recognition and encryption software to countries around the world. In a new report, researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies say North Korea uses a web of freelancing sites, shell companies, and difficult to trace aliases to…
American women had fewer children in 2017 than in any year since 1987, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease and Prevention Thursday. And the overall birth rate was the lowest ever recorded in the US. While there are some positive trends in the report, such as fewer teen pregnancies, there…
Facebook on Thursday announced a partnership with the Atlantic Council aimed at expanding its understanding of disinformation campaigns and other emerging threats to democratic elections worldwide. The think tank’s Digital Forensic Research Lab will partner with Facebook’s security, policy, and production teams in the hopes of increasing awareness of how the platform is being abused,…
The technical skills of programmer John Carmack helped create the 3D world of Doom, the first-person shooter that took over the world 25 years ago. But it was level designers like John Romero and American McGee that made the game fun to play. Level designers that, today, might find their jobs threatened by the ever-growing…
Google isn’t giving up on its quest to get you to pay it for music. That’s the main takeaway from Thursday’s announcement of YouTube Music, a re-imagining of how music-listening works on YouTube. The new streaming service will come in two flavors: a free tier called YouTube Music and a $10-per-month tier dubbed YouTube Music…
An ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa has become much more worrying, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported Thursday. While previous cases of the often fatal viral disease had been found in rural areas during this most recent outbreak, the first urban case of Ebola was recently…
Thousands of patients, including children, may have been affected in a doctor’s alleged scheme that funded his extravagant lifestyle. Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a rheumatologist based in South Texas, has been charged in a $240 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme. In a federal indictment unsealed Monday, the Justice Department accused Zamora-Quezada of falsely…
There’s a lot of talk about robots coming for our jobs (and into our nightmares), but let’s take a moment to appreciate the Very Good Robots. For instance, this telepresence robot that helped Cynthia Pettway, who was stuck in the hospital during her graduation ceremony, virtually walk across the stage to accept her diploma. On…
If you own a Nest product, we’ve got bad news: Last night, as you performed your evening ablutions and got ready for bed, Nest devices went offline, disabling some integral features in certain devices. But hey, if you’re a Nest user, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve had to deal with something like this.…
As if the residents of Hawaii’s Big Island don’t have enough to worry about already, the US Geological Survey is now warning residents of yet another threat: large rocks shooting from Kilauea’s crater. Several rocks, including one measuring two feet wide, have already fallen— but the situation could get even worse. It’s been two weeks…
We could all use a little more time in the day, and your smartphone apps are here to help you. Plenty of the apps you use every day include handy timesavers that you might not have noticed yet, but fear not—we’re here to point them out for you. Use these tricks to claw back some…
On Monday, a science teacher in Florida took his students outside and drowned two raccoons. According to one student, the reason given by the teacher was that the raccoons had killed some chickens housed behind the school. The raccoons were placed in wire cages and submerged underwater for several minutes until they were dead as…
YouTube Music, a streaming music platform designed to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, officially has a launch date: May 22nd. Its existence will also shift around YouTube and Google’s overall media strategy, which has thus far been quite the mess. YouTube Music will borrow the Spotify model and offer a free,…
Comcast, a company so familiar with the public ire at this point that it basically courts it, has reportedly found a new trick to squeeze extra cash out of its customers by charging an installation fee when it is totally unnecessary. A report from Ars Technica found the cable and internet service provider is more…
North Korean operatives could be involved in the design and sale of everything from VPNs and encryption software to fingerprint and facial recognition technology, according to a recent report that alleges it’s one way the country’s totalitarian government is generating new revenue. The recent study by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies claims to…
Earlier this month, Spotfiy began implementing new policies meant to remove controversial and “hateful” artists from promoted positions throughout its platform—which notably resulted in R. Kelly getting bounced from playlists. However, the music streaming platform appears to be continuing to promote merchandise from artists in violation of its guidelines. Mashable pointed out that the merchandise…
