Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Computer scientists have developed an artificially intelligent system that’s an improvement over existing techniques used to crack CAPTCHAs, those super-annoying prompts that check to see whether you’re a human or a bot. For security experts, it means that existing CAPTCHA-based systems may soon be obsolete—if they aren’t already. AI developers have been trying to defeat…
On Thursday, the deadline for the federal government to publicly release all of its files relating to the JFK assassination arrived and, for a moment, it appeared that it would actually happen. But at the last minute, President Trump delayed the release of the most sensitive files. As expected, intelligence agencies insisted further review was…
Under fire for failing to detect and stop Russian-funded political ads during the 2016 election, Facebook announced new rules on Friday for advertising on its platform. The measures are aimed at increasing transparency about who pays for ads on its platform and who views them—including federal election ads from the past. The rules will apply…
Google’s brand new flagship phones are off to a rocky start. From reports of faint clicking sounds coming from the Pixel 2’s earpiece to a number of issues with the Pixel 2 XL’s POLED display, it seems Google still has some room for improvement as a hardware manufacturer, even after two years. Still, Google is…
Best Buy is charging more for iPhone X buyers who don’t want installment debt. If you want to pre-order the iPhone X through Best Buy and pay for the whole device upfront then you have to pay $100 more than if you choose the Best Buy installment plan or if you buy the phone through…
In a BBC radio interview on Friday, British Security Minister Ben Wallace attributed this year’s WannaCry outbreak to the North Korean government. The ransomware attack crippled roughly a third of Britain’s National Health Care trusts, as well as nearly 300 local doctor’s offices, in May. “This attack, we believe quite strongly came from a foreign…
It’s a fascinating picture of robots and dancing women, all performing for a movie. The photo is supposedly from around 1927. And while I love old movies and I love robots, I can’t for the life of me figure out what this photo is from. I need your help. The photo above is licensed by…
Pre-orders for the $1,000 iPhone X are live, and for those of you who didn’t stay up nervously refreshing Apple’s website or waiting in online queues to buy one, here’s what you can expect going forward. Shipping delays are looking pretty bad, like worse than iPhone 7 bad, and way worse than iPhone 8, which…
Smartphones have revolutionized the way we take pictures and record our lives—it’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t always have a camera with us. For all their convenience though, and all the smartphone camera improvements we’ve seen in the last few years, the dedicated camera isn’t dead yet. And it’s not just professionals…
Do you lean more towards the “trick” side of trick-or-treating? Do you, like 98 percent of the world, wonder who actually eats candy corn? If you answered “yes” to both, then head over to DragonflyFabrication’s Thingiverse page where you can download the plans for this double-barreled, wrist-mounted candy corn blaster. In addition to a hatred…
Two American women and their dogs have been rescued after spending nearly 5 months stranded on the Pacific Ocean surrounded by sharks. Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava set off for Tahiti on May 3rd, but suffered engine failure and even a broken mast. To make matters worse, their phone fell overboard on the first day.…
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch just dropped a helluva news nugget. Citing public records, the paper reports that Amazon “has gained approval to become a wholesale distributor from a number of state pharmaceutical boards.” That might mean that Amazon wants to sell prescription drugs. Then again, it might not. These public records show that Amazon has…
In the latest example of “Philip K Dick-inspired nightmare becomes real life,” Saudi Arabia just became the first nation to grant citizenship to a robot. The robot’s name is Sophia. It is artificially intelligent, friends with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, and, arguably, a glimpse into the dark future that will kill us all. You see,…
A server that held data central to Georgia’s elections was wiped this summer, destroying the potential for a forensic investigation to determine whether or not the server was compromised by hackers, the AP reports. The data destruction was revealed in an email last week from an associate state attorney general to a group that is…
New research shows that the British Museum’s most famous artifact—the Portland Vase—was manufactured by a different technique than the one traditionally assumed by historians and archaeologists. For centuries, experts in antiquities have said that the Portland Vase, along with other Roman cameo glass artifacts, were manufactured by the ancient Romans using a blown glass technique.…
As recently as September, ultra-secretive augmented reality startup Magic Leap entertained holding a splashy event to reveal more about its mysterious technology, according to a confidential document detailing a proposed event concept obtained by Gizmodo. The document outlines a pitch for a strange live-streamed office tour, complete with product-revealing Easter eggs, nods at various Magic…
It didn’t seem possible, but Equifax may have screwed the pooch even harder than previously thought. Several months before the devastating data breach, which compromised the personal data of more than 145 million Americans, the company was apparently warned about a vulnerability in its public-facing infrastructure that would allow virtually anyone to view the data.…
Right now, 450,000 people are incarcerated in America without being convicted of a crime. Charged with bails they can’t afford, they sit in jail awaiting their trials. Backlogs are extensive and overcrowding is common. Some wait weeks, others wait months, and some even die in custody before getting their day in court. Enter “Appolition,” an…
Human’s impact on nature is unmistakeable, from vast swaths of lost forest to heaps of trash on beaches. Looking at these images might be upsetting, but still demonstrate what we’ve done. They don’t demonstrate what we might lose. Scientists warn that we’re potentially amidst a sixth mass extinction event, thanks to human activity. Humans are…
In belated response to an American intelligence report that concluded RT and Sputnik tried to influence the 2016 election, Twitter announced on Thursday that it is removing all advertising from accounts owned by the Russian state-sponsored news outlets. The company also promised to donate $1.9 million to help fund outside research into how the platform…
