Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Apple touts its closed ecosystem as a security advantage. Because it tightly controls its hardware and software, Apple can push security updates much more quickly than an open system like Android. But researchers at Duo Security say that Apple’s security update system hasn’t been working exactly as intended, with thousands of Macs not getting proper…
On Thursday Whole Foods publicly revealed that a data breach had potentially compromised its customers’ credit card details. But a day later, we still know nothing about which customers, or how many of them, may have been affected. In response to Gizmodo’s inquiry on Thursday, Whole Foods declined to say how many of its stores…
It appears that the Trump administration has an opportunity to undo the reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba—just like it wanted to do. Following unexplained “covert sonic device” attacks on envoys from both the US and Canada that were stationed in Havana, the State Department is pulling more than half of its staff out of…
Unlike many of my friends, my first video game console wasn’t the original NES. It was a Commodore 64, which my parents bought as our first home computer. It could do a few useful things, but the C64 was always first and foremost a gaming system in our house. So while I find the SNES…
If you’re going to pay out up to four figures for a smartphone, then you want to make sure your investment is well protected—and that often means buying some insurance at the same time as your phone. Taking time to choose a your insurance can save you more money than you think. But before you…
With thousands of cars passing through every day, blasting the walls with dirty exhaust, it only makes sense that every once in a while a tunnel needs to be cleaned. But I had no idea there are trucks built specifically for the task, with giant scrubbers attached to robotic arms that can reach every last…
The Justice Department has obtained three warrants to search the Facebook accounts of people associated with protests of Donald Trump’s inauguration and an anti-Trump Facebook page they used to organize the demonstrations. In addition to private lists of people who planned to attend Facebook events created by the page, the searches would include the names…
The cryptocurrency market is having another rocky morning as South Korean authorities announced a ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs). While countries like the US and the UK have warned investors to exercise caution before becoming involved with such projects, China has completely banned the fundraising method, and Taiwan could be next. https://gizmodo.com/what-are-icos-and-why-are-they-getting-banned-in-china-1800922340 Reuters reports:…
There are around 26,000 polar bears on the planet out there doing their best as the ice caps melt. We’ve all seen the infamous starving polar bear picture, which has become a symbol (rightfully or not) of the impact of climate change on vulnerable species. But last week, instead of starvation came a story of…
It’s easier to mindlessly blast away a room full of video game baddies when they look at you with dead eyes and zombie-like facial expressions. It’s a completely different challenge when they appear to be expressing actual emotions and pain, made all the more believable with this new advanced facial animation tool for the Unreal…
Before the 68th International Aeronautical Congress early this morning, Elon Musk delivered some bold predictions for his aeronautics company SpaceX: a massive new rocket that could put a satellite ten times the size of Hubble into space, a base on the moon, and two manned missions to Mars by 2024 to find a water source…
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, close confidant and senior adviser, found himself in hot water this week over the revelation he and other administration staffers used personal email accounts to conduct official White House business—not a good look after President Donald Trump won the election in part by suggesting he might have Hillary Clinton prosecuted…
Imagine unlocking devices, withdrawing money from an ATM, and even entering your building all without having to prove who you are. Now, imagine a world where everyone from your landlord to your bank and phone carrier know the size and shape of your heart. Using electrocardiography, researchers at the University of Buffalo have developed a…
After becoming a target of congressional inquiries this week, Twitter released new details on Thursday concerning dozens of accounts that the company says are tied to Russian propaganda efforts during the 2016 US presidential election. In a report titled “Russian Interference in 2016 US Election, Bots, & Misinformation,” Twitter said it had concluded that, of…
The FAA fun police have struck again. The agency has already put restrictions on flying drones over and around national parks, military bases, and airports. Now it has announced it’s restricting drone flights near Department of Interior sites, including the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and the Hoover Dam. These are popular filming locations for…
By simply vertically mirroring footage from a commuter train ride through Tokyo, YouTube channel afridimensional made Japan’s capital look like the backdrop for a futuristic sci-fi film in this chill short film, Neo Tokyo Metro. Buildings become abstract floating structures, subway trains appear to fly through the air, and it’s often impossible to tell which…
The European Union is still not satisfied with how leading tech companies are handling the removal of illegal content online. On Thursday, it released a new set of guidelines for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft, giving them just months to shape up—or face unspecified future regulation. “With the surge of illegal content online, including online…
It sort of makes sense. Swedish flatpack furniture giant Ikea just acquired American labor on demand startup TaskRabbit. As some have pointed out, Ikea just bought a company that already employs people to build its own furniture. Makes sense! As first reported by Recode’s Kara Swisher and Theodore Schleifer, the acquisition will mean that Ikea…
For the first time, a research team from China used a new technique to fix a blood disorder in human embryos. The scientists performed “chemical surgery”—a procedure that rewrites errors in genetic code instead of snapping and replacing strands of faulty DNA, which is the central strategy employed by the CRISPR gene editing system. The…
Magic Leap hasn’t had much good news to announce in, well, pretty much ever. But maybe that’s about to change? On Wednesday, the super-secretive, heavily funded mixed reality startup scrubbed its website of the eye-popping concept videos its known for. In their place, the company has uploaded a minimal redesign filled with Easter eggs apparently…
