Microsoft’s original Xbox was regarded curiously by gamers and the press alike at launch. It was bigger, bulkier, and featured an eldritch monstrosity as its original controller. Thankfully, Microsoft saw fit to improve things later in the console’s lifespan with the Controller S, but nothing quite compares to the simple glory of the Xbox 360
Read MoreBrendan Nyhan / Medium: Research comparing 2016 and 2018 suggests Facebook’s efforts to limit the reach of fake news are working, but the platform’s scale remains an alluring target — After the shock of the 2016 presidential election, many Americans found psychological refuge in a simple explanation for why Donald Trump won: “fake news.” Research
Read MoreThe Air Canada, Hollister and Expedia apps are among those highlighted by TechCrunch. Some iPhone apps record your actions without permission, report says – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreFacebook made a splash recently when CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to integrate its messaging platforms on Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp were revealed last month. In the two weeks following the reveal, so much has happened – culminating in a legal opposition to the move from Germany – that it made sense to summarize the play
Read MoreItaly may be a latecomer to the booming startup scene but it’s fast becoming a hotbed of new tech talent. Red tape and bureaucracy were some of the biggest challenges new companies faced. But the government is now on a mission to cut down barriers, launching several new initiatives focused on making it easier to
Read MoreIf you thought “carbon nanotubes” were just some near-future unobtainium used in space elevators, don’t worry, you certainly aren’t alone. In reality, while the technology still has a way to go, carbon nanotube production has already exceeded several thousand tons per year and there are products you can buy today that are using this decidedly futuristic
Read MoreThe Moscow Times: Report: Google pulls government-banned sites from Russian search results, blocks ~70% of sites blacklisted by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor — Google has started to remove certain entries from its search results in Russia in compliance with long-standing demands from the authorities … Report: Google pulls government-banned sites from Russian search results, blocks
Read MoreRadar is a useful tool with familiar uses such as detecting aircraft and observing weather. It also has some less known applications, such as a technology known as ground-penetrating radar (GPR). Despite the difficulty of sending and receiving radio waves through solid objects, with the right equipment it’s possible to build a radar that works
Read MoreCommentary: The Amazon CEO says he is being blackmailed over nudes. But do I want to see tech tycoon d*ck pics? No thank you, Mr. Pecker. Jeff Bezos just confirmed what we all knew: Nudes are no big deal – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreScientists use carbon nanotubes to create a material that’s hip to hot and cold. Futuristic fabric adjusts with the temperature to keep you comfy – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreCharlie Osborne / ZDNet: Android vulnerability, affecting versions 7.0 to 9.0 and fixed in February update, lets attackers compromise devices if user clicks on an infected .PNG image — Be careful if you are sent an image from a suspicious source. — Opening a cute cat meme or innocent landscape photo may seem harmless enough
Read MoreInstagram and its parent company, Facebook, will no longer allow images of cutting and will make nongraphic photos of self-harm, such as healed scars, more difficult to find. Instagram Bans Graphic Images of Self-Harm After Teenager’s Suicide Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreCommentary: A new popcorn packaging shows the Avengers in new costumes that make me wonder if they care more about fashion than fighting Thanos? The new Avengers: Endgame outfits are a little confusing – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreWhen born without a right forearm, Tony Stark your own. A teenager built himself a prosthetic Lego arm like Iron Man – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreNicholas Megaw / Financial Times: Sources: SoftBank’s Vision Fund to invest $440M in UK online banking start-up OakNorth, valuing it at ~$2.8B — SoftBank’s Vision Fund is set to invest $440m in British banking start-up OakNorth, according to two people close to the deal, in what will be the largest ever European fintech fundraising. Sources:
Read MoreWe admire [Alex Studer’s] approach to schoolwork. His final assignment in his history class was to do an open-ended research project on any topic and — this is key — using any medium. He’d recently watched a video about how Tetris came from the former Soviet Union, and adding in a little eBay research set
Read MoreIn an online post, the chief executive of Amazon said the tabloid’s owner had used “extortion and blackmail” to try to stop his investigation into leaked photos and text messages. Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of ‘Extortion and Blackmail’ Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreJacob Kastrenakes / The Verge: After Twitter lost monthly active users for the past three quarters, the company will stop disclosing the number from Q2, will report daily active users instead — Twitter’s monthly user count has fallen for three quarters in a row, so to address the issue, Twitter has decided to stop announcing
Read MoreInstead, the social network says, it’s focusing more on a messaging app for kids. Facebook halts plans for teen meme hub called LOL – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreGoogle hopes to generate a buzz about the German analytical chemist, who was the first to identify caffeine as coffee’s active ingredient. Google Doodle raises a cup of joe to Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreIt was the height of the Cold War. At odds were the United States and the former Soviet Union, both attempting to posture and propagandize their way to a win in a geopolitical dispute that dragged on nearly 50 years. Complicating matters was a burgeoning space race, one the US was losing after the Soviets
Read MoreCatalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: Google warns about two iOS zero-day vulnerabilities that hackers have been actively exploiting; the vulnerabilities have been fixed in iOS 12.1.4 update — iOS users are advised to update to iOS 12.1.4; release which also fixes infamous FaceTime bug. — A Google top security engineer … Google warns about two iOS
Read MoreThe search giant deleted about 70 percent of the blacklisted sites, according to a local newspaper in Russia. Google removes government-banned sites from Russian search results, report says – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreApril Glaser / Slate: Sources: over the past week, Square, Chase, PayPal have pulled their services from 1776.shop, an online store affiliated with far-right organization Proud Boys — There’s an e-commerce site associated with the Proud Boys. Square, Chase, and PayPal just pulled their services. Sources: over the past week, Square, Chase, PayPal have pulled
Read MoreGoogle Open Source Blog: Google says it is open sourcing ClusterFuzz, a tool it developed to automate bug detection in software via fuzzing, which has found 16K+ bugs in Chrome — Fuzzing is an automated method for detecting bugs in software that works by feeding unexpected inputs to a target program. Google says it is
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