index tech companies
[Link] Elon Musk appears to reconcile with Apple after Twitter tirade
Read: 4/12/2022 arstechnica.com
Elon Musk said he had a “good conversation” with Apple chief executive Tim Cook and “resolved the misunderstanding” about his claim that Twitter could be removed from the App Store, just days after the world’s richest man unleashed a tirade against the most valuable tech company.
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[Link] Facebook Engineers Admit They Don’t Know What They Do With Your Data
Read: 8/9/2022 www.vice.com
Earlier this year, Motherboard reported about an internal Facebook document that said the company has no idea where users’ data goes, and what the company is doing with it.
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[Link] Elon Musk fails in bid to delay trial over terminated Twitter deal
Read: 8/9/2022 www.theguardian.com
Elon Musk has failed in a bid to delay a trial over his termination of a $44bn (£38bn) deal to buy Twitter. The social media company is suing Musk over his decision to walk away from the transaction and is demanding that he complete the deal on the agreed terms.
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[Link] Researchers Find Vulnerability in Software Underlying Discord, Microsoft Teams, and Other Apps
Read: 12/8/2022 www.vice.com
In all these cases, the researchers submitted vulnerabilities to Electron to get them fixed, which earned them more than $10,000 in rewards. The bugs were fixed before the researchers published their research.
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[Link] Harassment at a Bitcoin Conference Highlights Problems of ‘Vicious’ Industry Sexism
Read: 10/5/2022 www.vice.com
At Bitcoin 2022 in Miami, an attendee broke the code of conduct that started a wave of harassment — and a renewed discussion about sexism in the crypto industry.
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[Link] SafeGraph Investor Selling His Stake, Donating the Money to Planned Parenthood
Read: 6/5/2022 www.vice.com
Motherboard reported that SafeGraph was selling aggregated location data of people who visited family planning centers, raising concerns the data could be used to figure out which clinics were providing out-of-state abortions. Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance.
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[Link] Guy Whose Companies Keep Getting Sued For Discrimination Threatens to 'Improve' Twitter
Read: 5/4/2022 www.vice.com
Elon Musk has joined the board at Twitter, saying he plans to make several improvements to the platform.
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[Link] Amazon referred to US attorney general over ‘potentially criminal conduct’
Read: 13/3/2022 www.theguardian.com
Members of the Democratic-controlled House judiciary committee have referred Amazon to the Department of Justice, alleging “potentially criminal conduct” by the company and some of its senior executives.
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[Link] US lawmakers seek criminal probe of Amazon for lying about use of seller data
Read: 9/3/2022 arstechnica.com
Amazon lied to Congress about its use of third-party seller data, the House Judiciary Committee said today. In a letter to the Department of Justice, the committee chairs asked prosecutors to investigate the company for criminal obstruction of Congress.
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[Link] Being a Facebook Metaverse ‘Community Guide’ Seems Like a Nightmare Job
Read: 16/2/2022 www.vice.com
Imagine you had to moderate a Facebook comment thread, only each commenter was able to come up to you, wave their hands in your face, and scream whatever they want. Peanutbutter sighs loudly and approaches the group of kids.
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[Link] Tech Firm Offers Cops Facial Recognition to ID Homeless People
Read: 8/2/2022 www.vice.com
“Police use ODIN facial recognition to identify even non-verbal or intoxicated individuals,” the brochure from surveillance firm ODIN Intelligence reads. ODIN’s specific homelessness product is called ODIN Homeless Management Information System, or ODIN HMIS.
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[Link] TikTok Finally Bans Deadnaming, Conversion Therapy Content
Read: 8/2/2022 www.vice.com
TikTok updated its terms of service Tuesday morning to ban deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, and content that promotes conversion therapy programs.
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[Link] Facebook appeal over Cambridge Analytica data rejected by Australian court as ‘divorced from reality’
Read: 8/2/2022 www.theguardian.com
Facebook has lost a major battle with the Australian regulator over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, after a court dismissed the social media giant’s claim that it neither conducts business nor collects personal information in the country.
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[Link] Meta's Oculus Quest rebrand is off to a disastrous start
Read: 6/2/2022 www.creativebloq.com
It's going to take us a while to get used to calling Facebook Meta, but spare a thought for Oculus Quest users, who are also being asked to call their VR headset by a new name.
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[Link] Spotify’s attempt to use the Facebook playbook over Joe Rogan won’t wash
Read: 6/2/2022 www.theguardian.com
Two decades ago, the late and much-lamented David Bowie said something that was eerily prophetic. “Music itself,” he observed, “is going to become like running water or electricity.
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[Link] Meta to bring in mandatory distances between virtual reality avatars
Read: 5/2/2022 www.theguardian.com
Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual reality business is to introduce a mandatory distance between people’s digital avatars following warnings that the social media tycoon’s plans for a metaverse will lead to a new wave of online harassment.
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[Link] AEC preparing to combat Trump-style misinformation in 2022 election
Read: 27/1/2022 www.theguardian.com
Social media companies should commit to taking down unauthorised political material in agreed timeframes to combat misinformation in elections, according to the Australian electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers.
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[Link] Lawmakers Plan Legislation to ‘Ban Surveillance Advertising’
Read: 19/1/2022 www.vice.com
Lawmakers have proposed new legislation that they say would ban surveillance-based advertising. The legislation would target the underlying practice of targeted or personalized ads that facilitates surveillance-based advertising itself.
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[Link] Microsoft rolls out revamped Notepad app to Windows 11 Insiders
Read: 9/12/2021 arstechnica.com
Microsoft is continuing to update and refine Windows 11 two months after its public release, and the Notepad app is the latest bit of the operating system to get some attention.
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[Link] WhatsApp criticised for plan to allow messages to disappear after 24 hours
Read: 6/12/2021 www.theguardian.com
WhatsApp users are to be given the option to have their messages disappear after 24 hours, a change that drew immediate criticism from children’s charities. In a blog post announcing the change, WhatsApp, which has 2 billion users, said its mission was to “connect the world privately”.
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[Link] Prisons transcribe private phone calls with inmates using speech-to-text AI
Read: 6/12/2021 www.theregister.com
In brief Prisons around the US are installing AI speech-to-text models to automatically transcribe conversations with inmates during their phone calls.
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[Link] Alleged Michigan School Shooter Made Gun Video, Had Parents Called Into School
Read: 2/12/2021 www.vice.com
Ethan Crumbley, who has since been charged as an adult with murder, attempted murder, and terrorism causing death, used a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun belonging to his father and shot 10 students and one teacher during his rampage at the school on Tuesday, according to authorities. .
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[Link] How Activision Blizzard employees made CEO Bobby Kotick powerless in just 30 minutes
Read: 2/12/2021 esports.gg
Amidst calls for resignation, CEO Bobby Kotick seemed to be all but untouchable. Blizzard employees proved him wrong in 30 minutes. Someone like Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will do whatever it takes to hold onto their power.
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[Link] The Head of Facebook's Failed Cryptocurrency Is Leaving the Company
Read: 1/12/2021 www.vice.com
David Marcus, the head of Facebook's cryptocurrency projects, announced on Twitter Tuesday he was leaving by the end of the year.
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[Link] Have you asked for an Airbnb refund during COVID? Ross was refused one – and then told to break lockdown
Read: 29/11/2021 www.abc.net.au
So when they booked a night at a Victorian country home for a getaway with friends, the Melbourne-based couple didn't pay too much attention to their Airbnb host's cancellation policy.
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[Link] She Wanted to Accuse a Celebrated Techie of Sexual Assault But Couldn’t. Until Now.
Read: 29/11/2021 www.vice.com
Multimillionaire tech entrepreneur Zia Chishti has stepped down from his roles in the AI software firm Afiniti, following accusations of sexually assault revealed by a former employee at a U.S. congressional hearing on Nov. 16.
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[Link] Jack Dorsey Steps Down as Twitter CEO, Again
Read: 29/11/2021 www.vice.com
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is stepping down for the second time since founding the company, Twitter announced Monday. Dorsey will be replaced by current CTO Parag Agrawal. The announcement ends Dorsey's uneven, six-year second stint as Twitter CEO.
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[Link] Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey set to step down, report says
Read: 29/11/2021 www.theguardian.com
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is expected to step down from his executive role at the social media company, according to CNBC.
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[Link] Apple Will Tell You How to Fix iPhones, Sell Parts to the General Public
Read: 17/11/2021 www.vice.com
Apple has announced plans to let customers repair their own phones in a monumental shift from its current repair policies. It is going to sell repair parts directly to the public, something that few phone manufacturers have done over the last decade.
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[Link] More Software Isn't Better Software
Read: 14/11/2021 www.wired.com
Last month, Eugen Rochko learned that the software project he started building during his university days, called Mastodon, is running Donald Trump’s new Truth Social network.
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[Link] Meet M6 — 10 Trillion Parameters at 1% GPT-3’s Energy Cost
Read: 14/11/2021 towardsdatascience.com
On June 25, Alibaba DAMO Academy (the R&D branch of Alibaba) announced they had built M6, a large multimodal, multitasking language model with 1 trillion parameters — already 5x GPT-3’s size, which serves as the standard to measure the rate of progress for large AI models.
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[Link] Google loses appeal, faces €2.4 billion shopping antitrust fine
Read: 12/11/2021 arstechnica.com
Google and the European Union are still battling it out over various product-bundling schemes across Google's empire. The latest news has to do with Google Shopping's integration with Google Search.
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[Link] Clearview Finally Submits AI For Independent Testing; Only Tests Feature It Isn't Actually Selling
Read: 8/11/2021 www.techdirt.com
At long last, Clearview has finally had its AI tested by an independent party.
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[Link] The iPhone 13 Screen Is a Repair Nightmare That Could Destroy Repair Shops Forever
Read: 7/11/2021 www.vice.com
A tweak to the iPhone’s repairability that has been long prophesied and feared has finally come to pass, giving staggering new urgency for legislation that makes repair more accessible: The iPhone 13’s screen cannot be replaced without special software controlled by Apple.
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[Link] Mark Zuckerberg downloaded and used a photo app that Facebook later cloned and crushed, antitrust lawsuit claims
Read: 7/11/2021 www.businessinsider.com
The founders of a photo-app startup filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook's parent company, Meta, The New York Times first reported on Thursday.
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[Link] Akamai: Online Pirates Are Clever But Not Unbeatable
Read: 7/11/2021 torrentfreak.com
There's a growing number of technology companies trying to help copyright holders fight online piracy. Akamai Technologies, one of the big players, takes a multi-faceted approach to tackle the problem.
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[Link] Yes, Mark Zuckerberg Sites Are Down
Read: 4/11/2021 www.gizmodo.com.au
It would appear that Messenger, as well as Instagram’s messaging function and other Facebook-owned services, are currently having trouble, as thousands of users report being unable to access the company’s platforms Wednesday.
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[Link] Uber drivers tell Senate inquiry of abuse, false complaints and suspensions during Covid
Read: 4/11/2021 www.theguardian.com
Uber drivers in Sydney and Melbourne have been temporarily suspended from the service for asking customers to wear face masks in their cars, a Senate committee has been told.
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[Link] Don’t Go Cheering Facebook for Killing Its Face Recognition Database Just Yet
Read: 4/11/2021 www.gizmodo.com.au
On Tuesday, Facebook offered us a brief respite from the deluge of awful news stories on the company with a pretty pleasant-sounding announcement.
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[Link] Parallel metaverses: Facebook’s name change is challenged by Arizona retailer Meta PCs
Read: 2/11/2021 www.theguardian.com
Meta PCs, an Arizona-based company that sells computers, laptops and software for gamers was an unremarkable retail outfit a week ago.
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[Link] Zillow Is Killing Its Home-Buyer Service, Cutting 25 Percent of Workforce
Read: 2/11/2021 www.vice.com
Only months after announcing plans to dramatically ramp up Zillow Offers, its home-buying iBuyer service, Zillow announced Tuesday that it is effectively killing it, saying it was too difficult to accurately price homes and only served a small percentage of its customer base.
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[Link] Facebook Shuts Down Massive Photo Tagging Facial Recognition Program
Read: 2/11/2021 www.vice.com
For years, photo tagging was a core Facebook feature and was one of the main things people “did” on Facebook. To tag a photo, you clicked a specific part of it and wrote in the name of your friend.
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[Link] Adobe Uses DMCA to Nuke Project That Keeps Flash Alive, Secure & Adware Free
Read: 1/11/2021 torrentfreak.com
In January 2021, development and support for Adobe Flash was discontinued. That marked the end of an era but in reality, Flash wasn't quite dead.
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[Link] Facebook has ruined our reality, now it’s coming for the metaverse too
Read: 31/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
“Facebook”. The word paints a thousand pictures, every one of them a portrait of some element of the human condition I could happily live without. Message requests from veterans in Montana that read, “Hello beautiful Lady.
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[Link] Netflix hit with unfair labor charge from suspended and fired employees
Read: 31/10/2021 www.avclub.com
After weeks of controversy surrounding its release of—and then vocal high-level support for—the transphobic material in Dave Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, streaming giant Netflix now faces an unfair labor charge from two of its current/former employees.
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[Link] Zuckerberg’s role in Facebook rebrand may backfire, experts say
Read: 31/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to remove “negative associations” between Facebook and its parent company may be undermined by his decision to front the launch of its rebranding as Meta, experts have said.
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[Link] Australia also wants Google to unbundle search from Android
Read: 31/10/2021 arstechnica.com
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the latest government regulatory body to take issue with how Google does business.
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[Link] Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company
Read: 29/10/2021 www.vice.com
Facebook’s new name is “Meta,” and its new mission is to invent a ‘metaverse’ that will make us all forget what it’s done to our existing reality.
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[Link] Why does Amazon make games?
Read: 27/10/2021 www.theverge.com
When Amazon makes a new movie or TV show, the reason is pretty clear: the tech giant needs to build out its streaming service Prime Video. One of the best ways to do that is to make (or buy) exclusive series and films. But when Amazon develops a new video game, the reasons aren’t so clear.
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[Link] How the nation’s newest billionaire built a software giant
Read: 27/10/2021 www.afr.com
Tony Walls, the founder of software company Objective Corp, has quietly added $20 million a week to his wealth pile over the past five months.
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[Link] Techies demand top dollar as skills shortages bite
Read: 27/10/2021 www.afr.com
Australian tech companies are turning down new business because soaring pay rates being charged by workers with in-demand skills are making projects unprofitable, instead turning to training and other non-financial strategies to try to lure and retain staff.
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[Link] What Crisis? Facebook Made $9 Billion In Profit in the Last 3 Months
Read: 26/10/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. On the face of it, Facebook has been having one of the worst weeks in its history.
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[Link] ‘History will not judge us kindly’: Facebook employees rip Zuckerberg in leaked messages
Read: 26/10/2021 nypost.com
Facebook employees say Mark Zuckerberg’s obsession with growth has overridden ethical concerns and allowed hate speech and incitements to violence to spread unchecked, internal messages leaked to media outlets show.
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[Link] Microsoft angers the .NET open source community with a controversial decision
Read: 25/10/2021 www.theverge.com
Microsoft has spent the past 10 years embracing open-source software and, at several points, even admitting it loves Linux and the open source community.
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[Link] Facebook whistleblower tells politicians to 'team up' with US to regulate social media, or be ignored
Read: 23/10/2021 www.abc.net.au
Frances Haugen quit Facebook earlier this year and told a congressional hearing in October that Facebook's products were harming children and fuelling polarisation in the United States.
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[Link] ‘Asian Achievers,’ ‘Gay’: How ISPs Label Customers for Advertisers
Read: 22/10/2021 www.vice.com
A new FTC report has revealed that ISPs collect and sell a horrifying amount of sensitive data about their customers.
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[Link] Hundreds of HelloFresh Workers Are Unionizing in New Jersey
Read: 21/10/2021 www.vice.com
On Wednesday, the union filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election at the HelloFresh distribution center in Newark. HelloFresh is the largest meal-kit provider in the United States. Its factory workers are also unionizing at a nearby facility in Totowa, New Jersey.
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[Link] Facebook’s Brand Is So Toxic Zuckerberg Reportedly Wants to Change Its Name
Read: 20/10/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. In the middle of one of the worst crises his company has ever faced, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not digging in and fixing the democracy-destroying problems he’s created. Instead, he’s reportedly planning to rebrand.
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[Link] Instagram Is Punishing Users by Taking Away Their Link Stickers
Read: 19/10/2021 www.vice.com
Many Instagram users saw a notification that if they have violated the platform's Community Guidelines in the past, they will no longer be allowed to use links in Stories.
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[Link] Elaborate ‘CryptoEats’ Food Delivery Scam Steals $500,000 in Minutes
Read: 19/10/2021 www.vice.com
For the last week, a handful of UK-based celebrities have been talking about a new startup, called “CryptoEats,” that would compete against UberEats by allowing customers to pay for food delivery in cryptocurrency.
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[Link] Facebook says Craig Kelly’s content on United Australia Party page OK after banning MP
Read: 19/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Facebook says the United Australia Party’s page does not violate the social media giant’s community standards despite carrying prominent content from Craig Kelly, whose accounts have been banned for breaching the social media company’s misinformation policy.
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[Link] Facebook Says Extremely Common Thing It Does Is Bad When Reporters Do It
Read: 19/10/2021 www.vice.com
In an attempt to get ahead of reporting that will seemingly make Facebook—already reeling from weeks of revelations from a whistleblower—somehow look even worse, the company has adopted an increasingly popular strategy among some corporations: posting through it.
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[Link] Bill Gates reportedly advised to end inappropriate emails with female employee in 2008
Read: 19/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Bill Gates was allegedly advised in 2008 by executives at the company to halt inappropriate communication with a female employee, according to a new report.
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[Link] Apple launches new AirPods and revamped MacBook Pro laptops
Read: 19/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Apple has announced new third-generation AirPods and its much-anticipated new MacBook Pro laptops, with new screens and high-end M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.
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[Link] Google countersues Epic Games for lost Play Store money
Read: 17/10/2021 arstechnica.com
Epic Games keeps piling up lawsuits with app store owners. This time, Google is countersuing Epic for breach of contract. Epic signed contracts with both Google and Apple, pledging to use the default payment systems for in-app purchases.
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[Link] Adobe Uses DMCA to Nuke Project That Keeps Flash Alive, Secure & Adware Free
Read: 14/10/2021 torrentfreak.com
In January 2021, development and support for Adobe Flash was discontinued. That marked the end of an era but in reality, Flash wasn't quite dead.
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[Link] Looks Like Facebook Found a Way to Bypass Europe’s Privacy Rules
Read: 14/10/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.
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[Link] European Union announces plans to require all mobile devices to use USB-C
Read: 14/10/2021 arstechnica.com
The European Commission has announced its intent to enact legislation that would mandate all consumer electronic devices sold in the European market within certain categories have a USB-C port for charging.
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[Link] Amazon Abandons Warehouse Plan Because San Diego Is Considering Worker Protection Law
Read: 13/10/2021 www.vice.com
Amazon backed out of a last-mile distribution center project near San Diego, California, because of a proposed law that would require it to pay workers more and offer them stronger protections, Motherboard has confirmed.
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[Link] Facebook bans, sends cease-and-desist letter to developer of Unfollow Everything extension
Read: 12/10/2021 www.techspot.com
What just happened? Given the rough couple of weeks Facebook has been through, the company could definitely use some good PR right now, so here's exactly the opposite: it's been revealed that the social network has permanently banned the creator of a tool that unfollows all connections automatically
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[Link] China has won AI battle with U.S., Pentagon's ex-software chief says
Read: 12/10/2021 www.reuters.com
LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances, the Pentagon's former software chief told the Financial Times.
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[Link] Tesla ordered to pay $137M to Black former worker subjected to racist workplace
Read: 10/10/2021 arstechnica.com
Tesla owes Owen Diaz $137 million after a jury found that the Black former worker was subjected to racial abuse that the electric vehicle company insufficiently addressed during his tenure.
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[Link] Facebook Is Trying to Delegitimize and Discredit Frances Haugen
Read: 10/10/2021 www.vice.com
The third time she threw in the word stolen, it almost felt forced. “I’m saying that for the majority of teens on Instagram and the survey—the stolen survey—that was shared in the testimony shows that the majority of teens …” she said, before getting back to her point.
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[Link] How friend ‘lost to misinformation’ drove Facebook whistleblower
Read: 5/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Frances Haugen, the whistleblower behind a series of damaging revelations about Facebook, is adamant that she wants to help the social media giant and not foment hatred of it.
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[Link] Facebook Knew Its Algorithm Fed QAnon Content to Users Within a Week
Read: 5/10/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. Facebook knew its recommendation algorithm was a problem, so it set up a study to test out just how bad the problem was.
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[Link] Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp hit by outage
Read: 4/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
Facebook’s network of services including Instagram and WhatsApp has been hit by an outage in multiple countries including UK and the US, as the company admitted users were having “trouble accessing our apps”.
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[Link] Former OnlyFans Employees Could Access Users’ and Models' Personal Information
Read: 30/9/2021 www.vice.com
Some former OnlyFans support staff employees still had access to users' data—including sensitive financial and personal information—even after they stopped working for the company used by sex workers to sell nudes and porn videos.
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[Link] Ex-Fox host claims Facebook defamed him by fact-checking climate change videos
Read: 29/9/2021 arstechnica.com
Former Fox Business host John Stossel is suing Facebook, alleging that the social media company and one of its contracted fact-checking organizations defamed him when it flagged two of his videos, alerting viewers to “missing context” and “partly false” claims.
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[Link] TikTok Now Has ‘Vulgarity’ Moderators in Pakistan
Read: 27/9/2021 www.vice.com
He went viral because of his slapstick comedy, funny music transitions, and social commentary. But on TikTok, he’s known as Famous “Maulvi,” the South Asian term for Muslim preacher.
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[Link] European Union Will Force Apple to Use the Same Charger as Everyone Else
Read: 23/9/2021 www.vice.com
The European Union announced on Thursday that it will force manufacturers to adopt a universal phone charger, meaning the iPhone will have to use USB-C or whatever standardized charger regulators decide to use and will no longer be able to use Apple’s proprietary Lightning Charger.
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[Link] Google Locks Historian’s Account Over Terrorism Research Videos
Read: 23/9/2021 www.vice.com
Ed Francis studies the evolution of military technology over at his YouTube channel, Armoured Archives. But this week, Francis says five years’ worth of research stored on Google Drive has become inaccessible thanks to Google’s automated error.
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[Link] Apple bans Fortnite from App Store indefinitely as legal battle continues
Read: 23/9/2021 www.theguardian.com
Apple has blacklisted Fortnite from the App Store until appeals in its legal battle with the game’s maker, Epic, are completed, Epic Games’ CEO, Tim Sweeney, said on Wednesday – a process that could take years.
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[Link] Discord funding round values it at an eye-popping $15 billion
Read: 16/9/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Discord is so hot right now.
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[Link] Ireland fails to enforce EU law against Big Tech
Read: 14/9/2021 arstechnica.com
Ireland is failing to apply the EU’s privacy laws to US Big Tech companies, with 98 percent of 164 significant complaints about privacy abuses still unresolved by its regulator.
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[Link] Leaked documents reveal the special rules Facebook uses for 5.8M VIPs
Read: 14/9/2021 arstechnica.com
Facebook had a problem on its hands. People were making posts that got caught in the company’s automated moderation system or were taken down by its human moderators. The problem wasn’t that the moderators, human or otherwise, were wrong to take down the posts.
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[Link] Facebook: some high-profile users ‘allowed to break platform’s rules’
Read: 14/9/2021 www.theguardian.com
Facebook gives high-profile users special treatment, which includes immunity from its rules for some, and allowed Brazilian footballer Neymar to post nude pictures of a woman who had accused him of rape, according to a report.
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[Link] Sunglasses Have Terms of Service Agreements Now, Thanks to Facebook
Read: 9/9/2021 www.vice.com
They are without a doubt the most iconic sunglasses in the world. They are a cliche symbol representation of cool, and yet, somehow still cool. They are decades old, and have been popularized by cartoonishly suave celebs, from Muhammad Ali, to James Dean, to Bruce Willis.
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[Link] Hunter Biden Laptop Guy Owes Twitter Money After Failed Lawsuit
Read: 6/9/2021 www.vice.com
John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the Delaware repair store where Biden allegedly left a MacBook Pro, attempted to sue Twitter for defamation in federal court.
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[Link] Chrome will now let you keep searching without hitting the back button
Read: 2/9/2021 www.zdnet.com
Google has announced three new experiments to play with in Chrome beta, with the first allowing users to keep searching without needing to hit the back button.
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[Link] Reddit Just Banned One of the Biggest Subreddits for COVID-19 Misinformation
Read: 1/9/2021 www.vice.com
A week after its CEO said that COVID misinformation wasn’t much of a problem on the site, Reddit has reversed course and banned r/NoNewNormal, a subreddit it said was responsible for massive amounts of COVID-19 misinformation on the site.
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[Link] Delivery Apps to 'Vigorously Fight' to Take More Money From Struggling Restaurants
Read: 30/8/2021 www.vice.com
On Thursday, the New York City Council made permanent a cap on delivery commissions extracted by third-party delivery apps. The measure was originally passed during the pandemic as emergency relief for restaurants struggling to stay open as apps continued to take commissions of up to 30 percent.
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[Link] Disgraced Girlboss Elizabeth Holmes is Finally Standing Trial for Fraud
Read: 30/8/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.
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[Link] Why You Suddenly Need To Delete Google Chrome
Read: 29/8/2021 www.forbes.com
A shocking new tracking admission from Google, one that hasn’t yet made headlines, should be a serious warning to Chrome’s 2.6 billion users. If you’re one of them, this nasty new surprise should be a genuine reason to quit.
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[Link] Many Americans aren't aware they're being tracked with facial recognition while shopping
Read: 26/8/2021 www.techradar.com
Despite consumer opposition to facial recognition, the technology is currently being used in retail stores throughout the US according to new research from Piplsay.
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[Link] I've Played My PS5 for Dozens of Hours on My iPod Touch
Read: 26/8/2021 www.vice.com
The Playstation 5 has so much that a console gamer may want: one of the best controllers ever made; a super speedy SSD to essentially eliminate some load times, and the ability to run a good chunk of games at a higher frame rate and resolution than the aged previous console.
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[Link] Reddit Responds to Calls From Moderators to Fight Disinformation
Read: 26/8/2021 www.vice.com
Some of the most popular subreddits are protesting the proliferation of COVID-19 disinformation and conspiracy theories on the platform.
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[Link] YouTube says it bans accounts believed to be owned by the Taliban
Read: 26/8/2021 www.reuters.com
Aug 17 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) YouTube said on Tuesday it bans accounts believed to be owned and operated by the Taliban, as U.S. social media companies scrambled to publicly clarify their rules on the group that is in control of Afghanistan. After U.S.
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[Link] Twitter Refuses to Ban Taliban Accounts, Vows to Remain ‘Vigilant’ Moderating Content
Read: 26/8/2021 www.yahoo.com
Twitter will allow Taliban-affiliated accounts to continue using its platform despite its policies against glorification of violence and threats.
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[Link] WhatsApp Can’t Ban the Taliban Because It Can’t Read Their Texts
Read: 26/8/2021 www.vice.com
The Taliban have effectively taken control of Afghanistan, entering the capital Kabul as U.S. diplomats and allies flee the country.
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[Link] Apple allows children to access casual-sex and BDSM apps, finds report
Read: 26/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
Apple knowingly lets underage users access apps intended for adults, according to an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), despite having asked for and recorded their dates of birth.
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[Link] The Coltan in Your Smartphone is Financing Colombian Guerrilla Armies
Read: 26/8/2021 www.vice.com
MEDELLIN, Colombia–Authorities in southern Colombia pulled over a cargo truck looking for drugs in early August. But instead of finding a pile of cocaine bricks, the truck was loaded with a sandy, blue-ish black rock called coltan.
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[Link] China moves to protect personal data form misuse by tech companies
Read: 25/8/2021 the-pen.co
There is considerable interest in efforts by the Chinese government to impose greater control over major private enterprises operating in the country. Critics see this as an attack of freedom to do business. Supporters see it as a justified crackdown on corporate greed.
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[Link] Nazis and incels are using Gotye and MGMT to evade TikTok's auto-moderators, report finds
Read: 25/8/2021 www.abc.net.au
While it's hardly surprising fringe groups have used social media platforms to post hateful material, experts say TikTok has birthed creative ways to distribute the content and avoid auto-takedowns.
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[Link] We Talked to a Dealer Selling Ivermectin Through Shady Facebook Ads
Read: 25/8/2021 www.vice.com
Facebook makes money by allowing people to buy ads on its platform depicting ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug commonly used in veterinary medicine, as a treatment for or preventative measure against COVID-19, even though there's no scientific evidence it's effective when used this way.
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[Link] Social networks struggle to crack down on ‘incel’ movement
Read: 18/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
Despite years of strict moderation from major social networks, the “incel” community remains as influential as it was in 2014, when an English 22-year-old killed seven people on the streets of Isla Vista, California, motivated by his hatred of women.
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[Link] The UK finally got Big Tech to boost teens’ privacy
Read: 17/8/2021 www.protocol.com
Social media platforms are suddenly all increasing privacy standards for teen users. Why now, after all these years? It looks like new U.K. privacy rules got the ball rolling.
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[Link] Amazon, Facebook and Google Paid Millions to Pirates, Study Finds
Read: 17/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
A new report published by the Digital Citizens Alliance suggests that pirates sites earn more than a billion dollars in revenue per year, while pirate apps are good for another quarter. Part of the money comes from big brands such as Amazon, Facebook and Google.
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[Link] Apple to only seek abuse images flagged in multiple nations following backlash
Read: 15/8/2021 www.abc.net.au
Apple says it will hunt only for pictures that have been flagged by clearing houses in multiple countries following criticism over its planned system for detecting images of child sex abuse.
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[Link] The Congresswoman Behind FOSTA Is Coming for OnlyFans
Read: 13/8/2021 www.vice.com
More than 100 members of Congress signed a letter demanding the DOJ investigate of child sexual abuse material on OnlyFans—which adult industry experts say are baseless.
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[Link] Reddit Quarantines AntiMask Antivax Subreddit
Read: 13/8/2021 www.vice.com
Wednesday, Reddit quarantined r/NoNewNormal, a subreddit that is generally antimask, antivax, and is also against any government COVID restrictions.
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[Link] Discord malware is a persistent and growing threat warns Sophos
Read: 13/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
A few weeks back, leading cybersecurity company Sophos issued a warning that Discord is becoming an increasingly common target for hackers.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard shareholder calls cultural reform plans 'deficient' and 'inadequate'
Read: 13/8/2021 www.gamasutra.com
As reported by Axios, a letter penned by SOC executive director Dieter Waizenegger suggests the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker hasn't outlined any changes that would address key issues and usher in meaningful change.
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[Link] Netflix Intensifies ‘VPN’ Ban and Targets Residential IP-addresses Too
Read: 11/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
Netflix has stepped up its efforts to ban VPN and proxy users from bypassing geographical restrictions. The streaming service is now blocking residential IP addresses too, since some unblocking tools use these to bypass restrictions.
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[Link] A Microsoft researcher has harsh words for, oh, Microsoft technology
Read: 9/8/2021 www.zdnet.com
I don't know about this freedom of speech thing. Especially when it comes to companies. Employees can often seem like mouthpieces for the corporate cause, carefully sidestepping inconveniences such as truth.
[Link] Apple’s Stunning Plan To Strike Facebook With Brilliant New iPhone Features
Read: 9/8/2021 www.forbes.com
Apple is about to strike Facebook with a major blow that will hit the data-hungry social network’s revenues and could force it to change its ways. That’s because in September this year, Apple will launch its iOS 15 operating system update, bringing with it multiple new iPhone features.
[Link] Instagram Shuts Down Fake Likes Factory
Read: 9/8/2021 www.vice.com
Instagram recently sent a cease and desist demand to a site that sold fake likes and engagement on the platform, prompting the site to shut down in response, according to a person involved in the site and confirmation from Instagram.
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[Link] All your DNS were belong to us: AWS and Google Cloud shut down spying vulnerability
Read: 9/8/2021 www.theregister.com
Until February this year, Amazon Route53's DNS service offered largely unappreciated network eavesdropping capabilities. And this undocumented spying option was also available at Google Cloud DNS and at least one other DNS-as-a-service provider.
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[Link] Facebook users struggling to reactivate hacked accounts are buying $300 Oculus VR headsets just so they can talk to a customer service rep
Read: 8/8/2021 www.businessinsider.com.au
Facebook users struggling to get back into their hacked accounts are buying the company’s $US300 ($AU405) VR headset and returning them unopened just so they can reactivate their profiles, according to an NPR report.
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[Link] You should download the new Google Drive for Desktop
Read: 8/8/2021 www.popsci.com
You might be familiar with Google Drive from its web interface or its mobile apps. But desktop software is available as well, allowing you to seamlessly sync files stored in your Google Drive with the file system on your Windows or macOS computer.
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[Link] Move over, space. Tech billionaires have a new utopian boondoggle: the ‘metaverse’
Read: 7/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
Look at all of our tech billionaires trying to leave the world to evade responsibility for their malevolent influence on it. Anything to avoid being confronted by the workers they exploit or the victims of the ethnic and religious clashes facilitated by their platforms.
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[Link] The Future of Cryptocurrency Is Being Decided in Biden's Infrastructure Bill
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
Two competing amendments to the Senate’s infrastructure bill may shape the future of cryptocurrency in the United States as senators fight over who must be subject to new tax reporting requirements.
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[Link] Facebook Just Suspended the Accounts of Some of Its Biggest Critics
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. Facebook has made good on its threat to kick out a group of researchers who’ve been among the platform’s biggest critics.
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[Link] FTC Slams Facebook For Lying About Why it Shut Down Misinformation Research
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. In a rare rebuke against a big U.S.
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[Link] #MeToo Hits One of China’s Biggest Celebrities. The State Is Taking Credit.
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
A megastar fell from grace over rape accusations. Now China is scrambling to steer the narrative in its favor. Until recently, Kris Wu was one of China’s most adored pop singers, swamped by screaming fans wherever he went.
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[Link] Campaign To Unfollow Nas Daily Gains Traction After Controversy With Tribal Tattoo Artist
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
A campaign to unfollow the social media accounts of Arab-Israeli influencer Nuseir Yassin is gaining traction in the Philippines following allegations he exploited a cultural icon. His team has said the claims are false.
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[Link] Controversial crime app Citizen launches $20/month Protect service
Read: 6/8/2021 techcrunch.com
After months of testing with upwards of 100,000 beta testers, Citizen today is launching its premium Protect offering for all users. The subscription service runs $20 a month and opens up a number of features on the app.
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[Link] Square to buy ‘buy now, pay later’ giant Afterpay in $29B deal
Read: 6/8/2021 techcrunch.com
In a blockbuster deal that rocks the fintech world, Square announced today that it is acquiring Australian buy now, pay later giant Afterpay in a $29 billion all stock deal. The purchase price is based on the closing price of Square common stock on July 30, which was $247.26.
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[Link] How to Read Uber and Lyft's Purposefully Confusing Earnings Reports
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
For years, Uber and Lyft have claimed that profitability is just around the corner (or used accounting tricks to claim that they’re making money).
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[Link] The Pegasus Project Shows Tech Giants Need to Do More to Keep Users Safe
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
Cybersecurity experts have been sounding the alarm about industrialized insecurity for years, but the Pegasus Project has to be a line in the sand. As you might have noticed, this newsletter was dormant for the last 6 months.
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[Link] We Tried the Viral TikTok Face Mask That Makes You Look Old
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
In our quest for glowing, youthful skin and hair, we’ve tried it all. We’ve consulted skin care savants, we’ve oiled our pubes, and we’ve spelunked through Sephora sales.
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[Link] Apple Introduces Parental Control Feature That Scans Messages for Nudity
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
Apple plans to introduce a new feature that would scan messages sent to and by child users of iPhones to determine if the images contain nudity, the company announced on Thursday. The move is a major development in the ongoing debate around privacy and the inspection of communications.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard Employees Form Coalition, Reject CEO's Choice of Law Firm
Read: 5/8/2021 www.ign.com
We are The ABK Workers Alliance, an organized group of current Activision Blizzard, Inc. employees committed to defending our right to a safe and equitable workplace.
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[Link] Reddit just took out its MGTOW subreddits like the trash they are. Sorry, were.
Read: 5/8/2021 wehuntedthemammoth.com
Well, it took them long enough. Today, at long last, the Reddit admins banned the Men Going Their Own Way subreddit for promoting hate; they also dropped the ban hammer on MGTOW2, the main subreddit’s purportedly hate-free alternative.
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[Link] Uber, Lyft Introduce Prop 22 Clone to Undermine Labor Law In Massachusetts
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
It’s nearly been a year since Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and Postmates wrote Proposition 22—a ballot measure that exempted them from following California labor laws—and spent $220 million on a deceptive campaign to pass it.
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[Link] EA thinks it “doesn’t get enough credit” for how good it is with acquired studios
Read: 5/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
EA has a bit of a reputation when it comes to acquiring and shutting down studios.
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[Link] PS5 Dev Kits Quickly Pulled From Ebay
Read: 5/8/2021 kotaku.com
Earlier today, a pair of PlayStation 5 development kits reportedly popped up on eBay before being taken off the auction site within a few hours.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard Faces Second Lawsuit Over First Lawsuit
Read: 4/8/2021 kotaku.com
A class action lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court of Central California on behalf of investors alleges that Activision Blizzard’s intentional failure to disclose its ongoing problems with sexual harassment and discrimination artificially inflated the company’s stock value.
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[Link] Twitter admits it verified fake account of author Cormac McCarthy
Read: 4/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
Cormac McCarthy is known for his sparse punctuation and distinctive writing style, the violent and pessimistic themes of his work, and his reclusive public persona. So it was surprising to see the novelist on Twitter, sharing bons mots about kombucha and SoundCloud for an audience of thousands.
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[Link] US Lawmakers Suggest That Piracy is Part of Twitter’s Business Model
Read: 4/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
A group of bipartisan U.S. House Representatives has sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, urging the company to take copyright infringement seriously.
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[Link] The Register just found 300-odd Itanium CPUs on eBay
Read: 3/8/2021 www.theregister.com
Intel has stopped shipping the Itanium CPU. In January 2019 the company issued an advisory [PDF] warning that last orders for the CPU must be lodged by January 30th, 2020, and that final shipments would head out the door on July 29th, 2021.
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[Link] With help from Google, impersonated Brave.com website pushes malware
Read: 3/8/2021 arstechnica.com
Scammers have been caught using a clever sleight of hand to impersonate the website for the Brave browser and using it in Google ads to push malware that takes control of browsers and steals sensitive data. The attack worked by registering the domain xn--brav-yva[.
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[Link] Toomics Reports Its Own Website for Copyright Infringements
Read: 3/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
Popular webtoon subscription service Toomics is quite active on the anti-piracy front. Unfortunately, the Korean company is not very accurate as its takedown notices target perfectly legal content on Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest and Netflix.
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[Link] Copyright Holders: Automatically Deleting Pirated Content From Search Isn’t Enough
Read: 3/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
A draft bill before Russia's State Duma will allow all copyright holders to have links to pirated content automatically removed from search engines within six hours.
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[Link] Stream-Ripping Can be Perfectly Legal, French Ministry of Culture Says
Read: 3/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
Downloading music via stream-ripping tools can be perfectly legal, the French Ministry of Culture has confirmed. The resulting copies fall under the private copying exemption.
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[Link] DuckDuckGo tackles email privacy with new tracker-stripping service
Read: 2/8/2021 www.engadget.com
DuckDuckGo, which is best known for its privacy-focused search engine, has announced a new service that aims to thwart email trackers. Email Protection is now available in beta.
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[Link] Data isn’t oil, whatever tech commentators tell you: it’s people’s lives
Read: 2/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
The phrase “data is the new oil” is the cliche du jour of the tech industry. It was coined by Clive Humby, the genius behind Tesco’s loyalty card, who argued that data was “just like crude. It’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used.
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[Link] Xiaomi's next smartwatch might have a wraparound screen – but is it a good idea?
Read: 1/8/2021 www.techradar.com
Xiaomi may be planning to launch a new fitness tracker with a 360-degree wraparound screen – which would make it the first commercially available watch of its kind.
[Link] Tokyo Olympics: Sony Obtains High Court Order to Prevent Piracy
Read: 31/7/2021 torrentfreak.com
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, is being held mostly without spectators but the reach of global TV will ensure it is seen around the world.
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[Link] Mass Bogus DMCA Takedowns Impersonate Reddit to Attack Downloading Tools
Read: 31/7/2021 torrentfreak.com
Reddit downloader bot SaveVideo took itself offline this week following what appeared to be a copyright and trademark complaint from Reddit. However, it later transpired that the main document was an elaborate fake designed to sow confusion.
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[Link] NFT or not to NFT: Steve Jobs' first job application auction shows physically unique beats cryptographically unique
Read: 31/7/2021 www.theregister.com
A dual-format auction of a physical and digital non-fungible token (NFT) version of a job application penned by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has come to a close – and the physical side has emerged victorious, by an order of magnitude.
[Link] How one game’s delisting pokes a hole in the Xbox Game Pass promise
Read: 31/7/2021 arstechnica.com
Microsoft has long boasted about the backward compatibility of its Xbox consoles, letting you play hundreds of past-gen games on newer systems like the Series X/S.
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[Link] Blizzard confirms developer named in lawsuit was removed for “misconduct”
Read: 31/7/2021 arstechnica.com
Last year, reports started to bubble up among Blizzard-watchers that longtime World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi, who was first hired in 2004, had quietly left the company without any official explanation.
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[Link] Someone Has Been Faking a Relaunch of Fallout Studio Interplay
Read: 31/7/2021 www.ign.com
Publisher Interplay Entertainment has announced that a Twitter account claiming to announce a relaunch of the storied developer is a fake.
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[Link] Google Play puts Android apps on notice: No naughty JavaScript, Python, Lua
Read: 30/7/2021 www.theregister.com
Google's pending Play Store policy changes are bringing various privacy improvements – but also include a security enhancement and disclosure requirement that deserve mention. First, there's a specific ban on the deceptive use of interpreted languages like JavaScript, Python, and Lua.
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[Link] Newegg Thanks Kid For Finding Graphics Card Lottery Loophole, Closes It
Read: 29/7/2021 kotaku.com
Buying high-end gaming hardware is a pain in the ass at the moment. New Xbox Series X/S stock sells out fast. Early access to PS5 orders are pay-gated at places like Amazon and GameStop. And the graphics card market is, well, you know how it is.
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[Link] Oculus’ Passthrough API will enable experiences that mix VR and the real world
Read: 28/7/2021 www.theverge.com
Facebook announced a new API that will let developers incorporate video from the Quest 2’s sensors into their games and applications, creating a mixed reality experience.
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[Link] Facebook and tech giants to target attacker manifestos, far-right militias in database
Read: 28/7/2021 www.reuters.com
July 26 (Reuters) - A counterterrorism organization formed by some of the biggest U.S. tech companies including Facebook (FB.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.
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[Link] Over 1,000 Activision Blizzard Employees Sign Letter Condemning Company's Response To Allegations
Read: 27/7/2021 kotaku.com
“Following the announcement from Activision Blizzard, and in light of the internal memo circulated by Frances Townsend, a group of over 800 employees from across all of Activision-Blizzard-King and its subsidiaries came together to take action,” a representative of the group told Kotaku.
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[Link] Get ready to share pavements with stocky little delivery bots
Read: 27/7/2021 thenextweb.com
Ioanna is a writer at SHIFT. She likes the transition from old to modern, and she's all about shifting perspectives.
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[Link] YouTube recommends videos that violate its own policies, study finds
Read: 27/7/2021 thenextweb.com
Writer at Neural by TNW — Thomas covers AI in all its iterations. Likes Werner Herzog films and Arsenal FC.
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[Link] Germany Is About to Block One of the Biggest Porn Sites
Read: 27/7/2021 www.wired.com
German child-protection regulators are on the verge of blocking one of the world’s largest pornographic websites.
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[Link] Blizzard Boss Accused Of Failing To Address Sexual Harassment Calls New Allegations ‘Troubling’
Read: 24/7/2021 www.kotaku.com.au
In the email, first reported by ’s Jason Schreier, a copy of which was also viewed by Kotaku, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack wrote, “I personally have a lot of emotions coming out of yesterday, and I know you do, too.
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[Link] Muse Group Continues Tone Deaf Handling Of Audacity
Read: 23/7/2021 hackaday.com
When we last checked in on the Audacity community, privacy-minded users of the free and open source audio editor were concerned over proposed plans to add telemetry reporting to the decades old open source audio editing software.
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[Link] Emmanuel Macron identified in leaked Pegasus project data
Read: 20/7/2021 www.theguardian.com
The leaked database at the heart of the Pegasus project includes the mobile phone numbers of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and 13 other heads of state and heads of government, the Guardian can reveal.
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[Link] Why You Should Switch From Android Messages Given Security Concerns
Read: 18/7/2021 www.forbes.com
Somewhat ironically, , Google seems yet again to have slipped by unnoticed. Now, hundreds of millions of Android users need to decide who they trust with their data, given recent harvesting revelations. Android Messages is trying to fix the major security holes in its architecture.
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[Link] Apple founder Steve Wozniak backs right-to-repair movement
Read: 14/7/2021 www.bbc.com
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has issued a passionate endorsement of the right-to-repair movement, despite the company's opposition. The movement wants laws passed to guarantee users access to information and parts to repair their own devices.
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[Link] Not for children: Audacity fans drop the f-bomb after privacy agreement changes
Read: 9/7/2021 www.theregister.com
A few more litres of accelerant were poured onto Audacity critics' fire late last week as an update to the sound editor's privacy agreement seeped out to the consternation of users.
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[Link] Report: Judge Throws Out Antitrust Cases Brought Against Facebook
Read: 2/7/2021 uploadvr.com
The United States Federal Trade Commission has 30 days to refile its complaint against Facebook after a federal judge on Monday threw it out as well as another case brought by dozens of individual states. You can read through the opinions written by judge James E. Boasberg for the U.S.
[Link] On the Feasibility of Secure Traceability in End-to-End Encrypted Messaging
Read: 3/6/2021 nadim.computer
WhatsApp recently published an article titled “What is traceability and why does WhatsApp opposite it?”, in which it argues that “some governments” (a reference to Facebook’s current lawsuit against the Indian government) “are seeking to force technology companies to find out who sent a
[Link] How Apple’s AirTag turns us into unwitting spies in a vast surveillance network
Read: 17/5/2021 www.theguardian.com
Apple has launched the latest version of its operating system, iOS 14.5, which features the much-anticipated app tracking transparency function, bolstering the tech giant’s privacy credentials. But iOS 14.5 also introduced support for the new Apple AirTag, which risks doing the opposite.
[Link] Basecamp's new etiquette regarding societal politics at work
Read: 28/4/2021 world.hey.com
Jason announced a raft of changes we've made to Basecamp earlier today. By far the most controversial is a new etiquette around societal politics at work, and the stances we'll take as a company.
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[Link] 🚨 What really happened at Basecamp
Read: 28/4/2021 www.platformer.news
The controversy that embroiled enterprise software maker Basecamp this week began more than a decade ago, with a simple list of customers. Around 2009, Basecamp customer service representatives began keeping a list of names that they found funny.
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[Link] 4chan founder Chris Poole leaves Google
Read: 27/4/2021 arstechnica.com
CNBC reports that 4chan founder Chris Poole no longer works at Google. Google hired Poole in 2016 to work on the company's doomed social media project, Google+. Poole lasted just five years at Google, which CNBC notes is usually just long enough for any employee's shares attached to hiring to vest.
[Link] Barnaby Joyce says purchase of shares for son in company he quizzed at public inquiry ‘was reasonable’
Read: 11/4/2021 www.theguardian.com
Barnaby Joyce has said the purchase of shares in a space company for his young son, just weeks after the MP had quizzed the firm over its ownership structure in his capacity as chair of a federal parliamentary inquiry, was a “reasonable thing”.
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[Link] Yep, the 'Who owns Linux?' case is back from the dead
Read: 9/4/2021 www.theregister.com
Column It seemed like a classic April The First spoof. Indeed, some tech titles had it on their lists of best pranks of the day. But it's true: the software zombie court case to end all zombie software court cases has woken from its slumber.
[Link] Kickstarter community head quits, apologizes for controversial RPG project
Read: 7/4/2021 www.polygon.com
Kickstarter vice president and head of community Luke Crane is departing the company after launching, and quickly canceling, a controversial game project on the crowdfunding platform in February.
[Link] Sega forces Yakuza: Like a Dragon off of SteamDB over piracy fears
Read: 7/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The Steam Database, or SteamDB, is a third-party tool that provides all sorts of information about games on Steam, from developer info and player numbers to release dates and modification times, update history, and configuration details.
[Link] Donald Trump video clip removed from Facebook ‘in line with block’
Read: 7/4/2021 www.theguardian.com
Facebook on Wednesday removed a clip of an interview with Donald Trump from its platform, according to the former president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
[Link] Supreme Court rules API copying is fair use
Read: 7/4/2021 arstechnica.com
The Supreme Court has sided with Google in its decade-long legal battle with Oracle over the copyright status of application programming interfaces. The ruling means that Google will not owe Oracle billions of dollars in damages.
[Link] Tech industry revolt against Porter’s appointment grows
Read: 7/4/2021 www.afr.com
Pressure is rising on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reverse his decision to appoint Christian Porter as the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, as more technology industry players spoke out against him taking responsibility for a sector that has sought to increase the participation of
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[Link] Why Red Hat killed CentOS—a CentOS board member speaks
Read: 29/1/2021 arstechnica.com
This morning, The Register's Tim Anderson published excerpts of an interview with the CentOS project's Brian Exelbierd. Exelbierd is a member of the CentOS board and its official liaison with Red Hat.
[Link] Google threatens to leave Australia – but its poker face is slipping
Read: 25/1/2021 www.theguardian.com
The biggest companies in technology love an ultimatum but rarely do they spell out their threats.
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