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Communication and Technology news
Here’s the one poll that might explain why Harry and Meghan are retreating from the royal family
2020-01-09

In a survey taken last year, almost half of Gen Z thinks Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is treated less favorably by the British media than any other royal. Yesterday’s bombshell announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—aka Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—are retreating from their senior royal...

Targeting Iran’s cultural heritage would be an attack on history itself
2020-01-09

Attacking heritage sites in Iran, as Donald Trump threatened to do, wouldn’t just be a war crime; it would be a crime against humanity. It comes as an enormous relief that the Pentagon has ruled out following through with President Donald Trump’s threat to target Iran’s cultural sites,...

How to become a Facebook marketing guru for under $30
2020-01-09

It's predicted that over 86 percent of marketers will use Facebook as a platform for selling their products in 2020. So, if you're trying to get in on the lucrative, in-demand field that is digital marketing, you'd be wise to master the platform as well. 

Facebook and Instagram will allow users to ‘see fewer’ political ads in time for the 2020 election
2020-01-09

The political ads control will roll out in the U.S. “early this summer” before expanding to new locations. If your least favorite thing about Facebook is the political discourse that seems to permeate the platform, there’s some good news: Facebook has announced it will allow its users to opt...

This is the one skill designers need to develop most in 2020
2020-01-09

Legendary designer Don Norman takes designers to task for elevating craft above all else, when what matters most is the willingness to collaborate. In his annual Design in Tech report in 2019, my good friend and design visionary John Maeda declared that “design is not that important.” He is wrong, but...

This coding legend knows the secret to fixing Big Tech’s most pervasive problem
2020-01-09

Facebook, Google, and Amazon have a lot to learn from Margaret Hamilton, who coined the term “software engineering” while she was working on the code for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. There were quite a few grandiose tributes to the 50th anniversary of the moon landing throughout the United States...

Twitter will soon let you control who replies to your tweets
2020-01-09

In order to curb online bullying and harassment, Twitter will soon let you control who can reply to your tweets. Speaking at an event during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas, Suzanne Xie, the company’s director of product management, said the social network is bringing significant changes around...

One man’s obsessive, 40-year pursuit of the productive life
2020-01-09

Stephen Wolfram has always liked using technology to get stuff done and monitor personal progress. Here are the secrets that help him power through his workdays. [Stephen Wolfram is the scientist, entrepreneur, and thinker who founded Wolfram Research, the company behind Mathematica, the Wolfram Language, and Wolfram...

India’s upcoming content policing rules might only apply to ‘major’ social platforms
2020-01-09

India‘s upcoming intermediary rules — aimed at controlling and monitoring online content — have a lot of big and small tech firms worried about censorship of their platforms. But a new report suggests the legislation will only affect major social media networks, such as Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram....

Facebook finally found a reason to be offended by Trump: Campaign ads with fake buttons
2020-01-09

The Trump campaign finally went too far for Facebook, but not over politics. After the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, an official Trump campaign committee took to Facebook with thousands of targeted ads alluding to the killing by U.S. forces.Read Full Story

Here are the best Twitter jokes about Harry and Meghan leaving the royal family
2020-01-09

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no more! Long live Harry and Meghan, everyday schmoes. And long may the jokes pour in congratulating the formerly regal couple. On Wednesday afternoon, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, better known to Americans as “Harghan,” released a statement announcing that...

Don’t trust fearmongering ads about HIV drugs on Facebook
2020-01-08

Lawyers and for-profit legal referral businesses are placing misleading advertisements on the social media platform, helping spread misinformation about HIV-prevention drugs. Some ads can be more than misleading—they can put your health at risk.Read Full Story

Love Le Corbusier? Now you can build like him—out of paper
2020-01-08

Dive into the world of Swiss-French architect’s Le Corbusier best hits, and try your hand at creating them, too. Chandigarh, India, is a city known for its clean streets, green spaces, and numerous monuments. One sculpture, an 85-foot-tall symbol known as “Open Hand,” was designed by Swiss-French...

Sir, this is an Arby’s: Why Brand Twitter won’t take a stance against war with Iran
2020-01-08

This is a compelling experiment in social media dynamics. Just don’t expect an answer from Wendy’s or anyone else. Last night, Ken Klippenstein, a reporter with The Young Turks and The Intercept, kicked off an experiment with Brand Twitter. Starting with Sunny Delight, he began DMing brands, asking them...

Google’s improved travel search tools are great for planning trips on a budget
2020-01-08

Last year, when I went to Europe for a month, I spent a lot of time on sites like Hostel World before and during the trip, figuring out what places to stay at, how’s the area, and how much it’ll cost me. I really wish Google’s handy new travel features were around that time. The search giant released a bunch of...

How sharing animal photos online endangers wildlife
2020-01-08

Limbani the chimpanzee has about 650,000 Instagram followers. In recent months the account has featured viral photos and videos of the captive young ape playing the guitar, bouncing on a trampoline and wearing a giant banana costume. Fans are also offered real-life encounters with the chimp at a Miami facility, paying...

ClassPass is now valued at $1 billion
2020-01-08

With a $285 million funding round, ClassPass—the startup that lets fitness buffs of all stripes drop in on exclusive studios—hopes to upend corporate wellness programs. ClassPass, the fitness startup that connects monthly subscribers with boutique studio classes, has closed its latest round of...

A Boeing 737 just crashed in Iran: Here’s what we know about Flight 752
2020-01-08

Despite the rising military tensions in the region, Iranian authorities said the cause of the crash was a mechanical issue—most likely an engine fire. A Boeing 737-800 jetliner crashed in Iranian airspace at 6:18 a.m. local time Wednesday. The plane was a Ukraine International Airlines, Flight 752, flying from...

UK money saving expert featured in fake cryptocurrency ads on Instagram — AGAIN!
2020-01-08

It’s 2020, you’d think by now cryptocurrency scammers would have moved on from using unendorsed celebrity images to peddle their heinous cons. But no. Earlier this week, Twitter user @peterfinn5252 claimed to have come across new adverts featuring Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis. The adverts claim that a...

Google Assistant now lets you torment roommates with ‘household notes’
2020-01-08

Forget about the good ol’ passive-aggressive refrigerator note: Google Assistant will soon let you leave digital “household notes” directly on your Android-enabled Smart Display devices. The AI-powered app is also getting a few other nifty features like schedules for your smart devices, and the ability to read...

Sonos accuses Google of stealing wireless speaker secrets in scathing patent lawsuit
2020-01-07

Sonos is going after Google for “blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology.” For a long time, if you wanted an easy way to pump your house full of music, there was just one company to turn to: Sonos. Then came the smart speaker, and suddenly streaming music across rooms went from...

Sonos says Google stole its speaker tech, asks for product ban in court
2020-01-07

Sonos has brought two lawsuits against Google for alleged copyright infringement, claiming Google used five of its patents to build its own speakers. It’s asking for a ban on all Google devices that use the supposedly stolen tech, including smartphones, laptops, and of course speakers. According to a report from the...

AMD cops to using a phony render of the Xbox Series X in its CES keynote
2020-01-07

AMD gets egg on its face during its conference at the Consumer Electronics Show, as it showed off a beautiful render of a console that, while purporting to be the Xbox Series X, was not actually the Xbox Series X. There’s a fair bit we don’t know about Microsoft’s upcoming console, and AMD‘s little gaffe does...

Facebook bans deepfakes in the runup to 2020 election, but ‘shallowfakes’ still allowed
2020-01-07

But Facebook says its new deepfake policy does not apply to parody or satirical content, leaving room for users to argue their deepfakes should remain on the platform. Facebook has announced a new policy change that will see the site ban deepfake content from its platform in the runup to the 2020 presidential election...

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