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Communication and Technology news
Uber will let you book Delhi metro tickets on its app (at some point)
2019-10-22

Uber India said today it’s partnering with Delhi metro to let you plan your whole journey through a new transportation mode. The company said you will be able to book Metro tickets right from the app in the future. The transport mode, rolling out today for users in Delhi, will only show information regarding...

Facebook will clearly label fake news to prevent 2020 ‘election interference’
2019-10-22

Social media, a tool created to guard freedom of speech and democracy, has increasingly been used in more sinister ways. From its role in lowering the levels of trust in media, to inciting online violence, and amplifying political disinformation in elections— Facebook isn’t just a space to share “what’s on...

Amazon joins Facebook and Microsoft to fight deepfakes
2019-10-22

Deepfakes have come across as serious problems this year and big companies are now paying attention. Amazon announced today it’s joining the DeepFake Detection challenge (DFDC) driven by major corporations such as Facebook and Microsoft to boost efforts to identify manipulated content. The company is going to...

Twitter top lawyer says new regulations would only hurt startups
2019-10-22

Vijaya Gadde says only big incumbents (like Twitter) would be able to afford the costs of complying. Smaller tech companies would have trouble growing. Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde believes new government regulation of tech companies will only stifle innovation and create barriers for new...

Diablo 4 leak may have just spoiled a BlizzCon reveal
2019-10-21

We may be seeing the resurrection of an iconic franchise soon. A leak in German magazine Game Star may have just spilled the existence of Diablo IV, the latest entry in the dungeon crawler series. The telltale reveal was in an ad for a Diablo art book. It claims the book (which you can pre-order on Amazon) contains...

Scientists create cancer-resistant mouse chimeras that age 25% slower
2019-10-21

A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have developed a method for creating a sort of ‘super mouse’ that’s slimmer, cancer resistant, and lives 25% longer than regular mice. Astonishingly, this feat’s been accomplished without gene therapy. Rather than cut and paste genes...

Drones from CVS and Walgreens are finally here—and they’re bringing Band-Aids
2019-10-21

With UPS and Google sister company Wing as partners, the big pharmacies are starting to deliver pills, Cheez-Its, and first-aid supplies by drone. Pharmacies will soon be flying drugs directly to you. On Monday, UPS announced that it’s partnering with CVS to launch drone delivery for the pharmacy, where drones...

CVS and Walgreens’s drones are finally here—and they’re bringing Band-Aids
2019-10-21

With UPS and Google sister company Wing as partners, the big pharmacies are starting to deliver pills, Cheez-Its, and first aid supplies by drone. Pharmacies will soon be flying drugs directly to you. On Monday, UPS announced that is partnering with CVS to launch drone delivery for the pharmacy, where drones will...

6 ways Facebook says it will beef up election security for 2020 and beyond
2019-10-21

The company is ramping up efforts to let people understand where election information is coming from and remove misleading facts about voting. Facebook has been under fire for years for its role in spreading misleading political information. On Monday, the company announced new plans to help safeguard the 2020...

The internet crowdsourced some other songs for Joker to dance to besides Gary Glitter
2019-10-21

Thank you, the internet. We can always count on you. By now, most moviegoers have seen Joaquin Phoenix’s surprisingly nimble Joker Fred Astaire his way down a stairway, whether they’ve seen the movie or not. It’s in the trailer. It’s been immortalized in a deft SNL parody. It’s...

The iPhone Pro 11’s 4k 60fps recording gives it a leg-up on the Pixel 4
2019-10-21

These days cameras have become the de facto differentiation factor between phones. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this became the battleground for handset manufacturers, but we’re currently deep in an arms race for photography supremacy. But there’s one element of this scrap we rarely talk about: video...

This artificial island is a home for sea creatures displaced by climate change
2019-10-21

Currently bobbing in the waters near Oakland, CA, the habitat is a prototype three years in the making. Last year, the California Ocean Protection Council estimated that by 2050, water levels along the West Coast will likely increase by one foot. The only way to guard against this rapid rise is to significantly...

Facebook’s Libra ‘cryptocurrency’ gets desperate as it considers stablecoins
2019-10-21

Facebook‘s controversial ‘cryptocurrency‘ Libra could be based on national currencies such as the dollar, the tech giant said on Sunday, following increased scrutiny from regulators and governments in recent months. “We could do it differently,” he said. “Instead of having a synthetic unit … we could...

Instagram is testing a feature to clean up your pity follows
2019-10-21

We’ve all been there: You meet someone who wants to stay in touch later, but you don’t want to share your number with them. So you turn to the next best thing — Instagram. These are people whom you follow out of courtesy, but don’t interact with much. Don’t worry, Instagram is testing a feature that might...

Facebook begins testing dark mode and a Twitter-like interface for desktop
2019-10-21

In May, Facebook said it was going to redesign the website and bring dark mode to its website and mobile apps. While it began testing dark mode for its Android app in August, it has now started rolling out a beta version of its website with that option to some users too. Multiple people are being invited to test the...

Halloween costume ideas from the designers of Glow and Stranger Things
2019-10-20

Tips on how to pull together a winning look, whether you want to dress as Eleven, Liberty Belle, or something more topical (um, impeachment hearing?) Let’s start this off strong: If you’re not excited about your Halloween costume, you’re not doing it right. “The key to making a great...

RIP: How to stop Google from stealing all your data after you die
2019-10-20

Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. Inevitably, one day you’re going to die. While you may think your online identity will go to the grave with you, that’s not always how it works out. Without setting your...

Hideo Kojima’s games rely on sexist tropes — and Death Stranding will probably be no different
2019-10-19

This article was originally published by Super Jump Magazine, an independent publication all about celebrating great video games and their creators through carefully-crafted, in-depth featured produced by a diverse team of games journalists, designers, and enthusiasts. Death Stranding, the long-awaited first game...

Google Maps just made it easier to report traffic incidents
2019-10-18

Few things are more annoying than coming across an unexpected delay in traffic. Thankfully modern mapping services are generally pretty good at warning you about hindrances on the road, but someone has to report those incidents first. Now Google is making it easier to do so. The update most affects iOS users, as some...

AOC, Ted Cruz, and others blast Apple’s Cook for ‘censorship’ of HKmap.live
2019-10-18

A group of six high-profile US Senators from both sides of the aisle sent a letter critical to the CEO to criticize Apple’s removal of the app under pressure from China. Most of the tech world and Twittersphere has already forgotten about Apple’s removal of the Hong Kong mapping app HKmap.live last week....

Zuckerberg’s take on political ads is tone-deaf in the Trump Age
2019-10-18

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook’s political ad policy is in the service of democracy and the public good. But this claim is undermined by its profit motive. If Facebook wants to continue hosting political ads, including half-true ones, then it should stop profiting from them and handle them like public service...

Supply-chain sources say Facebook Portal sales are ‘very low’
2019-10-18

After the company’s many privacy sins, people are apparently hesitant to put a Facebook device with a camera in their living rooms. Imagine that. Surprise, surprise. Facebook’s Portal video-chat device—which puts a camera and a sensitive microphone in your living room—isn’t flying...

Google’s iMessage alternative is still struggling, not supported by Verizon in new Pixel 4
2019-10-18

Verizon and T-Mobile won’t support RCS messaging on Google’s Pixel 4. Google’s big plan to push RCS messaging as an alternative to iMessage appears to be regressing, at least in the United States. Verizon has confirmed that it will not support the upgraded texting protocol on Google’s Pixel...

Hey Google, why the hell doesn’t the Pixel 4’s camera app have a pro mode?
2019-10-18

I was giddy to get my review unit of Google’s brand new Pixel 4. I ripped the plastic seal around the box like a wild animal that hasn’t been fed for weeks, turned the handset on, and rushed through the setup menus so I can get to the camera app. And then it struck me like a dagger in the back: there’s no pro...

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