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Communication and Technology news
Facebook tweaks News Feed to favor close friends and ‘worthwhile’ content
2019-05-17

Facebook’s biggest money-spinner is its News Feed, and the company has announced yet another key change to the algorithm. In a fresh announcement, the social network said that it’s leveraging new signals such as user surveys to prioritize posts from close friends and content you might find worthwhile. The shift...

Social media is an assault on our senses. Now it’s a literal gun, too
2019-05-17

This gatling gun fires emoticons at your face, just like Facebook! Facebook’s emoticons help you express support, grief, and amusement with a tap. But they can also feel like an assault on our senses. We post photos of our kids or a fancy dinner and anxiously await the affirmation of our friends. We get...

Amazon granted patent for Bitcoin-style system to fight DDoS attacks
2019-05-17

Cryptocurrency rumor mongers are likely to be dancing today as Amazon has successfully filed a patent for a Bitcoin-styled Proof-of-Work system. But don’t get ahead of yourself, it doesn’t look like the Seattle-based ecommerce giant will be accepting Bitcoin for payments. Despite first being filed in December...

Now this is something to be grumpy about: Meme superstar Grumpy Cat has died
2019-05-17

The meme sensation died at home in Phoenix due to complications from a urinary tract infection. Meme and animal lovers out there will be saddened to hear that the internet star Grumpy Cat has passed away. The news was revealed by Grumpy Cat’s owners on her official Twitter account. Grumpy Cat’s owners...

Google isn’t killing off Nest integrations just yet
2019-05-17

Google predictably strirred up a hornet’s nest when it announced at its annual developers conference that it would be shutting down the Works with Nest (WWN) program on August 31, 2019. This would have led to all existing Nest integrations not working beyond that date, in addition to forcing existing Nest customers...

7 Google privacy settings you should revisit right now
2019-05-17

Google gives you more control over what you share and how it gets used than you might think—if you know where to look. Here’s a step-by-step guide. Google’s making a serious play for privacy these days, with much of the company’s recent I/O developers’ conference revolving around the...

Instagram really, really wants you to shop and watch IGTV
2019-05-16

The popular image-based social network revamps its Explore Page to promote IGTV and shopping. Instagram is banking on the 50% of its users that engage with the Explore page to drive more engagement toward Stories, Shopping, and, most importantly, IGTV.Read Full Story

Here’s why your Facebook groups went secret overnight
2019-05-16

Over the last day, you may have noticed that several of your Facebook groups have switched their settings to “Secret,” for no apparent reason. That may have been to avoid the attentions of a particular virulent group inserting itself into other communities solely for the purpose of getting them banned. According...

The most compelling tech tools to assist the visually impaired
2019-05-16

In our ongoing series, High Contrast, we’re looking at how assistive technology can help people with disabilities overcome challenges in their lives, and the pioneers innovating in solutions to make everyday tools more accessible. Technology is increasingly improving our lives by conveniently tackling menial tasks...

This startup provides health insurance against online harassment
2019-05-16

Leigh Honeywell and Logan Dean have raised a million dollars for a new business, Tall Poppy, that helps companies protect employees against trolls and hackers. Anyone who’s spent some time on Twitter knows that vilification and personal attacks–as extreme as threats of rape and murder–are a...

Do NYC mayors ever become president? Why Bill de Blasio has his work cut out for him
2019-05-16

No mayor has ever gone directly from City Hall to the White House. After months of teasing, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio entered the 2020 presidential race today, answering the call of history despite a recent poll in which only 18% of New Yorkers said he should.Read Full Story

How The Shade Room turned Instagram gossip into a media empire
2019-05-16

The Shade Room has become one of Instagram’s most popular accounts and a booming business–now founder Angie Nwandu is ready for their second act. Since The Shade Room launched in 2014, it’s gone from a small-time gossip account to a full-blown pop culture powerhouse. The Shade Room’s spin...

NYC’s brilliant plan to capitalize on land no one else wants
2019-05-16

The city–like many others in America–faces a housing crisis and a climate crisis. To figure out how to create 300,000 affordable units over the next decade, it’s turning to architects for help. When New York’s City Council passed its own version of the Green New Deal in late April, it...

Google’s Titan Security Keys can be hijacked remotely, replace yours now
2019-05-16

It’s not been a great week for security, and after Twitter, WhatsApp and Intel, Google has now joined the list. The internet giant has issued an advisory, stating it is recalling Bluetooth versions of its Titan Security Key after it found a vulnerability that allows attackers in close proximity to take control of...

White House launches social media survey to collect Conservative tears
2019-05-16

The Trump administration on Wednesday launched launched a new tool where pissed off Conservatives can whine about social media bias. So long as they’re legal citizens, anyway. For Conservatives like Trump, a man who rose to prominence on the backs of the social networks he’s now convinced are out to get him, the...

People on the internet have no idea how bad they are at online security
2019-05-15

Forty-two percent don’t know the difference between an “http” and “https” web address A new survey from Google and Harris Poll, released a year after Google introduced “.app” as a more secure alternative to “.com,” shows that while 55% of Americans over...

Watch the trailer for Game of Thrones series finale behind-the-scenes doc
2019-05-15

Now disappointed fans will have a whole behind-the-scenes doc to dissect and hate-watch. If there was a word to describe the fan reaction to Game of Thrones‘ eighth and final season, it would be . . . divisive? polarizing? rage inducing? A brief glance at Twitter around 10 p.m. ET over the past few Sunday...

Google’s new free app teaches kids to read by listening to them
2019-05-15

Google has just ripped the beta label off Rivet, its free mobile app designed to help young children learn to read. Designed by the company’s Area 120 incubator for employees’ big ideas, Rivet comes with more than 2,000 books for children, categorized by topic and reading level. It also listens to kids read, and...

Decay by design: These 3D-printed organic plastics naturally decompose
2019-05-15

A group at MIT created polymers derived from organic matter, printed by a robot, and shaped by water. Stepping into most any store and scanning the shelves of products, all packaged for consumption and destined for recycling or the dumps, makes you feel like a truly sustainable world is a daunting, if not impossible,...

On social media, sell your brand, not your stuff
2019-05-15

A new marketing study of Facebook users shows that hard-sell tactics stifle engagement, and engagement is gold. Off the coast of New Zealand last year, a kayaker was drifting along quietly when a seal burst from the water and slapped him in the face with a large octopus. As it happens, the trip was funded by...

Facebook announces “one strike” policy to fight live-streaming abuses
2019-05-15

Violations of Facebook’s community standards will lead to an immediate ban on using Facebook Live. Two months after a lone gunman live-streamed a mass shooting at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 51 people were murdered, Facebook has announced a strict new policy aimed at fighting...

The hardware trend Google and Apple are throwing their weight behind
2019-05-15

Tech giants, along with a handful of smaller players, are designing “kill switches” that cut the power to the microphones or cameras in their devices. Last week, Google announced a new smart home device: a smart display that features a 10-inch screen, camera, and speaker. The speaker has a privacy...

Get ready to see more shopping ads on Google Search, Images and YouTube
2019-05-15

Google is betting big on ecommerce with the latest update to its search engine. The company is unveiling a redesigned personalized Google Shopping experience, along with introducing the idea of a universal shopping cart across its platform of services, including Search, Shopping, Images and even YouTube. You can now...

Netflix to invade E3 (and it might be bringing new games with it)
2019-05-15

Netflix revealed today that it was going to host a panel at E3, of all things. It’s not-so-subtly hinting at an interest in games, which it’s been developing for several months despite outwardly expressing the opposite. If nothing else, I’d be curious to see what its idea of a Netflix show-to-video game...

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