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Communication and Technology news
Twitter also sold data to Cambridge Analytica researcher Aleksandr Kogan
2018-04-30

Everyone who didn’t sell data to Cambridge Analytica or Aleksandr Kogan please take one step forward. Not so fast @Jack. Twitter, it turns out, also sold data to the former Cambridge Analytica researcher who tricked Facebook users into helping him digitally gerrymander the 2016 US presidential election. According to...

Have I Been Pwned’s Troy Hunt will answer all your good questions about bad passwords
2018-04-30

What do you think of websites that do the same thing as “Have I been pwnd?” but charge money for divulging hacked accounts? What’s the worst password you’ve ever seen? Do you see Cambridge Analytica as a turning point for people being aware of the dangers of data breaches? Who’s the coolest celeb you’ve...

China’s Golaxy AI defeats top Go player too — but is it ready for DeepMind?
2018-04-30

China has finally developed its own Go-master AI called Golaxy. Last week it overwhelmingly defeated Chinese Go champion Ke Jie, putting it on par with its Silicon Valley contemporary in Google’s Alpha Go. What it means: Maybe humans just aren’t very good at Go. We’re like the Washington Generals of board games...

Facebook Can Still Save American Democracy From Itself
2018-04-30

Scapegoating Facebook for the ills of American governance ultimately won’t get America anywhere. Mark Zuckerberg’s testimonies before the U.S. Congress allowed Facebook to answer for its poor handling of allegations that third parties stole, sold or improperly used Facebook data presidential election....

Facebook’s new plan to fight fake news? Shrinkage
2018-04-30

In the wake of accidentally helping Russia influence the U.S. presidential election, Facebook has been trying to figure out ways to stem the tide of fake news flooding the social network. First, it tried red flags, but like someone trying to pick a fight with a bull, the red flags only encouraged people to click...

Fitbit Will Use Google Cloud To Integrate With Health Systems
2018-04-30

Fitbit’s work with health systems, insurers, and employees may one day reduce its dependence on consumer wearable sales for revenue. Fitbit says it’ll use Google’s cloud service and healthcare API to offer a care management and coaching platform for healthcare providers.Read Full Story

Twitter is now embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica scandal
2018-04-30

The social network sold data to the same Cambridge University academic who harvested Facebook user data from millions of users. The academic reportedly bought the data from Twitter back in 2015. The academic’s firm, called Global Science Research, was reportedly granted access for one day to large-scale public...

The median pay at Facebook is almost $240,000 in the Bay Area
2018-04-30

Which is why despite the scandals the company is experiencing there’s probably no shortage of people willing to work for it. Facebook’s $240,000 median pay is the highest among the 40 largest Bay Area companies that have so far complied with a law that requires companies to disclose the median pay of its...

China is now monitoring employees’ brainwaves and emotions
2018-04-30

The Orwellian-as-all-get-out practice is being conducted using “emotional surveillance technology” by both businesses in China and the country’s military, reports the South China Morning Post. The tech uses small wireless sensors embedded in employees’ hats that can monitor brainwaves....

This startup wants to create a merchandising and banking cryptoeconomy
2018-04-30

Last year ecommerce sales tallied $2.3 trillion worldwide with revenues tipped to grow to $4.88 trillion by 2021. The market is only growing but it is still fraught with issues like certain marketplaces having too much dominance and high transaction fees, which all work against smaller retailers and companies....

Huawei’s plans for an Android alternative are crazy, but necessary
2018-04-30

Huawei’s had a terrible time dealing with the US in 2018, and things are said to have gotten a whole lot worse last week, when the Department of Justice reportedly began investigating the Chinese telecom and hardware giant for allegedly having violated the country’s sanctions against Iran. That could see it being...

Facebook rolls out its downvote button to more users
2018-04-29

Earlier this year, Facebook confirmed it was trialling Reddit-style upvote and downvote buttons on public posts, with the aim of improving the quality of discourse on the platform. Now, it appears the feature is rolling out to a greater number of users. Hmmmm. Not sure I like the Upvote and Downvote feature of...

Facebook is dropping key advertising tools — here’s how you adapt
2018-04-29

If you listen to headlines about Facebook recently you may be wondering if it’s still a good place to run ads for your business.  The Facebook privacy scandal that brought a ton negative press over the last month (and justly so), has already forced Facebook to change the way they handle and collect consumer...

Britain’s mass surveillance regime is directly opposing human rights
2018-04-29

  In light of the Facebook data scandal, more people are beginning to challenge the web’s pervasive surveillance culture. But few British citizens seem to be aware of the government’s own online surveillance regime – significant parts of which have been deemed unlawful. The UK government broke EU law under the...

Taking Responsibility Isn’t Just a Trend, It’s Key to Being a Successful Entrepreneur
2018-04-28

Mark Zuckerberg has been immensely successful in capturing the popular imagination of budding and aspiring entrepreneurs around the world. Mr. Zuckerberg has become the quintessential image of what a successful entrepreneur can accomplish. The stories about the dreary Harvard dorm room coding sessions to his now...

Cambridge Analytica might finally make Brussels care about data privacy
2018-04-28

It was inevitable. One by one, they all lined up to demand that Mark Zuckerberg come to Brussels to explain himself, or, more accurately, explain what the hell Facebook has been doing with our data. Europe’s political parties have been collectively outraged at reports that Facebook “allowed” private data into...

In these dark times, Yeezy Dating is what every Kanye fan needs
2018-04-28

On April 13th, for better or worse, someone gave Kanye West his Twitter password back. What followed was a tweet storm of epic proportions, consisting of cryptic rants interrupted by the occasional fashion photo. It included him backing conservative, and accused far-right, figures — as well as his buddy Trump. Why,...

Studies show Google Assistant is still miles ahead of Alexa and Siri
2018-04-27

If you’re lucky enough to have more than one smart assistant in your life, the results of two studies this week probably won’t come as much of a surprise to you. For everyone else: just buy a device with Google Assistant already. The studies: This week we saw not one, but two studies detailing Google’s dominance...

7 lesser-known Google Analytics features your brand should be using
2018-04-27

Are you using the right tools for the job? Any good mechanic has a large, well-stocked tool cabinet at their disposal, filled with the wrenches, sockets and various more specialized tools that they need for any job. You have a tool cabinet at your disposal too, and it’s called Google Analytics. As every good...

Facebook gets rid of the most annoying part of its fundraising feature
2018-04-27

Facebook is getting rid of one of the most frustrating features of its fundraising platform: the 4.3% fees they tacked onto transactions in the U.S. and 6.2% in Canada. As TechCrunch reports, Facebook used those fees to cover a review and vetting process for each fundraiser, but the company finally realized that...

Inclusivity And Wellness Take Center Stage At Beautycon NYC
2018-04-27

Beautycon invaded NYC last weekend for two days of brand activations and panels that focused on mental wellbeing and diversity within the makeup industry. Beauty fanatics descended on the Javits Center in New York City last weekend for the annual beauty festival Beautycon–think Coachella, but with Instagram and...

MIT researchers program water droplets to move and merge on command
2018-04-27

Screens are all around us and are immensely useful in conveying information – but they can overwhelm us and take up more of our attention than we can afford. That’s why MIT Media Lab researcher Udayan Umapathi began work on a calm interface that had a closer connection to the physical elements around us – using...

Microsoft joins the water pistol brigade with new emoji
2018-04-27

One day after Google announced it was changing its revolver emoji into a water pistol — which left Microsoft as the last one carrying an actual gun — Microsoft decided to join the rest of the tech crowd by making the same change. And its water gun might just be the best one yet. Here’s what’s new: Microsoft...

Wake Up, Mr. West. Brands Like Adidas Are Going To Ditch Kanye Soon
2018-04-27

The latest pro-Trump tweets from Kanye should send a clear message to the apparel company and artists linked to him that it’s time to part ways. Since Kanye West broke his Twitter hiatus this month, he’s been doubling down on his pro-Trump rhetoric that began to surface back in November 2016. What...

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