Technology

CNBC reports: Amazon’s cloud-computing service on Wednesday was hit with an outage that took down some websites and services. A notice on Amazon Web Services’ status page said it was experiencing problems with Kinesis, its service that processes large streams of data, causing “increased error rates” for a number of websites. The outage also impacted its ability to post updates …

CNBC reports: Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is now the world’s second richest person after he leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people. The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the co-founder of space exploration firm SpaceX, saw his net worth rise by $7.2 billion to $128 billion …

Mediaite reports: This genius “through the looking glass” creation comes from the minds behind South Park, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone, who have created a YouTube series based on a fictional reporter to warn Americans of the perils of deep fakes. Oh, and their Fred Sassy is a deep fake of President Donald Trump. It’s a brilliantly hilarious, or hilariously …

The Washington Post reports: The Department of Justice is expected Tuesday to charge Google with violating federal antitrust law, according to two people familiar with the matter, finding after a year-long investigation that the tech giant wrongfully wielded its digital dominance to the detriment of corporate rivals and consumers. The federal government’s imminent lawsuit will touch off a landmark and …

Axios reports: Many of the world’s biggest tech and telecom companies, like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and AT&T, are licensing the Associated Press’ election results to power their voice, video and search products, executives tell Axios. How it works: Because tech firms need to answer millions of unique voice commands and search queries in real time, the results will be coded …

The Verge reports: “I’d be more worried about the camera on your phone than I would be about a drone,” Amazon devices SVP Dave Limp told me in an interview a few hours after yesterday’s big Echo event. The drone in question is the Ring Always Home Cam, an autonomous indoor drone that can use a map of your home …

The New York Times reports: Two dozen award-winning computer scientists, in a rebuke of President Trump’s immigration policies, said on Friday that they were endorsing Joseph R. Biden Jr. in November’s presidential election. The scientists, including John Hennessy, the executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are all winners of the Turing Award, which is often called the Nobel Prize …

The Hill reports: Eligible voters will be able to register to vote and request mail-in ballots through the Uber app, as well as receive information on and discounted rides to and from polling places, the company announced Tuesday. Uber is partnering with TurboVote to help “riders, eaters, drivers and delivery people” register to vote or request a vote-by-mail ballot through …

Bloomberg News reports: Oracle Corp. edged out rival Microsoft Corp. in negotiations for the U.S. operations of TikTok, people familiar with the talks said, as the Chinese-owned music-video app attempts to avoid getting shut down in a clash between the world’s two superpowers. Oracle has nurtured a relationship with Trump since before his administration began. In 2016, Chief Executive Officer …

The Washington Post reports: The domain registrars have done little to prevent the sale of dozens of Internet domains with the potential to spread hoaxes related to covid-19, a three-month investigation by the consumer watchdog group Digital Citizens Alliance found. Scammers could use these websites to disseminate false information about the pandemic that could result in things like identity theft …

The Verge reports: Uber announced Tuesday that “100 percent” of rides will take place in electric vehicles by 2030 in the US, Canada, and Europe, and by 2040 for the rest of the world. But rather than pay drivers directly to trade their gas-burning vehicles for electric ones, the company will impose an extra fee on trips completed in an …

The Verge reports: Amazon’s top reviewers in the UK appear to have engaged in fraud, leaving thousands of five-star ratings in exchange for money or free products. The company took down 20,000 product reviews following an investigation by the Financial Times. Scams like these typically start on social networks and messaging apps such as Telegram, where companies can meet potential …

The Verge reports: Some of them are embarrassing, some are potential privacy violations, but they’re among the examples in Apple’s new Over Sharing ad, which re-emphasizes the company’s focus — or at least its image — of being a protector of online privacy. The ad’s tagline, shown at the end, reads “Some things shouldn’t be shared. iPhone helps keep it …

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department plans to bring an antitrust case against Google as soon as this month, after Attorney General William P. Barr overruled career lawyers who said they needed more time to build a strong case against one of the world’s wealthiest, most formidable technology companies, according to five people briefed on internal department conversations. …

The Verge reports: Reports indicate a slew of popular websites and online services are experiencing outages today, seemingly linked to an issue with Cloudflare. DownDetector, a platform that tracks connectivity complaints, shows that some of the services impacted include the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. The platform suggests there was a knock-on effect with many popular video games, such as …

Yahoo Finance reports: Retail giant Walmart said Thursday it had teamed with Microsoft to buy TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app that has come under fire from the administration of President Donald Trump. The app has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing since Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 …

The Verge reports: If you’ve been tested for COVID-19 then you’ve probably experienced the unpleasantness of a nasal swab. Someone takes a long-handled cotton swab and sticks it up your nose — way up your nose — until it reaches the back of the mucus-cave that is your nasal cavity. Upon arrival they give the swab a good twirl to …

CNBC reports: Apple hit a market cap of $2 trillion Wednesday, doubling in valuation in just over two years to become the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach the milestone. Based on a share count of more than 4.275 billion, Apple broke the barrier just before 11 a.m. ET, when its price rose to $467.77. Apple first reached a …

The BBC reports: Fortnite-maker Epic Games is taking legal action against Google after being banned from the Google Play app store, hours after doing the same with Apple. Apple and Google both removed the hit game from their app stores after Epic Games bypassed their payment systems, to avoid giving them a cut of sales. Both platforms take a standard …

The Verge reports: Microsoft has published a full 35-minute Surface Duo press briefing video that it held with journalists earlier this week. Microsoft typically holds in-person events for its Surface products, and this year’s press briefing was essentially a virtual version of a Surface event. Microsoft announced the Surface Duo, a dual-screen Android phone, earlier this week. Priced from $1,399, …