Technology

STUDY: When Robots Beg For Their Lives

The Verge reports: In the study, published in the open access journal PLOS One, 89 volunteers were recruited to complete a pair of tasks with the help of Nao, a small humanoid robot. The participants were told that the tasks (which involved answering a series of either / or questions, like “Do you prefer pasta or pizza?”; and organizing a …

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Apple Becomes First Public Company Worth $1 Trillion

The New York Times reports: In 1997, Apple was on the ropes. The Silicon Valley pioneer was being decimated by Microsoft and its many partners in the personal-computer market. It had just cut a third of its work force, and it was about 90 days from going broke, Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, later said. On Thursday, Apple became worth …

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EU Smacks Google With Record $5B Antitrust Fine

The New York Times reports: Google was hit with a $5.1 billion fine by European antitrust officials on Wednesday for abusing its power in the smartphone market, in the region’s latest move to rein in the clout of American tech companies. The penalty of 4.34 billion euros was a record, and far larger than the €2.4 billion, or about $2.8 …

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Google Sued Over Third Party Access To Emails

Courthouse News reports: Despite its promise to stop scanning emails for advertising purposes, Google let outside developers access and read millions of users’ private emails without consent, an Ohio man claims in a new class action. Lead plaintiff James Coyne, of Ohio, sued the technology giant in federal court Friday night, seeking damages and injunction to stop the Alphabet-owned company …

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Twitter Is Deleting One Million Fake Accounts A Day

The Washington Post reports: Twitter has sharply escalated its battle against fake and suspicious accounts, suspending more than one million accounts a day in recent months, a major shift to lessen the flow of disinformation on the platform, according to data obtained by The Washington Post. The rate of account suspensions, which Twitter confirmed to the Post, has more than …

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BRITAIN: Defense Secretary Has Speech Interrupted By iPhone Siri Because He Used The Word “Syria” [VIDEO]

Gizmodo reports: For modern smartphone owners, it’s a common enough of an occurrence. You’re just sitting there, talking about whatever, when suddenly you say something that triggers the digital assistant on your phone. Now normally, you’d probably get annoyed for a second, tap a button to dismiss the interruption, and then continue with whatever you were doing. But if you’re, …

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SCOTUS Rules States Can Collect Sales Tax On Internet Businesses That Have No Local Physical Presence

The New York Times reports: Internet retailers can be required to collect sales taxes in states where they have no physical presence, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. Brick-and-mortar businesses have long complained that they are disadvantaged by having to charge sales taxes while many of their online competitors do not. States have said that they are missing out on …

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Intel CEO Resigns Over Affair With Employee

CNBC reports: Intel’s Brian Krzanich is out as CEO and chairman of the board following an investigation into a “consensual relationship with an Intel employee,” the company announced Thursday. Chief financial officer Robert Swan will step in as interim CEO, effective immediately. “An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which applies …

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FCC’s Repeal Of Net Neutrality Starts Today

The New York Times reports: It’s official. The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, which had required internet service providers to offer equal access to all web content, took effect on Monday. Under those regulations, broadband service was considered a utility under Title II of the Communications Act, giving the F.C.C. broad power over internet providers. The rules …

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Google Ends AI Deal With Pentagon Over Backlash

Gizmodo reports: Google will not seek another contract for its controversial work providing artificial intelligence to the U.S. Department of Defense for analyzing drone footage after its current contract expires. Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene announced the decision at a meeting with employees Friday morning, three sources told Gizmodo. The current contract expires in 2019 and there will not be …

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Widespread Visa Card Outage Hits Britain And Europe

The BBC reports: Customers across the UK and Europe have been unable to pay for their purchases with Visa cards because of a network failure. Some shoppers reported they were stuck in queues in supermarkets and petrol stations as Visa transactions could not be processed. Banks have advised customers that they can still withdraw cash from ATMs. Visa says it …

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T-Mobile Has Been Paying Former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski For Sprint Merger “Advice”

Mediaite reports: Cellular provider T-Mobile is paying for advice from former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on their upcoming merger with Sprint, according to a Wall Street Journal report. On Thursday, T-Mobile announced that it hired Turnberry Solutions back in August to help secure federal approval of the merging of the two companies in a takeover deal. Along with …

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FBI Warns Of Russian Malware: Reboot Botnet Devices

The Hill reports: The FBI on Friday issued a formal warning that a sophisticated Russia-linked hacking campaign is compromising hundreds of thousands of home network devices worldwide and it is advising owners to reboot these devices in an attempt to disrupt the malicious software. The law enforcement agency said foreign cyber actors are targeting routers in small or home offices …

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Facebook Suspends 200 Apps For “Misusing Data”

From Facebook’s corporate blog: The investigation process is in full swing, and it has two phases. First, a comprehensive review to identify every app that had access to this amount of Facebook data. And second, where we have concerns, we will conduct interviews, make requests for information (RFI) — which ask a series of detailed questions about the app and …

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YouTube Launches Opt-In “Digital Well-Being” Feature Reminding Users To “Take A Break” From Videos

Gizmodo reports: Google is well aware that YouTube is the internet’s biggest time suck, sending users down endless rabbit holes of related videos. Now, as part of the company’s apparent newfound interest in digital well-being, it’s introducing a feature that will encourage people to step away from the endless stream of videos—but only if they opt into it. The new …

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Robot Security Dogs To Go On Sale Next Year [VIDEO]

The New York Daily News reports: A robotics company known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter century of research. Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said Friday that his company plans to begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely …

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California Mandates Solar Panels On New Homes

Business Insider reports: On Wednesday, The California Energy Commission approved a ruling requiring new homes and low-rise apartment buildings to include solar panels. The rule will take effect in January 2020. According to the AP, the mandate still needs final approval from the state’s Building Standards Commission, which will likely happen. The California Energy Commission, the agency that approved the …

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Uber Unveils Plan For Fleet Of Flying Taxis [VIDEO]

USA Today reports: Uber executives continue to grapple with a host of challenges, but that hasn’t put the brakes on the company’s futuristic — and somewhat outlandish — plans to develop a network of flying taxis. The project gained a bit more altitude at Tuesday’s kickoff of the two-day Uber Elevate conference in Los Angeles to discuss urban air transportation. …

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Apple’s Original iMac Turns 20 Years Old [VIDEO]

Engadget reports: There are few individual computer models that have left a lasting mark on the industry, but you can definitely put the iMac on that list. Apple introduced its signature all-in-one desktop at a special event on May 6th, 1998, and it’s safe to say the system has had a lasting impact on technology at large. At the same …

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Twitter Warns Users: Change Your Password Right Now

TechCrunch reports: Yes, it’s that time again — password changing time. On Thursday, Twitter revealed that a bug caused the platform to store user passwords in unmasked form. Normally, sensitive personal data like passwords would be stored in hashed form using a mix of letters and numbers to protect the content of the password itself. In this instance, it sounds …

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