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Before we augment people with tech, we’ll need proper rules 3 days ago – New technologies – from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology – are set to alter the world, the human condition, and our very being in ways that are hard to imagine. The discussion of these developments limits itself as a rule to individual values. But it is also crucial to talk about the ...
Foreign exchange firm Travelex hit with ‘$6M ransomware attack’ 3 days ago – Foreign exchange company Travelex is being held to ransom by hackers who unleashed the Sodinokibi ransomware and are reportedly requesting a $6 million payment (likely in cryptocurrency), BBC reports. In a statement issued on January 7, Travelex said the intrusion was discovered on December 31. T...
India’s upcoming content policing rules might only apply to ‘major’ social platforms 2 days ago – India‘s upcoming intermediary rules — aimed at controlling and monitoring online content — have a lot of big and small tech firms worried about censorship of their platforms. But a new report suggests the legislation will only affect major social media networks, such as Facebook, TikTok, Twitter,...
Escape from Tarkov devs could have avoided the ‘no female characters’ problem 2 days ago – The developers of Escape from Tarkov, the hot new game of the moment, are facing some backlash over a rather unfortunate response to the question of female characters in their game. It’s a reminder that very few developers still have a graceful way to respond to that particular question, even tho...
Twitter lets pedophiles publicly discuss their sexual ‘attraction to minors,’ scholar argues 2 days ago – Social platforms like Instagram and Twitter discreetly change their terms and conditions on the regular. For example, last year we saw Facebook quietly introduce the ban on ‘sexual emoji’ that proved discriminatory towards sex workers and NSFW artists making a living on the platform. Now, as Aust...
How to become a Facebook marketing guru for under $30 2 days ago – It's predicted that over 86 percent of marketers will use Facebook as a platform for selling their products in 2020. So, if you're trying to get in on the lucrative, in-demand field that is digital marketing, you'd be wise to master the platform as well.
Alleged head of $3.5M crypto mining scam bought stake in nightclub 20 hours ago – A man in the US is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly running a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining operation. According to a complaint dated January 8, Donald G. Blakstad swindled more than $3.5 million from investors using three separate companies. The busines...
Microsoft’s new message scanning tool can help identify sexual predators in chatrooms 20 hours ago – For the ongoing series, Code Word, we’re exploring if — and how — technology can protect individuals against sexual assault and harassment, and how it can help and support survivors. Mircosoft released a tool known as “Project Artemi” yesterday to catch traps laid out by sexual predators online f...
Tech Crunch
BuzzFeed hires The Mighty’s Peter Wang as its new CTO 2 days ago – BuzzFeed’s technical team has a new leader — incoming chief technology officer Peter Wang, who’s leaving his role as CTO of healthcare community The Mighty. Wang has plenty of experience in the media industry, having served as CTO at Refinery29 and at Narrativ, a startup that helps publishers mak...
Lily AI raises a $12.5M Series A led by Canaan to accelerate its e-commerce recommendation tech 2 days ago – Lily AI, a startup focused on using deep learning to help brands better convert customers through emotionally tailored recommendations, announced this morning that it has raised a $12.5 million Series A led by Canaan Partners. Prior investors NEA, Unshackled and Fernbrook Capital also took part i...
Sisense nabs $100M at a $1B+ valuation for accessible big data business analytics 2 days ago – Sisense, an enterprise startup that has built a business analytics business out of the premise of making big data as accessible as possible to users — whether it be through graphics on mobile or desktop apps, or spoken through Alexa — is announcing a big round of funding today and a large jump in...
ndia’s top court rules indefinite internet shutdown in Kashmir unwarranted and amounts to abuse of power 21 hours ago – India’s top court ruled on Friday that the indefinite shutdown of the internet in Kashmir was unwarranted and demonstrated “abuse of power” by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led government. India cut internet access in Kashmir in August last year after revoking the Muslim majority region’s aut...
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone backs tutoring platform Scoodle a day ago – Scoodle, a U.K.-based startup that, in its own words, wants to help tutors become influencers, is disclosing $760,000 in pre-seed funding. Backing the round is Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, alongside Tiny VC, IFG Ventures and a number of unnamed angels. Scoodle is also the first ed tech company t...
PayU acquires controlling stake in Indian credit business PaySense, to merge it with LazyPay a day ago – PayU is acquiring a controlling stake in fintech startup PaySense at a valuation of $185 million and plans to merge it with its credit business LazyPay as the nation’s largest payments processor aggressively expands its financial services offering. The Prosus-owned payments giant said on Friday t...
Casper files to go public, shows you can lose money selling mattresses 10 hours ago – E-commerce phenom and D2C bright light Casper has filed to go public. The New York-based company that raised nearly $340 million while private, according to Crunchbase data, expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CSPR.” Its S-1 filing includes a $100 million plac...
A sex tech startup’s triumphant return to CES 10 hours ago – When the Lora DiCarlo wagon finally arrives, the rolling glass box’s back door opens and another journalist pops out to get on his way. The sex tech company has a week packed full with 20-minute rolling interviews with a curious tech press. No time to spare; I step up, sit down, and we’re on our ...
Cookie consent tools are being used to undermine EU privacy rules, study suggests 11 hours ago – Most cookie consent pop-ups served to internet users in the European Union — ostensibly seeking permission to track people’s web activity — are likely to be flouting regional privacy laws, a new study by researchers at MIT, UCL and Aarhus University suggests. “The results of our empirical survey ...
Waymo’s Anca Dragan and Ike Robotics CTO Jur van den Berg are coming to TC Sessions: Robotics+AI 5 hours ago – The road to “solving” self-driving cars is riddled with challenges, from perception and decision making to figuring out the interaction between humans and robots. Today we’re announcing that joining us at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI on March 3 at UC Berkeley are two experts who play important roles ...
In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 followers 5 hours ago – Celebrities or influencers with millions of followers have a large service industry and tech stack to serve their needs. But the standard toolkit of a microinfluencer is still evolving.
Amazon fires employees for leaking customer email addresses and phone numbers 6 hours ago – Amazon has fired a number of employees after they shared customer email address and phone numbers with a third-party “in violation of our policies.” The email to customers sent Friday afternoon, seen by TechCrunch, said an employee was “terminated” for sharing the data, and that the company is su...
The Verge
‘Black Book’ suggests the feds have some unexpected surveillance tools, including a gravestone camera a day ago – Jonathan McIntosh / Creative Commons Today, Vice published an article about some, um, unconventional spying products marketed by a surveillance vendor that works with US government agencies. The vendor, the Special Services Group, offers many surveillance products that look like everyday items...
The Verge Awards at CES 2020: welcome to the land of the concept 14 hours ago – Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge What is even real anymore? Continue reading…
Alphabet’s top lawyer is leaving with no exit package following misconduct scandals 11 hours ago – Photo by Eric Piermont / AFP via Getty Images David Drummond, Alphabet’s chief legal officer and one of the longest-serving and highest tenure Google employees, is leaving the company at the end of the month. The news was first reported Friday by Forbes, and an Alphabet spokesperson later conf...
Mattress company Casper still trying to pivot to tech, still a mattress company 9 hours ago – Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Casper Sleep Inc. Casper, the mattress company that cornered the market on podcast ads and got into a skirmish over online mattress reviews a few years back, is trying to pivot into “non-traditional categories” according to its attempt to go public, file...
Oprah is yanking an upcoming #MeToo documentary from Apple TV+ over creative differences 4 hours ago – Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Apple TV+ may have just lost a second high-profile project that was set to appear on the streaming platform, just one month after it was announced: the Oprah Winfrey-produced documentary that follows music industry executive Drew Dixon, one of the women who acc...