Monday, May 14, 2018

Researchers may have exposed Facebook quiz data on 3 million users

Once again, an app on Facebook has been linked to potential exposure of personal information. Researchers stored responses from a personality application running on the social network on an insecure website, which could have exposed answers from up t...

Tesla reportedly nixed Autopilot safeguards for cost and ineffectiveness

Tesla engineers considered incorporating additional safeguards into the company's Autopilot driver assistance system such as eye-tracking technology or steering wheel sensors, the Wall Street Journal reports, but those features were ultimately reject...

Google Drive's new plans bring family sharing and more options

You probably haven't had a huge reason to upgrade from Google Drive's free 15GB service, but Google thinks it can sway you with the right incentives. It's launching a new set of plans, nicknamed Google One, that give you considerably more than extra...

Decades-old data helps confirm Europa is geysering water into space

Over the past few years, the Hubble Space Telescope has observed what looked to be plumes of water vapor shooting from the surface of one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. Now, scientists have looked over decades-old data from Galileo and discovered that t...

Senators want FTC to investigate Google's location data collection

In December of 2017, the office of US Senator Richard Blumenthal sent Google's CEO a letter asking for a detailed explanation of the company's privacy practices around location services. Based on a report at Quartz, the senator's letter had 12 specif...

‘Lawbreakers’ studio Boss Key shuts down

Boss Key Productions, the studio founded by Unreal and Gears of War designer Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski, has shut down. The small company spent years making the competitive shooter Lawbreakers, but when that game fizzled, the studio sped out the game...

'Resident Evil' film team is making the 'Monster Hunter' movie

We last heard the Monster Hunter movie was still in the works back in September 2016, but selling 8 million copies of this year's Monster Hunter: World might have sped things up. According to Variety, the film adaptation has snagged Paul W. S. Anders...

Netflix snags Guillermo del Toro horror anthology series

Netflix has just ordered a horror anthology series created by Guillermo del Toro, who will also serve as executive producer. The stories included in Guillermo del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight will be "both equally sophisticated and horrific," acco...

California teen phished his teachers to change grades

Phishing attacks have been a key part of some of the most high-profile hacks in recent years, but they're also used in smaller, less diabolical schemes as well. KTVU reports that a student at Ygnacio Valley High School in California used a phishing s...

Google employees reportedly quit over military drone AI project

Around a dozen Google employees have quit over the company's involvement in an artificial intelligence drone program for the Pentagon called Project Maven, Gizmodo reported today. Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 workers have now demanded an end to the compan...

Facebook suspends 200 apps in post-Cambridge Analytica clean-up


As the Cambridge Analytica scandal keeps creeping down on Facebook like a mudslide, the company has been trying to preemptively oust the other skeletons in its closet with app audits. Now it’s announced it may have snagged up to 200 more potentially problematic apps — and it won’t say what they are yet. The details: Facebook’s VP of product partnerships, Ime Archibong, announced it’s promised investigation into third-party apps was “in full swing.” It’s investigating all apps which had access to user information before a revised 2014 policy restricted it. After reviewing thousands of apps by its own estimation, Facebook has…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Facebook

The NES Classic is coming back next month – good luck getting one this time


The NES Classic sold like hotcakes when it first went on sale back in 2016. And then, for reasons unclear, Nintendo decided to stop selling it. Sure, it had the SNES classic to sell as well, but why discontinue a product that was selling so well? The last we checked, Nintendo sold 2.3 million units in the few months it was on sale. Well, that’ll soon be a concern of the past. Nintendo announce yesterday the SNES classic will be available to buy once more starting June 29, following a promise it made late last year. The company says NES…

This story continues at The Next Web

Google and Levi’s ‘connected’ jacket will let you know when your Uber is here

Remember Project Jacquard? Two years ago, Google showed off its “connected” jean jacket designed largely for bike commuters who can’t fiddle with their phone. The jacket launched this past fall, in partnership with Levi’s, offering a way for wearers to control music, screen phone calls, and get directions with a tap or brush of the cuff. […]

Snap Spectacles 2 review: Boring, but better

I'll admit it. I was one of those assholes who went out and bought a pair of Snap's Spectacles when they came out. I wore them most places, even at night or when they didn't go with my outfit, on the off chance that I might witness something Snap-wor...

Microsoft may launch an accessibility-focused Xbox One controller

Microsoft has a long-running history of courting gamers with accessibility needs, and it now looks like that might include a gamepad built with those players in mind. Well-known leaker WalkingCat has obtained an image of what looks to be an Xbox One...

You can now try Smart Compose in the new Gmail

Smart Compose, the experimental autocomplete feature in the new Gmail on the web that Google announced at its I/O conference last week, is now available for testing. Smart Compose is an AI tool that promises to automatically finish your sentences for you, using what it has learned about how people typically write. Based on my experience so […]

Why isn't there a birth control emoji?

In June 2018, there will be 2,823 emoji in the Unicode Standard -- the global specification that ensures characters are interpreted the same across platforms. But nowhere in that list -- which has everything from zombies (both male and female!) to sm...

NES Classic loaded with classic manga games raises hopes for other special editions

Japanese gamers and manga aficionados and every combination thereof will get a treat this summer with the release of this NES Classic Edition loaded with games from the pages of Weekly Jump. The manga mag is celebrating its 50th anniversary and this solid gold Famicom is part of the festivities.

Tinder’s upcoming location-based feature seems a bit creepy

Do you want random Tinder users to see where you’ve been? Uh, no? Well, great news: an upcoming Tinder feature called Places will allow for just that. According to screenshots detailing Tinder Places uncovered by The Verge, the dating app is developing a feature that tracks your location via its app, then shows potential matches […]

Say hello to Google One

Google is revamping its consumer storage plans today by adding a new $2.99/month tier for 200 GB of storage and dropping the price of its 2 TB plan from $19.99/month to $9.99/month (and dropping the $9.99/month 1 TB plan). It’s also rebranding these storage plans (but not Google Drive itself) as “Google One.” Going forward, […]

A free web tool can predict your hair, skin, and eye color from DNA data

A new tool by researchers at the School of Science at IUPUI and Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands can predict your hair, skin, and eye color from your DNA data. The system, which is essentially a web app that can accept DNA sequences, compares known color phenotypes to known data and […]

AWS introduces 1-click Lambda functions app for IoT

When Amazon introduced AWS Lambda in 2015, the notion of serverless computing was relatively unknown. It enables developers to deliver software without having to manage a server to do it. Instead, Amazon manages it all and the underlying infrastructure only comes into play when an event triggers a requirement. Today, the company released an app […]

Bethesda announces ‘Rage 2’ with a hype teaser

Rumors of a sequel to id Software's 2011 post-apocalyptic shooter Rage have been swimming around for years. But thanks to Walmart Canada accidentally spoiling E3 announcements last week, it was pretty clear that Rage 2 was coming -- especially after...

TiVo update will add Amazon’s Alexa to select DVRs

Earlier this year, Tivo announced that it would make its set-top boxes compatible with voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant. According to The Verge, compatibility with Amazon Alexa is now rolling out in an update to these devices...

'Lost in Space' will return to Netflix after a successful first season

There's little doubt that Netflix put a lot of faith in its Lost in Space remake... thankfully, that trust has paid off. The service has renewed the adventures of the Robinson family for a second season. It's too early for a premiere date or plot det...