Internal documents show a struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence in the country, the company’s biggest market. On Feb. 4, 2019, a Facebook researcher created a new user account to see what it was like to experience the social media site as a person living in Kerala, India. For the next three […]
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The music for the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremonies? It comes from video games.
The Tokyo Olympics reminded the world that some of history’s most iconic, important video games hail from the nation, as several memorable orchestrated themes serenaded athletes and onlookers at Friday’s opening ceremonies. The song list included several memorable themes that mainstream audiences may know, like the main theme of the Final Fantasy series and a […]
Online Scammers Have a New Offer for You: Vaccine Cards
Hundreds of sellers are offering false and stolen vaccine cards, as businesses and states weigh proof of vaccinations for getting people back to work and play. SAN FRANCISCO — On Etsy, eBay, Facebook and Twitter, little rectangular slips of paper started showing up for sale in late January. Printed on card stock, they measured 3 […]
Amazon defeats historic Alabama union effort
Getty Images Amazon has defeated activists hoping to establish the company’s first unionised warehouse in the US. Workers at the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse voted 1,798 to 738 against the effort, labour officials said. That represented a majority of votes cast in the contest, which was seen as a key test for Amazon after global criticism […]
Elon Musk’s Neuralink ‘shows monkey playing Pong with mind’
Neuralink Neuralink, Elon Musk’s computer to brain interface firm, has released a video it claims shows a monkey playing the video game Pong with its mind. Its brain signals were sent wirelessly via an implanted device. The hope is that the interface could eventually allow people with neurological conditions to control phones or computers remotely. […]
Taiwan’s Drought Pits Chip Makers Against Farmers
HSINCHU, Taiwan — Chuang Cheng-deng’s modest rice farm is a stone’s throw from the nerve center of Taiwan’s computer chip industry, whose products power a huge share of the world’s iPhones and other gadgets. This year, Mr. Chuang is paying the price for his high-tech neighbors’ economic importance. Gripped by drought and scrambling to save […]
Amazon Workers Defeat Union Effort in Alabama
The company’s decisive victory deals a crushing blow to organized labor, which had hoped the time was ripe to start making inroads. Amazon workers at a giant warehouse in Alabama voted decisively against forming a union on Friday, squashing the most significant organizing drive in the internet giant’s history and dealing a crushing blow to […]
Workers at Amazon warehouse in Alabama reject unionization, a major win for the e-commerce giant
SEATTLE — Amazon workers in Alabama on Friday rejected unionization, a major victory for the e-commerce giant in a high-profile, high-stakes battle that will have ripple effects across the nation for workers and the labor movement. Amazon, the second largest private employer in the U.S. behind Walmart, has successfully staved on attempts to unionize at […]
Pets’ names used as passwords by millions, study finds
Getty Images Millions of British people are using their pet’s name as their online password, despite it being an easy target for hackers, a survey has found. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said 15% of the population used pets’ names, 14% use a family member’s name, and 13% pick a notable date. And 6% […]
Clubhouse: Is the audio app really worth $4bn?
NurPhoto Live-audio app Clubhouse is creating plenty of chatter – about itself. Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Demi Lovato and Mark Zuckerberg are among the celebrities to have popped up on the service. And you can find chats about everything from Bitcoin and Buddhism to relationships and R&B music on it. Even so, the […]
Quantum technology emerges from the lab to spark a mini start-up boom
Forty years after the renowned physicist Richard Feynman floated the idea for a quantum computer, the technology is starting to seep out of academic labs and into the real world. Several companies are making progress developing quantum computers and are selling access to the machines via the cloud. Software ventures are cropping up to write […]
Yahoo Answers, a Haven for the Confused, Is Shutting Down
People used Yahoo Answers to ask weird questions, seek help and make jokes. But the service offered “real human reaction, for better or for worse,” one longtime observer said. At times on Yahoo Answers, the people asking questions of strangers lunged for the hallucinatory limits of human curiosity: What would a heaven for elephants be […]
Tfue announces auction of NFTs depicting streamer in ‘Fortnite,’ ‘Minecraft,’ ‘Call of Duty’
Turner Tenney, the 23-year-old esports star better known by his online alias “Tfue,” says he’s always considered himself a gaming “trailblazer.” And Tuesday night on his Twitch stream he played the part, announcing he’ll soon be pioneering a new venture for streamers: NFTs. “I heard about [NFTs] from a few friends of mine — mainly […]
Jimmy Fallon addresses controversial Addison Rae segment that didn’t credit dance creators
Jimmy Fallon invited the creators of six viral TikTok dances onto “The Tonight Show” on Monday night, more than a week after airing a heavily criticized segment in which Addison Rae performed their dances without crediting them. “On our last show before break, we did a bit with Addison Rae where she taught me eight […]
NLRB will file complaint against Amazon if it doesn’t settle with fired tech workers
SEATTLE — The National Labor Relations Board notified two women fired by Amazon last year that it will pursue unfair labor practices claims against the company unless it settles. A lawyer for the agency notified the fired workers — Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who both worked on user experience design at the e-commerce giant […]