Science

Netflix's Post Mortem Looks Ghoulishly Great

A woman who’s been declared dead suddenly awakens—and the weirdness only amplifies from there in Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes, a new Norwegian horror series that’s arriving soon on Netflix. Things become even more complicated by the fact that the not-so-dead woman’s brother runs the local funeral home—and…Read more...
Tags: Science, California, Software, Netflix, Operating Systems, Odd, Harald Zwart, Post Mortem, Andree, Entertainment Culture, Skarnes, Holmsen, Dead Snow Trollhunter And Lake Of Death, Kim Fairchild, Kathrine Thorborg Johansen, Elias Holmen

A Cheaper YouTube Premium May Be Coming Soon

YouTube Premium is a solid option if you want to pay to skip through its often harrowing advertising. But it’s about $12 a month on top of a whole host of other subscription services you’re probably already paying for. The price includes access to YouTube Music, offline downloads, and background playback. But for…Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Youtube, Software, Operating Systems, Google Play Music, Premium, YouTube Premium, Entertainment Culture, Technology Internet, Mass Media Companies

MAGA Twitter Clone Gettr Pivots From Being Filled With Porn to Being Filled With ISIS

Last month, members of Donald Trump’s insufferable inner circle launched GETTR, a half-assed and poorly built Facebook/Twitter clone that previously seemed to mostly serve as a vanity project for a far-right, fugitive Chinese billionaire with a cult-like following.Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Politics, Isis, Science, Social Media, Software, Tumblr, Donald Trump, Operating Systems, Trumpism, Sean Hannity, Facebook Twitter, Jason Miller, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Right Wing Populism In The United States

Zoom's $85 Million Settlement Won't Change a Thing, but It Could Get You a Refund

Zoom—the video conferencing software that many of us have come to begrudgingly rely on in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic—agreed on Saturday to pay $85 million to settle a class-action suit brought on by the numerous privacy and security issues the platform refused to patch up. And like many settlements put out…Read more...
Tags: Google, Facebook, Science, Technology, Privacy, Social Media, Software, Computing, Zoom, Terms Of Service, Lucy Koh, Internet Privacy, Web Conferencing, Video Software, Videotelephony, Technology Internet

I Accidentally Recorded At Least 682 Gigabytes of Video of Myself Without My Knowledge

It’s happened to all of us: You’ve been browsing your hard drive and found hundreds of gigabytes of lengthy video files of the inside of your office, apparently filmed without your awareness. Dozens or possibly hundreds of hours of footage of whatever you’re up to when you don’t think you’re being observed, and you…Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Webcam, Computing, Free Software, Dick, Edward Cullen, Tom McKay, OBS Studio, Andrew Couts, Videotelephony, Free And Open Source Software, Screencasting Software

How to Make a Discord Bot

Once you’ve been on Discord long enough, you’ll encounter a Discord bot. Perhaps it welcomed you to a new server, or booted someone who violated the rules. Maybe it spouted off quotes from Zero Wing whenever anyone typed the word “base.” Some powerful variants of Discord bots have kept users in a given chat…Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Freeware, Bot, Instant Messaging Clients, Discord, AsyncAwait, Alt Tech, Internet Bot, Python Discord

Facebook News Consumers Are More Anti-Vaccine Than Fox News Viewers, Study Finds

Joe Biden might want to consider re-backpedaling after backpedaling his accusation that social media companies [Facebook] are “killing people” by spreading vaccine conspiracies and bunk. A new study suggests that Facebook’s news consumers are inordinately unwilling to get the covid-19 vaccine.Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Articles, Joe Biden, Software, Fox News, Branch, Misinformation, Tucker Carlson, Deception, Ben Shapiro, Kaiser Family Foundation, Facebook News, David Lazer, Jen Psaki, Fake News

Instagram's New Settings Take Aim at Creepy Adults

As part of a slew of ongoing efforts to make Instagram less of a cesspool of awful content for awful people, the company announced a slew of new changes for accounts belonging to the teen and tweenage set meant to keep them safer on the platform. Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Instagram, Social Media, Software, Computing, Operating Systems, Mobile Software, Internet Privacy, Video Software, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet

Apple Health Might Soon Track Your VR Workouts

While Facebook and Apple haven’t been on the best terms as of late, the social media giant is reportedly considering letting Oculus users sync up their workout data to Apple Health, according to Bloomberg.Read more...
Tags: Iphone, Apple, Ios, Health, Google, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Science, Fitness, Bloomberg, Software, Computing, Nintendo, Oculus, Apple Watch, Wearable Devices

Facebook Is Mulling Linking Oculus Workouts With Apple Health

While Facebook and Apple haven’t been on the best terms as of late, the social media giant is reportedly considering letting Oculus users sync up their workout data to Apple Health, according to Bloomberg.Read more...
Tags: Iphone, Apple, Ios, Health, Google, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Science, Fitness, Bloomberg, Software, Computing, Nintendo, Oculus, Apple Watch, Wearable Devices

Citizen Wants to Pay You $25 an Hour to Be a Nightcrawler

The vigilante app Citizen, your source for perusing footage of your neighbors’ flaming homes and potentially deadly car accidents, is soliciting applications for users looking to livestream nearby emergencies. For $200-$250 a day, you can be the hero this city needs; alternatively, a tabloid fiend with a smartphone…Read more...
Tags: Science, Crime, Software, Security Software, Citizen, Vigilante, Ring, Fictional Characters, Andrew Frame, Vigilantism, Proprietary Software, Crime Mapping, Law Crime, Law Enforcement In The United States, Daily Dot, Emergency Management Software

Not Satisfied With Screwing Up This Mortal Coil, Facebook Wants Meaningful Engagement With God

Facebook is trying to commune with God, but definitely not in a Tower of Babel way or anything.Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Social Media, Software, Christianity, Operating Systems, Sheryl Sandberg, Samuel Rodriguez, Evangelicalism, Sam Collier, YouVersion, Social Information Processing, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet, Religion Belief, Sarah Lane Ritchie

WhatsApp Head Says New Pegasus Spyware Investigation Coincides With Its Findings From 2019 Attack

WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart has said that findings from the new investigation into NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware coincide with what the app learned about an attack on its users in 2019. Cathcart also questioned NSO’s claim that a list of thousands of phone numbers central to the investigation is an exaggeration,…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Social Media, Whatsapp, Spyware, Software, Computing, Pegasus, Espionage, End To End Encryption, Cathcart, NSO, NSO Group, Will Cathcart, Project Pegasus Revelations

Senators Put Section 230 in the Crosshairs in Battle Over Covid-19 Misinformation

For the past few years, we’ve seen companies like Facebook either endlessly shrug off the misinformation problems on their platforms or issue half-assed fixes meant to keep them in check. Now, they might have a little more motivation. On Thursday, two lawmakers introduced meant to strip back these…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Science, Social Media, Software, Social Issues, Computing, Amy Klobuchar, Donald Trump, Operating Systems, Misinformation, Deception, Section 230, Ben Ray, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet

You Can Blame a Typo for Locking You Out of Your Chromebook

Typos can be pretty embarrassing, but in the case of a recent Chromebook bug, they can also lock you out of your laptop. The major Chrome OS bug is in version 91.0.4472.165, and there’s already another build rolling out to help fix the issue.Read more...
Tags: Google Chrome, Google, Android, Science, Software, Chrome Os, Chromebook, Laptops, Operating Systems, Computer Architecture, Chromium OS, Cloud Clients, Technology Internet, Draftgopher Buddy Service

Facebook Just Blocked the #VaccinesKill Hashtag Two Years Too Late

At least two years after it would have been politically prudent to do so, Facebook moved to block content under the #VaccinesKill hashtag on Wednesday. Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Instagram, Social Media, Hashtag, Software, Computing, Biden, Operating Systems, Jen Psaki, Fake News, Video Software, Pseudohistory, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet, Covid 19 Misinformation

Telegram CEO's Number Found on List of Potential NSO Spyware Targets

Pavel Durov, CEO and co-founder of chat platform Telegram, is the latest person to be swept up in the ongoing scandal involving the NSO Group.Read more...
Tags: Science, Spyware, Software, Computing, Amnesty International, Pegasus, Espionage, Telegram, Pavel Durov, Citizen Lab, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, NSO Group, NSO Group Read, Cross Platform Software

Teens' Scheme to Takeover Twitter Handles Ends With Tragic Death in Swatting Incident

A troll conspiracy to capture a generic Twitter handle has resulted in death, Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN . According to the station, an underage extortionist going after the “@Tennessee” Twitter account placed a false 9-11 report (“swatting”) of a shooting at the home of 60-year-old handle owner Mark…Read more...
Tags: Twitter, Science, Abc, Social Media, Snapchat, Software, Computing, Nashville, Troll, Operating Systems, Mark, WKRN, Mark Herring, Swatting, WKRN TV, Law Crime

A Priest Was Outed By His Phone's Location Data. Anyone Could Be Next.

This week we got one of the most nightmarish tech privacy stories to rear its ugly head on the internet: an investigation into a trove of location data siphoned from a mobile device belonging to one of the Catholic Church’s top officials, Jeffrey Burrill. Like many stories about whatever’s lurking in the average…Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Catholic Church, Gizmodo, Grindr, Social Software, Mobile Applications, Hookup culture, Geosocial Networking, Technology Internet, Online Dating Applications, Jeffrey Burrill, Personal Inc, Jeffrey Burrill Like

Google Maps Now Helps You Avoid People On The Train

The world is slowly opening back up. You might be finding yourself using public transit for the first time in ages and trying to figure out how to get around. Some helpful new Google Maps features could help us all navigate through this time, both literally and figuratively. Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Technology, Google Search, Software, Computing, Map, Google Maps, Alphabet Inc, Human Interest, Technology Internet, Hospitality Recreation

Instagram Is Rolling Out a Sensitive Content Control Option

Seeking to give users ever-increasing control over their scrolling experiences, Instagram on Tuesday unveiled plans to debut a Sensitive Content Control option that will allow users to better control which content appears in their Explore feeds.Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Instagram, Social Media, Software, News Feed, Operating Systems, World Wide Web, Mobile Software, Video Software, Blog Hosting Services, Technology Internet, Privacy Concerns With Facebook, Privacy Concerns With Social Networking Services

Google Is Giving Android TV a New Watchlist and an Improved Recommendation System

Since the release of Chromecast with Google TV, Google has been updating Android TV with a number of the fancier features available on its streaming TV dongle, and this week Google is bringing improved ways to suggest new content and save them for later. Read more...
Tags: Google, Android, Science, Android TV, Smartphones, Chromecast, Software, Netflix, Chrome Os, Computing, Nvidia, Smart TV, Operating Systems, Alphabet Inc, Google TV Google, Google TV

You Can Now Revisit the Most Popular Desktop Publishing App of the '80s in Your Browser

If you were lucky enough to own both a desktop computer and a dot-matrix printer back in the ‘80s, it’s likely you also dabbled in desktop publishing using a classic app called The Print Shop. Once lost to time, like many classic apps that ran on ancient hardware, The Print Shop has been resurrected in the browser so…Read more...
Tags: Science, Typography, Software, Computing, Printer, Printing, Ayres, Digital Press, Print Shop, Desktop Publishing Software, Technology Internet, Communication Design, Martin Kahn, Broderbund Software, Computer Printing, Dot Matrix Printer

Google Maps Provided Users With a ‘Potentially Fatal’ Hiking Trail on This Mountain

A few years ago, instead of leading my best friend and I through a lovely and picturesque Spanish mountain trail, Google Maps took us to an isolated field with some cows. While I learned then not trust the internet when it comes to nature, it appears that an increasing number of visitors to the Scottish mountain Ben…Read more...
Tags: Apple, Google, Science, Scotland, Software, Mountaineering, Google Maps, Nevis, Alphabet Inc, Ben Nevis, Lochaber, Munros, Web Mapping, Human Activities, Route Planning Software, Technology Internet

Feds: California Men Discussed 'Terrorist' Attacks on Twitter and Facebook, Other Targets

Two California men have been indicted in connection with an apparent plot to attack the state’s Democratic Party headquarters, located in Sacramento, the Justice Department said Friday. The men also discussed attacks at other locations throughout the state that they “associated with Democrats,” including the…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Politics, Science, California, Sacramento, Software, Computing, Justice Department, Operating Systems, Real Time Web, Text Messaging, Democratic Party, South of Market San Francisco, The Anarchist Cookbook, Universal Windows Platform Apps

Valve's Servers Melted Down Due to Steam Deck Demand

Yesterday, Valve countered the upcoming arrival of the OLED Switch with its own PC-based gaming handheld console, the $400 Steam Deck. Reservations opened today, and it seems the Steam store just can’t keep up.Read more...
Tags: Twitter, Science, Software, Steam, Freeware, Left 4 Dead, Valve Corporation, Windows Games, First Person Shooters, Video Gaming, Multiplayer video games, Multiplayer Online Games

The Robots Are Coming for the Speedrunners Now That They Can Play Super Mario Bros.

The idea that robots will one day become self-aware and start a war to wipe out humanity is laughable. They’re instead going to slowly take over every last job until the world’s population is unemployed and unable to shop at automated grocery stores, so we all starve and die off. And not even those who eke out a…Read more...
Tags: Star Wars, Science, Artificial Intelligence, Software, Robotics, Robot, Twitch, Mario Bros, The Terminator, Soft Robotics, Technology Internet

Now You Can Delete the Last 15 Minutes of Your Google Search History on iOS

In its never-ending quest to convince users that it has privacy top of mind, Google is rolling out a quick auto-delete control to scrub the last 15 minutes of your mobile search history. The feature is arriving on iOS devices first, with the option coming to Android devices later this year.Read more...
Tags: Iphone, Google, Ipad, Google Drive, Science, Technology, Gmail, Google Search, Software, Computing, Google Io, Alphabet Inc, Google Account, Google Workspace, Cross Platform Software, Technology Internet

Microsoft Memorializes Clippy by Making It an Emoji

Clippy, the hero of Microsoft Office, is now an emoji.Read more...
Tags: Science, Microsoft, Software, Internet Slang, Microsoft Office, Windows 10, Emoji, Internet Culture, Operating Systems, Computer Architecture, Claire Anderson, Apple Color Emoji, World Emoji Day, Technology Internet, The Microsoft, Pictograms

Valve Announces Steam Deck, a Switch Clone for PC Gamers

Earlier this spring, rumors started swirling that Valve was working on its own take on the Switch for PC gamers, and today, Valve has returned to turn those rumors into reality with its official announcement for the Steam Deck.Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Steam, Computing, Nintendo, Dell, Amd, Lenovo, Freeware, Pc Game, Valve Corporation, Nintendo Switch, Video Game Consoles, Handheld Game Consoles, Handheld Game Console, Technology Internet