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Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Hillary Clinton Says She Wants a Manhattan Project for Encryption. The Fuck?
Hillary Clinton suggested that tech companies work together with the government to create a “a Manhattan-like project” at tonight’s Democratic national debate. The Manhattan Project, if you a need a refresher, was a research and development collaboration between the US, UK, and Canada to develop weapons during World War II, culminating in the development of … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Bernie Sanders Apologizes to Hillary Clinton About Data Breach
It didn’t take long for the moderators at tonight’s Democratic primary debate to get into the data breach that occurred earlier this week—Bernie Sanders received the first question of the night about it. “Our staff did the wrong thing,” Sanders said. https://gizmodo.com/a-quick-guide-to-the-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-cam-1748890290 Before apologizing, Sanders emphasized that his campaign had also discovered Clinton campaign data … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
A Quick Guide to the Bernie Sanders/Hillary Clinton Campaign Data Drama
A data security glitch led to a Democratic party squabble this week, complete with a lawsuit, and accusations of spying and sabotage hurled between campaigns. I didn’t know it was possible to make Bernie Sanders more ornery, but here we are! Here’s what you need to know about the conflict, and why voter data played … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Got Censored at a Chinese Internet Conference
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is familiar with people putting made-up bullshit online. As I mentioned, he founded Wikipedia. But this is on another level: Wales’ words got changed on a Chinese conference website to make it sound like he was pro-Chinese government surveillance. During a panel discussion at China’s World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Wales … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Teen Arrested for Using 57 Twitter Accounts to Recruit for ISIS from His Parents’ House
A 19-year-old US citizen was arrested in Pennsylvania today for using the internet to recruit for ISIS. From within his parents’ house, Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz created a stockpile of weapons and spent his days chatting about buying women as slaves and killing US soliders, using Twitter handles like @MuslimBruh0. According to the DOJ’s unsealed … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Six Times the GOP Candidates Got Encryption and Security Wrong Last Night
The GOP presidential debate last night focused on foreign policy, which meant lots of talk on how to DESTROY ISIS. It immediately devolved into a sneering Fear Off as each candidate attempted to out-scaremonger frontrunner and Ayn Rand cantaloupe Donald Trump. Trump blithely confirmed that he would violate the Geneva convention by killing children in … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
The 6 Greatest YouTube Reviews of Quiznos Sandwiches of 2015
Not to brag, but 2015 was a solid year for reviews of Quiznos sandwiches and other food offerings on YouTube. Here are some reviews that really made the cut. The cut of deli meat in a toasty Quizno’s sandwich! Quiznos Turkey & Brown Mustard Pretzel Sub! REVIEW by JoeysWorldTour “I love brown mustard because it’s … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Donald Trump Doubles Down on His Plan to Shut Down the Internet
Tonight’s GOP presidential debate in Vegas has already devolved into an argument over whether the next president should close down parts of the internet, with burnt-sienna insult balloon Donald Trump insisting again that, yep, why not, he’d close down parts of the internet. “I sure as hell don’t want to let people that want to … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Carly Fiorina Says We’re Not Using the Right Algorithms to Catch Terrorists
After inexplicably rattling off the introduction dates for most of Apple’s recent flagship products, GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina announced that she’ll be able to get tech companies to work with the government on security issues because she “knows them.” Then she insisted that the government is using the wrong algorithms to identify terrorists online. … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Uber and Lyft Drivers Can Now Unionize in Seattle
Seattle City Council has unanimously passed a bill allowing drivers for Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing services to form unions. Seattle is the first US city to allow these drivers a way to collectively bargain. This means drivers will be able negotiate their salaries and working conditions as a unit. It does not mean, however, … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Applying for a US Visa? Expect DHS to Look at Your Facebook Posts
The Department of Homeland Security is planning to look more closely at visa applicants’ social media footprints before letting them into the country. This new push dovetails with amplified fears about extremist immigrants. The day that she and her husband killed 14 people in San Bernadino, Ca., Tashfeen Malik “pledged allegiance” to ISIS on Facebook. … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
The State Department’s Anti-ISIS Twitter Account Just Promoted an Anti-Islam Advocate
The State Department’s anti-ISIS social media campaign, Think Again Turn Away, took its inept hearts and minds mission a step further in the wrong direction this morning by promoting an anti-Islam advocate as a human rights hero. In honor of #HumanRightsDay, Think Again Turn Away tweeted this fact sheet highlighting the accomplishments of Ayaan Hirsi … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsFacebook
Ted Cruz Might Have Your Facebook Data, Depending on How Broke Your Friends Are
Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign must love dumb friends. In addition to releasing an app that rewards people for turning over their friends’ personal information, the campaign is leaning on a data analytics company that has paid people $1 for access to their Facebook data and their friends’ data. Cambridge Analytica builds “psychographic profiles” for the … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Guess Which Company Helped Draft a Bill That Classified Uber Drivers Exactly How Uber Wants Them Classified
Uber has long insisted that it’s simply a tech company, not a driving service—and new legislation supports that narrow definition of its growing corporate empire. Guess which company helped draft the legislation. Guess. Guess. Guess. Guess. Guess. From Reuters: In Ohio, state Rep. Bob Hackett said Uber, Lyft, the taxi industry and other parties were … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Panty-Loving Thief Arrested After Using Instagram Geotagging to Hunt Co-Ed Undies
Here’s another reason to turn geotagging off: Police say a burglary suspect arrested in California last week used Instagram and Facebook’s geotagged posts to track his targets and steal their underwear. Arturo Galvan, 44, was arrested on suspicion of six burglaries last Thursday. “He seems to be fixated on college-aged women,” Fullerton Police Department Lt. … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Here’s All the Evidence That Craig Wright Invented Bitcoin
Parallel Gizmodo and Wired investigations into the identity of mysterious Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, published yesterday, pointed to Australian academic and serial entrepreneur Craig Wright as potentially involved with the invention of the cryptocurrency. While the evidence does not conclusively pinpoint Wright or his business associate Dave Kleiman as the creator(s) of Bitcoin, it does … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Nevada Is Getting a Hyperloop Test Track
Hyperloop Technologies plans to build a hyperloop test track for in North Las Vegas—and it wants to start testing early next year. The AP talked to the California company (which takes its name from Elon Musk’s proposed invention, but isn’t associated with him) about its plans to create a testing ground for the transit technology. … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsMicrosoft
Trump’s Plan to Fight ISIS Online Is So Fucking Vacant I Can Barely Blog About It
Pumpkin-flavored arsenic marshmallow Donald Trump gave a speech at the Pearl Harbor Day Rally at the USS Yorktown in South Carolina tonight. After a day of rambling about banning Muslims, Trump offered some hazy suggestions for fighting ISIS’s growing influence online. “We have kids who are watching the internet and they want to be masterminds,” … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Former Secret Service Agent Gets Nearly Six Years in Prison for Silk Road Theft
Former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges is going to prison for 71 months, or nearly six years, for stealing over $800,000 in Bitcoin from drug dealers while investigating the Silk Road. Bridges conspired to break bad as part of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force with an (excellently named) DEA agent, Carl Force. Together, Bridges … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
Looks Like Jeb Bush’s Campaign Forgot to Register JebBush.Com
When I thought Jeb’s deflating balloon full of farts of a presidential run couldn’t get any sadder, it did: If you click on JebBush.com, it redirects to Trump’s website. Like Carly Fiorina before him, Jeb made the mistake of not registering his name as a domain name. Now, this is what you see when you … Continued
By Kate Knibbs