Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Capital One Discloses Massive Data Breach, Hacker Arrested

Capital One Financial Corporation has announced a data breach affecting some 100 million people in the United States and another 6 million in Canada. The FBI arrested the alleged perpetrator of the breach in Seattle. Capital One on July 19 discovered someone had accessed its data stored online and obtained personal information of credit card customers and people who had applied for credit card products. No credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were compromised in the breach, the company said.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Monday, July 29, 2019

Airbnb host fined £100,000 for letting council flat

A council tenant used a fake identity to rent out his central London flat to tourists on Airbnb.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Fortnite World Cup: How to watch it, when it's on and who's won?

The Fortnite World Cup finals is happening with players from all over the world competing to take home various titles.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Gadget Lab Podcast: Why New York’s Revenge Porn Law is Flawed

The state of New York officially criminalized the spread of nonconsensual pornography, but WIRED’s Emma Grey Ellis tells the Gadget Lab team this new law is only a partial victory.

Friday, July 26, 2019

What the CBS Blackout Means for the Future of Streaming

CBS went dark across AT&T's U-verse and DirecTV services, days after the seven-year contract between the two companies expired. As the two couldn't come to new terms, CBS and its related channels -- including CBSN, CBS Sports and The Smithsonian Channel -- were blacked out. This latest disruption in service affected viewers in major markets across the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Fortnite World Cup finals: How to watch it, when it's on and who is through?

The Fortnite World Cup finals kick off tomorrow with players from all over the world competing to take home various titles.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Microsoft, OpenAI Shoot for the Stars

Microsoft wants to empower its Azure cloud computing service with yet-to-exist artificial general intelligence technologies to create new goals for supercomputing. It has announced a $1B investment through a partnership with OpenAI to build new AI technologies. The two companies hope to extend Microsoft Azure's capabilities in large-scale AI systems. Microsoft and OpenAI want to accelerate breakthroughs in AI and power OpenAI's efforts to create artificial general intelligence.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Why We All Need to Learn to Live on Camera

I was struck by a recent video of a soldier who apparently took some woman's parking spot and then went off the rails when she objected. He bad-mouthed the U.S. military and the U.S., abused his wife, and put his child at risk. A decade ago we probably wouldn't have seen this incident, but now there is a good chance that anyone who misbehaves will be caught on camera. These can be life-changing events -- and not in a good way. In some cases, the people caught are serial abusers, but sometimes they're individuals who are just having a bad day.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Equifax to pay up to $700m to settle data breach

The credit score agency has agreed a settlement after hackers stole 147 million people's details.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Algae bio-curtains: Architects' radical solution to capture carbon

Scientists and architects in London have developed 'bio-curtains' to act as an alternative to urban trees.

Friday, July 19, 2019

5 Best Portable Espresso Makers You Can Buy (2019)

Make awesome espresso on the road, hiking, car camping, or anywhere else, with these handheld machines.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

33 Best Deals From Walmart and Other Amazon Prime Day Rivals

Prime Day is so popular that Amazon competitors like Walmart and Target counter it with their own sales. We've collected the best of the rest.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Code Cracker Turing to Be on 50-Quid Notes

Alan Turing, the British mathematician known for his World War II code-breaking exploits and for a test to distinguish between human and machine intelligence, will be on 50-pound notes in the UK by the end of 2021. The Bank of England, which made the announcement, explained that Turing, who died in 1954, was chosen from a field of 989 eligible characters after a public nomination period. Other characters included theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, mathematician Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, maker of a mechanical computer.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Monday, July 15, 2019

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Social Media, Crafters, Gamers and the Online Censorship Debate

Ravelry, an online knitting community that has more than 8 million members, last month announced that it would ban forum posts, projects, patterns and even profiles from users who supported the Trump administration. "We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy," the administrators posted on the site. "Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy," the post added. The administrators have maintained that they aren't endorsing Democrats or banning Republicans.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Facebook 'to be fined $5bn over Cambridge Analytica scandal'

US regulators are said to have approved a penalty against Facebook over a data protection scandal.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Automated facial recognition trials backed by home secretary

The cameras have faced criticism, but Sajid Javid says it is right police use the latest technology.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Zoom Flaw Turns Mac Cam into Spy Cam

A security researcher has found a flaw in the popular video conferencing app Zoom that could be used to turn on the camera on a Macintosh computer without a user's permission. The vulnerability allows any website to forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their video camera activated, without a user's permission, explained Jonathan Leitschuh, a senior software engineer at Gradle. The code could be used in a malicious ad or in a phishing campaign, he wrote. Zoom contradicted some of Leitschuh's conclusions in a response post.

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Hackers 'could target anaesthetic devices'

The machines, which have been used by the NHS, were recently found to have a security vulnerability.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Anticipating the Merger of Apple and Oracle

Like a lot of you, after reading about the departure of Jony Ive, I'm trying to wrap my head around Apple without a design focus. Now this isn't as hard as you might think, given the last truly successful Apple product came out around a decade ago and was called the "iPad." It is also somewhat ironic that Apple just effectively relaunched the iPod, the product that Steve Jobs rode to Apple's massive success last decade. In many respects, Apple is like the consumer version of Oracle.

Monday, July 8, 2019

Can You Hear Me Now? Staying Connected During a Cybersecurity Incident

While good communication is pretty much universally beneficial, there are times when it's more so than others. One such time? During a cybersecurity incident. Incident responders know that communication is paramount. Even a few minutes might mean the difference between closing an issue vs. allowing a risky situation to persist longer than it needs to. In fact, communication -- both within the team and externally with different groups -- is one of the most important tools at the disposal of the response team.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

4th of July Sales (2019): 25 Best Tech Deals This Weekend

If you're looking for outdoor and indoor essentials, you can save a lot of cash this Independence Day weekend.

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Can robots help humans get more jobs?

Instead of taking our jobs, could robots actually help more people get into work?

Friday, July 5, 2019

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Can't Set Off Fireworks? Try These Science-Backed Alternatives

Blowing things up is a basic part of the Fourth of July. Here's what to try when fireworks aren't an option.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Caroline Criado Perez Explains the 'Gender Data Gap'

In this WIRED Q&A, author Caroline Criado Perez explains how elements of the modern world were designed more for men than women.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

The Democratic Debate That Wasn't: How Tech Could Help Elections

I watched the Democratic debates last week and was struck by three things: I'd likely rather watch paint dry; the application of technology to improve the experience was nonexistent; and I'd bet that if the Democrats don't up their game President Trump will have them to thank when he wins re-election. I'm generally frustrated about how little technology is used to improve the presentations made by technology companies, but in this case both the preservation of the U.S. and perhaps the survival of the world are tied to the next election.

Monday, July 1, 2019