Technology category, Page 26
Carnegie Mellon University robotics team earns 4th place in search-and-rescue competition
Carnegie Mellon University’s team of students, faculty, staff and robots placed fourth in a major competition testing how well their robots could navigate an underground course simulating a search-and-rescue mission. Called Team Explorer, the university’s team traveled this week to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) challenge in Louisville,...
Team of Carnegie Mellon students, robots to compete in search-and-rescue missionVideo
Carnegie Mellon University is sending a team of about a dozen robots to a competition testing their navigation of an unknown underground course, meant to simulate search-and-rescue scenarios. The university’s 20-person team of faculty, students and staff — along with their league of robots — will compete in a Defense...
Apple fixes security hole reportedly used to hack an iPhone
BOSTON — Apple released a critical software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect iPhones and other Apple devices without any user action. Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said the security issue was exploited to plant spyware on a...
Latrobe dad, daughter develop song texting app for iPhone usersVideo
If you’re tired of texting words, photos and GIFs, a Latrobe father and daughter are hoping you’ll try a new app they developed that sends song clips. Lyritext launched Sept. 1 in the Apple App Store, offering brief clips from a catalog of more than 100,000 songs in numerous genres,...
Facebook bans firm behind Pfizer, AstraZeneca smear campaign
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Facebook said Tuesday that it has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a mysterious advertising agency operating out of Russia that sought to pay social media influencers to smear covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca. A network of 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts was...
Apple to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse
Apple unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens. Apple said its messaging app will use on-device machine learning to warn...
Netflix plans to offer video games in push beyond films, TV
Netflix Inc., marking its first big move beyond TV shows and films, is planning an expansion into video games and has hired a former Electronic Arts Inc. and Facebook Inc. executive to lead the effort. Mike Verdu will join Netflix as vice president of game development, reporting to Chief Operating...
$10 million rewards bolster White House anti-ransomware bid
BOSTON — The Biden administration will offer rewards up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of foreign state-sanctioned malicious cyber activity against critical U.S. infrastructure — including ransomware attacks — and the White House has launched a task force to coordinate efforts to stem the ransomware scourge....
That was fleeting: Twitter kills off ephemeral ‘fleets’
Twitter is disappearing its disappearing tweets, called fleets, after they didn’t catch on. The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. Fleets were designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal...
Microsoft debuts Windows 11, first major update in 6 years
Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its Windows software, called Windows 11, that has a new Start Menu and other features. The newest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system announced Thursday will be a successor to today’s Windows 10, which the company introduced in 2015. In a challenge to...
Wall Street opens lower led by more drops in Big Tech stocks
BANGKOK — Shares dropped Tuesday in Asia after selling of several Big Tech companies pulled U.S. benchmarks lower. Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined while Shanghai advanced. Despite reassurances from the Federal Reserve and a much weaker than expected U.S. jobs reading last week, investors have refocused on the...
Apple signals return of right-wing ‘free speech’ app Parler
Apple said it has reached an agreement with the right-wing social app Parler that could lead to its reinstatement in the company’s app store. Apple kicked out Parler in January over ties to the deadly Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to two Republican lawmakers in...
Drivers wanted: Record demand at Uber as vaccinations rise
Uber is offering sign-up bonuses and other incentives for drivers as it faces record demand for rides and meal delivery. The San Francisco ride-hailing company said Monday that total monthly bookings, including food delivery and passenger service, reached an all-time high in March. In a government filing, the company said...
Supreme Court sides with Google in copyright dispute with Oracle
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sided Monday with Google in an $8 billion copyright dispute with Oracle over the internet company’s creation of the Android operating system used on most smartphones worldwide. To create Android, which was released in 2007, Google wrote millions of lines of new computer code. But...
Man pleads guilty in Pittsburgh to role in Darknet conspiracy
An Israeli man who helped facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit sales on the dark web pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in the conspiracy in federal court in Pittsburgh. Tal Prihar, 39, entered the plea to a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering that was...
Russia threatens to block Twitter in a month
MOSCOW — Russian authorities said Tuesday they would block Twitter in a month if it doesn’t take steps to remove banned content, a move that escalates the Russian government’s drawn-out standoff with social media platforms that have played a major role in amplifying dissent in Russia. Russia’s state communications watchdog,...
Uber, Lyft team up on database to expose abusive drivers
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years. The clearinghouse unveiled Thursday will initially list drivers expelled by the ride-hailing rivals in...
Antivirus software creator McAfee charged with cheating investors
NEW YORK — Antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee was indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges alleging that he and cohorts made over $13 million by fooling investors zealous over the emerging cryptocurrency market, authorities said Friday. McAfee, 75, was charged in a newly unsealed indictment in Manhattan federal...
NASA’s new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life....
SpaceX Starship lands upright, then explodes in latest test
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s futuristic Starship looked like it aced a touchdown Wednesday, but then exploded on the landing pad with so much force that it was hurled into the air. The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success. Two previous test flights crash-landed in fireballs. The full-scale...
Right-wing friendly Parler announces re-launch
BOSTON — The right-wing friendly social network Parler, which was forced offline as a result of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, says it is re-launching. The Twitter alternative has been struggling to return online since Amazon stripped it of web-hosting service...
Voting company sues Fox, Giuliani over election fraud claims
MIAMI — A voting technology company is suing Fox News, three of its hosts and two former lawyers for former President Donald Trump — Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell — for $2.7 billion, charging that the defendants conspired to spread false claims that the company helped “steal” the U.S. presidential...
Widespread internet outages hit northeast U.S.
Internet users across the northeast U.S. experienced widespread outages for several hours Tuesday, interrupting work and school because of an unspecified Verizon network issue. “An internet issue impacting the quality of our Fios service throughout the Northeast has been resolved,” said spokesman Rich Young in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon....
Twitter permanently bans My Pillow CEO
Twitter has permanently banned My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell’s account after he continued to perpetuate the baseless claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Twitter decided to ban Lindell, who founded bedding company My Pillow, due to “repeated violations” of its civic integrity policy, a spokesperson said...
Google threatens to pull search engine in Australia
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Google on Friday threatened to make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government went ahead with plans to make tech giants pay for news content. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison quickly hit back, saying “we don’t respond to threats.” “Australia makes our rules for...
