Technology category, Page 27
@POTUS resets as Twitter juggles presidential accounts
It’s a Twitter user’s worst nightmare: Wake up to find most of your followers gone. But that’s exactly what will happen on Wednesday to the official presidential accounts on Twitter. No, not realDonaldTrump — he’s already been banned for life. This is the fate awaiting lesser-known accounts such as POTUS,...
Social media crackdown continues after siege of U.S. Capitol
LONDON — Social media platforms are continuing the crackdown on fringe groups and conspiracy theories following last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Twitter suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far right QAnon conspiracy and Facebook is removing posts and content fraudulently claiming that the U.S. election...
Idaho internet provider to block Facebook and Twitter for censorship
PRIEST RIVER, Idaho — An internet provider based in northern Idaho, says it will block Facebook and Twitter from its WIFI service for some customers due to claims of censorship. KREM-TV reports that the decision by Your T1 WIFI came after Twitter and Facebook banned President Trump from their platforms...
From high school dropout to $3M venture, Derry native launches gamer coaching platformVideo
When Josh Fabian dropped out of high school in Derry and moved out of his parents’ home all before the age of 18, he wasn’t expecting a career in web design to fall into his lap. He certainly wasn’t expecting to be heading up a gamer coaching company that’s attracted...
Texas AG announces multistate lawsuit against Google
DALLAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday announced a multistate lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry. Paxton said Google is using its “monopolistic power” to control pricing of online advertisements, fixing the market in its favor and eliminating competition....
Apple’s app stores open new privacy window for customers
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple has begun spelling out what kinds of personal information is being collected by the digital services displayed in its app stores for iPhones and other products made by the trendsetting company. Starting Monday, the additional disclosures will begin to appear in apps made for iPads, Mac...
Virgin Galactic makes first flight from New Mexico site
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Virgin Galactic test flight Saturday ended prematurely when the spacecraft landed safely at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico after its rocket engine failed to ignite high above the Earth. “The ignition sequence for the rocket motor did not complete. Vehicle and crew are in great...
U.S. govt, states bring antitrust action against FacebookVideo
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday sued Facebook, seeking forced divestment of its Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. In a separate case, 48 states and districts accused the company of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade...
Weeks after election, YouTube cracks down on misinformation
More than a month after the U.S. presidential election, YouTube says it will start removing newly uploaded material that claims widespread voter fraud or errors changed the outcome. The Google-owned video service said Wednesday that this is in line with how it has dealt with past elections. That’s because Tuesday...
Colorado student, scientist named Time’s ‘Kid of the Year’
LONE TREE, Colo. — A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence and created apps to tackle contaminated drinking water, cyberbullying, opioid addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine’s first-ever “Kid of the Year.” Gitanjali Rao, a sophomore at STEM School...
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to leave telecom agency in January
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, says he is leaving the telecommunications regulator on Inauguration Day. President-elect Joe Biden will choose a new Democratic head for the agency. A new administration typically picks a new chairman. Pai has presided over a contentious FCC over the last four years....
SpaceX crew flight delayed; Musk gets mixed COVID-19 results
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX delayed its second astronaut flight by a day because of high wind and weather conditions that could jeopardize the recovery and recycling of the rocket booster, pushing the launch to Sunday. Friday’s postponement news came after SpaceX chief Elon Musk disclosed he had gotten mixed...
TikTok asks court to intervene as Trump order looms
The popular video-sharing app TikTok, its future in limbo since President Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall, is asking a federal court to intervene. TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has until Thursday to sell off its U.S. operations under an executive order that Trump signed in August....
Apple unveils first Macs built to run more like iPhonesVideo
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Apple is rolling out new Mac computers powered by the same kind of chips that run iPhones and iPads, a move aimed at making it easier for its most popular products to work together. For instance, Macs using the new chips will be able to run...
How Facebook, Twitter plan to handle Election Day disinformationVideo
A man in the Atlanta suburbs was scrolling Facebook in late October when an ad popped up claiming his polling place had changed. At first glance, the change didn’t seem to align with official records. He suspected it was a lie — potentially a voter suppression tactic. He had already...
FBI warns ransomware assault threatens U.S. health care system
BOSTON — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals could unleash a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. health care system, an effort that, if successful, could paralyze hospital information systems just as nationwide cases of covid-19 are spiking. In a joint alert Wednesday, the FBI and two federal agencies...
Self-driving trucks from Pittsburgh deliver food to needy in Ohio, Michigan
Two self-driving trucks delivered more than 40,000 pounds of food last week from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to needy families in Toledo, Ohio. The delivery was part of a test drive featuring two human-guided, self-driving trucks produced by Locomation, an autonomous convoying startup located on Pittsburgh’s North Side....
All about Section 230, a rule that made the modern internet
OAKLAND, Calif. — Twenty-six words tucked into a 1996 law overhauling telecommunications have allowed companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to grow into the giants they are today. Those are the words President Donald Trump’s administration has challenged directly via executive order, one that would strip those protections if online...
Asteroid samples escaping from jammed NASA spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft is stuffed with so much asteroid rubble from this week’s grab that it’s jammed open and precious particles are drifting away in space, scientists said Friday. Scientists announced the news three days after the spacecraft named Osiris-Rex briefly touched asteroid Bennu, NASA’s first...
U.S. spacecraft swoops onto asteroid to snap up sample
NEW YORK — A NASA spacecraft on Tuesday conducted the U.S. space agency’s first sample collection from an asteroid as part of seven-year-long voyage. The event, which lasted around 4 1/2 hours, saw Osiris-Rex approaching Bennu at tortoise speed, about 0.19 miles per hour, and then touching down on the...
An electric Hummer? Battery-powered trucks head to showrooms
DETROIT — Seven auto companies have plans to roll out new battery-powered pickup trucks over the next two years, aiming to cash in on a popular and lucrative market for expensive vehicles. General Motors is among them, and on Tuesday its GMC brand introduced a new electric Hummer pickup, with...
News that Wabtec will anchor Pittsburgh area development comes as company lays off 150 in Erie
The same ideas that propelled companies like the Westinghouse Air Brake Company to flourish during the Gilded Age are being used more than a century later by the company’s successor, Wabtec Corp., in its latest venture near Pittsburgh International Airport. In the 1880s, Westinghouse pioneered the railway airbrake and its...
Facebook, Twitter seek to keep Hunter Biden report from going viral amid disinformation crackdown
After heavy criticism over the way they let misinformation run wild on their platforms in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, social media companies gradually have been adopting stronger policies to stem the spread of misinformation. For the first time, Facebook and Twitter deployed those policies Wednesday against a...
‘Pearl Jam’ hackers take over Greensburg Aerobics Center Facebook page
A Facebook page belonging to The Aerobic Center at Lynch Field in Greensburg has been hacked, apparently by a company hawking shirts featuring the rock band Pearl Jam. “We’re trying to get it straightened out,” said center general manager Marianne Anzovino. “I’m furious.” Anzovino’s personal page also was hacked, she...
Waymo removing backup drivers from its autonomous vehicles
Waymo is allowing the general public to hitch a ride in its driverless autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, expanding a service it had been quietly offering to a select group of riders for the past year. The service launches to the general public Thursday. The vehicles, which will have no back-up...
