Technology category, Page 27
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...
West Virginia site chosen for high-speed travel facilityVideo
Virgin Hyperloop One will build a certification center in West Virginia for the high-speed transportation concept that uses enclosed pods to zip passengers underground at over 600 mph. The company had received bids from more than a dozen states in the past year to build a 6-mile testing track and...
Facebook braces for contested election, voter intimidation
OAKLAND, Calif. — Facebook said it’s readied new safeguards for the 2020 U.S. elections that have it better prepared to deal with candidates who prematurely declare victory or contest official results and the possibility of voter intimidation by alleged — and potentially armed — “poll watchers.” In the former case,...
Google, Oracle meet in copyright clash at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices discussed restaurant menus, computer keyboards, songs and even the periodic table Wednesday in trying to resolve a copyright dispute between tech giants Google and Oracle. The justices were hearing arguments Wednesday in a dispute that is worth billions and important to the future of...
Facebook broadens measures against QAnon, will remove groups
OAKLAND, Calif. — Facebook is tightening its policy against QAnon, the baseless conspiracy theory that paints President Donald Trump as a secret warrior against a supposed child-trafficking ring run by celebrities and “deep state’ government officials. The company said Tuesday that it will remove Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts...
Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company moving into new headquarters in Strip District
Aurora, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle company, will be moving into a new headquarters space in the Strip District. They expect to move into the new location at 1600 Smallman Street by the spring, a company spokesperson said. With over 100,000 square feet, the headquarters will house an array of employees,...
Point Park University esports team makes its debut
The newest sport in Point Park University’s athletic program is similar to soccer, except the ball is giant, the players are replaced with rocket-powered race cars and the action takes place on a computer screen instead of in real life. The university’s new esports team made its debut this week,...
NASA tests new $23M titanium space toilet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s first new space potty in decades — a $23 million titanium toilet better suited for women — is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon. It’s packed inside a cargo ship set to blast off late Thursday...
U.S. officials meet at CMU to discuss artificial intelligence
As part of his two-day visit to the Pittsburgh region this week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette participated in a discussion at Carnegie Mellon University, along with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios. The “fireside chat,” moderated by CMU’s Vice President of Research Michael McQuade and livestreamed via Brouillette’s...
U.S. bans WeChat, TikTok from app stores, threatens shutdowns
The Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores Sunday and will bar the apps from accessing essential internet services in the U.S. — a move that could effectively wreck the operation of both Chinese services for U.S. users. TikTok won’t face the...
Facebook, Twitter suspend Russian network ahead of electionVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Facebook said Tuesday that it removed a small network of accounts and pages linked to Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory” that has used social media accounts to sow political discord in the U.S. since the 2016 presidential election. Twitter also suspended five related accounts. The...
First day of school for thousands and Zoom gets glitchy
Zoom is experiencing partial outages during the first day of school for thousands of students who are relying on the video conferencing technology to connect with educators. The company said Monday that it began receiving reports of disruptions around 9 a.m. Eastern time. It has identified the issue causing the...
AP: U.S. faces back-to-school laptop shortage
SAN FRANCISCO — Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays, of up to several months, in getting this year’s most crucial back-to-school supplies: the laptops and other equipment needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation has found. The world’s three biggest computer companies, Lenovo, HP...
