Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios

Facebook has naively put its faith in humanity and repeatedly been abused, exploited, and proven either negligent or complicit. The company routinely ignores or downplays the worst-case scenarios, idealistically building products without the necessary safeguards, and then drags its feet to admit the extent of the problems. This approach, willful or not, has led to […]

Tinder's parent company sues Bumble over patents

It's no secret that Tinder (or rather, its parent company Match Group) and Bumble are arch-rivals in the swipe-right dating app space, and that battle just escalated. Match Group has sued Bumble for allegedly violating two patents, one for the "orna...

AR firm Avegant cuts half its workforce and picks new CEO

Avegant has drawn a lot of attention in the wearable world between its Glyph personal screen and its light-field augmented reality headset, but it's facing uncertain times. The Verge has learned that the startup cut more than half of its workforce (i...

Facebook has suspended the account of the whistleblower who exposed Cambridge Analytica

Tech hath no fury like a multi-billion dollar social media giant scorned. In the latest turn of the developing scandal around how Facebook’s user data wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica — for use in the in development in psychographic profiles that may or may not have played a part in the election […]

Facebook may have broken FTC deal in Cambridge Analytica incident

Facebook may face more legal trouble than you might think in the wake of Cambridge Analytica's large-scale data harvesting. Former US officials David Vladeck and Jessica Rich have told the Washington Post that Facebook's data sharing may violate the...

Wing It is a Facebook Messenger bot meant to get you out of the house

“I should go on a weekend trip,” you think to yourself. “I’ll go to the mountains!” And then the weekend comes and all the hotels are booked and you’re tired and the mountains are far and hey look, Netflix! Wing It is a Facebook Messenger bot that tries to get you out of that rut. […]

Regulators in the UK are also calling for more hearings into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

As more details emerge about Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data in the U.S. presidential election, members of Parliament in the UK are joining congressional leadership in the U.S. to call for a deeper investigation and potential regulatory action. The Chair of parliamentary committee investigating “fake news”, the conservative MP Damian Collins, accused both Cambridge […]

Aalo is do-it-yourself, customizable, re-purposable furniture

Buying furniture sucks. Getting rid of it later is worse. Aalo, part of the Y Combinator Winter 2018 class, is trying to fix both sides of that equation. They want you to design and build your own furniture… and when you’re done with it, turn it into something else. They’ve built a system of interlocking, […]

Phlur, a fragrance startup launched by a former Ralph Lauren exec, is raising fresh funding

There’s no shortage of ideas being backed when it comes to direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies that are cultivating their own brands. We’ve seen everything from slippers to toothbrushes to, perhaps most famously, razor blades. Among the newer frontiers being funded right now: ingredient-conscious perfumes. For example, the  New York-based, venture-backed cosmetics company Glossier began marketing a proprietary […]

What it’s like using the Owl car security camera

When you get a new car, and you’re feeling like a star, the first thing you’re probably going to do is ghost ride it. This is where the Owl camera can come in. I’ve been testing Owl, an always-on, two-way camera that records everything that’s happening inside and outside of your car all day, every day for […]

US Navy launches submarine with gamepad-guided periscope

The Navy's fourth USS Colorado attack submarine has recently gone into service with an Xbox controller onboard. No, not so sailors can play Overwatch: they'll actually be using the gaming device to steer the vehicle's two photonics masts, which you c...

Here are the top states and cities for startups in the South

Jason Rowley Contributor Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter for Crunchbase News. More posts by this contributor Where did venture capitalists go to college? ICOs delivered at least 3.5x more capital to blockchain startups than VC since 2017 The American South may not be the first region that comes to mind when […]

Twitter may be the next to ban cryptocurrency ads

Twitter may soon join Facebook and Google in cracking down on ads for cryptocurrency-related products. Sky sources have claimed the social network will institute worldwide ban against ads for initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency wallets and token...

How advertisers can stay afloat after net neutrality is gone

While it’s still not clear what internet service providers will do after Ajit Pai’s FCC voted to repeal net neutrality rules, it’s certain that many online business models will be facing major upheavals. Of special concern is online marketing, which is largely dependent on fast and reliable access to content publishers and consumers, a requirement that was fairly met under net neutrality rules. Online advertisers will now be at the mercy of internet service providers (ISPs), who can decide who gets (or doesn’t get) to see their ads. Here’s what you need to know about the potential changes that can…

This story continues at The Next Web

How advertisers can stay afloat after net neutrality is gone

While it’s still not clear what internet service providers will do after Ajit Pai’s FCC voted to repeal net neutrality rules, it’s certain that many online business models will be facing major upheavals. Of special concern is online marketing, which is largely dependent on fast and reliable access to content publishers and consumers, a requirement that was fairly met under net neutrality rules. Online advertisers will now be at the mercy of internet service providers (ISPs), who can decide who gets (or doesn’t get) to see their ads. Here’s what you need to know about the potential changes that can…

This story continues at The Next Web

Coca-Cola and US government use blockchain to curb forced labor

The quest to end forced labor has created some unusual technological allies. Coca-Cola, the US State Department and a trio of crypto organizations (Bitfury Group, Blockchain Trust Accelerator and Emercoin) have launched a pilot project that will use...

EdTech is having a renaissance, powered by the emerging world

So-called ‘EdTech’ has seen many false dawns over the years. After being lauded as the teaching platforms of the future, most MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course platforms) have not quite lived up to the superlatives made for them, and the sector has had trouble coming up with more innovative ideas for a while. But that […]

Invest $15 in your future and get working as an Android developer now

Marketing firm Dot Com Infoway determined more than half the time we all spend digging through digital media online in 2018 is spent on mobile apps. Meanwhile, about three quarters of those apps are running on an Android-based operating system. So it stands to reason that those looking to give their career prospects a jolt should take a serious look at learning to build useful, stable, engaging Android apps. Obviously, that’s easier said than done. However, you can take a big step toward mastering apps creation in this dominant environment with the Complete Android O Developer Course. Right now, this…

This story continues at The Next Web

After Math: Space Farce

It was a parabolic week for space nerds. The president teased the creation of a fourth military branch dubbed the "Space Force," world-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking passed away at the age of 76, and NASA's acting chief retired without someo...

Stop whining, GDPR is actually good for your business

It’s safe to say that nearly everyone in business today has at some point has heard the acronym GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Many in the digital industries and services arena are either preparing for the changes on the horizon, or are dreading the work that still needs to be done to prepare. In the United States, we’ve already seen the implementation of the email regulations for Can-Spam, but GDPR is something else entirely. In my presentations to marketers, I often refer to the US law as the YOU-CAN-SPAM Act, because in essence, it does not require spammers to get…

This story continues at The Next Web

L'Oreal buys an augmented reality beauty app maker

Makeup empire L'Oreal wants to promote its huge collection of brands the high-tech way, so it's buying Modiface to make that happen. It's now in the process of acquiring the beauty tech company, which has been teaming up with big cosmetics brands for...

Everything is terrible: an explanation

Facebook is a breeding ground for fake news and polarized outrage, accused of corrupting democracy and spurring genocide. Twitter knows it has become a seething battleground of widespread, targeted abuse — but has no solution. YouTube videos are messing with the minds of children and adults alike — so YouTube decided to pass the buck […]