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Tech NewsNews
YouTuber Shot and Killed Filming ‘Prank’ Robbery Video With Butcher Knives
Timothy Wilks, a 20-year-old YouTuber, was shot and killed in Nashville on Friday night while trying to film a robbery “prank” video. Wilks and at least one friend reportedly approached a group of people in the parking lot of Urban Air, a trampoline business, while holding butcher knives, according to the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. One … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsNews
Nevada Wants to Let Tech Companies Form Their Own Governments
Steve Sisolak, the Democratic governor of Nevada, wants to incentivize technology companies to move to his state, and he’s got some wild ideas about how to make that happen. The latest draft proposal, obtained by the Review-Journal, doesn’t just hand out the typical tax breaks that you’d expect from a governor. The proposal includes provisions … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFacebook
Myanmar’s New Government Blocks Facebook After Military Coup
Myanmar’s new government has ordered internet providers in the country to block Facebook in an attempt to quell dissent following a successful military coup earlier this week, according to internet-monitoring service NetBlocks and internet company Telenor Myanmar. Roughly half of Myanmar’s population of 55 million people use Facebook, according to Burmese news site Irrawaddy, and … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsNewsElon Musk Returns to Twitter After 46-Hour Hiatus, Causes Dogecoin Price to Soar
Elon Musk made a triumphant return to Twitter overnight, following his announcement early Tuesday that he’d be leaving the social media platform for “a while.” How long did Musk last? Just over 46 hours. It must’ve been torture, as any fellow social media addict who’s ever tried to quit the service can attest. We all … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9MoviesSci-Fi
Why Are People in Myanmar Doing the Hunger Games Three-Finger Salute?
Medical staff at Yangon General Hospital in Myanmar posed for a group photo on Wednesday, raising three fingers in a salute of resistance after Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of the country, was ousted in a military coup on Monday. The salute will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the Hunger Games movies, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsTwitter
Elon Musk Says He’s Leaving Twitter for ‘A While’
Billionaire tech mogul and heavy social media user Elon Musk tweeted early Tuesday that he’s leaving Twitter for “a while.” Musk obviously loves to tweet, which leads the average person to ask an obvious question: Just how long will Musk’s Twitter hiatus actually last? “Off Twitter for a while,” Musk tweeted at 3:45 a.m. ET … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHealthCovid-19
Republican Lawmaker Indicted for Allegedly Selling Bogus Covid-19 Treatments
Republican state lawmaker Tricia Derges of Missouri was indicted by a federal grand jury on Monday after allegedly selling bogus treatments for covid-19, making promises to treat painful conditions with ineffective therapies, and lying to federal investigators. The 63-year-old woman is licensed as an assistant physician in Missouri and allegedly sold “stem cell” treatments that … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGoogleAustralia’s PM Suggests Bing Adequate If Google Blocks Searches Down Under
It used to be a joke, but it’s not so funny anymore. Google is threatening to block searches in Australia if the country implements a compulsory profit-sharing deal that would force tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay media companies for their content. But Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, isn’t sweating it. Morrison suggested … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogleGoogle Deletes 100,000 Negative Reviews of Robinhood App From Angry Users
Google removed at least 100,000 negative reviews of the stock trading app Robinhood from the Google Play app store after angry users sent a flood of critical reviews that caused the app’s rating to plummet on Thursday. The app’s rating went from roughly four stars out of five on Wednesday to just one star on … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsTransportation
Virgin Hyperloop Releases Concept Video of Future We Want to Become Reality
Virgin Hyperloop, one of the entities currently developing Elon Musk’s high-speed transportation idea from 2013, has released a new concept video showing off its vision for the future of moving around a city. And it all looks pretty damn cool to us. The only question is whether Virgin can make it a reality anytime soon. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHealth
FDA Warns Hand Sanitizers Imported From Mexico Contain Toxic Unlisted Ingredients
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an unprecedented alert, warning that Americans are being poisoned by a long list of hand sanitizers imported from Mexico during the covid-19 pandemic. More than 900 Americans have reportedly been poisoned this month alone, according to figures obtained by CBS News. Some of the offending hand sanitizer products … Continued
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Tech NewsNews
China Deploys Anal Swabs for Covid-19 Testing, Says It’s More Accurate
Health authorities in China have deployed anal swab tests to detect covid-19 in the lead up to the Lunar New Year celebrations, according to the Chinese state media outlet the Global Times, a technique that some claim might be more accurate than traditional nasal swabs, throat swabs, and antibody tests. But not everyone is convinced … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsApple
Update Your iPhone and iPad Right Now
Do you have an iPhone or iPad? You should update your device right now to iOS 14.4. No, not later today or after lunch or whatever. Update now. Why is it so crucial to update your iOS software as soon as possible? As TechCrunch first reported, Apple is reporting three security vulnerabilities that “may have … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsTwitter
MyPillow CEO Banned From Twitter For Claiming Trump Won 2020 Election
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and an unofficial advisor to former president Donald Trump, was permanently booted from Twitter late Monday. Why? Lindell was reportedly spreading too many lies about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, something that can still get you banned from Twitter. “The account you referenced has been permanently suspended … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGoogleGoogle Threatens to Block Searches in Australia But Prime Minister Says ‘We Don’t Respond to Threats’
Google threatened to block its search engine for all users in Australia if a controversial new profit-sharing proposal from the federal government moves forward, according to testimony Friday by Google’s top executive in the region. Google is upset about a plan by the conservative government—strongly backed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.—that would force tech giants … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsNews
Biden Pick for Treasury Dept Role Worked as Advisor to Controversial Crypto Company Ripple
President Joe Biden’s pick to be the new comptroller of the currency at the U.S. Treasury Department, Michael S. Barr, used to be an advisor to the controversial cryptocurrency company Ripple, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple in federal court last … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsPolitics
Trump Presidential Library Launches Online But Won’t Take FOIA Requests Until 2026
The U.S. National Archives officially launched the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library’s website on Wednesday, the new digital home of the worst presidency in modern U.S. history. But if you’re excited to finally file a bunch of Freedom of Information Act requests about Trump’s criminal undertakings, we have bad news. The vast majority of Trump’s … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGoogle
Trump Pardons Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing Trade Secrets
President Donald Trump issued a full pardon for former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski early Wednesday, one of 143 people who received pardons and commutations during Trump’s last 12 hours in office. Levandowski, who helped found Google’s Waymo, was convicted in August of stealing trade secrets from Google and starting his own self-driving car company called … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsPolitics
How to Watch Joe Biden’s Inauguration on YouTube, Facebook, and More
Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States at noon on Wednesday, finally bringing the Trump era to a close. And if you’re looking for an easy way to watch the inauguration streaming live on YouTube, Facebook, and more, we’ve got you covered. The inauguration starts at 12:00 p.m. ET, 9:00 a.m. … Continued
By Matt Novak
Matt Novak
Matt Novak is a reporter at Gizmodo covering news and opinion, with a little history thrown in for good measure. Novak started at Gizmodo in 2013 and has been writing about past visions of the future at Paleofuture.com since 2007. Novak is fascinated with the history of technology and got his start writing professionally for Smithsonian magazine. Emails telling him to "stick to tech" can be sent to [email protected].
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